i_heart_fabric

Distracted? Download Retro Rabbit...

I have been working on putting this cute retro pattern online so that others can download and make these cute vintage animal softies. I have converted the rabbit into a PDF and will attach here until I find a permanant place for him. I will put the rest of the animals up shortly.

Download retro rabbit patterns.pdf

Last night I made a yummy banana bread from some very ugly looking nanas that have been living in our fruit basket for an unmentionable amount of time. I added a cup of non-fat raspberry yoghurt (that needed to be eaten) to the mix and it made the bread so moist and yummy! I could only put nuts on one half of the bread as Jason doesn't eat nuts, but I have now eaten my whole half (with nuts) and his half is starting to look pretty good!

So, why is it so easy to get distracted with new projects when you really need to be working on orders? I have been trying to finish the fab cushions for a customer, but I stop and think, oh! I should scan these 60 new vintage patterns and then make banana bread. I still have two more cushions to finished today (after I have a meeting with my website guy and search the junk shops in Fremont for a garden gnome for Father's Day ;)

I also can't stop looking at these crochet flower buttons that I bought at Fritzy Ritz in Fremont last week. I havn't seen anything like em, so gorgeous! I'm trying to decide whether to use them as buttons or make them into pins. (Talk about distracted!)

 

Flickr-ed...

   

I have finally managed to get most of the vintage patterns up into Flickr, I had to update my account just to download them all. I still have the estate sale patterns to put up and yesterday I won another lot of patterns on ebay. This is getting crazy! But I can't stop. I'm going to put a lot of them up into my ebay store and start making-up some of the summer dresses. So many of my friends are having little ones now, so I can start using some of the baby clothes patterns and vintage fabrics to make gifts. Check out the new patterns in Flickr... 

Re-Vamp...

Remeber a couple of years ago when everyone was sewing doilies onto their tank tops, jazzin' em up? I never got around to that trend unfortunatly. So, when I bought some vintage sequin trims at an estate sale, I figured it was time! I have only pinned these pieces to the t-shirts, they will soon be hand sewn on. Posibly with some more ribbons...

Pieces of sequin, beaded lace from an old dress, attached to a tank top...

 

This cicle of scattered sequins on tulle, stitched to a gathered cap sleeve tshirt...

I have quite a few more vintage pieces I'm thinking of putting together a small collection of one-of-a-kind tops for Holiday season, probably to sell in Presence. (or to keep for myself :)

My Martha Moment...

Now, I'm not much of a cook, but I do like baking. My girlfriend is getting married in Sept and had her bridal shower in White Rock, Canada on Sunday. I wanted to bake something fun as well as special, so tried my hand at designer cookies. I have seen some really great ones online and now I have the utmost respect for cookie designers!

This was my inspiration, beautiful cookies I found online:

I started by making the cutter shapes out of strips of brass bought at the hardware store. I bent the brass into dress, shoe, gift, cake and floral bouquet.

The recipe I used from my Good Housekeeping cookbook was so crumbling that I could only roll out enough dough one cookie at a time!

I visited the shop, Cookies , in Ballard which sells everything you need for cookie making and the nicest shop keeper ever. I was looking for icing that would harden and look glossy. I bought a bag of powder sugar icing that was easy to mix up, just add water, and easy to apply to the cookies. Except when it came to the piping. They suggested a plastic bottle, which I bought, but couldn't for the life of me get the icing in the bottle! It was a huge mess! Luckily, I had bought a tube of white party icing from the grocery store, just in case, so it all worked out in the end. I, of course, forgot to buy food coloring, so mixed the white icing with crushed up colored sprinkle to create the green and pink and decoated with little candy flowers, stars & hearts.

Yes, I am wearing a red gingham apron (bottom left :). The bouquets turned out a little strange looking, but I like how the little cakes turned out...(they were yummy too :)

Goodies!

I just received my motherload of vintage patterns bought off of ebay. 60 patterns from the 30's to the 70's of the cutest children's, ladies and gents outfits! I'm sorting through and scanning them now, so better pictures will be available on flickr soon. Some will go back up on ebay, but it will be hard to decide which! Yippee!

Rainy Sunday Curtains...

Since our neighbors cut down a big patch of the bamboo that protects our modesty, it was time for some new dining room curtains. We get a lot of sunlight through these windows, so I was looking for something sort of sheer. The Hancock Fabrics in Greenwood on 85th is going out of business and I was hoping to find some groovy light curtain fabric, but nothing I really fancied. (I am going to stop back in a couple of weeks to get some super bargains though..) I got this great book at the Goodwill today, Hand Made Modern by Todd Oldham.

   

In it was a neat printing idea for sheets and pillows. I adapted the idea for some curtains. I had around 3 yards of white muslin and some fabric paints that I had bought a couple of years ago and never used. The paints are Setacolor and set with an iron. You just dump out the paint onto a plastic plate and use a plastic cup to make circle designs.

 

I used green, brown and deep red fabric paint. It was so fun and easy. The hardest part of this project was trying to keep the kitty from jumping onto the table. She has a lot of creative input. I ended up using the reverse side of the print just because the print side was so bright and I had a few smudges that weren't very pretty. Finished off the edges and hung them this evening in time for bbq party tomorrow :)

Girly time...

I am so crazy in love with Catherine Malandrino's Spring Dresses! Being an official girly-girl I could wear dresses every day. I have stacks of fabric put aside in a 'make a dress' pile, so best get sewin' before the summer is over! I found these cute images from the Ron Herman website. I love the backgound fabrics for each item. I can't imagine the time it would take to change the backgrounds for each outfit. It really makes a difference though. Cuteness!

Shadow Boxing

I have never done scrapbooking before, but always love to look at the little accessories in the craft store. A couple of years ago I was given a shodowbox & scrapbook kit from Pottery Barn. It is a square wooden box with a sliding clear plastic cover, sticky foam, tags and tacks. I finally have a chance to play with it. My girlfriend is getting married and I am a bridesmaid, I wanted to give them a special engagement gift that was personal. I think it turned out really cute. I just printed out some cute pics, used lots of bits that I had in the sewing box and bought a wedding card at the drug store that had a cute saying. This was so fun to do, I am so excited to give it to them!

Sew Fun

Now this is a great idea! This site sell profesional photocopies of vintage patterns, they have some great dolls and toys. I wish I had some little teddy bear bag making time!  I might just have to make some!  www.sewfunpatterns.com

Feeling domestic?

I have these darling Vintage Apron Patterns available now in my ebay fabric store, Fabulous-Fabric-Finds

Oh, I feel like baking cookies now!