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  • When I’m Sixty-Four

    ByHeather Bailey

    Look what Laura made for me.  This is such a great idea.  She took a
    silk purse from The Limited — found on sale at TJMaxx or Marshall's(?)
    and heatherized it with handmade silk flowers and vintage buttons. I
    love it!

    BloomingT
     
    There
    are two dupioni flowers, plus two little buds from a Kaffe Fasset
    print. The leaves are made from lace and a vintage kimono print.

    PurseonWhite On
    the home front, my 13-year-old is now nearly my height — about 1/2" to
    go. So bizarre. On our way to my parents' house yesterday, Elijah was
    telling me how awesome it is to have a mom so close to him in age. (I
    was 21 when we had him.)

    "When I'm 60, you'll be 81," he said.

    "And we can play shuffleboard together, " I replied.

    "We can have a walker race to the country club!" he concluded.

    An
    image that will stay with me for oh, at least 47 more years, if I'm
    fortunate enough to make it to that race. Now, of course, no
    60-year-olds I know have a walker, but at 13, anyone over 40 is a
    candidate for a walker, right?

    I love that kid.

    -o-o-o-o-o-

    (McCartney wrote When I'm Sixty-Four when he was only sixteen years old! Although it wasn't released till he was 25 or so.)

  • Happy Holidays!

    ByHeather Bailey

    I
    had a great Christmas week — plenty of time off, plenty of fun. Next
    week I'm wrapping up several business projects and doing some winter
    cleaning at home. I should be ready for the new year around January
    3rd, which is far better than my normal acceptance of the new year in
    February or March.

    Doesn't this holiday pin make a great bow?  Next year I'll post a tutorial & put together some kits or something.

    HollyTag470
    While it's still holiday season, it's time to announce giveaway winners from the Meet Nicey Jane post a couple of weeks ago — $100 in gift certificates to the Heather Bailey Store. (Read the comments when you need a spot of sunshine. They are like reading a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul.) Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to share your stories, weird information, insights, etc. I enjoyed every comment!  (Did I mention, you really should read those comments?)

    Here goes:

    One $25 gift certificate goes to… JENNE

        My husband had a terrible work accident close to 3 years ago. He has yet to
    return to work, but did have his last hip surgery this past Spring. A friend
    at church noticed our bald tires. This past Sunday we left church to find
    new tires–and a repaired tie-rod–on our van.     They had sneaked the keys out
    of my purse, sneaked the car away to the shop and returned it to the spot
    right beside our original one. We didn't notice until they all stood around
    giggling as we packed the kids in the car. A whole group of lovely friends
    was involved, and none of them has much more to spare than ourselves. I
    bawled with joy over how loved I felt. They were just delighted they
    surprised us so.
        Posted by: Jenne | December 08, 2009 at 11:06 PM

    Another $25 gift certificate goes to… MELISSA

        You did say you wanted weird, right? I was at Swiss Days (a huge outdoor
    craft fair) and my mom and I were sitting at a table eating lunch. It was
    crowded and two men and two women asked if they could sit with us. We
    scooted over to make room, and one of the women remarked to me, "Oh, no. If
    you are sitting by my husband, you better guard your food."     We all laughed
    and continued eating, although the man sitting next to me WAS uncomfortably
    close. Table space was at a premium, and he kept scooting closer to me.
    After each scoot, he would say, "Are you okay?", probably in response to me
    leaning away from him. I finished eating, and laid my fork down, and he
    leaned over and said, "Are you going to eat those cherries?" I glanced at my
    pie plate and said that I was finished. He proceeded to grab a potato chip
    from his plate, reach across and scoop up and eat a cherry from my plate.
    Then another, and another, until even the cherry juice had been scooped and
    gobbled. Just as I was thinking, enough's enough, and we were getting ready
    to go, he leaned across me, looked at my mom and said, "Aren't you going to
    eat your cookie?" We handed it over and scooted away post haste. So bizarre.
    I love Nicey Jane, by the way. Jane would know how to handle some random
    stranger eating food off her plate. Me? Not so much!
        Posted by: Melissa | December 08, 2009 at 05:32 AM

    And a plump ol' $50 gift certificate goes to… ASHLEY

        On Saturday, my Mom gave birth to my first little sister! Her name is
    Hadley. She is such a sweetie. 🙂 After 16 years and four sons after me, Mom
    is sure excited!
        Posted by: Ashley | December 09, 2009 at 09:07 AM 

    Now
    Ashley can go to town spoiling her new baby sister with handmade
    clothes, toys, blankets and more. In fact, Ashley's mom commented on Meet Nicey Jane later on, revealing that 16-year-old Ashley was in the other room sewing a baby blanket when her sister was born:

