A Mermaid Birthday Party

I'm hoping I'm not the only one out there who has planned a birthday party around a 1/2 yard of fabric... but I have to admit that Heather Ross's Mendocino Mermaids was the main impetus for the theme of Louisa's third birthday party. She wanted a ballet party. I never quite convinced her that mermaids are the "ballerinas of the sea" but in the end she had such a good time I think she forgot all about tutus.

We had the party at a Mint Springs, a lake just down the road. Swimming, pizza, homemade funfetti cupcakes, temporary ballerina tattoos, chocolate seashells, and all your closest girlfriends... who could ask for more?

The starfish wands, with real starfish, were from this etsy shop. They were very cute, although the starfish fell off a couple, as you can see in the group shot above. I had two made with "boy" colored ribbons for the two boys who were invited, but one couldn't come and the other left before the photo shoot.

The dress is the same pattern I used for her birthday dress last year. Same size and everything. It's easy to change the length just by adjusting the straps when you tie it on. And luckily so, since I didn't have enough fabric to cut it much bigger.

I paid a somewhat embarrassing price for these two half-yard pieces of fabric (Mermaid Sisters Blush and Kelp Stripe) on ebay last winter and was excited to use it. I have a little bit of the mermaids in fuchsia and would love to make this doll sometime... didn't happen for the mermaid birthday though.

My mother-in-law found these chocolate seashells at Wegmans and bought them for me to put in the favor bags. They were a huge hit. The little bottles of Hello Kitty bubbles from the dollar bin at Target were also popular.

Louisa took a break from her friends to blow bubbles for Leo and his pal Vivian. She actually loves being big sister sometimes.

And now she is three!

Ziggity Bath Mat

My friend Kate's bridesmaids threw her an "Around the House" bridal shower this weekend. I was assigned the bathroom. I was trying to think of something I could make her for that room, when I came across the "Ziggity Mug Rug" tutorial on Sew, Mama, Sew!, and remembered all the Amy Butler fabric that I had leftover from making these hourglass pillows.

I used a grey hand towel for the backing and based my measurements for the fabric strips on that. They ended up being 11.5 x 4.75" each, which gave me a couple of inches to spare and made it easier to center the zigzag.

I used an old towel for batting to give it a little more weight, and quilted around all of the seams like he suggested in the mug rug tutorial. I had originally planned to sew right sides together and turn it (like in this tutorial), but it was too thick to try that, so I ended up binding it with store-bought quilt-binding. 

Then, thinking that hand-sewing anything on a something you stand on at the bathroom sink was a little cooky, I tried sewing the bias tape down with the machine. After one section I realized that was going to look like crud (as you can see in the picture above), so I took it out and hand-finished the binding after all. A little fancy for a bathmat, but the colors are perfect. 

The fabric is from Amy Butler's Nigella line, home décor weight, in passion vine "stone" and "celery." My mom and I found it at Valley Fabrics in Stuarts Draft for just $6.50 a yard last year and we bought it all up between the two of us. Sadly, we've never seen Amy Butler or any of my other favorite fabrics there since. 

Showers of happiness to Kate and Nick!

Problem... solved.

Fourth of July Parade

I usually love the tutorials on made, but when I saw the one for Ruffled Streamers... with all the projects on my to do list, I did't see myself sitting behind my machine and sewing together yards and yards of crepe paper. 

But when she posted it again with a patriotic twist, I was suddenly inspired. We were decorating my dad's iconic 1971 GMC truck for the Crozet Gazette float in the Crozet Fourth of July parade, and ruffling my red and blue streamers together suddenly seemed like a must-do. 

I used the trick of keeping the rolls turning on a dowel and it was really quick work. She says she used the tightest tension on her machine, and even held the spool of thread to boost the tension more, but I only had to set my machine's tension at 7 (out of 10). At 10 the ruffles were too tight. I wish it was so simple to ruffle fabric.

My other day-of craft project for the parade was the bunting for the truck's grill. I made the CROZET flags in Illustrator to add to Martha Stewart's "festive pennants" download from the July issue. Printed them on my own printer. I punched holes in the corners and strung it on kitchen twine. 

The truck didn't win any parade awards but it was still my favorite float. Plus they threw some nice candy.

Picnic Sundress

I fell in love with this monkeysbug pattern as soon as I saw this picture in her etsy shop. The way the straps tie behind the shoulders is such a sweet detail.

I made it for Louisa, who just turned three and is 31 pounds, in a size 2, based on the measurements in the e-pattern. However, it still came out looking very big around the chest, and a little too short (although doing the hem right would have helped). I had intended to add some length but forgot before I started cutting. Next time I would make a little extra bias tape and extend the straps because I ended up not having a lot of length to tie the bows well. I cut the pockets but haven't gotten to put them on yet.

I found the pattern to be pretty good, except she usually left out "right sides together" (or wrong sides together) in her instructions, which left me studying the photographs to make sure I was proceeding correctly. I ended up messing up the hem design, but I went with it.

The main fabric is oliver + s city weekend for moda, treetops in aqua. The trim is the same, in downtown turquoise dots.

In Search of a Special Dress Pattern

This little purple dress with white lace trim was mine when I was a little girl. It was sewn for me by one of my mom's co-workers at school. It has an adorable bodice with two darts in front and two buttons in the back. The skirt has perfect twirl. Louisa has been wearing it as often as possible this spring and we all want more. I would love to find the pattern for this one.

Berry Birthday Beer

My youngest sister Isabelle is turning 21 today! In honor of this fun occasion, AJ brewed her a birthday beer this winter. It's a brown ale with 40 ounces of organic raspberries thrown in during fermentation.

Click to read on...

Gathered Clutch

For my oldest friend on her birthday, I made Noodlehead's gathered clutch. I used three different city weekend prints, which I got from Sew Mama Sew. This lady and I have been friend since before we were born (our mothers met in lamaze class). It's a real blessing to have a friend who feels like family.

It was pretty quick and I liked how it came together. I made the card holder pocket but not the divider pocket. I wish I had taken more time to make sure my gathers looked right before I fused the interfacing to it. Some are very crooked and bothering me. Also I was working with a 9" zipper (the tutorial calls for 8"), and I probably should have shortened it a little bit more. The zipper, with its end covers on, really does have to stop a half-inch from each side seam so it comes together right.

I couldn't find the right hardware at Joann to attach a wristlet strap, but I went ahead and sewed the D-ring in so that it is still an option.