Author Archives: Jess

little shoes

Have you ever sewn leather?  It’s always seemed a bit scary to me, but my sewing machine has a special button for sewing leather and every time  I’ve sat down at it I’ve wondered, “Could I really sew leather?  What would I make?”  It was an itch I needed to scratch, so the other weekend I ventured to Denver Fabrics.  It’s a crazy HUGE place that is completely overwhelming for me, but I knew I could find pretty leather.  That I did.  I bought a supple brown lamb skin and brought it home.  I made 2 projects with it, but today I’ll just show you one.  (The auto focus on my main camera lens is dying and I only got okay photos of one of the things I made.)

Behold the little shoes:

brand new shoes

Aren’t they perfect?  I love them.  They are such a cute shape, with a wide toe.  Robeez are cute, but sometimes the decoration on them is a bit much for me.  I used this pattern with a few modifications.  Since I was using leather instead of fabric I didn’t make the heel or sole two layers.  I did line the toe part with some fabric, though, so I had a little channel for the elastic to go through.

comfy, perfect

I used the suede side of the leather for the sole and a decorative flower stitch to topstitch them.  The actual sewing was just like sewing regular fabric.  I made sure I had a leather needle in my machine and that was it.  Piece of cake.

leather baby shoes

And because I can’t resist it, here are some pictures of the other end of my little shoe model.

sweet

The camera clicking woke her up.

i woke her up

How will I survive when she’s not a baby anymore?  I need to freeze time.

a finger and a blankie are all she needs

a blankie and a finger are all she needs

Eva has taken to sucking her finger and we think it’s the cutest thing.  She holds her blanket up to her face with her right hand and sucks her left pointer finger.  None of our other kids would ever really suck on a pacifier, let alone a finger.  It’s so adorable.  (I know it might not be when she’s 5 years old, but it sure is now at 4 months.)

It’s a good thing I made her some more blankies for Christmas– one side snuggly flannel and the other side silky voile from Anna Maria Horner’s Little Folks line.  If I were a better blogger you’d know that I LOVE the voile that several Free Spirit Fabric designers have prints on because I have made several things out of its silkiness (a School House Tunic, a shirt for Brenna, a shirt for me), but only about a third of the things I make ever get blogged about, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.  I love that fabric and I love that my sweet little girl likes to tickle her face with it as she sucks herself to sleep.

that Thanksgiving post

I know it is January and Thanksgiving was way back in November, but that’s just how things work for me these days. I get to it when I get to it.

Here are some family pictures from our trip to Idaho.  I wish I had taken photos of everyone sitting at the dinner table, of the kids playing legos for hours on end, of my sister in-law pouring over the Black Friday ads.  But, alas, I was too busy actually experiencing it all to remember to pull my camera out.

It was so fun to all be together.

the whole family (almost)

One of my brothers is missing, but he’ll be in the next family picture for sure.  (And I promise my Dad really does like all of us– just not the picture taking part I guess :))

all the cousins

Look at all those cousins!  The boys definitely out number the girls.  That’s how we do it.

the babes

And look at the babies.  My brother’s wife came down with severe preeclampsia about a week after Eva was born. There were a few scary days and finally the doctors decided they had to do an emergency c-section to save her life. Her little baby was born at 32 weeks and just 2 lbs. 14 oz. There was a scary lung colapse when she was about a day old, but since then she’s been a tough little girl. Just tiny. Here they are at 3 months old– Eva is about 15 lbs. and Savanna is 7 lbs. How fun is it that we have girl cousins one week apart?! Very fun, if you ask me.

We also visited friends on our trip and had so much fun. I think a post about them is in order too. When will I get to that do you think?

a new year

views from my basement

views from my basement

views from my basement

views from my basement

(So, these pictures are completely unrelated to what I’ve written here today, but they sure make me smile.  I love that my basement is Thor’s motorcycle course.  I love that Ian has all his clothes on backwards.  I just love it so much I can hardly stand it.)

It’s the end of the first day of the year and I feel like I need to just sit and write something. 2011 was good. I grew a baby, fell deeper in love with my husband, watched my children grow into more of themselves. I feel privileged to be here to witness it all.

I’m also feeling like there is more growing I need to do, like I’ve been in a state of stagnation, like I need to push a little deeper and grow into more of myself. I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions (generally because I’m horribly inconsistent and not super good at following through on things) but I do believe there is power in putting things in writing so I’m just going to make a list of things I want for this new year.

  • I want to read more– to have meaningful things to think about.
  • There are three things I want to do just about every day– scripture study, yoga, and writing.
  • I want to design fabric.
  • I want to feel like I’m using my time just as God would have me use it– to end each day with no regrets.
  • I want to stop comparing myself to others.
  • I want to stop worrying about what others think of me.
  • I want to feel confident that the relationship I have with each of my children is just what it should be. I want to feel confident that there is no doubt in their minds how much I love them.
  • I want to organize and decorate my home with beauty and intention– filling it with things that are beautiful, meaningful, and useful.
  • I want to be a source of inspiration for someone- to somehow make another’s life better by something I say or do.

I’m sure I could go on. There is always so much room for improvement. I have t his mantra I often repeat to myself

Be content and reach.

Be happy with the place you’re at, but always, always keep trying to be better.

How about you? What do you want for the new year?