Pattern Review ~ Butterick 5363

Butterick 5363 ~ View D

Pattern Description: Wardrobe pattern with jacket, tunic, dress, and pants. I made the sundress which has a drawstring umpire waist and racerback.

Pattern Sizing: 8-22, I made a size 8

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Cuter I think!

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, the instructions were very easy.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? Well I didn't even notice this pattern until I saw Adrienne's dress ~ here is her review. I loved it immediately and knew it would be a great dress to wear on those hot summer days. It's loose and cool, but really cute. I was right and so glad I grabbed this pattern when Buttericks were on sale.

Fabric Used: blue & white striped seersucker fabric - at least I think it's seersucker, it has the texture of seersucker. Whatever it is, it's cotton and I found it in my stash. I believe I bought it at Joann's. On a side note, one of my sons saw me wearing this dress and said "hey mom, I really like your new hickory dress". DH & I got a kick out of that, so now it's coined the hickory dress at my house since it looks like the same type of blue and white striped fabric (tho hickory shirts are not seersucker! lol). For those that don't live in logging country, this is a hickory shirt.

Also worth noting, the inside of the neck and armholes are finished with single fold bias tape for a nice clean finish. You can see that in my photo below.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I made no changes, just sewed it as it.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I actually already have another dress cute out in red embroidered linen. I'd definitely recommend it and thank Adrienne for bringing this one to my attention. I've been so happy to have it too because we've had a very hot summer in the Pacific NW so I've worn it a lot of times already (I actually made it two months ago and am just getting around to reviewing it, oops!).

Conclusion: Fabulous and easy summer dress that is comfy yet has some style. Fast to sew too, but is fashioned to wear a tank top underneath which is not one of the components in the pattern. My personal choice is Ottobre Woman 2-2008-1.

Other views~
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upclose of fabric and label

Pattern Review ~ Butterick 5283

Long sunny summer days have made me neglectful of my blog. I have sewn some and actually have been inspired to write a few reviews recently so the next few posts will be reviews of various garments.

This garment I'm not all that tickled with. I had higher hopes, but it didn't really end up being what I hoped. Please don't feel bad if you don't like it either, I think you'll be in good company and honestly such comments won't hurt my feelings (promise!).

Butterick 5283 - View C


Pattern Description: Close fitting pullover knit top with two different twist variations (one centered and one to the side) and sleeveless or long sleeved options.

Pattern Sizing: 6-22, I made size 8 which is my typical size for tops

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow? I made view C of this top and found the instructions to be adequate until I got to step #5. In that step there is a drawing of the top from the inside and it says "Twist left front as shown. With right sides together, pin left front matching notches...". Well it does show what the top should look like from the inside after it's all stitched together, but I had a heck of a time figuring out how to get the top to look that way. Honestly I must be a complete dunce because it took me 20 minutes to figure out what the heck to do. This is my umpteenth twist top, so I should be able to figure out a twist top pretty easily. Such was not the case here and honestly I have no clue how I got it too look the way it did. It looks like the pattern envelope so apparently I figured it out. I honestly think this was pretty lame of Butterick to do. You could at least show step-by-step how to make the twist. Especially for someone with no experience, it's not very nice to leave them high and dry. Maybe it was just me tho and it's really not as hard as I made it out to be. The rest of the instructions were adequate for the top (at least for view C & D).

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? Originally I really liked the variation of the side twist, that is the reason I purchased this pattern. My dislike is the rotten instructions for forming the twist.

Fabric Used: hot pinky/peachy rayon/lycra knit

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: None were made.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I'm not sure I'll sew this again. My hubby thought it was weird the twist wasn't centered. I really like the idea of the top, but I don't know that I really like it that well on. I'm still on the fence, but am not sure it's going to be a favorite go to top. I feel like when I look in the mirror it looks like I have only one boob! LOL

As for a recommendation, I guess I'd recommend it if it's the style you're after. The views of A & B look nice so maybe I'll try that one someday.

Conclusion: I'm just not sure how I feel about this top. If it's your style, go for it, but beware the directions for making the twist aren't good (IMO anyway).

Clutter

So I'm too lazy to go find my camera and upload a picture of my gigantic mess, but I want to know how you deal with clutter. I HATE clutter and I feel like I spend more time reorganizing my sewing room than I do actually sewing.

