Playing Catch-Up Again

Last time I wrote, I left you with a grainy picture of me in my newly finished Easter Dress.  Here is a slightly better photo.

And one from Easter lunch at my grandparent-in-laws' country club.

I'm not sure what caught my attention and made me look away from the camera, but something must have.  I hemmed that dress to be floor length even when wearing my platform 6" heels and I really need to hem it again and make it shorter so that I can wear it with flats.  Otherwise, it will continue to live in my closet where it has stayed since last Easter.

I'm going to take a few blog posts to chronicle more of the sewing that I've been doing, but I don't see myself being able to do anything like what I used to do.  I used to set up the tripod with the nice camera, take 25 photos, upload them, edit them and then write a detailed post about the pattern.  HA! No way I can do that anymore with my little boy running around getting into everything.  So, iPhone action shots, probably unedited, are what you should expect for a while.

Here are a couple of shots from the mall playground of a cute little Mario-themed set I made.

He's looking over his shoulder at sister and imagining all the high places he will try to leap off of when we get home.

Action shots are par for the course for this guy who hardly stops moving.

This is another set I made with a little bit of precious euro jersey I had and some cheapo stripes.

The tuxedo stripe on the pants was only to fix a mistake in cutting the pants too small, but I really like the effect.

And, for today, I'll leave you with another not-very-good-photo of a dress that I copied as best I could from one of my favorite ready to wear dresses.  I saw this fabric at JoAnns and reeeeeally wanted something made from it.  I guess I thought hacking my own made-up pattern out of it was a better idea than using a pattern I already had.  It worked out mostly ok.  It's a little tight in the thigh/hip area and I have to walk with a bit smaller stride than normal.  I'll probably add a slit in the side for wear this summer.  Maybe I can come back to this one after my alteration and get some better photos, but I'm not promising anything.

Until next time.... 

Trying To Catch Up (Life is Good)

 I have been sewing, just not blogging.  I haven't been sewing nearly as much as I used to be able to, but if I do get time to sew AND take some photos, I definitely don't seem to have the time to blog about my process, fabrics, pattern and such.  I'm sad that I can't do what I used to, but this little boy has made everything more challenging... and more wonderful.

This is the Tie Dye Diva Janie and Jack pattern.  It's an adorable little pattern with a lined bodice and instructions for a snap crotch, which I decided to forgo.  I added a bow tie to try to make it more boyish.  He's just so pretty, it's not totally clear that he's a boy to all his public admirers.

 For our obligatory family beach photo in Destin, I sewed my shirt using the Grainline Tee pattern and I made the girls dresses from three different rayon prints I found at Hancock Fabrics (RIP) and used a combo of the Rabbit Rabbit Hummingbird dress bodice and the skirt from Annabelle by Violette Field Threads.

This is the OZ romper from Ellidactyl.  I made 2, but my snap process is not going well.  I can get them in, but then they keep getting pulled out in use.  I've stayed away from snaps for a while since I made this.

This is the most involved thing I've made for me since my boy was born.  It's my Easter dress.  I chose this beautiful rayon print from JoAnn's and used a Cynthia Rowley pattern from Simplicity (1801).

Oh, and I colored my hair pink, which was super fun, but too expensive to keep up for very long.

I'll try to do another catch-up post soon.

What's up?

First, this happened.

 So I bought the Megan Nielson maternity tee shirt pattern and made three or four.

Then, this happened. (This is our new house.)

Then, this happened...and we had a blast, but I was a little out of my mind to do Disney while very pregnant.

 I made the girls something to wear for every day we were there.

Here I am, nine months pregnant, with the newly painted nursery wall as a backdrop.

And then...

he happened. 

:)

and I got to sew my first coordinating outfits for my girls and my boy.

And thats what I've been up to.

Me Made May 2014 - The rest of the month

I ran out of steam on the blogging end of things... sorry.  I kinda figured that would happen.  So here we are, mid-June and I'm finally throwing up some quick photos just to prove that I did indeed continue to wear me-mades in May after the 18th (which is where my last post left off)

Some days, were repeats of previously worn items and some days, my only me-made was my bag.

 I threw some kiddos wearing me-mades in there for good measure.

I seem to have lost my sewing mojo once more, but hopefully something will spark it again soon.

