probably no surprise to the rest of you, but it kind of was for me. i guess i gravitate towards it. i finished up a dress for collette yesterday that is green. i mean there are the shoes, and this shirt (which i have on today btw), and the sheets... and while i was doing all this green thinking i realized i had this on. hmm. i remember the days when my mom used to beseech me to buy something that wasnt black or grey. somewhere along the line i must have listened to her. i should let her know, she would like that. anyway, so enough green, lets talk dresses!!
this is my second smocked or shirred (i know smocking is by hand, but i like that word better than shirred, it just sounds gross) dress. the first was for arlo. yes i know its green too, but we are not talking about that. collettes was green out of happenstance. i originally tried making one out of a red linen blend with white smocking but the fabric was too heavy so it was shelved for salvage. this fabric was sent to me by thisvintagechica, and i love love love it. green yes, but pink polka dotted apples too people! i really wrestled with making a skirt for myself out of this, but finally decided on something for collette. i have enough left that you just might see that skirt yet. we shall see. anyway, i had this version in progress and then erin (another unabashed green lover!) put out her wonderful tutorial. go check it out. i followed her instructions for gathering on this one, which i did not do for arlo's, and i really like the result. i think next time i am going to put this method in action for an adult sized skirt. i think the same method would totally work, and who doesnt love a pull on skirt? pull on anything for that matter, i do have three kids.
so anyway, things abounding on the internet that i am loving:: summertime (almost!) at orangette... oh baby. june is so my favorite month too. mav is a genius pure and simple. happy birthday card society!
and last but certainly never least i want to give props to two of my good friends john and kristen. they are owners of habitat, my favorite shoe store, much loved and talked about here by me. they have been working hard hard hard the last few weeks gearing up for their new website, go take a peek! john and kristen wanted to convey the feel of their store to all you people that are not in kansas city to experience it in person, i think they did a bang up job. it has been so amazing following their journey as small business owners. because of them, supporting small business has really become something i try to do. i try to help as much as possible both by shopping and working when i can. if you are in kansas city, another first friday rolls around this week and habitat does not disappoint yet again. last month it was the ping pong turney (which john nailed to say the least), this friday they have a free parking lot concert, a vespa giveaway, a gallery showing and they will be selling shoes like mad late into the night. please come by and say hi, get some shoes, and maybe win a vespa!
i was totally thinking about a skirt, too! but then wondering if my "other" hips wouldn't pull out the sewing. nice work, hannah. way to sacrifice the material for the offspring.
ok - first, the fabric! i think we have something in common, there...hee hee. second, the girl. oh my goodness - too cute. third, the dress - perfect, hannah. just perfect! and more on elastic thread... i actually bought myself a shirred dress the other day and i was so surprised that it looked decent. a skirt for me is on my list. i think a wide band is going to be the key for me and my hips.
The smocking (shirring???) is great! I have been wondering about whether I had the nerve to try. Thanks for the tutorial link! Oh, and, I love the photo of the worms below!
with school. time to start summer up in this piece. eliot keeps saying he is going on vacation. where you might ask? to the pool. thank goodness a pool membership equals summer vacation to a five year old. i guess it does in my mind too now that i think about it. i can not believe that it is almost J.U.N.E... that blows my mind in so many ways. i love june. i think this is going to be a good one. keep your fingers crossed.
oh did you think i finished my shirt? nah, i jacked the sleeves. jenny might feel bad, but what she doesnt know is that i keep sewing all sloppy and crappy so that i have to keep showing up for lessons. shhh. i do have a few things brewing in my own basement. i have an idea buzzing in my head that has been keeping me awake in bed at night. you know those? you turn off the lights and then just lay there, zooming a mile a minute. sometimes it is a good thing and sometimes i just want to sleep. grr. thats when i start counting really slowly. ok, maybe we shouldnt delve into my mind here. it is friday for me today. off work tomorrow to take that pack of wild animals of mine to the zoo. and then saturday two, yes two good friends return from africa. hot. so hot. and sunday or monday i plan on cooking copious amounts of meat (sorry mel) on the grill and eating them. can i get a midwest shout out?
