2009

Here is a list of what I managed to get done in 2009. Not too shabby, I guess. I have a few things to finish from last year before I can jump into 2010 sewing.

Completed sewing projects

• *AB 028 for me
• *McCall's 4797 for me
• *3852 for J
• *Common Sense 409GP for ELHO
• *Simplicity 2907 for I
• *four pillow case dresses
• *puppet bag for E
• *beanbags for CCC
• *modesty belly band for L
• *TMD 161 for me
• *AB 016 for Mitch and Kris
• *Simplicity 2898 for me
• *teen bra
• *ironing board cover
• *Simplicity 5223 for H
• *Bible cover for C
• *bag for J
• *quilt for J
• *pocket purse for L
• *felt flags for church
• *2 quilted handle covers
• *10 princess pouches
• *Simplicity 9846 for L
• *Simplicity 5234 for E
• *McCall's 9354 for I
• *brown luggage tag
• *pocket purse from Vanilla House Designs
• *square pincushion
• *princess pouch for H
• *fabric covered boards for hallway
• *b'day dress for O, H
• *spider toy for I
• *bag for I
• *fleece blanket for E, I, O, H, L
• *sling for Leah

Non-Sewing, Mending, Altering

• *shortened 5 jeans
• *resewed neckline on olive shirt
• *patched tiered dress
• *blanket stitch around cowboy vest
• *curtains for Beth H.
• *2 pr pants to shorts for Beth H.
• *mended pants for Mrs. Peterson
• *elastic in shirt for Mrs. Peterson
• *mended slit in E's pillowcase skirt
• *mended J's spider

I also got a good bit of my stash sorted and folded. I don't think that I will be able to completely finish that until we move. I have a lot of fabric.

Stats:

• - Yardage out: 76.375 yds
• + Yardage in: 53.05 yds, 1 charm pack, 1 layer cake
• = I don't know how many counted yards

I want to make 100 yards out this year. I also want to get comfortable doing reviews for PR. My UFO/WIP list is huge. I want to pare it down considerably.

More sewing

The kids and I made several things for Christmas. E made J a tic-tac-toe board from the army print and some blue for the buttons. Some of the buttons are vintage from Mildred. J had me make E a bag to hold the marbles he bought her. L and I made a mask for O out of some old polka-dot fabric and a butterfly-shaped mask for H out of an old FQ from PPQ. H and L had me make bookmarks for E out of some scraps.

Probably 2 yards total.

I also bought 8 yards of fabric for J's cape. Four yards of a beautiful, soft butter suede and four yards of just plain black broadcloth.

A new skirt

I finished Amy Butler's Barcelona Skirt last night. It's from some black and white fabric that I got in the mountains last year. It took 4 yards of fabric including some of the muslin from my MIL.

For me

I made a cute little purse for myself from McCall's 4794, view A. It was 1 1/8 yds of fabric out. I also cut up the layer cake and started making the patchwork for some stockings. Tedious.

Here is a picture of O modeling my purse.

From Projects

**edited to add picture

Christmas clothes tally

2.25 for JI shirts
10.5 for ELHO dresses
1.5 for bias strips
---------
14.25 total

Cool! I need to learn how to keep better track of actual usage. This is an estimate.

Fabric must-haves

Would these fabrics make my life complete? Probably not, but they make me smile!


123ABC Tea by Alexander Henry

Nice Threads by Alexander Henry


Home Sewing is Easy by

Housework whenever by In the beginning fabrics

Little projects

I made a new puppet bag for E with some of Mom's fabric (3/4 yd). I also made 8 little beanbags for the kids fair at church (1 yd). They were 5x5 bags filled with popcorn. I used the Noah's Ark fabric that I got for E's diaper bag in '97.

I also mended one pillow case dress and made 4 more. These are out of queen-sized cases and fit the bigger girls nicely.

Mountain miscellany

We went to the mountains for sewing and apples and relaxation. Great trip, except for the rain. And the boredom that came with it.

