Finished Product

And here it is - my fininshed contribution to the Etsy Dallas charity event Sit Down to Stand Up for Kids, benefitting the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center. I have titled it "The Doll, The Chair and the Wardrobe."


When I first saw the chair, I was really unsure what to do, since my medium is fabric and I make clothes. I thought about making a little slipcover, but since I recently started making dolls, and the chair seemed the perfect size for a little doll, my wheels started turning! I must admit - making clothes this tiny was hard for me, since I couldn't move some of the fabric through the machine and ended up hand stitching a lot. But I had a seriously fun time making these little creations, each modeled after a larger L+L garment. I know it's a little hard to see the actual chair in this shot - but that's why you need to come on out to the event, to see it as well as all the fantastic designs of my fellow Teamies. I am blown away by the talent in the group again and again, and so humbled and proud to be a part of it!


I hope you'll join us for this event! Details HERE!

Chairity Event

I'm busy working on my contribution to the first ever Etsy Dallas charity spotlight event Sit Down to Stand Up for Kids: Little Chairs for a Big Cause. Me and other Etsy Dallas artists will be decorating the chair shown above, and they will be auctioned off with the proceeds benefiting the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center. 

I've got a plan in my head and my idea sketched out, and now I just have to make it happen! More details about the event here. Mark your calendars!

WHEN: Thursday October 13th from 6:30 to 9:30
WHERE: Blue Room @ Southside on Lamar

by invitation only...

I've been deep in the throes of planning for Violet's first birthday party (already???), so I thought I would share the invites and any other "craftiness" I get into during the preparation. I knew I wanted to include fabric somehow, since I've used so many in her weekly photos. So I came up with a design, printed it out on card stock from Paper Source, then added the little fabric banner at the top with my sewing machine. The insert accompanying the invite asks guests to bring an item for a time capsule for Violet to open on her 18th birthday. (An idea that I really liked that I found here.)

The color scheme for the party is inspired by some coasters and cupcake wrappers that I picked up at Joann's from the Martha Stewart craft line. Next up, a fabric banner.

brooklyn, brooklyn take me in...

We had such a fantastic time at Renegade Brooklyn! Although hauling all my stuff there was a little stressful at times, and our little girl had some troubles on the plane ride, and it rained the first day, it ended up being a fantastic weekend. We stayed within walking distance of McCarren Park, where the fair is located, so we got to explore a lot around Williamsburg. We then moved into Manhattan after the fair for a few days to do a little sightseeing and show our girl the big city (which she loved).

Here are a few of the places we went in Williamsburg, which I would highly recommend:
Dumont for a nice dinner. I consider myself a mac and cheese expert, and this one did not disappoint.
Kellogg's Diner for an easy dinner. And it's right on the Lorimer L train stop (the train into Manhattan), so there is great people watching to be had.
Urban Rustic for morning coffee and tea, and yummy sandwiches at lunch.
Sunac for groceries. Since we stayed in an apartment, we had a kitchen, which was so convenient.

And in Manhattan, we've been many times before and done most of the tourist things, so we mostly just ate and walked around! Here are some of the places we went:
Shake Shack in Madison Square Park for burgers and shakes and outdoor seating.
Bouchon Bakery near Central Park for a nice but not too nice dinner (we were after all kicking it with an 11-month-old who sometimes throws her food on the ground.)
Moomah in Tribeca for a kid-friendly lunch.
Shoofly in Tribeca for Violet's first pair of shoes! Fantastic customer service!

And coming home, Little V slept the whole way, so it was awesome. We're always sad to leave NY, but were happy to be home.

PS: I didn't even mention my celebrity customer! I hope he's happy with his L+L purchases! :-)

i'll take brooklyn...

I haven't even had time to update this blog on the Renegade Austin show, and already it's time for us to head to Brooklyn!

Details here.

Off to sew...

austin bound...

We're headed to Austin this weekend for the Renegade Craft Fair. This is the first time we'll be sharing a booth, with our friend Silas Tom. You've seen Silas Tom designs already on L+L t-shirts, so we can't wait to see his paper goods line, which he'll be debuting at the show. Stop by our booth, number 37! Can't wait to see you!

no rest for the weary...

Wish I could get some shut eye, but I've been working day and night on new stuff for the Etsy Dallas Spring Bash this weekend. There will be shopping, drinks and you can get a little crafting in too! Details here.

coming up...

We're excited to kick off Spring with our first show since last summer! First up is the UPPA Spring Market on Wednesday, April 6. We'd love to see you there! More details here.

a little gardener...

I love this picture of a sweet little Loop and Lil fan tending to the garden while wearing one of our dresses. Spring is coming!

what a doll...

Hello little blog – it's been a while! I think I'm finally getting the knack of this motherhood thing (yeah right - does anyone ever?), so after a whirlwind holiday, I've had a little time to start the new year out with some new projects.

