a few of my favorite things

Mabel and Lucy:
* On Christmas Eve
* Making Christmas cookies
* Riding their new bikes from Santa
* Opening presents and their Ruby Dolls

Dress and Tote

The girls went along with me to the fabric store Thursday and picked out a pattern and fabric for a dress... the first is done! Really simple to make and I can already imagine some variations on it. Cute little wrap dress. I really LOVE the fabric!
I had a difficult time parting with the "All Day Tote" that I made for my niece, so I ordered some upholstery-weight fabric and made one for myself. I wasn't sure the big print (Alexander Henry's "zinnia") would work well - but i wanted to give it a try. Magnificent! already have it stuffed and ready for tomorrow. Made a semi-matching checkbook cover and card wallet to go along.

various little things

Kept busy at the sewing machine practicing and making various items with fabric onhand. The oven mitts are from Lotta Jandstotter's book. I'd like to make some more of these... coasters, too.

Lucy and Mabel dolls

I wasn't able to post these earlier (along with other stuff) because they were Christmas gifts for blog-reading family members.
Here are the Lucy and Mabel dolls that I made for my folks in Michigan. Sewed it into a tissue package with a poem that Edward wrote to go along with them:

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,
Since you live far away in Michigan Land,
We thought you'd want to see us more,
So we developed a plan.
You travel so much so here's something to do,
While on long distance trips,
You can take us with you!
It's really quite simple - we're so soft and so small,
We don't need much room,
We're just two little dolls!
Take pictures of us on your fun-filled vacations,
Then show them to us,
We won’t need our imaginations!
While driving on distant roads and kicking up dust,
You won’t miss Lucy and Mabel
‘Cause these little dolls look just like us!

A ReUpholstery Challenge

hmmmm could I actually turn my torn-up, sagging, itchy mess of a chair into a thing of beauty? Going to have to try! definitely a good winter project.

So... what about all our stuff?

"From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever."

Mad World

Thanks to Chris for sharing this video... Really does put "things" into perspective.

Lazy weekend

Finally finished the advent calendar pockets and got the numbers embroidered on them. They came out alright - certainly good practice on needlework for me. The numbers got progressively better as I went along. I've got them hanging at the fireplace and will snap some pics next week. Thanks to Jenny for the idea and the template! Will be fun helping Lucy and Mabel count down the days until Santa comes...
Yesterday's weather was divine - you'd never know it was December. Cheng (Lucy's 2-yr-old Dutch bunny) spent most of the afternoon outside enjoying fresh grass and sunshine.

Catching up

So busy here lately - haven't posted much. Finished several sewing projects - but can't share for spoiling their recipients' surprise! We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving here. My folks came down from Michigan for a few days. The girls got to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with both sets of grandparents. We had a great time.
Lucy helped make the pies!