Baby Sewing....

This is why Ian says I'm nesting.

 

I sewed those last weekend.  And this weekend: 

Four pairs of Little Comet Tails Crescent Moon Yoga Pants.  Size Small. 

I suppose he could be right.

Too little time

 I'm loving my new phone. Maybe a little too much. I'm posting from it now.

Today was a wash. All I've done today is play with the new phone. I still have plenty of homework plus I bought new fabric for a new purse. I know, I know. I have plenty of fabric and plenty of pretty purses, but to justify, I really love the pattern of my newest purse. But not the fabric. So, now I'll have both beautiful fabric and a great pattern.

I'll post pictures tomorrow, I hope.

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Might be my Favorite

I sew a lot.  And as you saw from my previous purse post - I don't LOVE a lot of what I sew. In fact, I just mailed 4 of those purses to people as gifts.  (So you might consider watching your mail box)

Anyway, I have seen this pattern before but didn't want to spend the time.  Then I realized that I'd sewn 9 purses that I didn't truly love.  So I bit the bullet.

And I love this one.  Love it.  To Pieces.

Lots of Purses and Bags

Since the pregnancy instantly brought out so many feelings of wanting to sew and create little things for myself and the bean - it seemed appropriate to put energy into sewing to deal with the miscarriage. 

However, somehow I let things get a little out of hand and I've managed to sew up a few purses/bags since Thanksgiving.

This one is for my mom

A Christmas purse. A "Jenny Bag" from Wired Up Designs.

I like the bag, I like the fabric.  But the applique looks like boobies.

A Buttercup Bag.  One of the straps is off centered, giving it that weird look on the right side.

No interfacing, just a small bag with a long strap.  Emma has a couple of these.

Another Buttercup Bag.  Handles NOT funky.

A larger sized Buttercup bag.  I like this one, there are a few interior hilarious problems though.  Because I'm awesome.

Plus a few more that Emma has taken control of and lost somewhere in the black hole we call the Playroom.

The first one pictured is going to my mom. 

Anyone else want one?  Seriously.

Oh Look! I did sew a little more

Emma's dress by me.  And Ethan's dino shorts by me.

I have cute kids, eh?

Mama's Got a New Dress

Besides a few Spin Around dresses for Emma, this is about the only thing I've sewn since January.  I'm hoping to add more to this over the next few months, because I have plenty of projects.  Some fun and some not.  But I did sew the dress for a friend's wedding.

I didn't have time or money to shop for something that I felt comfortable in - so I bought 2 yards of $4/yard fabric and a pattern.  A couple hours (about 2) later, I had this dress.

What you can't see in the picture?  That its gathered at the shoulder, waist and bust.  You can't see the rolled hems.

You can't tell that as soon as I returned home from the wedding, I cut about 18 inches off the dress and made it into a rocking Mom's Night Out shirt.

Fun with Towels & OIl Cleanings

OK... Two things.

First, I've been sewing quite a bit. So lots of pictures will be flowing with finished projects... like this one. I created some knock off Turbie Twists. I love these. I'll probably make another one, just so I can write a tutorial. Very fun. And I hemmed a few matching large washcloths from the scraps. Why large wash cloths?

Well, second... I've been cleansing my face with oil. Yep. For real. I use a 50/50 combination of castor oil & olive oil, plus a little bit of coconut oil and about 5 drops of tea tree oil. My skin is definitely improving, although the real test will be what happens next time Aunt Flow comes to visit. Here is more information on oil cleansing. The Oil Cleansing Method

Better Late Than Never

I whipped this up for Emma's birthday (Yes, it was almost a month ago). She LOVES this dress. She wants to wear it all.the.time.

I would too. I love birthdays. My birthday, more specifically. Ian says its because I'm an only child. He just might be right.

Etsy Bloggers Featured Seller

A few weeks ago I posted about joining the Etsy Bloggers Street Team. Each month, there is a featured artist. This month (my first featured blogger by the way)... is Designs by Nora.

I am absolutely in amazement by her shop. She created beautiful handmade earrings. They are the most adorable!

The other items in her shop.... you know the ones that I actually started drooling over... the handmade purses and bags of her Uncle Naz. Beautiful construction, beautiful material. I'm impressed.

Congratulations to Nora! And Happy Shopping to my readers!

Sew, Mama, Sew Stash Interview

• What do you usually sew?

I usually sew bags and purses, stuff for my kids.

• When you shop for fabric, what size cuts do you usually buy? (i.e. If you see something beautiful, but you don’t have a use for it right away, how much do you buy?)

