All cute boys need cute bowties!

Spotted this Easter in high fashion bowties:

Levi looking dapper

Ollie, Mason and Harper straight out of a Gap ad

Handsome Thomas with his new haircut

And adorable Jasper

Dave is unfortunately not pictured, since I hear he was a little under the weather and did not wish to have his photo taken.

I have received a couple requests to sell these, so I just might add these to my "store" haha!

Swap done!

I belong to this craft website, craftster.org. I thought it would be fun to participate in a "swap" where I make items for a stranger and they make items to send to me. I thought I'd start easy and go with what I know for my first one- so I picked a baby items swap.

These are the items that I made...

An owl onesie that uses both paint and felt

A diaper wipe case

A burp cloth and matching reversible bib

A taggie blanket- my first ever and surprisingly quick and easy!

I mailed it all out this morning. I hope she likes them.

Seamstress for the Band

Last month, Ashton requested that I sew up some matching shirts for him and CB to wear for one of their big shows coming up. I didn't really think he was serious, until he mentioned it again, the week before the show. I had this vintage pattern that I got at a thrift store for a man's shirt that had these flaps that made them more unique then just a regular dress shirt. He picked out some fabric that I already had too, so I thought why not try? I'd never made a man's shirt before, but with a pattern it couldn't be that hard right? Well, it was and it wasn't. Turns out, I had just enough barely of the fabric to cut the shirts. Attaching the sleeves were pretty tricky too, they just didn't seem to line up perfectly. And I swapped out the buttons (and buttonholes-maybe next time haha) for easier snaps. But I finished them just hours before the show and here they are in action.

On stage at the Fonda

The view from the balcony. It was a pretty packed show.

Ashton Drumming

CB strumming

And both backstage modeling the shirts after they played

(don't mind the finger in the shot- oops)

Adventures in Mei Tai's

Last October, Harmony put me up to a major challenge:

She really wanted a mei tai carrier for Christmas and hoped that I could make it for her.

I had never actually made a Mei Tai before-- I actually had never even seen one in person.

She sent me this link to show me the style she liked and I found this tutorial to get the general idea of how it'd come together.

The pre-Christmas sewing rush included finishing this quilt, and so I had to bring all the Mei Tai fabrics with me to my mom's hoping she could help me tackle this beast of a project. We got a great start on it, and I had enough of it done by Christmas to give it to her with an IOU to finish it and mail it back. And to celebrate Harper's being one month old, I actually did finish it and sent it on.

Today I got a lovely email with these pictures. Without further ado...

My interpretation of the Mei Tai

(modeled by Harmony- looking hot mama! and Harper)

I'm thinking it will be big enough to grow with him,

and may even fit better once he does get a bit bigger.

Bird's Eye view of Harper all snuggled up

What I've been up to...

This week has brought us the birthdays of the "twins"

A Dog backpack for Mason

A Skunk backpack for Stella

A bib and burp cloth for my upcoming nephew-
Caleb drew the bird shape based on the fabric pattern, I love it when we "collaborate"

For Mom and Dad- The very rich chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and chocolate peanut butter glaze... yum!... that I made with my new mixer. Smitten Kitchen for the original recipe and much better pictures of the cake (I went a little glaze happy) Thanks! I love it!

On Tuesday, this band's CD was released into stores (release party next Wednesday night- invite poster on sidebar to left) and they were interviewed for this magazine and had this picture as the pull out poster in the magazine. It is a recreation of an old Who Album cover. To quote Kenley from Project Runway- I think they "pretty much nailed it" Don't you think?

Tuesday night, we saw this musical...

It was WICKEDLY WONDERFUL! I can't believe that I went, what- 3 years! without realizing where the storyline would go. I was shocked the entire first act... She's bad!? She's good!?! Woah! And then SURPRISED the entire 2nd act as everything fell into place. I would elbow Caleb and whisper- wow, that's ____! and he'd look at me like he knew it all along. And I loved that he loved it too! I have to admit, I got a little teary at the end during the ovation. It makes me miss theater just a little.

While at the Pantages, we saw that THIS musical is coming next winter. We are SO there.

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season, is watching Christmas videos. I get a new Christmas movie every year as tradition (one I made up for myself a few years ago! haha- the joys of adulthood- starting your own traditions!). We have so many, and the original Grinch is one that I watch several times every year.

Week in Review...

Instead of posting a 100 different times about the little things that happened this week, I figured I'd mix it up. I am not sure if I will post like this in the future, but it was fun this time.

On Monday, I had to find a body double for this man...

On Tuesday, I got my hair done like this...
(The color looks a bit off and I don't dig the picture, but it's close enough.)

Caleb had a show Tuesday night and had the car, so after my appointment, I had an adventure with the possibility of riding this home...
(But after waiting for a LONG time in the dark scary streets of Bubank)

But alas, it doesn't run that late, and I called one of these to get home instead...

On Wednesday, at work I booked this show...

And then, I got together with great friends and watched this show...

On Thursday, I made this dress...

(It isn't finished yet- I need to either hem it regular, or add the trim like is pinned in the picture. I made this dress by adjusting the pattern from the teeny tiny dress making it larger and changing the shape slightly- but now I don't know what size it is. Please give me advice on the brown trim or the regular hem. The brown trim matches the piping, but doesn't match the brown dots exactly.)

