Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Too Small Tank Top

I spent way too much time on the computer today trying to make a change to my Wordpress theme. I was on the computer so long researching, I actually feel nauseous. And the change did not work to my liking. Sucks. And because of that, my plan to scan pictures of the one of the Japanese craft books I got ages ago, ISBN 978-4579110438, didn’t happen. Oh well…maybe tomorrow.
Tank top
This tank top is from that book. It’s too small and pushes down on my boobs. I’m so disappointed.

But here are some pictures of Isabelle that make me happy.

Drawing with 3-D sidewalk chalk
We were drawing with Crayola 3-D sidewalk chalk. It comes with glasses and when you draw with both sides of the chalk, and then look through the glasses, the colors pop out all 3-D like.
Hope it doesn't stain. It said test first
I thought it was very cool. Alan thought it was very cool. Isabelle? Didn’t notice at all.
Chalk on Isabelle's face
She just had fun drawing outside on the sidewalk, on her face, and on her clothes.

Monday, April 07, 2008

All Over The Place Ending With Me SINGING

I’ve been feeling a bit scatter brained lately so this post is all over the place.

How was everyone’s weekend? We didn’t do anything except buy toilet paper and stuff like that from Target. Wow, how exciting huh?
Binoculars are fun
Well we did play with binoculars.
Screaming fun!
They’re screaming fun! (Well for Isabelle)

Oh and I did get sewing done! Not this one but a tank top.
Shirt altered
This one is the alteration on the pattern I showed before, in muslin, from ISBN 4579111494. I liked the band at the bottom but wanted it a little thinner than my test shirt. But I went overboard and made it too thin. I still love it. Well except for the color. What can brown do for you?

Oh and because this post isn’t random enough, here’s the drawing:
Funny
And also to make this post even more random and all over the place, here’s a video.

We were in the car and Isabelle was singing “Happy Birthday” and “Itsy Bitsy Spider”. It was so cute that I grabbed Alan’s cell phone and started recording. But when we got home, I checked the clip, and realized you can’t hear her. :( So I edited it just to the last bit where I’m singing and Isabelle is doing the hand motions. (Password: izzybear)

Itsy Bitsy Spider from Kuky Ideas on Vimeo.

Friday, April 04, 2008

Can’t Say No

Thank you everyone for the recipes!

And look! I’ve been drawing again…finally. I have another one all drawn up and ready to go for tomorrow (or whenever I get to posting again).

Can't say no
Yes. I know, I just went to the fabric store last week. But really, if you were me, you wouldn’t say no either.

Playing at the fabric store
And plus, I got to take pictures like this when we were there.

And I came home with….FABRIC! Bwa ha ha ha!

New linen fabric
It’s linen. I had in mind to make more tops like the green top and the blue top with some alterations.

Shirt in muslin

Alterations like this. No, I haven’t gotten back to sewing. I’m just playing catch up with pictures. :) This is the same pattern as the blue shirt from ISBN 4579111494. I just altered the hem. It has a wide band on the bottom. I don’t know if you can see that from this picture.

Yeah, so the plan was to make more of these shirts. That is until I remembered that we’ll be getting very hot weather in the summer. Then I thought maybe I should be making tank tops. No shirts. Tank tops. Shirts. Tank tops. I’m wishy washy like that.

Ok. Off I go to not sew with my new fabric or patterns, but to argue with myself on what to make. Have a good weekend and may you be more productive than me!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Maggie Doll

Maggie inspired dolly
Meet Isabelle’s new dolly, Maggie! She is inspired by Maggie and the Ferocious Beast. Remember my original idea was to use felt for the hair? Well that didn’t work out. Isabelle kept kept taking it off, calling it a hat. I don’t know what she did with it so I went the yarn route. The strands are all painstakingly sewed down. It was hard work but absolutely worth it, it’s a better fit.

Removable clothes
I remember when I was little, I loved playing with dolls with removable clothing. So with that in mind, I made this dolly with removable clothes, using velcro.

Removable shoes
I also did removable shoes. That might not have been the best idea. Isabelle keeps taking the shoes off saying, “oh no!! HELP! Shoooooes!” and wanting me to put them back on.

Hugging Maggie
Isabelle likes her Maggie doll. But she doesn’t see it as Maggie. She just says, “dolly”.

Maggie and Isabelle dancing
Back to the drawing board? Ahh…forget it. Isabelle likes her fine enough to dance with her even though she doesn’t call her Maggie.

Friday, March 07, 2008

Dancing with Dolly

Isabelle quite adores Maggie. Have I ever mentioned that? She used to adore George and I’m sure she still likes him but she’s over the moon about Maggie. She always asks for her, “Meg-gie! Meg-gie!!”. Then she’ll sit there watching and repeats what they’re saying. I can’t blame her. Maggie is adorable and I do love the ferocious beast with his big red removable spots.

So I thought I’d make her a Maggie doll. I didn’t want it to look just like Maggie, I just wanted her coloring. The doll was quick to make. I used some flesh colored cotton fabric I had laying around and some wool felt for her hair. I haven’t decided if that’s the way I want to go or instead use yarn for the hair so I didn’t sew it down. Clothes are trickier for me to sew so I tested with muslin and this is what I came up with.

Unnamed doll

It doesn’t look like Maggie at all! But actually, I quite like it the way it is, faceless and everything.

Well Isabelle took a look at her and didn’t say Maggie but she did deem her worthy to dance with.

Dancing with the doll

I’ll just need to sew down her hair and give her a yellow top and a blue skirt and some shoes and socks and see if she’s Maggie enough for Isabelle. If not…back to the drawing board and something more Maggie looking.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Keeping Busy

I almost didn’t draw today. I was too distracted taking pictures of Isabelle with spaghetti on her nose. And her face. And all over her hands. :)

Spaghetti on Isabelle's nose

And busy making her a doll.

Dolly for Isabelle

But draw I did. I rushed this out. I think I’ll experiment with my drawings when I have more time and not at 11:30pm at night.
Get out of here

Monday, February 25, 2008

Sock Elephant

Not again!

So I ended up cutting a pair of socks up, not the ones I took a picture of, but one of the pairs I drew. I cut them up and turned them into a sock elephant. I had a hard time taking a picture of him though, because Isabelle was running off with him. I’m going to say it again but wow it’s hard to take pictures of soft toys with a toddler around!
Her elephant

I did manage to finally get this picture of him by himself but it’s not quite accurate. He’s falling over so you can’t tell he’s all wonky.
Sock elephant
His head is too small for his body. It’s not noticeable in this picture. I probably didn’t cut in the right place. And I should have stuffed his head more before I sewed it up. I didn’t notice though until after I made up his body. Then the size difference was waaaay obvious. And his ears are funny. I took such care with his arms and legs and ran out of steam with his ears. They’re not tucked in and just funky.

But Isabelle likes him and that’s all that counts.
She likes him