One Hundred Items!

If any of you have been reading my blog for well over a year, you may have remembered that at the end of last year, I decided to keep track of all of the items I've sewn in one year. Now that today is the last day of 2008, I pulled out my little notebook that contained a recorded copy of each thing I sewed in the sewing room this past year.

Keep in mind that I was gone for 4 months out of the year, and so who knows what the final tally would have looked like if I would have been home. I semi organized it into sections with several different things in one section (ie, under Regency, it includes gowns, robes, stays, spencers, etc). You can see what I like to sew the most. =)

Aprons - 35 items

Basic clothing - 12 items

Edwardian - 3 items

Other - 3 items

Peasant Shirts - 17 items

Regency - 12 items

Tote bags - 18 items



And if the calculator worked right, that makes for a grand total of 100 items!


It actually came to 99 this morning, and I decided, "Oh, why not make it an even one hundred..." so I sewed up another toddler's smock before lunch:

This one I think could pass for either boy or girl! Yes, it's up in the shop...

The Sunshine Smock

This is what I've been doing this morning:
A few posts back, I shared a picture or two of the little smock/apron that Grandma gave me. I was inspired to make a pattern off of it and make a couple up. As usual in my sewing, I didn't make it identical to the pattern. The ties on the original were fabric, and the rick rack was really tiny and all I had was the standard size, so I used less on my copy.

I'm still very happy with the way it turned out. I even named it after Grandma's childhood nickname, "Dode."

And since it such a cute and cheery style, I'm calling it: Dode's Sunshine Smock.

Coming back to life

For several months the sewing room has been deadly quiet, but now that Erin is back from being a nanny out of state and I'm home for a little bit, it's fun to walk into a sewing room with projects on the table, bits and pieces of fabric and thread in the trash can, the room warming up because of the iron being on ... it seems to give me some renewed inspiration to sew. =)

Perhaps you saw that I added a tea cup apron and a country blue plaid apron to my shop online. I actually was quite motivated today and completed both of them with lots more time to work on something else. But now I'm trying to decide what I should work on next. =) More aprons? Or maybe sew up some peasant shirts or tote bags? And I can't forget my stash pile either. I'd like to work on that pile next month.

Christmas away from home?

Well, I just may be spending my first Christmas away from home. Having been staying with my grandparents these last few weeks have been a treasure, however I had no idea how difficult it would be to try to fly back home around the holiday's. Here in the east, we've been having lots of winter weather (probably close to a foot of snow) and we're supposed to get another 8-10 inches of it today and tomorrow. Unless I can get a flight out of here, I will be spending Christmas away from home.

But I am reminded that where ever I'm at, I can celebrate it. Christmas is not about presents, looking at lights on Christmas Eve, family gatherings and parties. Not that those things are necessarily wrong, but Christmas is about Jesus. It's about celebrating and worshiping HIM, and we can do that whether we find ourselves with our family or alone.

May you all have a wonderful and Christ-filled Christmas!

A craft fair and a 1930s childs smock

Last weekend the churches school hosted a craft fair (remember me mentioning it?) and here is our table there. I shared it with Grandma and a lady from church. Can you see some of my items there on the left? I brought aprons, tote bags, and tatted bookmarks. Because of the heavy snow we had that day, "people traffic" was very slow and I only sold 2 aprons.
Today we are putting up the Christmas tree and putting out some more festive decorations, and as Grandma was going through the cedar chest in the spare room (my room at present, but oh how I love to sleep in spare rooms!) she came across an apron/smock that she would have worn around 2-3 years old.

The fabric is still clean and crisp, although there is a nickel sized tear/hole in the front. The sweet rick rack, and the small pocket for little fingers just wins my heart. Not to mention that it is a precious gift to me from Grandma.

Do you smell a new vintage design for the shop? I do too...

Wool Plaid Traveling Skirt

When I was at Denver Fabrics last summer, I saw a lovely wool plaid there on the clearance tables and thought that it would make for a lovely bias cut skirt. Unfortunately the squares aren't perfectly squared and I didn't have enough yardage that my pattern called for anyway, so I just made it into a simple a-line skirt with a side zipper.


It makes for a perfect traveling skirt. Especially when you travel in the winter months and have to fly in cold airplanes! I simply wore a white turtleneck and a black wool peacoat (is that what they're called?) along with it, but I think it would look smart wearing a grey vest with it and maybe some comfortable old-fashioned heels, would it not? =)