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. :-)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ahhh, *the* day of love is upon us again. Actually every day really should be a day of love where we celebrate those who are near and dear to us. Yesterday I decided to share the love by making a big batch of sugar cookies. With the help of my youngest we rolled dough, cut hearts, baked, and then frosted a HUGE plateful of cookies. I'm sure you can imagine the smiles we got when the big kids and daddy came home in the afternoon. And boy are they good, I've already ate WAY too many!

Also, I made myself another boat neck top. I just love this pattern! There was more stash busting too - it's a poly knit from Joann's that I've had for eons.

Lastly, I had a fellow sewing mama pass along a "Thank You" award to me on her blog ~ thank you Sabrina!!!

I hope everyone has a lovely Valentine's Day!!! :-)

Burda Boat Neck Top Review

Wow, two posts in two days, I'm on a roll! I was very excited to get the boat neck top sewn up from the February 2009 issue of BWOF. I'm pleased as punch with the result too. It went together beautifully and when I showed it to my hubby for his approval I got the "that isn't a new shirt" comment. Well actually it is honey, but I used the remaining leftover fabric for this top and I do have a summer shirt in the same fabric. Love the fabric tho. It's such a yummy knit from Lucy's Fabrics. I've had it for at least 3 years and was happy to do a little stash busting and get myself a new top.

Pattern Description: Fitted boat neck knit top with long or 3/4 length sleeves.

Pattern Sizing:36-44, I made a 36

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? Yes, tho I didn't follow them exactly. More below.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I've been wanting a boat neck top of ages and so I knew I had to sew this pattern up right away.

Fabric Used: A leftover piece in my stash from Lucy's fabrics - it's heaven to work with!

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I found the sleeve cap to be a bit too tall. Burda wanted you to sew it in in the round and use a gathering stitch to fit it in. That is such a stupid way to sew a knit top IMO, so I planned to sew it in flat. I found the sleeve to not fit right so I ended up reshaping it a bit and removing about 3/4" from the top sleeve ~ picture of pattern piece. After my alteration, it went in like a dream.

I also stabilized my neckline by sewing clear elastic to the edge at a 1-to-1 ratio. I just wanted to make sure the neck didn't gape open.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes, I'll definitely sew this again. I actually started on a second top, but due to a cutting error, I didn't haven enough fabric. I made the body of my second shirt with a rayon/lycra jersey and it's WAY too thin and clingy for this top - oops! Guess it's going in the thrift store bag.

I definitely recommend it to others.

Conclusion: Super cute and easy top! Also worth noting, I only used 3/4 yd for my top and the directions say 1 1/4 yd so you might want to lay out your pieces before purchasing so you don't end up with a little unusable piece of fabric.

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This picture is for Reethi. She asked what the side view of Burda 10-2008-114 looked like so here is a picture. It's hard to take a side view because there is no place to put my arm. You can see I have a swayback and the shirt is caught on my tush a little. My photographer hasn't learned she must look for these things so her mama looks good! lol Hopefully you get the idea Reethi.

Before I put the boat neck pattern away, I might try to make just one more. I really love this top!!!

Burda Gathered Front Top

Do you ever have one of those projects that is simple but seems to take forever to get done? Well this was it for me. I felt like such a simple top should be a breeze, but I only had small chunks of time to work on it and then the fabric was just giving me fits. I finally finished it yesterday morning, thank goodness.

Pattern Description: From Burda, "The clever front gathering will really make waves, the raised waistline providing a very slimming effect, particularly flattering on the women with a long torso."

Pattern Sizing: 36-44, I made a 36

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, tho the picture in the magazine appears to be more gathered in the center front than mine is. It might be a little more snug fitting too.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, they were easy (either that or I am starting to *get* BWOF instructions).

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I loved this top from the moment I saw it. I was drawn to all the gathers and the uniqueness of it.

