The Dusty Corner

Christmas catch-up

2011-01-05T09:49:00.009-06:00

I did a lot of sewing for the Holidays. I didn't get pictures of everything, but I'll share what I do have pictures of!

First up, and probably my favorite - DD's Christmas outfit. It was meant as her dressy outfit for church on Christmas Eve, but she wasn't feeling well and it was snowing hard so we ended up staying home and she wore it for Christmas Day.

The vest is Simplicity 2484 and the skirt is the Insa skirt pattern from Sewing Clothes Kids Love. (the white blouse and red hat are from Gymboree) The skirt is made from red and charcoal satin taffeta with a second "overskirt" of pin dot lace and trimmed with black velvet ribbon all from Jo-Ann's. I ran out of the red taffeta and couldn't get any more so the best is actually two layers of red satin, shiny sides in with the black lace overlaid and more black velvet ribbon. Oh, and cover buttons covered with the charcoal taffeta. I LOVE this outfit. I'll be hunting for more special occasions just so she can wear it!

I had planned to make Mokey a tie to match, but it didn't turn out well so I scrapped it. Maybe later.

Next up, Christmas jammies! Our tradition is that the kids get to open one package on Christmas Eve and it's always new pajamas to wear that night (I admit, it's so they have cute jammies for Christmas morning pictures, but they both love pajamas, so it works out for everybody). This is the second year of mama-made pajamas and I don't think the kids would let me go back to buying them!

Princess first: I used McCall's 6239. It's a touch big, and I need to hem it, but this way she'll get a couple of years of wear out of it.

Mokey: I used McCall's 5965. It's kind of my tried and true pajama pattern for him.

The pajamas are flannel from JoAnn's. I actually bought the brown flannel last year to make myself a robe, but I never got around to it and I liked it better for this anyway. The cookies and milk print was all the store had left but I loved it so I made it work. Then....someone on one of the message boards I belong to found some more at her JoAnn's and so...

Family jammies!!! I made pj pants for DH and I from McCall's 5992 (and "cheated" and bought t-shirts for us - I was just running out of time!)

Yo Ho, Christmas cards sent (a long time ago)

2011-01-05T09:43:00.003-06:00

I totally should have posted this a long time ago, but you know how busy the holidays get. Here are the adorable Christmas cards Shutterfly sent me for free for blogging about their new line of cards:

Slate Snowflakes Christmas 5x7 folded card

Create beautiful photo Christmas cards at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

I was completely thrilled with how they turned out! And the quality was really great - these were printed on card stock, not photo paper.

"Yo Ho, Sending Christmas Cards"

2010-11-24T07:01:00.003-06:00

Yup, it's that time of year again. There's a reason sending Christmas cards made it into the list of the pains of Christmas (an old Bob Rivers song, in case you haven't heard of it - it's funny 'cause it's true). Picking out a card, addressing all the envelopes, writing a message to make those cookie-cutter boxed cards more personal, or, conversely, trying to get the kids to both look at the camera and smile at the same time so you can put a cute picture of them either on or in the card...um, yeah. Well, as much fun as sending the cards isn't, receiving the cards is one of my favorite things in the whole year. Cards with photos are the best, of course, because, well, I love pictures!

Shutterfly is making it a little easier for me this year. Yeah, I still have to see if I can get the kids to cooperate with picture-taking, but I know the cards will be cute because Shutterfly has so many great options. Plus, this year Shutterfly has this great program for bloggers - just blog about their cards and they'll send you 50 cards for free! There's something about that word that makes everything more exciting and fun! You can find the details about the offer here.

Now the hard part, picking out which card to use. There are tons of options - from the more traditional red and green cards to more modern and free-spirited color combinations. I haven't gotten mine picked out yet, I might have to wait until I get pictures wrapped up to decide, but I know it'll be awesome.

So - what are you still reading this for? Get cracking, it's almost Thanksgiving! If you're a procrastinator, you might want to look at these cards instead: New Year's Cards.

King Mokey and Princess, um, Princess

2010-11-03T21:40:00.005-05:00

I'm finally getting around to posting about the kiddos' Halloween costumes.

Mia declared, quite definitively, that she wanted to be a "Pintess wif boo tat" (Princess with a blue hat) for Halloween.

I used Simplicity 2569 for her costume. The sizing was a bit wacky with this one. By measurements, she should have needed a size 2 for length, but it should have been pretty roomy. When I was doing my "tester" I thought the pattern looked tiny, so I cut the size 3 and it wouldn't zip! The costume ended up a shortened (in the skirt and sleeves, but not the bodice) size 6! The bodice and underskirt are royal blue poly satin and the skirt is royal blue and gold tulle. There's gold tissue lame (no fun to work with, by the way) for the bodice inset and puff sleeves. I couldn't find royal blue sheer ribbon for the sleeves, but I did find a pretty trim that had royal blue, turquoise and gold all together so I substituted turquoise sheer ribbon on the sleeves and used the trim around the inset and added turquoise tulle on the hat to tie it all together.

