little randoms and a question

As some of you may have noticed, I'm slowly collecting the fragmented pieces of my life and gathering them back up. Perhaps it's a desire to start the new year off fresh, without the energy drain of tasks left undone or maybe it's because I painted my kitchen a cheerful shade of blue, but I feel like I need to tie up loose ends, organize my papers and attend to the many, many details I've been neglecting.

I am answering long lost emails, returning phone calls, updating the address on driver's license that displays a street number from over a year and two moves ago. Anyone who has bought a pattern from me in the past six months will now find they have some positive feedback on Etsy.  I very much appreciate you coming by and purchasing a pattern.  I hope you and whoever is wearing a pair of Birdie Britches or a Patchwork Twirler has enjoyed it.

I also made a couple of changes to hopefully neaten up the main page here a bit.  You can find all the tutorials on the pages listed under the header picture (which right now is Birdie, doing something odd, but in front of a cheerfully blue wall).  The tutorials are all there.  But if you are having problems finding something, you can always ask me.

I've also put up a facebook page for IndieTutes, so I can pass along my random crafty ideas that occur but never quite make it to fruition.  You can search for 'IndieTutes' on Facebook and 'Like' the page.  I will try not to clutter up your wall too much.

Speaking of walls, the pics on this post are photo edited variations of the plaster relief of an apple tree done on The Man's grandmother's lodge's wall.  (That was a lot of apostrophes.  I apologise if you were turned around a bit.)  I have passed by it many times during visits, but I never did stop to appreciate the simplicity of the design and the appeal of texture.  However, I spent some time with it our last visit and now I think I very much would like to do something similar on my walls.  Someday.  For now I will settle for decorating this post.  It's probably more fun anyway, messing around with an editing program than mixing up plastic and scraping it onto my walls, being anxious about making mistakes and having plaster dust in my eyebrows.  I must remember to play more, do less.

I also, gasp, brought out my curve square today and a big, big piece of paper and started to draft a simple little tunic for Birdie to wear.  He's outgrown everything I have ever made him and, as he hardly likes to wear anything but his spiderman or, now, new transformer's pajamas all day long, the time when I can wrangle him into anything I have made may be drawing to an abrupt end.  This train of though leads me down to the place where I can already imagine him being taller than me, reaking of Axe body spray, arguing to let him ride his motorcycle up to the very same music festivals I used to attend before I got so old and set in my ways (flush toilets and private showers: I will no longer live without).

Oh, wait, I think I just discovered the source of my energy for taking care of neglected tasks.  Sheer aging panic.  That's alright then.  A little anxiety about the seasons of life and how quickly they go never really hurt anybody.  Just makes us appreciate what we have right now.       

I hope you all have a fantastic new year's day and the world doesn't actually end, as my uncle has been predicting.  Because I've been doing a lot of catch up this last bit and I'd hate to have spent my last few days doing paperwork and standing in line at the vital document's shop.

Before you go, though, there is one thing I've been meaning to do but haven't and I think that you need to help me out with this one.  I received this request by email a while back from a reader:

I see all kinds of ADORABLE frilly bottom pants and basic pinafore under dresses and aprons, but NONE of them come big enough for my daughter who is 15. See, She has Downs Syndrome and she LOOOOVES these outfits and wants them but I can not find any patterns for them in anything near her size. Is there a way to easily adjust the smaller patters to her size?


I couldn't answer her straight out because I my sewing knowledge goes right up to about the size of my kids and then pauses (waiting, of course, for my children to grow bigger), but I have gotten several similar requests for toddler-esque clothing for adult size people.  I was wondering if there is a site or company that would be useful that you know of and could share with us?