Another Pattern

I just bought another pattern on Etsy. I bought it from the same seller that I got the last one from. This one is for a peasant style dress that I can also shorten and make a peasant style shirt or tunic. I'm super excited. One of the fabulous things is these are written in more of a tutorial format and have many sizes included, so I can make them for my 1 yr. old niece or my 12 year old girls. I must also say the customer service is phenomenal!

Check it out: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=42785918

Newest Etsy Purchase

I just bought 2 PDF dress patterns from Sweetie Pie Patterns on Etsy. She had a buy two special, I got them together for $7.00. You can see the patterns I bought HERE. I cannot wait to get the emails and for the girls and I to shop for fabrics for them. They look easy and very cute. The girls will wear a t-shirt with them and we may make dresses and shirts out of the pattern.

I'm also eyeing this REALLY cute skirt pattern.

Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE Etsy?!?!?!

Progress...

Seems that my girls had a bit of a revelation yesterday. On Tuesday we all worked very hard on the house. We are all working to change habits and pick up after ourselves as we go and on Tuesday we worked hard to get their chore rooms into shape. So, yesterday as the girls are doing their chores I was hearing lots of comments on how much easier it was to do them, since they had been done well the day before. I've been trying to tell them for the longest time, if you'll just put it away when you are finished with it, there will be no mess. Finally seems they get that point. Now we all just have to work to stay consistent and the housework load is going to seem very light.

Diaper Bags I Have Made

I'm trying to catch up on posting sewing pictures. I've made 4 diaper bags. The one below was my first. There is another one in another post (you can click on the sewing and embroidery label to see it). I also made one that I don't have a pic of. Someone else picked out the fabric and asked me to make it, so I was on a deadline and forgot to take the pic. The one below I made for my sweet niece who is now 1 and I used my old machine, which is why the embroidery is so small. This one is one of my favorites. I made it for my cousins little boy. I thought it turned out really cute, kind of looks beachy to me, too.

My 1st Etsy Listing

It's probably silly of me to even attempt this as busy as I am. I won't be adding much, if anything, else until life slows down a bit, but I was curious to see if this generate any interest.
We'll see!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40368652

Burp Cloths

I realized that I have posted very few of my sewing pics on here. I'm gonna try to get a lot of them posted in the next few days. Seems I posted most everything to Facebook. I'm trying to do MUCH less Facebooking and get back to some real blogging.

The flowers in the pic below came from the Flower Power Alphabet by Julia's Needle Designs. I din't love the J from that font, so I just used the J from Curlz font that I purchased form Jolson's Designs.

The polka dot frame was free from Five Star Fonts. You can find it HERE. The square frame below is the same frame, I just stopped the machine when it had completed the frame. You should check out their FREE designs. There are lots of neat goodies there.

I got the Curlz J with embellishments free from the Sew Crazie Designs Yahoo Group.
I cannot remember where I got the applique W, but the transportation frame was free from Embroidery RN.

I made these quite a while ago, so I'm having trouble remembering where I got all of the designs.

I have Personalize N Stitch, so a lot of my fonts come from there. I do know that the frames on the bottom three pics all came from THIS set from Jolson's Designs. Jolson's has a lot of fonts and all of their designs are $3.00.

Christmas for the Kids

Finally decided on what to do for the kids for Christmas. I will be making each of them flannel pajama pants and a matching embroidered shirt. Then they will each get a stocking, game and a special gift that they have asked for. Doesn't seem like much, but they understood that the Disney trip was a very large part of Christmas this year. Thankfully, I have very grateful, practical children. They have expressed to us that they actually enjoy small Christmases because they enjoy having plenty of time to play with their new gifts. The girls will have books in their stockings and Mason will have an Adventures in Odyssey cd. Everyone has asked for a book light, so they will have those as well. Both girls want a few sewing tools and Mason wants a bandana and a pocket knife. (He has a swiss army already, he is only allowed to carry them on occasions that he is going to be spending time with his Daddy.) Kelsi wants a bag of starburst and Keeli wants a large Hershey bar and Mason wants a nerd rope or Reese Cups. They will all have pencils in there and I'm sure a few more goodies, like ponytail holders for the girls and cars for Mason. That will probably be it for the stockings. I found some family Wii games for $10 each, so we will have two of those and I also saw a bundle of 2 board games for $10 so we will have those as well (those will be group gifts). Lastly, each of them will get their individual gifts, Keeli wants an art set, Mason wants a GI Joe Snake Eyes Sword and Mask and Kelsi wants a set of Nifty Knitter Hoops.

