Today, the clouds are bright, fluffy, and a bit cheerful.  They seem to be filtering the sun so it doesn’t melt the beautiful snow too fast.

Thanks for thinking of us through the storm!  I’ll be back on Monday with an announcement…

And I’m not pregnant if that’s what you’re thinking. ;)

P.S. I just listed another Keep Calm and Carry On 5 x 7.  Happy Saturday!

P.P.S.  Those icicles pictured yesterday are now as long as 2.5 ft.  Yikes.

So I guess we’re alright for now.

Here’s the view from our kitchen window:

What you see here is snow falling on ice.  And some very long icicles forming on the neighbor’s house.

If we do lose power, we’ll be eating peanut butter or spinach & avocado on pita bread with oranges and cold-brewed coffee (Oh yeah, I’d better grind it up while I can!). We’ll bundle up in blankets, color in coloring books, and play Scrabble.

For now, I’d better take advantage of the hot water, the stove, and the coffee grinder.

Stay warm & safe, friends!

I have about 23 tabs open in my window.  Which is precisely why Evan and I have our own windows on the computer.  I don’t want to drive him nuts.  But I digress.

What can I say?  I’m a bit of a collector.  And there’s so much inspiring me right now that I simply must share some of it.

• Jackson, Johnston & Roe. - lovely spring collection in all the right colors
• Happy Tape
• Baby Bean Vintage Daywear - everything I would make/buy for Emily if she wore clothes
• Simon Page’s amazing posters
• Miss Mabel
• Simple handmade puzzle toy by mer mag
• Orchid Grey’s hair styling expertise
• Chai tea concentrate love from everyone’s favorite Chicken
• This pouf I can’t buy unless I move to Denmark
• Saltwater
• And to round off the collection, A Collection a Day

I have Cal Patch to thank (again) for this little Basic Tee.  I drafted a pattern for this using my measurements, her instructions, and a healthy dose of trial-and-error to get the right fit.  I know I’ve said this already, but I highly recommend her book.

My biggest (and really the only) mistake was measuring too far across my shoulders.  I have broad shoulders for my small frame, but my shirts do not need to be as broad as I measured.  So the first pattern draft looked bizarre.  Can you tell?  That shoulder is ridiculous.  But I had no idea.

I even compared it to a shirt that fits me (from GAP), but didn’t get the hint that I was way off.  Until I sewed the entire shirt together…

And the tops of my shoulders were drooping down to my biceps.  I did not take pictures. :)

Then came the seam ripper.

I took 2 inches off the width of my shoulders.   Thankfully, the sleeves didn’t need to be changed, and since I had too much fabric, I just cut off the excess and reinserted the sleeves.

And Voila!

I added sleevebands to the ends of the sleeves instead of finishing them with a double-turned hem.  I simply measured the width of the ends of my sleeves and made a rectangle that width (plus seam allowances) and the height I wanted the bands (x 2).  Then I sewed the bands up their sides, folded them wrong sides facing, and then attached them to the raw edges of the sleeves.

Now that I’ve taken pictures of myself in the shirt, I can see that the shoulder angle is a bit off.  Since I changed the armholes, the shoulder angle needed to be adjusted too.  But I had already sewn reinforcement and was too lazy to pick out all those stitches.  Thus, I think that ever-so-slight angle problem is causing the slight bunching near my underarms.  At least, I think that’s the problem.

Cal?

P.S. You can see what others are making from Design-it-Yourself in the Flickr Group. :)

Now available in the Thimbly Things Shop:

“Buttons & Doilies” 4 x 6

“I LOVE US” 4 x 6

Inspiring me now…

1. Untitled, 2. without words…, 3. for etsy…, 4. please vote :), 5. red sling, 6. I’m a cuckoo, 7. I Love You, 8. Untitled, 9. Untitled, 10. Untitled, 11. Untitled, 12. ভূবন ভরা আলো…, 13. One ♥ Love, 14. Valentine Garland, 15. 17.365 // life is a highway, 16. Untitled, 17. 001, 18. Untitled, 19. CIMG0973, 20. Our Front Entrance, 21. november, 22. touch, 23. i will…, 24. Untitled, 25. Untitled, 26. nice thing about thrifting, 27. Memories, 28. Pretty, Pretty, 29. school, 30. Finn’s Room_Christening Outfit, 31. sometimes a little color…, 32. {pearls and bokeh}, 33. Moritz’ room, 34. addie’s bedtime shelf, 35. bijoux, 36. 9.100 // how YOU doin’?

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys

This is not high fashion.  But I’m still gonna make it work if I can. :)

Paule suggested yesterday that I add some embroidery as a point of interest and just go with it.  Which was a BRILLIANT idea!  I actually went with applique for that instant-ish gratification that I love.  I think I’ll add several more of these little flowers and just go crazy, but here’s the beginning.

I need to stitch around all the tiny triangles; and the waistline, hem, and closure need to be finished.  But this might be salvaged…  We’ll see!

And Cheryl suggested that I add a flap.  Well, why didn’t I think of that?  I might do that too…

Yesterday, I almost made my second skirt, using my new-and-improved higher-waisted pattern based on my measurements (first skirt here).  I say almost because I cut my pieces, sewed my darts, sewed up one side seam (with a French seam!) and made a button flap for the other, finished the other side seam nice and fancy, and then…

realized I had sewn it all backwards.

This won’t make sense unless you understand that the closure on this garment was meant to be on the left side of my body, and the button flap needed to be connected to the back of the skirt so the buttons would be on the front.  Make sense?

Well, if I finish it as it is, the buttons will be on the right backside of the skirt.

Of course, the moral of this story is to know your backside from your front. ;)

So…

Any suggestions???  Help me salvage this!

After a year of little nectarines and a doily on my blog header, I decided it was time for something fresh.   You know, since I don’t sit around photographing the citrus fruit all day.

I’m far more likely to be found cutting up paper and tiny scraps of fabric.  Or so my new header says.

And since I’m changing things, I decided to stick my name on there.  I mean, who is thimbly things anyway?  Well, it’s me.  Kristena Derrick.  Lady, wife, mommy, clothing-maker, former caffeine addict, grace-lover, aspiring illustrator, poet, Barbie-dresser, recorder of funny toddler quotes, sandwich-maker, etc.

So now you know. ;)

This year, I want to work my way through Cal Patch’s book, Design-it-Yourself Clothes.  I got it for Christmas, and it is everything I hoped it would be!  Seriously.  If you want to learn how to draft your own patterns for your own designs, she breaks it all down for you.

So far, I’ve taken all my measurements, traced the design template, drawn some designs using said template, and drafted a skirt pattern based on my measurements.

I feel so empowered!

First off, Cal teaches us how to construct a skirt based on our very own measurements.

Now.  I cannot lie here.  I had to pull out quite a few stitches on this to get it right.  But I learned how important darts are and how they absolutely must be right.  Every 1/8″ matters, my friends!!!

I also learned that I need to school myself in hidden zipper insertion.  I thought I had that skill, but I apparently do not.  More ripped seams ensued, and I opted for the button flap instead.

And am so glad I did.

The result is a pretty cute lightweight denim skirt with five buttons up the left side.  It sits lower on my waist than I happen to like.  Cal tells us that the lower waist measurement is all the rage these days, but I found (through trial and error!) that I prefer the almost-natural waist.

So I redrafted my pattern…