Skirts Sale and Recent Sewing Projects.....

Hello Friends! I have been having computer issues so I haven't had the chance to mention that my Etsy shop HumbleLuna is have a spring skirt sale, $5 off with the coupon code: SPRINGSWING.

I planed to have the sale go through the month of May but I am thinking I might extend it since my computer issues have prevented me from listing new skirts as often as I would have liked to.

Anyway, I have several sizes up now and will be listing more in the next several weeks. Please remember I am always happy to do custom work don't be shy to ask!

Here are some of the new skirts available:

 I always feel a little sad when I make a skirt for Etsy that just sits there unsold when Nalah could have worn it so I made one for her too.

I also made a custom order for an old high school friend who has a little one year old. It turned out pretty fun!

During this little spring sewing marathon I got a little nostalgic for the old patchwork pants my friends and I used to make back in high school. Phish tour pants circa 1997. Well, my patchwork pants wearing days are over but I thought it would be fun to make a pair for Nalah.
I am thinking of making a few pairs of these for my shop too.
 

                         I would have totally rocked mushroom pants back in the day.

A few crafty things....

 A few weeks ago I busted into my needle felting kit I purchased at a local yarn shop during the Portland Yarn Crawl this year. I sat in the sun in my yard with my eldest daughter one day during spring break and we had a good time making little felted bugs together. I love how portable needle felting is and it is so fun and easy!

 

  

 

 Sophie made this one, it turned out great. It was her first try at needle felting.

 I treated myself to Anna Maria Horner's Fine Feather fabric back at Christmas time and was not sure what I would do with it. I had these pillow forms in my sewing room that needed covers but I didn't have enough yardage of the Anna Maria fabric to make both pillows. I found a fun fabric at JoAnns in the remnant section that was a perfect fit to complete the covers, a funky mandala shaped print with blues that worked well with the feather print. I just made an envelope style pillow case and the back is held in place with a velcro tab. Simple and fun and now I get to look at my feather fabric every day.

Some recent crafty things

 My camera is dead,poor little thing.

 After three great years it has decided to call it quits. So I am left anxious and camera less at the moment until my replacement(30$bucks on Ebay!) gets here. I figure this would be a good time to go back into my photo archives and show, or show off I guess, some of my recent knitting and crafty projects.

Fist is a sweater I finished for Nalah back in November. The pattern is the Ribbed Baby Jacket by Debbie Bliss. I made one for Sollie back a few years ago too, you can see it here. It took me forever to get this on her and try and get a good photo in this dark winter lighting. They are pretty funny:

 Just after Thanksgiving I noticed a magazine while waiting in the checkout line and couldn't resist the cute mushroom ornaments on the cover. I just love all things mushroom! I don't splurge on magazines very often but this one was a good investment, so many cute ideas. I ended up making almost a dozen of the mushrooms ornaments for an ornament exchange, for a few friends, and my son's Kindergarten teachers. They were so quick and fun to make. I love little portable hand sewing projects I can work on anywhere. The birds were also in the magazine although I altered the pattern slightly by adding wings, they were gifts for friends but I hope to make one for us to keep on our tree next year.

 

Solomon asked for a yellow scarf for his Birthday, so sweet, how could I not? So I made a bright yellow scarf in seed stitch. I loved working with this yarn(Malabrigo chunky) so much. It was so bright and happy, a sunshine happy color for my sweet little guy. The color and stitch makes me think of a honeycomb or bright flowers and bumble bee's with pollen on their legs it also reminds me of way over buttered popcorn.  The purchase of this yarn was just as delightful as the yarn itself. I stopped by a local yarn shop in the morning when I was running quick errand by myself(this so rarely happens). The yarn shop has a resident poodle that looks like a tiny sheep with tight white curls of fur who loves to be held, so lucky me I got to carry him around while I shopped for yarn. It was pretty great. It is no secret I have been wanting a dog for the last 10 years and I have got to get my dog fix where ever I can. Now I can get my yarn fix and my dog fix at the same place! So fun!

 

I have one more finished knitting project but haven't taken photos of it yet so I will have to wait to share that one when my camera gets here.

What have you been making? I would love to see,please feel free to leave a link in the comments.

Birthday Sewing...

