A post about tiny pants for a person I haven't met yet

Hi!

Let me say WOW and thank you for all the well-wishes and kind words about the baby.

I've shared all your comments (whether they were here on the blog or delivered in person at the shop or around town) with Ollie and we are both touched.

I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

*Clears throat*

So... those tiny pants!

We don't know if we're having a boy or a girl yet (although as you read this I may have just found out!) so the challenge at the moment is to make things that would work for either.

I love a challenge.

Most people's reaction to the baby news has been "This is going to be one well-dressed baby!"

So, in other words, the pressure is on to live up to the "sewing expectations" of my friends and customers (and myself).

I work well under pressure.

The Quick Change Trousers from Anna Maria Horner's excellent book Handmade Beginnings have been on my radar since waaaay before I was pregnant (that little patch across the butt just kills me!).

I've seen these pants all over the interweb and whether you've got kids or not, I think we can all agree they score very high on the adorable-o-meter. 

The day I came home from my first ultra-sound all I could think after meeting that little baby and seeing him or her up on the screen for the first time, rubbing his or her little baby eyes, wiggling his or her little baby toes, was:

A) Holy cow: there really is a baby in there!

and

B) I gotta sew something!

So, I drafted a copy of the pattern for the Quick Change Trousers (size newborn to 3 months but the pattern goes all the way up to size 2T) and before I knew it... pants!

Tiny pants!

3 pairs of teeny tiny pants!

 

All of these fabrics came from my stash and most of them aren't available anymore... but I did buy the bumblebee fabric recently on Spoonflower.

How fun to pick out fabric combinations for a set of Quick Change Trousers!

And I love that they are reversible, so really I feel like I made 6 pairs of pants, not just three.

The baby's due date is December 12th: 12/12/12.

I think he or she is going to need one more pair of Quick Change Trousers in this size.

A Christmas-y pair.

Something that would be perfect for a boy or a girl...

And perfect for a Christmas visit to Grandma and Great-Grandma!

XO,

Rhea

Sunday afternoon

Just stopping in for a quickie...

And to let you know some very important facts.

FACT:

My (not so) little sister graduated from the 8th grade this past Friday night.

Johanna is so beautiful inside and out (I want to be just like her when I grow up... ha ha ha).

I was really proud of her and you'll have to excuse me as I brag a bit.

She received a special award for highest achievement in creative writing skills, which in our family I would say is the highest of all high honors.

Johanna also had one of the five highest grade point averages so she was chosen to make a speech.

In fact, she was the "opening act." 

I told her the opening act was the best thing to be.

Madonna always opens the show or nothing at all.

FACT:

I am here in the shop on a glorious Sunday afternoon, with the doors and windows wide open and a delicious breeze wafting through the building.

It's quite pleasant.

FACT:

 I am listening to one of my favorite songbirds: Miss Kate Bush.  If you've never heard of her before go out and download (or buy if you are still old-fashionedy like me and enjoy CD's) a copy of "The Kick Inside."  Immediately!

FACT:

There is a promotional code for 10% off your in-store or online orders over at Soulemama's blog.  If you are speedy, you may still have time to enter the giveaway for the new "Wildflower" Turning Twenty kit (pictured above), but the promotional code is good until June 24th.

FACT:

I think tonight I shall have a vanilla milkshake for diner...

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

XO,

Rhea

Coming this summer to an Alewives Fabrics near you

I'm going to admit that I'm a little frightened by the amount of new fabrics we have ordered for the shop lately, but how are we supposed to NOT order something if it's completely fabulous and amazing?

Every time I have a spare moment at the shop I wander around and rearrange/neaten the shelves, and I am a bit reassured about the huge orders when I see that there are an awful lot of empty spaces where there once were bolts and bolts.

Without further adieu, take a look at some of the collections that will be arriving this summer...

"The Birds and the Bees" by miss Tula Pink:

This is an image from Tula's blog, which if you don't already read may I recommend the hasty following of?  We've *almost* ordered the entire collection (quilting weight cottons, laminates, voiles...) and folks, this is a big. ol. collection!

Another big.ol. collection: Field Study by Anna Maria Horner (photo found here).  We have ordered the entire collection: leopard spots and all!  Again with the quilting cottons, laminates and voiles.

Remember these from Martha Negley for Westminster?  Yeah, me too.  They are some of my all time favorite fabrics (of all time).  I somehow convinced my business associate (Mom) that we should order the entire collection.  It was a no-brainer and she was powerless to resist.  This collection is just in quilting weight cottons as far as I know.

And speaking of no-brainers...  we've got the entire Chicopee collection (the latest and greatest from Denyse Schmidt) on order as well!  And because I am that kind of a girl, I contacted Westminster and pulled a few strings and we should be getting our shipment of Chicopee just in time for Denyse's visit to Alewives in August.  How do you like them apples?  This collection is quilting weight cotton.  It has a few prints in corduroy, but sadly we found those to be a bit cost prohibitive, so for now, we are only going to be carrying the quilting weight cottons in all their glory.

 

Heather Ross' "Nursery Versery" will be out this summer, too!  Every time Heather comes out with a new collection, it is cause for celebration, and we double up on our order at the shop, because it takes sooo long for the fabrics to come in but virtually no time at all for them to sell out.  I personally have BIG plans for this here cheater print. 

 

These are some samples of Amy Butler's newest collection, Cameo.  Yup, we've got the whole kit 'n caboodle on order.  Quilting weight cottons, laminates and all.  You can see the whole shebang on Westminster's site here.  I am really loving this collection.  A lot.  It has just a touch of schizophrenia and you know I love that in a collection.  Keeps everything from being too "matchy matchy."

