Maybe it was my own fault….i may have accidentally invoked the Cat Goddess. Oops.

Remember ages ago when i made the Asian kitty bag? It has some issues so i tossed it in the “fix” pile and forgot it. Well, since i had so much time for hand-sewing last week, i dragged it out and did some work on it.

I know somewhere out there, Michele is cringing at the sight of more yo-yos!

There was a spot where the braid trim overlapped and looked seriously fugly, so i needed to do something to cover that bit…at the suggestion of the Master of All Embellishment, i made some yo-yos out of Chinese brocade, sewed on some i-ching coins and a few beads. I dig it! Kim is right….yo-yos can cure what ever ails your project!

On the inside, the bias tape i sewed in looked bloody awful. I solved THAT issue by hand-stitching rick-rack all the way around the top. I have never handstitched rick-rack before and it was a huge pain in my booty…but worth the extra effort for the effect! And i still feel mad love for the cloth napkin lining…that smilie face is just too cute!!!

Thus the “Chun-Ling Take-out Kitty purse is complete. It must have pleased the Goddess of Cats, because she dropped a “gift” on my porch

I wish it really HAD happened that way, but the truth is that someone most likely dumped this poor baby onto us yesterday because we have so many cats around here, they assume we are the “crazy cat people” in the neighborhood. However, only ONE of those cats belong to our house (and she has been spayed for many a long year to avoid situations like this!), the rest just hang around for free food, i guess, and we are pretty sick of it. It distresses me that my front porch smells like a tom-cat. I do love kitties, but i have been way too heartbroken over the loss of Barbarella and Pie this year. I don’t want any more cats. Snake is the last one we have and when she is gone there will be NO MORE. I am very tired of feeding every cat in the whole town. I know most of them belong to other houses in the neighborhood…they are plump and healthy and have NO BUSINESS hanging around here when they have owners who feed them!!!!

But what can one do when there is a tiny baby like this meowing VERY loudly and miserably on one’s porch??? There was no way i could NOT try to do something for it. I tried to catch it, but never could. This morning, big Daddy managed to capture the creature and handed it over to me as he went off to work….leaving me at the mercy of this sad, adorable and starving little beast. I fed it a can of food, which it inhaled. It’s tummy is now the same size as a tennis ball and just as round. I gave it a bath because it was pretty grubby and stinky. It tamed down almost instantly and is only a little shy. Loves to be scratched behind the ears. It is now happily napping on a blankie in my bathroom, purring and being cute, no doubt to woo me into keeping it. Nope, not gonna happen. Anyone need a kitty? Free to a good home. Sigh. I suppose the rest of my day will be spent attempting to find a new home for this baby. And wishing i could punch whoever left it here right in the face. NO MORE KITTEHS FOR THE BUTTONBOX!!!

happy tuesday! xoxoxo

Little Miracles happen in our lives every day and so often we don’t even notice! Milagrito is the joyful reminder to keep our eyes, hearts and minds open to  those tiny little wonders that we ought NEVER let slip past us!

I began embroidering this little dead ragdolly while i was still recovering from my hysterectomy. I was playing around with learning new stitches and wondering how much my life would change sans uterus! It was a kind of scary time. Once i was up and around again i stopped working on Milagrito and got back to the the old grind, feeling better and better ever day, realizing that all my fears were nothing but smoke and shadows….and knowing more and more that i made the right decision for myself. My life HAS changed, for the better! I never really understood how truly awful i felt all the time til i started feeling GOOD! And i am finally getting back into my groove creatively, feeling more at peace with the things i make, letting it flow is coming so much more easily. Doing bold non-agoraphobic stuff i never thought i could do like taking sewing and bellydance classes and learning Latin dancing too…i just want to MOVE, to create, to dance and laugh all the time!!!!

So i finished this new girl up and i am very very happy with her! Stuffed and sewed her while my dear wonderful freind Beau spent the week, all the while laughing and feeling so happy and glad to be alive. I hope i was able to convey those feelings into the finished dolly and that whoever chooses to be her new mama will feel that joy too!

