Fabric Heaven

While at my sister's wedding, I set aside one morning to visit Mary Jo's in Gastonia, NC. I have loved exploring this place ever since I was a little girl. Mary Jo's is celebrating 58 years this year!


Mary Jo is still there everyday....you can see her in the below photo (black sweater):


















Anybody else been there? If you live nearby it is worth the drive.....the prices are incredible! No tax if you let them ship it to you over state lines!

Wedding Part V: Preview

We are back from my sister and Justin's wedding in Charlotte, NC. Every detail was perfect: the bagpipes, my dad rolling a golf ball as he walked my sister across the putting green, my dad and sister singing Rocky Top as a duet, Sienna dancing for 4 hours straight! I am not going to even post photos from the ceremony or reception until Ash Little's are ready....mine won't even do it justice. But I thought I'd post some photos from the days before right up to zipping the dress!

Here are all the gift bags and welcome baskets my sister and Justin made:


A stack of flip-flops for the bridesmaids so we wouldn't have to wear our heels at the reception:


Justin's sister Jenny made all of the jewelry for the bridesmaids....


.....and this Swarovski Crystal and pearl bracelet for Perry on her wedding day. Isn't it amazing?


Thousands of golf tees for everyone.....


Perry's shoes and part of her veil:



Sienna playing "pool" with her soon-to-be Uncle Justin:



Perry with the guys bowling at Strike City. We had the VIP room with 4 lanes and our own bar which made it SO much fun! My dad and Justin's dad are on the bottom right.


I finally got a chance to meet my 4-month-old nephew Cameron (my brother's son):


The rehearsal was COLD. Here are the ring bearers Ethan and Brady (Justin's nephews) and Sienna practicing:


Sienna and my matching dresses worked out great! Here we are with Brett and Perry at the rehearsal dinner at Duke Mansion. My sister made the most amazing video for us all to watch with video clips and photos from the years.


Perry and my brother Swen. Sienna kept trying to sneak up the stairs.


Judy, Justin's mother, used flowers from her friend's farm for the rehearsal dinner arrangements.


My mom and dad at the rehearsal. Justin was telling how he had to track my dad down at a golf tournament to ask for Perry's hand in marriage.....and finally found him in China.....but my dad corrected him that it was actually Australia. Whatever....it was STILL far!!!


Sienna getting her hair curled on the day of the wedding:


I took a photo of the photographers Ash and Harrison. I'm sure they'll cringe at the quality of the photo. Aren't they handsome?! They did the most amazing job.....everywhere I turned the whole day they were right there.


A gift from my Aunt Sharon to the couple. The photo is of our great-grandmother Mabel (Marjorie's mother) and the carving set is over a 100 years old and belonged to an woman named Marie Ammon that lived on Hermitage Court for years who had no children. My grandfather's aunt used to own a large white mansion on Hermitage Court long ago....it is now a nursing home.


Sienna gave Aunt Perry a little gift before she walked down the aisle. A necklace from Hip Mom Jewelry with Perry's new initials on it. The tag had a little diamond inset. Thanks Ann! She loved it! I added the ring charm that I had bought for my wedding years ago.


Helping Perry zip up the dress (she'll love that I posted a photo of her in mid-sentence):


Sienna being SO patient with her cousin Cameron before the ceremony:


Right before walking down the aisle....Perry loves Diet Coke as much as I do!


More to come soon! I've only been gone a week but it feels like forever! I already miss my family in NC though....and the following fast food:

Chic-Fil-A: Ate there TWO times
Bojangles: Ate there THREE times
Jersey Mikes: Ate there TWO times

So You Think Your Crafty? Week 2

I made it through to the 2nd week! This week's challenge is leaves. 9 crafters and 9 challenges remaining! Please go over and vote on your favorite "leaves" craft....can you guess which submission is mine?



Last week I made the t-shirts....I will be posting a tutorial for them at the end of this week! Too many of you guessed right to name! Although a lot of you thought I did the leaves pillows (Vanessa's) or the Harvest Dress/Dinner for Two (Dana's)....which is so flattering because those were amazing projects that I WISH I'd thought of! Congratulations to Dana for winning last week!

"One Faith"

New nursery painting finished for a little girl named Una Faith. She lives in Japan and her name means "one faith." She loves animals.


