The Last of the Mohicans

(it's a family joke!)

I finished up the last two items needed for our trip. I started out at 9:00am this morning and finished them both by noon!

Noey requested a swim skirt to go with her new bathing suit. I winged it on this one, and it turned out pretty good. I just measured her tummy and hips, and then made a simple a-line pattern. I applied swimwear elastic to the waistband and made a narrow hem, and VOILA!

I haven't gotten her to try it on with the swimsuit yet, but I'm sure it will be cute!

I immediately moved on to my skirt. I tried the straight A-line idea again and this time it worked! I added more at the top and a little at the hips. This fabric is older than Noey, and I have no idea where I got it. It's a medium weight denim and I must've gotten a lot of it because I made a tote bag with it, and some other things as well. (how embarrassed would Noey be if I wore my tote bag with my new skirt?!)

Noey has her art class this afternoon, and then she and JD are going out to dinner. JD does not travel with us (ask questions before you marry!!) so they want to spend a little time together before we leave.

Hmmmm....I wonder if I could squeeze in one more project???

The "Fun" has caught up with me

and I am exhausted!

We spent all day today at the downtown museums; the California Science Center and the Natural History Museum. We saw the Mummies of the World exhibit. I was a little creeped out by it, but Noey loved it!
I should have known it was going to be gruesome when the guy at the ticket booth gave me the parental warning!

Noey and her BFF had a great time running from exhibit to exhibit (once we recovered from the mummies!) Here they are in infrared.

We also went through the Butterfly Garden and Noey made a friend. Seriously, they tell you not to touch the butterflies, but this one would not leave her alone!

So yesterday, after I finished Noey's swimsuit I immediately cut out and sewed up this top in between playing school with Noey, cooking dinner, packing, and cleaning up the house a bit. I sent Noey and JD out for ice cream last night so I could finish!



It's New Look 6979 in a lightweight cotton jersey that I got from fabric.com. I made this to go with my summer skirt made a couple weeks ago.

I just have one more item I want to make before we leave! A denim skirt in a cute floral print. I've had the fabric for years, at least 10! I have about 6 hours tomorrow before Noey's art class. Fingers crossed!

3 More Days!

until we leave on vacation! I have been working my fingers to the bone trying to sew up everything before we leave.

Noey specifically asked me to make her a swimsuit for the trip, how could I refuse?

It turned out so cute! I used Kwik Sew 2606 and two coordinating nylon-lycra prints that I bought on eBay. I don't like that RTW swimsuits are only lined in the front or just the crotch area so I lined the entire suit with swimwear lining. Essentially I made a second suit out of lining, then basted the lining to the lycra wrong sides together. I used rubber swimwear elastic around the neckline, armholes and leg openings. Both the lining and elastic came from Sew Sassy.

I'm really happy with the results. It doesn't look home-made, and more importantly Noey likes it!!

In Other News

I have been knitting! I put together some small knitting projects to take on the trip, and thought I would just cast on a hat for Noey, just to get it started. Next thing I knew, I was done!


It's Katt's Brimmer pattern in Lion Brand Wool-ease Chunky. I started it Thursday night and finished Friday night! The hat itself is just a basic beanie shape with 1x1 ribbing at the edge. I really like how easy it is to do the brim. I have enough of this yarn leftover from some other long forgotten project, that I cast on another hat for Noey's best friend.

I've got two more projects I'd like to complete before we leave; a denim skirt and a knit peasant top. I have two days left, and I still need to pack, and we'll be gone all day tomorrow on a little jaunt to the downtown museums. Hmmmm....wonder when and how I'll get them done?

Whew!

That was a close one! This time yesterday I thought this skirt was headed to Wadder-ville!

I had all kinds of problems with this simple A-line skirt. I wanted a straight denim skirt, so I used my TNT A-line pattern and tried to "straighten" it. I added 1 1/2" to the center at the fold at the waist only. This effectively straightened it out, but didn't give enough room in the hips. So this morning I cut off the waistband and created a new waistband which raised it up enough to make more room for my womanly hips!!

