Farewell Old Friend

Today is a day of sadness. My faithful, sometimes temperamental, tough as nails, older than dirt sewing machine finally kicked the bucket. This machine had gotten to the point where the foot pedal had to be in a very specific position, the cords had to be taped to the table, I had to troubleshoot with the placement of the cords and tape them down before I could even begin sewing.


I called her the Bertha or The Old Hag. When she died I was sad, not because I wasn't able to do the alteration I had for a bridesmaid dress, but because it was the end of an era. Bertha was the machine I have been using for the last 2 1/2 years. She was responsible for all my sewing projects that I have done since then. She also helped me to learn to LOVE sewing. I know all her quirks, which made sewing with her easier as I knew her limits and didn't push her past them... often.


However, there is a silver lining in all things. A couple of weeks ago my friend, who owns the bridal shop, had me do an alteration of a GORGEOUS wedding gown for a photo shoot that will be featured on theknot.com. I did the dress and gave it to her the day of the shoot and the dress did not fit at all, couldn't even be zipped up. I didn't actually have the exact measurements for the model, otherwise it wouldn't have happened, so I went off of what I was given. So I get a call that Friday at around 4:00 from my friend. She said, "Name your price, I will pay whatever, but would you do the same style of dress, just a different size and do the alterations again? I need it before noon tomorrow." I said, after throwing up in my mouth a bit, "Ok, I will do it, but you get to buy me a new machine!" This time around, I got the models' measurements, stayed up until after 3:00am, made a pot of coffee at around 10:00pm and had the dress done. It needed a good 4 inches taken in and had lots of bead work that needed to be taken off. The dress was taken away at 8:00 on Saturday morning and I got a call around 3:00 saying that not only did the dress fit, but it fit so well it looked like it had been painted onto the model. Oh yea, I'm good. Lol Or just insanely lucky!

So, I would like you all to see the machine that is on it's way to me. I decided on the Brother CS6000i I have been researching machines for months now and came to the conclusion that I want something that has all the bells and whistles, but is affordable. Seeing as how this particular machine has been voted #1 in Best Quality for the Money for 2 years now, I am excited. I cannot wait to fall in love with the new machine, need to find a name for her and start making things like crazy!


Do you name your machines? If so, what are they and do you have any suggestions for a name for mine?

The Proud, The Few. The Marines.

I have been a little bit of an emotional wreck as of late, today especially. My little brother is off to boot camp today to follow his dream of being a Marine. I am insanely proud of him, terrified for him, excited for him, and just feeling all those crazy feelings of joy and terror all at once. He is fresh out of high school, all shiny like a new penny. I was 8 years old when he was born. He was the runt of the litter and we all just picked on him like crazy, but that's what you do with a baby brother.
He is such a strong and brave person. I am so proud of how he turned out, despite all that was set against him from our crazy family. I know that our late brother would be very proud of him too. He is setting out to do what none of us have, which is so brave of him, but at the same time shows how special he is.
I am just a big ball of goo today, crying at random times, for no reason. But I wanted to express my gratitude to all the brave men and women who leave their families to defend our freedom. I don't usually do a September 11th post as I get too emotional when I think about that day and all the lives that were lost. I also get emotional knowing that there are all these strangers out there that fight for me, every day. I am proud to be an American and proud that we have selfless people that defend us all. Now my little brother is going to join the ranks in that group of brave people that fight for us.

I am proud to be your sister Jake. I am so proud of you! Be safe, don't do anything crazy, stay strong, and know that I pray for you and all the others out there every day! I love you little brother!

Makes Me Giggle Monday

Getting His Craft On

So, as you can see I have been a little MIA as of late. I wish I had some fun fabulous excuse, but the reality is that I have been helping a friend with her bridal shop in doing dress alterations and I have just been a smidge busy with those. Maybe I will do a fun tutorial for you so you can learn how to take in a formal dress with boning. I'm pro now! Lol Or not.

Any-hoo, my cute little husband was watching one of his gaming forums and they had a tutorial for making gaming t-shirts using bleach in a spray bottle and a cut out design. I didn't have the heart to tell him that that particular idea has been around in blogland for some time now and that mom's have been making these for a long time. But I let him think that this gaming sight (which probably got the idea from a woman) had an original idea. But he was so cute in making them that I had to take pictures to show that a man can make things too.

Step 1: Get your shirt, line it with cardboard, cut out your shape and place it on your shirt

Step 2: Take your spray bottle with 1/2bleach 1/2water and spray over the top of your design.

Step 3: Remove your paper design and let your shirt "cure". After it is dry wash alone or with any other shirts you may have created as usual.

Here is another shirt he did. He was so proud.

And that's it! Now he has 2 shirts that he is very proud of and that don't have holes in the armpits, that's what I'm most excited about. Hope you all are having a great day!

Makes Me Giggle Monday

Incredibly inappropriate, but stinkin' funny!

Incredibly Versatle Shirt Tutorial

This is the long awaited tutorial on how I made my daughter's Easter Dress, found here. This is a little different, but only the sleeves. That's the cool thing about this pattern, it's so versatile! This can be made with sleeves, ties, straps, a halter top, or even just a skirt!

Supplies:
*1/2 Yard of Fabric. I used 2 Fat Quarters, but there was only enough left for straps. My daughter wears a 5T in tops, so if you have a smaller little one then the 2 Fat Quarters would work great.
*1" Elastic, measure around your child's chest, under the armpit. Take that number and divide it in half, then subtract 2 inches from that number. So my daughter's chest is 24", so it was 12" for the half and then I cut the elastic at 10".
*Lace for the trim (Optional)
*Scissors, thread, sewing machine.