Fabric Used: Rayon/lycra jersey from Joann's (this fabric was a royal PITA to work with). Maybe it was just my bad luck, but we didn't really get along too well.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I traced off the pattern as is, but ended up sewing the front neckline up about 1.5" higher than Burda tells you to. My bra was showing so I figured that isn't a good look. I also didn't hem the sleeves with a 2" hem, instead I used only 1" because I couldn't get my sewing machine foot in there, pretty tight space. Also, as mentioned in other reviews, the lower part of the arm is pretty narrow so I let that out about 1/4" or so on both sides and it's much better.

Another thing I did which I haven't done in the past was interface my the hem and the sleeve hem. The fabric was so drapey and needed the stability. I used Palmer/Pletsch Perfect Fuse sheer in both places and I cut the strip 1.25" wide for my 1" hem so it stabilized the fold too.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? This is a pretty unique top so I don't know that I'll sew it again. I am pretty happy with the end result even tho it has taken me days to complete this simple top (small bits here and there, not big sewing session). Looking at it on myself, I think that I would have been better off grading down to a size 34. I am right in the middle of the size 34 and 36 for my bust measurement and since this top is not super fitted, to me it looks a little big. I might take in the side seams a smidge in the waist to bust area, we'll see how I feel after wearing it around for the day. It's definitely a comfy shirt.

If this style is your cup of tea, I'd wholeheartedly recommend the top, it's really cute. Beware of the sleeves being a bit on the tighter side from the elbow area down to cuff. And if you're in between sizes you might consider sewing the smaller size.

Conclusion: If you're sewing with rayon jersey, you should use a stretch needle. I had no idea and had many fits with skipped stitches until I looked in my Fabric Savvy book. I was originally using a ball point needle but my machine and fabric did not like that combo whatsoever. Live and learn.

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Now I would like to answer a question that was asked in the comments of my last post. Most of the time I can't reply to comments that are left because your email addresses don't come through. If it's something you'd like answered right away, please either email me directly, pm me through Pattern Review, or leave your email address when you leave your question in the comments otherwise I'll most likely answer it in my next post.

Anyway, Kim had asked where I took the Palmer/Pletsch fitting class at. Last fall I actually drove to Portland for four weeks and took a 3 hour class from Marta Alto at their studio in Portland (it's located inside Fabric Depot). Here is the website for the local sewing school, but they also have sewing vacations for those outside the Portland area.

For my next project, I cut out the boat neck top in the February issue of BWOF. I'm sure it will be simple so hopefully I'll have something to show for more quickly than I did with this top.

Jean Jacket Review

I've had this jean jacket in my UFO pile since late September. I had only cut it out and then set it aside because I was starting the Palmer/Pletsch fitting class at the beginning of October. Then came the pants class followed by Christmas sewing so there it sat patiently waiting for me to return to it. I think it would still be sitting there, but I decided to get busy so I could enter it into the Pattern Review UFO contest. I finally got enough motivation up yesterday to get it finished and I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out. It's your basic unlined jean jacket made with Kwik Sew 2895. I like that view A has a bit of waist shaping so it's not as boxy as your typical jean jacket.

Topstitching Details and SnapSource snaps

I received feedback from a reader that she would like it if I posted my reviews on my blog too, so here I go with my first review (yep, it's copied from my review on PR, but it's all the pertinent info).

Pattern Description: Misses jackets with front and back yokes, three panel front and back, pockets in the yoke seams with flaps, and topstitching details. View B is shorter and has a waistband and cuffs while view A is longer and has no waistband or cuffs.

Pattern Sizing: xsmall - xlarge, I used the xsmall and made version A.

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? Yes, they were very straightforward and easy to follow.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I really liked the styling. I've seen many great versions of this jacket on PR and purchased the pattern a long time ago. I know it has lots of positive reviews, but I couldn't help adding one more.

