Ta-Da!

I finished my McCall's 5471 blouse yesterday. Overall I've very pleased with how it came out. I had a little trouble with the collar and stand, but it was actually my first time making a collar & stand (all the others have had a collar only) so really I can't expect perfection (tho I always want it!). The directions for the blouse were very well written, so no problems there, just my novice-ness getting in the way and possibly the fact I was trying to work on it while a bored preschooler was being a twit! ;-) I also liked that the pattern had separate cup sizes - A/B, C, & D (it's McCall's Make For You line). It does confuse me a bit that there aren't separate ones for both A & B since there is a big difference between an A & B cup (ask me how I know!). So I had to alter the bust area a bit to accommodate me, but it really went together very smoothly. I posted a review on Pattern Review.

Also, I made two aprons last Friday for my mom & sister's upcoming birthdays. I entered them in the Pattern Review Holiday/Gift sewing contest. A new apron is always a welcome gift and since my mom and sister haven't received one in a long time, I figured it would be much appreciated. I used my TNT apron pattern that is my late grandma's. I posted a review last year on PR, so if you'd like to read it, here it is ~ apron review.

I'm not sure what is next up. I have a few things I'm toying with and Jack is in desperate need of pants again. Suddenly he only has two pairs in his closet, ugg! So the good mommy would sewing him at least one pair of pants first, right????

A Blouse & Christmas Sewing Ideas

I had a fairly productive weekend. We went no where (which was fine by me, I'm happy staying home), so I worked on something for *me*! I have wanted/needed a white blouse or two in my wardrobe for ages (tho I might regret white since I have four messmakers that live with me - five if you count daddy). I recently picked up McCalls 5471 because it's a great blouse (pieces for A/B, C, & D cup sizes) and lots of great variations for the sleeves. I made view B with the puffed sleeves and it's turning out lovely. I have to finish the collar and then add the buttons so I'm on the downhill slide. Maybe it will get finished today after I get my housework done.


The countdown is on for Christmas and it's time to start sewing for your friends & loved ones. For the month of November, Sew Mama Sew will post a new gift sewing idea each day (30 in all ~ 5 have already been posted). So pop on over and check it out, there are some great ideas and tutorials available!

Also, I'd like to bring your attention to a podcast I recently found and absolutely love. It's called Sew Forth Now. A fellow PR member (LoriV) hosts this podcast and each show has a wealth of information for sewing fanatics like myself. You can visit the Sew Forth Now blog to read the show notes for each episode as well as download prior episodes and sign up to have the upcoming shows downloaded when they are available - all for free of course! Her most recent show was also on Christmas sewing so there are lots of good ideas there too that you'll want to check out too.

Finally some pictures!

Yesterday I tried to upload some pictures, but had a heck of a time so I decided to try again today. Halloween was a blast for the kids and they got their fair share of candy while Trick or Treating. Below you can see them all dresses up (click the picture to enlarge it)!

Next up is a snuggle soft velour sweater I made. It turned out so well and the embroidery was all done with a satin stitch on my sewing machine. Please read the review to learn more about this project.


And the last one for now is just a simple long sleeve raglan I made. I didn't write a review for this one (wrote one for it last fall - super easy & have made it a few times) ~ it's 1-2003-27 from Ottobre.

Today I'm working on a few aprons for upcoming gifts and will post them in the Holiday Sewing Contest on PR. Gotta love the motivation to get things out of the way that need to be done.

Happy Halloween!

Sorry I've been such a bad blogger lately. It just seems like it's been so busy around the house lately. I have been fairly productive sewing tho so that is good. I have no pictures to post today, but I promise to post some very soon (hopefully tomorrow!). I made a two of the kids' Halloween costumes this year. The line up for this Halloween is: a witch (Hattie) - she's wearing a dress-up dress that Grammie got her at a garage sale accompanied with a hat I got here for $1.50 at the grocery store. Jack is going to be a mad scientist (think Doc from Back to the Future); I made his lab coat. Will is dressing up like a baker/chef; I made him a cute chef hat & apron. And last, but not least, Andy is either going as a builder or a business man. Why is it still up in the air you might wonder? Because three year olds are complicated creators and who knows what his attitude will be at the time of departure! ;-)

In other sewing, I've made Jack & Andy a few shirts from Ottobre, Andy two new pairs of PJ's, and did a few repair jobs (oh joy, one was a zipper replacement, bleck!). As much as I want to sew for me, I have a few gifts I need to get out of the way for upcoming events so those will take place first, but I think they are quick enough that I can get them done without too much time to spare.

Have a wonderful & safe Halloween!

I got my "Baby" back!

Well I finally got my Baby (Lock that is) back yesterday. I will spare you all the details of the pain it caused me, but now all is forgotten. So now you ask why the picture of pillows? Good question, but I have an answer! I decided since I didn't know a time frame on the return of my machine, I would make some new pillows for our couch. The ones we had were beyond disgusting so I figured that would be a safe and productive project to do with my sewing machine. I had all the fabrics in my stash (they were all actually in the scrap box from other miscellaneous projects) so it was just the cost of four pillow forms which were 50% off this week at Joann's. So for less than $20 and a few hours (if that) of work, my couch is all spiffed up!

I have several things cut out for the boys and think that will be my next project. While I really want to work on stuff for me (haven't I been saying that forever now???), Andy needs new pj's and some long sleeved t-shirts and Jack is in need of a few shirts too. They are all cut out already so they should be pretty fast projects, unless I get side tracked by a Sudoku (my latest obsession ~ they are so addicting!).

What's a girl to do?

My serger is still in the shop and I can't hardly take it anymore. It's been in the shop for nearly a week (tomorrow is one week) and I'm in misery! It needed a cleaning that I'd been putting off, but then the self-threading plunger snapped off when I was threading it last Friday, so I figured I'd better just take it in for servicing. Well they promised me it would be ready on Wednesday, but when I called yesterday to confirm so hubby could pick it up, the part hadn't arrived yet. So I just called today to see if it was ready as they led me to believe it would be there today - still no part. :-( And now the lady told me "don't call us, we'll call you when it's ready" and "it won't be tomorrow or Monday". Geez, in today's world, does it take more than a week for a part to get somewhere - a $5.99 part nonetheless? Needless to say, I'm so bummed. I have things cut out to sew, but they are knit shirts for my youngest that I need to serge, so what's a girl to do? My throw pillows on the couch need recovering so maybe that is what I should be doing. Ugg!!! :-(

Instant Gratification Sewing

I was needing some instant gratification sewing after having a few hang ups over the past week. My first hang up was not having the proper zipper for my skirt made from Ottobre Woman 5-2007-4. Now this wasn't a major catastrophe, but annoying because I really was on a roll. Once that was finished, I started tracing out a blouse from the 8-2007 Burda WOF #117 with the tie front. I read a few reviews about it on PR and learned the shoulders were more dropped than shown in the magazine pictures and line drawing (apparently Burda had fiddled with the blouse in the pictures and that the line drawing wasn't quite accurate). So I did a bunch of fiddling with the pattern and now I need to make a muslin, however I decided I first needed a little instant gratification hence all the knit tops. First up is Kwik Sew 2694! Yes, it's been reviewed over 85 times on PR, but it's clearly a winner. Paired my new top is my fabulous new Ottobre Skirt.

