Music To My Ears
1 week ago
31 May 2011
Morning, friends! Who's up for a fabric giveaway to cap off a lovely, long, holiday weekend?
How about a fabric giveaway from one the best curated fabric shops on Etsy?
I thought so.
Peg & Becca just got back from quilt market earlier this month (so incredibly jealous!) and have some fabulous new fabric lines headed their way. Delight.
And today the lovely ladies behind Sew Fresh Fabrics are giving away a stack of nine fat quarters of Kona solids and prints from Liesl Gibson's Modern Workshop line to one very very fortunate reader.
The FQ bundle includes: citron yellow wave, kona schoolbus, orange fizz french curve, kona banana, frothy pink floral, kona robin egg, courtyard green french curve, kona bubblegum and coffee french curve.
Here's how to enter:
1. Visit the Sew Fresh Fabrics blog post about all the new fabric lines that are on their way.
2. Swoon.
3. Come back here and tell me which one makes your toes curl most.
For a second entry:
Place an order at the Sew Fresh Fabrics shop anytime between today and Thursday and come back here and leave another comment here telling me you did so. (And tell me what you got! I love to hear!)
{inside scoop} Peg & Becca have a flat rate shipping code ($2.50 US/ $5 Canada/ $7 International) on their blog that ends today (5/31) using the code SNAIL at checkout. Refunds will be made through PayPal after purchase.
The giveaway will run through Thursday, June 2nd and a winner will be chosen that evening.
Happy color, friends! Enjoy this sunny, short week!
30 May 2011
29 May 2011
If the camera adds 10 pounds, then the graduation robe adds 50!
Ah well.
No, I did not receive any new degrees yesterday. But I did get to don my Alma Mater's colors at the graduation ceremony for the classical high school where I teach my homemaking class. And I had the privilege of being on stage for a front row view as one very special nanny extraordinaire (and friend, might I add!) crossed the stage and received her diploma.
We had a lovely day celebrating the accomplishments of some well-loved, hard-working young people. And more, we celebrated the evidence of the grace of God upon their young lives.
Congratulations to the class of 2011!
(and to Hazel, for looking like a kid in these pictures!)
27 May 2011
I had a few minutes last week while Hazel was napping and Oliver was playing happily, so I ducked into my sewing room to see what sort of trouble I could get myself into. I have a hard time leaving projects unfinished - even just overnight - so I don't like to start a project that I know I won't have enough time to complete in one sitting. I had about 20 minutes. I spotted a blank tank top I'd picked up at Target for $0.75 at the end of last summer (I've been intending to embellish it for months now) and some grey knit material I'd picked up at JoAnn's. And just like that, I had a vision!
Y'all this is such a fun, quick, easy, beginner project. There's no big construction or complicated technique. It's a pleasing, relaxing, nap-time activity that takes a tank top from boring to interesting in no time.
Join me?
Hazel's top had sort of a wide neck and the circumference of the neckline was 20". I cut a 2" wide strip the entire width of the knit fabric (60").
The ratio I used - neckline to knit strip length - was 1:3.
This made a very full and tight ruffle, so I think you could go as little as 1:2 if you needed.
You can do this with quilting cotton too, but you'll have to add a step of hemming or serging the long edges. Knit is great for this because it won't fray.
(Happy hint: don't have knit yardage laying around? Look for an old t-shirt! You can cut as many 2" strips as you need to get a 60" length and piece them together. That makes this project almost free!)
Load up your sewing machine with as close a coordinating thread as you have on hand. I recommend leaving your bobbin thread white so you will be able to tell at a glance which thread is which later one.
And set your stitch length as long as it will go.
(My stitch length is the far right number - it's a 5).
Now run a stitch all the way down the middle of your strip of knit fabric. This long stitch will be called a gathering stitch.
Do your best to stay right on center.
When you're finished be sure to cut your threads long so they're easy to find.
Look at the underside of your stitch. (Remember, I kept my bobbin thread white so I would be able to find it easily.) Do you see how the white thread is just loosely held onto the fabric. This is perfect for gathering!
