I'm back! And I've been busy...

After spending five days out of town, I was pleased to hit a few fabric stores as I passed through the Charlotte area and pick up my machine from Elegant Stitches this morning.
I put the machine to good use this afternoon and finished TWO dresses for Miss Gracie!

The first is Butterick 4718, which I made in this beautiful delphinium print I purchased at Waechter's Fine Fabrics in Asheville. The ribbon was a find at Elegant Stitches today.

I then sewed together New Look 6016. I had done the applique (from Bunnycup.com) last weekend, but hadn't done anything else. I've got three more cut projects that just may get finished this weekend.

Sewing has been interrupted...

by spending time in Western NC...

Now for a little something different...

I'm at a work-related retreat this week, so I am not doing any sewing, serging, or embroidering. I did, however, pick up some embroidery floss and 28ct even-weave cloth so I can revisit one of my 1990's pastimes: counted cross-stitch.

I bought this pattern a couple of years ago. I think the image is beautiful, and I can re-work the name part so I can include all four of my children's names.

I also got a chance to visit Waechter's Fine Fabrics in Asheville, NC - beautiful as always. If you haven't heard of them, visit the link on my sidebar. They have loads of lovely eye candy and a nice sale going on right now, too.

My Simplicity Wish List - and a beef with Joann's

I went to Joann's today since Simplicity patterns were 5 for $5 and new patterns have just been released...but not put out at JOANN'S. Dang it!!! Here's what I was hoping to get:

Robed

I found some gorgeous velour fabric at FabricMart a few months ago and decided it would be perfect to make into a robe for my mom. She likes those really long, zipper front, housecoat-type robes, and velour was the perfect fabric for it.

I didn't have the right pattern in my stash, so I decided to Frankenpattern this:

It's an out-of-print McCall's (5589) with a tucked, loose-fitting bodice. I had purchased it early in my sewing experience thinking it would be very easy to make fit. In fact, I ended up not ever making it because I realized it would be unflatteringly big. So, it languished in my stash.

Fast-forward to this project: it occurred to be that this would be an excellent shape for the type of robe my mom likes. I lengthened view B by about 24 inches (using the lengthen/shorten line). The sleeves on the pattern have tucks , but it made the pieces exceptionally large for the remaining fabric (I had 3 yards of the velour.) so I tucked the pattern piece and used that to transfer the registration marks and draft a new long sleeve pattern.

I followed the directions for construction, altering as needed to include a 30 inch robe zipper closing the body of the robe. It ended up being a slightly more stylish robe than some of the old lady style robes my mom likes. (Sorry, mom!)

I used up almost all of this wild print, but I did have enough left to make a pair of pajamas for little Gracie's doll.

Slow progress - very frustrating

I sewed up one pattern storage bag today. It took all of 20 minutes after I got the serger rethreaded. I was about to fuss at someone for cutting my serger threads, but then I caught the culprit - my tabby cat Molly. Naughty! This is a new activity for her, but you can bet I'll be keeping the cover on the machine from now on.

Then I got sucked into a Lego project and ended up building this: Luke Skywalker's X-Wing fighter

Then we had Pinewood Derby which I know the kids love, but I was not so into.

I got my order from Colette Patterns - Negroni, Macaroon, and Crepe. I can't wait to make all of them, but I am so behind on the projects I have half-done, want to do, and just want to think about doing!

Arghh!!

At least I got this cute little dress finished and reviewed:

It's Isabella by Children's Corner with a fishie from Designs by Juju embroidered on the Fabric Finders print.

I want to be a kid again and have myself for a mommy.

This is what I have made for my boys:

They have a twin over full bed. There is an additional twin bed in the other part of their room, so when they share that lower bunk, it is by choice.

When I saw this fun striped fabric at Ikea, I decided to buy it for the purpose of making a bed tent. It comes in 3 yard pieces for $9 - great deal when you need almost 9 yards which is what I ended up using. The yellow ties are from a piece of el cheapo yellow woven I got at an outlet. So, for about $20, my kids have a super fun hiding space.

I added ribbon loops and sandwiches of Velcro to hold the flaps open, but the kids seem to like it best closed. I know that would have been my preference as a kid. Gracie likes to play in it, too.

Gracie's new bed finally arrived. (We ordered it on Black Friday - a two month wait.) Once she's had a little time to get used to keeping her toys neat in the area underneath it, I have fabric to make a tent for this bed so it will be like a little playhouse under there.

The Methadone list, aka what to do when sewing time gets hijacked and you need a fix

You know about Methadone? They give it to heroin addicts suffering withdrawal symptoms to help bring them down. Sometimes I need a little sewing Methadone. Today was one of those days. My house is a wreck - DD's bed was delivered without the extenders to make it a loft, crazy uncle's apartment remains have overtaken things downstairs, and the kids have spread toys like a virus.

Here are the things I do when I really want to just dive into a big project but I can't:

1. Surf the web for inspiration of things I want to make.

2. Shop online (embroidery designs, fabric, patterns - any of it)

3. Make lists of future projects

4. Paw through fabric tubs just because I need to handle the material

5. Re-read pattern magazines

6. Stitch on towels/blanks on my embroidery machine

7. Blog ;-)

Number two can be pricey if I'm not careful, but often I fill a cart and dump it before committing. I try not to impulse buy too much.

