Etsy Shop!

Hooray! My Etsy shop is now open! I've listed just a few items (barrettes and some holiday skirts) to give it a try. I sold two pair of barrettes within an hour of opening up so I'll keep my fingers crossed that the success continues! There is a tremendous amount of satisfaction in picturing another sweet, little girl wearing something you created.

If you are interested in a festive skirt for your little one and holiday barrettes to match, visit my shop: www.marlioliver.etsy.com. (I have everyday barrettes as well.)

M

Clown Suit?

I've had enough. No more jumpers for Maggie. Time to expand my horizons and therefore, her wardrobe. I picked up this Moda fabric in Charlevoix at Hearts to Holly, an adorable fabric shop. I had trouble with these bibs from the start. They looked huge when I got them done, but they actually ended up being too tight in the crotch and too short! I made my crotch seam smaller and added a ruffles to the bottoms. I think I still need to lengthen them though if she's going to wear them for longer than a month. Although the bright and colorful fabric make them a little "clown-like", I think they are cute and comfy too!

Our Little Bugaboo is One!

I'll save the cliches for now...

I can't believe she's one already.

The time really flew by.

They grow up so fast.

It has been one year. I'm sure of it. It's been a trying year medically and an extraordinarily enjoyable year otherwise. And now she's one. New adventures and challenges await- all of them exciting. I'm kicking myself for not snapping pictures of Maggie in her tutu ensemble I made. I guess there's nothing wrong with dressing her in it again and getting a few. Something to add to the "to do" list. Nevertheless, I did get a shot of her official birthday hat. I purchased a pack of dollar store traditional cone hats. I cut a large triangle of fabric and glued it around the hat with Mod Podge. I added a fabric flower (3 layers) to the front with leaves and a button in the middle. The edge and point of the hat consist of a ruffle I had left over from another project. I switched the cheap elastic for green plaid ribbons and VOILA- a girly birthday hat! Problem: She didn't want to wear it. Am I surprise? No. Am I sorry I spent ten minutes making it? No way. :) I plan on creating a fun hat for her each year for her birthday until she tells me that hats are "uncool". So...until she's like 30, right? :)

Mother Margo's Hats

I've been meaning to post some pictures of the adorably fashionable baby hats that my mom has made for Maggie. She is quite the expert habberdasher. That is what they call hat makers, right? Anyway, I can't wait to see what she concocts for our show in Grand Rapids coming up in November. There are going to be some very cute kids in hats this winter!

Things I am happy for on this gloomy Saturday

1. Maggie is taking a nap on my shoulder as I write this post. We are covered by the quilt I made her before birth when, alas, her gender was made known. The patio door is open and there is a cool breeze floating in just enough to make my toes cold and cower beneath the quilt.

2. It is Saturday, which means no one is rushing off to work. It is just the three of us without any plans besides just being. It's funny that I used to grow excited when I had "stuff" to do and now the thought of nothing to do is so comforting.

3. We just had a delightful breakfast of cheesey scrambled eggs, pancakes, and biscuits. On top of that, Brian did the dishes!

4. There is a 230 inch long banner in the basement with "Happy 1st Birthday Maggie" painted on it that I completed last night. I simply cannot wait for her big bash next Saturday. All of the people we love in one place = true happiness.

5. The air is cool enough for long pants and long sleeves today. Fall is finally upon us!! I become giddy this time of year, as Fall brings with it pumpkins, apples, cider, and all things natural and lovely. On top of that, I visited Marshall's yesterday and returned home with two fun finds!

6. Maggie is Maggie. I don't know how else to express this sentiment. She has made it through, hopefully, the toughest year of her life. 20 urinary tract infections, 4 hospitalizations, countless ER visits, major surgery. We can finally say that it is all behind us. She is a vivacious little girl with a great spirit and I can't wait to watch her flourish without pain.

7. I hope you enjoy this day as much as I will.

Embellished Onesies- Check.

So, I had to buy a pack of onesies because I needed a light green one to go with Maggie's Birthday tutu. Of course, the other onesies in the pack were "boyish" and couldn't be worn without some embellishment. I decided to applique a half eaten apple to one and a birdie to the other. I planned on doing a blanket stitch around them and then I discovered that it wouldn't be very sturdy. I decided to try adjusting my zig-zag stitch to cover the edges. I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't know you could embroider around an image on a "regular" machine. :0 It worked well. I ended up making Maggie an apple skirt to go with the onesie. It's a little longer than I wanted it to be, but it looks pretty cute with leggings.

Sewing Day Results

Lucky me- I got to have a sewing day yesterday! Just me, all by myself. My husband took my daughter on a date to Johnny Carino's for lunch and to Deanna's Playhouse. I accomplished a few things before realizing I needed brown thread, elastic, and a large orange button. Then it was off to Field's Fabrics. I am posting my favorite completed project.

In addition, I completed my first Fall jumper for the show in November. I have ideas for three more, if I just had the time to make them! I also made Maggie a cute strappy top to wear on top of a t-shirt and jeans. The "skirt" part is full and longer than your average shirt. It's too big now, but hopefully will fit well in the Fall.

Diaper wipe cases

I've got the bug and I have it bad. The sewing bug, that is. Perhaps it is because I know I have to go back to school soon and I have all of these ideas that need to come to fruition. Yup. That's it.

