February BRC DONE! :)

I'm happy with how it came out, except for the poncho.

I researched Aztecs a bit for this, to find how their women actually dressed. I doubt a woman would actually wear the headdress, that would be for a king, but hey, this is modern times! ;)

I staged her on some Day of the Dead-ish fabric, because I found out that the Day of the Dead actually came from the Aztecs.

A couple more pictures:





If you're interested in history, here's a paper I found in researching that talks about Aztec clothing:

AZTEC GARMENTS: FROM BIRTH TO FULFILLMENT

Now for the clean up... and I still have other projects to start and finish up!

Anyone want to come clean my studio for me?

Working on the Blythe Runway Challenge - AA skirt

Last night I worked on a prototype for the skirt for the outfit I'm making for this month's Blythe Runway Challenge. If you'll recall, I'm re-interpreting the outfit for the Blythe "Aztec Arrival Inspired." Here is the sketch I did:



It's a separate wraparound skirt and top, not a one piece.

I cut it out in a test fabric from a human pattern that just happened to print at the perfect size:







Tonight, I'll cut out the real McCoy, and move onto the shirt. I'm going to look for trim at lunch today.

A new lens, and new fabric!

As I mentioned last Saturday, hubby ordered me a new lens for my camera. It arrived last night, and despite being pretty exhausted from a stressful week at work, I managed to snap a few pictures before falling asleep :)


This is one of my Blythes, Emme.

Hubs had told me about a trick he read, where with this lens where you can get macro shots by holding a magnifying lens in front of it. I tried it out. Here is one without the glass:


And one with:


It's pretty cool!

Also arriving yesterday was the pack of fat quarters that I won from Sew Mama Sew.


It was so fun to open and look at the 6 different prints! I have to admit the one on top is my favorite. I think it's going to become dresses for Blythe.

This one is probably my second favorite, but I don't know what I'll do with it:


Maybe a bag or box - they've posted some links to some good tutorials in the last week over on SMS.

This print is the most fun:



I think it is destined to be a zippered pencil bag for me. I always have a sketchbook with me these days, and a zippered bag with pencils and pens. I'd like to have a couple fun ones to switch between.

Next up is this print:



I am not sure what to do with this. The print reminds me of fishscales... hey, maybe a fish softie? That could be fun!



This is a sweet, versatile little print. Dolly dresses, I think!

And last but not least:


Perhaps more boxes or bags... not sure yet!

All in all, it was a wonderful package to open and go through :)

IF - Celebration

A happy hedgie parties. Bad scan, sorry.

I reacquainted myself with my Prismacolors :)

Edit: I grabbed the code for the wrong size, oops. Fixed that now, so it's not quite so cramped.

Wahoo! I won fabric!

I went to check the SewMamaSew blog this morning, and found out that I am one of the ones who won a Fat Quarter pack from their giveaway! That's such a great way to start the day! :)

And you can tell from my post over the weekend about sorting my stash that I sorely need more fabric ;)

Etsy Update - The House on Daisy Lane

If you're a Blythe lover, please check out my Etsy shop!

Saturday in the Sewing Room

Hubby surprised me with flowers last night:




He has also ordered me a new lens for my Nikon. I can't wait to get it - it's supposed to be good for macro photography.

I renewed some Blythe items in my Etsy shop, and got one of the new hats listed.

The day was otherwise spend refolding all the fabric in my stash so that I could get a better idea of what I have and get some ideas of what to add to the prize box for the Blythe Runway Challenge.


This picture doesn't show all of it really, there are more stacks behind and to the left :) I need to decide how to store it - by color, by theme, or some other way. I'm leaning towards by theme - fruit, Halloween, Christmas, flowers, geometrics, etc.

Before I started on the stash, I machine quilted my doll quilt - I just did straight lines following the squares - I set up a practice piece to try doing free motion quilting on, but my sewing machine was not cooperating. I didn't take a picture yet, because I'm still trying to decide if I want to add some diagonal lines to the quilting. Or add buttons to the centers of each square.

A little bird told me...

I found a link yesterday to the pattern for this little birdie on the Sew Mama Sew forum:


His pattern is available on Spool Sewing's blog. He was very easy to make, I think I might put together a few more soon, maybe make a mobile like the one they show on their site. I like the "feet" stitched to the branches, that's so cute!