A better look at the Kwik Sew top...

Next up is the famous Jalie Crossover top - another clear winner that uses minimal fabric and takes less than 1 hour to make. I actually made myself three of these in the last two days - purple, red, and white.
Last up is a new Vogue Sandra Betzina pattern #2980. At first I wasn't sure about the top and if I was happy about how it turned out. Well I'm still not happy with the fit, but now that I've made another Jalie crossover top with the leftover fabric, I'm sure the problem is actually the fabric - I think it has a little too much recovery. So I will probably try it again when time allows. It sure is a cute twist on the ordinary t-shirt and went together pretty quickly.
In sad news, my serger has to go to the doctor tomorrow. I had a little mishap that needs repairing, plus it needs to be cleaned too. I think this will be a good opportunity for me to straight up the mess I've created in my studio and hopefully work on my muslin of the Burda top. Until next time, happy sewing!

Givin' Ottobre a Workout!

Hot of the machine is my latest Ottobre creation! It is from the 4/2007 issue (Fall) and it's just cute as can be. What cracks me up is how much my son loves putting his hands in those cool circle pockets. The sweatshirt fleece was from Mill End Fabrics in Portland, OR (bought during my recent PDX shopping trip with PR ladies), the lining fabric was a Gymboree knit blanket I bought to cut up and use as fabric, and the ribbing was from my local indy store (which may be going out of business - ugg!). I posted a review and more pictures on Pattern Review.

Next up is a pair of slim fitting jeans for my middle son. This is actually my second pair, the first pair I used brown twill and he loves those equally as well. The pattern is also from the fall issue of Ottobre #27. I even embroidered a parrot on his back pocket (he thought that was too cool) and used red Jeans Stitch thread for the top stitching. Review is posted on Pattern Review too!

Embroidery is from Designs By JuJu. I highly recommend her designs. They always stitch out beautifully, tho this one I had a little trouble with, but that was my fault not hooping the fabric well enough. Then lastly, I've been doing a little "McSewing" as the ladies on the Ottobre Yahoo group have been calling batch sewingt. DD needed some long sleeve t-shirts, so I tried to whip one up in colors that went with other things in her wardrobe. Some plain, some with embroidery (all from JuJu) - she loves them all (or so she says). The pattern is #16 from 1/2003 (for both the regular & the crossover style). I posted a review for this pattern before on PR so I didn't rereview it, didn't seem necessary. I also made her a plain white shirt and used my "Gemagic" (like the Bedazzler) to make a heart on the chest - I think that was the favorite top!

That is all for now, back to the sewing room I go. I have two more projects cut out, but I might deviate a little because my SIL's birthday is Sunday and we're going out to dinner at the Olive Garden so I thought it would be nice for Moi to have a new outfit to wear. :-)

I'm Not Tired

Here the rest of my house is sleeping peacefully and mommy is WIDE awake at nearly 1am! Why you might ask? Well could it be the caffeine I had in my diet Coke tonight??? Probably and it's all to blame on the fun Portland fabric shopping trip I took today with 3 gals from PatternReview today! I got to visit 7 shops (6 which were new to me) on our fabric tour and even bought a few goodies along the way. Then after our tour was over, one of the gals and I went to Fabric Depot and spent a few more hours there (thanks Tina!). Afterwards I figured I might as well stop by the Super Joann's on my way home, but found nothing I couldn't live without so grabbed a bite to eat (hence the caffeine) and now I'm paying for it.

So while up in the middle of the night, I decided to cruise around the net and peek at my favorite blogs and what should I find on Belinda's Blog but a "Rockin' Girl Blogger" award. Intrigued as I haven't spotted this before I read on - here is what she wrote (this is direct copy from Belinda's blog):

A few days ago Sigrid nominated me for the Rockin' Girl Blogger. Thanks Sigrid!

I've watched with interest as this award has been hopping from blog to blog. It started here on Roberta Ferguson's blog back on June 18, 2007. I first noticed it on a German sewing blog I read and I've watched as it's hopped all over blogland in recent weeks.

Now I get to choose 5 women bloggers worthy of the "Rockin' Girl Blogger" award. If you get nominated, place your pretty pink badge on your site and then list 5 of your favorite Rockin' Girl Bloggers. The hard part is coming up with five bloggers who haven't already been nominated. There are a lot of excellent sewing blogs out there so I did mangae to find five. :)

1. Debbie - Stitches and Seams. Debbie has already been nominated but as she is on a computer hiatus she may have missed it. Debbie, maybe this will encourage you to write a blog entry. I miss reading your blog. Come out, come out, where ever you are

.2. Lori - Girls in the Garden.

3. Melissa - Susie Homemaker.

4. Beth - Rusty Bobbin.

5. Trena- Slapdash Sewist. I'm not sure if Trena is back from her Big Fat Greek Holiday or if she even reads my blog but I read hers and enjoy it.

All I can say is WOW Belinda, what a treat you find my blog worth reading ~ it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! :-)

So here I post my "badge" of honor and nominate the following (in no particular order):

1. Miss Celie's Pants

2. Stacy Sews

3. The Twisted One

4. Erica's DIY Style

5. Fehr Trade

Now I did a little research and don't see that these blogs have been nominated, but if they were I'll just blame it on the fact that it's very late and I should be in bed! ;-)

So my big plan (I'm posting this to hold myself accountable), is to sew a pair of pants (or two if things go well) tomorrow for my middle son as he still only has one pair of pants to wear to school. Thankfully last week was warm on the days he went to Kindergarten so he was able to wear shorts. I have been doing some sewing - shirts for DD, but I really need to make a list and get myself organized and kick it into high gear since it looks like cooler weather is on the horizon, plus I'm itching to sew myself some stuff for fall too so I need to get these school clothes finished up.

Nitey- Nite!

Don't grocery shop when you're hungry!

That is pretty much common sense right? Apparently I *forgot* yesterday and the result was more money spent than I had planned and my kitchen overflowing with yummy treats!

So while grocery shopping yesterday everything was looking absolutely divine. I saw beautiful green Granny Smith apples and immediately thought "oh an Apple Pie sounds yummy" so I bought those, then I walked down the cookie & cracker aisle to get some crackers and saw the fudge striped cookies and thought "oh Mandarin Cookie Salad would be great with dinner tonight" so all those ingredients went into the cart too. Then on the baking aisle I saw dried Craisins and remembered the Oatmeal Bar recipe my friend had given me (thanks Leslie) and had to get those too. So upon returning home from the store I unpacked my groceries and made an Apple Pie, Mandarin Cookie Salad, and Oatmeal Bars - what a nerd, huh?

I thought I'd share a few more recipes with you - after all I want to be Susie Homemaker and she surely cooks and bakes, right?

