Sewing foibles

I think that the people who write the clothes sizes on patterns are smoking something. I made these trouser jeans for myself, strictly following the chart on the back, which always seems to be 3 or 4 sizes off what I actually wear in storebought clothes, but oh, well, I trusted they knew what they were talking about, they made the pattern. But alas, now I have a very cute pair of pants that does not fit... Even after adjusting and adjusting. Foo! Hopefully I can find a friend that they will fit.

New Business Launched

After many many days and weeks of labor, I have finished all of the preparations for my new medical website business at http://www.mdsitecraft.com/.

A huge sigh of relief! It will be first introduced to doctors starting October 22 in San Diego at a conference hosted by Practical CME.

Chesna's Birthday Dress

My brother is commissioning Rachel of Mamma Made Designs to make a very special dress for his daughter Chesna for her 6th birthday. I am designing the fabric that it will be made from. It has been a very fun process. I started from a drawing of a horse and rider that Chesna made....

...I produced a vector line drawing of the form...

...Added some color...and at this point I was quite amazed at the elegance of this form which was produced by a 5 year old!...

...Next I went through a lot of experimenting with patterns using the horse...

And I'm still doing some color experiments just for fun:

This is the final fabric design.

Now I'm getting ready to order it. It will be so exciting to see what Rachel produces from it!

Maritza

I wanted to make something special for my friend Maritza. She's watched our kids for us numerous times and never accepts any compensation. So with some trouble I talked her into letting me make her a dress. She picked out a vintage Simplicity pattern and the material.

I learned a lesson on this one. Next time I will make a mock bodice first. Even though I measured her and cut everything accordingly, the top was way off. Luckily, I got away with reconstructing only the back of the bodice so I didn't have to remake the whole thing.

Another lesson, pay attention when I'm cutting the bulk out of the seam! I was trimming the seam where the bodice meets the skirt, and didn't realize that part of the bodice was folded up underneath it. I rolled right over it with my rotary cutter and made a huge sickening gash.

So after a few ripped out seams and a few improvisations to cover the hole, here it is...

Vicarious

I've had this Raggedy Ann Doll since I was very very little. I've always wanted a dress like hers. So now my daughter has one... I only wished I could have found material a little closer to the original to make it out of.

Art Night Woes

Sometimes art night is so hard.

I want to make music.
Everything sounds trite.

I want to paint.
I have no ideas.

I'm tired.

I can hear the kids whining downstairs.

This is the only concentrated creative time I have all week...

And the minutes are ticking away.

I want to do something great.
I'm not doing anything at all.

But thank God for that option...

I'm so mad!

Last night I finally used my Spoonflower fabric to make this shirt. I only had a yard and it wasn't enough so I improvised with the orange thing at the waist. I liked the way it turned out and I wore it all day today. Tonight my husband noticed that the zipper under my arm was broken. It was attached at the top and had split open all the way underneath (see picture). I was not aware of this when I was wearing it around all day for my daughter's appointments at Children's Hospital, meeting with countless practicioners. I wonder if I've been exposing myself all day. Oh well... what I'm really mad about is that the zipper broke the first time I wore the shirt and now I have to do another one and I hate sewing zippers!

Hummingbirds and Rainbow Tulips

Another fabric design.

Mother Daughter

Some times a mother feels stripped bare in providing for others but God provides everything we need inside.

Resurfacing my website

I'm in the process of recreating and fleshing out my website, royalforest.net.

I actually haven't even been using it for a long time but I will be launching a new web medical web design business in the fall, and I needed to update.

More of that Bird

Inspired by an old canister on my kitchen counter.

Tweaked

A tweaked design, and a tweaked-out color experiment.

Creating upon creating

The neat thing I am discovering about art is that the more I do, the more creativity I seem to have. It's not like physical energy that gets depleted by exertion. Rather my passion for creating seems to grow every time I create. It's like if I were to pick one flower and two more were to spring up in its place, and then two more under each of those.
This picture was done while listening to one of my very favorite songs.

More Fabric

Here's another design with that bird...

Crispy Cajun Crickets

In my sophomore year of college, I had to give a "persuasive" speech, and I wanted to choose a topic that nobody else would pick. So I did "Why people should insects". In my research I came upon a recipe for "Crispy Cajun Crickets". I thought I had better try eating insects if I was going to talk other people into eating them, so I caught a bunch in the yard and made them and actually they weren't that bad. The spices kind of overwhelmed the cricket flavor, and after being roasted, they had a pretty nice crunch. Here's the recipe in case there's anyone out there who wants to try it, and some artwork inspired by the handout I made for that class.

Psalm 139:5

This fabric design was inspired by Psalm 139:5...

You have enclosed me behind and before and laid your hand upon me.

To heck with fusible interfacing!

I've always been obedient to sewing patterns (mostly) but this time I said, "To heck with fusible interfacing!" After making this dress, now I see why it's so important. But I had to be a naughty sewing rebel just once, to see what it was like...

Blessing

If you click on the image it will open up and show different colors.

Addicted

Since Rachel's blog introduced me to Spoonflower, I am totally addicted to designing fabrics. I want to do a new one every day. Maybe I will. I'll keep adding them as inspiration comes.

The tiling can be pretty tricky when the images are complex...but it's a fun challenge.

Art Night

Every Sunday night my husband has graciously agreed to watch our little ones and let me have an uninterrupted (sort of) art night. Sometimes I sew, sometimes I paint, sometimes I write songs, and sometimes I just goof off. Here's something I made with no other purpose than that.

The Bulb of Eternity

My brother, who is now about 36 or so, made a lamp in college. He was an industrial design major. In its original form, it was a white square with a big half-sphere sticking out the front, covered with what looks like eggs. One of the eggs at the bottom is secretly a dimmer switch that turns it on and off. He gave it to me when I was 16 or 17 and I always used it as a decoration everywhere I've lived. It looked kind of Star-Trekky. Last year I converted it into a huge flower via foam and pipecleaners for my little girl's obnoxiously lively bedroom. Okay, but listen to this. I have never ever changed the light bulb in it. This light bulb has been going for 16 years! Isn't that totally crazy?

Spoonflower

I found out about a new website called Spoonflower.com through the Mamma Made blog (a great read for sewing enthusiasts,) in which you can print your own designs on fabric. I've been pondering for about two weeks what to make. Sometimes having so much creative opportunity can be overwhelming! Today at dinner, I had the perfect idea. Many years ago I made my husband sit down and paint pictures with me one night (NOT his cup of tea), and he painted the cutest little picture of a bunch of Chinese men with those little pointy hats riding bikes through a village. It's all one dimensional, kind of like a little kid would paint. I LOVE it and he HATES it, and through the years, I always bring it up and threaten to do different things to display it (i.e., making t-shirts out of it) and he always gets so mad! So I had this great idea tonight: I will have it put on fabric and make a garment out of it! It is like the ultimate idea! So I went up to my attic to find it and oh no! Alas, I can't find it! So, sadly, I quit looking and decided to just make some kind of design. So here it is. It's no Chinese village, but it will have to do.

Smiley

Here's a romper and cap I made for some special friends of ours who are about to have a little boy. He will be growing up in the mission field in the Middle East.