If I see something that I like, but don't have a use for, I typically buy 2-3 yards. I know, I know. I'm on a fabric diet, so now if I see something I like, I find it online and bookmark it, so I can buy it when I do have a NEED for it.

• Do you buy on impulse or do you go out looking for something you need?

Typically I go out looking for something that I need and buy lots more on impulse.

• Are you a pre-washer? If you are, do you wash your fabric before you need it, or only when you’re ready to use it?
  

I pre-wash fabric as it enters my house. That way, if I want to sew something, its already ready to go.

• Do you iron it?

If I absolutely HAVE to. But I don't iron before I put it away. I iron it if I NEED to before I cut it.

• How do you sort it? (color, print size, collection, etc.)

I sort my stash by type of fabric. Fleece is together, cotton wovens together, twill together, etc.

• Do you have any special folding techniques?

Yes, I employ the "get-it-in-the-closet-as-fast-as-you-can" techniques.

• How do you store your fabric?

In a closet. Without a door. In our playroom/office/craft room.

• What tips do you have for building up a well-rounded stash?

Don't. Buy what you need, when you want to sew with it.

• When do you say enough is enough?

When it starts to become overwhelming. Like you have too many options for a project. Or you don't want to sew it, because you're bored with it.

• What are some of your favorite stash-busting projects?

Crib sheets. Pillow cases. Big messenger style bags. Mei tais are good stash busters too.

• Do you have a current favorite print in your stash? Let’s see it!

My favorite print in my stash right now is this. Although its very very very hard to choose. My favorite might be different if you asked me tomorrow.

• What’s your definition of the perfect stash? (Consider sharing a picture or two of your stash & storage, or direct us to a pic on Flickr!)

Here is my current stash as of January 1st. Since then, I haven't bought any fabric for my stash and my goal is to sew through my stash before buying more fabric.

January 1st:



February 5th:

You can actually see a dent! Yay for progress!

Babywearing Poncho

I (finally) made a baby wearing poncho. I think I've wanted to make one, and bought the fabric to make one, well over two months ago.

Well, now its done. Forgive the craptastic photos. (as always, I get in a hurry to post something and then don't want to take the time to do it correctly)

I used a poncho that Laura lent me as the pattern. It didn't turn out quite the same, but I'm still pleased with the results.

Let's all shush anyone that might be making fun of me when I wear it.... otherwise known as my loving husband.

More Sewing

Here's my sewing from yesterday. Sunday and there was football on ALL.DAY.LONG...

So the products of the playoffs...

An extra small pair of Crescent Moon Yoga Pants, for a gift for an online friend at DSD.


Two large pairs of Crescent Moon Yoga Pants for Emma, along with a fleece diaper cover.


A hat made with scraps for Ethan, and two extra large pairs of CMYP for


More Ethan sewing, another XL pair of CMYP and two fleece diaper covers. I'm hoping these diaper covers will work well for night use, without the stinkies of microfiber after 11 hours of sleep.


You can purchase the Crescent Moon Yoga Pants pattern from Little Comet Tails. The diaper cover pattern is also a Little Comet Tails pattern, but you can print for free from her blog.

An Apron

Its reversible. It also has a waterproof layer, so I can do the dishes and come out dry. I love it. I made it because I'm constantly ruining clothes while cooking and cleaning. Yay. More stash sewing...

Conversation with Ethan

Yesterday on the way to playgroup, I had this conversation with Ethan.

Ethan: I have a bicycle. (bicycle is a new vocabulary word for him)

Me: Yes, you do have a bicycle.

Ethan: Daddy has a bicycle.

Me: Yep, daddy has a bicycle.

Ethan: Emma has a big wheel.

Me: Is Emma's big wheel a bicycle or a tricycle?

Ethan: (Pause) Emma has a tricycle big wheel.

Me: That's right. Emma's big wheel is a tricycle. (Pause) What does mommy have?

Ethan: (Pausing, clearly stumped... thinking for a minute, then he finally has an answer.)

Ethan: Mommy has a sewing machine.

Apparently, according to the logic of a three-year-old... I don't need a bike, because I have a sewing machine. I'm rather tempted to agree.

Passport Covers

My mom had an idea for me to create a passport cover. I thought it would be a fun, easy project. I was excited to make her a few covers for Christmas gifts for her friends. I got started looking for inspiration.... and I found these amazing passport covers by glassbeach on etsy, of course.

