Another exciting award LOL!

BIGGEST BLUNDER

SEWING BLOGGER
AWARD!

This award is NOT to be passed on. You may copy it and file it away to give to yourself sometime if you ever think you deserve it. LOL!!!

After I went to bed last night, I had a nagging thought running through my head!! Do you ever have that happen to you? I kept thinking about the boys'
shorts that I finished yesterday. The size 7-8 are fine, I think. BUT, the size 10-12 were too big. I just knew it! So, I got up and checked them and, YEP, they were WAY too big!!!! I tried going back to bed, but who can sleep knowing that the shorts have to be taken all apart? These are shorts with a zipper, cargo pockets on the sides of the legs, one on the back, and regular pockets on the sides of the hips, belt loops, facings, etc.... AND, of course, everything was double stitched!! So, I got back up, took them apart, and went to bed about 1:30 a.m. just to lay there and still not go to sleep for thinking about how mad I was at myself!!!
I didn't have a pattern for a 10-12 so I compared the sizes on other patterns and figured out that the 10-12 needed to be 2 inches bigger in the waist and hips than the 7-8. SOOOooo, without thinking about what I was doing, I cut out the 10-12s 2 inches bigger. DUHHHHH! If I was the parent of one of the Math Intervention kids that I taught this past year I would be SCARED out of my mind! Lol! When you add 2 inches X 2 fronts, that equals 4 inches, and when you add 2 inches X 2 backs that's 4 more inches. UH, all total that's 8 INCHES too big in the waist and hips. That doesn't count the two extra inches in the crotch and length! Oh my gosh!!! Can you believe I did something sooooooo STUPID? Those of you who really know me are probably saying to yourselves, "UH, yeah, that's not unusual for you, Julia, or Momma(if you are one of my daughters reading this)." But, for those of you who don't really know me, I was hoping that I had come across a little more intelligent than I really am. Oh well, my cover has been blown!

There are a couple of redeeming factors here though.
1). I hadn't taken the shorts to the lady whose grandson these are for, yet!
AND
2). I made them too BIG rather than too SMALL! WHEW!

I'll post photos of my process of fixing my problem when I get them done, AGAIN!!!

I don't know why the type is so big on this post. I have gone back a bunch of times to try to make it smaller and it won't change

Okay, they are done, done. The pieces below are the parts of the size 10-12 after I took them apart! What a job. I cut them down, and sewed them all back together.


For all of the seams I did this process. I trimmed one side of the seam, folded the other side over the first side and stitched them together. Then on the outside back side of the shorts, I sewed the seam flat. Who knows what this seam finish is called?


Here they are finished. There are cargo pockets on the legs, pockets on the front sides, and there is one regular pocket on the back (no photo). There's not a waist band. If I were to do shorts like these again they would have them.
I sure hope these fit! Now, I'm starting on the shirts. They should be very easy. The shorts weren't hard, except for the silly mistakes I made.



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One Lovely Blog Award

I was honored by this wonderful award by djstoreroom.blogspot.com
Thank you so much! I too, love to read all of these sewing blogs.
The intention of this award is to pass it on to 5 or more blogs you have recently started following. You should then comment on their post to let them know they are awarded and then link to their blogs from yours.
These are six that I have latched on to and feel very fortunate to have found. I hope these bloggers will pass on the love!
1. flamingoks.blogspot.com
2. cravingsfrocks.blogspot.com
3. adventuresbabysewing.blogspot.com
4. icantsewcreations.blogspot.com
5. xue-originals.blogspot.com
6. sewingsaga.blogspot.com

"Romper" Room and machine meme

The one year old's romper and shirt are finished. I am really happy with how this turned out. You probably recognize the plaid fabric from Little Man's shorts and shirt that I made for his birthday.
The dark spots are water from my iron. I just finished ironing before I took this photo. I dropped my iron yesterday, and things went flying that were once a part of it. So, now it's leaking water!!! UGH!!!

Here's the shirt by itself. I think the romper would be cute without the shirt, too. I didn't take a picture that way, though.

I'm happy with the way the plaids lined up down the front, on the pocket, then the shoulder seam, and finally on the side seam.

This fabric ravels pretty badly, so I used narrow binding on the insides. This shows the sleeve and side seam.


I used the plaid as the facings on the romper, partly because I thought it looked cute that way, but mostly because I was OUT of the solid blue brushed cotton.
I made up the pocket. The pattern shows two pockets on the sides, but I decided to border a square of the solid with the plaid and put a cute little sail boat in the center. Remember, I don't have an embroidery machine, so this isn't very professional looking. I just sewed it as if I was drawing a picture using the double straight stitch on my machine. I usually hand embroider everything, but not this time.
Instead of snaps I sewed in velcro for the crotch closure for easy diapering.




My sewing machine meme:

What brand and model do you have? I have a Pfaff 2046. It isn't very fancy.

How long have you had it? I've had this machine about 3 years.

How much does that machine cost (approximately)? I don't really remember. I traded in my old machine and my serger and still paid around $750???? I think.

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)? I mostly make children's lcothing, but I make whatever comes up that someone wants. I never sew for myself or garments for any grownups.

