Winter Seaing

Weather is getting more like winter and I am at least 2 months behind on the sewing that needs to get done.  I have been seing every chance I have but they are very few.  I did get a few things completed this last week and delivered this morning.

The first were the brown outfits below.  Lola has red hair and the brown is beautiful on her.  This top has a small opening at the front neck and the elastic detailing both front and back.  The pants are a pattern that I have used before that were cropped.  I just added length and left out the pleating around the knee.

Julian's is a simple grey t-shirt with an embroidery pattern that I purchased last year from Embroidery Library .com.  I get quite a few of my patterns from there.  Good quality, easy downloading great instructions. His pants are the "break away" with velcro on the side to make going over the braces and getting to the bathroom easier for everyone.

The last deliveries were also to Lola and Julian.  I used the no-pill fleece and made simple poncho's.  I had no pattern, just took a scrap cloth and measured on Tuesday to Nora Ruth while she was at the house.  Cut a neck opening using a jacket pattern that had a hood, and worked from there.  Both of them are reversable.

Lola's is lined with a 'fluffy' darker lavender.  Both sides have a pocket center front, and the fleece side is monogrammed.  I sewed right sides together on the hood and neck opening, turned and top stitched.  all around the lower edge is just put together with a blanket stitch.

I guess that in the rush to get the deliveries made, I did not snap a picture of Julian's.  But, in little boy style, his is a tan with chocolate monogram and the reverse side is camoflauge. 

Not sure how excited kids were over poncho's, but Mom, Angela, was delighted.  I hope that they will be an easy jacket to use for these 4 year olds.

Hope that this week will be as successful!!!   I need to clean out some sewing.



Holilday Season

We have had a wonderful Thanksgiving at our home.  Lots of cooking, eating and visiting with children and family.  I have begun the wonderful activity of preparing the house for Christmas.  Trees are up, door is decorated and much of the house is complete.  Now it is time to spend time on completion of many projects.

Hope that all of you had as wonderful a weekend.

Happy Halloween

I had great plans last weekend to get many projects off my table.  But as always, I get sidetracked.
I really needed some brown wooly nylon thread for one of the started projects.  Where I live, to purchse anything sewing related, it is an hour drive.  My Mom has been wanting to search for some red dress knit to make herself a dress.  So, begins the adventure for Saturday. 

We went to Tupelo and which took most of the day and came home with 4 spools of thread.  Needless to say, not much got completed.

I did complete a skirt and top for Angela(dau).  Back in the summer when I had created one for her little one, Lola, she said she wanted an adult version of this skirt.  So the only changes I made was not to piece Angela skirt with different fabrics only cut her fabric on different grains of the fabric.

This was Lola's.  The sections of the skirt were serged together using the flatlock stitch.  The ruffles were edged with the serger roll hem.  I used  machine quilting thread for all the decorative stitches.

Angela's skirt is made in strips of a dark brown batick with a horizontal pattern.  Cutting the different sections on opposite grain gave a vertical/horizontal pattern for more interest in the skirt.  All of the decorative stitching was done with a grey pearl thread.

The outfit was completed with a simple peasant top made from a cream batik print.  The sleeve and hem line were finished off with the same grey pearl thread in a roll hem stitch.  Very different patterns/colors but both have the same grey in the print and looked very good together.

After this was completed, it dawned on me that I had a deadline project that must be tackled.  I had to get a "trick or treat" bag completed quickly.  Alliene(10mo.) did not have the needed bag for a successful gathering of loot. So all other planned projects were pushed aside and the race was on to make sure she was ready for Halloween.  I completed it on Wed. night and "Whooty" has been delivered. 

Hope that all of you have a safe and Happy Halloween.



Fall Has Arrived

I walked outside this morning around 5 AM and the air was sooo crisp!  I came back in and began to scan the great blogs that I enjoy, fixed me a pot of coffee and I have been inspired to dig in and get some fall sewing done this weekend.  Even though the great outdoors is is beautiful at this time of year.  Maybe will take a break later today for a walk in the woods.

You can see from the above photos that the leaves and pine straw are beginning to cover the ground, yet the trees are still full.  No need to start raking now.....there is much more to come.

I will take Miss Belle with me this afternoon when we go for a walk.  She loves the crisp outdoors.  She has to stay inside through the heat of the summer.

We made a trip to Texas last weekend to spend time with Greg,Julie, and Nathan.  Enjoyed the time with Nathan(4 mo.).  He is growing so fast that trips to Texas will be much more frequent or we will miss getting to remember him as an infant.

