a sneak peak and sara's debut...

sneak peek of estelle...

see any buttons on there? it's like where's waldo...

the sara, baby apron

http://www.chelsburleson.etsy.com/

***

i'm all about doing custom orders, so convo me on etsy or leave a comment on my blog and let me know what you're thinking...

meet florence

i heart florence...a lot. i made this one last night...constructed from a hand towel and some adorable seer sucker fabric. the colors are a rust red, cream, gray, and light yellow...i'm still amazed that both pieces of fabric look like they were made to go together! exact same colors!

a little gather with a gray button...so you can see the birdie of course!
pretty waistband


a tad blurry, sorry...i loved this yellow ribbon, however, it is not long enough to tie in a bow. a square knot looks super cute though!

*********

florence is for sale for $25 and remember, 20% will go to Attitudes & Attire!! i have a few people with orders for a half apron, and if you like this one, then let me know! i have enough fabric to make 2 more. if i don't hear back, florence is going to be my first etsy item! either way, i want someone to be able to wear this gal!

the rosalind

about the rosalind...
i love this shabby chic look. each tier has a seam about 1/4" from the bottom, so there will be a small amount of fraying. i wanted it like this because it just seems to go with the light, cotton fabric and the "vintagy" feel. yup, "vintagy," i made it up. ha.

finished with a wide grosgrain ribbon of pinks and browns

at the bottom there are 2 places where i gathered the fabric and finished it with a pretty little button...both gathers are about 4" from the sides

each lower corner is finished with a button too..i love me some buttons

orders! orders! place your orders :)

the Stella

the Mina

the Karsyn

who knew...

so i found this out this morning:

the acronym "CHELS" stands for Cargo Helicopter External Lift System. so from now on, if you could please refer to me as "cargo helicopter external lift system" that would be great. :)

update on baby/toddler aprons: three are in the making right now and they're looking awesome! i got some ruffles, leopard ribbon, and colorful buttons going on...only problem is my needle broke and i cannot get it changed for the life of me!! any suggs? there is a clamp that i'm supposed to turn to let out the broken needle and i cannot get that clamp to turn either way. i even got out pliers to assist me and nothin'. these aprons will be finished this weekend though so i better get me a new needle fast!

loves.

hahaha...

this has absolutely nothing to do with sewing or aprons, but i read it and laughed out loud, so i have to post it. this is from an article on msn about what your car says about you...here are the ones for porsche and corvette (my personal fav):

Porsche (as interpreted by Corvette owner)"What a jerk. Probably a lawyer, trust-fund brat, never worked an honest day in his life. Bet he gets his nails manicured."
Corvette (as interpreted by Porsche owner)"What a jerk. Probably thinks NASCAR is real racing. He thinks 'dressing up' means a monogrammed bowling shirt."
Corvette and Porsche (as interpreted by attractive woman). "What a jerk. Probably takes Viagra. Twice divorced, mid-life crisis. Sad."

ouch. ha!

and just for laughs, here are two more:
Lexus "I don't even like cars, but since this is shopping, I'm going to spend a lot of money."
BMW "My [insert noun] is better than yours."

unfinished projects, my specialty!

first of all, i am in love with my new blog design!! thank you jennifer!! it is exactly what i had imagined for this apron journey that has taken over my life...in a good way of course!

news flash: i'm sewing and selling aprons :) ha. some of you are laughing and thinking "that chelsea, she just can't sit still!" and you're right! i cannot. and thus the reason for this whole idea and new obsession. whatever items i make and sell, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to attitudes & attire (tm), the awesome non-profit org helping women become self-sufficient. on saturday i was able to meet about 15 women who now have jobs and are on the right track because of attitudes & attire...it was a purely amazing, god-filled day.

*********

toddler apron, not finished. made from a terry cloth hand towel. the bottom is tucked under to make a large pocket- cute. and i think i'm going to make a flower under the rick rack out of buttons...i have buttons galore!

this is my fav so far, and it's not finished either, almost, but not quite...ha...that seems to be my pattern here. no pun intended, lol.

a work in progress...this is a dish towel i found at an antique store. i'm putting pleats in the middle and then will put the perfect ribbon as the belted tie...i have yet to find that ribbon.

sweet baby aprons (bibs) for my niece Lauren and her little sis Emily (who is not even born yet! i love her already!) ok, now these are complete! hallelujah!

sew many things, sew little time

hey peeps,

sorry for that hiatus in blogging. i'm ashamed. ha. really i have just been so busy, and so much is going on, that when i sit down to blog, i don't know where to start. but i thought i would post the picture above...crystal says i'm flipping off the camera...lol...and darcy is just smiling pretty.

apron sewing is cruising right along and my confidence is building by the day. it has become really fun and quite a release of all this creative genius-ness i have. i hope you caught the sarcasm with the genius reference, of which i am not. :) but i'm a tryin'.

and i already have three orders...i can't post pics yet of my finished products, but i will this weekend...

a few punny names for the new apron journey i'm on...

