Adelaide Lemonade

They Were Right!

The weathermen (people) are so often wrong - overpredicting the latest catastrophe - this time they were definitely right.  In my husband's expert (considered so after 6 hours of shoveling/snowblowing) opinion, we got about 32 inches of snow.

Everyone was very happy to have a snow day on Friday.  They'd been predicting one since Monday, so the kids and my husband would have been pretty disappointed if there hadn't been one even though there really wasn't that much snow on Friday morning.  See?

Today, it's a different story.  It's hard to do the amount of snow justice in photos, but here's what it looked like around noon today (when the storm wasn't even finished).  

That's the top of our fence!

I don't usually get snow days, but I even got a call from my boss encouraging me to work from home.  I gladly obliged.  It was quite nice to move my sewing machine aside for my laptop and work away watching the snow fall outside my window listening to the voices of my family doing their things.  It was lovely not having to go anywhere and knowing the next day was Saturday, so even if we were snowed in, there was nothing to worry about.

I took advantage of being home in the daylight hours to photograph a couple of recent finishes.

I bought this duffel bag pattern from Studio Cheri on Esty ages ago.  I made one for my sister probably over two years ago.  I'm surprised I didn't post about it on the blog, but I can't find anything about it.  It was kind of pain to make, but I was happy with how it came out.  I had originally planned to make one for me right then, but some other project must have called.

Now that I'm trying to go to the gym more regularly, I had a good reason to make one for myself.  I bought the fabric over the summer.  I think this Amy Butler print was the first fabric I saw on Etsy where I thought to myself, "there must be more to this fabric-buying thing than Jo-Ann".

This time around, it didn't seem quite as hard to make.  Having several more years of sewing experience under my belt probably helped.

With that done, I needed a way to keep my shampoo from leaking everywhere into my new bag.  I had already had that experience with the temporary bag I was using.  I had some laminated cotton left from this project which I thought would be perfect for a drawstring bag to hold my leaky things.

(I just used the laminate on the inside and used regular quilting cotton on the outside.)

I knew I could figure out how to make a drawstring bag, but I also knew there were probably tons of tutorials out there on the internet - and why reinvent the wheel?  I set to googling, and I'm glad I did because I found this great tutorial that has an interesting technique that saves you from boxing 8 individual corners.  I definitely haven't perfected the technique.  It's not as neat as I would like, but it's really quick, and the bag stands up really nicely.  I added about 2 inches to the height of the bag in her tutorial, but the circumference was perfect for my shampoo, conditioner, and face wash.

Now that I have all the accessories, my visits to the Y have been less frequent than I would like.  So far this month, I've gone swimming once and to Yoga once - each costing me $37.5o by my logic.  My excuses are that I had to travel to New Jersey last week and couldn't get out of my driveway this morning.

I'm planning to go to Yoga tomorrow morning, but the swimming outlook is pretty bleak.  I'm leaving for Memphis tomorrow afternoon.  I'll mostly be working, but does anyone have any suggestions for good restaurants?  good fabric shops?  yarn shops? must-visit-tourist spots?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, hope you're unharmed by Winter Storm Nemo if you were in it's path.

Selfish, selfish, selfish

I've been doing some selfish sewing lately, and I must say it feels great.  Addie never likes what I sew for her anymore.  So far, I've been happy with what I've made.  No whining and moaning from myself to myself that I don't like this or that aspect of whatever I made.

The only thing I've photographed so far is my Tova top.

(Okay, still very scary to include photos of my on my blog.  Sheesh, how many chins can you count?  How flat can my hair get.  My excuse - I wear this hat all.  the.  time.)

I've been wanting/meaning to make this for years.

I had this green shot cotton that I had bought at Alewive's to make this dress for Addie.  It was the only fabric I had enough of to make a "wearable muslin" for the Tova top.

I don't often wear green, but I think it looks okay.  I do love the drape of shot cotton, and it's usually cheaper than voile or lawn and especially Liberty, so it was definitely a good place to start.  I'm headed toward Portsmouth, NH this weekend, so I may pick up some more at Portsmouth Fabric Company.  They have a great selection of colors.

I made the XL, but I think I might have been able to get away with the Large.  I also have the pattern for The Schoolhouse Tunic which I think is quite similar.  I might make that next instead.

