Sewing Project: "Sidekick", Girl Detective's Scottie Dog

Back to the thing that got me into sewing in the first place, stuffed animals! 

Sidekick:  Girl Detective's trusty companion.  Their nigthly walks around the neighborhood often lead to adventure!

Tips for beginners:  when deciding on a pattern make sure to note the finished dimensions carefully.  This dog, while adorable, is TINY.  Maybe 5 inches tall?  My seam allowance is next to nothing because if it weren't I doubt I could have even used my machine.  I may make another version in bigger size.

Sidekick here I made to go with Abby's Girl Detective set of stuff.    The body is a super soft fleece.   I embroidered the eyes, but I think I could have made them a little larger and a bit more round.  He looks a touch angry.  But, perhaps he's just suspicious?  He does have a mystery to solve. 

I used this free pattern.  I chose it because it was the only three-dimensional plush Scottie dog I could find.  And it was free.  And cute.  Can't ask for more then that!  The three dimensional aspect is not easy for me.  I'm not spatially inclined, (as anyone who has been a passenger in my car can attest), and it took me awhile to sort out what I need to do with the pieces. 

Underbelly.  As soon as I figured out I needed to sew these two pieces together the assembly made a lot more sense.

This project probably took me 1.5 hours, but someone not being interrupted every five seconds could easily do this in 45 minutes.  Even at an hour and a half this project was faster then Kitty Bat and Fernando the Bunny who were done without a machine- they each clocked closer to 6 hours.  They can't even stand up!  That said looking more closely at the images from the pattern it sure looks like it was hand-sewn so maybe I wasn't supposed to use my machine at all.

Cost:  $1 in material, maybe?  I bought yard of the fleece so I'll have to find something else to do with the remainder. 

Verdict:  Cute, quick and satisfying to make, just wish he were bigger.

*Flikr group of plush doggies made with this same pattern- some super cute versions in there!  It looks like a lot  of people increased the size too.  And yes, photos confirm that this was supposed to be hand sewn.  Oh well!

More Excuses: This time in French!

No posts or sewing projects to share because I was in France for two weeks. It was awesome. I'm feeling a lot more relaxed about everything.  Fourteen days without the grind makes everything feel... lighter.

It was a partial business trip so I spent most of my time wine tasting, but I did my best to sneak in art & history where I could. I really wanted to poke around a fabric shop and buy some French embroidery thread (all I have left from a purchase 15 years ago is peach) but could not find an open shop to save my life.

How awesome does that thread look?

I found this sewing shop in Chinon, but it was closed. Like everything in France. We made lots of jokes that the French must be vampires because Chinon, like many of the French towns we were in, was totally deserted. We'd walk around these cobble stoned streets during the middle of the day and be completely alone, 7 of us like a group of (well dressed) survivors after a zombie attack. Totally bizarre. It wasn't like it happened once or twice either, but everywhere we went. The French need to start having more children or something.

My brother-in-law, Kevin, his girlfriend Serene and my sister-in-law Margaret Ellen.  Note they are totally alone.

Margeaux in Bordeaux: No survivors.

Creepy sign= evidence of human habitation, but again, no humans.

Another deserted town.

Took this photo in the evening in the city center of Borge.  As the sun came down we saw these three.  Clearly they are zombies.

We spent the last couple of days in Paris. Since I've been to Paris bunches of times (and my husband couldn't care less, we might as well have been in Cleveland) I decided I wanted to skip the usual sites and hit up the Musee de la Mode et du Costume (the Paris fashion museum) and the Musee de Arts Decortivs, in particular to see their textile collection. I was thwarted. The Musee Galleira was closed entirely for structural renovation and the textile portion of the Arts Decortivs was off limits while they were installing a new exhibit which I didn't realize until we walked the whole thing. Boo! They did have a special Ralph Lauren exhibit- of his cars. Double boo.

Speaking of textiles... I spent an entire day in Paris unironically dressed as the Statue of Liberty.  If she wore no makeup.

I was able to find bits and pieces of sewing and especially embroidery pretty much all over the place though and have a much better appreciation for the hours of skilled hand-labor that went into many of these things, even the everyday stuff.

Wool pleats in a 16th century nurses dress.  They are perfectly even.

