Samo-Samo for Christmas

Pajama pants for Christmas - again! Jeni tells me that the kids love the pajama pants I make them. So, again, this year I am making pajama pants for Hannah, Mason, & Austin. Riley will get a nightgown. She prefers gowns to pajamas. A girly-girl after my own heart! Here is a picture of the fabric I used for Hannah's pj's. 


Hannah's Pajama Pants 2012

I also knitted Hannah a purple slouchy hat. I hope she likes it!


I boys' fabric is a black & white plaid. I haven't decided on Riley's fabric yet. I don't think I have anything in the stash.

Chicago in Early September

The first week of September I spent 5 days with Jeni at her house. Kevin had rotator cuff (shoulder) surgery. Jeni asked me to come for a few days to help out with the kids while she nursed Kevin back to health. Well, as it turned out, my SIL is very independent and didn't "need" the tender loving care of his wife. But I still was able to play taxi-driver-grandma. I had a blast. My grandkids are the best!

While I was there I had free time during the day and did some sewing. I finished this apron which I hate and have in the Goodwill bag. The photo doesn't show the colors well. The colors have this dirty look to them. I loved the coffee cup pattern, but the colors left me feeling drab. Also the design was not to my liking. There isn't enough coverage on the bodice. I use my aprons when I'm cooking and food splatters on my tops frequently. I need an apron that covers my front side. The other reason I didn't care for the design is the skirt is really full. Like I need to add more fluff to my already fluffy mid-section. So I put the apron in the bag to go Goodwill. I'm sure someone somewhere will love it. 

While in Chicago I was able to start on my Friendship Triangle book cover. I have the squares cut and matched up. I even have the layout designed. Now I just need time to start the sewing. 

I've started on Christmas gifts. Jeni & I discussed items for the grandkids. I will be knitting H a hat & making PJ pants. The boys will both get pj pants as well. Riley & her AG doll will receive matching nightgowns. Good stuff. 

Something Soft for Sprout

My son, Scott, called this afternoon and invited The Love and me for dinner tomorrow night. Yummy! I have the stack of burp cloths & receiving blankets to take to Scott & Sara and I figured I might as well whip up the Minkee blanket I was planning to make. 

Sara is planning a jungle theme for the nursery. When I saw this fabric at Jackman's Fabrics a couple of weeks ago, I just had to buy it. The fabric is so-o-o soft. What baby wouldn't want to be wrapped up in so much softness? I hope S&S like it. 

This Calls For Doll Clothes

Next week I will be visiting Jeni to help out while Kevin has shoulder surgery. Just call me Grandma Carpool and Nana Mealmaker. And I just couldn't visit Miss Riley and not take her some clothes for her American Girl doll. Here are the 2 outfits I will be giving her. 

I hope she likes them. And, if not, I'll be sure to get some ideas from her about what she would like. I have plans to make her a red velvet Christmas dress or coat for her AG doll. It might even be the next item up in the doll clothes category.

On another note, I just picked up my Bernina sewing machine from the dealer after having it cleaned, oiled and serviced. I a pretty unhappy. When I run it, it sounds like something is rattling around inside it. It's so loud that I recorded about 20 secs. of the sound so I could play it back for the dealer. I will take it back in tomorrow. Part of the aggravation is that they had it for 7-8 weeks already. Vicky told me she was waiting on a new thread spool holder. Really? That long for a part? And she still didn't have it. I picked it up without that being replaced. I'm really sad that I'm unhappy with the service at Make It Sew. Eunice Farmer Fabrics used to be the premier fabric store and Bernina dealer in St. Louis. But since Vicky combined EFF with Make It Sew, it's just not the same. I may check out some other place to get my machine serviced in the future. 

Sprout Announcement

I am so excited to finally be able to say it out loud. The Son & DIL are expecting a baby in February 2013. I've known for a while but Scott & Sara asked that I not tell any friends, announce it on Facebook or in my blog until they had told all their friends and made a Facebook announcement. So the word is out. I've been busy sewing some baby stuff. S&S will not know the baby's sex until Sprout is born, so everything must be gender neutral. Here is what I have made so far. 

