Friday Archives: have a seat

Just about a year ago I was preparing for my wedding, doing all the typical last minute things like finding jewelry to go with my dress, sewing table linens and refinishing my patio furniture. Yes, I decided the week before my wedding was the perfect time to have the patio furniture that I'd purchased three years before stripped and repainted. Isn't this on the list of every bride?


I scored this vintage metal table and two chairs on a 2004 trip to Brimfield with Tory. It was the last day of the show and we were hoping to get some good deals from vendors who didn't want to haul their unsold wares home. We had seen at least a dozen sets before we found this one. After some negotiation the dealer let me take it home for $75. I scraped it as best I could by hand (it was pretty rusty and had a bad paint job) and sprayed it white. My handiwork held up for a couple of years, but by last May it was looking pretty sad, with lots of rust flaking through the paint.



By the time I'd decided it had to be refinished before our guests descended upon us there was no time (or desire) to refinish it again myself. After some serious detective work I found a local paint shop that agreed to work on it. They heat-stripped and sand-blasted off the old paint rust and then powder coated it a matte black for $150. I recovered the seats with oilcloth and we had ourselves a new vintage patio set.

I'm so glad I spent the money to have it professionally refinished. They did a far better job than I could ever have done by hand and for relatively small money. Now I just need to find a couple more chairs...

Double Trouble

With the news of twin baby girls on the way I immediately knew what I had to make for them, their own twin dolls.

Using the Wee Wonderful's Olive pattern I whipped up two nearly identical dolls. They may be twins, and the best of friends, but these girls are showing off their unique personalities in the best way girls know how....their clothes!

May Day babies

Apparently the babies that Tory and I have been sewing for heard there was a party planned for them and couldn't wait to open their presents. Little Madison and Grace arrived last Thursday and they are teeny-tiny and very feisty. They're staying in the hospital until they fatten up a bit so please send them some good wishes. Thank goodness my baby shower gifts were finished on time.

I used the newOliver&S patterns and I love them. The instructions are very complete and easy to follow and the garments turned out exactly like I expected them to. I knew these babies were likely to be early so I made the 0-3 month size so they'll get to wear them this summer. There were some tiny seams and tight turns to navigate, but they sewed up quickly. The playsuit is made from some of my favorite Superbuzzy fabrics (I think they still have some in stock).

I've been rationing this Heather Ross print since I got it but finally took the plunge and really cut into it. And I'm so glad I did, I think it's perfect for this little tea dress.

In fact, it may be the sweetest thing I've ever made.

It even has matching bloomers, who can resist that? The 1/4 inch elastic casing around the legs was a little challenging so make sure you have a tiny safety pin to use to pull the elastic through the casing if you decide to make this pattern.

I also included a couple of newborn sized onsies that I embellished with a fabric applique.

Identical twin girls: Mom and Dad are in big trouble.

At Piece (or Top That)

Pardon the (bad) quilt humor after my long absence. More than a week ago I finished piecing the twelve blocks and assembling the quilt top. Oddly enough I had two very different feelings at this point. I felt at peace for having conquered a major portion of my first quilt. It was very similar to the feeling I have after leaving the perfect yoga class. The other feeling was more akin to the end zone dances seen in football. Take that quilt top! You’ve got nothing on me!

Well, that feeling of cockiness was shortlived. It was replaced by dread and fear. I spent most of last week avoiding the actual quilting of the layers. I was a bit paralyzed by the fear that this might be the step where I ruined everything. Dramatic? Well, yes. However, this often happens to me the first time I attempt a new project.

With only a few hours left in the weekend I sat myself before my sewing machine with pinned quilt layers in hand. Quilting in straight lines in 1.5" increments I worked from the center to one side and then worked from the center to the other side. I'm happy, and relieved, to say it worked easily and perfectly. I didn't even have to stay up past my bed time.

Friday archives: inspired by Loobylu

I'm quite the joiner these days. First the celebrity sightings meme and now the Friday Archives. Sadly, many of my early projects were archived under the category "To Be Finished Later." I'm pretty sure I still have a few not quite complete projects from my high school days packed away in a box somewhere. I'll get to them all in turn, but this week I want to tell you the story of this pear pin cushion and how it changed my life.

