Mini Heat Wave
25 Apr 2012 3 Comments
in baby, crafty goodness, gardening Tags: baby, cloth diapers, diapers, garden, heat, hot flashes, pregnancy symptoms, pregnant, sewing, skirty, soakers
Missouri has been weird this year weather-wise and til today I was totally fine with that. The warm weather has sped up germination in the garden and warmed the ground enough for me to get all my warm season seeds in without worrying about losing them which, as I get bigger, has been a real blessing. The further along I get (just passed the 26 week mark on Monday) and the bigger I get, the harder it is to work with the hoe and rake to get the weeds out. The garden is so big that its a multiple day task just to get through it all and I have to take days off in between thanks to my screwy hips. All of this makes me incredibly thankful for the warm weather since it means I can get stuff done now rather than waiting another month when I will really be uncomfortable at the rate things are going. I keep telling this little girl to take it easy on her mama, but she’s got a mind of her own 
.
Despite being thankful for the warmth that has allowed me to get so much done, today I decided I’m not loving 90 degrees in April. At 7 this morning I was already uncomfortable even with the air conditioner running and temps outside cooler than inside. I’m uncomfortably warm now sitting still doing absolutely nothing and not very hopeful that things will get better at the rate things are going. I’m actually looking forward to the chilly weather on Saturday. I’m shooting a wedding for my husband’s best friend and the temps are supposed to be in the mid-60′s and I’m thinking its sounds like heaven. Big change from 2 days ago when I was worried I’d be too cold *grins*
I have been productive today even with the heat kicking my butt. I’ve been sewing up a storm, trying to get elastic in diapers for Little Bit. Its a tedious process, but I am excited as I finish each one to see one more cute little fitted diaper ready to go. I made soakers and wipes this morning as well and even made a little skirty soaker (fun fact: soakers can be liners or covers!- who knew?!)
This is the little skirty. Its a little wonky- very very hard to get into those tiny spaces, but I’m pretty proud of it for a first attempt. I have a feeling it will be way too tiny, but I’m also assuming this little girl will be at least 8 pounds like her mama and daddy were so we’ll see.
Speaking of being productive, I’m going to get back to work. Jarell is in Iowa again so I don’t have to worry about being in his way with all the sewing stuff. Dinner tonight is going to be steak (that I cooked last night) with wilted baby bok choy from the garden. Another sad downside of the weather is my poor bok choy is already bolting so I need to get it eaten up. It sure tastes good tho!
Baby Dresses
25 Mar 2012 6 Comments
in baby, crafty goodness Tags: adorable, baby, dress, made by rae pattern, sewing
I found this free pattern from Made By Rae for an adorable baby dress and I knew I had to make it for Little Bit. These terrible cell pics below show the outcome.
The first one I made from some fabric I bought when I first found out I was pregnant. It is lined with a soft white knit fabric under the bodice to be gentle against baby’s skin.
I pleated this one and as seems to be my wont, despite care taken to make it even, I got it a bit off-centered so I added a flower with a button from my grandmother’s sewing supplies in the center. The trim along the bottom of the dress was also courtesy of her saving everything and I’m so thankful to make this dress just that much more heirloom for my little girl than it already was.
The second run through was really quick and dirty because I used a vintage pillow case with a beautiful crocheted trim along the open end for the dress. Its lined with more of the case and it is so sweet in white. I’m debating whether it will get any embroidery in pink to break up all that white and would love some feedback.
To Post or Not to Post
11 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in crafty goodness, life Tags: class, cleaning, college, Crafts, home, homemade, knitting, life, pillow, procrastination, projects, sewing, star, Survey of Modern and Contemporary Art
I really spend way too much time on the computer so for today, I’m just going to pop in real quick and say “hi” before running off to do some sewing, then maybe some knitting, followed sadly by a bunch of cleaning. My house post-party always looks a bit tornado-esque and the kitchen is in serious need of dish cleansing and spatter removal. The microwave was used by teenagers and has unidentified spots in it as well that make me a bit nervous.
I’m working on floor cushions to alleviate some of the discomfort brought on by sitting on the floor for our Apples to Apples games around the holidays.
The first one (and please pardon the bad cell pics- too lazy to break out the big beast which I know is unforgivable but there you have it) is finished and I have pieces for 3 more cut out.
It’s huge and used 2 pillow cases plus a whole bag of stuffing, but its surprisingly comfy. The next two will be reversed- the long points in the middle and the short points out to allow for a bigger sitting surface, but I really like the way this one supports your legs.