Quick frankly I'm feeling like I like the idea of "less is more". Clutter brings me down. I feel bad getting rid of stuff and think to myself "oh I should eBay some of this", but then that idea reminds me how labor intensive it is to do that. Pictures, listings, weighing for shipping, collecting money, going to the post office - that whole thing turns me off right now. I could just shove everything I don't want into a closet and deal with it later when the weather turns, but I'm sure that is the worst answer possible. I guess I need to have it in writing that it's okay to just get rid of stuff. One man's junk is another man's treasure, right? So I'm going to finish cleaning and then go through and see if anything is eBay worthy and the rest is going to the Senior Center where they can make quilts and other projects.

That is my vent for the day. So how do you deal with this? I feel so unproductive and I hate it. I'm sick of dealing with this. I like having a small stash of fabric, patterns, & notions, but they make more of all this every day. I feel like I'm hording and that makes me uneasy. I like the simple life I guess. Maybe I'll be brave and share pictures later, that is if I find my camera...

P.S. This all started because yesterday I realized my serger wasn't working properly. Upon closer inspection I see something is broken on the throat plate. Took it to the dealer and he said, "yep, you need a new throat plate, you must really use this machine a lot because I've only seen this one other time". Well duh, I bought it to use, not sit and collect dust. Thankfully the part is only about $30, but will not be in until next Thursday, hence the reason I'm cleaning and not sewing.

Birthday Cake

What's a birthday party without a fabulous cake? My good friend Mandi made a very similar cake (well almost identical - shameless copying here) for her son who just turned 5 in May. I knew my birthday boy would love it since he's a Cars fanatic, so big sister and I set off to recreate a masterpiece. Of course mom was right - yep, he adored it!





Sorry I haven't gotten much sewing done - forgive me, it's been birthday season among other things at our home. DH's birthday is Friday, but I think his mom is taking charge of the dessert - she mentioned Snicker's Cheesecake?!?!

5 years

That is how old my "baby" is today. How can 5 years have passed so quickly? We're having his party tomorrow complete with a super cool "Cars" cake that my daughter and I are making for him. I wanted to make him a special shirt to wear and this is what I came up with. I actually cheated and purchased a black shirt from Joann's last week with my 50% off coupon and then appliqued a "5" to the front in checkered flag fabric. He really likes it.

And those sweet feet that I still can't resist (yep I know they will turn into ugly big feet soon, but for now they are still pretty darn cute - at least I think).

On a sewing note, I did finish my Burda drawstring blouse several weeks ago, a dress for myself - I think the pattern was Butterick, and 6 pairs of pj's for my boys. It's been hard to get anything done now that the kids are finished with school. I'll work on posting pictures of those and reviews soon.

Happy Birthday Andy!

Goodies

It's *sew* fun getting goodies in the mail. I have gotten several things recently and wanted to share.


The top row of five fabrics is something I won in a giveaway from Yvonne at Color In Your Life (she owns a great online shop Bunte Fabrics that stocks lovely European and Japanese fabrics for children, Euro patterns, and lots more - plus she's in Washington State). I haven't ordered anything from her yet, but when the need arises, I will definitely buy from her. The fabrics she sent are gorgeous and while I'm not sure what I'm going to make with them yet, you can bet that it will be something adorable and probably for my second cousin's little sweetie who turns one next month.

Then I got a surprise package from an online friend who lives in Canada (hi Abi!). She sent me two magazines - a La Mia Boutique from Nov 2008 and then Patrones Ninos #277.

Lastly, I won Patrones Joven #279 that Marita of Paradise for Me was giving away in a drawing on her blog.

I've gotten to look at a few of the international magazines before, but to have some in my hands that are mine is soooo much fun! What eye candy. Yes the fact I can't read the directions is a bit scary, but it's not enough to sway me from trying. Thanks for the gifts ladies, know they will be loved and cherished by me. :-)

Then of course after getting my own personal Jalie fashion show and the ability to try on Emilie's clothing (thanks Emilie!!!), I had to buy three new Jalie patterns. Here is what I ordered:

I didn't try on the pants (#2909), but Emilie was wearing them and they are adorable! I think I will like them a lot, plus they are cut like the jeans which are amazing. I really liked the new crossover top too. I'm a fan of the old one, but the new one is a little longer and has a cute collar you can use. I was sold after I tried on Emilie's top (which is the green one shown on the pants pattern).

