By Brienne

Sewing for Girls: Geranium Maxi Dress

Hello, dear friends! Please do excuse my absence. It was completely unintentional and I am completely without an excuse. All I can say is that I have been unable to pull myself away from this lush, sunny summer and from the days that have positively brimmed with everything.

The air cooled this week. It's raining and the summer tan that I've been recklessly allowing has been shrouded appropriately once again in fleece and wool. It's got me thinking about the upcoming cooler months and about the making that I hope to be doing and sharing with you. Please do tell me what you've been making this summer!

Let's talk about a dress, shall we? I made A BUNCH of clothes for my daughter this summer (you can find them all in my Instagram feed if you're curious). I usually make short dresses so that she can climb trees and run fast. But she's been requesting floor-length gowns and when I spied this tiered sundress, I knew that I had to try to make one. 

It's basically a Geranium dress mashed up with the tiered skirt pattern from Happy Homemade. I shaved off the shoulder parts and bound the arm and neck holes with bias tape to give it a sundress vibe. The armholes turned out a bit to big (I should have narrowed the bodice just at the neck and shoulders and left the arms alone). And she didn't like the skinny straps as much. Neither did I. For the next version I stuck with the standard Geranium bodice. She LOVES this long twirly dress. I see many more in our future... 

I have so much more to say! I'd like to share some fair isle knitting that I did this summer, some fantastic books that I read, a newer version of this dress in some to-die-for rayon challis... What do you want to talk about?

Joining Frontier Dreams this week over here. 

Why I Sew (and Knit)

This post was originally featured on the Kids Clothes Week Blog last February:)

I spend as much time as I can making things. And even when I can’t, it consumes my thoughts. And kids things in particular. As I considered this post over the last few weeks, I couldn’t come up with exactly what it was that compels me to make. Compulsion is the nature of it, to be sure – but why?

There was a time when my marriage was new and my babies were both so little and unfamiliar that hand-making helped me to make sense of domesticity – a concept that I had always flailed hard against.

But that’s not why for me anymore.

As I worked on this leather-feathered vest (using this pattern), I finished listening to a novel, The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. About midway through, the book’s writer answered this question for me and much more eloquently than I could have.

“In the evenings, she lit a lamp and unfolded the fabric on the table. Following the pattern offered a kind of comfort, a quiet balance [to her day's work which was] coarse, exhausting [and unpredictable]. Sewing was different. She knew if she was patient and meticulous, if she carefully followed the lines, took each step as it came, and obeyed the rules, that in the end when it was turned right-side out, it would be just how it was meant to be (205-6).”

That passage about a woman sewing a coat for a child is one that I’ll be thinking about for a long time. Even though she’s musing there about stitching, the passage also contributes to the book’s persistent theme of impermanence. The stitching, it helps us to cope with the fleeting nature of things. Of kids and of youth and of thwarted meant-to-bes. And, I think, that’s why I do it.

 Joining Frontier Dreams readers today over here:) And the Small Things knitters over here:)

 

Big Wool Time

Of all the things that I make, these are my favorite. 

From the winding to the weaving, working with this yarn is truly a thrill. 

Each skein is different. And each hat has a different look from every curve. Plus the wool is slightly felted, making the hats very, very warm. They are worn year-round in our household and are loved by us all. 

Is there anything more cheerful this time of year than a little scampering along a forest path in a pointed hat?

I knitted up three of these this weekend in between trips out to the woods to see the fresh snow. I simply couldn't help myself. It's time for knitting on big wool. 

 

I haven't been reading in earnest because my hands have otherwise been very busy updating my little shop (where you can find all of the hats pictured here). But I have been listening a whole lot. Right now, I am finishing up Elizabeth Gilbert's novel, The Signature of All Things , which turned out to be a very compelling read. In addition, I cannot get enough of Sarah Koenig's new podcast Serial. 

Joining my reading and knitting friends over on the Small Things blog today and checking in with Frontier Dreams too. 

Please do tell, what are you reading and working on these days?

Home and Away

One of the great things about living in Northeastern Minnesota is having easy access to wild places. 

