New Life for an Old Dress

Since childhood I've been fascinated with the array of handmade dresses in my mother's closet--mostly from her hippie days in the late 60s (made out of paisley printed tablecloths and curtains) and from various weddings in the 1970s. Although she and I love them all dearly, most will never see the light of day again except at costume parties (hint-hint, someone host a party!). This dress, however, had vintage potential. I finally bit the bullet and removed the 70s flutter sleeves and wore the altered version to a museum opening last night.


My mother at her sister's wedding in 1976.


Me, in the dress about 3 weeks ago, before alterations.


Me, in the dress yesterday before heading to Oakland.

Love in the Desert

I spent last weekend in Arizona meeting a childhood friend's 14 week old. Here we are holding hands while he sleeps. He had a tight little grip on my pinky. His tummy would rise and fall so quickly with his breath. I guess little lungs have to work overtime.



We also went to Las Estrellas Park to visit a special cactus planted in memory of his big brother. I am always struck by the harsh beauty of the desert. At the end of the day, I crave my irises and the verdant green of spring, but I love that life finds a way to survive out here.

A touch of Spring

One good thing about having friends having babies is that a knitter is never short of projects. This is a little lightweight hat for an Easter baby. Who knows, maybe it will still fit when the fall winds begin to blow.

Sock Monkey tri-fold wallet

I designed this sock monkey wallet around a line of fabric from Purl called Funky Monkey. It's a simple design: 4 each of 3 sizes of rectangles plus some interfacing. I'll try to post the pattern when I get a chance. I fell in love with the sock-monkey-texture print and decided I had to use it as the lining. The lucky recipient was my 24-years-young-brother.

Old school clipping

I found this old cartoon when I was cleaning my desk. I think I've had it since about 1990. I had it taped on my childhood bedroom door along with a Ziggy cartoon and a photo of brain coral from a scuba magazine that said, "Who says you can't have brains AND beauty."
I decided to finally throw it away after digitally archiving it here. I know it's dumb, but it always made me laugh.

Flannel Baby Blanket

After a several week long delay due to a lack of matching thread for the machine embroidery (it wasn't the right brown!), I finally finished my flannel blanket for my friend's son Theo. The blanket is based on a pattern in Last Minute Patchwork Gifts. It's a single layer of flannel with a hand sewn binding (which took forever).


Wrapped up and Ready to Mail

Signature Block

A little sewing project

After eyeing these little frogs on the Purl Patchwork website for some time, I finally broke down and bought half a yard while I was in New York. I also bought a coordinating stripe. I'm planning on making a tote bag with the two, as well as a reversible bib for a friend's son.