i shall fear knit no more!

thanks yet again to pinterest, i am officially obsessed with t-shirt refashions & working with knit fabric! and i fear knit no more! my serger is another story though...still haven't built up the courage to tackle that 4 thread monster, but this is the year that i will do more than just look longingly at it & wish that it would thread itself!

so here's what i've been up to for the last 2 days & what will more than likely occupy my time over the next few days, possibly weeks!

michael's had their t-shirts on sale 2/$6 this week so i stocked up so that i could get crafty & experimental without breaking the bank! 

shirred waist skirt

i bought 2 of the color pictured & turned one into a skirt & one into a top. the skirt was made using tips from a pin i found about turning a men's shirt into a skirt. the shirt i made turned out to be my own design...it's not bad, but i still need to re-work the sleeves/arm holes.

 

 

my own creation

 i've turned a couple size large shirts into more of a peasant style and they are super roomy & comfortable, and quick to make so i plan on making tons more!

peasant blouse

having luck with those i moved onto trying a couple other pinners tuts for tee refashioning, unfortunately those didn't turn out as well as i was hoping, but not a total loss since it did give me the chance to experiment & helped me realize that some styles don't look as good on me as i want them to!


the first i tried was reworking an old sport tee into something cuter. i did not take pics of that since the end results were less than stellar & that tee will now be used for workout & yardwork purposes only!

then i moved onto turning a long sleeve tee into a ruffle collar tank. i really wanted this one to work out because the pics on the tutorial looked super cute! unfortunately, ruffle collars tend to look rather clown collar like on me so no ruffle neck tops for me...didn't realize this til after i completed the top! even after cutting the ruffle open i still wasn't happy with how it looked. oh well, lesson learned!

ruffle collar tank from long sleeve tee

close up after i cut ruffle open

i also made a "from scratch" top using a pattern & knit fabric. that turned out better than i expected and really made me feel less afraid to tackle more patterns using knit! 

up next will be more skirts & peasant tops from oversized tees and i plan on trying some dress patterns & tutorials as well. i'm in desperate need of maxi skirts & dresses for those days when i want to look girly and hide my unshaven legs at the same time! 


some day i will tackle all my sewing fears...for now, i'm thrilled that i have taken the plunge into knits and can't wait to keep creating new clothes!

i want...i want...i want...

i want to sleep away this migraine...
i want to sew all day...
i want to stop being lazy...sometimes
i want to read all day...when i'm not sewing, that is
i want to keep up with my blog...at least every other day, not every other month
i want to find cleo so i can give her her insulin shot...she's always hiding when it's shot time!
i want to stop buying fabric for the next few months...i already have way more than i will ever use!
i want to get started on making christmas gifts...or at least start a list for making those gifts.
i want a new van...i'm (not so) patiently waiting until next year to get one.
i want to remodel our bathroom...the shower is way too small & the tub is way too big!
i want to re-do my craft room...just not sure where to start!

but right now, what i really want is a big cup of hot chai tea...and that is so doable that i'm gonna head downstairs & make at least that one thing happen!

lessons in shirring...and the little tips i've learned

for the longest time i have wanted to try shirring fabric so that i could make myself some cute little sundresses (jordan doesn't like the way the elastic feels so i wasn't planning on making any of these type dresses for her). so after checking out a few websites and watching a couple youtube videos, i figured i was well enough prepared to tackle my first project. i had some nice amy butler fabric that i needed to make something with and a dress seemed like a logical choice. since making that dress on monday, i have made 2 others with plans to make several more over the coming weeks...i will be essentially living in these dresses this summer so i need a good variety on hand! so, here are my lessons learned and tips for making shirred undresses or tops.


first of all it's a good idea to wind several bobbins with the elastic thread...hand wind them, of course, and not too tightly since you're not trying to get as much on as you can. i didn't do this with the first dress and had to re-wind the bobbin after every third row. so, having the bobbins preloaded is a huge time saver once you get the project started!

filled bobbins, ready for the next project

lesson/tip #2: you may not need as much fabric as you think you do...meaning you don't need twice your measurement since the fabric "shrinks up", but not that much (at least not in my case)

hard to see, but there's a blue line down the fabric. all the fabric on the left of the line was cut off.

