a new direction

Ah, spring. What is it about being able to smell the earth that makes me feel like anything is possible? Well, just in time, because I'm ready to dive deeper into things I really love to do and I'd rather have that "anything is possible" feeling than trepidation- uh, duh! So, here it is: I'm in my studio, I have the TWIST Fair to look forward to, a very large project is on the brink of actually existing (it will rock my world but mum is the word right now, and no, it is not a new baby), and I'm just generally feeling like tidying up my career path. Family Fun provides me with loads of space and opportunity to develop kid's crafts so I think it is time to treat One Golden Apple here as my home for sharing my sewing inspiration, projects , and products. Maybe a kid's craft will be thrown into the mix now and then. Sometimes they are too much fun not to share.

Enter the spring green wool jersey dress with a little touch of smocking on the front.


I am dying of how pretty this fabric is. It is a lightweight jersey- soft, soft, soft- and that green! I don't know where this dress is headed. It might go to my Etsy shop, or Twist, or maybe live in my own closet. I've been branching out from my beloved jersey, however, and my "New Line" of skirts and dresses will include some crisp stretch poplin, stretch lawn, and printed woven fabrics. Stay tuned. As I start to step up production and documentation, this is where you'll be able to hear about it and see it. There will still be tutorials and maybe even a giveaway soon.

the (almost) unbearable lightness of skiing

I went skiing. I had an epiphany of sorts as my legs burned and I skied through it. Even for those of you who know me, you might not know what a huge part of my life skiing filled when I was growing up. Since leaving home, skiing has been infrequent and since living in Ireland and then here on the East Coast, 12 years passed with only one small minute on the slopes when Ava was 4 (and I brought Jonny to the top of the mountain for the view and then he actually stopped talking to me for a couple days since he wasn't actually ready for it- being his first ever time skiing). My bad.

Maybe my profound experience on the mountain last week has more to do with who I am as a mama than the actual act of skiing, though I think it was probably a combo deal. First, there is nothing else that can duplicate the feeling of flying and that is what skiing , at it's best, feels like to me. Then, there was the small fact that I was skiing alone- no kids- with a dear friend who was my perfect ski mate and that was all I was meant to be doing. I had no other responsibilities. No other things pulling me in any way. I was free to ski. It actually felt like a retreat and I realized that I would take it over a spa ANY DAY!

The epiphany then? Simple. I need to ski more, or, find other ways to play that make me feel like a kid again- free and easy and strong. It sounds so easy, but I am a conflicted sort of person. I always want to be with my children and husband. I don't like to miss out and I love to be with them. I also really need a healthy dose of solitude for happiness but rarely get or take it. I could easily complain about the money, which is most certainly a factor (skiing can be expensive, we all know), but it has been more of an inability to find my own space to play so fully that is to blame.

This is a ramble, but the reason I decided to post these thoughts is because I did wonder- last Thursday as I rode up the lift with aching teeth from the cold wind hitting my permagrin- what do other dedicated mothers do to relax and recharge and get needed space from the beautiful intensity and demands of a family? What do you do?

my studio...mine, mine, mine!

For all the reasons to feel fortunate in my life, the thing that is sort of unbelievable still and capturing my imagination most is my newly finished studio in the upstairs of the cider barn. I mean, someone pinch me! Space. Organization. Possibility. The crafting I do for Family Fun has always been at my kitchen table- which has been fine, but hard sometimes since it is in our shared space in our small home. When I brewed up the idea to begin teaching crafting and sewing classes in my dream space, my ridiculously handy man made it happen. The electrical and plumbing will go in soon and the biz will begin. For now, I have moved my supplies up there and have started organizing and scheming.


Are you wondering about the TV in the first shot? Ok, so the floor paint drying coincided with my perennial late winter panic attack about not moving my body enough. I got a dance exercise video out of the library, hauled the TV upstairs and danced for a half hour that first night. I am fully aware of what a dork I am. It was fun, just the same.

The other thing I am obsessing about this week is the beautiful fact that I am going skiing with my kick ass girlfriend Tanya. I skied A LOT as a kid in California, but have not found a way to reincorporate it back into my low budget life here on the East Coast. I have been longing for it- especially since the Olympics. I'm going tomorrow! Wooooooo! Tanya will kick my butt out there, I'm sure, but I don't care.

More pictures of the moved-in studio to come, plus a schedule of classes for kids and adults. Hope to see folks at my place soon!

sewn lampshade tutorial

Last year I tried to make a freezer paper stencil on a plain white lampshade I use in my living room. It didn't turn out well but I lived with it for a year- as you do- and today I finally changed it. Much better. And, of course, it was super easy and took less than an hour to make.

What you need:
-lampshade you are covering
-desired fabric (I used canvas)
-chalk pencil
-contrasting thread
-mod podge or spray adhesive

1) Using a chalk pencil, draw a line along the bottom edge of the lampshade, while rolling it along the fabric. I started at the seam in the lampshade and stopped when I got back to the seam. Make sense? Do the same with the top edge of the lampshade.

2) Cut out the shape. I cut the piece about a half inch bigger all around so I could roll the edges over the top and bottom of the lampshade easily.

I used a contrasting thread to stitch my design. If you've never tried free motion sewing, this is a great project to start with because it is small. Put up the feed dog on your machine and "draw" your design in thread.


