Bibi's bakers and a fairy sewing room

Not much sewing took place today. Mae's favorite cousin, Katelyn, came to visit, and we were busy baking, pretending, exploring in the backyard and puttering around the house.

Our day began out in the backyard, and I took this picture of a Sweet Shrub bloom while we were outside exploring. The heliboris were plentiful and beautiful, but the deep red sweet shrub bloom caught our eyes and sparked quite a discussion.

This is the chapter from our fairy tale book that described how to make fairy clothes from natural materials in the backyard. We had a discussion about how our flowers might be used by the fairies. The picture to the right shows "A formal gown made from spider silk and plum leaves. Rose petals and seed pearls are added for decoration."

Nap time followed, and after a day with my 3 year old "littles", I can tell you that we all enjoyed our nap.

Tiger Baby

Justin and Krystal are expecting a little boy, so we get to do little boy gifts! Aside from the fact that I did orange and blue, (gag) and will have to clean and oil my sewing machine, it was fun to do little boy gifts. The burp cloths have a fabric border; I got the little diapers from Atlanta Sewing Center and the navy blue was a nice change. I liked the little cowboy applique; it is another CD from Sew Many Designs.

The little boy boxers have an orange A for his last name, certainly not for that college on the plains of Alabama!

Bernina goes to Birmingham

Katelyn and I have had a fun morning putting names on their new little animal bags, Winnie Finnie and Busy Bug. Katelyn pointed out that they were certainly girl bags, because they had eyelashes. We hooped the stabilizer and turned the bags inside out to embroider them. She carefully tapped the names out on the touchscreen of my Bernina; we couldn't use the software because Bibi had forgotten the power cord to he laptop. imagine that. We were a little more limited in our choice of fonts, but we chose blackboard.

The ever observant Katelyn wondered why we did not have an uppercase letter at the beginning of the names; a long discussion followed of why Bibi like the look of lower case letters on her bag.

I will admit, though, that bringing the sewing machine to Birmingham, with the necessary accessories and notions, is no small feat. But the reward of having a sweet granddaughter in my lap helping me sew certainly makes it worth the effort!

Another new Grandma!

 

My friend Rebecca is in Chicago this week, meeting her new grandson, Alden Felder. How wonderful to have a new grandson, and I have a feeling she will be collecting many frequent flyer miles.
Alden's parents went to UNC, so his little burp cloths are Carolina blue. Go Tarheels and Go Alden!

Bluebird Pillowcase dresses

I have been saving these vintage pillowcases to make dresses for my great nieces in San Antonio, Texas. They have a new little brother, Calder, and I wanted to have something special for the sisters. With blue eyes and red hair, all three would have thrilled their great grandmother Lela, who had beautiful wavy red hair and six children with brown and not quite blonde hair. I don't know about my brothers and sisters, but I always felt like I disappointed my mother in the hair department!

Pillowcase dresses are easy to make. I bleached the pillowcases first because they were a little stained, but they are nice and soft and should feel comfy next to soft baby skin. There are lots of patterns on the internet; all you have to do is cut out the armhole, cut the pillowcase to the right length, bind the armhole and put a casing at the top. Running a fun matching ribbon through the casing completes the dress. I have finished one and the other one is upstairs on the ironing board!
I couldn't help but wonder as I was pressing the soft cotton about the hands that did the original embroidery. I wondered who the seamstress was, and where she lived, and who rested their heads on her pretty pillowcases. I wonder if she would be surprised to know that sweet little girls were toddling around in her handiwork. I have a feeling that she would be very pleased.