the line is a little clearer here

i ended up cutting off a little more than 14" from the side of the dress after sewing it together. i could have gotten away with 56" of material (a little more than a yard & half) instead of the 72" that i thought i needed. it wasn't a huge deal since i had the fabric already, but it helped to know so that next time i can save a little money & not buy too much fabric.

lesson/tip #3: if the fabric is too thick, it won't shirr. the first dress i made was supposed to have a bigger top band, but the two layers of fabric would not shirr no matter what i tried so i gave up and made it into a smaller 1/2" band...only after lots of frustrations and switching to my non-computerized machine, that is.

the top band before adding elastic

lesson/tip #4: always mark and sew your top and bottom hems first, it's so much easier than having to go back. you could probably hold off on the bottom hem, but i like to sew it when it's a straight line rather than a circle (that's the lazy side of me, though).

lesson/tip #5: i add elastic to the top band after shirring the fabric. meaning that when i fold over the top hem i leave enough room to put in a 1/4"-1/2" piece of elastic to help pull the top in. that's just my preference though, you may want the top more ruffle-y, but i found that since i wasn't adding straps of any kind, adding elastic to the top band made it fit better. 

lesson/tip #6: the first row is gonna be the loosest row and it may not look right, but as long as the fabric is gathered some, it'll all work out fine the more rows you add

hard to tell, but there is one row of shirring under the top band

four rows here and it's tightening up

there's about 10 rows here

here's what the elastic/wrong side looks like

and the finished dress with about 22 rows of shirring and 1/2" elastic in the top band

and this was the first dress with about 24 rows of shirring and 1/4" elastic top band

lesson/tip #7: you can use either a computerized or non-computerized machine, just be sure to set your tension on the highest level and your stitch length to the longest. the dress above was made on my older non-computerized machine and the one above that was made on my computerized one. both of them did just fine so whatever kind you have should work.

lesson/tip #8: you can steam the fabric after sewing it to pull the elastic in more...don't iron or press it, just hold your iron a little bit above the fabric and press the steam button on your iron. 

lesson/tip #9: you can use your pressor foot as a guide when sewing the lines. i keep my lines about 1/4" apart, but you can do whatever you feel comfortable with. my lines aren't perfect, but since they are so close together you can't really tell!

just a couple more: thinner fabric works best, regular thread in the top (through the needle) with the elastic in the bobbin, and sew with the right side of the fabric facing up.

i'm sure i'm forgetting something, i always do, so feel free to leave a comment and i'll answer it! it really has gotten easier the more i do it, the dress i made last night took about 3 hours from start to finish with ironing, pinning the hems and casing, sewing and putting the elastic in the top. 

my next dress attempt is going to be with just back shirring and some kind of halter or other bodice...i'm still iffy with zippers so i'm going to alter a pattern or 2 that i have. hope i've helped at least a little...i really enjoy shirring and hope you will, too!  

my favorite dress, so far!

 

alone on my pulled pork island

i am deep in the middle of my "make a bag every day for a week" plan, but wanted to take a quick little minute to say that i am much better after the whole house-hunting/house-losing stress out from a few days ago. i have a much more relaxed outlook on all things in life now and know that everything will work out in the end the way it's always meant to.

i thawed out the pulled pork i made a month or so ago in hopes for serving it up for dinner one night a few days ago, only to sadly discover that i am the only one in the house who likes pulled pork! so, now i am left alone to enjoy the yummy, bar-b-que goodness that is pulled pork! and enjoy it, i did! sadly though that means that i will no longer be making pork butt...which, really in the end may not be so bad since apparently those things are not the healthiest cuts of meat!

anyway, loads of pics to follow in the next few days since i have been sewing up a storm and making lots of bags, purses, and pouches! i'm trying all kinds of new products and learning lots so there will definitely be a blog about it all when it's all done. come on back soon!

just a little venting

it's been a long few days, life has caught up to my desire to blog and since we have to have clean clothes i let life win out over blogging! the kids were on break last week and although jordan doesn't go to school she chose to wake up every morning by 7:30 so it wasn't much of a sleeping break for me! naturally she is sleeping until 8:30 now, when i already have to be up by 7 for stephen. oh, well, summer will be here soon enough & then maybe i'll sleep in more!

