Sewing Journal April, 2013

An Easter dress with a very twirly circle skirt and a Peter Pan collar. She told me, "This skirt, it is all I wanted." Ha! I made it with a fabric she picked from Jo-ann's and the collar was a beautiful scrap of pink chambray I got at Purl Soho in NYC that I wished I had yards of. The pattern was Butterick B5877. My sweet old machine hates making button holes so they aren't as pretty as I like, but you can't tell when it's on. This was my first Peter Pan collar and now I want them on everything.

My other project I can share right now (muhaha) is late birthday present for my tiny little Wonder Woman. I surprised her with super hero girl pajamas. I found this fabric at Jo-ann's and traced her American Apparel karate pants. We also made a patch for an old stained blue shirt and it covered and matched perfectly! Then she demonstrated Super Hero Karate.

What have you been sewing or making?

T-shirt dress tutorial

I have seen many versions of this on blogs and pinterest. I have made a few now and this is my process. Using Over and my iphone my 5 year old and I made a quick t-shirt dress and a tutorial.  This is written to someone who has finished seams and knows how to do a gathering stitch. If you don't you can follow the links I provide on how to do that. 

Target-t-shirt- $5 +

1/2 yard leopard floral crinkly silk- 3.50 +

the bonding time and the fact that she chose the fabric and colors

=$8.50 and way more likely to wear it because she was involved.

Wash your fabric and t-shirt to preshrink.

D was in love with this leopard floral fabric. I wouldn't have picked it, but I am learning that if I let my kids pick the fabric, they are WAY more likely to wear the finished product. 

(The shoes have nothing to do with the process, but I know Jessie has them too. Hi, Jessie!)

Ha, I have this pic upside down but already had put the text on. You get the idea. 

Here is a link on how to finish seams.

 Here is a great link for gathering.

 Press each seam and hem as you go and then the whole dress.

Don't sew on the flu

I had sewing projects I REALLY wanted done by this week. 2 way overdue presents. A project for Mike and Easter dresses for my girls.

We have the flu. And it is brutal. So many symptoms. Mike has yet to get it, but the rest of us have.

I tried working on my projects a few 10 minutes installments here and there and I kept making mistakes. Too sick to think straight. Now I have a pile of projects that need redoing or reworking because I sewed with the flu.

So. I thought I show you fabric instead (some already shown on my Instagram). I think a bouquet of fabric sounds as lovely as a bouquet of flowers when you are sick. Mike Cosper, Send me fabric. I mean. I love you.

 A present...some patchwork...vague:)

 3 yards of this to sew for future 4 year old's birthday. Old man PJs and a dress or skirt.

 Spring dresses. I've got plans. 

Gotta get better. XOXO friends. 

Except not. Because you don't want this flu.

Every. single. time.

Every. single. time.

Every time I start on a sewing project (whether it is the beginning or I pick up from where I left off) I plan, design, and sew then I get mad and frustrated and want to throw it away. Every.single.time.

I am up to me ears in projects I need to finish and went to plow through in some free hours where D was playing and M was asleep and it all seemed to go wrong. The logical and organized person would ask why not finish one project, but, all the projects are all the same kind of sewing, so to change thread, machine feet, stitch length etc. It is more logically and organized to piece all the projects, then quilt them all and then bind them all...I think. I'll turn around in a week or 5 and hopefully crank out the 6 quilts I am working on. And hopefully Ezra will get his blanket I started before he was born before he turns 2 and his little brother is born and the other sibling is adopted. THAT is how far behind I am people. What can I say, you all know I had had my plate full with other things.

What I really want to know is how do you creators deal with your frustrations? I love the creative process, and love knowing that sometimes even the greatest musicians, artists and writers want to through it all away before they love it.

Progress

Flu like cold + iphone in the dark = terrible picture of quilt progress, but progress none the less!

Girl's room part 2

I told you a while ago of goals for decorating my girl's bedroom. Dorothy's birthday came and went and there were plenty of other distractions for her at her August birthday and even at Christmas for her to remember that she was suppose to get a quilt from me. It was also a dilemma for me because I couldn't decide if I wanted to make it a toddler bed size or twin size. I knew the toddler bed wouldn't last much longer than a few months or a year before it was passed on to our escape artist, Mags so I hoped to make a twin size. That just meant a lot more work for me. Like twice the work. Luckily the decision was made for me by waiting so long to pick the project up again.

Here is the tutorial I have been using. Here is the quilt that started it all. I started this last June and only worked on it about 2 weeks (10-15 hours maybe) before completely packing it up in preparation for rearranging the house (like trading rooms with other rooms). I unpacked it this past last month and have been working on it quite a bit. Today I finished piecing and trimming the 80th square. I have spent about 40-50 hours on it so far.

I am like a deer in the headlights getting ready to sew all the squares together. I can't possibly pull it off.

