Friday's Font and a Song – Embossed Label

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Today's Font Friday is Embossed Text Label available for free from fuzzimo. Remember those old label makers that embossed letters into a sticky strip of plastic? That's what this font looks like. How cool is that? It's available in 4 versions, label and text with a regular and light version of each. Above you can see both the label and text versions in regular. Fuzzimo has lots of free design stuff so be sure to check out the whole site. Find more font inspiration by following #FontFriday on Twitter. You can follow me on twitter too.
The photo is a snapshot I took at a concert. Concert photo taking tip: carefully watch the changing lights and you'll get a ton of really different photos. The text/lyrics in the graphic above are from Hall & Oates' Rich Girl. Watch it. You'll love it. You'll sing it all weekend. Speaking of which, have a great weekend!! 
P.S. I'm sure you've heard of Lucky Magazine but have you heard of the Lucky Community? Basically it's user generated version of the magazine. You can submit your own fashion and beauty related blog posts or just browse through and see what you'll find. I'm pretty excited that I already have two posts up. Check it out! xoxo

Kimono Sleeve Sweatshirt Top - McCall's M6566

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I wanted to make a simple kimono sleeve top and McCall's M6566 view B fit the bill perfectly. See my guide to the elements of a kimono sleeve versus a dolman sleeve. The fabric is a gray sweatshirt fabric I had leftover from another project.


The bits I had remaining were enough to cut all the pieces yet one back pieces had to be cut from the wrong side. So, to make it look more intentional, I made the pocket with the wrong side showing and cuffed the sleeves to show the wrong side as well. The one other change I made was to slightly round the front hem up.





I cut size medium for this top but made the seam allowance a little smaller than 5/8 inch. I recommend the pattern just watch the sizing. It can get baggy quickly. But, it has a kind of fun Flashdance vibe to the cut.

The pocket is a little wonky. I could have stitched it better.

The top was very quick and easy to make. I used the walking foot from my machine to do the top stitching. The walking foot is so great for sewing knits. I wish I had gotten one sooner. The walking foot pulls the fabric through from the top and bottom so that it doesn't bunch up or stretch out.


The fabric makes this a very cozy casual top perfect for weekend, at-home wear and maybe a run to the  grocery store. The top was a great use for my leftover fabric. If I were to make this style again, I'd use a fabric that's dressier, better for everyday going-out wear.


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Striped Kimono Sleeve Top - McCall's M6566

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How fun are these stripes? This is another kimono sleeve top from McCalls pattern M6566. This top is View D. It's perfectly suited for stripes. This was a little more complicated to make than View B but still fairly easy. See my version of View B here. Again the walking foot and the serger were my best friends in making this. 
You don't think it looks too jailbird do you? ;) I got this fabric in downtown LA a while ago intending to use it for a project from one of the drape drape books. I really wanted to use it in a pattern that would show off the stripes and this was perfect.




One of the coolest, more unusual features of the top is the crossover back. I considered eliminating this feature at first because I was worried about the dip being so low.

And the back is quite low and does not properly cover the back of the bra. Wearing a camisole easily solves the dilemma but it is a little annoying.


I made a size medium for this with a narrow seam allowance. If I had followed the size chart I would have made a size large. The fit is loose which is the intention. But, you should be aware of this when deciding what size to make. If this was any larger, the shoulders would definitely be falling off. However, I do recommend the pattern. It's a great basic kimono sleeve top with some nice variations. If you're curious about the kimono sleeve versus the dolman sleeve check out this post.


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Delightful Detail - Lula's Bowtied Tee

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Lula's Bowtied Tee from Anthropologie

Not only is the name of this blouse awesome, but the details are gorgeous. First off, we have the statement making  bow across the front. But then turn around and surprise, surprise a row of bound buttonholes down the center back. This blouse could easily go from work to party with a change of accessories. The classic cut is sure to make it a keeper for years to come.


