Fabric love:

In preparation for Kids Clothes Week, I went on a fabric hunt. Dangerous, I know. Expensive, too. Because I've got fabric on the brain, here are some of my favorite finds:

Not sure why I'm suddenly so drawn to animal prints these days. Maybe it's the whole sewing for kids thing. And the name of that last one cracked me up -- cats at a sweater party.

As you probably know, I've been collecting fabric for M's weekly photo project (see here) for a while now. His last one, the big 52 weeks, is coming up quickly and it's the only one I haven't gotten yet. I can't decide if I want to buy something or design my own. Here's one option I'm leaning towards:

Kid's clothes week -- day one:

This week is kid's clothes week! I've been eagerly anticipating this day. I've spent way too many hours deciding what I should make this week. I spent far too long than is acceptable browsing fabric. I had grand ideas of what I would make for little baby M but sometimes what you imagine just isn't completely possible. Sure, I could make lots of fun, really cute, detailed garments for him but (a) I don't have hours and hours of free time to devote to sewing and (b) if I made something fancy, I probably wouldn't dress him in it anyway for fear of messing it up. He's growing so fast these days, he'd probably never even wear it before he outgrew it. What he needs are casual, comfortable pieces that he can wear every day. Simple and practical.

So, here's what we're going to be creating this week:

• 2 pairs of leggings
• 2 shirts

I'm also going to be working on an outfit for a friend's little girl. 

Here's a sneak peak of the fabric I'll be using:

Stay tuned for more Kid's Clothes Week! Can't wait to share our creations with you! Want to participate? There's still time to join! Go here for more info.

Happy weekend:

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Happy Friday, friends! Got any plans for the weekend? Now that our house is clear of all the garage sale stuff, I am looking forward to doing a deep clean. I can also get around to doing all of the small organizing projects that have been waiting in the wings. I love projects like that -- small enough that I can tackle them in a few hours but make a huge impact on how I feel about the space. I'm hoping to get some sewing done, take lots of naps, and get in at least one good run. Weather looks a little questionable though so we'll see about that last one. Fingers crossed!

Have a great weekend, everyone! XO!

Pattern love:

I've been making lots of baby things lately but haven't had the time or energy to make anything for myself. We've committed to buying more high-quality pieces from US-based factories that treat their workers fairly (more on that here and here) and with that comes the obvious decision to make more of our own clothing. This is a challenge for me because I'm usually pretty tired by the end of the day and the last thing I feel like doing is sitting down to some sewing. It's a real problem.

One of the issues I have with store-bought clothing is how much they expect consumers to pay for a sub-par product. The construction is poor. The seams are not clean and finished. The patterns aren't matched. There is usually no lining. They use cheap, man-made fabric. I can no longer, in good conscience, spend my money on these things, especially taken in to account who is making them and how they're treated. They say you vote with your money, right? Well, I vote no.

Of course this requires me to get off the couch and get to work. I'm working on this. Step one is to evaluate my wardrobe to determine where the holes are. Step two is to decide what I want/need to fill those holes with. I've been looking around and here is what I've found.

I've never been one for the patterns you can find from Butterick, Simplicity, etc., however, I really love Named. They have such great patterns. Clean, modern, classy. You can see more of their patterns here.

I'm also planning on making this shirt from Grainline:

Now that I've figured out what I want to make, the hardest part for me is picking out my fabrics. 

If you're looking for new and interesting patterns, these are some of my favorite independent designers:

1. Grainline
2. Named
3. Colette
4. Victory
5. Blank Slate
6. Go To Patterns

Check out Craftsy and Etsy, too. I have found some really great patterns there!

New reads:

This week, I'm reading The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells. It's a book that I started in 2013 (see here) but never finished. I'm not really sure why I never finished it because, from what I can remember, I liked it very much. Maybe I just got too excited about the other books awaiting me that I just got impatient. I put it down and it's been sitting on the bookshelf ever since, waiting for me to come back. Well, that time has finally come. It's my pick for #11 on the "26 Books to Read in 2015" list (see here): a book you started but never finished.

Here's the plot:

"The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder is the sweet, sexy, funny journey of Calla Lily's life set in Wells' expanding fictional Louisiana landscape. In the small river town of La Luna, Calla bursts into being, a force of nature as luminous as the flower she is named for. Under the loving light of the Moon Lady, the feminine force that will guide and protect her throughout her life, Calla enjoys a blissful childhood -- until it is cut short. Her mother, M'Dear, a woman of rapture and love, teaches Calla compassion, and passes on to her the art of healing through the humble womanly art of "fixing hair." At her mother's side, Calla further learns that this same touch of hands on the human body can quiet her own soul. It is also on the banks of the La Luna River that Calla encounters sweet, succulent love, with a boy named Tuck.

