My Hopes! Organized? Me? Nah! Valentine Outfit Numbers 2 & 3, and What do you do with your Christmas photo cards?

Before I go into my sewing, etc.... I just want to say that I hope that our nation and our world will soon become colorblind and that the racial injustices that have occurred throughout history will end. I don't think it matters what your race, religion, gender, etc... is, I think it only matters that you are a good and decent person. God doesn't see our outsides, just our inner thoughts and feelings. This is my prayer for everyday, but especially for today being Martin Luther King Day.

Someone commented that I am very organized to already be starting on Valentine outfits and that I always get started early for each new set of garments for whatever the occasion for my grandchildren. If I was organized, I wouldn't have to start so early. I get distracted very easily. I didn't used to be this way. It's driving me crazy. When I'm working on one project I have the next 2 or 3 running through my brain. I keep starting and stopping. I used to sit down and sew until I was through with what ever I was making. I have 5 grands to sew for, and if I don't start early I won't get done, or I'll be so stressed at the last minute that no one could stand to be around me.


Here's Kellen's outfit. I guarantee it's going to look better on her than it does hanging on this form. She's outgrown the size of form I have. Her vest, as you can see, is a pullover. I bound the neck and made the hearts from the other sweaters that I felted. If you haven't been reading my blog lately, I'll catch you up here. I bought some $1 sweaters at the Dollar Tree. They were all either 80 or 100% wool. I washed and dried them several times, until they wouldn't ravel when I cut into them. They are now felted. Thank you to Gwen for telling me how to do this. I have used yarn to stitch on the hearts, to make the seams, and to bind the armholes.
The first one I did is pictured in my last post.
The skirt is made from a pinstripe (white and red stripes) wool blend. It didn't have enough wool in it to be felted; I tried.
Kellen's skirt is cut on the bias, except for the pleated part at the bottom.
Here's a couple of close ups of the vest.



And here's a peek at the inside of the skirt which I lined with a red cotton so it wouldn't be itchy on Kellen's legs. I'm hoping to find black, gray, or red leggings or tights for the girls.

I just finished Riley's skirt. Here it is with her vest. I didn't buy her a shirt because, for one thing I couldn't find one in her size and for another, I just bought her a red long sleeved shirt for her birthday.




Her skirt is pleated in the front and has a gingham lining. I am using fabrics from my stash for the linings. Little Man's pants are going to be lined with the checked fabric, too. I have decided that I don't like his vest so I'm going to try to get a new one made for him tonight. I'm pretty sure there's enough of the felted wool left to make one for him. I think there's enough of the solid red, actually.


What do you do with photo Christmas cards? I used to just put them away and never look at them again. But, a few years ago, I started putting them on this bulletin board. Next year, when I start getting new ones, these will go in an album which I started keeping a couple of years ago, too. Here I have blurred the faces of all except Kellen, Jenna, Riley, and Emory. Some of these are family members and some friends. The newspaper clipping on the side is from when Kellen was born, and there were two sets of 5 generations still living in my husband's family. Both of his grandfathers were still alive. The black and white photo is of my in-laws taken when my husband was just a little boy. They owned a restaurant and this is them standing in front of it.