This is totally off the topic, but I am interested to know if anyone has used Accutane for their acne? And if you have, what was your personal experience with it? What was it like during the cycle, did your acne get way worse before it got better? How long until your skin cleared up? Has it lasted for you or did you have to repeat your treatment? What other side effects did you have? After you were off the medicine, did the side effects go away?
I ask this because I saw a dermatologist a few weeks ago about my acne (which is mild). I requested Accutane since my sister just finished a four month cycle of it and now has gorgeously flawless skin. We both have similar skin, so her acne was mild as well, but my skin is definitely oilier than hers.
The derm I saw wasn't too gung ho on prescribing Accutane, but since I requested it he said he would prescribe it. He said he's rather try other alternatives first such as antibiotics and topical medicines. I went in with the mindset that I wanted Accutane. I have tried all other methods without success and after 20+ years of dealing with acne I want to put an end to it. Well now I'm getting cold feet about taking it.
As a female, you have to wait 30 days before you can start it to make sure you're not pregnant so I'm in my 30 day waiting period. While taking the course, you must use two forms of birth control because it causes very severe birth defects. The birth defects aren't the part that scares it me, it's the other stuff such as the potential to have depression, bad headache, blurred vision, dizziness, nausea, seizures, stroke, hearing problems, vision problems, lipid problems, well the list goes on. Then at the end it says, the common, less serious side effects are dry skin, chapped lips, dry eyes, and dry nose. I can deal with the common side effects, I'm just paranoid about the others. I realize if we all had to read a thick book about each and every medication we took that it probably wouldn't be so scary to me. My sister experienced the common side effects as well as had some joint pain that was minimized taking Advil daily. I had another friend who had the same complaints while she took it. I just don't know anyone else who has taken it and want some feed back.
If you'd rather not post a common, please do email me - noboty at kalama.com
Thanks for any insight. I'm still deciding on what to do.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
What I learned from Marta...
First off I want to express my most sincere thanks for all the wonderful comments left about my son's jacket. Truly heartwarming. :-)
October has been a busy month for my family, but taking the fit class just added to the craziness. My last class was on Wednesday and I will declare it here, I'm now a HUGE advocate for tissue fitting a pattern. I used to just wing it and just hope for the best. Well I'm here to tell you, I now think that "winging it" is a total waste of time (not to mention a waste of fabric too if you ruin your fabric. Some will say, make a muslin. True you can do that and surely there is still reason to do that on occasion, but honestly tissue fitting doesn't take that long and it helps you see exactly what needs to be done before you even cut your fabric. After tissue fitting if you'd like to see if there are any alterations that still should be made since different fabrics behave differently (for example dart ending placement), you can then pin the garment together to making sure everything looks perfect before you start sewing.
From class I learned many things about my body and how to fit it. Remember this class was only tops, dresses, and skirts and not pants. Things I learned about fitting myself:
1) I am a "B" cup and don't need an SBA! This was totally shocking to me. Shocking!
2) I wear a size 8 for tops and a size 12 for skirts.
3) I need a 1/2" broad back alteration. Every pattern I altered in class (that would be at least a dozen), I needed a 1/2" broad back so that appears to be the norm for me. If you have the FFRP book, it's on page 118 and I use method #2.
4) I don't always need a sway back or forward shoulder alteration like I thought. Trying on the tissue will tell me if I need either and how much. I needed a 3/8" forward shoulder on only two things in class and a the sway back was only a tiny pinch on two things.
5) Sometimes I need a broad shoulder adjustment as well, tho most of the time the 1/2" broad back will cover it.
6)I also learned it best to trace a pattern onto tissue paper for tissue fitting. I usually use Pattern Ease when tracing a BWOF or Ottobre pattern, but PE it's too heavy and stiff for tissue fitting.
If you have the opportunity to take a class from Marta, I highly recommend it. She's personable, helpful, and most of all super nice. She is filled with so much knowledge and is so eager to share it. She really wants everyone to be success and to love sewing and fitting as much as she does. The class I took is geared for local sewers because it's weekly for four weeks, but Marta & Pati also teach a four day fit workshop and people fly into Portland from all over the country.
Overall, it was well worth the $100 I spent. Last night I even tried tissue fitting a top I want to make by myself and I think I got my alterations right on the money. Guess I'll know for sure once it's sewn up.
Next up is the pants class which starts this coming week. It's a different teacher but also with the Palmer/Pletsch sewing school. I have one evening session and then all day next Saturday where we'll actually sew our pants in class. I'm looking forward to it and will be using OOP Vogue 2812; my fabric is gray stretch sateen.
In other sewing news, I have two Halloween costumes finished, one mostly finished, and one not started (tho that is the easy one and only requires some hot glue, spray paint, & a box. :-) I'm also working on a top for myself, Butterick B5101.
October has been a busy month for my family, but taking the fit class just added to the craziness. My last class was on Wednesday and I will declare it here, I'm now a HUGE advocate for tissue fitting a pattern. I used to just wing it and just hope for the best. Well I'm here to tell you, I now think that "winging it" is a total waste of time (not to mention a waste of fabric too if you ruin your fabric. Some will say, make a muslin. True you can do that and surely there is still reason to do that on occasion, but honestly tissue fitting doesn't take that long and it helps you see exactly what needs to be done before you even cut your fabric. After tissue fitting if you'd like to see if there are any alterations that still should be made since different fabrics behave differently (for example dart ending placement), you can then pin the garment together to making sure everything looks perfect before you start sewing.
From class I learned many things about my body and how to fit it. Remember this class was only tops, dresses, and skirts and not pants. Things I learned about fitting myself:
1) I am a "B" cup and don't need an SBA! This was totally shocking to me. Shocking!
2) I wear a size 8 for tops and a size 12 for skirts.
3) I need a 1/2" broad back alteration. Every pattern I altered in class (that would be at least a dozen), I needed a 1/2" broad back so that appears to be the norm for me. If you have the FFRP book, it's on page 118 and I use method #2.
4) I don't always need a sway back or forward shoulder alteration like I thought. Trying on the tissue will tell me if I need either and how much. I needed a 3/8" forward shoulder on only two things in class and a the sway back was only a tiny pinch on two things.
5) Sometimes I need a broad shoulder adjustment as well, tho most of the time the 1/2" broad back will cover it.
6)I also learned it best to trace a pattern onto tissue paper for tissue fitting. I usually use Pattern Ease when tracing a BWOF or Ottobre pattern, but PE it's too heavy and stiff for tissue fitting.
If you have the opportunity to take a class from Marta, I highly recommend it. She's personable, helpful, and most of all super nice. She is filled with so much knowledge and is so eager to share it. She really wants everyone to be success and to love sewing and fitting as much as she does. The class I took is geared for local sewers because it's weekly for four weeks, but Marta & Pati also teach a four day fit workshop and people fly into Portland from all over the country.
Overall, it was well worth the $100 I spent. Last night I even tried tissue fitting a top I want to make by myself and I think I got my alterations right on the money. Guess I'll know for sure once it's sewn up.