this is just a quick update, so no pics...i haven't gotten them from off my camera yet, anyway! i have been sewing, baking and cooking though...at least keeping up that end of my self imposed project. i made up a couple more pillow case tops for myself and finally finished up the 2 peasant dresses for jordan to go along with the sewing side. as for the cooking and baking i've made chocolate chip cookies, corn bread muffins, beef stew, new orleans bread pudding, bruschetta, sangria (yes, i know you don't cook or bake that), sour cream muffins, and brownies from scratch. i'm sure i'm forgetting something!

so i'm keeping busy with that end, just not this end! i'll try to be better, but we all know that it's probably gonna be another week before i post something new again!

thanks much and come back soon...i promise to have pics next time!

finally, the sewing has begun!

my sweet sadie is finally getting lots of use now that i've started sewing more and more everyday! 

sadie, my sewing machine!

yes, i name my appliances (molly, the mixer; sadie, the sewing machine...i'm sure there are others). 

i have been busy over the last week with my sewing and cooking projects so this is the first moment i've had to update the blog. ok, well, that's not quite true...me and my lazy side have been taking our sweet time with blogging. but now, i'm back and up to the task ahead...kind of. it's not been the best for me the last couple days...my husband has been calling them "bitch days" and well, quite frankly he's right! it's such a joy to be a girl sometimes.

but, now the bitchiness seems to have disappeared and the weird funk that i felt creeping up seems to be moving away...quess that keeping myself busy was a big help after all!

my first apron

so, back to sewing and the first thing i made was an apron from one of my quilting magazines. it was super easy and quick, made from a couple towels i got from ikea and didn't really like as towels anyway, and some ribbon for the ties. i was so super excited when i made it, but i've yet to remember to use it when i'm actually in the kitchen making things! at some point, i'm sure i'll remember to use it...hopefully.

my new pillowcase style top!

last week, while browsing through one of my favorite sewing sites, i got the idea to make myself up a couple pillowcase style tops. i could have spent $10 to purchase the pattern instructions, but since i already know how to make that type of thing for jordan i figured it wouldn't be a problem to make one or 2 for myself. i simply took some closer looks at the photos of ones that had been made and went from there. it was very easy since the top is essentially a rectangle with armholes cut out, i made mine with a slightly more fitted cut rather than full like the ones i make for jordan. 

the blue top

with the weather getting warmer, i figure i will get tons of wear out of these kinds of tops! i like the way the first 2 came out, but have tons of ideas for the next batch of tops that i'll be working on over the next week or so. it's such an easy pattern to alter and i'm actually finding that it's more comfortable to wear than i thought it would be!

another view of the blue top

so with a new sewing pattern to keep my creative side occupied, i broke my self imposed rule of not buying more fabric and bought more fabric today. and to make that even better, i didn't even order the right amount so i had to order even more! i'm really trying to find the bright side of that mistake...guess it could be that i can just use the fabric to make some stuff for jordan, too. i'm just not a huge fan of the whole mother/daughter matching thing, but i guess if we don't wear the same patterns on the same days, it'll be just fine! so, there, i did find a bright side after all!

and now, i'm off to put sadie to more work...i've got 2 dresses for jordan that are nearly done and a skirt, too that i hope to finish up this week. i got tons of ideas from the flowertown festival (it's a big arts/crafts type fair) that we had here over the past weekend...i always get inspired after going to that! i'd love to have a booth there some day...oh, how a girl can dream!

anyhow, come on back for more about my sewing projects and all the cooking and baking i've still been getting in as well! i'll be posting more soon with yummy food pics, too!

and now back to our regularly scheduled project!

now that we're back and done with travel for awhile, i'm back to my project...baking and cooking to my little heart's contentment (i've not been as crafty lately). i will make every attempt to keep this relatively short, but there's been lots of baking and cooking over the last few days and i, of course, feel the need to share everything! so, here i go diving right in!

the busted mason jars of chicken broth

after the disaster of broken glass and chicken broth, i have decided that plastic is a much safer bet for storing broth. i made up another batch of broth yesterday, separated the liquid from the solids, shredded the chicken to use later, and will be defatting the broth later this afternoon...storing it in plastic rubbermaid containers which i tested (to insure no more busted containers) by freezing water in one overnight. yay, me for learning my lesson!

jordan's cake, all from scratch

sunday was jordan's birthday and even though the day started with a migraine, i still wanted to make her a cake...she had been asking for one and who am i to deny my daughter what she wants! she asked for a rectangle,  green cake with pink frosting and she wanted her name on it...i chose the purple for the writing. now, having never made a cake from scratch i did choose a very easy recipe to follow which claimed to be one bowl, and maybe it would've been for anyone else...just not for me.

