Family Heirloom Revival

I could spend all day in an antique store and be happy as a clam.  In fact, a few times I've come close!  Antique, craft and fabric stores are my Bermuda Triangle.

The vintage sewing machine pictured above lives in my Grandma's house.  To say she loves antiques is an understatement.  Let's just put it this way - her rotary phone looks out of place.  However, by no means is her house cluttered with her vintage possessions.  Most of them are in use; which brings me to today's blog topic - the re-purposed family heirloom.

A little over a year ago, I acquired a stash of aprons that were sewn and worn by Rowan's Great Grandma Ardiel (AKA Rowan's Dad's Mom's Mom).  I kept one, passed some around to other family members and...hastily took one apart.  Of course, that's the one I used for my project, so unfortunately, I don't have a before picture.  I wish the 'March 2010 Me' had a little more forethought and a little less pregnancy-brain.

I can't imagine how long it took Ardiel to embroider the names of her family onto that apron.  'March 2010 Me' knew that no one would be brave enough to don such an apron for fear of staining it.  It definitely deserved a revamp.  I used the spring tote tutorial from Homemade By Jill to transform the apron into a functional shopping bag.  The little pocket on the apron was removed and sewn to the bag lining.

Add a little Rowan...

...and it's a birthday gift for my mother-in-law!  Rowan's Grandma Avis is moving to Abu Dhabi (after spending the previous year in Kuwait) at the beginning of August to begin a two year teaching contract. We will miss her very much!

Handmade Summer Hat

It's it hot and humid where you are?  Holy heck.  My hair is doing 'fantastic' things today.  The only way I'm getting through this day is by constantly sitting in front of a fan.  Yeah....fan, not A/C unit.  Because I'm just THAT into antiques and the 'old school' lifestyle.  In reality, I'm just cheap and not really bothered by the fact that for a few days out of the year it's unbearably hot.

Perhaps later Rowan and I will find an excuse to go to an air conditioned store.  Like Bulk Barn!  I'm in the process of planning R-man's 1st birthday party, so I want to scope out their shaped baking pan selection.  You can rent them for $2 per day.  Fan-freaking-tabulous if you ask me!

Regardless of how hot it is, Rowan doesn't leave home without his new hat.

I created my own pattern from another hat that I purchased, I think it turned out pretty well.  I found the mini buckle at Fabricland.  So much easier than ties!

I would love to do a tutorial, but I have to tweak the pattern a little bit.  Stay tuned!

Last but not least - I really want to do a giveaway!  Visit A Handmade Tale's Facebook page and 'Like' it if you haven't already.
100 'Likes' = FREE STUFF! 

MADE Beach Robe

This is the greatest summer project EVER!

The pattern can be purchased from Dana at MADE.  I was really pleased with the way it sewed up; my only complaint is the type of towel I chose.  I liked the stripes, it reminded me of retro men's pajamas, but...

...it has a very high pile and frays like a #@&*^$!!  Even with diligent zigzag stitches over every single raw edge.  Bugger!  Regardless, it only took me 2.5 hours, so I will be making another one with a different type of towel.  It's such a great idea to keep little ones cozy while drying off.

Strawberry season is pretty much over.  Yesterday I panicked and picked 19 L of berries.  Yeah...not the best idea. 

 I turned 9 L of it into jam, gave a few litres away, and I guess I'll freeze the rest.  Haha!! Silly me.
 

 ~BEACH ROBE OUT TAKE~

Dyed Feathers

Recently, a fellow blogger asked me to make her a fascinator: eggplant coloured flower, teal feathers.  Awesome pairing!  Eggplant satin - no problem.  Teal feathers?  Uhhhhh.....

I wasn't sure where to find such a thing without making a trip to Toronto.  There are feathers available at craft stores but they just weren't the right colours. 

Well, I figured that all the feathers for boas and crafts are dyed somehow, so I did some online research.  The first site I found talked about acid dyes.  That just seemed....scary.   Especially with a 10.5 month old in the house who somehow gets into E V E R Y T H I N G. 

I've used Rit fabric dyes before, (their colour remover is most excellent for keeping whites white) so I went on their website and found a tutorial on how to dye feathers.  Huzzah!

I used white and Guinea feathers that I bought from Michael's.  The Guinea feathers were kind of a waste of time, they didnt' seem to absorb much colour no matter how long they were left in.

Rinsed feathers drying.

They looked so great with the flower, but I wanted a few with more contrast, so I did some later with a lighter teal.

It was hard to let this fascinator go!  I'm so glad that I ventured into dying feathers, it's going to save me a LOT of money!

From what I understand, acid dyes will give a more intense colour.  Maybe one day I will fiddle around with that.  For now, I'm happy with the all-purpose dyes.

Owl Applique

Hey readers.  I need your help!! 

I made this little owl applique for one of Rowan's onesies (I used the template from the crinkly owl taggies), but it just feels....unfinished.

Does it need something more?  Feet?  I'm just not sure.

P.S. I LOVE the background fabric.  I'm sewing up a few pillow covers for a friend of mine, and this is one of the patterns she picked from Tonic Living.

Art by Rowan

Rowan's Dad is an artist.  A GREAT artist.  For Father's Day, I thought it would be cool for little dude to create a masterpiece to give as a gift.

Add caption

 I was hoping to capture at least one photo of Rowan in action, but this 10 month old artist needed a lot of help and lost interest quickly.   His footprints proved to be a challenge too; however they turned out much better than I had anticipated.  Bonus: I didn't get ink everywhere!

Instead of framing the picture, I nabbed a 'Collage It' travel mug from Starbucks.

Functional art!

Anna's Dress

Excuse my absence.  My poor computer was on life-support for the better part of a week.  I honestly thought I that might lose EVERYTHING in the attempt to revive it.  I felt like Carrie Bradshaw (in SATC's season 4 episode: My Motherboard My Self) that week.  "When was the last time you backed-up?"  Uhhhhhhhhh.....people actually do that?

I didn't lose everything.  And I now have a spiffy, glossy red external hard drive to prevent such a catastrophe. 

I've been working on my very own little-gal dress pattern for a while now. 

My hope is that I'll be able to perfect it soon so that I can share the pattern and tutorial will all of you! 

This is proto-type number one, version two.  Version one was WAYYYY too big and had some piping sewn in between the bodice and skirt.  The skirt was also a bit short, so I lengthened it with an extra ruffle.  I still have a few tweaks to make, but overall pretty pleased!

The owner!

 So far, this pattern is for 12-18 month old babes, but prototype number two will be a size smaller.

 He's such a happy little model :)