belle epoque

Thank you all so much for your very kind, helpful and encouraging comments on my little fit-pitching peevish project post yesterday! I feel much better now, about the dress and the fabric, and I’m sure that is due to you.

I’m heading out of town for a baby shower this weekend, so my crafty time today was spent making and embellishing wee tiny baby clothes.  I say this with no conceit at all– they are SO cute.  It isn’t me that made them cute, it is their teeny weensy babyness that did it.  Miniatures are just that way– I mean, don’t you find most of the stuff in the travel size section of the drug store cute?  I do, even the deodorant.  Anyway, I took pictures which I’ll share when I get back, since I don’t want to chance the mother-to-be seeing them here and ruining the surprise before she gets to open them.

But I did make a little something I can show you, from a dollar store flower (there were more than one to the dollar) and a pin.

I completely stole the idea from my friend Nancy, who tacked up papers on her cube wall with bright, cheery daisy pins made just this way. I actually don’t have a cork board, so what you see is a trivet I called into service for the photo.

I also have to show you this

from my Posiescrap bag. I don’t think I need go into how obvious it is that Alicia Paulsonis amazing (you’re reading a craft blog here, so clearly you already know), but people, did you know she also has *magical powers*? It’s true. I own exactly zero real vintage patterns, because the ones I like are never my size. In fact, I don’t know if I’ve ever come into actual physical (or internet) contact with one that was my size at all, whether I liked it or not. It could be that I’m not looking hard enough, but guess what? The vintage pattern thrown in with my scrap bag? EXACTLY my size, and absolutely something I would wear, and every piece complete and apparently never even used before. Alicia doesn’t know me personally, or my size, or anything, so it was either luck (faugh, who believes in that?) or magical powers (clearly) that led her to pack up this exact scrap bag just for me. Yep. Magic. And of course it came along with a cheery pile of charming scraps and vintage bits and pieces, many of which are not in the picture above because I’ve hoarded them away for various secret purposes.

Hmmm, that’s about all for the moment. I hope you have a lovely weekend, and I’ll be back with cute wee tiny clothing pictures on Sunday.

I am a shameless bargain hunter.  I love a discount, probably to a fault, since sometimes I think I buy things because they are so much cheaper than they should be, rather than because I really need or love them.  But for the most part my bargain hunting brings me happiness and a measure of satisfaction since I got whatever wonderful thing it was *for less*.

But sometimes?  Just sometimes, I get exactly what I paid for. Most recently with fabric. First some $1.99 a yard cotton at Joanns that is not “crinkle cotton” but after washing and drying refuses to become unwrinkled, despite a hot iron, a spritz bottle, and much coaxing. And then the fabric I used for this dress

It is my trusty Vogue wrap dress pattern, which I can now put together without marking the darts or reading the directions (it is that easy, honest). But this fabric? Worth exactly the 99cents a yard it cost, probably less. I thought “Oh! Soft stretchy stuff with Missoni-esque zigzags! For 99 cents a yard! Gimme!” and have stitched to think again. That peachy stuff you see around the neckline? That is the lining that won’t stay inside (I will keep on tacking). You can’t see the horrible wiggly serged seams (I adjusted the tension endlessly to no avail), nor experience the way this fabric snags on everything (including itself). It is done, it is soft and comfy, but it was NOT fun and it looks so ugly on the inside I’m embarrassed (I don’t usually care much about that stuff if the outside is acceptable, but it is *that* bad).

I’ll be wearing this on my next fabric shopping outing, to keep me prudent in the face of the sale table and to remind me that sometimes a bargain isn’t any kind of deal at all!

Before I get started, I want to say hei and kiitos to my visitors from Finland!  I just started paying attention to my site meter and got nerdy and excited to see that someone or a bunch of someones (still can’t figure out what the stats really mean) in Finland have been stopping by.  So, hauska tavata to you! 

And now, yay! I love being tagged with fun memes. Here goes:

48 Things You Could Care Less About
1. FIRST NAME? Nancy

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No, I don’t think so. Though my Great Grandmother on my mother’s side I think was named Nancy too (is that right, mom?)

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? I don’t remember! That’s a good thing, right? I actually cry copiously when I laugh too hard, which happens all the time, usually when Moondoggie does or says something funny. So I probably cried laughing not more than a few days ago.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It is terrible, but it is mine. And I’ve been told that from far away it looks elegant, even though it is impossible to read close up.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Yuck. I don’t like lunchmeat at all. But if forced to have some, I’d eat Boars Head Ham with lots of honey mustard, mayo and crisp lettuce on a toasted kaiser roll.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes, I guess so. After all, I do have to live with myself and it seems to work out ok, so I guess we could be friends.

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Yes.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Heck no. I get a thrill out of all kinds of small things, so I can avoid the big dangerous ones without too much regret.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? I don’t care for most cereals. I prefer eggs on toast or yogurt or a smoothie for breakfast.  Sometimes I’ll eat plain oatmeal, though, with brown sugar, walnuts and dried cherries.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No. I avoid laced shoes except for running, and those I pull off without unlacing them.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Physically, yes, especially after 2 months of Boot Camp. Constitutionally, I like to think I would be if I was tested, but so far I’ve been fortunate not to have to prove it so I won’t really know until I am.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Haagen Daas macadamia brittle and Ben & Jerry’s coffee heath bar crunch. My dad always finds one or the other to have in the fridge when I come home for a visit.

