Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse Necklace

It looks like I'm still finding time to craft with a new baby in the house. Honestly I just don't feel good if I can't make something with my hands every single day. Of course there are many days I don't get to be creative in that way but I try not to let more than a few days slip by. I'm still working on Shayna's baby quilt (top is completely done, back is about 2/6 done, then there is the basting... and the quilting... and the binding...) and today I spent at least an hour organizing my fabric room which always boosts my creativity.

I have bought a LOT of fabric recently. I think I was "drunk dialing" during my bouts with insomnia during the last few weeks of pregnancy. By "drunk dialing" I mean ordering lots of fabric online in the middle of the night and not remembering it in the morning. I bought entire collections of Hope Valley, Meadowsweet, Chirp, Little Folks, Hunky Dory, Botany and more more more. Some are charm packs or layer cake packs but some are the full fat quarter collections. In the past I have wanted to buy collections only to find out they were sold out or discontinued so I figured: buy now, worry later.

Anyway... I have only really had time for teeny tiny projects these past two weeks. One of them was this necklace for Talia to wear to the Overture Center to see Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse with her Kindergarten class. Normally we really dress up for our trips to the Overture Center. For The Nutcracker Talia wore a fancy ballet dress. For Little House on the Prairie (with Melissa Gilbert as Ma!) Talia wore an "apron dress" that I spent three hours making that morning (and that was just for the apron that she wore over a dress she already owned!) and a sunbonnet. I felt slightly guilty that I wasn't able to volunteer as a chaperone for her class so I channelled that energy into making this little necklace. It has all the important elements-- the purple purse, the sunglasses, the crown and the cowboy boots. I fused fabric to both sides of heavy pellon interfacing, cut out the shapes, top-stitched them and added embellishments (rhinestones and star buttons). I sewed them down on a ribbon and added some stitches to make it lay flat. Luckily, Talia liked it and wore it. I heard from another parent that T's teacher was pretty impressed and actually showed it around to the other teachers. It's always a bonus when others appreciate your work! I don't have too many crafty friends nearby so it's nice to share. That's one of the things I like about this blog... so... enjoy!