I used my cheap-o Brother sewing machine to topstitch down the side seams but it would not work on the hem! I couldn't get a straight line to save my life. I ripped it out twice before I switched over to my ever-faithful Kenmore.

Oops! I did it again!

I decided to give Simplicity 4076 one more try, and I think it worked this time. I am much happier with the neckline, although the fabric is very lightweight and looks a little pajama-y.

So, those are finished items #33 and #34, both finished up today. No sewing tomorrow as we are going to the beach, then pool swimming with our friends in the late afternoon.

We are officially on the count down to vacation....7 more days!

A 10 year old with a cell phone can be dangerous!

She could call you up at 1:00am from her sleepover and ask you to pick her up!

Actually I was happy to have her back home safe in her own bed! It was weird to be out "on the streets" at 1 in the morning. Noey thought it was cool, but I was a little nervous! We live in a nice neighborhood, but it's been soooo loooonnng since I've been out past 8:00pm that who knows who lurks about at that time!

Needless to say we are both zombies today. I've got her planted on the couch in front of the TV, trying to make her "rest"! We'll see how long that lasts.

Yesterday, during my 14 hour stretch of alone time I managed to cut out a dress (McCall's 5893), a skirt (Style 2886), and a muslin of my blouse (New Look 6937). I think I will do more cutting out today as I don't think I'm up to actual sewing. (I'm too old to be out and about at 1 in the morning!!)

What Day Is It?

I've only been off work for a week and I've totally lost track of what day it is. I guess that's a good mode to be in during my time off, but I hope I'm not missing out on any scheduled activities!

I finished up my pink and white tunic this morning while Noey was at her last day of VBS. I'm really happy that I took the time to fix the yoke/collar. It's like having a brand new blouse! I also realized, as I was deconstructing and reconstructing, what a good job I did in the first place.

I took a little break from vacation clothes sewing this afternoon (after Noey's Tap class) to help Noey out with a project.

Noey has made a number of these "not pretty" dolls. (we call them Noey Dolls) This one is for her friend's birthday. We made it out of fleece and used felt for the eye. The mouth and X are sewn with embroidery floss. I love how it turned out!

After some deliberation, I've finally decided what project to work on next.

This fabric and I have been feuding since I bought it, and I think I've finally forgiven it! Last April, Noey and I went on a school camping trip and I was in charge of a cabin of 8 girls. I had to come up with an arts and crafts project for the girls to work on during cabin time. Noey, JD, and I were out and about one evening so I asked if I could just run into Joann's and get some supplies. JD said ok as long as I didn't stop to look at anything else. So as I was running past the fabric, I spotted this gorgeous lavender floral dotted swiss out of the corner of my eye. On my way back to the register I stopped to look at it just for a second. It was so pretty, but JD wouldn't let me stop to have it cut.

The next morning I get Noey up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning so that we can be at Joann's when they open at 9:00am. I race back to the fabric......and it's not there! I look all over the store.....not there. I ask everybody and anybody I can find, no luck!! So I bought this fabric instead. I thinks it's just another colorway of my dream fabric, but it's not the same!

Now that this lovely fabric has been sitting in stash for a little while, it's grown on me. I'm finally ready to deal with it! I'm making New Look 6937. Noey is going to a slumber party starting at 11:00am on Sunday (yikes! that'a a long party) so I'm hoping to have it done by the time I pick her up Monday morning.

Tunic Redux

This is one of my favorite blouses. I made it last year for our vacation to San Diego. It looks so fresh and summery with a white skirt, and of course it's pink, my favorite color. It's a lightweight "linen look" fabric from Joann's.

But there's a little problem.....

I sewed the collar/yoke wrong side out! I didn't even notice until I had washed it a couple of times and the interfacing started pilling!

So my pretty pink blouse was dumped in the hamper and there it sat....until today. I picked up some Kona cotton at Joann's the other day and decided I would try to fix my error. Noey is at VBS this morning so I have the Kona cotton in the dryer and I just removed the old collar/yoke.