        One of the kindest things someone has done for me lately happened last
    Saturday about 4 a.m.     I was in labor with my sixth child (only our second
    girl) when I thought I heard the whir-whir-whir of the sewing machine.     I
    asked my husband what my daughter (our oldest, 16) was doing and he said,
    "sewing a blanket for the baby". Of course she was! That's just how she is.
    Thoughtful and crafty! Our baby girl was welcomed into the world with a
    beautiful new blanket and lots of love from her sister and brothers. My
    daughter loves your blog by the way!
        Posted by: Angela | December 10, 2009 at 05:44 PM

    Merry
    Christmas & Happy New Year's Week, everyone! Thank you for being a
    part of my life this year.  I love reading your comments and
    interacting with you all in this virtual world of blogging.

  • |

    Holly Day Girls

    ByHeather Bailey

    I have a new 'job' at my church.  I've been asked to teach the
    10-12-year-old girls crafting skills, and to organize service projects
    with them.  Sure! I can do that.  Today is our first activity.  We're
    making holly pins from yo-yos & felt.

    HollyPin470
    Over
    the next few meet-ups, I'm going to help the girls put together their
    own sewing kits, teach them to crochet, develop babysitting kits, learn
    emergency skills etc.  I want to find a senior center we can visit as
    well. 

    They're the sweetest group of girls.  It should be big, big fun.

  • Packing Flowers

    ByHeather Bailey

    FlowerProject2

    Today I'm heading over to the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City for a live interview & some crafty kibitzing on KSL's Studio 5 with hosts, Brooke & Darin. We're making fast, fabulous, fabric flowers. Fashionable too — and friendly.

    The
    spicy flower above turned out perfectly for the red & olive reverse
    of my red Marlo Bloom bag (shown on the cover of the Marlo Bloom sewing pattern). It takes my handbag right into Fall, all wooly & frayed, with felted houndstooth leaves and raw silk at the center.

    FlowerProject1

    I
    also played around with some of my favorite vintage buttons &
    millinery supplies, such as these green ceramic flower stamen. On the
    show, we're making medium-sized flowers, but as I couldn't stick to one
    size for the samples, I'm listing measurements for the large purse
    flower and the small, blue headband flower as well. Of course, make
    whatever size flower you wish & stitch it where you like.

    I say everywhere.

    FlowerProject4a

    Pop Garden Scrap Flower Tutorial

    Medium Flower

    1.  Tear a strip of printed cotton fabric 3" high by 20" wide. Pop Garden works.

    FlowerTute1

    2. 
    With wrong sides together, fold fabric strip in half, as shown. Stitch
    long, gathering stitch along matched torn edges, through both layers.
    (For a torn-edge flower, stitch along folded edge, through both layers.)

    FlowerTute2

    3. 
    Gently pull stitches as you sew, to gather fabric into a circle. Fasten
    fabric circle at center with a couple of stitches. Secure & trim
    thread.

    FlowerTute3a

    4. 
    Of felt, cut three tiered circles — 2" wide, 1.75" wide, and 1.5"
    wide. Notch edges of large & small circles. Remove all 'hanging
    chads' of felt — we'll have none of that. Stack felt circles as shown.

    FlowerTute4

    5. 
    Onto gathered fabric flower, layer stacked felt circles and a
    decorative button or brooch. Stitch layers together at center several
    times through button to secure. Conceal gathered edges at back of
    flower by whip-stitching a circle of scrap felt to the back of the
    flower. Then, attach a sew-on pin-back, hair clip, ponytail elastic, TT
    headband    , bobbypin or barrette. And that's it. Easy-peasy.

    FlowerTute5

    For
    your reference, the following chart shows the measurements used for the
    other flowers featured in the photos above. The large flower is made by
    stacking a folded piece of silk on top of the folded cotton print with
    folds aligned. Gathering stitches are sewn through all layers, near the
    fold. And the large flower spirals into several layers, unlike the
    other two shown.

    FlowerTute6a

    I'm looking forward to meeting many of you at Friday's Start-up Princess event. If you're interested in last-minute registration, I've got a present for you — use code STUDIO5 for $10 off the registration fee. Or tune in to the show today, as two viewers will receive free tickets on air, valued at $99 each.

    Also, there is an all-new category at The Heather Bailey Store.
    See if you can spot it. I'm eager to post more, but need to rush off to
    the station. Let's just say the new category ties in perfectly with
    this tutorial and with more projects to come. I'll spill the beans in
    my next post.