Now you know!

I am FINALLY feeling better!

Whatever I had, it lasted most of last week, so I didn't even try to attempt any sewing, let alone look at any future projects.  I did happily see what is going on in blogland, and that made me feel a little bit better about the sickness slump I was in.

OK, so the rest of the truth is...I've been on vacation with my family!  We went out of town to see my family in Savannah, and celebrate my son's 4th birthday!  It was a blast!  My son wanted to have a party at Chuck E. Cheese, so we obliged...

Now, if you have children, you know how many times you end up at Chuck E. Cheese, so I was not particularly thrilled to be going there again, but the day proved to be wonderful!  It was a Friday morning, not too busy at all, and a great day to enjoy another beautiful year with my blessing of a son.

As a matter of fact, I told him "Honey, today we are celebrating you!" He replied "No Mommy, I'm going to celebrate you."  Awww, his words made me tear up a little, because, in a way, he is right.  His birthday is about him, but without me to go through all I went through, he would not be here!

That also makes me think of my dad, who gives my mom roses on each one of us "kids" birthday.  It is sweet that he celebrates my mom in that way!

Anyhow, after we left Chuck E. Cheese, we went back to the house for cake, ice cream, and presents.  And what a cake it was!

That's right!  My son's favorite character: Spongebob Squarepants!  It was a yummy cake too!  My mom ordered it from a co-worker of hers, and the cake consisted of three layers: two chocolate, and one vanilla.  My son is a chocolate-loving little boy, so he really liked it.  He was mostly surprised that a cake could look like Spongebob, as he kept saying "Oh my gosh, it's Spongebob!"

Here's a photo of my niece (on the left) with my daughter (as a mom with two kids, you learn to be "fair"):

We really had such a great time with my parents in Savannah, that we didn't want to leave, but we had to be in Orlando last Saturday for my husband's job.  So we left Savannah, and made it to Orlando, but didn't really expect to do much but stay in a hotel and leave the next day...

Well, God certainly had other plans...

It has been a desire of ours to go to Disney World, and we really thought we would go this year, but we had a minor economic setback (if you will).  Well, it turns out that one of my husband's co-worker's wife (what a mouthful) works for Disney, and he was able to get the three of us in FOR FREE!  So our first visit to Disney is one I will never forget!  We went to Magic Kingdom and the kids had a ball!  I think we couldn't have planned our son's 4th birthday any better than the way God did!

That was our amazing weekend, and now I am back, feeling refreshed, and ready to SEW!

I plan on working on my daughter's skirt this evening, and I have something I am awaiting in the mail.

I hope everyone is doing well!  Even if you are not, this post just goes to show that there is sunshine around the corner!

Stay sew-filled!

In search of better days...

Today is a rainy, yucky day where I live.  Besides that, I am not feeling the best.  Actually, I feel terrible.  The kids have been dealing with colds for the past couple of weeks (yes, weeks), and I seemed to be holding up pretty well.  I am one of those people that takes all her vitamins, herbs, supplements, etc., so I naturally thought if I did get sick, it wouldn't be that bad.  Well, it is.

So, needless to say, this puts a small dent in my sewing plans.  But, I will show you what I have been working on for the time being:

Many of you may know by now that before I became a stay-at-home mom to two little ones, I was a nurse.  Because of that fact, I acquired many "cutesie" scrub uniforms that I no longer wear.  This one in particular is a nice monochromatic scrub top that is now too big for me.

Well, what's too big for me is perfect fabric for my next project!  I am using this to make another skirt for my daughter.  This time I will be using one of the Kwik Sew patterns from Sewing for Toddlers again, but I will be making some modifications.

Here is the fabric close up, as well as a dotted cotton fabric I plan to coordinate with the scrub top print:

I plan to also make a shirt for my sweetie, but I haven't decided on the fabric yet.  I will have to search my closet a little harder (smile).  I think I will re-visit the pajama pants pattern for the top I will make.  Remember that one?

It's Simplicity 2734...

I really like the design of the top, and with a little embellishment I think it will not look at all like pajamas.

Now you know all my plans once I am feeling better...which I hope is soon!

Stay sew-filled!

Fat Quarter Project Revealed!

Thank you for the guesses I had on the "Fat Quarter Project."  Actually, both Mushywear and Janimal were correct in their guesses that the items I was sewing looked like flower petals.  They are!  I made a petal skirt for my daughter!

I found a tutorial for this project online at Kara's Craftastical website.  I just thought the skirt was so adorable that I knew I had to give it a shot.  Besides, I knew I had a bunch of fat quarters stored up, and I wasn't sure what to use them for.  This project was perfect for that purpose!  On the website you can download (for free) a template of the pattern pieces, and the instructions given were not difficult to follow.  For some reason, I ended up using more petals than Kara did, but the skirt still came out great.

While the front of the skirt has a simple waistband, the back has gathers, achieved by sewing a casing for three 1/4" pieces of elastic.  It is a cute effect, and it fits my little one well.  In fact, she will continue to wear this into next year, I am sure.

The only change I made was I decided to only use two tiers for my daughter's skirt because I thought three would be too much for an almost 18 month old.   Also, after I sewed the skirt I realized that she did not have a top to wear with it.

So...

I decided to sew a T-shirt, and add an applique to it.  I used Kwik Sew's Sewing For Toddlers, and sewed a size T1.  I re-used another one of my old maternity shirts, similar to this one for the fabric.  Sadly, the shirt is a little oversized for my little princess.   I really thought it would fit according to the sizing chart, but I was mistaken. So I will be taking in the side seams some for a better fit.

I wish I could say I am 100% happy with the T-shirt.  Don't get me wrong, I love the applique, but I wasn't as pleased with the way I attached the neckband.  I measured everything correctly and made sure the grain of the fabric, and the stretch was right, but I ended up having to pull the neckband quite a bit when sewing, and this caused some puckering.  Other than that, I really like the shirt.  I continue to get good sewing practice, and I will definitely applique again!

Here is the little one wearing her new "outfit:"

Can you say "Vogue!"

Smile for the camera!

Are we done yet?

PS--Sorry about picture quality.  Our camera is MIA, and I had to use my hubby's phone to take pics this week.

Stay sew-filled!

  

Kwik Sew patterns

When I saw that Kwik Sew has released some new patterns, I got excited to see what they had.  Well, upon glancing at their website, I was disappointed that there weren't any items I longed to sew.  You know what I mean?  That's how I usually decide on which patterns to buy--if there is a longing deep inside of me to make that particular item.

Now, sometimes, if I think a pattern is just ok, I will try it out when it goes on sale for 99 cents or 1.99.  But who am I kidding?  I buy all my patterns on sale!

Here are some patterns that I found were cute:

This is Kwik Sew 3833.  I love the cap and tie for a little boy, and the headband and purse with the fabric flower for a little girl.  Adorable!

If I were to make a winter coat, I would make Kwik Sew 3828, View B, shown in the lime green.  I love the asymmetric collar, and the oversized pocket!

Does anyone know if Kwik Sew patterns ever go on sale at Hancock Fabrics?  

BTW, I am still working on my fat quarter project (see here).  Thank you for your wonderful guesses!  I have been sewing every night since that post, and thought I would finish last night, but I couldn't find one of the pattern pieces!  I plan on sewing when the kids take a nap today, so I hope to post the mystery project by tomorrow.  

Stay sew-filled!