Tara Miller Designs

SHORTS!

I have been on a Oliver+S roll lately. I guess I just love their patterns. They are excellently written and the design isn't one you can walk away from. I first saw the Class Picnic Shorts, I heard a squeal of delight in my head. The top is great too but those shorts are out of this world. When I ordered the pattern in the Spring, I cut 2 sets right away. The pattern was easy but a little longer than I had anticipated but WELL WORTH it. These shorts are darling, fit very well and work great with my daughter's wardrobe. I used lightweight quilting cotton from Moda's Sherbert Pips and Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane for the light blue shorts and Sherbert Pips and linen for the red shorts. I think the red are her favorties because she loves the little dogs. 

She doesn't stand still for very long or very often for blog pics.

Sun Hats from Christmas

We went on a beach vaction early in April with extended family including some of Devon's cousins. I gathered since she was gettting a cool new hat from my Oliver+S book gifted to me over Christmas, that I should put my rotary cutter to the test and cut out 4 (1 for D plus 3 for her cousins) and set to work. The cutting was the easy part and making Devon's was super easy too. Her medium size hat went together like pie (hmm, I could go for some pie!) but the 3 larges didn't. The hang up was stitching the top of the sides. The top of the hat was just too big. So I grabbed my medium pattern piece and it fit perfectly. Not sure how this mix up happened but in the future I marked the medium piece: "Med/Large". Once I had that figured out the rest of the hats fell into place. The results were amazing and an equally big hit.

The red and pink is one hat and the dark blue and light blue are another and the spider/octogon are the last of the cousin hats. The last is Devon's floral and sort of abstract in green and pink. She wears it all the time and I can honestly attest to that considering I made them over a month ago!

Devon's New Romper

I just finished this pattern for Fabric.com. It is their newest free pattern download and I love it. I didn't think that I would but let's face it- it's pretty darn cute. I made alot of modifications for my 3 yr old. It turns out that the pattern as written is not very toddler/pre-school kid ready. If your child can't tie then try out my modifications which make it easy for the little one to undress or go potty. Plus I added some gathers at the waist to rudeuce the bubble butt look (which you can do with the belt provided in the pattern, but I only wanted to wrestle her into one garment, not 2). Check out my full review and a walkthrough of my modifications over at Fabric.com's blog

Drowning in Fabric Scraps

I have more scraps than I can handle, especially considering I just cleaned out the studio closet. I am marking fabric scrap grab bags in my shop 20% so stock up until they are gone! Use the coupon code: Springclean20

 

 

Fun Long Distance Grandma Gift- Wearable Kid Art

While my mom lives close, Devon's Besta lives 3 hours away and thus misses out on some of the benefits my mom get by being within "pop-over" distance such as a collection of kid art. I decided to rectify the situation by giving Devon some Shrinky Dinks to decorate. We then watched them bake and shrink and she picked which piece to send to who. In the end we made a gift for Besta (Norwegian for Grandmom), Auntie Brandi, my mom (AKA Lovey), me, one for Devon and the last one goes to my grandmom. They make great gifts that kids can be proud of and send safety to loved ones anywhere.

 

Materials:

Ruff n Ready Shrinky Dinks (these are easier for little ones to color) cut in half lengthwise and then in thirds, making 6 pieces

Markers (I used washable markers)

regular hole punch 

jump rings, key rings or anything else you wish to attach your finished art. 

Layout your 6 pieces and let you kid go to town. Once finished, write their name on the front (I forgot and wrote it on the back) along with their age. Punch a hole where ever you prefer.

lay out the pieces with the ruff side down on a cookie sheet and bake according to the directions. Once cooled, your child can pick which piece goes to whom and gift wrap. These art gifts make great pendants (just round the corners a bit), key fobs, or zipper pulls. Grandma will love it and it's a great way to preserve some kid art for life. 

I picked the one where we traced our hands, one over top the other. So sweet!

