I've been following this blog for a while, she's extremely creative and some day I hope to be able to whip up these adorable outfits when the inspiration arises. This skirt is just very fashionable!

Milk Weed Skirt

And now she's linked to another sewer... a new blog to check out for sure:
Loose Teeth Sundress by Loose Teeth

Only a few more days until my sister's wedding!

As I had planned, I managed to hem the last bridesmaid dress last night. It went very quickly as it was an easy hem. I also restrung the pearls for both my mom's bracelet and a pearl necklace I wore at my wedding reception. I hope to re-knot the bracelet tonight and the necklace soon.

Also tonight I got a new task added, I need to adjust the underskirt from my wedding dress to fit my sister so she can wear it under hers. My dress was an empire style and hers has a waist so I need to take out the zipper and adjust it so the underskirt only comes to the waste, then add elastic or ribbon to secure it on her. It shouldn't be too difficult and it's my last "wedding" project!

Then it's one more day of work (tomorrow), some grocery shopping and then the drive "home" to start the wedding pampering! Nails Friday, Hair and wedding Saturday - I can't wait!!!

A wonderful long weekend!

And a great birthday! I took Thursday and Friday off last week to work around the house. We now have 3 rooms demo'd. The bathroom needed a new subfloor due to rot, so that's down and we started reframing the bathroom since it was lacking some studs...

Friday afternoon we spent outside starting a small garden for my new birthday rose bushes. We'll see if i can get them to grow :) Of course all the while we were doing all this I was fighting a nasty cold :(

Saturday I slept in and relaxed most of the day which was great because i think it helped me get over the cold finally. Sunday I spent the day cleaning (fighting dust from the demo still) and then sewing. I finished the flower girl dress and my sister's jewelry for the wedding. I also adjusted the straps on my dress for the wedding.

Tonight I'll pick up the last bridesmaid dress to be hemmed, hem it tomorrow probably, and i have a bracelet for my mom I want to restring (pearls) for her in case she wants to wear it. Everything else is all ready for the wedding I think!

No house work will get done most likely until after the wedding - so maybe next week we'll finish the framing and supports we're adding.

1 more week and we'll be proud (very proud) homeowners! I think we squared away the last of the details (i hope) and we're just waiting to hear for sure if that's the case.

I started the bustle on my sister's wedding dress this week. I added the hooks last night and I'll do the eyes tonight. Then that will be done!

Tomorrow i'll measure the flower girl so I can get a start on her dress this weekend. And I bought my shoes so I can now hem my dress for the wedding. Hopefully I can stay motivated this weekend to get it all done.

Oh and I get to see my niece-puppy this weekend when I go down to bring my sister her dress. Her puppy is getting big and it's been a long time since I saw her (more than a month now!).

The Xmas Sewing completed! I finished the 2 other aprons the weekend before xmas as planned, they are both in Dora fabric and the pockets are embroidered in the girls' names.
Then my new niece Jovi got an embroidered fleece jacket which she of course loved. This isn't her best picture but it's the only one I have with the jacket on her. She's a puggle (pug/beagle mix) and the most adorable creature in the world.
Our holidays were great, we went home to visit family xmas eve, did the normal xmas day extravaganza. Then came back to NH friday night, then the extended family xmas was Sat-Sunday.

Then Sunday we went to look at a house we're interested in (updates to come on that after we see where it goes!).

More xmas craft progress!

Pictures soon! I have now completed 3 of the 5 aprons for xmas gifts. This weekend I spent at my sisters' house teaching her how to use her sewing machine, we made curtains for her new bathroom and a dog bed for her puppy.

When I got home last night, after cleaning, I finally got to settle in and do some of my own sewing. I made the inner block for the two Amish quilt block gifts I'm making. They took about an hour to cut and piece the two blocks. Now I just need to add borders and quilt them. They are very cute and most of the points even came out :)

This week I hope to make the two other aprons and maybe get the borders on the blocks so I can get those quilted next weekend. Going to be a busy week, possible in-laws coming next weekend so I need to clean and organize and do some decorating too! Yikes!

Christmas is coming! And that means sewing!!!

