Little Lily in Her Dress

So, I mentioned a while back that I just finished Oliver + S bubble dress for Lily http://www.oliverands.com/patterns/summer/patterns1.phtml , one of my oldest and dearest friend Tracy's daughter. Tracy and I grew up together. Looking back I got so much from that friendship and still do. I have so many funny and wonderful memories of us together--babysitting, doing homework, long talks on the phone(about what...who knows), shopping trips and as we got older--sneaking out. Gosh I was so lucky. But, writing this now I realize the greatest gift that I got was-Tracy has been one of the best friends a person could have. From the day I met her in the fifth grade when she was the first person to befriend me by offering to share her last piece of bubble gum to now--she is STILL a phone call away anytime the chips are down or something wonderful happens. 23 years of solid, treasured friendship--a lot of people are not so lucky--I know I truly am. I really hope our daughters Annie and Lily who are about the same age distance apart as we are will grow up together--talking on the phone NIGHTLY....about who knows what, window shopping for hours and...simply just being that person who is just always there when you need them--if our daughters have the friendship we have--then they will always have each other to lean on, just like Tracy and I have always relied on one another... Here are some pix of Miss Lily in her bubble dress--gosh what a cutie!!

Hooray For Sugar City!!

So, a few weeks ago I stumbled on a charming blog of two sisters Melissa and Lynn at http://sugarcityjournal.blogspot.com/ I was so excited because they have a Village Frock pattern that is ....believe it or not...one piece(two if you count the "optional" ruffle) I could not believe it, so I imediately ordered it. It arrived VERY promptly after my order with a lovely little thank you note for my buiseness. Shortly after it arrived I went hunting for something to "upcycle" for Annie's new Sugar City Village Frock. I found a nice skirt from Ann Taylor to recycle for this project. This pattern is as it promises-- you cut it from a folded over piece of fabric and thus just have the sleeves and sides to contend with. I got instant satisfaction from working with this pattern because after a bit of sewing time--I had a dress. There was no interfacing, gathering, linings....just the front and back. Since I upcycled a skirt, I did have shoulders to sew too--but it was not a problem. When you finish constructing the dress, you have a game time decision to make about the neck shape--it can be round, square and be accompanied by a ruffle or pleats or just left simply alone. What is so facinating is you can sew a tunic top or dress from this pattern with all of these variations--AMAZING!! In the end, I went with a ruffle and then I sewed on four sweet, little buttons by the two pleats that square off the neck(this is a suggestion given in their directions). Anyway, my little Annie has started attending a little co-op, so she wore that to school today. And I am hoping to follow weekly with something handmade for her. Next week will be an upcycled pair of pants or felted sweater. Here are some pictures of Annie in her new Sugar City Frock.

More Antiquing and Some Sewing Treasures

This past weekend, we were in the gold country. We did some snow play. Nan Nan(my mom) spent lots of time with Beech in the snow parks doing sledding and saucering. We also ate out at some neat restaurants in Angels Camp. One in particular was outstanding--Cruscous. It was a darling little family owned, authentic Italian restaurant. And of course...Beech and I did some antiquing. He has learned that at Annies Antique Emporium(a co-op of antique vendors)they have a stall that has action figures and super hero comic books. He found a vintage cataglogue of action figures. Then, he spent a lot of time poring over it during the weekend. I also found some great sewing treasures at Annies and NEXT in Murphys, CA. At Next, I found two old NEEDLE CRAFT magazines from...1931. They are amazing and the articles are truly facinating. After I re-read one of the articles, I plan to share it on this blog. I also found a vintage apron with pockets that will be perfect for when I sew. For my friend Alicia, who is creating a button collection, I picked up a bag of buttons for her. And to add to my sewing stash, some gorgeouse, vintage lace(to make something for Annie Pants),some old and very cool buttons for my gloves project, some trims and a flour sack. Here are some pics of our gold country, snow and treasure hunting weekend--and I plan to share some thoughts about one of the Needle Craft articles soon.

How Antiquing Became Cool For Me

When I was in highschool, it was the 90's and the country was in a deep recession. Too make matters worse my mom was in real estate and times were grim. Nobody was buying or selling anything and my mom had two kids to support. To survive, my mom rented out our house and she and I lived above our garage in a small room/apartment that she created. I helped out financially by babysitting and keeping a part-time retail job. This allowed me to buy all of my own clothes, pay for gas, occasionally help buy groceries and pay an electric bill. My mom, being a "war baby" taught me how to "stretch my pennies" by shopping at thrift stores. At first, I hated it. But, in time, I came to enjoy our adventures in thrifting. Because my mom had been a seamstress--she knew about fabrics and imparted that information onto me. I learned about beautiful silks, wools and fine materials . I also learned about how to hunt for unique treasures and antiques. My mom showed me how to purchase neat pieces of furniture and things for my room. She grew up in England during the factory times and she also knew about antiques and the value of them(her father had been a furniture polisher). As these years marched on, my mother and I collected things for my room and as I got older--antiques and treasures for my home.

Then, there came a time when I got married and I left thrifting behind, trading these shopping adventures for Target and the great malls. However, now having my own children and also being motivated by ways to help protect the environment, I am returning back to my roots of antiquing. Recently, my second "MAKING A DIFFERENCE" project, the gloves, is made from wool and silk recycled sweaters. Over the holidays, my mom and I did quite a bit of antiqing and treasure hunting in the gold country. Because of these adventures, my children recieved some WONDERFUL treasures for christmas--Annie got an adorable antique play kitchen from Wolverine Toys--it is their Sunny Suzy collection. We found it in a small antique store in Murphy's CA. As for Beech, my little artist, we stumbled on an amazing, old school house desk...still on the orriginal tracking. It has a gorgeouse mural painted on it that my mom touched up and spent hours fixing the chips and paint. AND..there you have it, my children recieved wonderful, thrifted treasures for christmas. What is even cooler is that my son, Beech who is almost 5 also loves to go aniquing with me--he has found some very old, collectible books and action figures. I am so thrilled that he is enjoying treasure hunting too. We do alot of our antiquing in the gold country because there are many antique stores there. And...I am now able to start to teach him the value of good products and how recyceling them is good for the earth and...the pocket book...just as my mom taught me.