Last Post of the Year

Hello 2011 !!

Here is a recap of what I have sewn this year.  Pictures were not take of all items.

6 dresses for me
2 Halloween dresses for the granddaughters
2 practice dresses for the granddaughters
6 skirts
1 top (which I am not happy with and probably won't wear again)  I learned a lot though
1 flannel nightgown

That is 18 items in one year!  I'm so excited because I am happy with 16 of them, I learned a lot of new techniques and I think my goal was 12 items.  One a month.

For this year I want to start using my serger on knits.  And, I want to make a coat and some jackets.  I am working on a plaid wool full circle skirt and matching vest.  The skirt is done except for the hem and the vest has been waiting for the lining material choice.  That choice has been made and now needs to be cut and sewn.  Next in the queue is a vintage dress out of a blue wool.

I have my next couple of projects figured out but for the whole year I would like to make:

1 wool coat
1 wool dress
2 knits dresses
4 knit tops
2 wool skirts
2 summer dresses
2 Halloween costumes (maybe 3 if youngest granddaughter wants one)

I have material and patterns for everything but the knit tops, Halloween costumes and any linings I might use.  It is so hard not buying patterns and fabric!  I love me some fabric.

I only made it half way through the Bible this year so I will finish it in 2011.  I obviously sewed too much instead of reading my Bible!

Have a wonderful and happy new year!

New Design!

I am visiting my recovering daughter today.  She had surgery and I am here to "help" and visit.  She helped me spruce up my blog!!  Yay!  I love the new look.  So much cleaner and easy to read.

Does anyone remember Beany and Cecil?  I love Beany and Cecil!

Love This Dress

This is a reprinted pattern from Butterick.  It is a 1960's pattern.  I love when pattern companies reprint old patterns.  So fun.  I made this last summer out of a rayon from Hancocks fabrics.  It has a self fabric belt and I bought the Bakelite belt buckle on Etsy.

OK.  Trouble with Blogger again.  It won't let me post more than one picture!  I don't get it!!!  Well, the close up of the belt will just have to be another post!

It is raining here in northern California.  Yay!  We always need rain. 

Found It!

I found the pink dress!   For some reason I had to go out of my blog then back in to be able to download the picture.  Some things I just don't understand.

Fall Festival Costumes AKA Halloween Costumes

This is one costume I made for one of my granddaughters.  She wants to be a princess like her older sister.  The other dress is pink and I can't seem to pull it up my just saved pictures.  These dresses are polyester satin, tulle and a sparkly fabric.  They aren't hemmed yet so I need two little people to come over for a fitting.  Can't wait!

Tried again.  No picture of pink dress.  No pictures at all. 

A Poor Excuse

I have a wee bit of a cold so I'm going to use that as my excuse for not blogging for what? 6 weeks?  Longer?

I got frustrated weeks ago trying to down load a picture because posts are so much better with pictures.  It wouldn't download.  Even when I walked away and let the compute work/think for 15 minutes.  My IT person has been too busy to help me, boo hiss.  I'll see if I can find something for you to look at though.

In September, the two older granddaughters, their mother and I went to Hancock's Fabrics to pick out Halloween costume patterns and fabric.  The four year old wants to be a princess and her two year old sister is copying her.  We looked through the books and the four year old picked every princess dress there was.  Her mom suggester looking at them all THEN deciding on one.  A pattern was chosen and then we looked at fabric.  Four year old got pink and then told her sister what to pick.  The two year old agreed to everything.  She liked it all.  Mom took the four year old away and the two year old I an picked blue for her.  We got a shiny satin for the main body of the dresses, sparkly fabric for the sleeves and peplums and tulle for the over skirts.  Very fancy!  Good thing these girls are little so we didn't need much fabric!  The oldest did a nice job picking out matching thread. (How did she know we even needed thread??)

I traced the pattern in a size 3 and 4 then cut out fabric I already had to make practice dresses.  I wanted to make sure these fit since I haven't sewn dresses for them yet.  The oldest came over with her mom one day to try it on and it was a  perfect fit.  Over the next few days I threw together the practice dress for the younger.

I wanted to get these dresses to these girls ASAP because I wanted them to wear them to church and the weather would be getting cold soon and I needed to make sure the dress fit the younger.  I made arrangements to take the dresses up to their house which is inconveniently located in the Santa Cruz mountains.  I hate mountain roads.  I made it up the mountain only to get a block or two from their driveway and was stopped by  PG&E who was doing maintenance work.  I couldn't get through.  I was tweaked quite a bit by this turn of events.   I called my daughter and she said she would be me down the road a ways at a school.  She knew a back way that I wasn't about to try and do.  I knew I would get lost and then starve to death in the mountains only 20 feet from someones house because I didn't know where I was and how to get home.  SOOOOO pathetic.  But, I know my limitations.  

I think I'm rambling.  (It's the cold, I'm delirious)

So,  Halloween costumes are almost done.  It has been great fun sewing dresses for little girls again. 

Christmas is coming.  Aren't these great Christmas decorations?  This was in Massachusetts in the 60's.  I was 9 and my sister was 8.  Snow was a big change for us Californians.

Summer???

It doesn't feel like summer here in sunny California.  I live in San Jose and it has been the coldest summer in 40 years.  I heard that on the news last week.  Today at noon, DSH and I were being lazy (it being Saturday and all) sitting around playing on the computers in sweats!  Unheard of in mid August.

This is my mom and her twin sister.  Aren't they cute?  They made their outfits.  My aunt is on the left.  My mom,on the right, is the oldest.  Their birthday is August 1st, one of my cousins is also August 1st, a granddaughter of mine is the 4th, a cousin's son is the 5th, mine is the 6th, another granddaughter of mine is the 8th, my husband and my anniversary is the 8th, and the cousin who is the dad of the boy on the 5th  is the 9th.  Got all that?  The family always has a big August Birthday Bash.  My mom and aunt are the STARS OF THE SHOW because they are twins.   They are SPECIAL.  Am I bitter?, a little ;)  Anyway,  they turned 73 this year, they are hard of hearing, there were little people running around and the party was much more balanced.  I definitely enjoyed it more this year.  Maybe I'm maturing a little bit too!  It also helped that my cousin and his wife who hosted the party gave me her mother's Baby lock serger!!!  It is about 7 or 8 years old but not used because her mother passed away just after she bought it.    No one in the family wanted it so I got it.  I've been wanting a serger for a long time and I couldn't decide what to get.  Now, the problem is solved.  I will take it in for service since it has been sitting in their garage for the past 7 or 8 years.  Then I get to figure out how to use it.

I have more sewing pictures to show but DSSD has to put them in the computer as usual.  So, when that gets done I will post them.