Sewing retirement

Well, after I made several pairs of pants and a dress for Finley, I decided to put my sewing machine up for a while. It was taking over the dining room table and we had to eat somewhere. It's been a  couple weeks now and the sewing bug is creeping back in :) I'm trying something for Sam and finishing something I started for Finley.

 I want to make Sam a longall. It will be the most difficult thing I have tried so far because I will need to make cording and add snaps. I learned how to make cording in class, but we did not get to snaps or buttons...which leads me to the project I'm finishing for Finley.

This is supposed to resemble a Matilda Jane top. I found a pattern that is spot on, but in order to get fabric as pretty as they use and as much as they use, it becomes costly. This little top was next to nothing because I got the pattern during Hobby Lobby's .99 pattern sale and the fabric came from Hancock Fabrics Blowout Sale. As you can see, I still need to make the button holes for the knotted straps and add the apron and rick rack. Button holes is something else we didn't learn so I'll be using Youtube :)

DIY Burlap Wreath

 

This was seriously the easiest DIY ever! I never have anything on my front door. I'm not sure why. I think because I never see anything I really like. I decided I needed something so I googled DIY wreath and a million images popped up. I picked this one because it was simple and looked easy enough.  Here is the link if you want to try it. I got everything I needed to make it at Hobby Lobby for about $15. I used white burlap, but I think the natural burlap would be beautiful for the fall.

http://www.sheknows.com/living/articles/968591/diy-fluffy-burlap-wreath 

Just a couple tips...

-Cut the fabric into 5 x 5 squares. My poofs could have been poofier :)

-Use straight pins with the balls on top, not thumb tacks. The burlap is stiff and my thumtacks popped out of the styrofoam. 

Look Who's 6 Months Old!!!

I am!

I can't believe that Sam's first 6 months have gone by even faster than Finley's first 6 months. Sam is doing all kinds of big boy things and even though I'm supposed to be happy about having a healthy growing boy, I can't help but be a little sad :( 6 month post coming soon!

Go Phantoms!

Saturday, my niece had a soccer game in Huntsville so we got to go see her play and visit with Chris, Jake and Mimi. Finley had a great time and loved cheering on the players. I can't wait for her to play soccer next year! Sam enjoyed being outside too!

Go Phantoms!

 Happy boy!

 Finley and Madeline.

Birmingham continued

I got some great pictures of the kids while we were in Birmingham! Here are a few of my favs.

Sam having a sink bath at Grammy's.

 Finley and Sam on Cici's porch.

 Having fun at Homewood Park.

 Sam and Cici at the park.

Ready for bed at Cici's.

Ireham

Earlier in September, Joey went to Ireland. His company does trips every year that salesmen can earn and this year the trip was a week in Dublin, Ireland. I'm hoping he will be a guest blogger and tell you all about his trip. We had to decide back in May if I was going to go. I couldn't imagine, at that time, leaving my newborn for a week to go to a foreign country so I decided to stay behind. So, while Joey was exploring Ireland, I went to Birmingham to stay with my mother in law and my mom. I'm so glad I did! I got to see several of my Birmingham friends, I took Finley to do some fun things we don't have here in Huntsville and I had free baby-sitting so I could get out by myself. I have decided that along with Milo's, I want Huntsville to get a Steel City Pops (Rocket City Pops, great idea, right?) and a Treetop Adventure.

We played with Riley and Peyton.

 We played dress up and went to Treetop Adventure with Scarlett.

We went to Homewood Park and Steel City Pops. I can't get that strawberry cream popsicle off my mind.

 Grandad and Uncle Curt came to see us.

We sure do miss Birmingham, but we're always glad to come home to Huntsville ;)

War Eagle!!!

War Eagle from the Dambros!

Adventures in Sewing

Here are my sewing projects thus far...

As long as you don't look too closely at the hems or turn anything inside out, they look pretty good. Ruffled pants were the main reason I wanted to learn to sew. I think they are so cute and its so easy to pair them with an appliqued shirt and be done. I really picked a good weekend to start because Hobby Lobby had .99 patterns and Hancock had a HUGE fabric sale. I think I got about 5 yards of fabric and 2 yds of trim for $13. The owl pants were my first pair and as you can see, the ruffles aren't as ruffly as they should be. The pair to the right of the owl pants are the best pair so far although they are a little too long. The pink dress is precious, but I made a 4T and the part around the neck and the sleeves are a little small for her. I'm pretty happy with the outfit. The pants are a little big in the waist and the sleeves are gathered with elastic thread and they didn't gather as much as I wanted them too, but overall I like it. Finley wore it to school today because it was red day and she literally has nothing in her closet that is red. Hopefully, it won't fall apart. I'm glad I got a few projects under my belt. I knew that if I waited a few weeks to do anything, I would probably never do it. Now, I know I will pull my machine out again :) I have so much fabric left over! I will have to get creative in order to use it all. I haven't made anything for Sam yet, but I think I'll try a pair of pants in the owl fabric first. I'm excited to experiment with different fabrics. I would love to be able to make knit clothes for Finley because she is all about comfort and these cotton fabrics can be a little stiff. I don't know if sewing will become my hobby, but I do enjoy it for the most part and it's nice to know I can do it. The very best part was all the compliments Finley got at school on her outfit. I was very proud to say, "I made it." :)