Recycled!

Ernest and Eileen had another baby!

So, how surprised was I to receive a photo from Eileen with New Baby Cuteness in her older brother's recycled fleur-de-lis onesie I made 2 years ago!

As we say in Louisiana when we see something cute ~~ shaaaaaa!

Birthday T-shirt

Embellished a couple T-shirts for Baby Cutie's first birthday. Eileen and Ernest are hosting a crawfish boil/birthday party for him so motif shirts were in order. Please to enjoy.

Crawfish/lobster motif drawn onto back of WonderUnder paperbacked fusible web. Image trimmed. Ironed to shirt. Appliqued with fast and sloppy stitching. After laundering, the orange knit fabric will curl up and look even more distressed (in a good way).

Numeral drawn onto shirt with water erasable pen. Outline stitched and filled in with little seed stitches. Super fast and super easy. Just like your ma.

Office supplies to art

My buddy Ernest knows me to be a hoarder of potential craft supplies so passed on some buttons and fabric samples from his buying office. I peeled off the buttons and fabric and even the backer boards went in the stash.

Look what my mom did with them ~ fleur de lis image on reverse side of the black sample boards. Ernest will be proud.

Fashion Friday

Okay, I appreciate Liberty of London as much as anyone but kinda weary of seeing every dang blog showing their Target run for the floral prints from the very esteemed English fabric house.

I picked up a couple things, in LONDON, THIRTY YEARS ago so let's just get that little nasty bit of snobbery out of the way. Sigh.

Oh, crap, forgot take photo of my English souvenirs. Karma getting me back for my arrogance.

My buddy Ernest was on a Paul Smith kick several years ago. Y'know, this look that was copied over and over again?

One day I see Ernest when what did I spy with my little eye but a pretty floral necktie.



I asked "who" he was wearing. Paul Smith.
It doesn't look like Paul Smith,

I say, as if I know more about men's fashion than Ernest, who attends fabric and fashion shows in Europe and is a buyer for a major luxury department store corporation.
It reminds me of Liberty of London, I tell him.
He patiently tells me that it is Liberty of London fabric but designed by Paul Smith.

Anywho, last week I went to Target for something else but couldn't help but to be impressed with the Liberty of London offerings. I mean, the coordination of merchandise from clothing to stationery to office organizing bins was too tempting.

Trying to fight my t-shirt and tailored inner voice, I picked up a ruffled blouse. Ruffles? Yep. I don't even like the potato chips by that name. Last time I wore ruffles was on a Gunne Sax dress and I wasn't real happy about it then.

Alright, alright, here's the blouse. You're right, the pond scum green called to me.

Except that it was hung backwards.

I liked the simple ruffle look.

This is the front.

With a cute fabric covered button and keyhole opening.

Got it home and tried it. So not me. Too ruffle-y. Not loving the sleeveless look with ruffles. Fabric where I don't want it, no fabric where I do want it. HOWEVER, thinking of making a summer blouse with a touch of femininity and getting out of the t-shirt rut.

Returned the blouse and came home with these.

The life of one free shirt

Brother-in-law received a freebie shirt for participating in a golf tournament but never wore it so sis Rikki Tikki Tavi gave it to me to add to my thrift store drop-off but I had an idea for it. Remembering a sewing revamp online, I cut it into an easy and casual skirt.
With the remaining fabric, I made a This Mama Makes Stuff baby gown and sent it to Baby Cutie, son of Ernest and Eileen.
Eileen told me that Baby Cutie wore it as a small baby and just today sent me a pic of him (9 months) wearing it as a shirt with jeans.
Hey, exactly what is Cutie sneaking out of that wine 'frig? He's a quick learner, I tell ya!

Introducing the Lightning Boys

The brat nephews gave away Super Hero capes at the eldest's themed birthday party last month and their mom Rikki Tikki Tavi bought just enough black fabric for two capes for them. They like Star Wars, Super Heroes and Harry Potter so the color black is key.

Did they want to add some of the way cool reflective silvery gray fabric sample that Ernest sent me? They liked the reflective sheen and one brat suggested a lightning symbol. Because they seem to have opinions on everything (wonder where that came from?), I even asked their thread preference. Would you think a 7 year would even care? Surprise. AND it was the correct decision. The gray thread does "disappear", just like he said it would.