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Friday Faves - Dude Font & Pinterest Picks

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Things have been so busy that I haven't had much time for crafting and blogging the last few weeks. I had so many ideas for this month's theme but sadly just didn't have time to get to it. Between my birthday and traveling across the country for Thanksgiving, oh and a full-time job, November has slipped away. But even though November went too quickly, I'm ready for Christmas. I just want to bake cookies, drink cider, eat and eat and give presents.

Today's Friday Font is a chunky Western style called Dude from Lost Type Co-Op and designed by Dan Gneiding. Dude boasts 12 distinct variations each named after a country music superstar. Above I used Dolly and Willy (top and bottom respectively).

The frantic pace hasn't stopped me from keeping up on Pinterest though. To be honest I've been going a little pin crazy and I think I might be addicted to the eye candy of Pinterest. (You are too right? It's not just me?)

OK, have a great weekend everybody!
xoxo, Lula Louise


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Delightful Detail - Lula's Bowtied Tee

To contact us Click HERE

Lula's Bowtied Tee from Anthropologie

Not only is the name of this blouse awesome, but the details are gorgeous. First off, we have the statement making  bow across the front. But then turn around and surprise, surprise a row of bound buttonholes down the center back. This blouse could easily go from work to party with a change of accessories. The classic cut is sure to make it a keeper for years to come.


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Follow along with me here:Bloglovin // Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest

c is for christmas time's a comin'

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And here we are at the letter C, which is for Christmas. And that brings mixed feelings. In one sense, I'm astonished that I'm already talking about Christmas, and in another, I'm feeling so very behind.

But now, at last, I have some new Christmas items featuring the Little Owls! Just in the shop, both on Etsy and Kitschy Digitals, you'll find these four new items.

Above is a printable advent calendar activity. Throughout the month of December, add a feather each day to count down to Christmas!



For gift giving or holiday recipe sharing, I've created some new recipe cards! Each has an owly pun, because cooking is even more fun when there's a bit of comedy involved, right?



Of course, I've got embroidery patterns of these guys, which make excellent little ornaments! There are 9 designs in the set, and I kind of love them all. (It's true...I get emotionally attached to the things I make!)




Last, but not least...Little Owls at Christmas Tags! They are perfect for gift tags, but I left off the "to" and "from" to make them more versatile. There's even circle tags that can be used in lots of ways, including as cupcake picks.

As a bonus, when you buy the tag set on Kitschy Digitals, it comes with PNG files for the circles, so they can be used in digital crafting. Fun!

I don't like to rush past Thanksgiving, but I do like to be prepared as much as I can ahead of time, which means Christmas in November. So, I think I'll keep humming Christmas tunes as I go!

How about you? How are you feeling about the Christmas season coming next month?

s is for saying thanks

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S is for Saying Thanks. It worked out quite well that as I go through the alphabet this month that S should happen to land on this day, because here in the United States, it's Thanksgiving.

I love this day, with pilgrims and turkeys, casseroles and pies, friends and family. I love that there's often some Christmas music playing, but there's still autumn leaves and pumpkins around. But mostly I love that on this day so many of us recognize what we should be remembering every single day.

We have things to be thankful for and we should say thanks.

Above all, I'm thankful to God for my family, my work, my friends, my many blessings, and the gift of salvation through Jesus.

But I also want to say thanks to you, Dear Reader. You are my family, my work, my friends, and you've blessed me in ways you don't even know. Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

calendar: print and post for december

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Interrupting the last few days of my month of going through the alphabet to bring you the December calendars!

November is my favorite, but I can hardly wait for the new month to begin. Why? Because Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, and I've got some posts planned...all based on Christmas songs! It's gonna be the most wonderful time of the year, so get your calendar, check it twice, and then prepare to sing a song of Christmas!

Download the 2560x1440 Wallpaper.
Download the 1920x1280 Wallpaper.
Download the 1280x800 Wallpaper.
Download the iPhone Wallpaper.
Download the iPad Wallpaper.

To use the iPhone and iPad versions, click the link for the wallpaper you want. When it opens, touch and hold the image until it pops up with the option to save. After you've saved the image, go to your settings, choose wallpaper, then find the image you've just saved.