And believe it or no, there is a lot more coming in to the shop in the next few weeks!  These are just the big, huge collections that will be arriving.  I've probably forgotten some, but the majority of them should be covered in this blog post.

I can't wait!

My sewing room and what I have been sewing lately...

I went to Stonington to teach a class at Kyra's this past January and was treated to dinner and a visit to her home.

It was one of my favorite nights in my whole life ever and we did a lot of talking, laughing, bonding and admiring of Kyra and Renee's amazing home.

One of the best parts was seeing Kyra's sewing room.

Wow, that girl has got a stash.

When I came home, I was inspired to invest in some shelving (a local antiques store was where I got the best bargain and the shelves that fit my style the most, wouldn't you know?) and organize my own stash and spruce up my sewing room.

Now when I go in there everything is nice and neat and organized.

It makes me feel so much more inspired to sew... 

I most certainly am someone who thinks best when things are tidy.

My great grandmother's 1961 Kenmore.  I use it *almost* every day.  Also a cute child's chest of drawers that is perfect for my notions.

The view from the hallway...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some special bolts and collections and a glimpse of the design wall...

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the money shot!  Most of my stash  is in this shelf.  Ahhh.... it makes me happy to see it all neatly folded.

The rest of the stash.  Plus some books and patterns, etc.

This pincushion and needlebook are linen and were a gift from my friend Dawn.  She used the Sprout Block Tutorial from Sew Mama Sew to make the pincushion and the needlebook I believe is a pattern found in the book Zakka Style.  I love it lots.  I made the little pink flower at the March SEAM meeting.

Some scraps, a doll I ordered from Emily (formerly her blog and Etsy shop were called Ravenhill.  I am so glad I snagged one of these before she stopped making them).  The fox is from the book Countryside Softies and I won it at one of the last Craft Swaps we had (thanks, Barbara M.!)

 

 

 

And this is what I have been sewing lately... little pairs of Quick Change Trousers from Anna Maria Horner's excellent, excellent book Handmade Beginnings.

 Can you guess who the little pants are for?

For once, I can tell you that it is exactly what you are thinking...

Ollie and I are going to have a baby in December.

We are both very excited...

And I have a lot of sewing to do.

XO,

Rhea

Some of Ollie's Mediterranean Photos

Ha!  Stole some photos from the husband...

Italy from the sea...

Pompeii

More Pompeii...

Pompeii again...

A concrete casting made from the hollow left behind by one of the bodies found in Pompeii.

A snowflake!  On the walls at Pompeii!

Grasse in France... I used to live here!

Grasse again: the view from the bus station.

Outside the cathedral in Grasse.  Love that flag.

A picture of our ship, taken from the shore in Cannes.

Somewhere off the coast of the Mediterranean.

It was a great trip, but you know what they say: there's no place like home.

See you again soon!

XO,

Rhea

Fail!

Oh, life.

I've been putting off and putting off writing a new blog post (even though I said I would write a new one lickety split) because I haven't been able to find the USB cable to my new camera and I didn't want to post without pictures. 

Well, I just have to accept the fact that I have lost said USB cable and need to order a new one.

So, all of my Europe pictures (and there are some good ones in there, let me tell you) are stuck in limbo on my camera.

I did borrow this one photo from Ollie of some macarons and a strawberry tart we bought... you know, the important stuff...

 














If I can't share all of my Europe photos with you then the least I can do is tell you about some of the  goings-on at the shop, because, dear reader, there is a LOT going on at the shop these days.

We received a shipment from Moda with Bonnie and Camille's new line "Vintage Modern."

It's quintessential Bonnie and Camille: lovely pops of turquoise and red and a few other colors thrown in.  Everyone loves it.

And we got three bolts in from Tula Pink's new line of Halloween-themed fabrics called "Nightshade." 

I don't do a lot of decorating or crafting for Halloween but these fabrics are just so frickin' frackin' cool they are inspiring me to do so.



There are a whole ton of new shot cottons...

Confession: I have never been the biggest fan of "traditional" solids, or at least have yet to use them a lot in my sewing, but I love, love, love me a good shot cotton.  There's so much more going on there then meets the eye!

I think in my next life I will get a job naming shot cottons and then sewing just with them, all day long.



And moving away from the shot cottons, about twenty new bolts of Hoffman batiks came in as well.

 I think that's it for fabric news.




Have I overloaded you with information yet?  Hang on, there's more!

In other news (stock photography alert!) the Alewives are here! 

This is one of my most favorite times of year and it makes me so proud to live in the Mills.

There are TONS of fish this year: wall to wall.  It's crazy.

If you are even remotely in the area you should definitely make a trip to see them.

And if the Alewives are here it must be time for the Fish Ladder Festival, and that will happen this weekend from Saturday right on through until Monday.

As always, Alewives Fabrics will be painting faces, selling sodas and ice creams, and last but not least we will be showing the DVD documentary "Closing the Circle," which is all about the history of the Fish Ladder in Damariscotta Mills.

All money raised goes towards helping restore the Fish Ladder, and that is a herculean task indeed.

Finally, there is a Craft Swap this Friday night and next weekend is the Spring Into Summer Shop Hop.

Did I miss anything? 

I did want to mention one last thing and toot our own horn a little bit:

I was so pleased when we heard that Alewives Fabrics's quilt won the shop hop challenge this year. 

Each shop was given the same four batik fabrics, and you could add up to four more fabrics- your choice- and turn them into a quilt and then shop-hoppers voted for their favorite, which turned out to be us!

You can see all the challenge quilts right here.

We've never won before and I have to admit we were really proud to win this year of all years because I think ALL of the quilts were so amazing.

Thanks, hoppers!

XO,

Rhea