Shorty come home.

I made shorts for Hendrix! I wish I had tried this much sooner because I would not have bought him any new pairs this summer. It was easy with this tutorial.  

  

I made them from an old men's button up I bought at a thrift store a while back. Ugly prints on men's shirts= very cute toddler shorts. 

The pocket from the front of the shirt conveniently becomes a back pocket. This shirt only had one pocket, but with a two pocket shirt, you could have them on both sides. 
  

I made a couple mistakes, but I couldn't believe how cute they turned out! I think I will be making his every pair of shorts until he decides he is too cool for elastic waist. That's still cool in high school right?  

New Orleans in iPhonography

   

(I can't take credit for these. I'm not the one with the hip phone.)

Trombones. So hot right now.

 

  A view from the Mississip.   

You MUST eat at Jacques imo's. Not an option. Plus, you get to meet this guy.

Nick got to play a little. Backed by Bob Marley, no less.

Wouldn't Be complete without a visit to spotted cat. Or three.   

these dancers were SO good.  

  

 protection marks for a Voodoo Queen.

When is Cincinnati going to get it's streetcars? I love them.

Alligator sausage!

A little irony at the aquarium.

A Banksy at the museum!   

  

The most insane quilt I've ever seen.

No really, it was nuts.  

I love this. Although, I see nothing wrong with a little REO in moderation ;)

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.