JCasa *handmade

a few good things

her sense of style

her sense of humor

their bond

daddy's influence on proper supergirl flying moves

other good (and great) things ::
all the neighborly love these past few weeks, my space being featured on modish, and my work featured on sewmamasew twice in the past week, and a few new + very exciting opportunities (and that's all i'll say about that).

also loving this scarf, all things tortillagirl, la fuji mama's nutella cookies, stefanie japel making t-shirt yarn, lucy and her gorgeous new design, gretelie's oh so pretty wool wristwarmers, wisecraft's brilliant removable quilt design wall, and halloween candy.  oh yes, let's share a piece with mama, please.

what's making you happy on this gorgeous first day of november?  xoxo

tidy

i couldn't help myself, everything looked so pretty.

reframing and arranging favorite prints, photos, textiles and ceramics. and placing much needed tools at my fingertips.

a new configuration of inspiration boards in the form of ikea cutting boards + a shimandsons pinstrip.  inspired by rachel to use something non-traditional.

removing completed projects from my bulletin board, in turn creating space for what is yet to come.  me thinks cleaning out a creative space is a good thing.

:

i have a few things to wrap up this month - that quilt up there tops the list - so i'll be popping in and out with photos of our days along the way. and of course, a good recipe or two. and maybe a craft project here and there. and some very cool news. wait a minute, how is that stepping back from blogging for a short while?
enjoy your days!  xoxo

pet pal

it's pet week at preschool, and some of the kiddos are bringing their furry friends in to meet the class.  and while the girls would love to include our dear arthur, they recognize that he is not the most social cat, nor is he a fan of his carrying case (as in howling and other gross things i'd prefer not mention, ahem).
so we came up with a simple solution ::

 

+ a handsome photo of our furry feline
+ printable fabric (love that stuff)
+ orange backing fabric (because he's orange, mama)
+ stuffing
+ lentils (in the bottom to keep him upright)

everybody is happy - they get to bring him to school and he doesn't get stressed out.  and mama doesn't have to scrub out the carrier at the end of the day, either.  good deal.  xoxo

field day!

it's here : make it!

i love love love the look of vintage cheerleader uniforms and field hockey kilts – in fact, i think i loved wearing my field hockey skirt to junior high on game day even more than actually playing - all those pleats take me back to a simpler time. Field Day is a great little pleated skirt with an updated take on this design, featuring inverted box pleats in contrasting fabric and constructed with French seams for a clean tailored finish. **now don't go getting all "French Seams? I can't do that!" on me - this pattern will have Frenchy becoming your new best friend. the pleats drape and twirl – and everybody loves to twirl – while the top band of the skirt gathers with an elasticized waistband to fit your girly for years and years.

Field Day is available for purchase in my shop as a PDF which is sent to you via email, so you could be making something she'll wear tomorrow (like i did, the night before pre-K)! and it is totally do-able, even for beginners, with 5 pages of easy to follow step-by-step instructions, full color images to demonstrate pattern specifics, and complete sewing instructions for sizes 2-12!

if you have ever followed one of my patterns/tutorials, you know that they are non-traditional in their format, a sort of hybrid combining what i love about both knitting and sewing patterns. there aren’t pattern pieces, per se - just directions for cutting and sewing straight lines, simplifying the process as much as possible.

and if you think this design looks familiar... you're right!

like many people, i sew and i knit.  and add to the mix that i design and write patterns... it's been a natural evolution.  i dream up something - an accessory or garment or whatever - and then i think about whether to knit it or sew it.  and when i can figure out a way to do both that really truly works and isn't just whimsical, well then i am over the moon!  Field Day is the sewn version of old skool - so for those of you who like old skool but don't knit, here you go.  and for those of you who both knit + sew... well it looks like girly has a new wardrobe coming.

i hope you + yours enjoy field day as much as we do.  xoxo

first day

after a week of extra reminders that mama will always love them - in the form of ever so many snuggles and stories and swinging and singing and face painting and even purple polish on my toenails - i am confident they are both reassured that mama will always be there, because off they went to pre-K.  scampered, actually.

and having something mamamade couldn't hurt, so last night after completing all my other post-bedtime household tasks - somewhere around 9pm, to be precise - i set out to whip up these skirts.  one with many little smiling friends and a tiny bit of purple for my animal lover, and a super twirly skirt for my girly-girl complete with stripes and waves and polka dots.

today was my first day, as well : getting up before dawn to let that grizzly bear chase me on the treadmill for 3 miles.  and i was done before 7am, who knew?
do come back tomorrow, as i have a little surprise for you.  xoxo

i feel good.

this is why.

ok.  let's back up a minute.  the girls are my sunshine, don't get me wrong... but those dresses!  working with elastic thread has been swirling around my mind ever since i saw heather ross on martha stewart making that cute little sundress from her book.  i kept thinking elastic thread would be this big scary monster, but her chilled out approach eventually had my mind filled with possibilities.  all i needed to do was try.  so last friday  i started in on my picnic tunic prototype using that big happy red gingham.  i really liked where the piece was going, but knew it wasn't perfect.  time-out for a few days to knit + think.  then came tunic number two on tuesday.