There are buttons, stitching and rhinestones for embellishments. The trees have tiny leaf-shaped buttons.


I decorated the mat with horizontal and vertical pink stripes and added an antique white oversized frame.


My favorite part: the little ants in the "H."

Meet Shari!

Shari is the only person in the whole world to have her own "subfolder" in my email inbox.......she always has the best advice, is always making something new, and I can't bear to delete any them. I especially look forward to the photos she sends and how "thrilled" her daughter looks when she has to try Shari's creations on. Finley, like Sienna, does NOT like trying on clothes that Mommy made.....and her expressions are just priceless. Check on the "mosaic" recycled t-shirt dress Shari made on the right....amazing!


Since she refuses to start her own "creative" blog (I mean, maybe she IS busy running her business Happy Chickadee, being a fabulous mother and keeping up with a gazillion other responsibilities), I've been pressuring her forever to be a guest blogger on Lil Blue Boo...and she finally caved!

Please welcome my first guest blogger....my friend (and "full-time consultant") Shari:


OK, so I've been having anxiety over writing this guest blog post for, well, months! I keep putting it off...have you seen how many creative and awesome people follow this blog? And, hello, can Ashley do anything wrong? (She's going to kill me for saying that!)

A little bit about me: My name is Shari and I'm a busy stay at home mum to 3 year old Finley. I love to sew (I am honored to be a pattern tester for Ashley), and I mostly sew things for my little girl, which she then refuses to wear. I am a lover of color and I especially love trying to make colors that don't necessarily work together, work. That basically got me through art school :) Before starting our family, I was an art dealer and I would paint when I had the time. Now, I barely have time to doodle! So sewing is a great thing for me because I can put it down and start back up without missing a beat.

You might remember a while back Ashley blogged asking us what the most unusual thing we use as decoration in our home is. I emailed Ashley a picture of mine, as I do with pretty much every project I do. She's been my crafting muse since the day we met. Anyhow, so my unusual decor item are two very old bricks from the first home my husband and I lived in. The house was demolished about 5 years ago, and I keep these old dusty bricks proudly displayed on our mantle.


The house was an adorable, tiny, not well insulated (can you say "get your ski hats out, it's 40 degrees below outside and we ran out of oil in the furnace!") little 1940's manufactured home sitting on 700 gorgeous acres in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. To me, those 2 bricks are not only beautiful, but the memories they hold are too. Needless to say, I've heard many comments such as "What are those dirty/ugly/odd/fill-in-the-adjective looking things on your mantle?" So that got me thinking about beauty, and what one considers beautiful is so relative and subjective.

I remember once years ago there was an exhibit of the worst paintings by all these absolutely famous artists. Paintings we would look at and probably say "wow." But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and not only that, let's face it, we all screw up our projects sometimes, even famous artists like Picasso, or bloggers like Ashley. ;)

So today I ask you: what is your craft project gone bad?

Sadly, I have a slew of items to pick from. Let me see, it could be the terrible rust colored dress I made my daughter using an old silk shirt of my husbands. Ashley said "It's cute" in an email. but I could tell by the lack of exclamation marks, it certainly was not. What was I thinking? My child looks like she belongs in Little House on the Prairie in this one!

Or maybe it's my first pair of pants that I sewed. I somehow managed to sew it so that the front of the pants were made up of a front and back panel, same with the back of the pants of course, and even better yet, I sewed them upside down.

The topper of failed projects may have been dinner last month. It was my husband's 40th birthday, and I decided to try out a bunch of new recipes. The fritters were tossed before they were even served. The linguine in a curry cream sauce was miserable, somehow the cream sauce decided to separate and coagulate. Yuck. And, the chocolate peanut butter ice cream I made resembled the texture of what my husband described as "curdled milk." Nothing like a fine meal to say "Happy Birthday!" eh?

Oh, and I nearly forgot the bird mobile that plagued me, and even after Ashley lent me some drill tips and I labored over the thing forever, I ended up back at Ashley's house with a bag full of 9 sewn birds and said "Here you go, you figure out what to do with these, cause I don't want to see them in my house anymore!" (They now peek over Ashley's fabric piles as she sews. By the way, does anyone else in the world have such neat fabric piles, or am I crazy to think that Ashley is indeed Superwoman?!)