 Sick beds in the Hospices de Beaune.  All I can think of is Harry Potter.  Is that wrong?  Also the hand dyeing and washing these linens had to have received.

Beaded embroidery for Louis XVI.  I can't even imagine how long this must have taken.

Outlined satin stitch.  I could totally do this!

Just not on this scale.  Unbelievable and entirely by hand in the 17th century. The head and foot boards are embroidered all the way up the sides.

Serious velvet draping.  How would you even go about pinning that let alone sewing it?

Sewing Project: Girl Detective Decor Set

I’ve been working on this group of projects for awhile. 

The Girl Detective as a codified concept is one very close to my heart and I love sharing it with Abby. I’ve studied the Girl Detective pretty closely as an adult, trying to figure out why she appeals to me so much, though it is pretty easy to see her value as a role model for young girls.

The Girl Detective heroine, (evolving over 70 years from Nancy Drew to Veronica Mars), is typically self-reliant, independent and unafraid. She chafes under the restrictions placed upon her by a sexist society. She is practical and tough, yet not without femininity or heart. There is a dash of frontier fierceness in her (with saloon girl names like Trixie, Ruby, Cherry, Lulu, Kit and Scout), but she is almost always kind. In fact, Girl Detective typically starts her sleuthing in a bid to help someone else. Being popular is low on her list of priorities. She oversteps often, people underestimate her to their own detriment, and she is always on top of it. Books are her friends, information her currency, truth her goal. She questions and questions authority. Social status and class have limited merit in Girl Detective’s world. Most of all, she has things to do, people. Painting her nails is not one of them. Solving a mystery requires diligence, research and organization. Girl Detective isn’t glamorous; Girl Detective is one smart cookie.

I made this set for my daughter, though I might make more or other variations for my Etsy shop. I’ve got some Boy Explorer stuff in there already that I did for Henry.

There are two pillows. The first pink one was pretty simple to make. I traced the outline of the words onto the fabric (a super soft pink denim) using a light box and a pencil. I used the same font from the word cloud piece (below) so that they would match.

My much abused lightbox. 
My only complaint is that sometimes it is so bright I can't tell if I've actually traced over something or not!

I used a simple backstitch to do the embroidery. Tracing the words first made it so they were very straight across the bottom (see my Peace Pillow for a looksie at what happens when you use your own handwriting). I really debated on what color thread to use, but the gray on pink I like a lot. I think black on red would look great too maybe with a little small print red and white argyle.  Then it would be a little less “girly”, but Abby is four and her room right now pink and red with dashes of blue. I sewed it with an envelope closure so I could take it off and wash it and also so my daughter could stash her flashlight in there for reading in bed. I had to do a bunch of math to get the dimensions right. Tip for beginners:  do the math before you do the embroidery.  This could have been a embroidery disaster of epic proportions.  Another tip:  Striped fabric is both a blessing and a curse.  It's easy to see where your stitches aren't straight, but it also easy to line up and keep straight when sewing. 

I still use a wooden hoop. 
I know, Old Skool, but it seems wrong to be doing such a traditional art with a plastic hoop.

The second pillow is a work in progress... i.e., I haven't finished it.  I still have to do all the streets and the arrows.  That embroidery so far was no joke.  It is a “Girl Detective Mystery Map”, a small town sleuths’ guide to investigation hot spots including the Library, the Sheriff’s Dept, Old Man Given’s creepy estate, the Abandon Goldmine, the Museum, The Hall of Records, etc. I used four different hand stitches, trying to give it some dimension and depth that is always a little hard to see in a photo.

Crucial to the project will be adding the words to the pictures, see the original sketch below. I haven’t come to a conclusion on how to do that yet. It will need to look neat and still be readable. Fabric transfer paper? Something done with my Cricut? Markers are out- they bleed on that white cotton fabric and I want it to be washable. Suggestions??? Maybe something with a real typewriter?  Perhaps clear vinyl pockets for slips of paper?  Maybe I could put clues on the back. Or names of possible mysteries? I sketched out the map and then transferred it to the fabric, just like with the pink pillow. I had to keep in mind that the images need to be simple and bold enough to be outlined with thread. This would have been much easier if I could draw. Feel free to try it yourself! If you do, I want to see. Not as easy as it looks.