I wish, I wish, I wish I was in the midwest eating some grilled meat. There's no place like home...
And I get those awake-at-night ideas too sometimes. I have to count backwards in order to calm down, so hey, my mind might be even more twisted than yours!
I am in the midwest, but not so sure about the meat part:) (I'm a vegetarian.) Still a cookout (with some grilled veggies for me) sounds fun! :) Have a wonderful weekend!
eliot looks so grown up in this picture. its hard to believe this is the same baby that went to colorado with us that first year. he's even old enough to appreciate summer vacation. i can't handle it.
so who is at the other end of that kinked up hose??!! it must be the change of seasons that makes us come up with new ideas. i have one swirling, too...but it only seems to come to mind in the middle of the night, when all my children are asleep and the possibilities seem endless! so are you going to clue us in on all this secret dreaming?! :)
= perfection. if you haven't discovered uniform studio yet, please take a look. martha's workmanship is amazing and her aesthetic is so very simple and lovely. not to mention that she was so willing to help me make sure i got the right size (collette is tiny dontcha know?) and even apologized for my package being late. what? it wasn't by the way. ok, enough, i am guessing that she is the type of person to be blushing hard core right now.
thank you for all the fantastic music selections. i have a lot of research to do. oh and i am not shy, if anyone has any extra, errr, copies laying about i would most certainly take them off your hands. i have also realized that as the weather becomes increasingly wonderful i am spending less time on the computer, and certainly not keeping up on emails. that being said, i am going to start answering questions in the comments, unless of course i have something very long winded and personal to say. i never do that. not at all. speaking of characteristics, yesterday david was working on a general character type/description lists to help prod his memory when he actually finds time to sit down and write. we sat on the porch and went through the list, i added a few more and he ended up with 100 characters! i asked which one was based on me... eah. it had something to do with always needing to be right. huh. i added, "and usually is". nice.
tonight i meet with jenny to finish up my shirt! yay. i have a borrowed camera in tow and a decent bra on (its kinda low cut) so hopefully i will have something to show for all my hard work. keep your fingers crossed.
kind of weather in kansas city, which means music selection is critical. only the best selection can get your hand thumping the beat on the side of the car, put a small smile on your face and make driving fun for a bit. i think it is time for a switch up. lets see, in the van we have: 1. 80's mix cd from uncle ron. pretty good, probably staying for now. 2. regina spektor. has been in there for a bit, time to switch out. 3. josé gonzález. time to go. too short and too sweet for the amount of sun we have. 4. shins, chutes too narrow. been in there for months. out. 5. shins, wincing the night away. same as above. out. 6. killers, sam's town. ditto. out.
ok, so five spots to fill. i need rock people. old, new, obscure. whatever, just help me out. best of abba? scissor sisters? yes. i love it. bring it.
Okay, let's see. To start, I'm not sure if you ever venture down the ole classic rock road, but I always think old Rolling Stones albums are good for summer. Maybe "Sticky Fingers" or "Some Girls"? Or how about Talking Heads? Or the Clash?
Or, hey, a friend of ours recently pulled out R.E.M.'s "Eponymous," which reminded me of their album "Murmur." Both make great driving music, and for some reason, I find them hard to get tired of.
Another big driving favorite for us is the Old '97s album "Wreck Your Life." Mighty fine, that one.
Well, you don't have beaches do you? One of my favorite summer albums is Mae Destination Beautiful. It reminds me of driving back from the beach. It is simple and sweet, kind of lazy, and sunny. I know it is probably weird to describe music like that, but it just makes me want to lay in the grass and stare at the clouds all day.
After that I would say Jack Johnson. Mmm, I need to take that out to the car.
To me summer music has to make me sit back, smile, ans wish I had homemade lemonade and a hammock. Maybe because it is to darn hot to do anything else here in Florida during the summer.
also have been listening to a police complilation burned by my best friend from highschool. lots of lesser known stuff from when we wore too much black. ah those were the days... xo
ha! i was just going to post something similar and all the stuff you are sick of is what i need to get over and move on from, too. so i will be checking these comments...
i've got a 70s vibe going on lately here...todd rundgren, david bowie (love the soundtrack from life aquatic), queen, wings, al green...
Chris just, ahem, downloaded a collection of underground '80s stuff for me -- I'll have to see how that is. I also recommend Lily Allen for summer. She's not my usual type of music, but I like it, especially for summer.
good call, stephanie, on the new andrew bird. it's a good 'un.
i'm partial to madonna's immaculate collection for the first few "windows down" days of the season. "loser" you call me? perhaps. but tell me that that doesn't get a smile on your face...even for a moment. seriously. don't fight it. let the music overtake you.
death cab was on the other day and that just always lifts my spirits. as does band of horses.
I am loving Feist's The Reminder right now. I cannot stop listening to the song "I feel it all." This song is already my summer jam, and a really great car song.
hiya hannah: try the decemberists, the crane wife is the best. gnarles barkley. and how i became the bomb. beth orton. joanna newsome. iron&wine. and last but not least kings of convenience. woohoo and have fun picking!!!
best driving song ever: la boob oscillator by stereo lab. also one of my all time fave songs. I actually wrote about it in like, my second post ever. which is here. you can even listen to it! old song, but so good.
I'm a little late posting, but my husband just pulled out our old Stone Roses cd. The second one (Second Coming). I haven't heard them in forever. They disappeared from radio. Anyway, I love it so much that I had to go out and get their first album, which is really a completely different sound...but great, too.
"mom, wouldnt it be funny if everything talked?" "that would be funny. and loud." "yeah. but everything really does talk it its own way." "does it?" "trees talk by waving in the wind, and snow talks by floating. signs talk by showing people where to go. the sun talks by going up and coming down. clouds talk by changing colors..." "i guess you are right*. everything really does talk. i love the way you are thinking." "thanks."
awesome. hannah, have you seen any of the reggio emilia books? i have so many and much of the books are children's conversations on different topics. let me know if you are interested and i can point you in that direction. xo
you're first day three years later each day in between has been filled with smiles, tears (lots of tears on your part), hugs, kisses, laughs and gnashing of teeth (on my part). i love you sweet thing. you stole your dad's heart, and continue to slay him multiple times a day. watch out world.
aww...she's adorable, time does fly...the new born shot is so precious but I have to say, the child disappearing out of the shot made me smile...Happy Birthday little one!
after all that complaining, i finally got up the gumption to get out my film camera. this beautiful piece of machinery was a gift from david, pre-children, so at least a good five years ago. when i got it i promptly stuck some film in, shot a roll, took it to get developed and ended up with one maybe two pictures to show for it. i didnt load the film correctly, therefor it didnt advance correctly. dejected i stuck it on my dresser and there it sat until last week. my friend beth came over, gave me a quick lesson and i put in my roll of 12 and stalked everyone in my house (if you care to see the set). it was so fun! i love it. not to say that i wont be getting a digital again, but it does feel different to shoot film. the camera itself is soooo heavy and it makes that fantastic clicking and advancing noise that you just cant get anywhere else. mmm. i can see this becoming and addiction. i can also see the immediate need for a decent scanner. the one at work is bollocks... anyway, looking forward to a sunny weekend this time. last time i jinxed kc and we got buckets, i mean buckets, of rain. sorry friends. this time it really will be sunny and 85. i am taking collette and margot to the zoo tomorrow for collette's third birthday. she turns three on monday!! what? how is that even possible? i dont know so dont ask. and tonight, ooo, tonight we go to sam's town with friends. yay! i havent been to a concert in a bit, and an outdoors one in forever. should be good times. and have you seen erin's smocked dress??? i smacked my forehead it turned out so good!! hot. i fiddled yesterday with some linen type fabric for collette. sad to say that it is waaay too heavy for the elastic thread to really do much. oh well, but that means that all that super cute, cheap quilters cotton that we all love is prime summer dress material ladies. get crackin'. have a good one people.