the 3 bowls used for the one bowl cake

the cake turned out good enough for my first attempt and i'll try the recipe again, maybe with cupcakes next time. the frosting was where i learned my lesson...i microwaved the butter to soften it, melting it some in the process. rather than tossing the melted part and softening more, i just through it all in to make up the frosting...not a good idea! the frosting came out fluffy and seemed to be the correct consistency, but the taste was off and i could smell the melted butter in it. jordan liked it though and stephen and i both ate a piece...he said he didn't like it, but i made him eat at least the piece i had given him since he needs to be trying new things whether he likes it or not. i will make my kids less picky whether they like it or not!

oatmeal quickbread

monday was a sick day for me...having awoken to a sore throat and stuffy nose. still, sickness doesn't stop me when i'm on a mission! for some reason when i'm sick i crave fresh baked bread or something along those lines...i craved gooey, yummy, time-consuming to make monky bread the last time i was sick (the time consuming part kept me from making it). so i found a recipe for oatmeal quickbread in the new baking cookbook that i had bought the day before. it was quick to put together and tastes very good all warm with some butter on it...it's been a tasty breakfast the last couple days! as per usual, i am the only one to eat it, but that suits me just fine!

i also had every intention of making myself some tomato soup only to realize that i had the wrong kind of canned tomatoes...the recipe called for crushed and i used whole (which has seeds & seeds aren't good in soup). i had already started to make the soup up so instead of throwing away all that tomato and onion mix, i decided to turn it all into marinara sauce for dinner. i had to chop and soften some garlic in a separate pan before adding it to the sauce, but other than that it was super easy to get the sauce together...i added dry spices since i didn't have anything other than fresh parsley in the house and i was not leaving to get anything else! so i made marinara out of tomato soup and it was very good and yummy!

marinara sauce and ricotta mixture

later in the day i boiled some jumbo shells and made up the ricotta cheese mixture for the stuffing. turns out that i had more shells than stuffing mix and had to save some of the shells to stuff later and freeze...after going to the store and getting more cheese. once the shells where stuffed for dinner and the pan was all prepared and covered in cheese, i popped it into the oven for the time called for. once it was cooked and cooling, i steamed some broccoli for us so that we wouldn't go into some kind of cheese induced coma from the stuffed shells! jordan was the only one who wouldn't even try the shells (i'm not ashamed to say she got sent to bed since she refused to eat dinner) while the rest of us enjoyed them very much! i was very pleased with how the recipe turned out and have now made up another batch of the stuffing mixture, stuffed the leftover shells, covered it in marinara sauce and stuck it in the freezer for dinner another night in the future! yay me for thinking ahead!

yummy, cheese covered, saucy stuffed shells

and just to show that yes, we really did have the broccoli, too!

so, now i bring this entry to an end... i must keep you coming back for more! i do have more baking to get to today (cleaning, too...yippee) and planning on making up a new crochet hook holder so that my sewing machine stops feeling so neglected! today's baking menu will be banana muffins, benne wafers, and macaroni and cheese...yesterday was oatmeal rasin cookies and homemade brownies (the recipe from the pioneer woman's cookbook). i'll blog all about the cookies and brownies tomorrow...or later tonight, if the mood to write hits me again! 

come on back soon...there'll be more pictures and project fun!

i'm really enjoying this "no-name" project!

i seem to have finally found something that i really enjoy doing...i'm really enjoying this project that i decided to take on. i've been cooking, baking, crocheting, or sewing every day for the last 2 weeks and really, that's quite an accomplishment for me; i tend to give up and start slacking off right around this point! of course, i am slacking a bit in other areas like the laundry and updating the blog on a more regular basis...something always has to give though, i guess.

friday was a creative/crafty day and was spent sewing on the binding to the tablerunner. 