14. SHOE SIZE? 38 (i swear, it doesn’t correspond really to any American size no matter what they say, it is smaller than an 8 and bigger than a 7 and fits my foot better than a 7.5)

5. RED OR PINK? That’s hard! I think I’m transitioning from pink to red slowly as I get older.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Oy, don’t ask. There’s a lot of room for improvement is all I’ll say.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? I miss my family, I wish they lived closer by.

18. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Pj pants with stars on them and a white t-shirt, bare feet (it is only 7:30 am)

19. LAST THING YOU ATE? I just had a mocha from Starbucks, but the last thing I ate was Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner last night.

20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The rumble of a plane flying far overhead.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Cerulean.

23. FAVORITE SMELL? Honeysuckle. Cut grass. Baking bread or cookies.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My mother and father.

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? In terms of being attracted to someone as a personality, as a friend, their openness, comfort with themselves and willingness to laugh. The other kind of attraction? It is a mystery.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? You bet!

27. FAVORITE DRINK? Strong, sweet coffee with real cream, iced or hot.

28. FAVORITE SPORT? Sport? Ummmm… I like to swim, ride a bicycle (in case you have the wrong idea of me churning up the Marin Headlands, I mean on flat roads, in a cute outfit, with a fun destination like a bookstore or cafe), play golf with my father, run by the Bay, or across the Golden Gate Bridge, but I don’t care for competitive sports at all, to watch or to play. Except maybe tennis, but then only when I’m playing with someone else who doesn’t take it too seriously or need to win at all costs.

29. EYE COLOR? Dark blue.

30. HAT SIZE? I don’t wear hats all that much, so I’m not sure. Probably regular-sized.

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? I’m blind, blind, blind. Life would be an impressionist painting without my contact lenses.

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Oh heavens. All of it, except lamb, turkey and tripe-like concoctions of innards. I’ll try just about anything, but standards are Bistro French, Northern Italian (no red sauce, thanks) and my parents’ American (roast chicken, ham and lots of good veggies).

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Always happy endings, with lots of pretty scenery and outfits and fraught moments beforehand.

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer, but somewhere that HAS summer, not San Francisco summer.

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Yes.

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Not sure yet who I will tag, but last time I tagged people they TOTALLY bailed, so probably no one.

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Everyone I tag.

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Don’t ask. I like really, ahem “genre” commercial novels. I’d like to say I’m re-reading the complete works of Shakespeare but we’d all know I’m not telling the truth.

41. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE? I have a trackpad. My mouse is currently wearing a scarf.

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? DVRd episodes of Lost.

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Crickets, waves slapping on the shore, trees in the wind, a deep belly laugh.

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Neither.

45. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? I suppose the Galapagos felt the most distant.

46. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? To have an opinion on anything, regardless of how little I know about it (wait, isn’t a talent supposed to be good? oops).

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? New York, New York, even though every new person I meet thinks I must be from the Midwest. I take that as a compliment, but I’m telling you, New Yorkers are great people too!

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Amy!.

Because I’m leery of having my tags totally ignored (you know who you are), I’ll just say that I’d really like to know all of this about any of you who want to do it! So if you answer these questions on your blog, please comment with the link so I can read it.

We were at the beach for the beginning of the weekend, where I played with roving and felting needles, resulting in this little fellow

Still not sure if he’s felted together enough, but I find him so cute I can hardly stand it. I just want to put him in my pocket and take him everywhere, but I’m afraid I might start talking to him in public and become a crazy felt mouse lady. So he’ll just stay on my desk to keep me company.

The weather was rather grim at the beach so we headed home in time for me to go to the Capsule Design Festival today with Camilla, Brian and Meghan.  What an overwhelming amount of seriously cool and creative independent design! There was so much to take in that I was unable to concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds. A few highlights include Donna Lou’s feminine, flirty dresses and tops, Random Nicole’s whimsical screen-printed and appliqued tees and sweats, and Vivi Dot’s sweet button accessories. As an added bonus, I got the chance to chat with the always-charming Nicole of Queen Puff Puff, and meet Deborah of Chic Cosas!

See how cute they are? And can you tell how cold it is?

Meghan and I wandered our way up to Doe after the festival, and oohed and ahhed over all the pretty cleverness there, and now I’m home, making the Chicken Tikka Masala that Alicia talked about the other day. It is my favorite Indian Restaurant dish, so I’m super excited to have a recipe I can try at home! I’ll let you know how it goes…

Welcome to anyone visiting because of Natalie’s lovely post on the Craft Blog.  Craftis such a great resource for all things indie and diy, and I was so honored to participate in the Craft portion of Maker Faire!

