Full Circle Mother

Trick or Treats '09

Here's the whole "Wizard of Oz" gang dressed up for Halloween! Clockwise from the tallest we have, Glenda the Good Witch, Dorothy, The Wicked Witch of the West (she wouldn't let me put green make up on her but she made one cute wicked witch!),  the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow.

Miss Abbey didn't have a candy bag so I made one for her and she received so many compliments about it. I didn't get a good picture of it, but if you look closely you can see it above. I used a sweet owl fabric and the same ribbon from the scarecrow costume. At every house she came away declaring, "I got candy!". This was her first year to really "get" the whole trick or treating and it was so cute how surprised she was by the candy. Now if I can just keep her out of it.....

Then there was the Wicked Witch of the East - the one Dorothy dropped a house on. Remember her? Abbey thought it was great fun that I dressed up in the same costume as she did. She declared me the little witches' mom...I like that much better. We were able to piece most of the costumes together from our dress up box at home, a few pieces came from the thrift store (scored Dorothy's costume for $1) and the lion costume was made by me.  I love the way the mane turned out!

~Lisa

In search of the perfect pumpkin muffin

Boy - it's been a long time since I've been in this space and believe me, it's not from a lack of wanting to be. You know how life takes those twists and turns, throws you up in the air and back down like a roller coaster ride? That's how it's been around here the past month. Luckily, all is well here with my own little family, everyone is healthy, happy and thriving. A nice young man asked me this week in the hospital elevator if I was going to see a new baby....sigh, oh how I wished I could say yes. It was obvious from his beaming face and coffee in hand that he was indeed a brand new dad. But no, I wasn't going to see a new baby, I was going to see an old man - my dad. For a man who hasn't seen a doctor in years, one fall has led to many medical interventions and a series of back and forths to the hospital. He's on the smooth part of the roller coaster ride right now though and we hope he's on the road to recovery finally. I told him today - no more midnight rides (to the hospital that is).

In the midst of the medical drama, Fall has arrived here in south Texas and it is b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l! This has to be my favorite time of year - perfect weather - clear blue skys - and pumpkins! For the past two weekends I've made pumpkin muffins for breakfast and I'm still tweaking the recipe to get it just right. The first time wasn't spiced or sweet enough and this time it was a bit too heavy on the molasses. They were both yummy though...just not perfect. Maybe the next batch will be and I'll post my recipe then or if you have one you love - let me know.

So we had a few birthdays since the last time I blogged and I promised a picture of the twin's presents - book slings! I saw these in an etsy store a while back and knew they would be perfect for the girls to keep their nightly reading (you know - those books they are supposed to read at night but can never find), ipods, magazines, small treasures, etc. It was easy to figure out how to make them and I made them reversible so they can have them on a fun bright fabric or a solid fabric (with monogram and pockets). I just saw that Meg over at Sew Liberated posted about her son's book sling too - so go take a peek!

And a store update! I received a new shipment of Bummis covers this week and their new Limited Edition Super Whisper Wraps (Lemon Stars and Sage Stars) are so cute! They are even sweeter in person.

Enjoy your week!

~Lisa

Weekend Sewing and a Giveaway

This is an important announcement so please listen carefully. Today, outside in my front yard, at the end of the driveway, something absolutely wonderful occured. I felt a cool breeze! Aren't you excited?! I can't remember the last time there was a cool breeze here in TX, so this is big...no huge! We've finally broken the 100 degree records, it has rained this weekend (we are in the worst drought ever recorded) and there is a cool breeze. Sounds to me like Fall is coming. The rainy weekend was perfect for sewing and I did sew  - but I can't show it to you just yet. What I made is all wrapped up for two little girls who have a birthday tomorrow. So I'll show you that soon. In the meantime, here's something else I finished - the Weekend Sewing Summer Blouse. 

I had such fun sewing this blouse up as a friend made one along with me. If you don't have a sewing buddy, get one! I really like the fabric I used for this blouse (it's cotton gauze from Heather Ross' Far, Far Away line). I wouldn't use a quilting cotton for this shirt as it would be too stiff.  My ingenious friend found some light airy cotton in the form of a thrifted sheet which worked out to be perfect for this shirt. 

The Weekend Sewing book has so many great ideas and I love that about the book. However, there are a lot of errors (from cutting out pattern pieces to the yardage needed for a project), so before you sew from it, please go check for the errata page on Heather Ross' blog or go to the Weekend Sewing flickr group discussion board. 

Some of the changes I needed to make included: (writing these down so I can use them later!)

*Needed 2 to 2.5 yds of fabric total for the Medium size

*Cut the shirt length 3" longer than called for. Next time I'll cut it 4" longer or make the hem shorter.

*I didn't use double folded bias tape for the neckline, only 3/4" single folded bias and this worked out fine. I think the neckline would have been too thick with double folded. 

*Shortened the placket by 4"! It would have been way to long otherwise. I still sewed up the bottom a little with a fancy zig zag stitch so it wouldn't gap open too much. I read that the hand sewing on the placket would often come undone in the first washing so the machine stitching is more durable. However, I've found that washing all the clothes I've made on the delicate cycle and then hanging them to dry or only drying in the dryer to get the wrinkles out works best. After all that handiwork, who wants it to be ruined in the washing machine?