Disney with Yvonne (finally)

You know how it goes, you have the best of intentions, but life just gets in the way. Last week I decided to buck up and weed the flower beds. What I'm not telling you is that they were really "weed beds" and any sort of plant/shrub was sparse. So my little "weeding" extravaganza turned into a full fledged yard makeover that is still in progress. It has needed to be done for a long time - we moved into our home 8 years ago and my recommendation is put a landscape budget in if you're building a home. We didn't and here we are still working things out plus we still don't have a deck (hopefully this summer, but that is a whole different story that requires engineering and a whole lotta $$).

Anyway, finally here are a few pictures from our recent trip to California. My family had a wonderful time and the icing on the cake for me was finally getting to meet Yvonne. We've been emailing each other for about 3 years now and I knew we'd just get along wonderfully and enjoy each other's company. So our two days in Disneyland were spend with her and her fabulous hubby (whom my family also adored and my boys were constantly grabbing his hand and pulling him along in the direction they wanted to go). The only downfall was we only had two days to spend together. We were all sad when they had to leave for their flight back to Australia, but were so happy for the time we had together. Thank you Yvonne and Robert for sharing your vacation with us - we enjoyed your company more than you'll ever know!

Me & Yvonne

My Darling Hubby & me

Mickey and friends!

Sharing a drink

The entire family on the Pier in San Francisco

I wish I had a few more group pictures to share, but photographing four kids together and having them all looking at the camera is next to impossible.

I started a sewing project last Friday, but of course it was interrupted by *Project Landscape*, so the pattern is still laying on my cutting table. I was really inspired when I saw Christina's blouse at PR weekend. It's such a cute and unique blouse, so I decided that would be my next project. It's #106 from the 3/2009 issue.

During the Pati Palmer seminar at PR weekend, I was inspired to really try to address my fit issues when sewing. So for this top, I have graded down to a 34 (hello Burda, would you start making all things start at a 34 - it's just dumb that not everything starts that small). I had my hubby measure my back width and found my back is 14.25" wide so like Marta shared with me last fall, I need to do about a 1/2" broad back adjustment and that is true with Burda's size chart too. So I made a broad back adjustment and tried on my pattern. I found that I still needed to go out in the hips (I figured I would), so I graded out to a 36 in the hips and also implemented a forward shoulder adjustment. The pattern appears to be fitting well, so I'm going to cut it out in fabric and see where it gets me. Fingers crossed I'm happy with the result.

PRW Portland 2009

I think it's safe to say, fun was had by all! It was a whirlwind weekend that I wish wouldn't have flown by so fast. I got to reunite with some friends I'd met last year in LA and I got to make lots of new friends this year. It is always so fun to actually get to chat in person with people that dig sewing as much as you do. Well this weekend there were about 50 ladies that did just that and I sincerely hope that everyone who attended had as much fun as I did. If fun is measured by lack of sleep, than I definitely hit the mark (about 10 hours total is all I got!). I came home horse too, a sign that I talked WAY too much (I hope that doesn't deter anyone from coming near me again - it might be obvious I don't get out much! lol).

The weekend started out with a day long seminar by Pati Palmer in which the topics of sewing jackets and fit were covered. She is a very informative and fun speaker to listen to. She swears she's never worked a day in her life, that is how much she loves her *job* (it's not a job to her). That evening we all ate dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory - you could tell everyone was having a great time by the noise level in the room. After dinner we had a little contest with the ugly fabric we brought - everyone ended up being a winner, my prize was a book by Kenneth King.

On Saturday, the day started bright and early at 8am. We all boarded a big yellow school bus and traveled to Fabric Depot, downtown to Josephine's & the Button Emporium, and then finally to Mill End (my personal favorite in the tour). That evening we enjoyed a nice pizza dinner at the hotel and then showed off our favorite fabric purchase, mine was some Burberry coating I got at Mill End.

Then on Sunday, a small group met in the restaurant at the Monarch Hotel for a yummy brunch and one last gab session before we all parted ways.

Here are pictures I took (and a few I snagged from Flickr). I didn't really take that many, but so many cameras were flashing all the time that I figured the event was surely covered (you know the celebrity status we all have on PR is just like being in the limelight! LOL).

My roomies Cindy and Leslie

Me and Jacqui (we live only about 2.5 hours away - yay!)

