Here's my new Nightie! Simplicity 3573

This was very easy to put together. And came out so nicely!
I changed it up a bit:

I put a self-fabric binding around the neck.

A regular purchased binding just didn't seem appealing--scratchy and rough. This is so much softer. I sewed it down around the neckline again to make everything lie down nicely.

Used my buttonhole stitch around the sleeves and at the placket. The sleeves are 3/4 length and without any elastic.


The buttons were in my stash. I had some great little flower buttons--but only two! These look bright and cheerful, though.

I added about 10 inches (even for shorty me!) to make a long gown. Otherwise the nightgown would be quite short. I like something around my legs when it's cold!

So cozy and warm--especially since it's supposed to snow again tomorrow!

BRRR! A new Nightgown

A warm one, of course.

Here's Christmas Eve in Dallas:

Which inspired a new fluffy flannel gown.

The pattern is Simplicity 3573. I will make "B" with a longer skirt and no ruffle. I found the bright little flannel at Walmart for $2 a yard. It's 100% cotton and so soft and warm!

Okay, I'm Sewing!! First, A Christmas Gift

First, a Christmas gift that I made for someone who loves to drink tea.
A tea cozy!
I cut out a pattern first:

It's approximately 12 X 12 inches--I wanted the tea cozy large enough for most teapots. If you had a specific teapot in mind, you could measure your teapot, making sure that you left enough "ease" to pull the cozy on and off, and for seams.

I used an already quilted fabric I got on sale at Jo-Anns. It took about 3/8 yard.

This is the inner print. The seam inside is bound with plain ol' bias tape.

As is the bottom. Theoretically, it's reversible.

Here's the little tea-time bit I found in an antique store in Waxahachie. Isn't it great? I used my fancy machine's buttonhole stitch to sew the embroidered piece on.

I hope she like it! And doesn't see it here first!

Merry Christmas!

A Merry and Blessed Christmas to Your Household!

Jane

Round Robin Quilt

In my Mom's quilting class, we have started our "Round Robin" quilts.
To do this, I first made a 24 X 24 inch quilt piece.
You then pass around the blocks for other moms to add a six-inch (or so) border--one border each month.
In May, I will see---for the first time!---my new quilt!
And also see how I and all the other moms have added and produced each others' quilts!

I envisioned my quilt as a montage of things that I enjoy/like/or are important to me.

Sewing, especially vintage patterns.

Taking care of my house--and fixing it up!

As a seven year survivor--breast cancer.

Working Hard

but I don't want to!

I'd rather be doing other stuff--cooking, sewing, getting ready for Christmas! But it's one last paper to do!

Another Paraphrase of Acts 3:1-10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obdG5AEj14U

Here's the lyrics: "Lame Man Walkin'"

Lil' PJ feat. B Money & Baby Georgia

Directed by DrewButta

Fall 2009, BE101

Go, go, go, go Go, go, go lame man

It's the ninth hour We gon' heal ya on the ninth hour

We gon' praise Jesus fo His mighty power

Yeah its in the name of Jesus, dont be sour!

[Chorus] (2x) You can find me in the temple, my ears hear you beg

Homie I got what chu need if you want to feel your leg

I'm into discipling and showing Gods love

He was a Nazarene and he kinda was a stud

[Verse] When we walk up out front, we see you asking fo some alms

People dissin you big, people giving you qualms

You thought we'd give you money, but we're gonna show you love

You say you want to walk, I say homie get on up

But homie you need faith, feet down stand up
I see the lame man walkin, now leapin thats whats up

Watching how you move, no callin Christ a liar or wimp

My brother now youre healed, dont even walk wit a limp

You were at the gate, with people thinking Dude, youre lame

Now theyre amazed, impressed with you cause you love God

But holla in the temple, people sayin God, youre faithful

And the plan is to put Satans game in a choke hold

I'm feelin' focused bro, my Lord on my mind

You got a miracle out the deal and now youre just fine

Now the people seeing your style, feeling His flow

Youve been healed by the Man, everybody lets go

[Chorus] (2x)

Picture from http://breadsite.org/

A Quilt--No, It's Acts 3!

Verses 1 -- 10.
It's not really a quilt. I was trying to paraphrase--in a creative way!--Acts 3:1-10. That's the story of Peter and John healing the lame man at the Temple.
Ooops, it's sideways....

