SHIM + SONS

the summer of birthday parties

     

This has been the summer of birthday parties [six and counting!]. J's friend celebrated her 7th birthday today so I put together a little gift for the birthday girl. I made my "go to gift", a fabric applique t-shirt and added a few matching hair ties. The gift was packaged inside a white food box [I think everyone should have a stash of these at home]. I added a band of blue construction paper and made a gift tag which was tied around the package. I can't get over the cuteness factor of mini bunting!

P.S. On the subject of birthday parties, have you seen Andrea's super epic rainbow party she threw for her daughter? Amazing!! I really want to make the rainbow cake!!

linen + wood

// crosscut boards from canoe //

// classiky waxed paper sacks // linen tape // fog linen wooden scoop // from alder & co. //

// handmade linen drawstring bags //

// handmade linen + wood letter tags // still tinkering with the design //

// front + back //

// metallic silver thread //

// stitched on to the linen drawstring bag //

matchy matchy

Birthday party season is in full swing. The boys attended two parties over the weekend and I actually had time to make a few goodies for the birthday girls. One party was for our friends Miss E + Miss E, sisters whose birthdays are five days apart and this year they had a joint birthday party.

I sewed a few skirts out of my favorite black + white gingham which I picked up at the Jin Market in Busan. Using leftover scraps I made fabric flowers to embellish a simple white t-shirt. And yes, I was very tempted to make myself a matching outfit, but I resisted.

Since I was literally sewing the gift 10 minutes before we had to leave for the party I put the outfits into a white food box + slapped on a personalized gift label. The red + white polka dot box is the gift my boys picked out for the birthday girls [a girly Lego set]. Although the boys' gift was a bigger hit with the girls, the birthday girls' mother loved the handmade gift. 

I'll be sharing more handmade birthday gifts + photographs from j's 5th birthday party soon!

book :: simple sewing for baby

My sister will be having her third baby in the next few weeks and I really need to get my act together and make something for my new niece. As I was flipping through my sewing books, I came across an old favorite, Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby. I received this book last year while living in Korea and fell in love with the Simple Dress pattern because, well, it really is a simple dress to make.

I actually made this dress last year for my niece's birthday [my sister's 2nd child]. I chose a soft, lightweight cotton from my Jin Market fabric stash, perfect for the hot summers in LA. I opted to make a contrasting bias tape for the armholes and neck. And instead of sewing in a loop of elastic or ribbon at the back opening I opted for a simple button + tab closure. One of the great things about this style of dress is it can easily turn into a tunic once the baby gets bigger.

for a little chef

This is the apron I made for J + his classmates to wear for their cookie recipe book photograph. I used a great red + white twill from Bolt. I didn't follow a pattern, but if you have a apron handy you could use it as a guide.

My favorite part of the apron is the front pocket, love the selvedge.

I found this cute Kids In the Kitchen utensil set by Bambu at New Seasons which I thought would be fun props for the photo shoot.

It has been a long time since I made little aprons but I need to make more of them, it is such a fun and easy sewing project. And since I'm always thinking about birthday gifts for the boys' friends, I am planning to put together a little recipe book of the boys' favorite foods that could be included with an apron + utensil set.

5 minute jersey scarf

One thing I love about the internet is the abundance of inspiration. One thing I dislike about the internet is the abundance of inspiration. For me there is a fine line between being inspired at what people are creating and being overwhelmed by all the projects I want to try or mediums I would like to experiment with [yes, Mr. Silkscreening, I'm talking to you!]. But once in awhile I will see a project that I LOVE and have to do ASAP and maybe, just maybe, I will actually COMPLETE. [What, you don't have a huge "need to finish" pile of projects?] When I saw Sarah's cute jersey scarf I knew I had to make some for the boys.

Although I love the simplicity of dressing boys sometimes you just want to accessorize their outfits a bit. I tend to rely heavily on cute caps and scarves. I don't know if it is because I started them early, but my boys are really good at keeping their caps + scarves on so it makes it worth buying or making them in my book. So after spotting Sarah's jersey scarf I took the boys to Bolt where J picked out some light grey wool jersey. I bought one yard of the jersey and came home and cut it in a 10 inch strip and sewed the seams together to create a circle of jersey. I love the fact that the boys can put the scarves on really easily and they don't have any problems with the scarf falling off. But I realized after making them that I should have made the scarves at least 18 inches wide so they would be more "full". The photo shows them with the scarf wrapped around twice, although they can wrap them around three times for a tighter fit.

A few days later I found some beautiful teal bamboo jersey at Mill End. This time around I cut the yard of fabric in half so I had a piece of jersey 18"x56". J and I are currently sharing this scarf and I have to admit he looks better in it!

ties for my little valentines

Happy [Lunar] New Year + Valentine's Day! I made some ties for my little valentines last week, just in time for J's music program at school [which by the way, was so fantastic!]. I followed  Purl Bee's little boy's tie pattern which was super easy to follow and came together relatively quickly. I used a crisp cotton lawn fabric I picked up in Korea. The wonderful thing about this project is it does not require a sewing machine, so I was able to do the hand sewing while waiting to pick up the boys after school. The ties were a huge hit with the boys and they have already requested several more to add to their wardrobe. I'm thinking a cute green plaid tie for St. Patrick's Day. For some reason J reminds me of Alex P. Keaton when he is wearing his tie and I am so tempted to get him some penny loafers + a briefcase. Oh, and for the next batch of ties I will make sure to add a little loop on the backside of the tie so the inner tie flap can tuck inside the loop. [Hope that makes sense, in other words, I want to avoid having the skinny tie part flapping around in photographs as demonstrated by exhibit A and exhibit B.]

1/2 dozen

I know I've said it many times before, but making girly skirts is one of my favorite birthday gifts to give to our friends. Several months ago I made a few for a friend's birthday present and her mum, my dear friend, asked if I would make 1/2 dozen more before we moved. She left it up to me to pick out the fabric and I had so much fun! You cannot see in the photograph, but many of them have a contrasting fabric band on the bottom or top, a fun detail that I love to do.

And I made a few matching hair clips and hair ties for Miss G to wear with her skirts.

After finishing the skirts, I rolled them up and put them into a white box.

And stuck a personalized label on it!

silkscreening

One of these days I want to enroll in a silkscreening class, oh and a letterpress class, painting class, furniture making class...well, you get the picture. It is my dream that one day my products will be made using my own silkscreened fabric. But until then I am always on the lookout for beautiful + unique fabric. This is why I loved living in Busan, because a trip to the Jin Market always resulted in acquiring some fabric that I knew I wouldn't be able to find in the States.

As we were preparing for our overseas move last month I wanted to make some quick gifts for some of the dear friends we met in Busan. I like practical gifts and remembered that I always put the drawstring bag + tissue holder that I made for myself to good use. So I used my favorite silkscreened fabric to make a dozen drawstring bag + tissue holder sets. This is a fun and easy sewing project!

the paint chip skirt

This girl's skirt was inspired by a paint chip card tucked inside my sketchbook. I can't help but think of  Martha when I see this colorway. Although I have fun picking out girly prints when I'm making skirts for friends, this design is definitely more my style. This skirt has already inspired several new home accessory designs I hope to share with you this winter. I love how working on one project can lead to new ideas for new projects.