People give me stuff - fabulous fabric

Ernest sent some fabulous fabric from his menswear office in Manhattan. If I told you the name of the company, he would get in trouble and you would be green with envy. Feast your eyes:

Top to bottom:

• Black and ecru houndstooth light weight wool
• Black twill
• Grey cashmere
• Black and ecru pinstripe linen
• Khaki twill
• Ecru and navy stripe twill
  

Check out the gray cashmere. It is soft and yummy. And I love it because the color doesn't fit my rut of black black black. Ernest's gift is forcing me to expand my horizons. I cannot imagine how much this fabric would cost at retail $ per yard.

Thinking the gray will become a knee length gored skirt. What say you? Thoughts? Opinions?

Elllllllessssssuuuuuuuu!

Had a tiny purple remnant from the Ernest fabric pile and made a tiny hiney skirt for a Louisiana State University loving little girl. Ernest will be proud, proud I tell ya since his home town is Baton Rouge.

(Yes, I agree the ribbon is too long but the little girl mama will trim it to desired length.)

My mom is right. It is easy, fast and fun to make clothing for those without hips and curves.

UPDATE: I asked Ernest for fabric content for care instructions and he told me it is silk dupioni! How many LSU skirts are silk?

Covering my hole(s)!

Eons ago, my good buddy Ernest gave me some fabulous high-end fabric used for men's custom suits and jackets and last year, I finally cut it for a winter skirt during Chrysanthemum's and my skirt sewing marathon. After sewing the side seams, I realized there were a few holes in the fabric. The holes didn't look like moth holes but rather clips from careless scissor handling. Foo-ey! I loved the fabric, what to do?

Well, I said it before, I'll say it again, necessity is mother fucker of invention so I snipped some leaf shaped tweed scraps, ironed them on with that WonderUnder fusible web, did fast and sloppy applique stitch around the leaf and embroidered a meandering vine.
I used the same tweed fabric and iron-on petal idea on this little girl skirt.

For the price of FREE, what's not to like about this skirt?

Skirt from scraps

Last May, Chrysanthemum and I did another skirt marathon with summer fabrics. She graciously left behind her fabric scraps and I found there was juuuuuust enough of the sheer paisley print for a shorter skirt for sister RikkiTikkiTavi. Happily, Ernest sent me a box of varied fabrics last month and this cool purple is perfect for an under layer.

Over the weekend, I ignored overdue tasks in the house and used every shortcut I could think of to sew this skirt.

Shortcuts:

• Used RikkiTikkiTavi's favorite skirt as a pattern


• Serged the sheer fabric side seams


• Serged the purple underlay side seams and hem


• Joined sheer and purple layers at the top with foldover elastic


• Straight stitched the purple hem


• DID NOT hem the sheer layer but left the raw and cool looking selvage edge.

Complete and really cute! Another FREE skirt!

Hope to have a photo of Rik in skirt soon.

Ernest gives me stuff

Looka! 2 meters of waaaay pricey black pinstriped wool!!

Stuff I Didn't Even Photograph

Ernest has been ON MY ASS to stitch up 2 table leaf storage bags since February and I had no problem promising him I would do it but there was always something else calling to me from the SkitzoLeezra Studio. After sending his first spawn a box full of baby stuff, he reminded me AGAIN about the bags. Well, even if I had 6 months to make them and I procrastinated the entire time, I hate feeling rushed and under pressure. I envisioned 2 matching lined sturdy bags with nice closures and perhaps a carrying strap. CANCEL

Instead I pirooted through my fabric stash and found I had enough denim to make one bag and not enough (appropriately heavy) fabric for the other. Trixie to the rescue! She gave me (people give me stuff!) a heavy weight tablecloth with a slight stain and ~~ahhh~~ it was the perfect size! 2 super long bags with boxed bottom corners and I was finished! A buttonhole was stitched to top so a fold-over flap would be formed. The table leaf storage bags were packaged with the second baby loot box and shipped to Connecticut. And guess what? Ernest loved them! I was kinda ashamed of the simplicity but he was happy to have them. Eileen tells me that he liked the simple bags more than the baby stuff. MORE than the things that took me weeks to make.