Pretty sure there's a reason I have a degree in Art History and not Art.

This is the symbol for the Lemontree Cafe: good for gossip and pie! 
When Girl Detective gets older she can work there after school.

The Tully Mansion:  There's something suspicious about those Tullys. 
How'd they get all that money anyway?

Miss Katie's Farm:  borders the river across from creepy Old Man Givens
and is close to the abandon gold mine.  Somebody keeps killing her rose garden, but who and why?

The small piece of embroidery below was made to fit in a standard 4” X 6” frame, to sit on a desk or a nightstand. Abby keeps moving it around and it is currently in her play kitchen sink. I don’t take it personally.  I kept with the same color scheme so they'd work together when finished.

These photos make me want to iron everything.

See?  Matchy-matchy!

Below is a no-sew companion piece I made months ago to go with Henry’s Boy Explorer word cloud of fun.  It's printed on vellum and layered over cardstock so the words appear to float at different depths. In person.  Not so much on film.  They were both based on an even earlier project from last summer where I wrote up job listings (I work in HR so it was fun for me, shut up!) for both Girl Detective and Boy Explorer. They were really wordy (but cute!) so this was my compromise, pulling out some of the phrases and highlighting them.  It is 8"X10" for a standard frame.

Cost:  I had everything on hand from earlier projects, but if I'd had to buy everything... I don't know $20?  In time and love this was priceless.  Particularly in time...

Verdict:  I wish could draw better.  I'll revisit this again, I'm sure.  Maybe with the help of someone who doesn't suck.  I'll post the map pillow when I get it totally complete.

Linkys!:

Princess Party Shenanigans: 23 Cakes, 24 Wands, 1 Banner

I had so many great sewing projects planned for Easter this year.  An Easter dress (lilac, even bought the fabric!), some stuffed animals, maybe an embroidered runner for the dining table. 

Instead, my daughter turned 4 and I became, somehow, one of those crazy women who throw elaborate parties for pre-schoolers. We had about 50 people total at the party.  I know!  It is silly, stupid and probably irresponsible.  You don't need to tell me.  That said, it was fun!

It is hard not to go overboard when you attend other kids' celebrations which are planned meticulously and executed as if the parents were professional party planners (there's a good chance that some of those parties were planned by professionals, I have no doubt).  My intention was to keep my daughter from having the one lame party of the year, to do it all myself and to not spend a ton of money.  Basically, my goal for this party could be summed up as "elaborate, but cheap".  Okay, the money part was my husband's idea.  He vetoed the Princess Aurora visit from the Cinderella Company on those grounds.  Boo! 

Here's the rundown of the things I made for the elabro-budget Princess Party- there is no sewing. It is just a long excuse as to why there is no sewing to show you.

The princess theme would not have been my first choice.  I probably would have done something more generic and more me, maybe a strawberry theme or farm theme, but for reasons too long to explain Disney princess was what we went with for the party.  Besides, the party wasn't for me, Abby is four and she has the rest of her life to be subtle and sophisticated.  Four is all about sparkles and PINK!

INVITES
-I made the invitations using the terribly professional design program, Microsoft Word.  Perhaps you've heard of it?  From your more artsy friends?  Anyway, here's the invite. 

I had to mail them the same day I made them since the calendar snuck up on me.  I've changed the address and the phone number for safety's sake, obvs.  I sent out 34, all the girls at her school and a few boys.  I bought the cardstock at Target (50 for $9.95, including envelopes), with postage the cost was $24.03.  I won't count the ink.  They took me about 2 hours of messing around and printing. The font is a free one, called "Little Lord Fontenroy" which makes me laugh.  Ooo, forgot I also made return address stickers to match and a "4" sticker to seal the envelope.  I had those on hand since I have them in bulk for my Etsy store so they cost me like 16 cents.  FYI:  22 of the 34 RSVP'd.  What is wrong with people?  Or am I just turning into my Great Aunt Betty?


MISC. DECORATION
-4 bunches of cut flowers for floral arrangements, done by my sister, from Safeway. She did a great job even though she complained the whole time that she was bad at it.  The irises are from the property.  I owned the vases, but bought the pink water ball thingys at Walmart:  $25.

