old school

I just found these this a.m. in a sewing basket I haven't peeked in for a while. I started these probably 7 or 8 years ago (egads!) when I was just starting to give in to the idea that the "crafty" stuff the women in my family did might not be so lame after all. I was fresh out of design school, armed with an intimate knowledge of making furniture with really big tools that had spinning blades that could chop a whole arm off. Dainty thread and silly things made in front of the tv weren't 'real' artistic endeavors. I was the authentic one in the family, for Pete's sake!

So I dipped a toe in the this girlie crafty stuff with these little embroideries. They were supposed to be a series of the 'formula' I so despise that people have for a living room: couch, love seat, matching recliners with matching antimacassars in place, a coffee table, two end tables, a floor lamp and two table lamps. I have no idea what I though I would do with them, but they sure were fun. I definitely need to finish them.

And I sure am glad I got over my big self and started exploring what these women were doing. There is a great, tender history in what the women who raised me have made and shared.

shoes from daddy

Miss Lovely received the most inspiring little shoes from her doting daddy for Valentine's Day - just had to share. I cannot wait until she is big enough to wear them!

And, lucky lady that I am... I received this treat from a most indulgent husband. Have been wearing it nonstop! (when it isn't in the washing machine because a certain Miss Lovely, a.k.a. Mlle. Cranklee McStinkbottom, keeps yarfing on it)

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the whiplash - finally!

It has been completed. It has been tested. It will soon be washed (since it was tested- yuck)! It was photographed.... and the verdict is... it works! My shirt is clean!

This is the Quilted Spit Up Smock I whiplashed for the February whip up- it was super fun! Here is the whole story- from sketches to completion.

Miss Lovely, my satisfied customer

Materials used: A torn, tattered, stained old flour sack towel that had just been sent to the rag stack, leftover flat cotton quilt batting, thread & pearl snaps.


Category entered: Household Waste

ReForm School? With a modified design, I'd love to do it.



What is a Quilted Spit Up Smock, you ask? It is a solution to the age-old issue of a baby wearing a bib, spitting up, and somehow defying all laws of physics, completely missing the bib and instead soaking you with watery cottage cheesey spit up. This smock is long enough to put over your shoulder when holding your babe, protecting your fine threads, and long enough to drape over the front of the Baby Bjorn (when carrying facing forward) so the babe isn't puking/staining/gnawing all over the carrier.

The smock snaps at the neck for quick on/off, and it is as long in the front as it is in the back for reversing when one side gets clobbered.

Side One
Side Two

Tatters, tears, holes & stains- in other words, the interesting parts- were cut out of the towel and pieced together. The perimeters of the holes & tears were stitched to stave off unravelling & provide a little stability, as well as to emphasize the beauty of these marks/imperfections. To me, they are an elegant record of function and utility.

Edges were also left raw; the cotton will fray at the edges through washings, and the flat cotton batting can be seen. I love that you can see exactly how the piece was constructed and what materials were used- sweet, unabashed honesty.

Detail of exposed edge & stitched tatterDetail of tatters & piecing

Detail of big tear & small hole.

Big tear was stabilized with aquick running stitch (by hand).

So there you have it! Miss Lovely didn't mind wearing it, it was convenient, it is soft, it is absorbent, it isn't so precious that I won't ever let her wear it, my shirt didn't get spit on, it was fun to make, I am proud of it, and maybe someday one of her babies will wear it. And best of all, I rescued a lovely old towel from the rag stack!

Thank you, whip up founders for starting this site & inspiring thoughful projects- you have given me pause to exercise my "real" brain in the midst of sometimes mind-numbing adventures in teething...

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spit up smock, con't!

Here are the pics from my whip up adventures last night. I've never really done anything piecey, so this was pretty fun...

First- I picked the best tattered parts of the towel to use -

Then I made sure my choc chips were close by (the only sweet thing in the house, I was jonesing), took some measurements off of other bibs that fit Mlle. Lovely pretty well, and guesstimated how long the smock should be to cover her belly and be able to drape over my shoulder.

First cut - the back of the bib. I just drew on the neck hole spot. I loved that I didn't need to worry about wrecking the fabric.

Detail of the pieces I cut & puzzled together.

I decided to pin the neck & stitch before cutting the neck hole since I was leaving seams raw anyways. Easier to handle.

Yikes, photos/light was pretty rough... at any rate, I also stitched around the tatters to stave off unravelling, as well as highlight that these imperfections were the endearing focus of the design. Kind of like birthmarks, they are beautiful...




Mlle. Lovely was asleep, so I borrowed a model from her. Bad image, sorry, but it gives an idea of the layout.