I hope everyone has been well and wonderful while i was away from blog-land! Can’t wait to catch up with you all now that life is back to the norm! Happy Monday, all!

xoxoxo

even tho’ i have not been blogging much, i HAVE had lots of time to work on handwork projects while i sit around and hang out with my pals….i will have TONS of new stuff at the rate i am stitchin’!

Visited the Korean Market today and went into a Pocky Frenzy…..so much yumminess! Flavors we have never yet encountered! The Joy was barely contained as packages of goodness were tossed willy-nilly into the cart.  The Five Fruits Pocky and the Milk and Honey Pocky are my new favorite think in the universe. Behold the bee-ish packing that will surely slay you with its evil cute-rays…

And let us not forget the brilliant packaging of CHOCO BOY!

AS you can tell, i am SO mature about this stuff….riiiiight.

I am so sorry but to my mature-o-vision they just look somehow disturbingly….well….nevermind what they look like. They are incredibly yummy and i can’t wait to get my paws on some more!

It’s a damn good thing i have bellydance class tonight…i gotta shimmy off some of this Asian Wonderfood!

I am missing you guys sooooooooooooooo much….won’t be long before i am back on full time. Meanwhile, pass the gin and ya’ll have a lovely lazy evening with love from the (bloated with Pocky) Buttonbox!

xoxoxo

not alot of time to write much, but i wanted to share a few of the lovely moments i have experienced today….

Tea spoilage…my sweet Darlings brought me some beautiful tea and a marvelous Chinese Yixing tea set…

Gnome lovin’ from my mama! I love how his little jacket looks knitted even tho’ it’s utterly solid.

that rose looks alot like i feel right now…a but ragged and overblown, lazy in teh summer heat, but still full of the vibrant joy at just being alive an blooming.

Dear Lovely Friends,

i am so dreadfully sorry for falling off the radar yet again…..things have been hectic lately, as is common for the Buttonbox in June… i tend to spend more time with my family and friends as it is birthday season (wow, can you believe i am36 now??? Absolutely shocking.) I ADORE birthday season…having my best pals come up and stay is wonderful, and spending time with my parents is always lovely. BUT with this comes the insanity of trying to make my house guest-friendly, as well as making gifts for other members of my tribe who have June birthdays. On top of this we tend to haul Raven back and forth from Charlotte more more often. It just seems like i can get on top of it all, and my blog suffers. My emails get backed up, and then the GUILT sets in. As ya’ll know, i am SOUTHERN…raised very very RURAL southern in fact. Therefore i was taught manners. Indoctrinated i the importance of thank yous and keeping up with correspondences. When ya’ll leave me all these sweet comments, it is so important to me to be able to sit don and respond personally to each one. Lately, i have been utterly unable o manage this and i feel terrible about it. I don’t want anyone to think for a single moment that i am ignoring you, or not appreciating that you take timeout of your lives to write to me, so many kind encouraging words that mean the world to me. I feel like a terrible failure that my emailings have suffered. It’s very important to me that you all know that i love each and every one to absolute bits and tho’ it may seem i am ignoring you, i really am NOT , not at all! I am just overwhelmed. I promise in a week or so things will normalize and i will be talking (writing) your ears off just like old time! Meanwhile, HUGE HUGS and thanks to you all!

xoxoxoxo

where did the week go??? I am so behind on everything, my emails are piling up on me again and the tsunami of overwhelmed-ness is flattening me. Between getting my house cleaned, the windows installed, baking 1000000000 s’more cupcakes with beastie, picking up Raven and making a birthday present for my niece + driving down to Dorchester for the day for her party , i am wiped out. I hope next week will be more chilled-out…with Beau and the Darlings coming to stay for our annual birthday/summer gathering, i look forward to lots of rest, gin, music, laughing and quiet fun! Meanwhile i still have a million things to do today, but i must take a minute to post about the little dress i made for niece. I saw this great Alexander Henry tattoo fabric and little epiphany bells rang in my head. My brother is utterly addicted to tattoos (runs in the fam, i guess! hahah!) So i thought he’s get a kick out of this print, and i ordered a yard of it…this was my first mistake. (Lesson one…ALWAYS get more fabric than you think you will need)