I'm still completely unsure what I am doing for my husband. I have a pretty good idea what to do for Josh (my step-son), but he occasionally reads my blogs, so I'll refrain from posting about his.

I'll post pics of the homemade gifts as I get them done. I hope to start in the next few days.

Homemade Christmas

We just got back from a trip to Disney World. This trip kind of came about last minute and we did not have much time to save up for it. So, we've decided to make up for it, we are having a small Christmas at home, everyone understood that the trip was a big part of their Christmas. We also have decided to make homemade gifts for everyone in order to save money, but still be able to give nice gifts. I'm actually more excited than usual. I think it's going to be so much fun. Here's the plan so far : My dad, FIL and Grandfather are all getting Alabama themed lap throws. I bought crimson and dark gray fleece and will be embroidering the Alabama A on each of them. I'm leaning towards tying the knots on them as opposed to sewing them. My 2 youngest nieces will be getting pillowcase dresses with black velour leggings and white turtlenecks. Our older nieces and nephews in Mobile will be getting personalized insulated cups (I found the cups at Dollar Tree) I will add fabric with their names or monograms to them and put hot cocoa mix, marshmallows and peppermint chips inside. My mom, MIL and Grandmother will be getting Aprons, trivets and pot holders that match, we may also give them crocheted washcloths. All I have left are my step-son, husband and children. Not sure what I'm going to do. I am thinking of making some PJ's for at least some of them and possibly another throw or two. So far I have saved a ton of money. The throws will cost about $10 each, the gifts for my little nieces will be about $9 each, the Mom's and Grandmother gift will cost about $6 and the cups will cost less than $3, so needless to say we are saving a lot of money.

Are any of you making homemade gifts? If so, what's your plan?

Catching Up

I've been a little AWOL on the blog front lately. In all honesty I am working on being on the computer less. My Facebooking got more than a little out of hand. Now that it's fall, I start thinking about Christmas and I also like to crochet when it's cool out. So, instead of spending time on the computer I am working on catching up on some projects. I had several things started from last year so I decided that I would not start any new crochet projects until I finished my unfinished ones. Right now I have a cute little yellow baby afghan that I'm keeping in the van so I can work on it while we ride and when I have sitting time while we are out, like my free hour at co-op and while I wait on the girls at dance. I should be finished with it soon. I also have some granny squares that someone gave me, so as I sit and watch TV I'm working on stitching them all together. They are large, so it isn't taking very long and I am halfway through. I should finish that one today. I'm also helping Kelsi with a scarf and teaching Keeli to crochet. I made on crocheted dishcloth and am either going to teach the girls to do them or do a few more myself. I like the look of them and have heard that they work well. When I finish all of this I have a boy baby afghan that I started last year and plan to finish.

I also have some embroidery and work to catch up on and we are working on getting and keeping the house really clean so we won't have to do a mad dash cleaning before we leave for Orlando.

We have some fun things planned for this fall. We are going camping, helping with a major Harvest outreach at our church, going on vacation with friends to Orlando and planning Thanksgiving in Montgomery with Patrick's extended family. Usually we stay here or go to Mobile and have dinner with mostly just his immediate family. We're looking forward to seeing those that we don't often see.

I'll try to keep you updated with what we are accomplishing and maybe even post some pictures as I complete some items.

More Fabric

I have added more fabric options to the slideshow. There are now some for children. I should be adding more product pictures in the next day or two. I've had a few orders already. I'm excited! I do have my prices worked out. Send me a comment and leave your email address if you want me to email you a price list.

Raising Funds

I'm trying my hand at doing something new in order to raise funds for my kids to go to church camp this year. Last year it was $350 total for the girls to go and this year they will have a day camp for Mason. I also went last year so that was another $50. I'm hoping to go this year as well and Patrick is praying about whether or not he will go. So, that means, camp is a really big expense. We have some major projects on our house that we need to get done this year, so I decided to make an effort to raise the funds myself.

