Wednesday on Wednesday

In this heat clothing is optional, but wings are essential.

Sew What! Reader Showcase Week Four Wrap Up!

This has taken a bit longer to get to than I thought, but it has been a very busy week! The day after we returned from our mini trip in the city the Mister says to me "Tomorrow is my mom's birthday." Oh crap! With all of the hustling and bustling I completely forgot! And it was a holiday. (Which I remembered as I was walking out the door. So after the trip, the holiday, the birthday (Which I shppoed for, made a gift and a cake for in record time!) and the invites making (still think they look fabulous!) I can finally show off YOUR submissions to the Sew What! week four challenge aptly named Carry It!

Remember when I said that Cynthia (My incredibly talented co-conspirator) made a delightfully simple version of the doll carrier? This is it. Is it not absolutely gorgeous? Loving the fabric choices here. And the brilliance of the simplicity. It is now on my to-do list for sure!

The Paisley Abby submitted this wonderful diaper clutch. Made from Moda Sock Monkey fabric, the diaper caddie easily slides into most purses and diaper bags for easy and compact travel.The caddy has two pockets that hold diapers and wipes. The chenille side is a changing pad. Loving it! Now, if only cloth diapers fit into clutches am I right mamas?

It would seem that doll toting was a high priority because MamaTave submitted this wonderful doll sling modeled after her own baby sling. I am pretty sure I had a Cabbage Patch Kid with that exact same hair as a child!

It is not always about babies and their dollies. Maekellan submitted this lovely lunch bag. I wish I could give you a better description of her projects but the Flickr photos are lacking. I do ove the colours she chose, and I think the smaller piece might be reusable food wraps?...

 This lovely toile shopping bag was made by Angela Pea. And, she didn't make just one nope. She made twelve! Grocery shopping has never looked so fabulous!

There you have it ladies and gentlemen. Week four wrap up. Now, I know from emails with some readers that there are other submissions in the works, some just got busy and some got busy and finished just in time for their camera to crap out, so this will not be the last you see of Sew What! challenge submissions.

I want to thank all of the participants who helped make this a resounding success! The readers who managed to finish each challenge right up until the last one, you are especially awesome because you kept me motivated to sew and create with you. (The thing about sew alongs of your own creation is you have to see them through in a timely fashion!) So thank you again, I have a gorgeous skirt, a beautiful clutch, a sunshiny pin cushion (which I use regularly) and now Wednesday has the most adorable carry-all for her dolls. All with your support and encouragement. So thank you!

A Very Important Date!!

Front of Invite 

Back of Invite

This is the invite for Wednesday's upcoming third birthday. I made it with images from various sources, such as purchased Alice themed Digital Scrapbooking packages and some careful Googling. The layer count in these are ridiculous! But really, it came together quite quickly! To assemble them, I had Wal-Mart Photo Centre print out the front and back images on 4x6" matte finish photo paper. Then I glued them together and used a Sharpie marker to black out the white edges of the paper. To the untrained eye it looks just like a professional copy shop postcard! This is going to be so exciting! I will hopefully have a tutorials out of this as well as some fabulous pictures and ideas to share!

Happy Canada Day!!

Wednesday having fun., originally uploaded by Cara.Mia.

Happy Canada Day to my fellow Danucks, and anyone else who is enjoying this gloriously sunny day!

Wednesday on Wednesday

Kensington market with Daddy, originally uploaded by Cara.Mia.

This is why you have yet to hear from me this week. We decided to take a trip to the city (Toronto) to visit some family (I have two siblings living there.). We ended up spending as much time IN traffic as we did out but the weather was good and the food even better.

Dollies VS Babies

Holy moly! I cannot believe how long it has taken me to post my answer to the fourth and final challenge in the Sew What Sew Along! Between technical difficulties (See memory card replacement) to busy family events (see the baking of 30 mini cheesecakes for our one and only niece's grade eight graduation party) to more technical difficulties (see special camera battery dieing at the eleventh hour) and me going to bed with Wednesday last night, you would never know that I finished this early on in the week last week!

Lovely little over-complicated number don't you think?