 

since i've been really enjoying my time in the kitchen either cooking or baking, i decided that i would make fettucine alfredo for dinner on saturday...only luke had other ideas for what he wanted. it's kinda funny, really...i'm not the best decision maker and i had finally made a decision about something without being prodded into that choice, only to have it shot down. oh well, i was still going to make it for the kids though since luke wanted steaks and neither of the kids really like them (yes, my children are oddballs!) 

i used the recipe from the joy of cooking book, making only one adjustment since it actually called for a whole stick of butter and i just couldn't bring myself to use that much...i used half a stick instead. it's a super easy recipe to follow and so quick to make, the sauce was the quickest i've ever made before...waiting for the water to boil for the noodles and actually cooking the noodles took longer than making the sauce! i was very happy with the outcome and the kids seemed to enjoy it, too (thankfully). luke and i enjoyed our steaks and baked potatoes (he grilled the steaks, i baked the potatoes) rather than the pasta.

 

and because trying out different recipes is so much fun for me, i also made chocolate crinkle cookies for dessert! i had all the ingredients here at the house and that was really the deciding factor on making that recipe. it was the first time i had ever used baking chocolate, the kind that come in one ounce pieces that need to be chopped before melting and it was easier to chop the chocolate than i expected. while the chocolate was melting with some butter in my makeshift double boiler, i got all the other ingredients together. 

 

once all the ingredients were mixed together i set it all in the fridge to chill, just like the recipe called for. side note: i had obviously started the cookie making process before starting dinner since i knew ahead of time that i needed to chill the dough. i let the dough chill for a few hours and then set about making the cookies after dinner was fully digested by us all. so, here's all the fun stuff that i found out while making these cookies: chilled chocolate cookie dough is really hard and having to make balls to roll in powdered sugar is quite a workout and rather messy! the first batch turned out to be shaped too small and more ball-like than they should've been. so i fixed that "problem" with the rest of the batches by making the balls bigger and then smashing them with the back of a spoon halfway through. 

they turned out fine in the end, jordan liked them and kept coming back into the kitchen to get some...stephen didn't like them and luke didn't even try them, but i'm not too surprised by any of that really. i liked them enough to have a couple, but not enough to make them again...bit too messy and hard to work with. first batch are the ones on the plate, second batch are the ones on the rack in the pics below.

and so that was my baking adventure for the weekend. sunday was a cooking, baking, and crafting day. i made pancakes from scratch for breakfast, franks and beans for dinner and brownies (from a box) for dessert. 

the pancake recipe (from the joy of cooking) was easy and one that i'll use from now on, possibly doubling it since there was just enough for all of us and i like to have leftovers so stephen can have them for breakfast at least one day during the week.

the franks and beans were very good and we ate the whole batch for dinner, the kids weren't terribly fond of them but they ate most of what i gave them. i left out the chopped onion that the recipe called for since i didn't want to stink up the house and also, honestly, just didn't feel like chopping one!

the brownies were the same kind that we always have when i make them from a box...no more trying ones that have added things like nuts or caramel since no one liked that. eventually i will make them from scratch, too...as soon as i find a recipe i really feel like trying.

as for the crafty part, i worked on the brown afghan some more, with the intend now being that it will be done in time to be an anniversary gift next month. i figure as long as i work on it some everyday and add at least four rows a day, i should have it completed in time. of course, with me, one just never knows.

coming up this week: in the crafting department there'll be more crocheting on the the afghan and working on a cross stitch project, too. in the cooking/baking department there'll be more new recipes to be tried starting with red beans and rice and cheesecake since i finally purchased my first springform pan. keep coming back and i promise to post more often just to keep me from spending an hour+ in front of my laptop every 3 days and seeming to write a book when i do update! things are progressing along quite nicely though so i'm really very happy about that!

slacker in some ways!

it's been a little more than a week since i started my "no-name" project and while i'm making some adjustments, i have been right on track with doing something either crafty or bake-y everyday. so yay, me! for that and boo, me for not keeping better track with my blog...that seems to be the one place where i am slacking off. oh, well, i'll try harder over the next weeks to blog every day or at least every other day. maybe slacking off can be what i give up for lent...since i haven't decided what i was going to give up yet. can you give up slacking off?

anyway, back to the blog at hand. sunday i baked chocolate chip cookies for the family using the nestle toll house recipe. yes, i know there are tons of chocolate chip cookie recipes out there and there may even be some that are better than the nestle one, but that's the one i've been making since i was a kid and that's the one that i'm sticking with! we like the bar cookies and this was taken the day after making them, so obviously there's a good chunk missing!

