Pictures galore!

I'm trying to keep good on some of my promises with some photos of recent projects!!

First I have the Butterick 5216 in the ever frustrating blue knit. I really love how this top turned out, problems aside (remember how I attached the bottom inside out? yeah...). It definitely needs a cami underneath it, but all in all I like it, and this pattern will get a lot of use! (please excuse the bad, self-taken, pic)
Next I have my finished dress! Not bad for the first dress I've ever sewn, if I do say so myself :) If you remember, it was Butterick 5181. Originally I was going to make it a long dress, because I thought I really wanted a cute maxi dress to wear to my brother-in-law's wedding, but with the cotton that I chose the drape just wasn't as flattering long, so I hemmed it up to a mid-calf length:

Also, a close-up of the bodice where I sewed the front together so that I'm not giving everyone a show!
My only regret in making this dress is that I didn't do an FBA. When I started making the dress, I really didn't know what an FBA was, so I guess that would have been a little difficult, but at least now I know for next time! With some left over fabric, and a couple of remnants that I picked up some time ago, I decided to whip up a purse to go with my dress, you know, in my spare time- hahaha. I really wanted to do an oversized clutch, but I couldn't find a tutorial online that I really liked, so I went and dug through my patterns and pulled out Simplicity 2685, I decided to make view B, the smaller bag, omitting the straps to make it more 'clutch' like. I haven't put any kind of closure on it yet, but I'm not sure I want to. I also took some of the left over fabric from my dress and made the front more of a 'patchwork' design. What do you think of the results?
I also modified the inside a little; the pattern has a fancy hidden pocket with a zipper. Seeing as I didn't have a zipper (and I haven't done a pocket like this yet and was looking to get this done in one night) I just added a nice big patch pocket inside:
Again, I really like how this came together, and I think it will be perfect for the wedding; I'll be able to fit my wallet, phone, camera, and some diapers, wipes and toys in it for during the ceremony!

And finally, I threw together this little dress for our friends' little girl. I also finally finished the sweetest pair of embroidered bloomers that I've owed her for a couple months now. I feel so guilty that its taken me so long, so I figured she could use a little dress to go along with the bloomers, or whatever else she wants! I pretty much made the pattern up, based on a little shirt that my daughter has and used bias tape instead of seams and ribbon to make adjustable shoulders.

Wait... where did I go??

I know, I know, I've been gone too long. But *whiiiiiiine* I was out of town for half of the month of July and I'm finally home and have eleventy-gazillion things to do before we go out of town again this weekend!!!

Ok, sorry, I'm done whining now. Like I said, I've been busy. I finished this tote:

and it turned out soooo cute! I made it from Henry Alexander Apples & Pears fabric (the blue), for my mom. I need to photograph it still, but I also need to cut the dowels down for the handles. I also have finished my dress for the wedding this weekend, yay! So I promise to get some more pics of my actual finished products for my next post. Also over the weekend I overhauled the kitchen and made chalkboard out of an old cabinet door that I had lying around for no reason, which was inspired by this.

Aside from all the work this weekend we went to the farmer's market and got some amazing stuff! We picked up fresh green beans, potatoes, carrots, garlic, bell pepper, lettuce, cucumbers, and the biggest zucchini I have ever seen! We also got fresh mint that we used to make mojitos this weekend- yummmm. And finally we got this amazing organic beef roast from one of the vendors. On Saturday we smoked it on our new grill, and then grilled the potatoes, zucchini, carrots, bell pepper, and an onion. It was all soooo good, especially when we mixed it with the fresh garlic, which I roasted in the oven with a little olive oil and pepper. It was seriously, to die for, and as an added bonus we were able to support our local farmers for a great price. We were also going to pick up some fresh peaches to make a cobbler from, but the line was a full block long, so we decided to pass!

All in all it was a very good weekend, so nice to be in town and get things done around the house before we jet off again this weekend for my brother-in-law's wedding!

Success!

Alright, I finally finished the blasted knit top I was making (same as the yellow one I posted about last time)! Whew, let me tell you, working with a two-way stretch jersey knit is not the easiest task. I used my teflon foot, which really helped prevent extra stretching while I was hemming, but it still was a task to pin and make sure it didn't end up all crazy! I have to say, though, that after all the hard work, the top is pretty darn cute :) I didn't stitch up the front like I did with the yellow, because it just didn't feel right. I liked this one open to the empire waist, and I figure I'll wear a tank top underneath it, and I can use it as a cover up with my swim suit, etc, etc. I didn't have a chance to take pictures of it yet, but hopefully I'll have them taken and uploaded by the next time I post! I have a feeling I'll be making this top a few more times, its just so cute, the shoulders are wide enough to cover bra straps (I hate ones that are too thin!!) and it is a little longer so its got that cute tunic look (and does a good job hiding anything peeking over the top of my jeans). Speaking of things peeking over the top of my jeans, I weighed in today but only lost .2 lbs :( Yes, I know, a loss is a loss, and I'm glad the scale is going down, but it was a reminder to kick my butt back into gear and make sure I'm not slacking. I need to make sure I'm eating throughout the day and not just having yogurt for breakfast and a huge dinner. So, yeah, its a new week and I just need to focus!

