Thursday, January 27, 2011

weekend inspiration 002

little farmer girl

and another snow day is here. winter might have been slow to start in maine, but now that it is here we can't shake it. there is about two (maybe three) feet of snow lying over our garden and the chickens have an igloo for a coop.

not all of this winter nonsense is bad though. the cold weather keeps me indoors, sewing away on my trusty sears machine by the woodstove.


so maybe tiny little frances fingers don't help the sewing process, especially when she is like a little magpie and always goes for the shiniest, sharpest goodies she can find. but she reeps the benefits of my hours of sewing - there are growing piles of little farm girl dresses on top of my unfinished quilts and tins full of thread.
soon there will be bits of paper (tracing and brown) flying around the room as i attempt to turn a vintage coat pattern into what will hopefully be a long sleeved peasant/milkmaid/beautiful dress.

and evidence of my seamstress ways:
four farm girl dresses
four little farm girl dresses, some with aprons, some with crocheted pockets, accompanied by my thrifted wool socks - yes, they are a little big and floppy but oh so warm and comfy (and have i mentioned i am obsessed with socks lately).

yellow farm girl dress
cross stitched farm girl dress
crocheted pockets farm girl dress

and maybe some of these little dresses will find their way into my much neglected etsy shop soon. one can only hope.

Friday, January 21, 2011

weekend inspiration 001

would very much like to:

sew felt elbow patches onto all of my sweaters
make lots of little porcelain bowls to hold all of our blue and green eggs
create a space to teach people how to m
ake things
collect vintage aprons with interesting embroidery and rick rack
bake pear and goat cheese scones that are spiced with ginger
design fabric based on the honeybee and its hive
walk to the barn every morning to milk my goat
finish that quilt that sits on the dining room table and taunts me

what would you very much like to do?



and i would very much like to leave you with some weekend inspiration, too.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

i've finally found a pattern that works - fast, easy, and impossibly cute. i think that i will be churning these out by the dozen, whether they be for my frances mae or all of her little friends, this dress is just too good to not share.

016

013

(this little blue and yellow dress was made out of a thrifted flannel pillowcase for .99!)

maybe i can finish frances mae's new wool socks tonight and she can wear them with her mama-made dresses. after a little bit of hemming and some button holes and buttons they will be all done and ready to wear. she'll be the cutest little handmade baby around!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

025

pancakes are not something that we usually make for breakfast, we're usually a banana and toast kind of family, but we decided to go big and treat ourselves. how nice to sit down to hot pancakes with butter and honey - the perfect precursor to an afternoon in the snow!

030

snow day

021

its unusual for us to go so long without snow in maine but here we are in our first big storm (second snow fall) wondering if every snowflake is really different than all of its brothers and sisters. the plow man has cometh, the chickens are snuggled into their coop, and a fire is burning in our little wood stove. i would love to say that this snow day will be spent getting the house in order - gathering unused toys for the thrift store, organizing our disaster of a laundry room, or even chasing dust bunnies out from their hiding spots underneath the couch and in all of the corners. instead, i will spend the day with my sewing machine, covered in bits of cotton and wool, fulfilling one of my many 'new year's goals'.

041 049

already this year i've made two little vests (well, three if you count the one that i felted by accident in the wash) for frances to wear now and into the spring. i even finished a yellow peasant dress for her to wear with some striped leggings and her froggy rainboots. now its onto some wool diaper covers to keep her little bum dry and maybe even another dress or two.