And now my big dilemma is which fastener to go with. I've ruled out using strips of the towel to make ties- too cumbersome, I think snaps would be better. I have wicked vintage snaps that were my great-grandmother's (she was a seamstress), I have been saving these for years for only the most special of the special projects... but I also have a few pearl snaps. I love the cards that Nani's snaps are on- so incredibly cool. But I think I will go with the pearl snaps- a shout out to the wild west we call home. Plus, they are stronger than the dainty snaps. And I'm thinking that I need to frame Nani's snap cards & keep them just like they are in my studio!

Hopefully I will have a picture of Mlle. Cranklee McStinkbottom modeling her new recycled kitchen towel quilted spit up smock posted this evening. Teething be damned, she's gonna model it and look adorable for her tired mama!

whip up whooped me

am so excited- the whip up spit up smock is almost done- i love it! needs snaps. that's all. can't remember where i put nani's snaps?

took pictures of it while it was in process, but the camera battery just died. aargh. and seriously- it is now 2:15 a.m., i should be going to bed anyways.

sometimes a project is like a really good book- can't put it down until it is d-o-n-e.

my funny valentine

This woman made tears stream down my face laughing because of this post... I could hardly breathe I was laughing so hard.

Michael Jackson- freaking hilarious!

Luckily, Miss Lovely does not pull MJs on me, but she has snuck some poop firecrackers along to the grocery store.

This was my little spit up smock debate today- snaps at shoulder or down the center? I think shoulder. And I think I'll go for the round neck. And I'm all hyped on exposed seams- or leaving the edges raw so they unravel in the wash. I love that soft edge- love to look at it, love to touch it, hate how the strings can get tangled & then you get a lump coming out of the dryer, but it is so worth it...

there's gonna be a whole lotta lovin' 'round the world tomorrow. happy early valentine's day!

whip up challenge - february

I haven't done one of these before, but it seems like a good thing to tackle this month. I just retired a stained, tattered old flour sack towel when pulling laundry out of the dryer the other day... and it was sadly relegated to the rags stack in the laundry room. But then... a-ha! Thanks to Whip Up, I now have something better to do with it.


Miss Lovely is a puker. She goes through bibs like they are going out of style... the best bibs are the ones my mother-in-law knits from chunky cotton yarn. Uber absorbent.


I have yet to make my Lovie a bib- but this won't just be a bib. This will be a Quilted Spit Up Smock. Enter, the tattered old dish towel! Long enough to pull over my shoulder when I burp her. Absorbent cotton batting for the lining. Fastened with one or two tiny black snaps I've been saving on the card from my great-grandmother who was an incredibly talented seamstress for one of Chicago's top designers in the 30s & 40s. Hooray! Can't wait to get to work.



The sketch:

The tattered old towel:

I think this will be big fun!

Will post progress as it happens...

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mighty cool

A new find via Not Martha...


mighty goods is pretty good window shopping. yum.


And these beauties are my new glasses! A little rockabilly vibe from Lulu Guinness. I heart these glasses!




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4 shots

I cried again. When they gave Miss Lovely her shots. I am one of those mothers.

- sigh -

And it has been a rough day since then for the poor girl. I wish she were old enough that I could cheer her up / distract her with a treat- all I can do is hold her gingerly, trying to keep her sweet chubby thighs from touching *anything*... I quickly discovered that she shrieks when touched between the bellybutton & knees. Convenient, no?

Via Modamuse, this one girl was a good distraction for me...

And long story short, I am suddenly throwing together a Red & Pink dinner for a church I'm helping to start here. No pastor. No building. Nada. We rent space at a local daycare- this is very curious for a person who has always gone to established churches.... at any rate, red will be spaghetti, pink will be pink lemonade, and I have suggested a Pink Potluck for dessert. How freaking cute is that? I am, of course, obsessing about what my pink dessert will be. I'm thinking of winging it with something completely invented.... jello cupcakes.

Miss Lovely is awake again- signing off -

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take a look at this....

http://sketchyartists.blogspot.com/

Just do it.

Miss Lovely, her daddy & I went Home. Such an incredible trip- we were home almost exactly one year ago, not pregnant, just us... and one year later, there we were with a 3 month old in tow. She & her daddy were baptized together while we were home by our pastor in our church where we were married... honestly, one of the most moving days of my life, watching these two precious people in God's care. I was filled to overflowing!

Have been having major get-back-in-the-groove issues- sick me, sick Miss Lovely, and a distracted, dejected homesick sorry-for-myself funk to boot. The difference between me and the arm's length long list of persons I admire is that THEY just do it. They produce. Me? Ummm, not so much. It's definitely not for lack of interest or passion- I think its just dumb fear of seeing that really my work just stinks, that the fabulousness of ideas is just my imagination. But... I really won't know if it is just my imagination until I produce, and produce some more, and keep producing, and maybe someday get some feedback.

Not interested in sleeping so much tonight. Instead, playing with photoshop & my beloved wacom tablet.

I really need to force myself to sleep - I will be seeing this lovely little girl shortly...

Goodnight!

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