Flannel Receiving Blankets

Burp Cloths for the Future STL Cards Fan

I believe that Sara wants to decorate the nursery in a jungle theme. That will give me an opportunity to make more things for her. I have purchased some Minkee fabric to make a blanket. One side will be baby green, the other side is blue with white elephants. It will be really cute and oh so soft! 

I've also started knitting a blanket. It is from the Bernat website and is called Duck Blanket. The version of the pattern I have is blue with white stripes and one yellow duck in each corner. I emailed the picture to S&S and asked them if it would be ok to make it. They asked me to change it from blue to green or yellow, and could I please change the duck to a jungle animal. Umm, yes, I guess I could do that. The yarn didn't have a green or yellow option, but they did have aqua, so I'm using that. I also searched Ravelry.com and found a knit hat with elephants on it. I was able to adapt that elephant chart to the blanket. And I am making the elephants grey. So I hope they like it. 

UFO's To The Rescue

I was so bored at work yesterday that I was motivated to finish 3 knitting UFO's. What's a UFO, you ask? UnFinished Object. I bet every crafter, regardless of medium, has them. In the knitting and sewing world, UFO's abound. I've been reorganizing my sewing studio and found way more sewing UFO's than I care to reveal. I'm working on finishing up many of them. It is puzzling to me why some projects get set aside with so little left to do to finish. A thought for another day. I want to write about what I finished. 


Socks
I finished these 2 sock projects. 

The colorful red sock on the left is the dreaded "2nd sock" from a pair I started last summer in the Purl Hunter KAL. The mate has been in my sock drawer for 9 months. Here is the perfect example of "Why didn't I finish this?" I had 10 stitches to bind off. That was it! Bind off 10 stitches and it was completed. It took me about 10 minutes. Now why didn't I finish it? Why did I lay it aside with only 10 stitches to bind off? No clue, but it's finished now and happily united with its mate. 

The odd looking socks on the right are yoga socks. They have neither a heel nor toe to provide grip when doing yoga poses. I only started these in June so they've not been laying around long. Still I'm glad to have them off the needles and available for my weekly yoga session. 

Cardigan

I also finished this cardigan. This was a KAL at my LYS last early fall. I actually had finished this and worn it a couple of times. Then I realized that the sleeve seams were finished on the right side. Oops! It was a pain to take out the seams. The yarn is thick/thin and because the fabric is so open, the seams had been crocheted, not just regular-style seaming. So the cardi sat around for several months before I tackled taking out the seams. Then it sat around a couple more months before I resewed the seams. Again, it took me all of about 30 minutes to accomplish the seaming. And now I can wear it again. 

I know this doesn't look very exciting, but the yarn is interesting and the cardigan was knit and constructed in an interesting manner. Instead of a back, 2 fronts and 2 sleeves, this is knit in rectangles that are then seamed together to create the garment. It can actually be turned upside down and worn that way, but I think it creates too much fabric around my neck, not a good look for me. I wasn't that crazy about the color, but I was matching it up with tops I have and it looks great with a navy or dark brown knit top underneath. 

So I'm really pleased with what I accomplished yesterday. With these 3 projects complete I'm pretty sure I have only 4 projects left on my needles. 

• My Dahlia cardi which is coming along nicely. I'm about halfway finished with the 1st sleeve. 
• My Bayarri cardi. This is a challenging entrelac cardigan. It's another knitting project way above my skill level so it's slow going. It will move up in priority once I finish Dahlia.
• A simple fuzzy scarf for Miss Riley's Christmas present
• A simple g-string project to match a knitted nightgown I made a couple years ago. This is going to be one of those projects I finish up in 30 minutes and wonder why it took me so long. 