Mandarin Cookie Salad

2 cups buttermilk
1 - 5.1 oz pkg vanilla instant pudding mix
1 - 12 oz tub Cool Whip, thawed
2 - 11 oz cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 - 11.5 oz pkg fudge striped shortbread cookies, coarsely chopped

Whisk buttermilk and pudding mix for 2 minutes, then let stand 2 minutes or until soft set. Fold in Cool Whip and oranges. Cover and chill until serving. Fold in cookies when ready to serve ~ enjoy!

Oatmeal Bars

1/2 cup brown sugar
8 oz vanilla yogurt
2 egg whites
2 Tbs canola oil
2 Tbs milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour (can use 1/2 whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups oats
1 cup dried fruit and nuts

Mix together all ingredients and spread into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Cool and cut into bars - enjoy!

I'd share my Apple Pie recipe, but I'm sure everyone has their own favorite and they are all pretty similar anyway. Now go and make yourself some goodies!

My "baby" went to school....

Well technically he's not my "baby", but he's one of my babies and now he's in school too! He begged me to ride the bus to school today - he's being dying to ride the bus for as long as I can remember so I shouldn't be surprised. And it was probably easier for me to put him on the bus than to walk him to his Kindergarten room. As it was, I got a huge lump in my throat a shed a few tears. Thankfully I still have one left to love on during the day (or should I say one "messmaker" still around!). I know his first day of school will be great ~ he's in good hands as his teacher is a gem (actually all the kids have wonderful teachers this year so I can't complain at all).

Today really need to get another pair of pants done for Mr. Kindergarten. He has one lonely pair of brown pants he's already worn twice this week so I must get cracking today and get something else made. Thankfully he doesn't have school again until Monday so surely I can get a few pairs whipped out between now and then. The ones he's wearing in the picture are from the most recent kids Ottobre - I forget the number, but they are the ones for slim kids and they were actually still a little too big around for him so I put buttonhole elastic in the waist (what a nify invention!).

Here is a picture of the other two on the first day of school ~

Life in the Fast Lane (and other ramblings)

That seems what my life has been like for the past week - moving at full speed. I finally got my camera and was able to get two reviews done today for pants I made Hattie. Last week my hubby & I celebrated our 11th anniversary so we took the day and went to the ocean alone (Grammie & Papa had the kids). It was a fun time and the weather was pretty nice for the Oregon Coast - overcast and high 60's. Then over the weekend we had miscellaneous stuff going on around the house plus it was Miss Hattie's 10th birthday. So to celebrate the big double digits, we had a fun family feast at Chuck E Cheese one night and then had a girls day the actual day of her birthday where the girls (two Grammies, Auntie, & Mommy) went to Build A Bear Workshop and then had a divine ladies lunch at the Olive Garden. I can't believe my little girl is already 10!!! :-( And in other *sad* news, I am sending another one off to Kindergarten tomorrow! :-( I will only have one at home and it's making me sad. I know after a few days it will be no big deal, but I know I will still miss them. So many parents are so eager to get their kids off on their own, but not me. I sometimes think about homeschooling them so I can enjoy them longer, however that task scares me a bit. At least now I'm not totally responsible for what the do and don't ingest and retain, but if I were to homeschool them it would be my fault if they didn't learn something. I just feel like they grow up fast anyway, why do I need to send them off to school and let someone else enjoy them too???? Okay, someone chime in now and say I'm insane to want to homeschool four children, pretty please??? LOL I can't tell you how much it is killing me my "baby" is 3 already too - I just hate it!!!!!

Well I guess I should talk about something that doesn't make me feel blue so how about the pants I made String Bean Girl. I used Ottobre 1/2004 #30 & #33 (both are basically the same, just #30 has some leg ruffles added - too cute too and Hattie loves them!). But, the best part of all is they fit her better than the $40+ jeans we were trying on at the mall. Even the slim pants didn't fit her because if they fit around, they were still too short. I took a leap of faith making such detailed pants without doing a trial run and was so happy it paid off. I made her the ruffle ones first and put my heart and soul into the embroidery and getting the ruffles just perfect. And because she is digging animal prints for some reason lately, I lined the pockets and did the inner waistband facing in a cute animal print cotton - she got a kick out of that. Since the first pair fit her so well, I went ahead and made her a denim pair too. Both reviews are on PR with pictures ~ jeans & ruffle pants. I have more to review, but those will have to wait for a bit as I need to get Mr. Kindergarten Boy a few more pairs of pants sewn so he has something to wear too.

Enough rambling for today, thanks for reading!

I **HEART** Ottobre!!!!

Okay I just had to declare my love for Ottobre (yes again!)!!! I know you all know how much I love Ottobre, but I love it even more now (is that even possible????). I've been hard at work sewing school clothes (in between my motherly duties that is - no child neglect is happening believe me! :-)) and made the *perfect* fitting pants for my string bean daughter. I could hardly believe it when I had her try them on. I had the waist all ready for the adjustable elastic and didn't even need it - miracles happen every day. So now I'm on to the second pair. I have them ready for assembly after embroidering some flowers on them today. And as soon as my new camera arrives tomorrow I'll be able to share all I've been working on.

After doing a little research on ConsumerReports, I found what seems to be a good camera to replace my old one. It's a Cannon PowerShot A630 and was rated a CR best buy. And as luck would have it, Office Max has it on sale this week for $189.99 so I ordered one today and it should be here tomorrow - yippee!

Another one bites the dust!

Today I worked on a pair of chocolate slinky gauchos for Hattie from Butterick 5064. She tried on a few when we went shopping last weekend, but I'll be darned if I'm paying $20+ for a pair of gauchos that I can make from my fabric stash. So I worked on them today and they turned out cute and she loves them (similar to the red pair in the pattern envelope photo minus the front tie since she doesn't tuck things in and I didn't have enough fabric anyway).

So I have her try on the final product so I can take a few pictures for you all and my camera decided it was time to die! :-( Now I knew it was probably not going to last much longer because the screen has been acting goofy for a few months, but I really didn't expect it to die so suddenly. I got two full body shots taken and went in for a few closeups and bam, that was it. Guess you all know what I'll be doing this weekend. Thank goodness cameras are so cheap now, I am sure I can find something pretty darn nice for under $200.

A whole *latte* nothing going on!

Gosh I feel like I've been doing a whole lotta nothing lately (well at least nothing productive in the sewing department) - been having lots of fun tho! I did get a pair of pants sewn for my middle boy who is going to Kindergarten that are totally adorable. I will post a picture shortly ~ they are brown twill from Wally World on the $1 table and were made into the slim boy pants in the newest Ottobre magazine. He is so slim that I ended up using some adjustable elastic in the back waist. That elastic is the slickest thing ever and make the pants fit perfect! Other than that, I did make Hattie two capri leggings and one shirt, and I made myself a dress too. I need to get pictures taken and post reviews, hopefully that will happen soon.

