Hustle and Bustle

Big things have been happening around here! Some of the biggest:

Reluctantly, this banner came down. Let's just stay we had a little spooky spirit right through Thanksgiving...
My mother and father-in-law came to visit and left me with a little gift.....A SERGER!!! Best day ever. They must really love me (just kidding, I knew they loved me before they bought the serger!). They are the best. Mostly I've been playing around with it and figuring out how to use it (the model I got is SO EASY to use, more on that later). I started with a little project that's been on my list forever. I had this little hamper from Ikea that was a a good design, but the actual bag on it was made of plastic: ugly, tearing off mess. I set it in my storage room to wait for the day I could sew a new one, and I did it! Easy. Just took apart the old one and copied the pattern. I'm lovin' it.


Next item: pajama pants for J. I used a Sew Easy pattern that it turns out is really boxy and goofy, but I'm happy because now I know how to make pants. They are SO EASY! Er, I mean sew easy?


Many more projects to update. Now I need sleep!!!

Two little indians...

Josie became set on being Pocahontas a few months ago and I stewed and stewed about how I would make her dress. Once I started, everything kind of just came together and I had so much fun making the pattern. I learned a lot and studied my sewing books on necklines, facings, sleeves, and zippers. "Tiger Lily's" dress was very simple to make and only took a couple of hours from start to finish. I sort of copied a dress she already had and made a diaper cover from Dana's pattern at Made.

My mermaid

Josie pretends to be a mermaid all the live long day. All the costume fabric at Joann's was 60% off, so for her birthday I decided to surprise her with a mermaid get-up. It was soooo much fun to make and I honestly feel like I've found my real passion in sewing....pattern making. Just having an idea in my head and working it out is my favorite thing and so gratifying. This one was easy - the only tricky part was not being able to try it on her while in the process, since it was a surprise!

Freezer paper

I learned about freezer paper from Dana at Made, and basically it is my dream come true because it's the simplest way in the world to screenprint. Where has freezer paper been all my life??? I have tons of fp projects floating in my head...

Halloween fever

I told u I've become obsessed with freezer paper, right???

Puzzle bins

I was going nuts without a place for my girls puzzles with millions of pieces, so I bought these canvas bins and decided to jazz them up a bit. I started with freezer paper stencils (which I'm now 100% obsessed with), then I used fabric marker and embroidery thread. They turned out pretty cute and my girls think they're hilarious.

Still here...working away....

I have been feeling so guilty for not posting anything this last week. I have to remind my perfectionist self that this project isn't about a beautiful blog, but about my own learning process. It's about gaining discipline in creating and motivation to finish things. I can't tell you how much I have learned and grown since I started this journey. With that said...I do hope to get better at documenting it! In the meantime, I'll just have to tell you that I have some fun things to share in the next day or two when I can get around to posting about them...Things I have had SO much fun working on.
PS: I'm so mad I missed Teen Mom tonight!!!

Bare bones bunting

Just a start...A few more spooky details to finish this week....

It's a cardigan....

But thanks for asking! Ever since Lily was born, I've imagined a sweater like Laverne's for her. Now she has it! I do wish it was a pull-over...

Re-do

I didn't love this shirt in the slightest, so I thought maybe adding some color and defining the waist would help...? I like it much better this way...

Another day, another shirt.

I'm back

I still have some catching up to do with posting, but I'm back to late Monday night sewing! I'm also back to posting horrible phone photos taken after midnight...Oh well, you get the idea, right? I sewed this shirt from a Built by Wendy pattern from Simplicity. I actually really like it, and I think I might actually wear it? I wasn't expecting that! I was just trying to sew something for myself but assuming it'd turn out lame. Sweet surprise! I picked a SIMPLE pattern and fabric I really like, and voile! It turned out okay...It is a little plain and I'm trying to think of something to add to it. A sash? Maybe I'll think of something better in my sleep...

August 2nd

My beautiful and talented friend Marissa came to visit a few months ago. She came bearing adorable little crocheted gifts for my girls, and I have wanted to learn how to make them ever since. It's called Amigurumi - I bought this book and we've just gotten started. Josie is so excited about it - which makes it a million times more fun. I can't wait to try all of them!

July 26th

I'm still trying to copy Lily's favorite dress...This little one is pretty cute, but I'm not quite satisfied because I love the other one s'much. You haven't seen the last of this one yet...
PS: I know this pic doesn't show the dress all that well - I'll try again later. I'd like to see YOU try to get this girl to hold still long enough for a non-blurry pic! Honestly. She moves at warp speed 13 1/2 hours a day...