-Chalkboards signs were a steal at the Dollar Tree for, you guessed it, $1.  I intend to find all sorts of excuses to use them.  I bought 5, but only used 4.  The chalk markers were more expense at $12 for 4 at Michael's.  $17.00 total.  They lock the chalk markers up at the front of the store.  Isn't that weird?  Kids aren't going to go tag overpasses with them since they wash off with water and a paper towel.  Are SAHM shoplifting them?

-Birthday Banner!  Yes, I own a Cricut and no, I don't scrapbook.  The paper I purchased at Joann's; they were having a great sale, I think it was 3 sheets for $1.  You can't really tell from the photo, but the light pink is glitter paper cardstock.  I made the scallops at 10.5 inches and the letters at 8.5".  I had some difficulty cutting the scallops.  The paper was really thick and my mat is losing it's sticky-ness.  I know there are ways to treat them vs. buying new ones.  I just don't use the machine often enough to teach myself.  The banner took me about 1.5 hours (including dragging my Cricut out of the guestroom and gluing it all together).  Cost was about $4. 

FAVORS & ACTIVITIES
This was the hard part for me.  I didn't want to send the kids home with a bunch of candy and plastic crap, which would probably have been easier looking back.

-For the favor bags I used brown paper princess lunch bags, 8 cents each. People kept asking me if I stamped them which is a really good idea, too.  I will have to remember that for future parties.  Inside the bags, for the girls, were two princess notebooks $1, three princess lip glosses $2.99, a crown lollipop at 50 cents, 2 princess stickers at 10 cents, and princess plush slap bracelets $1.  Total cost per favor bag turned out to be  $5.67 each.  I had to make 22 for $124.74 spent.  They looked really cute all together.  The boys got slightly different stuff, a ball, a compass, a set of superhero rummy cards, Toy Story stickers and Pop Rocks.  I just tied blue ribbon on the top of their bags, princesses facing the back, and called it a day. 

-To keep the kids busy during the party (and for them to take home) I bought bubbles for them to blow and paper crowns for them to wear.  The crowns were from Oriental Trading Company and so were seriously cheap and I have a TON left over for pretend play.  The bubbles were from Dollar Tree and smelled like fruit!  $27.

-I also bought rings for the kids to pick from during the party.  I bought nice metal ones that were adjustable and shaped like tiaras and then mixed them in with cheap-o plastic "gem" rings from Wal-mart.  I passed them out in a faux-velvet lined jewlers' tray which I intend to now use for my Victorian fob collection.   Together the cost was $34.  I also fell down the stairs passing them out.  Awesome!

- Ribbon Wands!  These were seriously fun.  I followed the directions from here, but used way more ribbon.  To save money I bought 36" dowels and had my husband use a table saw to cut them into 12" sections.  Instead of Fray Check I used a candle to heat seal the ends of the ribbons so they won't unravel.  I used two bells, a large one and a small one for extra festiveness.  Because I used so much more ribbon I'd say these cost me $1.25 each.  They take virtually no time to make though and turned out beautifully.  I can totally see why people use them at weddings.  I cut and sealed all the ribbon one evening and then assembled them all together in another evening with some help from sister, Anna, while we watched tv.  The kids loved them.  I might have danced around the house with one like a rhythmic gymnast.  Maybe.

-Cake Decorating!  This was the main activity for the party.  I baked 23 6-inch three tier cakelets, one for each of the kids to decorate using this cake form from Chicago Metallic.  Great product!  Some notes on this pan:  spray it, don't grease it, and spray it well.  Really well. It was 23 cakes instead of 24 because one got stuck. Fill above the line for the last tier so you can just slice off the top and get perfectly flat bottoms.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, turn, bake another 15 minutes, slice off the tops and bake an additional 5 minutes.  None of this is what the directions say to do, but it bakes them so they aren't too soft for frosting by a pre-schooler.  To fill all four cavities you'll need 1.5  boxes of cake mix.  I used 9 boxes of cake.  On sale, for 88 cents!  Really glad this party landed around Easter.  I made the icing from scratch (it's gross, I mean it tasted fine, but making it was gross) using this recipe for Evil Buttercream from Prudent Baby.  I had to make three batches which used 6 lbs of powdered sugar.  SIX POUNDS.  I gave each kid a plastic cup of white icing and a small spatula to frost their cake and then laid out tons of colored icing, candies and  sprinkles so they could decorate them.  The piping bags, tips and stand, the food coloring and all the extras like the little glass containers for the candies along with the cake mix and the special pan came to be about $145.  I have a lot of leftover cake decorating stuff though so I may crown myself the Queen of Cupcakes this summer. 

