Yes, I know it is taking me forever to finish this cute little dress. And I know this is a terrible picture. But......I wanted to give you an idea of how sweet this little dress is going to be ONCE I finally finish it!!! I am thinking of putting a bullion rose in the center front. I've only been able to work on it a few minutes here and there. I have put the neckband and placket on it...but still lack the side seams, sleeve bands, hem, buttons, and button loops. Maybe I'll get a large chunk of time this weekend to work further on it.
I may venture to the Martha Pullen Retail Shop tomorrow. The Martha Pullen School is in progress this week. I've never been to the school, but I do often frequent the Retail Shop. It's always fun to stop by and witness the energy of the ladies in their sewing element. One day maybe I'll be able to take a week's worth of sewing classes. That would be awesome!!! Until then my days will be spent caring for, raising, and educating our four little ones and I'll fit in a few minutes of stitching here and there. Sounds perfect to me!!!
It's been busy but quiet around here lately. I've been trying to fit a bit of smocking in here and there. I am so in love with this precious little floral fabric. I bought it last year at our local heirloom shop knowing it would make an adorable bishop.
I also found a more tidy way to keep my floss while stitching. I am only using three colors for this project and a folded index card with holes punched in it is working out perfectly.
My three older children are deep in creating stop-motion movies right now. Emily and Elisabeth have been making movies with their 18" dolls and Ethan has been making some with his new Legos he got for Christmas. It's so fun to see them learning and enjoying the process. I have done nothing but encourage them and enjoy the finished movies. They have done all the rest. And Sweet Ean is just as fun as ever. Right now he is deep in his books. He loves to sit and look through books.....he is so serious about it. Sweet times!!!
You know it's been too long since your last post when Blogger requires you to re-sign in. And then I wasn't sure I remembered my password. That is pretty sad folks!!! Nothing major going on here to prevent me from blogging....I've just been enjoying the little ones and not sewing too much the past few weeks.
The week before Christmas I did get these cute little blue scrubs made for Elisabeth's doll. This was the only 18" doll item that she asked me to make her this year. She specifically wanted "blue scrubs" for her doll. I lucked out because I was able to use the scraps leftover from her Pippi outfit.
I'm not the only one that's been stitching up some doll clothes. The picture above shows some of Emily's work. She made the skirt a few weeks back using her own pattern and then she made the t-shirt the other night using an old t-shirt from her dad. She is SO good with sewing now that she requires no supervision on my part. She even put velcro up the back of the shirt...again without any help from me. Not that I "wouldn't" help her....she just is capable and competent and didn't need any help. I think she is planning to make more soon! She did a great job. She also crocheted a cute little shirt to match this skirt....I'll have to get a picture of it too.
I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that it's Christmas already. I always vow to start preparations earlier each year...but the fact is...I never do. I can't seem to get motivated to work on Christmas stuff until after Thanksgiving...but somehow by that time I am already behind. One day I will be prepared...I hope.
In the meantime, I did finish the two full-size quilts I mentioned before. I was happy with the final products. If you remember a friend from church asked if I could take her deceased grandmother's shirts and make them into two quilts that she was going to then turn around and give to her mother and aunt for Christmas. Most of the shirts were of the sweatshirt variety which at first caused me concern. But with my trusty walking foot on the machine I did not encounter too many problems. There was some stretching that occurred...but not enough to bug me. Not everything matched up as a result...but again, I was still happy. She also supplied with me her grandmother's sheets to use as the backing and she picked out what color she wanted for the bindings. My friend seemed happy with the end result, and I was happy to have been able to use my talents to minister to this family.
I also was able to sew one small little gift for my Elisabeth. I won't post pictures until after she opens the gift tomorrow though. I am happy with the outcome though. Let's see...I also started a cute little Christmas jon-jon for Ean. But I am still not quite finished with it. I'm not sure if I'll get the opportunity to finish it up tonight or not. We'll see.