Step 1: Cut your fabric.
Bottom Piece: Measure around your child's chest, cut that number in half, and then add 6". So I cut 2 pieces 18" wide. The length will be measured from just under the armpit down, so you can make it longer it you want a dress or shorter. Her's ended up being 14".
Top Band: Cut one that is half the length of your child's chest, adding 1/2" for seam allowance. So that piece for me was 12 1/2". The second piece will be the same width as your bottom pieces, so 18". Cut them 4' wide, they will be folded in half.
Straps: Either use lace, fabric, ribbon or if you want to do sleeves, you can use this tutorial for that. Just measure around your child's shoulder from pit to pit. So my daughter was 8".
(Optional and not Shown) Lace Trim: Cut it the same width as your bottom pieces.

Step 2: Working on the back piece first, pin your top band and bottom piece together, folding you top band in half length wise. Pin them right sides together.

Step 3: Sew those pieces together. No need to press the seam here, as you will do all your pressing once.

Step 4: Prepare to snake your elastic through your top band by putting a safety pin on one end, or whatever works for you.

Step 5: After you have snaked your elastic through the top, pin your elastic so it sits as close to the seam you created earlier. Do this on both sides.

Step 6: Stitch your elastic on both sides.

Optional Step 7: Lay your trim right sides together and stitch together. We will press this in a minute.

Step 8: Now for the front. Make a gathering stitch along the top of the bottom piece. Then do as before, put your top band folded in half and stitch the two pieces together. Then add your lace trim like in Step 7.

Step 9: Now this is a little hard to see as I couldn't get a clear picture of it, so I will try and describe it as best I can so you can kind of see what I'm talking about. Take you bottom hem with the lace and turn it over so you are seeing the wrong side of you fabric and the seam. Take your seam and overlap it onto the main fabric, I did about 1/4" along the entire bottom. Press it all the way across.

See the overlapping fabric over your lace? That's what you want it to look like.

Step 10: Now stitch the hem using your first stitch as your guide.

This is what it will look like in the end. Looks like there is a lace cami underneath. I love that technique.

Step 11: Pin your front and back together and stitch up the sides. Flip it inside out. You can be done now if you want to make this a skirt! Cool right?! If not, continue on.

Step 12: If you are doing straps then pin them in place here, if you are doing sleeves, then make your sleeves and then pin them in place, same with ties. Then stitch them to your shirt. If you are using lace, then make sure to do a zigzag stitch so there isn't any fraying. I try and get it as close to the top, makes it less noticeable.

Enjoy your adorable creation!!!!

I would love to see any of the many variations that this tutorial can make! Send me your links when you make them!

Flower Girl Debut

Today my daughter made her debut as a Flower Girl. My mom has a friend/co-worker that was so sad as her family would not be able to make it to her wedding and so she didn't have a flower girl or a ring barer. Well, my mother told her not to stress because she has plenty of granddaughters and grandsons that could take the job. Thanks mom for volunteering my kids for a wedding that I didn't even know the people. Oh well. It was nice that we could help this sweet couple out and it was such a fun experience.

This is the bed and breakfast that the wedding was at. No, you do not need to adjust your screen, it is THREE shades of pink. Yup. I thought this was the Peptobismol headquarters, but no, it's a B&B. Aside from the color, I could totally live here as it overlooks Lake Pend Orielle and was so charming inside and out that I would take over in a heartbeat... after I painted the outside.

My son, the little angel that he is, was fine as long as he had command over the bag of Goldfish Crackers that I had packed. However, during the ceremony he... "broke wind" rather loudly a few times and made the bride and groom as well as the rest of the attendees giggle. Ah boys, gotta love them. I made his little bow tie using this tutorial. I also made one for my nephew who was the ring barer.

These are my nieces who were a little offended that they were not asked to be flower girls, but they were big helpers for me with my son and it was a fun day being with them.

Here they come! My nephew was so terrified of dropping his white pillow that he carried it like a full bucket of water. My daughter on the other hand stole the show, not that I'm bias at all, but she made sure he was right next to her and other than us having to remind her to drop the petals, she did great. It was so cute as she took one petal at a time out and threw it on the ground.

Here she is ditching her cousin as he was walking to slow. She really did so well! The best was that she continued to drop petals during the ceremony, on her way out, while waiting to get in the receiving line and then when she ran out of petals, she started picking them up off the ground and putting them back in her basket so she could drop them again.

Here is the bride. She is so cute and was utterly gorgeous!

Zoe stood so nice during the ceremony. I had to remind her several times at the rehearsal that she needed to stand still and I said the same thing to my nephew but during the ceremony he got bored and started to toss the pillow up and down. I couldn't get any pictures of him from where I sat. It was pretty funny though.

The dress she is wearing is one that my mom got for her from Mexico a few months ago. I had forgotten that it was a little low in the front, but I did make an under skirt so you couldn't see her panties... that should count for something!

Congrats Lynn and Nick!

Here they both are waiting for the receiving line to start. Everyone kept asking if they were twins, but they are 4 months apart. However, could you blame them with their names of Zoe and Xander?

Showing me that she threw all of her petals out of her basket.

I wanted her to have "special hair" for the day but I wanted it to look natural and relaxed. I did a French Twist crown for her and kept it loose.

This is the hair pretty I made for her out of the same material as the boys' bow ties. I love how it almost looks like antique lace.

And here are all the five cousins together. Last time we took pictures of all of them it was a disaster, but this time was a piece of cake.

What did you do this weekend?