But when Tuck leaves Calla with a broken heart, she transforms hurt into inspiration and heads for the wild and colorful city of New Orleans to study at L'Academie de Beaute de Crescent. In that extravagant big river city, she finds her destiny -- and comes to understand fully the power of her "healing hands" to change lives and soothe pain, including her own. When Tuck reappears years later, he presents her with an offer that is colored by the memories of lost love. But who knows how Calla Lily, a 'daughter of the Moon Lady' will respond?

A tale of family and friendship, tragedy and triumph, loss and love, The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder features the warmth, humor, soul, and wonder that made Wells one of today's most cherished writers, and gives us an unforgettable new heroine to treasure."

I'm really enjoying this read. It's light, entertaining, and warm. The characters are endearing. The writing, like her other novels, is wonderful. Ms. Wells does such a good job of making the places and people come to life. I especially love the relationship between Calla Lily and her mother -- a relationship that is an integral part of the story. The whole mother-daughter relationship is woven through the entire book. It's such a large part of who Calla Lily is. That relationship never leaves her. It's beautiful. I have cried on more than one occasion while reading this book.

If you're looking for a good summer read, I encourage you to check this one out. It makes me want to move to hot, sticky Louisiana and spend my summers soaking in the La Luna River.

An update:

After our garage sale this past weekend, we were finally able to get into the dining room which is something we really hadn't been able to do since we moved in. When we were unpacking, we set aside everything that we no longer used, needed, or wanted -- all the stuff from college, past apartments, things that had been handed down to us, and other miscellaneous items that somehow found their way into our hands. I had been planning to have a garage sale to clear it all out since last spring but things kept preventing me (a huge belly, a newborn, cold weather, etc.) and I just never felt like I had the energy to tackle it until now. But it finally happened. All that stuff is finally gone. And we finally reclaimed our dining room.

Here's what it looked like when we moved in. A whole lot of wood paneling and a whole lot of gross. It stayed this way for a while. And we made it work, although I tried hard not to notice.

And then it only got worse. You can see the start of the accumulation of stuff. After a while, we finally picked a date for the garage sale and got ready but as with most things, it had to get even worse before it could get better. My parents decided to throw some of their stuff into our garage sale and as it got closer to the date of the sale, you couldn't even see this room. It was completely packed with stuff. There was even overflow into our living room.

But then the garage sale happened and our lives improved infinitely. It all got cleared away and we are finally able to enjoy our dining room.

So much better! My mom helped me paint the wood paneling although I'm not sure how much of a help I was since I was super pregnant when we did it. And the few boxes stacked on the left are getting picked up for donation this week. This room is no where close to being done yet but it's already come such a long way and I am very pleased with the progress.

Here's what we're still planning for this space:

1. Clean brick on fireplace
2. Paint mantel
3. Remove ceiling fan and replace with large pendant light
4. Remove other light fixtures
5. Paint paneling
6. Paint trim
7. Add chair railing?
8. Replace laminate wood flooring with hardwood
9. Build built-ins on both sides of fireplace
10. Add sconces above built-ins
11. Find art for above fireplace
12. Build wall with wide doorway to space?
13. Window treatments
14. Find rug
15. Upgrade furniture (farmhouse table + buffet + chairs)

Happy weekend:

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Happy Friday, friends! What are you doing this weekend? Have any fun plans? We are having a garage sale, something that I absolutely hate doing but have found is necessary to get rid of all the excess stuff in our house. So, pray to the weather gods for lots of sunshine and warm temperatures.

Here's a little of what we've been up to lately:

1. M is crawling! It finally happened last week!
2. He also discovered the electrical outlets which led to a storm of baby-proofing.
3. One of my oldest and dearest friends is in town this week for spring break. I have only gotten to see her a few times but it's better than none. Glad for the opportunity to spend time with my friends when I can.
4. Went to the new Whole Foods in LR -- it is bonkers! Have you been? A pizzeria, bar, and they make smoothies? I want to eat lunch there every day!
5. Took Tillie to the vet and turns out, she has a slab fracture in one of her molars, which means she pretty much cracked her tooth in half. Who knows when she did it but she never cried or seemed distressed in anyway. So, basically, Tillie is a badass.

Have a nice, relaxing weekend, everyone!