Introducing....DelightfullyAbby!

Hi all!  Exciting things are afoot these days.  I've started an Etsy shop to sell handmade baby items, and maybe some momma items down the road.  Naming credit goes to Little Miss A.'s grandmother, who came up with DelightfullyAbby. 

Right now, I have a bunch of "bunny ear" wooden teethers up in a bunch of different patterns.  There are some classic patterns, some fun ones (like moustaches and bikes!), and there will soon be some nerdy ones.  First up will be Star Wars and Superman, and once I find some great comic book and Star Trek prints, we'll have those as well! 

I'm also working on wet bags (not just for cloth diapers, you know!) and burp cloths, and I'm experimenting with a little something for the moms and dads out there.  It's a lot of fun being creative with fabrics, I feel like I learn a little more every time I sit down at my sewing machine.  One thing I've learned is that I'm going to need a nicer sewing machine if I want to ramp up production!

So stop on by the shop, see what I've got going on, and don't forget to "favorite" it on Etsy so you can see when new stuff comes up!

Halloween 2013 - Little Miss A. the Owl

For Little Miss A.'s first Halloween, I took inspiration from an animal that is common in her room, clothes, and toys: an owl!  I found some inspiration on Pinterest, and hit the fabric store.  I bought five fat quarters: a patterned yellow, patterned orange, and two solid brown for the feathers, and a solid orange for the background of the wings.  I cut out feathers, and laid them out in a Y-B-O-B repeat, with the rows forming a zig-zag pattern.  The whole back of the background (cut in a semi-circle pattern) was covered, then I attached a long-sleeved onesie to the background by the sleeves and neck.  The onesie and the front of the orange background was also covered in feathers.  I used Heat n Bond (used to essentially glue two pieces of fabric together), but didn't realize until after I had ironed everything on that it was the type that needed to be sewn down as well.  So I had to tack down every single feather...that was a lot more than I had planned on for this project.

So here she is, Little Miss A. the Owl!

Making things for Little Miss A.

Lately, I have been very busy crafting lots of stuff for Little Miss A.  She was christened last weekend, and I made her dress, and I also knitted two sweaters for her.  Currently in progress is her Halloween costume, which is an owl.

Christening dress:

Modified from Simplicity 1701 pattern, the overskirt is half the width of the lace fabric, and I used the scalloped edge of the fabric as the hem.  This was my first time sewing satin or lace, and also the first time I installed a zipper and the first time I used bias tape.  I was very pleased with how it came out, and I'll definitely use the pattern again for dresses for the little miss.


Honeycomb Sweater:

From Tummy Warmer pattern.  Super cute on Little Miss A.


Little Miss A.'s Knitted Dress:

 

From Little Sister's Dress pattern.  She has some growing into this to do, but boy do I love those sheepy buttons!


And a sneak peek at Little Miss A.'s Halloween costume in progress:



July Wrap-Up

July was a very busy month for my little family.  It started with a three-day camping trip (the first with Little Miss A.!), and ended with a week-long camping trip.  Both of these camping trips were Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) events.  The SCA is a historical recreation group that I've been involved with since I was a kid, and pulled Captain Daddy into when we started dating. 

Before the three-day camping trip, I finished Captain Daddy's leather quiver.  I've got to get pictures of him wearing it, but it's an orange leather quiver, and since my mom gave me the leather, it only cost me about $15 (a pair of leather shoelaces and a cheapo leather punch).  I have some leather left over, so I'm planning on making a matching arm guard at some point.  This was my first time working with leather, and the best tutorial I found for making a quiver was here:
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=058989

At the three-day camping trip, I submitted the smocked aprons from my last post to the Athena's Thimble panel.  Athena's Thimble is an embroidery guild in the SCA.  They have 12 categories that guild members can be ranked in, starting with Working Knowledge, followed by Competence, Period Competence, and Expert.  I paneled my aprons for Competence, which is categorized as "intermediate understanding of the form and proven level of skill in execution, demonstrated by a completed piece of higher caliber."  The three senior members agreed that they filled this description, making this the second category that I've achieved Competence in.  My goal is to eventually get Competence in all 12 categories, and then start working on Period Competence (which must include a piece completed in a historical manner along with documentation).

