Halloween wrap up....

Where did the time go???  I’ve been having so much fun with my mom’s extended visit that I lost track and never did get up the fun Halloween stuff…

Well, you did see the wicked witch stitch out.  It now graces my sewing area along side of my witch mascot and witchy duckie.

As for the costumes…

May I present to you the king and queen of hearts:

The dress was a ball to make…unfortunately by the time I was done I realized that I cut it way toooooo long.  I had already finished the hem in gold and had no desire to re-do, so it was an extra pair of high heels for me and it still hit the floor!

My younger girls were princesses…one whole made by mom costume and one half made by mom costume!  Aren’t the crowns great!  A tutorial is coming up this month!

My oldest decided last minute to be the queen of spades…I was in a good mood so I whipped this up for her:

And my male child?  He wanted to be Link from legend of Zelda video game fame.  I was not enthused.  Then he said he wanted to be a tree sprite.  Where that came from is beyond me!  In the end I just made a green hooded tunic,  he called himself Link and all were happy in Georgia land.

I made another wreath using the discarded mesh flowers come in:

And that wraps up the Halloween crafting for this year!

The Wicked Witch...

Sometimes I just feel like the wicked witch...

Living with 4 little monsters....

OK--they really aren't monsters...but I loved the idea of this little Halloween decoration that I just couldn't help myself!

I embroidered the saying on orange felt last year, then stashed it away and forgot all about it!  Today when I opened the crate of Halloween fabric I ran out to Micheal's and found a frame in their clearance section that worked!

I think I'll remove the glass...and maybe add a couple of plastic spiders and a spider web or two in the corners...maybe for next year.

For this year--project completed! 

Anti-Procrastination...not so much!

Well…I intended to join my friend Aimee in her 31 Days of Anti-Procrastination…I thought it was such a good idea, and I’ve put off so much to be “done another day”…but I procrastinated too much and it just didn’t happen.

I’m really happy to see at least one of my friends getting their “to do” list done!

Me, well not so good on the “to do” anything lately.  My craft room is a mess (to be fair, it’s ALWAYS a mess).  My creative spark has gone into overdrive, but only in my mind I have yet to start, complete, try any of the ideas I’ve come up with lately.

That being said, I did tackle the monster job of my closet!  I lost about 35 pounds this year (added to the 30 or so I lost last year—let’s hear a big WHOOHOO!) and my fall/winter clothes needed to be tried on. 

The resulting pile:

All the clothes in my closet which are too big.  All the clothes which will leave my house or be repurposed in some way, shape or form.

While I am thrilled to rid myself of all this clothing which is too big and frumpy on me, I am a bit sad about a few pieces.

Like this blouse—which I love!  I have it in black and brown dots on white.  I’m going to deconstruct it and resize it down.  Don’t know when, but you can be sure you’ll see posts about it!

And this dress.  It’s one of my very, very first sewing projects for myself.  I now hate how it looks on me, but I still love the fabric so I think it’s going to be lining in my new bag (stay tuned!)

Now get ready to laugh:  did we all have a dress like this in our closets in the 80s?

It was always too big and frumpy on me, but I loved the color and the fabric, and heck if it’s survived in my closet this long it is definitely going to be reworked!  I’m thinking a long maxi skirt for my oldest daughter and maybe a couple of fuller twirlly skirts for my two youngest girls.

As for the rest of the pile…most will get donated, some will be cut up and put into the fabric stash and a few pieces will just get thrown out. 

Now the clothing in my closet fits, but as soon as a piece is too big it’ll go out so I never have to deal with a task like this again!

Patching Jeans

I get so sick of patching jeans.  Probably why I’ve left them in the mend pile for so long….long enough for my kids to outgrow them and long enough for my husband to assign himself a new pair of “work” jeans.

BUT, now I have a system that seems to work so much better than my old way of patching.  Instead of trying to cover the hole with the smallest patch possible I’m using the biggest piece of scrap I have!