My only dislike is in myself and how long it took me to get this jacket made. I cut it out at the end of September when I was on a cutting spree and then never got around to sewing it. I guess my slacking allows me to enter this into the UFO contest that is currently running. There is really no reason this became a UFO, just the lack of time and other things got pushed ahead of this item. Unfortunately it's a little too cold for me to wear it now, but I am sure I'll be wearing this a lot once the weather warms up.

Fabric Used: Red stretch twill I had in my stash - I am sure I purchased it at Joann's. I also used size 16 SnapSource snaps for the closures instead of buttons. I might have opted for size 20 if I had them, but I didn't have any on hand so I went with the 16
s and am pleased with how they look.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I made no pattern alterations and sewed a straight xsmall. It is actually pretty generously sized and am glad I didn't grade up in the hips like I contemplated doing.

Next time I make this jacket I will omit the chest pockets. I will put the flaps and just not sew on the pocket bag. I will never use the pockets, so what is the point in sewing them? I guess they might add a little more padding to bust! lol I also might lengthen the jacket a smidge too.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes, I'm quite sure I will sew this again and I definitely recommend it. Just think of the multitude of fabrics that can be used for a variety of looks - denim, twill, linen, corduroy, etc. There is a fair bit of topstitching to do, but I don't mind all the topstitching and like those sort of details. I even got very nice approval from my family on this one. I have some pretty embroidered linen that I think I'll make another version with and also some velvet corduroy that would be great too.

Conclusion: Great basic jean-style jacket that is a classic wardrobe piece.

Hopefully this jacket is the start of my sewing mojo returning. I think I worked myself too hard at the end of the year and burnt myself out.

P.S. I really want to see your garment label, so please email me. I made it a clickable link in my last post, but maybe you didn't realize that. Email me at noboty at gmail.com ~ thank you! :-)

Garment Labels

I'm soliciting your help. I won 1st prize on Pattern Review for the holiday/gift sewing contest and my prize is 250 labels from ClothingLabels4U ~ thanks Lisa for such a generous prize! I'm super excited to finally have labels to put into my garments, but I'm stumped as to what I want them to say and look like.

So here is where you can help. Will you pretty please email me a picture of your sewing label(s)? I need some inspiration on how I'd like them to look and I'm not even sure what I want them to say. In a perfect world, I'd love something I can use in everything I sew (myself, the kids, and anything I gift), but I'm not sure I can figure wording that would work well for this (you know chic enough for me, yet cool enough for my kids). I made this mock up to get me started, but obviously this would be for me only. I might put a black border around it too.

If you wouldn't mind sharing your label with me, please zap me an email. Also, what size are your labels? Are you happy with that size? My labels can be as big as 2"x1", but that seems awfully big to me.

Widening Blog Columns

It appears that I've inspired a few of you to give your own blog a face lift, so I wanted to share one more thing that I thought might be helpful. You might not have encountered this, but I have been annoyed on countless occasions of my main column being too narrow. I have typically noticed this with pictures were getting cut off on the sides. I could never figure out how to make it wider, however I knew it must have been fairly simple because I've seen others blogger blogs have wider columns. Well I finally found a helpful post after doing a little Google search. So if you'd like wider columns, visit this helpful blog post by John Deere Mom.

Now I'm off to have myself a little snack and go visit my friend who just had her seventh baby this morning! I can hardly wait to meet Miss Lucie Lynn and hope it doesn't make my uterus ache too bad for another one. I embroidered a few special things for her.

One more thing while I'm on the subject of babies. In one of the blogs I follow, I read this past week about a family who just had a baby that could use your prayers. Click on the link below to learn about this sweet baby. She's improving, but every prayer helps.

Have a great Sunday!

Face Lift (again)

Thank you for the feedback. I know I only posted a short bit ago, but I was worried it was too bright with the pinks & greens, so I changed it to a b&w theme. I hadn't thought of it clashing with pictures I might post, duh!

Not sure I'll keep my header, but for now it works. I need to get something productive done besides playing on the computer. If you see anything that looks funny, please let me know.

