KCW so far...

This week I've been sewing for the kids (well one kid so far!) and joining in with the Spring session of Kids Clothes Week.

On day 1 I cut out patterns and tried to figure out which fabric to put where on each of the three dresses.

By day 3 I had the bodice of Sophie's dress finished...

And today on day 5 it looks like this...

I have to hand sew the bodice lining down, hem it and make a sash/ribbon for the waist.  

It's taking me a while but I'm trying to be careful and do a good job.  Plus, we finally have nice weather here so we've been outside lots!  The snow is finally gone (except for the piles in the shady spots)!!!

4 & 6 and more

This past Friday my little ones turned 4 & 6 years old.  As is becoming customary, I embellished a t-shirt for each of them.

Zachary's was done using knit fabrics.  He wasn't too happy that the 4 was on the side of the shirt.  He wanted it to be in the centre.  I'll keep that in mind for next year. :-)

He is quite happy to be four!

And Carolin is quite happy to be 6!

I couldn't find any plain t-shirts in the stores.  (I found many of the t-shirts to be quite ugly in stores right now.)  I used one that she had in her closet - a hand-me-down from someone I am sure!

This is the best I could do of the two of them together.  They had a great day!

~

We tried twice to have a baby on my s-i-l Kathy's birthday but we missed it twice! :-)  She had her birthday yesterday.  She had loved the pillow I made for her mom in December so I made one for her.  I do believe I am finished with Cathedral Windows now.  It turned out pretty well and she liked it.  The fabric is from the line Juggling Summer by Brigitte Heitland for Zen Chic.

And lastly, our children had their Spring Concert last week Friday. Here they are, all dolled up and looking fine.  I was thinking of writing a blog post called 'How not to sew dresses for your girls.'

Melissa's dress is new, one of the three I bought for my sister's upcoming wedding.  The sash will be replaced with a coral one for the wedding.  Deanna's dress was given to her just recently and it fits her perfectly and Carolin's dress is handed down from Deanna (though I did make it.)

  I did make a little jacket for Melissa as her dress is sleeveless.  It turned out okay, but Melissa doesn't really like it.  I used this pattern, which I adjusted quite a bit.  I was using a fabric that was not recommended and I landed up making a narrow bias binding to finish off the edges.  I also added the ruching on the sleeve and the bow.

I am sure I will use the pattern again, but probably for the winter with a stretch velvet or something.

So, that's what I have been up to lately!  My plans for this week...?  Up in the air still.  Shall I join in Kid's Clothes Week as I had planned, or do the things that are more pressing...?  Suzanne has got fabric, patterns and big plans - it would be fun to join her.  I'll think about it while I hang out my sheets in the fresh, sunshiny air!  Have a good week all of you!

Sara Jane Bibs and Washi Tape

I had two Sara Jane fat quarters waiting to be used since last summer so when I had a baby shower to go to last week I made these two cute bibs for him.  I love the fabric!

Washi Tape...I'm sure you've all heard about it and probably have some of your own but I just got a whole bunch as a gift for my birthday.  So fun!  Doesn't this make a simple cute gift bag?

Great British Sewing Bee

Have you seen this show?  I don't watch much TV or movies but I heard of this from a friend and I love it.

"Amateur sewers take on challenges as they compete to be named Britain's best home sewer."

Something fun to watch while folding that mountain of laundry :)

Kitchen: Before and After Photos

Last week we painted the kitchen!  So excited to be rid of the chicken and rooster border and burgundy walls.  The kitchen is much brighter!

First a couple of before photos.  I didn't actually take any photos before I started but here are a few from the past couple of years to give you an idea.

See the corner cabinet in this photo?  It wasn't ugly or anything but it really cut into our eating area.  We took it out and it has made a huge difference.

You can't see the ugly border on the top but you can see the burgundy walls and the (ugly) vertical blinds in the window.

We tried to be as frugal as possible in this home improvement.  The gray shelf was one of the black shiny shelves in the rec room.  I sanded it down and painted it gray (left over from our bedroom frames.)

Took down the ugly blinds and put up this colourful topper!  I love it.

It matches my new mini quilt!

The light fixture.  We were all set to buy a new one because the old one was u-g-l-y.   Imagine a white and brass light fixture with a knot in the cord.  Gord tried spray paint.  And though it's still not gorgeous, it looks so much better than it did.  And it cost $6.

And that's our kitchen redo.  Nothing glamorous, but it sure feels like 'my' kitchen now.  It only took 2 years!

Gearing up for Kids Clothes Week

Kids Clothes Week is next week and I'm joining in on the fun!

I've been thinking about dresses for my girls for the last little while and have all kinds of things swirling around in my head. The other night I visited with a friend and came up with a pattern idea for each girl.

This friend has an Ottobre subscription so it was fun looking through them all!  The middle drop waist one is from a Dutch Knippie magazine so I'll be looking for a similar pattern for that one (any recommendations?).

These are the fabrics! I went last night to Fabricland with the idea to use solid/print/lace with a vintage look. It's hard to find fabric when you have an idea in your head already but I'm liking what I found - a lot!

From left to right: Challis, Crepe, Denim Shirting and Voile

So many fabrics I haven't worked with before but hopefully it'll all come together :)

Finish Along - Quarter 2

For the months of April - June I have compiled quite a list.  Part of my list are some quilts I would like to finish.  And then I went ahead and made a list of sewing goals and some home improvement goals.  I found that my goals in the first quarter really helped me stay on track and actually work on things that I want to finish.  First up, the quilting goals.

