Avery's 5th Birthday

The main event in celebration of Avery's birthday this year, was a trip to Disneyland the following week.  So, we kept the fanfare pretty low key on the actual day, but I never like to let a birthday pass without a little fuss.

 

So I decorated with this hair-bow bunting featuring her cute little face, placed a giant balloon on the table, and had a strawberry shortcake family-breakfast-party before school. 

Then, I tried to get a portrait of her before she headed off so we could remember what she looked like on the exact day she turned five.

I got exactly zero photos of her smiling and looking at the camera. She was in too big a hurry to get to school and get her birthday badge, and was annoyed by the whole thing. But, these are actually a pretty accurate representation of her personality these days. Spunk and zoom. And she cares nothing for getting her picture taken or clothes. Except she loves purple, so this polka dot birthday dress sent by Aunt Nessie was perfect. 

  

A few days before her birthday, Avery's friend cut all her hair off during a play date. When the girl's mother brought her home I was really sad about the haircut, and sad for Avery who was really devastated.  I could write quite a bit about my unhealthy attachement to my kids' hair, but I'll save it for another day. 

At any rate, I thought some new hair bows would be a fun gift and a fun way to celebrate change and her cute new bob (which I love, but would never had done so... silver lining) , so I made half a dozen, and then clipped them onto black and white photos of her that I'd printed out on cardstock.



I got the idea from Stephanie Ford, who blogs at Simply Radiant. She did a similar bunting but with paper party hats. I was pretty proud of how mine turned out. Functional and festive.  And Avery loved it, so-- win. 

And just in case you're worried that she did not get enough party in on her birthday, we finished the day at Chuck E. Cheese with a few friends and family, horrible pizza, a Costco birthday cake, and  some thoughtful gifts from all who love her. And we told her about Disneyland and then had the longest week of anticipation in history.

I love this girl. My little Avery. Five years old. I remember vividly the day she turned five days old. I was really sad about it. I wrote a whole hormone-induced letter to her about how she would never be five days old again. I am not someone who is in a hurry for my kids to grow up. I really enjoy the little people that they are-- exactly as they are, and so the thought of anything about them changing is hard for me. But if the new bob has taught us anything, it's that change can be good. So I'm trying to let it come. But I wouldn't mind if it slowed down a tad.


*Dress from Boden
*(Some of the) Ribbon and Balloon from Darlybird

Birth stories never get old...

The story of Oliver's birth is over at Freshly Picked today. They are featuring a birth story each week and today they let me share his. I love reading birth stories, and I am so glad I recorded my thoughts and feelings about that day, but as I read over it I laugh a little thinking about Ollie reading it when he gets older. Good thing I detailed the position I pushed him out! I'm sure he'll be dying to know that someday;)

Handmade Kids Clothing Swap

You guys I'm so excited to be participating in a Handmade Kids-Clothing Swap with some of the most stylish and creative ladies around!

Each of us participating designed and sewed an outfit for another person's child, based on their pinterest board/s. Make sense? We all gave the details of our kids measurements etc. and a link to our pinterest board for inspiration, and didn't know who was sewing for us until our package arrived in the mail.

I was really excited when my package arrived and it was from my friend Kristin of Skirtastop, because I knew whatever she'd made would be amazing. But when I opened my box I was floored!

She made an entire outfit for both of my kids and a bag for me. Each of them impeccably sewn, and so thoughtfully designed. Just my style but with special touches I wouldn't have thought to do. And totally above and beyond-- but if you are familiar with Kristin, not surprising at all. As I inspected each item, I nearly cried. And I don't cry about a lot of things.

But as someone who sews, I know how much time, thought, and love went into each little seam. And it's so special to me to receive something that was crafted by Kristin's own hands.   

Kristin sent me this little note, so I'll let her explain the outfits:

I was so excited to draw your name for this project, Danielle!  You're one of my very first bloggy pals and your encouragement was one of the main reasons I started my blog in the first place, so I feel like I owe you a lot!
This swap theme was "Inspired by Pinterest," and I sort of stuck with that.  I scanned your kid style board for inspiration, but didn't pick any pins in particular - I looked at the  "vibe" in general.  Frankly, I had an idea what I wanted to make for Avery right away - you had said nothing too tight in the bodice and that she loves purple.  I know YOU love peter pan collars, and I knew I had pinned a couple dresses that I thought would fit the bill nicely - this one and this one.  So I made a roller skate dress in size 8, with a self-drafted sparkly peter pan collar.  The purple is Violet Cotton Couture, and the collar is a glittery knit.  It's lined with a stripey vintage sheet. 
I had to make something for Ollie too, mainly because I thought Avery's dress was more of a standalone piece, not easily turned into an "outfit," and I had a little extra time (hehe).  The boy looks you pinned have a lot of earth tones and a vintage style, with a little surprise added to them.  I made a short sleeved flashback skinny tee (in 3T) from a really soft old Anthro shirt of mine, and stamped brown/gold triangles on the hip that wrap around to the back of the shirt.  I also made him some sailboat shorts in (also in 3T) in Essex Yarn Dyed Black Linen with mint buttons. 
It was so fun to sew for your kids, though it's really hard to get the fit right when you can't try it on them halfway through - I met your kids in person last summer, but had no idea how much they'd grown since!  Hopefully they enjoy and get some good use out of them!  :) 

For Avery:

Avery squealed when she saw this dress. "It's purple!"

