spring sewing endeavors

I've been sewing a lot lately and it's making me really happy. After my mid-winter funk it feels so good to be back to my happy self, with projects of my own on the brain and projects for others to pad my spending money a bit and make room for more sewing for us! perfecto! Oddly, I am especially loving the mending and hemming projects. No creativity is required and I can talk to my kids while I do it.

A friend from my mom's group commissioned a bag based on one that she's loved and used for years, but it was starting to give out. This is my favorite kind of project: making something for someone I know, based on specific wants/needs. I love the challenge and I love really thinking about someone in this way--what she wears, what colors and patterns she likes, what she does, what makes her uniquely herself. I find this an extra fun challenge when the person is different from me and will not fall in love with my bright, happy mulit-colored florals that I'm so very fond of.

Here's what I came up with after findng a free pattern online (ithinksew.com) that ended up about 3x the size I wanted and then taking a bunch of measurements from her loved bag. It was so fun that I had a hard time parting with it, even though it wasn't necessarily my style.

My friend Kristen left this week for a year-long adventure, most of it taking place in Dublin, where her hubs will be teaching for the school year. I'm so excited for this great opportunity for her and her boys, but I was so sad she was leaving. So, I created the Adventure Bag for her, which I'm really excited about. My friend Carli urged me to make something bigger than usual and I'm so glad I listened (yes, she's always right). I think I might make myself one because I loved this one so much I didn't want to give it away!

Yet another fun project was making a carseat cover for my dear friend Lynda. She found a picture of what she wanted, I found a tutorial and sent her shopping on Hawthorne Threads and tada! These are terrible pictures, but you get the idea. I took these at Elias' b-day party and I'm somewhat convinced there is a smear of frosting on my lense.

What's especially fun about Lynda is that she has flawless taste, but is much more grown up in her color choices than I-love-all-colors-me. Next up for Lynda is a roman shade for the girls' room. We are currently in the research process. And she's the queen of research!