Face Lift

I have hated the look of my blog for a long time. I see so many other pretty blogs and feel like mine is "ho hum".

I went surfing around the net and found a site with lots of free backgrounds to choose from ~ The Cutest Blog on the Block. There are lots of cute ones and so I played around with it until I came up with something that I liked fairly well.

Now I need some honest feedback. Looking at it on my laptop it looks good, but when I look at it on our desktop it doesn't look quite as good. I think my laptop colors are off so I need to know what you all see. Does it match or clash? Please tell me, I swear it won't hurt my feelings. I know it's pretty girly girl, but I am after all, a girly girl so pink and such suits me quite well. So pretty please, tell me if it clashes or not. *smooch*

P.S. Thank you for all the sweet comments about my daughter - she really can't wipe the smile off her face. :-)

All smiles (or what $5000 will buy you)

Today was an exciting day at our house that has been nearly 2 years in the making. Our beautiful daughter got her braces off!!!!

And thank you Dr. *C* for your wonderful work. Unfortunately (for our checkbook anyway), I think we'll have at least one more kiddo in braces - ugg!

Kreativ Blogger

The ever sweet and talented Jeannine of Sew Pink nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger Award. Thank you Jeannine! If you haven't visited Jeannine's blog, you must! She makes the most beautiful children's clothing and always posts lots of inspirational pictures to get your creative juices flowing.

Here are the rules of the award~ 1. Copy the award to your site - 2. Link to the person from whom you received the award - 3. Nominate 7 other bloggers - 4. Link to those on your blog - 5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

So I'd like to nominate (ABC order of course):

Angie at Quality Time

Birgitte at Bubblegum 4 Breakfast

Dawn at Two On Two Off

Lori at Girls in the Garden

Jacqui at Sweet Notions

Ruth at Sew Chic

Stacy at Stacy Sews

The rule was to pick 7, but like Jeannine, it was hard to narrow it down.

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In my previous post about my embroidered patches, I was asked which embroidery machine I have. About 4 years ago I purchased a Babylock Ellure-ESL (click to see larger pic). I think it's the prior model to the Ellure that is current available, but maybe a few have been released since I purchased mine.

It is a combo sewing and embroidery machine, I use it for embroidery only tho. I embroiders up to a 5x7 size and I find it perfect for my needs. I really thought I'd get into embroidery more, but I really haven't. I also use it to embroider the bloomers I sell (P.S. these make a great gift!).

I was also asked if I hoop or stick down the jeans and applique the patch directly on the the jeans or embroider the patch and sew it on the regular way. This probably makes the professional embroider cringe, but what I usually do is use spray adhesive and pins to hoop my item. In this case, I used two layers of cut away stabilizer in my hoop, ironed a fusible stabilizer to the back side of the knee area, sprayed some spray adhesive on the hooped stabilizer, and stuck the pant leg to that. Then for extra security I pinned it down to make sure it didn't move. Since the designs I used were more dense, I used multiple layers of stabilizer to help keep the design from distorting. I hope that makes sense. Everything was done on the embroidery machine with the exception of sewing the leg closed.

Thank you all for your positive feedback about my fix. It works for now and they love what I did, so that is a good thing in my book. :-)

*hole* lotta fixing

Do your kids (in my home read BOYS) come home with jeans looking like this? Mine do and it happen in a matter of a few short weeks. Note the pants on the right were purchased only a few weeks ago!!!

So what's a mom to do short of buying jeans every month and burning a hole in her clothing budget? Well fix them of course! Yes, I do make the boys' jeans myself and those seem to hold up better, but sometimes I just don't have enough time or find them for under $10 and buy them at the store.

Here are the fruits of my labor. I used my computer program for my embroidery machine and imported a design. Then to make it into a patch, I put an applique shape around it. It was super easy to do. And so I didn't have to unhem the jeans, I removed the inseam or outseam (depending on which seam wasn't double top stitched) from about 1" above the hem to close to the crotch and spread it open so it was flat. Sorry I forgot to take a picture of this step. Then I stitched out the design and sewed things back closed. My boys were beyond thrilled and thought they looked so cool - yay Mom!