Go back to your tank top (or t-shirt or whatever you've decided to gather) and make a mark in the center of the back with a water-soluble marker.
Now, holding your knit fabric strip loosely in your left hand, grab the white bobbin thread with your right hand. Hold the thread firmly and start to pull the fabric away gently with your left hand. It's gathering!
Keep gathering (you can gather from both ends if it helps you) until you've made your knit strip of fabric the same length as your neckline. There is lots of forgiveness here.
If you've gathered it too much and the strip is too short, just pull it out a bit.
If the strip is still too long, just keep gathering until it's short enough.
Now, pin one end of the strip to the center back point of the neckline.
Keep pinning all the way around
until you get back to the center point of the back. Fold the other end of the knit strip under about 1/2"
and pin it in place, overlapping your starting point.
All pinned. Don't worry about your crazy threads. We can snip them in a minute after we stitch things in place.
Now, back to the machine. Set your stitch length to 3.
It will be helpful here to take the "skirt" off your machine so your top will fit nicely around it at the neckline.
Start at the back center point where you overlapped the two ends of the knit strip and backstitch once.
Now stitch all the way around the neckline (don't be afraid to go nice and slowly here - I am loving how much steady control my new machine gives!), doing your very best to keep your stitch right on center. It may help to use two fingers to keep the ruffles down and to help them go under the presser foot evenly.
And just like that, it's all stitched. AND, just like that, you're already almost finished!
Now, just trim all of your threads and smile!
Because there's still plenty of naptime left to check up on your favorite blog! :)
Now, go! Make boring shirts special! Play with colors and patterns! And if you do - take a picture and add it to my Flickr pool! I love getting to see all yall's projects!
Happy Friday, friends!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the Brother NX800 machine mentioned above for free in exchange for a mention of the product in my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
26 May 2011
Today has been Hazel's best walking day yet! She's been taking this process super slow (especially considering that she is almost 14 1/2 months old now!), but today she spent most of her play time pushing herself up into a stand (without pulling up on something) and taking a few steps in the direction she wants to go.
It's still only three or four steps at a time, but Ahhhh! it feels so good to have her chubby little paws up off the ground!
Mmm... love this girl. So excited for actual walking and running. (At least I think I am...) I've definitely enjoyed having this little extended babyhood of crawling, but now I'm ready to walk around with my girl and get those sweet little knees and hands off the ground.
Three cheers for Hazel!
Okay, y'all are great! Thanks so much for playing my game and making us laugh tonight!
(oh, yes, and for the record: those are Ryan's yucky flip flops she's wearing. And yes, the shoes in the bed were killing me too!)
Ry and I have chosen the winner, but first, can I share some of the runners up? Y'all made it hard!
"the tiniest chemist prepares to take a sample of the corrosive shoe-staining substance that has "found her feet" this morning"
- by Keight
"Is it just me or did that medicine make my feet shrink?!"
- by Ashley
"Do these shoes make my feet look big?"
- by Laura Darling
"Do my feet make these shoes look big?"
- by the fam
"What do you mean the pools not open?!?!" - by Kristie
"No, Mom, I'm serious! There really was a Queen of Hearts who kept calling me Alice!" by Jessica
"Do these shoes make my feet look big?"
- by Laura Darling
"Do my feet make these shoes look big?"
- by the fam
"What do you mean the pools not open?!?!" - by Kristie
"No, Mom, I'm serious! There really was a Queen of Hearts who kept calling me Alice!" by Jessica
And the winner of the "caption this photo" contest:
"I know they were only 25 cents Mom, but don't you think its getting a little out of hand? I am thinking they won't fit me for a while." - by Sarah
Please contact me to claim your fabric!
25 May 2011
Morning, friends!
Ryan captured this Hazel moment this morning on his iPhone and I feel like it's just begging for a caption.
You can submit as many captions as you like. Ryan and I will pick the winner this evening.
The prize?
A half yard of Alexander Henry's June Dot in Leaf!
Go ahead, make us laugh!!
23 May 2011
The Pink Jellybean contest has ended and a winner has been chosen!
