Party Planning

My son turns four on Saturday (can he be that old?) and has requested a mermaid party. OK, he actually asked his Papa, who is the chef in these parts, to make him a mermaid birthday cake, and Mama sort of took the idea and ran. He is a mermaid-loving boy, so tonight I made him a special birthday shirt. (I'd love to credit where I first saw this idea, but for the life of me I can't remember...)

This shirt is one of my first attempts at machine applique using a satin stitch and I think it turned out all right. The four was pretty easy - lots of straight lines, but outlining Ariel was considerably harder, so she 's far from perfect. But I know one little guy who will love it anyway and that's all that matters in the end.

I also made another pants bag recently. This time out of a size-four capris I picked up at the thrift shop for a quarter. A quarter! How could I leave them there? They had "Make me into a bag," written all over them. When I told my friend Miranda about my plans she said, "Oh good, I was worried you were going to actually wear those."

I decided to make longer handles this time so it's more of a tote and I am really happy with how it turned out. (The handles are black fabric and turquoise gros grain ribbon.) I have a zipper to sew into the top, but it is going to have to wait until all the merpeople (A.K.A. grandparents in from out of town) leave early next week. For now the party planning continues. I'm heading upstairs to work on the napkins. Have I mentioned how much I love having a serger???