Prefer the analog method? Download the printable version, and tack it up on your bulletin board!

Download the PDF Printable December Calendar.

y is for yuletide favorites

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Last year, I made the Nativity ornament above, and it continues to be a favorite around here. And by around here, I mean, I still really love it, my mom (who received it for Christmas) still really loves it, and the internet seems to love it too (based on how many times it's been pinned!). This got me thinking that it would be fun to put together a collection of favorite posts and projects for the season!

In keeping with Alphabet Month, Y is for Yuletide Favorites!

Over the course of my years of blogging, I've stored up quite a few Christmas posts, but here are a few of my Wild Olive favs:

Ornamented Felt Ornaments (on Carosello)
12 Days of Christmas Fabric Book
Printable Oblong Ornaments
Felt Friends Stocking Stuffers
Wonders of His Love Painting
Printable Gift Tags
Embroidered Button YoYo Pin

And there's no way I could ever cover all of my favorite Christmas posts I've encountered around the interwebs (there's Pinterest for that!), but here are a few I've picked out for you:

Martha Stewart Pipe Cleaner Tree
Abby Glassenberg Pickle Ornament
Advent Calendar from the Etsy Blog
Dolls and Daydreams Gingerbread Plush
Assim ou Assado Flower Wreath
Stumbles and Stitches Knotty Tree Ornaments
Lil Blue Boo Christmas Nativity Tableau
Now, break out the felt, embroidery floss, glue gun and more...it's time to get serious about the yuletide crafting! Oh, and while we're at it, feel free to share a favorite post of your own!

t is for twenty-nine percent off

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Keeping it short and sweet today, because guess what, kids? Starting today, T is for Twenty-Nine Percent Off! Why? Because it's time for the 5th Annual Mollie's Turning 29 Sale!

That's right, now through Monday the 26th, save 29% in my Etsy shop with the code MOLLIE29. I don't have to tell you, this is a big deal!

Be sure to enter the code in the coupon code box at checkout and the discount will instantly come off your entire purchase! Not valid on prior purchases.

Ready to go shopping?

u is for ugly mess

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My mom is very kind in letting me keep my projects out and around. She even gave me my grandma's knitting bowl (on a stand) for a catch all in our living room. But too often, I let it become so terribly cluttered. Which is why today in Alphabet Month, U is for Ugly Mess.

Amazingly, the photo above isn't even that mess at its worst. And I say "that mess" because obviously, it's only one of my messy places.



We also have the Ugly Mess Desk...



...and the Ugly Mess pile on the floor in front of my cabinets. Yeah, what you see in this photo is about 10% of the pile. I can't bear to show the rest.

There are more Ugly Messes too, but I still have a little pride left. Ugh.

Maybe for Christmas this year, I should ask Santa to bring a cleaning and organizing elf my way...one that would stay forever, because I know that after this is all tidied up, it will just end up like this again...

v is for very excited

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V is for Very Excited because that's something I seem to say a lot around here. But it's true. I do get very excited about things. Here are some things that I'm very excited about right now:

My birthday (today!)
Stitching Christmasy things
Stitching said Christmasy things on my birthday (perfect!)
Taking Instagram photos (at last!) of stitching
Using my birthday/Christmas gift (iPad Mini!) to take said photos
And lots of other plans that I'm planning (you'll love them!)

How's that for things to be excited over?

PS: Find me on Instagram! I'm @molliejohanson and still getting the hang of it...

PPS: Today's the last day of my sale! Save 29% with coupon code MOLLIE29 in my Etsy shop!

PPPS: There's also a sale today only on Kitschy Digitals! Save 30% with coupon code cybermonday30.

w is for washi tape

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As much as it's a trend, I can't help but think that washi tape is here to stay. It's pretty, it's practical, it's, as Martha says, a Good Thing. And so, W is for Washi Tape.

My personal collection is comprised only of the Target variety, but there are so many amazing choices out there! And since I didn't have a whole bunch of lovely tape patterns to show off, I thought it would be fun to stitch my own patterns of washi!