Next up is the pants class which starts this coming week. It's a different teacher but also with the Palmer/Pletsch sewing school. I have one evening session and then all day next Saturday where we'll actually sew our pants in class. I'm looking forward to it and will be using OOP Vogue 2812; my fabric is gray stretch sateen.
In other sewing news, I have two Halloween costumes finished, one mostly finished, and one not started (tho that is the easy one and only requires some hot glue, spray paint, & a box. :-) I'm also working on a top for myself, Butterick B5101.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
First Prize
The little pilot jacket I made my son took first place in the Sewing for Babies/Kids contest on Pattern Review! The voting ended Saturday night and so Sunday when I checked my email, I had a wonderful surprise waiting in my inbox. :-)
The voting really was hard and the final tally was so close. There is such great talent on PR and so many gorgeous things were created - over 60 entries and each member is only allowed to vote for one item!
A fellow PR member pointed out to me how cool it was that a boy item came out on top. She said it's so much easier to make cute girl things with all the great patterns available (ahh, how I wish I could still make cute girl things), but when you have a boy, it's truly hard to find cute boy patterns. What a compliment, I hadn't thought of it that way. Tho in all honesty, I really owe Ottobre the thanks because they were the mastermind behind the pattern I chose. I adore the wonderful boy patterns they produce so my sons can look stylish in their mama made garments.
A big thank you to Deepika (the owner and founder of Pattern Review) for the fun contest and Sew Baby for their generous prize. Last, but definitely not least, thank you to my readers, your comments encourage me to continue to sew.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Zipper Storage
Last weekend I was doing some organization and came across my box of zippers. It was a steal I found on eBay over a year ago, but the problem since has been how to store them. Until last weekend they were all banded together in a box, but it's a pain to dig through when you need a zipper to find the right color. Racking my brain to figure a better way, it occurred to me to put them on a hanger and band them together by color. They can't fall off the hanger and now I can see what I have very easily.
My zippers are all the same length so I chose to band them together by color, but if you have lots of different lengths you could chose to do sort them by size or color. For now, all my packaged zippers (a bunch gifted to me by my neighbor) are banded (still in the original package) by length and style (regular, metal, & invisible).
My zippers are all the same length so I chose to band them together by color, but if you have lots of different lengths you could chose to do sort them by size or color. For now, all my packaged zippers (a bunch gifted to me by my neighbor) are banded (still in the original package) by length and style (regular, metal, & invisible).
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Words of Wisdom from a Fit Class Flunky
Okay, I'm not really a flunky per say, but I did goof up on my homework for this past week's class. First up, in case you missed the info before, I started a fit class last week is based on the principles in the Palmer/Pletsch book Fit For Real People. The four session class (3 hours each class) is taught by co-author Marta Alto. Following the book's teaching, she helps each student tissue fit as many patterns as we possibly can stuff into the class time.
Our first assignment, to be brought to our second class, was to bring in a top and skirt pattern cut in our size. During the first class, Marta measured each of us and then had us try on the fitting shells. Based on the information she gathered, she told us what size we need to cut for tops and skirts (no pants are covered in this class).
Since I mostly sew with BWOF and am trying to use the existing patterns I already have, I traced off a blouse & skirt pattern on Pattern Ease from my BWOF stash. I thought I was doing myself a favor using the patterns I typically use, but instead I messed up. My first mistake was not tracing them onto tissue. I learned from Marta that Pattern Ease is not the best medium to use for fitting. There isn't much drape in PE, so getting it to fit properly is a challenge. Ultimately the fitting session with my BWOF top told me one of my adjustments was a 1/2" FBA! I knew there was no freakin' way! Thankfully I took a Butterick pattern to class with me and cut it out quickly so Marta could fit me with that before class was over. After fitting that blouse, she compared both pattern pieces and they were very similar, thus proving the tissue is a much better medium when you're tissue fitting than PE. So lesson learned, use tissue if trying to fit yourself with the actual pattern pieces. And since tissue like the pattern companies use isn't readily available to buy on a roll, simply using gift wrapping tissue paper works like a charm. It's easily and cheaply obtained at your local dollar store. :-)
For next week's class I'm going to find a handful of patterns at Joann's this weekend during the $1 Columbus Day sale and have them 100% ready to try on in class. So this weekend I will be cutting patterns (which is totally against what I typically do any more, I always trace them off), taping necklines & arm holes, and pinning them together. I really want to maximize my time with her so I'm on the right track making the correct alterations for my figure.
My blouse alterations thus far are only a forward shoulder (the pattern I used this last class was 3/8", however this can vary based on the pattern), broad shoulder of 5/8" (very common in smaller size patterns), and then I needed to let out the waist about 5/8" (this came as no surprise because she had me cut a size 8 for my top and says I need a 14 for my skirt - I am thinking 12 for skirts, but next time I'll see for sure since I'll have that ready, in tissue, to fit). I'm taking a straight skirt because I think this is the hardest thing to perfect so if I can get that down, other skirts will be a piece of cake.
Lastly, coming up at the end of the month is another class called Fit & Sew Trousers. It's two class sessions, one 3 hour block and one all day block. By the end of the second class we're supposed to have finished pants to take home. I'm not sure if we can use any pattern or if we will have a selection to choose from. I'm waiting on the supply list from the instruction, but am very excited about making pants that actually fit! :-)
Our first assignment, to be brought to our second class, was to bring in a top and skirt pattern cut in our size. During the first class, Marta measured each of us and then had us try on the fitting shells. Based on the information she gathered, she told us what size we need to cut for tops and skirts (no pants are covered in this class).
Since I mostly sew with BWOF and am trying to use the existing patterns I already have, I traced off a blouse & skirt pattern on Pattern Ease from my BWOF stash. I thought I was doing myself a favor using the patterns I typically use, but instead I messed up. My first mistake was not tracing them onto tissue. I learned from Marta that Pattern Ease is not the best medium to use for fitting. There isn't much drape in PE, so getting it to fit properly is a challenge. Ultimately the fitting session with my BWOF top told me one of my adjustments was a 1/2" FBA! I knew there was no freakin' way! Thankfully I took a Butterick pattern to class with me and cut it out quickly so Marta could fit me with that before class was over. After fitting that blouse, she compared both pattern pieces and they were very similar, thus proving the tissue is a much better medium when you're tissue fitting than PE. So lesson learned, use tissue if trying to fit yourself with the actual pattern pieces. And since tissue like the pattern companies use isn't readily available to buy on a roll, simply using gift wrapping tissue paper works like a charm. It's easily and cheaply obtained at your local dollar store. :-)
For next week's class I'm going to find a handful of patterns at Joann's this weekend during the $1 Columbus Day sale and have them 100% ready to try on in class. So this weekend I will be cutting patterns (which is totally against what I typically do any more, I always trace them off), taping necklines & arm holes, and pinning them together. I really want to maximize my time with her so I'm on the right track making the correct alterations for my figure.