I have a HUGE train fan. Anything trains he loves and he adores the Santa Fe diesel. I was snooping around the net and found this little gem for FREE at Ann The Gran ~ just search trains after you log in and you'll see it.

For my middle son I made a dog patch from Embroidables (link opens to the design - not free tho).

Up close and thank you blogger for not turning it the correct way - grr!

And lastly a fire hydrant from Designs By Juju (link opens to the set). This one isn't my favorite one, I mostly don't like the light gray I used. It's a good design, it's just my color choices I don't care for.

The base of each patch is the reverse side of denim. While weeding out the boys' play clothes of what fits whom, I found a few pairs of pants that looked really bad so I just cut them off to make them into shorts. Apparently I'm a little strange because I thought I should save the lower legs of the jeans in case I need a little denim for something. Viola, patches for pants! I figured denim as the base would be more durable than any other fabric I had and I used the back side as a design element.


Now go patch some jeans already!

Selling Hand Crafted Goods

Times are tight and we're all feeling the pinch. Do you sell your hand crafted items or crafting supplies on Etsy or FeeBay (um, I mean eBay)? Then you must check out this new site where it's absolutely free to sell things! It's called Art Fire. Listing up to 10 things per month is free (no listing or closing fees) and if you list more than 10 items, it's a flat $7/month. Sounds great doesn't it? Let's help them take off by supporting this new business. If you sign up, I'd love for you to use me as a referral, here is my link if you're so inclined (my user name is poshpunkins if you need that too)~

Register on ArtFire.com

Not much else going on. I've lost a little sewing mojo and am looking everywhere for it. I'm confident it will return soon. Instead I've been working on the painting and just doing the norm around my house. I still have to paint the stair well, maybe this week.

I did manage to machine embroider a quilt block for the official Pattern Review quilt. Here is what I am sending. Not too exciting, but hey it's something.

Hopefully I can find my sewing mojo somewhere around here....

Falling out of love

It happens to all of us right? We truly love something and then our feelings change. This feeling has been coming on for a while for me. I'm falling out of love with my house.

When we first moved in, I honestly couldn't think anything in the world could be finer. It was a dream come true for us. We were able to get a building loan and built a house just for us. At the time we'd have loved to gone a little fancier, but like most young families, we had a beer budget and were just thankful we had the opportunity to build something to call our own.

Now we're approaching our 8th anniversary of living here and our taste definitely leans towards champagne. Hubby and I have all sorts of ideas of things we'd like to do go give our home a face lift, but like always, there is an order of operations and money must be saved to do the enhancements. It sounds so wonderful to just run down to the bank and borrow money, but after paying off our debts in 2007, we don't want to go back there. It's super hard to save money for something, but I think we end up appreciating it more than we would otherwise.

So while we're planning our remodeling projects, what's a girl to do in the mean time to soothe her love loss? Paint of course!


This past week I got a few gallons of paint, the same colors we currently have, and am in the process of repaint our main level walls and trim. While the walls were starting to look a little tired, the trim was KILLING ME! It was so banged up from Tonka trucks ramming into it and I just cringed anytime we were having company. After two days of painting, I feel like I'm getting somewhere and it's looks soooo much better! I feel like I *like* my home again. I would say *love*, but I'm reserving that for when we have new hardwood floors and lots of beautiful crown moulding, hopefully it will be sooner than later.

I still have some painting to do over the next few days. I am really not that fond of painting, but the end result makes me so much happier and is a great way to start out the new year.

Happy 2009!

I haven't done any sewing this past week. With Christmas and my hubby home, it's hard to get much done besides playing "maid" around the house cleaning up after everyone. I did get a few goodies in the mail tho which is always so very fun.


