New Kids Sewing Saturday Linkup

Hi Readers and fellow sewists!
I am starting something new today. it's a linking party where you can post projects you have sewn for your children,  or someone else's! I love linking parties and they are a win, win situation for everyone. If you know anyone who sews for kids spread the word as it's a great way to get more visitors to check out your sewing or craft blog.

You can post a text link or use the grab box below for my button and put it in your post that you link.




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French Blue Painted and Distressed High Chair Tutorial

This is the after of a highchair bought at the thrift shop and refinished..

And this is the before. It looks sort of distressed and OK in this photo but the previous owner had painted a water based paint over an oil based varnish so the paint was peeling off in an ugly shabby, but not chic, way. Like nail polish applied too thick it peels off in little clumps. I've seen antique French furniture in a pretty bluish gray finish and wanted to try to recreate that look in this high chair.  I used her post as a framework but added some of my own steps as I have been antiquing furniture for about 10 years but haven't done this bluish gray technique before.

To read my tutorial click the read more button below

Happy Mothers Day to my Mom

Happy Birthday to my Mom one of the first creative role models in my life! ( Note the cool tye dyed tee shirt and my hand crocheted sweater. ) Mom also sports the shag hairstyle that was super hip in 1970 when this photo was taken. Hey I'm giving away my age! Oh well. Mom was always expressing herself creatively. I remember sitting with her outside a church in Echo Park,  the LA neighborhood we lived in when I was little while she painted a cubist version of the local Catholic Church. Once we made paper out of the lint from our clothes dryer. We saved the lint from each load and then we pressed it all together. It was labor intensive but beautiful.  She was also a thrift shopping and garage sale queen and started collecting Bauer and Fiestware when you could still find it for pennies. She bought and resold cool 50's and 60's clothes and resold them at Blue Moon,  one of LA's first cool vintage clothing shops. She also had a small silk screening business where she made really cool punk rock shirts in the late 70's and early 80's which were sold at LA's legendary punk shop Poseur. Our bathroom was always full of her silk screen stuff which she had converted into a quasi-darkroom. Mom had an assortment of unusual friends coming and going. I'll never forget Roxy,  Mom's friend from high school who showed up at our doorstep wearing a white Cher - inspired fringed jumpsuit with a giant flower in her long black hair. Now I look back and think how alternative and boho my upbringing was but hey, it was the 70's and Mom had been a real life flower child. She was actually in San Francisco the Summer of Love having migrated down there after high school like so many other of our nations youth back in 1967 , disillusioned with the lifestyle of their World War Two generation parents. However, she did still have my Grandma's Betty Crocker cookbook and enjoyed making us things like fried liver much to my chagrin. My dog Max was the faithful recipient of that fried liver as he stood outside the dining room window near the giant agave plant where I would toss my liver when Mom got up to go to the kitchen ! 
BTW I posted this on my mom's birthday last year but I thought this was fitting to repost.

Mom , my brother Ian , and me at Canyon De Chelley, Arizona . We camped there in our VW bus.

Child's Apron Tutorial

Here is my tutorial after the jump break. I hope you try it!

Two Little Girls Aprons

Above are two little aprons I made for one of Lily's classmates and her little sister for an Easter gift their mom wanted to give them. I really liked how they turned out and I will be posting a tutorial for them tomorrow.

I've also been doing a lot of sprucing up outside and am redoing an old rusted wrought iron patio set to go on my patio for summer. Here is a picture of the before. I should be done in a few days.

This is a pretty terrible picture of me but oh well.. As you can see they are really rusty and the wood top is all dried out. It's real wrought iron we bought in Tijuana more years ago than I care to mention. It's lived in 4 different homes and really deserves a makeover before it rusts apart. The cushions are also really gross and brown, a color that really depresses me when it comes to upholstery. So stay posted for the big reveal and my apron tutorial!

Giveaways,a blog challenge, and a new sewing book

First I have to announce I won my first blog giveaway over at ohhh lulu . Sarah makes absolutely divine panties and bras and I can't wait to see what she whips up for me. Here is an example of the pretty things she makes which she sells in her Etsy shop and blogs about.

Aren't these cute? I think her business is going to do really well!

Second is I joined the kids clothing week challenge over at ElsieMarleys blog. You have to commit to sewing kids clothes for at least an hour a day for the week of may 9-16. She has a Flickr group to share and view everyones work and I'm looking forward to meeting some new sewing bloggers this way. Here is the badge I'm going to post on my sidebar next week.

Kids clothing week challenge

Third is I'm planning my first giveaway and I will be posting that in the next couple of days as well as the photos of Lilys First Communion Dress which I'm finishing up for her big day this Saturday. I hope some of you join in on the Kids Sewing Week challenge. It should be fun!

Also yesterday I just got this great new sewing book in the mail :

Couture Sewing Techniques, Revised and Updated

It's such an incredible book about the history of couture and tutorials on fine hand sewing with detailed photos of so many techniques to improve your sewing and take it to the next level. I had an old version of this book  checked out from the library and the pictures and sewing examples were really dated so it was a little hard to relate to. My library has the funniest and most obscure sewing books ever! Do you want to learn how to sew 70's ponchos, bell bottoms, and high waisted overall shorts for your little ones or how to sew an 80's Laura Ashley or Gunne Sax style dress? Then Santa Paula Library is for you. Someday these will be classics I'm sure! 

So do you like my new signature on this blog? If you would like to learn how to make your own this tutorial from the cutest blog on the block will show you how to make one.

Welcome To The Kitchen Garden

 Memories of childhood.

Picking strawberries

and nibbling on fresh lettuce.

Life is beautiful.