{A New Orleans Summer Wedding...}

Several months back, I was neck deep in making dresses for a summer wedding in New Orleans.  Remember this? Just the other day, the bride sent me a few snapshots.  I was so excited to see the dresses on the big day - I think they fit perfectly for a summer wedding in New Orleans, don't you think so?

These dresses are Pink Fig patterns and we adapted them to work for the wedding by changing up the hemlines and adding some additional details, etc.  I think they worked really well for the occasion and the best thing of all...they can be worn again and again for church and other special occasions.

I had intended to announce our  Lisa Leonard giveaway winner yesterday...but as life would have it..."something came up".  Last week, I got horribly sick for a few days with a nasty awful cold something or other.  Then one of the peas got sick.  And we both got better somewhere around Monday.  On Monday, Sprout fell off of a dining room chair.  Which seemed not to be a big deal but turns out she may have had a toddler fracture...and so I spent time running her around to the doctors office and then over for scans.  Came back negative.  Good news.  Then the other pea came down sick.  Then we had a swim team breakfast, a final practice, our swim team Championships, then I got sick again with fever for two days, then Sprout got a fever and they thought maybe her leg was infected so I spent last night with her at the hospital while that was all checked out.  Today...today all of us are well.  Sprout's leg is fine, not great, but the second round of scans still showed negative fractures so not sure why she is still fussing over it.  She still has a fever but she seems to be doing much better.  And the peas are better.  And life is almost normal here.  Whatever that is.

Breath...ok, and so that's why I didn't get everything updated.  Old Mr. Random Number Generator...choose #8, Celeste.  Congrats Celeste!  Have fun shopping over at Lisa Leonard Designs.  And thank you to everyone else who participated.

And THANK YOU Lori, for featuring my pattern on your blog this week. LOVE HAZEL - go share some love with her, please?!

xoxo,

Trish

Da-da-da-dum {otherwise known as "the wedding song"}

I was commissioned to sew up some little bridesmaid dresses for a wedding in New Orleans this June.  It sounded like a fun task to take on. It was.  And it wasn't.

First, they gave me plenty of time.  I procrastinated to the very last moment.  I was so overwhelmed about the prospect of sewing, not a little Sunday's best kind of dress, but for a gulp, wedding.  Every time I thought about the project, I got a nervous stomach.

Well, I got smart.  I called "Super Nova".  Nova is the mother of my dear friend Barb and she is the seamstress queen.  She spent 4 whole long days with me while we cut, recalculated patterns for custom fits and custom details, stitched, sewed, enjoyed lovely lunches in our sunroom with Sophie and chatted about sewing successes and failures.  

We had 4 machines going.  Lots of thread.  14 yards of fabric. And 4 beautiful sunny days with the most perfect breeze blowing through the house.

I learned a lot from Nova.  She had so many great ideas about how to make things look nicer, changing up the pattern so that the seams were nicer, adding details like a hem that has a faux underskirt look.  We added a nice sash to the dress.  My girls loved them and want one for themselves.  We used both the Lydia and Sophia pattern from Pink Fig Patterns.  (Her patterns are so simple - simple does not necessarily mean short and easy.  We spent around 32 hours making these 4 dresses plus a tie for a little boy.  55+ rows of shirring, 11 tiers of gathering on the skirts...it exhausts me even to type it out)

Best part, the bride was thrilled with them.  Phew!  Ask me if I'll ever sew for another wedding again?  Um, no.  Never.

xoxo,

Trish

Two Peas Sewing Bee

Ok ladies...pull up a chair, warm up your machines, put your foot to the pedal!

Join in on the "Two Peas Sewing Bee"!  We've been having some fun and I wanted to share a little of what we have been stitching away in our Sewing Bee...

My dear friend and neighbor, Barb, has this awesome craft room in her house.  A separate entrance, loads of great lighting, plenty of space and tables - she typically teaches a stamp class there.  She's a Stampin Up sales rep.  I've been leasing her space from her to teach my sewing classes.  Most everyone in the class is a beginner, some a bit more advanced than others, and our first class we made a whole bevy of projects for beginners.