My blouse alterations thus far are only a forward shoulder (the pattern I used this last class was 3/8", however this can vary based on the pattern), broad shoulder of 5/8" (very common in smaller size patterns), and then I needed to let out the waist about 5/8" (this came as no surprise because she had me cut a size 8 for my top and says I need a 14 for my skirt - I am thinking 12 for skirts, but next time I'll see for sure since I'll have that ready, in tissue, to fit). I'm taking a straight skirt because I think this is the hardest thing to perfect so if I can get that down, other skirts will be a piece of cake.
Lastly, coming up at the end of the month is another class called Fit & Sew Trousers. It's two class sessions, one 3 hour block and one all day block. By the end of the second class we're supposed to have finished pants to take home. I'm not sure if we can use any pattern or if we will have a selection to choose from. I'm waiting on the supply list from the instruction, but am very excited about making pants that actually fit! :-)
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
I don't mean to *Gush*...
but my hubby totally rocks! Actually I do mean to *gush*; we're back in business and it's all because of his handy work. Sure we could have hired someone, but no worker would care about our family's needs as much as he does. He pays such careful attention to detail and truly, without him, the cost would have been significantly higher. As it was, a new pump and all the paraphernalia we needed was over $1200 - ouch!
So now we have an abundance of water - hallelujah!!!! At about 8:15 last night when the water came back on, I was singing his praises! I immediately started the dishwasher, started laundry, flushed toilets, and brushed my teeth! Yes, I did brush my teeth that morning with a Dixie cup full of water. It reminded me of camping when I was a kid. Thankfully I could at least brush them, but brushing with fresh sink water is so much better!
Once the pump was pulled up nearly 200 feet, Mr. Fix-It could see the malfunction occurred because the connection between the pump and the motor became striped out. Thankfully all is *well* (yes, pun intended) now and we have a nice gushing supply to fill our needs. Thank you all for your concerns via comments, email, & phone - you're all so sweet to me.
So to make up for lost time, this morning thus far I've washed & folded five loads of laundry, made Chocolate Chip cookies, hard boiled (and deyolked) two dozen eggs for hubby's lunches the rest of the week, made two batches of Strawberry freezer jam, made one batch of applesauce (the chunky kind, my personal fav), and even loaded and unloaded the dishwasher twice...and it's not even 11am yet!
Now I must get my patterns traced off and prepped for my class. Still not 100% sure which ones I'm tracing, ack!
So now we have an abundance of water - hallelujah!!!! At about 8:15 last night when the water came back on, I was singing his praises! I immediately started the dishwasher, started laundry, flushed toilets, and brushed my teeth! Yes, I did brush my teeth that morning with a Dixie cup full of water. It reminded me of camping when I was a kid. Thankfully I could at least brush them, but brushing with fresh sink water is so much better!
Once the pump was pulled up nearly 200 feet, Mr. Fix-It could see the malfunction occurred because the connection between the pump and the motor became striped out. Thankfully all is *well* (yes, pun intended) now and we have a nice gushing supply to fill our needs. Thank you all for your concerns via comments, email, & phone - you're all so sweet to me.
So to make up for lost time, this morning thus far I've washed & folded five loads of laundry, made Chocolate Chip cookies, hard boiled (and deyolked) two dozen eggs for hubby's lunches the rest of the week, made two batches of Strawberry freezer jam, made one batch of applesauce (the chunky kind, my personal fav), and even loaded and unloaded the dishwasher twice...and it's not even 11am yet!
Now I must get my patterns traced off and prepped for my class. Still not 100% sure which ones I'm tracing, ack!
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Life's gone to hell in a handbasket...
isn't that how the saying goes? Life has been nothing but boring around here for the past week. I, on the other hand, like boring. I like thinks to stay the same. No news is good news, right?
Well all the fun started last Thursday night when I was draining the kitchen sink...it didn't drain. I've had this happen before and just used a plunger to dislodge whatever the problem is. Well the plunger just didn't give way to whatever the clog was. Long story short, a bottle of Drain-O, a "snake" tool, and climbing up on the roof to check to see if the vent was clogged did nothing. More drastic measures had to be taken, so in the dark my hubby was on a very tall ladder cutting a hole in the sofit area of the house so he could get to the water pipe that was clogged (of course it couldn't be something easy to get at under the sink). Ultimately he had to cut the pipe open (which resulted in Drain-O gushing everywhere) so he could snake the clog (which was further down the drain) and then flush it with the house. Time taken, 3.5 hours (plus an hour of cleanup on the weekend) and $40 spend.
Well fast forward to this morning at 6am. My alarm goes off and I cheerfully (NOT) get up to take my shower. I just start to put shampoo in my hair and the water stops. I turned off the shower and turned it back on, it starts and immediately stops. I try the other nozzle in the shower, nothing. Okay, out of the shower with shampoo still in my hair I frantically call my hubby at work. I couldn't believe he answered the phone, I didn't expect him to be in his office because they have a huge maintenance day scheduled on Thursday and he was having to prep a bunch of stuff.
Our conversation:
Me: "I'm so glad you're there. We have a huge problem. I was in the shower and all of a sudden the water stops. I tried turning it off and on and nothing."
Him: "Can this wait until tonight?"
Me: "No, we have NO water, do you not understand I have shampoo in my hair, there is NO water".
Him: "Okay, go out to the pump house (we have a nearly 200 foot well that supplies our water that was drilled 8 years ago) and check to hear if the pump is running and see what the pressure gauge says."
So on the phone I go to the pump house in the pitch dark making sure I don't trip of Tonka trucks or the like. In the pump house I find the pressure gauge at 0% and the pump sounding like it's trying to pump water, but nothing happening. So the not-so-happy hubby says he'll be home shortly.
Fast forward to now (6 hours later) and little progress has been made. We had our well driller come out for some guidance, but it looks like something is wrong with the pump (thankfully just the pump and we're not out of water). So my hubby is working to pull up nearly 200 feet of 1.5" pipe out of the ground so he can get to the pump and diagnose the problem. A new pump is about $800, however the wire could get damaged as well during the pump removal process so who knows how much the final bill is going to total. Not to mention $70 call fee for the driller to come provide advice. And to make matters worse, a piece at the top of the well head fell into the hole and is causing trouble, so my hubby and his wonderful father are working to get that free so the pump will pull up. Now I just wait as I live without water and still have dried shampoo in my hair.
But hey, it could be worse - it could always be worse. So I'm optimistic that this will be fixed relatively soon and that I will be able to take a shower and actually rinse my hair clean. Never a dull moment.
On a bright note, I signed up for a fitting class taught by Marta Alto of Palmer/Pletsch. Last week was my first class. We discussed fitting and each member of the class tried on fitting shells (bodice and skirt) to determine the correct pattern size. Marta is super sweet and I think I'm going to learn a lot. I'm looking forward to my next class, but need to figure out what patterns I'm going to take to alter. I do feel like I knew most of what she said because I read her book Fit For Real People, but I appreciate that hands on approach and her help to make sure I'm doing the correct alterations for my body. I'll post how the class goes after this week's session. I feel so fortunate to have such excellent fitting experts so close to home.