I know it is hard to believe i can sew anything other than skirts, and for a while there during the process of making this dress, i was starting to think that perhaps i ought to stick with skirts after all! This little dress kicked my butt! To begin with, i decided to be all mega-thrifty and TRACE the pattern pieces out onto freezer paper to preserve the original pattern for future sewing of larger sizes. I was not exactly sure which size would fit Emily best, so i started with the smallest. Since the fabric had to be ordered online and i would not easily be able to get more if i screwed up, i decided to make a “prototype” dress out of a vintage pillowcase i had in my stash. (See, always with the thriftiness around here) I used my freezer-paper pattern and cut out all the pieces (all four of ‘em, wow! hahaha!). Started pinning the pieces to get a feel for how it would go together and that is when the trouble began. The front and back were no problem! But in facing pieces…they did not match up at ALL. I was so perplexed! Why why why would they NOT match up?? Was there some super-secret sewing mystery that i’d missed somehow?? This went on for ever, me trying to fit them while cursing and wondering why i ever thought this sewing stuff was so great anyway! I finally hurled the proptotype into a corner. Decided to just start over and go up one size since proto-dress seemed really tiny. Cut everything out of the tattoo fabric (like a fool), and again, it all went together EXCECPT the back facing piece. WTF!!!! Cursing and tears and beating my breast, I reviewed my pattern pieces….Lo and behold…i TRACED THE FACING PIECE INCORRECTLY. Duh. What a maroon i am. (Lesson two….unless you have tissue paper or pattern paper, DO NOT try to trace a pattern. Good visibility is important! Who knew! hahaha!) So i begrudgingly cut out the pattern and used it, to find, miraculously, the pieces DO go togehter! Wow! What a revelation! Unfortunately, since i had to re-cut the back facing, i then did not have enough fabric left to make the little head-scarf that was supposed to go with the dress. (See Lesson one, above)

It all went together fairly easily after that, in fact, i was pleased by little surprises like the “AMOR” part of the print lining up with the exact center of the back of the dress, cute accident! Making buttonholes was ridiculously simple considering it was the first time i EVER did it with a machine…one-step buttonholes are yet another reason to adore the ‘Nome. The hem could have been better, but c’est la vie, i did try my best…still learning you know!

In the end, it turned out GREAT! I got the desired reaction out of my brother and he seemed to love it…it is a little bit big, but the way this big old girlie is growing, it will be to small by the end of summer! She is a cutie pie…i look forward to giving her lots of “Auntie Manda-Made” dresses in the future! Happy First Birthday, beautiful Emily!!!
Now, it’s back to living my crazy life…must take Raven out shopping to get shorts for entomology camp, clean and do laundry. Must email everyone and tell you all THANK YOU for your wonderful comments and support of my sew-capades! I hope you are all having a great weekend!!!!

xoxoxo

Oh my yes, it’s another skirt! One more thrifted sheet sacrificed to my unstoppable sewing mania. I really like using thrifted sheets and curtains right now as i muddle my way along the learning curve…if i mess them up, no big deal. I am sitting on the GOOD stuff i have accumulated until i am more confident…my Day of the Dead fabric collection is growing, just waiting for me to get good at this sewing gig.

Meanwhile i hack up sheets and feel great delight when a project turns out to be wearable. Like the daisy skirt! I love it (even tho’ the pattern makes my eyes hurt JUST alittle)

For this one, i used a really wide grosgain ribbon for the waist. Originally i left it long, to tie a big bow on the side…but i decided i hated it that way so i cut it off and let it just be a simple waistband. And i am still slightly bemused that i am so into yellow these days. I would NEVER have worn this before!

