stock up the shop: marimekko

I've long been a big fan of the Finnish textile company Marimekko. Yes, largely due to the influence of the good taste of my Danish-born friend since 2nd grade (are you reading?)

I was thrilled to find this fabric recently, and more thrilled to be able to sell it to someone who appreciates it greatly. Yes, it was one of those "gasp!" moments when I found it, but the extremely large scale of it stumped me. The colors and even the style would actually work with my decor, but the sheer hugeness? I'd need some seriously high walls or something.

Orange, rich red, and navy. What a great combination.

45 year old fabric in almost mint condition. How cool is that? Here is an excerpt from a book titled Marimekko: fabrics, fashion, architecture by Marianne Aav. Have not seen the book in person, but I really enjoyed seeing the photo of this fabric in its day, in use.
~ Jenny

stock up the shop: vintage apron

Found this little vintage apron the other day. The colors and patterns just me happy for some reason, probably because I'm a child of the 70s.

Cute huh?
~ Jenny

project: surf's up toddler skirt tutorial

We have dreams in this house of learning how to surf. The kids put couch pillows on the floor, stand on them, and dramatically waver back and forth, "whooooa, whoaaaa, whoa!" The kids' movie Surf's Up is hilarious and is quite a favorite around here lately.

I can't give a tutorial on how to surf, but how about one to make a cute little surfer-girl skirt out of surfer-girl's older brother's surf shirt?! Super quick and easy, literally 20 minutes if you have the stuff. And this is what you need:

1 boy's surfer shirt with (this is important:) a straight, 1" hem. (Yes, you can do it with a curved, skinnier hem, but then it won't be quite so quick! The bottom hem ends up being the waistline...I'll address a complication about this later, you've probably already figured that out...I'm a little slow.)

3/4" - 1" elastic

thread

sewing machine

The photos are pretty self-explanatory, but I'll add some comments along the way to clarify. Oh, cool buttons really help the skirt look extra cute. And, ummmm, sizing...I cut up my little boy's size 5 shirt to fit my 2 year old little girl. Good enough? I thought so...it's elastic!

Hem the edge you just cut (this will be the BOTTOM  hem of the skirt.)

Thread your elastic through the original bottom hem of the shirt, this will be your waistband. Now might be a good time to grab that toddler and wrestle her down to make sure your making the waistband just the right size.

Now to address the aforementioned complication...yes, the print is upside-down. You probably saw this coming. I don't really worry myself too much about these things (clearly,) but the more I looked at various Hawaiian prints, I've realized that many have pictures going both ways. It still looks ridiculously cute, and you'll see another at the end in which the print can go either way.

I pinned the elastic in place, overlapping, and then sewed a square to hold it securely before I trimmed the excess elastic. See the square at the top above the buttons?

You may think this is just a grand effort to show off this adorable 2 year old belly, and maybe it is.

 

Try it, it's easy! (Oh, and if you don't have an older brother, just head to the thrift shop and you'll have your choice of all sorts of awesome prints. Maybe some nice plaids...doesn't matter if they're upside-down or not!)
~ Jenny