Lastly, the voting for the Sewing for Babies/Kids contest is going on at PR right now (through Saturday the 11th), so don't forget to vote. I will warn you tho, you'll have lots of trouble deciding on a favorite as there are so many adorable entries! Here is the direct link to the gallery where you vote.
Well all the fun started last Thursday night when I was draining the kitchen sink...it didn't drain. I've had this happen before and just used a plunger to dislodge whatever the problem is. Well the plunger just didn't give way to whatever the clog was. Long story short, a bottle of Drain-O, a "snake" tool, and climbing up on the roof to check to see if the vent was clogged did nothing. More drastic measures had to be taken, so in the dark my hubby was on a very tall ladder cutting a hole in the sofit area of the house so he could get to the water pipe that was clogged (of course it couldn't be something easy to get at under the sink). Ultimately he had to cut the pipe open (which resulted in Drain-O gushing everywhere) so he could snake the clog (which was further down the drain) and then flush it with the house. Time taken, 3.5 hours (plus an hour of cleanup on the weekend) and $40 spend.
Well fast forward to this morning at 6am. My alarm goes off and I cheerfully (NOT) get up to take my shower. I just start to put shampoo in my hair and the water stops. I turned off the shower and turned it back on, it starts and immediately stops. I try the other nozzle in the shower, nothing. Okay, out of the shower with shampoo still in my hair I frantically call my hubby at work. I couldn't believe he answered the phone, I didn't expect him to be in his office because they have a huge maintenance day scheduled on Thursday and he was having to prep a bunch of stuff.
Our conversation:
Me: "I'm so glad you're there. We have a huge problem. I was in the shower and all of a sudden the water stops. I tried turning it off and on and nothing."
Him: "Can this wait until tonight?"
Me: "No, we have NO water, do you not understand I have shampoo in my hair, there is NO water".
Him: "Okay, go out to the pump house (we have a nearly 200 foot well that supplies our water that was drilled 8 years ago) and check to hear if the pump is running and see what the pressure gauge says."
So on the phone I go to the pump house in the pitch dark making sure I don't trip of Tonka trucks or the like. In the pump house I find the pressure gauge at 0% and the pump sounding like it's trying to pump water, but nothing happening. So the not-so-happy hubby says he'll be home shortly.
Fast forward to now (6 hours later) and little progress has been made. We had our well driller come out for some guidance, but it looks like something is wrong with the pump (thankfully just the pump and we're not out of water). So my hubby is working to pull up nearly 200 feet of 1.5" pipe out of the ground so he can get to the pump and diagnose the problem. A new pump is about $800, however the wire could get damaged as well during the pump removal process so who knows how much the final bill is going to total. Not to mention $70 call fee for the driller to come provide advice. And to make matters worse, a piece at the top of the well head fell into the hole and is causing trouble, so my hubby and his wonderful father are working to get that free so the pump will pull up. Now I just wait as I live without water and still have dried shampoo in my hair.
But hey, it could be worse - it could always be worse. So I'm optimistic that this will be fixed relatively soon and that I will be able to take a shower and actually rinse my hair clean. Never a dull moment.
On a bright note, I signed up for a fitting class taught by Marta Alto of Palmer/Pletsch. Last week was my first class. We discussed fitting and each member of the class tried on fitting shells (bodice and skirt) to determine the correct pattern size. Marta is super sweet and I think I'm going to learn a lot. I'm looking forward to my next class, but need to figure out what patterns I'm going to take to alter. I do feel like I knew most of what she said because I read her book Fit For Real People, but I appreciate that hands on approach and her help to make sure I'm doing the correct alterations for my body. I'll post how the class goes after this week's session. I feel so fortunate to have such excellent fitting experts so close to home.
Lastly, the voting for the Sewing for Babies/Kids contest is going on at PR right now (through Saturday the 11th), so don't forget to vote. I will warn you tho, you'll have lots of trouble deciding on a favorite as there are so many adorable entries! Here is the direct link to the gallery where you vote.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Holey Hoodie
I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all your lovely comments here and on PR about the jacket I made my son. You have no idea what a smile they put on my face.
On Saturday I worked on another little number for my baby. I made him a "holey hoodie" last fall and he loved it, but sadly it's too small now. Since he loved that sweatshirt so much, I decided to surprise him with another one. The pattern is from Ottobre 4-2007-11. It's really generously wide, so I can see getting a few more years out of this pattern by just adding some length even tho I made it in size 110 (the biggest size) .
Up close of the pockets. I used the reverse side of my cover stitch to make to stitch the pocket down.
I think the pictures show how much he likes he new hoodie! :-) I wish I could keep him little, he's so darn much fun.
On Saturday I worked on another little number for my baby. I made him a "holey hoodie" last fall and he loved it, but sadly it's too small now. Since he loved that sweatshirt so much, I decided to surprise him with another one. The pattern is from Ottobre 4-2007-11. It's really generously wide, so I can see getting a few more years out of this pattern by just adding some length even tho I made it in size 110 (the biggest size) .
Up close of the pockets. I used the reverse side of my cover stitch to make to stitch the pocket down.
I think the pictures show how much he likes he new hoodie! :-) I wish I could keep him little, he's so darn much fun.
Friday, September 26, 2008
A Pilot Jacket (Img Heavy)
I finished my son's pilot jacket earlier in the week and was finally able to get outside and get some photos to share. I know I'm going overboard on pictures, but it's a mom's duty to gloat, so here I am fulfilling my *mommy duty*. :-)
From the pictures you can see all the details of the jacket. I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out. I posted a detailed review of the jacket on PR. I highly recommend the jacket and plan to enter the jacket in the sewing for children contest that is currently running.
Friday, September 19, 2008
I'd like to thank the academy...
or at least sweet Birgitte who nominated me for several blog awards. I'm flattered that anyone wants to read what I type. As I've mentioned prior, I started this blog as a way to record my sewing accomplishments as well as other little musings of my life.
The awards I received are the 1) Excellent Blog Award, 2) Brilliante Weblog Premio 2008, and 3) Premio al Esfuerzo Personal Award. Each award comes with different requirements to pass them on, but atlas I'm a party pooper because I have a hard time choosing and hate to hurt any one's feelings by them not being chosen. There are so many excellent blogs that I regularly read and enjoy. I appreciate the efforts my fellow bloggers put forth because I'm truly inspired and encouraged by what I read. Thank you for the awards Birgitte! :-)
No sewing going on here. For my youngest nephew, the term "party in my crib" is his motto at my house! Good grief that little boy was wired when it was time for bed last night. He was the last to sleep and the first one up (before 6am - hello little boy, my alarm doesn't even go off until 6am). He's napping as I type and will hopefully continue for at least another hour or better. I'm already exhausted and it's only 1pm my time.