July 19th

J has a favorite little empire shirt from the Gap that I decided to try and duplicate. It was SO easy and seriously like 4 steps. The good news is: I think she likes it...



It was so easy that we thought Georgie probably needed a twinner one...

July 12th

I started a blankie for my baby Lils who celebrated her birthday in July. I found some SERIOUSLY soft yarn and if I ever finish it....I think she'll love it.

July 5th

We made a trip to B's parents ranch in Montana where my totally awesome and talented mother-in-law taught me how to crochet. This has been a goal of mine forever and I'm so happy she took the time to get me started...
Is this landscape serious??? So inspiring...



PS: Thank you to my ravishing hand models, P and J...

June 28th

The Fourth of July is taken very seriously around these parts, and we like to dress accordingly! I wanted to make J a dress and she happily picked out this cute fabric that is seriously channeling Wonder Woman! She wore it to all the festivities and I think she represented the USA love pretty well...



PS: I sewed from See & Sew B5199. I changed it a bit - I didn't use elastic and a casing, I used elastic thread and shirred the back instead. The only reason I did that is because the elastic and casing intimidated me...I plan to confront that fear in another project...soon!

Posting police

Okay, so I may give myself a ticket for tardiness...But my lack of posting doesn't mean I've fallen off track! I've mainly just had a hard time keeping up with documenting and posting. This last week I made a 4th of July dress from fabric Josie picked out, I'll post the pics I take of her in it asap....A couple weeks ago when I didn't post anything, I really did have a project...not a homemade item, but a BIG project related to my handmade things. It's a long story that I promise to tell soon, and post pics of. I'm on the road and I'm finding projects along the way...stay tuned!

Arty pants

Well, actually it's a pillow. My little artist drew these little
figures and I couldn't stand to let them stay there on the paper. I
copied and enlarged her drawing, then traced it onto cotton fabric. I
then embroidered the little masterpiece and sewed a zipper and backing
on to make a pillow cover. Pssst: Don't tell grandpa Steve- it's for
his birthday!

Geez, sorry!

Okay, okay, so I'm a day behind....But remember, I said there would be failures on this blog, right? Tomorrow is a new day...Ready for posting....

Wife beaters

I had fun sewing tonite.... Like the kind of fun where you lose track
of time and can't wait to see how it's all gonna turn out. I bought a
pack of little boy wife-beaters and with a little cute fabric I
converted them into perfectly sweet little tops for my girl. I also
attempted to sew a skirt onto this one....looks pretty cute but what
you're not seeing is that I got distracted and sewed the skirt on
backwards...so there's a big seam right down the front!! Ah well, such
is the sewing life.

A prototype

I fell in love with this little dress the minute I saw it. I love how simply it is made. The fabric is soft and lightweight and is so comfortable for my baby, and it's short enough that she can still crawl in it. She wears it all the time. I'd like to have more of them because honestly I would put her in one every day. I haven't found the right fabric, but I wanted to try sewing it with some practice fabric first, and work out the kinks. I used a zipper because I thought it would save time (it didn't!), but next time I'll try buttons like the original.

I think the little replica turned out sweet and I'm excited to try it on the little model...

True love

My true love in the art world is painting. I can get so caught up in
it. I love the little bursts of ideas that come sporadically, it's a
weird thing but I kinda feel addicted to it. A painter's high? I'm not
even using oils....
Back to the subject. I love to paint but I'm seriously rusty. I'm
struggling through this one because I'm a figure girl and I haven't
really painted landscapes. I have had the urge to throw this painting
out the window several times, but somehow it's still on my easel. It's
not at a stage where I'd call it done by any means, but having worked
on it for a chunk of time is an accomplishment and I'm happier with
this stage than when I started tonight. Man, landscapes are tough
stuff!!!!

On vacation....

Kissing my to-do list goodbye until next week!

New shirt...

I am loving this blog and I felt inspired to sweeten up my own wardrobe. I bought this shirt in 3 colors when I was hangin' in the in-between stage after having my baby. It didn't really fit well and was a boxy frumpy thing. Since I have three of them, I thought I'd try sprucing one up a bit - I'm still undecided and I honestly don't know if I'll wear the finished product in public, but it gave me some ideas and I will try this again...two more times!

PS: Please excuse the world's worst photos.