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my creative space

side zipper creative space

This space hasn’t been very creative in the past week. I’ve been sick since last Saturday. I’ve spent a lot of time sleeping and not much else.

Right before that I had made a trip to the thrift store and started work on some summer refashioning. I also drafted a skirt pattern from scratch and made this muslin. Notice what’s on the side? A zipper! I’m not sure why I’m so intimidated by these buggers, but I’m going to conquer that fear this summer. So long elastic waistbands!

pattern: I used the a-line skirt formula in Sew What! Skirts. Muslin fabric is a floral sheet.

More creative spaces here.

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my (not so) creative space

car cover mending

Severe weather is finally here in Nebraska and my creative space is filled with some not-so-creative sewing.

In the Spring, we stuff blankets under this cover to protect our car from hail. We got lazy last winter and left it on all year. The Nebraska winds nearly shredded it to pieces.

Now the weather radio alarm is going off and all we’ve got is a giant rag. I grabbed some canvas from my stash and started sewing patches. I gave up after fixing the biggest holes. It’s good enough to hold some blankets in place. That’s about it.

My husband asked if I could use the old cover as a pattern to sew a new one. Ha! I’ve taken on some crazy projects, but I think I’m going to pass on this one.

garage sale find: The canvas came in a tub with a bunch of muslin. I almost tossed it because it had spray paint stains on it. Now there’s hardly any left. I’ve made all sorts of heavy-duty patches with it.

Creative Spaces have a new home. Stop by and play along!

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my creative space

fairy dress

In my creative space this week, I altered this cute dress to fit my daughter. She hasn’t been that interested in dress up clothes, but there were a few times at the children’s museum that wore a dress almost exactly like this.

I snagged this one at the thrift shop, even though it was a few sizes too big. I took in the shoulders and body, but left the skirt as is.

fairy dress

She was really excited when I brought it home and couldn’t wait until it fit. Now, of course, she doesn’t want to wear it. Maybe I should call it a Fancy Nancy dress instead. If that doesn’t work, it can always be transformed into a twirly skirt.

What’s happening in your creative space this week? Play along over at Kirsty’s.

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my creative space

crochet flower my creative space

My graphic design creative space has been hopping this week, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for my handmade creative space. Sometimes you just need to put technology on hold for a little bit and make a flower.

What’s in your creative space?

motif: Pattern from 201 Crochet Motifs, Blocks, Projects and Ideas. Book and yarn gifted to me by my friend Kelly.

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my creative space

my creative space

In my creative space today, I’m helping my daughter with a few seed projects. She found this book in the cupboard a few weeks ago and has been studying it for foods that we have in our kitchen. So far she’s collected seeds from an apple and a lemon. I’ve given her a few avocado seeds, but they have all dried out before we had a chance to get our sphagnum moss. (She took them to nature school show-n-tell, instead.)

Now that we’ve got our moss, she keeps asking me when I’m going to eat That Avocado in the Refrigerator and could I please remove the seed gently with a spoon? Wish us luck!

stash: I won this book from a giveaway by the publisher on Facebook. It hangs out with my stash of cookbooks, although I have a feeling it might be moving to her bookshelves in the future.

What’s in your creative space today? Visit Kirsty’s blog to play along.

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my creative space

my creative space

In my creative space today, I’m embroidering these sweet flowers onto another twirly skirt. My daughter was so excited when I brought home a second denim skirt, but was bummed that it didn’t have any decoration. I let her choose whatever she wanted out of this adorable Japanese embroidery book: Simple Stitch Life.

my creative space

What’s in your creative space today? Play along over at Kirsty’s place.

details: The embroidery thread came from a garage sale, already wound on bobbins in a filled case. I found the book on eBay. ISBN: 4579111036 / 9784579111039

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my creative space

handmade train applique

In my creative space today, I’m getting in the rhythm of seaming square after square (after square…). I know I could have crocheted these together as I went along, but I want that nice patchwork-y square look. Plus, it’s always nice to play around with color combinations before putting them together.

What’s in your creative space today? Kirsty is up to something with coffee. I hope it turns out better than my coffee project. Don’t forget to check out all of the lovely spaces while you are there.

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my mom’s creative space

My daughter loved her St. Patrick’s Day outfit. She wore it yesterday and today. When I dropped her off at school this morning, I started thinking about the Irish dancing costume my mother made for me when I was younger.

Seems I wasn’t the only one thinking about it. I received this comment on my blog this morning…

“Does this take you back to your Irish dancing days? Wonder if you still have that dress?”

…and within in minutes, I received this photo from my mom via text:

Irish dancing costume

Isn’t it amazing? She sewed the dress and cape and then embroidered all of those motifs. (Larger photo here.) I wore this to dance at festivals and in competitions. I even wore it in the Baltimore St. Patrick’s Day parade!

I know there’s no comparison between this gorgeous costume and the little outfit I whipped up for my daughter. I just happened to think about it this morning and wanted to share her beautiful work with you. She totally deserves her own Creative Space, don’t you think?

Visit other creative spaces over at Kirsty’s blog.

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my creative space

toy organizing bags

I’ve been trying to regain some control over my daughter’s closet. Lately she just wants to empty everything onto the floor to build a giant mountain of toys. Getting her to put away the toy mountain when she is finished has given me quite a few gray hairs.

In my creative space today, I’ve been making some bags for all of those Christmas presents that came without containers. I really should have done it sooner. Having a specific place to put things has helped a little. I also moved half of her toys to the very top shelf. That has helped a lot.

What’s in your creative space today? Play along over at Kirsty’s place.

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my creative space

quickie fabric scarf

In my creative space today I was in serious need of a finished project. Remember last year’s Spring scarf? I made another fabric scarf today, only no ruffles. Just a simple, long rectangle.

quickie fabric scarf

I grabbed some thrifted/gifted fabric, cut it into two skinny rectangles and joined them at the selvedges. Then I stitched the selvedges down. No fraying or unraveling at the seam! I did want the border to be unfinished, so I ran a stitch all the way around and then fringed the edges.<.nobr>

What’s in your creative space today? Play along over at Kirsty’s blog.

p.s. I finally finished my fused bag project. Pics to come tomorrow (I hope!).