hey there

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 walk now 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...