I Drew a Line, I Drew a Line for You

And it was all yellow:)

I have been absent from documenting, but certainly not absent from the sewing machine! There are so many things I sew for gifts and secrets that I would ruin a surprise if I blogged about it right away! I also have a commissioned project that’s going on right now that is taking up most of my time, and I am loving ever second of it!

In little spurts I have been sewing little things here and there, like a baby shower gift, and Love’s yellow dress to wear for her yellow themed 2nd (what?!?!?!) birthday party next weekend. It was such an easy, simple design, and I am thrilled with the result! Once again, I was able to use fabrics I had in my stash. The neon yellow skirt bottom came from my sister in law who actually got it from her grandmother (my sister in law had this hanging up as make-shift curtains in her master bedroom right after they built there house, and it turned their whole room neon, lol)

The bust and bow fabric is from my great grandmother in a box of unfinished quilting she had.

I just love using these fabrics. I love knowing where they came from, and how many hands have touched this fabric, contemplating what to make with it. I love knowing that my mother’s mother’s mother had UFOs (unfinished Objects) just like me. Maybe she would prefer WIP (work in progress), maybe she wouldn’t, she was pretty feisty:)

She used to watch me when I was 3 or 4 and I always loved sneaking into her sewing room. It was a tiny little room that had a mini door leading to it (she was under 5 ft, and her husband was over 6 ft, so I imagine this was quite an escape for her, as he physically wouldn’t be able to fit in this sewing room). I often wonder if these UFOs were sitting there while a secretly glanced around, allowing me to experience this fabric in two different ways within one lifetime. 24 years later I am helping Granny make use of this yellow fabric that she probably lost interest in finishing after chasing after me:)

I find it lovely to have these connections with people through fabric, and I pray that someday my children will find unique connections to me and my mother, and her mother and so forth. It may not be fabric, or even something physical, and that’s ok. But for the record, there will probably be a basement full of fabric for them to inherit:)

Fabric Organization

I sat down to finish a project tonight {and I finished it! YAY… pictures to come!} and I realized that my fabric is a giant mound of craziness. CRAZINESS. I have gotten a few hand me down boxes from grandmothers and mothers, and each time I have just thrown it in the sewing area. Then I’m excited to get started on something random, and I rummage through such boxes, spilling them, throwing the random pieces about. There are so many tiny pre-cut quilt squares all over my sewing area, I just simply felt overwhelmed every time I thought about organizing it.

Anyway, tonight, I thought of it, and decided I should get started. I did! I started it, but about half way through I realized I really just realized I don’t know the best way to organize fabric as a clothing sewer. Quilters organize their beautiful quilting cottons (perfectly squarely cut) into color stories. Just like The Cottage Home, she makes children’s clothing, but uses mainly cottons.

But what does great fabric organization look like when it’s not just cotton. When it’s jersey knits, poly blends, cottons, cotton blends, and the mysterious fabrics that come along with inheriting other people’s fabric stashes?

I would love to know how people organize their fashion fabrics! Please give me some pointers, links etc to help me get the ideas flowing! I need inspiration!

Under Pants

Love has eczema. Severe eczema. And you know what? It’s awful. Awful for her mostly, but for us as well {her parents}. She itches something mean 24 hours a day and if she can ever barely see the skin on her legs, she scratches down to the bone. It’s heart breaking to watch her go through this, and I am always looking for an answer. A way out. A way for her to experience life without the constant irritation of painful, itchy skin, or scabby legs.

We are trying two things right now {we’ve been trying things her whole life, so this is actually normal around here}.

1. only 100% cotton clothing {but mainly on her legs, because that’s where her skin is effected the most}

2. no wheat {I can’t even begin to explain the crazy links I have read about, linking everything to the cause of eczema, so we give each one a try}

So far the wheat is working ok, it’s not been long enough for me to tell if she is itchy or not. But Keith and I both noticed she had been in a better mood since we stopped buying grocery bread. We haven’t officially transitioned fully to no gluten, she still has some snacks. So time will tell with that one.

What is working is the 100% cotton. She is still itchy, but the cotton doesn’t irritate her skin, and as long as she doesn’t have access to scratch, her legs look close to normal {!!!} However, it’s actually difficult to find clothing for kids that is 100% cotton, especially pants! And top that off with it’s actually IMPOSSIBLE to find socks that doesn’t have a “filler” we were running into a problem with her being able to get at her legs to scratch them to pieces. So, mama, the sewer came up with these bad boys:

Under Pants! Made from 100% cotton

Under Pants

Under Pants

Under Pants

Under Pants

Under Pants

Under Pants

Loves the Camera

Doesn’t Love the Camera

They are working like a charm, and I couldn’t be happier. Now if only I could figure out the root of the eczema so she doesn’t have to feel the urge to scratch, we’d all breathe a little easier!

P.S. I drafted the pattern myself. And I’m proud of it. Woo!

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 5,100 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 9 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

How to Dress myself {Basics: Navy Blue Skirt}

Phew! I’m finally finished with the pjs, and I got to sew something for myself! A while back I started to realize I need to revamp my wardrobe. I have a lot of clothes that simply don’t fit. partly because I have had them since high school, and partly because my body has changed in the last 4 years. I also took a pledge not to buy ready-to-wear clothing along with a bunch of other fantastic ladies!