*let us gather together

*striving to pleat you

* 327 or bust (at the seams)

*joined at the hip

anyone got anything better than that? click on "0 comments" below this post and add what you think we should call this thing.

post addison circle's july newsletter

attitudes & attire article (click to make larger)

oh who's that sweet pet of the month?? why, it's coco!

i'd like to retract my statement please...

have you ever said something and immediately regretted it? let me preface my story by telling you that adidas (their offices are located in our building) let me borrow one of their industrial type rolling racks for the suit drive. it was a seriously sweet rack, and i was so grateful to have it.

so yesterday as i'm leaving work, i see a girl from adidas that i kind of know, and she's rolling in a rack full of sample clothes. i walk by and say "nice rack!"

what?!?

it's too early to think of a title...

i don't even know where to start friends...there has been a lot of random things that have happened since the last bloggie...i'll just start listing:


-went to the lake house for the 4th and it was crazy fun. i will post pics when people send them to me :) you know who you are...ha!


-while at the lake, we had the biggest storm i've ever witnessed at this lake...waves crashing over our pier (we had to hold coco the whole time bc she could have easily been washed right off the pier)...the waves looked like the ocean. seriously.


-the storm also brought out every spider in livingston and apparently snakes because i almost stepped on what i was told was a water moccasin. g-r-o-s-s.


-i received some fabric yesterday that i ordered...heehee (random fact: my fav class at baylor was a ridiculously hard "textiles" class that i absolutely loved...i should have known i'd revisit my love for textiles...)


-i also was practicing on my first apron yesterday and got incredibly frustrated. something is wrong with my tension or something bc i have excess thread stitched all over that poor apron, ha. no worries, i will get the kinks worked out and try, try again. i'm not giving up on these chaprons...


-this saturday is a celebration party at Attitudes & Attire and I get to join them...it is for the women who are coming back for the 3rd time (which means they went to their interview, got the job, and have been at the job for a certain amount of time)....YOU GO LADIES! :) i can't wait to meet them...


-i booked my flight to el paso for the end of july...oh how i miss lizzy! i cannot wait to see her new home...and get facials. i love me some facials.




quick prayer: lord today i am so thankful for you. i praise you because you are so holy and so awesome and so constant. help me to praise you all day and to see you in everything. for your reputation, amen.

pretty please

*if you come across some chic, weird, pretty, or even odd fabric for a good price, please let me know!!

i just got fat squares in each of these fabrics.

hoo doesn't love owls? punny...

saving it for when i "get good"

i bought a yard of this fabric to use after all my practice rounds...i had no idea what all was out there! but this has been my favorite so far...now if that doesn't make a delicious apron, i just don't know what will :)

apron journey

so my fabric is washed and my new journey is about to begin. i'm so excited i could hardly work all day! on my lunch break i even went out and found some more fabric on clearance for "practice fabric" and a huge bag o' ribbon for $1.99. what a steal! ha. i know the first try will be ugly, ha, and the third time prob won't be a charm either.

practice makes perfect people.

my goal is to make some darling aprons (or "chaprons" as charissa calls them because they're aprons made by chelsea...get it? ha!). i'm talking darling like anything from funky cool to shabby chic...nothing preppy, nothing pretty...well ok, sort of pretty, but not like little girlie looking. i'm talking about some seriously awesome aprons. i'll fill you in on the rest of my master plan later. let me see how i do at this first part...

i put some new blogs and links over to the right that talk about aprons and how incredibly cool they are. the funniest thing about this is that i can't cook worth a darn. grape nuts might be my specialty. so it's ironic i'm going to make aprons...i can wear them when i clean and stuff...or when i wash my car, wait...i don't do that either. well, that's why i'm going to make them for other people, so that they can be little domestic divas with their delicious "chaprons."

just wait...i have a feeling in my bones that these are going to radically change the world. :)

sew happy

i'm the new owner of a singer 2250 portable sewing machine!!! i have decided to dust myself off and try again...i clearly remember the teddy bear i sewed in junior high. i did the darts the wrong way for it's eyes, so they were sunken way into his head and he looked very...wrong. but i used to sew a lot...seasonal pillows (poor mom had to put them out every christmas, ha). well maybe not a lot because all i can remember is that wrong teddy bear and lots of christmas pillows. but i enjoyed it, i know that. sew i decided to sew again...hardy har har. i made a quick stop at joann fabric and craft store and bought 3 different fabrics that were on sale (since my "dusting off" process will take a few tries for sure) and some other fun accessories. heehee.

here i go, swatch me SEW! (you're going to get very tired of my clever sewing phrases, i can already tell). i just feel sew liberated...(i stole that from a website, i won't lie).