The first week in 2012

January 1st:  guess where?  Who Dat!

January 2: being deliberate

January 3: finished new black and gold skirt (no pattern, just cut some rectangles based on another skirt I love.)

January 4: shipped my first orders of 2012

January 5: finished first week of Couch to 5K

January 6: discovered picnik

 

January 7:  a beautiful day to work in the garden  (we’re enjoying broccoli and cabbage right now.)

 

Just a note:  For several years, I posted on 3 blogs:  1 for personal sewing and family stuff, 1 for sewing instruction notes, and 1 for my shop.  I find that this leads me to neglect any 2 at any given time.  Look for several things to change.  I think all three topics will be combined onto 1 blog, but I’m not sure where or when.  I’ll keep you posted.

What’s new? December 6th addition

What’s new?  Here are a few peeks at what we’ve been up to this past week:


On my sewing machine:

I’m almost finished with this quilt top.  I was drawn to the modern colors and design, so with Momma’s help, I have almost pulled it together.  The picture above is actually just the blocks laid out on my bed.  It really is a big pile of Christmas tree blocks and courtyard squares that looks like this:



With the kids:
‘Tis the time for Christmas musicals!  C was an angel in the angelic hosts while his big sister donned a beard as Isaiah.  The kids were incredible under Mrs. Vee and Adrianne’s direction.


In the kitchen:

Christmas cookies! 


In the garden:
Our December harvest.  What?  You don’t have watermelons in your garden in December.  Well…
Actually, this was the last of the summer garden.  The frosts took care of the pumpkin and watermelon vines, so we’ve pulled those.  We are left with tomatoes (that are probably done), lettuces, cabbages, and broccoli.

A request for Robin Hood

The 6-year-old decided to be Robin Hood for Halloween. 

It was actually a fantastic ruse to carry the new bow and arrow to church and show it off to a few friends. 

We scavenged and came up with a tunic (Daddy’s oversized green tee) and brown tights (the bottoms to an Anakin Skywalker costume).  But…we needed a hat.  So, off to Google I went. 

I found CraftyStaci.  I love it.  This fabulous tutorial, some green cord scraps, a feather, and about 37 seconds were about all I needed to finish our Robin Hood hat.  Awesome. 

By the way, apparently when you are 10, dressing up becomes “optional”.  The Big Girl told a few friends that “Momma hasn’t made a costume” and that she would be a “kid in a tee shirt”.  Her friends thought it was funny, so that’s what she dressed as.  Poor, neglected “Kid in a Tee Shirt”. 

 

My Pink Shirt with Eggs on It

More sewing for Me!

Hooray!

This is the Lisette Market Blouse from Simpicity 2211.

I used the same fabric pictured on the pattern envelope.  It’s a beautiful poplin in hot pink with white and orange dots.  (Or like one of my sweet 3-year-olds said this morning “I like your pink shirt with eggs on it.”)

I made the pattern without any size alterations and followed the sewing instructions.  This is another well-written Lisette pattern.

Next up, the Market skirt in a white canvas (already cut out) or maybe this Market as a white eylet tunic.  Got to figure out how I want it lined…

The Lisette Traveler Dress

Hooray!  I finally spent some time sewing for myself!

 

Here’s the whole story:

Waaaaaay back in April, I saw this blog post about some new patterns.

So, in the wonderful way that blog-hopping works, I followed Jenny’s links to this site.

And I fell in love with all the patterns.

All 4 of them.

So I took the occasion of a 99 cent sale to grab them.

All 4 of them.

First up, I tried Simplicity 2209, the Passport Dress. 

This little dress is so cute.  I love the dart details on the front.  But, sadly, it didn’t flatter me.  At all.

You will not be seeing pictures of that dress.

Then I tried Simplicity 2246, the Traveler Dress.

We have a winner.

I used a canvas print from the Lisette collection at JoAnns Fabrics.

(Don’t flip out at that word canvas.  It’s actually quite soft and drapey.  You can more info about the fabrics here.)

  

The pattern changes I made were all inspired by laziness! 

I didn’t want to match the patterns on the pockets, so I left them off.

I didn’t want to match the patterns for the button plackets, so I choose to make them in a contrasting white instead.

I cute out the wrong sleeve pattern by mistake.  Rather than cut the right one, I just ran with what I had.  The biggest difference:  the sleeve for view C was designed to be gathered and a sleeve band added.  I didn’t want that, so I just did a little pleat to take out some of the extra instead.

Inspired?  Possibly.

Lazy?  Yes.

Do I love it anyway?  Absolutely.

My PR review is here.

Next, I think I’ll try Simplicity 2211, The Market Blouse and Skirt.

And then I’ll get to Simplicity 2245, the Portfolio Tunic.

Finally, I’ll try Simplicity 2209 one more time.