And how perfect is that sparkly collar?

 

Avery is a little tricky to sew for. Kristin picked the perfect silhouette and style. It's so comfortable and will fit for a long time.

I am in love with the button detail! I would never have thought to do it that way. It's perfect!

And that lining is so soft and darling! Such a fun surprise.

For Ollie:

I love his whole outfit! I mean, how darling...


Those hand-stamped triangles on the softest t-shirt...

Those perfectly sewn shorts!

Such cute buttons. Not one out of place.

For me:

Don't you just love this fabric?  I've been meaning to make myself something like this but I am just not that productive. I love this bag. It's just so stinking darling!  Above and beyond girl!

Kristin, I really can't thank you enough! 

You are amazing.  I will treasure each of these things forever.

And if you're curious about what I made, head on over to Robin's blog to see what I sewed for her little girl:

And be sure and check out all of the other swaps happening too! Here's the full list of everyone who participated:

cherie from you and mie

danielle from my sparkle

delia from delia creates

gail from probably actually

heather from well-crafted

kristin from skirt as top

meg from elsie marley

sanae from sanae ishida

vanessa from lbg studio

robin from nested in stitches

Winter White Deco Dress

I made this little dress for Avery,  for Delia's Winter Whites series. Though the series is called "Winter Whites", it includes soft colors and neutrals, so I think this fit the bill. This dress was inspired by a square on a quilt I found at an antique store and fell in love with. I'm not sure how old it is, but a lot of the fabric looks sort of 1930's or 40's.

 

 It's funny how everything old becomes new again. I love the black and white graphic print paired with peach. And it's so on trend right now isn't it? I really wanted to make something with that print so I did my best to recreate it in Illustrator and had it printed though Spoonflower. Mine isn't quite as wonderful as the original, but I think it captures the feeling. I called the dress, "Art Deco Inspired" because I think the geometric shapes and repeating lines on this print look sort of Art Deco, but I'm not sure that's a totally accurate description. But, "Vaguely 30's or 40's Print Inspired Dress" just didn't have the same ring. The style of the dress is definitely more 40's or 50's. I used a New Look (6309) pattern for most of the dress, and then drafted and added the turned up cuff to echo the collar.

I love when people ask me to guest post (although I sadly have to say no a lot because I just can't find time!) because its the only time I ever get any of the sewing projects in my head finished. But I'm a terrible guest-poster! I meant to do a little tutorial for the sleeve cuffs, but just didn't get it done in time. 

I have mad respect for all the folks who maintain sewing and craft blogs. They are super labor intensive, and I just don't know how they do it. I love making things, and I love sharing about it when I can get my act together, but I think we've established that that doesn't happen with any consistency right? Anyway, its fun to be included for time to time in some of those wonderful creative and consistent spaces. Thanks Delia.

Kollobora Giveaway

Thank you everyone who participated!

Congrats to Kristin who is the winner of her very own knitting kit from Kollabora! I'll be in touch with the details :)

kristin said...
Omigosh wow that first photo blew me away. You are so good. Love that you're knitting now too! So I'm not sure if it counts but my favorite "project" is the entire knitting techniques page. I just watched the purl stitch video and it's the clearest and best explanation I've ever seen. Yay! Thanks! http://kollabora.com/community/knitting/learning/techniques

January 23, 2013 at 10:01 PM

Life Lately...

Knitted Headband

I felt about knitting, the way many people have told me they feel about sewing.  I longingly adored hand-knit creations, but thanks to a frustrating first attempt years ago, it seemed tricky and mysterious and totally overwhelming.

 

Still, I admired all the intricate projects I saw come across my instagram feed, and hoped I might have a chance to sit down and figure it out at some point. So when Kollabora gave me a chance to try out their Newbie Knitted Headband Kit-- I said yes. Let's do this thing! Because I'm 32 and its time to stop being afraid right?

Kollabora is a new company that hosts online sewing, jewelry, and knitting tutorials, with a handy link to purchase all, or most, of the supplies you need to complete it.  The headband tutorial includes step by step videos showing each step of the process which was the key to my success. I could watch each step over a few times and then try it slowly. 

 

I had a few hiccups along the way. The first several rows were kind of wonky and we had a few snafus when Avery picked up my needles when I wasn't looking and tried her hand at it. Luckily I got the hang of it in the middle and so the front of my headband looks good. And the loopiness is forgiving enough that the back isn't terrible despite my mistakes.

So knitting. Sure you could easily buy something like this, but it was so gratifying to make it. Especially for Avery who excitedly watched and anticipated her very special cozy headband. Plus, this way I was able to pick out the exact shade of blue that matched her eyes. And well...that's kind of priceless right?

So how about it? Would you like to give knitting a try on Kollabora's dime?

For a chance to win your own kit, visit their site and then come back and leave a comment linking to your favorite project, and let me know what you like about it or why it inspires you.

I'll pick a winner from the comments on Friday. Deal?

*Giveaway Closed*