Mokey originally wanted to be a mummy, but after Princess decided on her princess costume, he changed his mind. He decided to be a king because "the king's the boss." So a king it is.

I used McCall's 5214 for Mokey's tunic, belt and cape and Butterick 5161 for the crown. The tunic fit wonderfully, except for the length, I added a couple of inches in the torso (as usual). It's all poly satin and the buttons (all 21 of them) are from my mom's stash. The cape is poly satin lined with crepe back satin and underlined with corduroy to add body, the clasp is my mom's stash as well. The crown is my favorite part. It's made of metallic crinkle pleather over cardboard for stability, poly satin and the band across the top are metallic trim on ribbon covered wire. There were boot covers too, made from black vinyl using a pattern my mom drafted for me last year, but I broke the elastic on Friday getting Mokey dressed for his class party and didn't get around to fixing them before trick or treating on Sunday.

Drive by posting

2010-10-25T08:34:00.005-05:00

Drive by posting to share what I completed for the One Thing One Week Challenge over on Amy's Creative Side:

Yup, Halloween costumes, done. Well, except Mokey's belt was too big, so I have to fix that and remember to put his boot covers on him next time. I'll be back later when I get good pictures (this is a action shot from trick or treating at the campground Saturday night) to share more.

Boo!

2010-10-08T18:04:00.006-05:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year.....no, wait, that's Christmas, isn't it? Well, I think October is the most wonderful month of the year, anyway. We get nice cool days, crisp nights that make cuddling up under a warm blanket feel heavely, beautiful colors in the trees, cheerful orange pumpkins (have I ever mentioned that orange is one of my favorite colors? It totally is). It's the best TV time of the whole year, too. They really beef up on the ghost stories in October and I love a good, cheesy ghost story. (and my husband would be embarassed to know this, but the cheesy teen Halloween movies on the Disney Channel - they're just fun). And then you get Halloween - picking out costumes (in my case, making the costumes - they're under way, I'll post as soon as they're done), making jack-o-lanterns, trick or treating and trick or treaters and parties. Ahhhhh, love it. So, it isn't any wonder that my kids always have Halloween themed clothing as well as their costumes. Mokey's Halloween t-shirts from last year don't fit anymore and I had some Halloween fabric down in my stash, so I decided to make him a shirt this year. And.....since he still loves it when he and Princess match, well, I found a way to make a matching skirt for her out of the scraps from his!

Voila!

Mokey's shirt is Simplicity 3852, changed just a tiny bit to make it more of a bowling shirt than a Hawaiian shirt (i.e. I made the collar, pocket and sleeves black instead of the print and added a stripe of black down one side). Princess' skirt was made from the dresden plate skirt tutorial on crafterhours. Mine is a touch less full, simply because I ran out of the print! Oh, and I did a full lining, instead of the facing so I didn't have to worry about finishing any seams. If you can't tell from the pictures, the print is tossed candy corn with little purple spiders and the black is actually from a set of XL twin sheets I found in the damaged area at Ikea for $3 or somethig (I think, now, that it might have been there because it's missing the flat sheet, but I can't remember if I stowed that part someplace else to earmark it for something special or not). I used pretty much the whole pillowcase and a chunk of the fitted sheet.

Oh, and, can anybody tell me who that 12 year old girl in that picture up there is and what she's done with my cute little two year old? Oh, wait, nevermind, found her:

Whoohoo!

2010-09-08T21:04:00.002-05:00

See that pretty little brown and pink button over there - right there, on the right. Yeah, the Princess' cute little first day of school dress was featured on Sew Much Ado (one of my favorite blogs to read!) for this week's We Did It Wednesday. I'm so excited I could bust!

One Thing One Week Challenge 2

2010-08-30T06:33:00.003-05:00

Amy over at Amy's Creative side hosted a one week challenge. Challengers were supposed to choose one thing to accomplish over the week and link back today if we got it done.

My challenge for the week was to cut fabric for my very first quilt and I got it done and then some! I've actually got the blocks all pieced and ready to assemble into a quilt top! I don't have the border fabric cut yet, but I figure that's okay since I really need to have my blocks connected to get the proper measurements. Maybe I'll get that done this week.

Here's my quilt so far:

Bloop bloop

2010-08-26T20:31:00.002-05:00

You don't know how close you came to being subjected to a cheesy pun about the Princess' first day of preschool dress. Seriously, it has fish on it; that pun was just sitting there staring at me, daring me to use it. Ha! So there pun!

Anyway....this was a big week for our household. Mokey started Kindergarten on Monday (but since this is mostly a sewing blog and I sewed nothing for his bts outfit, I'm not posting a picture) and the Princess started preschool today.

My original plan for her first day outfit was the knot dress I posted a little while ago, but then I realized that it's still in the 80's here (and what a blessed relief that is from the 90's we've had most of the summer) and that dress is just a touch too big to wear without a top under it (planned that way so she has growing room, of course, don't know why that had't occurred to me before). So, on Sunday I took a little time (while the hubby was out mowing) to go throw my pattern and fabric stashes to see what I could whip up in time. I had a different pattern picked out, but the Princess latched on to this fishy print (from Playdate by Patty Young) and was adamant that she wanted a fishy dress. Only one problem: when I bought this fabric, I was intending to make a bag with it and so I only bought a half a yard - not exactly enough to make a whole dress!

