Circle Skirts

Dana was right, when is she ever wrong, the circle skirt is so simple and a must for any beginner sewer. 

One for my little princess and another for me, in 90 minutes!

The purple skirt is satin, easy enough to work with for this pattern.  Dana's directions were great, and very detailed.

Another twirling favorite.

My skirt is a knit, I thought it would be more challenging--the knit made it even easier because I didn't have to finish off the edges.  The challenging part of the skirt was the pattern.  Making a paper wide enough to fit the length of the skirt I wanted was the most challenging part of it all.

 This fabric was a great find in the clearance bin.  The stripes are my favorite part.

Even looking down at the skirt makes me smile...

Pink & Pleated Knock-Off Skirt

The knock-off skirt is so fun to sew and watch my little girl twirl in.  After finishing the yellow & black skirt (that she hasn't put on since the photo shoot) I wanted to make a pink skirt.  I asked the little princess if she would wear it if I made a pink one--yes mommy, she said.

So it would make logical sense that she didn't want to actually put the skirt on when I finished it.  Or the next day or the next.  I wanted to show you the finished product--you will just have to imagine it dancing and twirling around.

The light pink is a cotton batiste, the gingham is a chiffon fabric.  Once again the front is flat and the back has an elastic in the waist.

Instead of gathering the skirt I pinned boxed pleats to give it a little more formal look.  I love the skirt and received quite the compliment from my little princess when she told me she wanted to wear it to church--usually an occasion reserved for her dress collection.  That was why she didn't want to wear it for a few days.

Knock Off Skirt

 Saw these skirts the other day on Garnet Hill and knew I could make one for my little girl.  Skirts are so fun to make, they are forgiving--so the stress of perfection isn't looming over my head as I sew.  

 I'm not sure she will ever where this skirt again--it's not pink or purple.

Full enough to sit

and twirl

The description of the skirt says the bow can be tied in front or back.  The front of the skirt is flat, the back has a hidden elastic with a shirring detail on the waistband.

It's a fun skirt to sew and is so full it makes a perfect twirling skirt.

Love One Another

We've been in our house for a little over a year now.  I'm getting the itch to decorate now, not just move furniture around.  It will take time, especially with my two little helpers.  My two little helpers have a love hate relationship--don't most two and four year old's?  They seem to get along most of the time, until one hits the other or takes a toy away.  To hopefully generate a more loving relationship I made this artwork for their bedroom.

 For the "Love" piece I printed off Love in one font and one another in a different font.  I would have liked to used vinyl, but my budget and time didn't allow for that.

Using a pencil color the back side of the paper.  Use a ball point pen to trace the outline of the letters onto your painted piece of wood.

The black is just acrylic and the paint I used to fill in the letters and for the background of the cameo is from a sample from Home Depot.

Use a small paint brush and paint the edges.  This took a little time.

I used the same process for the "one another."  This part took the longest because of the fine lines.

The cameo's weren't too hard.  

I hung them above their closet so they could look at them as they fell asleep.

After I hung them up my little girl laid on her bed and said, "Now I have pictures in my room, lets put pictures all over my room."

A Domestic Day

Growing up we knew it was the end of summer when we were sent out to the garden to pick peaches.  We had five peach trees, and they were amazingly bountiful every year.  This would start the canning season.  Peaches, pears, tomatoes and such.  I miss being in that kitchen and helping, it was a family tradition.  Last year my mom came out for a weekend and brought peaches and pears for me to can.  I tried to learn how to do it, but mostly just watched helped her here and there.  This year I ordered an entire box of pears, knowing my mom wasn't coming.  I called her several times for information that should be embedded in my brain.  

It took me a while to get the kitchen all set up.  I knew the basic work stations I needed and got out all the bowls and tools I thought I needed.  The kids had McDonalds for lunch and a redbox rental to hopefully occupy them while I was busy.  As I started blanching the first batch I knew I was past the point of no return.  It reminded me of sewing.  My mom is an amazing seamstress, I would ask her to make me clothes and tell her I would help.  Help meant watching her sew for hours on end.  I didn't sew a lot growing up, but I learned a lot from watching and talking to my mom.  Now I love to sew, and attribute that to my mother.  So, when I started canning all by myself it was like I already knew what to do.  

After filling four jars someone knocked at my door.  My little girl who loves to answer the door ran to get it.  It was my MIL.  She came to say hi, the kids were excited, and I was glad to have someone to talk to.  She offered to help and I didn't say no.  She helped me can most of the box.  Thank You!

All the pears are in jars now, thirty-two to be exact.  Only three pairs didn't make it in, two were eaten and one was just too bad.  As I sit here typing the last batch is boiling away.  It was fun to be domestic today, and to be just like my mom.

Men's to Mine...Part 3...Sleeves

With my basic pattern for a shirt I wanted to try different sleeve lengths.

Now that the days are getting cooler a 1/2 sleeve works well.

Long sleeve shirts are always hard for me to find.  Have you heard that your arm span in supposed to be as wide as you are tall?  Well my arm span is more like a gorilla...it's at least two inches longer than my height. So finding a long sleeve shirt that is actually long enough is always an adventure.  Even when I do find one that has sleeves long enough I wash it once and it is 3/4 length sleeve--This drives me crazy.  I don't buy 3/4 length shirts because I feel like the shirt shrunk.

Aren't those sleeves gloriously long?

Love it!

Shirt to Cardigan

You wouldn't know it is the 1st of September here.  It's darn right cold at night.  I'm not ready to pull out sweaters, coats and gloves or for summer to end.  I don't like seeing fall in the stores, it just doesn't seem like it's time for it yet.  So I must find it somewhere inside to handle the cold weather sneaking in on my life.  On Sunday we were in bit of a shock because our high was only 67, I had to dig through a lot of clothes to find a cardigan for my little girl to wear because we don't have winter or fall clothes out yet.

I came up with this little ditty for next time we need a cardigan...

Using a long sleeve t-shirt I cut down the middle and cut the hem off the bottom and the sleeves.  I also cut a little way up on the sleeve to make it more a 3/4 sleeve length.

To make a clean edge on the front I finished the edge with a serger and folded it over and stitched.

Using the cut off hem, I opened it up and cut it in half.  This gave me a little over an inch of fabric in strips.  I sewed the strips together, basted and gathered.  Starting at one side of the collar I pinned the ruffle to the shirt, pinning down the front around the bottom and back up the other side.

Sew the pinned ruffle on with a slight zig-zag.  This really helps when sewing knits. Remember to remove pins as you sew--I couldn't believe this didn't break my needle when I hit it.

The sleeves also have a ruffle on the ends, made from an extra white t-shirt I had on hand.

I'm going to be doing some more of these in different colors.  My little girl loves this, especially how soft it is.  For those of you who have little ones who don't like the feel of sweaters this is an easy option for a cardigan.