About Me

South Louisiana
I have been married for 20 years to a great husband and we have 8 children ranging in age from 1 to 18 years. I am a homeschooling mom, which can be very challenging. I love sewing, knitting, reading, gardening and have recently started oil painting. I love to create. I really want to have a blog to show off some of the stuff I create, but I also want to share about my life and family. email me at ctrich8@bellsouth.net

Monday, July 14, 2008

A Weekend spent frantically sewing

In usual PuddinPop fashion, I waited until the last possible minute to start sewing the twins' baby shower gifts. I had two itty bitty baby dresses and two baby blankets with applique to sew. I started Friday afternoon and the shower was Sunday at 3. I also had to make time to take a trip to Hancock fabrics for the Kona solids I needed for the blankets. This of course took 3 hours out of my day on Saturday, because I *had* to look around! I was a very good girl though, I only bought the two yards of solid cotton and 2 yards of the most gorgeous red dotted swiss fabric that was half off. I passed on a bunch more fabric that was half off, I only bought my favorite one. I am sort of regretting that now, I mean half off, you can't beat that! Oh, and I also bought some bobbins and tear away stabilizer, but those items don't count because they are necessities, not fun stuff. Anyway, I was sewing right up until 3 o'clock, I didn't get to the shower until 4 LOL I am sooooooo bad about this procrastination thing, I hate this about myself. Dh was very helpful and kept the little ones mostly out of my hair so I could work.



Here is what my sewing table looks like after a flurry of sewing. The cup is the leftover of a banana split malt that dh made me to help keep my energy up, my morning cup of coffee and my bra that I throw up on the table every night because I am too lazy to put it where it belongs. Oh, and a stray Lincoln Log and Care Bear from the kids : ) In all honesty, this is what my sewing table looks like all the time, except for the 5 minutes after I spend an hour cleaning it. Kind of like the rest of my house : ] I usually just shove everything to the side when I need to work at the table.

Here are the dresses, I really love how they came out, the pattern is so cute. I mentioned it in a previous post, but the pattern is from Made by Rae. What a talented girl she is : ) My friend LOVED them, which is the important thing : ) I also got lots of compliments from other people at the shower, which always makes me feel so good!



At first, I was going to just do the blankets with the printed fabric on one side and the solid fabric on the other, but since I had *so* much extra time ::::eyeroll:::: I decided to applique some birdies : D Did I mention, that I have never really done applique before? I hope she doesn't mind, but I copied Marie's adorable birdie applique. I admired it when I saw it on her blog and thought it would be so cute on the blankets. While making the first applique on Saturday night I went a little crazy with the scissors and cut the blanket while trying to cut away the stabilizer :O It was tear away stabilizer, I didn't even need the darn scissors! Needless to say, I put the sewing away for the night. I had to figure out a way to hide my mess up because I had no more solid fabric and no time to start over. I had originally planned to just have the birdies, but had to put them in a nest to hide the cut. I guess it came out ok, not exactly what I was planning. You can see the pink and yellow applique doesn't look quite right. Oh well, it's handmade it isn't supposed to be perfect, right? At least, this is what I tell myself : ) I am praying that my applique doesn't fall apart the first time she washes the blankets LOL


Oh, and as promised, here is the finished top. The reason it took me so long to share it is because I messed it up. Never get halfway through a project and then wait days to pick it up again, you won't remember the alterations you were making. At least I didn't, I should write these things down, but never do. I tried to position my arms so that the mess up isn't as noticeable, but I altered the top of the bodice on one side to make it longer and forgot to do it on the other side. So, my top is lopsided : [ You can see how much shorter it is on my left side, the right side if looking at your computer screen. I am slouching my shoulder to make the top hang straight. I am going to fix it, but it is going to be a pain in the butt to do. I hate when I make mistakes like this. I will fix it though, because I really love this top and this fabric. The only thing I disliked about the pattern was the neck facing. I really hate facings, they never want to stay down. Next time, I will either line the bodice or just do a bias binding like on the sleeves. A great pattern though,it would even be cute as a dress.
No, I am not planning on wearing the top with that brown skirt, I just threw it on with what I was wearing for the day lol I made this skirt over a month ago and forgot to share it. It is ok, I can't remember the pattern off the top of my head, but I won't be making it again. I don't find it flattering on my figure. It is comfortable though, so I wear it around the house or to the grocery store. I hate that I wasted this fabric : ( Sorry about the wrinkles, but I wasn't going to iron it just to lounge around the house.

16 comments:

Home's Jewels said...

Those little dresses are adorable - love the hem, piping - really ties it all together.

The green top is great. I like the style of the neckline. Yes, facings are a pain - you have to do a lot of clipping to make things lay nicely. The bias tape binding would probably be easier, it's just a different look and for a casual summer top, should be fine.

Jana Nielson said...

All right!! You win...you ARE the Queen of sewing!!

Wow!!!!

A Thrifty Mrs said...

You are so talented.

A Spoonful Of Sugar said...

You have been busy Tonya! Love those sweet little dresses - such a lovely pattern and perfect fabric! Your appliques look cute - the next was a most inspired idea!

muralimanohar said...

Ha..you're sewing desk looks like mine. :p I love the cute little twin dresses!

Kelci said...

Those little dresses are so sweet. And I love the little birdies in their nests.

Lexi:: PottyMouthMama said...

Wow! You're a real whiz on the sewing machine! I love the dresses, love the blankets, really love your top - and the skirt is fantastic too. I think it looks great on! I am impressed. That's a heck of a lot of sewing!

Tine said...

Those dresses are so cute!!! And blankets! The little birds look perfect to me :-) Isn't appliqué fun?
The top looks good, and very comfortable.
I love the fabric you used on the skirt, and the skirt itself too... What a pain you don't like it much. But see, that's why you need to start quilting!! Then you have a great excuse to cut up that skirt and use the fabric in a different way :-) LOL.

lera said...

Looks like you've been quite productive in the sewing department lately. Cute stuff.

(Oh, and don't I know about wasted fabric!!!)

sharleen.2cupsofcoffee said...

7 kids and time to sew and blog about it. You rock!

Jona Giammalva said...

Well you've been busy!! The dresses turned out darling (the blue is my favorite) and I can see why the shower guests were adoring them. I think your top looks great. I've wanted to make a dress with that pattern too (I love pull-over dresses).

Anonymous said...

So many cute goods here! The baby dresses are perfect and the shirt you made for yourself is adorable!

Anonymous said...

Looks just like my sewing table LOL! The sets are darling!

Heidi said...

Hi Tonya, it's late, but I just wanted to let you know that I chose you for an award on my blog!...Heidi XO

Jennifer Paganelli said...

Your work is so wonderful!! Jennifer

Rae said...

So very cute! Love those dresses. And your clothes! You are amazing.