twice as nice

two awesome kids turned two recently and i made each a copy of my favourite number shirt.  i've got to start screenprinting one of these days, but because my t-shirt projects tend to come up on me at the last minute, it's not the time to be fiddling about!  i use iron-on transfer paper and toddler shirts from american apparel.  the numbers get pleasantly derelicte in the wash over time.  the red one needed seeing-to - of course as i was about to wrap it i noticed a little edge hadn't stuck and had to redo it!  apparently you can take off an iron-on transfer, if you have enough time, patience and really good tweezers.  

i also made a skirt to go with the red tee from some delightful apple dot fabric that i love.  instead of doing a single wide piece of elastic for the waistband, i sewed three narrow 1cm channels and fed through three strands of 8mm japanese underpants elastic.  

it made a smock-like waistband that can comfortably fit a wide range of waist sizes and will probably last an age.  it was an easier bet when the child's waist wasn't nearby to measure!  

ok, back to the baby quilt.  top pieced together, sandwiching and quilting up next.

good reasons to welcome 2010

truth be told, i myself am not in the running for the world's best schedule planner. no one has ever glowingly said of me "wow, is that woman ever punctual!" you would never mistake me for a watchmaker, someone who wears a watch or even someone paid to be on time! i often forget things, mistake dates and miss birthdays of folks i adore... this year i am hoping to change all that through the acquisition of an adorable calendar or two! i figure that at least if i'm still putzing around at this time next year, i'll have had 365 days in which to enjoy lovely treats like these:

topping my list has to be this sweet 2010 desk calendar from local cabin + cub. each calendar includes 12 cards featuring prints of valerie's whimsical mixed media collage images and it includes the mini wooden easel!

love this limited edition 2010 letterpressed calendar from ink + wit. the seven dreamy prints were inspired by travels in iceland, england, france and the us, it comes ready to hang or can be displayed framed as well.

if you can find an image you really really like, why not look at it all year? i love this letterpressed sweet mama mini calendar from yee haw. love the colour, the graphic and who can resist cotton candy?


what about something a little softer? there's this swell under the sea calendar in linen from linea carta! my mom always used to have a linen tea towel calendar hanging on the wall in our kitchen, and they can be kind of hard to find nowadays...

for a calendar that serves both it's intended purpose and manages to provide project ideas, you can't beat the calendar from purl soho. it includes photos and instructions for 12 knitting, sewing and patchwork projects from the shop's always inspiring blog, the purl bee.

and, because knowing the date is all well and good, but knowing important dates is even better, there's the fab dutch-themed birthday calendar from another local gem, the beautiful project. it's not year-specific, so you can use it for ages! the perfect place to jot down which person's birthday is on what date.