Quilt

Today, we're taking the drive to my Granny's house, where I'll drop off this, the first quilt I've ever made (and quite possibly the only one I ever will, to be honest).  She'll take it to her local quilt shop to have it pieced together and all finished up.  I can hardly wait to see it when it's finished...

 and I can hardly wait to tell you all about the history of it too!

Our Dear Savior's Birth

On this holy night, a promise was fulfilled.

For no word from God will ever fail.

- Luke 1:37

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Praying our world feels the thrill of hopefulness, 

the joy of grace from sin and error,

and the comfort of promises made and kept this Christmas.

We're Off!

It has been one crazy bananas week around our place with the sewing and the wrapping and the packing and the cleaning and the working.  I'm glad it's over and ahead of us we have nine wide open days of time with our families.  We're hopping in the van to the airport at this very moment, and will be in sweet, sweet Oklahoma later today!

Wishing safe travels to all!

Merry Christmas to Us!

Although we normally don't get Christmas presents for each other (we usually just consider the cost of traveling home our "gift" to each other - to get to see our families!), sometimes, it's too hard to resist.  Like two Christmases ago, when Scott got me my dress form, Vanessa.  And this year, when Scott mentioned Fleetwood Mac just enough times that I knew he really wanted to go, and so...

Can't wait to channel my inner Stevie.

Click, Click, Click, Flash

A couple weeks ago, I talked about how this was a super busy, but super encouraging, time of year for me and my sewing.  The biggest event I was hinting at in that post was something I did later that very same day:  my first ever photo shoot with clothes from my very own line!

I've overloaded this post with behind-the-scenes photos, so I'll leave my description brief:  IT.  WAS.  AWESOME.  Kate Ignatowski, a local NYC photographer, brought together a talented hairdresser, two preciously sweet and lovely student models, and my designs for our little romp around the Upper West Side.  We shot at the Museum of Natural History, on 75th Street, and in Central Park.  You'll see that Kate, Janice, and I were all bundled up with coats and scarves and huddling under umbrellas for the obvious reasons:  it was cold, and it was rainy.  Those poor models!  But seriously, what troopers.  They didn't bat an eyelash and stood out there with bare legs and arms as long as was needed.

This was an exciting, fun, learning-experience filled day for me, and I enjoyed every second.  See the bottom of this post for info on all these talented people, as well as the clothes that you see!  (And Kate's professional pictures coming soon!)

Photographer:  Kate Ignatowski
Hair:  Janice Latorre
Models:  Rachel Novick and Lilly Alanah
Clothes:  Dottie Adele

And here's everything you see:  Heart-Shaped Waistband Skirt, Polka Dot Top (sold out), Roses Skirt, Blush Pink Maxi Dress, Pleated Polka Dot Skirt, Lace Back Blouse, Peter Pan Blouse, Printed Shorts, Sweetheart Dress, Mustard Sweater Top (coming soon!)

Bleeding on Probing: Melting Your Face for the Holidays

Yes, last night brought great tidings of guitar-shredding and head-banging.  Yet another Bleeding on Probing show!

I am still so, so sad that the video function on my camera doesn't work (due to my excessive dropping of it...) because check out their set list from last night:  "Hot for Teacher," "Summer of '69," "Dream On," "Walk This Way," and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra version of "Carol of the Bells."  Rockin' around the Christmas tree, indeed.

Sisters Who Support John Bates

Only 26 days until the U.S. premiere of Series 3 of Downton Abbey, starting 2013 off in the best way possible.  (Although obviously I've already watched it via sketchy means, but this time I'll get to watch it on the real TV!  And then discuss it with all the other Americans who didn't watch it sketchily!)

The end of Series 2 found the upstairs and the downstairs in all sorts of varied states of shenanigans, but one of the main stories revolved around poor old can't-catch-a-break, too-noble-for-his-own-good Mr. Bates being sentenced (wrongly?  rightly?) to prison for murder.  His separation from both Anna and the beloved Downton is heartbreakingly tragic, so when I saw this shirt that Hugh Bonneville, aka Lord Grantham, sported at a panel this summer...

...I knew that I must have one of my own.  And I also knew my sister would want one just as badly.

So, I had Scott whip up a little design with his screenprinting gear...

and after screen-making, inking, squeegeeing, drying, and shipping off to Iowa, my sister and I both have our FREE BATES shirts!

Cue the comments of how much we look alike :)

Non-Wearable Sewing Project: Ironing Board Cover

After three years of almost daily use and abuse, my poor ironing board cover had more than one gash, is discolored, and a little misshapen.  It was way past time for a new one!

So, this weekend, I finally got around to making myself a brand new cover, using this tutorial!  I'll spare you the picture-by-picture steps, since you can see them all in the tutorial, and simply dazzle you with the finished product instead.  Because I kind of love it as much as I think it is possible to love an ironing board.

Ta-da!

This actually made a fantastic project for using up scraps.  I colorblocked four colors of cotton fabric I have left over from making Heart Skirts, and I love the result.  Even if you only had a few inches of each different fabric, you could piece them together and it would still look really great.  The more the better, I think, actually!  Stripes!
 
I recycled the cord from my other cover  to use in this one (no need to buy new!), and I also gifted myself a new pad to go under the cover using some fleece or batting or something of the like that I also had left over in my stash.  In other words:  this little project cost me exactly $0, but made a big difference.
   
I've learned over time that sometimes, when there are unpleasant things that have to be done (aka ironing), it helps to at least have a pleasant space in which to do them.  I'm hoping ironing will feel like slightly less of a chore with this bright cover staring back up at me.

We shall see.

Crunch Time

Please allow me to take this one post to just wallow in this one thought:  Things on the Dottie Adele front are wonderful.

This afternoon, I'm off to do something incredibly exciting involving my clothing line.  It's a dream I didn't even realize I had until the opportunity presented itself.  I can't wait to share!

I've currently got no less than three different bridesmaid dress collections in the works.  I find doing these collections absolutely delightful, and I'm so excited to venture further into the wedding world.

On the flip side, these wonderful things also mean one more difficult thing to deal with:  more work.  Good work!  Great work!  Work I love!  But there are also only so many hours in a day.

From now until December 21st, when we leave for Christmas break (or the world will end, if you live by that ol' Mayan calendar theory), I have no less than 10 sewing projects to finish.  10 projects, 14 days.  (Did I mention I have a 9 to 5 job?  Oh, and that I would also like to attend all the Christmas parties coming up and get the presents wrapped and also enjoy the season?)

It is seriously crunch time around these parts.  But it's the best kind.  The kind of crunch time that means if you succeed, you're taking huge leaps towards achieving your dreams.  I can deal with that kind of crunch time.

The next two weeks I'm going to have to be functioning at my maximum efficiency, and I'm up for the challenge.  Come December 21st, after I succeed (see, thinking positively!), I'll get the best reward:  Christmas back in the heart of the Midwest with our nearest and dearest. 

Let's do this thing.

Stuff I Like: This! This! A Million Times This!

It's Beginning to Look Pretty Much Exactly Like Christmas

The holiday spirit has certainly taken over NYC, and we went out to see it all!

It looked like the holidays, and it felt like them too:  we had Scott's parents for a visit this weekend.  Family + Christmas lights = no better feeling!