So I celebrated my accomplishments by ordering yarn for a project I'm planning. And that's all I'm going to say about that!

Lost in the Sewing Studio

Help! I went to my sewing studio last April to sew for The Son's August wedding and I just found my way out. Yep, that's right. The sewing studio swallowed me and only recently did it spit me back out.

I made 2 junior bridesmaid dresses, 2 flower girl dresses, the ring bearer pillow, 2 head bands, my rehearsal dinner dress, and, of course, Mother-of-the-Groom dress. I am so glad the wedding sewing is over. Here are some pictures of what I made.


Ring bearer pillow and flower girl headbands



My beautiful granddaughters "patiently" waiting for the the ceremony to start. I made 2 of each of these dresses.

The Love, The Princess & me.

I don't have a picture from the rehearsal dinner. I made Vogue 1250 in a dark grey-blue knot from Christine Jonson. It was pretty awesome looking. I've worn that dress several times since the wedding.

So in addition to the wedding sewing I also made a few other random items of clothing over the summer, a pair of navy pants, a pink sleeveless Margarita top. I'm working on the fall wardrobe now. More of that in my next post.

Weekend Sewing Part 2

I had a very productive day. 

Here is the bread cloth for The Coach. It took me a lot longer to finish it than I had figured. I had calculated around an hour or maybe an hour and a half would be all that was needed to do the outlining and the message. Three and a half hours later I took the last stitch. I hope she likes it. 














Here is The Coach's birthday present. I have knitted things for both The Chef and The Son but never anything for The Coach so I told her to pick something and I would make it for her. So on one hand she knows I'm making it for her. She doesn't know it's finished and I'm giving it to her for her birthday. 

And, here is the final project for today. A kimono dress for The Princess. The Coach had asked me about making a dress in this Asian style for The Princess. I used a ModKid pattern, Kyoko. It was surprisingly easy. The one thing I was disappointed in was the amount of fabric the pattern called for to make the bias tape. The pattern said to buy 1 yd. So I did. And I cut it all into bias 2" wide bias strips. And now I have so much leftover. I'll have to find some project where I can use it. 


I finished all three projects I had designated for today's marathon sewing session. And, I got in my 4 mile run! Good day today!

Weekend Sewing Part 1

The Love is out camping with his buddies this weekend and I am so psyched about being able to sew & create all weekend. Here is what I accomplished last night.

Austin Pajama Pants

I started these 2 pair of pajama pants for the youngest grandson, Austin, last month. Sometimes the simplest of projects get put off because I think, "Oh they are so simple. I'll whip them up later." And later never gets here. Since we will be visiting Austin and the rest of his family for Thanksgiving, I finished these to take with us. 

Riley knit top 

2+2 Skirt from Oliver + S 

Next up is this cute little purple top for The Princess. Again, I started it last month and just kept putting off the finishing details, like weaving in all the serged ends. This top goes with the skirt I made her in September. The Princess likes "bling" to adorn her clothing but I'm not really a "bling" person so I used lots of buttons on the top. Hopefully, she'll like it. 

Two projects slated for completion this morning, both are for The Coach.

•  Finish cross stitching the Thanksgiving bread cloth which is part of last year's birthday gift. I only have a little outlining to do. 
• sew in the lining of the purse I knit The Coach for this year's birthday. I will give it to her over Thanksgiving weekend because her birthday is in early December. 

But first I'm off for a morning run!

Umm, Can You Say Messy?

This is how my sewing studio looked Saturday morning. There was stuff piled everywhere. The pictures don't show the projects piled on the floor and the clothes to be ironed piled on the ironing board. Ugh! It was awful. I have a hard time sewing & creating when my environment is chaotic. So I took some time to clean up—only a little as it turned out. Then I got distracted and decided to finish up a couple of projects. (This is what happens when my sewing studio is a mess. I find it difficult to focus on one thing at a time.) 