 

Big Girl Bed

We just moved and alot has changed since then. Highest on my priority list has been getting Devon's Big Bed ready for her. Can you believe it wasn't until she was 3 that she tried to climb out of her crib. Pretty nice for us but she wasn't too pleased with the results. She was always so content with her books and jumping that I guess she didn't see the point. When she did climb (err... fall out) we rushed out and got her mattress. However, we could only put it on the floor which I have since been told is the best place to start the transition since they don't have far to fall. In the meantime, I procured from my parents our an heirloom bed that I had earmarked for Devon since she was born and I found it in the basement. It was my bed and my dad's bed before. It is solid wood and beautifully made. However, having gone through 2 kids one of them my dad who rough housed with his 2 brother's daily on that bed, it needed work. 

On a really nice day last week, Devon and I got to work sanding and painting. Well, I sanded, Devon rode her bike, helped me sand a bit, colored the garage door with chalk and then colored her un-sanded foot board with chalk. I believe she also picked some flowers. Then we took a trip to pick out spray paint and Devon choose from the 3 I offered (turquoise, kelly green, and cherry red) the red. It was a great choice and she never wavered. When we got home, we set to work. Devon's job was to not get on the paint tarp and to hold the paint lid. She took both jobs serious but whenever I took a break to stretch my back, she was jumping around all the pieces. I gave the bed a full 24 hours to dry and cure before they travelled up to her room and set up. Once the bed was complete, she fell in love all over again. She has not gone back to her crib once, though it is still in her room just in case. She loves her big bed.

I was unable to get out all the ding and dents created from 50+ years of wear and tear, so I left most and love the look it created. The charater is still intact but the overall appearance is classic and beautiful.  

2011 Loose Ends

So I have a tendancy to say I am going to do things on the blog and then do them but forget to write about the turn out later. This post (a a few to follow) is an effort to tie up these loose ends from projects in 2011.

Tea dying (also coffee dying) This did not turn out well. I even left it to sit overnight and the color is only slightly different. I don't recommend it since it is messy with minimal results. I am going to work on bleaching in 2012 so stay tuned. 

Christmas projects round up:

From Mom!

For my SIL

For my mom, Devon's Lovey!

For my Brother

Camera Strap Covers for my Brother

For my Devon!

 

Cozy new friend

Remember that busted up blanket in my last post? Well, once I brushed her off and added the new bias trim the family is fighting over her. She is shining bright and loving the attention. Plus she really goes well with my new christmas pillow cover. Now I need to look around and see what else needs some bias trim...

Touching up an old friend

I purchased this good old blanket many years ago at a Home Good store and it has been through many a movie, sickness, quick runs out to get the paper and even a few diaper changes. I love this blanket since it is the perfect size. But it was starting to show it's age so I decided some TLC in the form of bias tape would do some wonders since the wear was concetrated on the edges. I opt for a red and white polka dot in 2 in. bias tape and within 30 minutes there was new life! keep your eyes open of oldies but goodies at your local thift stores and suit them up for yourself or a local charity!

Dyeing Fabric with Tea

 

During nap today, I dyed some muslin with tea. It was the least messy fabric dyeing I have ever dealt with and it smelled wonderful! I based it on some instructions I googled but in the end I eyeballed it all since I didn't have tea bags and I was working with 2 + yds of lightweight muslin. Teac dying will give your fabric an aged, vintage, antique look. I am planning on using the dyed fabric to make cafe curtains with a Greek Key trim as seen in Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts (love this book!)

I started by filling my sink with roughly a gallon of hot water and to that I added 9 tbsps of loose leaf tea (Mine of Ceylon Cherry which I hoped would add a bit of red but no dice). I then waited 5-7 min for the water to darken. I added the fabric to the tea and carfeully swished my fabric around until it was wet through. I let it soak for 30 min and then came back and swish and stired some more. I left the fabric for the rest of the afternoon until it was a good dark, antique color and then drained the water. I rinsed the tea leaves off a little and placed the wet fabric in the dryer (you can hang it outside as well) to dry.  As I type my fabric is still drying and I want to wait for the light of day to see the finished resulting color. Can't wait!