I didn't really make a quilt--it's squares and triangles and shapes out of scrapbooking papers that I cut out and glued onto foam board to look like a quilt.
The crutch and alms bowl are those that the lame man threw down when he was miraculously cured through Jesus' name by Peter and John. He begged everyday at the Temple because he had been lame from birth.

The keys are Peter's symbol. Look at the first picture and you can see the chalice that is John's symbol.

This says "beautiful" in Greek (I hope--I looked it up!). That's the gate in the Temple where this occurred.

These are the other people at the Temple who were amazed at the lame man who got up and
joyfully went leaping into the Temple. I bet he was glad!

It's Blue!

The bathroom, that is!

I've begun to clean up--putting up the towel hooks. These I bought at World Market several years ago--very victorian looking, don't you think?

Shower Curtains

Are really easy to make!
Here's a great tutorial on making your own shower curtain. You can really add lots of punch with a new shower curtain, and have one that fits your personal decor--like matching your bathroom paint like I did!
http://www.save-on-crafts.com/showercurtain.html
I used inexpensive fabric from Walmart. Being about 42 inches wide, I made a very simple shower curtain of twice that width. I also am finishing the bottom with a ruffle of a different but go-together fabric. I have used buttonholes at the top for the shower curtain rings.
I may do a bit more to the shower curtain eventually--the above tutorial has some great ideas!

Have a Yummy and Blessed Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Guest Bathroom

The latest project: fixing the guest (formerly my oldest son's) bathroom.
It just needed some good, old-fashioned sprucing-up.

The goal? Painting and decorating for under $200.

One of the first things--take down the cabinet over the toilet. It was huge and looming. Sorry that I didn't have a "Before" picture, but here's the "After" picture.

No more cabinet over the toilet! This one thing really opened up the bathroom. And I still have plenty of storage under the sink.

Next, painting.

And sewing a new shower curtain. Here's the fabric I purchased at Wal-Mart last year (yes, I've been planning this awhile) for $1.00 a yard!

I bought blue paint that matches the light blue in the fabric at Home Depot--I really enjoy painting with the Behr paint. One gallon of the Premium Plus (paint plus primer--it's low odor and covers well!) in semi-gloss (perfect for the bath) is $34.00.

Luckily, we've already put in a nice light fixture

and just last year, a new lavatory faucet.

A Not-So-Vintage Pattern

I started working on this, while we were still in the HOT days of autumn---but now, it's been raining for weeks!! (actually, about 3 weeks--you should see our lake, it came up so far the canoe was drowned. Don't worry, our house is up on a hill)--and gotten quite a bit cooler. So I'm going to put it away for now.

I've had this pattern a long time. It's a really cute wrap-style sundress. The material is a wonderful linen/cotton mix, great for our hot Dallas summer days. The blue stripe is the perfect foil for the taupe background.

Now to find something a bit warmer to sew up!

A Quick Project!

A tissue box
This was really fast and fun!

And modeled by our newest family member, Miss Cupcake!

I used a wooden tissue box (from the bargain bin at Jo-Ann's), several bits of various scrapbooking papers, aninexpensive doily (from somewhere out of my odd-n-ends stash), a few scraps of costume material, some beads, and ....... Mod-Podge!

You could make whatever colors/odd bits of material, lace, or whatever/almost anything you could get to stick on the box!

I haven't been lazy!

Just too busy with schoolwork!

And, my parents have moved here! It's been such a great event--maybe not for them in having to do all the moving--but hopefully they will be happy and contented once all the moving is done, and I am so happy to have them here! I love being able to go around and see them!

And I love to help them out. They are great parents, grandparents, and parents-in-law. My DH absolutely loves them. They are so much fun! My dad went with us to India several years ago, at age 75! And we really put him through the wringer--up to the nomads at 16,000 feet above sea level!Then, last year, both my parents went with me, DH and Son #3 to Italy. What a blast!

School Daze

Today was the second day of our homeschool co-op classes.

I teach a science class there.

It's wonderful to help kids learn; I love science and doing science experiments too!

Unfortunately, we don't get to blow anything up very often.

(Uh-oh, too many boys in this family, I think....)

Wow, I've been lazy...

or busy. So much homework! Plus I got behind with the Labor Day Weekend.
Sorry.
I'll get back to my sewing and let you know what I'm up to!
But I'm loving grad school. It's great! I'm learning so much already---and realizing how much I don't know!

