Hello Kitty

I have a very special 5 year old that I made this one for, Alice's friend Abigail. She LOVES Hello Kitty and wanted a clutch just like her mommy. I jumped at the opportunity to scour all the great sellers on Etsy for fabric that would suit this project and Abby's taste. I came across "This and that from Japan" She sells loads of super cute fabric of all that I wish to own. Check out her shop, you will be glad you did! The Hello Kitty with birds and apples was perfect! It got to me from Japan in about 10 days and I worked on the clutch today. The other is for her friend Ally from Louisiana. As always e-mail me if you are interested in something similar.

Tutu for you

Here is another one of my favorites to make. My tutus are all hand tied. Yup, that means every single piece of tulle is hand tied to the waist band. I use about 50 yards of tulle for each of my tutus. They can be made in a variety of colors and accents. I am limited only by your imagination.

Here is one that I made in the spring. It sat in the back room of Isabelle's at the Ropewalk Mall in Mattapoisett for 3 months waiting for the buyer to decide if she wanted to carry them at the Village Toy Shop in Fairhaven. She was always too busy to decide so I picked up my stuff and said goodbye to the wish of selling my creations in a store. I will tell you a secret. They charge $80 and up for their tutus and they are made in a factory. My tutus start at $30 and are handmade. E-mail me if you are interested!

1 down. 5 to go.

Here is the first of 5 clutches that I need to make this week. I have taken a long break from sewing and I think I am back in the saddle. I am done feeling sorry for myself and need to make some $$ for Christmas presents for Alice. Here it is!! Made with Amy Butler's August Fields fabric. I will post the others as they are made. I am going for an all out sweat shop this week.

Anyone out there?

If anyone is still interested, I would love to get a little handmade action under your Christmas tree this year. Considering there are only about 36 more shopping days to go and an item generally takes me a day to make in between work and child and home, if you want me to make something for you let me know now. I do work in retail and I generally have a nervous breakdown on December 22, so get your orders in now!! Anyone?.......Hello!.....Anyone? (here is where you hear the crickets chirping.)

When it rains.....

IT POURS!!!! And it always comes in 3s.

This past week has been nothing but turmoil. In chronological order....

#1: To start, my house was broken into on Wednesday of last week. My in-laws came over to my house at about 12:10 to get Alice's car seat to get her from school. They found my TV on it's side and DVD s all over the floor. Anyone who knows me knows that I am sort of a neat freak. It's wasn't to long after they realized that someone had broken into my house. My first response was weather or not the dog had gotten out. Pete was fine. if only he could talk. The person stole our DVD player, laptop, digital voice recorder, my jewelry box and Alice's piggy bank. You have to be pretty desperate to steal a kids piggy bank. That was the item that bothered me the most. My front door is destroyed and needs to be replaced. It was original to the house and was one of the reasons why I loved the house when we bought it. The carpenter said that it wasn't worth saving, the thing is since it is an antique it is a strange size which means a custom door which also means a lot of $$$$ which we do not have.

#2: I got home from work on Sunday and found out that my kitty had knocked the camera off the table and is now broken. Just when you need a digital camera to take pictures of the damage caused by a break in.

#3:My grandmother called me this morning to tell my that my great aunt Alice had passed away this morning. She is the name sake for my daughter Alice. She was the nicest woman you would ever know and she always felt like a grandma to me. Her husband Henry is my grandfather's brother. When my grandfather passed away when I was 2 he stepped in and treated me like I was his own. Henry and Alice had the most loving relationship I have ever seen. Even into their 90's, Henry still would surprise Alice with flowers and candy for no good reason except to show her that he loved her. They were living for each other and I know in my heart Henry will not be able to live with out her.

Boo at the Zoo + George

On Friday after school we headed to "Boo at the Zoo" at the Buttonwood Zoo in New Bedford. We mustered up a gang of 8 kids under the age 7 and ventured for some friendly and spooktacular fun. I swear my eyes were going in 17 million directions making sure Alice was not MIA. It was also Alice's turn to have Curious George from school, which meant mommy had to document the entire time spent at the zoo in pictures. When it's your child's turn to be helper in class you get to take George home and tell about his adventure with you. I love it when Alice has George. She gets so excited to have him.

Georgie Love.