No sewing yesterday as I took Noey and a friend to the beach. It was awesome, 85 degrees! Twenty degrees hotter than when we were there 3 days earlier! (and I have the sunburn to prove it!) Even though I didn't have a chance to sew, I thought about sewing all day. I need to figure out what project to work on next. Noey has one more day of VBS and she's going to a sleepover birthday party this weekend so that gives me two solid chunks of time. I just need to figure out what to work on.

I also need to come up with a knitting project or two to take on the trip. I'll have some time in the backseat of the car and at night. I do some of my best knitting while on vacation.

FO 31 and FO 32

So, yesterday I finally got off my bum, and the couch, and finished up my top. I tried in vain to fix the neckline; I steamed the daylights out of it, then ran it through the washer and dryer, all to no avail. The neckline is still wonky! I thinks it's a combination of the fabric being too heavy and being stretched out too much when I sewed it. It is now destined to be a pajama top!

While Noey was at VBS this morning, I cut out and sewed up a skirt.

Doesn't this fabric just scream "SUMMER VACATION!"? It's a Michael Miller quilting cotton, and I think I paid $9.00 a yard for it! That's a lot for me, especially for a cotton, but I fell in love with the print.

The pattern is Kwik Sew 3373 and it was Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy! I lengthened both the main skirt piece and the ruffle. I didn't want too much gathering in the ruffle, so I knocked off about 4 inches.

and now we're off to Noey's art class. She's going to be on TV! The theme of her class is Dogs, and a local cable tv program called "K 9 Corner" is going to come film the class. Unfortunately, it can only be seen in the city of Torrance, so we can't even watch the show!

Update: While Noey was at her art class I popped into JoAnn's to pick up a few things. I found the same fabric that I made the top with and bought some more to make matching pants.

Best Laid Plans

I had big plans for this past weekend, and none of them quite worked out how I planned!

Saturday morning I had this brilliant idea to cut out all of the items needed for our vacation. (a little over 2 weeks away now!) That way I could sew every morning this week while Noey is at Vacation Bible School. So off we went to Gymnastics and as soon as we got home I was going to cut, cut, cut!

But.....that didn't happen. By the time we got home I didn't feel like cutting out. (my least favorite part of sewing) So I just cut out one top for me and started sewing it up. It's another version of Simplicity 4076 in an interlock knit. I'm not liking the neckline, it's a little wonky, and I think I may have made a poor fabric choice. It's not very drapey. It's just needs hemming and then it's done, but I've lost my motivation.

Yesterday was our beach day with friends. Turned out to be the worst beach day yet! It was cold! and foggy, and even sprinkled on us. But, being the diehard beach bums that we are, we stuck it out! Noey had fun and even got in the water a little bit.

So, now it's Monday morning, and Noey is off at VBS, and I have no motivation to do anything. I could finish my top, or clean my house, (it's covered in sand again!) or any number of other things.....

Meet July

The Sock Monkey!

Noey stuffed her yesterday at Grandma's house, while I was at work. I worked on her last night until I couldn't see anymore. We finished her up this morning.

She turned out pretty cute. Noey named her "July" since she was made this month. My dad had a monkey when he was a kid named "Tuesday"!

I tried to convince Noey that she shouldn't play with July until our trip, but she's not having that! She's been playing with her all morning!

I got the kit here. I just ordered 4 more pairs of original Rockford Red Heel socks in pink and blue so I can make some friends for July. (each monkey takes 2 socks)

Yesterday was my last day of work for 4 weeks! We're headed to Santa Barbara in 3 weeks, so I've got to get sewing!

We're Making Monkeys!

We found this cute Sock Monkey fabric at fabric.com a while back. I'm going to make Noey some jammie pants for our vacation. (because we need all new clothes when we travel!) The color doesn't show well in my picture, it's a pretty light turquoise.

So, since I'm making jammies someone thought I should also make an actual sock monkey!

This is as far as I got today because we don't have any stuffing!

I ordered a kit from eBay, but now that I've got the hang of it, I think I just need some socks to make a couple more. (I might have ordered 4 more pairs of socks to make an entire Sock Monkey family!)