We've had one of those go-go weeks and seems like we haven't been home much. We've been shopping (Miss Hattie got her ears pierced! Daddy finally gave in last Saturday and she looks so sweet!), play dates, and Daddy & I even got to go on a date night and went to the Parade of Home the next day (talk about feeling like you live in a cardboard box - it sure put a little fire under our butts to want to spruce up our digs!).

Now I'm not sure if this comes as any surprise, but I don't like coffee. I'm not sure what is wrong with me, but I have genuinely tried and in college I even forced myself to drink coffee at dinner hoping I'd come around to liking it - well it didn't work. So yesterday at my friend's house she offers me an iced coffee. I declined saying I just don't like coffee. She insisted that I try it tho saying she thought I'd like it, well low and behold she was right! She made the most wonderful drink and I just sucked it right down. So of course I had to get the recipe and promptly made myself a pitcher this afternoon. I'm afraid this could be dangerous, so hopefully I won't get too hooked on this stuff lest I want to balloon out and not fit into my clothes. I will share the recipe tho because it's pretty tasty (at least my girlfriends like it and so does hubby).

Ice Coffee Latte

1/3 cup instant coffee
1/2 cup boiling water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups cold water
4 cups chocolate milk

Mix instant coffee with boiling water until dissolved. Mix in the remaining ingredients and serve over ice. It makes a whole pitcher full so just store it in the fridge and enjoy it all day (or week long).

At the store today, I had to buy a can of sweetened condensed milk. To my shock it was $2.99 for a can, but they did have fat free so I got that to ease up on the guilt of making this yummy concoction. I did find in one of my recipe books a recipe for it which I'll try next time, it isn't fat free, but I'm sure it's lots cheaper to make. I'll have to check the other area stores to see if I can find it cheaper anywhere, one can is still cheaper than one Starbucks drink tho! LOL Here is the recipe for it I found for the milk, make it at your own risk tho as I haven't tried it before.

Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 cups instant nonfat dry milk
2 cups sugar
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup margarine, melted

Place ingredients in bowl. With hand blender, process until smoother. Refrigerate in covered container (mixture will thicken as it stands). One cup plus 2 tablespoons equality the 15 oz can most recipes require. Makes 3 cups.

As for what is up and coming, more school clothes. I need to kick it in high gear here since school starts in 1.5 weeks. The weather is supposed to be yucky again this weekend so I'm sure it will be the prime opportunity to crank out some goodies for the kiddos.

Oh and today I went to Joann's to pick up this gorgeous dress pattern Butterick 5079 ~ on sale for $1.99 of course! I have no need for this dress yet, but I just love it. Our 11th wedding anniversary is next Friday, so I guess I could try to whip it up for that, but I think we're going to go to the ocean for the day (without kids of course) and that isn't really beach attire so I probably won't. I think it would be the perfect dress for DH's work Christmas party - many months away tho! LOL

Until next time, happy homemaking, sewing, & latte drinking! :-)

Yes, I'm still here...

Gosh I'm a terrible Blogger lately and for that I'm so sorry! The craziness of life is catching up with me and I honestly haven't gotten any sewing done at all in the past week. Such is life I know, but I love to sew and it makes me sad when I don't have time to sew. On a bright note, I have managed to "pattern shop" my Ottobre back issues in search of clothing to make the kids for back-to-school. I also looked through some of my Burda WOF magazines and pattern shopped for myself as well. Unfortunately there are so many things I want to make and I know there is not enough time to make everything I want to (I need a battery pack so I never have to sleep! LOL).

I have managed to get a few Ottobre patterns traced out for the kids and did go through the fabrics and found most of what I will use (all stash, yippee!!! - that does say something about my stash tho doesn't it???). I really want to make all mix & match things for my daughter tho. Last year I was very bad about making this and that and not much went with each other. So this year I have a new plan (shall we say SWAP - sewing with a plan) and shall make her things that go with one another - what a novel idea! I also had her try on her old clothes and see what still fits so I can figure out how to incorporate those items into my sewing. I plan to sew in a SWAPish sort of way for myself too. I'm not sure what the color scheme will be - I really like black and pink so I might go that route. This may be hard for me because I like so many colors. Thankfully the boys are much easier - everything goes with jeans, khaki pants, etc. ~ hallelujah!!!!

I posted reviews (yes, I know about time!)...

Well I finally posted my reviews, can you believe it? See miracles do happen every day! First up we have a nightgown from Simplicity 3696 ~ so comfy and stylish!

Next up is a dress from Simplicity 3799 ~ this dress is shades of my late grandma, I just know she's love it (it's a wild & crazy print just like she always liked!).


And drumroll please, I finally got the reviews for my swimsuits up! I honestly can't believe I've posted myself in a swimsuit on the net - what am I thinking??? Look now before I change my mind and delete the pictures! LOL In the first pictures is the top from Kwik Sew 3063 and the skirted bottoms are from Kwik Sew 3330.

Then we have the same top from KS 3063 and the plain bottoms from Kwik Sew 3238 (this is the same pattern I was using that I was having lots of trouble with the top).

And last, but not least, we have Jack modeling a pair of his new pj's I made him ~ they are Kwik Sew 3234 (I made him three pair and he loves them - he's such a sweet boy!).

My next projects are most likly going to be school clothes. The kids start in about a month so I need to get cooking - thank goodness for Ottobre! The boys are in dire need of pants so that is probably where I'll start. Hattie does have stuff that fits here still so I'm trying to fill in the gaps and make things mix & match too. I still need to have the boys try on clothes and see where they stand on shirts. And then I'll work on stuff for Andy once the kids go back to school and it's just me & him. Busy busy!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

That is my life right now! LOL We had a little mini-vacation from Thursday-Sunday as we had a wedding to attend in Idaho over the weekend (DH's side of the family). And to make the trip even more fun, we visited Silverwood Park while we were in the area too. The kids of course had a blast and we did as well. Most of Friday was actually spent at the water park they have (Boulder Beach) and not on any of the rides. Too bad vacations are never long enough.

Now it's back to reality and a mountain of laundry. I did finish my swimsuit before we left and plan to review that and a dress I made last week too on PR this week. I'll post here when they are up.

I guess that is all the news that is the news here, just trying to get back in the swing of things after being gone since Thursday.

I love Ottobre!!!

As I mentioned in my last post, I made a t-shirt from the 2/07 issue of Ottobre Woman magazine. The first one I made was using the size 38 pattern (normally I'm a 36 in Ottobre tops), but I had read several reviews saying the pattern ran small, so I decided to just size up and avoid the pain of making a top that was too small. Well it turned out to be a mistake. While the first top is cute, it's a little loose. I then made a size 36 and it fits beautifully! It was so easy too, plus I love the scoop neck. I posted a review with more of the details about the sizing and where to buy the magazine if you don't have your own copy.

On a sad note (LOL), my new fall issue of Ottobre didn't arrive today. I was so bummed when I opened my mailbox and that gorgeous white envelope was not waiting for me, but atlas I have other projects to do so it's not like I *need* it, I just could want to lay my paws on it and see all the new kids patterns I have at my fingertips. Hopefully it will come before we leave for our little weekend trip to DH's second cousin's wedding (it surely will be here by Thursday, right?????). Sure hope so!!!

