Bon jour!

Yes, I finished a project!  Remember this cute Charlotte?  Well, here’s my version.

She was such a delight to put together–all by hand.  Felt has to be one of the most forgiving crafting mediums to work with and the results so rewarding. Which is not to say that I didn’t have a few oops moments, but I learned a lot on my first attempt and think the next one will go even smoother.  I made a small change to the dress by embellishing it with three delicate Mokuba ribbon rosettes I picked up from Nan’s shop, très magnifique!

I think Charlotte’s almost as cute from behind, and her tail acts as a convenient tripod, allowing her to self-stand.

Cynthia has added some very cute details to the dress, like the felt button that holds Charlotte’s dress together below her tail. And yes, those handmade buttons are working buttons!

In honor of Carla’s trip to Paris in a few weeks, Charlotte is posing in front of la tour eiffle, courtesy of the lovely ladies of Chartreuse.

Got any Paris recommendations for Carla–places to eat, shop, visit?

Au revoir!

~Erin

Here’s an older project from my crafting archives.  This was only my second–ahem, completed–quilt and took only 9 months to plan, assemble and quilt!  I chose my favorite color combination–pink and coral with small sunny bursts of yellow.

I love interesting quilt backs as much as I love the letter “e”.

Here’s the recipient, the third child of good friends  (and, incidentally the sister of our first Charlotte model as seen on the Finch pattern cover).

Here’s the more of the frontside:

Happy quilting!

~ Erin

Meet Charlotte Fox.  I’m smitten, aren’t you??

Since my sewing machine will be in the shop for a while, I’ve been on the lookout for some projects to do from the winter comfort of my couch.  You can imagine my excitement when I came across this clever Charlotte!

This Charlotte Fox is the creation of talented designer, Cynthia Treen, a delightful Rhode Island artisan who sews, crafts, quilts, you name it.  She has a whole line of felt animal patterns and kits under her brand, threadfollower. Here’s her adorable lineup of animals sold individually in kits:

These kits are a perfect afternoon-cuppa-tea-in-hand-project and would also make a great craft to make with an older child. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, which would you sew up first?

So, back to Charlotte–she’s stands just 6.5″ tall. On this inside, she has pipe cleaners for arms so that you can pose her and, with the help of her tail, she stands all by herself.  The PDF pattern has very detailed instructions and illustrations. I can’t wait to gather all my materials to get started.

Check out Charlotte’s little hand-sewn cape!  It’s currently 14 degrees (Fahrenheit) in Houndstooth Falls, so she’ll need this to keep her warm!

Oh, and Charlotte has a “friend” too (or is it a beau??). Say hello to dashing Felix.

Be sure to check out all the fun at Cynthia’s blog, follow her on Facebook, and oh, did I mention she  has a new book out too of small gift-related sewing projects??

Happy crafting on the couch!

~Erin

I’ve been on a roll this week and last completing projects started in days gone by. On Tuesday, both kids and husband were home due to flooding, power outages and the like courtesy of (Hurricane/Cyclone/Superstorm?) Sandy, so the kids and I had some time to spend finishing this Pinterest project we started last week.

I followed the technique described here.  We were able to wax about 75 leaves with only a 1/2 block of Gulf Wax (purchased in the canning section of the local grocery store).  The waxing process was super simple and the kids found it to be quite enjoyable.  [You just have to be prepared for flying wax when the children are involved.]  I used button thread and a large needle to string them together.

We collected many leaves from surrounding yards, taking great care to select specimens of different colors, shapes and sizes.  

Unfortunately, after a day or two hanging over the hot water radiator in the dining room, most of the leaves changed to a uniform shade of mud, save for a few maples that have retained a pinkish hue.  The heat has also caused them to crinkle up a bit.  (The leaves hanging on the fireplace mantle have fared a bit better, but have still lost much of their vibrancy.)

I have kept a few additional leaves to spread on the Thanksgiving table. I just hope that what little color that remains in those will hang on for a few more weeks.

