Winter Wonderings Wanderings & Whatnot

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Things I don't know...

Oceans could be filled with the things I DON'T know... most of the time I am ok with that. I can't spell, I am horrible at math, please don't expect me to remember your name if we've only met once... the list goes on and on.

But there are some things I expect myself to know. And this week even those things have been shattered.

One: I expect to know how to take care of my kids. I don't expect to be a perfect mom, but I do expect myself to know how to keep my kids safe and relatively happy. Returning from vacation has thrown all that into a tailspin. As I watch my children struggle to return to our regularly scheduled programming, I find myself at a loss for how to help them adjust, how to sooth their frustrations, and how to meet their needs. This week I just DON'T know what to do. My mom assures me they will be right as rain within a week. But I am feeling like I need a vacation from my vacation - GAAHHHHH!

Two: I expect to know how to sew. I have been trained, I have taken classes, and I have the wealth of knowledge that is the internet at my disposal. WHY then can I not for the life of me put piping around a sports coat collar???? I can't get the corners to work, I just can't figure it out, I can't find a tutorial, and for the life of me I DON'T know what to do. This is very very sad. As I look on line I am noticing a trend - no one puts piping on a sports coat, or if they do - they don't put it all the way around the collar. Maybe they are on to something. I really, really don't want to take the entire thing apart.

So, I will leave my sad little jacket and wait until the guru of gurus (aka - my mom) comes tomorrow, and maybe she can figure it out.

There is one thing I do know though - getting frustrated doesn't help (I've had my fair share of that this week). So for the rest of the week, I will BE A DUCK - I'll let the little things roll off my back, I'll do only what I can and let go of the rest. I will hug my kids, I'll potentially chalk my sports coat up to a learning failure, and I will find at least one thing to truly smile at - laugh at - and love.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Coffee Cup Swap

I had the awesome opportunity to participate in a coffee cup swap put on by Dalayna of http://www.dalaynadillon.blogspot.com and Britt of http://yellowumbrelladesign.blogspot.com.

Not only was I introduced to many new bloggers, I was able to purchase and receive a mug for/from Jenny of www.cassandrazcorner.blogspot.com - you should check out her blog, she is the awesome mama of two boys, she travels with work, takes care of her kids, and still finds time to work out... MY INSPIRATION!

She sent me the sweetest mug. Large - becasue everyone needs an extra dose of caffine in the morning. Green - she didn't even know that green is my favorite color (next to red that is, I just can't choose, don't make me choose). And covered with artistic flowers, in her note she commented that they made her think of my creative femininity; and I just loved that!

So thank you for my mug!!! (PS - I haven't actually gotten to drink out of it because my husband has stolen it as his new favorite mug - umm hunny, I want my mug back !)

I also left for vacation without taking a picture of said mug - blerg, blog fail. I'll get a picture added to the post once I get home!

I can't wait to participate in more swaps in the future to get to know more and more of the blogging world!

And since I have no mug picture, I will leave you with a pic of baby girl, hubs and I on vacation:

hahaha - I just love her startled expression (mama never/rarely takes pictures with flash)

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Beckett 3000: Project Run&Play week 2

(This is also my update for Operation: Project $0 since this whole outfit is for the boys' fall wardrobe and upcycled)

The week two theme for Project Run and Play is 'Fashion Icon'. Now this theme would have been a breeze for me if I was sewing for baby girl. I have fashionistas from every decade from the past century that I would love to design looks inspired by. But, after sewing for baby girl last week - I am back to all BOY!!! And sadly, I know NOTHING about current male fashion icons. (hangs head in shame).
So onto friendly Google I went, and searched for 'Male Fashion Icon' - I know, shocking search right ;op I found a few things that struck my interest, but I really wanted to push myself outside my box. And then I found it - the PERFECT fashion icon to inspire an outfit for a little boy: ANDRE 3000. (don't know much about him? Click his name to learn more)

I was struck by three things in picking him as my inspiration - first he loves mixing casual and dress wear with pattern and COLOR! Second, he always has a fun accessory - hats, bow ties, suspenders, cool shoes... there is always something that just makes the outfit 'more'. And third, is virtually every casual picture of him, he has this HUGE smile on his face. There is just something endearing about that. So, my fashion icon he became.