I have finished a few Fall projects.  The firefly out fit for Nora Ruth is just a pattern that I made myself.  I have jsut a tissue bodice that I free hand cut, and all the ruffles are just rotary cut to length needed to complete the garment.  I took a basic pants pattern and modified to complete the project.

The top below was made for Angela(dau)out of a beautiful batik.  I had originally purchased thinking of Lola but Angela expressed a love so here it is.  It is made by Simplicity 3786 which is a great pattern with several selections to choose from.  It was very simple to make, I am thinking about getting the pattern in my size and making me one.

Below are the projects on the table for this weekend.  I hope that I get a couple complete.  I am so easy to get side tracked especially when the weather is so beautiful.  I am going to try and just open the windows in the craft room and pretend I am outside.

This will be a modification of the  pattern below.  I have made this pattern a couple of times and the girls love it.  I am going to have to get some brown thread to edge the ruffles, don't like the cream color.

A fall top for Lola.

A long bubble for Aillene.

A cut and sew skirt for Angela and top to complete the outfit.

Gone to sewing.

 

Crazy Patch Vest

I am sometimes very slow to complete projects.  Start and then get sidetracked.....I posted last year in September that I was starting a Crazy Patch project and now it is finally finished.  It is a quilted vest for Lola.
It really did not take me that long, project just got pushed aside for necessary things.  The original plan was to be a complete jacket, but as I put it together, decided that as 'busy' as the prints are, that it would be too much.



The square are all put together with different laces, ric-rac, or decorative stitches.  Then quilted, and the large flowers are appliqued on each side of the front and the back.

 I don't think that you can tell, but I outlined the appliques so that they show on the inside of the vest.

The pants below were made from Burda 9581, size 3.  I purchase the pattern last year but just have not tackled it.  The back has a yok and false pockets.

The front has a fly and really different pockets.  The pockets are shown as patch, or with small zippers at the top.  Patch was easier.  There are pleats at the knee for movement.

The side view show the odd shape of the pocket, and the vented leg.  These are supposed to be capri length and has elastic just on the sides.  I have not tried them on Lola, will take them to her tomorrow.

I have started and out fit for Angela, will also take it for a fitting tomorrow.

Our local fabric store closed about a month ago.  The lady that had owned the store was hoping that someone would buy her out, but the sale never came through.  She still has some stock that she has moved to a storage building at her house.  Yesterday she had a garage sell and of course I went.  She is selling her remaining fabrics buy one yard get 3 free.  You have to take the 3....so that her stock reduces.  If there is not 3 yards left on the bolt, you pay for 1 yard and the next 3 are fee. I bought several pieces of flannel.  Things that can be put up and used years down the road.  I also found several cotton prints that I just could not resist.(hehe) I have trouble resisting most fabrics. 

I have to get really busy sewing soon, or the fabric closet is going to explode.

On to a different topic. 

I went across the street yesterday and picked pears from Doc Rogers house.  He has a tree that my only competition with is the deer and the guys on the garbage truck.  These are just the old hard pears.  They had begun to yellow and mellow and I knew that if I did not get them soon it would be too late

 Several weeks agon, I had put up pear preserves, pear honey, and I created my own version(recipe) of spiced pears as a test.  I love cinnamon so I made spiced pears, using the cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.  They are very good.  I got them peeled and canned this morning.  This whole cooking is salad pears.

Our weather has cooled slightly and we had a small rain early morning.  Made one think of fall, so I put on a large crock of chili.  This is a good staple to put in the freezer for quick suppers in the fall and winter.

It is raining again now......hoping for cooler weather....

Need to get fall sewing started.....starting now.



Let the creativity roll

I have finally gotten my answer to the Explorations Software issues I had creating appliques.  I was able to go to the shop where I purchased the software and took laptop, and embroidery machine.  It only took Kathy 2 minutes to correct my problem when she saw what was happening.

I was soooooooooooooo excited.  I was ready to come home and stitch out the design I had completed.
Needless to say that the first stitch out of the design was not well lined up and I had quite some 'tweeking' to do to get it right.  But, I was determined to complete this to know that I could do the design part.

David(husband) says it looks more like a lollipop than a flower, but the intention was simple, childlike design.
I was please with the result.

These are for Nora Ruth and Alliene.  I told Becky(Mom) that I know that it is late for summer shirts but these had been in the plans for quite some time.....

I have begun some Fall sewing for Angela(daughter) and I have some curtains to get done for Becky and Clif's master bedroom.  I will probably get started on curtains this weekend.

Lots to do, little time.....Need more time to design appliques....Let the creativity roll.

