oh yeah. look at all this hotness up in here. you know you want some a this.
New Mama desired a hooter hider for Child The Second's impending nursing phase, and i couldn't let her spend forty bucks on a rectangle of cloth with a two dollar buckle on it. how hard could it be to make THAT? i thought.
six hours later, i was muttering to myself : Child The Second had better be nursing till he's twenty two.
the degree of difficulty may have been my fault, what with the triple topstitched hems, the interfacing, the pockets... eh, you know how it goes. we brought it to the new parents last night, along with some fried chicken and watermelon (no, i am not kidding, after a stay at le hospital that is the best meal ON THE PLANET. happiness is a plate of that jazz. new babies help too). and the thing actually works! i highly recommend whipping one up if you've got a mama to sew for. just don't go OCD on it like i did.
speaking of obsessed, please to meet the frigging best chalk marker ever. i picked it up at the FIT bookstore, and i want to hug it and kiss it and call it george. it's akin to the click pen that got a shout out from my girl emilykate when i was jonesing for kistchy school supplies.
wow, that paragraph was linkalicious.
i may be the last sewist on earth to find out about this, but if you ain't heard about it, get one! and banish all other marking devices to the back of the drawer. i cracked it open for this project, and maybe that's another reason why it took six hours. it makes such gorgeous marks i couldn't stop using it. and look at all the pretty colors!
mmm.... chalk candy.... makes me happy to look at it.
(if you hadn't noticed, i'm happy again. with many thanks to your wonderful comments on my last post, you beautiful peeps, you.)
what's your favorite sewing tool? i have this feeling i've been missing out on a world of sewing shizzle!
Thanks for the great tip about the chalk marker. I'll get one. You can never have enough notions.
ReplyDeleteAnnamarie
Thanks for the chalk tip. Do you have a brand you like for transferring pattern marks. I seem to have the worst luck with such a basic tool.
ReplyDeleteHave a friend who's requested one of these, actually.
ReplyDeleteNice to know I'm not the only one that over-complicates everything.
I've been having hte worst trouble with my marking pencil (which won't mark fleece) and hte marking pen (which disappears too fast -- might be b/c its years old). So, I'm excited to check out the chalk recommendation!
ReplyDeleteAn a nursing cover that looks that good -- that's sweet! I don't have the talent for that, but I might venture to make a basic one. Do you have a pattern to recommend or offer? or did you free-hand it?
Love your stuff, Oona, just love it. Keep it coming.
R.
Dude, I wish I had a friend like you when I had my babies. Love the pocket.
ReplyDeleteHa! Hooter hider. I still don't know exactly what it is, but I'm assuming something to hide ze hooters? Thanks for the tip with the marker, I'm still kicking it old school with some lame pencils that break. I will get onto these lovely clean ones!
ReplyDeleteGlad you're feeling better Oona... cyber cuddles!
UGH! I need that chalk! Right now I'm using chalk pastels from art school.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about the chalk marker either-- I've mostly used the disappearing ink pens that are absolute rubbish on dark fabrics. I tried the tracing paper and wheel thing over the winter, but the paper was awful to work with, and not very effective. So I think I need that chalk!
ReplyDeleteI love that chalk marker, too! Got mine from Joann's. Recently I picked up the Clover Chaco liner that marks fabric with powder that dispenses through a wheel! (Did that make sense?!) I also have a Clover double tracing wheel that draws in seam allowances for patterns that don't have them! Perfect for those Burda patterns I'll never make for fear of dealing with the cryptic instructions.
ReplyDeleteyou may not believe me, but i use soap as a marker.. not a brand new one, obviously.. but when it's too tiny for use in bath, and get this sharp edges, it kind of becomes perfect for marking (especially on dark fabric).. and it's free :)
ReplyDeletehello miss oona! I have been awol from the internets and everywhere else on essay lockdown and am now taking a sneaky chocolate-and-blog-perusing break and catching up on your posts. and thanks to your being the awesomely prolific blogess, I have a lovely long bunch to read, to take my mind of looming deadlines :o)
ReplyDeletei LOVE your new chalkpencil. the colors are pretteeee! Imagine if they were scented like the ten-pen.
now, I am not ignoring your email about who are the bizzarro-world pittsburgh steelers (ie their aussie equivalent); as I am not the foremost authority on afl I will seek more informed opinions, whereupon I will report my findings to you. BUT from my preliminary investigations, you can tell ruggy that geelong are looking good ;o)
I use soap for marking, too (except on white, obviously) but I've seen this kind of chalk around and wondered about it. Will have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteI am ambivalent about hooter hiders. I am all for breastfeeding (and then some). It just annoys me that people feel they have to hide it. (ok, getting off soapbox... ;) )
annemarie: ain't it the truth. my drawers overflow with notions!