What do you do? What's your favorite substitute sewing fix?

I actually stitched out a t-shirt for Benjamin today while cleaning up my home office.

If the Fed Ex people stop by tomorrow with the rest of Gracie's bed, that should precipitate a domino effect that might facilitate some sewing. Please let it be.

Men’s Shirt Sew-Along

I am excited to sew along with Peter from Male Pattern Boldness (and quite a few others for the MPB sew-along. A lot of people are sewing from Colette's Negroni pattern. I don't have that one (not that I don't like it, I just have some others I can use). I will likely use McCall's 6044 which I have already successfully made for Chris. For the boys, I'll reach into the tried and true Ottobre collection. The fabrics for each are below – all Spechler-Vogel pincords purchased at Elegant Stitches.


 

Easter shirts for Chris

Matthew

Jamie

and Benjamin (who will accessorize with his Small Paul fedora we found at Target today).




 

 

 

Reminding myself why I create

not like I needed a reminder - I love it! However, just look at how happy having this cheerleader outfit makes my daughter - priceless:

The t-shirt is Ottobre 4/2004 design #36.

I think I might cut out a stack of these and embroidery different things when I need to spend time at my computer (babysitting the Deco).

Finally in use - a quilt made 2.5 years ago

I made this pretty quilt in 2008, when the little girl whose bed it would cover was still an infant sleeping in a crib. She's now graduated out of a toddler bed. Her new bed came today (only missing the extender legs for it to be a mid-height loft. We should get those early next week.). It was so fun to take the quilt out of storage and put it in use. Even though she's cuddled up with her favorite Tinkerbell blankie (that I made), she's still under the quilt I made. I love it!

Minihipsters

Okay, proud Mommy moment - my kids are featured on minihipster.com today. I love that they deemed my custom-made children's fashion as cool as some of the brand name stuff other kiddos are sporting.

Tonight, my minihipster Benjamin and I made a snowman for a kindergarten project. We used a fake fur remnant my mom had and some buttons, rickrack, and a fabric remnant from my stash. I sewed the buttons after Benjamin selected and placed them. Benjamin helped me sew the hat and the brown rickrack for the arms - he stepped on the pedal while I guided the fabric. He loved helping Mommy sew.

After the kids went to bed, I finished up the cutest dress for Gracie. The pattern is Renee by Juvie Moon. It wasn't as complicated as it might seem. There are a lot of pieces, but with a serger, this is pretty easy.

This is the dress I cut first and then used the remnants to make all the dolly clothes shown here. I just love this fabric collection (Rose Cottage - purchased from Fairytale Frocks & Lollipops).

Obsessed? And so what if I am?

My serger is back home - finally! Two weeks of withdrawal and fabric cutting left me with a shocking amount of fabric cut and ready to sew, a lot of said fabric embellished with my embroidery machine. I did one project with just my sewing machine:

Gracie had a chance to spend the morning with the high school cheerleaders and she was in little girl heaven! I made her this little navy skirt which the picture doesn't do justice to. See, it's actually made reversible thanks to cutting a second skirt in a bright gold knit similar to the navy knit (colors match both the HS and the MS where I teach). I also grabbed a pair of her undies and drafted a quick pattern for navy cheer bloomers to go under it. It worked out really well because when she was cheering with the big girls when I came to pick her up from the event, sure enough, her little skirt ended up flipped up.

I also had a different shirt in mind. I cut a basic white tee from Ottobre 4-2004 (which has the same patterns that ended up in the creative workshop pack) and chose a design from Stitch on Time that looked perfect for my girl:

Of course, there was a small glitch. I had to wait for the file to be emailed. It wasn't instant download. So, the morning of the event, I finally got the design in my inbox and transferred it to my USB. When I pulled it up in the machine, it said 76 minutes. I said, "oh crap!" because clearly I would not make this project happen in the hour I had before we had to go. Gracie was pretty cool about it since she had her skirt and a gold t-shirt that looked good with it.

After the cheer event, I took her with me to pick up the serger and do a little shopping. When we got home, I started into the pile of unsewn stuff. First up, I decided to clear an easy project, a dolly outfit. This poor dolly only came with a diaper and a bath towel and the diaper has sort of disappeared. I hate for her to land in the realm of nakie-babies, so I used some leftover fabric from cutting a dress for Gracie to make this:

Disclaimer: the doll's eyes aren't really that creepy; it's the flash.

Dolly's outfit will match Gracie's dress (that I will probably sew up today):

I got both of the appliques I used from Designs by Juju. I wouldn't normally applique for a doll, but it was a good practice piece. I love how the fish in the applique are such a terrific match for the Fabric Finders print I used.

Once I had dolly clothed, I stitched up a simple bag I had cut and ready to sew from this fabric:

I have a second one ready to sew from this:

Both the birdies and the alphabet are also Designs by Juju.

Of course, I didn't stop there, I stitched together a striped tee I had embroidered to match a new skirt for Gracie, and I sewed up a simple 70's-ish dress for  her too.

After church, I plan to spend the rest of the day having quality time with my machines...maybe I'll even get around to finishing this:

It's going to be a decorative pillow for my daughter's new big-girl bed which is being delivered on Thursday morning.

More reviews and pictures to come later today as I make up for lost sewing time...