Another bag

I finally sewed again! This time, a bag for my niece, a birthday present.  I'm tickled with how it turned out.  I also took the time to write out what I did so that if I ever do another one, I won't have to burn up as many brain cells.

Puzzle!

You'll notice a definite theme here!  First up, the diaper bag that I designed myself.  And made a paper pattern for.  And sewed.  AND, my very first ever lined, zippered bag!

I wanted to make a diaper bag for C to use for Freezy.  I wanted it to be lined, have a zipper, and be stuff-able.  After looking around the internet, I found this to use as inspiration.  It's obviously quite a bit smaller, but I liked the pleats because they would lend themselves to being stuffed.  

I drew my own pattern, using an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and my french curve.  I couldn't figure out how to pleat my pattern (printer paper is rather un-workable!); so I just gathered it.  I did use Skip to My Lou's instructions and they were very easy to follow.  Of course, I had to add the straps and the ruffle at some point, I can't remember when.  This was another one of those think about it some now / cut some out then / sew some now / sew some later / hide it when I hear footsteps - kind of project.

But, I'm tickled with it and so is C, so it's a winner!

Here's the nightgown I wanted to make her.  (Look at that face.  This child has a million funny faces.)  It could be a dress.  In fact, for two days (separated by a washing machine) she wore it as a night gown AND during the day as a dress.  Whatever.  It made getting everyone ready in the morning easier.

There are some imperfections, which I won't point out due to space considerations!!!  Well, there really aren't that many, but there are a few.  This is that old, worn out Ottobre pattern - Spring 2005, #15.  There are many incarnations of this (the pattern is actually for a shirt, but I lengthened it sometimes).


these are just a few.  I could look them all up, but the natives are getting restless.

Now my machine is at the shop, being cleaned and serviced.  So - no sewing for a time.

Long Time No Post

But I've not been idle!  I have no pictures for some of the things I've been busy at.  You know, the normal laundry, dishes, meals, etc.  We've been fighting a stomach bug for about 1 1/2 weeks now, I'm hoping we're soon done with that.

I have sewn just a little.  Not near enough.  Not nearly what I'd like to have sewn in the last month.  Anyway.  Some pictures of what I've been doing.

A tote bag for O's violin teacher.  I got these pieces of vinyl something-or-other out of the pound box at my favorite fabric shop, intending to make a tote bag for myself.  But, I needed a gift for O's violin teacher and not another tote bag for myself.  So, there it went.  She's a fabulous lady; and now she has a new bag!

Next up, a Christmas present for C.  She doesn't know about it, so don't tell her! She loves puzzles.  And we happened to be walking (very fast - the girls were all grumpy) through JoAnn Fabrics a couple months ago and we spotted this fabric.  It's Autism Awareness fabric, which I didn't know until I read the selvedge egdes.  But - more important to C is that it's puzzles! So I went back and bought some.  I intended to make C a nightgown for Cmas, but ran out of time.  So, Freezy got the nightgown and I'll have to make something for C later on.  Maybe for her birthday.

 I made this the oh-so-technical way: layed the bear down on some scrap fabric, traced around her, stitched up the "pattern", made the necessary changes, and then used the pattern to cut out the real fabric.  I'm tickled with how it turned out - especially since I got it done in 2 hours!  (And my Mother-in-law still has the girls!! Free time!!!)

 I used my very neat snap press for the snaps on the back.  And it works great.  I'm so glad I got the press that you have to hammer instead of the pliers.  I'm really liking them.  (And thinking up new projects, just to use snaps!)

And last, a picture of something else I do.  No, I don't sit and spin (or spit and sin, as the younger two girls say).  But I do take pictures of the new, dangerous ways they find to entertain themselves!! I have no idea what possessed G to put the sit and spin on the kiddie table.  But she did.  After I snapped a picture, I reprimanded her.  She hasn't done it again, but it's only been two days!

Self-drafted

I forgot to blog about this, but I meant to.  Because I'm really tickled with how it turned out.

I wanted a long sleeve pull-over shirt to replace my favorite one, which is beginning to look very worn. So, after looking at a youtube video done my Nancy Zieman, I made my own pattern.

First I pinned all the seams on one side of my shirt.  So, the shoulder seam, the arm hole seam, and the side seam all got pins in them.  By in them, I mean in the ditch - right down there in the middle.

Then I traced it - put Swedish Tracing Paper over it and drew over the pins with a marker.  Then I added a seam allowance.  Then I cut out the pattern, then cut the fabric.  Then sewed it up.  And it worked! I was so tickled.  (But like I said before, I can only live three days on the warm-fuzzies from a project working up good - then I forget).

So, this is how I looked at church this morning.

And here's G and Emma Mary.