Knitting projects will be updated here as I have the time. My Survey of Modern and Contemporary Arts class keeps me fairly busy, but writing lengthy papers that say little is an art I’ve perfected as a blogger
Scrap Swap
03 Mar 2011 2 Comments
in crafty goodness Tags: blue, embroidery, owl, pillow, red, scraps, sewing, swap
I entered a swap awhile back but immediately got sidetracked by school, the wedding plans, my grandfather’s passing, and my photography stuff so I forgot to tell you about it. I didn’t forget about the fabric tho- that’s what it was- a fabric scrap swap- and this Mr. Owl up above represents a very nice selection of the beautiful fabrics sent to me by my swap partner, Wendy. The fabrics she sent down were gorgeous and I knew right away what I wanted to use them for. I had that piece of lace staring at me for well over a year looking all owlish and when I saw the pretty pieces that Wendy sent me, I knew they’d be beautiful together. Enter in a nasty bout of my IBS and I was couch bound for a couple of days which turned out to be plenty of time to hand sew everything but the outline which I ran off real quick on the machine. The belly (which you see in the first close-up shot) was the coolest blue swirly fabric and I hand embroidered those stitches on there in every single swirl while watching ‘Bones’ on my Netflix. My husband happened to be out of town so I could lounge without feeling guilty of hogging the tv and it was a perfect way to recuperate. When he saw the stitching he was amazed that I did it all by hand, but I love the texture it added to my new pillow.
Thank you so much Wendy for the beautiful scraps! I plan to start on something else with them as soon as I get another batch of down days with no assignments
November
04 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in life, my life, pictures Tags: halloween, holidays, home, husband, life, Nablopomo, photography, school, sewing, thankful
Holy cow I’ve been busy! So busy/lazy that I haven’t even completed my Halloween costume yet (our party is two days away so I need to get going on that one!!) In my defense, I’m doing school work, making decorations, cleaning (sometimes…..), cooking, running errands, and all the other little things that make up life and blogs and costumes fall very far down on that list of things to do. Class keeps me busy a lot of the time- the one I’m in right now (which thankfully ends Wednesday- just when its finally getting interesting) is Color Theory for Web and Media- basically I’m learning about using colors on the computer. Unfortunately, I’m not a design student and I’m also very left-brained which makes being creative in random fashions quite a challenge. That said, I’m still keeping my 4.0 average (go me, right?) but I feel pretty relieved to make it through every week.
I’m actually here today because I am going to try (notice I say try) to post most days this month. It’s November, and here in the states that means the holiday season is upon us starting with Thanksgiving. I thought it would be nice to post something that I’m thankful for every day here on the blog. (only thought of it today so there goes NaBloPoMo)
In that line of thinking, and since I missed three days already, here are four things I’m thankful for. (don’t get used to it- I’ll only be posting multiples when I’ve missed a few days…. on second thought, maybe you should get used to it…)
- Jarell- My husband, partner in crime, best friend, house cleaning aficionado, handy man, favorite comedian, and all around wonderful guy. He makes me smile, he takes care of me when I’m feeling yucky like I have been this last month thanks to bronchitis, works his butt off at a very tough job and tells me he’s glad to because it means I don’t have to work at a job I hate. I don’t deserve this man, but I try every day to live up to the standards he sets by being as wonderful as he is.
- Speaking of the job Jarell does, I’m thankful that he has been well employed all summer even if that meant him being gone all week and us only talking for a few minutes each day. Our bills are caught up, we have a car being fixed as I speak that will be mine when its done, propane for the furnace, food in the fridge, and lots of little things that make me happy around the house.
- I am incredibly thankful to be in school. Despite the fact that some of the classes get me (they’re short- 5 1/2 weeks long) I love being in school and learning again. The knowledge that I am moving forward with my photography makes me incredibly happy.
- Finally as a random one, I am thankful for Fall. I love Spring with its greening grasses and possibilities of a garden ahead, but I was born in January and I love all the changes that lead up to my birthday- the crisping nights, the warm fires, the first time it snows. All these things are magical to me and I love love love this time of year!
A leap of faith
01 Mar 2010 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: bachelor's of science in photography, back to school, college, online, photography, school, sewing
I’m taking one. And very suddenly I might add. Applying for a BS in photography (I love that the accronym is BS cuz I feel like that’s what I’ll be doing…) at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh online. Its such a huge step to take for me who has been out of school for 6 years but I’m really excited about it. Think good thoughts my way folks- I want to do this and add it to my sewing business for which I finished my first paying job on Thursday.
The dress is almost done and I have proof
03 Jul 2009 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: dress, picture, proof, sewing, unflattering?
So the pictures are crap because they were taken with my camera. You can’t really see color or texture correctly- sorry about that. But I can now prove that I’m working on this dress. Not sure I like the fabric because its too thin, but its a good run through till I can get some fabric I do like. This dress isn’t quite finished- if you look closely at the armholes you’ll see they kinda gape and are still rough but its mostly done. Done enough certainly for me to decide that I probably won’t wear it (sigh) but if I do finish it, it would be cute and comfy for summer wear. Just too see through till I can get it lined. So see I’m not crazy or a liar. I appologize for the poor quality of the pictures. Aack not to flattering either are they?!
Happy birthday
01 Jul 2009 3 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: art, birth stories, birthday, drawing, embroidery, frog, home birth, little brother, midwife, sewing
So today is my baby brother’s 18th birthday. I remember the day my mom went to the doctor to take a pregnancy test. I remember even better the night when my little brother made his appearance. At home. An hour or so before the midwife arrived because my mom had had several false labors already and didn’t want her to have to make the long drive to our home for no reason. I remember my other brother wanting a lollipop while there was so much drama going on around him. Clifford has been surrounded by drama ever since.