I spent last weekend trying to get into the holiday mood craft wise. I decided on some gift ideas that I can use my new machine for! For each kid (there are 5 - they were all flower girls too!) I am making a craft apron and buying craft supplies (each different crafts).

So I went to Joann's Saturday and got some fabric, prompty washed it and Sunday I set out to making the first 3. 2 of them I completed by Sunday night, the 3rd is almost done, just need to pick up more D-Rings. The 4th and 5th are not yet started (actually need to get some fabric for the 5th!).
These are the two in child size large. I have two mediums (1 almost done) and 1 small to do. I am very excited, I'm embroidering the names on the pockets and using my fancy stitching along the top of the pocket on the pink ones. The Soccer one got red bias tape instead. I also used silver metallic thread on the pink ones which is something my old machine could not handle!

After these little things are done I have some ideas for a single Amish Quilt block that I plan to make for 4 people on my xmas list. I bought the fabric (they may be different colors each) and I'm really looking forward to making the miniature wall hangings.

This coming weekend I'm off to my sister's house to teach her how to use her sewing machine and help her make curtains (as well as play with the puppy!). That gives me the weekend before xmas to SEW some more! Plus each evening I can squeeze it in!

Merry Christmas to me!!!

Well with the downfall of my sewing machine it was finally time for me to invest in a good one (instead of just what I could get at Target). I went to the Sew & Vac to check out the machines, hoping that my budget would include an embroidery machine... well...HAH .. not even close :)

So I was bummed, I liked the machines but without embroidery they weren't special and I was tempted to get another cheap machine. Then I decided to go back and see what they had Used! I was in luck - just a tiny bit out of my budget I could get a USED Husqvarna Viking Designer 1, an older model that takes floppy, but it does embroidery and has all the features I wanted!

As of Friday, I am the proud owner of this used machine and I played with it all weekend! I really need to purchase some good embroidery patterns but it's fun to play with what it has.

I did realize however it is lacking the rolled hem foot that I have come to LOVE. I need to rectify that - of course Husqvarna has about 4 or 5 different sizes of rolled hem feet... yikes! I put them on my xmas wish list.

I can't wait to start making xmas gifts - gotta get my money's worth of this machine some how!

Oh my goodness - I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged. The month is just flying by. Of course work is busy so that helps.

Anyway - I never posted a picture of the 3 halloween costumes I made. Here they are (sorry for the blocked out faces - it was easiest to show the costumes ON and I want to keep my cousins' privacy intact). So here are the costumes - Zombie, princess from Enchanged, and Jasmine:
Jasmine's costume is a couple sizes too big but she loves it and can wear it for a few years this way :)

The sewing was complete the week before Halloween. Of course my machine did not make it but.... that just means it was time for a new sewing machine for Christmas... details to come soon!

Wow this month is going fast.

I finished up stitching my halloween house on Marie's NRR and will mail that off to Leslie today. I'm hoping to finish Scary Carrie Long Leggz before Halloween and then finish Leslie's NRR to get it back home to her. Pictures are on the camera, just waiting for me to take them off!

That's my stitching world. In the sewing world it's been quite an adventure. I was sewing away on halloween costumes last week and friday night I was hoping to finish the princess dress - however my machine seized up and stopped working! I was up until 2am trying to figure out what was wrong. Alas - the costume is not yet done -but the Zombie one was at least completed.

The good news is that my uncle oiled my machine and it's working again - albeit very slowly but sewing at least! So I'm back to the princess dress and just have to finish the ruffle that goes around the shoulders and the hem of the skirt. My goal is to complete it tonight so I can run it over to them tomorrow night. That will leave just Jasmine for this weekend.

And that is my life lately (outside of work). I did play some Zelda last night - restarted it actually as I got so far and then stopped for so long that I forgot what I was doing so I figured it was safer to restart. I'll probably put about an hour and a half in a week if I have the time.

No camera this week :( I should have a lot of pictures next week to make up for it (hopefully).

Anyway - last night I finished the Zombie costume! With no iron! The seams are not laying as nicely as I would like but it's a costume and I had no iron :) So I'm calling it done.

