Some UFOs finally done!

Thing 1 loves sharks. He has been obsessed for the last two years - ever since we watched an old (we're talking 20 years or so) National Geographic special on sharks. So when I saw this fabric at JAF last summer, I thought it would be perfect for him for some pants and shorts. I bought it in June and cut the pieces out in October, I think. (It may have been even earlier!) Well, this past weekend, I finally sewed them up. How embarrassing! But Thing 1 is thrilled and has worn the pants twice now - which also means that they need to be washed. :) I did not insert the waist elastic into the shorts. I'm waiting on those until we hit late spring/summer, and I can evaluate 1). whether they'll still fit Thing 1 and 2). what length elastic he'll need. In the meantime, I'm still counting them both as done!

I also painted more Christmas ornaments, but they aren't dry yet, so no pictures. Thing 1 got very excited when he saw me get the paints out - he left his toys and ran right over to "help." :) I do think that, despite the unique color combinations, people like them even better when I tell them that Thing 1 did them with me.

Also working on another UFO - this one from August - an Amy Butler swing bag. I hope to post a picture by this weekend. I serge-finished all the pieces except the straps - figured that might be too bulky. Now I need to start putting the lining and outer pieces together. I don't think it'll take too long once I get to it, but I keep getting emergency calls.

More Christmas in April!

I think that these turned out rather nice! The top picture shows the large ornaments, and the bottom one shows the mini ornaments. We had a lot of fun painting these, and we plan to do more the next time my friend comes to visit. (The mini ornament that is second from the right in the bottom row was Thing 1's doing - but the color combination really grew on me.) The tutorial at StacySews is very good, and I would only offer a couple of additions to it. The first is that after cleaning out the ornaments with vinegar, you can make sure that they are dry by putting them in the oven at 180 or 200 F for about 10-15 minutes before getting ready to paint. (Even after I've had them draining for a day or two, I sometimes still have a drop or so of moisture inside. This takes care of it.) The second can be inferred by the photos - use muffin tins to hold your ornaments! My mini ornaments fit great in mini muffin tins, and the large one fit great in the regular muffin tins. I set them in these to bake out the moisture as mentioned above and also when I think they're about done drying after painting (I'll leave them like this for a few days before I put the tops back on).

Christmas in April?

I have a friend in town for the weekend, and we are having fun painting Christmas ornaments. (Talk about ridiculously early, I know!) I was inspired around New Year's by StacySews, and I made these at the time:




This weekend we're having fun experimenting with more non-traditional colors, like shades of blue, purple, and yellow. But we're still having fun! And we'll display these proudly on our trees. Thing 1 enjoys helping, too - he chooses colors for each ornament and provides the proper "oohs" and "ahhs" - always important, right?

I'll post pictures of the new ornaments when they're dry.