Anyhow, so my point of this blog post....as we all struggle to make gorgeous things every day, and keep up with the Picasso's and Ashley's of the world, let's take a moment and give a standing ovation to our failed projects. Without them, how could we appreciate all the beauty we otherwise create?

I hope you guys want to share some of your failed projects stories...it would be nice to know I'm not alone!

Happy day everyone...Ashley will be back soon, promise! :)

Shari

Domo arigato, Lil Miss Roboto....

Singer posted this photo on their facebook page yesterday......remember the Singer/Instructables Kids Craft Contest?

My beanbags won one of the prizes....a sewing machine and an Instructables t-shirt. Thanks everyone that voted! The sewing machine was a nice suprise.....but the robot t-shirt was money!!! Sienna loves robots....so I made the shirt into a dress. Sienna does an outstanding robot dance.....

Today we are off to Charlotte, North Carolina for my sister's week of wedding festivities! So excited! Poor Diesel has to stay behind with the house sitter.

I've got a bunch of stuff set up to post this week......so the blog won't be neglected! Talk to you soon!

So You Think You're Crafty? Week 1

It starts today!!! 10 Weeks - 10 Crafters - 10 Challenges.....and YOU get to decide who wins!


Please go vote! Can you guess which entry is mine?! Leave me a comment....I can't wait to see who guesses right!



I hope I don't get kicked off the first week! But it is going to be competitive! I am so excited to see who made what! I'll be guessing right along with you!

I "Heart" Tie Dye

I love mixing bright tie-dye fabrics into the clothes I make.....so when Fave Crafts sent me a Tulip tie-dye kit to review I was psyched! I used two of the packets to make about 4 yards of "heart" tie-dye fabric.


I only used 2 colors for this batch: black and teal. It covered A LOT of fabric.


First, I soaked the fabric yardage in hot water with about 1/2 cup of salt (I was out of soda ash). I folded it in half and then in half again so it was 4 layers.....and laid it on a plastic drop cloth.


Then I traced a "half-heart" template using my disappearing ink pen onto a few of the edges.


I bunched up the fabric following along the line I drew.....


.....and secured with a rubber band. I repeated this in several other places.


I used one-third packet of each dye and mixed with hot water into these 6 oz squirt bottles.


I covered the heart shapes first.....


.....ten randomly covered the rest of the fabric, turning it over and covering the bottom side as well.


Then I folded up the plastic drop cloth around the fabric and let it sit overnight.


Opening it up it has little heart shapes throughout....perfect to cut up into sleeves and skirts for the dresses I like to make! Or just a knit shirt:


Holy cow my arm looks long in the above picture.....GO GO GADGET ARM!!


Fave Crafts has an eBook that features 28 free fabric dye craft projects organized by 18 different dye techniques, with step-by-step photo instructions. Click here for the free eBook!

Wedding Part IV: Countdown!

We leave in a few days! I'm so excited I can barely stand it. I'm almost ready to leave.....just checking stuff off my list.

I finished "Boo's" flower girl dress today. I used Simplicity Pattern 4647....but seriously, who writes these things. Once I trashed the instructions and just tried to figure it out on my own.....it got a lot easier. Why do these patterns OVER-explain how to sew a piece of fabric together and then don't show any detail for a zipper or slip? Who decided that was a good idea? I also can think of a million ways they could have made the pattern easier! No wonder so many people think sewing is hard......

Here she is after her bath....checking her reflection out. She said "I'm like Ariel!"....I think that means she thinks she's like a princess. I was thinking of adding a flower or bow to the back....but her hair will be down so you probably won't even see it.


I had to add some "help" into MY dress: a little "help" in the chest so I'd fill it out!


I started to pack.....which included picking out some of Mr. Lil Blue Boo's ties to coordinate with our dresses.


I'm totally allowed to be jealous of my sister's engagement photos. I didn't even HAVE an engagement photo. Ok....so I'm not that into being photographed.....but still. Ash Little just posted these new photos (click to see the rest) and I had to give him some link love. He is photographing the wedding too......can't wait for those.....only one week left! My sister made almost EVERYTHING for the wedding so I can't wait to share that as well (she's uber-creative). Don't you think Mr. Lil Blue Boo and I should renew our vows on our 10th anniversary so Ash Little can redo our photos?!