And speaking of focusing, I think I'm ready to tackle my next big sewing project....

I'm going to make the messenger bag (the small tan one on the right). I'm planning on using it as a diaper bag, and I'm going to make a few changes to the pattern- like making it deeper so I can cram more stuff in it! SOooo- wish me luck!!!

Okay, okay...

I know, bad blogger, bad blogger! But hey- I was out of town until Wednesday and I'm going out of town tomorrow, so give me a break. I've been doing laundry, re-acquainting myself with my own home, and of course sewing! Last time I posted I told you about a couple of projects I was working on, and I have pictures!! I sewed the side seams up on the dress, taking out the slipstitch I'd started (per good advice) so that I could sew the fabric and lining in one continuous seam, that way I won't have any raw seams in the bodice. So, as promised, here are some pictures of the dress. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the fabric- I got it at this crazy little quilting store in town, they have some truly amazing stuff! Here is a shot of the dress from the front- it doesn't look like much on the hanger, but it is cute on.

And a close up of the bodice and the funky orange I used to line it (orange was on clearance, plus I like the retro vibe it gives):

And finally a good shot if the print; I love the zinnias and all the colors! This is part of Robert Kaufman's "Hot Blossoms" collection.

And finally, the shirt I was working on. Now, I know I said that I was making this in a really pretty blue t-shirt jersey, and I was (or am...) but I hit kind of a road block. After putting together the top, hemming around the neck and arms (NOT EASY with this jersey!!), and putting the bottom pieces together I had finally worked up the courage to pin the top to the bottom and get the thing sewn already. My mother-in-law had suggested using a straight stitch in some places, but keeping with the stretch stitch in others, which I thought was a good idea. So I set to work sewing the empire waist with a stretch stitch and perfectly matching thread (yay!), it was only when I had finished that I noticed that I hadn't pinned the right sides together! My finished project had the bottom inside out *#$$@!*&^$%#%! Ugh, so I've been working on picking out the almost invisible stretch seam. In the mean time, I had picked up this pretty yellow seersucker on clearance and thought it would make a great summer-y top! Since I had the pattern pieces cut out already, and knew how the top would go together, I was able to make this in just a few hours. And viola!!! My first finished garment for myself :)

And here is a picture of me wearing it:

I did make a few changes; I added about 1 1/2 inches to the length of the front pieces to accommodate for a larger bust, then since the front was longer I added a pleat along the side seam so that they would match up on the side seam. Finally I closed up the front a bit (the original shows it open to the waist) so that my bra wouldn't be hanging out. All in all I really like this top, and I think next time I'll make it out of some cute chiffon that I picked up on clearance!

Oh, and since I've been a bad blogger I forgot to note that I lost another 2 lbs this week, brining my total loss up to 13.2 lbs!

I survived!

The 4th of July, that is. I weighed in at WW yesterday, and I'm happy to report that I lost 2.2 lbs this week! I was a little nervous... we were out of town all weekend and that led to frozen drinks, and birthday cake, and probably a little too much snacking :/

Still, I tried to stay on track as much as possible, and it feels nice to be rewarded for that! On another note, I have a few sewing projects I want to post about; I'm sewing my dress for my brother-in-law's August wedding, and working on a casual top for myself. Joann's had a sale on patters ($.99!) and I went a little crazy, so I see some more projects in my future- that is if we ever stay home for more than a day or two. Currently we're at the in-law's house for the weekend, then on Monday I'll be heading to Chicago to spend some time with my parents as my hubby heads to a meeting. Since I'm not home I can't take any pictures of my projects, so I'll just leave you with the patterns!

For this one I'm making the sleeveless white/black one. I'm using a pretty blue jersey knit I picked up on the clearance rack!

This is the dress for the wedding; it is the top of styles A & B, but the skirt from C (I'm a shortie!!!):

Aaaand we're off!

Ok, here I am again, starting yet another blog! My last solo attempt didn't last long (Food-Interrupted), probably because I didn't stay on my diet. I tried it for a few weeks, and didn't see any progress and was worried about my milk supply (I'm still nursing the little one) so I figured I would worry about that later. Turns out later was just a few weeks ago, and I'm glad to say I'm back on track and have lost 9 lbs so far! The second blog was a joint effort (Cutest Baby on the Blog) with my friend Carissa to promote our Etsy store, and it was more successful. We've been taking a hiatus from updating since summer has been so busy and Carissa is super busy hosting a MomTV show, writing her own blog and keeping up with Grown In My Heart- not to mention her two cuties!

So, you might wonder after these failed attempts why I'm back here trying to blog again? Well, I've taken to reading some blogs over the last few months, and I really enjoy them! They cover all kinds of topics (being a mom, home renovations, and sewing- just to name a few) and its nice having a place to be inspired and get ideas. After so much inspiration, I thought I'd share what I'm up to (a little of everything!) with the blog-o-sphere, so with that said- HERE WE GO AGAIN!