Another new model

Remember the little baby track suit I made for a new grandnephew a couple months ago? You can read the details about it here. I was delighted last week to receive these photos of him wearing it! It's still a bit big for him, as he's not quite 5 months old yet, but babies outgrow clothes so fast that it's good to start using them a little early.

So here he is! Forget the track suit... his adorableness steals the show! Those eyes!!! 

(Photos by his parents, used with their permission.)

I wondered how difficult that top might be to get on him. His grandma reported that it was "not the easiest to get over his head, but it was doable". So I don't know if I'd use that pattern again, unless I had some super stretchy fabric. Babies don't usually like getting things put over their heads anyway, much less something that's a bit snug. So we shall see......

Something different and beautiful

This is a different sort of post from the usual sewing stuff. I mention in my last post that we have something beautiful. Here it is!

Isn't he gorgeous? He's a stallion. We're temporarily boarding him for someone, just until he gets sold. In the meantime, we enjoy seeing him every day.

He is a shire, thus he is a very big horse! His owner said he's close to 18 hands, which equals about 6 feet from the ground to the top of his withers above his front legs. They're measured there because that's the only place his height doesn't shift when he stands. I learned that recently.

He prances a little when he walks, really lifting those front feet. Look how fluffy those huge feet are!

Here are a few more photos for your viewing pleasure.

And maybe for a chuckle.

See that white patch down below his flank? That's the main reason he's being sold. The owner doesn't want that white to show up down his breeding line.

Last Tuesday my favorite photography assistant came after school. Here she is giving a little size reference.

Yes, Ethan is very friendly. Shires are noted for their calm temperaments. Someone recently referred to them as "gentle giants".

Giant, indeed. My assistant got a shot of me to show you how big Ethan is, too!

He loves his grain, which he gets a scoop of once a day. When he's particularly impatient, he will rear up and/or kick up his heels. I've tried getting a photo or video of him doing that, but of course he won't do it when I have the camera along. Stinker.

This is the scene I often see when I go out to feed the cats. He's waiting for me.

He doesn't mind the cold or snow, although he doesn't care much for the arctic winds we've had lately (nor do I!), and he'll go into the cattle shed when it's too nasty. Otherwise he's outside, even if it's well below zero, which it has been a lot lately. Brrr!

All in all, he's very pleasant to have around, not to mention very photogenic, and I don't mind if he doesn't get sold for a long time!

Christmas Sewing 2017

In case anybody reads here anymore... Happy New Year!! ;)

Okay... so it's been an entire month since I last posted. Exactly. It's not that I've been idle! Christmas happened in there, y'know. That takes time. Plus, I did some sewing but I couldn't post about it because there were gifts involved and I didn't want to spoil any surprises!

I'll just do a quick summary instead of writing individual posts for each item. First off, I made a pair of oven mitts for Jess and Alex. They're made from an older line of Jess's canvas fabrics.

They were requested over a year ago but I didn't have time to make them for Christmas then. They were much-needed, though, to replace these...

... which were well-used, as you can see. I'd made them over 7 years ago. You can read about them here.

Here they are, each happy with their new mitt.

Next, I made a little backpack.

A VERY LITTLE backpack! See?

That also was from some of Jess's older canvas fabric which had been laminated. I made it from a tutorial you can find here. It calls for laminated fabric, likely because the inside isn't lined, so the laminate would prevent fraying of the unfinished seams. I wouldn't recommend using canvas like I did, though, because it was too stiff and thick, which made it very challenging to sew. I almost tossed it out, but then ripped off the outer part and redid it, and I'm glad I did. It turned out pretty cute, even if a bit wonky in places (which you can't see in that pic).

I also made a couple of coasters, just for fun, and as a test for what I'll show you in a bit. They were easy and very fun to make. I followed a video found here. These fabrics are from Jess's Typography line of quilting cotton from a while back.

Last but not least (because they're very handy)... but definitely the quickest and easiest, I made a couple of cord wraps.

They're made following a tutorial found here. There are two different sizes in the tutorial, and these are the small ones. The larger size would be good for appliance cords or computer cables. I used snaps instead of velcro on mine, because they're cute and just fun to install, even though the wraps are not adjustable as they would be with velcro. I also made these as a test.

The reason I was testing the coasters and cord wraps was that Courtney wanted to make some as Christmas gifts, so I wanted to make sure they were doable for her. She made all of these below. She did a great job, didn't she?

That's my wrap-up of sewing projects. I have a long list of other things I want to sew now, and I received some Christmas gifts to enable my sewing. Yay! I'll show you them soon. Plus there's something else new around here that I want to show you, too. Something beautiful! So do check back. But not too soon... you know how slow I am! LOL