WIP Wednesday #10

It’s that time of the week again…WIP Wednesday!

This week I’ve got a few more works in progress.  I’m also spending lots of time helping Emma’s teacher this week, so I don’t have as much progress as I’d hoped for, but progress of any kind is good!!

Completions:

  Yesterday I finished up a simple skirt.  It was as simple as cut, fold, sew, model.  My kind of project lately!!

In Progress:

   I’m slowly beginning work again on my Summer Sampler quilt.  I’ve got the first of two six-pointed stars (tutorial courtesy of Kate) cut out and sewn.  I've got one more of these to cut and sew together before moving on to Faith’s Lucky Pieces block.

Ooh, some of those points are BAD!  I sewed this block up last night and didn't notice.  I think I'll be redoing some of those rows tomorrow!

   When Emma was in kg, a teacher friend asked me to sew up two blankies for her little boy.  He would only sleep with his blankie—no sheets and no covers, but he’d outgrown it.  She wanted 2  BIG blankies made—each would have a satiny fabric on the back.  One blanket would have a smooth minkee fabric, the other with raised dots.  They were a BEAST to sew because they were huge and everything involved with them was slippery.  Well, she called me over the weekend and jokingly asked me if I could make him a new blankie.  This one is for school though.  Her little boy is starting pre-k and he needs a nap blankie.  She bought this cute panel and satiny fabric at Walmart.  I should have it sewn and done by this weekend.  I’m considering just doing this blanket pillow-case style and then topstitching the edges…

  One of my favorite blocks in the Summer Sampler quilt-along is the Greek Cross.  And I'm not alone.  Almost everyone loved it.  To the point that Jennifer and Sarah decided to host a new QAL based on it.  They’re calling it the Across the Sea QAL since Sarah lives in Ireland.  I’m participating, but changing it up a bit.  I've had orange and blue fabrics for awhile now to make Oren a new quilt for his bed, but every time I decide on a style he doesn't like it or I change my mind.  But I’m set now…I’m doing Greek Crosses.  So, I’ll be cutting and keeping up with Jennifer and Sarah, just making a whole bunch more!!  (And yes, I’m already behind, so I’ll stay behind on this one too!!!)

Here's a mockup of what mine MAY look like...only I'll be using lots of different oranges and blues and possibly different whites.  Using one color for each was just easier to show Oren!!  ;)

   My embroidery sampler is going well.  I was cruising along until I decided the white I had chosen was too close to the color of the muslin and pulled it all.  I had to work from my very old stash since our Walmart no longer carries embroidery floss, so I settled on this darker blue.  If I had it to do over again, I'd go with a completely different color scheme, but...  I took the last few nights off from this project because my eyes were so tired at night...this going back to school stuff is hard on Mommas!  ;)

Bullion roses were new but fun.  And all of those french knots...whew!  That's going to be one fuzzy sewing machine!!

Poor, lonely Unfinished Projects that have been cast aside:

--"Sent with Love" postage stamp quilt.  It look so sad peeking out of my WIP basket knowing it's not far from being done and just needs a little love.

--Mosaic Swap quilt.  Actually, I think this one needs one more row sewn on before I can quilt it.  But I haven't touched it in like 2 months, so I'm not sure on that one.  ;)

--Fall Pops quilt.  This one goes back before blogging...  Oops!

Go check out Lee's linkup to see what she's been up to and all of the other great bloggers that link up too!  I'm hoping for a little more progress by next week...

MIBM on Tuesday--Seeing Red

Isn’t it funny when you come up with a great idea only to see that someone else had the same one.  Chalk it up to “Great Minds think alike” I guess.  This week for Jill’s Made it by Monday Challenge, she gave us the prompt “Red.”  We could go where we wanted with that.

I tried to think of a bunch of different crazy ideas, but then I looked over at my refashion pile and saw an old red and white gingham dress that I’ve been meaning to turn into something else.  I’ve had the dress for years (tried to find a picture of me wearing it, but couldn’t).  There’s nothing wrong with it, it just wasn’t a favorite.  The neckline was a little low, but not so low that it was easy to find a shirt to go underneath that didn’t look weird, you know what I mean?

I don't know why I look so, so serious in this pose other than I was taking these with my timer and hoping to get lucky.  Maybe I was concentrating too hard!

So…I hacked it off at the empire waistband.  Then I had trouble making the zipper work at it’s shortened length, so I just took it out too.  The skirt actually fits great without any need for closure or even elastic really, so I just sewed up the zipper opening and folded over the top and sewed a thin waistband.  It will always need a belt or to have my shirt untucked since the waist is a little loose (with no closure, it had to be loose enough to go over my hips!), but for such a simple skirt, I think the belt added a lot anyway.

So, sorry for no progress pictures, but it literally took all of 5 minutes…

And why did I mention the whole “Great minds think alike” comment…well, it’s because Jill also made a red and white skirt this week.  She also wore it with a white shirt, and she also posed out front of her house for some simple pictures.  I promise, I didn’t meaningfully copy Jill’s ideas in participating this week (even though my post comes a day later!!)