3) I used Mod Podge to adhere the fabric to the lampshade, though I'm sure there are other things that would be suitable (spray adhesive?). I spread the mod podge all over the lampshade in a thin layer so it wouldn't seep through the fabric then positioned one edge of the fabric on the glue and began to press it in place.


4) After I got the fabric pressed all over the lampshade, I had to trim some extra fabric away to make it look pretty and finished. I then brushed more mod podge along the bottom and top edges and rolled the fabric around the edge and pressed. It stuck pretty fast and easy.


Voila!

two swallows skirt

I just made this gently a-lined skirt out of the softest pink jersey fabric scrap I had. It is for a 6/7 year old, though I wish it were for me. I thought I would describe just how easy and quick (honestly) it is to whip up a skirt- and only slightly easier for a child's size, so this tutorial is really for making ANY jersey skirt.

1) Fold a piece of jersey so the grain line is running vertically and the right sides are together. Mark the center of the top edge.

2) I used a pair of size 6/7 stretchy pants to determine the waist size for this skirt and centered it on the top edge of the fabric. I added an extra inch on either side and marked the fabric.



3)I decided how long I wanted the skirt to be, marked along the side edges, then drew a line from the waist marking to the bottom edge marking. Because I was using a scrap, the angle of the a-line was determined by the amount of fabric I had. This skirt is on the straighter side of a-line, if you know what i mean.

NOTE: If you are accounting for big sexy hips and booty and like a little extra room, make the angle bigger. The straighter, the more body hugging (which is nice too).



4) Cut from the waistline to the bottom edge. I like using a rotary cutter and a long straight edge, but if you don't have these things, mark the line between the 2 points, and cut. I make a little snip at the bottom edge then fold the fabric in half so my other cut from top to bottom is identical.



Then, while folded, cut the bottom edge. I make a gentle slope up from the center to the edge, so the center is about a half inch longer than the sides.



5) Open fold so the 2 layers of the skirt are still right side to right side and sew the side seams up. With jersey fabric, it is important to use a stretch stitch if the fabric is going to stretch a lot when wearing- kid's play skirts are a good example of this. My machine has a small selection of stretch stitches, and I prefer the one that goes forward 2 and back 1. Zig Zag stitches are also stretchy, and most machines have them.




6) Next comes the Fold Over Elastic- order it online in a million colors from here. I don't know what I did before using this stuff. It is the best! I sew it on using a zig zag stitch usually in the same color as the FOE. First, turn your skirt right side out. Then, fold the FOE over the place where the side seam meets the waistline. I anchor it there with a few stitches, back and forth. The trick to a good fold-over elastic waistband is pulling it before you start to sew- be sure your needle is IN the fabric before you pull. I pull and stitch about 5 inches before re-adjusting my hand and pulling it tightly again. Angry Chicken has a really great tutorial video you should watch first.

7) There are so many ways to make this skirt just right for the one who will be wearing it. You can add decorative machine stitches along the bottom edge. Top stitch a tricot over the seams (I always do. It makes them flat and extra pretty. For this skirt, I used the freezer paper technique to add some swooping swallows. I simply drew the shape I wanted to cut on some Reynold's Freezer Paper, cut them out with a craft knife, then ironed them in place on the fabric. Using a foam brush, I painted over the fabric shapes with fabric paint. Being a hasty crafter, I rip off the freezer paper immediately- I have to know immediately how it looks. The prudent crafter waits until it is dry so there are no accidents. OH, and it is MUY IMPORTANTE to put a piece of paper or freezer paper behind the fabric in case paint bleeds through.

Valentine pendants

It is now a tradition to give my kids homemade valentine t-shirts every year, and though I will surely make them again this year, I also tried these shell bead pendants for the occasion. Pretty cute. Super fun and easy.

I started with these plain shell beads:


1) I applied collage pauge (same stuff as mod podge) to one side of the bead, and then stuck some things on that sealant that I had cut from pretty paper.
2)I then coated the top of the paper with more of the sealant.
3) When the sealant dried, I applied the paper glaze. Like I said in my last entry, the glaze has great surface tension and creates a nice dome without pouring over the edge of the pendant. Here is a picture of me doing this using a button as a pendant blank (which also works great):



It took a few days to dry but the result were really nice. I think the kids will love them. I intend to shower the love on all my darlings. I know it's a Hallmark holiday and all, but I do love it.

pretty penny

I recently tried my hand at resin jewelry, thinking I would make some things for holiday gifts. The results were mixed, but mostly because I was so excited to try it out that I didn't spend much time on the art I was covering. Resin is an epoxy and it needs to be done in a well ventilated place. That alone makes me want to not do it again, but when done right, really pretty things can happen.

So this week, I gave Aileen's Paper Glaze a try, as the bottle claimed to "create a hard, non-tacky glass-like finish". Well, since that's what resin does, and this is non-toxic and requires no mixing, it is very attractive. Instead of buying the pretty blanks off ETSY again (a little pricey, blah, blah, blah)I tried a few other things as the pendant blank- a shiny penny, a shell bead, and some buttons. The only one that is done is the penny and it is GORGEOUS! Ava has already decided that it is the craft for her 11th birthday (which is in August)and I made a couple Valentine themed shell beads that I will share when they are ready. I simply cut a piece of pretty paper and sealed it with, not mod podge, but this other stuff I'm testing out called Collage Pauge (also by Aileen's). When that dried I applied the Paper Glaze. It has a pointy tip and the glaze is very viscous so a nice dome formed without pouring over the edge. I bought some bails at the craft store and super glued them to the back. Here's the back: