Category Archives: Lucy

New Year, New Pattern, New Ensemble!

By now it is 2017 everywhere in the world, so a Happy New Year to all!

My husband and I went for a brisk walk in one of the nearby forest preserves today. The paths were a little treacherous in places, but we were careful and the sun felt so nice. It was the perfect way to start 2017!

My Little Darling, Lucy, is also here with her bright, smiling face (and her itty bitty snow baby) to wish you all the happiest start to 2017! Before most of our snow melted last week Lucy and I made this tiny snow baby. She is still trying to decide if this snow baby is a boy or girl, so she can give it an appropriate name.

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While outside she told me that her new sweater coat, hat, and scarf kept her toasty warm.

Lucy is wearing a dress made out of my most favorite snowman print. I LOVE this print! It’s colorful and a little bit primitive looking. There are “zillions” of snowmen lined up on this fabric; all looking equally cute, don’t you think? Snowman lovers will find this print adorable.

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I previously used this fabric in 2014 (“Snowman Luv”) to make an ensemble for Gina. I decided to make it less Christmasy this time, so it could be worn more as a winter ensemble.

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Isn’t this the cutest fabric! I think they are the happiest little snowmen!

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Lucy’s ensemble will be available Monday, January 2, 2017 at 7:00 pm CST on my website.

“My Little Snow Baby” is a one-of-a-kind ensemble, but if you’d like to knit your own sweater coat, the pattern is available on Ravelry. The instructions include a step-by-step guide to add your own patch pockets. Once you see how easy they are to make, you’ll be putting patch pockets on everything! (lol)

Thank you for visiting with me as we start this new year together. Bye for now!

“Catching Snowflakes”

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Catching snowflakes was easy peasy this weekend as they fell practically the whole weekend long. I think we got about 4 inches on Saturday night with another 8 inches or so on Sunday! It’s a white winter wonderland out there, and I am VERY happy to be warm and cozy inside my house.

I finished up Lucy’s new ensemble yesterday, then we had our photo shoot. I definitely wanted to use the snowy landscape as a back drop. I brought out my studio light for front lighting. It was perfect . . . and quick—my favorite kind of photo shoot.

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Lucy’s eyelet capelet has 7 panels which are perfect for embellishing. I’ve embroidered different snowflake compositions on each panel using mohair/silk yarn for snowflakes, white pearlized seed beads for tiny flakes, and clear seed beads for ice crystals.

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Lucy’s vintage-styled headband earwarmer uses two strands of lace yarn to give it more thickness. Each side is embellished with an aqua blue snowflake and matching seed beads.

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The little muff hand warmer is the perfect size for Lucy’s hands, and is also embellished with an aqua snowflake. The bracelet is incorporated into the muff as a handle. You can see Lucy’s prized snowflake memento charm. She will always remember this magical pre Christmas snowfall.

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Lucy’s “Catching Snowflakes” ensemble will be available tonight (December 12, 2016) at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com.

Have a great week everyone!

Bye for now!

Bit of News and “A Peek at Christmas”

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I’m wondering if you all have forgotten about my patterns that I promised to start writing! Definitely not! My first one is almost ready to be published. The pattern is written, but this morning I realized my cover photo may be too small pixel-wise, so I want to redo that. Also, there have been technical things that I needed “husband help” with. He needed to figure those things out when he wasn’t at work. New things always take time; it’s getting real close though. Thanks for being so patient with me!

I’ve been looking at my stack of Christmas fabrics for months now. I actually felt like starting to make something Christmas-y in August, but I held back. I didn’t want to skip making fall ensembles. But now, it is time to dive right into Christmas sewing!

My smiling Little Darling, Lucy, got the first ensemble for Christmas 2016! Lucky girl! I call this ensemble “A Peek at Christmas” because it is “just a bit” Christmas-y.

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This fabric is a lively red and green floral on a darker ivory ground. It is a cozy print, but not drab. My newest lace from England matched perfectly. I added it to the hemline for the green tights to peek through. A couple of red hand made bows at the hemline tie into the red waistline sash.

I felt this ensemble needed green tights, nothing else came close. For a whole day I worked on mixing and dyeing what I thought was the perfect shade of green. My fabric stayed in the dye bath for 1 1/2 hours; I stirred it every 15 minutes. Then, it stayed in the fix bath for another hour; I stirred that every 15 minutes too. The fabric came out uneven and, really too light. The next day, I kept my fingers crossed as I headed to the fabric store. Usually when I am looking for something in particular I don’t find it. Not only did I find the perfect green, I also found it in a different fabric; it’s a lighter weight Lycra® rayon blend; it has a bit of a sheen to it, so is a little bit dressy. And a bonus, it sewed up very nicely. Needless to say, this all made me very happy . . . and feeling lucky.

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For the sweater’s embroidery I used the same style of blossoms as on the fabric; I had tiny pearlized Delica beads that matched, so used those for the center of each blossom. Two shades of green and some burgundy bud flowers complete the mirrored embroidery. Mother-of-pearl beads in natural added the perfect touch for the buttons.

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A tinier version as what’s used for the sweater decorates the back of the dress as faux buttons.

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The last item I made to complete this ensemble was the crocheted drawstring bag. It is crocheted with the finest cotton thread in a color that matches the background of the fabric and the lace. For fun, I added a colorful and jingly dangle. Inside Lucy’s bag is her contribution the the Christmas tree, a bright red ornament!

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