Wanted to share a quick preview of the next addition to my Etsy Shop.

 

the button box

A few months ago my aunt was nice enough to bring me a collection of buttons gathered by my grandmother. Grandma Betty was sort of a magical figure in my memories of childhood. Although she was gruff and smoked like a chimney she always had cookies in the pantry and some new outfit for our Barbies on her crochet hook. Craft was just a natural part of who she was. I can't remember a single visit where she didn't have some project laid out on her kitchen table. She and my Grandpa Jack loved going to the flea markets in Wisconsin, where they lived. Once I was along for the trip and Grandpa Jack bid on some mystery boxes! Grandma told me that the fun of it was that there could be anything in it and we wouldn't know until we won a box in the auction and opened it up! In my mind it would be full of beautiful old doll clothes and dress up outfits for me. I was so excited.
Of course, in the end, the mystery boxes were mostly full of raggy potholders and mismatched cutlery. But Grandma assured me that sometimes they "hit the jackpot!"

Grandpa Jack and Grandma Betty

I've had Grandma Betty's button box for a few months. Mostly I've just opened a drawer and grabbed an odd button for a prototype I'm working on or stuffed a little bag of new buttons into its already full drawers. One night, a few weeks ago, I was too tired to work on anything after a long day so I decided to sort the whole thing and see if there weren't any treasures in there. The project was more of an undertaking that I planned, and truth be told, I'm still not finished sorting. The button box is full of odds and ends, missmatches and riffraff to weed out, but there are also dozens of tiny, imperfect mother of pearl buttons, each one its own special shade of white, ivory, cream, peach, most of them very old and worn down along one edge or another, impossible to match with any real degree of certainty.

There are plastic buttons from a child's garment shaped like ducks and one impossibly small cloth covered button in a charming white and red striped cotton. There are buttons with the cloth of a dress or jacket still attached to them.

My family is thrifty. It is a way of life handed down through generations of farmers and depression survivors. If a warn out item has nice, usable buttons they should be removed and stored for future attachment to something else. I am a deep believer in reuse as the vast majority of my sewn pieces are made from repurposed fabric and almost the sum total of my wardrobe is second hand. Sorting the button box feels like a chance to reconnect to the spirit my grandmother, of my family, of all the button savers and mystery box enthusiasts.

late summer snoods

In the time that I'm not making dolls and other stuffed little things, I sew for myself, my home and occasionally my husband. I have an ever growing collection of vintage sewing patterns and in efforts to save my pennies I will often spend an afternoon making up a pattern for something I've seen online or in a shop rather than whipping out my credit card.

After spending so much time making wee things I was itching to put something wearable and fun into my shop. I created these structured snoods with a circular design and a shaped french seam in back to give them structure and shape.

 While not nearly so glamorous as my model Julia looks wearing them, I have been wearing a lightweight gingham version of these snoods nearly every day since I made it! I love a great scarf.

An American Rabbit

I love the amazing series of photos taken by Ruth Orkin in Italy in 1951. The images are funny and elegant. Some are even slightly unsettling.

The idea of traveling abroad on one's own is full of romantic idealism and adventurous spirit for me. When I was sewing up my latest addition to the Lissome Collection I was inspired to channel a little of Orkin's American Girl into my new rabbit doll.

She is made from a beautiful soft cream colored linen. Her face is hand embroidered and her inner ears are sewn from coffee dyed cotton. She wears a black linen dress, embroidered sandals and carries a canvas bag with leather straps. This 'American Rabbit' not a literal translation of Orkin's photographs, more my own interpretation of that romantic traveling spirit.

the art of a juicy cherry

I was pitting cherries earlier in the week and noticed that the juice had created a stain a paper towel that was kind of lovely so I put it up on a nail to enjoy for the rest of the afternoon.

Elizabeth Suzann. ss2014

Nashville based Elizabeth Suzann just released their SS2014 collection. So much to love. The clean lines and simple approach to chic make every piece a perfect wardrobe staple.

My days off often result in lengthy walks around my neighborhood in Chicago. This week I found some tiny, yellow snap dragons growing in the cracked tar of a parking lot.

potting

My sister loves plants, succulents and ferns especially. Her beautiful studio is filled with green things in every corner and I noticed a new Maidenhair fern peeking lushly out at me from behind her computer the last time I stopped by for a visit.

For her last birthday I picked up a few odd containers from my local thrift shop, some succulent soil and small garden rocks from the hardware store, three little plants I thought she might like from a local plant shop, and got to potting them as a gift. 

This new additions were added to her collection which has grown considerably since then.

See them in their element in the Wolfechild studio, here.

A Lady's Night In

I have been, like most people I know, feeling a little under the weather lately as the wet spring turns slowly to hot, dusty summer. So on a rare night alone at home I feel inclined to indulge is some lady time. Yep, a face mask and a Netflix binge on BBC mini series based on classic novels.

I was inspired by some incredible dried lavender bunches gifted to me from a friend's garden!

So pretty and fragrant. 

First, make a sachet with the dried lavender buds

I also add coriander pods simply because I love their sweet, spicy aroma

You can use a paper tea bag or a reusable spice bag to steep your herbs

(you can find both lavender and coriander pods at your local spice shop or upscale market)

Tie the tea bag off and submerge it in very hot water.

Let your herb sachet steep for a few minutes and then saturate a small, clean towel in the water.

I use like to use pretty, vintage linen napkins. 

I love the absorbency of linen for bathroom and kitchen towels and vintage napkins are often of amazing quality and softness, plus many of them have such pretty edging detail.

  

Once the towel is saturated, wring some of the excess water from it, just so it doesn't drip all over you, and lay the hot towel over your face while you lie down and relax.

This will open your pores and relax the tension in your facial muscles.

Keep the bowl of hot water nearby so you can re-wet your towel several times.

Now its time for a face mask!

Feel free to use any mask you love. I completely adore the ones from Evanhealey.

But if you're up for a little homemade adventure, here is one of my favorite mask recipes:

Make this up before you go into your hot towel heaven so you can quickly apply it after opening your pores and before ruining your moment of zen with a bunch of measuring and stirring.

Rose Oil and Honey Mask:

2 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons almond oil

5 drops rose essential oil

Mix honey, almond oil and rose oil.

Apply to face and neck with fingers.

Relax for 15 minutes, then rinse off with warm water. Pat dry.

I plan to spend the rest of this lovely evening snuggling with my cats and catching up with Middlemarch. I hope your night is just as relaxing!

Lissome. adjective. thin, supple, and graceful.

 So excited to be adding the new Lissome Collection to the shop today! A few months ago I decided to scratch the itch to start creating dolls for my own shelves. Objects that married my love of dolls with my equal love of textiles. 

One of my favorite thing to to is pop into my local fabric haven to run my hands over the impossibly smooth suiting wools, the dense imported linens, the airy silk knits, and loose a few hours day dreaming over possible new projects. The Lissome gals are the product of a many days of dreaming.

These dolls are as lovely to touch as they are to look at! The Dorrie doll has a sweater knit from a baby alpaca/cotton blend yarn that feels amazing! She also sports a belt made from a vintage watch band with its original buckle.

The design is long and lithe and the dolls look as at home perched on a bookshelf as they do in a child's menagerie of plush toys. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do!