Month: July 2019

Sewing Up Stash

mildlygranola, , 5 Comments

John was out of town last weekend. I was at home with a sick Elliot and stir crazy Audrey. I did what I needed to do to get through: relaxed my TV rules (I bought a season of Sheriff Callie and they were happy for a long time), invited friends over for post bedtime wine, increased my anxiety meds and sewed up my stash so I could stop stressing about where to store it.

I started with pajama pants for John. We often get sushi on date nights, so when I found some sushi flannel I picked some up. As he was out of town it was the perfect time to get a birthday present made for him.

I did make a mistake when cutting out the fabric, so one leg has the sushi upside down. Oh well, he probably won’t notice.

I made a romper for Audrey out of the Pegasus fabric she picked out. This required more thinking than I was in the mood for, but I do like how it turned out. It is knit, which is good, because she is always climbing something.

I had extra fabric, so I made her a pair of shorts too. I’ve learned that morning are easier if I use a fabric marker to add an initial to the back of shorts. Neither kid can figure out where the back is without a tag.

On Sunday I got a start on Christmas sewing and made the kids some Minnie Mouse Christmas pants. I haven’t finished these yet, as I am waiting until November to check on length and elastic width. They were not happy I made them take off their Minnie pats after I took this picture.

Now that I’m out of fabric I hope to find my knitting mojo again.

Smocked Dressapalooza

mildlygranola, , 12 Comments

We were stuck at home most of the day with a sick Elliot. That meant my strict screen time rules were relaxed so he could chill out on the couch watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It also meant that I had some time to sew while he watched Mickey.

After making Audrey a smocked dress last week I was in love. Smocked dresses are so cute and so fast. When I was at the fabric store yesterday I picked fabric for another dress for Audrey. I made the straps extra long so I can rip the seam out and lengthen them when she grows. I now want to craft a lemonade stand for the sole purpose of doing a photo shoot.

My sisters and I talked about how comfortable smocked dresses look last week after I made Audrey her first one. I decided to make us matching dresses (like my mom made us when we were little). I sewed them all up conservatively (I will likely have to take them in) and made straps for them to attach once they try them on. I hope we rent a lake cabin and spend days drinking coffee and wine and wearing our summer dresses.

I have a few more projects planned for this weekend. If Elliot is feeling better I’ll put them to the side and get outside to enjoy summer. The weekends usually mean a little more time for me to craft. I hope you are having a relaxing start to your weekend. If you are looking for an activity to do I highly recommend sewing a smocked dress.

Sew Much Fun

mildlygranola, , 18 Comments

I had an appointment today, so my in-laws watched the kids. They offered to take the kids all day so I could get a few things done. I was hoping to clean my house. I was hoping to go for a run. I was hoping to run to the store to buy mulch. I did none of that.

I was productive, just not in the way I intended to be. My MIL lent me her serger again (seriously, she takes the kids all day and lends me a really nice serger, how great is she?). I wanted to make sure I still remembered how to use the serger, so I ran to the store to get fabric for a dress. Then I made myself that dress. It’s a Halloween dress that glows in the dark (my life is pretty awesome).

It is not exactly flattering, but I don’t mind. It feels like I’m wearing incredibly comfortable pajamas when I wear it, so come October 1 this is all I will be wearing.

While at the fabric store I found some camel fabric. Obviously I needed to make a pair of camel shorts for Elliot.

I couldn’t just make shorts for Elliot. I also needed to make a pair for Audrey, so I picked up some unicorn fabric I new she would love.

I picked up fabric for a couple of other project this morning too. My plan is to avoid the fabric store until September 14 when I head out on a girls trip to Missouri to go fabric shopping. Wish me luck.

WIP Wednesday

mildlygranola, , , 9 Comments

I feel like I haven’t accomplished any knitting this week.

I’m on the gusset of the fist vanilla striped sock.

I made it to my second TDF sock, and I’m half way through the heel flap.

I didn’t touch the shawl this week.

I have been working on my worsted Norteasterly. It is a good thing to pick up when the kids are playing and I don’t feel like cleaning or cooking. The colors are off in this picture, but I trust I will get a decent photo of it at some point before it is finished.

I hope you are knitting more than me this week.

Two more things….

mildlygranola7 Comments

The kids and I headed to a family reunion this weekend. On Thursday night, when I should have been packing, I decided to do a bit more sewing.

I made Elliot a pair of shorts from the fabric he picked out on our last trip to the fabric store. He wanted monster truck shorts. He told me he wants to show a monster truck his shorts the next time he sees one. When I went to take his picture he insisted on having his suitcase in the picture with him. He was very serious about the whole thing.

I also made Audrey a dress out of a pre-smocked fabric. It was about 15 minutes of sewing. I think I should make myself a long version, as I think it would be incredibly comfortable.

Since leaving for the reunion I’ve sewed nothing and knit only a few stitches. It’s cooled off here now, so I’m hoping to get a lot of knitting done tonight. If I can stay awake. We’ve had a busy few days spending time with cousins. It was wonderful, but I could now sleep for days.

Minnie and Mickey Dress

mildlygranola, , , 7 Comments

It is too hot to play outside in the afternoons, so we’ve been stuck inside. My way of dealing with being stuck inside with two very active children is to obsessively sew (if you have been around for awhile you probably already picked up on that).

Today I made Audrey a Mickey & Minnie dress. She picked out the fabric when we went to the store last weekend. I picked out the black with white polka-dots to go with it. I used a Simplicity Learn to Sew pattern. I made the dress a size bigger than her measurements so it will last for more than a season. I didn’t love the pattern. I was very confused about the way they said to add bias tape, so I ended up ignoring it and adding the tape like I did when I made the Fen dress. I think it worked out OK.

When I was making my list for the fabric store I forgot to write down bias tape. I would normally make my own, but I didn’t buy enough fabric. I went back to JoAnn today to pick some up and ended up letting the kids pick out fabric again, so I guess I’ll be making shorts again soon. I need to stop taking them to the fabric store with me.