A tissue pack cover.  A lanyard.  Val Wells petal pouches.  And a little wallet, also by Val Wells.

Our second class, we tackled applique shirts and the twirl skirt by Chelsea Anderson of Pink Fig.

There is a designer in all of you!  I loved the fabrics that everyone choose.  So dang cute!

AND next, in November, I'll be offering an all day "Santa's Workshop" sewing bee.  We will be tackling 3 projects in one day!

We will be making an apron, like the one seen here on me (this one is a take on one of the aprons from my husbands grandmother - you can see this apron on "jane" up at Harvest Moon.  I gave it to her in honor of the awesome cinnamon rolls and bagels she whips up daily).

Project 2 will be a patchwork pillow.

And number 3, a quilted table runner.

All great projects for gifts at Christmas.  The pillows and table runners can be made with all kinds of manly fabrics for a boys room or a brother or Dad might like a nice throw pillow for their couch.  Or some frilly fancy fabrics for a sister.

Anyway, lunch will be provided as well as some of the materials.  I'll have more details later so if you are interested in one of the seats - let me know asap!

Happy Sewing all!

xoxo,

Trish

PS  Just added the class to our schedule.  Santa's Workshop Sewing Bee will be on November 14th - all day, 9am - 5pm.  $125 per person with a $20 discount for early birds who register by November 1st.  Just email me at twopeasinapoddesigns at gmail dot com

Heavens to Murgatroyd!

OK, so I'm hanging out with the wee one getting ready to put her to bed and I say to her, "Heaven's to mergatroid child!". Seriously?! Where did THAT come from? Heavens to mergatroid?! So, that got me curious, and as I do typically each night, lock myself in the bath and step into a steaming tub and catch up on blogs on my iphone (that's right, don't act like you don't do it too,risky, yes but I'm very careful not to drop it in the water : )

So I'm googling, Heavens to Murgatroyd. Turns out this is a take on Heavens to Betsy - no one is quite sure who Besty was but the pink mountain lion, Snagglepuss, on Yogi Bear coined this twist on the original phrase. Then I keep reading and it says, of all things, that the pink mountain lion on Yogi Bear was gay. What?! Gay?! I didn't know that, did you? Of course, at the age I was watching Yogi Bear I suppose I didn't even know what it meant to be gay but I was shocked. "Not that there's anything wrong with that " (remember THAT Seinfeld episode) I just didn't know. I mean, he's pink and all but he could have just been all metro sexual kind of thing but, whatever.  He's a cartoon character.   So, now ya know and when you are playing trivial pursuit or something, you'll have that little odd fact about this phrase to tuck away into your memory banks. What that has to do with anything I'm not sure...

Moving on...been super busy catching up on party orders! I do home parties,

Trunk Shows I call them. You host a party at your house and then I bring all of my purse samples, and loads of fabric swatches and you get to build your own bag, or quilt, or bib, or dress, or skirt, or whatever...I make loads of

stuff. Anyway, its a blast (and you can host an online party too if you aren't local - hey, just email me twopeasinapoddesigns at gmail dot com).

One of the ladies ordered a patchwork skirt. Well, I was dying to try out this pattern I found here by Chelsea Anderson of Pink Fig. I love her stuff because it is SO easy and the results are amazing. So, here's my first try at this skirt from the mag. LOVE IT!  Want one?  They'll be loaded on my website soon.  (ohh!  Launching my dot com soon - you'll love).  Here's one more quickie photo from the iphone of an order from Julia's party...

And on top of all the sewing I've been doing...whew! we had swim team practice, practice, practice and then

championships and then banquet followed by a super fun

pool party. Really, that was so much fun to swim after dark with the kids! One of the Dad's DJ'd and it was such fun.

And check this out!  THIS is India from our office.  First of all, isn't she beautiful?!  Well, one of our student workers, Allison, has been teaching herself how to sew.

She took a tunic from her Mothers closet, laid it out and cut a pattern and made this shirt.  Huh?!  That's a girl with a great sewing future!  Don't you love this!  Now, the seams were a bit rough inside but  at the time she didn't have a serger.  Problem resolved, I sold her my old one at the end of the school year.  I can NOT wait to see what she creates next!  I think she did such a fabulous job!