Photo from Ash Little Photography

Photo from Ash Little Photography

I also did some "loofah-ing" and applying of self tanner today! I'm so excited to not be prego in this wedding! Here I was 2 years ago in my brother Swen's wedding. The dresses were an orange/ rust color....very pretty....but I felt like a HUGE pumpkin since I was about 7 months pregnant and swollen to the max!


I think my husband and my sister's fiance could almost be brothers! They look a lot alike. It is funny because that is sort of how Perry and Justin met. We both were down at the LPGA Merchandise show a few years ago. Justin was a vendor and Perry was there modeling for Lilly Pulitzer (they were one of her sponsors). I was just there hanging out. We randomly met Justin one night hanging out with some friends and I told Perry "he's SO cute! You have to get his number!" We tracked him down the next day at the show and the rest is history! They've been together ever since! We are all so excited for him to be part of the family....and a little worried that he'll have to put up with all of us....although he's done pretty well so far. Sienna is the MOST excited....she calls him "MY uncle Justin."

The Last of the Owls.....

I spent most of last night cutting and creating the last of the owl appliques (while I caught up on Project Runway, Flipping Out, and RH-ATL!) My hand and elbow are sore today! I'm keeping a couple for Christmas gifts and listing the rest in my Etsy store. Each set is different. This is the last of them....once they are gone they are gone forever!

A Big Day

Today was Sienna's FIRST haircut....it was a pretty big deal. It hasn't been touched in 2.5 years! Daddy met us at the Trio salon for moral support.


Right before he arrived I snapped this photo of her in the boutique portion of Trio: "HEY....look at my new underwear" is the quote of the day. I didn't post the one of her mooning the mirror. I never mind waiting at Trio because I love browsing the clothes.....especially the children's clothes.


Playing on the round pink sofa. Dress is made from an old t-shirt: Geek IS the new chic! and some knit material from Chez Ami (who is having a rockin' sale right now!)


Our friend Tara has been ready to cut Sienna's hair since she was a week old.....


.....and 2.5 years later I let her cut half an inch off!


Even Sienna's godfather Derek stopped by to discuss the cut and style (he saw us through the window on his way to a meeting.....I love living in a small town).


What toddler doesn't want her hair blown out for the first time?


Who is this child with the long luscious locks?


Sienna admiring herself in the mirror.


Oh, yeah.....I was there too.


Sienna's favorite part was playing "assistant" and helping Tara wash Daddy's hair.


Thanks Tara!

The Sawyer Dress and Lil Sawyer Dress

The Sawyer Dress is my dress design submission for Shabby Apple Dresses Dare to Design!

(Click image for larger version)

Inspiration: I wanted to create an adult version of the dresses that I make for "Boo" and what better than a "Spring" version. The pattern is obviously already in the works and maybe this will be the "push" I need to finally get the pattern finished! I love the fit of the dress I designed, I love the fabric variations, I love the yummy thread colors:


Here are some of the features I included:

:: A wide "boatneck"and slim elbow length sleeves.
:: Slightly fitted to the waist, the skirt portion of the dress follows an A-line to the horizontal seam mid-thigh and then flares out in a "pieced" tier. The dress falls to just below the knee.
:: Seams are reversed right above the bust line, at two points at the waist, mid-thigh and in the vertical center of the bottom portion of the skirt. All other seams are hidden.
:: The reversed seams are a subtle contrast color to the main color of the dress.
:: Fabric: stretch cotton or polyester/rayon/spandex blend.
:: An "inspired" girls version....with capped sleeves and similar seaming.

Hurry up! You still have time to enter! The more designs the better! Good luck to all my friends that have entered too!

Wedding Part III: Dresses and a Rad Engagement Photo

I made these matching dresses last night for my sister's rehearsal dinner....both are versions of the Sienna dress. Mine is just an adult version I cut last night. Really simple and fitted....maybe a little too fitted....might need to invest in some Spanx LOL! We don't have any full length mirrors in our house....so this little mirror in the guest room was the best I could do....



Sienna is a little grumpy today....allergies and a cold....but she likes the dress.



Check out this amazing preview of my sister and her fiance's engagement photo shoot. It was taken in downtown Charlotte, NC by Ash Little Photography. So crazy amazing.