 We've had this vintage trailer for a couple of years but haven't yet had enough time or energy to get it rolling. Last week we brought it to a campground way up in the woods where the raspberries, bears, moose and eagles are plentiful.

It felt good to unplug. Mr. Moody commuted to work all week from our remote campsite while the kids and I luxuriated in half mile hikes that took two hours; browsing blueberry patches, squashing rosehips and trying in vain to catch crayfish. 

We watched two young eagles all week that had nested above a campsite nearby. We saw them eating. We heard them screeching. 

One morning, the kids and I watched a group of French-speaking young people solemnly wade, knee-deep, into the water to spread something that must have been a loved-one's ashes. 

We read stacks of books and wrote some of our own. 

She painted. 

I knitted.

We laughed.  

We made friends with our good neighbors, who serenaded us with their accordian in the afternoons. 

For awhile, I pretended that I would always have these long days with my littles. 

And the days were so good. 

Joining both the Frontier Dreams and Small Things readers today. 

 

Mushroom Printing: A Love Story

So, you know that saying that, "behind every good man is a great woman..." blah, blah, blah? Well, I'd like to think that I am an adequate mate and a whole-hearted mom. But really, this guy. He's the real brains of this operation. It was he who gently urged me, one step at a time, back to school, he who lead the home and rural deliveries of our two children and he who bought me a sewing machine that was way out of our price range a couple of years ago to help me to do what I loved. It is he who now sits reading Teach Your Own while the littles squirm through their bedtime Sparkle Stories. And he who skates into the kitchen to give me a thumbs up, meaning: "let's do this homeschool thing!" while I lazily slurp a glass of wine and browse cookbooks. 

It is he who has been the brawn behind some of my favorite sewn items. And when I say he has been the "brawn," I mean he designed and printed things like this piliated woodpecker tee and tote and this Valentines Day tee. 

But, you know, the guy works more than full time designing and building stuff and so, I can't always lean on him. And I wanted to start printing on fabric myself!!! It is my secret dream to get to print on fabric for real, like in large scale someday. So, in June, when he was exhausted after a big bike race and my daughter brought in the sweetest little mushroom from outside, the learning could wait no  longer.   

Armed with the new experience of having made a stamp for the very first time in Maya Made's class at Squam, I set to work sketching the the mushroom and transferring it to the stamp surface. Once you have the drawing complete, you just flip it over onto the stamp surface and then rub the back of the drawing with a pencil to transfer it - it's super slick and easy! I had never before seen this pink eraser type stampy stuff but it is great because you can easily cut away the excess so that the print doesn't show the carving lines around the drawing. 

Naturally, I made a Flashback Tee with Geranium-style flutter sleeves first. 

It was a little too much flutter for me and the stamp washed away in the wash even after heat setting:( 

So, next, I worked at trying to use fabric paint to stamp with but with the delicate little gills - it just wasn't working. The grooves were getting clogged with paint. So, I went for a freezer paper stencil and I'm totally in love! Another School Bus Tee for my boy . 

Plus a high low swing tee for her using more of this dreamy fabric that I used to make his pocket tee. Okay, gratuitous photos of the mushroom print, since I guess that you can't really tell the difference between the brown tee above and the grey one below... 

Don't you think that Mr. Moody should get a mushroom tee of his own? I just purchased the yarn to make him this epic sweater (the guy in the yarn shop told me that he's never actually seen one finished) so, perhaps if I'm able to accomplish that I'll have evened our scores? 

Photo by Brooklyn Tweed. Source

 

 

Summer Solstice in Snapshots

 

Home

I am here. I just returned home from a week of magic in the New Hampshire woods. And in the weeks preceeding there was so, so much sewing but no time for the blog kind of sharing. I feel so grateful for having had the opportunity to participate in the beauty of Squam again. And  I'm really glad to be home and to be joining the other parents on the bleachers for a season of tee ball. 

There was a crafting extravaganza before I left and between making for sale and making to wear, I have so much that I want to share. In the meantime, though, I am soaking up the long summer days by watching my littles and kissing my date. 

How are you passing these well-earned summer days?