Hi, I hope you don't mind me dropping in to your blog. Just wanted to let you know I love your photos, they do have a softer quality than digital. It's been so long since I used a film camera, but I always loved the close ups I did with my Mum's old one. You may just have inspired one new reader! Have a great weekend.
hip hip for film! paul and were discussing bbf last night and the need for me to get reaquainted with the old canon. because, you know, it's just that good.
Thought of this as I was reading your post. . . this article from ABC's Nightline News about the "lost art of bad photos" due to digital cameras. (I'm not saying you take bad photos, BTW.) http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Technology/story?id=3157344
Here's where you can find the video segment entitled "Photo Fixes", http://abcnews.go.com/nightline
Such beautiful photos, Hannah - the worm one is cool! Film photos seem to have such a warm quality to them. Seeing yours makes me want to give it a go too.
It's totally worth the couple bucks or so to get the film put onto a CD at the developing place when you get the film developed. The light seems different in film pictures.
I know I already commented over on your flickr set but I just can't help myself-- every time I look at these I want to let out a little gasp. sometimes I actually do. oh so lovely, these shots. makes me want to pick up my old camera again.
p.s. thanks for the book recommendations! much appreciated. xo
oh, oh my, han. such fantastic shots. i'll have to comment on them separately - but wanted to applaud your efforts and results in total. yay for film!!!
remember me? still alive over here, just been busy with life, ya know? i would like to say something prosaic about how not having a camera has made me slow down and participate more in life but that would be a total lie. still twitchy and still harping on it (i borrowed from a friend this week). the good news is that i have reacquainted myself with the sewing machine!! yay! something even more exciting? i have been having sewing lessons with an old friend. so good. sewing, learning, talking. fun fun, but i wont say more on that until i finish my project. ssshhh. in the mean time i will tempt you with what else we have been working on around here.
i made this little green smocked dress for arlo and i have to admit i am surprised at how successful the first go-round was. i was poking around on craftster a few weeks ago and saw some talk of machine smocking with elastic thread. hmmm. so i bought myself some elastic thread, some cheapo test fabric at joanns and just started sewing. pretty much all i did was cut out a long rectangle, hemmed the bottom and tried to over stitch the top with zigzags (i never get good results with this, it always just looks chewed up, but thats what tests are for right?). the only time consuming part was hand winding the bobbin with the elastic thread. then i set my machine to the longest stitch it had and just started sewing. done and done. you can see things a bit more close up here and the inside here. then i sewed up the rectangle, added straps. all and all it probably took me thirty minutes, and like i said i was surprised at how well it went. i have some more expensive fabric that i am going to try out for collette, and get a little more bold with the smocking, some contrasting thread so it really stands out. i realized too that before i put the straps on it would also work great as a skirt for collette.
it was nice to be back at the sewing machine. i have been neglecting it for months, and it shows. everything was covered in dust and just as messy as when i left it. time to do some organizing. even if i cant make it pretty in the basement, i can at least make it so i can find my seam ripper (i hope). eliot asked me to make him some pants, this is the first time ever. no pressure or anything. i might like to smock up a skirt for myself as well. i really like anything based on a rectangle. i have learned from sewing with jenny that i am a lazy sewer that needs practice and attention to detail and quality of work. ouch. at least i can admit it. so anyway the haps around huffmania are pretty much the same. the only exceptions being that arlo can walknow and david cant. he sprained his ankle playing basketball. i think things are on the up and up though, he has been hobbling around the house a bit like a peg-legged pirate. awesome. oh and if you are in kc, and can play ping pong, get your tushie (eliot's new favorite word) down to habitat tonight for first fridays. beat the boss at ping pong and get 50% off a pair of shoes!!! dang! i will be there working, so come say hi at least, if you are afraid of taking on john. 85 degrees and sunny on saturday and sunday... THAT is what i am talkin' about people...
That little dress is just about the cutest thing ever. How can you keep from squeezing Arlo long enough to take a photo? You have some kind of willpower, lady.
