Double Whew!

Two more sundresses and bonnets done. The mostly orange one is a size 2. The other is a size 1. I think I'll shorten the bottom tier of the yellow one just a little. Since there are bloomers it won't matter if it's a little short. I was planning to post about the process of making these dresses and bonnets, but either my computer, the internet, or blogger is acting up. It took forever to get these photos to post. I will try again when I get the last one done. I have it started. These two are for my friend who works at the nursing home for her grand daughters. The others with the boys' outfits are for another lady who works there, but I don't really know her.
I'm so glad to have these done. They both want them on Monday or Tuesday. The last one I'm making doesn't have a deadline, but I'm going to get it done tomorrow. At least that's my plan.

This is what I see out of the window when I'm at my sewing machine. They don't look quite as bright orange through the window as they really are. I also have a peony outside my window that bloomed earlier in the spring. I should have posted photos of it. Maybe I will remember to do that next spring.


My FIL used to have cattle in this field to the side of our house. Since he doesn't have them anymore, he rents the field to a dairy farmer for the hay. We were beginning to think he wasn't going to ever be able to mow and bale the hay because of all the rain, but he got it done this week between rainy days. We had a couple of sunny ones. It rained right after he got this done, though. Lucky. I love looking out on the field of round bales. I used to like looking at the Black Angus cattle, too. They were so pretty --------- from a distance. I have a real fear of cows, dating back to when I was about 7, 8, 9, & 10ish. I had a reoccurring nightmare about them. I'll relate that story sometime, or I may keep it for my books that I'm going to write. Hum.... now, when is it I was going to write those books. Oh yeah, when I get everything else done. My DH is really on me to get started. He thinks I can be successful.

Tonight we were at my ILs when my mother called. I didn't go help her with her dinner tonight because my DH borrowed my car to go show a house. His SUV is giving him problems. Anyway, she called to ask me if Cissy had broken her hip. Well, Cissy was my mother's sister who died many years ago. She said that the nurses told her she must have been dreaming, but she wasn't so sure. Now, my mom does not have dementia of any kind. When she gets like this it means she has a UTI, more than likely. So my DH and I went to the nursing home to check on her. She realized, sort of, kind of, that she had been dreaming, but she told me that one of the nurses had taken her to a restaurant for dinner, and that one of the CNAs had told her about Cissy then. When I told her that this particular nurse wasn't working this week, and that she had eaten her dinner in the dining room there at the nursing home, she knew I was right, but she wasn't 100% sure. Anyway, I told them to check her for a UTI and to please start her on an antibiotic right away. They will. They are really good about this sort of thing. They believe that the families usually know what's going on with their moms and dads more so than they do, most of the time.
Another note about Mother's stuff. Her bill for her medicines tripled last month from what it had been. This month was quadruple what it had been before. So, I called the doctor, who didn't know why. Then, I called the pharmacist, who told me to call her insurance. Well, it seems that there is a "doughnut hole" time period after a patient reaches a certain $ amount of meds. During that "doughnut hole" time the patient pays 100% for the meds, up to another $ amount. Then, the patient will only pay 5% of the amount from then on. Now, does that make any sense to any one out there? It doesn't to me. But, at the rate she's going it will only be a couple of months before she reaches the next stage.
Check out the giveaway at Cindy's adventuresbabysewing.blogspot.com . She has a really neat vintage pattern. Vintage, hum..... it's the style I wore in high school.
Oh yeah, one more thing. You may have noticed that I added a translator to my blog. My friend, Sabine, from Germany, added one to hers so now I can read her blog. I asked her if I needed to add one to mine for her. She can read mine in English, but she said it would be easier for her. So, I clicked on her translator, which sent me to the site to add it to mine. It was easy. I first tried to go through add-a-gadget on blogger and had trouble. Of course, you still have to go through this process, but to find this particular translator was easier going from hers first. Does that make sense?

Life is Good!