I guess it just means Jill and I are both brilliant since we have such great minds, huh?

Pop on over to Made it on Monday to see Jill’s awesome skirt and everyone else who linked up.  And if you’ve got something making you see red, why not link up your project, too.

Here we go

So both kids started back to school today.  I dropped Oren off outside his door and on he went to learn and have fun.  Then I spent a couple of hours volunteering in Emma's room to help her teacher get a few things done.  And now I'm home for a few hours before I go back to town to pick them up.

While I know I will be busy volunteering and running errands during the school day, I have a list as long as my driveway (and that's long) of projects I'd like to get done this school year.  I've got quilts waiting to be quilted. I've got blocks waiting to be sewn together. I've got pieces cut waiting to become blocks.  And I've got fabric sitting around waiting to be cut and then sewn into blocks.

And that doesn't even take into account all of the ideas I've got pinned, written on scraps, bookmarked in magazines and floating around in my head.

So while it's the end of August and not the end of December...I say "Happy New Year" to all Moms sending their kids back to school and hoping for the chance to get something done.

What's your top 5 to-do projects list look like?

Quiet

It's awful quiet around here today...both of my kids are at school.  Around here we do staggered enrollment for kindergarten meaning that the kids come only one day for the first week.  Oren's day is today.  So, he'll be home with me the rest of the week and then next week we go back to normal of both at school every day.

  But for today, it is quiet here.  There's no one telling me a long, drawn-out story about what his gun built out of trios and tinkertoys can do.  There's no Scooby Doo or Phineas and Ferb in the background.  There's no drinks to pour, lunches to fix or fights to break up.  There's no swimming all day, no hugs and kisses, and smiling faces.  It's a glimpse at the next 13 years.

 
   I apparently surprised all of my family this morning by not shedding a tear.  I will miss my sweet kids who keep right on growing even when I ask them to slow down.  But, I know that growing means going...  I only get to keep them with me for so long before they must go out into the world and build their own lives.  I like to think of school as the beginning of that process.  It's a chance for them to learn things other than what their Daddy and I teach them.  It's a chance to make friends in their own way and deal with situations.  School is a chance to learn that the world outside your front door isn't always as nice or as loving as inside, but it's full of great people and great opportunities, too.  And those not so nice people and experiences help you grow as well...Momma just doesn't like that part as much.  School is also a trial run for me too.  They're gone from me for 6 hours a day in a world I cannot control.  I can't stand behind them and help.  I can't fight their battles for them.  I can only wait to find out how it went and support them through it all.  Sooner than I will want, they'll be grown and making their own life, calling me for support hopefully, but making all of their own choices.  This is just the beginning.

   I am proud of the children my babies are becoming.  I am proud of their abilities and their choices.  I am proud that God gave them to me to teach all that I know and love as best as I can.  And that, might just have made me shed a tear.  As my own Momma always says "My cup runneth over."

P.S.  I got the idea for the chalkboard and photo shoot from Mandy.

One okay skirt to one super cute shirt

This is the blog post I did for Jenny during her Refashion Series.  I thought I'd repost it here, both to have it in my archives and in case anyone didn't click over.  School starts tomorrow for Emma and on Tuesday for Oren...so hopefully I'll get some sewing in this week, but Oren only goes the one day this first week, so my leech may prevent me from getting much done...  ;)  Hope everyone is having a great Sunday!!

When Jenny asked me to be a part of this refashion series, I decided that whatever I made had to come from my closet.  I considered a couple of things, had a craft-fail that will soon be re-refashioned into something else, (that was Emma's lunchbox) and finally settled on this skirt right here.  As you can see in the picture, it's not bad.  It fits fine, it looks fine, it's just not WOW!  But...I'm turning it into a WOW and with minimal changing, so I could always change it back if I wanted to...even better!!

But what to do with it??  I searched refashions online for inspiration and saw this:  

Found here

And I had my answer.  I didn't even read through the tutorial, although that was just fine because when I looked back, I realized it was a link to another tutorial in French.  ;)

So here's what I did:

1.  Find a skirt at least knee length, the longer the skirt the more options you have for styling.  It needs to have side seams.  This is a cheap, polyester knit from Walmart of all places, so fabric doesn't matter.

2.  Put the skirt on inside out and flip the hem up to your shoulders to see how it will fit as a top.  The skirt's waistband becomes the bubble hem of your new top.  My skirt had a large knit waistband and it's super comfortable, but I imagine a fastened band would be fine if it feels fine to you.  You'll need to adjust the side seams to accomodate your arms, so decide how big you want the "sleeves" to be.
    On my skirt, I went for a sleeveless look, so I just left the hem intact as my shoulder seams and neckline.  then I ripped out the side seams for 8 inches.  Once I made sure I liked that look, I just quickly sewed down the already folded edges to hem up the armholes.  By using the long skirt, it gave the neckline a neat cowl-effect as well.