Soon after discovering the Blogosphere I happened upon Claire Robertson's wonderful website Loobylu. Quickly a world of craft blogs was revealed to me through her posts and links to other sites. Although I hadn't used my sewing machine for anything more than a quick mending job in almost a decade, after a few weeks of reading Loobylu I decided I needed to make a Softy. I was totally infatuated with these pear pincushions and decided I would attempt one myself. But I had no pattern and had never really made anything without a pattern before. So I went out and bought some pears and measured their dimensions and starting cutting out paper templates to make my own. A few iterations later and I had the shape I wanted. I stuffed it, embroidered on a face using Claire's as a guide and - voila - my very own pear pincushion. I haven't stopped sewing since.

Thank you, Claire, for providing me with the inspiration to start making and creating again.

Brief encounters with the semi-famous

Loobylu has a fun meme up today about meaningless celebrity encounters and I thought I'd play along for fun. I am lousy at recognizing people out of context and usually have to have people pointed out to me. Also, my definition of celebrity is pretty broad as you will shortly see.

When I was in grade nine my mom and I met King Juan Carlos of Spain at a reception at the BC Museum of Anthropology. My mom was quick to note that he was ogling the women in the Haida dance troop performing at the event. We even made the local paper when we got back. Let's just say I grew up in a small town.

At university, I had a part time job as an usher at the university theater and worked an event where David Suzuki was the keynote speaker. He ordered take-out Chinese food but refused to eat it until someone brought chopsticks to the Green Room. During his talk the fire alarm went off twice and we had to evacuate the auditorium. Karma?

Also while at university I saw the Barenaked Ladies play at a local bar. This was before they had their first record deal but they had a demo cassette that they were selling for $5 between sets. My friend and I went up to the stage and tried to get Ed to give us 3 for $10 but he wouldn't do it. As I recall he was rather indignant about it. Good concert, though.

In 1992 I had a summer job in Montreal and was subletting an apartment right downtown just around the corner from the Ritz Carlton Hotel. One Sunday morning I saw Boris Yeltsin get into a car. There was a small crowd of people and we gave him a round of applause and he waved at us.

Also at the Ritz, I bumped into the Prime Minister with a bag of bagels. My roommate and I were walking home loaded with groceries and the aforementioned fresh bagels (this was in my pre-celiac days). There were a lot of people standing in front of the hotel doors and I had to push my way through to get by and ran right into Brian Mulroney. I don't think he or his bodyguards even noticed.

Finally, to round out my six most meaningless celebrity encounters, I saw Philip Seymour Hoffman at a restaurant while having brunch in Manhattan a few summers ago. He was wearing a baseball cap and looked like he hadn't shaved or showered in days. I wouldn't have recognized him if my friends hadn't pointed him out.

So who are your six most forgettable run-ins with the rich and famous?

In season: blooms and bags

Ah, it feels like Spring is really, truly here. The back garden has started to bloom with flowers that I didn't even plant and have somehow evaded the greedy bulb-eating squirrels. They look so delicate but are very hardy. I've lived here four years and they keep coming back. I'm always so delighted to see them pop up, they seem like little miracles because I definitely do not have a green thumb. One of my colleagues is splitting some plants and offered to give me some. My first question was "Do they need to be watered?" She looked incredulous and replied "Yes, Elise. All plants need to be watered." Hmm, maybe that's my problem? The whole watering thing has always seemed so daunting.

Here's a beauty that doesn't need any tending. I've been hoarding this piece of Freshcut for quite a while and finally managed to cut into it. I had barely snipped the last thread before I filled it with my daily essentials and put it to use. See it sagging under the weight?

These twin tulips are my favorites this year. Just lovely.
Speaking of pairs, here's my second new spring bag. Yes, last Friday night was a late one (2 am to be specific). I actually made three Frenchy shoulder bags, but one was a repeat at the request of a dear friend. I have been intending to build up a stock of bags, scarves and little softies so that I'll be gift-ready like Tory, but so far the gift closet remains bare while my wardrobe bulges. I've definitely honed my technique on this last trio, so I'm sure there will be more to come. But first there's the small issue of a baby shower next weekend and a pair of gifts that need to see the light of day by then. Stay tuned.