I've been sewing again...

Since I've been sewing again, there has been absolutely no progress on the house. At least I've made no progress that is. Mom found me a dining room table {more on that later}; and Dad, Mom and Jer all came and dealt with the moss, etc.; but I have not done anything. {Nope, no internet yet... thank my having a lunch break at work for this post.} I've been lucky to get the dishes done not to mention the laundry. So what if I've been getting my pants out of the dryer in the morning. They are clean... if slightly wrinkled. But hey, I love to sew, things around the house can wait, and I wanted to sew new costumes for this year. So that is what I did. 

Angelina wanted to be a leopard. She picked out fur at the fabric store and I used Stacey's favorite girl's pajama pattern, added a tail, and put ears on a headband. I'd never worked with fur before, and I was not sure how comfortable fur pajamas would be, but I'm sold. Angelina picked a super soft fur and they looked very comfy. I would not mind a pair, though I'd forgo the tail and ears for me.

{Angelina the Leopard}

As for Jordan and me, we decided to be vikings. {Vikings don't wear tights.} We thought about recycling one of my other costumes and just making one for him, but all of the options were too labor intensive for the amount of time left before Halloween. You cannot see his shield in this picture as it is in back, and I had not yet finished his hat for the first night of parties. The shield he made was perfect, and the hat completed the look. If I find a good picture with both, I'll add it to this post. 

Danica already had a cute costume, so I did not make her one. She was a bumble bee who did not like wearing her hood. Garrett kept buzzing at her at the ward party anyway. It was funny!

{Danica the Bee, me as Olga, Jordan as Olaf, and Angelina the Leopard. 

Amanda pick out names for Jordan and me at her fabulous murder mystery dinner party.

I guess they stuck. Ha ha!}

Mostly Finished

I had a goal for this year's costume, my Margaret Hale dress,  to be completely finished including every hook and eye. {There is usually at least one safety pin involved, minimum, because I hate sewing in the hooks and eyes!)  Well, it did not come to pass, but I still had a really cool costume! Or at least I thought so! And maybe some other people did too because I won "Best Female Costume" at the SA dance.  I did not tell them that I did not finish the under sleeves, add the trim, sew on the clasps, and more... but no one needed to know that. You could not tell. What happened? you ask.  Well, I probably could have finished but for the excessive amount of hand sewing required.  I knew before I started it that the cartridge pleats had to be hand sewn thanks to previous experience with them, but wow. There was a ton of hand work on the bodice too!  Next time I am trying to make a costume in a hurry I should read ALL of the directions in advance.  Thanks Mom for your help on the bodice and thanks Amanda for your help on the bustle!  With their help and a shocking lack of sleep, it was mostly finished.  Now to find time to finish it.  Once it is done I will have to post a new picture, but until then here is the only photo I have {Lifted off FB. Thanks to the anonymous photographer! Silly, we are not even looking at your camera.}...

Stacey's Birthday

Here is the costume I made for Stacey. She looked so beautiful. Too bad I did not get a good picture of her in it!

Happy Birthday, again!

Sew, What is Success?

I did not have the success that I was aiming for this month on the sewing projects, but what success I did have was sweeter than anticipated.

The Setbacks:

One: I melted as pair of pretty blue eyes smiled in the face of a soon to be three year old who was so excited to tell me that she was going to have a princess birthday party. I was powerless to resist. My mom immediately volunteered to help and we set to work making a pretty pink princess dress. Our princess picked out the fabric and the pattern last spring. It was convenient that I had everything for her dress on hand waiting for just the right moment to make it. Only one problem, I thought that moment would be, um, Christmas time. She happened to drop by the first evening we were working on it. Excellent, that way we could see if it would fit. The pieces my mom had just cut out were sitting on the table. When mom asked our princess who she they thought were for, our princess answered: “You?”, “My mom?”, “Madilyn?”. In short, she thought it was for everyone except her. Emma is so sweet and so unassuming. Mom held up the various pieces to her and put them back on the table. Our princess was ‘looking’ at the pieces {I love how kids always ‘look’ with their fingers.} and she asked: “Could someone put these together for me?” If I had not already melted, I would have then. She is so precious.

Two: I lost 5 days (aka one Saturday {the only day I have to really accomplish anything} and four evenings) to an exacerbated sternocleidomastoid. Dumb, but I am all better now. Instead of sewing I spent that Saturday with Philip.

Three: I learned that there was a book sale right after being told that my last week with sewing potential would be eaten up by overtime.

The Successes:

One: A Pretty Pink Princess who looked just like Sleeping Beauty in her pink dress. She even wanted to wear the tiara to bed the night of her birthday party.

Two: Quality time with Philip. Who is thankful, I am sure, that I did not sew him anything.

Three: A great day spent with my mom, and finding more books to make a home for. Now, my bookshelf is completely full, even behind the books.

Four: Probably my most triumphal, making Stacey the Queen of All the Land. A definite upgrade from the role previously assigned to her {that of The Royal Cleaner}. She looked absolutely beautiful at her final fitting last night! Emma, The Royal Pin Cushion Holder and Assistant to the Royal Seamstress, sure thought so. Emma was darling following her mom and me around as we moved to find better lighting, and visit the only floor length mirror in the house. With my pin cushion in hand, she was ready to supply me before I could even begin to ask. I could not find a better little assistant.

It is funny to see that even when things do not turn out how I wanted them to, they are better than I expected. And, maybe now I will have time to make the chemise, bloomers, and petticoat for my costume next year. One thing is for certain, I am not putting it away this time. Slow progress is still progress.

Sew Busy, Sew Fun

The pre-Halloween sewing stretch has officially begun.

I have dusted off my costume that I started two years ago... It helps that I finally found fabric I like. I spent about eight hours hand basting gussets last weekend, and then got lazy and used my machine to baste in the lining this weekend. Huge time saver that actually worked. Yeah! I need to save as much time as possible, because this year I am trying to make several costumes. No, not all for me... more on that later if I am successful. Needless to say I am looking forward to a million grommets (Ok, so not really a million, but lots.), lacing, two busks, and close to twenty yards of fabric. Let's see what time and I can do. Wish me luck.

Baby Garrett...

Today was a special day for my darling nephew Garrett. It was his blessing day. What a wonderful gift to have such a sweet boy in our family! I do not have any pictures of him in his blessing outfit, because, well, it would be awkward to take pictures in church, but I have pictures of his outfit (I made the jacket and Mom made everything else! Little people's clothes take just as much time as big people clothes...), and a few of him from this evening. Being an aunt is one of the greatest blessings in my life!

Oh My, What Happened to July?

Well, it started with a trip to the zoo.

Here are Madilyn and Emma watching the walrus.

Madilyn, Emma, Jeremy and the budgies. Look close, one of them left a "gift" for Jer.

(Stacey was here, too! I'm just not a great photographer...Sorry!)

My lily bloomed. Thanks mom, for keeping it alive!


The most exciting happening was welcoming baby Garrett!

Uncle Philip and Garrett.

Me and Garrett.

And I am pleased to be able to show progress on the dresses for the girls.
Madilyn is relieved to have the skirt attached.