I also stayed up very late and watched this girl win my favorite Olympic event...

On Friday, I got dressed in a really cute outfit (in my humble opinion) got in the car to go to work... and spilled this all down the front.

So I was late for work because I had to completely change clothes... :(
But it was ok, because all stress was rubbed out by the company provided massage I had at work this morning.


Tonight, I will go see my favorite band ;) play at the Relax Bar in Hollywood...

Teeny Tiny Dress

While watching the High School Musical: Get in the Picture competition last night on tv (I know, I know- but for some reason CB and I saw an episode last week and it hooks you... It was that or American Gladiators finale, because we didn't know to watch for Jon on the Teen Choice Awards until it was over, oops...), I made this itty bitty dress last night. We lost our camera (hopefully momentarily) so unfortunately, my phone pictures will be up until we find it. This dress took me about 2 hours to make and I love it! The fabric has a funky vibe and I love the effect in dress form. This dress is probably newborn size- I couldn't even get it over Caleb's Cabbage Patch Kid's head. I will probably adjust this pattern and try to make it larger, I already know what fabric I'll try next.

Close up of the fabric and piping

What's cooking, Stella?

Makaya just sent me this pic of Stella cooking.

She looks so cute wearing the apron I made her for Christmas last year.

Projects in use...

CB's lovely sisters, Harmony and Makaya, sent me some pictures of some previous sewing projects in use! I love seeing things I made in use.

Here is Mason wearing his pig shirt that I gave him in May. The dye didn't take well to the shirt so it sort of has a bit of a tie-dye effect. I made his a pig, because he said that was his favorite animal.

Here are Levi and Stella using their "Auntie Claire" quilts to watch Charlie Brown videos. Stella's was one of the first ones that I had made 2 1/2 years ago, and Levi's is the latest that I have made.

Jury Duty... and a purse

Today, I had to report downtown for Jury Duty.  By lunch, I was done for.  Selected for a jury.  I am not at liberty to discuss the case, but let's just say it is unfortunately boring.  At least I am out of work for 3-4 days...

Anyway, here are pictures of a crochet purse that I made for my cousin Lisa's birthday.  It was about four months late, but my very first crochet project ever.  I am really happy that I learned on a pattern of a large project and didn't just make a shapeless scarf.

The hook was really small, so it took quite awhile, but still much faster than knitting!

Caleb and I got inspired Sunday evening to clean out our closets and got rid of sooo much stuff.  Note the wheel-less skateboard deck that CB got free 2 1/2 years ago... hmmm...

After this picture was taken, I separated it out into a pile to take to the regular thrift store, and a different pile of just my clothing to donate to the battered women's shelter.  It made me realize that I dress like a teenager.  Hopefully the women will like some of it.  

Elise's Baby Shower!

Yesterday, we held Elise's baby shower.  It was a lot of work, but I think she had a good time, so it was worth it.  Congratulations, Elise!

Elise with her spread

Diaper cake I made for decoration

The lovely ladies (and one charming boy) that were in attendance

Jasper and his turtle shirt I made him in May

These are a bib and burp cloth that I made Elise for one of her gifts. 

This party goer did not RSVP- If you look closely you can see the coyote's tail!  Yikes!  They stayed pretty far away from us people.

Bib

I made this cute bib using a template on Purlbee.com.  I didn't have any bias tape, so I made my own!  It was my first time using the bias tape maker that I bought a few months ago online, and it was really easy.  The ribbon for the bow, I just happened to have and it almost matched perfectly!  I gave it to my work friend for her granddaughter, Lila, who was born this week.

I tried it on my old bear, because it looked really small, but it fit him well.

I will definitely make more of these.

Finally!

In the last week, my blogging had been stifled by my work's sudden and
unexpected blocking of blogger. But Yay! It's back in full use again.

Here is a picture that Harmony just sent me of my nephew Oliver, wearing his duckie shirt I made him. He really looks adorable in it (and always!). I like that it is a "muscle tee" or it probably would be too babyish for this boy. I made him the duck, because big brother Mason informed me that it was Oliver's favorite animal. Thanks for the tip, Mason!

PS- We gave Ashton and Tawny the monkey bag for Dave last night, and I think it was a hit! Haven't heard Dave's reaction yet.

Sewing class results

Recently, I took a sewing class. We could bring whatever we wanted to make. I had bought this pattern in IL and wanted to make the monkey backpack for our nephew Dave for Kindergarten.
This class was at Sandbox Rebel, a cool store in Valley Village that sells edgy and modern children's clothing. I learned some new techniques for applique, while making this monkey face from felt. I chose a stiff cotton plaid for the body of the backpack.


There is a zipper that goes across the top from ear to ear, so it opens really wide and is fully lined.

I took am earlier sewing class back in May at Pintucks in Pasadena. Jennifer, the owner/teacher, is more by the book than the Sandbox Rebel girls, so I had a full pattern brush up. We marked every dot, made every notch, pressed every seam. Here is the result:


This dress had darts, facing, a zipper, and ended up needing to be brought in a few inches- so I learned alterations too. All in all, I don't really like the dress too much, but i learned a lot in the class. The fabric was cute, until I cut it into a dress shape, then it seemed like too much. (Note- that awesome sheep painting is one of Caleb's creations.)
I plan on making more of these cute backpacks, but probably won't make another one of these dresses.