But, y'all still have a chance to snag a free headband of your choice from the shop until Thursday with the purchase of any tank dress or skirt and top set.
{Don't add it to your Etsy cart. Just leave a message in the "note to seller" section at checkout saying which headband you want to be yours!}
So, who won the $41 shop credit?
Congrats, Becca! Please email me to claim your prize!
Thanks for entering, y'all. And thanks to Elizabeth for giving away such a great prize!
22 May 2011
My Mom and I enjoyed a nice garage sale date yesterday since my sister had company in town. We took our time getting out of the house (we didn't leave my place until 8:30) and sipped coffee as we wandered around a couple of great neighborhood sales.
Nothing breathtaking today. But we had a lovely morning and I even scored something for one of y'all.
Here's my haul:
$0.25 - 15 hanging files - I'd been planning to buy hanging files to begin storing Oliver and Hazel's keep-worthy art work and things sorted by age. Definitely couldn't have picked them up at Target for a quarter - especially not in gender-specific colors!
$0.25 - Hazel shirt in an interesting shape - totally want to copy this. It has cute bubble sleeves. May even tear it apart at the seams to figure it out. Gonna need to remake it my own for fall.
$2.50 - books - came out to fifty cents each. I'm cool with this since they're all books we will very much use. (Oliver could hardly leave them alone to let me photograph them.)
Free - tiny socks for a tiny guy - for Rowan. They have grippy bottoms so he doesn't have a slip and fall. The lady that sold me the Hazel shirt threw these in for free.
$0.25 - fall shirt for my girl - nothing special to say here. it's just a shirt.
$0.75 - 3 things you want to judge me for buying - but you must know that I bought them to change them if that helps. We have family photos scheduled with Claire Wise next weekend (big yay!!!), so a big square black frame and a couple of 8x10 white mats seemed like timely investments.
$1.00 - Belle dress, wand and hoop - for Bea.
Funny story: As my Mom and I walked up to one garage sale yesterday morning I heard the lady hosting the sale say, "I just have to ask."
I realized she was talking to me so I indicated that I was listening.
"Do you have a blog?"
"Yes!"
"Is it Finding My Feet?"
"Yeah, it is! Do you read it??"
"Yes. Haha - Stacey isn't going to believe this! I'm Cheri."
"Nice to meet you Cheri. I'm Raechel."
Okay, realized after I introduced myself that I was a big dork for telling her my name. Doy. But, how fun is it to get to meet people that read my blog!!! So exciting!! Blogging can be such a one-sided conversation that getting to connect with people that read what I write in real life is a big treat! Thanks for saying hi, Cheri! It was so nice to meet you. And thanks for the darling dress-up dress for Beatrice! And say hi to Stacey for me. :)
(Bea models her lovely new dress)
And now, my tuck-n-run find of the day:
$1.00 - a solid wood cradle for Hazel's dolls - it's going to need a coat of paint since oak does not exist in our home. But, it's solid and it's lovely and I think I'll tuck it away for a little while to pull it out as a special surprise for her sometime this summer/fall. Yay!
And, a new addition to my regular garage sale posts:
The "what I found for you" find of the day!
Yes, y'all. I've got your back! I alway feel a little bit funny showing you all of my great garage sale finds because I always worry that (especially when I find something amazing) it comes across as braggy.
It's totally not. I wish I could help each of you find great things like I do (and many of you do!).
But sometimes I run into great finds that I just don't need and can't justify purchasing. Usually it's something I already have or that won't fit me or either of my kids.
So yesterday I found this great pair of PediPed shoes in size 0-6 months for a quarter. Um, really didn't want to walk away without them, but I definitely didn't need them either.
But certainly one of you can use them, right? Right?
$0.25 - PediPed shoes, size 0-6 months - for one of you!
So, who can use them? I haven't figured out a great way to decide who to send them to yet, so for this time let's just say the first person to tell me what color Hazel's Bumbo seat was when she was just learning to sit up gets the shoes.
Bonne chance, y'all!
And please! If we ever bump into each other - say hello!
I would love to meet you!
21 May 2011
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