Just Checking In

Can you believe it? Spring is almost here! Which leads us to the question....where have I been all winter? My last post was Christmas 2015. Almost 3 months have come and gone without a word.....that needs to change.

Pattern Instructions.....

Over a week ago, I reported in this post, that I was going to make a bit of a change in the pattern instructions. Well, I've FINALLY gotten back to sewing on this project so, I thought I would explain what I meant.

Make Your Own Custom Piping

Yesterday, I mentioned all the gardening projects I worked on in the morning. But. In the afternoon, when it got to hot to be working outside (unfortunately, lately it doesn't take much heat to be too hot for me). I turned on the air conditioner and went inside to work on my current sewing project.

End of Summer Sewing

This past weekend, I finished up the last of my summer 2015 sewing. I can now add three new tees to my wardrobe. All three tees were made from a simple dolman-type tee similar to The Dreamer Tee.

Sometimes, Indecision is a Good Thing.....

Remember the dress dilemma I wrote about a few days ago? I pretty much had myself convinced I would wear the floral dress for the wedding. But, still not COMPLETELY convinced. I mean, I didn't want to be too casual. So, I took BOTH dresses. I figured I'd make a decision the night of the wedding.

A Dress Dilemma.....

As I mentioned (in this post), I was going to look for a cardigan or jacket to go with this dress (for a wedding). And. Shoes, which I found. Even though I was thinking beige, I went with black.....

The shoe store did have beige. They were very shiny. Sort of like patent leather shiny. Black seemed more sensible. If you're going to own a pair of pumps, shouldn't they be black?

A Dress for a Wedding

My nephew and his fiancé's wedding is getting closer (the ones I made this afghan for). Now comes the part where I tell you......I don't even OWN a dress. I looked for a dress. I couldn't find ANYTHING. Don't get me wrong, I didn't try very hard (shopping for clothing has never been easy for me) Then, I looked for some fabric. I was thinking maybe a floral? Or maybe a solid color. NOTHING appealed to me. Everything was so shiny. It must be too close to prom season. SO.....I started digging through my fabric stash and found this beige linen. I'm sure I purchased it for a project, but, I couldn't tell you what it was.

April Block of the Month at JCCF

 

 

I spent this past weekend sewing up the prize for the JCCF April Block/Color of the month. It's a crochet hook roll. The pattern I (loosely) used was this one  from Today We Made. I wanted something "Springy", so, I rummaged through my quilting fabrics and found these cute blue check and floral fabrics.

 

It's Finally Finished!

Hubby's wool vest, that is. Okay, actually, it was done over a week ago. It just took me this long to get photos. That's only going to get worse as the gardening season gets closer.....

3 New T-shirts

The last week of February I finished 3 new (spring) t-shirts! I've been needing some new t-shirts and one of my goals for 2015 (I didn't write it down anywhere, no sense wasting the time or paper) was to use up some of the fabric I've been hoarding. These were pretty quick. I cut them out on a Sunday and finished them up on a Thursday as those were the only 2 days I had to work on them.

I'm in Love with my Walking Foot!

After the whole buttonhole episode, I was relieved to cut out some t-shirts and do a little sewing with knits! I've been following The Seasoned Homemaker's Sewing with Knits series hoping to pick up a few tips.

Buttonholes......

I FINALLY got a decent practice buttonhole. I'm not going to lie, there was swearing involved. See all those one-legged buttonholes. That's where the machine would make the left leg, but jam up when it was time to come down to make the right leg. It only took me SIX tries to get that one buttonhole (the one you can't see because the button is in it)!

It's Almost Done!

Hubby's vest, that is! I know I mentioned in this post that I HOPED to get it finished by Valentine's Day. Yeah, that didn't happen.....and really, if we're going to be honest, I don't think I even expected it to happen.

Sewing with Knits

Even though I'm working on hubby's vest #2 (trying to get it completed before Valentine's day), I want to also make some new knit tops for me. If you read either this post or this post, I'm sure you're thinking, has she ever sewn before? Actually, I've sewn A LOT! Over 40 years. Here's my point.....sometimes things go wrong in sewing. Sometimes what you're sure will fit, just doesn't. Or you just can't get something to lay like it should. And. It's frustrating. But, you can't let it get you down. Because there can be so much success also!

Projects from the Heart

When I was making this heart-shaped stitch marker pouch for the February Block of the Month Prize, I wanted to use the tutorial from this pin. But. When I visited the site, it didn't go straight to the tutorial. It went to the page of ALL of her sewing tutorials. And. I didn't want to take the time to find the tutorial (when I get the chance to sew, I want to sew.....not search). I figured, how hard could it be to just wing it? It took a couple of tries, but I got a pouch I was pretty happy with.

One Wool Vest Down

Well, there it is. The wool vest I started at the beginning of the year. Other than buttons and buttonholes. It looks pretty good here (well, other than a bit wrinkly). There's just one little thing. It doesn't even come CLOSE to fitting hubby!

Welted Pockets.....Done!

Last weekend, I made quite a bit of progress on the vest for hubby. By quite a bit of progress, I mean I got the welted pockets finished. Which wasn't easy. I started by tracing and reading the directions precisely as written. Yeah. Well, that didn't go well for me. Good thing I decided to save the extra fabric "just-in-case".

First Sewing Project for the New Year

I spent yesterday morning working on the first sewing project of the new year. I had purchased this men's vest pattern from Buckaroo Bobbins a few years ago. My hubby had been wanting a wool vest. For whatever reason (maybe too many other projects?), I never got around to purchasing any fabric for the vest. I think my hubby felt like he was NEVER going to see a vest and last fall he went out and purchased this......

Happy New Year 2015!

This is my MAIN goal for 2015! I have until May 1st to get this wedding afghan completed. AND. I'm really, REALLY close. 3 12-inch blocks, 7 6-inch blocks. Sew together some of the strips and a border is all that's left!  Of course, if you've ready any of these posts here, here & here you know I MIGHT have a problem staying on track and getting things finished. So......you know what I've GOT to be working on!

Super Quick Stocking Ornament

I've been working away on lots of little ornaments to decorate small (1 gallon) live potted trees as gifts for some friends and neighbors. I've already completed (and given away) one tree and I have to tell you, I was pretty happy with it (and it was really well received by the recipient, too).