December 29, 2011

She sews

December 29, 2011/ molly balint

Christmas gift-giving was a real challenge for me this year. Even up to the last few days before the holiday I was scrambling for ideas.

I was feeling like my kids didn't really need anything. We have plenty of toys. The baby is drowning in three sisters worth of hand-me-downs. Their rooms are totally messy which makes me even less excited to go out and buy more "things" to add to that chaos.

But my kids aren't quite at the age where they appreciate a hive of bees or a goat.

Ideally I like to have one "winner" gift. Something that will thrill their socks off and then pepper the rest of the gift-giving with little things like books, underwear, chapstick and pencils.

Finally at the very last minute this year, and thanks to an in-store phone call to my sister, inspiration arrived.

For Mary, it was actually easy--she's been begging for an (inexpensive) digital camera since the first hint of holiday decorations started appearing on store shelves. (So that's like, what? October?) And for her slightly absent-minded personality, she's handled the responsibility impressively well. The camera still works AND she knows where it is.

But Emma was a challenge. She wanted a horse-y Christmas and had things on her list like an indoor riding arena (Lord, help me.), and jockey silks. (They aren't cheap!)

She also had on this on her list at number 10: That Birdy will stay little forever.

Be still my heart. She immediately got extra points for that one.

So, as I was standing in the local Feed Mill staring at hay racks and shedding blades, nothing was inspiring me.

But in a desperate phone call to my sister and a "What are you getting your kids?" conversation, I hung up the phone with a plan.

My girl was ready for her own sewing machine.

If you've caught any of my whining around these parts, we've been without a sewing machine in this house for almost three years. I've been borrowing and begging which is no fun. And Emma loves to sew.

Even with my majorly budget-minded Christmas, I was still able to get her a very basic, entry-level Singer.

I've never really given Emma specific sewing lessons. She knows the basics and nothing more. But watching her navigate the creative sewing waters is exciting.

It's like when toddlers first learn to dance. The minute they start to bop to the beat, you don't whisk them off to dance classes. There is so much creativity and growth in them learning how to swing their hips and bend at the knees. They're way more creative and free without the boundaries of proper dancing technique.

And I'm finding the same to be true with Emma's sewing. I know she knows enough to be safe. She knows that if she doesn't want her stitches to pull out she needs to do a little back-and-forth at the beginning and end. But otherwise, she is a blank slate behind the presser foot. The possibilities are endless.

I know that eventually what she wants to make will get more complicated and some instruction will be required.

But for now, my house is peppered with tiny hearts, miniature pouches and endless possibilities.

The dining room curtains and pleated skirts can wait....

April 11, 2011

sheep fabric

April 11, 2011/ molly balint

Last year, I doodled this sheep drawing into a notebook one afternoon while I was sitting at the table with the girls. I have always kind of loved it and wanted to turn it into something I could use. I thought about notecards, or a totebag, or putting it on the front of little onesies or tees for my kids, but I never really followed through with any of those ideas.

A few weeks ago, this baby blanket idea reminded me of spoonflower so I decided it was finally time to move the sketch from my notebook onto something.

After much anticipation, last week my own little piece of sheep fabric arrived in the mail. I'm beyond thrilled, especially because I have a soft spot for anything "sheep" and it is impossible to find sheep things that aren't completely "cartoon-goofy" or "cutesy precious."

The whole process on spoonflower was simple. I only ordered a fat quarter of quilters cotton and another swatch of a cotton canvas. If I eventually order more, I think I'll make the print a tiny bit smaller.

But eek! Overall, I LOVE it. Now of course, I'm faced with determining what project will be worthy of my little quarter of sheep print.

May 18, 2010

B is for Birdy

May 18, 2010/ molly balint

First of all thank you for all your thoughts and hellos on my last post. It was enlightening and encouraging to hear all the different perspectives and ideas on blogging and commenting. Thank you to all who took a moment to say hello, but I also want to say again, that my post wasn't meant to focus on people commenting or not on my blog. But it was simply was me thinking out loud about how I've been feeling about blogging lately...

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I printed up these onesies for Birdy this weekend. I've had these old letterpress stamps kicking around my house for years and I've always kind of wondered if they would actually work for printing. I just never tried.

And even though it is the end of May and I just turned up my heat, I know that eventually summer will arrive and Birdy will be pretty much living in onesies. So of course, I need to "cute them up" a bit.

This project took me all of five minutes.

I love the way it turned out.

And I am seriously resisting the urge to put a big letter B on anything and everything.

Birdy hasn't told me if she likes them or not. When I tried to get a photo of her she was screaming. She's such a baby.

But every time I snap open her sleepers to reveal the big B on her chest, I feel like there's a super hero lurking underneath.

Maybe I should make her a cape...

