Super Style Bag Swap at Sew Mama Sew

This is exciting! Sew Mama Sew is having a bag swap.

I'm going to be participating. If you're interested, you can sign up by Wednesday (9/29).

I've got a few bags in production right now, so this is right up my alley. I think I'll stretch my wings and try something new.

Miss Prickly

Pancakes For Fairies

Good morning!

Isn't it a nice day for a little pancake breakfast?

Reverse Tie-Dye Refashion

Well...finally I am getting my refashioning mojo back. After grand plans for the summer, I found that nothing went as I'd planned. Now that we're all back on a schedule though, I'm finding some time for sewing again.

One of my favorite knit dresses was looking a little sad. I tried re-dying the black, but it just didn't do much for it.

Even though I've had some miserable failures with bleaching black before, I took the plunge and did a reverse tie-dye. I had some wide lace (scavenged from someone's garage sale leftovers) and stitched that around the bottom.

You would think that bleaching black would leave some shade of gray, but I've found several times that it always turns baby-diarrhea brown. This time, I used a strong solution and set it outside in the sun so it's more like a yellow-ivory.

Because I feeling very edgy and sassy, I made up a bag out of a pair of paint-splattered cargo pants to go with it. It was so much fun to make, I made two - the other one's in the shop.

This dress is so easy to wear, and now I REALLY love it (and I don't use capital letters lightly)!

Even Cooper thinks I look cool....It feels good to be back with a refashioning project.

Quite a Boy!

Tee hee hee...you all made me giggle with your comments about the coat in the previous post. Thanks for those. You guys really made my day. I'm going to strut my stuff when I wear it. Oh, and make a yellow car pin! LOVE that idea. I promise if I ever get rid of it, I'll put it up for a give-away here.

A new member in our family arrived this weekend. As you can see, he's quite a boy!

This big darling is a rescue dog from a local shelter. I can't believe how fortunate we are to have been able to adopt him.

Cooper is a 1 1/2 year old Goldendoodle, and he is lovely and charming in every way. Not only does he look like a big muppet, he acts like one too.  I get a big kick out of this big boy who is still a baby inside - he still squats like a puppy when he pees.

You can probably see that we are quite smitten with him already.

Dogs make the world a better place, don't you think?

Thrifted Echino Coat

Imagine my surprise at finding this at my local Goodwill:

My first impulse was to chop it up and reassemble it into a big tote. But, really, how awesome is this coat? I can't imagine why anyone would let it go.

I can't bear to chop it up! Someone made it with a lot of love - the buttonholes are lovely, and it has yellow contrasting lining at the pockets.

I just have to finish it with buttons and belt loops. I think that $8.00 was a pretty great deal, considering that there was probably $60 that just went into the fabric.

What do you think?  Too much?

First Day of School

How can it be that they're so grown up? My little boy is starting third grade, and my little girl is starting first. It wasn't so long ago that I was the sun and the moon to them.

Their lives extend beyond my world now.

I was looking at my son's bare feet the other day, and noticed that they looked just like they did when he was a baby, when I would kiss and tickle them. Only now his feet are much, much bigger.

I always feel a burst of pride and joy when I watch them get on the bus in the morning. I want to yell, "You can do it! I'm right here if you need me!" But I try not to embarrass them, and give an athletic wave and a maniacal grin instead.

Here's to all of us moms who are trying to let them go gracefully....we can do it!