The story behind this one? Wednesday loves her little dolls. It started with some sticking stuffers at Christmas and has grown ridiculously out of control with little dolls being given from just about every family member. Actually, you know that is not true, I think it started with the little figures from In The Night Garden and other cartoon shows aquired from Christmases past and a yard sale or two. But, she has since moved on to the dolls. She loves these dolls. LOVES them. They go everywhere with her. Well, these four go everywhere, the bath, the car, bed time etc. The other twenty little and bigger dolls take turns being her second favourite.

I thought I would create a doll carrier that could cary many a doll and their accessories hence the elastic bits and four pockets (two inside and two outside). BUT! I wanted something that could also be a doll sling for that day when Wednesday is finally feeling that materna instinct kick in. I am not sure when that will be seeing how the closest to playing mommy-baby is pushing the baby in the stroller for about two minutes. BUT! Just in case she changes her mind, the carrier converts to a baby doll carrier. 

I know the hanger pieces are not very maternal looking but, we work with what we have here.

On how it is convertable:

1. Inside becomes a changing pad. (Pocket is a double pocket that can accommodate a dolly cloth nappy.)
2. Elastic closure stretches to accommodate folding top. (See below.)
3. Top folds down inside to make room for dolly head.
4. Fabric connecting front and back in small enough to fit between dolly legs.

Two action shots and a shot of safety goggle cuteness.

The gorgeous pink fabric was purchased at my local sewing shop a few weeks ago with plans to make this top by the Sewing Dork. I am still going to make that top but the shades of pink looked so good with the denim I couldn't resist. Speaking of the Sewing Dork, she made the most beautifully simple answer to this challenge. I am envious of her thought process sometimes (and skills). But in a good way. Click on the button below to be taken to see her masterpiece. 

Thank you so much for sewing along with us! It has been wonderful to see what everyone creates. We know that people get busy, and technical difficulties arise so I am going to wait the week to see if any more reader submissions come in and then I'll do a post showing them off. I believe Cynthia is planning on a flickr favourite editions as well which I may have to copy depending on how our favourites differ (if at all!)

Sew What! Reader Showcase!

Happy Friday mes amis! I am still on a high from yesterday's awesomeness (It got even better with a surprise visit from my little brother who lives in the big city. We had dinner on a patio and Wednesday behaved herself and it was just so nice!) So yes, good times here in the House of Sweets.

I finished my "Carry It" challenge a couple days ago but my memory card for my camera decided working was for losers and proceded to walk off the job without two weeks notice. Instead of replacing it, i am going to try and squeeze a couple weeks out of my back up camera and then we will buy another new camera. Because mama can't blog about her child and sewing without a camera ya'll.

That being said, we have had some submissions for some previous challenges coming in and I thought today would be the perfect day to show them off!

First off, three submissions for the reverse applique filled form challenge! (I was so worried no one liked the reverse applique part of the challenge!)

This is a lovely (I mean lovely) layered reverse applique submission from MaeKellan. The description was missing but since it is on the floor next to a door I am going to go out on a limb and say it is a doorstop! I really like it, the shape is wonderful and that punch of colour with the stripes at the center makes me happy. (I have learned over the years I am a sucker for stripes.)

Like a good little overachiever, MaeKellan submitted this beautiful little blue number as well. Again, the description was missing but I think it is safe to assume it as a hot pad and coaster combo. I LOVE the hot pad take on it (and the hot pad itself). Such a lovely example of patchwork and reverse applique.

This clever little number is from MamaTave. Remember when I said that pocket pillows were genius? I wasn't kidding. I love this pillow and she gets extra points for it holding a [Mercer Mayer] book and not a remote! Lovely work, and how comfy does it look?

Thank you so much ladies for these sewing along, your work is just wonderful to both look at and share! Being late is okay, and I remember saying that with father's Day coming up I expected late submissions. As long as you sew them, we will post them! Even the older ones like the skirt challenge or the bag with words! It is all good!  If you have any questions about the Carry It challenge for this week you can refer to this post or email Cynthia or myself and we will answer any questions you may have.

I Would Like To Thank The Academy...

