i madonnari

Happy Memorial Day! (to all of you in the U.S.)  I didn't spend anytime sewing this weekend, but we did work in two barbeques, a trip to the pool and a visit to this:

I Madonnari, the Italian street painting festival held at the Santa Barbara Mission each year.

We went on the second day, so very few of the paintings (made with chalk) were finished.   But this is actually my favorite part of the process ... seeing it all unfold.  I love the contrast between the unfinished portions and the carefully blended, stunningly painted sections.

This one, of the Santa Barbara Tea Fire, was one of my favorites:

I'm amazed at the talent of these artists, and their ability to sit on tiny pieces of cardboard or carpet for three days straight (many of them in full sun).  It must be so exhausting!   And to think, with the next rain all their hard work will be washed away.

invites and envelopes

My little brother got married last month and I was able to help make invites and menus for the family dinner the night before the wedding.

The dinner was held at a restaurant located on The Hill in St. Louis, a historic Italian neighborhood loaded with delicious places to eat.  Favazza's calls itself "The Rose of the Hill," so my mom asked me to create something to go with the rose theme.

I used my Silhouette machine and the digital software to create the invitations and dinner menus.  I loved the convenience of not having to do any measuring and cutting by hand, but you definitely could do it without a machine.  On the invitation, the rose was a delicate cut-out, so the red backing showed through.

I used the L Letterpress to monogram the envelopes with silver ink.  So simple, but adds a nice touch!

Rose Cake

A couple of weeks ago, my mother-in-law had a birthday, which was the perfect occasion to try out the Rose Cake Tutorial from I Am Baker.  It is really beautiful (and a lot easier than it looks). 

While mine isn't as perfect as the original, it definitely was a fun first attempt, and something I'll try again.  In the future, I'll use a larger star tip on my icing bag.

My favorite new way of finding new tutorials is through Pinterest.com.  I know, old news to the internet world ... but I have been using it for the last several months to organize craft ideas, and I am totally hooked!  I used to have a miles-long bookmark list in my internet browser, and now I have neatly arranged inspiration boards, complete with pretty photos.  LOVE!  You can check out my pinterest boards here.  My "food" board cracks me up because it is 99% baked goods that I'm not even allowed to eat (still gluten-free over here.  bah-humbug).  

stegosaurus hoodie

My next project for the Kids Clothes Week Challenge was to make a stegosaurus hoodie for Oscar.  It has been far too long since I have sewn something for my little guy.

I used the Urban Unisex Hoodie pattern by Heidi & Finn.  To change it up a little bit, I added stegosaurus plates up the back and hood (not terribly creative, I know, but Oscar is a dinosaur fanatic).  The only modification to the pattern was to split the back piece in half and a small seam allowance for sewing it back together.

I drafted the stegosaurus plates myself.  They are two layers of jersey fabric with fusible fleece interfacing in between.  Truth be told, I would make the plates much smaller if I were to do this again.  But Oscar thinks it is great, and that's what matters, right?

You might think a hoodie is a strange project so close to summer, but you kind of need a jacket in the evenings year-round in Santa Barbara.  Since this is slightly large on him, it should get a lot of use.

For the outer fabric, I used an incredibly soft XL men's t-shirt that I found at a thrift store.  The polka dot lining is Michael Miller's Interlock Knit Ta Dot in aqua.

Hooray for dinosaurs, and hooray for little boys who still get excited about the things their mamas sew for them.

Peekaboo Bonnet

Last night I didn't get any sewing done for KCWC, so I am going to cheat and show you Ruby's bonnet today.

It was made with the Peekaboo Bonnet pattern at Made by Rae.  The large brim provides awesome sun coverage for your little one's face, and as a bonus, is completely reversible!  It got rave reviews from the mamas in my playgroup this morning.

spring kcwc day 1

Here are the results from last night's Kid's Clothing Week Challenge efforts - a little peasant top and leggings for Ruby.

The top was made from the Sweet Little Dress pattern by Leila and Ben.  I shortened it to tunic length and left the elastic off the sleeves to change things up a bit.  The fabric is Amy Butler's Lotus Wall Flower in cherry.

The leggings are a Lil' Blue Boo pattern, which I lengthened, widened to a straight leg, and added decorative buttons at the ankles.  A very fast pattern was made even easier by reusing an old pair of yoga pants, so I didn't even have to hem them.  I love that.

Also, this photo is courtesy of my new camera, which arrived just this afternoon (yay!).  Thanks for all the camera advice.  I stuck with my trusty Canon PowerShot, but upgraded to the SX130 IS.  I have only tested it a little bit so far, but it seems great!  Sorry to disappoint you SLR diehards ... I just can't face the thought of one right now.  I already haul two kids and an overloaded diaper bag everywhere I go ... I don't have the strength for a camera bag, too!  :)

yellow seersucker pants

Hi friends.  I hope all the ladies out there had a fabulous mother's day.  Jared treated me to a new camera, so it is on its way ... hurray!  Until then, he took a few photos for me over the weekend with his fancy phone.

I made these pants for Oscar ages ago, and just haven't found the time to catch them in action.  He is a very busy boy.

Have you tried Dana's Kid Pants Pattern?  It is free, and awesome.  I love having a son so close in age to her Owen so I can take advantage of all her fabulous boy tutorials.

For these pants, I combined a whole bunch of Dana's tutorials and made them flat front, lined, with back pockets, and flat front pockets (the pork chop style).  Phew.  The yellow seersucker made for super cute Easter slacks.

Just for fun, here is an action shot of Oscar doing what he does best ... playing in the dirt!

 
Are you sewing with Elsie Marley for Kids Clothing Week Challenge?  It starts today.  I was somehow able to make it happen last session, and by golly, I'm going to do my best this week.

broken camera :(

My camera broke this week, which is a real shame because I made a very cute project last night.  Have you seen the new Peekaboo Sunbonnet pattern at Made by Rae?  I made one for Ruby and it is adorable.  Hopefully I'll have photos to share next week!

Anyone have a recommendation for a great point-and-shoot?  I'm not ready to make the leap to an SLR.

summer bucket hat

Remember when I used to post on a regular basis?  That was fun.  Sorry for the long hiatus, but I was in St. Louis visiting my (really awesome) family.  I had planned on posting a little bit, but then, eh ... I didn't feel like it.  Instead I went on too many trips to the local frozen custard place, made late night taco runs with my little brother, and hung out with my mom and dad.  And one of my brothers got married!  It was all very exciting.

Less exciting was the weather there - it rained almost everyday!  So imagine my pleasure at returning to Santa Barbara where it feels like full-blown summer.  We are going swimming today.  Hurrah!

Ruby was in need of a sun hat.

Earlier this month I celebrated a birthday and my sweet sister sent me a copy of Oliver + S Little Things to Sew, by Liesl Gibson.  It is fantastic!  I seriously want to make every single project in the book, but especially have big plans for the puppet theater project for Ruby's first birthday, which is coming up fast.

My first pick was the bucket hat, which I made out of some cute Amy Butler fabric.  The pattern was perfectly easy and came together in just a few hours. 

Ruby's favorite part of her new hat is taking it off.  I think I need to add a chin strap (did you notice my hand holding the hat down on her head in the top photo?).

Oscar has already requested his own hat (with a truck on it).