Meet Banjo Bunny and watch my favorite videos

To go along with the shirred skirt and onesie I made this little bunny (based off a pattern from Natalie Chanin's book Alabama Stitch Book). I really like the patterns in this book--often very detailed and beautiful but full of hand-sewn sweetness. I ended up using my overlock stitch around the edge to give him a sort of crimped look. He's a very sweet bunny. I was sad to give him away. I even sent him off with some dinner.

I can feel the early-Fall blues kicking in. I always take a small dip down--not into sadness but into more of a bittersweetness. It's usually some kind of music that sends me into a flurry of nostaliga. For the past two weeks I've been enamored with this Fleet Foxes cover by the band First Aid Kid as well as this cover by Bon Iver and the Bowerbirds. It's beautiful. Might even knock off your socks.

Teeny little shirring

I've really been wanting to try my hand at shirring, as of late. So, I went to the store. Bought some elastic thread. Wound up the bobbin. And shirred. Greaaaaaat story.

But, seriously, I was surprised at how simple shirring is. I rewatched this episode of Threadbanger before I got started, and it pretty much tells you everything you need to know. Actually, I'm still not sure how to figure out how wide to measure the fabric in order to get a good fit. I just guessed the width (leaving one side seam unsewn), shirred, then adjusted to my best guess. Anyone know of any good charts for average children-sized measurements? I'm clueless.

I hemmed the skirt off with some navy binding tape, so, of course, I had to find a navy onesie to match. Do you have any idea how impossible it is to find a navy onesie? Impossible. Literally. I ended up having to buy a navy onesie with a "#1 Quarterback" patch on the chest that I covered with some floral applique.

Honestly. #1 Quarterback? At 3 months old the kid can't even grasp a ball, let alone throw it. Ever think these children's clothing people are nuts?

And you know someone's out there going, "Well, excuse me. He IS my little #1 quarterback! He's the best little quarterback in my book."

What does that even mean?

More photos here.

Scherenschnitte Shirt

Here's a conversation Wes and I had the other day:

Husband: So-and-so (a coworker) brought in a huge box of clothes for Cash.
Me: Oh, really? Whose clothes are they?
Husband: Her son's.
Me: Her son is 20 years old.

So, yes, what I'm telling you is that this week we were given a box half the size of a refrigerator filled with toddler clothes from 20 years ago. The late 80's, people. Anything that wasn't neon was a nice, striped health-tex polo. There was a vintage tee or two. A lovely pair of old Superman pajamas. A beautiful neon yellow and black horizontally-striped tank top (which Cash really likes to wear!). It was like Christmas. And supposedly there's more.

Before the ibook disaster of '08 I sewed this Scherenschnitte shirt. I took my overworn $7 Kohl's shirt and traced the basic outline right onto a thrifted XL Lands End turtleneck I've been holding onto for awhile. I cut it out, added knit interfacing to the yoke sections, gathered a bit, and sewed the main pieces together. Instead of adding fluttery sleeves, like the original, I decided to keep it sleeveless. I made my own binding tape, and stretched it around the neck edge and armholes in the same manner I did for the Built By Wendy racerback tank. Seriously, sewing knit binding tape onto a knit top is so fun. You must try it.

I have a few baby things to make this week, so hopefully I'll have something to show you. Until then. . .

Guess who's back. . .

Camo lunch bag made for bird-watching friend, Tim, who insists he's seen a kingfisher.
You know what we say to that? Oh please.

Oh, my word. . . I can blog! It's a miracle! My ibook is finally fixed, no thanks to "snotty Fort Wayne Mac guy" who said a home-repair wasn't a good idea. Look who's blogging now, arrogant techie! Hang up your nerd goggles, Bob, because this girl is now a computer repairer. Seriously, I took the thing apart with my bare hands. And all I got from my secretly-jealous husband at the end of it was a fist bump. A fist bump!? I'm not sure what I expected. Maybe a bottle of champagne poured over my head. That seems fitting.

Let's take a moment to imagine that. Ahhh, sweet victory.

I'm playing catch up over on flickr.

Blog fail.

Sorry that I've been gone for weeks. Sweet little Cash broke our laptop. Luckily, in the state of Indiana they don't let you give your kid up for adoption for something like that. Has anyone seen this video? Do you think it's doctored? Could this possibly be real? No way.