ZIP Update

You might ask how that "zip" project is going
these days. After all, it is now the half year marker
for the 2012 Resolution Word
in which I plan to bring zip into my life in three ways
by lip-zipping, zippy surroundings and using actual zippers in my craft projects.

The results are in:  there have been some ups and downs (pun intended)!  I had a good four
months with using zippers in January, February, March and April with the projects shown
here: two dresses for Miss E with back neckline zippers - one needed repair after wearing. 
The zipper flower pin sits in my jewely box.  The zipper-pocket-in-the-back monster is with
my nephew and is hopefully still enjoyed.

May and June were busy!  The zipper use was in a felted wool mitten.  Only one zipper, but
8 animal characters: all to go with an "activity set" based upon the book THE MITTEN by
Jan Brett.  Miss E fell in love with this book and the plot in which a young boy loses his white
mitten made by his grandmother and the forest animals crawl inside one by one.  The mitten
keeps stretching until the little mouse lands on the nose of the bear,  The bear sneezes and all
the animals fly out of the mitten and the boy is reunited with his mitten that is now much
expanded!

Most of the animal patterns were found in the book COUNTRYSIDE SOFTIES by Amy
Adams.  (Thanks, Patricia, for this book!)fun books!)



Now it is July, and I am happy to report that my long-saved 90 inch pink zipper (rescued
from my girlhood sleeping bag) is repurposed into a fun catch-all bag.  I simply sewed the
zipper sides into a continual seam based upon an online tutorial.  Voila - a bag that can
accommodate craft supplies and also amuse one by unzipping and zipping practice.    The
unzipped zipper, before sewing, is shown as the pink heart around a place setting of our
china on the dining room table, just to give you a scale as to how long the zipper is.

One challenge I am having is making these collage pictures.  It's taking a lot of time to
download my pictures to an online sight, create a collage and then right-click save to
post.  Any ideas? 

Wishing YOU zip as you go about the business of summer --- stay cool!

An Easter Frock for Miss E

While in Hong Kong, I had just a few minutes to pop inside of a fabric store with the name of Gala Fabrics. Due to my non-existent Mandarin speaking skills, and a shopkeeper with limited English it was an interesting exchange of commerce. I quickly spotted a table full of fabrics and couldn't choose between the blue print or the pink print so I bought both!

The shopkeeper wrapped up my purchase in the package seen above, so it felt like it was a gift.

Once home, I asked Miss E if she would like a pink Easter dress or a blue one and she chose blue.

Using a "Project Runway" inspired Simplicity pattern #1949 I began the project of making a frock for Ellie to wear on Easter Sunday. The dress had a criss-cross type of pleat system in the front,

pleats on the bodice back, sweet little puffed sleeves and was fully lined in blue with a zipper closure in the back.

Being a hat person, I just had to supply a hat to go with her blue dress.

I wouldn't say she exactly liked it, but she humored me by putting it on for a few seconds.

We had a houseful of dinner guests coming, but Miss E ate an early lunch of hummus and veggie straws while we made a few Easter egg bunnies.

Here you can see the little print on her blue dress. It had tiny sprays of flowers in white, pink and purple with little green leaves.

Following naptime, we headed outside for an egg hunt. That cardigan was most appreciated as it was a bit brisk outside. The eggs were a hit, too!

Did you and yours have a lovely Easter as well? I certainly hope so.

A Zippy Posy

Gray day + ZIP "word of the year" = Posy! With a little time on my hands, I made a cheery little project. First, I cut out 6 little circles from a scrap of yellowish fleece. I used the bottom of the spray starch can as my template because I was too lazy to look elsewhere. Four circles were folded into quarters, then stitched together to make the petals in the middle. Next, a half of a metal zipper (9") was coiled to make the posy center. This was stitched to an unfolded little fleece circle and the top part of the flower was completed. On the bottom of the posy, another unfolded fleece circle was stitched. Two little leaf shapes were cut from felted wool and attached the the bottom of the posy. Lastly, the pin back was stitched to the bottom of the posy. Voila! A cheery little posy that can be worn as a pin or attached to a bag or hat. The pin back could be omitted and instead stitched directly to something or glued to a gift package. In mini size, it could even work as a barrette with the clip stitched to the back. Now I'm up to date with one zipper project a month.

A "Bad" Zippy Project

Back in November, nephew Jackson (age 7) visited us and, knowing that I like to sew, drew me a picture of "Bad" SpongeBob with the request that I make a custom one for him. After he made his drawing, we discussed the color scheme and details. Because it was the holiday season, Jackson had to wait a bit for the fruition of his design to be turned into reality.

Now that "Bad" is done and the recipient has taken ownership, I can publish the pictures of this fun project!

I used felted wool from shrunken sweaters to complete this project. Both machine and hand-sewing were employed.

"Bad" has a removable hat.

The socks were made from actual socks that were cut to size.

And, due to this being my year of zip, I put a zipper down the back of "Bad"

with an inserted pillow that can be removed and the inside can be used as a secret storage place

for Jackson's treasures.

I hope the two pals have a long, happy relationship

together!

Our Kitchen Got a Unibrow!

Before

New Year = New Look for the kitchen! We did a simple update after the leaky "throne" upstairs decided to drip down below to the kitchen ceiling and soffit. And why not add a little zip to the small, galley kitchen in the repair process?

It's very nice to have a handy-man husband. He replaced the toilet, patched the kitchen ceiling and soffit and then he got a surprise from me: Yes, I really wanted a "unibrow" in orangey red for our newly refreshed soffit. That was a bit out of his comfort zone.

But, he's quite a good sport, thank goodness!

After

Here's the new look. It makes me happy.

Resolution Word for 2012

First of all, here's to a Very Happy New Year for all readers of this blog! Thank you for checking in on this little spot every now and then - I do so appreciate your companionship and comments along the way! Now that the holidays are past, and the new year is here it is time to reveal my Resolution Word for 2012.

I have been pondering this word for some time now.

Instead of coming up with a list of things to try to accomplish in the year ahead, I choose one word to inspire my thoughts and actions to make me a hopefully better "being" as the year unfolds. The word of last year was Turnover and it was meant to turn(me)over with my eating and exercising habits. Throughout the course of the year, this inspired me to lose over 20 pounds, so I'd say the word was a powerful one! (And a true challenge, to boot.)

Being one who likes to create things with my hands, I knew that my word had to include a reminder to stitch, sew and seam. It's been a long, dry spell for making garments requiring buttonholes and zippers, and I now have a very special little girl in my life to serve as my model.

Another definition of my word includes being active and involved as I zip through daily activities and keep up to motivation to sty fit and healthy.

Still a third definition involves an action of closed lips. Remember as a kid when your teacher or Mom made an action of index finger and thumb touching and silently made a pass across the lips as if signalling, "Zip it up?" That's a goal for me to achieve as I might be thinking unkind thoughts to keep them to myself.

Without further ado, my word for 2012 is zip.

That's right. ZIP!

And I might even make some zipper flower pins along the way! I do have quite a few colorful zippers in my stash...

Have you thought or your own Resolution Word yet? I'd love to hear about it.