chloe in a whimsy

chloe decided enough was enough and that she would not wear anymore tea party outfits, ever, well maybe not forever. so today we changed her into something more relaxing, nothing fussy. but perhaps just one flower.

that's some rack...

today i built a towel rack for my newly appliquéd tea towels. i used some left over wood from our kitchen remodel; sawed it, drilled it, nailed it together, and painted it to match the walls. it is a very exciting color, white!
i love painted walls, but i find myself liking a white space for my studio. it gets chaotic enough when i'm creating, so it makes a nice resting spot for my eyes. it also gives the appearance of cleanliness when i can close the cabinet doors and shut out the shouting madness of colors and textures from fabrics, paints, and what-have-you.

good hair day

echo felt like taking a stroll, and changing outfits. she has so few of them.

mmmmmmmm, cupcakes

i love the look and feel of tea towels; so decorative and yet so very practical. on a trip through my favorite shopping mecca, @home, i spotted a set of lovely stripped tea towels. however lovely they were i just couldn't leave well enough alone.
i love cupcakes, i love them so much that when i celebrate my 30th birthday i will have a cupcake cake towering in pastel glory, and it will be beautiful. cupcakes go well with tea, tea is in the name, this added to the pastel stripes = cupcake appliqué.

here's a quick and dirty breakdown of how to applique:

gather:
freezer paper
line drawing of desired subject matter
pencil
scissors (paper and fabric)
fabric of choice
iron
dritz fray check
needle
thread

step one: trace image onto paper side of freezer paper, trim to edge. iron onto fabric, shiny side against reverse of fabric.

step two: trim fabric to within 1/4" of paper edge. notch 3/8" segments in fabric edge perpendicular to paper line. iron edges over paper, so that front of fabric is desired shape. if you are going to stitch a decorative edge around a shape you can fray check the edge first rather than notching and folding (like the cupcake wrapper below).

step three: remove paper gently from fabric. place image front side up against desired area. tuck all notches under and pin.

step four: slip-stitch around edges connecting appliqué to background fabric. i usually use the same color thread as background.

step five: pin down overlapping appliqués and attach either with a slip stitch for hidden, or cross-stitch for exposed textural elements. iron to smooth any puffing or wrinkles.

step six: add garnishes such as beads, sequins, buttons, ribbon, embroidery, etc. finito!

to look at more photos visit my flickr account.

the magazine of my dreams

whilst browsing through a comic store, i happened across a yummy magazine. there was cotton candy hair and tempting macarons, delicate eye candy and lovely fonts. this magazine of whimsy was named "lula". and they've got my #.