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get? I sew almost every day.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? I like my machine. I don't love it or hate it, just like. my favorite machine was my first Singer when I was in high school in the late 60's.

Are you ambivalent? I guess so.

Passionate? Sometimes I get passionate, but not in a good way. I get very frustrated with her sometimes. But, I get frustrated with myself more often.

Does she have a name? I call her Babs because those are my grandmother's initials, and she's the one who taught me to sew.

What features does your machine have that work well for you? They all work well, there just aren't too many fancy features.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine? Yes, as I am sewing sometimes the thread pops out of the uptake arm, (why????) and of course the thread gets all wadded up underneath what I'm sewing!

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it! I have sewed through my thumbnail, all the way through. The needle came out of the machine and was, like I said, all the way through my thumb!!! Owwww! I don't think it was this machine, though. My grandmother taught me to sew on her treadle machine. Simple but functional.

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why? Yes, if they are looking for a fairly straightforward machine without lots of bells and whistles. I would like to have monograming ability.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine? I think it is important to go for the lessons the shop offers to learn about the different features on your machine. I haven't done this because I live an hour away from the shop where I bought her, and who has time to drive for two hours? I wouldn't have time to sew if I did that. What weird reasoning!

Do you have a dream machine? no, I haven't researched enough for that. I do not really want embroidery capability, but I do wnat to monogram things.

CUT. IT. OUT!

I did cut it out! I got all three boys' outfits cut out yesterday. I do NOT like to cut out. That's my only reason for procrastination sometimes. But, my girls gave me a new rotary cutter and a new cutting board for my birthday/Mother's Day. They also gave me a new little bitty iron so I can get into those little bitty corners, etc... on little bitty clothing. I had a rotary cutter, but it is one of those really big ones, and it isn't conducive to cutting little things. So, I never used it. It was a cinch cutting with this one, though. I also really like the cutting board for lots of reasons that all of you sewists already know.
(The girls also cooked me a DELICIOUS meal, including cherry dump cake, yum! and one of my SILs made me a beautiful bird house. He also made both my mother and my MIL one each, too. I hung Mother's outside her nursing home window. )

The big boys will have navy shorts from this Simplicity5581 pttern and their shirts are from the Butterick3475 pattern.
Neither of these had a size 10-12 in them.
The shorts came in S-L boys and S-XL men's. In comparing the measurements to other patterns that I have, I discovered that the L boys' size was really a 7-8 and the S men's was way too big. So I added about 2 inches to all pieces in length and width for the 10-12. I figured this out by checking out measurements on several different patterns I have. Hope it works.
The shirt was in sized 6, 7, and 8. I added the amount to go up 2 sizes based on how much difference there was in the 6 and the 8. Again, I hope this works. I do this with my little girls' patterns all the time. Surely, it will be the same for boys.

The little boy is getting a short romper from this Easy McCall's 2033 pattern. His shirt is from Butterick 6030. I like this pattern better than the one with the romper because of the collar. The romper pattern has a peterpan collar, which is ok, but for this I wanted a regular collar.
I realy like the girl's view on the McCall's pattern. I've never made it, but think I will have to this fall with the cardigan.

These are American Doll dresses that I made last year to match the big girls' things that I've made them in the past. The first two "sort of" match the Valentine's outfits that I made for Jenna and Kellen last year. The plaid is flannel and the gray is fleece. I need photos of the big girls' fashions. The lavendar is a "sort of" copy of Jenna's Easter dress from last year too. Again, for some reason I didn't get a photo of her actual dress. It had madeira applique around the hem. The bow on teh bodice was shadow embroidery. The sash was a narrower ribbon sewn to a wider ribbon using a decorative stitch.


My FIL is doing ok. The physical therapy is going to be rougher than he thought. He has had a bum knee for so long that his muscles are out of whack, and he's got to retrain them! Ouch!

Surgery went well

No sewing today, but the surgery went very well. We got up at 4:15. We got to the hospital by 6:00. My FIL's surgery began about 6:30 and lasted about 2 hours. He was in the recovery room for about and hour and a half. When he got to his regular room he was wide awake and hooked up to a machine that made his knee bend and unbend constantly.
My DH was working on a house sale, so as soon as he saw that all was well, he had to go do some work. I stayed at the hospital with my FIL.
My SILs, 2 of them, were at my ILs house taking care of my MIL. They took her to see him this evening. One SIL had to work so she can be more help after he gets home. She will be needed then. My MIL is very confused about why he isn't home.
Hopefully he will be home on Fri. and be able to do his rehab with home health care coming to his house.
I have a much needed hair appointment in the morning, then I'm sewing the rest of the day. I'll have to quit in time to go to church for our youth meetings, though. They don't start till 6:00. I think I'll go to see my mom really early tomorrow morning. It's good to go at different times of the day so you can see what's going on with different nurses, etc...
Thanks for the encouragement about my childhood stories. Everyone has them. Telling about these has reminded me about lots of others. I do need to write them down, and I will just as soon as I get 3 more sundresses and 3 boys' shorts and shirts made.
Oh, but then I really need to do some serious house work. And, I need to make Fourth of July outfits for my grands. They'll be simple.
Oh yeah, next week is VBS. I'm not doing a lot except helping get ready for it, but that means this week and weekend!!!
AAAAAAAAyyyyyyyiiiiiiiiiiiii..... will I get my sewing done? That is the question?