By Sunday evening the cutting table was better. The sewing machine area was much better, although not completely clear. I did however, make these cute wool pumpkins. And I finished up a purple knit top for The Princess and made 2 pairs of pajama pants for The Youngest Grandson. 

Wool Pumpkins (see next post for details)

The Love will be camping with his buddies this weekend and I will be spending most of those 3 days in the sewing studio. 

Sewing for the Grandkids

Here are the most recent projects for the youngest grandkids. 

The Princess's new PJ's

Pillowcases for DGS. He loves Hot Wheels!

  


































I have another outfit for The Princess in the works. The skirt is the 2+2 skirt from Oliver + S and a knit t-shirt. I'm going to add a self-ruffle around the neck, similar to this.


I had quite an experience in The Studio last night and this morning. I was getting ready to cut into 2 of the fabrics from yesterday's post. I could not find one of the patterns. I searched hi and low. I searched through all the piles. No luck. Did I refile it? I pulled out the pattern catalog. Nope, not there either. I looked through the piles again. Seriously serious it wasn't there. I searched through the pattern box. Couldn't find it. I felt like I was going crazy. I knew I had studied the pattern. But where the heck was it? I went to bed feeling frustrated. In the sewing studio this morning I searched again. Piles? No. Pattern catalog? No. Pattern box? No. So I gave up and moved on. And as I walked out of the Studio about 30 minutes later there it was! Taped to the mirrored closet door. You know, right where I would see it! Whew! I'm not crazy. I did pull it out and set it aside. I knew it. Boy did I feel better. 

Sewing for Riley & Me

I cut out a couple of garments this morning. Two for my DGD, RileyRoo and one for me. 


PJ's from a pink & purple flowered cotton with the Barbie logo on it are by the sewing machine as is a 2+2 Pleated Skirt from Oliver + S. The skirt fabric is a stretch cotton twill, khaki background with very small purple & yellow flowers. I cut a casual skirt for myself from the same fabric. With the Labor Day weekend almost here, I hope to finish these items by Monday. 


Then, it is on to some sewing for The Chef. She rescued some fabric I was selling in a yard sale and asked for 2 pairs of slacks and skirt. 


In addition, I'm knitting a purse for The Coach and I still have 3 bread cloths to cross-stitch for her also. 


For the first time in my life it seems that the more creative things on my "plate", the more creative ideas I have in my head. It's actually kind of cool because I never really think of myself as "creative". Yes, I can sew really well, I knit and cross stitch about average. But I have always had to have a pattern by my side. I always followed the directions to a letter. I just didn't seem to have an original thought. But lately, there have been a lot of "what if I did this?" and "hmm, I wonder how that would look?" percolating in my brain. It's kind of nice.

I Really Have Been Sewing

In spite of the drought in blog posts I have been sewing. Here's a three items I have completed recently.


Amy Butler Frenchie Bag

I made this bag for DGD1 for Christmas 2009 and really like the style. On a recent trip to Dearborn MI I stopped in at quilt store and fell in love with the dogwood print. I would never "wear" the fabric so I decided to make me a Frenchie Bag. I've received a ton of compliments on it. 

Laptop Bag

  

Again, I fell in love with the sateen cotton print at a sewing show I worked at in Cincinnati.  I bought the fabric and then found a laptop bag pattern in the booth next to me. I had some trouble with the pattern directions not making sense, but the bag turned out o.k. Someone I know loves the bag and may receive it as a present come Christmas. 

Clothes for The Princess

My youngest DGD has earned the nickname Princess. I say it lovingly but some members of her immediate family are a little more sarcastic. Be that as it may, I love sewing for The Princess. Here's a summer dress I whipped up for her. 

She didn't really like the drawstring tie in the front so when I made her a short top with capri pants from the same pattern, I moved the tie(s) to the shoulders. I don't have a picture but it was made from a silky polyester fabric, very light pink background with rosebuds all over. Her mom (The Coach) told me when The Princess opened the package she immediately declared them pyjamas and wore them every night for the first week or so. I'm so happy she liked them. 