lowered the neckline and incorporated seam binding thinking it would give a cute ruffle around the collar once the elastic thread was in there.  um, no.  more thinking in the form of organizing my yarn stash late into the night.  tunic number three emerged on wednesday.

raised the waistline a few inches, fixed a sleeve seaming obstacle, and made seam binding from the leftover fabric to create a casing for 1/4" elastic to gather the neck instead of the thread and... we have our winner.

in fact, i liked it so much, that i went back to fix number two's neckline and simplified the process at that.  at the end of the day - a day that should have been spent getting everything and everyone ready for vacation - the girls have three dresses they absolutely love, and mama got learned.  this is pretty much how i work.
try.  try.  try.

and with that, we're off.  headed to the sea for some time together + away.  the plan is to keep up with my 365 on Flickr via the iPhone, but otherwise taking a break from this space and the shop.  when we're back, all sandy + freckled + rested + full, i'd like to work up this tunic pattern and would love a few test-sewers.  if that is something that interests you, send me an email [jchandmadeATyahooDOTcom] with your info (name, email, blog URL and a general idea of your sewing abilities - please note, this is intended to be approachable by everyone, newbies as well as more experienced sewers).  i'll be in touch in early september.
be well + enjoy your days!  xoxo

a better picnic

the picnic tunic completed its kiddo-testing and performed quite well... except for one detail.  back to the drawing board, as they say.

it was funny, the hub did one of those, "you made that?  wow!  that's pretty good!" coming off as genuinely impressed while simultaneously trying not to sound surprised.  so when i asked for his feedback, he said precisely what i was thinking... the neckline was too high.  it began as a boatneck, but when i gathered it with the elastic thread - well, even though it felt loose to wear, it looked tight.  or maybe a better word is "uptight".  no bother.

i find that i am able to think through sewing while knitting.  sounds funny, but the time it takes to knit is very meditative and well, it works for me.  enter one ball of malabrigo and i figure out a new approach to the neckline.  girly has a new hat - i thoroughly enjoyed knitting a mini version of anemoon by {a black pepper} - i have made a few simple mods to the pattern so it fits a child.  details in my ravelry notebook. 

oh, how i enjoy the creative process.  and how cool that my littles enjoy their mamamade goodies.  more on the tunic tomorrow.  xoxo

a picnic

i decided to take the plunge and give elastic thread a try.

i like it.  a.  lot.

i love when clothes for little ones are not so much cute as they are stylish while still maintaining an age appropriateness to them.  this little number came together this morning, and while it is still in the prototype phase, i am quite happy with the direction we're headed.  after a few hiccups, it seems to be working - the concept, the shape, the fit - oh how i love when one piece can fit for years and evolve with the wearer.  but the challenge is to make it work for a range of ages without looking ill-fitting.  i'm still trying to get a good grasp on that, but with practice i seem to slowly be wrapping my head around things.  i do think this one is on the right track here, and i'm especially smitten with how gathering the waist so simply makes the vertical lines of the gingham pop.  she'll try it out at a picnic tomorrow and see how it fares when put to the kiddo-test.  bon weekend, everyone!  xoxo

the shuffle

one thing i love about knitting is that you can do it pretty much anywhere.  but sewing + making requires a bit more of a designated space to house all of the ideas and inspiration and works in progress along the way.  working in a small space means things can - if you let them (cough cough) - get quite cluttered rather quickly.  shuffling back and forth between knitting and sewing is a big part of who i am, and all those many projects need a place to land en route to completion.  so you can imagine that my little work space has been known to suffer from system overload.

enter mother nature :: thanks to a very rainy day this weekend, i was able to do a major cleanout and regain my footing, by emptying out the room entirely and only inviting back that which is needed.  the result is more breathing room than i thought i had, a big bag for donation and rather impressive pile of fabrics to be shared (yes, that means giveaway - more on that soon enough).  one would imagine i could have sewn a bit this weekend...

alas, there was no time for sewing with the wonderful busyness of life happening.  but with some fluffy malabrigo (for my purple-loving girly) and a lovely pattern in hand, there was knitting - in the car.  i do hope swiss miss wasn't offended when she was asked to share her sunny window spot with my swift + ball winder.  it was just for a short while, after all.  xoxo

rusty

now that i have finally made it to the flip side of a few exciting projects, i am happy to be getting to know my sewing space again.  even if just for a moment this afternoon in between dance camp and eye exams - it felt good.

never fear, there has been constant crafting as i've been swept up in a knitting frenzy of late and it shows no signs of stopping as more projects have been cast on.  but the sewing, oh how i've missed it.  my little space is like an apple green oasis for me and always allows me to exhale.  granted, at the moment it is shamefully cluttered and a total mess in here, but i can now freely dive into the quilt with a bit of embroidery and work on a secret surprise for the backing.  xoxo