My plan now is to relax while the littlest naps and the two older boys are outside playing. I am going to grab a stack of BWOFs, sit outside so I can supervise the mischief makers, and do a little window shopping for upcoming fall projects using stashed fabrics. As a bonus it would be great if they fit into the PR pattern stash contest too. :-)
The awards I received are the 1) Excellent Blog Award, 2) Brilliante Weblog Premio 2008, and 3) Premio al Esfuerzo Personal Award. Each award comes with different requirements to pass them on, but atlas I'm a party pooper because I have a hard time choosing and hate to hurt any one's feelings by them not being chosen. There are so many excellent blogs that I regularly read and enjoy. I appreciate the efforts my fellow bloggers put forth because I'm truly inspired and encouraged by what I read. Thank you for the awards Birgitte! :-)
No sewing going on here. For my youngest nephew, the term "party in my crib" is his motto at my house! Good grief that little boy was wired when it was time for bed last night. He was the last to sleep and the first one up (before 6am - hello little boy, my alarm doesn't even go off until 6am). He's napping as I type and will hopefully continue for at least another hour or better. I'm already exhausted and it's only 1pm my time.
My plan now is to relax while the littlest naps and the two older boys are outside playing. I am going to grab a stack of BWOFs, sit outside so I can supervise the mischief makers, and do a little window shopping for upcoming fall projects using stashed fabrics. As a bonus it would be great if they fit into the PR pattern stash contest too. :-)
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Pilot Jacket
The first time I saw this jacket, I just knew I had to make it. It's from Ottobre 3/2003, #17. As mentioned in my last post, I was headed to Fabric Depot to get the fabric. I got the fabric, zipper, and am happy to report I only came home with one other piece of fabric. :-) Yes, I'm on a fabric diet - defininitely a diet and not a fast. By the way, I really apprecaite all the comments on my last post. It's good to know I'm in good company with my love for fabric.
Here is the coat I'm making (click the picture to enlarge).
Here is the coat I'm making (click the picture to enlarge).
Yesterday I traced off the embroidery motif from the pattern sheet. I traced it onto clear water soluble stabilizer with a extra fine point Sharpie.
Here is the image on the stabilizer. Ottobre instructs you to pin the stabilizer on the wrong side of the fabric, stitch the lines with a straight stitch, then flip the garment over to the right side and follow the straight stitch lines with a satin/zig zag stitch to produce the embroidery. The nature of my fabric didn't allow me to pin, so I used some temporary spray adhesive to attach my stabilizer.
Here is part of the embroidery done with the satin stitch. You can also see where the ouline is for me to follow. Please excuse the lint. My fabric is bonded faux leather with a fluffy shearling on the other side (very messy!).
The embroidery all finished. It's supposed to be a dog. I'm not 100% mine looks like a dog. I like it okay, DH wasn't too enthusiastic about it tho.
I got the two back side panels sewed and topstitched tonight. I decided to topstitch in black thread and am happy with how it looks (tho no picture of that quite yet).
I will try to work some more on the jacket tomorrow, however I'm on my Auntie "M" babysitting duty now and with 6 kids in the house, it's rather wild! So far so good ~ no replay of last time yet (and there better not be!). Only smiles, laughter, and a lot of fun!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
I need a fabric diet!
Today I traced off a jacket from Ottobre for my youngest. My plan is to enter it in the Children's Clothing contest on PR. I wanted to make sure I purchased the adequate amount of fabric, because what I want to get is rather spendy and a smidge leftover always feels like such a waste. It's regularly $30/yd, but on sale today at Fabric Depot for $18/yd. Still a little spendy in my book, especially for a child, but I only need 1 yard plus a zipper. And really it's going to be a *cute* winter jacket and I can't buy one at the store for that price.
Once I got the jacket traced off I was looking through my fabric cupboard trying to find some inspiration. I was pulling things down and realized I really need to curb my appetite for fabric. It's hard. They are all so pretty. I want to bring them home to my lovely sewing studio. It's not a crime, right? Well it should be a crime so I will stop buying. Some may laugh at this statement and think there is no such thing as too much fabric. Well for me there is. It makes me get tense and nervous. I don't like clutter and to me this is clutter. Yes I like to be able to pick something I want to make and shop what I already have, however it still makes me uneasy to have as much as I do. So I'm going to give it the ol' college try and refrain from buying. Now stop taking bets, this will surely last longer than a day!
Yesterday I snapped this picture of my "baby" in his new shirt I made him. I used my trusty KS 2894 and love the way the top turned out. Inspiration began with a shirt I saw in the spring/summer Mini Boden catalog. I made the top back in July, but it was too big and too hot to wear it. I lined the hood in knit jersey and the applique is done in orange twill - tires complete with button hubcaps. He is beyond thrilled as you can see by the picture. I will cherish this. My kids loving mommy making something just for them. A one-of-a-kind creation that no one else has. That is why I sew.
Once I got the jacket traced off I was looking through my fabric cupboard trying to find some inspiration. I was pulling things down and realized I really need to curb my appetite for fabric. It's hard. They are all so pretty. I want to bring them home to my lovely sewing studio. It's not a crime, right? Well it should be a crime so I will stop buying. Some may laugh at this statement and think there is no such thing as too much fabric. Well for me there is. It makes me get tense and nervous. I don't like clutter and to me this is clutter. Yes I like to be able to pick something I want to make and shop what I already have, however it still makes me uneasy to have as much as I do. So I'm going to give it the ol' college try and refrain from buying. Now stop taking bets, this will surely last longer than a day!
Yesterday I snapped this picture of my "baby" in his new shirt I made him. I used my trusty KS 2894 and love the way the top turned out. Inspiration began with a shirt I saw in the spring/summer Mini Boden catalog. I made the top back in July, but it was too big and too hot to wear it. I lined the hood in knit jersey and the applique is done in orange twill - tires complete with button hubcaps. He is beyond thrilled as you can see by the picture. I will cherish this. My kids loving mommy making something just for them. A one-of-a-kind creation that no one else has. That is why I sew.
Off to shop for the coat fabric. I'm bringing home coat fabric and a zipper, nothing else. You can shop laughing now....
Thursday, September 11, 2008
What I've been up to (pretty much a book!)
Wow, it's already September (well almost mid September) and life is just flying by. The kids went back to school on the 2nd and I panicked on Labor Day because the two boys didn't have any new tops to wear on the first day. Yep, I'm one of those moms that want them to have new clothes for their first day back. Ottobre to the rescue and I had two top finished by bed time. The green one shown in the picture below is one and the other was for my older son, but it was a smidge too big so he opted to wear a RTW shirt I had bought him. Here are the kids right before we left for the first day back.
Then we celebrated our daughter turning eleven-teen! I can't believe she's 11 - where did the time go? She really wanted a Hannah Montana cake from the bakery, but after learning it was $25 (yikes), she said it was fine to make a homemade cake with sprinkles on top. What a gem, it looks like she might be coming around to the value of a dollar. Hey a mom can hope!
