There's something about freshly washed linen that's a mood booster. I'm talking about plain fabric here, and not fitted sheets or shams. Rumpled and textured and oh-so-soft, when I look at these, I pretend I live in the French countryside in a charming villa painted a dusty bleu-grey, overlooking fields of lavender. I can practically hear a baby goat bleating nearby. I have plans for these beauties. But because I've noticed that I categorically avoid making the things I declare as part of ... Read more
Giveaway! Finca Perle Cotton Thread [CLOSED]
Good morning! The purging/cleaning is slow-going, but look what I found: Finca Perle Cotton Thread in size 8. Such pretty, pretty colors, no? Great for embroidery, crochet, and needlework of various goodness. Anyone out there a doily maker? These -- like many of my accoutrements -- were meant as props for the book, though I never got the chance to include them. I wish I had because they're so twee yet cool (is that paradoxical?). I have to confess that there's a lot going on behind the ... Read more
Happy Friday + Randomness
Happy Friday! Whenever my mom visits, she's a little wistful that she's unable to paint in Seattle. I get it -- she doesn't have her usual supplies, her routine is completely disrupted and most of all, she says she doesn't feel like she has a space of her own, mentally or physically. Still, she's an artist through and through so when a watercolor set happens to be lying around, she'll whip up a painting like the one above while chatting to K. This kind of painting doesn't count for her though; ... Read more
Launch Party Crafts Recap
When the hacking debacle happened, most of my Sewing Happiness pre-launch blog plans had to be scrapped. I was hoping to build excitement with some behind-the-scenes posts culminating in a grand giveaway and I guess I could still do that, but it feels anticlimactic now that the book's been out for almost a month. One of the things I really enjoyed about the pre-launch process was preparing for the party that was held at Drygoods Design on April 19th, the actual day of the book release. I ... Read more
It goes too fast
This is K when she was just a little over 18 months back in 2008. Last night, we had dinner at a friend's house and I watched K and her two buddies play and eat and argue and reconcile and laugh hysterically. She's known them since birth and nearly 10 years later, they're still the best of friends. They used to be so small, they all fit snugly in a basket: I had mentioned in a post a while back that I wish I had a photo of the very first top that I sewed for her, and I found it while I ... Read more