a little photo post

 As in, I'm going to send you over here.

Sara, of Sew Sweetness, had a great idea to do a bunch of guest posts on photography this week.  She asked me to contribute, which was very sweet of her.  I didn't have a lot to add to the other great posts - but I do have some ideas of what-not-to-do!

So, go check it out if you are interested.  And see the other great posts from this week!

amylouwho goes to the ball

Hello, it's e. here from pinksuedeshoe. Amy asked me to do a little filling in this morning. Her interwebs are all funked up, and she'll be back later today (hopefully) to post the Sew+Tell linky. In the meantime, let me tell you a story. It's a good one.

Amy has been working on her little black dress for the Military Ball this week. If you follow her on facebook you've been able to see a few sneak peek photos and heard all about Dress Drama 2010. Well last night was the Big Ball. And I'm here to give you the play by play.

Amy's been working on her dress all week. You know, plus be a mother, wife, bake bread for the needy and freeze raspberries and mint leaves in ice cubes to freshen up her afternoon sip of cool ice water. Things were going well. She had everything under control and her life was a picture of calm and order. If by "well" you mean that with only five hours to go before ball time she still had to set in sleeves, tack down lining, finish the hem and then check off all those pesky last minute details of her dress. No pressure.

Thanks to her awesome serger and some wicked cool sparks flying off her machine, she was able to finish a full hour before she had to leave. How did she do it? She's totally a rockstar.

Then of course she sat down and closed her eyes while the magic brushes and lipsticks and mascaras that she keeps on hand pampered her face and perfectly coifed her hair. (I asked her to share the secret of those magic brushes, but she is very wisely keeping it to herself. She's pretty business savvy and I think she's planning on securing the patent before she lets those babies out of her sight. I hear she sleeps with them tucked in her mattress. Or maybe it was under her pillow. I forget.) Instead of sharing her secret, she told me to tell you that the ruffles on her dress look fantastic.

Right at the stroke of six Amy waltzed down the stairs to some beautiful music to meet her Prince Charming (aka Mr. Louwho). He was looking all fantastically fantastic in his new uniform, perfectly polished and pressed. He took her by the hand and swept her off in a magic pumpkin coach to the Ball where they dined on rare delicacies and danced the night away. It was the perfect end to Dress Drama 2010.

And why is Amy not telling you this story herself? Well, sometime during the night a rocketship crashed through the internet lines that connect her to the rest of the world. The astronaut behind the joystick (rockets definitely don't have steering wheels) was very apologetic and told Amy that he'd get it fixed as soon as he could. And when she told him that she has a Sew+Tell blogparty to host today, and she really needs the internet, he felt even worse.

So, what's the point of this whole story? Amy will be back later today with a written apology from the astronaut and the rocket crew. And she'll post the linky for Sew+Tell then. And she better post some real pictures of her little black dress and her handsome Prince Charming. And then we can all live happily ever after. The End.

*Illustrations may or may not be representative of actual events. I mostly just made them up.

sew & tell- little dresses

If you are new or need a refresher for Sew & Tell guidelines you can click on the tab above for details on linking up!

We have a new linky tool this week! I saw it over on my friend V.'s blog and liked that you can have a thumbnail picture with the link! We'll have to see how it goes today.


Hello Everyone, it's e from pinksuedeshoe. I'm helping Amy out with Sew&Tell today by sharing a few old projects and one new project. I started sewing for real when I found out I was expecting a little girl who we call Creamie. I started by making her bedding (pictures posted here) before she was born and that is when I realized how much I love to sew. My sewing machine has been living on my dining room table for almost two years now. And my newest favorite is making little dresses. They are fast and easy and she just looks so cute. Which makes it hard to resist making yet another little dress.

The first dress I made was for her blessing. And it was not fast or easy. But I am so glad that I (with a lot of help from my mom) got it finished. I made this one out of batiste. My grandma (who died the year before Creamie was born) would make beautiful handkerchiefs out of batiste and trim them with pretty lace to give to everyone she knew. She was also a wonderful seamstress and everything she made was gorgeous inside and out. I made this dress like she would have, with all the inside seams covered and all the trim sewn on by hand. On the front it has a few pintucks and three pearly buttons. And then a few more buttons in the back as well. I gave the job of sewing on the buttons to my husband. I decided it was important that he was a part of this dress.
My sister in law Stephanie knit her these cute little Mary Jane's to wear on her special day. They fit her long skinny feet perfectly and I am still dying over the little pearl buttons. So so cute!