Tank Tops and such

Bad things come in threes, right? Well I think I've had my "threes" for now. First was my swimsuit fiasco. I still don't have a wearable top and our vacation is next week! Hopefully my pattern will arrive today so I can work it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it fits and I like it.

My next thing in a group of bad threes is my Burda Knotted Tank top (picture above). I had read several good reviews about this top and decided to give it a try. It is cute and wearable, but I'm just not too sure it's my favorite. I am going to have to wear a cami under it or make a modesty panel for it. I posted a review on PR if you're so inclined to know more about why this top didn't work out so well for me.

My next (and hopefully last) bad "three" item is the banded tank top from the June issue of Burda WOF. The moment I saw this top I loved it except for the fact it had a "peep hole" under the gathered bust band. I figured that would be simple enough to fix since the band wasn't part of the actual tank top, but an overlay piece. Well I did pretty good, but the tank top needed to be a bit higher in the front scoop to keep my bra covered. I guess I should get an "A" for trying tho and DH said the white looked like I was wear my bra on the outside of my body! LOL I also posted a review of this pattern as well.

I guess we can't have perfect garments every time we sew. I have been on a run of good garments, so it was probably high time I did have some wadders. Oh well, I'm just thankful it wasn't in a favorite fabric and just good ole white cotton/lycra jersey.

On a good note, the other night I made a tee from the 2/07 issue of Ottobre Woman which turned out well. I still need to post a review of and hopefully I'll get that done in the new few days. It is a cute top and a good pattern ~ I've had much success with the garments I've sew from both Ottobre and Ottobre Woman - I love both sooooo much!

Lastly, I'm taking a class on Pattern Review called making a pants muslin. It's a fitting class and so that is taking up part of my sewing time. I think it might have been a poor decision for me to take this class during summer break because of all the other stuff that is going on with the kids home, but I made the commitment and paid for the class, so I must go forth. Hopefully my persistence will pay off and I'll finally figure out how to get good fitting pants.

Swimsuit Success!

At least for string bean DD there is! I took a break from all my fitting woes with my suit and worked on one for DD (aka beanpole). I used Kwik Sew 3165 and was very pleased with the pattern. So pleased I made DD another suit immediately after I got the first one done!

It amazes me how little fabric it takes to make a swimsuit, but what a huge price tag they come with - jeez, what a ripoff! Both fabrics I got for $1.99/yd and each took about 1/2 yard of fabric, so that is $1/suit, plus the cost of elastic and a little swimsuit lining. What a bargain! Here is my review on Pattern Review (you can see the other suit in the review as well as details on the alterations I made).

Since I'm still in a quandary about what I'm doing with my suit and what direction to go, I decided to give myself a break and work on a quick and easy project. DS #2 has been dinging me to death about making him a shirt with the M&M fabric I bought off eBay. The kids all love M&M's because Grammie collects them and each one has their own "color". Hattie is green (the girl of course), Jack is red, Will is yellow (suits his personality too!), and Andy is blue. Well I had originally planned to make them each t-shirts with the fabric and make the sleeves "their M&M color" (and I probably still will), but for now Will got a "muscle shirt" shirt instead. He informed me he loves it, but wants a t-shirt still too (kids are so thankful aren't they??? LOL). This pattern is Ottobre 2-2003-28 and can be made into a tank top/muscle shirt or a t-shirt by adding or leaving off the sleeves. For this shirt I used the M&M fabric on the front, solid orange cotton/lycra jersey on the back, and yellow ribbing for the trim. I also posted a review of this top on Pattern Review.

Speaking of Ottobre, the new issue is up and get a load of that super cute baby on the cover! I could just eat him up - chubby babies are just so yummy! :-) In case you don't know about Ottobre, it's a sewing magazine that is published in Finland which specializes in children and youth sewing patterns. I have almost every issue of Ottobre (even the foreign ones - it's now published in English as well as four other languages) and it's definitely the most bang for your buck if you're sewing for children. I can't speak highly enough about the patterns - they are just phenomenal (both in style and pattern drafting). Plus flipping through the magzines always provides me with a huge dose of inspration! I do buy a few other patterns, but mainly sew Ottobre for my children. The subscription costs 32.50 Euros for the four children's issues (they are published once per season) or you can subscribe to the four children's issues plus the two women's issues (I also highly recommend their women's pattern magazine) for 42.50 Euros. Yes, it's a little spendy, but well worth it in my opinion considering there are about 45 patterns in each kids issue.

Since the preview of the fall issue just came up today, it will be time to start stalking the mail lady later in the week. I suspect the magazine will arrive by next Saturday - yippee!

Swimsuit not going so well...

Well the bottoms have been done for a week now, but the top just isn't going too well. The first run of the top was done "as is" per the pattern instructions and I could not get the darts to be curved and nice. Instead I had a nice pointy Madonna cone boob! LOL

For try number two, I decided to cut the bust piece without the dart and gather it instead. My plan was to insert bra cups to help add a little oomph to my chest. I picked up some padded/gel filled sew-in swimsuit bra cups at Joann's. Well my end result was ridiculous looking boobs way out to the side! ROFL On to try number three ~ third time is the charm right????

Top number three is complete and per the advice of someone more experienced with swimsuit sewing, she suggested I just use removable cups and insert them between the lining. That way I could just use the same pair for multiple suits. Brilliant! I checked my RTW suits and had one that was designed this way so I figured this would be perfect. Well I got the top all done and it's HUGE in the chest!!! There is no way I can even be an "A" cup - I have to be negative (is there such a thing??? LOL). So I grabbed this dumb silicone bra inserts I bought at Joann's a while ago when the notions wall was half off and slipped them in between the lining and the fashion fabric. The pads definitely make it look better and fill out the cups, but I'm still not too sure. I'm to the "three strikes you're out" theory now and am thinking I'll just ditch this top. It's clearly made for someone with some boobs and that is something I just don't have without the help of my fantastic Victoria's Secret bras.

So on that note, I'm looking at picking up Kwik Sew 3063 ~ I emailed the reviewer and she said this top is great for flat chested gals since the gathers camouflage the fact. I'm pondering just running out and grabbing it now. I know I could get it online for cheaper than full price at my local independent sewing store, but part of me feels it's my duty to support the local business people, plus it's instant gratification (I really want to get a swimsuit top made pronto), I can get more 3/8" elastic and swimsuit lining, oh and maybe I should grab a take & bake pizza while I'm out too since DH is working late tonight. Thoughts to ponder.... LOL!

I will post pictures when I have some I'm willing to share, I'm a little leery about the fit of this suit right now. Keep your fingers crossed and hopefully good results will follow soon.

Presenting Vogue 8386!!!

I know it's hard to see the dress because it's black, but I did my best to lighten the picture up without making me look like Frankenstein. I'm very pleased with how the dress turned out, tho it's slightly different from the pattern envelope picture because it's meant for people with more boobs than I have. I just posted my review on Pattern Review for your reading pleasure and have an additional picture of the bodice up close.

