Skirting the Issue Skirts

Ok, so I've been a busy one. I finished my second nursing shirt (tut still to come) and to make up for my selfish sewing I made 6 skirts to donate for Skirting the Issue. In case you aren't familiar with who or what that is then please read on. It is an effort in the blogging world to spread a little love where it maybe most needed. Sewing enthusiast are encouraged to sew up some skirts for whichever charity they would like. The goal is to create as many as possible in the hopes that it gives a child who may not be in the best situation a little bit of much needed love. You can donate them anywhere you choose and they even give some good examples of places that would be good to donate to. Or if you would prefer you can even mail the skirts to them to donate for you. It's a lovely way to give back and is worth participating just for that. However if you need more incentive they also enter you into drawings for some pretty cool sewing stuff for every skirt you make.

I think it's an annual thing so if you can't do it this year then you should sign up for their newsletter so you can next time it comes around. You won't be disappointed as it's run by Simple Simon, and who doesn't just love everything there?!

I had some designer fabrics that I got in end of bolt surprise packs from one of my favorite online fabric stores. I paired these with some wide elastic ribbon and I pretty much had pre-cut skirts ready to just whip up. I just needed to measure them to see what size skirt they would make in the end.

 My favorite is that light pink one on the top in this picture with the grey band and the unknown little creatures on it. I was half tempted to keep it for Wren but I figure that wouldn't be right since that wasn't the intention I had when making it. Other little girls deserve to have adorable clothes too!

These ones I actually made first. I wasn't sure what to use these fabrics for when I first got them but obviously they were beyond perfect for little skirts. Aren't they darling?

Here is all 6 of them together. I think I'm going to bring them with me to bunco and either give them to the ladies there that work for foster care placement or give them to the ladies that put together baby boxes for new moms in need. I may even split them up and give the smaller ones for the care boxes and the larger ones to the foster care ladies. Either way I know they will be going where they are needed and that's all the really matters. :)

Chomping at the Bit

Well here I am chomping at the bit and ready to start really breaking in my new sewing machine. I've been healing from surgery for the last 2 weeks and I think I'm finally about ready to sit in front of my machine and get to work for real! I've also got something else in the works that has me absolutely giddy with excitement. I can't give to many details at the moment as I haven't even started at it yet and I would like to know it's doable before I make any announcements. I'll tell you it's something that combines many of my crafting loves though.

I made a fantastic nursing shirt that I will be posting soon. I just haven't taken pics yet or else I would be posting it now. It's cute enough to wear as a normal shirt but completely modest and functional as a nursing shirt as well. I'll be making up a few more and there maybe a tutorial to follow.

In the meantime I'll just post this unrelated yet totally irresistible picture of Wolf on his first 4th of July.

Doesn't he look so happy to be hangin with daddy and excited for the fireworks? He stayed awake for the whole show and enjoyed every minute of it too. Not an ounce of fear with all those loud noises and bright lights. He just happily watched the first half of them until he decided he was hungry.

2nd and 5th Birthday Dresses

So it's time for the big reveal! Nova and Wren's birthday dresses. I made both of them from the same basic pattern (one I made).

I'll start with Nova's dress because I didn't really change anything from my original pattern. I've been hording this fabric for some time now. I gave Nova the choice between several of my prettiest fabrics and this is what she chose. Can't say I blame her! So 1yd of horded fabric down and a new dress later.....

.... and of course the dress in action. Since of course you know it is a super twirly dress!

Ok admittedly my timing is horrible. I can never catch a full twirl. I tend to catch the very end when the skirt is starting to twist around the other way and gets real close to the body.

She loves it, although for some reason it looks like she's trying to fight back a smile here. Just in time too as she has completely outgrown her 3rd birthday dress.

Did I mention the thing I love most about this pattern is that it can be worn for a very long time by just adjusting the button placement? Umm, yeah I love that! Anything that looks nice and my kids can wear for multiple years or I can switch between girls of different sizes is a huge bonus in my book!

For Wren's dress I made the skirt 2 layers and shortened the top layer up quite a bit to almost peplum in nature.

I only had a half yard of that fabric and I really wanted all of the wide eyelet edging along the bottom of the white fabric to show. It's hard to see it hear and the other pics I took didn't come out to great either since it was almost nap time. When I finished this dress she took it and carried it all through the house. She was so upset when I told her she couldn't wear it right then.

I think she's just as big a fan as I am of these shiny white glass buttons.

Do you make your kids special birthday outfits? If so do they like them? Have you ever used a pattern that lets them wear something for multiple sizes?

My New Babies!

Well I have two new loves in my life. One was an early mother's day present and the other was a late one. So obviously this post is a little late coming but as you can guess I've been busy.

