Davids outfit

I had high hopes of making something for all the kids for Christmas but then time got away from me and I barely made Davids outfit for his birthday earlier this month. It was fun and other than some trouble with the snaps I think I did Ok. I need to practice more with a zipper foot. Here are the pictures

Front

Back

Detail (sideways sorry)

And the best, a little big but super cute right?

Weekend Project

I have been dying to get in my sewing room and it is a complete disaster. We just don't have enough room to store our projects and and craft supplies. We do use them but we don't have the space. I would never post a picture of the room because it is so embarrassing, in fact I threatened my husband that if he took a picture of me in that room and blogged about it there would be sever consequences.

So I decided to forget the mess and do something anyway. I bought some small pieces of fabric a while back to try some things with and so I made a lovey sized rag quilt. One square is Minky i wanted to make sure that it would work Ok before using it in a larger version. It worked out great. I would not do a lot but a few squares are fine and the softness makes up for the limited ragginess.


Front


Back


close up of the Minky square


I got it done this morning and I did do a little cleaning up and organizing but did not get very far, maybe next time.

Save the Hand Made Items

(cross post with waiting for little miss blog)


Like many of you I like to buy handmade items. I find them unique and more special than mass produced items that are everywhere. I even have a small Etsy shop where I sell flannel blankets and pillow cases that I have made. I had hoped to do a few more craft items this year to sell so that we can earn some money to help with the adoptions however, while surfing the net today I found that this might be in danger of become illegal on February 10th. This is when a new law goes into effect that states roughly that all items sold for children under 12 or 13 must be tested for lead and have proof of such a test. That means that I would have to have test each print of blanket that I make and there is no way that I could afford to do that so that makes my blankets illegal. All the hand made clippies that we love so much for our little girls will be out of the question. No more hand crocheted and knitted sweaters and baby blankets. Things like the the monster that Jim gave me for Christmas and decorations like the beautiful butterfly that Jim's sister gave Little Miss for Christmas last year will no longer be available unless they are proven to be lead free.

This will also apply to consignment and second hand thrift shops. That means no more buying children's items, toys, and clothes second hand. I know many parents out there that have to clothe their kids with second hand clothes. Who can afford to buy everything new? I know I won't be able too. I understand that it is important to keep our children safe but from what I have seen of law it goes too far.

Please take a look at these sites and decide for yourself. I am no expert on law and I hope that I have misinterpreted things. However if you come to the same conclusions that I have, please vote, sign the petitions, write your congressman or what ever else you can do to make this law more reasonable. I hate to think that we will not be able to buy and sell handmade and second hand items in the future.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/?e

http://coolmompicks.com/savehandmade/

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia

http://sites.google.com/site/handmadetoyalliance/