I started with a design...

altered it slightly... messed up a few times... and ended up with this:

I changed the 2 to a B, well, because he is B. I scrapped the suspenders because I was having dyeing issues and didn't want them to look bad because of a bad dye job. So the bow tie was added instead. This is my first attempt at applique - I had some issues, so it isn't perfect, but I am happy with the result overall. And yes, my boys own shoes - shoes that even would have complimented this outfit, but when you have a happy model you don't waste the moment by trying to wrangle them into shoes!!!

For this outfit I made the pants, sweatshirt, bow tie, and hat (just not the white shirt)
Pants: Blue and grey wool, bought at an auction by my mom in a mixed box for $1
Sweatshirt: Upcycled from Men's sweater
Bow Tie & B applique: Upcycled yellow T (was my peanut M&M costume when I was pregnant w/ the boys)
Hat: Same wool as pants for outer, lined with upcycled plaid button up shirt

My poor photo session did not go quite as planned ;o( I was taking the warm up shots and getting my little guy all happy - then I sat him in this cute red chair to start the 'real' shoot, and he immediately got stung by a BEE - GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, poor baby boy. He didn't know what to do and just kept shaking his hand saying 'hot, hot, hot...' Oh B, that is how mama would describe it too.

At least I had the pre shots, since we left the next day for vacation and there was no chance to re-shoot.

So here is B, aka Bex 3000:

Those eyes - Oh those EYES!!!

Taking off - I think he feels comfortable in his outfit ;o) And my poor Mom in the background trying to wrangle A and baby girl

If you look to the far right, next to his hand, you can see a yellow blur - yep, that is the culprit!

HOTHOTHOTHOT - Poor baby B, stung by a bee ;o(

Here are a few making/detail shots:

Bright yellow bow tie - in the future I will make bowties with woven cotton rather than knit, but it made sense to use the same fabric as the 'B' to tie the look together. I will be making many more of these, they are so easy! (click HERE fort he tutorial I used from papernstitchblog.com)

I love love love this little hat - this is a great way to show how much of a difference your seam allowance makes. This was a size 6-8 boys hat, my baby is 18 months (although he has a HUGE head). I knew I didn't want the hat as full as the original (just too floppy for this look), so I cut off about an inch from the original point and re-shaped the sides. The brim and cut width of the crown are exactly the same as the original. Then instead of sewing a .25inch seam as directed, I sewed a .33inch seam allowance - this brought in the crown perfectly to my little man's head. The hat actually looks a little better on A because his head is smaller, but I love it on B - and he didn't want to take it off!!!
(click HERE for the tutorial I used from clevergirl.org)

I lined these pants with leftover cotton from the center of a bed skirt (it is so soft, and the same lining I used for baby girls' Satin and Lace Romper). No matter how soft the wool, I always find it itchy, and I wanted B to be comfy.

(I found a font I liked in PS, altered it to be a bit more angular, printed it out and then placed it under the T shirt to trace the B onto the fabric)

I'm bad about reading all the directions before starting ;op I should have ironed my applique paper to the fabric BEFORE cutting, therefore cutting them together - ummm yeah, I didn't - so then I had to cut it as best I could and iron it on - lesson learned ;o)

You can see that my applique stitching isn't perfect - 1st I didn't have a stabilizer and I was working with two knit fabrics, ooops. 2nd, my thread kept fraying and breaking, until I figured out that you have to go slow, SLOW - then it works fine. Lesson #2 learned.