Enter Simplicity 3511. This pattern is my go-to pants pattern for the Princess, at least when I'm making pants to go under a dress or tunic, but I'd never tried the dress. I didn't have quite enough for the dress based on the fabric requirements printed on the envelope, but I eyeballed the pieces and I was pretty sure I could get it all out of that piece. I just happened to have a piece of cotton in the perfect shade of orange so I was all set (well, minus some ribbon and buttons).

I was a little afraid that the print and the orange would be too bright together, but the aqua ribbon separating them makes it work. Fit-wise it's a little shorter than I would like, but it can be a tunic in a month or so when it starts to get too short. It is a little hard to put on and off, but I think it has more to do with the fact that it only opens about an inch or so in the back rather than too small (I think any bigger and it would fall off her shoulders). We'll have to get better at getting it on and off because we both love it; it might just be my favorite so far!

Sassy

2010-08-04T15:00:00.005-05:00

I made this weeks ago, but I'm just getting around to blogging about it. This was meant as a "muslin" of this pattern to test my fit before I made it out of expensive fabric, but it worked out well, so it's wearable. It's McCall's 5882, designed by the Kay Whitt, of Serendipity Studios. She makes great patterns and they are very easy to follow. I ended up having to take this one in quite a bit in the bust and waist and tapered slightly differently in the skirt portion. Next time I think I'll make it a size smaller so I don't have to adjust so much. (please excuse the messy mirror, I did't realize how smudgy it was until I looked at the pictures ad I'm not that great with PaintShop).

Tinkerwho?

2010-08-04T14:10:00.003-05:00

Okay, I admit, my daughter is slightly obsessed with Tinkerbell. Almost every morning she asks to wear a "sweeshie shirt", of which she only has two - one is long sleeved (and thus, too hot when it's 90+ outside) and the other seems to always be in the wash. So I thought she needed another Tinkerbell something so I don't have to say no 6 days out of the week. Wal-mart happened to have the Tinkerbell fabric I used on the Patsy Ann Apron top a few months back and even a couple of coordinates for about half the price I paid at the quilt shop back then (of course, isn't that how it always works), so I grabbed about a yard of each and settled on McCall's 6066 as the pattern. The pattern is technically too big for her, since she's so skinny, but the length actually worked out well and it has an elastic waistband anyway so it was fine. I love the tulle underskirt (although I think I'm going to trim an inch or so off - it just looks off). I think, too, that I'm going to end up making a flower pin out of the tulle scraps to pin on the loop. It's got great twirl.

Pwetty Dwess

2010-08-04T09:05:00.003-05:00

I love Lila Tueller. Love. Especially her Woodland bloom collection. But, well, designer quilting cotton can be pricey. I thought it would be perfect for a knot dress a la Matilda Jane but you know, with the number of different fabrics you need for one of those, we're talking $30 or so, um, yeah, so not putting that much into a dress for a two year old. So, I grabbed a small bit of two of my favorites and went searching for other fabrics that would coordinate. Hobby Lobby to the rescue! I found a cute green print that worked perfectly and then two nice solids that picked up colors in the Lila Tueller. Fabulous.

I've made one of these knot dresses before. In fact, it was the first thing I ever sewed (with a lot of help from my mom on that one). I used the tutorial from Everyday Chaos but added an apron and a hem band. Then I made my tried-and-true toddler pants pattern: Simplicity 3511 and added a matching hem band to pull it all together. She loves it! She kept wanting to she daddy her "pwetty dwess." I think it's going to be her first day of school outfit (my baby is starting preschool in three weeks *sniff sniff*), as long as it's not too boiling out that day.

UFO no longer

2010-07-24T18:13:00.006-05:00

I started this skirt back in, oh, February, I think. It was supposed to be a practice skirt and then I would make it again in Tinkerbell fabric for Princess' birthday party. Um, well, that obviously didn't happen. About 12 hours into this I wasn't done, completely sick of it and since I only had one week 'til Princess' party I knew the Tinkerbell version wasn't going to happen. So, I ditched it in favor of the outfit I actually used for her party and it sat in the unfinished pile for months (and months and months). I took a little break from sewing for awhile this summer, mostly because I was sooo behind on housework. Well, I'm all caught up now and back in the swing, but I had a million other projects that I wanted to do instead of this.

But... Amy over at Amy's Creative Side has issued a little challenge - pick one thing to challenge yourself with for the week and get it done. So....I decided that this skirt needed to get done before summer is gone and here it is!

It's the Nie Nie skirt from Pink Fig and I made it in gingham and eyelet (honestly, what's more perfect for a super girly, ruffly skirt than gingham and eyelet?). I think it's super adorable and Princess loves how twirly it is, but I don't think I'll be making it again any time soon, at least not until I have a serger and I've mastered my ruffler. There are a lot of edges to finish and sooo much gathering.