I had planned to do a post on my sewing of 2008, but I need hubby's help to make a graph. I will still try to do that in the next few days. If I can't get the graph, I'll at least share what I've sewn. I've enjoyed reading what other bloggers have accomplished during the year. My list actually surprised me and is quite long, but many were TNT patterns and things for my kids so those are less time consuming than starting from scratch.

Be safe if you're going out tonight and may 2009 be a year filled with wonderful things.

Merry Christmas

I love the time leading up to Christmas. The anticipation is so fun and the glow on the kids' faces is priceless. This morning we forced our children go slowly with gift opening so we could savor every moment. And look at this picture, they are all smiling and it was the first (and only) picture I took of them in front of the tree today. Apparently cooperation occurs when they want to know what Santa Claus put in their stockings. ;-)


The kids were all thrilled with their gifts, but I think my daughter might be on cloud nine still. She has been bugging us for well over a year for a Sleep & Study Loft from Pottery Barn Teen. It's a little too rich for out beer budget at $2,000 (shipping included) so my uber talented hubby built her one! It was hard to pull off the surprise. As you can see, the thing is huge (it's a double bed up there). The project was started the day after Thanksgiving so it's been weeks of torture for the kids wanting to know what dear ol' Dad has been up to. The kiddos all went to my in-laws for a sleepover on the 23rd and we got busy getting the big surprise ready.

She has been going on and on about wanting pink walls with polka dots too ~ wish granted. It was fun to get her room ready for the big reveal, but the icing on the cake was her reaction. She was more than thrilled and burst into tears. And seriously, I can't believe I went to the ends of the Earth to find a pink office chair for her, she better appreciate me from here to eternity! lol And without further ado....

I received many lovely gifts from my family, but the best one of all is just being together with my family. May God's blessings be bestowed upon you this Christmas Day and always. Merry Christmas!

Old Man Winter Has Arrived...

with full force in the Pacific NW. Just a few photos I took around our house over the past few days. I have no idea how much snow we have. It just keeps on snowing here tho. Yesterday from the time we woke up until nearly 10pm it snowed nonstop. Today it's been on and off and it just makes me giddy!

I've been sewing some, but my seam ripper and I are becoming BFFs. Maybe I should walk away for a bit, but I want to get the top I'm working on done. They are dumb mistakes too considering I've made the top twice already. Tis life.

More sewing

I feel like I've been making good headway getting things cranked out lately. I'm using up fabric I have and getting different gifts made.

First up is a garment for me. It's one of my favorite patterns, BWOF 10-2005-114. I actually purchased the fabric in November when I was taking my pants fitting class. I can't remember the blend, but it's a sweater-y knit of sorts. Not that stretchy, I guess more like a fancier fleece. It has a nice texture to it and the colors are berry. The photo is a bit dark, I think it's prettier in person. So cozy and a welcome addition to my wardrobe.

I also made one for my sister out of a sweater knit I got from Joann's a long time ago. It too is prettier in person (Is this a good enough reason for a new camera since I have such crappy shots??? If so, please email my hubby and tell him! lol). I was going to get rid of the fabric, but when my sister saw it in the pile she really liked it so I decided I'd make her a sweater too for a Christmas gift. We're the same size and she'd tried on another one I made so I'm sure it will fit her. The fabric is definitely her colors and not mine. This is a "what was I thinking" purchase.

And a few box bags from this tutorial ~ thanks to Stacy for pointing out the tutorial on her blog. I will post a review on PR of this pattern very soon. The directions are a little confusing, but the pictures help. I also found a helpful post on this blog about how to do the corners in an easier manner. Below are the fruits of my labor. I made the black one larger for my SIL - you can see it matches the Weekender Bag she'll get for graduation in March.

More baby bibs! I just love the Valentine one.

And another throw pillow for my couch from some leftover fabric (ivory chenille on the back side). I got smart this time and put a zipper in it. This is soooo much better than hand sewing the pillow shut because it's faster, plus I can take the pillow out and wash the cover. I might go back and redo the other pillows I did earlier in the year.

