Laura’s prom!

I know it’s been a while since I posted, and I still have to write about my awesome time in NYC with Susie, but I can kill two birds with one stone by blogging here….and getting the pics up at facebook. Laura was pretty excited, and a little nervous when I dropped her off about half an hour ago. She looked very pretty though!

I had this picture in my head when I started making this dress…the hem is 148 inches around!

You can’t see the black Chucks in this picture, I guarantee she won’t have sore feet at the end of the evening!

They have a masquerade theme this year, you can’t see it too well, but she put fake eyelashes on her mask(which matches her dress!).

Happy Easter!

We are enjoying a nice sunny day here.  I finished the girls dresses in time(and not even at midnight for a change!). I made the dresses from vintage patterns that I found. Laura’s is from the early 60’s, Molly’s late 50’s or early 60’s.

Molly’s dress had to pass the twirl test:

Magdalena Rose

Here is Lena in her new Birthday Dress I made! Isn’t she adorable? Look at how her eyes even smile!

must. keep. updating.

Not much has been going on here, mostly just schooling, knitting, and sewing. I just about have the girls patterns adjusted for their Easter dresses, and will finish them up when we get back from our trip. I made a dress for Lena’s birthday, I will put up a picture when I get one of her wearing it.

Molly asked me to make an MP3 bag for her. So I designed one that would hold the player and the ear bud case.

Amy Butler fabric, fusible fleece in the middle, and just leftover curtain fabric for the lining. She was happy with it!

All about vintage

vintage dress pattern I used for my first dress= .50
vintage fabric found at Salvation Army=3.00
Look on Molly’s face when it is finished= PRICELESS

Sifting and Sorting

I was blessed with a BIG box of very old patterns a couple of years ago, by a dear friend whose mother was a seamstress. Tonight Molly and I got down to the business of trying to sort and put together the patterns. Some are so old they don’t have any print on them, and these will be harder to find a place for. I now have two pattern boxes full of old patterns, one box of tattered and ripped patterns that I will place in plastic bags, and attempt scanning the directions. They were stored in an attic, so were kept dry, but some are from the late 20’s-early 30’s, and the paper is just OLD. Several are from the 40’s, with a patriotic bent to them, many from the 50’s, and a few for children mixed into all decades. I also put in the first patterns I made, when I was 12, then when I took sewing in 8th grade.

I also started a dress for Molly with the pattern I made my first dress from, with some vintage fabric I had. It’s a nice pique, orange and lime green! It’s a nice fabric, I wish we could still get it with that quality.

I ordered a pattern tonight for Molly, who has requested a vintage dress that she can spin in:

And a dress for Laura to wear to her Homeschool Prom in the spring:

Looking forward to working on these!

My sewing room!

I still have the bug that’s going around, and didn’t sleep well last night. I figured I might as well be productive, and got the curtains made for my sewing room. Here are some shots of the room:

You can see it still needs a lot of work, and some shelves over the scrapbooking/jewelry making area, and over the ironing board. The closet needs some shelves as well. But it’s functional, and that’s what really matters.

Aren’t the curtains cute? I got that fabric in Indianapolis, at Hancock’s. All we have here really is Joann’s, and they don’t carry a lot of nice fabric anymore.

It’s been forever

I know it’s been  ages since I’ve posted, just a lot going on. Between funerals, weddings, and family stuff, I spent a lot of time out of town. I hope to get back to more scheduled blogging now.

In the meantime, I have been knitting and sewing up a storm. I finally have my sewing room up in my attic, and will take a picture soon. I love the space, and during the day I don’t even need to turn on a light thanks to the sky light up there. The room is just the right size, big enough yet cozy, and the closet will be my yarn and fabric space(just need some more shelves put in).

We are all just getting over some bug that hit the house a few days ago. Molly was hit the worst, and spent some time at the ER getting some IV fluids.

It’s snowing, again. I really am ready to not have winter anymore…anyone else with me on that?

Fun new acquisitions

I’ve been kind of out of things the last couple of weeks(muscle relaxers do make me loopy), but I got some fun things in the mail and I finally feel up to posting about them.

yarn:

These are hand dyed yarns from Frog Hair Fibers, an Etsy shop.

I found some vintage patterns at Out of the Ashes:

This first pattern is one I have been trying to find for 20 years. I got a beautiful piece of Liberty of London cotton lawn when I visited my sister in law in Chicago, and knew exactly what I wanted the blouse to look like. This pattern is from the early 60’s.

This one is a dress pattern from the late 90’s. I just like it.

PUFFALUMP PATTERN!!! I was way excited to find this, and when I went back a few days later, I found a couple other ones(I think a cow and um some other animal).

And is it Vista, or Photobucket(I just signed up there)? It is taking FORFREAKINEVER to get these pictures edited and up. ::headdesk, lather, rinse, repeat::

I just gave up and put them in unedited from my computer. There HAS to be a decent picture storage out there somewhere.

I finished the slings!

I got the slings made today for Em and Mandy, thanks to this excellent tutorial from Michelle .

Em’s sling is the one on the left, Michael Miller fabric, a toile with children playing for the outside, and the alphabet(known as “scrabble” fabric by MM). It is directional fabric, and I put the lining in the wrong place so when Em wears it, it will look upside down. Oh. Well.

Mandy’s sling on the right, is Amy Butler fabric. I don’t remember the name of the outside piece, but the inside is part of the lotus collection. I picked this because I know Mandy loves orange, so I hope this isn’t overkill for her. I will be seeing Mandy tomorrow, she and Mike are driving to Cleveland to see the Indians/Red Sox playoff game, and I will be heading out there to babysit!!!! I can’t wait to see little Miles again(and yes Tricia, I will get some pics up soon).