#1 - String Quilt.  This quilt is a collaboration between my girls (8 & 10 yrs) and myself.  So far, alot of the sewing has been done by them.  They pressed all of the scraps, and stitched the blocks.  I cut the bases for them and stitched the finished blocks together.  This is half of the size they would like it to be, so we have a ways to go. 

#2 - Quilt for Pro-life.  Here's the front...

... and the back.

#3 - Quilt for K and W.  It's a secret so I won't show you anything until it's finished!

I also have a few home improvement projects I would very much like to get finished before the end of June.  

#1 - Paint the kitchen and family room.

#2 - Paint my table.

And then, on to the big sewing list.

#1 - Bias binding for shop (it's getting low again.)

#2 - 6-8 Sleep Sacks

#3 - Pillow for my s-i-l

#4 - leggings for C

#5 - Dress for D (though I am rethinking this.  She just got a perfectly good dress from someone.  I might wait until summer and make her a sundress instead.)

#6 - Dressy top for M

#7 - Sundress for C

#8 - Pants for Z

#9 - Birthday shirts for C and Z

#10 - Sashes for girl's dresses

#11 - Dress for Me (yes!)

#12 - Table runners for K & W's wedding
#13 - Something with fabrics from Suzanne

I hope to tackle the sewing for the kids during Kids Clothes Week (April 22 - 27).  If you have some kids clothes that you'd like make then join in the fun!

This list is mostly for me.  As I mentioned, I found it really helped to have some 3 month goals.

This post is linked to the 2013 Finish Along at She Can Quilt

My First Potholders

We just finished our year off of Secret Sisters and I made these pot holders as part of my last gift. I really like how they turned out and had fun with the quilting!

Before and after...

My First Quarter Progress becomes my Second Quarter list!

Yep...I can't call this post First Quarter "Finishes" because I didn't actually finish anything on my list except for one item!  I made a lot of progress though and made a bunch of things that weren't started at the beginning of the quarter.  My original post it here.

#1 My dress.  My pile of fabric has changed to an organized pile of fabric with some seams in it :p.  I'm scared of it though so I can only seem to do a little bit at a time :) But...I...will...finish it soon!

#2 Scrappy Trip Along - Started with 3 blocks and now it's a completed top with 54!  My plan is to quilt it up this quarter.

insert picture that I can't get right now b/c I have 

no one to hold it for me and it's all wet outside with new snow(!!)

#3 Doll shirt and leggings - didn't get back to doll clothes making at all and not sure I feel like it for the next while either so this one goes off for the second quarter

#4 Bind change pad and finish crib sheet.  My one and only finish!

#5 Grandchildren cross-stitch - Before/After.  I decided to make 10 more hearts - 4 of which are already claimed!  I'll keep stitching away on this one.  I'd love to hang it up at my parents when we go there this summer.

#6 Two doll quilts and pillow sets. Anneke finished the blue one and is working on stitching the binding down on the second. 

Not sure where the other pillow went

#7 Quilted Runner for the girls room.  It's now quilted and just needs the binding put on :)  This'll be a quick finish this quarter.  I'm hoping to quilt my Scrappy Trip Along like this so this runner was good practice.

A few things to add to my list for the second quarter:

#8 Sunday clothes for the girls.  I've got some ideas swimming around in my head but I have to finish some of the above before I let myself start!

#9 Something secret for my dear sister who's getting married :)

#10, 11, 12...things that I know will come up that are unknown to me now!

Proof...

...that we ate our supper outside on the deck last night.  For those who are interested in weather - we beat our record high for yesterday.  24.3 degrees (Celsius)!  We've been stocking up on Vitamin D in preparation for the rain that will surely come soon.

Finish Along ~ First Quarter Finishes

I joined the Finish-A-Long at She Can Quilt back in January.  I posted my goals and now it's time to see how I did!  Here's the link to my original post.

#1 - A queen sized quilt out of this beautiful fabric for my bed.  To match the walls we Gord painted in the summer.  Finished!  See my blog post here.

#2 - I don't have a photo of it but I want to finish a mini quilt that has been waiting to be finished for a very long time.  The top was given to me by Amy of During Quiet Time and it will look perfect in my room.  Finished!  It was going to be for my wall but my quilting on it was less than stellar so I decided to use it on my table.  It looks very nice there!  Thank you Amy for the unfinished top.  It is finally finished.

#3 - A bed skirt for my bed to match above quilt and walls.  I might lazy out and just buy one.  Finished - I bought one. :-)

#4 - Finish up the photo wall and other stuff related to said painted room.  Just get it done already, Alisa!  Finished!  It was hard to take a photo of this wall but you get the idea here. Mostly photos of different places on hikes or trips and also one photo of each of our children and one of us.  These are all random frames, painted gray.  We are happy with it!

#5 - Sidekick Tote  Finished!  I actually made two of these.

#6 - A bunch of bibs  Finished! - most of these are gifted already, I need to make more.

#7 - Bias tape for my shop  Also finished!  I need to make more again.

#8 - Ipad Pouch Finished!


That was really fun!  It was good for me to set the goal to finish most of these things by the end of March.  It really helped in the case of my big King-Size quilt.  I am not sure I would have finished it without the push.  Thank you Leanne for hosting the Finish-Along!  I'll be posting a new list of goals for the next quarter soon.