Oh, yeah. I have no ambition to make anything and have not updated my shop in a trillion years. I am sucking up the last days of 60 degree weather before it gets cold. Bye bye warm sun.

Fabric Friday

So, I wasn't good last week and I totally forgot about fabric Friday. My days are spent in a whirl wind of 4 year old pleasures. My days pass by so fast I did not even realize it was the middle of October. My Alice has a busier social life that I do. Geesh! With out further delay here is my pick for this week. An adorable Japanese import with stampeding hedgehogs. How flippin' cute! This fabric is 100% cotton and comes in many color ways. Just type in the search bar on Etsy "hedgehog fabric" and you will find many sellers of this fabric by the yard straight to you with love from Japan.

I heart special orders...

I was sick with bronchitis last week so I haven't been to active on the sewing front. I started on this bag a week ago and finally finished it up and sent it on it's way. Sans illness. Good news is I finally got to work with Etsuko Furuya's Echino fabric. I used every last piece of the half yard I purchased for this bag. It made me so happy that the person who I made it for LOVED it.

Front

Back

Applique

Fabic Friday....

I have chosen for this week, Heather Ross's giant octopi in the natural colorway. When I first saw this fabric I fell in love. Being from a sea side town it spoke to me of long days spent at the beach. Heather's fabrics always have a little quirkiness to them and the Mendocino line for Free Spirit is no different. This fabric is ultra soft 100% cotton and is great for quilting or apparel. Click on the picture below to see more of this sea inspired line.

SALE SALE SALE SALE

I am having a sale in my shop. All summer wristlets are now $10 with $2 shipping. It doesn't get any better!

I am currently filling special orders and should have new items in my shop the middle of October. (hopefully) If you see a creation on my blog that I have made for another customer please do not hesitate to convo me through Etsy. It seems like I get more requests from my blog than my shop. Go figure?

Fabric Friday

I have decided that I am going to start showcasing a new fabric every Friday. The first one is by designer Etsuko Furuya for Kokka fabrics. This fabric has a great weight to it and is a linen and cotton blend. I made a hand bag out of this fabric for a special order and loved the feel of it. Very soft and excellent for making bags. This fabric is on the pricey side at $20 a yard, but well worth it.

preserve everyday

Our family has been using Preserve products since I saw them in my grocery store a few years back. I was always bothered how toothbrushes were just thrown away. If you think about it... if you follow the ADA recommendations and change your brush at least every three months, that's four a year. Multiply that by all the people in th U.S and that's a whole lot of toothbrushes in the landfills!!!

Here is a company that has partnered up with Stonyfield Farms Yogurt that recycles their clean used yogurt containers into Recycline products. That's right....toothbrushes, razors, kitchen plastics and tableware. And the best part, it's bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates FREE! Oh, there is one more really good part....they will take your Recycline toothbrushes and razor handles back and recycle them into plastic lumber for park benches. How cool is that?

O.k. so the real reason why I am posting this on my blog is to share my joy that I no longer have to save all the #5 plastics that come through my household. I have been saving #5 plastics for a million years and have garbage bags full in my basement. I HATE throwing plastic away that is not recyclable in my town. (I know I sound a little bananas) But now I no longer have to save them. Recycline is now accepting all #5 plastics for recycling through their Gimmie 5 program. The only stipulations are they must be no larger that 2x2x2 and must be very clean. Cleaner containers make cleaner recycling.

This is directly from their website:

Here’s how you can Gimme 5!

•	Many common food containers – yogurt cups, sour cream containers, hummus tubs, ketchup bottles – are #5 plastics.
•	We accept any CLEAN whole plastic item with a #5 stamp on the bottom. Please check to make sure that there are no other materials (paper, screws, other number plastics) on the items that you send to us.
•	All #5 plastics sent to Preserve must measure no more than 2’ x 2’ x 2’.
•	Make sure that the #5 plastics are clean – the cleaner the plastic, the cleaner the recycling process.
•	To help make this program a win for the environment, it is important that you send your plastics back to us via ground shipping (as opposed to air). Reuse a box if you can!
•	Shipments should weigh at least 5 pounds and no more than 50 pounds. Any package greater than 50 pounds must be pre-approved by Recycline.
•	Make sure to include your return address on the box and add your name and email address inside the box so we can thank you for your good work.