And speaking of selfish, I went for my first ever (in 41 years!) bra fitting last night.  I wasn't too far off in my size - but still off.  I splurged and bought a $58 bra.  Crazy for me, but I love it.  Have you ever tried to make your own?  Very Purple Person makes quite a few, and every time I read one of her posts, I'm very tempted.

And not so much in the selfish department, but still leaving me feeling like a jerk, I had to fire someone today.  Actually my HR guy did the talking, but it was still me.  I actually liked the guy as did my coworkers, so I feel like crap and hate that I can't stop thinking about it on my Friday night.

And I've been selfishly swimming at the YMCA 3 days a week when I should be helping get the kids ready in the morning.  I'm definitely the least bothered by this one.

And in a note to my future selfish, lazy self . . . 

Note that you (self) went to the Y at 5:30 on a January morning to swim when it was below zero.  If you can swim under those conditions, there is no possible excuse you could come up with to skip!  See?

Okay, done talking to myself.  Lest you think I'm crazy, the pool IS indoors.

As a family, we just rejoined the Y.  With 6 of us, we should definitely get our money's worth, but in the past, we've gone years with the automatic draft drafting from our bank account without setting foot in the facility.  I want to be careful not to make that mistake again, so I've been recalcating the math every time I go.

It's normally $75/month for our family - really not too bad.  We joined later on in the month, so it was pro-rated to $50.  The kids and I played racquetball 3 times, and I swam 8 times for a total of 22,200 yards or 12 1/3 miles.  So all in all, we went to the Y 11 times costing us about $4.50 each time.  I'm pretty happy with that.  I just really wanted to make sure it didn't cost me $75 per swim.

Now, I'm selfishly working on this bracelet after just spending a boatload on supplies for it.

Geez, I really am selfish.  And I'm going to talk to myself again - don't forget to blog about date night, duffel bag, and shampoo bag.

Thanks for listening to me ramble.  Have a great weekend!

Fabric Stash - Busted!

And a little giveaway - more on that at the end of the post.

So back in March, I challenged myself to use up all this fabric:

Well, I did it.  I'm finally done. Well, almost.  I'll explain that at the end.  I'm hoping you can help.

My stash went from the picture above to the one below.

I would feel really great about it except that I was bad, very bad.  My intent was to not buy any more fabric until I used up that big stack.  I did okay for maybe the first 10 fabrics then I just went crazy.  I think I bought more fabric than I ever had over the period of several months.  Not sure what came over me.  (Forced abstinence followed by a good tax return might have contributed.)  I think I can live with myself though because I love all the fabric I bought.

The last piece I had to use up was some heavyweight navy linen.  I had planned to make a little jacket out of one of my Japanese pattern books but had sort of lost the inspiration for that somewhere along the way.  It's still a really cute jacket that I will probably eventually make.  When I visited Gather Here a few weeks ago, true inspiration finally hit when I saw a model of Figgy's Rue jacket hanging up in the shop.  There's also the Vien jacket for girls, but I really wanted to make the Rue jacket.

The Rue jacket is meant for boys, but I just liked it.  I did make one girl accommodation and switched the buttons to be on the "girl" side.  That got me wondering why the difference, so I googled it.  Apparently no one really knows, but the explanation I like best is that the women who could afford buttons and such had a maid to dress them, so buttons for women were placed where they would be easier for the non-wearer to button.  Whereas, men were more likely to dress themselves, so the buttons were placed where they would be easier for the wearer to button.  That doesn't jive with my Downton Abbey watching where the main guy (forgot his name already) had a valet to dress him.  Anyway, I still like the explanation.

I made the size 6/7 because the 4/5 seemed like it would be too small, or at least, not last very long.  The 6/7 is way huge on her, but it should fit for two falls and hopefully two springs.

The pattern was a bit difficult - at least for me.  The sleeves ended up being too narrow, so I had to trim about half inch on either side of the body pieces.  That made me a big cranky because I really prefer precision.  The directions were also pretty sparse.  I really should be okay with that, since I do a lot of Japanese sewing with no directions at all - but at least there are diagrams.  Don't let that deter you from trying the coat if you really like it.  You'll be able to figure it out.  And also, definitely don't let that deter you from trying other Figgy's patterns.  I made the Ayashe shirt recently, and that pattern was perfect. 

In any case, there are a lot of really nice details that I love in a pattern . . .

Pockets.

Little tabs on the sleeves.

(Sorry for the wrinkles.  The sleeves are so long.  She has to wear them rolled up.)

A belted back.

Lots of buttons, but only two of which needed buttonholes which makes buttoning easier and faster.  Not to mention, I don't love making buttonholes.

A button loop at the top for two different wearing options.  Buttoned all the way up.

Or with the loop undone for a more lapel-ish look.

And the lining is very professional-looking.  I used this percale that used to be a twin-sized pottery barn duvet cover.  I think I bought it at some outlet in Wrentham, MA over 10 years ago, never used it for its intended purpose and finally realized it would be great fabric.  I've used it in a bunch of places since then.

I asked Addie to stand in front of the trees.

Here she is explaining to me that they're not trees.  I said, "Okay fine, bushes then".  That wasn't right either.  Apparently, it's a tree wall.

Boy, is this a rambly post or what?  If you've read this far, you really deserve to win my giveaway.  So the last fabric in my stash is about 1 1/3 yards of Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley Wall Flower in Piney Woods (a.k.a green).

Sorry, the color didn't come out too well in my iPhone picture.  There's a better photo here at FabricWorm.

Anyway, I've stared at this fabric for a long time, and I decided I'm just not crazy about it.  I don't think it's a great color for Addie, and I don't think I'd use it in a quilt any time soon, so I'd love it if you would take it off my hands.

Just leave a comment to win.  I'll pick a winner on Friday (9/14).  I will ship internationally.  You can just leave any old comment, but if you sew for your kids, I'd love to know what you plan to do when your kids grow out of the clothes you've lovingly made.  It's something that torments me (I have a small stack already).  I could cut them up and reuse the fabric, but I'm not I'm capable of that.  I could save them for my grandkids, but I'm not sure my kids would care about the clothes enough to make their kids actually wear them (and that better be a really long way away).  I saw where someone had an on-line yard sale.  I think that's the best idea yet.  At least you know then they're going to someone who actually wants them and can get a few bucks to buy more fabric at the same time.

Sorry for the super long post.  Thanks for reading!

Dark Cloud, Be Gone

Whew.  I think I'm finally out from under my black cloud of craftlessness.   I guess I wasn't exactly craftless - just finish-less.  I finally finished my crazy lunch bag project which was hugely getting in the way of anything else.  I just finished cleaning up my craft room and have had the last week off of work to forget about any work woes that were weighing on my mind.  I also have a new pattern that I want to start, but I refuse to do so until I finish the dress I started for Addie over a month ago.  Nothing motivates me like a new pattern to try!

So back to those pesky lunch bags . . .  I'm really not sure why I decided to make so many.  I think it really came down to not being able to decide on one fabric, and the idea of having some gifts to give when needed was appealing, too.  I used this tutorial which is a really great one that I had used before, but my heart just wasn't in it.  Or it was in the beginning, but it just didn't stay there.  

I had a lot of trouble sewing the layers together without creating lots of puckers.  I like to think that I'm not a beginner sewer any more, so it was all the more frustrating.  I tried my walking foot.  I tried pinning different ways, but nothing really worked.  I'm convinced that my problem was using weird fabric for the bag linings.  With the nice cover to the bag, the inside really doesn't show that much, so I didn't want to waste any good fabric on that.  I had a couple different colors of pretty heavy weight canvas in my stash that I used for most of the bags.  I think it had too little stretch where the quilting cotton had too much.  The only bags where I didn't have problems with puckering were the ones where I used similar weight fabrics inside and out.  Now that the bags are done, I don't notice the puckers so much.

I added embroidery to a few of the bags.  I got in my head that it would be fun to add something food related, so I scoured Etsy for a pattern, and I found one called "Not so Square Meals" in Wild Olive's shop.  (I don't see it there now, but hopefully, if you convo her, she'll list it again.)  It came with 12 different round food item characters.  I chose, "Bitter Grapefruit"

And "Leafy Lettuce"

I'm not sure that the lettuce really looks like lettuce.  What do you think?  Addie said it looked like a brain.  I'm sure it's just my sub-par embroidery skills.

I also added some simple embroidery to the cover on the owl bag.  

I think it might be my favorite.  If only I'd thought about how the bag would end up shaping up before I cut the fabric.  I would have put the upside down owls on the bottom and the right side up ones on the top.  Duuh.

Addie picked out the Busy Town fabric about a year ago.  I'm not normally crazy about that kind of fabric, but I drag her around to so many fabric stores, I like to let her pick some out every once in a while.  I thought it would be a nice lunch bag for her to bring to school.  What was I thinking?!  She has a Barbie lunch box.  Oh, how I hate that shade of pink and everything else about it!  Not only that, but Addie informs me that she was little when she picked that fabric, and her tastes have changed, and she'd like to pick a different fabric.  Now, that, I can understand.

I had the crazy idea that it would be fun to make a bunch of coordinating accessories; a napkin, a coaster (or a large coaster - that might really be called something else - I just don't like the cheesy name), some of these cute little snack bags, but I'm so over the whole lunch bag thing right now.  Maybe I'll do that later.

Back soon with more completed projects.  (I hope.)

New Houses

A few years ago I fell in love with some cute little stuffed houses that I saw on Syko's blog - or maybe in her Etsy shop.  I decided to try to make some myself.  I made a set for my brother for his housewarming (which in hindsight it kind of a weird gift for a guy - so I guess they were really more for his girlfriend), and last year I made - well didn't quite make - a set for my mother for her birthday.  I'm such a horrible gifter that I actually had the nerve to just give her the pieces of the houses.

They looked pretty much like this . . .

I finally sewed them together and stuffed them in time for her birthday this year.  Here they are . . . 

I think they're pretty cute.  It was really fun to find little scraps and bits and pieces of notions to decorate them with.  I also did a little bit of embroidery, but it doesn't show up that much in the picture.  

I didn't use a pattern, but I did thumb through Syko's book when it came out, and I'm pretty sure there's a pattern in there - along with some other really cool stuff.  I also have this book which has a really cool quilt in it that I will make one of these days.

I'm feeling pretty good about having finsihed up a few long-standing projects in the past month or so - even though the unfinished (and still unfinished) houses in the photo above were a gift for my sister's housewarming over a year ago.  I'm working on quilting a quilt that I started almost a year ago then maybe I'll finish up those houses - but after that I'm anxious to get back to kids clothes sewing.  I have the whole uniform-less summer, so I better take advantage.

Happy Friday!  It's a gorgeous day here.  Hopefully, it will stay this way all weekend.  I'm hoping for another beach day, but there's lots of baseball and that whole Father's Day thing, so we'll see.

Now I'm Ready

Put a Bird on It

Do you watch Portlandia?  I've only watched an episode or two, but my husband and Addie love this skit.  It just so happens that I put a bird on the last dress I made for Addie.  Ever since I saw this gorgeous shirt from My Sparkle via Project Run and Play, I've been wanting to try adding a little embroidery to something for Addie.  In following the June Craft blog, I came across this sweet little embroidery pattern, and I knew that was just the thing.  I've done cross-stitch before, but not much with embroidery.  The pattern was super easy to follow, and I'm so excited with how it came out that I'm already stitching another one.  I really hope Kayanna from the June Craft blog comes out with more designs.

Here's my little birdie.

I thought for my first attempt, it would be best to try to put the embroidery on a pocket, so I wouldn't waste much fabric if it didn't come out.  I searched through all my books to find a dress or a shirt with pockets and ended up with dress #12 from this book.

(ISBN:  978-4-529-04700-5)

It's not a dress that I probably would have made otherwise, but it's simplicity was perfect for showing off the embroidery, I think.

I had intended to just do the bird, but then I thought the other pocket needed a little something, so I just stitched a simple line across, over my sewing machine stitching.  That actually worked out really well because I stitched over two sewing machine stitches (2.2 mm each) then under every other two sewing machine stitches.  It helped me keep the embroidery stitches nice and even.  Then I decided I needed to do the same with the neck line.

Then I just couldn't stop myself from doing the hem.

This time I used the basting stitch (5mm) on my sewing machine to do the actual hem then added two more rows of stitching around 1/8 in apart.  As you can see, I just followed that for the embroidery.

In case you're curious - and in case I ever want to make the exact same thing again, I used DMC floss from my stash in these colors:

327 - Dark Purple

554 - Light Purple

799 - Blue

502 - Green

I used some gray double gauze fabric from my stash (that makes 11 stash items used, woo hoo!) that I had purchased here.  It was really nice quality - a tad bid heaver than other double gauze I've used.  At first I thought the color was a pretty ice blue, but it's really just gray.  It's not normally a color I would have picked for clothes for Addie, but it ended up being the perfect canvas for some colorful embroidery.

Are you participating in Elsie Marley's Kids Clothes Week Challenge?  It's pretty much what I do all the time, but just the same, I can't wait.  The timing works out perfectly, since I have one more weekend where I have to be away from my sewing machine, but I will be ready to go on the 23rd when it starts.  Do you have a strategy?  Do you cut out or plan beforehand or just start from scratch on the first day?

I Want My Summer Back!

The weekend before last we were blessed with some gorgeous weather.  I think most people were trying to enjoy it and appreciate it in spite of having back-of-the-mind concerns about global warming.  It's back to true Maine March right now - blustery and cold.

Addie and I took advantage of the warm weather to visit a nearby playground.  It was so nice to totally relax and not be tensed up with cold.

I also took the chance to photograph Addie in some of her newest clothes.  Two more stash fabrics used up from my fabric challenge batch - plus a bonus one from my regular stash.  The shirt is Echino linen/cotton blend.  It's a bit heavy, but I love the colors.  It's a great compromise if I'm gonna have to keep using purple.

Both the shirt and the shorts are from this book:

(ISBN 978-4-529-04951-1)

From my recent Amazon Japan shipment.  The shirt, shirt Y, is done up with some really cool buckles, but I wasn't so sure about that, so I used these "frogs" instead.

Addie doesn't think they look like frogs.  I like the off-center look (which I've also seen lately in this pattern and this one.)

I searched my craft room high and low for my fabric-coverable buttons with no luck. Side trips to JoAnn can get old, so I ended up finding these perfectly matched purple ones in my button stash.

I love the shorts pattern (pattern Z), but I somehow messed up on the pocket tabs and they're narrower than in the pattern photos.  It bugged me at first, but I'm over it.  I think I'll try again with another pair though.

I thought the little button tabs on the fake cuffs were cute, too.  I used leftover fabric from this skirt and used a yellow-ish, brown-ish thread that I though looked jeans-like.  (Addie's legs aren't really that pale - those are tights - I didn't realize how warm it was when we first started out.  She ditched them fast as soon as we got home.)

Here's another view of the pocket thingies.

This other shirt is also from the same book.  It's actually supposed to be a dress - dress K.  I really liked the adult version - dress L.  Thankfully, I got my Japanese language lesson and can now tell the difference - before I do any cutting.

The kids' version of the pattern is sleeveless, but I really wanted sleeves, so I used the sleeves from dress J in the same book.  It ended up working out okay.

I used some Kaffe Fasset shot cotton which I'm really loving in spite of my issues with my first attempt.

It has a curved yoke in the back.  I'm not sure how well you can see it in this photo, but I really like it.

Have a good night.  I've gotta go get under my down comforter.  Brrr.

Cloth Napkins

It feels a bit like cheating on my Fabric Challenge, but I made some cloth napkins this weekend with two different fabrics from my stash.

It feels like cheating because it was so easy and fast compared to sewing clothes and because it used up a lot of fabric fast.

BUT, I did buy that fabric with cloth napkins in mind.

When I was folding up my prewashed fat quarters for my Heather Ross Far Far Away quilt (which I really will make one of these days), I thought the linen cotton blend seemed like such a nice weight for cloth napkins.

I collected up a bit more FFA for this purpose, but then I decided I might want to use that to make a bigger quilt, so I ended up buying some Echino.  Is that fabric buying rationalization at it's best, or what?  (Don't worry this all happened before I started my challenge.)

I've made napkins before where I basically sewed two fat quarters together, but since that uses twice as much fabric, I decided to try out mitered corners.  A quick Google search brought up several tutorials.  I ended up using this one from Prudent Baby which I highly recommend.

I did use one of the fat quarters from my FFA stash for my first attempt.  I'm not really crazy about the girl with horses print.  Even if I liked it, it didn't seem to quite fit in with Sleeping Beauty anyway.  I squared off the fat quarter and ended up with something like 18" x 18".  I used the 1/2" and 1" fold over measurements from the Prudent Baby tutorial.  It's a bit small for my taste, but definitely works.  (Oops.  It's the one chopped off in the photo.)

For the next attempt, I didn't square off the fat quarter.  I guess you'd say I rectangled it off.  It really didn't seem to make much difference that it was a rectangle.  That's the one from the eyeglass fabric.  It came out a bit bigger which is nice.

Because I just knew fat quarter napkins weren't going to be big enough for me, I bought 2/3 yard of each of the other two Echino fabrics.  The first one, the dark purple with the bikes, must not have been quite as wide as I thought, but I was able to start with 21" x 21" squares, and with the stripe-y one (which is lighter weight, too), I was able to start with 24" x 24" squares.  For both of those, I also used a 1/4" and 3/4" fold over.

We used them last night with dinner, and I'm quite happy with them.

Now if I can only keep them in good shape.  Our basement steps go right off of our kitchen.  Our washer and dryer is in our basement.  When something gets dirty in the kitchen, it usually gets thrown down the basement steps.  We live in an old house, so our basement is pretty nasty.  The floor is often wet, and I've spotted several big, nasty slugs (snails?).  I can't stand the thought of my gorgeous fabric touching that floor!  Then there's the whole issue with mildew.  I'll be the first to admit I'm not on top of the laundry situation in my house.  (Have I managed to convince you to never eat at my house?  Or at least to bring your own napkins?)

So I'm about to install a laundry basket at the top of the basement steps.  A simple solution (I hope) to a going-on 7 year problem.

Hope you have a great week.  How's your stash-busting going?  Check out my dwindling pile.

Woo hoo.  Almost halfway there.  If all goes well, I'll be cutting into the 10th tonight or tomorrow morning.

Finally Friday, Fabric Challenge, and Purple Girl

Happy Friday!  I love, love, love Friday.  The weekend ahead always seems so full of potential.  I'm hoping to straighten up my sewing room before I go to work, so I'll be able to really enjoy it when I get home.

Do you have any plans for St. Patrick's Day?  My older daughter is in the parade, so we'll go watch that.

How are you doing on your fabric challenges?  The plaid pants I posted about the other day were from my challenge stash.  This outfit is as well.

I feel like a bit of a cheater because I was able to use four different fabrics for only one outfit.  So I'm up to five.  I have 20 altogether, so I'm one fourth of the way there.  That didn't seem too bad.

You probably already recognize that the little top is the Raven Hoodie from Clever Charlotte.  I really like how it came out.  I especially like the waistband and the curved front pieces.  For some reason, while I was cutting it out, it didn't occur to me that it was reversible.  I had to piece together the waist tie because I didn't have enough of the cute Lizzie House Outfoxed fabric (Alewive's).  It has that fabric on either end then the purple in the middle, so I don't think it would look too bad if we reversed it.  The purple is linen from JoAnn, I think.

The skirt is pattern C from this book:

(ISBN 978-4-529-04437-0)

It was really easy and pretty quick to put together, but I didn't execute it very well.

Before I even started, I cut off two inches because everything I've made lately has been way too long, and I didn't want to have to hem away the scalloped edge on the flower fabric.  It seems like this skirt keeps creeping up on Addie's waist, so it's really too short.

The other thing I was worried about the whole time I was making it was that it would be too see-through.  The flowered fabric (remnant bin at JoAnn) is definitely see through, and the fabric from my stash that I wanted to use was very lightweight voile (Z fabrics).

I only managed to get a few shots of Addie where her Hello Kitty undies weren't showing either through the skirt or because the skirt had inched up to her chest.  I suppose I could make some bloomers.

It's a nice look with the boots, don't you think?  We're always having a shoe crisis around here.  I don't know how Addie always manages to lose one shoe.  You'd think they'd turn up again eventually, but our house seems to have a way of sucking things in and making them disappear.  Just ask my mom and sister what happens to their tupperware when they leave it here!

Oh well.  The boots turned out to be quite useful.

Have a great weekend!