No diaper bag in NOLA.

Ok, I said I was gone for the week, but I had to show you what I made for our vacation. I'm a little excited because I've never made something with a zipper before. (Which is embarrassing to admit.)

 Turns out, it was pretty easy thanks to this tutorial.  They even show you how to do it without a zipper foot, which is great, since I was too lazy to find mine. My only edit for next time would be to leave the little pull tab off. I find it pointless. I still love my new wristlet though!


(I may become addicted to wristlets and make this one and this one and this one.)

Some Customer Appreciation :)

My friend from Florida purchased one of my first monsters out of the shop for her baby boy, Slade. (So I named this monster after him.) She sent me a couple customer appreciation photos of Slade with Douglas, which of course made me so happy :)

How adorable is that? It's true- babies love monsters.

She requested a special order of stuffed blocks for him too, which I finished today:

Quick poll- should I start selling custom letter blocks in the shop? Would anyone else be interested? It's a thought... 

Also, We are leaving for New Orleans on Sunday! And leaving HG with my parents!! So I won't be back on the blog until after next week, but I'm sure I'll have good stuff to share from the trip. It's one of our favorite places in the world- can't wait!

Where I buy fabric

I've heard this question several times lately, so I thought I'd do a little summation for you. The short answer is: ONLINE.

I do have a Jo-Ann's within walking distance from my house, and I usually visit about once a week. But I don't often love their patterned prints. These trips are for other supplies and notions like thread, interfacing, stuffing, fusible web, etc. In fact, just this week I saw the best ever list of sewing supplies to have on hand here on Noodlehead. But the secret to Jo-Ann's is to make sure you sign up for their weekly emails and mailer. I never buy anything significant there without a 40-50% coupon.

But back to the good stuff- pretty fabric.

Here's a short list of websites: (I hit up the sale sections first of course)

• Hawthorne Threads- Always have the newest designer collections, and be sure sign up for their e-newsletter with weekly giveaway.
• Fabric Worm- Tons of selection. I could get lost.
• Sew Mama Sew- Some good sales, and I'm sure you've heard of their blog- tons of tutorials and helpful stuff.
• Phat Fabric- Lots of cute Japanese imports.
• Repro Depot- This one is closed for the summer, but bookmark it anyway, because they have the best vintage reproductions.
• The Fabric Bar- Really want to get my hands on some of their ribbon and trims. 

Also, lately I like to just get on Etsy supplies and search "sale fabric." You will find a very random selection this way, but some good prices. Here are a few shops I have been very pleased with:

• Down Shadow Lane
• Buttercuppity Fabric
• Maili (I heart Marimekko!)

I think that's about it.... oh, I also love Ikea fabric (duh) and am lucky enough to have one in my city.

Thinking about all this fabric makes me happy about the possibilities, and frustrated that I don't have a limitless fabric budget. You know, so I can make a skirt out of this very expensive and wondrous stuff:

A dress for cheaters.

This morning I made the easiest dress ever. It was such a cheat project that I don't even feel right claiming that I made it.

I bought a cut of pre-shirred fabric at Jo-Ann's. Then I just sewed it into a tube and hemmed it to the length I wanted. Then I made a strap from the leftover. So easy. I've been wanting to make it the non-wussy way, like in this video. But I'm all for short-cuts. Of course, the lazy way only gives very limited fabric choices, and this wouldn't have been my first. But I like it well enough. 

One day, I will actually shirr something myself and I will actually make a dress using a pattern. Then I won't feel like a fraud seamstress :)

Today's crafting music: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I bought their album a while back thanks to Carmen, but then I forgot about it for a while. I've started listening to it again and I LOVE it. I would love to see them live. Anyone going to any good shows this summer? 

Fourth Attire

I'm usually not into having HG in themed outfits for every holiday, but when I saw this shirt at I Am Momma Hear Me Roar, I really wanted to make something like it. (She does the best stuff to boy's t-shirts!) Anyway, I had a few minutes this afternoon so I attempted it. I didn't look at her pattern, just whipped something up real quick. I also didn't have a solid blue shirt so I used a striped one. I think I would have liked the outcome better if it had been solid, but it's ok. This is more stars and stripes-y I guess.

Her instructions say to use saran-wrap to get the distressed look, but I just used foil and it worked fine. When I got done the star looked funky, so I lightly outlined it with a red fabric marker, which made it look much better. And you can't really tell that it's a different color red. 

I'm still considering going back and just making the star part solid white. Any thoughts? I might just have to wait til it dries and I can put it on him to make any decisions.

Anyway, if you have never tried freezer paper stenciling anything, I highly recommend it. I would link to a tutorial for you, but there are about a zillion, just google it. It's very easy and fun. You can also do it with watered-down bleach in a spray bottle instead of fabric paint. This obviously takes the color out of the stencil. I did a couple shirts for my brothers this way a while back and it was very fun.

A Good Weekend

Friday night was very exciting because Fyrefly Photography opened up their new studio! It looks absolutely beautiful. Lots of friends came out to say hi and have a drink and celebrate how far the business has come in just a little over a year. We think of Nathan and Edie and their kids like family, and now Nick is second shooting weddings most every weekend with Nathan. Also, I do some blogging/ childcare/ bag-making for him. So we feel like it's the family biz. It was a fun night.

Here is a little peek of the space. I think I'll have to show you more of it later this week, because it is full of great vintage styling you will love. Too bad I'm not a photographer myself, but you'll get the idea.

That night was a monthly event here in our neighborhood called "Oakley Afterhours," where all the businesses on the square stay open late and have special things going on. So Nick played some tunes for Red Tree Gallery and Coffee Shop, just around the corner from the new studio. Yeah, he's pretty good.

And my monsters also made their debut at Red Tree that day! Besides the really good art they have on the wall each month, they also sell lots of very cool handmade goods from local artists. I'm excited to have them for sale "in the flesh."

And lastly, my friend Kara just informed me that one of the monsters was included in an Etsy Finds collection on their blog and daily email. WHAT? The crazy thing is, my other friend Olivia from Palette Theory has an item in the same collection! I think she is the only other person I know with an etsy shop. There are only like a gazillion different items on etsy- what are the odds of that?? See it here. (Scroll down to the bottom.)

Toddlers just gotta dance.

So we don't watch TV in our house, but have recently introduced Hendrix to the wonders of youtube (not all of the wonders, mind you.) It's a double edged sword- a quick video here and there is a great distraction when I need him to, um, be distracted. But then when video time is over he has to be distracted again or else a big tantrum ensues. Also, he now thinks every computer and iphone in the world exists exclusively for him to watch videos, and he starts dancing and whining as soon as he sees one. (Cue all parents marveling at how babies these days can use phones and computers... then we all realize what geezers we are for saying it.)

This is by far the best kid's video I have found yet on youtube. HG goes nuts for it, and I don't find it terribly annoying- the perfect combo.



A close second-




Anyone know any other good ones? They are hard to find. The annoying techno gummy bear song, however, is easy to find in a dozen languages. SO WEIRD.