So that my friends, is what I've been sewing. Actually I also made two more aprons from my Grandma's apron pattern to put in my "ready to gift" box. I forgot to take pictures of those, but I surely don't need another apron right now since I already have three in rotation plus a Christmas one. Oh and I made my youngest a pair of pants from Ottobre too, but they are set aside for Christmas. Nothing exciting, just blue twill, very cute nonetheless.

Today the kids are home for a snow day. The Pacific NW is getting hammered with Arctic air and now snow. In the Portland area the kids have been out all week, but we didn't get the snow they did over the weekend. Now we're all getting it and it's just beautiful out! It rarely snows here anyway and when it does, it's here for a minute and then gone. The extended weather report is snow off and on and below freezing temps through Tuesday (as far as the weather forecast goes). We might be in for a white Christmas afterall!!!!

Childbirth

If you any children, you know the pains of labor fade into the sunset once the baby is delivered. Well the same is true with making the Amy Butler Weekender Bag. In my quest to give more handmade gifts this year for Christmas, I decided to make my SIL and daughter each a Weekender Bag. Well what the heck was I thinking???? Apparently I don't vividly remember all the blood, sweat, and tears it caused me when I made myself one in January. I need to be declared insane!

Now after starting the bag, I'm not fully committed to finishing it in time for Christmas. I'm reconsidering this might be a good graduation gift for when she graduates nursing school in March (that gives me a little more time). I think I suck at big projects. I like more instant gratification projects. Possibly I'm longing for a few new things for me, so I will set this aside for a bit and bring it back to the machine soon. I will finish it, the question is whether it will be in time for Christmas - that is still to be determined.

Here is the bag in it's sad state~

Now onto my other sewing projects that I promised to share in my last post. First up is the outfit I made to wear to DH's work Christmas party. Of course you can just call me "Last Minute Lucy" on this one. I seem to have this theme every year. I want something new to wear and don't start it until the day of the party. I had purchased a black knit with subtle silver sparkles in it when my local indy store went out of business in January. I never knew what I'd do with it. It's a pretty stable knit with not a lot of give, but something kept drawing me back to it so I got 2 yds to toss in my stash. Well here is the end result, a Jalie Crossover top and a little A-line skirt I quickly drafted out of the scraps. I lightened the picture to help see the details better, but it's still hard since it's black. What I liked about the outfit was that I wasn't freezing. They always have the air cranked up and if I had any sort of sleeveless dress or top on I'd freeze.

I also recently made myself two black skirts. One I still need to photograph, but here is the other one. Forgive the lack of a full body shot; the ones my daughter took were horrible and there was no way I could post them. The skirt is from Simplicity 3631. I had Marta fit this pattern on my at my class in October because I really wanted to have a flattering straight skirt. She seemed to think the size 12 was perfect, however once I had the fabric cut and got started, I found this skirt too big. I ended up shaving it down to about a 10. I still wasn't happy with the result so I pegged the hem in about 2" and I like the look better. I'm happy I have a basic black skirt, tho I'm not sure if I'll sew this again. Quite frankly I think that A-line skirts look much better on my shape than straight skirts. The other one I made is too straight too, oops!

So here is the front view (btw, my knees are even tho the picture looks like one knee cap is way higher than the other, must have been how I was standing)~

And the back view (nice bruises on my leg, huh?)~


Here is my middle son in his new Kwik Sew 2894~

And pj's galore~

And finally I have a few bibs for my son's teacher. All my children have had the pleasure of having this wonderful lady be their teacher and she's finally bringing home her baby from Vietnam! The little girl is almost 11 months old and figured a few chenille bibs would be a welcome gift. As a mom, I know you can never have too many bibs. It was a good way to give my embroidery machine some love too.

Up next? Good question. I should be working on that darn bag, but I think I'll set it aside. I have a pillow that needs a cover and I am in desperate need of some tops.