Some more of my study

My new study area. This little desk came from a great little antique shop in Waxahachie. I bought it for $15! It's not exactly an antique--probably 60's, 70's???--and was painted sorta white, with green paint showing through.
I scrubbed and sanded and painted it pink! And found the beautiful little glass knob at Hobby Lobby.

This is my new bulletin board. I am not too crafty, but sometime I find and borrow nifty ideas. (I don't think up originals very well.) This is an old window--no glass--that I put a piece of quilt behind, then tacked a large piece of foam board to the back of the whole shebang.
I cut the quilt up and sewed the rectangles back together in such a way that the seams are behind the muntins (the small bars that divide the window panes) and a star is in the middle of each window pane.
Ta-Da! Some place to put my notes to myself!

Sewing is just not in the cards...

....this week.

So I'll show you a bit more about my fantabulous spruced-up study/sewing room.

Here's the pic of the huge office credenza that my wonderful guys moved into my sewing room. Yeah, guys!

This now holds lots of books (school and sewing), a few fun things, and my buckets of sewing projects that I'm working on.

I covered cat-litter buckets (they were just lying about in the garage--I didn't want to just trash them!) with fabric, and I put large zip-lock bags with one pattern and fabric/notions in each zip-lock. Three or four projects will fit in each bucket.

The buckets are VERY easy to cover. Just takes a few minutes (if you're not too picky about perfection). Read through the directions and figure out how much material you will (less than a yard).
First, trace the bottom of your bucket onto some paper, add 1/2 inch all the way around for the seam. This is the bottom. Cut out.

Measure the circumference of the rectangle you've drawn. Add 1 inch for seams. This is the length of your side. Then measure the height of your bucket. Add 1/2 inch for the seam connecting the side to the bottom, and add 2 or 3 inches to turn down at the top. Now you can cut out the side covering of your bucket.

Remembering that you will be turning down the top 2 or 3 inches of the side piece (dotted line in above drawing), mark where your bucket handles are. Slash the side piece and finish those edges (either turn to inside with a tiny hem, or bind).

Turn down top edge and stitch.
Right sides together, stitch together short edges of side piece. Press.

Again, right sides together, stitch bottom to side. To do this, mark centers of front, back and sides on both bottom piece and side piece. Pin together, easing or making a pleat or two if necessary.

If you wish, put a piece of elastic around the top of the bucket cover to help hold it onto the bucket (see blue line in above drawing).

Now, don't those old plastic buckets look much better?

First Day of Grad School!

Only one class today (I'm only taking 3 classes this semester.) It was great. Already plenty of homework.

And, of course, the rest of the life isn't always peaceful. Didn't Jesus promise that our lives would be stress-free, euphoric, and financially bountiful?
No, He didn't. He did promise that He would always be with us, and give us strength for our trials.
So now, off to try and get the broken house key out of the lock, unlock my DS's car (lots of lock insufficiency today), and get some new house keys made.
Plus make dinner and work on homework--mine and the DS's.

May I show you my fabrics from India?

They are lovely, if I do say so myself!

On the left is the dupatta, or scarf. On the right is one large piece of border-print cotton. It's supposed to be for both the tunic top (kameez) and pants (salwar), but I think I will use the material to make a summer dress. I may use the scarf for a top.

This is another set of fabrics for a 3 piece salwar kameez. I will probably make a summer salwar suit for myself. On the left is the blue print for the top, in the middle is the dupatta, and on the right the white print for the bottoms. (Though I may use the white trimmed with the blue for the top, and have blue pants).

This gorgeous stuff I purchased for about 6 dollars--the mirrors hadn't been attached yet, but I love it just as it is! It also is a bit short for a complete suit, but being altitudinally-challenged, I may be able to squeeze out a salwar suit. This is the front; the back is plain. Really, not sure what I will do with it, but it's lovely, isn't it?

This is the dupatta. It's quite sheer. If you can tell from this pic, the edge of the scarf has to somehow be finished. There is a cording along the edge, but the material is raw. Haven't quite figured out how to manage this!

I got all this fabric for about $20, can you believe? And finding 3 matching pieces of material for a salwar suit is nigh impossible here in the States! So I'm scheming and planning what to do with all this next spring--because before you know it, autumn will arrive.