Check out the new site

Check out the new site! LOVELY NEST DESIGNS!

I will be posting here from now on. Come over and visit!

There she goes!

There she goes.... she's been prayed over, loved on and is ready to try her wings in the big city. (Why do I feel like I am sending off my first born to college or something???)

Psalm 118:6 (new living translation) "The Lord is for me, so I will not be afraid!"

This is the memory verse we are working on with Grace this week. (She memorized it on the first day...like a sponge... Me, on the other hand had to repeat it over and over and over... and still sometimes get the numbers transposed... ) How fitting to be working on this verse this week.

Shout out

Today I am honored by a shout out from a seriously cool, totally hip, awesome gal who lives in Chicago and just got back from Fashion Week in NYC. UM, yes, I already expressed my jealousy! I met her through ETSY and she has the greatest website full of eye candy!

Today she featured me and my Lovely Nest brand! So sweet! Check it out HERE. Hover over the needles until you see the one that says LOVE IT... and click on it. There we are!

She makes really beautiful jewelery and when she gets her ETSY shop up and ready, I'll show you some of it!

Front Page 4!!

check, check, check it out. Love all these things!!! Woo hoo!

Look what God has done!

Only by the grace of God can I say what I am about to say: my children's clothing will soon be available at a boutique in NEW YORK CITY! ..... ahem...yes, you heard that right... NYC, the Big Apple, baby! Stoopher and Boots will be carrying my items!

I am so humbled and honored to have this opportunity, and let me tell you that it was totally the Lord! The owner of this shop (who is incredibly sweet and kind, by the way) found me through ETSY and contacted me to see if I'd be interested in selling my clothing in her shop! Out of the 6.5 million listings on ETSY, she found mine and that's only by the grace of God.

Just the night before I got the email, I was praying for direction, for peace and for open and closed doors. Wow, talk about answered prayer. Be encouraged, God hears our prayers!!!

So, once I get enough items made, I will be hugging them goodbye, wishing them luck, boxing them up and sending them off to the BIG CITY to fend for themselves! Can you believe it!???

Front page #3

This little lovely made it to the front page of etsy this morning! Seriously, this is awesome!


Click HERE to see the FRONT PAGE treasury!!! Can't believe it!

Pearl and her new coat

Meet Pearl. We just adopted her yesterday. She's a beauty. Here she is wearing her new coat. It was made by yours truly from scratch...from the stash...! One part green fabric that I've had for ages, and one part vintage floral sheet + 4 vintage buttons = pearl's coat.

Here's the lining... cut from a vintage sheet. Yes, she's fully lined, shined and simply divine. (Sorry, that was corny.)

The back with an almost 4 inch pleat. So cute.

Here she is again, in all her glory.

Now the only question is: Pockets or no pockets? I had the pockets on... but then took them off... now I need some advice. Pockets or no pockets... and if pockets are the verdict, which ones??? See below. Floral pockets??

Or green?... Hmmm, I can't decide. What do you think?

Ok, truth is, I made this coat for Harper, but don't tell Pearl, she really likes it and thinks it's her color. I've got to break the news to her sometime, but maybe I'll wait just a little while... since she's new to the family and all... I want her to feel welcome here, you know. So... pockets or no pockets? Pearl isn't giving me any indication what-so-ever... so I turn to you.

Oh BTW.. I made this from a vintage 1970's pattern from the stash! Even better!

Stash Busted, AGAIN! Woo hoo! Check out the stashbusting september challenge here:


linking also here:

Front Page Again

Front page again! I can't believe it... so cool... and so the Lord. A friend told me the other day that people wait years to be featured on the front page of etsy! And the 2nd time in just a month. Don't know what will happen from here, but I am thankful and I am enjoying the process.

Had another blessing today related to the little clothing business. I was able to buy a really nice child sized mannequin for 40$... that's a seriously good deal! I've been dying for one of these for a while... Thankful, and God is faithful and he is working although I have no idea what the plan is. That's Ok.

Oh, and in the world of sewing for my children... I started making an absolutely adorable coat for Harper... as in facings, linings, interfacing, plackets etc... And from a vintage 70's pattern. It's turning out so cute. Can't wait to finish and publish pictures!!!

Blue Eyed Beauties in Upcycled Dresses

100% Recycled dresses. Stash Busted on these! 1 brown sheet + 3 vintage floral sheets + vintage buttons from the stash.... = Lovely, awesome dresses. Love them!

Pockets to Cuffs!

In thinking about Stashbusting September... I realized I had TONS of cuffs left over from men's and women's shirts that I've used for up-cycled projects in the past. So, I had to think of a way to use them!

Here goes: Turn those cuffs into POCKETS!
**I used a boring brown jacket in my daughter's closet, a green tote that I've had in my do-something with this-pile for a while; and some cuffs from my stash

Here's a little tutorial on how to do it.


Step One: Cut the cuffs from the shirt with about a half inch to spare see pic.

Fold over about a quarter of an inch, iron.
Fold over again to the seam of the cuff and sew, using the existing seams as a guide. See following picture:

Excuse the switch in pocket... now we are looking at a jacket that I was sewing pockets on to...same procedure! I have typed out the directions also, just in case you can't see the words on the pics clearly!


Step 2: Locate where you want the pocket, button cuff and pin in place, aligning sides.

