Paris Paws {In the Shop}

Ready to ship,for sale!

{Here}

 

Mermaids {Cuteness Overload}

 

These pieces left this morning. For a special little girls' birthday.

 

Or Easter basket if her mama can wait that long. ;)

 

I'll be making a couple of these skirt and tank sets as partial customs soon.

Each little water bubble has a bead and sequin sewn to it to catch the light.

The tail on her hat is made from fabric that sparkles a bit.

This TaDollie was really fun to make.

 

I'm glad she could see my vision just from this drawing. Hehe...

I hope I nailed it for her.

I'm diggin the new rounded head. How about you?

Love these ruffles and the huge ric rac that reminds me of ocean waves.

And of course these vintage buttons from my aunt's stash.

*swoon*

I'm exhausted! Time to clean up the tornado that is all around me.

Creativity and a neat house rarely go hand-in-hand. 

But it is sew worth it, I think.

*sigh*

Time to Destash! Someone hand me a kleenex...

 

My drawers are overflowing and there just will never be enough hours in the day to make my way through it all.

 

I have never purged my supplies like this before. And I hope it all sells before I get too sentamental and start crying all over the place. Is there a 12 step program for letting go? There should be. Seriously, the photos of my girls in this one, this one, and this one are just killing me. Oh those kissable cheeks!

 

I can't beleive I'm letting go of all.of.my.euro.patterns. There are 10 different ones. And even one I had twice and didn't even know it. That ought to tell me I had a hording problem, right? Geesh!

 

But honestly, Dave Rasmey told me to sell, sell, sell. So do it I must. ;) I listen to him every day!

 

So here goes...hop over to my shop to see all 23 listings, right {here}.

 

Stitching in the Ditch {Tips and Tricks}

 

I was making this skirt a few days ago and as I did something I thought "I wonder if other people do this too?" You might think it's overkill, but I do still think it's a good idea.

So I'm sure you already know to use non-roll elastic for waistbands. Right? Don't you hate when a waistband gets all wonky inside the casing? Non-roll and this step I'm explaining here both make that impossible. Another reason to love handmade. :)

 

So what I usually do is "stitch in the ditch" along the side seams. If they are pants, you don't need to do it to all four seam, the two side seams should be plenty good.

 

Start a few stitches down from the top and then backstitch to the top and then back down to the bottom of the casing, making sure to backstitch again. Pull the threads to the inside and tie them off. Easy peasy!

When you hold the seam like this, you can see that the stitches are very close to the seam. If you can get them right on top, even better. But it can be a little tough to be exact since you have to also pull the elastic/fabric flat while you are stitching. It's only noticeable below because I am folding it backwards, which you don't do when it's being worn. Right?

When the piece lays flat it's virtually invisible.

Now you've just secured the elastic, which I think prolongs the life of the garment.

Win win!

Around here {Inside TaDa!}

David was a dear and installed a second set of shelves over my cutting table last week-end.

Boo to Ikea for discontinuing the brackets on the left. The ones on the right only came in

birch-tone so I had to spray paint them. So glad to finally see them up!

My cutting table could use a white ruffled skirt all the way around and my black desk will hopefully get a coat of aqua this summer.

 

I finally found all of my scrapbooking scissors. The kids are loving these.

(i.e. there are lots of paper scraps all over the house)

Since I missed the first printing of Flea Market Fancy I couldn't resist the second.

These will become a scrappy trip around the world quilt soonish. But let's be honest, it's probably a five-year plan. ;)

I have four more half yard prints to buy. I think I'll leave out that non-FFM one on the top.  It's cute, but I prefer more color.

I love this photos of my girls. Oh how I wish they were just three again.

This stack of fat quarters will be up for sale in the shop soonish.

This stack will make lovely Rainbow twirl skirts. Don't ya think?

This little adoption guy is going out to his new home tomorrow. Eeek! Isn't he sweet? His mom let me pick the fabrics. So here's a peek if she's reading. :)

And that stack there represents four more projects in the works.

It feels good to be sewing pretty things again.