The wedding was very fun and we (DH, my sister, my brother-in-law, and myself) shut the place down! I haven't been out past midnight in eons and it was so fun. When I woke up this morning I told DH I was so glad I wasn't one of the people who was drunk last night because I can't even imagine the hangover some of them have ~ yuck! It was an all Diet Pepsi night for me, plus I find it hilarious to see how stupid drunk people are! LOL No offense if you like to get drunk, but seriously people can make some complete fools of themselves. Oh well, it gave us all a good laugh!

My next project is a swim suit. I have never made a swim suit, but got some really pretty swimwear fabrics when my family went to Disneyland this spring. On the recommendation of my sweet PR friend Vonne, I went to M&L fabrics in Anaheim. I probably could have spent all day there, but I only had a few hours before we had to checkout of our hotel so I went on my way and counted my blessings that I was even able to go (DH thought it was ridiculous I wanted to go fabric shopping while we were on vacation ~ obviously he doesn't understand how important it is to explore your resources, huh?). Vonne told me that M&L had a huge back room of flat folds where everything was super cheap. I got several cuts of swimwear fabric for only $1.98/yd! For the first suit tho, I'm using a fabric I got for $1.99/yd from Fabric.com - it's a Chez Ami fabric overrun they had that is super cute. I'm using Kwik Sew 3238 ~ the bottoms are the skimpier ones from view A, but the top is from view B. I got the bottoms made the other night and they fit perfectly! I'm not sure if I'll get to work on the top today, but should have it done in the next day or so. I plan to make DD swimsuit using the same fabric too using Kwik Sew 3165 ~ view C for hers.

Pictures of my "Baby"

I'm having a "mommy moment" and want to share the pictures I just got back of Andy from JCPenney. He's such a sweetie (well most of the time! LOL) and they captured his personality to perfectly.

The outfit is something I made. I love to be creative with the kids clothing, but I don't make too many really creative things anymore. The kids are so hard on their clothing and it just kills me when they only wear things once because I'm so afraid they'll ruin it so I just make a few extra extra special things now and again.

I got my Vogue dress all finished. It's in the dryer right now (thank goodness for poly/lycra blends ~ wash and wear is so nice!) because I got some deodorant on it during the fitting process. I will have DH take pictures of me and post them tomorrow along with a review on PR.

WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited, I got through to Dave Ramsey today and got to scream "We're Debt Free!!!" on the air with my three older children! It was just a quick conversation and I really didn't get to tell much of "my story", but still I pray that I've given inspiration to some other listener. Hearing those debt free screams has given me so much motivation and now it's my turn to pay it forward. Thank you Dave for the opportunity to shout out to the world! :-) You'll be able to listen to my call by going to the Show Archives. It's the show from July 6th and I'm about 15 minutes into the first hour (I'm the second caller).

In the sewing world, I am still working on my Vogue 8386 dress and I have to have it done by tomorrow night - eek! It's been a little slow going with DH's birthday, the 4th of July holiday, and then a friend coming to visit yesterday, but I really have it mostly done. Since I'm a member of the IBTC (aka small boobs), I'm having a really hard time getting it to fit in the chest. I guess that is why they have recommended body types on the envelope and mine was not one of the recommended ones - oops! Hopefully I can salvage it to wear tomorrow night.

Happy 4th of July!

First off, Happy 4th of July!!! Hard to believe it's already here once again.

Well yesterday was DH's birthday (Happy Birthday Honey!!!!) and we had a fun "date day" thanks to my in-laws watching all four kiddos for us. We drove into the city and had a fabulous time walking around and just enjoying each other's company. It's fun to be a couple once in a while and not just "mom & dad". So for this special occasion, I had to make a fun new dress - dare I say sexy dress??? I have wanted to make this dress for a long time and am so glad I made time to make it. It's 125 from the Burda WOF magazine 5/2005 and turned out to be just what I was looking for ~ and best of all DH LOVED it! I posted a review on Pattern Review with a little more details about the dress as well as some more pictures (back view, side view showing the sexy slit, and an up close view of the twist section). Definitely a keeper of a pattern plus there is also a tank top version that I plan to sew. By the way, if you click on the above picture, it will enlarge so you can see it in better detail ~ just a little FYI! ;-)

The safari jacket is finally finished!

Gosh, I feel like the safari jacket has taken forever to finish, but finally it's done!!!! The fabric is a bit more wrinkly than I'd like it to be, but live and learn is just going to have to be the case. It's a 100% cotton twill from Joann's ~ I think something with a little stretch in it (or poly) would have helped with the wrinkle factor). I posted a review on PR ~ it has another picture showing the jacket with the belt.

Since I was on a roll, I also made myself two pairs of shorts using a pants pattern from the May 2007 issue of Burda WOF. I am so ecstatic at how well they turned out! Pants are a major struggle for me - getting them to fit that is (sewing is the easy part!). I was so delighted that they turned out to fit so well and will definitely be using this pattern again and again. I posted a review of these as well. They are #112 in that issue (the picture at the top with the jacket is one pair of the shorts I made).

I started working on Vogue 8386 last night for the wedding that is coming up next Saturday. I'm a little late in starting it, but so far it's going together well and hopefully it will fit well once it's completed. Keep your fingers crossed!

In other news, DH finished his last work weekend of overtime today and now will be officially debt free (not including the house) on Friday when he receives his paycheck! I'm so excited and plan to call Dave Ramsey on Friday to scream "WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!!" on the air. The other time I called his show I got through on the first ring, not sure if I'll be that lucky this time - I sure hope so. I find it so motivational to hear people call in and share their stories about getting out of debt. According to my excel spreadsheet, we have paid off right at $90,000!!! The number is actually a bit higher because I didn't include all the interest we paid that I didn't keep track of. That is some serious debt reduction and sacrifice in the last 14 months ~ I'm so proud of my DH & myself for being able to keep focused and kick our debt to the curb. Thank you honey for working so hard for our family ~ I love you more than you'll ever know! XOXOX

Happy 3rd Birthday Andy!!!

The kids' birthdays are always a bittersweet day for me. I'm happy the they are getting older and smarter, but I'm sad that they are growing up so fast. I feel like with the blink of my eyes, they will be grown and gone. And now my "baby" isn't really a baby anymore. :-(

Here is a photo of me 3 years ago just about ready to pop (well actually 5 days before Andy was born)!

And here is mommy & Andy (he is 2 days old).


And this was Andy yesterday getting ready to blow out the candle on his cake. We had a nice family party and he got the things he loves most...TOYS! Now if we could just get potty training figured out! LOL


Happy Birthday Andy, mommy loves you so very much!!!!

Burning the midnight oil...

