New Kits At Allegro

Not much happened this weekend except for the fact that mommy came down with the flu and I sprained my ankle. . . ouch! Silly me I zigged when I should have zagged when I was out grocery shopping in the rain with a fever and I twisted it when I was running to the car with the cart trying to avoid getting soaked. Yes, I know, not the smartest move. So, I didn't do very much this weekend except curl up in bed or on the sofa and try to shake this thing and rest my foot. I had so many things I wanted to accomplish this weekend but mother nature wasn't cooperating anyway and it rained and rained all weekend long. So, if I had to be sick this weekend was a good weekend to do it. Don't you just hate the flu? It's such a waste of time...I just hope this one decides to leave quickly because I have work to do. The great news is 3 new Olabelhe kits are available at Allegro. Linda listed them in her shop over the weekend and they are ready to go. These kits are sure to go fast so if you are interested pop over to Allegro Fabrics to grab one before they are gone.

Dawn

Happenings

This week has been filled with all kinds of happenings. First, and most exciting I had my new intern start on Tuesday and she is WONDERFUL! Her name is Gabi and you will be hearing a lot more about her. We connected a few weeks ago when she sent me a very sweet email. She lives here in Williamsburg very close to us and she will be here with me in the studio on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I also am gearing up for our big sewing retreat coming up in 10 days. Planning and preparing everything I need to schlepp to Blackstone, VA for 4 intense days of sewing and lots of fun. The great news is this year my dear friend Karen is flying in from Chicago to join us. I have another big project I am working on, so those four days will be dedicated to working on lots of projects for that. I have also been busy packing and shipping my new sewing kits. I've also been starting to get back into school mode, we haven't started back to the kids studies quite yet but I am busy getting my lesson plans in check and trying to figure out how to juggle everything I have to do. Here are a few more photos of one of my kits. This time it's "Jillian", and although these photos show this with a simple tank underneath remember it would look incredibly sweet with a long sleeved T as well for the cooler temps which will soon be here, I hope!

Enjoy your weekend!
Dawn

Lots of Samples Heading off to Chadwick Heirlooms

"Natalie"

"Jillian"

"Rebecca"

"Lauren"

This week I have been busy working on a few samples to show at Chadwick Heirlooms. Pat asked me if I could make her some samples using some of her gorgeous fabrics so that people coming into the shop could see my designs in some of the fabrics she had available in her shop. Of course I was happy to  "go shopping" at Pat's for fabric. But I have to say, it wasn't easy narrowing it down to just a few choices. She has soooo many bolts of TDF fabrics I was honestly a bit overwhelmed and had a very hard time choosing. These are just a few of the pieces I made for her, there are also a few more but I'll save those for another post. I will be delivering all these beauties to Pat tomorrow. Yes, I could have mailed them to her but honestly...I am always looking for an excuse to drive up to Richmond to go visit her and see all the new treasures that have arrived at Chadwick's!!! Granted, I need more fabric like I need a hole in the head but, sometimes I just can't resist!

See you tomorrow Pat!

Dawn

Trying To Cool Down....

After our visit at the Williamsburg Winery,which is about 5 minutes from our house, we decided to go cool down a little at the beach and stick our toes into the cool river, but the "cool river" was like bath water!!!! YUCK...not exactly what we had hoped for, but we still had fun. Abby couldn't wait to climb up on her favorite tree and I of course took full advantage of the moment and snapped a few more pictures. OMG...it was sooo hot there, I thought for sure it would have been packed with people trying to cool down but it was a ghost town...so we pretty much had the entire beach to ourselves with a few others who were dumb enough to go out in this crazy heat. Seriously, I have to say this is more like August weather..it's been so miserable and there is no sign of any cool down any time soon. This entire week is supposed to 100°F plus...When it's hot like this I wont even let the kids go out to play because the air quality is horrible and you can't even breathe with all the humidity. For as many reasons why I love living in Virginia there are just as many reasons why I would love to move someplace more reasonable. The summers here are awful!!!! Right now Iceland is sounding really good!!!