3.  Now here's the last step:  See how I had a kick pleat in the back of the skirt?  Well, that was a little too low in the back for me...I don't want everyone to see how I fasten my bra, so I just pinned the pleat closed a little higher and sewed along the hemline to hide the stitching.  That way the design element of the open back is still there, but I'm only showing what I'm comfortable with.  ;)

5.  And you're done.  Cute, right?  But here's the best part:  Because my skirt was mid-calf length originally, I have the option of wearing this shirt in different lengths!  I can wear it to bubble at my natural waist, 

at a drop-waist length, like a tunic,

and...as a cute dress!  

In all, it took me A LOT longer to photograph the steps and write up this post than it took to transform this boring skirt into something more fun and hip.  And with my seam ripper and 10 minutes I can always change it back if I need a long, black skirt!  

I encourage you to look around the web, look around your closet and see what you can change.  It's a quick and easy way to brighten your day and your look!

WIP Wednesday #9

How can it already be Wednesday?  It seems like it was just last week and I had two weeks until school started...Now I've got 5 days until Emma goes back and 6 until Oren starts kindergarten.  We're on a staggered enrollment the first week for kg, meaning only 4-5 kids come each day the first week so it's less stressful for both teacher and student (and possibley teary-eyed Moms!!)  I LOVED it as a kindergarten teacher.


I'm not sure if school starting back is what's caused it or not, but my kids are stuck to me like I'm a fly trap lately, so my sewing is down to almost nothing.  Seriously, I can't even check my email without them almost touching me asking what I'm doing.  (As I type, Oren is in here telling me about his latest ship he's built out of tinker toys...)


So, this edition of Work-in-progress Wednesday won't take long.  That's for sure...



Completions:
  Other than a cute dress for Emma that is completely done, but doesn't fit, nothing.   At least it will be ready next year (or the next...)


In progress:
  Summer Sampler Series Quilt--I think this one is going to have to wait till they go back to school.  Hang out fabrics, I'll be back in 6 days!!  I'd love to finish it up, but I don't think I have it in me to concentrate on paper piecing and my two leeches right now.

no progress this week...I miss you Summer Sampler!

   Embroidery Sampler--Back in the day, I used to cross stitch a lot with the occasional delve into embroidery.  I mean, if a friend got married or had a baby, I whipped out intricate samplers or scenes for them.  I'll see if I can find any old pictures, but that was back before I thought to photograph all of my projects.  Since I've had kids, I don't seem to have the patience for cross-stitch, but have been wanting to get back into embroidery.  When Bari J. from Moda fame started a new blog We Love French Knots, and offered a contest for making the sewing sampler, it seemed like the perfect time to get back into it.  The flickr group is amazingly inspiring!

Tops Needing Quilting/Untouched (for some time...):

--"Sent with Love" postage stamp quilt.  It look so sad peeking out of my WIP basket knowing it's not far from being done and just needs a little love.

--Mosaic Swap quilt.  Actually, I think this one needs one more row sewn on before I can quilt it.  But I haven't touched it in like 2 months, so I'm not sure on that one.  ;)

--Fall Pops quilt.  This one goes back before blogging...  Oops!


Go check out Lee's linkup to see what she's been up to and all of the other great bloggers that link up too!  I'm hoping for a little more progress by next week...

    

Make it by Monday Challenge--Dress under $10

  I haven't linked up with Jill in a few weeks, but I thought this theme sounded fun.  Dress for under $10...my immediate thought was to make a dress for under $10, but it could just as easily mean create a whole outfit for under $10.

  I knew exactly what my project would be.   Down here in the South, especially in a small town, school spirit is something you don't grow out of.  The high school football field is the place to be on Friday night and school colors are seen all over town on Fridays.  I found an old polo shirt in the back of Chris' closet in our local high school's colors.  It was his Friday shirt for a long time, but he's now moved up a size...   I decided to cut it down for Emma to give her a new dress for Fridays.

  I sewed new side seams, cut down the sleeves and re-attached them, hemmed it a little...and it still looked like she was wearing Chris' shirt.  I took everything in a little more...nope, still Daddy's shirt.  I waited till Chris got home and asked his opinion.  He didn't answer, letting me know that it looked like Daddy's shirt.  His suggestion--hang it in her closet till next year.  She'll have grown enough by then hopefully to fill it out a little.  So, that's what I did.

  But now I needed a new plan to link up with Jill.  So, I took the other approach.  I shopped our closets to make a new outfit for Emma that was free.  It will need a new belt (since I had to use Oren's), but that will be our only cost.  So, how'd I do it?

  Well, while Daddy's shirts are WAY too big for Em, mine aren't.  Mine are the perfect tunic length for little Miss Long Legs, so we threw on a shirt I never liked on me anyway, layered over a white t-shirt.  We added in some black leggings, flats, and a belt and I think she looks pretty cute!

  Emma is just beginning to really care about fashion.  She's always been very picky about what she wore, but she's just beginning to really look at what other people wear and what's in the stores.  I think its very interesting to watch her develop her own personal style and see how much influence I have on that style.  Some days--I can see myself, and other's NOT AT ALL!!

This is her attempt at a sassy face.  Which should tell you something about the  kind of sassy girl she is...

  So, here's my outfit for under $10.  Shop your closet and see what you can come up with.  And don't forget to head over to Jill's to see what everyone else has come up with too.