I’d like to make this in a brown twill for fall. Wouldn’t that be nice? This is the slouch bag from Akiko Mano’s book Linen Wool Cotton. A very nice book full of simple, natural designs. If you don’t have this one, it should go on your holiday wish list!
How cute are these? I just received these custom designed dolls made by Project Grab Bag. I ordered these from Craftsbury Kids, but it looks like you can also buy them directly from Project Grab Bag’s Etsy shop here. Made from new and upcycled fabrics, these dolls are super cute. Hope they can compete with the American Girl dolls for the affection of my children. I think they can!
I just made another set of placemats and napkins for my younger daughter to use at her Montessori school. She is starting to have lunch at school and on her way to becoming an “afternoon child”, so she’ll stay in the afternoons and do some more serious learning. This is a big step for her!
Anyway, since I made some more of these, I thought I’d share again. This is such a simple project and a great one for beginners. You can use the same instructions for adult-sized placemats and napkins as well. I think it would also be nice to sew in some ribbon or twill tape to tie the placemat into a roll. And these are reversible! This time I made my version a bit larger from the original instructions, which really make some pint-sized linens. I used 16″x16″ uncut dimensions for the napkins and 12″x16″ uncut dimensions for the placemats. This turned out to be just the right size. You can find the instructions here from my post last year.
I made the placemats pictured above with some cute kokka fabrics (deer and pandas) with a gingham and a stripe on the reverse side.
This week’s handmade gift is a lovely 2010 tea towel wall calendar from designer Michelle Engel Bencsko of Cicada Studio. Choose from the two designs shown here – Forsythia and Queen Anne’s Lace. I love that you can hang this on the wall for a year, then dry your dishes with it! The calendar is $42 and made from a linen/cotton blend. And look, she’s having a fabric sale in her shop.
Michelle, along with Gina Pantastico, has also created Cloud 9 Fabrics, a line of adorable organic and eco-friendly fabrics. So check out all of Michelle’s projects — her blog, Cloud 9 Fabrics and her Etsy shop.
Finished up the cape gift that went with the crown from earlier this week.
And made the last-minute cowgirl costume for my four-year-old (skirt and vest), which she turned into a superhero cowgirl by adding a cape, then ditched altogether in favor of a tutu and some plastic high heels when it was time for trick or treating. But she can wear the skirt anytime, so it wasn’t a complete loss.