Me & Deepika being "movie stars" at Fabric Depot

Jacqui & Deepika

Nancy, Me, & Cindy Lou

Jacqui & Emilie (from Jalie)

Cindy Lou, Nancy, Deepika, & Cidell

Leslie, Cindy Lou, & Cidell

Look, everyone is wearing a Jalie top!

Me & Emilie

The conference Friday during a break

Me & Jacqui

Cindy & Christina chatting it up

Cidell & Emilie

Brunch at the Monarch

Me & Deepika

Cindy shopping for patterns at Joann's

Me, Cindy Lou, Mary, Jacqui

Me & Mary Fran

Me, Cindy, & Laura (back)

Jacqui, Cindy Lou, Nancy, Leslie, & Jennifer (front)

Me with all my Jalie garments (it was part of a contest and I brought 17 items). My prize, $20 to spend at Jalie - yippee, thank you Emilie & Jalie!!!!!

I will add one more highlight for me of the trip. I really enjoyed meeting Emilie from Jalie. She is so darn sweet and absolutely adorable! It was so fun to talk with her about the company (her mom and aunt started the company in the early 80's, but now it's just her and her mom working together running the company). I've really come to adore Jalie patterns over the past few years. I've had great experience with the fit and the directions are wonderful - very RTW results in my opinion. And the coolest part was that she brought a whole bunch of Jalie garments and she let us try them on!!!! I was so excited! I got to try on the new jeans pattern and so much more. It was fun to see her enthusiasm about the company. My fingers are crossed that Fabric Depot will start carrying their patterns. But because I hate waiting for anything, I ordered a few I had to have now (all from the new collection - the jeans, pants, & crossover shirt).

Next year the weekend is in Philly - hopefully I can attend, these events are too much fun to miss! Thanks for making it such a great weekend ladies, I wish it happened more than just once per year.

Here are a few more pics I'd like to share. Below is a ham holder that my dear roomie Cindy bought for me. Thank you Cindy (tho you probably wanted to wack Leslie & me with it since we wanted to stay up so late! lol)!!! I know I will use it in good health and will always think of you when I use it. It's even made in the USA!!!

Here is my lovely Burberry fabric. I can thank Leslie for the inspiration because she brought along a gorgeous trench she made using the black fabric. She even let us all try it on. It was a gorgeous coat and totally worthy of the Burberry fabric.

3 yds each of both black & red Burberry (thanks to my sis too, she gave me a little $$ for babysitting my nephews so she bought most of it!)

Here is the rest of my loot ~ The Kenneth King book I won in the ugly fabric contest, then I purchased the jacket book and elastics, and the fabric.com box was a goodie we all got from fabric.com (we also got seam rippers from fabric.com too, but that didn't make it into the picture).

Sorry this was such a long post, but hopefully all the pictures make it worth the length it was. If you've never been to a PR Weekend, you must go if you have the opportunity. Everyone is so friendly and you're sure to have a good great time! Next up, Disneyland photos with the world famous, totally adorable and equally as sweet Yvonne!

Pattern Review ~ Jalie 2795

Oh my gosh, PRW Portland was soooo fun, I can't wait to share it with you. I need to finish getting my pictures uploaded and then onto the blog so hopefully tomorrow I'll have a post about that. For now, I'd like to share the Jalie hoodie I made myself for our Disneyland trip (which has been nearly a month ago).



Pattern Description: zip front jacket with or without a hood

Pattern Sizing: girls size 2 to ladies size 22 ~ I made my usual "R"

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, very much so.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes! Jalie always has such great instructions. I've never been stumped. They are short and direct and also they come with wonderful illustrations that go along with the instructions.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? Well I more than like this garment, I LOVE this garment. This is my new favorite thing to wear! I'm always cold and my old hoodies from Old Navy were yucky so I gave to the kids to play outside in and decided to make myself a new one. I love the length on it too. My old hoodies were a bit on the short side (maybe they'd shrunk up after all these years). This hoodie has nice long sleeves and body - not overly long, but they provide great coverage.

Fabric Used: gray sweatshirt from JOS group (it's supposed to be from the Polo company)

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: None needed!

