More Sandwich Sets...

A friend of mine moved to Ohio the other week, so I was in a tizzy trying to finish three lunch sets she had ordered for family for Christmas.  It was fun to pick out fabric to match the different personality of each individual receiving one.  Everything from girly-girl pink, to toned down autumnal orange.  I think they turned out pretty well....

 

This time, instead of wrapping them up in brown paper, I wrapped them in their napkins.  Since my friend who ordered them had not seen the fabrics yet, I thought it would be silly to wrap them when she would have to unwrap and re-wrap them all over again!  I think I liked this better...

I attached some of my new business cards to the front along with a care instruction card.  I hope they like them!  

What do you prefer....the self-wrapping in the napkin, or the brown craft paper?

Another Brimfield Adventure

This weekend we took another adventure to the Brimfield Antiques Show.  Usually I go with a list, because let's face it, there is just too much to see if you do not have a plan!  But, this time I had only one thing on my list...and I got it, from the exact seller that I wanted to visit to get it from :-)

 

A mid-century Ice-O-Mat ice crusher.  I cannot wait to make a nice cool summer drink with some crushed ice.


I also picked up some Bakelight dice and made these...

Two necklaces!

The day was a fantastic hit and we had a fun time, even though it was hot, it was very worth it!

And after hours of wandering around looking at things like this...

We took a rejuvenating rest and looked at this...

It was quite helpful!


What would be on your list at a giant antiques market?

Summer Skirt

Lots of people enjoy shorts and tank tops in summer, me....I'm a skirt girl.  I think that breezy skirts are THE way to go when the temperature warms up.  I decided to make a new summer skirt, not for me, but for a friend...but I think a similar one for me is in the future.

The request was for a simple skirt with a shirred top, that was comfortable and breezy, but not super full.  So, I stuck to a straight skirt style with just three rows of shirring at the waist.  I've never tried shirring, so I decided it would be best to try it out first with a piece of muslin.  This also allowed me to figure out how much the fabric would shrink with three rows of shirring and calculate the amount of fabric I would need to start.

 

Then, it was time to tackle the fashion fabric....Yikes!  Always a scary task when you are trying something brand new.  I love the orange of the skirt, it really popped.  And here's the finished product...

I think it turned out pretty well for my first time.  Next time maybe I'll do some more shirring at the top and see how it changes things.  But I think this was a success!


Have you ever made anything with shirring?  How did it work out?

Happy (Belated) Birthday America!

I hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July weekend.  We surely did.  First up was a day at the Annual Litchfield Pet Parade.  It is sponsored by the Litchfield Historical Society and everyone seemed to have a great day.  There were everything from hamsters to puppy dogs and the only downside to the day was that it made me want a puppy!  There were dozens of different breeds there and it was so hard not to go home with the little beagle who was wearing an "adopt me" coat in the parade :-)  But alas, our tiny apartment and our two cats would never allow it.  So, we went home without any extra pets, and headed towards the local fireworks...which, as always, were my favorite part of the day.

To gear up for the Pet Parade and the general patriotic mood of the day, I made a red, white, and blue cockade.  I found the tutorial, here, at American Dutchess.  The best part of this project...I used things I already had!  Since it did not require a large amount of ribbon, I was able to do it with scraps I had lying around.

I quickly found that having something to pin the cockade onto, that had a whole in the middle, ended up being a VERY important part of the process.  I did not have a cork board as American Dutchess suggested, so, I pulled out an old piece of cardboard I was saving for something and cut a small hole in the middle to allow me to sew the cockade together in the center when I was done pleating it.  Even though I kept getting my thread caught on the pins, it still worked far better than trying to hold it in my hands.

After doing another layer in red, I stitched the two together and added a white vintage button.  I added a pin to the back so it could be easily attached to a white t-shirt for the Pet Parade.

I think I may have to make some more of these!  


Did you create anything special to celebrate America's birthday?