I also worked on Marie's Halloween NRR last night - not only is the house complete but now I have the trick-or-treaters almost done and the pumpkin tree about halfway done! I should be able to finish this up and get it mailed to Leslie next week. I feel horrible being behind due to the wedding but I think I can then start on Leslie's right away and get that to her quickly too!

Oh yea - and one of my dragon eggs hatched!!!:

Back to my stitching...

Well things have been weird lately - getting a lot of migraines, so the stitching and sewing had pretty much come to a halt (I've been working on Marie's Halloween NRR whenever I could and the house part is almost done!).

Finally last night I started the first of 3 halloween costumes I'm doing for my cousins. The first is a Zombie - I finished the pants and shoe covers. Tonight I'm hoping to do the shirt and maybe get a start on the dress for number 2.

The second costume is the dress that the princess from Enchanted wears towards the end -made out of the rug - that was a fun one to figure out! And that's going to be a tough one to make for a 7 year old.

Lastly is a Jasmine costume - that should be easy - lots of elastic and the fabric was easy to find.

In the mean time - I have sewn the knitted baby shorts together and just need to add the elastic and then they are done. And as I mentioned with stitching - I am working on NRR's exclusively - poor Scarrie Carrie is not yet done :)

Glenna's NRR!

Only about a week late in uploading the pictures :) I stitched Ladybug House by Elizabeth's designs for Glenna - here's my house:

And the whole RR so far - only one spot left!:
I thought I'd be stressed out about this RR since I'd be busy with wedding things but it turned out it perfectly filled some free time I had while house sitting when I couldn't be in my sewing room anyway! What a pleasure to stitch.

In other news - I've continued the go to bed at midnight and get up at 6am ritual so even though I'm working 11-12 hour days at work, I still have a good 4 hours in the evenings to do things around the house. My big project this week has been my wedding dress - I did the bustle on Sunday and I started hemming it Wed night (pinned it up), Thursday night I hemmed the underskirt of the dress and also the separate undergarment I wear to puff out the skirt more. Tonight I will start the actual dress fabric hemming - yikes! The length is perfect though - 2 1/2 inches I have to cut off !

My deadline is to get the dress hemmed and the applique put back on the bottom before Saturday night so I can bring it back home with me!

Peaceful Silhouette framed -

finally a picture!

This is the piece I stitched for my fiance for his law school graduation, he bought the kit and I stitched it. It is now happily framed and awaiting his new job in September where he will hang it. No point in bringing it to his current job with only 4 more weeks to go.

I am continuing the schedule of getting up 6, working till 7, going home and staying up till 11:30 (asleep by midnight) - this gives me a couple of good hours in the evenings to get stuff done and I'm excited.

I've decided to redo the zipper on the green flower girl dress - so I will be doing that this week hopefully and finally fixing the ribbon on the purple one, then they will be ready for hemming. Lots to do but I think I can manage it - less than 5 weeks to go!

Last flower girl dress is finished!!!

I finished it up last night. I'm a little mad at myself for not being more careful when basting before attaching the zipper as the seams don't match up as nicely as i'd like but it's really not that noticeable and I was too lazy to fix it. I just know it will bug me now though :(

All i have left to do on the girls' dresses now is to hem them and fix the first dress that doesn't have the ribbon like the other two. It's a pretty easy fix, just unstitch part of the side seams on the top, add the ribbon and stitch back up. I may try to do that tonight if I get a chance but I also have to make some veils tonight so we'll see how it goes.

I think i officially have less than 6 weeks now - and of course work is just insane right now so i'm working long hours and sleeping less and really looking forward to the weekend even though it will be packed!

Shower this weekend.. both kinds :)

My sister threw a bridal shower for me this weekend, she did such a great job hosting a large part (about 30 people showed up with the potential for 40). I got to talk to lots of people I hardly knew but knew me (I grew up in a small town) and lots of people I haven't seen in a long time.