If you'd like to stitch some tape strips with me, here's what you do:



Use a ruler to mark off two parallel lines. The ends don't need to match up.



Draw in a "tear" line to connect the lines.



If you want, add additional layers of tape. My first shot at the left side of the new piece wasn't quite right, but the lines will rinse away.



Stitch around the edge of the tape, then here comes the fun part! Fill in the tape with whatever pattern you want! I started with little Xs.



And for my second piece of tape, I did stripes! These long stitches will work if this goes on the wall, but for items that might get snagged, the stitches should get tacked down.

The options are endless here on fills for your tape. Try french knots, lines, tiny flower stitches, fly stitches, zig zags, triangles, star bursts, arrows, and on and on. If you get stuck, do a search on Etsy for washi tape. You'll see all kinds of designs to inspire you!

What to do with embroidered washi tape? If you love this tape, just stitching it up for a wall hanging will display your love (or perhaps as some washi Christma ornaments?)! But it would also work nicely for creating little borders around your embroidery, or as a fun sampler of stitches!

x is for x-ray

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It's the last Wednesday of Alphabet Month, and I land on X? Oh boy. Time for a classic when it comes to alphabet words: X is for X-Ray.

Believe it or not, choosing a good collection of blacks, grays and whites for this x-ray was more difficult than I expected. They had to have the same color temperature but still look different from each other.

But I think it worked out. You can now embroider your very own x-rays with this combination of colors!

Kimono Sleeve Sweatshirt Top - McCall's M6566

To contact us Click HERE

I wanted to make a simple kimono sleeve top and McCall's M6566 view B fit the bill perfectly. See my guide to the elements of a kimono sleeve versus a dolman sleeve. The fabric is a gray sweatshirt fabric I had leftover from another project.


The bits I had remaining were enough to cut all the pieces yet one back pieces had to be cut from the wrong side. So, to make it look more intentional, I made the pocket with the wrong side showing and cuffed the sleeves to show the wrong side as well. The one other change I made was to slightly round the front hem up.





I cut size medium for this top but made the seam allowance a little smaller than 5/8 inch. I recommend the pattern just watch the sizing. It can get baggy quickly. But, it has a kind of fun Flashdance vibe to the cut.

The pocket is a little wonky. I could have stitched it better.

The top was very quick and easy to make. I used the walking foot from my machine to do the top stitching. The walking foot is so great for sewing knits. I wish I had gotten one sooner. The walking foot pulls the fabric through from the top and bottom so that it doesn't bunch up or stretch out.


The fabric makes this a very cozy casual top perfect for weekend, at-home wear and maybe a run to the  grocery store. The top was a great use for my leftover fabric. If I were to make this style again, I'd use a fabric that's dressier, better for everyday going-out wear.


Follow along here:
Bloglovin // Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest

Striped Kimono Sleeve Top - McCall's M6566

To contact us Click HERE

How fun are these stripes? This is another kimono sleeve top from McCalls pattern M6566. This top is View D. It's perfectly suited for stripes. This was a little more complicated to make than View B but still fairly easy. See my version of View B here. Again the walking foot and the serger were my best friends in making this. 
You don't think it looks too jailbird do you? ;) I got this fabric in downtown LA a while ago intending to use it for a project from one of the drape drape books. I really wanted to use it in a pattern that would show off the stripes and this was perfect.




One of the coolest, more unusual features of the top is the crossover back. I considered eliminating this feature at first because I was worried about the dip being so low.

And the back is quite low and does not properly cover the back of the bra. Wearing a camisole easily solves the dilemma but it is a little annoying.


I made a size medium for this with a narrow seam allowance. If I had followed the size chart I would have made a size large. The fit is loose which is the intention. But, you should be aware of this when deciding what size to make. If this was any larger, the shoulders would definitely be falling off. However, I do recommend the pattern. It's a great basic kimono sleeve top with some nice variations. If you're curious about the kimono sleeve versus the dolman sleeve check out this post.


Follow along here:
Bloglovin // Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest