Lots of sewing!

I sewed all weekend long, starting on Friday afternoon. I started with the Maya wrap sling I have been needing to make. I decided on an off white, tissue weight linen for the wrap. It is for a little boy and I couldn't find anything remotely cute for little boys at JoAnns. Linen is always a winner, and I figured I could spruce it up with a little bit of machine embroidery. The wrap is easy to put together, I followed these directions. I made a wide hem all the way around, so that I would have somewhere to embroider without using interfacing. I think it came out really cute. I am going to buy some different colors of embroidery thread next time it goes on sale. I am kind of wearing out that ice blue LOL I have a couple hundred decorative stitches on my sewing machine, I sure am enjoying trying them out!




On Saturday I cut out and completely finished a skirt using this Amy Butler fabric. It came out really nice and it fits! Not as loosely as I like my clothes to fit, but I can actually wear it! Next time, I will add a few inches to the waist. I started this top to go with the skirt yesterday, I am going to try to finish it today. I made the outfit to wear this weekend on my St. Francisville get away! I will take a picture of me wearing the outfit when I finish the top.

It was a very productive weekend, especially for me, I don't usually do this much sewing all at once. Now, my house was a complete disaster this morning, but it was worth it. Wish I could do this every weekend ; )

I Give Up (for now)

I spent all of my sewing time yesterday trying to fix that %@#^ Lotus Tunic. I now realize, for it to look right, I am going to have to take the whole thing apart, and redo all of the seams. I am too much of a perfectionist to just rig it. The fact that it has a lining makes altering it much more difficult. I know I should just toss it, the fabric was only $1.50 a yard, but I really like the fabric. I am going to make another one out of different fabric for sure, I love the pattern. And now that I know what I am doing, I am sure it will come out great. I think I will try something else for now though, I kinda want to puke when I see that particular pattern right now LOL

Before I do anything else, I need to make a Maya wrap for Chad's coworker's daughter. She is due to have a baby boy any day now. I bought some lightweight linen and am going to embellish it with some machine embroidery and applique. I am thinking an elephant would be cute. Chad asks me everyday when he gets home if I have done it yet. I guess I need to get my butt in gear :O

We are going to St. Francisville next weekend, just me and him!!!!!!! I am so excited! My Mom and Dad are going to watch the kids. We will have 3 days and 2 nights to just do whatever we want! We havn't done this since I was pregnant for my 5th child, Savannah. She is now 8 years old. We are long overdue. We are staying at an old plantation that is a bed and breakfast. We will probably just eat and shop at antique shops, maybe tour a few old plantations. It sounds like pure heaven! I am hoping to have a few things made to wear, but we shall see. I am not having much luck with that right now (what an understatement! )

Oh, and I moved my sewing area around two weekends ago. My sewing area is in my room, so it doesn't look like a big difference. However, it really improved the space in my room. I moved the big cutting table into the corner where my sewing machine was, and moved my sewing machine table in front of the window where the table was. For some reason, the constant mess on the sewing table doesn't look as bad now : ) And it makes my bedroom a little roomier. Here are some before and after shots.

Before
After

I love my husband!

Last week was kind of a down one, nothing bad happened, just your usual yuckiness that can sometimes accompany being a homeschooling SAHM. The children were being unusually snippy with each other, and I was kinda PMSing LOL Anyway, one day I called Chad at work just to vent. Later, I had left for a little while to bring one of the girls to ballet class, when I got home these beautiful roses were waiting for me on the dining room table. Cheered me right up : ) I love pink roses, and these had 5 buds per stem. There were so many that I made a mini arrangement for my kitchen window to make me smile while I do dishes (believe me, I do ALOT of dishes LOL) They are still beautiful today, a week later! Oh, and can you believe, he bought these at Albertson's, which is a grocery store chain in our city! They were inexpensive and gorgeous, can't beat that!

Seam Ripping

Well, I have been doing a ton of this lately. I spent most of last weekend and the beginning of the week trying to make the Amy Butler Lotus tunic. There is nothing wrong with the pattern, it is actually very well written and easy to understand. The seam ripping was the cause of user error. I have been having issues with making clothes a size too small, so to avoid another outfit that had to be given to my skinny minny friend, I went too big this time. First, I made the size Large. WAY too big! I was smart though, and only basted the main seams together, so there wasn't much ripping and I was prepared to rip anyway. So, I decide to go with the medium, but being afraid to end up with something too small decided to use a 3/8 inch seam allowance instead of the 1/2 inch the pattern calls for. In the middle of this, I completely screwed up the lining and had to undo almost all of it and add the pattern piece I forgot : O I made the ultimate mistake of not trying on as I went (you think I would have learned this lesson by now, but no, I have a hard head) and when I tried on the finished (except for hemming) tunic, the neckline was too wide because of my 3/8 inch seams. It has been sitting on my sewing table since Tuesday, I have to undo at least the two front panel seams and bring them in and I am just too aggravated to deal with it right now!