Me Made May 2014 - Days 14-18

Day 14 - My Sewaholic Renfrew made from two fat quarters of Spoonflower knit, a men's mustard yellow tee from Goodwill and a coral Old Navy tee.  You can see the original post about it here.

Day 15 - I wore my Vogue 1378 ponte pants.  More details here.  And some more pictures in this post as well.

Day 16 - This was a themed Friday over in the Flickr group and the theme was "Too Pretty To Wear Pants" after a commenter in a previous Me Made month made that comment about one of the participants.  So it is a bit of an inside joke to the Me Made Flickr group. I wore a maxi dress made by altering McCalls 6559 a bit and carried my Gretelies Josipa bag. Dress blogged here.

and bag blogged here.

Day 17 - I wore my denim knit leggings that took me from lounging/sewing during the day to attending my husband's grandma's birthday dinner in the evening.

Day 18 - I carried my Josipa bag again today that you saw up there with my maxi dress and that is the only me-made I can claim for this day.

Random highlights of today - 

I got two pairs of denim shorts at Old Navy today that I love the fit and the look of.  When I can buy something I love for less than the cost of the materials to sew something similar (not to mention I am not even ready to sew jean shorts with rivets and such) I definitely have no regrets buying it.  I am grateful for sales and getting two pairs of shorts for $25 makes me very happy.

We went to the High Museum of Art for a members only preview of their latest exhibit, Dream Cars, and saw the neatest thing!

It's a BMW concept car covered in fabric!

This concept car is covered in two layers of fabric stretched over an aluminum/carbon fiber frame. There is an under layer of wire mesh and an outer layer of polyurethane-coated lycra that is resistant to water, heat and cold. It was designed with customization of the shape of the car in mine, according to changing consumer desires.  

I could see the stitches down the center of the hood.  It was so cool.

Will a Spoonflower contest of the future be to design a the fabric to cover the exterior of a car?

Me Made May 2014 - Days 9-13

Back again with another Me Made May encapsulated update to try to get up to speed.

Day 9 - My husband took my girls and I to breakfast.  You may be able to tell in the picture that I am still bleary-eyed and have not yet had my first cup of coffee.  It was a Friday challenge day and the theme was "blue" (Every Friday on the MMM Flickr group, there is a theme.) so I wore my Colette Clovers made from turquoise bengaline stretch material.  I had to take them off soon after we got home because they were not stretchy enough to adjust to the big breakfast I ate!

Day 10 - Oops... I somehow lost track of this day and don't know now what I wore.

Day 11 - Mother's Day!  We went to church and then had a lovely buffet lunch at the country club my husband's grandparents belong to.  I wore McCalls 2187, not fully blogged, but pictured and mentioned here.

Day 12 - My underwear was my me made of the day.  It's from when I tested the Jocole Ladies Basic Brief Bottoms, which are easy to sew, but anything but a basic pattern.  With a million and one variations of leg openings and waist heights and even a ruched butt option, these are the only panty pattern you may ever need to try.  I won't post a pic, but you can find my tester picture (pink and red fox panties) at the bottom of this page.

Day 13 - We went to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and I tried out a bit of a mixed up style with shorts and a 3/4 sleeve cowl made from the Sewaholic Renfrew pattern.  Preppy spring?  I dunno.  I carried my Handmade Therapy Satchel and wore my favorite Crocs.

Me Made May 2014 - Days 4 - 8

I knew my Me Made posts would start to lag behind and here we are, already halfway through the month.  I won't hit you with 10 at once, so we'll just look at days 4-8 today, k?

Day 4 - This was the first time out for McCalls 6841.  I figured out a way to style it with a tank top under and a cardigan over.  I was pretty pleased with that look, but I hate to only be able to wear it in cool weather.  We'll see.

Day 5 - I used the Ki ba doo Raglan pattern and some euro clouds to make a fun tee.

Day 6 - My only me-made on the 6th was my Handmade Therapy Satchel Bag.

Day 7 - My Piko top that I made because of all the patterns I was sewing while promoting the Sew Fab sale.  I've worn it twice now.  It's very easy to wear and nice and cool on hot days.  This was a good make and a great way to finally use this fabric leftover from my wadder.

 and Day 8 I didn't wear anything me-made except when taking photos for my Rigel Bomber post...so I'm counting that.

I've sewn about 6 items for me already this month, which is awesome, even though that wasn't part of my pledge.  I'll be back another day with another update!