Ashley Hackshaw, Author at Ashley Hackshaw / Lil Blue Boo

Four

February 9, 2011 by Ashley Hackshaw

Boo turned 4 yesterday and we took her to Disneyland today for the first time!

For those of you that know me well…you know that this was a huge thing for me for several reasons:

1. I can’t stand crowds or lines (especially amusement parks and sporting events).
2. I am germ-a-phobic.
3. Princesses….boring.

And…finally…don’t hate me:
4. Disney is creepy.

Yes, I said it. I think all of their movies, and many of their rides, have a weird dark streak to them. I’m convinced Boo will have nightmares from a few rides that were marketed to kids and should have had an “R” rating on them to warn us. Even Sleeping Beauty’s Castle tour was ridiculously creepy and scary.

But, regardless, Boo had an amazing time…..and that’s all that matters. We did Disney and we don’t have to go back for another 20 years now, right?

She loved the tea cups….

My mother-in-law was in town and it’s her birthday this week as well so it was a special treat to take her to Disney too:

Boo loved riding with Daddy on everything:

I wasn’t about to stand in a princess line for a photo op, so we just kept our eyes peeled and finally found Sleeping Beauty. The conversation went a little like this:

Boo: I’m four today.
SB: It’s your birthday! What is your name?
Boo: Um, have you seen Cinderella or Belle?
Me: Sienna, let’s just take a photo….maybe we’ll see Cinderella later.
Boo: I don’t want you to take a photo. I just want to eat my hotdog. (we had just bought it when we spotted the princesses)

Then Sleeping Beauty (or Aurora? no idea what I’m supposed to call her) taught Boo a princess curtsey which I’m pretty sure Boo thought was a little ridiculous judging from the look on her face (I don’t blame her, who “curtseys” in a recycled knit dress):

Then onto Snow White:
Boo: Hi. It’s my birthday today.
SW: Let me guess….are you four?
Boo: Yes. Um, have you seen Cinderella or Belle?
Me: Sienna, please let’s just take one photo….maybe we’ll see Cinderella later.
Boo: I don’t want you to take a photo. I just want to eat my hotdog.

We never saw Cinderella….but I kept reminding Boo that she DID make an appearance at her birthday last year. We went to Toon Town and met Mickey and Minnie…ho hum…

….until we checked out Minnie’s refrigerator. Cool!!! We love the unexpected:

Rides we rode that were WAY too scary for a toddler? (learned my lesson and didn’t ride anymore dark rides)
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
Pirates of the Caribbean
Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin

Favorite rides that we rode over and over?
It’s a Small World (Boo woke up singing the song first thing)
Mad Hatter Tea Party
Casey Jr. Circus Train
Alice in Wonderland (Boo wanted to know why the Queen was so mad)
Finding Nemo (One small scary second)
Astro Orbitor
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Gadget’s Go Coaster

Random Photos

Wow Disneyland is beautiful at night! I loved the park more once the sun went down. Then I do what I always do in crowds….randomly snap photos on random settings to see what I end up with:

Streetlights

Balloons

Carousel

Paint cans

Toon Town Ride

We stayed for almost 7 hours. As soon as I saw this face I knew we were done…even though she insisted we stay longer:

Happy 4th birthday Boo! We love you!

Project Run and Play: Week 4

February 5, 2011 by Ashley Hackshaw

It’s week 4 of the Project Run and Play competition and I’m so excited to still be in the running! For this week’s vintage/retro inspired-style I chose the classic “Annie Hall” look that Dianne Keaton made so popular in the 70’s: menswear for women.

Annie Hall:

Boo is a “daddy’s girl” so this has by far been her favorite outfit in the competition.

I took a men’s dress shirt, cut it apart, and re-tailored the pieces to fit a toddler using a dress form. I reused the collar, cuffs and buttons and made the shirt a slim fit with an extra long shirt tails to fit nicely into the pants.

The pants are fitted with an extra high waist and flair out to a wide leg. Instead of using an itchy wool suiting, I made the pants from poly/spandex pin-striped fabric reclaimed from an adult skirt…..they are soft, comfortable, and machine washable.

An adult sized tie can easily be cut down to a child size for a girl or boy.

I love ties on girls:

Styled with a men’s style fedora, sneakers, tousled “bed” hair and a little extra confidence……

……I think Annie Hall would approve of Boo’s “tomboy” urban style!

Classic Boo:

The Imago Gallery was the perfect setting for an “urban” shoot in the desert:

Cheese!

Find the tie pattern below:

Behind the Scenes: Some Favorite Tools

February 4, 2011 by Ashley Hackshaw

I’m on vacation with my family right now skiing in Colorado but before I left I snapped some behind-the-scenes photos of some favorite things around the Lil Blue Boo studio!

Large rolls of marking paper and pattern paper
The lightweight marking paper is used for drafting new patterns and the heavy manila pattern paper is what I use for final templates. The manila paper is heavier than card stock and is really durable for everyday pattern use.

Pattern Hooks
All of my pattern templates are hung around the studio for easy access. I can hang about 20 patterns on one hook.

Industrial Fabric Cutters (update: click here to view an entire post on fabric cutters)
These come in every size imaginable….the one below is a small cutter that can cut through about 6 layers of knit at one time….great for small projects. Larger cutters can cut through about a foot of fabric at time.

A finished pile of cut pieces:

A Kitchen Mixer
This is the extent of my cooking these days! I can mix up to about a half gallon of custom ink colors at one time with my kitchen mixer:

Large Work Tables
Below is the large silk screening table that Mr. LBB made for me. It’s great for completing large amounts of printing at one time. Gicela is a new member of the LBB team and wears ALL white to work everyday….she’s pretty brave considering all the paint and ink that we use around here.

The silk screening table is lined with felt so it doubles as an extra large ironing board as well so we can easily heat set all of the fabric too.

Fabric Scraps
Long strips of scrap fabric make great ties to keep finished size pieces together that are waiting to be sewn:

Large Pattern Weights
These heavy weights keep pattern templates flat and also keep layers of fabric in place for cutting:

Tally Sheets
I have templates for almost everything we do around here….I have to keep super organized to get orders out on time. Here is a sample tally sheet just for cutting sizes….whoever is cutting can just make “tic” marks to keep track of what they are doing:

Snips
Sharp snips are great for cutting loose threads to clean up finished projects and to keep by the sewing machine:

Shelving and Storage Bins
I am fanatical about keeping organized and Lisa is a pro at it! Here are some finished spring dresses I snapped a photo of last week. Lisa closely inspects every single item we make, packages them up perfectly and then sorts them by style and size:

One of my newest favorite things? Rosie…my new industrial coverstitch machine. I am super picky about stitches….and hers are beautiful. I think I looked at every machine imaginable. I can’t wait to get back from vacation and use her!