Sew Sew by Audrey Perrott

This week my brother-in-law is marrying his high school sweetheart in Washington DC. They will be married in a quaint pie shop in/near Capitol Hill where they both work part-time to supplement their other noble endeavors of Law School and Teach For America.

They are an adorable couple with a great sense of humor and a taste for handmade goodies including pie, of course! So in honor of them and the big day I wanted to make them something uniquely them that they could hang on their wall or place on a shelf.

I grew up doing cross stitch but had an idea for an embroidered piece. While there are some similarities between the two, I had to learn quite a few new stitches which came together nicely thanks to Mary Corbet's http://www.needlenthread.com/. Embroidered using DMC thread and my own design, here is my first official embroidery project. Happy Wedding, Eric and Crystal!

From the holiday chaos to the holiday hangover (both the literal and figurative kind), here's a quick post of a Sew Sew custom order: an upcycled Christmas quilt made out of Old Navy pajama bottoms.

An amazing way to repurpose material and memories, this quilt has warm natural batting, along with fabrics in fleece, flannel and cotton with a red satin trim. Two pant pockets are secretly sewn in; one featuring a peek-a-boo flannel Christmas tree.

Fit for a queen but sized for a full. :)

Forget the turkey, I want the stuffing. Or as many call it, dressing. Everyone has their family recipes, slightly different versions--some with andouille sausage, others with thyme and sage, and even some straight out of a box. Here's my Sew Sew version of dressing. (But I still say my grandma's was the best.)

Matchmaker: Three holiday dresses for three beautiful nieces.













Pretty in Pink: A dainty ruffled dress and rosette headband for baby girl Zoey.

I don't know about you but I hate crowds. I especially hate crowds when shopping. I have never been one to indulge in the Black Friday tradition of waking at 4 a.m., deal with pushy people, and call it a day by 8 a.m. That's every night with a baby!

So, as friends, family and followers, my SewSew shop is offering you a special coupon from Black Friday through Cyber Monday--10% off your entire order! Stock up on items to trim the tree and stuff the stockings. And while you're at it, show someone how much they mean to you by telling them: pick up a few Fuzzy Fortune Cookies with custom sweet sentiments.

Shop SewSew November 26 through November 29 and use the code: sewsewblack1126 at checkout. Affordable, unique, made with love, and no crowds!

One of my most memorable Christmas presents I received when I was younger was a Pentax camera. Normally, it was pretty obvious that my mom picked out all my gifts and my dad picked out most of my brothers' gifts, but this time it was different. My dad was so excited for me to open it that before I even had ripped the wrapping paper he exclaimed, "It's a Pentax camera!" He then proceeded to hand me another wrapped present and said, "And here's a case for it!"

The true gift he gave me was a love for photography and last month someone actually paid me to take pictures of their family for their Christmas card. I am definitely an amateur, a dabbler, but here are a few pictures of the lovely Helling family that I liked best.

Resourceful Rosettes adorn my Pretty Pouches making them even prettier this year. Here's a sampling of some of them now available in my Etsy shop.

I like to think of myself as creatively resourceful. Whether it's time, money, baby, work, or projects I can drive myself crazy trying to think of, "How could I do this better/faster/with my eyes closed?" It's also the reason why when I am working on Sew Sew projects (and there's always at least two or three "in process" at the same time) that I can't bear to discard scraps. Paper, fabric, felt, thread--I can't bear to throw any of it away when I know that it can be turned into something useful, something beautiful.

In Florida, you know Fall is in the air when you can stand in the shade of a tree at noon and not break an immediate sweat; when the air is dry enough to where it no longer feels like you're walking through Jell-O; when the crickets stop chirping in the middle of the night because it's no longer 80 degrees at 3 a.m.

But my favorite tell-tale sign that Fall is around the corner? Publix puts out their cinnamon stick brooms for sale throughout the store. Ahhh, now that's the smell of Fall.

Even though we won't be breaking out the sweaters until at least early November it is nice to have a glimpse of a new season. And this October I will definitely be venturing into a new season of my own as I begin living the life of a stay-at-home-mom with freelance business on the side. I have loved my job for the last 6.5 years but having a baby has changed my world and I need and want the flexibility to spend as much time with my family as I can. So, in addition to Sebastian, Type "A" Freelance was born.

