Dropcloth slipcovers

Drop cloths are having a heyday, at least in my backyard. This weekend James and I worked together to make slip covers. Amazing what you can do with a few packages of $13 drop cloths! They are not expertly sewn, but they are so much fresher than they were.

Sewing Summit

Remember that rainy Sunday a couple weeks ago, San Diego peeps? I spent it sewing with a friend. Music playing, tea poured, the rain outside, and the stitch-stitch-stitch of two sewing machines.

I made a pillow with fabric I bought at an antique store in 2008. Megan made covers for a couple of ottomans with some really cool linen and green fabric.

I sewed up this vintage Lizzie doll that I had been holding onto for who knows how long. She looks a little wiggly here. I have since straightened out the stuffing! She sits on the hearth by the fireplace now, to stay warm.


And then I got crazy, and made a little tote; an exercise in gingham, ticking, and plaid: three faves.

Canvas Playtime

A couple of years ago I painted this very canvas using a stamping tool from India -- one of those carved wooden pieces used to stamp saris. It was okay, but all the stamping probably should have involved fabric rather than canvas. So, the canvas made it's way to the garage because it really didn't go with anything color-wise. I dragged it out the other day and repainted it, in about 30 minutes, and this is the result. James asked what my inspiration was, and I didn't have an answer. I just started squishing paint out of the tubes onto the canvas, then added some silk thread to the bottom burnt sienna part. Then I started smoothing parts of it, where the colors converged, with my hands! It was really fulfilling in a relaxing, expressive sort of way. You know, when you find something that you really enjoy doing? :o) I should point more.

Nike Needs a Neckerchief

James' Grandpa Paul was quite the bronze smith, always casting something: bullets or bowls, and even statues! Among his works, a bronze bust of Nike!
I am always dressing her up with various neck ribbons or hats.

So, recently, I bought a collection of sewing items at an estate sale and wedged among the goodies was a shortish length of black lace. I'm forever buying these hodge-podge boxes or bags of stuff! I don't know why exactly, but when I come across these little sewing bundles that obviously belonged to whatever lady of the house that has passed on, I just feel like I have to have it - to preserve it, to continue using it. Maybe it's because when she was sewing, she was happy, and these items feel drenched in good energy. I can't imagine ever feeling the least bit mad when I sew. I kind of go into this dreamlike state, and I feel so peaceful and calm.






Also among the goodies, tucked beneath one thing or another was this nifty, German thread holder.

So I sewed a seam around the top, and made our goddess a neckerchief. It took all of like 5 minutes, but I think at the minimum she looks warmer. :o)

Easter Elfin Girls

Wishing everyone a wonderful day, from these glittery bunny girls. These chickees were part of the free printable Easter Egg Elfin Loves - a giveaway created by Miss Vanessa Valencia - oh what a beautiful world she lives in! They are actually egg wrappers, but I cut the wrappers off and used them to embellish the sticks they are on, and then just added a pink, string bow and some glitter!

Toodles, all! And I will have pictures soon to share of Easter brunch with the family!

Easter Hugs!
~ Robin

A Little Green World

I was at Hey Lucy the other day, and got so inspired by her terrarium post that I decided to make one myself. I got an apothecary jar at TJMaxx, then went to the nursery close by and looked for a small amount of baby tears and moss. I didn't want an entire flat of the stuff, but that was all I could find. Standing by the flats of baby tears, I looked under the shelf they were on, and well, can you say carpet of baby tears and moss? It was growing wild all over the ground under all the shelves. I decided to be bold and ask the guy if I could have a little chunk. He obliged, and even got me a box to put it in. We did buy a $40 fig tree that day, though come to think of it, he didn't know that at the time. Maybe it was his Saturday random act of kindness, to go with my random act of begging. So, home I went with the perfect little patch o' green, and here are the results! A home fit for a tiny leprechan, gnome, or fairy. It's really neat the way the condensation forms on the inside of the glass - it's all self contained, needs no water. And it's gotten so incredibly perky in there. It was not this perky to begin with.






