ReplyDeletelizajane: yeah, but your results are STELLAR... oh my god that kimono top!!!
shannon: i gave up on transferring notions a long time ago-- now, i use the point of an old seam ripper to make a tiny hole in the pattern paper, then i use the clover chacopen to stab the hole, leaving behind a dot on the fabric. it's a great pen, the tip makes teeny precise marks: http://amzn.to/iMEBbB
rachael: thanks! i just eyeballed the website for awhile, then cut out a wide rectangle of material, maybe 45 wide by 36 long? it hits at the knees, and the straps sit wider than a normal apron would, more where your armpits hit, to allow room for bebe... also, the top hem is folded under twice, interfaced, and i even used some stitchwitchery tape to get it stiff. that way when she wears it, the top stays curved out instead of flopping on bebe's head.
kelly: well, if ever you have another, consider me the friend who'll send you one. wait, now, where are you running to?
reana louise: thanks girl! you know, they changed their name to "bebe au lait" because, i think, they wanted to class up the brand. whatevs.
meg: oh noes girl. GET THAT PEN.
becky: i have the same problem with my chacopen. but ah, this multi colored gem, i sigh with love every time i see it!
amanda: i've eyed that chalk thingy too! now, this double tracing wheel...must find that... joann's, you say?
mokosha: i COMPLETELY forgot about that trick. my problem is, we're gel people..
emilykate: i seriously thought about your pen when i saw it! ruggy has been inquiring after your answers DAILY. i keep telling him you have, you know, a life. and a very busy one at that. enjoy your chocolate! eat some for me!!!
tanit-isis: that is an EXCELLENT point. i didn't even think about where i stand boob wise! i just knew she wanted one. i think i'd prolly be hanging out. especially if pregnancy granted me actual boobs. that would be like a new toy to show off.
Mama Mia! (those chalk pens look bad-ass too)
ReplyDeleteYou've put such time and thought into this, I love it! I did laugh when I read this post because when I read your previous comment saying you'd spent your day sewing for babies my very first thought was, "I wonder how much top stitching you could fit on something for a baby?" Answer: quite a bit!
ReplyDeleteI also LOVE that chalk thing, I'm considering overseas postage. Pretty and effective? Sign me up. I've gone through so many shitty products trying to find the right marking tool. Damn you South Australia and your sparse supply of effective sewing tools!
I'm sure your friend will appreciate your efforts very much! Almost every time I go to a baby shower or read a baby post I learn about a new baby product I've never heard of. Wow, babies must require a lot of gear!
ReplyDeleteI need to get one of whose chalk pens, I can see how they could be handy.
I love this! Seems like half of my friends are due in July or August, plus my younger sister with TWINS! I think I'll whip one of these up for her!
ReplyDeleteWell that's damn cute. But, for me, breastfeeding fit my lazy tendencies. I don't think I would have been able to remember to bring a Hooter-Hider along when my sleep-deprived brain was barely functional.
ReplyDeleteAnd I must be in a contradictory mood because I firmly assert that the Clover Chaco Chalk Pen is the best marking device eveh ! http://www.softexpressions.com/software/notions/chaco.php#lin
OMG love your chalk pen - I desperately want one! Love your modesty cover - the fabric is uber stylish and the pocket is fabulous! Well done!
ReplyDeletei think you are actually the *second* to last blogger to hear of that chalk pen, because i hadn't, either. Hmmm. must make plans to get down to FIT bookstore! ;)
ReplyDeleteThat's the same chalk pen I use and I LOVE it...of course, I dropped my box 'o chalk about two days after I got it. I'm too cheap to buy a box of new, unbroken chalk so I just use the little half inch bits...
ReplyDelete