renaissance fair

Yesterday we went to the Renaissance Fair

and we had a great time!

The kids dressed up

as princess and knight.

Miss C. wore her Belle dress.

and Lego Brick Master wore a tunic

I made using McCall pattern 5500.

We enjoyed people watching

silly acting,

camel ridding,

 game playing

 and being part of a show!

Speaking of show,

Princess C. knighted Brick Master

in a lovely ceremony

(we missed the Queen doing it....because of the dragon!)

The Knight promised to protect and serve

his Princess!

Overall, a great day!

Oh, one more thing,
my friend and I had our portrait taken:

And yes we were lovely ladies!

Good Day to you!

surprise in the mail

Yesterday I received this package in the mail:

The dogs and I love to go to the mail box,

it is one of the fun moments of the day,

I know, it is pretty slow here,

with the kids at school!

So getting a package is a definite plus, at least for me,

the dogs just want to check the front yard!

It came from Donna of My Shabby Chateau,

she was the winner of my giveaway

She made me this lovely lavender pillow!

I wish I could keep it,

but Miss C. walked by and took off with it,

declaring : "it smells nice Mama, I need it"!

Merci Donna!

Happy day!

Cinderella costume

As I have mentioned before,

we are Cinderella lovers,

and since Halloween is coming soon

at least on blog land (!)

I am reposting our costumes.

I made both of our costumes

Miss C. is Butterick pattern 4320

and mine is  Simplicity pattern 2813.

Of course Dolly had to have her own!

The pattern is simplicity 2264.

There is a tulle petticoat for added volume.

I know a true lady does not show her undergarment

but she is only pulling up her skirt to knee level!

It was a great Halloween evening,

with matching Daughter and Mom and Dolly!

Sewing costumes takes a while,

but they last so much longer,

zippers are so much better than velcro!

How do we know?

well we dress up more than just for Halloween!

It is a least a once a week event for Miss C.!

Happy sewing!

trip to Chicago

We had a great Labor Day week end.

We went to visit my sister in Chicago,

she was transferred from Paris

and now lives only 5 and half hours from us!

Well until we move.....

anybody interested in our house?

Anyway It was a lot of fun,

we spent most of our time at the beach!

It is hard to believe this is a lake!

I grew up by the English Channel

and it felt pretty similar, well at least for the temperature of the water!!

Of course that has never stopped any children!

They just loved it!

We had to return the next day with our swimsuit

to better enjoy the water and sand!

We managed to get a little shopping done....

we had to go the American Girls store

and the Lego store

Of course!

We managed to see a few nice buildings,

the architecture there is very interesting,

some real old houses and churches,

with exquisite details,

more for adults than children!

On our way back home,

we stopped at the Fair Oaks farms,

a huge dairy farm, with a good learning program.

It was interesting but the best part for my kids:

the climbing wall!

There is nothing wrong with getting your jolly climbing a huge bottle of milk!

Happy day!

doll purse

Lately I have been playing doll a lot,

and I realised accessories are so important for dolls too!

I found this site that has a cool pattern for

a hobo bag.

I made mine out of fake leather,

and it looks pretty good.

When you signed up for the pattern, through email,

you also get some mini-money!

The money is double sided when you print it,

it is quite fun, perfect to go shopping!

I went to Michaels today and there are a lot more

doll accessories and clothes.

The clothes are not my kind of craftsmanship (but well priced!)

but the shoes and glasses are pretty neat....

Our dolls definitively needed some sunglasses!!

And I cannot make that!

Happy sewing!

fall sign

Do you remember the American flag I made

using this tutorial?

Well it was so much fun, I decided to make something similar for fall!

I started with some 2 x 4, mod podge, craft paint,

and scrapbook paper.

I  cut 3 pieces from the 2 x 4:

8, 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 inch long.

Each piece was painted a different color.

I used my Slice machine with the farm cartridge

and cut Fall, pumpkins, fork and fence.

I clued the paper with mod podge,

then sanded the edges,

and applied some more brown paint on these edges.

I then glued the letters and accessories to the block.

Voila, a cool little sign!

Now I am not sure which one I prefer:

all in a row or with the extra block on the top...

What do you think?

any favorite?

The acorns come from a park around the corner

where we spend a lot of time during the showing of our house.

My son, the scout, was quite shocked that we picked them up,

"leave nature the way you find".

He is right, I just hope who ever was going to eat them will be OK!

Happy crafting!

historical dress

I made a "Felicity" dress

for Miss C.'s doll.

The pattern is  McCall pattern 3627

This dress is made of 2 pieces, a sleeveless dress and a top.

I used some cotton fabric, lined with muslin.

The French lace was tea dyed to match the off white fabric.

The dress pattern could be for a perfect night gown.

I working on a big red velvet cape, lined in baroque satin,

perfect for a cooler day.

Happy sewing!

first day of school

Today was the first day of school!

We were all happy to start school as a family,

in the same school district....

since the house market is so slow!

Lego Brick Master started 4th grade...

I must be getting older!

and Miss C. started 1st grade!

I am definitively getting old!

It is her first time being all day at school.

She had a great time, my baby is growing!

Happy day!

well also a little sad but I am a proud Maman!

lavender pillow

A few weeks ago I shared with you the harvest of my lavender

and the fabrication of scented sachets.

Well I just received the newest PB catalog

and of course it is full of lavender!

No wonder I am, like a lot people(!), a fan of their stuff!

Who is copying who?

Please do not answer that!

There are a few cute pillows

and this one really caught my eye:

so beautiful, embroidered on linen!

So of course I had to make my own version

as I have done with the olive pillows.

See why there was no need to answer the previous question!

I drew some simple lavender stems

and embroidered them using embroidery floss.

I used green 522, brown 407 and 3 purple blues: 340, 3807, 792.

The flowers were embroidered using a double daisy stitch,

called in French point de Berry, a daisy stitch is stitched inside the first daisy stitch.

I then added some extra flowers and leaves,

using some actual lavender as inspiration.

I think it looks pretty good

and Miss C. said it smells good,

the power of suggestion!

Happy sewing!