Perhaps Miss Fairy here will stop by sometime? I love this artist.

Clean Old & New Fabric = Love

So, the results of several estate sales and a purchase from Anna Maria Horner produced a big bunch o' fabric that needed washing. Since I haven't bought new fabric in ages, I was a little unsure how it would wash up or if it would bleed. Well it behaved, and I even threw in the vintage and new together. I use Mrs. Meyer's Lavender laundry detergent. Oh, it smells so good! So, here's my heap, fresh from the dryer, followed by everything folded up.

This is the Anna Maria Horner fabric:









And this is my stack o' vintage finds. I love the green and black plaid (hard to see the green in my dark photo!). I think it is going to have to turn itself into a skirt somehow.

This post makes me think of something my mother-in-law says about a certain sort of richness. She says: Don't you feel rich when you have a big stack of [insert your favorite textile]? When she told me this we were talking about a stash of embroidery floss I'd just found at a sale. Well, I'm definitely feeling it with my hoard of fabric... And I won't even go into what's lurking in the garage!

And now, hubs and I are going to watch part two of David Copperfield on Masterpiece Theatre. Can there be any better end to a relaxing Sunday? Night everyone...sweet dreams.

Birdy Stitchery

I was talking to my niece, Izabel, the other night at our pre-St. Patty's Day dinner (we celebrated early before Maureen, Fiona's Mum, went back to England). Since there is also a niece named Robin, though she's a Robyn, we were thinking up unique names for us robins. We were laughing at one of the iterations, which was Big Robin, which I felt needed work. Um, yeah. So, besides just being Aunt Robin, I said, "Maybe, Aunt Birdy?" Though I think it makes me sound more like a 60 y/o versus the soon-to-be 50-y/o (what? really?), it does kinda go with the name Robin, the Etsy shop, and my recent stitching theme. So, I'm down with it. :o) We'll see if it sticks.

But, about this stitching. The first one of the two birds is a piece I found at an estate sale. Some lady had started it with heavy yarn, but I pulled all of that out and reworked it using embroidery floss. Well, having not done any embroidery in many years, I was using all 6 strands at first on the top bird! Whoa! Too thick. The bottom bird is much more smooth and silky, since she is done with 3 or 2 strands. I felt like in this one piece my skill progressed from the top to the bottom. Yay! To me, the top birdy is a loud, Italian man, while the bottom birdy is the more refined, quiet type. Yes, they're a couple, but oh!, such opposites! It was so much fun, and I love the idea that I finished it, and maybe somewhere the lady who started it is looking down and smiling.

Then, there's the dresser scarf! I also found this one at an estate sale with just the blue template, no stitches. Brought it home, was able to get a rusty ring out of it, and stitched it up using all red, which you crafty gals probably know is called redwork. But there is a distinction from what I understand. "Redwork embroidery" is done with red embroidery floss and outline stitches. However, "Turkey Redwork Embroidery" used thread dyed Turkey Red, one of the first colorfast red dyes, previously called India Red. Redwork was popular during the Victorian Era 1890s to about 19-teens. So, to get technical, unless the thread was dyed with Turkey Red Dye, it's not Turkey Redwork, just Redwork. A lot more on redwork here for any insomniacs out there. Another tidbit, unless it is specifically performed in an outline stitch, it is not considered Redwork. Well! Picky, picky, picky!

HOWEVER, it is now on my dresser, after an ironing with lavender water. I swear, I'm going back in time. Soon I'll be sewing up folk dress patterns and wearing a hat that ties under my chin. Well, okay, probably not since here in So-Cal it's jeans and flip-flops most of the time.

Lastly, another find that was just a blank template and ready for me to stitch: a little tea towel with my favorite subject matter. Can you guess? I bet you can. I love the blue fish, and the bow tie is my favorite part. Orange, with pink french knots! Love it. For a fantabulous tutorial on making french knots, this site is the shiz - full of wonderfully straightforward videos on almost every stitch! Such a find.

More on stitching in my next post, complete with a story that is now about 40 years old - about my Mom.