[ photo's by Nuttall Photography ]

Last June my little sister got married and I made little polka dot dresses for Creamie and my two nieces. I don't have a good picture of the three of them, but I loved this little dress. And she wore it for a good six months, which was also awesome.
This next one is not really a dress, but one of my very favorite things I've sewn for her. For Halloween last year I was Rainbow Brite. My mom and sister made this costume a few years ago. And I turned Creamie into my cute puffy sidekick Twink, complete with rainbow striped tights and star antennae.

I had high hopes for a Christmas dress, but it didn't happen. But by March I had myself pulled together enough to make Creamie an Easter dress from a thrift store sheet.
And just a few weeks ago I made her a new 4th of July dress using this pattern from dana at made. I added the big deep pockets for her to stow her rocks and crayons in. And so far only one rock and one yellow crayon have made it through the wash. But thankfully not the dryer.

(I still can't get over the Converse shoes with the ruffle socks!)

And my finish for this week is another dress using this same pattern. This is the-not-quite-so-purple,-but-more -lavender turtle dress.
I bought this fabric months and months ago. But I couldn't make the dress until she grew into the matching shoes, which I found on clearance for $3 sometime last year.

Putting in the sleeves was a little tricky, seeing as how they aren't a part of the pattern, but I only had to unpick them once. Which makes the whole thing very successful in my mind!


What sewing project did you finish this week?

Please refer to the sew & tell page   if you have any questions or wonder why your link may have been  deleted.

1. Link to your specific  post  about a sewing related finish you had THIS week.

2. Please mention sew   & tell in your post and link back to this  post (link or button) so  everyone can join in.
3.  Pat each other on the backs in the comments!

sew & tell - christmas in june and a winner!

If you are new or need a refresher for Sew & Tell guidelines you can click on the tab above for details on linking up!
 
It's me, Nicole, again.  I had to come back to announce the winner, of course!  Let me start by thanking everyone for all of your wonderful comments.  You're all so nice!  And now for the winner:

Annelies from Sew Blessed

Congratulations!  She mentioned that she is going to be a Grandma soon, so double congratulations. :)  Annelies, please email carseatblanket@gmail.com to claim your prizes.

Since this is Sew & Tell Friday, I thought I'd better show something I made this week instead of just announcing the winner and leaving on a high note.  I've wanted to be a quilter since I was very young.  My Great Grandma Rhoda Lee made quilts that were pretty unbelievable even before I knew she was only using scraps and doing everything by hand.  Her favorite quilt was the Lone Star.  It required the most skill and she liked to show off. :)  When I really started quilting last year, one of my big goals was to make a Lone Star.  Thankfully I discovered a method that made that quilt a possibility.  I use a lot of Quiltsmart patterns and their Lone Star is one of my favorites - no bias cuts, everything lays flat.  Yay!  I bought a room full of Riley Blake's "Be Merry" Christmas fabric last January at 70% off and here is my first project using it:

I took it to a long arm quilter and hurried to sew up a back for it before I ran out of the house.  Shocking surprise, I made the back piece a few inches too short.  Booooo!  I had to pay a little extra and buy a piece of sorta-matching fabric...  

The tree fabric is flannel.  Somehow it made the back even cuter.  I love this little quilt!  It's making me so happy. :)

I hope no one is grossed out by a Christmas Project in June.  It's not too early, right?  Okay, it is. 

What have you been sewing this week?

Please refer to the sew & tell page if you have any questions or wonder why your link may have been deleted.

1. Link to your specific post about a sewing related finish you had THIS week.

2. Please mention sew & tell in your post and link back to this post (link or button) so everyone can join in.

3. Pat each other on the backs in the comments!

sew & tell: car seat blanket pattern give-away

If you are new or need a refresher for Sew & Tell guidelines you can click on the tab above for details on linking up!