I have a couple of other garments which are deserving of their own post. 

On The Road Again

No sewing this past week. DD and her 4 children surprised me with a visit. It was a fabulous time. I love spending time with my daughter, and my grandchildren are such a source of pleasure. Although worn out and in need of extra sleep today, I thoroughly enjoy having all of them around!

And, unfortunately, I will be traveling on business again this week. So no sewing until next weekend.

I did manage to complete another UFO. I finished cross stitching a bread cloth. It took maybe an hour to finish up the outlining. I am surprised at how many of my UFO's can be completed with just a little investment of time. I wonder why I didn't finish these items way back when. The good thing is I get a real sense of accomplishment when I do finish another project.

And speaking of projects, I have joined the Go Chanel or Go Home sew along. I'm really excited to be sewing a Chanel-style jacket. I've never tackled anything like this. Check all the excitement over there.

I won't be duplicating my Chanel posts. I'll have other projects (aka UFO's) to write about here.

Just Resting Between Sets

A local gym is running some clever commercials right now. The set up is a question-and-answer period. In one of the commercials the "customer" asks, "I've not been working out for a while. How do I get started again?" The announcer replies, in this deep, booming voice, "Don't say you haven't been working out, say 'I'm just resting between sets.'" I love that line! It is so appropriate for many areas of my life right now.



I have done some sewing over the last few months. Here is DGD2's dress for her baptism and birthday celebration. It is a Bonnie Blue pattern. I added lace inserts in the skirt and to the angel flutter sleeves. It is made from white handkerchief linen and her initials are embroidered on the yoke. She was, of course, beautiful in her dress, white sandals, gold cross necklace and pearl bracelet. I painted her toenails hot pink to match her older sister. After the ceremony a good time was had by all at her princess birthday celebration.



DH & I met our DD1 and her family in the Smokey Mountains for vacation in late June. We all shared an awesome cabin on top of a mountain for 7 days. I made a couple of pair of shorts from KwikSew 3614. I made View A for both pairs of shorts. I really liked the way they turned out. One pair of was navy blue from some stash cotton. The other pair was a black/white cotton twill with just a touch of Lycra. The shorts went together easily and this pattern has the best fly instructions I've found. Very clear and concise.

I'm starting to think about fall. I need slacks mostly. So I'm checking both the pattern & fabric stash to come up with a plan.

Love/Hate Relationships

I made my list. I checked it twice. But when I walked in the door to Jackman's Fabrics this morning the list (mostly) walked right back out the door. Right there, front & center, smacking me in the face were the two cutest little girl outfits! (And, I do have the cutest little princess for a granddaughter.) I have a love/hate relationship with this store. I love the fabric and the super-wide selection of books and independent patterns, but their fabrics are a little pricey. So I shop their judiciously, especially these days.

So here is what I got for my hard earned money today:

From The List: purple Minkee for a scarf for oldest DGD and the book Sew Easy Pajama Pants to make the same DGD a pair of pajama pants for Christmas.





The rest of The List consisted of 4 pieces of knit ribbing for some tops I planned to make for youngest DGS. Instead I was thrown off by these patterns from The Children's Corner: Robin's Little Jacket and Abbie. The Abbie outfit will be darling in pink & brown teeny-tiny polka dots for the top and brown pants. The Robin's Little Jacket is adorable with some red & black Scottie fabric for the jacket and black pants. The Store had a design sheet for adding a gathered peplum to the jacket with some really cute coordinating plaid fabric. And the pants are trimmed with Scottie fabric and red & black rick-rack. I'm pre-washing the fabric right now so I can get started on these projects tonight.





I also stopped at Hancock's to pick up some flannel for the pajama pants. I finally decided on a blue/pink big flowers print, but I think I am going to have to find a better source for flannel. I never did find the ribbing I was looking for. I have another Hancock's and a JoAnn's I can check out, but I may be looking for an online source that will ship quickly.