Now, what I’ve been up to. First of all, Simplicity 3835, round two. Round one was the Mrs Roper Gone Wrong dress, round two, in cheery retro fabric, is much better

It is a well-constructed pattern and I will wear the dress happily(if you’re going to make one, this is the “long” length, since I’ve heard the mini is more like a shirt). I’ve loved the versions I’ve seen on Flickr and elsewhere in solid grey or black, with contrast pockets, neckline and sleeve-ties, but I’m not sure I need another of exactly this dress, even in a different color. Plus I’m a fickle crafter and always ready to move on to something new and untried!

I’ve also been happily playing with the wool sampler I got at the Bazaar Bizarre from Mary Jane’s Attic. Jamie’s Needle Felting demo at the Maker Faire was mobbed with eager crafters so I had to stand well back. I may not have gotten the benefit of her needle felting expertise close up, but I did get inspired!

Yay for tiny needle felted softies. I still have quite a bit of practicing to do with shaping and felting enough before putting pieces together (I am very impatient), but these sweet little fluffy shapes are so satisfying to make! I can see more cute needle felty things in my future…I love those tiny bottle-cap pin cushions- if you know of a good tutorial on how to make one of those, please share!

Finally I’ve been working on the next mini-collection for etsy and will have it up early next week. Here is a bitty sneak preview

Any guesses at the theme?

Happy weekend to all of you!  Yay for a long one here in the USA! Hope the weather is great where you are so you get to bbq and soak up a little summer sun.

Sorry for the little delay.  Links to tutorials for the Bias Tape Tote and Tie Top Tank are now up over on the sidebar to your left.  There is a link outside the blog to download the pattern for the tote (most of the delay being caused by ahem, technical difficulties here in Luddite land), but otherwise everything you need should be in there.  I’ve also started a Flickr group called belle epoque tutorials.  I would absolutely love it if you’d join and share pictures of what you make using these tutorials!

I’ll also be writing up a Maker Faire 2007 wrap-up for Get Crafty, and I’ll let you know when it is up. Now back to regularly scheduled craftiness…

*Update: 
Thank you, thank you to everyone who came out and was so enthusiastic and wonderful. Camilla is a total rockstar who used a sewing machine for the very first time to help me out! Keep an eye on her blog for what is sure to be a beautifully edited round-up of the best indie design at the Bazaar Bizarre. My wonderful husband was there to cheer me on and carry my silly-heavy sewing machine away for me.  I was thrilled to see Michelle and Bethany in real life (you guys are awesome), and so happy to meet each of you who came, listened, volunteered, asked questions and generally made something nerve-wracking into something really fun. I hope you a little something out of it, an I promise the pattern and full photo tutorial will be up here lickety split! 

Well, for the Bias Tape Tote demo anyway. Today you can learn to make this:

Here:
Maker Faire
San Mateo Fairgrounds
Craft Area 1
12:00 pm

I hope to see you there! After that, I’ll be attending Bonnie’s awesome Yoda Doll workshop at 12:45, then the Lotta Simple Sewing presentation at 2:00 and Susan’s jewelry demoat 3:00. I’m also excited about Jamie’s needle felting demoat 2:15– so much to do all in a day! Somehow I’ll make time for serious Bazaar Bizarre browsing too…

If you can’t make it, I’ll miss you, but don’t fret. I’ll be posting up a PDF of the bag pattern (assuming I can figure out how to do that) and a tutorial on how to make it on Mondayish.

wee sand dollar found at the beach + e-6000 + round magnet=awesome

Longer posts and fun crafty pictures after Maker Faire, I promise!

Just popping in to tell you that my Dorothy Skirt is one of the featured skirts over on the Sew Mama Sew blog. Thanks so much to Beth for including me in such illustrious company, I’m flattered!  Sew Mama Sew is responsible for the super-fun skirt month group on Flickr, and a source for lovely fabrics and other sewing goodies, so give them a look-in. 

Also, you probably already heard about this, but in case you missed it, Alicia will be putting up book bags and what look like very exciting scrap bags (aka passementerie packs!) in her shop today at 12:00 PDT.  If you want some original Posie goodness, go over there quick as you can when it starts, because everything goes in a blink when she updates!

Now back to cutting up and putting together bits and pieces for my sewing workshops this weekend- I’m getting nervous!

Moondoggie’s got nothing to worry about. The current object of my admiration is this

Yep, that’d be my Madeline Tosh yarn in the Plum Tree colorway, en route to being the first in a pair of afterthought socks. This could be dangerous, really. Not only is this yarn beautiful to look at, it is an utter joy to knit with. I am a very nervous knitter and get stressed out easily, but this yarn makes my stitches look good, makes it easy to see what I’m doing and it feels yummy. Two obsessively knitting thumbs up. Get yourself some immediately, but beware that once you have it you will want to have thigh-high socks in every colorway (or maybe that is just me?). Many thanks also to Annewho walked novice knitter me through the grafting part of the pattern–I haven’t actually gotten there yet, but I needed to know what to expect.

Now I have to get back to my Maker Faire planning! I’m so excited to hear from those of you who are planning to be there– can’t wait to see you! The details of my two demos are here and here(Saturday and Sunday respectively). I’ll post them again on Friday, along with more info and a list of the other demos I’m planning to attend (Susan’s, Tricia’s and Bonnie’s just to name three!).