Close up of pocket (there is one on each side)~
On the stove ready to cook~
Then we celebrated our daughter turning eleven-teen! I can't believe she's 11 - where did the time go? She really wanted a Hannah Montana cake from the bakery, but after learning it was $25 (yikes), she said it was fine to make a homemade cake with sprinkles on top. What a gem, it looks like she might be coming around to the value of a dollar. Hey a mom can hope!
During the last week of August I worked on pants for the three boys. I got four pairs done total. All from Ottobre, but I have to go dig for the pattern numbers (I should do reviews and maybe when time allows I will). Here is a pair on my youngest. He was very pleased with them and loves the side pockets.
Side view~
Close up of pocket (there is one on each side)~
Here are one pair of my middle son's pants. I lightened the picture since they are black. This is one of the pairs I did the reinforced knee on. You can see it a little in the picture, but it looks way better than holes in the knees!
Back side~
My nice neighbor up the road asked if I wanted some apples and I jumped on the opportunity. I love home made applesauce, so last weekend the birthday girl and I made two batches. Here is a little work in progress. We ended up with 3 quart jars and 11 pints. I still have some apples leftover and plan to make some apple pie filling.
Here is she washing apples~
A box and bag of apples~
On the stove ready to cook~
Running them through the food mill~
And a bonus treat, apple crisp ready to pop in the oven. Boy was it tasty!!!
I finally have a picture of the top I made from BWOF 4-2008-116. As mentioned in my earlier post, I used the leftover fabric from the NL twist dress I made. The top was too big since the smallest size was a 38 and I usually wear a 36, but after taking a drastic 1" alteration on each side seam, it seems to fit. I have worn it a few times already and really like it. When I make it again, I will size the pattern down, that should surely work a lot better. It's a bit plunging too, so I will raise the neckline as well.
Another time consuming project I've been up to is redecorating the kids' bathroom. It is actually the main bathroom and is used by guests as well as the kids. It has always been the "ducky" bathroom because it was decorated with rubber ducks. After 7.5 years, I'm was more than sick of it. I decided I was going to find a lovely shower curtain and that would be the base for my new decor. While shopping with birthday girl and my mom last weekend at Kohls, I found *it*! The picture honestly doesn't do it justice. It's WAY more beautiful in person, I promise. So on Sunday, my daughter and I set out to find fabric to make a coordinating window valance and curtain to cover the linen area in the bathroom.
I found the absolute perfect fabric at Joann's, but they only had 1 yard and I needed 3. The guy looked on his computer and said the Vancouver store (about 30 minutes from my home) had 64 yards in stock. Great, I'll go after it once the kids go to school on Monday. Long story short, I went on Monday morning and couldn't find any - the nice cutting counter lady told me because it's remnants they get in from home decor manufacturers and they all have the same SKU number!!!!!! OMGosh, I was so annoyed that I'd drove all that way for nothing. Plus the paint I bought at Home Depot went with that and the shower curtain perfectly. All was not lost tho, I found a solid and went back to my local Joann's and got the 1 yard of stripe and will make a band at the bottom of the linen closet curtain. I am on the fence as to if the valance will be solid, stripe, or both with a band on the bottom.
I did get the painting all done over Monday evening and Tuesday. Now I'm waiting on Mr. Homemaker to help me hang the mirror back up and do some other "handy work" that I need help with. As soon as it's ready for a showing, I'll post pictures.
I guess that is all the news for now. As you can see, I've been busy, just not blogging about it. I've also been doing some fall cleaning trying to weed out clothes and such the kids have outgrown so I can eBay, Craig's List, or Goodwill stuff - ugg I hate clutter, it makes me batty!!!
P.S. I almost forgot to mention Hubby & I celebrated our 12th Anniversary since I posted last too! We actually didn't have a babysitter since it was over Labor Day weekend, so we took the kids bowling instead. It was a lot of fun and really we can go out to dinner any old time. And yes, do the math, our daughter was born three days after our first anniversary. Apparently we didn't know what caused that back then - young and dumb, you know how it goes! ;-) The great news is we will still be so young when the kids are grown and gone. :-)
Friday, August 29, 2008
Goodies
I love good mail days, don't you? You know, those days will your mail box is filled with all sorts of goodies (and no bills to boot!). Well today was my good mail day. It was actually a good mail week so I'm showing off my loot.
It started earlier in the week with my new Vogue Patterns and Burda Easy Fashion magazines. Then yesterday my Threads magazine arrived. I'm on the fence about the BEF mag. I like some of the coats, but I'm not sure if I see myself in anything else. I'll let it marinate for a while and see what I think later on. The new Threads magazine looks like a good one, but I always seem to enjoy the magazine. The Vogue Pattern one seems pretty good too. There is a great article on how build a better coat. I have had a busy week so I honestly haven't had much time to look at the magazines.
Then today, be still my heart, the new Ottobre Woman mag arrived. I haven't even cracked it open. I had some things left to finish up, so that was my incentive to get them done. As soon as I'm done with this entry I'm off to snuggle with it. I liked the preview on line so I'm sure I'll like it even better in person. Plus I love the Ottobre staff and like to support their efforts by subscribing to the magazine.
Also pictured is a booklet of all the new Burda Fall/Winter fashion patterns that were released recently. This was included with the new patterns I got (shown below).
It started earlier in the week with my new Vogue Patterns and Burda Easy Fashion magazines. Then yesterday my Threads magazine arrived. I'm on the fence about the BEF mag. I like some of the coats, but I'm not sure if I see myself in anything else. I'll let it marinate for a while and see what I think later on. The new Threads magazine looks like a good one, but I always seem to enjoy the magazine. The Vogue Pattern one seems pretty good too. There is a great article on how build a better coat. I have had a busy week so I honestly haven't had much time to look at the magazines.
Then today, be still my heart, the new Ottobre Woman mag arrived. I haven't even cracked it open. I had some things left to finish up, so that was my incentive to get them done. As soon as I'm done with this entry I'm off to snuggle with it. I liked the preview on line so I'm sure I'll like it even better in person. Plus I love the Ottobre staff and like to support their efforts by subscribing to the magazine.
Also pictured is a booklet of all the new Burda Fall/Winter fashion patterns that were released recently. This was included with the new patterns I got (shown below).
My friend Kim can atest to my waffling while trying to figure out what Jalie patterns to order. Of course I wanted so much more, but at nearly $12 a pop, I decided to limit myself to two new ones. I ended up picked coat pattern #2680 and the adorable criss-cross knit top pattern #2787. Then to get my order to ship free on PR (friends of PR get free shipping at $25), I added NL 6729. I've always liked the top and figured this was a great reason to try it.
This past week while checking out one of my favorite forums (SewingMamas.com), a gal was selling off some of her fabric and I picked up the above gem. It's a yummy knit that is the perfect shade of red for me. I have no clue what I'll make with it, but I just had to have it - it's just so *me*!