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My friend's daughter had her Birthday party yesterday and I was struggling up to the last minute with what to make for her. I wanted to make her something cute to wear but also wanted her to have something fun too, so here is what I came up with: a pig mask(her mama tells me she is into pigs) and a fun skirt. I had the fabric sitting around untouched from the summer months and it just screams Portland (put a bird on it). I have been itching to make something girly and colorful lately. The mask is made from eco- felt with a bit of elastic for the strap, fun and super easy to make.
I had plans this summer to add an entire collection of fun funky skirts to my Etsy shop, but never felt well enough to do it. Hopefully by the next skirt season I will have them added to my shop. Although it always seems to be skirt season in Portland, people just wear pants under them:)
By the way I am still squeezing my 7 1/2 month pregnant belly into my regular pants, zipped even, although it is getting quite uncomfortable so I plan to make myself a few skirts for my last few months of pregnancy. ..oh maybe some new legwarmers too.....if only I weren't so tired.

Handmade Birthday gifts...........

Even thought it was almost a week ago I wanted to share a few handmade gifts I made for Sophie's Birthday. She has been taking Ice skating lessons and needed a bag to carry her skates to and from practice. I made this skate bag from some of my stash fabric. The inside is lined with the same fabric as the ice skate appliques.




No Ice skating outfit is complete without funky leg warmers. She knew about these and planned the colors blue and white, cause blue and white are ice princess colors( I love that,she is still a little girl although she acts like a teenager). The big pocket in the front of the bag is intended for her new legwarmers.







Can you find Sophie?


Now she is all set.

She just joined the track team at her school too so I am going to have to make another bag for her to keep her track stuff in.

I also knit her up a few cute headbands. I couldn't get her to model for me yet so I just snapped a quick photo of them. I found the pattern free on Ravelry.

Sewing, sewing,sewing.....

I have been seeing a lot of this lately........



And this.......



I have been working on stocking up my Etsy shop lately. These pants are a few of new favorites.......

I have also been knitting like mad til the wee hours of the morning too, but they are gifts that need to be given before I can share them here. I also am forcing myself to finish my tea leaves sweater that has been in the works since July, mismatched yarn and all.
I have seen so many cute sweaters that I want to make on Ravelry , but I am forcing myself to finish what I have started. I look forward to sharing some knitting soon.

Colored pencil roll

I made this colored pencil roll for my friend's little girl who turned 3. I got the idea from Last Minute Quilted and Patchwork gifts by Joelle Hoverson.
I made a few changes to the pattern by making it smaller and adding her name appliqued on the back. This was fun to sew it was easily accomplished in one afternoon. My little guy is really into drawing and painting so I might have to make him one too for his upcoming Birthday.
I just loved the colored pencils I found too(Faber-Castell jumbo Eco Pencils) they are chubby and triangular and have the cutest little animals on them, best of all they are made from 100% reforested wood.

Autumn rest......

I have been very busy lately and have been spending many hours at the sewing machine making costumes for HumbleLuna. I also just dropped of six dragon tails at Piccolina, each one is a different color variation, so if you are in Portland and need a last minute costume for Halloween stop on by. I am just now able to get a start on the costumes for my own kids. Fingers crossed that time will be kind to me as far as that goes.
We also have Grandparents visiting us for a few days. So in between all the sewing and last minute frantic house cleaning we have spent some much needed moments out in natures Autumn glory....

Snowflakes in the summer....

Back in June I spent a glorious morning browsing the huge local fabric shop. I was by myself so I was really able to take my time( my little guy turns into a demon of some sort whenever he enters that building). I chose fabric very carefully that day putting back bolts, and changing my mind several times before I felt satisfied with my picks.
I couldn't wait to get started on a summer dress. So I started cutting out my pattern as soon as I got home. After several minutes of staring at my fabric...I saw it....A SNOWFLAKE! The fabric that I chose had snowflakes on it! I couldn't believe it. How did I not see them at the store? The fabric is brown and gold and red and I thought it looked Scandinavian....but not full of snowflakes and holly...which it is. The fabric is called Montana Modern.
I was heart broken but went on to complete my dress anyway(the pattern is Simplicity # 3807). My husband assures me he sees flowers, not snowflakes which is what I originally thought they were... until I noticed the holly.
Duh...
So this dress has been neglected this summer. I have only wore it once, to Pub knitting. But I am starting to like it again as it gets closer to Autumn. I will have to knit a sweater to go along with it so I can really rock this baby at Christmas time.