In other buttonbox news, it would seem that, altho’ my garden got neglected this year, a few things decided to make up for the lack of nice flowers…my gardenias are blooming up a storm. It’s wonderful! The scent makes me want to put on some Billie Holiday and laze about on the porch drinking something cool and gin-y. Alas, there is no lazing for me today…tomorrow we are having our windows replaced. This means that TODAY i am running around here trying to clean thins up just a little bit so that the poor workmen don’t have to pole-vault over the baskets of laundry and scattered toys and book-piles. With all my sewing, i confess that the rest of the house has been pretty well neglected. Who wants to dust when there are skirts to be made! Yo-Yos and embroidery! Apron-collage to work on! Blogs to read, post to write, shop update to plan….my very first bellydance class tonight…. SO many things that i would rather do than housework! Yuck. But, it must be done and i have put it off as long as i can by babbling here. So off i go to wrestle dust-bunnies the size of rottweilers and a laundry pile that rivals most mountains. Wish me luck!

I have been sewing up a wild storm! Saturday was my last class. BOOHOOOOOOOO!!!

…and unfortunately i did not get to finish my dress in time, so now i am on my own. I’ve been fighting with it, and getting frustrated! It’s turned out to be too large, so i am going to enlist the help of my mom to come and pin it while it’s on me before i install the zipper and seal the deal…here is where i am at with it…

I hope i can adjust it to fit nicely, because i LOVE the cut and the fabric looks alot like one of my grandmother’s aprons. It’s a dress i could love it only i can “make it work”

I will miss my class so much… i can’t believe i was ever scared and worried about it. I learned so much that had been utterly incomprehensible to me before! I even think the hideous elastic waist practice pants evolved into something fun and festive…

Looney Bloomers! My homage to Helena Bonham-Carter’s Pantaloonies mixed with a heaping helping of Emily Autumn’s Mad Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls. Pants don’t get much more ridiculous than this! I just chopped half of the length off, sewed bias tape around the legs to form a casing for elastic, added lace and ribbon trim…sewed on accent bows. Mad Pants!

Also, i FINALLY sewed up the skirt from the panel i got soooooooo long ago. Why on earth was i so confused by it…it was too simple to even count as a “real” sewing project! And it turns out it was not too small for my waist after all. (Weight seems to be coming off pretty steadily post-hysterectomy! YAY!) It’s swirly and twirly and i think it my new favorite skirt.

Last but not least, i spruced up a secondhand “Banana Republic” denim Miniskirt by embroidering a big old Palmistry chart onto it…..

I LOVE it, but i think this one is getting put into the shop….it’s too large for me and i never wear skirts that short! I need to hit the Goodwill for a skirt that is more suitable for me so that i can make one for myself…i really love how the embroidery came out.

I still have lot of stuff in my “IN PROGRESS” and “RE-DO” pile, but i am insanely maniacally motivated….if all goes well i will have lots of new stuff to chatter about very soon!

Hope everyone is having a grand Monday!

xoxoxo

My work-in-progress pile just grows and grows! There are two almost-completed skirts, two big embroidery projects and a dress all cut out to take to my final sewing class tomorrow morning.

Why am i afflicted with this craft ADD that makes me leave things on the verge of completion, while i jump ahead to other things! Today, i forced myself to try to finish up at least one of the skirts i have been working on…

Straight skirt made from a thrifted curtain panel. I loved the houses and trees, and i made a bag out of part of it last year,

There was tons of the fabric left over, so i decided to cut it up and play with it a bit.

i am very happy with the way the appliqués turned out, however, the zipper is wonky and making a weird puckery thing happen across the booty. Also, it needs the dreaded darts. So its time to say hello to my seam ripper again, le sigh.

Overall, i like the design, and it does fit my body much better than the dressform. I just really really want to get it RIGHT, tho’. I do so hate taking stuff apart adn re-doing…but that is how we learn, right?

Happy Friday, everyone!

xoxo