Yesterday was a busy day. My youngest son turns three on Monday and I really wanted to take him to get his pictures done yesterday while the older two were still in school (their last day is Monday). I figured it would be way easier to have two kids in tow rather that four so we headed to the "city" to JCPenney. We didn't have an appointment so I prayed the whole way there they could get us in pretty quickly. Fortunately we were about to get in about 1.5 hours after we arrived which worked out perfectly since I had some other things to do at the mall as well. And sweet Andy did a wonderful job getting his pictures taken, which was a huge relief since last year he was much less cooperative.

As I posted in one of my early posts, my family is working on becoming debt free after being inspired by Dave Ramsey. When we started last spring, we had some credit card debt, two auto loans, a small loan on our home equity line of credit, and a balance due on our new mattress which we purchased on a "one year same as cash" deal. As much as it seemed like it was going to be a very overwhelming task to pay all this off, we have really tried to keep our eyes on the prize and keep our budget in check. Well fast forward to yesterday and we are now almost entirely debt free (with the exception of our home which we hope to have paid off sooner than later). We just need to pay off our bed and that will be done next payday (in two weeks)!!!! I was very excited once our home equity line was paid off and our credit card debt, but I'm even more jazzed that we have no car payments anymore!!! Now if my lovely minivan will last me until my kids graduate from high school (I probably shouldn't hold my breath, but it is a 2005 so it should last right???).


So all this to bring me to the title of my post "burning the midnight oil". As we got ready for bed last night, the phone rang and it was DH's work calling him in because something was broken (he's a millwright at a newsprint mill owned by Weyerhaeuser). The beauty of his job is that he can get just about as much overtime as he wants, but the bad thing of signing up for weekend duty is the potential to be called into work in the middle of the night. So here I was home alone and I have a horrible time sleeping when DH isn't in the house. So I decided since he was going to work, so was I! Down to my sewing studio I went to work on my safari jacket. I don't feel like I got a lot accomplished, partly because I had to tidy things up a bit before I could start working on it, but I got a few uninterrupted hours of sewing time and now have the collar on and the sleeves ready to be set into the jacket. It's really close to being completed. So I sewed until shortly after midnight and listened to my Dave Ramsey podcasts to keep me motivated. Thankfully DH came home and saved me from myself, I really am a slow sewer in the wee hours of the morning and definitely needed to go to bed before I screwed something up.

Oh joy!

Today was one of those days that "Susie Homemaker" just loves! LOL Okay, not really, but cleaning up and organizing is part of my "job description" so that is what I did today. You know the usual laundry, dishes, baking, etc. ~ it's just been one of those day. I also went through and organized some things in my sewing studio too which felt good to get done. I had about 15 minutes before the school bus was due to arrive, so I did get to put together the collar for my safari jacket and it looks splendid! I can't wait to work on it some more, hopefully tomorrow! :-)

Safari Jacket

Well I truly am back in the saddle (finally!). It felt so good to start a project!!! I can't believe it took me 3 full weeks to start feeling better - definitely the creepy cruddy that wanted to hang on for dear life.


I picked up Vogue 8208 at the recently $3.99 sale at Joann's. I really thought a short sleeve Safari jacket would be a fun wardrobe option when it's warmer outside. Sometimes you want a jacket to look put together, but it's too hot for something long sleeve. I'm using a khaki/tan colored twill I picked up at Joann's so it really does look like the pattern drawing. I'm about half done with the jacket. I think it's going to be pretty easy since it's not lined. I don't think I'll do anything special like Hong Kong finished seams on the inside. I hate to go to all the work and not end up liking the jacket. Plus, when it's on, no one will see the inside anyway.

Back in the saddle again????

Well I think I'm finally getting over the hump of this darn cold. It's been 2.5 weeks now and it's just down right rediculous I'm still feeling not like myself. So this morning I decided to jump back in to work on the my Alice & Olivia jean-style skirt Vogue 2811 ~ I'm using a white twill fabric and making the longer version. I worked on this last week on a day I was feeling so-so and all went well until I got to the waistband. It was too big in the back thanks to my swayback, so I had to alter it. My alteration didn't go well, so I tossed it aside and headed for the couch. The other day I had a moment of ambition and decided to rip the waistband back off. Fast forward to today, I went in my sewing room to try the skirt on and see how I'd tackle the waistband. When I slipped the skirt on, oops, I forgot I cut the top off the zipper off when I sewed the waistband down and yes, you guessed it, I pulled the zipper pull right off the zipper - ugg! So now I need to decided if I'm going to try to salvage the skirt (it was looking so cute) and insert a new zipper or toss it in the trash. I hate stuff like this. I put lots of work into it, but if I don't get the waistband to sit right, then I'll be bummed I even plowed forth since it will just be wasted time. Zippers sure seem to be a problem for me lately too - the zipper I installed in the Simplicity sundress I made a few weeks ago proved to be faulty when DH was helping me unzip it the night I made it. I ended up having to use my seam ripper to get the zipper out so I could get the dress off - nice, huh? Thankfully Joann's exchanged the zipper, but I still need to put the zipper in the dress still. Darn zippers!!!

A New T-Shirt!

After feeling cruddy for days on end, I got a little bit of my mojo back today and decided to work on a top for me. It will be one of my pieces in the SWAP/Wardrobe Planning contest on Pattern Review. Now I have no idea if I can actually get all 11 garments made before the July 31st deadline (this is only item #2, item #1 was a light blue twist top), but I'm going to give it the 'ol college try. I really need some solid colored basics to go with the rest of my wardrobe. I often find cute prints and and will make a top or skirt, but then in the end, I don't have a lot of mix and match options. For the SWAP I plan to sew items that will go with the things I currently have in my closet, plus go with each other too. I have ideas of most of the things I will sew, but a few things are still up in the air.

Today's garment is a top from Simplicity 3759 made in white cotton/lycra knit fabric. The top turned out pretty good, my only dislike is I feel like the sleeves are a bit pointy. I think it more has to do with my shoulder/arm shape than the actual pattern (I have a forward shoulder and usually make an adjustment to the pattern to correct this fit for this, but a raglan sleeve is more forgiving and doesn't require this alteration). It's nothing major and will not keep me from wearing my new top. You can see a review I posted of this pattern on Pattern Review.

Down for the count...

Well some lovely illness has struck the house, first starting the DS #3, followed by DH, followed by yours truly Susie Homemaker, and now DS #1, & DD are both getting it too. It's a cold of sorts that lingers on and on and on. I've been fighting this for a week now, first with a sore throat for four days followed by the typical cold symptoms. We're all trying to rest so we'll see if I get much sewing down this week while I play nurse to DH & the kids and try to heal myself up too. Oh joy!

Swim Trunks are Finished & A Dress for Mama!

Nothing makes you feel better than getting a project off your table - well at least that is the case with me. I was so happy when the swim trunk sewing project was finished. Honestly, my heart just wasn't into it. I had other things I wanted to sew for me, but I knew the boys were going to need swimming trunks very soon. I'm glad I bit the bullet and got it over with. It didn't help that the fabric was a royal pain to work with (at least in my opinion). Oh well, all is forgotten now that the swimsuits are done. Above is a photo of a pair on my middle son and below is a close up of one of the patches I added to the leg to give it a more RTW appearance and then two more pairs (there is actually four total that I made). You can see a detailed review at Pattern Review.

