almost done

so here's a first not so great pic of my first anna maria horner fabric project. i'm head over heels in love with this mei tai! honestly, i think it's the most gorgeous thing i've ever made and i basically could not be happier with the result.



took two days to make and i feel like i hardly got any sleep because i was so obsessed with getting it done, but now all it needs are the little loops for the hood straps and a joontoons tag and it's ready to go on etsy. yes, i made it for the store... it'll be hard to part with this beauty but i need to have to must feed my fabric addiction and am in bad need for some paypal funds.

and here's a close up of all the pretty pieces laid out together before i got to sew the whole thing this morning...

dancing heart

look what came in the mail this morning! my first order of garden party fabrics! i'm beyond excited now. first the pfaff now the fabric, my crafty heart is about to explode there's so much joy!

of course i started a load of laundry five minutes before the postwoman rang and now my new fabric washing, line drying, ironing and folding ritual is going to have to wait an hour. oh well, enough time for me to get started on the straps for the gorgeous mei tai which is going to be my first garden party project...

heaven

i got my machine. it sounds like music. seriously. that little razz... almost as beautiful of a sound as joon laughing. almost.

the lady i got it from was so sweet, she almost cried when dave and my brother carried it out the door. she asked me to call her and let her know how things are going and i promised i'd send her an email with a picture of work done on her machine. it used to be her mother's and she said it was time to let go but it felt like a family member leaving. sigh.

anyways, i tidied up and sorta half cleaned my sewing area yesterday so that my new friend would feel welcomed into her new home. for now she lives right by the window which is where i usually have my ironing board set up. once i get a proper extension cord and a really good lamp i'll probably move her into the corner and rearrange things a bit. for now, i need to give my new old pfaff a really good cleaning and work with the settings a bit and study the manual really well.
this will take up all of my crafting time for the next couple of days which kills me because i have a million and one projects already started or at least listed to start on. why oh why don't creative people not an extra ten hours in every day??

well, here are the pics...











original receipt from '56. how cool is that? i also have the bill and exact description of a cleaning and adjusting job done in the late 90's. the machine has hardly been used after that last check-up.






lots of bobbins, foot thingies and other little original parts.

my new best friend

or so i hope



dave got me this awesome new old sewing machine on ebay today. it's a combined early birthday and christmas gift and i'm super stoked about it.
it looks to be in great condition and well taken care of. the lady even has the original purchase receipt from 1956.

now if only the seller would reply to my email... please keep your fingers crossed for me that we can pick this treasure up soon and that it'll be happy in it's new home.

finally

other than battling a cold, ridiculously crazy preggo hormones, my husband's ever changing schedule of rehearsals and meetings and more rehearsals and a wonderful 16-month-old (who thankfully didn't seem to feel much like battles this whole week) i havent' been up to a whole lot the past few days.

well, i made my first attempts at upcycleing wool sweaters... the results are two pairs of wool longies which much to my surprise turned out really well and fit joon perfectly (of course i didn't take a single measurement and just eyeballed the whole thing) and a double layered pure wool wrap diaper cover which of course didn't turn out perfectly but taught me a few lessons on working with bulky stretchy material, handstichting and working with elastic.

so i now feel like a full on hippie mama! where do i get my official membership card for the club??

we'll see how the wool does diapering wise. i've got lots of washing and lanolizing to do this afternoon. if i like how my fist batch holds up to wet diapers, i'll make lots more. now fingers crossed that dave finds some nice shrunken wool sweaters at the oxfam store today.



i got nothing but crappy pictures but have to share them anyway cuz i'm actually kinda proud of my work.







these colors are totally messed up. the cover is more like a burgundy red and the longies are dirty pink and grape.

everybody else is doing it...

i guess i'll do it too.

here's my "crafty" blog. i've been very busy sewing, thinking up designs, reading blogs, drooling over fabrics in online and real life stores, chatting on forums and all that crafty jazz and i feel an intense need to share with the world (or the one or two of you who'll actually come back here to read this every once in a while) what my crafty brain is up to.

there'll be lots of picture sharing, i'll get on your nerves endlessly by posting about tutorials (one of my most recent addictions), fabrics, music, my ridiculously entertaining kid, my way too busy husband, how awfully grey germany is in the winter and expect to read lots of comments on how wonderfully yummy german winter chocolates and cookies are.

oh, and i feel myself getting way too interested in etsy treasuries, so those will probably be a recurring theme as well. i plan on posting lots and lots and lots of gorgeous, fun, useful, yummy, inspiring or plain old weird handmade finds.

check back often, be in touch, get crafty and share, share, share.

the world seems a better place to me now that i've found the sheer endless stream of craft blogs. thank you crafty bloggers! :)




random collage created with the crappy picasa collage tool i just found. gonna go browse for something better looking now.