Another Halloween came and went

Noey didn't want me to make her Halloween costume this year. Even though, in past years, her costumes have been better made and more detailed than her friends. (if I do say so myself!)

Gone are the cutsey costumes of the past too. No more Snow Whites, Alice in Wonderlands, Raggedy Ann's.

This year she was a Devil. A nice, friendly devil!

We had an awesome time Trick or Treating with our "posse". Nine kids and 6 adults. I don't drink, but the rest of the adults brought along a little fortification (wine) as we trolled the neighborhood for 3 solid hours!

Noey and I are now munching on candy for breakfast! (the breakfast of champions!)

My sewing and knitting have been practically non-existent this week. I did manage to cut out a "vintage" project. I bought a peasant blouse pattern circa 1979 from etsy and found a "vintage" fabric circa 1985 in my stash. It's a simple pattern but I just haven't found the time to sit down and sew it.

This will be my first "vintage" pattern. It has some interesting methods, which I am looking forward to trying.

Trump!

I have a friend who just moved to the Trump property in Rancho Palos Verdes. She invited Noey (and me!) over to swim today.

It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day. (that's the Pacific Ocean in the background)

The views were spectacular!

and Noey had a lot of fun! (and I did too!)

Strawberry Fields Forever

or how I spent my Saturday instead of sewing all day!

We drove out to Riley's Farms in Oak Glen, CA yesterday, and spent the entire day there.

We had a great time picking strawberries, raspberries, pears, and apples. We took a hayride, drank fresh pressed apple cider, and had the most delicious raspberry milkshake. Noey got to hold a baby pig (but I didn't have my camera handy) and jump in a bouncer.

It was a fun day, even though it was HOT! (100 degrees plus) and dusty, dirty. (we're city folk, okay?) I had to hose off about a 1" layer of dirt from the both of us when we got home! I thought I was looking all tan, but then it turned out to be mostly dirt!!

My lastest sewing projects are two simple A-line skirts made last week. Both fabrics are quilters cotton from JoAnn's. The blue I just purchased recently, the black has been in the stash for a year or so.

I knew my TNT skirt pattern was old and out of print but I didn't realize the company was out of business until I pulled it out to look at the date - 1997!

The two of these together probably took less than 2 hours to make. These are seriously the easiet skirts; just side seams and elastic waist casing. I do hand sew the hem, and that takes the majority of the time. Couldn't be easier.

I would really like to stay home and sew today, but we've been invited to go swim at Trump! Who am I to say no to Trump?!

and speaking of Noey....

...here she is on the first day of (gasp!) Fourth Grade!

She is quite the grown-up girl these days and doesn't hesitate to let me know that!

We made this delicious cake to celebrate the first day of school.

Interesting.....

......that my last post (way back in December of last year!) would be about Lunch Bags! That's what my most recent project was - Lunch Bags! Noey started school last Wednesday, and on Tuesday (I work better with a looming deadline!) I finished her new lunch bag, and one for her BFF as well. I used the same Favorite Things pattern that I used for all eight last year. Noey chose her fabric, a quilting cotton, and I used fusible fleece to give it stability. I attached a larger strip of Velco this time around to help it stay closed a little better.

As Noey says " You think the outside is wild? Take a look at the inside. BAM!!"

So now I'm working on a blouse for me. I'm using a cotton lawn that I got from fabric.com awhile back. It's light and airy, perfect for the 90 degree weather we'll have through October. I'm making the 3/4 length sleeves, so hopefully I can still wear it well into Fall.

ETA: I finished the blouse this afternoon! Next up (maybe tomorrow) a simple cotton A-line skirt and then I'm gonna tackle knits!

I have not knit a stitch in.....oh, gosh, I don't know.....6? 8? months. Sad, isn't it? I have a couple of projects on the needles, but no desire to pick up those needles. I have such limited free time, I feel like I have to choose one or the other, sewing or knitting. Sewing has a much better return for me. I can sew a skirt in an evening, a blouse in a weekend. Oh well, when Noey is older I will have more time than I'll know what to do with! (but I don't want to think about that now!)

It's that time of year

I've been busy. Very busy! So busy that I haven't had time to blog. I'm just about done with all of my Christmas preparations. (yay!)

So here's the rundown of what I've been working on:

Sewed 5 American Girl doll dresses for Noey. (they are so cute!)

Sewed 8 Lunch Bags. (being modeled here by Sophie and Noey. One was gifted already and one was not yet complete when this photo was taken.) We're going to make Holiday Snickerdoodles to put inside the lunch bags. (Noey needs a haircut!)

My shopping is complete and I just have to sew up an armchair caddy for my dad and then the sewing is complete! I'm feeling really good about the season at the moment! (and pretty darn proud of myself for being so organized!)

Here's a fun meme I saw over at Jillian's blog. Made me realize that I have accomplished more than I thought! (but still have a few things I want to do!)

Things I’ve Done (In Bold)
Things I Want to Do (In Italics)
1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world (in FL and CA)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

It's a Two-fer

My 5 hours of free time translated into 1 hour of sitting on the couch doing nothing while watching General Hospital, 3 hours of actual sewing, and 1 hour of house cleaning. All in all a productive afternoon.

Sometimes I just need a few minutes (or 60!) to decompress and relax my brain a little bit. I don't even knit - I just sit there - doing nothing. I'm not an avid follower of GH but I watch it every once in a while. It's good, mindless television.

Once I finally relaxed and got motivated I started working on 2 blouses at the same time. They are both from the same pattern (my good old TNT) so it was easy to do a little assembly line sewing. The first one is a copy of my friend, Cathy's, blouse. It has muslin for the bottom, a cute blue quilter's cotton for the bodice, and it will have a different, lighter quilter's cotton for the sleeves. The second one is a copy of a blouse I saw in the Eddie Bauer catalog. It's made from muslin and has tucks. Hopefully I will find some time this weekend to finish them.

Be Afraid....Be Very Afraid!

It's the not-so-wicked witch of the West Coast!

Try as she might, Noey just can't look scary with that little angelic face!

We stopped by the Halloween store on the way home from school Monday afternoon and picked up the final pieces of the costume. We were lucky to find a purple hat with purple hair, and a purple broom. (can you guess what her favorite color is?)

I finished up the little poncho I've been working on so today I'm sewing for ME! Grandma is picking up Noey from school and she will stay with G & G all afternoon until after dinner. That gives me a solid 5 hours to sew, sew, sew, and watch my Twin Peaks DVD. I got the complete series for Christmas last year. Noey used to go to G & G's house every Tuesday, so I had Twin Peaks Tuesdays. I guess I'll have to change that to Twin Peaks Wednesdays, since we now horseback ride on Tuesdays. My sewing machines are conveniently located in front of the DVD player, so it makes for a very pleasant afternoon.

The Halloween Costumes are finished!

Let the Christmas gift making commence!

I finished Sophie's costume Friday afternoon. She was here for a playdate, so we tried it on her, she declared it "Perfect!" and that was that!

This one is Noey's. Sophie's is pretty much the same, except with red details. The dress is a nice, soft stretch velvet, which could become a nightgown in the future. The cape has spider webs and purple sparkley's. It's hard to see, but it turned out really cute! Hopefully I'll get a good pic of the little witches wearing their costumes.

Immediately following the completion of the costumes I started on my Christmas gifts. By the end of the weekend I had two gifts complete. I made The Lunch Bag by Favorite Things. (actually I made 2!) It is so cute! I used an Amy Butler fabric that's been in my stash for a while. I had originally planned to make myself a purse with it, but I'm so glad I didn't. I really want to keep one of these bags for myself.