Mr.G's work jeans--one of the smaller holes



Outside of jeans



Inside of Jeans

Notice the inside of the jean?  I just used a zig zag stitch all the way across—almost like I was quilting. The same stitch over and over and over. 

Then I took out the girlie jeans.  Hearts anyone?



Jean 1



Jean 2

 I straight stitched the hearts on over the hole and then applied the same zig zag method—only I tried to keep the spacing between zig zagged rows even.



Jean1

The jeans turned out so cute!  Almost as if the hearts are supposed to be there!

The bonus to patching this way?  The fabric feels smooth so kneeling isn’t a problem.  The hole seems to be better secured and the stressed fabric around it is less likely to rip.

Patching jeans—problem solved!  I now have no more waiting to be patched and if another pair rear their ugly head, I have a quick effective fix for them.

Testing..Testing...Test Bag

The weather in Seattle has turned to rain once again.  After having such a great run of sunshine waking up to grey,  cold and rainy day hasn’t put me in the best of moods….

(Sigh)

Not much I can do about the weather but I can share with you all one of my “test” bags.

Test bags in my universe are the sewn up versions of patterns I’m working on.   They often get made up out of the first fabric to catch my eye in my never shrinking stash…at times the fabric pick is not at all appropriate for the bag, but it’s a test so I don’t much care (most of the time).

Most times if the sewing is successful I’ll take the bag out for a spin.  Did I mention I have 4 kids ages 3 to 11?  Any carry all I make has to withstand being packed y the rug rats….which usually means I’m carrying 25 pounds worth allot of stuff at any point in time.

For now I’m calling this the BG bag—for ballet/gymnastics.  I wanted something big enough to throw my laptop, sticker books, DS, a few books, my sketch pad, pencils and maybe a few magazines….If only I had a camera with me as I write this (while at ballet/gymnastics) and you’d see I succeeded in stuffing it full!

front



back

inside

I also wanted to play with curved pockets…with some success here.  Unfortunately I also ended up using fabric types which have very little business being combined together.  The solid is a nice bottom weight with no stretch (bought it originally to make pants—didn’t happen!) and the lining is a cotton/stretch shirting fabric—which I have no clue why it is in my stash to begin with!  I thought the check was a plain cotton and then I cut it…oops!  No choice but to use it then!

The bag doesn’t necessarily fall right, but I am pleased with the overall pattern and function of it.  I’ve tweaked the pattern a bit and paid more attention to my fabric choices while cutting and should have a finished bag to share with you all soon!

I’m in the process of editing photos and writing corresponding posts!  I hope to have a few fun projects to share with you all in the coming weeks!

Don't know how she does it....

I like to cook. 

I try to feed my kids healthy and nutritious meals.

Sometimes I even attempt to make those meals look fun--happy faces made out of veggies on their plates, flowers, etc.

You know those little things that put a smile on their faces...or make the older ones groan that their mom has a weird sense of humor (but I know they love it anyway!)

For years I've been saying I should cut their sandwiches into shapes with cookie cutters...uh, that's what I've been saying...it hasn't happened yet.

I always seem to find lunch times rushed and figure the kids are lucky to get a sandwich slapped together at the last possible minute before we have to rush out the door once again.

So I shake my head and wonder how Ai  over at Tulips and Butter does it:

Seriously adorable lunches!! 

On the flip side she always wonders how I have time to craft/sew/garden/blog with 4 kids running underfoot!

Guess we all wonder "how she does it" at some point about our friends, neighbours and random strangers who seem to have it all together.

OK--I've already admitted that lunches in my house are not so creative!  BUT I did figure out a way to keep the kids burritos warm....

The burrito sock!  Made from scraps of polar fleece, a tube is sewn with one end closed and one end open. 

Warm and wrap the burrito in foil, place in sock, fold ends inside and kids have a warm wrap when school lunch time rolls around.

I'm wondering if this would work around thermoses as well--my older kids say that the thermos doesn't keep their soups/pastas/etc. warm enough.

If I get around to trying it I'll let you all know!