Testing, Testing - part 2

2010-05-13T07:57:00.004-05:00

Here's the second of the two patterns I tested for Trish of Two Peas in a Pod Designs, the Patsy Ann Apron Top.

My version evolved several times before I actually sewed a stitch. I had picked out some fabric from my stash for the main body but I didn't have anything that I loved with it for the straps. So, Princess and I went to the fabric store to find something to go with it and she found the Tinkerbell fabric you see and latched on to it. (we're watching the second Tinkerbell movie as I type this). I found some pretty Tinkerbell green fabric with little white stars for the straps and brought it home. Then, as I was cutting the fabric, I cut the green fabric in the wrong dimensions and had cut it so that I didn't have a big enough piece in what was left to do the straps, so I dug out the white fabric to make the straps and then I cut the chest strap the wrong dimensions, too (lesson: never cut fabric when you have a headache) and so the green fabric was officially not included. I love the results (although that white fabric is pretty thick and it made the button holes kind of difficult).

It's a very simple pattern and such a cute top and I loved how it turned out (all except the buttonholes - I'm buttonhole challenged).

If you're interested in the pattern - you can contact Trish through her site here for ordering information or the patterns will be available in June in her etsy shop.

Testing, Testing

2010-05-12T19:56:00.004-05:00

Fellow blogger, Trish Preston of Two Peas in a Pod Designs is getting ready to introduce some new patterns to her Sprouts line very soon and lucky me got to be a tester! They're great patterns and I was honored that I got to be one of the first to try them out. Part of getting to test, though, was agreeing not to post any pictures of what I made until Trish gave the go ahead. It's been rough because both of my testers turned out really, really well. The purse - the Madison Bag, has been especially rough because I'm just so in love with my version. Trish says the patterns are almost ready to head to the printers and so now I'm allowed to share!

I'm going to share the bag first, because I've just been on pins and needles to show it off and I'll put up the other in the morning.

So, here it is - my version of the Madison Bag:

This bag was made entirely from my stash - some of it from various sized scraps and remnants that used to be part of my mom's stash (and likely some that had been my grandma's) but the two main fabrics in the body of the bag were from fat quarters that I picked up new here and there with no real plan for them (and no real idea what they are). I guess what I'm saying is that this purse is completely one-of-a-kind and cannot be replicated (since I used pretty much all of the two main fat quarters and wouldn't know how to find replacements). The shiny fabrics aren't satin - they're both cotton woven with metallic threads - the solid has silver threads and the textured one has gold threads (I do have more of both of those - I may have to find something else to use them in, they're so pretty).

It's a great little pattern - really very quick to put together and Trish's instructions are so clear and easy for even a beginner to follow. It's a nice and roomy bag, too, so I can get lots of my junk in there and since it's cross-body style, it's easy to deal with when I've got the kiddos with me.

If you're interested in the pattern - you can contact Trish through her site here for ordering information or the patterns will be available in June in her etsy shop

Coming tomorrow: my version of the Patsy Ann Apron Top. Alert - serious cuteness ahead!!!

Bragging on my Hubby

2010-05-03T15:25:00.003-05:00

Several weeks ago, hubby made a video of his lawn mower creation - lawn mower on a rope tied to a stake in the yard. It makes a perfect spiral pattern and mows a large portion of the back yard all by itself; it actually cuts about 30 minutes off his mowing time, which he usually uses to do the trimming. He sped the video up a bit and stuck it up on YouTube. Well, the silly thing took off! He's got almost 300,000 on the original posting and it's been reposted several other places (including a couple of sites on the Cheezburger network - you know the LOLcats folks) and has racked up the views there, too. Apparently, it's really popular in Spain.

Anyway, today it was featured on CNN! We had no idea and we wouldn't have know at all if some nice people hadn't commented on his YouTube page that they saw it.

Here's a link to the CNN blurb:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2010/05/03/nr.levs.whats.hot.cnn?iref=allsearch

and the original YouTube posting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tNVOhtvPEw&feature=popm02us0f

We don't have a garden

2010-04-11T19:41:00.007-05:00

Today I decided that we don't have a garden. A garden is something that belongs to someone who loves digging in the dirt and playing with flowers and vegetables; someone who dreams all winter about what they'll plant and where. Nope, that's definitely not me.

What we have is landscaping. We have trees and plants and flowers because a house looks weird without trees and plants and flowers. We hired someone to tell us what to plant and where (well, for at least one bed) and we only change something when it gets over grown or dies (which happens quite a lot, actually, but less often since we put in that irrigation system - I'm terrible at remembering that plants need water). I think so little about our plants during the off-season that it was almost the middle of April before I got around to doing the spring pruning (most of which probably should have been done at least a month ago).

