Cuteness

Riley is upstairs playing with Quinn in his room. At first, I heard lots of sillyness and giggling. Then, it got quiet. I stopped and listened closer, and Riley is up there reading Green Eggs and Ham to his baby brother.

Makes my heart melt! 

Nappy Bag

I finally finished up the Nappy Bag that I had been planning to make for weeks. This one is for myself, and was sort of a tester for one a plan to make for some friends. I used Anna Maria Horner's Sketchbook print on the outside, and Social Climber in teal on the inside.

I made quite a few modifications to the pattern. Actually, about the only thing I used was the pattern piece. See, I'm not really a pocket girl, and this bag has TONS of pockets. I'm more of a "throw it all in there and don't worry about it being organized" girl. So instead of cutting and sewing 3248034820 pockets, like the pattern calls for, I skipped the cell phone and interior pocket pattern sections and went for a single large pocket made from the scrap of the rounded part of the bag opening.  As you can see, the pocket is already full of papers submitted by my students, since I took the bag to class on Tuesday. I also included a bottle pocket. I plan on using this bag primarly to carry my giant 17 inch laptop, so the bottle pocket will help separate the water from the electronics.

Instead of sewing in the canvas as interfacing, as the pattern calls for, I used fusible fleece on the outer layer. I did this mostly because I wanted a little more cushioning for my computer. I acheived that, but I don't love the look of the fleece as much as I thought I would. It will certainly work for my purposes though! The bag also stands up quite nicely for a bag this size.

Overall, I like the size of the bag, although if I were using it for a diaper bag, I might add a closure of some sort, as well as some loops to attach toys. I plan on incorporating those in the bag the next time I make it, which will be soon! I am making it with Joel Dewberry fabrics from the Ginseng home dec line for some friends who like oranges and browns. I think it will look great!

Snow Day 2009

Over the last 24 hours, we were hit with a deluge of ice and snow. Ohio State cancelled classes last night, which is virtually unheard of! We spent most of the day curled up in the house. Quinn napped, Riley played with his trains, Bryan worked, and I studied for my general exams.

The boys did take a break from work and play to go outside and shovel the driveway in hopes that we can all get to where we need to go tomorrow. Afterwards, they came in and enjoyed some hot cocoa.

Hope you are warm, wherever you are!

This Just In!

I just got these adorable fabrics in the mail from Fabricworm. They are so cute! They just scream out for aprons, dishcloths, potholders, and the like to be sewn from them. I think I will tackle another Emmeline Apron with them. I love this pattern. It results in a gorgeous apron, is easy enough for an advanced beginner, and is one of the clearest, easiest to follow patterns I've seen. I can't wait to show you all how it turns out!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Last night we ate dinner at B.D.'s Mongolian Barbeque. While we were waiting for our food to be grilled, the grillers gave Riley a mallet to hit the gong they use to acknowledge tips. Riley smacked it hard, and the gong rang out. He was clearly pleased with himself, and after he returned the mallet to the grillers, he leaned over to me and said,

"Mommy, that was my very first time hitting a bong!"

Uh, yes Riley. And hopefully the very last time. :)

First Post!

This is my very first blog post, so I will take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Emily. I am a Doctoral student in Sociology, a mother to two beautiful boys, and a wife to my best buddy and high school sweetheart. My most recent endeavour is learning to sew. I have always enjoyed being creative, but my outlet has generally been music, so this is new, fun, and exciting for me. I've turned into a total fabric junkie. You can see some of my favorite designers on the right. 

I set up an Etsy shop recently. Currently, I just have crayon rolls listed. I gave some out as gifts to friends and got a great response and requests for more, so I thought I would list some and see what happens! 

Tonight I whipped an adorable crayon roll using Patty Young's Andalucia fabrics from Michael Miller. I think this collection is ADORABLE. There is part of my that yearns to have a little girls so I can make her all sorts of tihngs with this collection. I picked the fabric up from Lanie Jane on Etsy. I'm also looking forward to some more fabric arrivals this week!