Lots and Lots of T-shirts!

Somehow I've been able to sew a lot lately! It seems to be a lot easier now that Noey is 10 years old. (Yikes! is she really 10??) Plus if she's getting something out of it, she's more likely to keep herself occupied!

I picked up 10 or so knits for $1.95 a yard from fabric.com recently and I've been whipping out a couple of T-shirts a week.

The first pattern I tried out is Kwik Sew 3036. Easy Peasy! Two pattern pieces; a front and a back. I used a ladies size XS. Super cute! My favorite is the blue stripe on top. With a pair of white capri's, Noey looks like she's going yachting! (just realized one shirt is missing! must be in the hamper!)

So then I moved onto Kwik Sew 3338. I've made 3 of these now. The black print from my jammies, a light blue one, and this one. (my favorite!) It's easy as well although the neckband took a little patience. I originally bought this fabric for me, but Noey loved it......so of course she got it. (two of her favorite things are argyle and the color purple!)

Next up is another version of Simplicity 4076. One that I will wear out in public! I love knits! Can't believe how easy they are!

It was a banner day!

Talk about feeling productive! I finished garments #28, 29, and 30 today! As well as running some errands, grocery shopping, and going out to lunch.

Item #28 are the pants to go with my new jammie shirt I made the other day. I used my TNT pant pattern, Kwik Sew #2779, and a light weight jersey from fabric.com. They're nothing fancy, but they sure are comfy.

Item #29 is a t-shirt for Noey. I used the leftover fabric from my jammie shirt and Kwik Sew 3338. I'm using a ladies size XS and it fits her perfectly. I think this will be her TNT t-shirt pattern. It also has a long sleeve version. It takes less than a yard of fabric and sews up really fast. And the best part is Noey actually likes the finished product and will wear them!!

And rounding out my very productive day, Item #30, a pair of undies for me using the last bit of the jammie fabric. I've been making my own undies since December of last year, and I have to say I will never go back to store bought. I use Kwik Sew 2908 and they are the most comfortable undies!

So while we were enjoying lunch at Carl's Jr. today, I was excited to tell JD about my frugality of fabric. "I'm like a pioneer woman!" I told him. "I put every inch of fabric to good use!" After all I got 3 items from 2.5 yards of fabric which cost me about $7.00. His response....."Do you really need those?"

Ummmm....yeah! We do! I have a child who grows 2 inches between lunch and dinner. I'm lucky if she doesn't outgrow something by the time I'm finished sewing it. And have you seen my pajamas lately? They're a little shabby! and who doesn't need new undies! Seriously! I doubt if you could get all 3 items at Walmart for $7.00!

A little Vacay sewing

Noey and I are going to Santa Barbara at the end of this month for a little fun in the sun. Finished object #27 is my new Pajama top for the trip.

I used Simplicity 4076 (very well reviewed on Pattern Review)

I'm new to knits (how come no one ever told me how easy they are!) so I decided to start out with a muslin/pj top first. This fabric is from fabric.com from the $1.95 per yard clearance section. I believe it is a jersey with some lycra. The fabric is cute, but not my style for public wear. I had enough fabric leftover to cut out a top for Noey and undies for me. (Noey says she will wear her top in public!!)

I used Steam-a-Seam to stabilize the hems, and for the first time ever I conquered the Twin Needle! Yay me!

All in all I think it's cute for PJ's. I cut out black lightweight jersey bottoms this afternoon and plan to sew them up tomorrow.

Happy Fourth of July!!

Summer Time.....

...and the living is easy!

I love Summer!

I love the perpetual smell of sunscreen in our house. I love the constant sand on the floors and wet towels everywhere. I love to see the small airplanes fly over pulling banners. (we live about a mile from the beach)

I love that I get 4 weeks off, smack dab in the middle of summer!

I'm hoping this little break will be enough to get me blogging again. (although it doesn't start until next Thursday) I've been wanting to get back into it for sometime now.

I have been sewing (24 projects completed so far this year!) and knitting. I just need to gather up some projects, take pictures, and start blogging!