Linked Up: http://sewchatty.blogspot.com/2012/09/made-with-love-link-up_23.html, http://my1929charmer.com/sundays-best-awards-and-49-par-tay/, http://www.iheartnaptime.net/sundae-scoop-link-party-47/, http://www.homemakeronadime.com/2012/09/market-your-biz-and-giveaways-67.html, http://www.heatherlyloves.com/2012/09/sunday-roundup-22.html, http://www.thegirlcreative.com/2012/09/just-something-i-whipped-up_23.html, http://www.thetraintocrazy.com/2012/09/ma.html, http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2012/09/make-it-pretty-monday-week-16.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20TheDedicatedHouse%20(The%20Dedicated%20House), http://www.skiptomylou.org/2012/09/24/made-by-you-monday-120/, http://www.creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com/11301/, http://etcetorize.blogspot.com/2012/09/make-it-great-monday_23.html, http://www.linesacross.com/2012/09/the-cure-for-common-monday-56.html, http://brassyapple.blogspot.ca/2012/09/blog-link-party-make-it-monday-49.html, http://www.raisingbean.com/search?updated-max=2012-09-22T07:30:00-04:00&max-results=3, http://sarahdawndesigns.blogspot.com/2012/09/pintastic-monday-link-party-10.html#.UGEIDo1mTYg, http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/2012/09/take-look-tuesday_24.html, http://itsablogparty.com/show-me-how-9-24-12/, http://thecreativeitchboutique.blogspot.com/2012/09/sew-cute-tuesday-92512.html, http://adiamondinthestuff.blogspot.ca/2012/09/time-to-shine-party-no-87.html, http://carolynshomework.blogspot.ca/2012/09/the-inspiration-board-link-party-69.html, http://www.salttree.net/2012/09/open-call-tuesday-21.html, http://onelittlemomm.blogspot.com/2012/09/wkww-what-kids-wore-wednesday_25.html

Monday, September 10, 2012

Cutest Baby Girl Ever - but I may be BIASED

Biased, WHAT!?!?! I'm obviously the cutest!!!

So week One of Project Run and Play is here!!!! Its HERE, and I am getting to sew along. I am so happy.

Week one's challenge is a remix of the tutorial Katy's "It's Okay to be Biased" Skirt from Katy at No Big Dill. I will admit that I spent weeks trying to figure out how to make this a boy remix, but all the designs I came up with felt either like a flamenco dancer or a holiday outfit. My goal with all of my boy sewing is that the clothes be 100% wearable and really add to their fall/winter wardrobe. So, this will be the one entry that is not for the boys.

Once I had the pressure of BOY off my shoulders, I started to get very excited about sewing baby girl something special just for her. She has been rather neglected with Operation: Project $0 going on. Instantly I knew that I wanted to do a romper. I love baby girl in rompers, and they aren't constantly shifting up awkwardly under her armpits. Now to choose the perfect fabrics...

I looked at my stash of clothes waiting for a second life, and this dress lept off the shelf and into my arms (ok, not literally, but it felt that way). It is an old dress of my mom's form the 70's, a Scott McClintock in fact. I loved the lace. Satin and lace, a girl full of grace.

So now the design... I sketched a few variations and had decided that I was going to create a chevron pattern with the bias strips on the bottom portion of the romper. Then my mom came over, saw my design and crinkled her nose - you know it is never good when your mother crinkles her nose ;op My sketch was on standing toddler, not a scrunched up squishy 4 month old - and my mother quickly pointed out that she thought all my work on created chevrons would be lost on an outfit for this age range. POUT. DOUBLE POUT. But I listened (I mostly listen to my mama) - there was no way I wanted to ruin this lace by creating an outfit I wouldn't be happy with in the end. So straight strips it is. And I am very happy with the results. *Next summer, when baby girl is walking, I will remix again for a chevron outfit that will be seen by the world!!!

Here she is - my husband dubbed this the 'soft serve cone', I'm calling it the 'Satin&Lace Romper' - too boring? Oh... well just look at her cuteness rather than focusing on the name ;o)

Yep - she could stand holding onto the chair ALL BY HERSELF (she's only 4 months old!), don't ask what happened two seconds after I snapped this.. ;o( - mama fail.

I'll get a tutorial post up ASAP for how I put this together. I made the headband too - you can see the tutorial for it HERE.

