Fabrix.

Met my mum this morning to check out the local Etsy Handmade Market at the Gladstone, then saw a few Contact shows, had some derlishis crepes (bacon, onion, goat cheese & balsamic) and then happened upon a little fabric sale marked by pink balloons.

Well, we totally lucked out. It seems that it was held at the studio of local designers Dagg & Stacey and the quality was amazing, with most fabrics priced at around $4/yard or about $5 a bunch. I could have done serious and earth-shattering damage, but I restrained myself and walked away with this bundle (easily over 12 yards of fabric) for just over $30, I think. Please ignore the wrinkles.

The fabric on top is the most beautiful bamboo (oooh!), and the funky brown fabric looks like this:

I don't yet know what it's destined to become, but I couldn't resist. Oh! and I had indulged for my birthday and ordered myself some of this amazing Nani Iro, which was finally delivered to me this week:

I think it'll be a dress one day. And I made my first baby kimono this week, using Heather Ross' book and fabric. Seahorses! This'll go to whichever of my friends' baby girl is born first. Good luck to all. (This also got squished in my bag today, hence: wrinkly).

Happy Saturday to you!

Friday Night.

You know you're in an upscale neighbourhood when the swears are this tame. 

Dress for a tiny girl.

In honour of the sweetest tiny girl I know, I tried my hand at making a little dress, using the pattern from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing (which is excellent so far, by the way). I chose a vibrant fabric from Mark Lipinski's Katmandu line, and here it is:

Oh man, I really hope it fits. I want to mail this out as a surprise, so I guessed on the sizing. Anyway, what I learned is that it's pretty fun to make tiny clothing. And since basically everyone I know is knocked up, I guess I'll be doing lots of this in the near future.

Some new things I made.

I've made a few new dresses - some more successful than others - but I'm really happy with the fit of this dress I made. It's simple simple simple and I love the poppy fabric, and I also love that I didn't screw anything up to the extent that I have to make sure I'm always covering some area that's garbled or mangled.

This is the perfect little jacket that my mum bought me for my birthday. I feel like its something that I'll have forever.

Lately I've been trying to make more food at home, because we rely waaaay too much on take-out. I made this apple flan with a ready-made organic puff pastry dough, and served it for our family brunch this morning and there were no leftovers, which is a good sign. It's been so rewarding to make things from scratch, with my very own hands. It feels like a measurable accomplishment, which is important as it often feels like the work I make ends up floating in the ether. And also, flans taste way better than theatre.

Recipe here.

Birthday things.

My birthday was this week, and for the first time ever I didn't feel like making it too much of an event. Instead, it was filled with love, pretty dresses, flowers and vulgar amounts of food. 

Chris bought me this beautiful dress from Meg. It's a blue and white print of birds flocking. This is me posing with the pot of African Violets I stole from work. I should also mention that the Prairies de Paris shoes I'm wearing here are the most comfortable little things I've ever worn. 

We went to Colborne Lane for my birthday dinner, and tried the 10-course tasting menu. For some reason I thought I'd easily make it from beginning to end, but by course seven I realized how underprepared I had been. How does a person prepare for that kind of eating, anyway? Still, it wasn't like I could pass up the lavender donut, right (course 9)? So, after 4 hours of straight eating, I emerged victorious. And bloated.

I should also mention that I visited Toronto's first Anthropologie location, and though I'm still disappointed that it's here (I loved that it was always a special place that I could go to on vacation), it was great to be able to go for a short drive to the shop. And for some reason, the prices in the store were cheaper than the CDN prices listed on their website. Oh, how I hope that's just not a mistake!

Off to brunch! Enjoy the beautiful day!