After that, I spent much of July getting prepared for the week-long SCA event, which is called Pennsic.  I had a lot of sewing to do, since the entire time you're at the event, you have to make an attempt at pre-16th century dress.  This included making a bunch of clothing for Little Miss A., though my sister made a bunch for her as well.  I managed to make enough clothes for all three of us, and off we went for a week of camping!

At Pennsic, I did a fair bit of lampwork, making glass beads with a torch and glass rods.  I took a couple classes in that area, and learned a bunch about making animal shaped beads.  I meant to take some embroidery classes, but didn't manage to, so I have some things I'll be doing research online for. 

And now it's August!  One of my goals in August is to start working on menu planning.  I found a great website that takes online recipes and creates a shopping list, and I used that this week.  I wanted to try some new recipes, so having a resource like this is great.  Check it out here:
http://www.ziplist.com/recipes/meal_planner

I also want to refocus on some of my long-term projects, such as the Jacobean table runner and Captain Daddy's knitted vest.  Pre-Pennsic prep tends to put everything else on the back burner, so I want to circle back around to these things.  Finally, I want to try to fix, finish, or sew one SCA outfit a month, so that come next Pennsic, I don't have the pre-Pennsic rush.  I think that August will be finishing the blue cotehardie, which just needs eyelets sewn in.  It can be slightly tedious, so if I do a couple a day, I should be in good shape to finish by month-end.

Hope all is well out there in the land of the internet, and stay tuned for the next update, which should include pictures of some of the completed July projects!

Two Smocked Aprons

Smocking is a type of embroidery where fabric is pleated, then sewn such that it can stretch.  This historical type of embroidery was used before elastic existed, and was often used in cuffs and necklines.

I decided that to learn smocking, I would tackle sewing an apron.  I often learn best by searching out tutorials online, and teaching myself, so that's what I did with this project.  The tutorial that made the most sense to me suggested using a piece of fabric that was 30 inches to a side.  Since the white linen I wanted to use was 60 inches wide, I figured I might as well make two aprons.

The basic idea with smocking is that you make rows of running stitch, then pull the rows taut to create pleats, then connect the pleats.  There are a variety of stitches that can be used to do that, and I chose honeycomb stitch for my aprons.

The first apron had small pleats, with the running stitches approximately 9/16" in length.  I also made the rows of running stitch 9/16" apart. 

I was really pleased with how the smocking looked, but the apron was a little narrow.  I decided that apron #2 would have larger pleats, and decided to use 1.5" as the running stitch length and space between rows.

This apron was definitely wider, but I preferred the look of the smocking in apron #1.  The solution, I think, is to start with a wider piece of fabric, and stick with the shorter running stitch and row spacing.  The pictures above are of both aprons after washing, which was necessary to remove the pencil marks I used for making the pleats even. 

These are the sources I used to learn smocking and do a bit of research into its historical use:
http://catrijn.blogspot.com/2009/05/smocked-apron-part-1.html
http://catrijn.blogspot.com/2009/05/smocked-apron-part-2.html
http://catrijn.blogspot.com/2009/05/smocked-apron-part-3.html
http://www.pleatworkembroidery.com/articles/apronintwoways
http://www.larsdatter.com/aprons.htm

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome!  I'm Theresa, I had my first child three months ago, and I'm now a stay-at-home mom.  This blog will be the story of my crafty, nerdy, and hopefully fun life as a stay-at-home wife and mother. 

Here's a little about the cast of characters in my life.

Little Miss A. - My daughter, born on March 16.  She is already a handful, and lights up my life.

Captain Daddy - My husband, and Little Miss A.'s father.  He's as much of a nerd as I am, and particularly loves Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Firefly. 

Auntie N. - My sister, who has spent a ton of time nannying, loves hanging out with Little Miss A., and is a champion crafter (and nerd) in her own right.

Gramma N. - My mom, who is completely enamored by Little Miss A., and can't wait to bury bones in her backyard for the two of them to dig up (she's not like the other grandmothers).

There are many more characters (and boy are they characters) in Little Miss A.'s life (and mine!), but these are the most regularly appearing.  We'll introduce more as they come in.