Little Coffee Beans

{this moment}

Playing along with SouleMama - in her words {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, {extra}ordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  

Happy Weekend!

another pretty picture

With all the seriousness an almost two year old can muster, Zinnia has declared that this will be her birthday dress. And so it's decided then.

Of course, this is another Pretty as a Picture dress. Are you tired of reading about my love affair with Anna Maira's book yet? Thanks for indulging me as I blather on and on.

For this version I altered the design just a bit. I decided on just one "picture" for the front of the skirt. And on the back, I made a simple hem-line border from the feature fabric. I love how it turned out and I just might use this approach on another dress. I'm telling you, this pattern is so sweet to work with.

It feels great to be inspired at the sewing machine again - by Anna Maria's patterns and as always, by my little Flower. Working with this beautiful Echino fabric sure does help, too. It's the same patch print I used here. I love the colors, that sweet little owl and it pairs really well with this simple linen that I've had for years - the softness, the wrinkles, the way it hangs - it's just perfect for kids clothes, if I do say so.

And my girl clearly loves it, too.

pretty as a picture

I spent some more time with Anna Maria's Handmade Beginnings this weekend. Gosh, I love that book. This is her Pretty as a Picture dress. It's such a sweet pattern. I made one last year and it's been my favorite dress for Zinnia so I figured with Easter and a Birthday coming up she just might need one or two more. I'm not yet sure which celebratory occasion this one is for, but I do love this pairing of fabrics (both from FreeSpirit: the birds are Joel Dewberry and the blue is Tea Garden by Dana. The bodice is lined with an old, super-soft bed sheet).  It just sings spring!

And speaking of spring, is anyone else a little freaked out by this unseasonably warm weather? Don't get me wrong, I love flip-flop season, but it is really, really warm. We had highs in the 80's this weekend. The 80's! And March sailed by without a single snowfall. I've been in CO eighteen years and it always snows in March. Always. 

The forecast for the next few days looks more typical for this time of year. Bring on the moisture! We sure do need it.

Tonight Chance Rain Lo 37 °F

Monday Rain/Snow Likely Hi 46 °F

Monday Night Chance Rain/Snow Lo 34 °F

Tuesday Slight Chc Rain/Snow Hi 55 °F

Tuesday Night Slight Chc Rain/Snow Lo 37 °F

 Hope you have a great start to your week! 

quick change

Finally. It's only been three months, but I finally made some time to get my crafty on. With some time dedicated to my sewing table, I turned to my all time favorite reversible pants pattern. These are the Quick Change Trousers from Anna Maria Horner's Handmade Beginnings, and since I actually had the book in my hands this time around (thank you, thank you Lisa P!) these were the easiest of the three I've made. They're definitely more refined than the "something likes" I made last Fall.

All this time I thought I wasn't a pattern-following kind of sewer. I was wrong. The pattern and instructions actually made these pants come together in a snap. 

For fabric I used a Kaffe Fassett polka dot, along with Mona Luna trees and for the back yoke I used a beautiful and colorful Echino patchwork print; purchased locally from Elfreidas. I think these are my favorite pair so far. And I kinda really want a pair in my size.

Zinnia loves them, too and was quite happy to give me my requested booty shot. This girl cracks me up. Everyday.

Coming up next on the "to sew" list is a birthday dress. Someones second birthday is less than a month away!

buckets

Buckets of rain
Buckets of tears
Got all them buckets coming out of my ears
Buckets of moonbeams in my hand
You got all the love honey baby
I can stand.

I've been making buckets all weekend and I can't get Bob Dylan out of my head. 

Saturday I spent nap time cutting all my fabric so that nap time Sunday could be spent sewing. I've made five so far, they come together so easily. 

I also made a trip to my favorite local fabric store, Elfreida's, and came away with some new favorites. I'm picturing a pair of pants for Zinnia from the Ann Kelle Owls and Kaffe Fassett polkas. And the Echino feels like such a treat. I'm not sure what it will become...pillows? place mats? a dress for Zinnia? For now I'm just petting it, I LOVE it that much.

It's snowing here and our high temp today is expected to be 17degrees...sigh. I think I'll cozy up by the fire and get back to sewing buckets.

making a buzz

Yesterday's nap time was biz-zzzzzy. One little flower I know will be dressing as our favorite pollinator for a certain holiday around the corner. Hmmm, any guesses?

Happy mid-week to you!

Sew Cute

Before the cousins took off, Kitty Bitter (family nickname) and I set aside some time for a sewing tutorial. She ripped her favorite pair of shorts on the Putt-Putt course and they needed some sewing machine love. Now Kitty is a crafty girl, no doubt, hand sewing-knitting-drawing-beading, but she's never had the opportunity to use a sewing machine and she was psyched. 

Together we picked out some coordinating fabric for a patch, and we stitch, stitched away.

After our repair was complete, Kitty decided she wanted a little embellishment on the front pocket too.

Yep, super-cute!

Perfectly Dandy{lion}

I did it again. I made another skirt for Zinnia. I really can't help myself. They are just so easy to make and so darn cute. Plus I have all these fat quarters hanging around and letting them collect dust is just not cool.

This one, like the last, was made on the fly. Only difference this time around is that I used the full fat quarter to give the skirt more pleats, because as we previously discussed, pleats are cute.

This Alexander Henry dandelion print is one of my favorites. Perfectly dandy{lion} for a little gardening girl, yes?

There's a ladybug in the carrot flower. We heart ladybugs. 

We also heart chard.

Did I mention how much I'm loving long naps?

 

A seat to take along

We're traveling next week and I've been on the lookout for a travel high chair. Now when I say high chair, I don't really mean high chair.  I just want something that will help keep Zinnia happily in one place long enough to eat, it really doesn't have to be high at all. 

My requirements: something that is cute, easy to pack and not dangerous. Dangerous? How can a high chair be dangerous? You wonder.  Well you know those boosters that clip onto tables? They are s.c.a.r.y. We have a sweet little friend that almost lost a finger in a fall in one of those dangly hazards -  no.thank.you. 

After a little online perusing I found a simple design from a fellow crafty Mama at Homemade by Jill so I took advantage of Zinnia's new long(ish) naps for a while-she-naps sewing project.  Yay!

The dimensions for the three pieces are 6x36, 6x4 and 20x10. I added a cotton batting in between the fabric, sewed the three pieces together as seen below, then added a long piece of velcro to the ends of the waistband.

Easy like Sunday morning.

Glory be {and a cute little skirt}

Glory be! The two-hour nap has made a come back! Thanks in part to a super-loud fan installed in Zinnia's bedroom (there's some serious magic emanating from that fan). I've been making the most of this extra one hour and 15 minutes (yes, yes, she was previously only napping 45 minutes) including making time for a while-she-naps sewing project. 

The result ::

A cute little skirt that only took about 30 minutes to make. I really think I could whip up another one in half that time, but I took extra time fiddling with the elastic waistband.

What I learned ::

• You can make an adorable skirt for a 14.5 month old using less than a fat quarter of fabric. Yes!
• Cute baby skirts can be pulled off without a pattern. Bonus.
• The skirt can be worn as both a skirt and a hat (!). Who knew?
•  Skirts are super-extra-wicked-cute when wore with Chuck Taylor's. Just sayin'.
• Next time I might add more pleats. Pleats are cute.