Ah, yes, spring pruning. That's what I did this weekend. Saturday, I spent the afternoon cleaning up the back yard beds. One of them looks pretty good (considering things are really just starting to come up) and the other looks pretty bare, but I know it'll be decent in a month or so. I spent this morning butchering the bed along the garage side of the house. When I say butchering, I mean butchering. I was nice to two of the clematises (clematii?), but I took the mini hedge-clippers to the middle one and chopped it off down to the ground. It's probably a little late for an aggressive pruning, especially considering there was green all the way up to the top of the trellis, but this particular clematis seems to want to take over the world, so I'm sure it'll be back. (I'm not kidding here - we dug the sucker up and sent it an hour away three years ago and it's still here! - If you have a tendency to kill plants, get a Sweet Autumn clematis, if you have a green thumb, stay far, far away). Then I took the hedge clippers to the lavender, whacked them all off and decided they were far too woody and crummy looking so I set the hubs on them with a shovel and he dug them all out. They've spread like wildfire and I left the blooms on last fall so I'm thinking they'll be back from the seeds and if not, we'll figure something else out.

That picture up top is the bed under our deck from last year. It needs some thinning out, but it's not a bad little flower bed. Below is my little fountain - my favorite part of the whole yard. It was a Mother's Day gift a couple of years ago.

Easter Dress

2010-04-08T07:10:00.001-05:00

I finished Princess' Easter dress just in the nick of time (and almost didn't, actually - I discovered that I had no 1/2" elastic at 8 p.m. the night before. Luckily, the Wal-mart that's 2 miles from our house is one of the few that still has a fabric department, so I made a run (just for the record, I don't recommend going to Wal-mart at 8 p.m. on the night before Easter, just sayin'). It's the wonderful Pink Fig Lily top pattern again, this time in Legacy Studio Fresh Fusion fabric from JoAnn's (I love the little birds on the light turquoise fabric and the hummingbirds on the ivory, it's just gorgeous) with turquoise Kona cotton solids. Um, I think I hemmed the pants a touch short, but I left plenty in the hem so I can let them out a touch.

A note on Mokey's outfit: I had to really talk him in to wearing that purple shirt (which is really a vivid lavender, but it's not showing up like that on my screen). He thought it was a girl color at first (and he was afraid it would be too small - I think he thought I wanted him to wear one of Princess' shirts). The clincher? The tie - he was so excited about wearing that black tie, I think he would have worn a dress.

Sugar Doll Award

2010-04-06T07:29:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Michelle at Eyeronic for tagging me. The rules of this "award" are that I list 10 little-known facts about myself and then tag 10 more bloggers. Here we go! (let's see if I can think up 10 interesting things about myself)

1. I was the lead singer in a (not all that good) Christian rock band in college. Um, let's just say rock is not my strong suit and I really shouldn't try to be a tenor. Really.

2. On a related note, I was a Music Business major in college - which mostly meant that I was a Music major with a minor in Business Administration, but I had a couple of classes that focuses specifically on the music business, including copyright law.

3. My husband was the bass player in the above mentioned band and we started hanging out because he had a crush on my neighbor in the dorms and wanted my help. Needless to say, I decided to keep him for myself.

4. In a former life (i.e. pre-kids) I was an underwriter for lawyer's malpractice insurance. Have you ever tried to argue with a lawyer? Yeah, not an easy thing. (but I did like the rest of the job).

5. I hate telephones, I mean, seriously hate them. If I have to call someone I don't know very well I have a tendency to have a panic attack. I handle as much as possible via e-mail (thank goodness for technology). Did I mention I hate phones?

6. I played Golde in "Fiddler on the Roof" in high school. My mom decided my, um, chest area would not pass for a 50 year old woman who had five children. So she made me a fake chest - even put popcorn kernels in it so it would sag. I was always very nervous during the "Sabbath Prayer" number as we were using real candles and I was afraid my chest would start popping!

7. My closest sibling is 6 years younger than me, the youngest is 8 years younger. When I was a teenager, people often thought the youngest was my daughter (she did look a lot like me) but then they'd see my other sister and be thrown completely for a loop. (I guess at 16, I looked old enough to have an 8 year old, but not a 10 year old?)

8. I have given birth to two large babies (10 lbs. and 9 lbs. respectively) without an epidural. Oh, and I was induced with both. I'm sure my husband could tell you differently, but I don't remember it being that bad (although, I do remember asking to go home right at the end with my first).

9. I really dislike roller coasters. The hubby and I went to Holiday World three years ago, and I promised him that I'd ride the coasters with him. I made it through two and had to call it quits. The last one (The Voyage, which just happens to be the #1 wooden coaster in the world, okay, yeah, a dumb choice for a coaster-phobe) almost made me cry, seriously. There were 10-year olds in front of us laughing hysterically and there I was trying desperately to not cry and make a fool of myself.

10. As much as I dislike roller coasters, I looove water slides - the wilder the better. We are soo making it to Holiday World this year. I can't wait to ride the new water coaster. (last time we made it, I was pregnant and couldn't ride much).

Okay, now on to the nominations. I don't have a ton of actually blogging contacts, so I'm not doing 10, but here we go. Girls, consider yourself tagged!!!