Yes, I am on a mission to change the connotation of the term Type A. Oh I definitely fit the stereotype--I'm uber-organized, detail oriented, a planner extraordinaire, and a perfectionist to a fault. But I also love the energy of working with creative people, have learned to be flexible, and I love to think outside the box. Granted I'll always be a work in progress but who isn't?

There you have it. For any PR/Marketing/Writing/Design/Creative needs, e-mail me at typeafreelance@gmail.com. Sew Sew by Audrey Perrott (www.asfperrott.etsy.com) will still be in business too. And of course, Mommy will be operating 24/7/365.

I've always said that someday I'd love to live somewhere where there's real seasons. For now, God is leading me into a different kind. Time to break out the sweaters!

Nine months and counting, it is now down to days until our little bug arrives. The anticipation is almost too much so I've resorted to what calms me the most--sewing, cleaning and organizing. Here are pics of his room along with some other items I've made to welcome him home.




The branch with leaves over the dresser and changing table is made out of different patterns of green fabric. The bamboo cutout owl mobile is a gift from friends Jane and Paul.






These little logs will also serve as great neck pillows during long nights.







Emoti-corns. These little plush acorns each have a different personality and emotion. Perfect for when baby (or mommy or daddy, for that matter) don't have another way to express what their feeling.





Owls in the sky mobile. I bought one from a store so I could use the mechanical pieces but took everything else apart to make custom entertainment for LP.






I made this baby blanket for my little butterbean out of fabric from my friend and boss Jane. Yes, the monogram is a hint for his top secret name!

The adorable knitted acorn cap was made by my new friend Emma Hughes who has an amazing talent when it comes to yarn. Visit her blog at http://www.meaterra.blogspot.com/.

It has been much too long since I've posted an update, but I promise I have a good excuse. Let's just say that in the last 6.5 months my world has changed and by May it will have changed completely with the addition of our first baby.

However, I have not neglected my sewing--I've actually ramped it up quite a bit and did my first fair, received tons of Christmas orders and made lots of nursery items for LP (Lil Perrott).

In keeping with that spirit, I think many of my Sew Sew items would make great Valentine's Day gifts, too. Original, sweet and let's not forget affordable. Here's a video I made featuring some of my favorite Sew Sew picks for Valentine's Day.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I've decided I like naming my Sew Sew creations almost as much as I enjoy making them. View my shop at www.asfperrott.etsy.com to see today's listings:



Cherries on Top














Pocket Full of Posies
















Paisley Does the Polka

It's not often I get threatened with an arrest--okay, try never--but this one was for a perfectly good cause and a lot of fun. On Thursday, colleagues, friends and strangers gathered together at Lake Eola for an improvisational social experiment...guerilla style. With Improv Everywhere's MP3 Experiment as our inspiration, we danced and laughed and jumped and napped all to music and narration playing in our iPods.

Unfortunately, the park ranger we couldn't hear yelling at us (ergo the iPods) quickly had his temper elevated leading to the arrival of the OPD, a citation, and a somewhat conflicting ending to our otherwise joyous event.

For the whole rundown, visit http://www.thorspecken.blogspot.com/ and http://www.thedailycity.com/.

All in all, it was an amazing experience that kicked off the second half of A Gift For Teaching's PUSH Campaign with a bang and I can't wait to do it again. Except this time, we'll have a permit.

(P.S. To help me raise my last $500 of my $1000 goal for the second half of my personal PUSH campaign, donate via the badge at the right. I'm halfway there and as you can tell from the story above I don't like to do things halfway! It only takes a little bit to add up to a lot.)

(P.P.S. Video of PUSH Play coming soon!)

Moses and the Sew Sew Shop were featured on the Mouchois Blog! Visit http://mouchois.blogspot.com/2009/08/saturday-shopping-great-deals.html to see the other nine adorabe gifts for your kitty.

This week was a 3-month celebration of living without a television. You wouldn't believe the productivity level around my house without one. Not to mention a true sense of quiet--around the house and in my head.

My first official blog entry is a shameless plug for my etsy.com shop, Sew Sew by Audrey Perrott (as will mostly this entire blog). But thanks to "mandatory vacation" i.e. economic furlough this week, I will have some time to make new items and build inventory. So visit often and remember I make custom orders, too.