I finished embellishing the last of the series of crocheted Blythe helmets I've been making lately:



I'm going to call the yellow ones "Honey Butter" and the brown ones either Mocha Latte or Chocolate Mocha. Not sure yet. Next I just have to make sure I get good, clear pictures of them all, package them up nicely, and post them on Etsy along with a few other items that are waiting to be placed up there.

Sew Mama Sew also posted a purse tutorial that I'm wanting to try. I need to start cutting out my Blythe Runway Challenge outfit though! And the one for my local swap... and there was something else too... crud! I need more weekend! :D

Doll quilt progress

I've got the top sewn together and pinned to the back and batting:



So now I'm just waiting for the next part of the tutorial to be posted. In the meantime, I need to decide what I'm going to use for the binding. I was thinking that the backing was going to be pulled around for the border, but I was wrong, on re-reading Part 1.

I started a doll quilt today

I got the pieces cut out this afternoon:



Yes, those are my freakish toes at the bottom. :)

I'm following a tutorial/sew along at the site Sew Mama Sew. It seems pretty easy so far. I've done a small bit of quilting in my life - made a log cabin square and machine quilted it in middle school - I still have it, and use it as a hot pad. My mother was in a quilting circle when I was in middle and high school, so I've done a bit of hand quilting on other people's quilts. This is my first solo quilting project.

I cut the squares all from fabric left from other projects, except for the fairy and the women - I cut into fresh fat quarters for those :)

I should really be working on the Blythe Runway Challenge, but hey, procrastination is fun ;) And I've been wanting to do a small quilting project for awhile.

My fabric stash

I just started following the blog Sew Mama Sew (there's a doll quilt tutorial there I'm soooo starting tomorrow). Today they had a survey, and there's a nice little fat quarter prize involved, so what the hey! :) Plus it will get me actually writing something substantial here.

* What do you usually sew?
Doll clothing (for Blythe dolls mostly), miscellaneous small projects, ren faire garb

* When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy? (i.e. If you see something beautiful, but you don’t have a use for it right away, how much do you buy?)
If I really like it, a half yard. If I LOOOOOVE it, a yard. I make small stuff, don't need more than that! If it comes in fat quarters, I buy one if I like it, 2 if I looooove it.

* Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need?
A mix - mostly, I impulse buy, but sometimes I have a theme for a swap that sends me out on a mission.

* Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you’re ready to use it?
I'm a pre-washer. I don't want dye staining my dollies, or anyone else's dolls.

* Do you iron it?
Yes, though not always immediately. I try to do it as soon as it comes out of the dryer.

* How do you sort it? (color, print size, collection, etc.)
Theoretically by color. In practice... not so much organization :)

* Do you have any special folding techniques?
I generally try to fold them to about the same size as fat quarter bundles tend to be folded to.

* How do you store your fabric?
Some of it is in the cubes shown here:


The rest is in the closet on a sweater shelf thing that hangs from the closet pole.

* What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash?
Have a mother who has been stashing fabric since before you were born. Raid her stash frequently.

* When do you say enough is enough?
When you start feeling uncomfortable and guilty. :D

* What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects?
Empire waist dolly dresses!

* Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? Let’s see it!


I have two yards. I love it so much I can't decide what to make it into.

* What’s your definition of the perfect stash?
Neat, well organized, so that when I'm ready to work I can just grab it and start working.

World's Smallest Postal Service

Found via Nut and Bee:

The World’s Smallest Postal Service (WSPS) will send a tiny, tiny letter for you. The miniature wax seal is unbearably cute.

Nut and Bee themselves have some pretty cute stuff - I need to order more buttons from them :)

Read Coraline

Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

I found this linked from somewhere yesterday, and spend this morning and early afternoon reading it. It's a neat story, I can't wait to see the movie.

Illustration Friday - "Flawed"

I can't decided if he's flawed but still loved, or was thrown away because he was flawed by someone who he thought would love him forever. Either way makes a good story, doesn't it?

I've been doing Illustration Friday since the first of the year, but this is the first I've posted. I hand drew this in my sketchbook, scanned it, and colored it in Photoshop. I'm rubbish at colorising in PS :) Next time, I'll just use colored pencils and scan it!

I linked to it on Flickr from IF, rather than here. Maybe next time.