FOOD
-I left lunch to my husband.  We had hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and three different amazing salads.  It was delicious.  He even made his own mustard.  Since he was in charge of it, this cost me $0.00.  I realize that's cheating, but I don't care.  I have budget to keep.

-The actual birthday cake, supposedly for the adults, was a full size three tier spice cake with cream cheese frosting.  It took FOREVER.  I was baking until 3 a.m.  Cost was high because I had to buy the pans, about $60 altogether for everything.  The kicker was we didn't end up eating it.  Instead we took it over to my in-laws for Easter brunch and Abby got sung to again.  It was pretty tasty, even two days later.

-Cotton candy machine!  I don't think I got a good photo of this, but my mom manned a cotton candy cart for the party.  It was bright pink and just perfect.  My sister's boyfriend works at a hardware store that rents them out which I still think is totally bizarre.  The kids loved it (even if the parents were probably like, "A cake and cotton candy?? Die, Abby's mom!  I've got to take this kid home!").  There was only one minor injury, my mom got whacked on the hand by the spinny things.  $40 and it would make enough cotton candy for 70 people.  It went home with my mom and my college aged siblings whose metabolisms can handle that without insulin shots.

Grand total:  I have no intention of adding this up. 
Verdict:  Never again.  She loved it, it was fun.  Way too much mental stress.  And the baking!  I never want to smell warm cake again.  My sister proved herself to be an amazing person once more who kept me calm and fairly rational.  I keep thinking I should have another baby just so Abby might have a sister when she gets older.  I'll be back to sewing soon.

Links!

Decisions: No Shilling (for cash or prizes)

So I got an email from CSN Stores offering to sponsor either a giveaway where I'd give out a gift card to one of my lucky readers or shop for myself and give a review here on my oh-so-important blog that will surely influence the masses to shop their bizarre conglomeration of stores.

This is flattering, but absolutely laughable for many reasons:
1.  My influence barely extends beyond my dining room table.

2.  Pretty sure I'm related or at least personally connected to everyone who visits this blog.  Hi Mom!

3.  I'm using a standard blogger layout- I haven't even bothered to have one designed for me.  How does that inspire confidence in my online marketing ability?

4. This is the doozie:  I've purchased from them before and it was a total disaster.  It was a few years ago to so perhaps they've gotten their act together since then, but let's just say it involved an expensive globe, Christmas, zero customer service and disappointment.

While this offer was ridiculous, it is a decision most bloggers eventually have to make if they have much of any traffic at all:  whether or not to use their online presence to make money, get freebies or cultivate a following for whatever purpose be it ego or promotion of themselves as a brand. And yeah, as you may have guessed, I'm not going to do any of that.  Yeah, I have an Etsy shop but I have to force myself to keep up with it most of the time.  And this decision to not shill, is not because I don't like money or free crap or that I have some sort of moral standard where I think corporations are evil and and a corrupting influence in the blogosphere. 

It is more that I'm lazy.  Really lazy.

Plus, there are literally thousands of bloggers, a lot of them women, a lot of them stay at home moms, most of them more talented and creative then me who do need the support of people like CSN or Silhouette or Cricut to compensate them for the time and effort they spend on their blogs, not just updating and linking, but doing the crafts and projects in the first place.  They don't need more competition from someone who doesn't need to do it and isn't especially good at it anyway.  I don't want to feel obligated to do projects or spend hours checking out linky parties if I don't want to.  If I want to spend the day like I did yesterday watching a marathon of "Criminal Minds" instead of sewing I don't want to feel bad about it.  (I think the theme yesterday was episodes featuring Academy Award winners slumming it on CBS.)

Rest assured, my many loyal, non-existent fans, any product endorsement going on here will be honest and probably inconsequential!  You have my word.  I will remain lazy.