Why?  Because I love all 4 of them!

I'm linked up here:

A Blushing Heart

This is what I did with our “not-so-snowy” snow day yesterday.

(Yeah, um, Mom and Aunt K, you can stop laughing now.)

I picked up a Moda charm pack of Basic Grey’s Blush on a whim Tuesday.

I used this link and a whole lot of graph paper to make my plan. 

I have the step-by-step pictures and instructions, if you are interested!

Dabbling…

As if I needed another hobby…

At least this one kills the time during carpool line.

I found the patterns here.

On the 17th day of Christmas

Today, Mommy was a busy little elf.  The play-by-play can be found here.

And in Advent banner news:

Day 16 held a gingerbread man cookie cutter.

Day 17 held sprinkles.

Day 18 would be the day for making gingerbread men, but instead we’ll be swimming.

On the first day of Christmas

We hung our advent calendar!

This was made with a Moda precut advent banner kit and fabrics

from Sandy Gervais’s Adoring line.

I’ve filled each pocket with a goodie,

a clue to a goodie, or a challenge for the kids. 

How’d I do that?

Visit www.needlesnutsandbolts.blogspot.com to see how I modified this pattern.

 

What have I been sewing?

I’ve enjoyed watching my etsy shop grow this fall.  However, that means that I’m not getting a lot of sewing done for myself or the kids right now.  Here are a few of the things I’ve made for my shop lately:

 

All of these are available at www.personalitychildrens.etsy.com.  (And all those on the bottom row are customizable.)

A Bevy of Bags

It’s treat bag time.

And I’ve been sewing.

Lots of treat bags.

These are a pattern from Sweetwater.

And these are from Quilts and more.

So what’s going in all these bags? 

Why pear butter, of course.

  

Meet my fall purse

Like?

I do.

This is Lila Tueller’s Bohemian Bag.

The fabrics are all from Anna Marie Horner’s Garden Party line.

This was a 2-day project, mainly because you have to wash it half-way through to fray the edges.

The bag is big for me. About 15 inches long. It could also use a stiffer lining.

But I like it.

A lot.

My PR review is here.

Fall Sewing, Part 1 (AKA Boy, I’m glad we didn’t use her favorite fabric first)

Simplicity 2436

We saw this dress made up and displayed at one of our local fabric chains. The Big Girl loved it. Maybe because it was bright purple cord.
We brought the pattern home and decided to give it a go. I only had 2 pieces of corduroy in my stash and she didn’t love either of them, but I convinced the BG that we were “just practicing” so she had to pick from the fabrics I had. (Now, I have a huge stash, but since we only need warm clothes about 3 days a year, I just don’t keep a lot of warm fabrics on hand.)

I sure am glad we didn’t go buy any fabric just yet because the fit is just weird for my tall, skinny, almost-9 year old. I cut an 8. She’s really slim. Unfortunately, I just went with the numbers on the back of the pattern envelope and didn’t actually measure the pattern pieces. While my BG is very slim, her shoulders are too wide for this dress (at least in an 8). Also, it needs more length. My finished length was about 1 1/2 inches shorter than the envelope listed. I don’t know how it happened because I used all the recommendations for seam allowances and hems and such.

On a positive note, the pattern was easy to follow. It made up quickly. And—my fashion-designer-wannabe loves all the detail variations.

Next time, I’ll cut a 10 and maybe add a little more to the length. I think I’d prefer an invisible zip. Also, I think I’ll use bias tape to finish the neckline rather than the facings the pattern includes.

And—I’m sure there will be a next time. Actually 2 more times. I’d like to see this made up in a cotton with a crazy rock-star type appliqué and, of course, we need to make it in purple cord!

You can see my review on PR here.

July in a nutshell

Hi there.

Yep, it has been a while.

We been enjoying the summer with a little swimming, a little gardening, a little reading, a little canning, and a whole lot of sewing.

There have been:

26 hours of sewing classes

44 hours of instruction if you count the time each student was here

6 pillowcases

3 little girls’ skirts

1 pair of sleep shorts

3 aprons (2 that I made)

1 messenger bag

3 shopping bags

1 Estelle bag

4 Wonder Wallets

1 little girl’s purse

87% of Lila Tueller’s Bohemian Bag (Note: Wow. Not a quick project. There’s some piecing and some quilting and some raveling and some lining and some binding…Mine still lacks the straps.)

Wow. That’s a lot of numbers. Here are a few pictures to go along with those numbers.

Anyway, we have about 2 1/2 weeks left until school starts with a trip and lots more sewing planned. I’ve got another girls’ class in a week and, all of the sudden, the orders for LSU and Saints fans have picked way up. Must be 35 days until kick-off for the Tigers and 41 days until the Saints start the NFL season, but really, who’s counting!