Send Gimme 5 shipments to:
Preserve Gimme 5
823 NYS Rte 13
Cortland NY 13045

If you have any questions about the Gimme 5 program or need to get a shipment approved,
call us at 888-354-7296.

My heart sings!

My super hero capes made it to their new homes in Kelowna, BC this week. James and Parker are now officially super heroes and can now fly! The mom of the two boys contacted me and told me how much the boys loved their new capes. Please check out her blog entry here and see pictures of them wearing the capes. (She also said some pretty nice stuff too! Thanks Joanne)

My head is really fat right now and this family is so awesome I am going to explode! James and Parker rock!

Fabric Love

I would like to thank Shannon over at adele hartlep for including me in her blog. She showed off my clutch made with fabric from her etsy shop. I had purchased some Heather Ross fabric and made a clutch for my dear friend Jill. Shannon would like to showcase creations made with fabric bought from her shop. If you haven't checked her out do so! Great prices on fabulous fabrics!

Work away the day.....

I spent the whole morning and into the afternoon making clutches for three friends of mine. My house is trashed and I really should be cleaning up my sewing mess but I would rather share pics of my new creations. Alice and I headed to the beach this afternoon for a nice walk after spending the morning sewing up a storm. I decided to take the clutches with me and stage some pretty pictures. (yes, I am a dork)

Shushi anyone?

This clutch is heading on vacation to Spain.


Surf and Sand by Marcus Brothers Fabric


Mendocino with Mermaids and Octopi

Cute clutch

I made this really cute clutch and I wanted to show it off. I will be making many more of these for friends and family, I can tell. Really easy and super cute! Don't be surprised If you get one from me for Christmas! Yikes! Did I just say Christmas?

Super Capes for Super Kids!

Here is the cape I made for a special guy on his third birthday. My little friend Jacob. I have to say that he has to be the cutest little guy on the face of the planet! I want to fold him up and put him in my pocket so I can always have him. It was an absolute joy to be able to be part of his special day. If his mom lets me maybe I will post some pictures of him wearing the cape. Won't that be a treat!

If anyone is interested in a custom cape please e-mail me at littleredappleton@gmail.com or convo me through my shop. (and yes, I do make adult sizes)

Honey, honey?

My mother-in-law graced me with the pleasure of experiencing the best honey I have ever had. (As you can see we ate a ton of it already!) She purchased a locally made honey infused with lemon balm from Great Cape Herbs in Brewster, Massachusetts. The perfect companion to their spearmint herbal tea. Brew it and serve it on ice for a very refreshing drink on a hot summer day. We also eat in on whole wheat bread with a smidgen of organic peanut butter. This is my daughter's favorite! If you are ever on the north side of Cape Cod it is worth the trip and the $9 for the jar.

A friend of mine who has lived all over the U.S. has always made an appoint to eat locally made honey. The theory is that if you eat local honey you will gradually build up a tolerance to the pollen that causes hay fever in that area. (She is so smart!)

Shop update!

Things have been slow in my Etsy shop. I have been slow in my Etsy shop. It is so hard to sit down to sew when it's beautiful out. Alice and I have been spending LOTS of time outside this summer with friends. Days at the beach and afternoons in the sprinkler. I am not ready for summer to be over. Although retailers would like us to embrace Halloween in the middle of the summer, I just can't. I did find time last week on a rainy afternoon to sew up 2 new wristlets.

This one I appliquéd a sweet bird on the front and hand sewed the outline in pink.

I used some repro 1930's cowboy fabric that I had been saving on this one. I love it! If it doesn't sell I just may keep it for myself.

I got some orders for a few custom super hero capes for this week. Maybe while I am at it I will make a few more thing for my shop. Depends on how nice it is outside. I would much rather be playing with Alice or tending to my garden than sitting at my sewing machine.

I know my mind will change when it gets cold.

Outings

We spent the afternoon visiting New Bedford's Whaling Museum. It's one of those places that is an amazing place to visit and people from all over come to see New Bedford's history but when you live near it you never visit. I have taken Alice there a few times already and every time she is in awe by the enormous size of the whale skeleton's. Pictured above is KOBO (King of the Blue Ocean) a rare Juvinile blue whale that was accidentally struck and killed by a tanker. It was brought ashore in Rhode Island in March 1998. I tried to take a panoramic picture of the skeleton. Not all the seams match, but you get the idea.