So, I started a baby gift I was needing to make. I used a pattern that I have made before, so that I wouldn't feel like a complete sewing idiot. Also, a baby romper doesn't have to fit me! This is for the pastor's wife at my Mom's church. She recently gave birth to her 15th child, her 10th boy!!!!! He was over 10lbs at birth, so I made a size medium, my mom said he is really big. She is giving it to her today, I hope she likes it. This was made with the new Ginger Blossom fabric, I really love this line, it makes me happy : ) I paired it with a tan linen that I repurposed from a skirt I had made for myself a couple of years ago that just didn't fit right(do you see a theme here? LOL). I put some machine embroidery and piping across the top. I am really loving the embroidery stitches on my machine. I need to write a post on my sewing machine one day, I absolutely LOVE it! It is a Kenmore 19606, and is a really impressive machine for a reasonable price.





I need to go and make a couple more rompers. My best friend's oldest daughter just had a beautiful baby boy and my "sister's" son just had his first child. I think I may just copy this exact one. This should build my sewing confidence back up again before I try to make anything else for myself LOL

Matching Dishtowels

Here are the matching dishtowels for the Friday Night Apron. I did these a little differently than the first ones I tried. I took the feedsack dishtowels that I bought at Target and cut them in half and trimmed off all the selvage edges. Then I put a binding around the raw edges. This is a 1 inch binding, but I think I will do a 3/4" next time. This one was too big. I just put a rectangle of matching fabric about 2-3 inches up from the bottom. I didn't measure, just eyeballed it LOL I am not sure if I am liking this or not, I am planning on trying something different, just not sure what yet. My SIL loved the gift : )

Long time no blog LOL

I was doing so good for several weeks, but it has been awhile since my last post. I went out of town for a ladies retreat, and when I got back it took me a few weeks to get back in the groove of things. I almost hate taking trips because it is always so hard for me to get back to my regular routine. I am such a creature of habit, that I don't do well when that routine gets messed up. While I was away in Gulf Shores, Alabama for the weekend, my amazing dh took all 7 (yes I said ALL 7!!!) kids tent camping. What a man! I wouldn't have attempted that in a million years, but Chad is super laid back, he and the kids had a great time. They didn't have the camera, so no pictures : ( They only came back with a few cuts and bruises, nothing serious LOL

Since I was in a funk, I havn't gotten much sewing done. However, I did finish this apron for my SIL, Gloria's birthday. I am also making some matching dishtowels, but I am not quite finished with those yet. Will take pictures when I am. This is the Friday Night Apron from Vanilla House Designs. I have made it before for one of my best girlfriends. When my SIL, who is also one of my best friends, saw it she requested one for her birthday : )

Here I am modeling the apron, it is also reversible.



Here is a closeup of the front side pocket





Savannah got these pictures of Ava "helping" me sew last night LOL She always does this, it is cute until she starts pulling on my project and hitting all of the machines buttons LOL She was being pretty good last night, thank goodness. She will also take any scrap fabric she can find and lay it out like she is doing something with it, then she picks it up again and starts all over. She mimics me, it is so cute, I am sure she will be a sewer one day. Her older sisters already enjoy sewing and are getting quite good at it. I will have to share some of their projects soon. All three older girls each have their own sewing machines, but always want to sew on mine. I think it is because my much more expensive machine sews so much more smoothly. I wish less expensive machines weren't so jumpy, it makes it hard for beginning sewers to get good results. However, I can't afford a $700 machine for everyone in the house LOL





Anyway, I seem to be back in the groove with life, so hopefully I will have more posts soon! I have LOTS of projects that I need to get done!

New Furniture

We finally bought some new living room furniture. It was so time, my old furniture was almost 12 years old and was in horrible shape. I stupidly bought off white couches, I don't know what I was thinking! I only had 3 small children at the time, and didn't realize what they could do to white furniture LOL Well, it was brownish gray after a few years. I slipcovered it, but it was just DONE.

I was very careful while looking this time around. I got a great heavy duty fabric in a dirt hiding brownish green color. Yes, I learned my lesson : ) They also have low arms and a cool, modern curved front to it. I love it! We also got a special stain retardant on it and they will replace anything that can't be removed, they will even replace a cushion if you accidentally cut the fabric or tear it. Can't beat that for an extra $100, especially when you have 7 children sitting on this furniture LOL It always amazes me the different ways my children can find to destroy my stuff!

Oh, and the sofa is kind of messed up in the front where it curves in, so they have ordered me a new one. I am just keeping this one until my new one comes in. If anyone lives in South Louisiana, I highly recommend O'Halloran's Furniture. Beautiful furniture and GREAT customer service!


Here is the sofa. See, you can see how it is messed up in the front.



Here is the love seat.