Happy Thanksgiving: Free Printable

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Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and despite my best efforts to ignore it, it seems that the holiday season is in full swing. I’m thankful for so many things, and you, my friends, are on the short list. As a small token of my appreciation, I have a holiday printable for you: Dala horses! I’ve always loved this Swedish holiday motif, and I doodled some up and thought they would make sweet tags/cards. Here’s what the whole sheet looks like, printable on 8.5 x 11″ paper:

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I still haven’t mastered the whole downloadable/printable thing, so if you run into any issues, please let me know, yes? I believe the file seems to work best when downloaded onto your computer rather than trying to print directly from the window…

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If you are celebrating turkey day, I hope it’s filled with loved ones and enduring, good memories. And if you’re not celebrating this All-American holiday, well, I still hope it’s filled with loved ones and enduring good memories.

I’m taking Friday off to party like rockstars with my little nuclear family, and I’ll see you back here on Monday, with a giveaway. xo!

Monday Outfit: We’ll Call It A Muslin

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Good morning! I hope you had a fantastic weekend, friends! I spent a good chunk of it making a puffy coat. Or at least attempted to.

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After a hackneyed research process, I stumbled upon the Alpine Wonderland Puffy Coat pattern, and it was exactly what I wanted to make for K. But wouldn’t you know it, I didn’t have quite enough of the fabric that K picked out of my stash, so I nixed the hood and improvised with the collar a bit. It’s a take on the chinese collar, and I quilted the piece just for the heck of it, but the whole vibe is whispering “construction worker” to me. I was striving for Parisian chic, but missed the mark on this one.

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I don’t love it. One of K’s all time favorite coat that I’ve made is the Cadette Coat, but she outgrew that one in a nanosecond so I went up a size for this pattern (I cut the 10). So yes, she’s drowning in pseudo-puffiness:

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On the plus side, this is a seriously toasty coat. I used wool batting and thick fleece for the lining, and with so much room to spare, K can layer about seventeen articles of clothing and still button this coat on top of ’em all.

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“Homeless…..I look homeless,” she started to sing while wearing the coat, which leads me to believe that she is not in love with the coat either, though she likes the snuggly blue lining:

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We’re going to call this a muslin. The outer fabric is twill, I think, and it has some sheen to it. Though the screen makes it look a blah beige, it actually has more peachy undertones to it and I can see why K likes this color so much. The collar and sleeve cuffs are a taupe-y stretch polyester blend of some kind, and I think this wasn’t the best overall choice. The coat is quite easy to assemble, though it’s tricky to get all those layers through the sewing machine — I had to push and pull a lot while sewing. I am, however, pretty keen on the pockets and the vintage gold buttons (from my mom, of course — and you should ignore the pink chalk marks I used to quilt the pieces):

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Ah well. At least she has a truly winter appropriate coat now, and winter is definitely here in Seattle….Plus, I flexed some sewing muscles and I’m confident that the next one will be awesome. More than anything, where in the world did K get the “homeless” reference from? So mysterious.

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Happy Friday + Randomness

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Happy Friday! A truly random bit of info: almost every Sunday, M has what we call “DDT” or Daddy Daughter Time. He started this tradition when K was about a year old, and takes her out on a date each week. Their time together ranges in activity: bike riding or a scoop of ice cream or just lounging around. It’s a win-win all around because while they bond, I get to sneak in some extra work (or fun) time. And almost every Sunday, I go to the same coffee shop and every once in a while, there is a little girl enjoying her own DDT. She’s about three-years-old with big sparkly eyes and a little bob, and she goes around handing out stickers to all the cafe patrons. I’ve gotten about six stickers to date and I stick them in my journal. So charming.

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K is super into making jokes and we thought this was a keeper:

Q: Why are singers always in charge of fights?

A: Because they have the opera hand.

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Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

There’s no school next week
Thanksgiving is upon us
We might eat Chinese*

*A few years ago, we went to a Chinese restaurant for turkey day because I didn’t have any time to cook anything (and we have no family in Seattle), and it turned out to be surprisingly festive and fun. We just may have a repeat performance since I’m in deadline mode…

 

 

Sewing for Me: Simplicity 1538

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If you had told me last year that I’d be able to get the print of plaid fabric to match up for a button-down shirt, I would have laughed you out of the room. As it turns out, if I cut each pattern piece individually, I can get very, very decent results (i.e. cutting every piece from a single layer instead of folding the fabric to get two sleeve pieces at once, say). Not perfect, mind you, but pretty darn good.