Remember this little number? Well, it won me best straight skirt in a little contest called Skirt Week hosted by a little blog called Crafterhours. (By the way, when I say little contest and little blog I really mean big and awesome!)

I tell you, this totally made up for not even an honorable mention in the Spring Top Week contest. Which by the way, I totally wear that strapless top whenever I can as it is just as comfy as it is pretty it also goes perfectly with a pair of brown and white plaid shorts I refashioned. So it still worked out because it lit a fire under my bum to make it.

Back to the skirt though, I thought this would be a good time to mention that I have worn the skirt to two family functions and on top of getting very nice comments on it, my sister has asked me to refashion her up one themed with argyle. (How fun does that sound?) But! I wanted to say that the skirt has made it through two machine washings and still looks fabulous.

I can't wait to claim my prizes! So much awesome stuff!

Best Straight Skirt:

Mod Podge for Fabric, Simply Screen kit + Iron-ons from Mod Podge Rocks
1 yard custom twill tape from TwillTape.com
1 roll twill tape from TwillTape.com
Summer Vacation Dress and Shortie, Can-Can Skirt Patterns from MADE (Seriously, I have been coveting that Can-Can skirt for a couple months now!)
$20 Gift Certificate from Above All Fabric
$25 Gift Certificate from the Heather Bailey Store



This is just the coolest thing ever! I think I have told The Mister about, ten times today!

Alrighty, back to real life, (which by the way, brought me a pick up bed full of canning jars  + two old trunks to hold some in for free AND a surprise visit from my brother!)I hope your day is going uber awesome too!

Wednesday on Wednesday

 One very proud father and one very happy daughter.

We have created our own tradition for Fathers day as a family and for me I think it is beginning to rival Christmas. I mean the weather is nicer and there is no emptying of the pockets for gifts so we can invite as many people as we want! What we do is get Ron's family, my family and any super close friends together for a BBQ at a local park area. This was our third year having the BBQ and we had it at Presqu'ile Provincial Park. The weather was cool and windy but sunny and warm at the sawe time. Above conversation and laughter we heard the waves crashing on the shore of the shoal beach. So.very.awesome. At first it was just the easiest way to say happy fathers day to the newest dad in my life (Ron) and both of our dads as well as Ron's bother who has been a dad for a few years. It just seemed like such a good idea we kept going last year and then again this year and will definitely be doing it every year after this that weather permits.
I hope your weekend was as full of smiles and sunshine as ours!

Sew What! Reader Showcase and Challenge Number Four (And Final Week)

The only submission I have to show off for the pillow/reverse applique challenge is my partner in crime Cynthia The Sewing Dork.

Her submissions for the challenge are nothing short of adorable. I do enjoy the owl on the first pillow. And although she lost me at the blue jersey ruffle, I do enjoy the frayed flower center and she is bang on with her colour combos yes?!

But, through the Sewing Dork Flickr pool I have a couple reader submissions from weeks one and two made by Maekellan.

First up is an adorable skirt, made from a pillowcase. I Love a cute re-use don't you?

The second is a pair of shopping bags for the bag with words challenge. The front shopping bag says "Every Bag Counts" and it is so very true! Awesome stuff. Thank you MaeKellan for sewing along with us!

I hope it wasn't the suggestion of reverse applique that affected your choices to participate. I actually had a couple emails from participants who were excited about the challenge so I assumed it was an o-k challenge?

Well, if that was the case I have good news! This weeks challenge is technique-free! It was like we were reading each other's mind when we concocted this challenge. It should be interesting to see what we come up with, having the exact same but not exact same idea. (Did ya catch that?) That is why I love this Sew Along so much! And, I think Cynthia put it best over at her blog The Sewing Dork, so I am going to copy and paste it here as well.

Carry It.

1. Use your chosen fabric and all the zippers/button/straps you need.

2. Make any kind of carrying device... for your camera, your lunch, your shoes, your children - you name it!

3. Once your project is complete, either email it to [Cynthia] or I, or upload it to my Flickr showcase. Once we have a few photos, we'll show them off on our blogs. [Cynthia] and I will post our finished projects this coming weekend.

4. Be creative, and have fun!