And I got to give the bridesmaids these gifts I made (here is the final necklace with earrings that I made):
And my definite favorite of the gifts was this quilt that my Mom, Grandmother and sister made for me! I got to pick the fabrics so I already knew I'd love it but this was just beyond expectation. Here it is on my bed (as soon as I got home!):
Here is the patch my grandmother stitched for the back!
And my grandmother made me a matching runner for my dresser! She also made me matching pillow cases (not shown) - what a surprise!
She also made me another table runner to replace my christmas one she made me since I told her I leave that out all year, here it is on top of the christmas one. I love it - the bright colors are definitely "me".
I was overwhelmed by the generosity of my family and those that will become family in just under 10 weeks time! I can't believe how close the wedding is, so much to do but yet so much is already done, I really feel like it's soon now!

I also finished the 4th flower girl dress this weekend and left it with my grandmother who is going to hem it. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture because i finished it the morning we left Friday to go back home. It's the same as the purple one I did but it's in green :) One more to go!

Where is April going??

I'm doing a slightly different schedule with work, trying to get home earlier and run which means I have to get in earlier, which means I go to bed earlier - it's rough but I think it's working out so far. And I even finished my project work for my class tomorrow (last class!!).

So now i'm going to start a new book and snuggle in to bed after a quick crafty update:

I've been working on the invitations for the wedding slowly, got all the embossing done tonight as well as the ribbons cut! All that's left is putting them together and figuring out how to word the inside and then print those!

As for flower girl dresses - I cut the pattern for the fourth dress and then the main fabric but I haven't yet cut the lining or started sewing. I'm hoping to find some time this weekend around traveling back to NY to work on it a bit.

Jewelry - is on hold, waiting for supplies to arrive that I have ordered and then I think i'll be ready to start making some pearl necklaces! I can't wait.

Well that's my life - besides work.. trying to keep the balance of getting things done for the wedding and getting sleep and exercise! Better work on the sleep part now :)

Flower Girl Dress #2.

This is for the 3rd flower girl - so it's in the style of the younger 3. The skirt will be cut and then hemmed closer to the wedding and being shorter will hang a little nicer over the netting but to be safe I kept it long (in case she grows a lot).
I added rick rack around the bodice bottom and ribbon for a bow in the back (mostly so it can be tightened if it's too large). This dress had some very difficult parts - mostly dealing with the underskirt of netting attached to lining. Then that also made adding the zipper a bit more difficult. After a bunch of ripping out stitches I think it came out well and I know my flower girl will love it!
The next flower girl dress will be the second Eyelet one (with purple lining) - I'm hoping to get a start on at least cutting the pattern and some of the fabric and lining and starting the basting process which takes quite a while!

Vacation!

My fiance and I decided to take a 4 day weekend off for our 8th anniversary this year so we're smack in the middle of our mini vacation home doing absolutely nothing! It's been great so far - here's a recap:

Friday night - Hit BJs to stock up on stuff we needed then I cleaned - the whole apartment top to bottom - it's nice to start vacation with a clean apartment! Then I stayed up late reading - finished my book actually!

Saturday: Hit the grocery store to stock up on good food for the weekend, then we did almost nothing except watch Dexter Season 2 and stitch! I've been working on Deb's NRR and it's coming right along! I'll have pictures after this weekend of stitching!

Sunday: A very productive day - I cooked - LOTS! Then I settled in to do some sewing (see next post for pictures) and finished the second flower girl dress! I even knitted a bit while we finished Dexter Season 2.

Hmm... after I finishing writing entries for my blogs I'm going to pick up Deb's RR while I continue listening to my audio book which I'm hoping to finish this weekend as well.

And still 2 more days to go!!! I have a long list of stuff I want to do - so hopefully I'll have lots more pictures in the coming days!!

Pictures Finally! The first Flower Girl Dress!!

Here are the pictures of the first dress I completed last month. It's a Girl's size 10 for my 8 yr. old cousin and it looks wonderful on her - a little big but that's room to grow and it has a tie if it's still too big in August.

Here's a picture of the back. The green bow is very large but mimics the bow that i have on my wedding gown which I love so I thought it would be cute if the two oldest flower girls had matching bows.
And here's a close up of hte top of the dress. The fabric is white eyelet with a green lining. This is going to be my favorite dress since green is my favorite color and I've always been partial to eyelet dresses!
I can't believe how long it took me to get pictures of this dress online -- I've already finished dress number 2 which I'll post next!