You Can See # 3

You are probably getting tired of these sundresses. I know I am. Even though I like seeing how they look with the different fabrics once they are finished. This is actually number 4 since I made one for Emory first. I have 3 more to go and the the boys' stuff.

Mother did well with her eye appointment. They took their examination chair out so that Mother could stay in her wheelchair. Her chair is shorter and Mother isn't very tall so she couldn't reach the machines to put her chin in the little chin holder thingy and she couldn't press her forehead against the forehead thingy. The doctor took one of her machines off its table and put it on her stool so she could adjust it to a lower height. She was SOOOOO accommodating it was amazing.
My cousin owns a restaurant here in town. I overheard the doctor and her coworkers say that's where they were going for lunch so I called my cousin. He let them eat for free today to thank them for being so kind to Mother. My cousin's mom and dad both died when he was young. (Three when his dad died and 12 when his mom died. ) My mother moved in their house and took care of him and his older brother who was 16 at the time. My cousin who has the restaurant helps take care of Mother almost as much as I do.
I've probably blogged about some of this before. If I have just skip this. Anyway, there were 8 of us cousins in all. We were raised next door to each other. We lived with my mom. grandparents and another aunt. It was like there were 8 siblings. We were watched over by all the adults. Obviously, we couldn't get away with any mischief without being caught. It was a great way to grow up, though. One of these days I plan to write short stories or childrens' books about some of the experiences we had. I used to tell some of the stories to my sixth graders and they loved them.
* There's the one about the train full of watermelons that wrecked in our back yard.
*There's the one about the guy who ran through our yard where we were playing. A little bit later he ran back through right through our game of kickball, or whatever game we were playing at the time. Later, we found out that he had slit the throat of an old man who lived in a house on the street behind our houses.
* Then there's the story about my brother chasing me through the sanctuary at our church (yes, we knew better, shame on us!). After I went out through the swinging doors that had glass in the whole top half, my brother's arm went through the glass and cut his main artery and nerves in his wrist. This was a real saga.
* On the other side of my cousins' house was a funeral home. We played there often, especially outside. The men who ran it played with us. They were really just big little boys. One day we were playing hide and seek inside the funeral home and one of my cousins hid in a coffin. We weren't allowed to play hide and seek in there again. I could go on and on, but I won't.

FIL's surgery is early in the morning. We are leaving to take him to the hospital at 5 am. I guess I'd better get to bed soon.

# Two's done, too!

Well, I've gotten number 2 sundress done. This one is for a five year old, so instead of a bonnet, I made a grown up hat. I made a flower for the hat from one of the fabrics. These fabrics are seersucker, which I love for summer time. I have the dress pinned out to the sides so you can get a peek at the bloomers. It looks kind of wanky pinned up like this, but truly is does hang correctly when let down. AND..........






.....look what my friend gave me! She changed the bedding in her bedroom, so she gave me the dust ruffle and pillow shams that are cream colored eyelet!!! I love eyelet, and with 4 grand daughters it will be put to good use. I have several ideas bouncing around like a super ball from wall to wall in my empty chamber of a brain. This gifter is one of my teacher friends who I blogged about a few weeks ago; she's one of the ladies who was so special to my daughter. Thanks, friend!


I won't get to sew much for the next three days.
* Tonight is a special program at my church. Several churches in the area get together on 5th Sunday nights for a covered dish supper and worship. Tonight's worship is being led by children and youth, so my puppet group is doing a program of Music Machine music. This is the program that I needed the snails for.
*Tomorrow my mom has an eye appointment. I have had so much trouble getting this worked out. First of all, there is an optomotrist in town who is supposed to come to the nursing home, but when I called, he told his receptionist to tell me that he doesn't "do that anymore." But, he also can't examine her in his office because he won't examine her in her wheelchair. I told his receptionist that would be ok if they had 2 strong men who could lift her into the examining chair. Of course, they don't. I wasn't REAL NICE when I was talking to her. I let her know that I didn't in any way blame her, but that she should tell him "Shame on you!" How easy for him to drive 3 minutes from his office to the nursing home, but he won't. Anyway, I asked my eye doctor if she could see her, AND, you know what? She's going to have her examining chair taken out so she can examine Mother in her wheelchair. She's an angel. I really like her as my doctor, too. She's the one who discovered my Glaucoma and sent me to a specialist. There is a handicap van service that takes wheelchair bound patients to doctors' appointments here, so that worked out, thank God!
Tuesday, is my FIL's knee replacement surgery.
Actually, Thursday, I have a dr's appointment for my foot, which I'm going to have surgery on sometime this summer. More on that later.
I will have to sew in short increments of time, which I don't like to do. I like to sit down and not get up till I'm finished. That's ok, I'll get it all done.