~Weekend Sale~

Hi Friends!

The weekend is super busy, but in a productive & good way.  Much of the current selection of cloth napkins will have a new home locally come Monday, so if there's anything you have been eyeing, take advantage of a "follower" appreciation sale this weekend only.  


Any non-sale item purchased in my shop will receive a 15% refund if you leave a "message to seller" while checking out that you follow the blog (or facebook or twitter).

If you aren't sure how the whole Etsy buying thing works check out this article on how to make an Etsy purchase, or just send an email to irenedesign[at]ymail[dot]com and let me know what you want.

I hope you're all having a fabulous weekend!

Back to School in style

Last weekend I had a custom order to make two dresses for a spunky curly haired girl who is getting ready to start school! Her mom wanted some special dresses that would hold up to the roughness of her little girl's antics, so we decided to make larger versions of the Milla Modern Pinafore.
There was one little problem for me: my pattern only goes up to size 18 months, and the "big girl" version only to five years! So I got another pattern for sizing and altered it to incorporate the parts of the pinafore we liked.  The first dress turned out to be TWO sizes too big though!

I got the sizes worked out for the second dress and after another fabric order, and much patience on K's part, I have finished the original.  But really, how does a pattern maker not know their dress is off by two whole sizes?
The up side is that I have a super cute size 8 (ish) dress in the shop so that one sweet little girl can head back to school with plenty of fashion savvy! Really, how cute is the fabric in this one?! If I were my 8-year old self again, I would love to rock this!
I love this particular style of dress--the simple a-line with a pop down the center. It looks great in the summer as simple dress and is just as cute paired with leggings and a long sleeve top in the fall!

Pillows for Della's room

Back when I was looking for fabric to make some pillows  By pillows I mean pillow covers for Della's room, I came across Laurie Wisbrun's circus line on Spoonflower.  Laurie was recently added to Robert Kaufman's fabulous line-up of designers, so she had one final sale on her original colorways before they came out via RK. (view the new line at here)

Can I just take a minute tell you all just how difficult it is for me to pick out fabrics when I have a specific project in mind?  Now, I have no problems just picking up some cute fabric and purchasing it "for later"there is ample proof of that in the piles in my sewing room, but for something like this, I go back and forth over whether this is really the one I want, or what if a new design comes out next month that I'm going to like more?, or what if I pick these colors and they end up not going with what I do next month with the bedding?  It's that ridiculous.  For the record, these don't go with the bedding/quilt in her room, but I decided to just let that go. I'll just have to find a way to tie it all together!
 

Buying from an individual designer can be fairly pricey, but for a smaller project like this, it's not too bad.  The ruffle and pompom borders were found at the fabric store for the record, there is nothing wrong with buying pre-made ruffles! The orange pompoms were originally intended for another project, but an 11pm stroke of genius prompted me to use them with what I had left from the fat quarters of animal fabric to make that small pillow look a little more interesting.  

 

The backs of the covers all have the dot fabric, which I totally love. 

What happens when I remember to bring my camera

Nearly every time I take Della for a walk, I end up wishing I had brought the camera with us.  Miraculously I remembered today, and I am so glad I did!

We live in a beautiful, old neighborhood full of "character": broken sidewalks, bushes that extend well past the boundaries of the cement paths, and plenty of wrought-iron or fading white picket fences.  I love it though and am so thankful for all of these quirks.

Shortly after snapping that photo, we nearly collided with a bright yellow bird butterfly. When I finally realized what was going on, it was clear that whatever plant we were standing next to was a haven for sunny butterflies the size of my palm--and I have a big palm!

Let me tell you that butterflies are a pain to photograph.  I have a fairly nice DSLR, but it does have a fixed lense, so I was at the mercy of their whims and my camera's sometimes adequate aperture function.

I would have loved this one had it been at a less severe angle.

I nearly deleted this as I was going through the photos initially, but I really like the fluid motion. I can almost feel the butterfly taking flight (does that sound weird to you? Sorry!)

And yes.  Camera, you came through for me.  I really like this one and am sure glad because right after taking it, Della started fussing to get on with the walk, and my camera beeped that it was too full to go on any longer.

I think butterflies are truly spectacular.  Think of their humble beginnings: a caterpillar that looks like not much more than a very plump worm.  But then they are transformed into something entirely new and absolutely stunning.  It's kind of like this:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old is gone, and the new is here!" I love this passage, and am reminded of the fact I am now a new creation, a much different person than I was before I knew the deep, reconciling love of God.

Let me letterpress!

Stop me if I have already told you this...
I really want to learn how to letterpress.  Really as in if I had the money and the know-how, I would go buy myself all the supplies and maybe a few instructional books. But I don't. So I won't. 

Instead I will gawk at all of this beauty.

{OldSchoolStationers}

Who doesn't love flowers? in a mason jar? on letterpress, people! This one is a work of art in itself!

{SarahParrot825}

How cool would these be when you're having a party?!

{1canoe2}

Speaking of Parties. How about some recipe cards and dividers when you're prepping?

{SweetHarvey}
Yay Pears! Remember, I kind of like them. Except I don't like plays on words. but I'm over it. This is just too cute.

{LuckyBeePress}

I would love to send a sweet card like this to some special sister or mom of mine! 
 

So, who wants to let me come over and have letterpress lessons?  This is such a beautiful art, and I love all the ways it's being used!