Flag banners

Tonight, at the end of a very busy day, I cut out the flags that I am making for the church. Charlie will show them to Debi tomorrow. I hope they are what she has in mind.

First we split the kids for time out. Charlie and JHO took off, and I took ELI with me to breakfast at Atlanta Bread Co. Turns out that Charlie went there with his group, too. It was good.

Then we did some cleaning. I managed to put away some fabric. The big 2 did a bit of ironing.

Charlie got home we put away all the grains and stuff we got from Breadbeckers. That took forever. Then, we went to a birthday party for Tabetha Davis. After that was a trip to G&G's hotel before going to the fish fry for the Sunday school crowd.

Finished sewing

The birthday dress for E is finally finished! It's Simplicity 5234. I made the first one too small so I made a second one. The second one got a lining and lace on the bottom that she wanted. It looks really nice on her. Altogether, 6 yards of fabric out. Plus a spool of thread was finished and some lace from '06 was used. Yay, me!

I mended L's ballerina puppet finally. Now she has 2 shoes and neater hair.

I repurposed an ugly purple shirt that the girls didn't like into a shopping bag. I used ribbon for the straps that is at least 15 years old. It's not very attractive, but hopefully it will be functional.

Socks rock

I want to crochet my socks! There are many patterns to choose from all over the internet.

Patterns

I have been organizing patterns. Lots of them. Another container is empty. The patterns are in envelopes and filed away. Most of them are in my picassa album. I love being able to look through my "pattern book" online. It's very convenient.

What I finished

I got his birthday outfit. It's a cute little romper (McCall's 9354) made from army truck fabric that I got at PPQ. I also used buttons off of Charlie's old army coat. It's adorable. Adorable. Pictures to follow soon. Only 1 yard out.

I made a napkin pouch for H for her b'day to hold her princess stone. I used some of the old heart buttons from mom on it as well as some old ribbon. All is cost was $1 for a bandanna from WM.

Now I'm working on fixing a pair of pants for Charlie's blacklight performance. I'm just taking off a light gray strip off the side and resewing the seam. That doesn't feel like real sewing, but it's a big money and time saver.

What I finished

I finished one of the luggage tags that I started ages ago.

It looks pretty cute. I made it out of the same material as the diaper bag. I'll post a pic later. Next time I need to change around a few things. I want to sew the plastic on the front piece before sewing the front and back together. I also want to sew all the edges WST leaving the top open. Then turn it, insert tag ends, and top stitch closed.

I also did a bit of mending. I mended 2 pairs of tights. The striped skirt with ribbon trim that my mom made for E needed a side seam repaired. I also need to finish up the elastic for the waistband.

Finished sewing

I sewed a little pouch for my noisemaker. It's adorable, but a kind of tight fit. It went together so fast. I used an ancient zipper in it and some old thread, too. Yay! Using up all my stash! 3/8 of a yard isn't much, but I also get a kick of using the old notions.

I've got to trace and cut out E's birthday dress.

Shrinky dinkin'

Those shrinky dinks rock! We had a ball trying to make name tags for the puppeteers. I see more uses now.

The kids have been catching up on their math so it was kind of a fun way to take a break.

Birthday dress #2 done

Yay! I cut it out one day and sewed it another. Simplicity 9846 view D without pockets. It took 2.125 yards of fabric that was all stash. It should have been made a bigger size, but it works anyway. H likes it. Now I need to get going on E's and L's. They are both very excited to get their dresses.

Sewing and exercise

This is the best explanation for how to do a hand-sewn blind hem.

I've gotten the dress for H picked out and the fabric is washing. whoohoo! We're using stash instead of going out! I might need buttons (probably not) and interfacing, but that's OK.

Charlie and I went to the gym today during gymnastics. It was just a little workout, but at least we went.

lat pull-down n/a
seated leg press 128 x 10
row 50 x 10 x2
hip abductor n/a
hip adductor n/a
lateral raise 30 x 10, 5
seated leg curl 50 x 10
ankle raise n/a
chest press n/a
ab crunch n/a
treadmill n/a

Current projects

Now I'm working on altering the tan t-shirt to make it fit for Charlie's skit at church. I'd like to make it work. It's something else that I'd like to learn - adjusting clothes.