This is my new girl. She sews beautifully so far. This is the first I've ever gotten to play with a new machine and I'm loving all the fancy stuff she can do. She's a Laura Ashley CX155LA by Brother. Up until this point I had been using a 30yr old Kenmore that my husband's grandmother generously gave me and I was able to teach myself to sew using. I must say that I love the new machine but I think everyone should still learn the basics on an old tank like my Kenmore. I plan to teach all the children to sew using her because I think she's ideal for learning the basics. Not to mention she will stay in the family for the sentimentality as well. One day my kids will love looking at that old work horse knowing it once belonged to their great grandmother.

 My new Laura Ashley is pretty cute but not nearly as adorable and sweet as.....

My new son! I had to save the best for last you know! Isn't he a sweetheart?!

I've said it before and I'll say it again now..... we make tiny girls and giant boys. He was 9lbs 11oz and 21in. An almost 10lb baby is considered big for most people but I'm only 5'4" on a tall day so I was quite the site when pregnant. He is 8wks old today and already in 6m clothes! I've got to make him some little rompers because he's outgrown just about everything I had for him that we hadn't given away from our first son. So you can expect a post and possibly a tutorial about that sometime soon.

I wanted to sew and blog during my pregnancy but I was so huge and tired that I just had to take a break until I had him and we got into a routine. My next post will be Nova and Wren's birthday dresses though. Here is a little sneak peak of one of them.

 In case you're wondering those are vintage Czech milk glass buttons. Aren't they pretty?

Baby Swaddle Blanket

So as you know I've been wanting to get back to creating but avoiding my sewing room. Well Fox is in need of some 5t clothes and I came across a lovely mama wanting to swap a box full of 5t Gymboree boy clothes. One of the things she wanted was one of the wrap around swaddle blankets. So I figured this was a good opportunity to kick my butt into gear and start making some stuff again. Especially since we swaddle and could probably use a couple of them as well.

So on the hunt I went for a great swaddle blanket pattern. This is the one I found. I believe it is a free one offered to get you interested in a book of children's patterns the maker is selling. I got to it through a few pinterest links so I'm unsure of the original source. I'll gladly update this if anyone would like to provide that information.

The pattern is great. The swaddle blanket looks really nice. The only thing I had difficulty with is printing out and putting together the pattern. For some reason when I try to print it out at 100% it did not fit the paper correctly and left off pieces. I had to change the seeings to landscape and then print instead of the standard portrait. I didn't see where anyone gave this tip but I seen where a couple people had issues printing. So if you try to use it and have difficulty then try changing you settings to landscape instead of portrait. Beware that when you do this the little lines to line it up become irrelevant though. I managed to line mine up correctly by looking very closely at each piece to see where a line on one page was identical to a line on another and would overlap. Not exactly fast or easy but it does work and is totally possible. I'm sure it's much easier to buy the book and cut out the pattern but again I'm not sure what the name of it is (plus that's not free).

I will say this, it does look a little big to me. However I always think new baby items look big when I'm pregnant, lol. I think the idea that something of that size is taking up residence inside my body distorts the way I look at newborn stuff. Know what I mean?

As you can see mine doesn't have the velcro yet. I left it off for now so if the mama I'm swapping likes this one then she can tell me which side she would to be the outside and which side to make the inside.

So do you think you'll try this pattern? Who will you make one for? Any baby showers coming up? If you do try it I'd love to know how the printing and taping part went for you. 

How to Kill Creativity

Not that you would want to but if you would like to know how to both kill creativity and also give someone a bitter resentment towards a type of animal they have always adored in one fail swoop then I have the answer. Put a litter box in their teeny tiny craft room and then populate it with 2 stinky cats that track litter from one end of the room to the other and enjoy spending the rest of their time laying in the middle of and scratching holes in whatever you are currently working on.

 

This is the beast cat that I hate the least like the most between the two. 

I spent several months not wanting to even think about anything sewing or craft related. It bugged me so much because I have never been that way. Then it hit me. It's not really a creative slump I'm in. It's not that I don't want to create anymore. It's that I can't stand going in that stinky little room and having two cats walk directly under my feet with each and every step. It's that I can't stand picking up a project that I spent so much time and effort on and it looking like a swatch of orange shag carpet regardless of what the fabric started out as.

My entire life I have grown up with cats. I love cats. I really do. Or at least I did..... Now I find myself resenting them for taking over my room. What we all USED to call "the sewing room" which has been re-dubbed "the kitty room". I used to tell the kids to stay out of the sewing room because there could be stray sewing pins somewhere in there. Now I tell them to stay out of the kitty room because that's where the litter box is. YUCK!

So do I dislike cats now? Or is it just a temporary resentment until we find a different kitty solution? Is it all cats or just these stinky hairballs?

Granted it's been 6 years since we had a cat before we got these two. So is it that I just never realized how yucky they can be? Or are these two cats just not what I'm accustomed to from the feline world? Is it because now I have kids and now I'm more germ-a-phobic for their safety? Am I alone in this? Has anyone else had an experience like this?