Step 3: Sew as shown, follow arrows and sew through all the layers.


Step 4: With pocket buttoned, mark with a pin where the pocket folds to close.
Step 5 (although the pic looks like it says step 6...sorry): Open the pocket and sew straight across just below the level of the pin. I sewed 2 lines of stitching for stability.


Repeat process until all your pockets are sewn in place... Ta Da! Stash BUSTED! Yea!
Try it on bags like this, coats, jackets, pillows, wallets, who knows what else!

Etsy Photo Preview

Check this out! Here is a preview of one of the shots Alana took for etsy. Isn't she AMAZING?

CLICK THIS LINK to go see the picture...I don't want to post the pic here yet without her permission... More to come!

Etsy Update

Etsy, Etsy... so many things to say about Etsy. I've learned a lot these past few weeks, some good, some not so good! Still no sales yet, but BIG news...

One of my sweaters made it to the FRONT page of Etsy! That's big time, I tell ya... with the millions of items listed there, I feel HONORED to say the least.

I've been listed in several Treasuries this week by other shop owners and I made it to a blog tonight with over 800 followers, so that's exposure. All these things are great!

I've gotten emails asking if I could make a dress currently listed in a different size, which I knew may be a problem... but that's the nature of the beast I guess. If I am trying to create one of a kind hand crafted items, using 99% recycled materials there usually can't be one in every size... you know? It's something that may or may not work on Etsy, but I've gotten great feedback. People like what they are seeing, and when they tell me they are looking for a certain size, I am able to create something similar in the size they are looking for.

All this is so new, I really in the scheme of things have no idea what I am doing, but that's OK... I'm working on it and learning things along the way.

I'm adding some vintage things to the site as well to diversify my offerings. We'll see how that goes!

Some things are in the works for the fall... so I've got to be pretty busy sewing, which I love and that's good. I've said it many times: the more I sew the more myself I feel. My favorite thing to do is sew while listening to a Fred Hammond or another gospel singer on Pandora. Talk about inspiration...although, one time I almost stitched my finger to the garment because I was dancing. Scary, I know.

Today Alana of Nala Photography came over... talk about talent. She is amazing, and just one of the sweetest hearts you'll ever meet. Don't get me started on her baby yall... just adorable. We took pictures of a bunch of stuff for Etsy. I can't wait to see how they turn out!

So, things are moving. I've been praying for direction with this whole thing... so we'll see where this leads, if anywhere.

Princess Procurement

Thankfully, my soon to be 4 year old can't read all the words in this post yet... but I have a confession to make:

Gulp. Here goes nothin'.... Every single present Grace is getting from us for her birthday IS or is directly related to a Disney Princess.

There. I said it... I admit it. I am embarrassed now, but feel better that I got this off my chest.

I have no idea what other family members or friends will get Grace for her birthday, but I will be OK if every single thing she gets has to do with princesses. Why? Well, I'm not sure. She loves them, that's all she talks about and because I want her to like her gifts and feel special because we listened to and value what she thinks is cool... I don't know, I guess that's it.

Confession #2: She is getting 2 princess shirts, but they will be night-night shirts only, and I think it's OK that I am setting that boundary.

So, there you have it.

On a totally unrelated note, listen to this song. If you are on facebook, you probably saw that I posted this link there too... but man, wow... this is my prayer.

Sometimes you feel like you need a fresh touch from God... like everything around you is stale and icky. Well, this song came on Pandora today, and was exactly what I needed to hear. Like a cool drink of water and a breeze on my face... Refreshing. Take a listen. Good stuff. I love Fred Hammond.

Brand your hangers: A tutorial

Do you have any of those full-body plastic hangers??? Like this:

As ugly as they are, they do help clothes, especially little dresses, hold their shape for a display~
But who wants to have this ugly hanger as a part of their craft show, artisan festival display or open house??? I don't... so I came up with this little fix. Cover up the ugly and brand your hangers all at the same time! If you are interested, here's how I did it.

Materials:
Plastic hangers to cover
Jute or hemp string
(you could also use strips of fabric, ribbon etc.)
Hot glue gun (the low heat variety works best so you don't fry your fingers!)
Disposable plate
square of felt
fabric paint
stamp
fabric to stamp on
scissors

Step 1:

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Now its time for stamping

Squirt a small amount of fabric paint on to a disposable plate. Place the square of felt on top of the paint. This is your stamp pad. Using your stamp, press down on the felt square over and over until the paint begins to come through to the other side. Wipe your stamp clean of the paint build up, and you are ready to stamp. Press the clean stamp onto your 'stamp pad' and make sure it is well covered. Then stamp onto your fabric. It may take a few tries to get it exactly right. See below:
Once your stamps have dried, follow instructions on paint bottle, some require heat setting with an iron. Then cut out your stamped fabric and hot glue on top of your jute covered hangers.

Ta Daa! Much more beautiful.

Upcycled Love

1. totally vintage shirt from Honolulu
+
2. white cotton tee stained near the hem
+
3. elastic thread
=
lovely vintage inspired t-shirt dress

This is a 100% up-cycled creation. Grace loves a t-shirt dress, and that's good for me, because I love to make them!

I wish I had a picture of the Hawaiian shirt before I cut it off! I removed 2 pockets on either side before cutting straight across at the arm pit seam

Close up of button placket and hem