Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Halloween Purse!


It's another Lazy Girl Design's Claire Bag with a zipper. Behind it is the second version, since I wanted to make both front and back the same this time. The other one is almost done, its the bright orange owls and bats on the outside.

Now to just finish (ok, start) the girls costumes!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Soccer Hairbows!

So for soccer each season I make the girls on the team bows or flowers. This season both girls are playing, and since Rena's team is florescent orange, I opted for making bows from this cute ribbon with soccer balls on it!


I left long tails because most girls wear thier hair in a pony and I thought the tails would look cute on either side of the pony! I had to make 12 total.



I also found this cars ribbon on clearance, and of course Rena had to have a cars bow!



Last January I ordered a gross of hair barrette backs for making bows and flowers, and I now have only two left!


Tuesday, September 21, 2010

I found more autism awareness fabric..

Even after recovering the kids table and chairs with it, I found more autism awareness fabric in my stash! Enough for 2 purses. This is the tweeked version of the bow tucks tie tote. I did use stronger interfacing, giving the bags more stiffness.


The green was also from my stash. I am trying to clean out my stash before the baby arrives, but it seems the more I use up the more I acquire.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

onward and upward!

One thing that always makes me feel better is starting a new project. This weekend we are working on recovering our dining set chairs, but have to wait for Sunday to buy the foam (50% off at Joann!)
This morning I decided to gather my scraps up to start my next project, Belle Meade by Bonnie Belle.  I have been searching through my stash and this is what I have that is "civil war"


While going through my fabric I realized a few things. One, I am really unorganized when it comes ot my fabric. It is all just in tubs. My patterns are nice and organized, but not my fabric. The second thing I realized is that most of my fabric is really bright happy fun childrens colors. Third, I realize I have a lot of patterns and magazines I have already done projects from that I don't know if I will do again. I do have my favorite patterns I go back to over and over, especially for bags. I try to make gifts instead of buying them, which is the big reason why. I am trying to decide how much I want to clean out of the sewing room so it can also be a baby playroom in a few months.

Happy Sewing!

Friday, September 10, 2010

I try to keep positive, I really do

But today I think I lost my faith in humanity. I actually had a preschool director and teacher show animosity towards a 4 year old. Worse, it was my 4 year old.

I'll back to the beginning, when we moved here I enrolled her in preschool at a nearby program that had openings. I told my neighbor about it, and she had worked with the director years before in Memphis. She warned me that this woman was inept, and she wouldn't trust her kids in any program run by said director. Well, the teachers we had were wonderful, and I really never dealt with the director, so we stayed. She had a great year and loved it. Forward to this year. First day, I get a call. They can not handle her behaviors in a classroom. I took note. Few days later, they called me to pick her up. She said they would work with me, I tried to give them some ideas, because really, she's 4. Instead of listening, the director told me they don't really have time, and told me all about her adult childrens issues. That was my second red flag, but we had since joined the church, and I thought the teachers would find what worked eventually. From then on she had both good days and bad.  I had a few discussions with the director, who refered me for testing. At the first testing session, I was told that they are wary of children sent from the school, because in the past 3 years they have had a lot of normal children sent for testing from the school. That was another red flag.

So we had been in school about 4 weeks. Just 4. I emailed her last week asking for a meeting with the teachers, to see what we could do. Instead of meeting with the teachers, she scheduled a meeting with the pastor. To me, that said ambush all over it. I was right. The meeting was basically to remove Rena from the school. It was aweful, and extremely unprofessional. When asked what was tried, they basically said everything, but could not give any specifics. Worse, both teacher and the director showed animosity towards a 4 year old. I was more shocked than anything, because here sat 2 adults that one, could not control their classroom, and two, after 4, almost 5 weeks were that hateful of a child. I think I felt even worse that the pastor sat there and just head bobbed with them.

*sigh* so what is next? Do I stay at the church? I was going to teach Sunday school this week, which I might, but I absolutely can not sit through a service. I can always find another school for Rena, but today she has been all out of sorts because her teacher told her she wasn't coming back and took her name off the door. I am glad she is out of there, but it should have been handled better. A lot better.

So thank you if you have read this, sorry I am being negative. I hate that I feel this way. I hate that my daughter was hurt by people who are suppose to be educators. I wish I knew what to do next, other than find a new school. I am waiting for my neighbor to get home, to tell her she was right, the director is inept.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Why I love Lazy Girl Designs patterns

Sew today while the girls were in school I made a Claire bag. I like the pattern because it is fun to do, but usually make them for other people. It is a fun purse, a little bag with lots of pursonality.




But I added a twist this time. I used the instructions in the Margo bag pattern to add a zipper. It is a super easy technique, and Margo is a great pattern to try if you are afraid of zippers but want to try one.




Working on this project reminds me why I love Lazy Girl Design Patterns. First, I was able to complete the project in a few hours. The last bag I did, Amy Butlers Field tote, took me a few days. Second, she writes her instructions so those of us that are quilters can understand them. A lot of bag patterns are done for people who are used to garment construction. And the best thing about LGD patterns, is that with each one, you learn something new. I love Margo for Margo, but really love that I could take the zipper technique from Margo and use it in other patterns. I often use the LGD way to do inside pockets for any other bag I do. I can't live without lots of pockets anymore!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Amy Butler Field Bag

I finally finished! This is one of the most time consuming projects I have *ever* done. It was a learning experience for sure.


The bag is massive. I was wondering why I needed over 3 yards of the main fabric, and it used it all. I think it holds more than the weekender. The zipper was a pain in the behind, but her instructions were clear, it just took time to get it right.

Friday, September 3, 2010

little steps

We are expecting our third child in January, and are very excited! The girls especially. Yesterday we had midway ultrasound, and were hoping to find out the baby's gender, but alas, the goods were covered. Maybe next time.

However, I have been sewing for the baby since we found out, but because we don't know gender, I have been making 2 sets of everything. The diaper bags I posted a while back are an example of this. I also just did these.

boy set


girl set


If you look closely, in each group the one on the left is a quilt, the one on the right is a flannel backed blanket. I fell in love with the Mr. Men and Little Miss fabric when I first saw it, and had to do something with it!

But with this sewing I am also challenging myself. With each item I make for my baby, I want to make another one just as nice to donate or give. My guild donates to a lot of charities, so most will go to charity.

So far I have diaperbags and the blankie sets, hoping to do some of the projects from the new Anna Maria Horner baby book, and maybe from the Amy Butler baby book. I am just now starting to have more energy, and the girls are both in school in the mornings, so I have some time to sew.
Happy Sewing!