I went to the Y Thursday and Friday. I want to go again on Monday.

On Friday, I did light exercises. Mostly the arm ones so I could say I was there. Friday I did 35 minutes on the treadmill. I used the "random" setting with a speed of 1.6-2.2 for 1.25 miles. Not too much but it's a start.

Decision to make

This is the list of patterns that H likes for her dresses. Now we need to narrow it down.

Butterick 4860
McCall's 2950
McCall's 4758
New Look 6577
Simplicity 3902
Simplicity 4337
Simplicity 9384
Simplicity 9846
Twirly Skirt

Updates

Thursday I started going through my yarn stash (winding and sorting it) at Beth's house. As much work as the fabric stash. Oh well, as long as it gets used.

Today I made some fabric-covered cork boards. I like having the daily school assignments in one place for the kids, me, and Charlie to see. It was ugly just having them tacked up on the wall. I got some square cork board panels at Staples and dressed them up with some striped fabric I've had for ages. Only 1/4 yd used, but it's something. The fabric was just stapled to the panels then hung in the hallway. Using fabric on a no-sew project is as good as anything.

I am trying to just use the fabric I have. I want stop worrying about whether or not it is the right fabric or if I might need the fabric for something else later.

Columbia

We are packing to go to Columbia tomorrow for Bible quiz. I really want the kids to do well. L is so nervous. E and J are sick-ish. Fun stuff.

I'm planning Joann's and seeing the Bauschatz family. I've got some scraps and the yo-yo makers in the bag for the travel time. I will probably throw in my forever project, too.

Shopping list:
1. firm fusible interfacing
2. bathing suit fabric
3. wish list patterns
4. bias tape maker
5. rotary cutting blades

Today...

...is my birthday. 39th! yuck. We had fun, though, even though I wasn't in a good mood for most of it. The kids got a few minutes on the church playground. I got some nice gifts. We went to dinner at O'Charley's.

No sewing today, maybe tomorrow at Beth's. I want to get O's blanket done.

Finished

I made McCall's 4006 for O's birthday dress. It's with the pretty floral fabric that she picked out at PPQ. I used my bias tape maker to make self-fabric bias tape. That was a lot of fun. Quite a learning curve. It would have helped had I kept the paper telling me what width to cut the fabric. I finally figured it out as well as how to cut bias strips.
Today I got 4 FQ's. Plus 1 free for O from them for her birthday. I still have to finish her blanket. Then I'm not sure what project will be next. Probably finishing up Christina's diapers. I serged a lot of diapers for her the other night at Beth's. It was fun and kind of mindless.

Speaking of birthdays......Charlie got me a really cool mp3 player for mine. Very cool. And he did it all by himself. Even cooler.

Finished

I finished the spider. J helped some with it. He likes machines. We'll call it done. That's .75 yards old and new stash.

I also did the little bag for I's birthday. It is very, very cute! L helped a bit. That was fun. Another .75 yards old and new stash.

Pictures:

I did it again

I broke the computer. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Now I get to put all my data on a thumb drive and send the computer away for a little while.

I worked on I's spider and backpack. fun stuff. I'm also looking for a dress for O's birthday.

Busy days

I've been so busy lately! A lot of cleaning has occurred. Many large black trash bags have left the house. That always feels good. Gloria has been visiting. It's been a lot of fun, but very tiring. I hope that she will come again.

I bought material (sigh) at PPQ for a spider and a bag for I's birthday. He will be 1yo on Thursday! Time flies. The fabric has been washed and is waiting for cutting. That's on tonight's list.

Mending

I'm emptying the bucket one drop at a time. I started hemming the cowboy vest with a blanket stitch. I also put waistband and leg elastic in 3 pairs of panties that O can wear. Mom made them, probably for L. This is why I'm so glad I made that list of stuff to "fix" somehow. Some of the things just needed a tiny bit of work. Some need a lot of work. The list, though, helps me see the trees in the forest so I can know which ones need work.