side note: i'm still so non-computer literate and am having "issues" with the whole posting pictures thing, so my apologies if my pics don't match up to what i'm writing about. i'm highly frustrated by the whole thing, but really it doesn't take much to frustrate me these days!

monday i made strawberry mini-muffins for the first time. i had planned on making blueberry ones but jordan said she wanted strawberry and so that won out...luckily i had plenty of strawberries already so no extra grocery trips were needed. i found the recipe online, but cut it in half though since it yielded 24 regular size muffins and i knew we wouldn't eat that many before they went bad. i got everything together and realized that you can't let melted butter sit for too long because it starts to solidify itself again...that was the only "surprise" of the whole thing. it was a very easy recipe to follow and was just enough to fill the 24 mini-muffin tin. i had to adjust the time since mini and regular muffins bake at different lengths...i guessed at about 16 minutes, only to turn the oven off and take them out at about 14 minutes. and just to show that i am not the cleanest of bakers, i am sharing a pic of the messy utensils & bowls that i used to make the mini muffins.

 

so, no complications or problems with the 2 items i baked over the last 2 days. and today, rather than bake something i am trying my hand at chicken jambalaya...i really hope it turns out since it's our only dinner option! i'll have to remember to blog all about it tomorrow!  

i have finished jordan's scarf and have started working on the afghan for luke. i'll have to post pics of the finished scarves, i keep forgetting to take them though. the skirts i was orginally going to work on last week got put on hold because one now needs more fabric than i anticipated since i don't really want my near 5 year old walking around in a mini skirt! plus, i just felt like crocheting more than i felt the urge to sew!

 

baking may be a bust...?

just a few days into my no-name project and i may already be ditching the baking side of the whole plan. it's not that i don't love the baking, it's more that my family isn't loving the things that i'm making. in all honesty, they're not even really liking the baked goods! they are more of the chocolate chip cookie/brownie lovers where as i'm wanting to try different recipes for muffins, cupcakes, pies, etc. so i think i'll just stick with baking muffins that everyone likes and cookies that i know will get eaten...there's less of a chance of wasting food that way!

yesterday's brownies, from a box, were not liked because i tried a turtle kind rather than the usual plain. and the cheese muffins were deemed not likeable though i'm not sure why. i also made a banana-berry smoothie, which the kids have asked me to make before, and yet neither one of them wanted more than a few sips and jordan even tried to tell me that i made it wrong! that's always nice to hear from your 4 year old...that you've done something wrong.

so, no more baking new things...kinda sad that i couldn't follow through with that, but it really does make sense that i just make the same tried and true baked goods that i know everyone will eat. i swear i live with some of the pickiest eaters! i'm all for trying new things, but the rest of the family not so much. maybe i'll throw in a new cookie or brownie recipe in the next few weeks just for my own sanity!

oh, well, gives me more time for crocheting, sewing, quilting...maybe i'll even pull out some of my unfinished cross-stitch projects. i am feeling like the queen of unfinished projects these days, maybe more crafting time is all i really need! 

the project! follow me, follow me, follow me!

i finished reading "julie & julia" a couple days ago and have been inspired to take on my own kind of year long project. mine will be more about trying new things and improving my skills in each area so i'll be baking, cooking, sewing, quilting, and crocheting...possibly throwing in some beading and painting as well just to up the insanity level a bit!

the plan is to bake something new every sunday, monday, & tuesday; leaving wednesday thru saturday for sewing, quilting, and crocheting. i will, of course, be on my regular workout, cleaning, shopping, family-time schedule during this time as well. my plan is to only use the supplies i have on hand since i already have an abundance of fabric, yarn, & thread for the crafting; the baking items will have to be replenished but that should be my only expense.


i'm hoping that by committing myself to this project i will actually follow something through to the end...i'm really, really bad with follow through. i also figure as long as i keep this blog then maybe someone will follow me and my journey down the road to insanity, thus making me feel way more guilty if i fail to stay on track! so, here's my begging...please, please, please follow me!  i obviously have no problem begging! i'll post pics, honest reviews/opinions of patterns and recipes, and funny stories since i'm sure something worth laughing about will happen to me almost daily!


it all starts tomorrow with the baking of some cupcakes. i'm spending today just relaxing since i figure it may be my last chance for a year!

finally, finally, finally...