Since it's Labor Day weekend, Joann's has 50% off the notions wall. All week long I've been making my list so I could jet in and out and not be wooed by anything else. Success! I got some embroidery stabilizers and adhesive, another magnetic pin cushion, purse handles, and a sleeve roll ~ everything that was on my list, nothing more.
I had a question asked in the comments section of my last post, however Blogger doesn't typically give me your email address when readers post a comment so I'll take the opportunity to answer the question here. Anne asked if the knee patches would work if the fabrics weren't fused together. From past experience, yes that seems to work well. The knees stay without holes longer, but once a hole forms you just see the nice new fabric underneath the hole. What I was hoping to accomplish by fusing two fabrics together was a overall sturdier knee. One that was thicker and would be harder to make a hole in. My oldest son is known for being tough on his knees so this is an experiment. I will report my findings once the school year is underway and I can see how the knees are fairing. I've only done the treatment on one pair of pants. The second pair I made had pleated knees (a design element) and I found the fused fabric very hard to manipulate. Thankfully I was able to take the fused fabric off fairly easily. The pair I'm working on right now has double knees already so I didn't do the fusing. I hope this provides some enlightenment as to why I did what I did.
So what are your plans for the holiday weekend? We are just hanging out getting ready for Tuesday (the first day of school). My daughter's 11th birthday is coming up on Wednesday, so after church on Sunday we're taking a family trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop and then going out for dinner (birthday girl says Red Robin). I hope to get a few more pairs of pants done for the boys, but they don't seem to be too in to school clothes like my daughter. I guess a good mom would make sure they have a new shirt to wear, so maybe I'll whip up a few new t-shirts too. Have a safe & fun weekend! :-)
Friday, August 22, 2008
Make your own knee patches
So do you have a kid that wears holes in the knees of his pants in no time flat? I do! I have been working on Back-To-School pants for my boys and nothing breaks my heart more than to put my heart and soul into their clothing just have a rip or stain happen right off the bat. I know, I shouldn't be so attached, but I try my hardest to give them RTW look, but made ever so lovingly by mom. Yep, you won't get dorky clothes from me. I may be a sweatshop of labor during the busy season, but my pay in hugs and kisses make it well worth my efforts.
So today I was sewing up my first pair of pant and thinking how thin the twill felt (a remnant I had, no clue what it was from - can you say free pants???). So I pondered for a second, what if I put another layer in the knee area for double layer protection. I called my trusty friend (thanks Kim!) to get her input. The verdict was that two layers really isn't going to help unless I fuse them together. Well we all know necessity is the mother of invention, so I present to you my "custom made" knees patches!
First, I cut a piece of fabric and a piece of Heat N Bond Lite to the size I needed. Then I fused the two together per the package instructions (see below ~ sorry for the side ways picture, Blogger would not cooperate and rotate it like it needs to be, but you get the idea, right?).
So today I was sewing up my first pair of pant and thinking how thin the twill felt (a remnant I had, no clue what it was from - can you say free pants???). So I pondered for a second, what if I put another layer in the knee area for double layer protection. I called my trusty friend (thanks Kim!) to get her input. The verdict was that two layers really isn't going to help unless I fuse them together. Well we all know necessity is the mother of invention, so I present to you my "custom made" knees patches!
First, I cut a piece of fabric and a piece of Heat N Bond Lite to the size I needed. Then I fused the two together per the package instructions (see below ~ sorry for the side ways picture, Blogger would not cooperate and rotate it like it needs to be, but you get the idea, right?).
Then I removed the backing and fused my "patch" to the knee area of the pants. The pants I'm making have two pleats in the knee area so it's impossible to see where the patch is from the right side. On the right side of my test sample it was hard to detect where I fused the two together as well, but I imagine if you use thicker fabric it might show slightly. Still, a few lines are WAY better than a hole in the knee days after school starts. Here is what the inside looks like after I fused the patch in place.
So there you have it, custom knee patches and my first tutorial! Ain't I something special today? ;-) I'll make sure to let you all know how it ends up working for my boys, but I don't see why it won't work like a charm. :-)
Monday, August 18, 2008
The Dress
I had my daughter snap a picture of me in my new New Look dress on Saturday before we headed out into the 100 degree heat to a BBQ. What a classy, yet comfy dress - I LOVE IT!!! Just wanted to share it with you. It's really a great pattern, so if you love twist tops like me, you'll surely love this dress. It's NL 6802 - you can click the picture to make it bigger if you'd like to see the the details a little better).
Thank you all for the comments you posted to my last post. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who suffers from Analysis Paralysis. :-) I did trudge forward and made a top from BWOF 4-2008-116 (a dress - line drawing below).
The only problem is I didn't realize the smallest size was 38 until I finished tracing it off. I wear a 36, sometimes 34 in the top depending on the ease. I decided since it was a top and I was just using a remnant, I'd just go forth and see what happened. I did a SBA and had my fingers crossed it would fit. Well no such luck. I had to take almost a full inch out of each side it was that huge. I still need to hem it, but have tossed it aside for now because it's stormy and cold out for the next few days (I made it sleeveless).
Well yay me, I made a step forward. No AP is going to defeat me. ;-P
Up next, I think some misc school clothes. I need to thumb through my Ottobre magazines and see what grabs my interest. I'm so thankful the boys like pretty much anything still.
Friday, August 15, 2008
There is a term for people like me....
it's called Analysis Paralysis. Yep, that is me. I can't make a decision about sewing for the life of me. There are zillions of garments I'd like to sew, but I just can't decide what to do next. Then when I do decide, I trace off my pattern and then worry if I'm making the correct alterations and picking the best fabric from my stash. So what in the heck is up? Why am I stuck all of a sudden? Does anyone else have this happen to them? I just feel like I'm totally over analyzing everything and I just need to relax. And really, what is the worst that is going to happen??? Really the worst case would be throwing something in the trash and that isn't life shattering. lol
So all that to say, not much sewing to report. A few days ago I did make myself another New Look 6802 - view D using some knit jersey from Fabric.com. I'm happy with the outcome, but haven't snapped a picture yet. Other than that, nothing but diaper sewing which isn't too exciting to report about.
While out on errands today, my daughter and I stopped in to Joann's for some 50% off thread and we peeked at the pattern books. She is very into Hannah Montana and was immediately wooed by two Simplicity patterns so I caved and bought them for her (at $1 each how can I go wrong???). In an earlier post I expressed how she really wanted to shop RTW and not have me sew things for her. Yes this breaks my heart, but I honestly don't want to waste my time sewing things for her she won't wear. She's almost 11 and has her own opinions and ideas - especially about clothes! Instead I decided to give her a little budget for school clothes and she was very picky with what she bought and tried hard to conserve money. I am very proud of her and think she did well. She even has $20 left! The two patterns we ended up getting were:
2878 - jumper
3716 - knit basics
She's really keen on the jumper and she wanted to shop my stash so we didn't bother looking at what they had at Joann's. Unfortunately we didn't find anything to her liking that was suitable for fall. She found several she liked, but they were all too light colored and spring-like. So back to the fabric store we'll go.