Since I got a really nice new embroidery machine, thanks to my hubby and my new job, I thought I could raise a little dough using it. There are pics in the slideshow at the top of my blog. I'm still a little unsure about my pricing (although I think I've got it set, just need to run it by a couple of people) I will be making checkbook covers, business card holders (also good for holding debit cards and licenses, etc.), bookmarks and keychains. I would love some input, let me know what you think. I don't have pics of the bookmarks or debit holders, they will be similar to the checkbook holders. I will add more pics as I have them, so check back often.

I will be adding more fabrics later (there will be some boy fabrics for bookmarks), but please let me know if you are interested in item, but would want another fabric and I will do my best to accomodate you.

Be blessed!

Sewing Old and New

I made this blanket for my niece's baby dedication. The floral fabric is one that belonged to my Mammaw. I thought it made a nice sentimental gift.

The previous two burp cloths I made for my niece not long after she was born. I actually made her a diaper bag, a car seat cover (one for warmth) and I think about 9 burp cloths, but I forgot to take pics of them before I gave them to her. She's here today, so I was able to take pics of these because she had them with her.

These burp cloths I made yesterday and I embroidered the bottom one today. I'm not too happy with the embroidery. The color of the thread is off, although it is not as orange as it looks in the picture. I'm also not thrilled with the placement. I'm still learning to use my machine though, so for a newbie I guess it's not too bad.

Fun Skirt

I recently made the girls poodle skirts for their 50s themed birthday party. They really liked the skirts and wanted some more made like them. Here is the first of a few that I plan on making for them and yes it was cheaper to make than to buy. Most of the fabrics that I bought were on sale for less than $3.00 a yard. This one was I think $4.00 or $5.00 a yard. So even with the elastic and thread I have less than $6.00 in this skirt. The shirt we bought at hobby lobby for $1.50. They were wanting these to wear with flip flops this summer. It's pretty full, but that is what they asked for.

I've been keeping something from you......

I bought my new embroidery machine and I've had it for 3 weeks and I'm just now telling you about it. Honestly I was struggling so much with it that I wasn't sure I was going to keep it. However, I've done lots of reading and learned from my mistakes and had a friend come show me the ropes and now I LOVE IT. I've done 3 successful designs today. It's fun. I'm so excited to actually be up and running and not having so much trouble. It wasn't the machine it was me. It's different than my old one and I was trying to treat them the same and it was not working. Anyway, I did make a diaper bag and burp cloth for a friend. The burp cloth is cotton on one side and pink fleece on the other. Here are the pics:

Simplifying My Life

My hubby and I have been discussing ways to make things run more smoothly around here now that I am working from home. While the list is long, one thing that we could do wasn't difficult, just costly. I have been scanning the adds for a month or so now and have pretty much figured out what the best deal was. Well, yesterday I opened my paper and in the ads I found a better deal on a good product than I have seen in a while. So, after church we went shopping and I am the proud new owner of this:

We got a fabulous deal on an Acer computer. I was unsure about the brand, but I talked to my boss and this is what they are using in the offices at the gym and the processor that it uses is the same one that Compaqs use. I'm really excited. It's going to make things much easier and make me feel more a part of my family. I have been feeling very isolated in my bedroom while I was working. So, it will be nice to park myself at the kitchen table and be near all of the action. Patrick was super sweet and came home and set it all up for me and fixed my wireless network. So, I'm up and running. There is also another big bonus. I have been looking at this:





It is an embroidery machine that has to be hooked up to a computer. The benefit to that is the machine cost much less than one with an on board computer. I actually looked at it when I bought the machine that I have now, but since I only had a desktop computer I decided not to do it, because I didn't want to have to set my sewing machine up right next to my home office. So, I bought a used machine that has been really nice and I absolutely love it, but it just isn't capable of doing all that I want it to do. I'm learning more about it and shopping around and it is very possible that I will be moving up in the embroidery world in the next several months. You know me though, gotta find a great deal first!

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn

I just finished making part of my nieces birthday gift. This is my first attempt at something like this and I think it turned out pretty well. I think I will definitely do it again. In case you can't see it well, it is a pink University of Alabama fabric.