Post-Christmas To Do List

I hate a blog post without a picture (BORING), so please enjoy the sweet face of my baby girl as she devoured all the splendor of Christmas morning.

Despite loading my plate for Christmas sewing, I am ready to begin again. My dear, dear husband says I should do some sewing for myself so I SHALL! (Don't you just love him?)

On my list for the next week or so:

1. A ruffle scarf (using elastic thread). I want to make something like this, from Ruffles and Stuff.

2. A wrist pin cushion using a tutorial from The Long Thread. I really wanted (needed) one of these during the apron-making
marathon, but couldn't justify stopping the flow to make one.

3. A purse. I don't know what pattern... Maybe this Buttercup Bag tutorial (free!) from Made By Rae. Heaven knows I have enough stash material to make a few.

I realize this is not a huge list for some, but I have only returned to sewing recently. One of these days, I'll have to tell my story. My "History of Sewing" story. It's not long, but slightly fun (to me anyway...)

Christmas Sewing Marathon 2009

How should I start this post?

I've been sooo busy this holiday season! (No, everyone has been busy this holiday season, silly)

I don't know what to say except that I've been busy busy at my sewing machine. And cutting table (a.k.a. the kitchen table). AND the ironing board. A few boxes of ThermaCare self-heating pads later, I was pleased (relieved, ecstatic, etc.) to be finished.

I made these:
One apron each (fully lined, I might add!) for my mom, 2 sisters, 2 nieces, and my daughter (because she loves aprons and would feel left out if I didn't make her one to open with the rest of the girls). I truly enjoyed the monotonous procedures of making so many things of one kind (weird, right?), but I wish I had started them earlier. I gave myself about a month to make all of these. It almost proved to be impossible.






I also made these:




One monogrammed dishtowel for each household in my husband's family. Nine all together. I tied them to the top of a Christmas tin filled with sweets we made together. (Please ignore my sad, hand-me-down table we were wrapping gift on. We have been gifted one from my mother-in-law whenever we find time to pick it out.)

I love making things for other people, especially my family. It never feels like a chore, and it allows me to focus on doing things I love, for the people I love. Win win I believe.

Unfinished

It seems I'm leaving a lot of things unfinished these days. I'm thinking I will jot down that list here. Maybe I'll even make a checklist for the sidebar.


(Did I just add two more things to my to-do list??)


1. The Owl Dress. Must. Finish. This. Toddlers grow really fast.

2. I sewed a bazillion flowers out of felt to make these (hers are way more involved than mine, but I needed a simpler project). I need to cut the flowers and leaves out and attach them to the stems.

3. A lunch bag. I've made one this year, but the shape makes it awkward. And it looks homemade. AND I snagged some remnant canvas at Hobby Lobby.

4. E's bow holder. I only need to attach the hanger to the back and the ribbon to hang the bows on.

5. I just bought something like 12 yards of fabric to make Christmas presents for family. I should move this up the list...


I'll leave this list as it is for now. Which would mean this list is most likely unfinished... But my work-full-time-but-home-a-week-for-Thanksgiving mommy brain can't think of anything else right now...

Handing it WAY down

This sweater has been hanging in my closet for years. Probably 3 years to be more precise. I liked it when I bought it (really, I did!), but it seemed so trendy and preppy at the time that I could never bring myself to wear it. So it hung there.

I had an itch to sew the other night, and about 45 minutes to do it in, so I went on a scavenger hunt in the house. I found the sweater and decided to make it into a sleeveless tunic that E could wear over leggings and a long sleeve shirt.

I ripped the stitches that were holding the fake button up collar on, then cut a shape I thought might work (can you tell I didn't really have a plan??). The v-neck and the ribbed bottom stayed the same. All I had to sew were the side seams, armhole seams, and the back of the neck seam.

Easy.

Quick.

Instant gratification.

And besides a bit of altering to the shape (so I can get rid of the bubble butt I gave her when I sewed this), this is totally wearable.

And it freed up some room in my closet :).

The Cape With 40 Billion Button Holes

I've been working on this cape for what seems like forever.

For. Ev. Er.

I got the fleece as a remnant at Hobby Lobby. I think I paid around $3 for it. I had ordered the ribbon from eBay a while back, unsure what its use would be (it is a zebra print grosgrain).

I made this cape from a pattern (I think is is Simplicity, but don't quote me) last year out of a pink camo fleece remnant from (none other than) Hobby Lobby. It was SUPER cute, but I never finished a closer on it, rendering it nearly useless (we did use it though, because my Mama helped me with it). I was determined to finish this one.

The trouble started when I got my pattern out. I had the back piece, but no front pieces. I also couldn't find the pattern piece to make the pompoms for the hood. In the end, I winged it :). When I put it all together to sew, it magically fit together. BRILLIANT!

Thinking I was over the hump, I sewed it together, did some finishing on the seams (for aesthetic purposes of course), sewed the ribbon on the front, opened up the arm holes (a last minute addition), and got ready to work on the closure.

In the pattern, I believe it called for two ribbons to be sewn on each side. Then you could tie a bow under the neck to close the cape. I didn't like that idea (of course I didn't!!). So I decided on a button and button hole instead.

I practiced that button hole twice before I ever thought about putting that crazy cape under the needle. I practiced with the exact fabric, thread, everything. Both practice button holes were perfect. Perfect.

The real button hole? Well, on the first one the thread jammed. The second one? Thread jammed again. The third one skipped stitches. The fourth one made the thread jam again. I think I tried a couple times after that, but it's all a little blurry.

I finally gave up. I tried to rip out the darn button holes so they wouldn't show....with little success (they were on both sides...). I ended up going back to Hobby Lobby to purchase a frog closure (I think that's what they're called). I tediously sewed that thing in by hand, cursing my sewing machine the entire time.

I think we'll be able to use it next year. Look at that hood--it's huge!!

E loves it, and that's all that matters. She says, "My Mommy made it."

Happy Birthday Baby

Well, I suppose she's not my baby anymore, now that she's 2... but she still likes to pretend she's a baby, so that's good enough for me!



I worked on this birthday banner for a couple of months, an hour or two at a time. It was a project that I wanted to last for a long time, so I ripped, cut, sewed, ripped again, cut some more, and sewed again before I officially decided on a design.





In the end, it is almost exactly as I pictured. I may go back in the future and add actual fabric paint for the letters (I used fabric markers because of time constraints). I dunno... but I do have an entire year to figure it out!



I used good old quilting cotton from JoAnn's, some cotton twine, Crayola fabric markers, and wooden beads from Hobby Lobby. There were just enough beads of the colors I didn't use for the banner to make a necklace for "the baby" (which I believe, made her day when I gave it to her).

New Look

I got a new background today, courtesy of The Blog Fairy. She has some great free basic background (which is why I snagged this!). If I'm ever ready to commit to blogging more consistently, I'll do another update on the look. Until then, this is the look!! Lol

I have a very long to-do list hanging in my sewing room. Truthfully I haven't had much time to work on checking things off. I'm almost finished with the owl dress and I'll post pictures when I'm done! I swear :)