So I started with a simple cotton, very light weight fabric that my husband bought a long time ago as a photo backdrop in high school. It’s still on the bolt. It’s a beautiful navy blue and the perfect color and texture for a staple A-line skirt. I didn’t use a pattern at all. It’s a square front panel and a square back panel. the top is gathered over the elastic. the only measurement I took was the elastic around my waist, and I used the actual elastic, not a measuring tape! Then I eyeballed the hem as the last step.

I used some no twist elastic for the waistband, and some hemming lace to make a wide hem just below the knee. I’m really excited about the versetility of this skirt, as I can wear it with boot ans tights for winter, or just a slip in the summer. I cardigan in the fall and just a tank if it’s warm. I can wear it with a simple tee, or a light sweater, and if I add a sparkly top, I feel it would transition nicely to a semi dress up.

Cost: 100% free, thanks to my stash.

ALSO, I am sooo sorry the mirror I used was gross. When you have toddlers running around, you tend to sneak in photo opportunities, and that sneak didn’t include walking past them watching Veggie Tales, increasing my chances of the distraction not working, just to get windex. Please look past the fingerprints.

Makes a beautiful wide hem. And a touch of surprise underneath.

basic staple, in navy

My serger broke a thread, and I got annoyed, so I took a different approach.

Christmas Gifts Finished, Finally.

My family is no longer allowed to have children. Seriously, that’s a lot of pajamas!I’m not joking! {OK, I’m joking, I love all these kiddos and I want more more more!}
2 boys and a thousand girls {6 girls} Christmas pajamas have been sewn. I started planning this in September. And I will do it again next year:) I am hoping they will wear them Christmas eve!

Hand dyed flannel fabrics: Purple/Pink/Blue

Jersey fabrics: Green and Dark Purple old jersey sheet sets.

Florals: Already in my stash from grandma’s and such.

DIY ombre dye! Had fun dip dying the skirt fabric before I cut out the pattern.

Vintage floral pattern was used to supplement my lack of purple fabric. I simply love the way this one turned out.

This is not my favorite style, but I was so happy to learn how to sew this!

Oldest cousin’s dress. I couldn’t decide if she would like pink or purple better, so i did both.

The Green accent in this dress actually pulls in the rest of the collection. {accidental, but I love it}

The simplest of the bunch for Eli.

Special hem!

Each child that is receiving a separates set has a special stitch design.

Olive’s didn’t get a bow, because when mommy is the seamstress, she skimps on yours! Promise I won’t do this next year!

Bow on the back of the booty, to match her newborn sister.

Since this set is for a newborn, I add a bow on the bottom of one of the pant legs.

This collar didn’t exactly turn out perfectly, but I ended up liking the look.

And ruffles:)

This very special girl loves the color green, so she got the green jersey instead of the purple!

Lessons learned:

• ask for waist measurements of all the kids {some of them might be too big}
• This pattern’s torso length is insanely short. {Ruffles, and special hems were added to extend the length for the kiddos because I could feel it in my bones that they are going to be belly shirts)
• Ironing freshly RIT dyed fabric results in discoloration.
• Sewing the armseye on a size 5 or smaller is difficult unless you sew it flat}.
• Sometimes I hem one pant leg in the rong direction, which means technically one pant is sewn on backwards. Thank goodness this pattern has a similar front and back.
• I will not put in as much effort for my own clothing {or my own children} as I do for sewing gifts for other people. I hope to improve this.

So what do you think?

Don’t Sew with Wine

I am unintentionally dying my bobbin wine colored. Not exactly the start of the evening I was hoping for! Think it will dry on its own without me unwinding it?

Christmas Pajamas Update

I’m coming close to the end! I have finished sewing all of the pants/shirts sets, Wahoo! All that’s left is 2 dresses and to dye all she white I have also hand embroidered the size labels, which has turned out really cute and quick!

Snow White

My niece’s birthday is coming up in December and I’m ashamed to say I missed her in the planning ahead part of my sewing list. Between 3 other niece/nephew birthdays and 8 niece/nephew Christmas gifts, I missed it. But! That was in September, and I remembered her birthday in November, which is still a month ahead of time, so I really could have done worse! Anywho, she’s all about dress up. She was Cinderella for Halloween and I asked her mom which princess dress she would like that she didn’t already have. Snow White! I used the dress pattern that I will be using for her Christmas pajama dress, so it really worked out perfectly. The only thing I changed were the sleeves and collar.

 

Olive is modeling it here, she’s a whole size and a half too small for the dress {and she is a cranky little munchkin today} so bear with me and the quality of the pictures:)

 

 

Super, cranky. “Maaaammmmmaaaaaaa, soooooocccckkkkks” She really wanted socks on.

I even made a little red bow and slid it onto a clip. 

The sleeves are pleated in the actual fashion of Snow White’s dress. Box pleated at the arm cuff, and opened slightly to ease in the armseye. 
The lion was the model before Love woke up, and frankly, he might be a better model. I’m not sure:)

 

What’s on my worktable

Any guesses as to what I’m making?