My four little ones have been taking their turns having a little bug going around. Basically it's a fever, headache, sore throat and stuffy nose that lasts anywhere from 1 to 3 days or so. Sweet Elisabeth is in the midst of it now. I'm hoping she feels fine by tomorrow. She was sick last year on Christmas day too. This same sweet little girl also had the nerve to turn 9 last week. They are all growing up WAY too fast!!!
I'll leave you all with one of my favorite songs (it has nothing to do with Christmas though.) If you have ever heard of the videos by Homestead Blessings then you know the West Ladies. I just love this song written by Ce Ce, one of the daughters (the one playing the guitar in the video.) Whenever I need a smile I just listen to this song. The video is even better though. I bet you can't watch this video without smiling! Enjoy!!! Oh, and Merry Christmas!!!
Recycle those Christmas cards and get some sewing experience for the little ones at the same time. This is one of our all-time favorite Christmas crafts! We do these every year! And every year this craft really speaks to one child or another at our home.
This year it was Ethan's year. From the first moment I pulled the supplies out he was READY! He had so much fun making them and has shared several with church friends already!
They are very simple to make. Take a Christmas card and cut the front and back apart. You will only use the front piece. Then take a hole punch and punch holes all around the four sides. Then using a coordinating piece of yarn (or two pieces like above) have them work a whip stitch all around the card. (I don't tell them they are doing a whip stitch.) I stay close by and help to make sure the yarn doesn't get knotted...because it does happen. We also use a plastic darning needle to make it go faster...but it can be done with no needle or you could wrap a piece of clear tape around the yarn tip to make it stiffer and therefore make it easier to "sew" in the holes. Then using a tail that we left at the top center when we started, and the leftover yarn, we make a hanger.
I don't think you can mess these up. They are so forgiving and yet so fun! The smaller ones can be hung on your tree but we generally hang them on interior doors or furniture like above. And the little ones LOVE to give these as gifts! They are always SO proud of their accomplishment and how can you not LOVE that!???
I have had quite a few people contact me recently about this smocked Christmas ornament pattern I made last year for a Smocking Guild meeting. Most people have asked if it's for sale and if so, for how much. I do not have it for sale...but I have been sending it to anyone that has asked. Therefore, I thought I would make it available to anyone else that is interested. So if you would like my very basic directions on how to make these fun smocked ornaments feel free to email me (sewblessed {at} mchsi {dot} com) and I'll be happy to send you the pdf handout I gave to the guild members last year. (The smocking plate I used was from Sew Beautiful Holiday 1988 and so it is not included in my directions.)
I hope your Thanksgiving Day was wonderful!! We had a fantastic day here with just the six of us!!! Now we are heading towards Christmas at full speed. I'm dreaming of dresses to make for my Elisabeth (who still enjoys wearing my dresses) and little jon-jon's for my Ean....but right now I am working on two, yes two, full-size quilts for a church friend. The goal is to finish them by Christmas. Wish me luck!!!
Have you all been wondering if I've fallen off the face of the earth? Sometimes I start to think that myself. However, I have been stitching a bit here and there since halloween. This past Saturday a couple of ladies from our Smocking Guild and I got together and constructed some Wee Care gowns. All was going great until we ran into pleating issues. I am telling you, sometimes pleating is almost effortless and other times.....well let's just say this was one of the other times. We had three pleaters and until we found our groove we had lots of problems! But we were finally successful and pleated 13 gowns. Now comes the fun part....the smocking!
I've also been working on a few crochet projects for a friend of mine. Her mom passed away and was in the middle of about 8 crochet projects for various family members. Emily and I agreed to finish them for her. So even though I've been quiet....I've still been quite busy. I hope you all are enjoying the fall and stitching a bit here and there as well!
I am a Christian. I am married to my wonderful husband Wayne. We homeschool our four children: Emily (12), Elisabeth (9), Ethan (6), and Ean (2). I am blessed beyond belief!!! God is Amazing!!!
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