I am no where near as talented... so I decided to create my own design. That was, um an "interesting" procedure. It took what should have been an 1-2 hour project and turned it into a 6 hour project. Because coming up with your own design requires trial and error. And I created 4 error passport covers. And then changed course and made another one. That one happened to turn out decent, so I make 3 more just like it. Did I mention it was 1 a.m. when I finished the first good one?

Here are the end results:



The yellow index card is to show the width of a passport. An actual passport would be about 2 inches larger in length.

I'm thinking of adding a few of these to my Etsy Shop after Christmas... After I got all the hard work of creating the pattern out of the way. :)

New - - - Jenny Bags!!!

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade michaelgrace.etsy.com

These are amazing bags! The purse seems small, I was hesitant to sew it for a long time because I thought it would be too small for me. I like pretty large purses. But these are perfect! The panels make large pockets that are perfect for keys, cell phone, chapstick, whatever you need access to easily. The Jenny Bags in my Etsy Store have a key loop on the "inside" of the bag. I say "inside" because the bags are fully reversible. They really are amazing, I could go on and on about the design. (Its not mine, I bought the pattern from Wired Up Designs.)

Some of My New Fabric....

Its overdue... but here is a slideshow of some of my new in-stock fabric.

Brother ULT 2001

I have been having problems with the bobbin winder on the new machine that my mom brought to me. Its a brother ULT 2001 Pacesetter. I found a great great website as a result of searches.

http://www.annsultfixit.com/UltFixit.html

Halloween

 

We had a wonderful Halloween here. The weather was nice, we were among good friends and there was a small amount of candy to deal with the next day.

In the days leading up to Halloween, Ethan was less than excited about wearing his costume. The family was shopping and Ethan had picked out a skeleton costume. When we got home he would not put it on. I'm not sure what the problem was, maybe it was uncomfortable in some way, but he was not having it. I almost returned it. Upon his request, nonetheless... "Momma, you take this back to the store, I'm *NOT* being the skeleton..." So it hung in his closet with the receipt safety pinned until Halloween morning.

In the meantime, Grandma Barb visited and we found some very cute plushy vest costumes at Costco. We bought Ethan an alligator. He seemed less resistant to that - so I sewed him some yellow and green pants to wear with it and bought a white shirt to go under it.

Fast forward to Halloween morning, we were planning to attend a Halloween Party at Ethan's Preschool. Unfortunately, the vest was WAAAAAAAAAAAY too small for him. It was like a belly shirt small... except it was a belly vest. Umm, oops.

So, Ian worked some magic and got Ethan to try on the skeleton costume again. (Which is the picture above) Ethan, however wanted it off just as soon as we snapped a couple of pictures and so we skipped the preschool party and headed out to run some errands. To Target, of course. At Target, there were several kids dressed up with their parents, and I was able to explain that costume + saying "trick-or-treat" = candy. And Voila! Now every morning Ethan asks if he can "be the skeleton" again.

Later that night we dressed both kids in their costumes, and went to a Trunk-or-Treat. We had a great time. We were with friends, so hopefully we can scrounge a picture of both our kids in costumes... otherwise, I'm going to have buy more candy so that Ethan can be the skeleton again and Emma can show off her adorable ladybug costume.

PJ Pants Part 3

I finally finished all the PJ pants that I had cut out. My kids now have 4 pairs of new PJ pants. And I have very little fleece in my stash. Really, just enough left to pad mei tai straps.

Tonight, hubby is going to hang out with a friend - so I'm putting the kids to bed and trying out the Jenny Bag pattern that I mentioned yesterday. I'm super excited about it. Best of all, because its my first and I'm sure I'll make plenty of mistakes - it will probably get to be mine. Yay! I "need" a new bag. Then I can start making them for my etsy shop. These bags are so cute, I think they'll sell well.

I have been walking at night after dinner with my kids. Its been pretty nice here lately, and I need the exercise. But - of course, there is always a but - I need a padded mei tai. I have been using a buckle tai that I made in February or March and I've "grown" too small for it. I didn't make the shoulder or waist strap adjustable enough.

On the other hand, that means that I get to make a new mei tai for myself. I wore one last night, a tester from my shop, and the waist strap wasn't padded. At the end of my 45 minute walk, I was wishing it was padded. I think that means its not an option to make carriers without the waist padding. I think its standard. I also would like to really perfect my headrest shape. I'm really close, it was very good with my dragon mei tai and a little better with the blue swirly one that I made too. I have one more for my etsy shop cut out - hopefully that will be the perfected version.