And those videos! I think I actually squealed. SO cute.
Hi Hannah, the dress is really cute and you made it sound easy enough that I'm tempted to run out and get some elasticized thread. My 3.5 year old boy may have doubts about the outfit though! I posted a comment on "Good" post, asking you a question about quilting with my email address. Your blog is great by the way. Laney
What a cute little dress? I've been on the lookout for elastic thread because I want to try something like that, but I never seem to find it. Perhaps that's because I keep getting distracted by pretty fabrics, which isn't hard to do!
I do much better sewing with a friend too. I am such a sloppy seamstress, I tend to not measure anything and not pay attention to the majority of what I'm doing. smocking...so ambitious! love it.
Hannah, you sound so chirpy and happy! Must be that spring weather. (We are in the sad decline into Autumn here, I know a lot of people love it, but to me it just means winter. And that is depressing). That dress is great, by the way. Even in cheapo fabric. And, I was reading this post thinking, surely that standing up girl isn't Arlo? She can't be that big already. But walking to boot! Just amazing, and just so, so gorgeous. Oh, I'm gushing now.
Oh.my.goodness. LOVE Arlo's dress. And I just bought the same shade of green to make a skirt. Melissa looked at it in my shopping cart and said, "That's the kind of green Hannah likes." =)
And how fun to be getting some sewing tips from Jenny...I bet you are going to whip up some fantastic clothes!!
She looks so cute! My mother made me a whole series of those dresses when I was very small - all in gingham with matching frilly underwear! Funny memories.
i think you have a future in making clothes for the kids-- sloppy or not, you're willing to give it a try... and look how it turns out!! goodness. all goodness.
there's just too much goodness in this post! I LOVE arlo's walking video, and I love the fact that the other videos to choose from at that google sight were, "Walker Texas Ranger". funny.
the smocking is amazing. I've always wanted to learn this. When's the tutorial coming out??!!
That looks soooo cute and she is adorable in it! But I think the proper term is shirring. To my understanding smocking is a lot more elaborate with hand embroidery.
oooh! i've been wondering about that technique too-- that dress is fantastic! the part i was most worried about was what you mentioned- winding the bobbin with elastic thread. how the heck do you do it? any tips?
Yeah, my question, too...how much extra fabric do you allow in contrast to the measurement of the chest...? And, do you wind the bobbin thread tightly or w/o tension...? Am I making this more complicated than it is :^)
14 Comments:
i was totally thinking about a skirt, too! but then wondering if my "other" hips wouldn't pull out the sewing. nice work, hannah. way to sacrifice the material for the offspring.
Ooo, that is so cute!
The green looks great on her. I'm trying that elastic thread as soon as I can get to the fabric store.
OMG it's first friday's again?! Where does the time go?
Your dresses are so cute. I hope I have a girl so I have a good reason to use my sewing machine!
such a cute dress! habitat's website is beautiful. loved browsing. xo
ok - first, the fabric! i think we have something in common, there...hee hee. second, the girl. oh my goodness - too cute. third, the dress - perfect, hannah. just perfect! and more on elastic thread... i actually bought myself a shirred dress the other day and i was so surprised that it looked decent. a skirt for me is on my list. i think a wide band is going to be the key for me and my hips.
Very cute dress! I think a skirt made like that would be cool:)
I love the shirring/faux-smocking. it's lovely! still trying to get my courage up to sew with elastic thread.
cute dress and even cuter collettey!
I get 'stuck' on certain colorways, too. Used to be reds, then pinks, now it's blue/greens.
Such a cutie pie in a cute dress.. reminds me of the dresses I wore as a child. (that my mother made for me)
im green with envy...your growing abilities as a seamstress are wonderful to see. how's your "green"thumb? :)
The smocking (shirring???) is great! I have been wondering about whether I had the nerve to try. Thanks for the tutorial link! Oh, and, I love the photo of the worms below!
I really do love new posts. Just saying.
I keep coming back to this dress -so cute. And the model....
She's got it down:)
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