Violet loves to clasp onto any toy she can find, so I decided to make her a little dolly friend, and liked it so much that I'm going to start selling them in the shop! I'm still perfecting the shape, but I'm really happy with the hand-embroidered face and the machine stitched hair. Violet's little friend pictured above is named Olive.

It's good to be back!

it's genius...

We made a quick stop last weekend at the newly opened IndieGenius, a new "shopping mall" in the Bishop Arts District. Opened by Julie at Make, it's kind of like a permanent Urban Street Bazaar, where makers have booths, similar to an antique mall.

I snapped a few pics of displays from fellow Etsy Dallas'ers Three Yellow Starfish, Cut Out and Collect, and Tefi, but there's lots more to see.

And all of the Etsy Dallas artists I saw will also be at the Jingle Bash this year, which is this Saturday! I won't have a booth (this baby needs to get on a nap schedule so I can get back to L+L!), but I'll definitely be there shopping. Details here.

boo...

I started and finished Little V's Halloween costume while she was taking her morning nap, which means it took less than 30 minutes to crank out! It's the first thing I've sewn since she was born, so I'm glad it was painless. She'll wear it with a little white hat. Happy Halloween!

nursery mini tour

In between the activities associated with taking care of a three month old (so much laundry!), I managed to find five minutes where Little V's nursery was clean, and snagged a few pictures, as promised in this post. Here's a peek:

Since we didn't know whether Violet was a he or a she until she was born, we painted the walls grey and now I want to paint every room in our house this color. It's so soothing! Her dad and I had a great time putting together this room for her, and hunting down things that were in our own rooms when we were little to include. We're also glad her room includes lots of things bought and made by the people who love her. She hasn't told me so, but I'm pretty sure she likes it!

new to the shop...

I've listed a few new tee designs in the shop. They're also available in a few other sizes, which I'll be updating soon. I'm also working on photographing some new dresses and shirts for the shop as well. All in good time...

a birthday cupcake for me...

I've blogged before about Anthropologie's birthday coupons/giveaways, and how they inspired me for a little L+L giveaway. So I was really excited when I saw this year's birthday coupon arrived in my mailbox. The little birthday candle is actually attached to a necklace, but what I found most inspiring was the cupcake punched into the card stock with a needle. I'm thinking a punched shape or logo would be a fun addition to a business card or hangtag. The wheels are turning...

baby gear: puj tub

Well, not much is going on in the world of L+L here since I'm just trying to keep this baby fed, diapered and napped, so this blog may get a little baby centric for a while. My apologies if this doesn't interest you and you'd rather hear about the stuff I'm sewing! So, I decided to post about some of the gear that I've found helpful so far in taking care of Miss Violet.

I had originally registered for a larger plastic bathtub, but browsing around one of my favorite blogs, found this post about the Puj Tub. I had read some about this tub, but the free shipping to readers of the blog sold me, so we ordered one, and I have to say I love it. It disassembles and stores flat, which is great for our small house, and the soft sides seem to cushion the Little Miss during bath time. I also like that she doesn't slide around in the tub like babies seem to do in plastic tubs. Keep in mind that this tub only works in a pedestal or bathroom sink, not a kitchen sink, but it's perfect for us right now. See a video about the tub here.

counting up....

I got the idea to photograph Violet weekly against a fabric backdrop from these guys, who I tell my husband are my "blog friends" (people you creepily know everything about through their blog, and feel like their friend, but they have absolutely no idea that you exist.) I knew all that fabric I've collected through the years would come in handy!

LOOP + LIL related posts will be scant through the upcoming weeks, because I've got my hands a little full. I hope you understand!

and everything nice...

It's a girl!

Violet Louise was born July 7 at 5:18pm.

There are no words...

fun this weekend: supplies me!

If you're a crafter/creative person who lives nearby, you should head this Saturday to the Supplies Me craft supply destash sale at South Side on Lamar. Members of Etsy Dallas will be unloading some of their stashes of craft supplies, so there should be jewelry supplies, fabric, and lots of other treasures for your crafting needs.

More details here.

feathering our nest...

I'm still practicing with my new camera, so here's a little sneak peek at the baby's room.

I made the crib sheet, crib skirt, and you can also see a bit of my very first attempt at making a quilt. I made all of the bedding using tutorials I found online, which I've linked to at the bottom of the post. We'll be adding a few more touches after the baby is born, and then I'll post a full "nursery tour". I have to say we've had more fun putting together this room than any other in our house.

All of the fabric is from the Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley line, which I picked up at City Craft, a fantastic fabric boutique and sewing lounge here in Dallas.

Tutorials I used:

Quilt Tutorial

Crib Sheet Tutorial

Crib Skirt Tutorial (I made a few modifications to make a false pleat with contrasting fabric in the center. Hard to see in this pic though.)