 Here's G teaching Emma Mary the alphabet.  In the wrong order.  Perhaps I should say an alternative order.

Sweat Shirt!

Until about four years ago, I had no idea people could make sweatshirts for themselves.  But I saw some sweatshirt fabric at a fabric shop and bought some.  (I know - I need to get out more - or at least have more magazine subscriptions or something!)  However, I didn't have any patterns.  Or any idea what I really was going to do with that fabric.

Well, I actually did have a pattern - Mom gave me a pile of patterns that she used to make clothing for me, and after looking through them, I came across a sweatshirt pattern (OOP, obviously - I'm approaching 40 (but my sister-in-law IS turning 40 today! *L*) I digress.

It's a 6x, H's size.  So - I made it! It was my first time using this heavy knit.  My first time using a stretchy collar and cuffs and band.  And it turned out great! It is missing the snaps on the left shoulder - they're in the mail, according to JoAnn Fabrics.com!

The only thing that didn't go right was the collar. The inside, actually.  The directions said to sew the collar on.  Then fold the collar in half, and catch that inside stuff by topstitching from the outside.  Ummm. yeah.  That is such a messy way of doing it.  But, since it has an opening on the left side, I was flummoxed and just followed the directions.  If I make this again, I need to figure out another way to do it - and get the inside nicer.

Naturally, the pattern didn't say to topstitch any of the seams - but I learned that from Ottobre.  And so I did topstitch them and am glad I did.  I checked one of my sweatshirts (from MU, about a million years ago) and it's topstitched on both sides of the seams.  I'll be keeping that in mind for next time.

I added a little pink ribbon to the sleeve, which is another first for me. :)  I'm improving! Yay!!! I can live for about three days on the warm fuzzy feeling from finishing a project and being happy with it *L*.

Here's an up-close of the embroidery.  Mom did this.  H asked for a lamb about 2 months ago, when I cut this out.  Yesterday, when she saw the completed shirt, she said, "That looks perfect!  Did I ask for a lamb?"  Silly girl! Of course, when you're 5, it's easy to forget things from 2 months prior.  But, that's unfortunately how long it takes me to do a project - another reason I get so excited about completing something. It happens so infrequently. 

Other interesting news: We thought we killed a opossum last night, my Farmer and I.  And this morning it was gone.  Hmmmm.  I hope the opossum won't be seeking revenge.  He was in the hen house.  

And, we saw a bald eagle today.  We think the last one spotted on this farm was about 4 years ago.  So we were excited.

And, funny - we were talking about an offering at church and O said she thought we ought to take a "Three Wheel Offering" ! *L*  Made us laugh.

Chicken Dressing.....Un-dressing

We butchered / dressed/ undressed / harvested/ whatever our second batch of chickens.  There were 29 birds from our original 32.  The stats: 172.25 pounds of bird (including carcasses);  the smallest bird was 4 3/4 pounds; the largest was 7 pounds (there were two that size);  Total cost of feed + birds divided by pounds was $1.23 per pound.  Not bad - even if our chicken were to just taste "as good" as store-bought, we still have the valuable knowledge of how these birds were treated and what they were fed.  I must say - these birds were extremely happy their whole lives.  From polka-dot cage

 to broiler buggy 

these birds were very well-cared for.  (I know - I had to feed and water them and move the buggy twice a day while my Farmer recovered from hernia-repair surgery.)

I still need to clean up - do dishes, wipe counters down with clorox, sweep and mop floors.  But from start to this point, it took 7 hours to process all those birds.  Naturally, we didn't do this alone.  We had SUPERB help in the form of a sister-in-law, a nephew, two nieces, and a mother-in-law.  Oh.  And it rained for about the first 4 hours.  That slowed things down, I'm sure.

So, I'm off to clean up!

Sanity Saver

This school year, we're doing something different.  We're actually doing a couple things differently.  One thing is that I have a sort of "schedule" where O practices violin while I do Language Arts with H and C (that usually works nicely).  And H and G are supposed to play together while I work with O and while C does something quietly (that doesn't work nicely!).  G and C are really too young to do anything exciting by themselves and still fight quite a bit, but I have high hopes of them getting used to playing together and eventually keeping each other entertained.  (Without the use of diaper rash cream or any other "not-supposed-to-touch" things!)

Another different thing we're doing is a Naptime - each and every day.  (well, most days).  After snack, we all lay down.  The girls make nests out of blankets and get comfy.  I put a CD in the player (for a while now it's been Schubert's 8th and 9th Symphonies - not exactly sleepy music, but I keep it down low).  Then I lay down and read either Heidi or On the Other Side of the Hill.  Then, the girls are supposed to go to sleep.  Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't - but at least I get to lay down!

So if you come to our house after 1 pm, now you know what to expect - and why it looks so MESSY!!!