Headband part deux

I went out yesterday and with tie in hand, I scoured Joann's for green fabric.  I found a couple things I liked.  1silk, 1 silk saree fabric, and something else that I can't remember what it is.  The flowers are a little messy but I just wanted to get them made up and the pictures out so that the ladies can see the different fabric.  My vote is for the silks.  I like the way the silk curves around itself.   What say you?

No more pencils, no more books...

Tomorrow is Gl's last day of school.  So far, I have loved every single one of her teachers.  Seriously.  She has not had a bad teacher.  They have all been caring and inspiring but this year's teacher, I feel, will stand out in her mind in years to come.  Much like my own beloved Ms. Williams (2nd grade), Ms. Peterson (4th grade) and Ms. Sawyer (7th grade).  Anyway, I of course wanted to make something special for Ms. S.   I was hoping to get it done in one day but as I am also trying to potty train a 3 year old boy at the same time and said boy is running around the house in nothing but a long shirt......well, stuff happens.

Day 1:

The fabric that I ended up using is a lovely green rose, floral that I found at a "thrift store".  I'm not telling you where because then everyone will go there and I'll stop being able to find such awesome stuff.  Let's just say this place rocks and that I also found a couple yards (like 6) of lovely wool that I can't wait to use.  OH MAN!  You wish you knew the name of this place! Ahem, moving on... I knew I wanted to do some embroidery so I pieced together the green with some muslin (that gift just keeps on giving Nina). 

Then I basted it to some batting and drew my image on some tear away stabilizer and pinned it in place.  I've been using tear away stabilizer since I started doing embroidery but I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it.  There were a lot of little details in this image and it took around an hour to get all the stabilizer off once I was done because I had to be very careful.  I might have to try that washable transfer stuff sometime. 

This is how far I wanted to get by the end of Day 1 but I couldn't get to this point  because of this:

Ok. Ok.  He's adorable.  Don't I know it!  He also likes to eat paint and poop in the driveway.  And before you can say anything just let me tell you that I know it was crazy to let a 3 year old play with paint unsupervised.  I KNOW!  And yes, it was also not very smart to let a naked 3 year old play outside when he hasn't pooped yet. I KNOW these things.  I know.... I know..... I know....

Where was I?  Oh yes,  Day 2:

This again?  Yes. Because this is where I was around noon today.

And then (ta da!) I was here! Actually there were a lot of steps between these photos but the pictures were boring so I decided to jump to the conclusion.  The back side is all green floral and the inside is....

this gorgeous blue and yellow floral that I've been hanging onto FOREVER!  Every once in a while I would pull it out and try to think of something to use it on but I would always end up putting it back.  Now I know why.  It was waiting for this bag.  I love the way the blue brings out the blue of the birds.

So, that's it.  Ms. S.'s bag. I hope she enjoys it and I hope she knows just how much we have appreciated having her in Gl's life this past school year. 

Lindsey's wedding

I've been asked to make some headbands for a wedding.  Fun.  I love stuff like this.  This  is the practice headband.  I had to sew it up and rip it apart 3 times last night just trying to get the size of the flowers correct.  I still don't think they are quite right.  The bottom one needs to be a bit smaller and the top one needs to be a bit bigger.  I used (hey, i'm using caps!) some buttons that I had lying around for the centers but for the "real" ones, I'll go with some sort of pearl.  I think.  What do you think Nina?  Jessica?  Do you want to use the flower girl fabric or should I look for some different fabric? I can look for something a little dressier if you think these are too casual.   What about the black headband and the size of the flowers?  Is my assessment correct? 

Gl kind of has a tiny head so I took another picture using the neighbor girl.  She has a bigger head and she's a brunette.  So now you can see how the black looks with the darker hair.

Here is a picture of some buttons I bought today.  What do you think?

The pearl ones are what I was picturing when I was sewing them up.  The store I went to today didn't have just plain, larger pearl buttons but I could definitely find some, if that is what you want. 

Lastly, this is the two colors of green felt that I've been able to find.  Neither matches perfectly but neither is horrible either.  If you like the look of felt.  Ok.  I'll be waiting to hear what you think.