This was the easiest project ever. I bought two Huggies plastic wipes cases and traced around them onto the fabric. I cut out the fabric (one piece for each side) and glued them on using Mod Podge. After it dried, I hot glued a braided-type trim around the edge. Much more fun than ordinary wipes cases!

Biff's New Friend

My sister had a baby boy, Amos Wendell, last weekend. I, being the best sister ever, purchased her onesies and bibs with monsters on them. Just what every fine little lad needs. Now, seeing as Maggie has a monster friend, and Amos has monster clothing, I figured it only made sense that someone make him his very own monster friend. Therefore, I introduce you to Zeke. Zeke is fashioned with light green fleece and brown polka dotted cotton for appendages. His smile was crafted using brown rick-rack and his eyes are fleece circles with black buttons for irises. My husband didn't think he needed a nose so here he is! I am a bit jealous that Zeke is going to live at my sister's house. I secretly think he has more cool factor than Biff, plus he's a literary fellow. Biff only likes to chew shoes. :)

Cherry Skirt

Here's a quick little project I made tonight. It was one of those spur of the moment ideas. It sounded great in my head, but now I'm not so sure. We'll know tomorrow when I try it on Maggie. :)

As I was looking through piles in my craft room last night, I came across this romper that I made for Maggie back in April. It never got finished because that was about the time my sewing machine quit working. So, I assumed it was going to be too small for her. Seeing as it only needed some button holes and a couple other minor things to be complete, I decided to finish it anyway. I sewed the buttons on as far down as I possibly could to allow for more length. I was so excited this morning when I put it on her that it actually fit with a little room to grow!! Hooray! I have a lavendar and pink polka dot one in the basement that is also half done. Better get busy!

Fall Jumper

Here's a new twist on the jumper that I've been making for a few months. This is for my daughter, Maggie, for fall. I thought it would be cute with a long sleeve brown shirt (or dark red maybe) underneath and brown leggings or tights! I made loops for the straps to go through so that there was room on the yoke for the flower pin. I hope she leave it on!

Funky Fabric

So, there's this little fabric shop in Cadillac, Michigan that I just discovered before I moved from there. That's probably a good thing seeing as I can barely go in there without purchasing at least a smidgen of fabric. (Note: a "smidgen"= at least 1/2 yard.) This was my purchase last weekend. I purchased a yard of the black and white print and half a yard of the coordinating red with white daisies. So here's the question:

What should I do with it?????




My first thought was to make a skirt, but alas, I am all skirted out. Any other thoughts??

Biff

I just couldn't give up on my quest to create a slightly obscure creature. Simon now has a BFF. Simon was slightly disappointing so I gave up the robot theme and created a monster (hee hee) for my little monster (said with love). Biff was inspired by some scrapbooking paper I have of a stripe-legged monster with pointy teeth. I just finished a shower curtain using the polka dots for a contrast fabric. I thought it paired great with the gray wool felt. Notice that Biff has a heart on his butt showing his softer side. :) He may be a ferocious monster, but there's still love inside.

Simon Bolthouse

So, for some reason, the idea of creating a robot doll for Maggie just popped into my head. Very random, I know, but that's the way I operate. Not totally random- I was inspired by my good friend, Amy, to make Maggie a doll after she made her Molly Monkey. The doll turned out cute, but with very long and thin arms and legs. Her name is Natalie, in case you were wondering. My daughter is 10 months old and not able to name things. Naming items is my specialty and is much better than calling stuffed toys "dolly" and "bear". How mundane.

Back to the topic at hand: Simon Bolthouse. Simon is perhaps the dorkiest thing I've ever created, yet there's something I like about him. That's probably good since Maggie throws him on the floor every time I give him to her.


If I were to make a Simon again, I would reconfigure his eyes. He looks a little too alien-like for my taste, which takes away from him intellectualism, don't you think? :) His body is made of wool felt and I used scraps of polka dots and stripes for appendages. His control panel contains gray wool felt and buttons plus some rick rack so he can measure frequencies and wavelengths, whatever that means. Because my husband develops software and is a major techie, I thought I'd throw a little binary code on Simon's control panel. (I think he was impressed that I knew what binary code was.) Simon's neck looked a little strange so I added a lavender ribbon to show that even though he is a very technical creature, he has some creative flair. ;)

Ga Ga for Jumpers!

I've made 11 jumpers in the past two months- most of them for a craft show that turned out to be more like a large garage sale. My booth was beside a bearded man who was selling fishing lures and who spelled salmon with a "d" at the end on his sign. How can you claim to be an expert at "luring" in a specific type of fish yet not know how to spell it? I fought the urge the entire time to do two things: 1) chuck his staticy radio at him and 2) explain that salmon does not have a silent "d".

Anyway, I found a cute pattern from Newlook and modified it a bit. I tried it out first by making one for my daughter. Instead of sewing a strap to the back yoke and one to the front and having them tie in a knot on the shoulder, I sewed one on the back yoke and brought it through a button hole to knot on the front yoke. I liked this look. I have Maggie wear it with leggings most of the time. I enjoy that layered look.



So- the craft show wasn't a complete waste of time. I got three special orders, which reminds me...time to start working on those!

Here are some of my favorites that I've made. Let me know what you think. Honest opinions are valuable to me!