We got roughly 11 bushels of various kinds of apples. That was a tight fit in the van for the ride home. We have already canned 20 quarts of applesauce and dried 2 dehydrator-full batches. So very good! The kids have eaten many, many apples. Tomorrow I want to can more applesauce and some pie filling. I also want to grate and slice some for later use in muffins, oatmeal, bread, and such.

More fabric

I got the rest of my Christmas fabric yesterday at PPQ. That was 6 yds.

I helped Christina start learning to sew while we were at Beth's last night. She cut several napkins and sewed a 1/4" seam line around them all. She will iron the rest of the hem, and we will finish the hems the next time we meet.

She gave me some kefir to taste. Ummmmm......not sure. I've started my own batch of it.

Finished a skirt

Yippee! I finished a skirt for myself (Taylor Made Designs Sassy skirts). It's barely wearable, but I will make do. It is actually too big. I swear I measured, but it is still too big. I made it from a sale print from PPQ. I also used a very, very old zipper. The skirt is an A-line skirt with a flounce.

At the end of the year I would like to have sewn 20 more yards than purchased. Right now I've sewn a net yardage out of 15 yds.

New fabric

I got 4 yds of Christmas fabric today at PPQ. I'm breaking up the spending for the Christmas dresses. Moda Figgy Pudding is what I've chosen. I picked 5 pieces to mix for skirts.

On a roll

I finished a project for me! Yippee! It is Simplicity 2898. The neckline is very low so I make a modesty panel. I did my second FBA. It's getting easier to cut apart the pattern pieces, but it still makes me nervous.

1.5 yds out

Another project finished

I finished the bra (Jalie 2564) for E. It's really cute. I used some new lingerie elastic. I can't wait to use more of that stuff.

It only took 1/4 of a yard.

A three hour cruise

Goodness! The new ironing board cover should have taken a few hours. Instead it took all day. All day long. I finally found fabric and cut it out. Then I oh so carefully cut off the top portion that was supposed to be just a pattern. Then the search began for new fabric. Took a while to find some fabric of the right length.

1.5 yds out
1.5 yds of regular batting out (also took way too long to find enough)
1.5 yds of insul-brite ( the only thing not stash)
1 pkg of bias tape (old, but useful)

Spotting UFO's

I finished a UFO!

From Drop Box

I started it for L years ago. It fits H, and she loves it. More details later.

1.75 yards out
1 really old zipper out.

Earlier, I also made a Bible cover for Charlie's b'day. It turned out really cool but a bit too big. I need a pic of it. That was 2 yds plus some batting that's been hanging around for a couple of years. I used the name tag and NBC patch from his old Army gear. I love that!

The quilt is done!

J's quilt is done! Beautiful! He was very surprised. And I am very tired.

12 yards out.

Finished sewing

I made myself a purse. It's so cool, not even a place mat! It was only .5 yard, though.

I also made 3 pincushions with the girls with 1/8 yard.

Quick update

I finally finished L's birthday blanket! Four yds out. I had to buy material for my bathing suit. That replaced the 4 yds from the blanket. I also got 3 yds at PPQ the other day from the sale table.

Whoohoo! I also finished up the little Vanilla House pocket purse for L. Only 3/4 yd, though.

Miscellaneous

I worked on J's quilt. Two squares are done. I mended a dress for E. It is liable to tear again, but she likes it. I've also started L's blanket. This week is going to be very busy. Tristan is coming every day for a couple of hours. I'm meeting Christina at McDonald's in the morning. The bug man is coming on Tues. and E gets her braces off on Tuesday as well. J and I go see Dr. Barenborg on Wed.

Something finished

I made covers for different handles. One is for a 5-gallon bucket with a broken handle. The other is for suitcase handles to make them more easily identifiable when picking up luggage at the airport. Very cute. Only 1/8 yd of fabric, but every bit counts. I also used up some old velcro.

From Family '09