I don't know why some projects take so long to complete, because when you get right down to it they're so stupid simple that the 5 minutes it takes to actually get them done should inspire you to just get them done. Ha! Not so.

I had a pillow project for Reagan that should have gotten done months ago, but I got 90% done and then stopped. The last 10% only took 5 minutes, but it took 3 months to spend those 5 minutes to get it done.

On Reagan's window seat, I had (have) several pillow ideas planned, and I had two 12-inch pillow forms lying around, so you'd think I'd at least get those 2 pillows onto her seat before she got here. Nope! You'd be wrong. I decided to wait until the wee hours of the morning one day after feeding her to get the one pillow done. The other pillow did take some time, because I only had 5% of it done for the longest time.

So the first pillow I made for her is a simple blue chevron print with some crocheted flowers on it. Super simple. The flower pattern I used is {HERE}. I simply changed hook sizes to get the various sized flowers for the pillow.

The second pillow was inspired by a monogram I saw somewhere and I can't for the life of my find the blog post that inspired me. I designed the monogram and then drew it out on the pink fabric. Then several satin stitch sessions later, I had this really pretty outlined monogram. Another 5 minutes to sew up the pillow and VOILA! 2nd pillow is done.


I have more pillows I want to make for this window seat, but for now these 2 will have to suffice. At least until after Christmas. :)

So you know when you see something and you go, "that is so me," and then you go ahead and get it cause it "so you."

This happened a while back, cause ya know I hoard fabric, I found a great tangerine madras plaid and had to have it. So I got my requisite 3 yards and waited for the perfect pattern. This process is not fool proof - hence the fabric hoarding - but it does work because I found a pattern!

Enter McCall's 6649. It's a Laura Ashley and I don't know how I felt about that but the blouse is cute, as long as I can get used to the faux tie.

The whole pattern was pretty straight forward but I will say that the collar was a pain. I'm still feeling out how I like the shirt with my outfits but this staple seems to work.

Have you guys ever gotten on a tear with projects and then feared  not having enough time to post them all? How about fearing not having enough time to finish all your projects so you spend all your time crafting or cleaning or both?

Yea. I'm there.

I am hopefully going to be able to show off the house this week, and I'm super excited to do it, cause I made some changes to my usual Christmas decor this year, but first I'm going to share a new tree skirt!

My old tree skirt was literally falling apart. So on a trip to Hancock Fabrics I found some great quilter's fabric and churned out this pretty. The fur didn't hurt either. Love the fur.

There's really not much to this skirt. I didn't have a pattern. I winged it from the get-go. The bottom is a 42" square and the top is a 36" circle. I recycled the beads from something or other.

I love that neither fabric is Christmas-y but that they totally work for this tree! I also love the whimsy of it.

so there's my new tree skirt. Hopefully I can get my act together and get some pictures of these trees!


Partying with:

So I know that I've been saying that I'm going to write up a post about this skirt for a while now, but the WAIT IS OVER!

I'm writing the post! Its this post in fact!

I'll wait while you guys pick yourselves up off  the floor. I  know I'm floored too (har har har).

Ok so back to the topic at hand. Simplicity 2058 is a great pattern. Simple.As.That.

Here's me modeling it -
I'm very intense while trying to take an in focus picture. Obv I still need to work on this, but this is better than usual! :)

Some of the nice features of  this pattern are: Three different sized pieces for curvy, slim and straight, 1" seam allowances on the sides for more tailored alteration, simple to follow  instructions. Seriously, this  pattern took like 2 hours to sew up with fittings between various steps.

One of these years I'll get pictures of the blouses I've made. :)

So a long time ago (read 6 weeks ago) I made and finished my 2nd swimsuit of the season.

I am in love with how it turned out! Here's Butterick 5795!

The suit is customized for cup size, which is always nice. It's also fully lined all the way around. Great for holding everything in!

What do you guys think?

At the end of June was my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary. It was so great to spend most of the day Saturday with them. The occasion, of course, called for a new dress!


I wish I could say that I loved this dress, but I don't. The pattern is McCall's 6518 which is a Phoebe Couture creation.

The pattern is branded as an 'easy' one, and I don't know that I'd agree. The flounces were kind of a pain in the butt to construct, and there were no tips inside the general instructions to make the construction any easier. Luckily, I do have  some experience so I changed the assembly instructions to fit what I knew would work.

I did have to adjust the armhole again, but not as much as my previous dress. Another couple of dart solved that problem for me. I also needed to lengthen this dress by 6". From the waist to the hemline was 18" which is just a tad short on someone of my stature so 24" was much better for me.

I did not add the ribbon accent around the midriff, but obviously I did add some decorative stitches which I liked. Here are some other comments.

Like I said, I really wanted to love this dress but I just couldn't.

Well its been no secret that I've been on a sewing kick and most of the sewing has been for me. A couple of weekends ago, we attended the wedding of some very dear friends and as such, I needed a new dress. :)

The wedding was held at a local winery and the forecast was for 88 degrees and sunny. Awesome. Enter cotton seersucker. Love me some seersuckefr. :) Its a pain in the butt to work with sometimes, but the affect is so nice.

So here is my outfit!

The pattern is Simplicty 1797!

The pattern is fairly straightforward, and really the only annoying thing was cutting out all the bias tape strips for the accents on this dress. Oh and remembering to match up the plaid, but that's not the pattern's fault.

I did have to alter the bodice and add a dart from the armhole  to the side front seams to accommodate the lack of bulk I have near my arms, but that was a  fairly straightforward adjustment.