The colors of the quilt are what I call bubblegum, cotton candy, cherry, lipstick, sage, and lime. Or something like that. I am loving the color scheme and excited to have an almost complete room.

The Girl's Room

I told my friend, Wren I would post. I know she lovingly judges me when I go for a while without posting.

I have always thought to myself that as long as my health allows I want to make a baby quilt for my girls, and then a twin size quilt that they help pick out fabric for when they are older say 3, 4, or 5. Well this 3rd birthday my little pink loving fashoinista, Dorothy Jean is approaching . She has many milestones on the horizon such as 100% potty training (slowly getting there), preschool this fall, and a big girl bed.

OK so long story, well long (that is how Mike describes my story telling)...

My girls have a blue, red, and green nursery. The original rental bedroom that Dorothy inherited was periwinkle and lime green and apple red was my choice for gender neutral theme. I am now trying to figure out how to phase out some of the blues and add a lot of pink, which is easier now, because they have a neutral off white wall in our house.

So we are making a pink quilt with lots of bits of green, white, and red in it. I found a pattern I love and of course it is stupid hard and very meticulous. I started this process with 2 months until her birthday and tomorrow marks the 1 month until her birthday. We'll see. I made a practice quilt for dear friends to see if I could pull it off. Again, I say, "We'll see".

Practice and baby gift for dear friends

Goals already completed

• Make a practice quilt to make sure I can pull this off (I made a baby quilt for my friends 3rd baby girl, being a 3rd child myself I thought she needed something of her own).
• Get rid of several boxes of stuff we never used for the girls.
• Organize their closet (so much stuff-took me a whole day. Remind me not to let it get so bad ever again).
• Rearrange room. Get Maggie away from all items that she can destroy or harm herself with.
  

Goals for their room

• Get art back up on their walls that Maggie can't rip down when in her crib or on her changing table.
• Make Dorothy's birthday quilt.
• Make a banner or bunting to add more pink to the room
• Make the height chart that I have had in my mind for 3+ years now and fill in the girls heights over the last 3 years

So waaay back in the middle of October I was in my second art show. Our church has this really wonderful "Affordable art show" during the neighborhood fall festival. Also notice the two art pieces behind me, my nieghbor and friend Elizabeth did those and Mike and I got the green one for each other for our anniversary last week. I kind of love that tradition, buying each other a piece of our friends art for hoildays. He got me two pieces last year from our dearest Michael Winters friend.

It is great because the art show has very established/formally trained artists and crafters as well as newbie self trained ones like me. I made purses and onesies just like last year...and sold well (about 90% of my stuff sold!). I have barely sewn since then until this past weekend, when I made my 8 gifts for our churches gift exchange (tell you about that later). I hade a lot of people ask about my cowl (the tube scarf around my neck in the first picture, so I'll probably make some of those to sell next year).
I have got to make more girly onesies and more owls. I am also planning on making toddler shirts...but not until at least after Christmas!

(Thanks to my friend Ashley L. who took these pictures for me!)

I am still here!

Hello! I hope you still check this blog! I am back. Probably not every day, but I hopefully can post a bit more than I have been.

I haven't had morning sickness in three days! I am 14 and 1/2 weeks along I have been sick for almost 8 1/2 weeks. I am hopefully on the mend. A lot of you have asked and I was not this sick with my first pregnancy. Maybe 3 times total that time. I have lost count this time. No two pregnancies are alike, I hear.

We took Dorothy to hear the heartbeat of her baby brother or sister last week. She charmed all the nurses and doctors and played with all the things she shouldn't and had no idea why we were even there. BUT! I think we got through the appointment much quicker than normal because of her presence. Not that I am ever taking a one year old to the doctor again, unless it's for her. The above picture is her running the hallway as I made the first payment on our second kid :) Just as we pay off the first kid we start paying for another- It is certainly worth it though!


Oh and I found this funny picture of D. This was on her way to meet Ruby Laffin for the first time. I love that she is waving at 6 weeks (well accidentally waving) and that she still is working on the eye control, and she is so rolly-polly.

Please pray for me if you can. Just as I am doing better with the morning sickness I have had two flair ups with my RA. I pulled my shoulder last week, the worst it been in about about two years. Then this weekend as I geared up to sew, I had a flair up in both wrists, again something I haven't had happen since before Dorothy. Not exactly a good thing for a lady trying to sew for a little business. Well enough typing on these hands for now. Love to all, near and far.

Well Folks,

It has begun... my friend Emilee brilliantly designed me a business logo and cards and I am beginning regular sewing time. Sooo, I guess it has begun, this little sewing/crafting business of mine... I'll keep you posted with what I am making and where I am selling. Keep visiting. If you'd like to get my quarterly newsletter, email and I'll make sure you are on the list.

Oh and if you want to hire Mrs. Emilee for design work you should! Just email me and I'll send you her contact info.