I’d rate this project a B+ overall — it was fun fall craft and certainly easy, but for preserving fall’s glorious colors, it fell short of my expectations.

Happy crafting everyone!

~ Erin

My mother-in-law just returned from a trip to Italy and look what she brought me from Venice!

A fox mask made in the traditional style–paper mache and hand painted–by this artisan.

I have a big event this weekend that I’ve been getting ready for this week. Here are some “work in progress” shots for you–all from today! Not even including the Halloween costume I’ve been working on in between these other fun things. I hope to share more photos and details with you all later.

A final note for this lovely Thursday afternoon–we are having a lot of trouble with our comment box and spam filters.  If a filter is on, no comments get through. Without the filter, the site gets about 100 spams a day!  If any of you have some corrective action to recommend to remedy the problem, I’d gladly welcome it.  In the meantime, if you leave a comment, it may take longer than usual to appear on the site.

Happy crafting, sewing and cooking everyone!
~ Erin

Katie’s Once Upon a Thread, Chapter 3 is drawing to a close and I couldn’t resist playing along with my Lola Pajama Pillow.  

The pillow is a small quilted sham in which Nora’s PJs (such as these) can be tucked out of sight each morning.  It’s big enough to hold a blanket too, so it could also make a cute “going to grandmas” overnight travel accessory.

My children’s book inspiration is I Am NOT Sleepy and I WILL NOT Go to Bed by Lauren Child.

I am drawn to all of Lauren Child’s books as much for her illustrative style, which combines textiles and real paper elements with Ms. Child’s sketched drawings, as for her infectious and charming characters.

I am NOT Sleepy is one of a series of stories (based upon the Charlie and Lola television series) about a little girl (I am guessing 4-5 years old) and her older brother Charlie. Charlie is often tasked with keeping his capricious sister in line–in this case, he has the monumental job of getting her ready for bed.  Lola pulls out every stalling technique in her arsenal and several make-believe animals all to avoid going to bed. Will Charlie succeed?  

As for my sewing project, I selected a trifecta of illustrations from this bedtime book that would make for perfect embellishments for Nora’s PJ pillow–Lola in her pajamas, her toothbrush and toothpaste, and her favorite snack: strawberry milk (for my daughter, it matters only that the milk is pink). 

The finished pillow uses a combination of linen, quilter’s cotton, vintage sheets, and, for the toothpaste tube and pink milk, a few scraps of Umbrella Prints left over from my Trimmings Pack.  And if you look closely, you’ll see the real 1/4″ buttons I used on the front of Lola’s pajamas.

I’ve used one of my favorite techniques–raw edge applique–to apply the pictures to the pillow front.  Here’s where I traced the shirt to the vintage sheets for Lola’s pajamas: 

A few more mid-process shots:

Once I finished up the design, I quilted it to a neutral interior fabric (with a bamboo batting sandwiched in between for stability and shaping).  The finished dimensions of the front are approximately 12″x14″.  

The 2 back panels are also quilted with a curly-q design similar to something I saw in the book.  The dimensions of these panels are 12″x9″–which provides about 4″ of overlap on the back of the pillow and easy access to the PJs within.  Here’s a shot of the back:

The raw edges of the back panels are finished with the same binding trim I used for the piping around the outside border.

Finally, here’s the construction of the pillow, showing the right sides of the two back panels against that right side of the front panel.  You can see me starting to pin in place the piping to be  sandwiched in between all these layers:

I can’t lie, this final step was a gigantic pain to sew because of all the layers (upwards of 8 in some places if you count the batting layers).  But remarkably it came out pretty well when turned to the right side. This type of opening is ideal for a quilted pillowcase such as this one since you can turn it to the right side through the finished opening.  Otherwise, you’d have to leave a 4-6″ opening and then try to hand stitch it closed after turning.

If I were to make the pillow again I would make the overall final dimensions a bit smaller (so the pajamas really fill up the pillow). I also think wider seam allowances, including that on the piping, would also make assembly a bit easier.  None of this seems to bother Miss N, however!

We’re off to bed!

Happy Crafting!

~Erin