knick knacks & ric rac

one thing i love about living in southern california is it’s always clothesline weather! line dried clothes, especially towels, are one of my favorite feeling things.

about 10 years ago i got this adorable dirndl-style vintage clothespin bag, and even though i am very delicate with it (as delicate as you can really be with a clothespin bag, anyways) i’m afraid the old fabric might tear anytime. to prepare for that inevitable event, i made a pattern from it so i can whip up a new one when the need arises.

i wanted to share this project in the summer when it was clothesline weather all across the country, but i just finished it up now. it’s not too late though, they would make super cute gifts for the holidays! and the dirndl styling is just in time for oktoberfest-i made the new one using some vintage dirndl fabric i had lying around from dresses i had shortened.

you will need:

download the pattern pieces here. enlarge 200% before cutting! the finished size is appox. 13.5″ wide across at the shoulders and 16″ long at the center.

1/2 yard of fabric

7″ x 10″ scrap of contrasting fabric for apron

12″ of alpine ribbon

1 1/2 yards of foldover braid or bias binding

1 yard of ric rac

wooden clotheshanger, cut down to 13.5″ across

14″ of thin ribbon or trim for the tie

to sew:

fold pleats on apron and stitch down.

sew foldover braid/bias binding around apron sides and bottom.

center alpine ribbon on top of apron and stitch across.

place apron on front panel and stitch down around sides and bottom of apron, and sides of ribbon, leaving the top front of the apron open, it’s a pocket!

place the right sides of front and back together and stitch all the way around from shoulder to shoulder (1/2″ seam allowance).

turn right side out and sew foldover braid/bias binding around neckline, then sew the ric rac trim around neckline.

stitch the 14″ tie down at the center of the back of neckline. that’s to tie around the clotheshanger so it won’t slide out.

insert clotheshanger and tie. add clothespins and go hang out your laundry!

remember a couple of months ago when i was cleaning out my workroom?  i snapped a few pics because i didn’t know how long all my hard work would last, and i wanted to preserve it. here are some of the photos. let me warn you that i need constant visual stimulation while i work!

i really started writing this because i wanted to show you one of my favorite workroom features, my ric rac cabinet…

it’s full…

it was a CD/DVD wall cabinet from ikea. it’s great because it only sticks out about 7 inches from the wall, and it’s attached directly onto the wall so it looks like a built-in. the shelves flip down to open and it’s just right for holding all those big spools of ric rac.

i just added these new fall-ish skirts to my website…

the pendulum skirt i wrote about last week (i’m still deciding what to use for the necklace part of the pendulum necklaces, stay tuned for those!)

and a fall version of the folk flower applique skirt, featuring super cute vintage patchwork print fabric in autumnal tones!

here’s a sneak peek at three new fall-ish skirts i finished up the other day. i’m calling them pendulum skirts, you can see why!

the pendulum is appliqued off to one side with vintage jacquard ribbon and ric rac (of course!) and there’s a cute little slit just below it.

the pendulum design is based on my favorite cuckoo clock pendulum…

then last night i got this idea to make some pendulum necklaces. between gabbing on the phone with my favorite lady jen, and staying up ’til 3 watching ‘the patty duke show’, i got the pendants mostly finished…

they’re a combination of hand painting and decoupage on wooden hearts.

i’m so excited about both of them i want to add them to my website right away, maybe even next week!

i just finished adding 13 swatch bundles to my etsy shop, that will be the last of them for a while. you can take a peek at them here…

i picked up a copy of ‘mcall’s how to quilt it!’ at the thrift store last week, i can’t stop looking at this page of crazy cute crazy quilt stitches!

since i recently reworked the schwarzwalder, dutch treat and fairytale forest prints for tee shirts, it just occurred to me that they’re the perfect size to print as fat quarters. it might be fun because then i can print them in a bunch of different colorways and on different fabrics. is that something you would be interested in using for your projects? let me know what you think!

anybody who likes to make things undoubtedly has unfinished projects. i’m haunted by one in particular that i don’t know if i will ever finish. i’m embarrassed to tell you i started it in 1998, a year after i moved to california.

i had big plans for a glorious sparkling backyard fountain. i started the mosaic with 25 cent plates from the thrift store and a broken mirror. i always have a bunch of projects in the works at any one time, and most of them eventually get finished, but i’m starting to lose hope with this one. some of the pieces are starting to fall off because i never grouted it. i’ve lugged it around for 2 moves, i don’t know if it will make it for the 3rd one. what kind of unfinished projects do you have?

ps- if you are in the LA area and would like to take it off my hands, be my guest!! it’s big and heavy!

i was going through some linens and stuff last weekend and pulled out this patchwork quilt my mother made for me when i was around 5 years old.  here are a few of my favorite sections…

i love those maidens with their braids walking around in the deep dark woods! that headless one on the left is carrying a heart. sweet!

that blue fabric looks like dirndl fabric.

the fabrics are from old dresses she made for me. i thought i was wearing the yellow ladybug/butterfly/daisy/diamond print dress in my nursery school picture, but when i pulled out the photo i was actually wearing one of my other favorite yellow dresses. such cute fabric! yellow was my favorite color.

here’s one of my favorite pictures from when i was about 5. (click the picture to enlarge and see all the gritty detail!)

that’s me in the kneesocks next to the creepy clown. notice the even creepier ‘balloons’. i especially like the deflated one hanging from the parking meter. this picture was taken at a block party at the apartment building i grew up in. most of the fabrics for the dresses/quilt she bought at that fabric store in the background. they used to throw away fabric sample books and my best friend and i would pick them out of the trash and use the swatches to make little purses, dollhouse blankets and clothes for stuffed animals.

trivets from the thrift store on the kitchen counter

they would make some kind of a cute print!

my security door kinda looks like a big ol’ trivet too…