They were also having a textile exhibit. New Bedford is not only known for their whaling but also widely known for their abundant textile mills. This exhibit was dedicated to textiles made throughout New Bedford history starting in the late 1700's. I almost hit the floor when I saw the first example of a work done by a child. A 4 year old child!!!! A quilt by a 4 year old girl!! My daughter is 4, I can't imagine her making a whole quilt! I am going to stress that this girl was 4 one more time then I will be done. She was 4!!!

Among the other textile wonders were a child's dress from 1881 that was hand stitched and embroidered. Even after the sewing machine relieved women from the tedium of stitching long seams by hand , mothers still felt obligated to hand-sew their children's clothing. By 1900 companies specializing in children's clothing started to import hand made frocks from Portugal, and Puerto Rico where fine sewing skills were common and labor costs were low. Looking at garments like the ones pictured below blow my mind, to think of the time that was put into one garment. Today clothes are mass produced and are practically disposable. Will our clothes stand the test of time? Most likely not!Other examples were a wedding dress made for Mrs. Gideon Nye in 1860 and then refashioned later into a wedding dress for her granddaughter Annie D. Swift in 1890.
A maternity dress made for Quaker, Susan Waln Morgan Rodman, circa 1822. The dress was originally made for her mother some thirty years earlier in the 1790's. This dress was later refashioned for Mrs. Rodman to wear during her pregnancies. The skirt front tied seperatly around the waist, and the bodice was detached from the skirt at the front, making the front adjustable for wear during pregnancy.
I could go on and on about everything textile. I suggest that if you are in the New Bedford area you should check out KOBO, his friends and the array of fine sewing and quilting examples at the Whaling Museum. I am going to leave you with a picture of the miniature whaling vessel at the museum. The 89-foot, half-scale model of the Bark Lagoda, was built in 1916 inside the museum. You can step aboard and see what life was like on a whaling boat.

Flutterby

In celebration of my daughter's 4th birthday we went to the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, RI. They were having a butterfly exhibit and since Alice LOVES butterflies I though we would check it out. It was amazing. Well worth the price of admission plus the fee for the exhibit. It is an enclosed greenhouse planted with butterfly plants and hundreds of butterflies floating around so close you could touch them. We probably could have spent the whole afternoon there had the space been a little larger. Her are some pictures that we took on our outing!



Pictured here are the Monarch, Zebra Longwing and Giant Swallowtail.

Generations

It's amazing how much some peoples lives are intertwined. My best friend Mariann and I have know each other since before we can remember. It is all because of the relationship between her grandmother and my great aunts. My aunt Annie, pictured on the left, and her very fabulous grandmother, Helen, right, were friends since girlhood. They shared trips to New York city and hours of conversation at the beauty parlor. It was all because of them that our families are bonded forever. My aunt Louise became Mariann's father's godmother and when Mariann was born fate brought the families closer. Helen's granddaughter and Louise and Annie's great niece were the same age. Mariann says that she can remember the day we met. She has always been a constant in my life, like a sibling. We have shared life events, good and bad, through it all we have been like sisters. We are continuing the bond that these women started over 50 years ago. To you Mariann, I love you. And always will.

floral beauty

I spent the last 2 days working on my garden. Laying out some new beds with brick pavers and rocks. My back can tell you that I have been working really hard. Alice had fun making mud puddles and helping plant some new flowers. At the end of the day I still worked on some sewing. Here is the new wristlet that I made. Perfect for a summer stroll. You can buy it in my shop.




Here are some pics of the pretty flowers growing in my garden. I think I could work out there all day given the opportunity.

rainy day

Today was a partly cloudy day with showers off and on. You know the summer kind when it's raining and sunny at the same time. Perfect day for the zoo. I love going to the Buttonwood Zoo on days like this. The less crowds the longer you get to spend with each animal. Well, the partly cloudy day turned into a thunder storm of epic proportions day, but we did get to spend some one on one time with Emily the elephant before the worst of the storm hit. Read about Emily and Ruth here. I think Emily was really showing off for us. She is so sweet.