Whatnot: Vintage Lace Headband Tutorial

Ok, so this is absolutely the EASIEST tutorial I will ever do.

For baby girl's headband I wanted to use some old lace that was in a bag of Goodwill destined clothing my mom handed down to me. It was delicate, not too wide, and a great off white.

The hardest part of this project was removing the lace from the original garment with a seam ripper - I just wanted to make sure to not destroy the lace in the process (took me about 10 minutes).

All right, once you have your lace, you want to cut two lengths. Measure from behind your baby/toddler/or adult ear across the crown and behind the opposite ear (if you have three ears, we might have a problem). Cut one length: that measurement + .5 inch. Cut 2nd length crown measurement + 1 inch. Now cut your elastic - mine is soft underwear elastic. Measure the back of the head and subtract two - or wing it and adjust, you know how you roll.

Now sew the elastic to the lace (I turned the lace under 1/4 inch on each side so there would not be a raw edge). The key here is to cross the edges of the lace slightly so that they make a small V - this will keep the two layers of lace from hiding underneath one another. I stitched it down with a zig zag, but a straight stitch would be fine here too.

Try it on and if it fits - wear it out and smile graciously at all the ohhs and ahhhs you will receive.

See I told you, easy peasy!!!! You could do this with any lace, ribbon, or fabric strips to get matching headbands for a whole slew of outfits!

Linked Up: http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2012/09/make-it-pretty-monday-week-14.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20TheDedicatedHouse%20(The%20Dedicated%20House), http://etcetorize.blogspot.com/2012/09/make-it-great-monday_9.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: http://alderberryhill.blogspot.com/2012/09/its-make-scene-monday-time-again-i-have.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20AlderberryHill%20(Alderberry%20Hill), http://sewchatty.blogspot.com/2012/09/made-with-love-link-up-shop-update.html, http://www.sumossweetstuff.com/2012/09/market-yourself-mondayimportant-dates.html, http://www.sewcando.com/2012/09/time-for-craftastic-link-party-latest.html, http://www.linesacross.com/2012/09/the-cure-for-common-monday-54.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20LinesAcrossMyFace%20(lines%20across%20my%20face), http://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com/2012/09/mop-it-up-mondays-33.html, http://www.nap-timecreations.com/2012/09/olympic-party-food-and-tasteful-tuesday.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20blogspot/qjfNQ%20(naptime%20creations)

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Operation: Project $0 (week 4)

Woahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, how did we get to week four?!?!?!?!?

This week has been an absolute blur - between a recovering baby boy, the holiday weekend, trips back and forth to the 2 hour away hospital for checkups, a dental appointment, and photography sessions; I feel like my brain is about 2 days behind my body.

I have made steps forward, and I have stalled out on some projects; but I will say the forward momentum wins ;o)

This week I:
~ Patterned a Suit jacket (yes I should have just bought Melly's amazing pattern, but my friend had a jacket that was the right size that I could pattern - and free just wins out right now!)
~ Attempted to dye fabric, yeah I don't know about this one ;o(
~ Made the pants for PR&P fashion icon week (ok the waistband and hem need to be done, but they are fully lined and pretty)
~Patterned a hoodie
~ Cut a sweatshirt

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO FINISH ONE PROJECT AT A TIME????

here's a glimpse at the week in pictures:

Jacket to pattern (ignore the stains, it needs to be washed, but it fits B perfectly!)

Pattern Pieces drawn out on tissue paper

All my pretty pieces just waiting for that perfect fabric to come along and sweep them off their feet...

Cutting the sweatshirt from a sweater - there will be some interesting seaming in this piece

Hello, I am a sheet - they call me MR. sheet

Laying pattern pieces on Mr. sheet to figure out what needs to be dyed

Ummmmm... that isn't really blue, but the orange isn't bad (still wet sample strips)

This wool is gorgeous - light blue and grey (my mom bought a box of woolens from an Auction, for like $1 years ago - I am so happy she gave me this piece!!!)