Surah



Hi there! Continuing on my series on fabric properties, today's post is about surah. I am doing this series to gain more expertise in textiles, and more importantly to help me pick the fabric to use for my new vintage dress pattern Advance 9441.  Here we go, on to surah research…  

Surah

Twill-weave silk, rayon or synthetic which is suitable for soft, tailored garments. It is available in solid colors, prints, and plaids, and is often used for neckwear.


McCall’s Sewing Book, Sixth Printing copyright 1963 by McCall Corporation. Published by Random House, Inc.



A few more properties to note:

Weight: light weight, with silk-like hand

Ease of Use: It has a noticeable twill on the fabric and wrinkles easily. Underlining can help to prevent wrinkling, as well as to prevent slipping at the seams. Some have a tendency to water spot.

Uses: ties, dresses, and furnishings

Care: Silk is dry clean only. Polyester, and rayon surah are machine washable

Price: no known source


Next up ...jacquard


For more on the dress pattern i'm using and for previous fabric posts start here.
  



A Cat Themed 4th Birthday Party

 Come on in and put on your kitty ears and whiskers! (Kitty Ears Tutorial)

My daughter turned 4 recently, and we celebrated kitty cat style because the kid thinks she's a cat. She had a cat cake, pin the tail on the cat game, feed the kitty toss game, and a room fully of kitty cat friends adorned with kitty ears and whiskers, oh and she was wearing a cat dress I made just for the occasion. The kids had a blast making their own cat toys, and playing with balls of yarn - they all acted out the part.


The cat bunting I threw together last minute to add a little more color to the buffet.



Kitty cake made by a good friend of mine at Stellar Cakes.
 
Cat treats... a fishbowl full of goldfish crackers.

Finger foods. Lots of fruits & veggies in little bites. I also made fish sticks and french fries.

An open invitation to play. Colored rice, cats, pom poms, cups for digging. This was very popular, and resembled confetti after the party, and yes it was all over my floor... but worth it.

 The birthday girl got plenty of time to explore the kitty litter rice table before the party started! This and was the highlight of her afternoon. Meow!
 One more close-up of the kitty litter box.

  Yes, I am 4 and am going to give you my don't take a picture of me face.

Games we played...

Pin the tail on the cat.
Feed the kitty. I had a basket on hand full of balls of yarn, and mice to feed the cat.

My husband drew the cat, and I cut out his mouth with a razor blade, then my little artist painted it.

I had a few crafts on hand for the kids. Some cat and mice coloring sheets. And make your own cat toy - have a supply of fuzzy wire sticks and feathers. 

The rice was popular all night with the under 2 crowd. Kept them very busy.


There's that cat dress I made. Notice the little orange stuffed kitty, came in to help blow out the candles.

Kitty cat favors... what parent doesn't want more sugar after a birthday party full of cake and sweets? I couldn't resist anyways, because they were just so cute. I found these on Parents.com under Cat Themed Party. You can download the template here.




Are you planning a cat party? I would love to hear about it. Leave a comment below.

Meow!

JEN




Pinning like crazy

Sharing a little pin love today. I've been pinning like crazy, so check out these fun sewing & craft projects. Now if only we had the time to do them all!



and other crafty things...



So come and stop in and check out what i've been pinning like crazy.

Oliver + S Music Class Blouse & Skirt


Oh happy day... I have a new Oliver + S pattern in my hands that I just couldn't wait to sew up! I  bought the Music Class Blouse & Skirt pattern then made a quick trip to my new favorite local quilt shop West Seattle Fabric Company. The ladies were so nice, and best of all they had a basketful of toys to entertain my 4 year old while I shopped! What a great concept, the toys kept her entertained for an hour while I browsed fabric & chatted up the ladies in the store. I could have done much more damage to my wallet, but this is the selection I came out of the store with.

My 4 year old picked out the kitty fabric, and I was inspired by all the fun bright prints - I guess it was a happy day - the sun was shining in Seattle which was a blessing! Take a look at those wild green eyes on the cat, the lime green dot fabric brings out his eyes. The cute little mouse with his pink ears, lead me to pick out the pink houndstooth.
My fabric selection:
  • Essential Dots White Baby Pink, by Moda
  • Cat and Mouse by Timeless Treasures
  • Cotton Candy Houndstooth by Free Spirit
  • Lime Confetti Dots by Dear Stella
Pattern:


I made the blouse and skirt in a size 5 both fit my 4 year old daughter well with plenty of room for growth.  It didn't make sense for me to purchase the 6M-4 size, she is a tall 4 year old so the size 5-12 works well for us.

Here is the front of the blouse featuring Moda's Essential Dots Baby Pink fabric.

I adore all the fine details of the pintucks on the blouse front, sleeves, and back yoke. And the peter pan collar is so precious. It was cold today, so my daughter wore a white sweater over it, with the little collar peeking out. 

She wore her new outfit to church today - here we are walking to her Sunday School class. See that little collar. So sweet.

Here's a view of the back of the blouse, I love pintucks!

And here's a look at the first skirt I made, I cut enough fabric to make 3, mix and matching the pink, green, and kitty fabrics to make them fun. I think next time i'll use the same fabric on both side panels, however the more I look at it the more I like it just the way it is. It looks cuter on her then in the picture. I added lace to the side pockets to cover up the mismatch in the kitty print - which was driving me batty. I can just tell my daughter the kitty is hiding his nose in your pocket, he sniffing around for that mouse... where did that mouse go?

 The side panels have little pockets folded in, that are perfect to fit a little toy mouse, or kitty treats :)

 This skirt reminded me of these little puppets we made last year. Mousie Mouse 1 & 2 - named by my daughter. Her naming conventions have gotten much more advanced in the last year. Now she'd call these mice humdumdeedoda, and humbingadoobee. She comes up with really long, strange names for all her animal friends.

 If you would like to make your own little mouse puppets, check out my earlier post here.


I hope you have a fantastic Monday!

And if you're here for the first (or second or third) time, please leave a comment i'd love to get to know you - what are you working on right now?

Jen