Ok, breathe, breathe...is this like too much information for one post?!  I'll stop now, mostly because the gardener is at home with three kids and I'm sure tapping his foot waiting for my arrival home.  (no internet at home - have to schmooze it elsewhere to post - blah!)

So, next post - get ready!  I have a fun little service project for us!  I was reading this story in People magazine about a soldier who had asked for bedding from home to be sent because their linens over there stink.  I thought, all of us sewing goddesses that we are, lets sew up some pillowcases to send over!  Sound good?  Next post will be a pillowcase tutorial and my giveaway for August will be some fabric so you can make one more and send off.  I'll post their contact info and all so you can mail off your little bundle of soft love for a wonderful soldier to bury their tired head into at night.

Be good everyone!  School is back in session in 28 days!  Yippee!  (oops!  That came out like a shout of joy, didn't it?  That was sorrow - I will MISS the little ones terribly and wait at the window just watching for their return each day from school - after I do my happy dance!!  Just kidding - a little.  I just want to catch up on laundry - we've been playing and working a lot - not much house cleaning going on).

Ok seriously, I'm signing off - I'm writing like I'm on crack or something - get ready for pillowcase construction, ok!  Go getcha some fabrics!

xoxox,

Trish

Quilt Market

I know, quit complaining, right? I mean seriously, how much can you possibly stand to hear me moan and groan about my nervous stomach and anxiety over this whole process of trying to become a textile designer. This has been a long and trying journey so far. OK…so here’s the “story” of my experience and interviews at Quilt Market.

The night before day one, I could not get to sleep. If you were following me on Twitter, you know, I was up way late, up way early and was losing my mind. Not to mention the fact that I’m still nursing my baby, who I left at home, and who I have never been away from for more than a few hours. Heart wrenching. A few tears were shed.

Once I got to market the next morning, within minutes I had my first appointment. And it went well. I got great feedback and was asked to resubmit in a different format and add some things to show my line in finished product within the next 10 days. I had two other companies who liked me and we had a really great connection. Crossing my fingers. I had two complete rejections which was ok. They said, and it’s true, that the market is getting saturated with designers. Scrapbookers and graphic designers – everybody is designing for fabrics and it’s just very competitive right now. They both told me that before they even looked at my designs and then looked and gave me advice and feedback. That was very nice.

In the midst of the interviews, I got to visit with some people who have been mentoring me through this process as well as some new friends. I had the best time meeting Kay Whitt of Serendipity Studios. She is just without a doubt the sweetest thing ever! We had talked before market about intellectual attorneys via email. She was wearing this super stylish coat! I love it! I bought the pattern to try making one for myself. I told Kay it will be cold weather again before I get it done! I think Kay and I could have talked all day about dust bunnies in our machines, top stitching, button holes and dishonest people. Super wonderful person!

Amy Butler is a “neighbor” of mine. She lives a few towns over from me. I have met her once before and I was absolutely shocked that when I walked over to her booth she greeted me with, “Hi Trish! You made it here! So good to see you!”. One time I met her and she remembered my name, remembered the thank you card I had sent her for helping me out, wow! I hope I can have a memory like that! I mean, she is one busy person so that’s pretty impressive. No doubt, one of the reasons why she is so well liked. Not only does she make amazing things but she is one heck of wonderful people person. So very warm and just nice, nice, nice. One of the things I’m trying to push with my line is for it to be green. And Amy and I had a nice conversation about organic cottons and dyes, and recycled materials and where the demand currently is. SO, listen up…if you are someone who thinks it’s important for us to support farming in the US, support organics, support sustainable business practices – you need to let the textile companies know that you want and will pay for organic cottons. It would be great to see there be a cry for green products in this industry!

(Are you sick of seeing photos of me yet? Sorry, my first market - playing major tourist!) Patty Young had a colorful little booth and her handy husband was with her over in the Michael Miller area. You gotta check out her blog and read about what happened before she got to market. Holy moly! But as you can see, her booth looked fabulous. And her new sewing patterns – they are really cute.