How to Hack your Nettie

I've been hearing about Nettie. Have you? Nettie is this great new bodysuit pattern by Heather Lou of the Closet Case Files. This pattern was right up my alley for so many reasons but primarily because I have invested a small fortune in those slinky little "body con" tops from Free People and the like. Many of them are too print or straptastic for me but others are just the perfect thing to layer over leggings or under a big sweater. I discovered them while I was pregnant and they have become a staple. It's time to make my own.  As I mentioned, the Nettie in it's true form is a bodysuit with several different sleeve length or neck options. It can also be made as a dress. I made two this past weekend. This was the second one and I decided to toy with the shape a bit. 

I wanted a dress with a bit of ease over my middle. I wanted the hem to curve up on the sides. In order to achieve this, I decided where I wanted the bodice to hit my waist (this took a couple of try's) and then I drew a curved line with the highest point on the hip and the lowest point on the abdomen or fold line. I cut the bodice away from the skirt on this new line. I mimicked this same shape on the skirt piece for the hem. 

Then, I cut out the new, shortened bodice as directed. But when I cut out the curvy skirt piece, I moved the pattern piece six inches from the fold - adding 12 new inches of fabric for gathering. Does that make sense? Here is a close up of the hack job.  I am a fool and left my tension at it's highest after gathering the skirt - so most of the garment was sewn at this tension grrrrr!! But I still really like it. I'd be happy to take pictures of my altered pattern pieces if it's useful to anyone. More Nettie's to come! 

Kid Couture

So, something crazy happened. Last fall Meg of Elsie Marley took a chance on me and invited me to be a contributor to the Kids Clothes Week Blog. When I heard from Meg, I practically fell down. I called my mom immediately. I told Meg that hearing from her was like hearing from my hero, a note from Barbara Kingsolver wouldn't have jarred me like Meg's did.

Not coincidentally, sometime after that the editors of STYLO magazine asked if I'd like to contribute to their spring issue. Would I????? Um, yes please. That would be a dream come true. A dream that Ms. Marley basically manufactured for me. You can bet that nobody (I mean, besides my mom) would ever have seen anything that I had made, had it not been for Meg.

Jessica and Celina are an intrepid team. They took a truly diverse group of sewists and created a magazine that is cohesive, yet manages to allow everyone's distinct style to come through. And I am so pinching myself here, can't believe, can't understand how it's possible that I've been included alongside this group of very savvy seamstresses. 

I was asked to participate in the "One Fabric Six Ways" portion of the magazine using the bright, geometric print that you see above. Note how deftly Helen Bird of Curly Birds dealt with that wild pattern - love!!! 

I had a tough time at first, figuring out where to put that print. And then it hit me, a mini super tote (naturally)! The pattern begs for mixing up prints and I have made it so many times that I knew that I could trust the outcome. 

To make it, I just printed the pattern off at 60 percent and proceeded as usual. I used a leather scrap from other recent projects to accent it. It's probably my daughter's favorite handmade EVER. It's the perfect size for toting tulips, sketch pads, small stuffed friends - and wouldn't it make a sweet lunch sack? I finished this in early April and it has been in heavy rotation ever since. 

I can't wait to share more details with you soon! In the meantime, please do check out the other contributing editor's from this spring's issue. Beautiful stuff all around! 

 

Sunday

How did it go, dear friends? Were you treated well? Did you meet the day with an open mind and with your whole heart? 

We had a very peaceful weekend. I tried to unchain myself from the sewing room and I managed to do so for at least a couple of hours of daylight:) 

I was given a gift certificate for yarn from my daughter and it will be this to use for another go at the Lila. My first attempt is over here. 

We had our picture taken as a family.

 

Many of the businesses in town are seasonal and we patronize them with glee when they open in the spring. We had dinner out. 

We played beauty shop (and when I say "we," I mean my sister, with my daughter - I am no good at all the-things-girl, but she is!)

Please treat yourself to Sylvia Bourstein's "What we Nurture". 

And watch this, it only takes a second. 

Happy Mother's Day, however it finds you. 

P.S. My son's green polka dot hat was made from Leila and Ben's Little Cap Pattern for the freshly released issue of STYLO magazine

Joining Frontier Dreams readers today over here.