Nov 24, 2011

it seemed like a good idea at the time | whitehorse chidlren's photographer

This upcoming weekend is the Alkan Grand Ball which is the highlight of the winter in Whitehorse. It is the night where all the beautiful trees that have been donated by local businesses are auctioned off to raise money for our local hospital foundation. Currently, the foundation is fundraising for an MRI machine.

Last year I had a pretty little tree in the auction all decorated with antique mercury glass ornaments in red and turquoise with some modern ornaments in red, turquoise and brown. It was an immensely popular tree and I had so much fun watching and listening to everyone bidding feverishly on my tree and all the other lovely trees.

This year, I have a very special tree planned and this is the tree skirt that made from directions that I found on Pinterest. Now, you may or may not know that when my oldest son was very little, I had a clothing design business and had a lot of fun making wedding gowns, prom dresses and unique garments for my lovely clients. I closed that business when I was pregnant with my youngest child and haven't touched my sewing machines much since then. When I saw this tree skirt, I knew that I'd never find anything even remotely as pretty in the store.

My trusty pin cushion that is about 15 - 20 years old. My mom had one just like it so when I started sewing at 15 (when my dad got me my first sewing machine) I knew I had to have one just like hers.\Found this one in a teeny little shop in Victoria's Fan Tan Alley in Chinatown.


I used to use a second hand Elna machine that is the one I got on my 15th birthday. I finally retired that machine (not because it stopped working, but I just wanted to use a newer machine) and replaced it with a very inexpensive Singer from WalMart. It mostly gathers dust but whenever I call it to action, it's ready to rock.

This is a look at the complete skirt. If I weren't so pressed for time I might have made this skirt a little fuller (another 45-90 degrees of circumference) but it's going under my pretty tree tomorrow. There will be photos of the finished tree next week. Hope to see some of you at the Grand Ball. If you're there, please find me and say hello!

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