Photo from Ash Little Photography

Scrap Ribbon Camera Strap Cover Tutorial

Here is my new camera strap cover. I made it from ribbon scraps the same way I made my daughter's scrap ribbon belt.




I had some great new ribbon to use thanks to Jennifer at Strano Designs. If you need ribbon scraps, Strano Designs sells it by the quarter pound!


Step 1: I traced my camera strap onto some plain muslin with a disappearing ink pen......


.....and added 1/8" to the outside of the traced line. Then I cut around the entire shape leaving 1/2" for the seam allowance.


Step 2: I lined up ribbon the same way I did in my scrap ribbon belt tutorial except I made sure to sew along the outside line I drew with my disappearing ink pen.


Please see my ribbon scrap belt tutorial for sewing and weaving the ribbon.....


.....and repeat the steps for the entire length of the muslin piece.


Step 3: With all the ribbon attached, iron the sides of your muslin inward on the opposite side.


Step 4: Carefully trim any excess ribbon that hangs past the muslin. I zigzagged all my edges at this point to keep the ribbon from fraying.


Step 5: Retrace your camera strap and trim the ends to the same shape leaving 1/4" excess.


Step 6: I used pre-made bias tape, and folded around the edges of the strap so it overlapped 1/4".....


....and sewed it on using an 1/8" seam. You can use regular fabric for this as well, just cut enough to go all the way around. The raw edges are left in the back.


Step 7: Trace your entire camera strap cover onto a coordinating fabric and cut all the way around leaving 1/2" excess.


Step 8: Somewhere on one of the sides, mark a 4" gap to leave open so that you can insert your strap when the cover is done.


Step 9: Fold the contrasting fabric all way around at the 1/2" mark.


Step 10: Topstitch 1/8" between the two marks you made for the gap.....


....and topstitch both ends 1/8".



Step 11: Placing both pieces wrong sides together, topstitch 1/8" from the edge all the way around to connect the two.....


....making sure NOT to stitch your "gap" or ends closed where you "pre" topstitched.


Step 12: You're done! Insert your camera strap ends through the gap and to each side....pull the entire strap into the cover. I got the idea on how to insert the camera strap from Petchy. Petchy made hers with the ends narrower too so that the cover doesn't slip to either side.


No one will ever mistake my camera for their camera....and now my husband will probably be embarrassed to use mine!


If you aren't interested in going through the tedious process of making a scrap ribbon camera strap.....check out Shealynn's designs in her Etsy shop! They are great and she'll add custom features for you!

Super Girl (Updated)

Sienna wants to be a superhero for Halloween. I made her this outfit using my hoodie pattern.....but I tapered it a little and added a skirt to it. It is SO hot here today I left off the sleeves. I have a great pattern by Burda for a vest/jacket (that I still plan to make one day before Sienna gets too big)....and I like how they do the armhole trim like you see below.....almost like a men's athletic shirt. (See the bottom of the post for the directions for armhole trim)


I shaped the center pieces to resemble a "Wonder Woman" belt.


The hood trim is larger than normal....almost like a boxer's robe. The stars on the hood trim and belt piece were added using a freezer paper stencil and fabric paint. Jacquard paints are the best I've used....they are soft and wash over and over again without fading! The color I used is Sky Blue and is by far my favorite color.




The hood is her cape.



During naptime today I made some wrist cuffs with stars.


To make the wrist cuffs, I cut 2 pieces of ribbed knit (with spandex) into 6" x 6" squares. I used my large star scrapbook punch to cut out 2 stars from Pellon Wonder-Under and applied them to some scrap yellow knit.


I sewed the appliques on first.. Then I folded each one right sides together and sewed the long end. Turned them right side out and sewed the ends together to complete the cuff.

Arm hole trim:
To sew the arm hole trim you basically need to cut a piece of ribbed knit (with some spandex) in the following shape. Iron the fold and leave it folded. Sew it around the edge of the armhole (open edges lined up with the raw edges of the arm hole) before closing your side seam:




Updated: Photos of the cuffs.....we went to a Halloween Carnival this afternoon.


(Holy cow....my roots are 8 inches long....time for extreme makeover this week)

Now she wants a pony......she chose the biggest one! Not scared at all!


It was SO hot....look at those flushed cheeks!