Purse

I woke up Tuesday and really wanted to sew. But, I have been sewing lots of things for the baby and so I wanted to make something other than baby stuff. So, this is what I came up with. No pattern. The material is from IKEA that I bought a while ago. I love the pockets from the inside. The big pocket fits wipes and diapers and the little pocket fits the iPhone.

Happy Second Birthday, Eva

I've always loved Christmas.
It might be the lit tree or the ornate ornaments that contribute to the aesthetics of the season.
It might be the caroling and the traditions.
It might be the Christmas story.
I love the baking and the feeling in the air.
People crowd the malls and shops to procure items for their loved ones whether they've been naughty
or nice.
All I know is that as long as I can remember, I have loved Christmas time.

But, I started loving Christmas in a new way once "Homemade Christmas" was initiated.
Whether it was because of financial constraints or because of pure wisdom, I don't know to this day.
I remember giving the quilted pillow to my grandfather that he sat with years later when our family took care of him as he withered away with Parkinson's Disease. I remember the attempted cross-stitch that I gave mom in a wood frame that she still has somewhere. I remember painting something "really unique" for my brother that hung in his room for years and he recalled on a letter he wrote home from his mission. I remember the letter/poem I gave to my dad that he read when I was packing my boxes to move to Rexburg, Idaho.
This year, I loved getting a homemade photo card via email from my brother's kiddos.
It was a pleasant reminder that things that made from love mean loads.

Because of that card and those days that seem not too long ago, I love gift-giving of things hand made.
As David and I start our family, we want to cultivate the same traditions. Not just for our family, but to continue it with our nieces and nephews.

I'm hardly a Martha, but making these little gifts for my niece, Eva, was pretty fun. Eva is turning 2 and has the same birthday as my her mommy, my SIL, Marie. So, we are taking these birthdays-in-a-bag to the post office today to ship off. I hope she loves having a doll that has a matching birthday dress as much as I love the concept.

Giving homemade gifts (not just for Christmas but for birthdays too) is something that we have made a family commitment to do, whenever possible.

The tutorial and template for the Black Apple Doll can be found here.
The dress pattern was just a simple reversible bodice with a rectangular piece of fabric.

Swing Cover Remake

The new and the old padding for the swing.
We were given a Graco Swing by TinaMarie in Bishkek so I decided to make a new cover and pad for it so it is more "ours". The padding is made of muslin and polyester batting and the cover for it is made of a cute little cotton design and has elastic around it so it stays on. I'm pretty pleased with it. It is sooo much easier to sew on a machine rather than by hand!

Dresses for Olive

Anticipating a girl gives me lots of sewing options. Too many, perhaps. So, eventually, I made the leap to make this little dress. The first time was pretty experimental. It's not perfect but it is very sweet and have little shoes that match it perfectly. I love the lime green with this color pink.

The dress came out tons better the second time around. I used some fun Amy Butler fabric coordinates (about 1/4 yard of each). The ruffle is more organized on this one and I like the finished look that the border on the bottom gives.

Here are a couple dresses that I've made for Olive in the last few days. The pattern is really simple and only takes about half an hour to sew since there are no buttonholes or snaps. There are tons of ways to embellish (which I haven't experimented with much) besides the border at the bottom of the red and blue dress. The pattern can be found here.