Welcome to Sew & Tell Friday!  I'm Nicole and I'm filling in for Amy this week.  I really love Amy's blog and all of a sudden I'm nervous about ruining it with this post. Stay!  Stay...

Almost two years ago I made a car seat canopy/cover/blanket for my sister-in-law for her new baby boy.  It was pretty poorly made (no pattern), but so much fun to give something useful, that I wanted to make another one.  My friend, Kristi, and I made some changes based on mostly her experience (I have one kid and she has a dozen... or three, it's hard to tell when they move that fast).  We rounded the corners (no more dragging the blanket on the ground), hid the Velcro closure under the handlebar of the car seat, and put elastic at the "head" of the blanket so that it wouldn't blow up (not an explosion, which is what I think of every time I write those words) in the wind.  Since coming up with that new design we opened an etsy shop and I've since made over a hundred car seat blankets.  How about a collage (not of all of them- yikes)?

And for boys:

Most of you who read this blog know that you could make one of those, no problem.  And you're right!  So how about a giveaway of our pattern and some pretty glass-head pins?  Now you won't have to waste fabric figuring this out.  To enter, leave a comment on this blog.  For a second entry, go to our shop, browse, come back here and mention in your comment what your favorite item is.  The winner will be announced here next Friday.  Good luck, everyone!

Now, off you go to encourage all your sewing-blogging friends. :)

What have you been sewing this week?

Please refer to the sew & tell page if you have any questions or wonder why your link may have been deleted.

1. Link to your specific post about a sewing related finish you had THIS week.

2. Please mention sew & tell in your post and link back to this post (link or button) so everyone can join in.

3. Pat each other on the backs in the comments!

Sew and Tell- Reversible Twirly Skirt

If you are new or need a refresher for Sew & Tell guidelines you can click on the tab above for details on linking up!

Hello everyone, it's e from pinksuedeshoe. I'm filling in for Amy for sew&tell this week while she lives out of a suitcase and waits to move into her new house.

Last summer I was poking through my little stack of fabric (it is now a much bigger stack of fabric) and while sifting through my fat quarters I hit upon an idea. I thought that there must be a perfect way to make a little skirt for my then 6 month old daughter with a few fat quarters. So one afternoon I made this pattern up. I love it for several reasons:

• It's reversible so it's two skirts in one.
• It's fast, easily less than an hour- for TWO skirts!
• There is absolutely NO wasted fabric. And all you need is two fat quarters, a little trim and some elastic.
  

And as if that wasn't enough, a year later and my daughter can still wear it! I sewed up a new little skirt this week so I could write a tutorial, which is posted over on my blog.

It's a great little twirly skirt and will fit little girls from about 6 months to 18 months. Just by changing the trim you can customize this skirt for any mom and baby. You can use ricrac, ribbon, lace, ruffles, little pompom's, you name it. A few weeks ago I made this same skirt for Amy's baby Maggie to match her big sisters (Amy posted pics here) so I added a little extra fabric trim to the bottom. Come visit me at www.pinksuedeshoe.com for the full tutorial!

What have you been sewing this week?

Please refer to the sew & tell page if you have any questions or wonder why your link may have been deleted.

1. Link to your specific post about a sewing related finish you had THIS week.

2. Please mention sew & tell in your post and link back to this post (link or button) so everyone can join in.

3. Pat each other on the backs in the comments!

sew & tell- I love you gathered clutch

If you are new or need a refresher for Sew & Tell guidelines you can click on the tab above for details on linking up!

Well hello, hello everyone! It's Penny from sewtakeahike! I hope you had a great week and for those of you in the US, have some fun plans for the holiday weekend. Big hugs to you Amy, and your move. I pray it goes smoother than you ever imagined it would.

Here in Colorado, L-man and I will probably be doing some kayaking and hanging out, it should be fun!

Also, last week, I {gracefully} turned 40 (ughhh! it was a hard one for me!) and we had a hot air balloon ride planned for my birthday. Because of weather, it's been rescheduled twice. Well, this morning, if all is well with the weather, we will try again. I figured if I must turn 40, I want to defy gravity going into it, right? Hopefully I'll have lots of photos to share real soon.

