It’s hard to really get a sense of someone over the interwebs, but I think if Heather lived anywhere near me I would be on her doorstep quite often. She does so much, so well: mothering, cooking, sewing, knitting, dying, and a good deal more. All of it is done with a simple, “hey what if I did this” attitude.  Then whatever she ends up making is perfectly stunning. You can see all of her work on her blog, well-crafted.

Hey there! I’m honored to be included as a guest here on elsiemarley and am really looking forward to KCWC next week. My plan is to stick with making things my girl will really need and wear this summer. Since she pretty much only lives in knit tops and leggings, it was perfect that I got to give the Flashback Skinny Tee pattern a whirl! Because the pattern only goes to size 5, I had originally thought I’d give away the finished tee but it ended up fitting L perfectly and so we are both happy about that!

This pattern is an excellent basic. I stuck with a fairly straightforward version of it, with the only changes being the band at the bottom (really into that right now) and short sleeves. Oh the things you could do with this: asymmetrical hems, boat-neck, flared out and turned into a dress with elastic at the waist, shorten it and add a dirndle skirt (maybe using a woven). The possibilities are endless.

My big box of knits got dragged out from under the cutting table and despite it’s being full of beautiful col0rs, we went with this white one for two reasons: 1. It was the softest. 2. I had white thread in my serger. Three cheers for laziness!! To spice things up we did a little freezer paper stencil design on the front. I cut out tiny triangles in a grid pattern and we took turns painting each row to create a rainbow effect. We used this fabric ink instead of paints which turned out really nice.

It was good to sew with a knit fabric again—it’s been a while for me.  Although I am still doing battle with the “ripple effect” around the sleeve holes, I refuse to let that get in my way of creating a summer wardrobe full of knits for my comfort-loving girl! Maybe I’ll even use this pattern as the basis for all the clothes I make next week. That might be cool…

Don’t forget to check back each day this week for more KCWC inspiration.

Thanks again for having me Meg!

I’m going to sneak in a little rainbow before the end of the day. While I was tiding up my studio I came across a couple fitted sheets I cut out a long time ago but didn’t sew up. I ran this one through the serger and 10 minutes later I had a fitted sheet. My kids’ beds are funny sizes, so don’t think I’m crazy for making sheets, it’s kind of necessary.

We’re slowly changing up the kids’ room–see that little sneak peek up there? This weekend it will get painted, but I’ve been saying that for the last four weekends, so maybe not. Oh and now you know: there is a panda at the end of the rainbow or a white tiger, depending on which way you go. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

When we were thinking about what food to have at the party, my kids and I made a list of all the rainbow colors and the foods that matched. Turns out an assortment of rainbow foods makes for a pretty fantastic sandwich. So we had salami sandwiches, fruit, and chips. And I bought some grape jelly for pb&js too.  My daughter wanted to know where the blueberries were, but they are very much out of season and at 4$ for half a pint I opted for blue chips instead, which are pretty much purple. Oh well. You try and think of a blue food that isn’t jello.

So the food was easy, the cake on the other hand was a pain the in ass, but I knew it was going to be.  The cake is what started the whole rainbow thing in the first place, so we had to have it. My daughter was sitting next to me while I was on the computer one day and spied this rainbow cake. That was sometime in the summer and she has been talking about it ever since.

So I knew I had to make a six layer cake filled with buttercream and covered with piles of fluffy white frosting.  I’m sure she must have told her friends she was having a rainbow cake, but it looked like a plain old white cake, so I’m guessing they just didn’t believe her. But when we cut the first piece everyone lit up. And it was an awesome surprise–sort of like a cake pinata (except this is a cake pinata–do not let your children see this, or you will be cursing me the night before their birthday).

If the cake weren’t a rainbow honestly it wouldn’t be a very good cake. It’s tastes a little like a wet sponge, but you are eating a rainbow so your brain tells you it tastes like a rainbow. It’s virtue lies in it’s dye-ability,if I were to make it again (ha) I would use a different recipe. The frosting is a swiss meringue buttercream with some lemon flavoring thrown it. The recipe calls for an obscene amount of butter. I used less than half and it was delicious.

For the favors we made rainbow glitter playdough. After cranking out six batches of playdough I can make it at the drop of a hat now. Why I didn’t make a big batch and split it 6 ways, I don’t know. Whatever, it’s a good recipe for a mom to have memorized anyway. We packed it in jars and I wrote the guest’s names on paper rainbows for the top. Luckily my daughter got an awesome playdough kit for a present, because I forgot to make any playdough for us.

There were definitely a lot of projects for the party, but my kids helped with all of them and none were really all that complicated. I’m not usually an all out crazy birthday party mom (or at least I didn’t think I was), but I had fun with all the projects. And the anticipation make the actual day even better I think. But rainbow fever has not abated–my daughter now wants me to make her a rainbow costume for halloween. Any ideas?

the rainbow birthday party: part one

Almost every party we’ve been to recently has had a pinata, so of course my daughter asked (and asked and asked) to have one at her birthday party. But those pinatas are impenetrable! After about 10 rounds of the kids taking turns whacking the thing (and after one burly dad tries, and fails) someone has to get the scissors or and ax or some sharp object and pry the damn thing open, by which time the kids have lost their minds waiting for the candy. So I thought I’d make my own, which took a lot more time than I bargained for, but a lot less tissue paper than I imagined. And after everyone got three turns, one kid smacked it to pieces.

With all the leftover tissue paper I made some martha poofs for above the picnic table. I forgot how easy these are and how pretty. My daughter gasped when I she saw them!

Inside, we hung rainbows and clouds from the ceiling. We were going to make raindrops too, but somehow forgot. Both projects were very simple and clever and the kids helped with both. The rainbows are made by cutting paper into progressively shorter strips and then stapling them together at the ends. I found the directions for the paper rainbows via the crafty crow.

The clouds are so awesome I can’t get over it. They are made by winding a piece of wire into a corkscrew shape and then twisting into a floof of polyfil. Ingenious. You can find the directions to make your own clouds on ohdeeoh.  These will definitely stick around for a while, maybe even become the long overdue mobile above the baby’s bed.

Enough for now, I’ll be back tomorrow with rainbow food and rainbow favors!

rainbow birthday party: part two

We had the much anticipated rainbow party this weekend and with barely any melt downs from the birthday girl, so I say it was a success! These cupcakes aren’t from the party, but don’t worry there will be much party posting this week. I made them on her actual birthday and I was pretty excited that they worked out. I made plain old chocolate cupcakes and some cream cheese frosting. Then I painted the inside of a pastry bag with stripes of food coloring going up the bag from the tip and carefully spooned the frosting into the bag. When I piped the frosting on, voila! rainbows! Just like a unicorn pooping, or do they barf rainbows? Whatever they do, one came and did it all over my house.  And I’ll show you tomorrow.