Well mama really wanted a new dress and had picked up this pattern Simplicity 3867 at Joann's over the weekend when they were $.99. I saw a review on Pattern Review for this pattern done in a navy eyelet. It was just beautiful and I wanted one too. Well the eyelet was on sale at Joann's for $8.99/yd, but I just couldn't justify spending that much money (it takes three yards), when I wasn't sure how well I'd like the dress. Instead, I got some polyester silky fabric for $4.50/yd and make one to try it out. I really like the dress and think it turned out great. It's going to be a great piece to have in my closet on hot summer days. I posted a review of this dress on Pattern Review too!

So what's next you might wonder? Good question ~ stay tuned to find out!

Happy Memorial Day & Swimming Trunks

First off, Happy Memorial Day to all! And my most sincere *thank you* goes out to all the members of the armed forces who have served our country in the past and the present. Your dedication to our country is most appreciated!

In sewing news, I'm working on swimming trunks for my youngest two boys. I picked up Kwik Sew 3430 the other day and some Supplex (nylon) fabric at my local independent fabric store. Her selection of colors were limited, so I had to make due with a few drab choices (one wanted orange - no such luck!). I finished the first pair (a picture will come shortly) and it turned out well, tho I did make some modifications to the pattern (ie no pockets - those just seem to balloon up in the water, omitted the mock fly, and inserted the elastic using my own method because their method was like wresting an alligator!). On the first pair I did a little color blocking, but that proved to be a pain so I am just making solid colored ones for now - both boys will have 2 pairs when I'm finished. DH was very impressed and thought they looked like RTW - they even have the white netted undies on the inside. All in all, I'm happy with this pattern, I just really am into making swimming trunks right now. I have stuff I want to sew for me, but the hot weather is coming this week and I hope to take the kids to the river so they need some new swim trunks desperately.

I did hit Joann's yesterday and grabbed a few patterns - dresses for me, I'll share those as I get to them.

Ribbon Board Is Complete!

Here it is, my ribbon board in all it's glory! I really think it looks nicer in person - the ribbons aren't so shiny, but atlas I'm not a photographer so this is the best picture I got.

I found the ribbon at Michael's - thank you sis for the suggestion! After I got the ribbon, it was back to Joann's for the buttons (24 to be exact) - thankfully they are very close to each other. Once home, I stapled on the remaining ribbons on and hot glued the buttons on to each "X" - and just like that, a ribbon board. DH used his air nailer and hung it up for me and now it's all decorated with sweet kid pictures. I love it!

Later today (or maybe tomorrow), I plan to go back to Joann's and tackle the .99 Simplicity Memorial Day sale. I have one pattern I'd like for sure, but would like to browse the book there because I find it so much easier than looking online. I'll post my findings!

Easy Ice Cream Dessert

Yesterday three friends and their children came over for an evening visit. I've known these gals all my life and we try our best to get together regularly even tho we all don't live in the same town anymore. Between us we have 11 children and thankfully they all get along well and enjoy playing together.

We had a simple meal of sandwiches, chips, potato salad, and a yummy dessert I made from the most recent issue of Kraft Food & Family Magazine called Oreo & Fudge Ice Cream Cake ~ talk about delish and super easy! It was a hit with the ladies and definitely something I'd make again. For an added touch, I sprinkled crushed Oreo cookies on the top before I froze it. I also think it would be just as tasty if you just spread plain Cool Whip between the ice cream sandwhich layers instead of the fudge mixture. I got DH's approval too, but what's not to love about the combo of chocolate and vanilla????

I didn't finish my ribbon board yet. Went to both Joann's & Wal-Mart looking for the ribbon and found none. My sister suggested I try Michael's, so I will go there when I'm out on errands today and hopefully find a match.

As much as Wal-Mart drives me bonkers, I did happen to see a black slinky there on the bargain table for $1/yd. I took the rest of the bolt and hopefully it will wash up nice. My ex-step-brother (can you follow that?) is getting married in July, and I found the perfect dress to make using the fabric. It's an evening wedding and at the country club, so I want to look swanky. Here is the pattern I have in mind, but will wait until the pattern goes on sale, hopefully within the next few weeks. It's Vogue 8368 ~ I will make view A (the red version).

Let's Try This Again...

Well as much as I really wanted to enter the world of Blogging, I just didn't have enough drive to keep it up apparently. I have several blogs I like to read regularly, so I made a decision that I would try this again. Even if no one ever reads this, I still subscribe to the thought that I will enjoy looking back on what I've accomplished.


So what have I accomplished??? Well today I made a ribbon board to hang over my computer. I have so many cute pictures of my children, nephews, and friends' kids that I want to hang onto them and enjoy them, but my fridge is looking like a terrible mess with pictures hanging everywhere plus pretty artwork thanks to my children (how sad it will be when the day comes that they don't want to draw pictures for the refrigerator anymore). So I decided that a ribbon board would be the answer. The wall over my computer is bare, so it's the perfect spot since I can see them from the kitchen and enjoy them while I'm computing too.


To make the ribbon board, I started with a base of 1/4" plywood from DH's wood shop (it measures about 2' long by 3.5' wide ~ just a scrap that he had in there and the perfect size for the wall). I took some thin batting I had and covered the front of the plywood and stapled it to the back with my staple gun. Then I used a piece of fabric from my scrap box that had grape vines all over it (coordinates with my kitchen) and covered the front in the same manner as I did the batting and stapled it to the back. Once the wood was covered, I divided the board into sections and secured ribbon 1/4" ribbon across the board in a diagonal fashion (secured to the back via more staples). Unfortunately I have run out of ribbon, so I must make a run to Joann's later so I can finish the board. Once all the ribbons are secured, I will hot glue buttons onto the front where the ribbons intersect each each to cover the staples I used to secure each little "X". And just like that I will have a really cheap ribbon board! The cost of this baby will be the price of a spool of ribbon and maybe a package of buttons if I don't have enough in my stash. Pretty good considering Pottery Barn Kids wants $59 for one half the size! I will post a picture of mine as soon as it's finished.


In other news, my last post (albeit 9 months ago) was about my favorite financial expert Dave Ramsey. I'm so excited to say that we are almost DEBT FREE (except for our house which will hopefully be paid off fairly soon - maybe 5ish years from now)! We paid off my van a few weeks ago (it has never driven so good by the way! LOL) and will have DH's truck paid off before the end of June. Becoming debt free hasn't come without much sacrifice tho, but I can hardly wait until we only have a house payment and our regular utitlity payments every month ~ it will be so wonderful to have no consumer debt or automobile loans - woo hoo! :-)


I guess that is it for now. I have been busy sewing lately. I made my oldest son a new pair of jean from an Ottobre magazine and myself a knit top from New Look, a swirl skirt from Butterick, a twist top from Simplicity, and an awesome wrap dress from Burda World of Fashion. You can peek at my reviews at Pattern Review to see photos and detailed information about the garments.


Until next time!