My DH and I decided to change doctors. It is more convenient for us to go to this new one. Also, he is connected to a bigger, better hospital. Anywho, I went for my first visit yesterday. He took me off two meds that I really didn't want to take anymore. He also gave me something for my arthritis, which is getting worse, especially in my hands (you know what that means to a seamstress, like me!). He pretty much gave me a clean bill of health. I went today for a bone density test. I won't get the results for a day or so, but I sneaked a peek and if I know how to read it like I think I do, then my bones are very dense.
My Mother is doing well right now.
My FIL is doing better.
VBS is over for another year!
My grandaughter who has been sick this week is feeling better today.
I only have 2 1/2 sundresses left to make.
It's storming right now, but not a bad storm. It's one of those that makes me want to get a good book and curl up in bed. I don't get to do that, but I still like to hear the rain and thunder.
My DH had a good check up the other day.
AND......
I am so privileged to have been honored with this award again. This time Christy from Sew Much Fabric, Sew Little Time sent it my way. Thank you so much. Now, I get to send it to some more blogs that I have recently found. These are very special and lovely!
brendassewingnook.blogspot.com
myfabrication.blogspot.com
hangingonbyaneedleandthread.blogspot.com
sewprimkhris.blogspot.com
goosegirlsews.blogspot.com
everythingsewing.blogspot.com

To pass this on these bloggists should copy and paste this award to their own posts.
Then choose 5 or more blogs that they have recently found and link to them from their posts. Then they need to go to those blogs and let the fellow bloggists know they have been awarded.

I AM FINISHED!!! I have finished the one lady's 5 grandchildren's outfits. First, were 2 of the sun dresses. Then, the 12 month romper and shirt. Next, the fiasco with the shorts. Finally, today, I made the two shirts for the bigger boys. Well, I just noticed when looking at these pictures that the pockets on the darker navy shirt are not even. How did that happen? Oh well, they are slightly off on the other shirt too. I'll fix them tomorrow. That shouldn't take long.
Now, I have 2 sun dresses for another lady who works at the nursing home where Mother is. Then, one for a friend from my school for her niece. These are all for a very amsll profit. I am learning very quickly that sewing is not very profitable, because you really can't charge what your time is worth. Except for special occasion things, like flower girl dresses, etc... People expect to pay more for those.
After I finish those I want to make 4th of July outfits (very simple) for my grands. Then, there's the apron for one more of my friends. Finally, I have agreed to make the fabric pieces for some outdoor chairs for another lady for a pittance. These are just straight pieces of fabric with a casing at each end and one in the middle. These chairs are made from pvc pipe; I think that's what she said. She just brought me the old fabric that came off of one. I've also told one of the CNAs at the nursing home that I will repair a pair of her scrubs' pants. They give them 2 sets, and one of hers is almost thread bare. The inseam is ravelling very badly.
We are having VBS this week at my church. The puppets are helping teach the songs. So, I've been going each night. Tomorrow night is the last real night. We started on Sunday. Thursday night is a camp fire, picnic culmination. I'm not going to that.
My SIL who has been here all week to help with my F and MIL is leaving on Friday morning. Another SIL is coming on Friday night. Then, another SIL (my DH has 3 sisters) will come the week after that. It has been a real blessing for us. My FIL will be going to physical therapy 3 times a week for at least 2 or months. So, once the SILs can't be here, it will be up to us. I'm so thankful they have been able to help so much.
Rachel, at Shoes and Sewing: I have been trying to publish a comment on your blog for a couple of days now. For some reason, I always have trouble getting comments to publish on yours. I don't have that problem anywhere else. Does anyone have any ideas why this would be? When I select my server, then hit publish it goes to the box where you type in letters, but it just says "loading" and won't give me letters. I've let it sit for what seems like forever. I always read your blog. I always appreciate your comments on mine, too.
I really like your embroidery. I can't wait to see your baby outfit when it's finished. It looks great so far. That peach yarn is soooo soft looking that I want to touch it! I'm anxious to see your blouse on you. It is very unique.

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.



.

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!