So the dress was pretty comfortable throughout the afternoon and into the evening. I would absolutely recommend this dress pattern to anyone  to make. Its straightforward and really the only difficult part is getting the pleat and bias tape accent on the front of the skirt  right, but even that is not that difficult.

Oh and do you see those white spectator-like shoes I'm wearing? Yep, the were originally brown leather, but some white duct tape fixed that. :) I'll share that alteration with you guys tomorrow!


Linking up to:

So yesterday, I showed off some new shorts. What are new shorts without a new shirt?

This is Simplicity 1805.

There are a couple of shirt options and they're all cute, but obviously I went with the flirty one. None of my t-shirts are fitting since I've lost so much weight so I figured a cute knit top would do the trick. I think I should have made it a size smaller, because the XL that I made is kind of big. Hence the belt. I do love that it's long though. I don't like shirts that barely cover your midriff. Even though I've been working on shrinking the damage done by children and  not taking care of myself, I still don't  want to show it off. Length is a good thing (sometimes).

This shirt went together in about 2 hours after getting it cut out. I love how easy it was and really the only thing I'd change is the facing on the sleeve. You see  where the sleeve is cut open to expose your shoulder, well there's a 1" facing on either side of that. Its not stitched down or secured in any way except at the top, and when you first put on the shirt it requires some adjustment. Other than that small nuisance, the top is terrific.

So there's my new outfit. Next week I'll be back with some cute new dresses that I made myself, plus a quick and easy fix to a shoe problem I had. :)

I thought I didn't have anything to post, but low and behold I never posted up the shorts and shirt I made myself a few weeks ago. I'm such a bubble head sometimes.

Right now I'm only going to focus on the shorts. Tomorrow I'll share the shirt. I apologize for the pictures. I am horrible at taking pictures of myself.

So it all started with Simplicity 3768 (which is now out of print)
I liked the details on  these shorts, and since I haven't worn 'shorts' for quite some time I figured the length would ease me back into wearing shorter shorts.

I had some peach linen (with some stretch in it!) lying around, so after I washed it up I whipped up some shorts. :)

The length of these is nice, and I like the pocket and hem detail, but my biggest problem is the hook closure. I feel like a button (or two) would add a lot to the waistband area. I cut out these shorts at a 22 and the waist is quite baggy. They're not as sleek as I had hoped they would be, but they are super comfortable.



So there are my new shorts, and as you can see in some of the pictures; the shirt I'm wearing with it is the shirt I'm going to show off tomorrow. I love that these shorts are comfortable, but I think for my next pair of shorts, I'm going to go with something a little sleeker.

Have you guys ever had a lot of projects and not enough time to document them all? Yea, me too.

So this dress has been done for little over a week, and I'm just now getting around to sharing it with you guys. I'm bad, I know. I'm sure I'll console myself with this cup of coffee I found. :)

So anyways, our grandmother's 50th wedding anniversary is coming up, and while I'm sure Dana  had grand plans for what she was going to wear; I had different plans. I called her up and told her that I was making her something for said fun event, and then realized how that sounded and asked if she had a dress, to which she replied yes, but I still informed her I was making this dress. :)

Enter Simplicity 1913.
Cute dress, right?

Well I had this lovely tangerine fabric just lying around. Its a sportswear type (gabardine or twill or something) and completely washable, and I knew that it'd look awesome on my baby sister. Her coloring and mine are very similar and oranges just look lovely on us. Not to mention orange is happy! So I got busy on making this dress for Dae.

The construction of the dress is nice, and I like most of it. I love the details though!
 There are 8 buttons on this dress and not a single one does anything but look pretty. :) The belt material is just some sheer fabric I had lying around. You'll be seeing it again soon. :)


 This is the only part of this pattern that I dislike. There should not be exposed seam selvage on the dress. I tried doing this up like a proper collar and enclosing it inside the collar, but the  curve on the color is just to great to accommodate it. My grandmother said to hide the seams with a bias tape made out of the material, and I may still do that, but there are other things to sew up. One thing I did really like about this pattern is the fully lined bodice. It creates a nice edge on the neckline and arm holes. The bodice lining also encases the seam between the skirt and bodice. Looks so nice!

So there's the the dress for my sister. I hope she likes  it!



Linking up to:

Well I finally bit the bullet and made myself a new skirt. I've been avoiding making stuff for me for the longest time because of my weight, but I've lost 40 pounds so sewing and outfitting myself with new clothes is fun again, not to mention why should I make myself some clothes that may not fit in a few months? Why? Because all of my old clothes are not fitting. Some are not even wearable, others are getting a significant amount of help from my belts. My friend's bachelorette party was the perfect excuse to get dolled up and step out in some new clothes.

Enter Butterick 5756.

How cute and flirty is that skirt? Perfect for winery hopping and enjoying the day with the girls!

The pattern was easy to follow and quite straightforward. The only thing that a little hairy was the pocket construction. The images in the guide sheet were not as clear as they maybe could have been and I really had to read carefully to make sure that everything was lying correctly so that the pleat didn't look funny. Otherwise, its a super simple pattern.

So here I am all dolled up. I paired the skirt  with a tight tank and then topped it with a nice cardigan.

 Sorry about the cropping, but I don't have a picture of me by myself. And why is it that out of three pictures I'm holding coffee in two of them. Oh well, I guess that is how I usually am. Coffee is my friend. :)

I completely love how the whole outfit came out and I love how girly and swishy the skirt is. What do you guys think? Does the skirt work?




Linking up to: