Craft-A-Little

I finally finished the silk dupioni tea party dress that I said that I was making for Little Helper!  Yay!!  Ok- it actually didn’t take me all that long once I started working on it.  I cut it all out a few weeks ago and then I sewed it all in one weekend.  Well, I did the hem and put the buttons on in Mexico after Little Helper went to bed one night. 

(I just took all of my photos today and the dress needs to take a trip to the dry cleaners- it is nice and wrinkly and has a small spot of food on it. )

Let me just say- I LOVE how this turned out.  And so does Little Helper!  I lined the bodice in pink cotton.  I found that sewing with the silk was easier than I expected, but I still had a bit of trouble.  Trying to attach the interfacing was a bit of a problem.  I am not sure that it ever attached properly.  But when I finally had to sew edges and I caught the interfacing, I was sure that it wasn’t going to slip out of place! 

I also found that it puckered a bit more than quilting cotton does.  There is one small pucker on the back where the bodice and the skirt meet- notice I didn’t show a picture of that.    I also had a hard time getting going points on the back bodice part with the button holes. 

I found the buttons at Joann’s- and just LOVED them!  They are just perfect for the dress.  I was so thrilled!!  Little Helper wore silver sandals with the dress and she was so cute in it!  Other than the bride, I am pretty sure that she got the most attention at the wedding. 

And here is the whole family at the wedding.  My husband was in the wedding, so he had to wear the groomsman outfit.  The wedding was down on the beach and just beautiful.  Well- SUPER windy, but very pretty and nice.  During the vows Little Helper decided that she just HAD to have her Daddy, so I sent her up to stand with him and the rest of the groomsman.  She is such a cutie. 

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Another exciting thing that happened- I won a giveaway!!!!  Melissa over at Elemental Stiches hosted a giveaway of four books from Shambhala books and I won one!!  I am particularly excited because she was giving away Carefree Clothes for Girlsand she has also been hosting a sew along with that book.  Now I might be able to participate next month!  Yay!!

Ok, so I still don’t have any of my “coming soon” clothes made, but I am working on them!  I got tired of waiting for my fabric to come in and I bought some other stuff to make a 2+2 blouse with.  And this is what I did this weekend…

It still needs buttons.  Little Helper and I are going to go pick some out on Thursday or Friday.  When I first showed Little helper the fabric, she liked it.  Then, as I was making the shirt Little Helper told me she didn’t like it and she wouldn’t wear it.  Then, after her nap today, I was hanging it on a hanger to take a picture and she said- “That’s mine! I wanna wear it.”  I had to tell her that it still needed buttons and she could wear it once it had buttons.  She was ok with that response.  But at least she likes it!!

Overall, I am really happy with how this shirt turned out.  I think it is so cute and can’t wait to make more!  I know that I made mistakes and I need to remember to read pattern errata BEFORE I start sewing.  And there are certainly things that I can improve on.  This is why I am really happy that I have 2 more to make in the near future.  I think that will really help my sewing skills!

I will be working on the other 2 shirts, but if I haven’t finished them but Thursday, I will be switching my focus to the silk dupioni tea party dress.  I am glad that I warmed up a bit (after such a sewing dry spell- I needed it!) before working on my expensive silk dupioni fabric!! 

Have a great week!

Well, I posted that shirts and a dress were “coming soon” almost a month ago!  I am not sure that it is soon since they aren’t done yet!  I still have had some motivational/energy issues.  But, I made a commitment to myself this weekend to get my rear in gear!  I am tired of looking around online and seeing all the fun/cool stuff people are making while I sit around and do nothing! 

So, I did this…

It is a drunkard’s path block for the Bee Addictedquilting bee.   I was a little intimidated by it, but fortunately, Knitterleigh sent a template.  That helped a lot.  So, it isn’t perfect, but I think that it came together pretty well!  I might even be willing to try it again someday!    I did get MUCH better at the curves by the end!

So, I am hoping to get those shirts done, but I need some accent fabric for it and the stuff that I want is on order at my quilting store.  Hopefully it will come in soon!  In the mean time, I have started working on the dress for Little Helper, and I hope to finish it this weekend- so maybe you will see pictures by the end of the weekend!! 

I also got tired of waiting for my accent fabric, so I might have bought some other fabric to make another shirt for Little Helper!  I need to practice!  I really want to make a raincoat and maybe even a winter coat for Little Helper for next fall/winter.  And I am SO not ready for that yet.  So, I need to get sewing!

I am also trying to pick a blanket to knit for this baby in my belly.  I am deciding between 2.  One is the Circles and Stripes blanket (scroll down- there is a picture in this blog post)  from Susan B. Anderson’s Itty Bitty nursery.  The other is the mitered square blanket from Mason Dixon knitting.  I know that the mitered square one is a much more labor intensive pattern.  so I am a little nervous about that- I am halfway there already and I would REALLY like to have this blanket done by time this baby is born.  But I will not be finding out boy or girl before this baby arrives and I like the mitered square one in a more colorful pattern than I like the Circles and Stripes one.  Oh the decisions…Feel free to weigh in via the comment section!  And I would use different color schemes for either blanket than what is in the pictures!

Ok…I will stop rambling.    I think that I am going to go cut some fabric.  I am home sick today, and I think that I can manage the energy for that!

Oh- one more thing!!  I came across a sew along at another blog- Elemental Stitches this week.  Unfortunately, I don’t have to book (and neither does my library!), so I can’t participate.  But some really cute things are coming out of it!  You should venture over and check it out!

Ok- for real…no more rambling..for today!

I completed another quilt square!  And then I tried to do another one so that I was caught up- and I screwed it up.  I barely got any cutting done and I realized that I had messed up.  I do think that the instructions are not clearly written.  And I am not the only person who had trouble with that.  Anyway…I am currently waiting to hear what she wants me to do with my screwed up fabric.  I am so irritated with myself!!

So here is what I finished…

And what is coming soon…

We are going to a wedding in April.  I wanted to make a dress for Little Helper to wear.  But since it is a wedding, I wanted it to be a little fancier than quilting cotton.  So, I am excited to say, that I went to a different fabric store today and picked up some silk dupioni!  It was not cheap, but the woman who was working there assured me that it would not be that hard to work with. 

The colors aren’t coming out quite right in the photo- my photo quality is pretty terrible for this post.  Sorry about that.  My real camera’s battery is dead. 

I also picked up some fabric for some summer shirts for Little Helper-

I know- those 2 are very similar.  Well…that is ok. 

I am really excited to start on some of these projects, but unfortunately, I will be away from my sewing machine for a few days.   Even worse- away from my Little Helper. 

Well, I have been home.  Doing nothing.  Well, watching TV and not cooking and not cleaning.  And not sewing.  And not knitting.  So seriously- what have I been doing??  I have been growing a baby!!  Is that a good enough excuse for laziness?? 

I am 16 weeks along.  I am due August 20.  I am very excited!  If Little Helper understood, she would be pretty excited too! 

I do have a couple of things that I finished for some quilting bees in the last month.  Not a lot- 3 blocks.  I have 2 more that I need to get finished soon!  I will share those photos with you, just so that this is not a photoless post. 

(this one is -sadly- possibly lost in the mail.)

I had a very productive weekend of sewing!  I made 3 things- start to finish.   2 pair of bedtime story pajamas and a knitting needle holder- I was VERY productive!! 

I made coordinating pajamas for my daughter and a friend’s daughter- aren’t they cute??

I really loved how they turned out- and they came together so quickly!!  I was able to make a whole pair in one day (during Little Helper’s nap and then after she went to bed at night).  And they turned out so cute!  I used Riley Blake Be Merry fabrics.  I ordered the fabric from an online store and when it came, A was so excited about getting snowman jammies.  Then, as I was making them, she sounded like she wasn’t going to want to wear them.  But when they girls opened their presents tonight, I was able to convince her to put them on and I am so glad that she did.  When I put her to bed, she looked up at me and said ” snowman jammies”- like she liked them and was proud of them and wanted to be wearing them.  I love her.

Unfortunately, I have no photos of the knitting needle holder.    I forgot to take one.  Hopefully, my friend Athena will take one and send it to me.    Well, she did take a picutre on her phone and texted it to me, but I am hoping for better quality.    I used one of the new Sandi Henderson Meadowsweet fabrics and made one that was very similar to the one that I made for myself last winter.

Well, I am worn out after a day of Christmas partying!  And I still have to work this week.    I took too many trips this year and used up all of my vacation!  Oh well- one more week(well, 3 days)  and then I am off for a week and a half!  I can’t wait…

Little Helper turned 2 on Tuesday!  I cannot believe that she is 2 already!  I did a post on my private family blog sharing a bunch of things that she does and says now.  Here are a few of my favorites:

…calls penguins snowmen.
…hugs her babies and tells them that it is ok.
…loves to read stories and her favorite changes weekly. Right now it is Moo, Baa, La la la.
…thinks that my fabric is blankets for her to play with
…is day potty trained.
…tells me that her baby is scared of the airplane as she consoles her baby.
…LOVES babies. whether they are real or toys. She LOVES them.
…thinks that reheating food in the microwave is cooking. (it saddens me that my child thinks
this!)
…is really good at and loves doing puzzles.
…loves going to swimming lessons. Her favorite part is when she gets to jump in the water.
…goes under water in our swimming class!
…remembers that you get owies at the doctor’s office.
…will set up her babies and animals in all the chairs at her table and feeds them dinner.
…loves to paint.
…calls her gloves “gums”.
…likes to wear my shoes.
…kisses the books goodnight when we are reading them right before bed.
…pats me on the back when gives me a hug.
…holds on tightly around my shoulder when I am snuggling with her before she goes to bed.
…gives me kisses, and hugs, and nose kisses.
…loves to be tickled.

Here she is getting ready to blow out the candles- she blew them out like 9 or 10 times.  That was really fun.  We just did cupcakes on Tuesday because we had the bigger party today!  I got everyone to make party hats today for the party.  Everyone did a really nice job.  See the one all the way on the left with  a heart on it?  That one was made by my husband’s 32 year old brother.  He put nice pretty princess ribbons on it.  There were only 2 kids at the party (including the birthday girl!) and the wouldn’t wear the hats.  All 9 adults did a really nice job of participating in the hats and in wearing the polka dots that I made for everyone to put on their clothes.  The hats were made following this tutorial. 

I baked a cake.  It tasted really good, but it wasn’t very pretty.  I did polka dots on it and they melted all over the place.  And one of my layers broke before I got the cake built and it was sliding all over the place.  My guests we ok with it, but I am not sure that I can show a picture here! 

But I can show…

Oliver and S bubble dress:

Streamers for the party:  I have seen these around the internet in various places.  They were pretty quick and easy to make. 

Advent calendar:  (following this tutorial)

3 WIP finishes this weekend!!  Finally! 

Oh- and Little Helper got a pretty nice gift from my friend…

Homemade slippers!!  They also gave her the penguin boots that her daughter is wearing in the backround.  Given that Little Helper LOVES shoes- this gift was better than any toy would have been!

Almost 2 months ago I asked if I should put Little Helper in a Halloween costume or not.  You all said yes.  She disagreed. 

I had to talk her into sitting still for a minute.  And I had to put her in it while she was crying.  Every time I would ask her if she wanted to put on her costume- she said no.  She still does!  I am glad that I didn’t make it!! (and I didn’t spend to much $$ on it!)

In my last post, I promised my list for the Joy in the New Year challenge.  Here is what I have:

1. Little Helper’s Dress
2. Little Helper’s Sweater
3. Advent Calendar
4. Stripe quilt (I just have to finish the binding!)
5. Streamers for Little Helper’s party on Saturday.

I know that I have a couple more things.  Some of them I am not ready to share here…it is the holiday season, you know. 

I know that I still owe you some pictures on my last post!  I finished a lot of things!  I really need to get my electronic situation worked out!  Anyway, I have some things that I want to update you on- even though there will be no picutres in my post again. 

• First- I have joined in the Joy in the New Year Challengethat Jaquie is hosting.  I am excited!  I will put my list of what I need to accomplish up in the next couple of days.
• There is also a give away over on the Flea Market Fancy Freaks blog- this is an exciting one since this fabric has been discontinued and is really hard to find!

• I got another book from the library- this one is is Artisian Bread in 5 minutes a day.  This one is on my Christmas list already and I haven’t even baked anything out of it yet!  I did buy a dough container and yeast today at the store.  So I will put my 5 minutes in today and tomorrow I will have fresh baked bread!  I plan on making some sandwhich bread- I don’t want to buy it anymore.  It is too expensive.  Especially since I like high quality bread. 

Ok- I have some knitting that I need to  finish by next week!  I had better get some work done on that while Little Helper is napping!

The weekend is upon me.  And I am behind on things!  So it is time to catch up.  And I have a strategy!  I am doing start with a little list of the things that I need to do this weekend here on my blog.  Just as Krisitina did on a post a while ago, I will check things off with photos as I complete them.  The other part of my strategy is renegotiating my contracts.  My work offers Getting Things Done training by the David Allen company and I did that a couple of years ago.  One of the things that they teach is to renegotiate contracts.  So I am using that in some cases.  So here is my list…

• A Piece of Work B October block   Look at me go!  I already have 2 blocks done! Ok- I actually only made the first one today.  The other one has been done for a little while.   But now they are ready to mail!  I used up every last scrap that Jennie sent for these! 

• A Piece of Work B November block
• Bee Addicted October block (picture coming soon)
• Block #1 for Lorrin (and me!) (picture coming soon)
• Block #2 for Lorrin (and me!) (picture coming soon!)
• Order fabric for my mom’s Christmas Quilt (I renegotiated again and have some updates on this one)
• Choose polka dot fabric for Little Helper’s birthday dress (any suggestions??).
• MAIL ALL BLOCKS!!

Now I think that should be enough for now!  I am renegotiating a couple of contracts with myself.  The first- and biggest- is the advent calendar I wanted to do.  I really wanted to have it done for this year and I haven’t completely figured out what I want.  So, I think that I will wait until after Christmas (all the holiday fabric will be on sale then) and pick some up.  And then I will make if for next year.  Little Helper won’t know the difference.  And since I want it to be something that we keep for years, this is probably the better way to  do it.   I know that I renegotiated another, but I forget what it was.  And it isn’t in my to do list anymore,  so I guess I did a good job of renegotiating it! 

I just looked at my list- that is a lot of blocks!  And I don’t even know what I am going to do for most of them…