Trish from Two Peas in a Pod

Christie from Stitch 'N Love

Mary from Mary Sews

Kymy from Everything Your Mama Made

Have fun!!

Forget Spring, let's do summer

2010-04-01T08:30:00.003-05:00

Ahhhh....it's been a gorgeous few days and today it's supposed to hit 80. So...while I normally wouldn't dream of putting my two year old in a sleeveless dress on April 1st, this is what she's wearing today.

I made this dress (very quickly, I might add, in a fit of getting things done) for Princess' birthday present (she is getting a big girl bed, too, but DH can't start building it until I get some other projects caught up and out of the way...). It's Amy Butler fabric from her Midwest Modern II collection and Princess picked it out herself. Seriously, we were at the quilt shop and she just went absolutely nuts until I pulled the bolt down from the shelf and then she wouldn't let go. So I bought some and decided I'd find something to make for her with it. The pattern is Simplicity 2709 and I was a little nervous since I'd never done pleats before, but I think it turned out really well.

Simple, Springy Skirt

2010-03-30T10:44:00.002-05:00

I made this for myself to wear to Princess' birthday party, but I just now getting a picture of it to post. I used this tutorial and one yard of Double Border Daisy fabric in stone from Patty Young's Flora and Fauna collection (but I did hem the skirt even though the tutorial says not to because the selvedge on this fabric is white even though the edge of the fabric is black and it would have looked wonky)

Happy Birthday Trish!

2010-03-24T06:30:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure that this post is going to spread the word very well since Trish is one of my very few followers, but here goes!

Trish is celebrating a birthday today and she's giving out presents! Check her blog for a great giveaway!

http://twopeasinapoddesigns.com/2010/03/24/happy-birthday-to/

Happy Birthday Princess!

2010-03-15T09:30:00.005-05:00

I can't believe my little girl is two years old today! Before we knew we were having a girl, I thought I wanted two boys - but I'm so glad I have a little princess to do girlie things with. It's amazing how much her little personality has already developed. She's a girlie-girl to the nth degree. Everything sparkly, ruffley or pretty is her kind of thing. She loves babies and fairies and cuddly things and getting dressed up. I'd say I have no idea where it came from (because I'm really not a girlie-girl) but, as my mom points out, she is an awful lot like her Aunt Kristen.

Here she is at one day old - my "tiny" 9 pounder:

and here she is yesterday at her birthday party:

I made (of course) the outfit she's wearing. The top is the Modkidboutique Kyoko pattern in Tinkerbell fabric and the white capris are a Simplicity pattern but I shortened them and added a cuff (that you can't see). I didn't notice that the obi had drifted south before we took the picture (I think I'm adding a little strip of velcro to the top and the front center of the obi so that doesn't happen.)

Pretty "Fowas"

2010-03-03T16:33:00.002-06:00

I've been playing with these organza flowers. I used this tutorial here. They're lots of fun, partly because they're so quick, but mostly because there's fire involved. Who doesn't love a legitimate excuse to play with fire?

I made a couple of larger ones (the turquoise and the big hot pink) for my friend's little girl's first birthday and a pair of little ones for Princess's pigtails. The grey one I sewed to a pin for me to wear, but Princess has stolen that one for herself, too (I'm going to steal it back, though). I even made one for my mom during Mokey's family party (after almost everyone had gone home) but the fabric I used wasn't quite the same as the others and it didn't curl as well. My next experiment is going to be trying some cheap lining. If it works a even a little, I may get some green and use it for leaves with the organza flowers.

Happy Birthday Mokey!

2010-02-24T06:46:00.004-06:00

Today my little man turns 5 years old. How on earth did that happen? It seems like just a day or two ago that we were bringing home the roly poly bundle of cuteness from the hospital and now he's a big boy almost ready for kindergarten. I'm amazed every day at the cool little personality that's developing in front of my eyes. I mean, how many kids do you know who want a picture of their kitties on their birthday cake (or sprinting thistles, for that matter - that's what he requested last year). He's a sweet, creative little soul and I can't wait to see what he'll think up today.

Here he is 5 years ago today, 20 1/2 inches 10 lbs 3/4 oz.

And here he is now, my how he's changed.

Lila Tueller Eden Quilt Giveaway

2010-02-22T16:03:00.003-06:00

I almost want to keep this to myself because the quilt is just so gorgeous (the fabric itself is gorgeous but the quilt has ruffles! RUFFLES!) but here it is (see how generous I am?). Lila Tueller is giving away a quilt made of her beautiful Eden line fabric (yellow, lavender, pink and green with these totally adorable little birds, I love it - I've got some stashed away to make a table runner or two whenever I get the chance) on her blog. Go check it out!

http://lilatuellerdesigns.blogspot.com/2010/02/giveaway-contest-begins-today.html

Pillowcase? Naw, skirt!

2010-02-18T12:41:00.006-06:00

I'm thinking ahead to spring a little bit, but honestly, I'm sick of looking at snow (and we haven't gotten dumped on like some parts of the country, but the snow is sticking around a lot longer than usual. Besides, I'm so not a fan of snow, I'm always sick of it by around, oh, December 26th anyway).