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Oh my gosh, I'm totally sewing this again over and over. I know a girl probably only needs so many hoodies, but it's really quite chilly where I live for about 9 months of the year so having something nice to pop on around the house or for running out when it's not the middle of the winter is very much necessary. My sister was freaking out when she saw it and loves it too. Actually all my kids even thought it looked cool and my daughter made mention that she might like one (which is rare lately in the 'tween state she's in). I also got lots of great compliments at the Portland PR weekend - thanks ladies! :-)

I would totally recommend this pattern. It's really not hard. The hardest part for me was getting the zipper aligned properly. I used some Wonder Tape and had to realign the zipper a few times to get it to line up with the pocket stitching and the hem band. No biggie at all. Seriously, get this pattern if you like hoodies! :-)

Conclusion: If this is any testament, I wore it every day during our recent 10-day trip to California (even VonneVo thought it was pretty spiffy when we met up - miss you girl, wish you didn't live so far away!!!!).

Terribly Neglected

I know I have a few readers, so I want to apologize for my absence. I'm alive and well, but it's been two months since my last post - sorry!

To bring anyone who cares up to speed, the lovely cold I got for my birthday turned into an ear infection with a nearly ruptured ear drum. That took to the end of March for me to feel well again - what a drag. Then that followed with my children having spring break. Shortly after they went back to school, we decided on a whim to go to Disneyland so I could meet my friend Yvonne and her hubby. (For those of you that are on PR, that would be Vonnevo from Australia.) She was just as lovely as I knew she'd be and our families hit it off well. We got to spent two days together, but that time went by WAY too fast. My kids adored them and the boys were constantly grabbing her hubby's hand wanting to hold it throughout the park. They were sad when it was time for them to leave and fly home. I'll post pictures of the trip later because they are still on my camera. We were gone for 10 days and drove home going up the coast of California spending some time in San Francisco and Sacramento as well. We just got home last Sunday the 3rd so while doing truckloads of laundry, I feverishly worked on the biography book and weekend agenda for the Portland Pattern Review weekend that is this coming weekend. Oh and my nephews are coming early Wednesday as my sister has to be away from home for her business (so 2 full days/1 night). I am seriously strung out in too many different directions and honestly can't wait until Friday. I think once I'm out the door to the PR weekend all my worries will be flushed away and I will be able to relax. I just feel like my life has been non-stop for quite some time and I like more of a relaxed life than I've been having.

So that is my ramble. Hopefully I'll have some lovely sewn things to show off soon. I did make a great Jalie hoodie right before our Disneyland trip that I'm totally lovin' as well as a few other goodies for myself and the kids. Next week I'll also share my PR weekend fun and some pics from our Disneyland trip so you can all see the beautiful Yvonne.

I hope all you moms had a very Happy Mother's Day. I did and my youngest even remembered it was Mother's Day. I saw he was awake in his room and he looked up from his pillow at me and said "Happy Mother's Day Mommy". Talk about melt my heart that a 4.5 year old remembered it was Mother's Day - what a sweetie. I got lovely handmade gifts and cards the kids made at school, what could be better?

P.S. I can't forget we also celebrated two of my boys turning one year older too. This year's cakes weren't as exciting as last years, but they were just as yummy. Happy Birthday Jack & Will, how can you already be another year older???

Yet another trip around the sun

Picture courtesy of oh its amanda on flickr
Today I celebrate 34 candles on my cake. Unfortunately I won't be doing much celebrating because my wonderful, all loving family passed their creepy crud along to me. Gee thanks. I suck at laying on the couch, but here I sit today with my laptop, snuggled up to my youngest watching countless episodes of Curious George. While I can think of more fun things to do than lay on the couch, I do enjoy snuggling up to my sweetie because in the blink of an eye he'll be off to school and on days like to today I'll be suck watching Billy Mays, Jerry Springer, or some ridiculous soap opera.

Happy Birthday to me - my wish, to be feeling better tomorrow for my yummy chicken enchilada dinner my MIL is preparing for me.

P.S. Due to my funky system today, I forgot to thank you all for your wonderful comments you left last time. I'm feeling much better about the postal thief and am taking the necessary precautions to avoid that happening again (aka we have a lovely new mailbox).

The Good, Bad, & Ugly (and a long)

That pretty much sums up my life for the past few weeks.