By the way...Abby is wearing "Jillian's Jumper" made up in Moda's "Martinique"...love that entire collection!!!!

Dawn

Are You Ready To Pee Your Pants?

Cute Overload time! Tomorrow is bring your favorite toy to school day for Abby's Kindergarten class...So, there was no question who was going to go. Diddlina!!!! Abby was over the moon earlier this week when she found out that she could bring her favorite playmate to school. All this week she has been "preparing" Diddlina for her big day. I can't tell you how cute she has been telling Diddlina all about all the things that she will "see" and "do" on her first day of school.

This morning Abby started thinking about what she and Diddlina were going to wear on "The Big Day" and she asked me if I could make Diddlina a dress to match one of hers. So, of course I was up for the challenge and I sat down at my machine and started playing. It started off with "Jillian's Jumper" made mouse sized but then I realized that Diddlina "needed" a matching pale pink long sleeved "T" so I went digging in my stash and found a scrap of interlock and then made her a top, complete with matching pale pink FOE for the neckline. Then I remembered Abby saying a few days ago that Diddlina needed a coat or "She was going to freeze her tail off". So, of course I had to make he a coordinating coat. Actually it's more of a long cape made from yummy pink baby wale cord and lined with super soft white fleece and finally a fur trimmed hood and pink ribbons to tie into a bow to keep it closed tight.

I really think I need to get out more often! Don't you???? I can't tell you how much fun I had making this today and the look on Abby's face when she saw her beloved mouse all "Dolled-Up" was priceless. Tomorrow morning they will trot off to school together in their matching outfits. I will be sure to take a few pictures in the morning so you can see them together.

I love being a Mom!!!

BTW~ The reason for the funny title to this post is simple....This is Abby's current favorite saying. "Mommy...you are just going to Pee Your Pants when you see how cute this is!" For example.

Dawn

Dawn

What's Black & White and Red All Over?

A new jumper for Abby!

Before school started I went a little nutty at Gymboree buying school clothes for Abby. I know exactly what you are thinking..."Abby needs clothes like she needs a hole in the head!" and you are right, but I still got sucked in! They just have the cutest stuff for little girls, and she did need some basics...

Anyway, back to the story. Abby absolutely fell in love with one of their lines called "Holiday Panda" and we bought "many" things from that group and she loves them. However, as she so correctly pointed out "Mommy, we didn't buy a dress!" Hmmmm...I think we can fix that! I decided to use my latest pattern "Jillian" to make a jumper for her. That way, I would have yet another sample and I could test out this design using baby wale cord. I went digging in my stash and found perfect fabrics to make a jumper that would go perfectly with her other Panda stuff. I embellished it with black and white ribbons and appliqued a panda on the bib of the jumper.

I worked on it all last night while the kids were sleeping and Abby hasn't even seen it yet. I have to wake her up for school in a few minutes and I hope she loves it! I can't wait until she sees it and hopefully she will want to wear it to school today!

Note: "Jillian" is still out with my testers and hopefully will be in the shop very soon!

Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday!

Dawn

More Of Miss Jillian

What a truly spectacular day today was. Hard to believe it's already mid November and today the weather was perfect. Which is a dramatic change from just 2 days ago when I thought we were going to have to trade in our minivan for an Ark! Anyway, Abby and I headed over to say "Hi" to the horses at CW and today we got lucky and one happily trotted over to greet Abby. I can't even tell you how excited she was. Some days they will come over to say "hi" and others they wont...today we got very lucky!

This "Jillian" was made up with some of my treasured chocolate roses fabric and I love how it turned out. Sometimes it really is good to hang on to fabrics until just the right design comes along to showcase it and I think this was one of those cases. The underskirt is a coordinating pink with tiny chocolate pin dots. Topped off with a little long sleeved pink T, chocolate brown boots and a little hat that I crocheted for her last winter with a pink ribbon tied in a bow...whaa laa!

Dawn