Superstyle Bag Swap

I recently signed up for the SuperStyle Bag Swap from the Sew Mama Sew blog. All the participants were assigned a partner and told to make the other a bag by October 25th.

(It's pretty groovy to me that a bunch of total strangers can get together and decide on an honor system swap thingy like this.)

Here's the bag I made! Fabric is Innocent Crush Woodcut in Passion by Anna Maria Horner for the outside.




My original plan was to tackle a more complicated bag - but I needed to be realistic about the amount of time I would have to sew before the deadline. I bought the larger sized Buttercup Bag pattern from Made by Rae (the small version of the pattern is available for free HERE)


The lining is Willow Wren in Chartreuse by Alexander Henry.




My partner mentioned liking some owl print fabric that is in my stash. So I decided to pop some of it in the box with the purse as a little surprise!






Want to be inspired to make a bag?

The FlickR group for the bags is here

Fabrics for the purse were purchased at Whipstitch Fabrics. (I went to the local store but you can also buy from them online HERE. Excellent quality, beautiful fabrics, and nice people.)

I totally dig the whole SWAP idea. I want to do another one - so maybe I'll come up with one to coordinate myself. The question is, what to swap? I think a sewn toy swap might be fun....hmmmmmmmmmm.....suggestions?!?

Janimal

Yo Gabba Gabba LIVE!

On Saturday we went to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live! We were excited! Before the show, Delilah got excited as she posed with her DJ Daddy in her Muno dress.

Somehow I had managed to convince my sweet husband that LOTS of parents would be dressed up for the show.

Turns out that wasn't the case.

Delilah LOVED her Muno dress and also LOVED that her Daddy was dressed as DJ Lance! He was slightly less than thrilled to be the only dude dressed up. But, great guy that he is, he got into it. He posed for pictures with people. And was noticed by the real DJ Lance on stage and got high-fived by him. The intermission performers gave him the mike to help yell Yo Gabba Gabba! And today a couple people we know have sent us pics they took of us from their seats in the theater -- because although we didn't see them -- he was pretty hard to miss in his bright orange DJ outfit!!!

Here's the real DJ Lance performing.



We limit Delilah's TV time - but she is crazy about Yo Gabba Gabba. She grabs the remote and asks for it. The live show did NOT disappoint!

Jack McBrayer and Paul Scheer came out to do a knock knock joke and a dancey dance!

And....BIZ! Biz Markie was great. He sat on the stage and had kids beatbox with him. Then he busted out "You say he's just a friend" for the parents to sing along. WAAAAAY COOL!

I will be turning my pictures into a photo book on Shutterfly for Delilah.

Delilah cried to go back to her seat when the show was over. Then we blew her mind by hitting the after party. When she approached the gang to have her picture taken with them, her whole body shook and she had this incredible laugh of joy. Totally awesome! (Those pictures I don't have yet. I'm excited to see them.)

Here she is just hanging out after her photo op.

Happy!

We HAD to get our picture taken with Biz! My guess is that this after party was A LOT different than the after parties from his former years performing.......

Muno kept flirting with Delilah at the party. I think he liked her dress! So before he left, had to get a family shot with him. I'm not sure what he whispered in hubby's ear....

And she got a little Plex magic robot love.

An exhausted and happy child closed down the after party and slept soundly.

The dress is another simple jumper that buttons down the back (pattern is Madison Jumper by Bonnie Blue Designs) in a red fleece. I embroidered red circles using red thread, and added wool felt to make the eye and mouth. The boombox bag I have posted about before, here. Some people stopped me and where they could buy our bag! It's not for sale. We like it too much!

Thanks for stopping by. YO GABBA GABBA!

Janimal

Delilah's New Shopping Jacket

Delilah got a new jacket! This was SO much fun to sew.

It's a little big. But since she is 2, I can still make her wear it. HA!



Alas the size 2T is more like a 3 or 4! I even waaay shortened the sleeves. But she wore it anyway. I suppose she can wear it next year...


We've discovered a new place for photo-taking. The toy department at Target. She's always in a good mood there.



She's so cute I just could eat her up.


I really like the assymetrical back hem to the front. You know when you pick up a kid and their clothes ride up? That extra length on the back can hang out and still cover her tushy.

She's concentrating very hard on the dancing Mickey Mouse on display. Which was sold out. So we did not come home with an animatronic dancing mouse for $69.99. Score!

The pattern is Burda 9780. The outer shell is a soft cotton sateen I got on clearance from http://www.someartfabric.com/ and the lining is a pink interlock knit I purchased at Discover Sewing. (I bought my sewing machine from Discover.) I was a bit scared of working with a knit but it was totally cool.

I think this pattern looks more complicated than it really is. Honestly it was pretty simple, and I would recommend it for beginners. I found this pattern by browsing on http://www.patternreview.com/ (and if you are interested, my review of this jacket is posted on there too, HERE)

I know some people sew *a little* but are a bit intimidated by patterns. I was for a LONG time. But you know, now that I am working with patterns, they aren't so bad after all! I bought some at a sale recently for $.25 apiece. I may not ever make anything from them, but just reading them can be educational.

Now if i can just get over my intimidation with set-in sleeves.

Another one of these jackets is cut and ready to be sewn. (In dreamy soft City Weekend Interlock knit and some gorgeous toadstool fabric by Alexander Henry. Check us out soon in a Target near you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Janimal

P.S.
I always read about people making a muslin first. Basically making a pattern out of muslin or other cheap fabric before trying it with something you like. For me, I also am hesitant to cut into my pretty fabrics for a first time with a pattern. I have purchased some cheap fabrics for this purpose, but now I don't want to sew with them. My sewing time (and I bet yours too) is too short to work with fabrics I don't like. I was thrilled to find the nice cotton print for this jacket on clearance, because it was inexpensive like a muslin but still a wearable piece. I'll keep looking for good stuff on clearance, but I have decided to get over my hesitation to cut the good stuff. I want to sew with good fabric. If I mess it up, so be it. So anyone want my crappy clearance stuff?!! I have some yucky polyester for yooooou!!!