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My Turn!





















Finally, the day has come when my son cannot wait to see what I sew next. After making numerous girl outfits, the time had come to make something for him. At least that is what he said to me. He even picked out a fabric. It really was not a big deal. I had it cut out and put together in two nights. It also gave me some opportunities to play around with my coverstitch. Not so easy to master. You really have to play with it. The yellow tshirt was for Max's birthday, but I am afraid that it is way too big. Oh well, better too big then too small.
The pants were #09 3/06 and the T-Shirt #16 2/04. The fabric for the pants came from Atlantis. Great material. I have ordered from them twice. 100% cotton, and really very comfortable to wear in this hot humid climate.




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Sew much for that!

I recently posted some pictures of my sewing room on several Flickr sites. I get an email daily from someone that they really like the room. Well, I had a good time finally setting up my room just like I wanted it. I surrounded myself with all my fabric scraps, and everything seemed just perfect.......until summer hit.
I should have known that this room would get way too hot for my three machines, an iron, and a computer as well as a tv. I tried everything to cool it down. I had two fans running, and I turned my computer off. I kept the house at 73 degrees, without turning my baby into an icicle. Nothing worked. I was getting headaches almost every night trying to concentrate on whatever it was that I was sewing. The hotter it got outside, the more I did not want to enter my room. What ashame.
So.......I had to move. Normally, I love moving my furniture around. I love change. I like to interchange furniture between rooms, and give a room a new identity, but this was different. The room was finished and clean. It just was not working.
So my mind started working. The only room in the house left was the same one that I had started out in. When you enter our house, there is the dining room on the right, and another room (formal living room, as it is sometimes called) to the left, as you then enter the living room. Both rooms do not have doors, but they do have alot of light. The room to the left was set up originally as my sewing room, but I could not handle the mess that was always there, so I moved the room. It became our family room/childrens room. Yes, the toys were everywhere, so I guess it really did not make a difference what went into this room. I will say this, I would prefer this room to be a closed bedroom, but I don't want to put anymore money into this house. Chaos exists in my sewing room more often then I would like, and the fact that guests see this room right as they enter my house does not make me happy. Nor do I want to clean it every night. However, this was the only solution that was available, especially now that my ds needed a bedroom of her own.
Today we moved the furniture, and believe it or not, this may be the very best thing I have done since I have moved here. My (old) sewing room is now a guest bedroom with a desk and computer (my desktop). That works out great. I have never had anyone stay at my house that does not like to use my computer. The rest of the room will house our exercise equipment, so that me and Lance can work out while watching tv. Yippee!!!!!!!!! Of course, we will move it out to the garage when guests do stay with us. The new sewing room has alot of wall to wall cabinets that will house my fabric stash behind closed doors. This is better for the fabric. It also includes a couch for me to sit down while I do some handsewing. I took care of the door problem by making curtains that don't necessarily hide the mess, but takes your eye away from looking at the room. The room is so big, that both my dd and ds can sit and play in the room while I sew. This too is great! The guest bed came out of my dd's room, so now she will have more room to play, and I can put a table next to my rocking chair.
Funny how things just seem to fall into place. Although I have had no time to sew, in the end I hope this solution made everyone happy.

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Check out my Slide Show!

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Pattern or Fabric First?



This is one of those cases, where everything just came together. The fabric came from Ebay. The price $3.65 a yard. The quality: perfect. Not only were the colors prettier then I imagined, but the lightweight batiste feel of the fabric was just right for a baby outfit. I knew immediately what I wanted to do with the fabric.
The problem was finding the right pattern. Baby patterns, size 62 in particuliar are just not easy to find. However, I did end up finding a suitable pattern in one of my old 2004 Burda magazines. I hated to test anything out on the fabric, but I measured the pattern pieces, and was fairly certain that this should fit. That is one thing I noticed, the magazine patterns fit much better then the actual Burda patterns you buy in the stores. They run very large.
I did make a few modifications or changes to the pattern. Instead of just three lines of shirring, I decided to make 5. The romper just did not need that much "fluff" as was given by the pattern. Then I decided to do a rolled hem on the front top and back top, as well as the legs. The fabric was so soft, that it was easier and alot nicer then adding binding. The binding just weighed it down unnecessarily.
It was a cute pattern, and the magazine also includes a pattern for a dress.


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Pink and Lace


After entertaining my in-laws for 10 days, my husband and son gave me the weekend to sew. I did sew, but there were so many things that got in the way, that I barely finished the dress on Sunday evening. On Friday, my daughter got her vaccinations and shortly thereafter developed a very high fever. I had less then three hours of sleep that night. I tried my best to stay awake on Saturday, but as soon as I read the pattern instructions, I fell asleep. Saturday night was a bit better. She woke up around midnight cying, but then fell asleep again until my son woke us up at 6:00am. Then to add to my bad luck, I woke up with a terrible migraine on Sunday and it would not subside all day. The good news is that my dd's fever broke on Saturday evening, and she was almost back to her "happy" self on Sunday.
So, back to the dress. I decided to try something besides an Ottobre pattern. This is NEW LOOK 6687 in a size NewBorn. I really liked the pattern picture. The Ottobre patterns in a size 62 have been too big, so I thought I would try something new. This dress was too big too. It will most likely fit her in about 4 weeks. The fabric is a pink and white striped seersucker.

The pattern went together very well, and the instructions were easy to follow. The bodice is doubled, which I will probably not do again. Instead I think a batiste as the lining would probably feel lighter and feel softer on the baby's skin. The armhole and sleeve binding went on very easily. I liked the way New Look applied this part of the pattern. The binding was sewn together to form a circle and then a 3/8" was pressed under on one of the long edges. The other edge is then sewn (3/8" of course) to the dress. I will probably use their idea again in combination with some other patterns. The skirt had a nice fullness. I was not fond of putting a zipper into the dress. I used a lightweight invisible zippper. Have to practice my techniques again. It has been a long time since I had to add a zipper to anything.
Very happy with this pattern, and I cannot wait to to make the romper.

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