First the good. I met a fellow PR member at the Puyallup Sewing Expo! Her name is Michelle. She told me she recognized me from my reviews, but said she hardly has time to post reviews and such because she's really busy with her job (she's a teacher). We chatted for about 10 minutes in front of the Simplicity booth and I told her she must email me so we can stay in touch. It's so great to meet other sewing fanatics - you know, someone who's eyes don't glaze over the minute you start talking about sewing. ;-) If you're reading this, "Hi Michelle"!!!!! :-)

I had an okay time at the expo. It was a bummer that my good friend and I didn't get to go together. Her boy is stilling nursing so she can't leave him all day and it's an all day event when you have to travel 2 hours to get there. I did run into a gal I met in my Palmer/Pletsch fitting class so we hung out for a few hours and looked around - that was fun. Also, maybe it's just me, but it seems like it's the same old stuff every year. I'm tired of the same old thing and wish they'd mix it up a bit. I would also love it if they'd organize the event so all the garment booths were together, quilting together, embroidery together, etc. It would make it so much easier and maybe the traffic would flow a little better.

I didn't come away empty handed, tho I only spent $14 (yep, I'm a cheap date!). I got striped knit that reminded me of an Ottobre shirt for my youngest son. I'm not sure if it's too pastel-ish now that I have it home, maybe it is, we'll see once I get around to making the shirt. The red is supplex for swimming trunks (a $2 remnant), and then the black is a poly knit to make myself another New Look twist dress.

Another "good" is that Lori nominated me for Sisterhood Award - thank you Lori, I appreciate it so much!!!! I know I'm supposed to nominate others for this, but I'm bowing out on that part because the "bad & ugly" part of my post and I honestly can't think right now (sorry Lori, please forgive me! lol).

So now the bad, I just learned today my mail was stolen on Monday. Apparently it happened to the whole block of mailboxes in my neighborhood, but still, don't people have anything better to do than cause trouble? In the mail was my new Driver's License that I just went to get last week (I went on a "good hair day" in hopes it would be a decent picture - yes I know it's not "Glamour Shots" - right Leslie?? - but still I have to look at the picture for 5 years). Also taken was something I ordered for my friend, my phone bill, and most likely my BWOF mag since I haven't gotten the March issue still. Tomorrow I'm off to Home Depot for a locking box. I feel so violated and I'm angry about this. So I've spent the entire day worrying about this and cleaning up the mess. Needless to say I have gotten nothing done. :-(

And now the ugly, my kids seem like they've been sick more than they have been well. Two are on their second round of antibiotics for ear infections and one is on his first round for an ear infection. They all have colds that won't cease. Hubby is now sick with some sort of cold/flu thing. My youngest ran a fever all day Wednesday and threw up all over his bedroom right at bedtime (thankfully it appears to be an isolated incident, tho I'm still being very cautious). I'm saying my prayer I will get me through without any of this nasty crud. I hope this is the end because I've shelled out $400 in doctor's office copays, rx's, and OTC meds since January 1st.

Now on to sewing. In an effort to reduce some knit scraps, I made my youngest a few pairs of undies. The picture is missing one pair - they had M&M's on them, but I managed to get the rest in a quick snap-shot. I made them using a great undie pattern you can get here ~ ThatDarnKat Etsy store. My son loves his new undies and it makes me feel good to use up my knit scraps and that they are made in the USA.

Two of my boys were invited to birthday parties (one was actually yesterday). I'm sick of buying cheap crap at the store and really most of the time I have no idea what the child even likes anyway. I'm also sick of everything being made in China, so I decided to get the boys some "Made in the USA" gifts. I inquired with the older of the two party goers to find out if said birthday boy likes to cook with his mom in the kitchen and maybe an apron with his name on it would be cool. My son didn't know, but informed me he really likes football. I thought a personalized pillow case might be cool and my son really liked that idea too. When I picked him up at the party yesterday the mom and a few other moms were so impressed with the gift and couldn't believe I could "just whip this up". It actually was pretty quick to make. The embroidery puckered a little on the football one, but the second one I used three layers of stabilizer and it looked perfect. The other recipient likes Curious George so I hope it's a hit with him too. My youngest wants one for himself and keeps pulling out fabric for me to make him one. I think I shall do that project right away for him. It's a good way to reduce stash and use up smaller pieces. Here is a little tutorial I found to follow. Sorry the picture is going the wrong way, dang Blogger (guess you get what you pay for).


Also I made a super hero cap for my youngest for tomorrow's birthday party. I have yet to take a picture of it, but will for my next post. It's from Ottobre 4/2004.

Okay, whining is over, I'm off to make dinner. :-)