i'm finally getting around to updating my blog! i'd like to say that i've just been so busy with the kids, sewing, making things, selling things, etc...but alas, it all comes down to my laziness! i am a lazy person and have finally come to accept that part of myself...i really have tried to change, but it's just too hard & quite frankly, i've given up. so now i am fully embracing my laziness & sprinkling in some productivity throughout the day just to seem like i'm doing something!

my productive thing for today, other than laundry & toilet cleaning (yippee.), is to finally try out one of the many sewing patterns i have purchased over the last six months or so. and as an added bonus, i'm going to blog about said pattern and post pics of the completed item. i'd like to say that this will be a regular thing, but my laziness will more than likely kick in & i'll only make it through one project (maybe 2 if i really try).

so, now i'm off to make a skirt for jordan...just have to decide which skirt pattern i'm going to attempt first.

sew much to do!

ha ha! that's my play on words for the day! i have tons of sewing to do and lots of hair clips and jewelry to make. i'm happy that i've cut out all the pieces to get some outfits made for jordan for spring and into summer...now i just need to get them put together!

again this year, she will have more outfits to wear than she really needs. but i'm ok with that since i really do enjoy making things for her. my hope is that she'll let me continue to this for at least a few more years and one day i'll have enough sewing confidence to make her prom dress or homecoming, whichever! seems like a silly dream, but it's my silly dream!

i'm also searching out display options for the upcoming moms club sale. i would like a new, bigger table and have gotten lots of ideas from various websites and social networks that i belong to. busy, busy, busy for the next month...just taking a quick break to update my blog here!

i've also gotten myself a twitter account, since i need more time wasting things to do in front of my computer! so updates will now appear here as well just cause they can!

the drama in making dresses!

who knew that there would be so much drama in making a couple dresses for jordan? since her birthday is coming up i wanted to make her a couple of really cute tiered peasant dresses with short little sleeves. so i went out and bought the fabric, getting only as much as i thought i needed having figured it out in my head before heading to the store. once i got the fabric home i ironed them and went straight to ripping them into the sizes that i needed...not once thinking that i should put the pattern piece onto the fabric before i rip. that was mistake number one! i had all the pieces laying on the ironing board and went to put the pattern pieces for the sleeves & bodice down on the fabric only to find out that my fabric was too short! well, no big deal i thought, i can just change the bodice and make it into a knot dress that all the sewing moms on cafe mom keep talking about! that was mistake number 2!

i had the bodice pieces all cut out, sewn together with the straps attached to the back and was ready to make the button holes on the front for the straps to go through. having never made button holes with my newer machine (i've had it for a year now as opposed to my old machine that i've had for over 6 years) i read the manual to make sure i was doing things correctly. i had everything set up with a scrap piece of fabric and was ready to go...my machine was not! the fabric just wasn't moving and the needle just kept pushing the thread in and out of the same spot! i drove myself near the edge of insanity just trying to figure out what the hell was going on! there were several moments when i was ready to throw the damn thing out the window and go buy another machine! but somehow my rational emotions took over and i fixed whatever the problem was...even though i'm still not exactly sure what the problem really was! but that whole ordeal left me not wanting to attempt button holes for quite a while so i changed the dress to just have plain straps.

And that's what the final dresses turned out to be...tiered dresses with straps! i think they turned out really cute in the end and i am very pleased with them. i have now moved on to make more clothes for her since i've gotten over the anger with the machine earlier this week! i have tons of fabric left over from last year that's really gonna be so cute for dresses since jordan has already told me that she doesn't want pants...just dresses! hopefully, i'll have no more drama with all the other things i plan on making!

i'm really lazy and that's not good!

i have so much that i need to do before christmas and i'm just not into doing any of it! i had grand ambitions of making quilts for all the nieces and nephews, but didn't get them started in time and have now changed my mind and plans! i've been spending more time working on hair bows, headbands, and clips for my shop so i've been neglecting all other things...including the house! (hubby's not terribly pleased with the house neglect!)

today is already starting to seem like it will be one of those lazy days when i just don't want to do anything, but i know that i need to since i have a showing tomorrow night! i also have some sewing projects to get to for gifts they just aren't quilts so they won't take nearly as long. i also have an order for some crochet food that i need to get done this week, with a possible order for more. so i have things to do i just put them off as long as i possibly can and that's not always a good thing! oh well, guess i should get to it all, that's always the first step to change...just get up and do it!