I found this fabric in my mom's stash (a good portion of which had been my grandmother's stash at some point and Grandma passed away when I was about 16, so that fabric is at least 14 years old, but I'd guess a lot of it is way older than that). It was intended to be for pillowcases (as in, it was manufactured for that; the border is only on one side along the selvedge and it's narrower than normal fabric - exactly the right width for a pillowcase). I immediately thought "oooh, that would be a pretty skirt" so I grabbed it, knowing I had a tutorial stashed away for a skirt made from one yard of fabric with just two seams and an elastic waistband (and it was designed to use the selvedge as the hem). As I looked at it, I decided it needed a more tailored line and a trimmer waistband so I ended up using McCall's 3341 instead (which I already had) and then I added a lining because the fabric is a tad thin, especially since it's such a light color. Anyway, a simple skirt morphed into something a lot more complicated (especially since I thought I'd be all fancy and do the blind hem on my machine; yeah, ripped that out and did it by hand instead), but I love the result . Now I just need some warmer weather so I can actually wear it.

Happy Heart Day

2010-02-12T09:05:00.003-06:00

I was afraid I wasn't going to get this dress done in time for V-Day; I had so much trouble figuring out the shirring around the neckline and sleeves. It's still not exactly right - I had to do the cheater method to get it done in time. I do know the issue now - the elastic thread doesn't want to stay in the bobbin tensioner on my machine - now I just need to figure out how to fix it.

It's actually my "muslin" for Princess' easter dress, made with cheap Wal-mart fabric (is ours the only one that still has fabric?). I used the Lily Top pattern from Pink Fig. She's got cute stuff and she's so nice, she answered my questions more than once.

Fabric fabric everywhere

2010-01-25T16:43:00.003-06:00

I raided my mom's fabric stash last night and came home with a paper box and two Wal-mart sacks full of fabric to play with. I'm particularly excited about a 6 yard (ish) length of vintage pillowcase fabric that I think will make a very pretty skirt (mom wasn't too excited about that idea - "but it's for pillowcases"). I can't wait to get caught up on my other projects and get to work on that one!

That's my bag, baby.

2010-01-14T23:18:00.003-06:00

I finished up a new purse tonight, using the Sprouts Hazel Hipster pattern by Trish from Two Peas in a Pod. I had the opportunity to be a tester on this pattern back in November and I loved the bag I made so much that I wanted another (and, actually, I have fabric already to make a third and maybe even enough scraps from one of the three to make Princess the mini version). This one will "go" a little better with my purple winter coat.

I also got some new toys in the mail today that I can't wait to play with - some new feet for my sewing machine including a ruffler foot. It looks really intimidating, but I know once I figure the thing out it'll be great for making ruffles on dresses (among other things) for Princess.

Next up: some flannel jammies for Mokey, Princess and I and then I've got a couple of tops for myself and two dresses for Princess that I'm really excited to get to work on.

A quick little skirt

2010-01-14T10:02:00.002-06:00

I am taking part in a group project this month and the "challenge" I guess you'd call it was to make something from a free pattern or tutorial (or, I guess, make up your own pattern - the free part was the requirement). I decided to make this little skirt for Princess. I looked at this tutorial but all I really used from it was the number of squares to put in each row. The fabric is 5" squares from a fat quarter bundle from JoAnn's (I may make another later from a charm pack so the squares are all different). I think I'm going to embellish the tee with something - maybe some applique from the left over skirt fabric.

A picture backlog

2010-01-14T09:43:00.007-06:00

I finally got around to taking pictures of my Christmas projects. I got all of them except for the Snuggie I made for the hubby, but well, if you don't know what one of those looks like - picture a really long robe, worn backwards and that pretty much covers it.

First up are the baker's hats I made for both kiddos and the matching apron for Princess (Grandma Cookie made Mokie a Thomas apron last year for Christmas). The hats are from a free pattern from www.youcanmakethis.com and they were really easy. Mokie's is red and blue to match his Thomas apron. The apron is McCall's 5720. Princess is really into "sweeshies" (better known as fairies, specifically Tinkerbell and friends) so her apron and hat are made of Tinkerbell fabric (it's a little big, but she'll grow into it).

Next are the playsilks I dyed for the kiddos. The turquoise, purple and green were Kool-aid and the pink was Wilton's gel coloring in Rose (Kool-Aid didn't have a good pink). The kiddos mostly use them as capes and have Superhero races around the kitchen.

I also made I-Spy bags, but I can't get a good picture of them. I based them off this tutorial, but I made a few modifications.

2010-01-04T13:32:00.003-06:00

I still haven't gotten around to taking pictures of my holiday projects, but check out this awesome giveaway over at Sweetie Pie Bakery:

http://jessicapeck.blogspot.com/2010/01/sweetie-pie-bakery-giveaway.html

She's giving away a sushi set! It's too cute for words.