Now for the giveaway information! Fun! We're delighted to offer up a Moby Wrap from our store for a giveaway over at the Vegan Family Inc. blog. Sheri brings a whole new outlook on eating vegan and I love her new blog. I get lots of ideas on feeding a family with healthy snacks from her so go check it out and be sure to enter the Moby Wrap Giveaway while you are there! 

~Lisa

Pillowcase dresses

While the weather here hovers in the 100s still, it makes for perfect sewing weather inside. I've finished a couple of projects and crossed them off my "to-do" list - not a chore list at all, but a fun "I can't wait to get to them" list! Most of the time, my mind moves faster than my hands so there will always be a list going on! This is the pillowcase that I found thrifting - a cute yellow gingham - that I brightened up with some ribbon and a pocket. The project that my friend is working on, "Little Dresses for Africa" is still in the works. She hopes to finish collecting the dresses by the end of September so there is still time to make some more! The girls particularly adore little embellishments like pockets. 

I had one more thrifted pillowcase, so I made a second dress for my Abbey. The white is so summery!

With this one I practiced using the embroidery function on my sewing machine. So pretty! Her favorite color is purple!

This next pillowcase dress I actually made last year for Allie, so it's more of a shirt this year. This is not a thrifted case, but rather a family pillowcase that was passed down to me many years ago. My mother always kept it in the linen closet and wouldn't let us use it. Then she gave it to me! Once I found a pillowcase pattern I liked, I knew this one would make the perfect dress. Just look at those details! I think this was made by a great-grandmother. Much better than sitting in a closet forever.

Up close of the details:

I do something similar to this pattern by just cutting out an armhole by making a gentle curve. You can finish the armhole with bias tape, ribbon or sometimes I serge the raw edges then just fold it inside by topstitching. I like to use a casing at the top with some elastic inside to make the fit just right. Add some pretty ribbon and embellishments of your choice and your done!

Happy Creating!

Two cuties in two new outfits

After our anniversary Saturday, Jeff graciously took over Sunday by helping in the kitchen, cooking dinner and keeping the peace with the girls. I love it when that happens! He's a fantastic cook and brings me food - what girl wouldn't love that? With all his help, I was finally able to spend some time at my sewing desk making a few outfits which have been lined up for a while now. Allie really loved the mermaid fabric by Heather Ross and wanted a skirt made with it. 

So this is what came out of the sewing room Sunday:

This is the Little Bo Peep skirt from the Seams to Me book by Anna Maria Horner. Lots of fun projects in that book - and I hear she has another one in the works - yay!

Of course we needed a shirt to go with the skirt! I was thrilled to try out the embroidery feature of my sewing machine for the first time. I used Jona's (Stop Starting and Start Sewing) cute trick with the sleeves and they were super easy. Allie loved the whole outfit - especially the ruffles. 

I had a little extra fabric so I quickly made up a little halter dress for Miss Abbey to match her sister's new mermaid outfit. I love sewing without a pattern - it reminds me of my Great Aunt Elizabeth and the sundresses she used to make me when I was a little girl. She could whip out a dress in the blink of an eye and never used a pattern. There's something about just letting go and being creative when the project is patternless - so much fun! 

I had to do a little bribing with the lollipop so I could take her picture. This girl is serious about her lollipops.

How cute are they?

I feel pretty, oh so pretty

That's exactly how I feel when I wear this skirt. It's girly, twirly and fun! The pattern is the Yard Sale Wrap Skirt from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. 

I changed the pattern slightly by adding 8 panels total to the S/M skirt. So even though I know she's done an errata page to correct the pattern in the book, I found I needed even more panels (she lists at least 6) to make it a skirt I could wear without worrying about the Texas wind picking up my skirt - if you know what I mean.  I thought the length might be too short while I was sewing it up, but it turned out to be perfect. All in all, I love it and I can see myself wearing this when I want to dress up a bit - it's way too pretty for yard sale shopping though. 

I bought up all the Freshcut fabric I could when I saw this bolt nearing the end at my local quilt shop but I needed more due the changes made to the pattern. Luckily, I was able to locate more from an Etsy shop because this fabric was hard to find! Every time I sit down to sew, I learn something new - this time it was how to make a "french seam" and Heather Ross does a fantastic job explaining how to do them in her book.

On another note, a friend of mine is sewing up dresses for an organization called Little Dresses for Africa and I'd like to help her by making a pillow case dress. If anyone else would like to help by making up a dress for a little girl, please let me know! Crafting for a cause means so much and it only takes a little bit of time. The smiles created are priceless and there's a little girl out there somewhere who also wants to feel pretty! I'll post a pic as soon as I get one sewn up.

Creating - train case face lift

A little while ago I found this train case at my favorite thrift store for $6.00 - whoop! As soon as I saw it, plans were being made to recreate it into something special for Allie. She just turned five years old and I could picture her carrying around all her little bitty things inside, taking it to a friends house for a playdate or bringing it with us on a camping trip to collect her treasures.

My assistant had a glue project of her own going on.

Here are the after pictures: I used ModPodge to glue the pieces down to the case itself, then I went over the whole thing with 3 coats of glue (drying each time in between coats). After it was dry, I sprayed with an acrylic to finish. This was such a fun project and I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

Allie loves it and has carried it around all day long with her Bitty Baby tucked safely inside. I hope she'll enjoy it for a long time.