Sewing up new Business Card Wallets for the shop.

All done – now I just need to get them photographed.

I love the Japanese trim.

And I have more in the mail, on its way.

Yay!

Jenn : )

….Done!

I finished my pennant banner for our friends daughter Robyn’s, 1st birthday.

Y was my favorite letter to make – the flannel is so soft.

We recently started a set nap schedule here and I am loving it!

(Wish I was the one taking the naps – haha!)

While the baby slumbers I’ve been able to catch up on a few projects, take some custom order requests and start some brand new projects, too!

I’ll have more to show you soon!

Jenn : )

From Cotton Time:

These photos are from the Nov. issue.

The Jan. issue is on its way!

Jenn : )

Hmm…

I thought the holidays were busy BEFORE I had a baby!

Good Lord – I still have Christmas presents to wrap!

But, I did manage to get one crafty Christmas project finished…

…finished at 11:59 pm Christmas night…

…but finished nonetheless.

I wish you all a wonderful 2010!

Jenn : )

(P.S. I got this stocking pattern from Martha Stewart.  I added the embroidered names and substituted French knots for sequins.  I am very happy with the results, but I found the sizing of this pattern was a bit wonky (how does Martha let that happen??) and cutting out the felt for the cuffs was a bit tedious… but, as most Martha projects come with some ultra time-consuming component, this wasn’t a surprise, and I think it was worth the effort in the end.)

I recently discovered a new use for taskets =

holding baby accessories!

Until now I’d never thought of how a soft, portable basket could come in handy in a nursery.  But they sure do. I’ve been keeping this one right in the co-sleeper.  It stands on its own, but it’s soft, so no worries if baby bumps it.

I think I’ll be making a line of baby tasket sets in the future.

I’ve already gathered these sweet fabrics from Superbuzzy:

Bright and colorful elephants, owls and deer.

Cute airplanes, balloons and forest friends.

LOVE the colors of this one!

This one is subtle, with sweet forest animals.

Now I’m off to find some dotty cottons and rick-rack to match!

Jenn : )

I love to go to other people’s blogs and see what they are working on, right now, at the moment.  And since my blog has been sadly neglected lately, I thought I’d commit to sharing a full week of WIPs to show what I’ve got going on over here.

Notice that it’s Tuesday?  Yeah…. well, doing the WIP post turned into a wip yesterday – Ha!  So today I’ll post two wips to make up for Monday.

(That’s me for ya.)

So anyway, here are my wips for Monday and Tuesday:

A flurry of hand embroidered snowmen!

These will eventually become Christmas ornaments, that I will sell in my Etsy shop.

And here is a whole wardrobe full of little embroidered coats (or blouses if you like).  These will become needlebooks, also destined for my shop.  I hope to have alot of these done in time for the holiday shopping rush.

Wish me luck!

Fly busy little hands!

There’s still so much to finish!

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Also on the list:

Visiting and commenting on my fav blogs,

writing letters to family back home,

and returning long overdue emails.

Check back tomorrow to see my next WIP!

Best,

Jenn : )

Josh and I have been super busy over here.

We’ve got lots of projects going on these days.

The renovation of our upstairs is moving along quickly.

Here are a couple recent photos:

Our new railing!  There used to be a wall there.

This loft space will now be my new studio area,

instead of a cramped, neglected guest bedroom.

And we have new tile in the bathroom.

Josh has been working on several freelance design projects.

My latest custom order was for a large sized needlebook.

I tried something new with the cover and scalloped the edges of the embroidery. My customer was very pleased and so am I.  I think I’ll be doing more decorative edges on my needlebooks from now on.

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I was thrilled to learn recently that I’d been featured over at Evergreen Moms.

Evergreen Moms is a great blog that features items made by Northwest artisans and small businesses. You can sign up for their newsletter and receive a short message about their latest finds!

Thank you Heather, for including my items on your fun blog!

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And just this past Monday one of my taskets was featured in a Plaid Happy Collection over at Indie Icing!

Check out Indie Icing for gorgeous photos of cool handmade items!

Thanks to Jessica for including my tasket! : )

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I think the carpenters have left early today, so the cats and I are going to enjoy the quiet and the afternoon sunshine. Have a great day!

Jenn : )

I’ve been posting for some time about a custom order I’ve been working on.

My friends Philipp & Renata are going to be married later this month and asked me to make a ring pillow for their ceremony.

I am honored to have something that I made be a part of their special day. : )

Without further ado, here is the ring pillow that I made for them:

I’m very happy with how the finished pillow looks,

and I’m thrilled that they are pleased, too.

Congratulations, P & R!!!

Jenn : )

A shop update:

New tasket sets!

Pom Pom Fawn

(I only made one with this small pom pom trim.)

Our House.

Pretty Forest.

Dotty Birds.

Happy Thursday.

The weekend is almost here!

Jenn : )

It seems like lots of friends and co-workers are having babies these days.

Two girlfriends of mine have babies who are less than a year old.

Being a fan of Lotta Jansdotter’s book Simple Sewing,

I recently purchased another of her books: Simple Sewing For Baby.

So far I’m loving it!

It’s filled with projects that are practical and fun.

Some of the more whimsical items may not match your personal esthetic,

but they could be easily modified to “make them your own”.

The first project I tried from the book was the Tag Blankie.

And I’m so happy with how they turned out!

It was fun to choose fabric and then ribbons to match.

The sewing was very easy.

This one is for little Robyn.

I double stitched the edges to make sure those tags stay on.

And this one is for little Mylo.

I hope he likes robots (as much as I do)!

I washed both blankies together on gentle with woolite, tossed them in the dryer and they both came out looking great! This is a wonderful project because these sew up very quickly (and isn’t it satisfying to start and finish a project in the same day?), and they make a lovely handmade gift for a friend, or your own little bundle of joy.  I’m also proud to say that I had ALL the supplies on hand to make these – no trip to the fabric shop was needed.  I’ve been saving scraps of ribbon in the hopes of finding a project to use them for and this worked perfectly.  I used satin-y ribbon scraps that I hadn’t washed before – and they came out of the washer/dryer just fine.

My next Lotta project will be the Soft Rattle toy.  Again, I’m going to only use materials that I have on hand.  I’ve already had a learning experience washing cotton velveteen to use for this project.  I was very nervous about how to go about washing/drying it, as I have very limited experience (ie: none) with this material.  But you know, sometimes ignorance is bliss.  I just stitched up the raw edges and threw it in the washer, then dryer, and to my delight – it came out looking better than when it went in.

I’ll let you know how those rattles turn out!

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Have you tried any new projects lately?

Experimented with a new material or technique?

Tell me about it!  : )

Cheers – Jenn : )