Christmas projects finished - volume 1

2009-12-30T08:00:00.002-06:00

I did it! I got every one of my Christmas projects done before Christmas (I finished the last on Christmas Eve). I haven't gotten pictures of all of them yet, but I'll get to that soon.

One of our little traditions is that the kids get to open one present on Christmas Eve and it's always new pj's to wear that night. (luckily, Princess loves getting new clothes and Mokey loves pj's so it doesn't end up being just to satisfy mommy's desire for them to have cute new pj's for the pictures on Christmas morning). Anyway, Mokey actually loves to match his sister so I made them matching pj's this year (and Mokey had asked for a "night hat" so I made him one to match, too).

A quickie project for me!

2009-12-14T07:58:00.009-06:00

I had a dinner for my mom's group last night. It was our holiday party and we get all dolled up. I had a great dress to wear, but it was sleeveless so I decided to make myself a little bolero jacket on Saturday night. It was relatively simple, but I'd never done lined sleeves before and that was a little confusing. Anyway, I got it done in only a few hours (although I'm sure someone else could have done it in half the time) and it's cute! It's not the most flattering picture, but it's the one that showed the fabric the best.

Oh, and a longer-term project that's nearing completion the "new me"! I've lost 23 pounds in the last two months - only 12 to go. But, here's a progress shot:

last Christmas

last night

Three projects finished and no pictures!

2009-12-11T21:03:00.002-06:00

Yeah, I know, I can't believe I didn't take pictures, either. I didn't even think of it until I had already wrapped them all. The good news is: the kids are getting similar (or even identical) items for Christmas so I can take pictures when I get those done (but shh... it's a secret, thankfully the kids can't quite read yet).

Project number 1 (no actual sewing involved, but really fun): silk/wool scarves for my friends, dyed with Kool-Aid. Who knew Kool-Aid could actually be useful? It's a great dye for animal fibers and it makes really vibrant colors. (I found a tutorial here: Sara's Toy Box) I used Grape (a pretty dusty purple), Black Cherry (a rich deep red), and Berry Blue (a brilliant, fun turquoise). I've got a grape and a berry blue in 100% silk already dyed for the kids for Christmas and I'm still going to do a Lemon-Lime (hoping for lime green) and a pink lemonade and then I've got two more that I haven't decided on a color for yet.

Project number 2: I Spy Bags for my friends kids. They're basically bean bags with little clear vinyl windows. Before you close them up, you fill them with polybeads or rice or something (I used rice) and fun little trinkets. Then the kids can squish them bags around to see what they can find inside. The kids seemed to really like them, but I'm not sure I'm doing this one again - finding all the little trinkets was hard and now I have approximately 200 extra plastic policemen, firemen, cowboys and Native Americans, along with a can of foam dinosaur stickers and assorted other little things that I got (for $1 or so at least) just so I could have 4 or 5 of what was in the package.

Project number 3: Sweet little felt mugs of hot cocoa for the babies. I got the pattern from Sweetie Pie Bakery and it's just absolutely adorable (as are the rest of her felt food patterns, I have a feeling I'll be getting a few more - I love the campfire set). Mokey and Princess both really liked them, so I think I'll make them a set (along with the plate and cookies that were included in the pattern) for Christmas, provided I get the rest of my projects done.

My first projects

2009-12-09T07:56:00.004-06:00

Here are the things I've finished (and gotten pictures of - I made myself a purse, too, but I haven't taken a picture yet) so far.

My very first project (this one was supervised) was the knot

dress for my daughter. I adapted it from this tutorial on Everyday Chaos; I needed it smaller and added a ruffle and an apron. My mom helped me with figuring that all out. I have some Moda Woodland Bloom fabric saved back (supplimented with a print and a couple of solids from Hobby Lobby) to make another one this spring - she has more clothes than she can wear already for this season.

I worked on a quilt top next, but I still haven't finished it (other things ended up getting priority - maybe after Christmas).

My next big project was a Halloween costume for my son. Grandma Cookie brought him a Jack Sparrow hat complete with dreadlocks from Disney World and he wanted me to make a pirate costume to go with it. I almost didn't finish in time - it had a lot of pieces and I had sewing machine issues; I got a brand new sewing machine and Mokey got his costume. (I did not make Princess' costume - I found it at TJ Maxx for $20)

A beginning

2009-12-08T16:01:00.003-06:00

Good day and welcome to my first blog. I'm Dusty, a stay at home mom of two cute (but sometimes troublesome - aren't they all?) kiddos. As housewives go, I suck, really, I'm not kidding. However, I've been getting in the habit of cooking fairly healthy meals multiple times a week (yeah, this is a big thing for me) and I seem to be a newborn sewing addict. I'm not great at it yet, but I'm getting better and I'm having fun practicing.

I'm going to be using this mostly to "journal" about my projects; there haven't been many but I have a ton on my plate for Christmas (hopefully I'll get them all done in time!) so it should pick up in here soon (although maybe I shouldn't be posting those projects that are gifts until they've actually been given - it would kind of take away the surprise, wouldn't it?).