Hopefully in my next post I'll be beyond my Analysis Paralysis and have something great to share - keep your fingers crossed!
So all that to say, not much sewing to report. A few days ago I did make myself another New Look 6802 - view D using some knit jersey from Fabric.com. I'm happy with the outcome, but haven't snapped a picture yet. Other than that, nothing but diaper sewing which isn't too exciting to report about.
While out on errands today, my daughter and I stopped in to Joann's for some 50% off thread and we peeked at the pattern books. She is very into Hannah Montana and was immediately wooed by two Simplicity patterns so I caved and bought them for her (at $1 each how can I go wrong???). In an earlier post I expressed how she really wanted to shop RTW and not have me sew things for her. Yes this breaks my heart, but I honestly don't want to waste my time sewing things for her she won't wear. She's almost 11 and has her own opinions and ideas - especially about clothes! Instead I decided to give her a little budget for school clothes and she was very picky with what she bought and tried hard to conserve money. I am very proud of her and think she did well. She even has $20 left! The two patterns we ended up getting were:
2878 - jumper
3716 - knit basics
She's really keen on the jumper and she wanted to shop my stash so we didn't bother looking at what they had at Joann's. Unfortunately we didn't find anything to her liking that was suitable for fall. She found several she liked, but they were all too light colored and spring-like. So back to the fabric store we'll go.
Hopefully in my next post I'll be beyond my Analysis Paralysis and have something great to share - keep your fingers crossed!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Thanks!
First off I want to say thanks to Stacy of Stacy Sews for the nomination of the "E" excellent blogger award. It is so humbling to think people want to actually read about my sewing progress. My blog started as a journal of sorts just to document my sewing. My goal has never been readership. Of course I am happy to share what is going on in my sewing life with the world and I truly enjoy the comments that are left for me, I read each one so thank you for taking the time to post a comment. :-) This award has been circulating the blogland for a while now so I'm not quite sure who to pass the torch on to, so if you haven't been nominated, I nominate you! :-)
Also I wanted to share with you a new treat I bought for myself ~ Kai pinking sheers. I love the set of three Kai scissors I purchased back in March at the sewing expo so much that I finally broke down and bought the pinking sheers too. I often wish I had a pair of pinking sheers so on a whim I ordered them. I placed my order on Friday and on Monday they were in my mail box - super fast shipping, but they are in Seattle so it's only a few hours away from me. I tested them out and they are fab.u.lous - I know they will be a great asset to my sewing tool collection!
Lastly, there is a little contest on a group I belong to for a free Euro kids sewing pattern. The contest runs through midnight Eastern time on July 30th, so if you sew for children and love using the Euro patterns (especially Farbenmix or StudioTantrum patterns) and aren't part of the European Sewing Patterns for Children group, please join and use my name (Melissa Bauska - must put my name in the application when applying for me to be in the running for the prize). The pattern they are giving away is actually one my daughter likes and even tho I hadn't planned on sewing for her, I bet I can woo her with it. :-) Like most yahoo groups, there is a small application process so please only join if you're interested in the group and sew for kids.
Hope you're all having a fun weekend!!! :-)
Saturday, July 19, 2008
A little less talk, a lot more action.
I'm a country girl (yes I really live in the country) and love country music. Last weekend while my hubby was away on business, the kids were up late listening to a Toby Keith CD while playing Legos. On a whim I thought it sure would be fun to see him in concert (I've only been to two concerts at the fair and then one when I was little with my dad which I don't really remember) so I decided to hop online and see what his tour schedule was. Low and behold he was coming to the local Amphitheatre in a week. So I decided to look and see if I could find tickets so I could surprise my hubby with a special date night. Lucky me, I ended up getting tickets in the center section 14 rows from the front!!! I was so pumped and kept it a secret until yesterday afternoon divulging clues to him via email. Once he guessed the "who" I told him what we were doing - needless to say, he was very impressed with the surprise and my creativity (can you say "awesome wife" points for me??? lol).
So with an upcoming date night upon us, I had to make something new to wear (of course!). Flipping through my BWOF mags this past week I found the perfect little top to wear to the concert. It is from the June 2008 issue - #123. It was actually super simple to make thanks to some tutorials that have been posted. I ended up following the one posted by Christina of Assorted Notions, but both Dawn of Two On, Two Off and Angie of Quality Time both had helpful info on their blogs too. Thanks ladies, I'm so appreciative of you taking the time to share how to do something, especially when the directions are pretty murky! I posted a full review Pattern Review if you'd like to know more about the top. The verdict: DH loved the top and we had a B.L.A.S.T. at the concert last night. I think that was actually more fun than I've had in a very long time. The group Montgomery Gentry opened for Toby Keith and they were wonderful to see live as well - it was just a night of pure fun!!!
So with an upcoming date night upon us, I had to make something new to wear (of course!). Flipping through my BWOF mags this past week I found the perfect little top to wear to the concert. It is from the June 2008 issue - #123. It was actually super simple to make thanks to some tutorials that have been posted. I ended up following the one posted by Christina of Assorted Notions, but both Dawn of Two On, Two Off and Angie of Quality Time both had helpful info on their blogs too. Thanks ladies, I'm so appreciative of you taking the time to share how to do something, especially when the directions are pretty murky! I posted a full review Pattern Review if you'd like to know more about the top. The verdict: DH loved the top and we had a B.L.A.S.T. at the concert last night. I think that was actually more fun than I've had in a very long time. The group Montgomery Gentry opened for Toby Keith and they were wonderful to see live as well - it was just a night of pure fun!!!
Next up is a dress I made a few weeks ago - New Look 6802. I love this dress. I loved it the minute I saw it in the pattern catalog, but I'm a sucker for twist tops and wrap tops/dresses. Well I was not at all disappointed by this little number and have already worn it twice. I have another one cut and ready to sew up. I highly recommend this pattern, the instructions were super easy and the results are fabulous! Review on PR
This last top is one I whipped up because I realized I really needed more solid colored pieces in my wardrobe. It's from Ottobre Woman 2-2007 #4. Super easy and a TNT (tried and true) pattern for me. I also made four tank tops from the same issue this week too, pattern #1. I love the tank top pattern as well and it's very quick to make since I use my coverstitch machine and binding attachment. I don't have a picture of the tank tops, but I made one in turquoise, hot pink, plum, and red.
Currently I'm working on a jacket in turquoise linen. It's the Project Runway Simplicity 3538. I'm not sure if I'm in love with it or if it's looks too Becky HomeEc-y. It's almost done, so I think I will put it away for a week or two and bring it back out and see if I'm liking it a little better. I hate it when I'm not in love with something right away. I'm a jacket novice so I'm sure there is lots of room for improvement. DH doesn't know if he likes it either, so maybe that is swaying my feelings right now. He said he's not sure about the color and the color is definitely what I love so I don't know.
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