Explorations

I have been on a shopping spree again.  A small fabric shop here in Starkville is going out of business and I could not resist.  I bought up several pieces of gingham and fairly simple prints and dots.  Also, I bought a few pieces of 'scooba knit'.  I made me a pair of crop pants out of the knit for myself and plan to make Angela(daughter) some too.  It was fun to sew for me....and get something to fit.  It was just a simple pair of pull-on pants.  No pictures to show.

I am searching for someone who uses Explorations Embroidery Software.  I purchased this over a year agon and then added the applique, and reshape modules.  I have been working all summer on a simple design to combine applique and embroidery and have not been successful. I have tried to go on the website for assistance, but they do not seem to respond.  The store that I purchased from offers classes but they are usually during the week and not convenient for me.  If you know of anyone that works with these type things, please share my request for help or maybe if you have some links to embroidery design blogs, I could find some assistance there. 

Happy Sewing

Back to School

I have not posted in quite some time.  I have been extremely busy at the office, putting in a minimum of 50 hours a week.  This schedule leave me little time for family, hobbies, or blogging.  I do not see an end to this for quite a while. 

We did take time out in early July to make a trip to Texas to welcome our 5th granchild into the family.  Nathan Lee Scott joined us on July 9th.  He is the first child for our son Greg, and his wife Julie.  They have been married nearly 12 years and getting this little one here has been quite an adventure but Nathan and Mom are doing fine!  Julie will get to be home with Nathan for 10 weeks before she returns to work.  This is great because it gives her plenty of time to bond and develop that special relationship between Mom and Son.  Greg is going to be the 'stay at home' Dad and he is going to be Great! 

I have been busy since I returned from Texas finishing the last bit of sewing that I had to do for the summer. I really did not get much done this year but completed these few items and packed the rest of the fun summer fabrics away.  This will give me something exciting to start on in the gloom of winter next year.

This bright little skirt and T-Shirt was for Lola.  I had bought a new serger in May and had taken a class on the special stitches.  Just had to use what I had learned!  Angela, went wild over this one.  I think this is her favorite.

Since I did the Sea Horse for Lola, I had to come up with something 'beach-y' for Julian.

Nora Ruth turned 3 in May.  Her mom said that she would like a Minnie Mouse dress for her birthday.  She did not have a party for her in May and was going to wait until summer for a 'pool party'.  The party never happened, so I finally completed the dress and gave it to her to play in.

These next 2 are sister outfits.  Becky has purchased the material and pattern for Nora Ruth and gave me a Bubble suit to go by for Alliene. 

Summer sewing is over and it is sad to say, but school is now in session.  Angela's twins, 4 yrs old, started to public pre-K on Wednesday.  Lola's description was we played and ate.  Mommy's description was much different of course because this was the first time to drive up, and not get to take the babies inside to make sure that they safely arrived where you knew you could find them when you returned.  Also, the experience at the end of day was just as frightening for Mom.  She took off work to be home whth Margaret(sitter) when the children arrived on the bus.  The bus should have arrived between 2-2:30  and was an hour late.  Many attempts from Angela to contact school and bus service were fruitless.  Very un-nerving for the first day.  But, bus finally arrived, driver announcing that there had been bus trouble.  Children were fine and happy.

The children have to wear uniforms.  Angela was able to purchase Lola's but Julian is so thin she could not get him any shorts.  Therefore Nana had to come to the rescue.  Also, with Julian not being potty trained, and having the braces on his legs, Angela requested that they be the "break-a-way" type I have made in the past.  This is with the left side seam in velcro.  This makes it much easier to handle as everyone continues to try to get him trained.

So, Nana has completed 5 uniform shorts for Julian, which will get him to late fall.

Now, I am ready to get started on beautiful Fall projects.

Spring Sewing

I haven't posted in quite some time.  I have been sewing but not as much as norm.  I have been working long hours at the office.  During the month of February, I worked on some Christmas quilts for the kids.  Can't post the progress because they would see, but I have had a great time planning and putting this together.  I am not a seasoned quilter so this is a new adventure.

I had a great time planning the project below.  I was pulling fabrics out of the box and Angela(daughter) spotted the small green print and said that she wanted something for Lola.  I was not excited because it seemed very dull.  I visited several material shops looking for something to perk this up.  Success was found @ Heirlooms Forever in Tupelo.  They have a great group of employees and are teriffic help. Together we came up fabrics to make the green print look special.

I have made a few other outfits for all the others too, but they are pretty basic.

Lola will be in a dance recital this weekend.  I had to do some alterations to her costumes.  I took a snapshot, she is not a poser.....always looks a bit scared.  We will not be able to take flash photos at the recital so here she is.

I guess that we are ready for the performance.