As a birthday present I wanted to give him something that is a little bit from me and also a little bit from Kevin, my other brother (the middle child). Enter Kevin’s remarkable artistic talent. The picture below is his creation and a rather simple picture compared to some of his amazing work because I needed to be able to change it into a simplified line drawing so I could use it as an embroidery pattern. Slowly but surely I did just that.
Ever so carefully I painstakingly embroidered the frog and his shroom seat onto some plain white fabric to make a patch. The picture below is an in progress shot.
Finally I finished (actually it only took me two or three hours) I sewed it to a plain white t-shirt et voila.
The project was enough to inspire me to buy some more embroidery floss to replenish my dwindling supply. As you can see below I found a nice batch of color and I plan to do some more embroidery from other pictures that my brother has drawn. Who knows where I’ll go with it.
Oh and Clifford, if you’re reading this, you just spoiled your birthday present surprise….. shame on you
The dress and other things
30 Jun 2009 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: dead camera, dress, free plants, freecycle, gardening, sewing
Well for all of you new here who commented and sent good wishes on the dress, its not done. I got the bodice finished and then lost momentum because I’ve been busy with some gardening stuff. Also I am sad to say that all future photos for a while will be taken with my cell phone because my camera has gone to that great big photographer’s studio in the sky. It got knocked off my lap at our reunion but was still taking pictures even tho I could no longer use the LCD screen I could still take pictures. That is no longer true. I am so sad because I love taking pictures and I don’t know when I will get to replace it. Ah well c’est la vie. I plan to save for a really nice one. I have a whole $18 bucks so far…. but I’ll get there some day. I plan to watch Ebay and in fact I’ll be heading over there in a minute to see whats available. I want to have a nice enough camera that I can change out my lenses and all that fancy stuff. I’m learning about photography and I find that I am not completely disappointed with my pictures so I want to pursue this.
My day today and Sunday too was taken up by getting some free flowers for my garden. I made a request on freecycle for any plants that needed dividing and had two replies from some wonderful women who have the most gorgeous gardens. I brought home wisteria (my FAVORTITE), irises, lilies, hollyhocks, rose of sharon, angel trumpet flowers, some yellow flowers that might be a type of daisy, purple coneflowers, and a couple of small seedlings for trees (redbud and bald cypress) I also have an invite from one of the ladies to come back later in the fall for some different lilies and some lilac starts. This makes me so happy because landscaping is at the bottom of our budget list way below even my poor truck and yet I love to garden and want to make the outside of our house as beautiful as the inside. I am so happy to have these beautiful plants especially since they would have gotten the weed killer if I hadn’t brought them home with me.
Now I’m going to be busy finding homes around my yard for all the pretties. I love the feel of digging my hands into fresh damp dirt. So much so that I have to be reminded to wear my gloves. Theres just something about diving in and the sense of accomplishment when you’re done and you see the blooms where before there were weeds, grass or only dirt. Plus I’ve always loved playing in the dirt.
RIP pillow tutorial
22 Oct 2008 2 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: easy, halloween projects, quick, rest in peace pillows, sewing, tombstone pillows, tutorial
Now for the really fun part!
Step 7: You can do this several ways but I’m only going to describe 2 because those are the methods I’ve used. If you are comfortable enough with your sewing machine (and if you even have one) then you can do what I did in the above picture. I used a zig zag stitch and painstakingly sewed down the letters with it instead of doing it by hand. It took a bit of cursing and a lot of patience but it was comparatively quick and the seams look so preeeettty when you’re done. The other method I used was hand appliqueing the letters on with some black thread, a blanket stitch, and several good movies to keep my active mind from going crazy sitting there sewing on letters. Either way do this before you begin constructing the pillow unless you’re like me and enjoy sewing stuff on things that are already stuffed. I did that with the first pillow and I like being able to have a firmer foundation, but that may just be me. As an altertive to these to methods, you could use some iron on stuff or glue or whatever but never having used those things I can’t vouch for them but with this the letters will stay put.
I wish I had pictures of this last step but my junk camera crapped out at the end and so of course it was at the hardest to explain part of the project. Bear with please.
Step 8: Did I call the last step the fun part? Cuz compared to this one it was. Take your edging strip, line one end of it up with the center of the bottom of your tombstone shape. This will keep the seam on the bottom of the pillow. Make sure you have the right sides together because otherwise you’ll be like me tearing out the seams when you realize that you’re edges are on the outside. Start sewing the edge to the tombstone following the curves and backtacking the corners if you want. When you get back to the bottom you may have a lot of overlap but leave that for now. Pin the other half of the tombstone to the other side of the edging again pinning it at the center of the bottom and making sure again that the rightsides are together because you’ll feel really stupid if you have to rip out the seams twice. I sure did….. *grins* Now I know its hard to make the seams exactly the same and here’s where the overlap comes in. Sometimes the bottoms don’t line up and the extra fabric covers your ass so to speak when this happens.
Step 9: Stuff the pillow and then sew the bottom shut et Voila! You have a creepy tombstone pillow.
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