February 15, 2010

sniff, sniff

February 15, 2010/ molly balint

A few weeks ago, two of my dear cousins came to town for a visit and stayed at my grandmother's house. On their last day, we sat together in my grandmother's bedroom on her boldly upholstered sofa, knitting, looking at old scrapbooks, reminiscing, and assessing the future.

One of my favorite things in my grandmother's bedroom, aside from that great sofa, are the throw pillows that cover it. I've said it before but one of the things I love about my grandmother's house is that her handiwork is everywhere. And those pillows are no exception. Some were gifts, some made by her children and many made by her.

To me, they are little gestures that carry so much love, care and effort.

And during the time we spent in her bedroom that Sunday afternoon, I determined that I would make each of the girls a pillow of their own for Valentine's Day this year.

When I was living on my grandmother's farm, she gifted me a small basket of her fabric scraps and many of those fabrics went into the girls' pillows. At the bottom of that basket, I also found a piece of the same fabric that upholsters her bedroom sofa--enough to back each of the girls pillows.

As I ironed and stitched the fabrics together and appliqued a special design on the front of each pillow, for each girl, I said to my husband, "This fabric smells like her still." It made me teary, but happy.

And when those three little girls opened their presents Valentine's morning and pulled out the pillows, they clutched them and buried their noses in them. "This smells like Meemu!" And they recognized that fabric and knew bits of it were from her.

It made all the effort and the sneaking-around sewing, and the borrowed sewing machine, and the stuck fingers, and the ripped out stitches and silly mistakes worth it.

December 13, 2009

to my husband : please don't read this post

December 13, 2009/ molly balint

It's probably dangerous to be posting about Christmas gifts, but this one is so simple and quick, I wanted to share it before the holidays. And it is the kind of thing I love to see hanging around my home. Yes, this gift is for Dan, but I think I love it just as much as I hope he will.

We're on an extremely small budget for the holidays this year. I've had to be super-organized and super-creative. I've also had to figure out exactly what I want to get each person on my list, versus wandering aimlessly online and in shops, looking for something to catch my eye.

Ironically, it has been somewhat liberating to be reigned in so tightly this year. In my mind I came up with a plan--one nice, squeal-worthy gift for each child and a few smaller, inexpensive gifts. But for Dan, I knew I wanted to give him a few things that were either handmade or "created" at home.

In the past I made him these silhouettes of the girls, which he loved and immediately hung up in our apartment. And now they sit just at the top of our stairs, here at Thomas Run. (While taking this picture I realized that Elizabeth's silhouette desperately needs to be updated--her baby picture is quite boy-ish.)

And this year, I wanted to do something similar--something to mark this year, these ages of our girls.

When I was little I remember my handprints, made in paint, hanging on the family wall in our kitchen. And with that idea in mind, I decided to create a fabric version for Dan.

I traced each of the girls hands and then machine-appliqued the handprint onto some linen fabric. With Mary and Emma, I had them write their own names inside of the handprint and I wrote Elizabeth's. Then I simply embroidered over their names with a split stitch and added the year in which the handprints were created.

I was pleasantly surprised to find these frames at the dollar store which fit perfectly. They are not a standard size, but are the type of frame where you'd add multiple photographs of different sizes into a matte board. I removed the matte and slid in the fabric handprints.

All in all, the stitching and sewing could easily be completed in a day and the whole project cost me $3, since I only used fabrics and embroidery thread in my stash.

And I think they'll be a pretty nice addition to our growing family wall.

In other shopping news a few things catching my eye, that I wanted to share while there's still time:

Stonz booties : Elizabeth received a pair of these last spring. And I can't tell you how wonderful they are. She is still wearing the same pair she received last year--they are warm, (especially with the sherpa liner), durable, easy to wash (even after an episode in the mud), they stay on, and they are so cute.

Olive Juice : We've talked on here before about finding (or not finding, actually) classic, age-appropriate clothing for children. And I am completely smitten with this company. Their clothes are classic and well-made and have a touch of vintage charm that I really love. For some of us, the prices may be a little intimidating, but it is well worth your two seconds to sign up for their email list. They have frequent and wonderful sales. I've scored many good deals when they discount all items in their "outlet" to $10. Mary has this shirt. Emma has a dress from them, that I can't find online at the moment. And I absolutely love this, this, and this. Oh! And this, and these!

RosieHippo: I'm also excited about this gift that will be making it's way under our tree for Elizabeth. She'll also get a little set of these.

A few other handmades catching my eye : with our history, of course I kind of dig these fox pillows--is that strange? I secretly wish I could get one for each of the girls. I love the 2010 Tea Towel Calendar from Cicada Studio. And there is a lot of potential with these blank, unfinished wood cutouts....

Phew! That's enough links for one post....happy handmade, happy crafting, happy shopping.