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This is Simplicity 1538. And the cotton fabric is from Drygoods — I hear this beauty of a plaid sold out in record time. If you follow Kelly, who is so incredibly prolific and also one of the nicest people I’ve met, you may have seen this same fabric on her instagram feed. I contemplated being twinsies with Kelly and sewing this up into an Archer too, but in the end, the much less labor intensive Simplicity pattern won out. I love love love this shirt. I especially love that I cut the back yoke on the bias:

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The pattern promises to be easy-to-sew, and overall it delivered on its promise. I liked view D and opted for one pocket rather than two, just because. The only part I just couldn’t get right was the sleeve cuff opening bindings (now that’s an inelegant way of describing it — what is that called?). The instructions weren’t difficult or anything, but the binding piece refused to lay flat so it’s a little scrunched. But like my other button-down shirt from last week, I don’t ever anticipate wearing the shirt without rolled-up sleeves, so I didn’t lose any sleep over it.

s1538-plaid-shirt5Here’s a little modeling for ya — but let’s be honest, it looks like I’m remembering the whiplash I got from a car accident years ago and am thinking, “Man, that crick in my neck is acting up again…” Here’s another attempt at varying my usual unimaginative poses:

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Ready to start square dancing: do-si-do, anyone? The Ford modeling agency won’t be knocking on my door any time soon.

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Anyway, back to some more info about the shirt. I added the same metal buttons I used for K’s rain jacket, and I still have a couple dozen left so you’ll probably see these buttons again. I cut the size 12, and this one is a slimmer fit than last week’s grey polka dot shirt. Definitely preferring this fit a lot more. And this was major for me: the bust darts were in the perfect spot without any modifications. So nice to have bust darts that don’t aggressively point northward…you know, the kinds that highlight the the inevitable pull of gravity on my non-spring-chicken body.

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I’m making slow but sure progress on my fall sewing plans. Two down, two to go! I got a few skeins of merino wool/cashmere blend (in grey, of course) ready to be cast onto knitting needles, but I have a feeling the jeans are going to take a loooong time to materialize…onward and upward!

 

 

 

 

Monday Outfit: The Scarf Sweater (by Bachan)

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Good morning! We had such a lovely, lovely weekend filled with friends and good times, but alas, that meant I couldn’t squeeze in any sewing. However, the Guy Fawkes party alone was well-worth the sacrifice (I have a good friend who is a Brit), and I indulged in a little mulled wine and quite a few “Sticky Parkins”, which tasted a little like gingerbread. A cozy group of us bundled up in winter gear and gathered round a fire pit with techno colored flames. Fun, fun.

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So instead of a sewn project, today I’m sharing this clever little sweater that K’s wearing. My mom made this last winter, and it’s got its own built-in scarf, which I think is brilliant. She knitted it during her visit along with this other one I featured before, and you can see the similarity. At the time, this particular scarf sweater was much bigger than the one with the button, and now K is nearly outgrowing it.

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After last winter, my mom stopped producing her normally outrageous amount of knitted and sewn objects. In fact, when she came to visit this past summer, she didn’t make a thing. Sadly, this is because her eyesight has been steadily declining, and by October, her left eye was significantly compromised and her right eye was nearly blind.

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It turned out to be cataracts, and after a successful surgery last week, her vision is back to 20/30! She’s still recovering from the procedure, so we’re not sure if she’ll be able to make it out to Seattle this winter, but it’s looking promising.

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It’s been a wake-up call, bringing to the forefront the realities of aging parents. Surrounded by the youthful energy of K and her friends as I am every day, it’s easy to forget the other end of the spectrum. And it makes me treasure my mom and all of her creations that much more.

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The good news is that as part of a preliminary check to make sure she was fit for the surgery, she underwent a full physical exam — something she hadn’t done in 35 years! My mom is a big believer in natural healing and she’s avoided hospitals and doctors like the plague. Well, she must be doing things right, because her results were pretty stellar. When we see her next, I’m planning on grilling her to get her healthy living secrets. You better believe that I’ll be documenting her methodology.

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So for today, a little tribute to my amazing Mama. I hope there will be many, many more clever sweaters and handmade delights!