Cooper Christmas

For the first time ever - my sewing was mistaken for store-boughten. I made my sister a Colette Cooper for Christmas and I had to tell my family that I made it - they didn't just guess  :) Don't get me wrong, I obviously think handmade items are "where it's at," but I was just tickled. I'm very proud of this bag!

I decorated the inside pocket with girl scout and boy scout badges!

My sister loves camping, so I made her a camping themed bag compete with a compass, girl scout badges, and some water-proof matches inside. This backpack is made out of a recycled felted wool blanket, denim, and ripstop. I love the texture of the felted wool - it is gorgeous, however it was sooo thick it was difficult to fit through my machine! Next time I will probably use regular wool.

I found some sporty looking webbing - perfect for camping!

The pattern has a lot of pieces and many steps, so it took me a while to finish this one. It was totally worth all the work though. It was fun learning how to make straps and learning to install the hardware. I bought one of the hardware sets from Colette Pattern's store Gifts for Crafters. The matching hardware gives the bag a really finished look.

Sisters!

Despite the cold, my sister agreed to do a photoshoot with me the day after Christmas. We went for a walk in the woods behind our parent's house. I love how the bright red bag looks against the snowy background. 

Found some cool ice.

Striking a pose!

We had fun taking photos. Amanda did a great job as the model! I really want to make another Cooper bag for myself, but first I need to finish my wedding dress. I started cutting lace for my final practice version last night  :)

Nuptials Dress ~ Take 1

I've finally finished my first practice dress for my wedding! So my dream dress is a knee length dress with a scoop neck top and three-quartered length sleeves. Despite the simple idea, I couldn't find a pattern that was exactly what I wanted. What I decided to do was take the Colette Hawthorn pattern and alter it to fit my ideal dress.

Altering my Hawthorn pattern

I had already done a small bust adjustment to the pattern before I made my Wilderness Blouse. Some other changes I made to the pattern were swapping the button-up front for an invisible zipper in the back, changing the neckline, opening up the back, and tightening-up the arms. I think it turned out really well - if fits great!

I love how you can see my green hem tape on this photo!

I made this dress out of a pretty woven cotton plaid. I used hem tape for the first time on this dress, it was so fun! I don't think it's any faster than doing a regular hem - but the pop of color is great. This was iron-on hem tape, so I just ironed it over the unfinished edge and then sewed it on.

My actually wedding dress will be in a very pretty lace with light blue silk lining. I want to try and do the lining with a sweetheart top - if I can figure out how to do it. I'm going to do one more practice version before I move on to the real deal.

I did some tree climbing  :)

As you can probably see from the photos - it is cold here in Iowa! Brrrrr - these were some chilly photos. I want to thank my sister Amanda for trekking out into the cold with me to take these photos. She did a great job!

All bundled up!

I recently bought the Cooper pattern from Colette patterns. I'm so excited to try it! Is anyone else doing the sew-along?

I Love Seattle

Wearing my Hawthorn blouse in beautiful Seattle!

One of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. It just got more and more vibrant.

Day 1

At the beginning of October I visited Seattle for the first time with my fiance Josh. We went there to see our friends Emily and Frank. Wow, what a great city - I loved it!

Fun at the farmer's market!

One of my favorite parts of Seattle was the public market. We went there everyday and found new things each day. They had beautiful bouquets, tons of local fish, and many talented local artisans.

Day 2

One thing I really loved about Seattle was the great parks. You can be in town, but still feel like you are out in nature. We went to a park in Capitol Hill with a water tower you can climb up and a whole garden patch of dahlias. 

Back at the farmer's market!

Climbing up the watertower.

The conservatory was closed for the day - but I took a peek inside!

That's a lot of Seattle pics for one day - I will share more soon! I really recommend visiting Seattle, I know I'll be back  :)

Gingham Garden

The sweet gingham top I found at Revival in Iowa City - before taking in the sides.

I've been meaning to post this for awhile now, as you can probably tell from the fresh produce and short sleeves! It's snowed twice in Iowa since these photos were taken. I found this super cute gingham top at a 2nd hand store in Iowa City, although it was way too big, I saw potential. All I had to do was take in the sides, and it was good to go! I'm still deciding if I want to hem it shorter. It is cute either way  :)

It fits!

In this photo I am standing in my friend's garden. They had so many fruits and veggies that when they gave me two bags - it barely made a dent!

Yummy beats, fresh tomatoes, delicious peppers, and scrumptious raspberries!

Wilderness Hawthorn

My sweet wilderness Hawthorn blouse!

The big day is finally here! I've finally finished my Hawthorn blouse and have the photos up! This blouse is another Collette Patterns pattern. I was starting to think this day would never come because I was really dragging my feet on this pattern. I did a SBA after making my first muslin and I thought the blouse would fit perfectly. Unfortunately, somehow I didn't leave enough room to button the blouse.... This was remedied by adding loops rather than buttonholes! The loops actually look pretty cute, and who would know that they weren't planned? Nobody, that's who!

A very fitted Hawthorn blouse. And the pattern almost matches ;)

I love how the peplum looks from the back - soo full and girly!

Enjoying the flowers behind my Grandparents' house

I really love this pattern, it is so pretty and feminine. It was really simple to put together too - just make sure you make the right size  ;)  I can't wait to try the sleeveless dress version sometime. The fun wilderness animal fabric and the chambray is from Home Ec. in Iowa City.

Balancing with my sweet peplum down the hill :)

We found a little friend!

My sister helped me take these photos, while we were on a break from zentangeling with my Grandma. Josh, my fiance and blog photographer, has now started grad school in Virginia. So thanks Amanda for  sharing your lovely photo skills! My next sewing project will be starting my wedding dress. Yay!