This week, I have a couple of finishes.

I meant to make these for my mom and MIL for mother's day, and I finally just did it. The pattern is the gathered clutch, thank you so much Anna for this awesome pattern! This little clutch is seriously the bees knees. I made one for myself as well, and I'm determined to use it this summer, despite the fact that it's about 3 times smaller than my normal bag. It's working so far!

Up, up, and away!

Can't wait to see what you've been doing this week!

Your turn!

Please refer to the sew & tell page if you have any questions or wonder why your link may have been deleted.

1. Link to your specific post about a sewing related finish you had THIS week.

2. Please mention sew & tell in your post and link back to this post (link or button) so everyone can join in.

3. Pat each other on the backs in the comments!

sew & tell- one of these things is not like the other

If you are new or need a refresher for Sew & Tell guidelines you can click on the tab above for details on linking up!
Sorry for keeping you all waiting this am, I was having some arguments with blogger, but I won!!

Before we jump in to sew & tell this week, lets's play a little game!! I promise it'll be fun.


You know the game. The one on Sesame Street where they sing "oooooooone of these things, is not like the other"?

I know, I know. It's a hard one.
Ok, maybe blink your eyes a couple of times really hard and then look again.
You found it?
All I have to say is glamour shots, schlammer shots! Who needs them when we all have photoshop? (for those of you who like my version of Amy and Maggie's photo, make sure you tell Amy in the comments. I'm hoping she doesn't ban me from her blog after seeing my souped up version of her photo!)
I know you all have had several sleepless nights for the last week, wondering if you were the wrap it up bag winner, so I won't keep you waiting any longer. I did a random number generator for the number of linkies from last week's sew & tell, and
the winner is #33!
Vanessa! I'll email you later today to get your info.
And now for my big finish this week.....
tadaaaaa!
a linen napkin set with some hand embroidery. For those of you who know me a little bit, you know this is a miraculous event. Me and hand sewing are like oil and water for sure. After some vigorous shaking, we'll meld together a little. Give us a few minutes though, and then we're both back in our own separate corners, wondering what just happened.



For those of you who are interested, I made these for the urban home goods swap. We just finished up with the first round, but if you like to do a little swap now and again, check back for the next one!

***edited to add*** For those of you who asked, I'll be posting the tutorial for the napkins on sewtakeahike in a couple of weeks. Also, the material I used for the outside is from the "authentic" line from sweetwater for moda.

Can't wait to see what you've been doing this week!

Your turn!

Please refer to the sew & tell page if you have any questions or wonder why your link may have been deleted.

1. Link to your specific post about a sewing related finish you had THIS week.

2. Please mention sew & tell in your post and link back to this post (link or button) so everyone can join in.

3. Pat each other on the backs in the comments!

sew & tell - I'm not Amy

Yay!!! Amy had her baby yesterday at 6:53 pm! It's a girl (they're still finalizing her name), and she weighs 7 lbs, 5 oz, and is 19 inches long. Big hugs and congrats to the Amylouwho family!

If you are new or need a refresher for Sew & Tell guidelines you can click on the tab above for details on linking up!

Alrighty then! For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, I'm not Amy, and this is not my blog.

AND....

My skin is not green and my head is not out of proportion to my body size, just so you don't wonder about that, either.

I am, however, here to be your sew & tell leader this week.

My finished project? A wrap it up bag.

And the best part about the wrap it up bag? I'm giving it away to one lucky sew & tell linky-lou-who person. All you have to do is follow the sew & tell rules by linking up to a project you finished this week, and your name will be entered in the drawing. The winner will be chosen from the Mister Linky links, not the comments. I'll announce the winner at next Friday's sew & tell.

Can't wait to see what you've been doing this week!

Your turn!

Please refer to the sew & tell page if you have any questions or wonder why your link may have been deleted.

1. Link to your specific post about a sewing related finish you had THIS week.

2. Please mention sew & tell in your post and link back to this post (link or button) so everyone can join in.

3. Pat each other on the backs in the comments!

had enough of me yet?

If not you can head over to Natalia's blog where she asked me to guest post today!

Thanks again Natalia!