Lila Tueller, she started all of this! Oh, she may not remember BUT Lila was kind enough to browse my portfolio last fall and sent me the nicest, longest e-mail about how I needed to take my work to the next level and that I had really great quality work. She gave me all kinds of tidbits of advice that got me started on my portfolio. So when I met Lila finally in person, she could not have been nicer. She made my day because she was just gushing over my portfolio and made me feel so good on a day when I was feeling incredibly nervous and doubtful.

And her niece Chelsea,

you’ve heard me say before, amazingly easy patterns! Looking for something cute to make, easy – I mean I made my girls Easter dresses from her Lily pattern in about 3 hours.

All in all, a great trip. I took that first leap. I made all the connections. I networked. And now I have 3 great leads I’m working on. Within a month, I should either know if I’m getting my own line now or if I have to try again later. I’ll keep ya posted!

I can say, my stomach feels much better now. I got so many emails and voicemails from family and friends who said they were praying for me while I was at market and I have no words to tell you how much I appreciate that.

I was asked to provide a giveaway for a website called TryHandmade – way cool! Hop over and give them a peek and subscribe to their newsletter. This country is packed with fantastically talented women!

I may be slow to post for the next few weeks…drawings to complete, orders to go out, shows to prep for, kids to take care of, and oh yeah, I actually have a “real job” too! So what’s new with you? Drop me a line and let me know what you have going on in your sewing room!

Xoxo, Trish

{Our Easter parade...}

Where do I begin?  So much I want to share with you but so little time!  The girls enjoyed a great spring break last week and if you were following me on Twitter you know we headed out to the zoo...in the snow.  I love working at the largest university in the country - gives me a chance to network with loads of people and luckily, one of our alumni board members is a keeper at the Columbus Zoo SO, she was wonderful enough to give my girls a behind the scenes tour.  We got to see exactly what she does to care for the animals and a chance to see a grizzly bear, 2 alaskan brown bears and a cougar very close!  So cool!  No photos to share of that as we were not allowed to take any in the back areas but...check this out!

This is the cafe at the zoo.  See anybody else there?  That's right...when it's 20' windchill and snowing - NOBODY goes to the zoo.  We saw two other people there all day.

Here's the girls in the "jungle" with a researcher!  Ha!  And some cool looking birds we saw in one of the aviarys...where it was WARM.

The flamingos were out...

The manatees and sea turtle at the aquarium section...

And so on to Easter...we went to my parents house which was fun.  The girls got these really cool little jackets for their American Girls from the sewing room of the easter bunny, aka The Doll Closet on etsy.  Really cute!

And they had a blast!  I have to say, they looked BE-AU-TI-FUL in their easter dresses.  They turned out really well, if I do say so myself!  I got the pattern for these from PinkFig.  I used the Lily pattern and had to adjust some because my girls are a size 8 and the pattern only went up to a size 7.  I added some extras on the ruffle, etc.  They LOVED them!  If you are looking for an easy EASY to use pattern line - PinkFig is it!

OK, so I never did get them to stand very still for a photo but here's a few portfolio shots...you get the idea!

And then...I've had quite a few orders for dresses lately.  I have some already listed on my etsy page. But here's a peek at a few..

And matching ponytail ribbon explosion thingy whatevers on their way to etsy soon...here's a peek at just one of them...

Does the baby look happy here?  Poor thing!  Her sisters love her TOO much!  Well, lots of photos, not too much text.  Since Easter (yesterday) one of the peas has been diagnosed with whooping cough.  She doesn't look sick does she?  Exactly why we had no idea...since all she had was a nagging cough.  Our AWESOME doctor caught it and well, things are now quite hectic in our house so I'll be back next week with an entry about handmade stuff!  (I noticed at my Moms, my sisters - dang!  I make a LOT of stuff cuz it's all over their house from paintings to placemats! More on that next week!)

I'll leave you with one last little cutie - my baby's first Easter.  Next week she celebrates her first birthday.  A very special little day.  She was born on April 25th - the same day as my oldest sister.  My oldest sister  died when she was 15 from complications from mono.  My baby being born on her birthday was quite special.

God bless - hope everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday!  Ciao, xo Trish

AND DON'T FORGET...post a comment and you'll have a chance at our monthly giveaway!