mountain of bags

I joined a preschool activity swap a few weeks ago.

Here's how it works:

Everyone is assigned an activity that a preschooler can do on his/her own

while momma is busy doing school with the bigger kids.

Everyone makes 20 sets of their one activity.

Then we all get together and swaps activities,

giving 20 kids

20 different 

self-directed activities.

pretty sweet, huh?

My assignment

 was to gather a tumbler and 12 - 20 plastic colored clothespins

for twenty activity bags.

I'm supposed to draw a face on the cup

so that the kiddos can not only have a

 'drop the clothespin in the cup' game

but a 'make funny hair for the face' game, too

by clipping the pins around the rim of the cup.

I ran all over town choosing just the right tumblers

and collecting enough clothespins.

15 seemed like a perfect amount for the cups I bought.

That's 300 clothespins!

When I got home from shopping

instead of putting all my activity sets together
 like I should have done

I started thinking,

"Where are these little kids going to put all those clothespins

while they're playing with them - when they're not in the cup?"

So I decided I had to make them all 

little drawstring bags to hold the pins.

I would have liked to have made these with cute fabric

but decided to go with something I already had

so I cut twenty notebook-paper sized pieces from 

an old sheet I'd used to make a muslin for some pants for Ton'.

Now, these bags are admittedly small at 4 1/2 x 6 1/2

but they're perfect for little hands and this project.

I accidentally made 21 instead of 20

and let me tell you

that one extra bag is a hot commodity!

Once cut, these only took 5 minutes each to make

so even though I made a buttload - it didn't take too long.

(Lana has always wondered - how much, exactly, is a buttload?)

I simply folded  and ironed the top (one of the long sides) down 1/4" or so

and then folded it down again maybe 3/4" 

then I unfolded the second fold, but left the first one

and sewed down the side and across the bottom

leaving a bit of an opening for my drawstring

just a tiny bit past that second crease

Then I clipped the bottom corners

re-folded the top that I'd ironed down earlier

and did a row of stitching along the top of the bag

 and another just a bit below that 

to create a casing for the ribbon.

I threaded ribbon through the hole I'd left in the side 

when I sewed it up which - if in the right spot -

was perfectly centered between my two rows of stitching.

Now that I've got that out of my system

I need to put together the requested activity.....

Tutu for Lex'

  

I wanted to make just a little something yesterday.

I tried

twice

to make some boxer briefs for Josiah

using his too-small shirts.

Let's just say - he doesn't have any new underwear.

Which means 

I hadn't made anything;

I'd merely attempted to make something.

I remembered the tulle I bought several months ago

to make a tutu for Lexi.

I'd made a no-sew one for Lily and wasn't overly thrilled with it

so I knew I wanted to make Lex's differently.

I used every bit of two 25 yard rolls of tulle

which was the perfect amount for a size 2/3, I think.

I like the look of it sewn

much better than the tied style

and still it only took about 40 - 45 minutes to make.

It also doubles as a fabulous hat.

ruffles galore

I was so excited when I found the fabric on clearance

a couple of months ago;

I figured within an hour or two of arriving home

 from Hobby Lobby

I'd have two adorable little outfits all sewn up.

Should I do skirts?

or jumpers??

I was already writing a post in my head.

I knew Lana'd be jealous 

so I bought enough to make a skirt for her, too.

I considered one for moi,

 but I'd feel like a cupcake in so many ruffles

and I'm pretty sure my booty couldn't really carry off the look.

Problem was, 

when I laid out the fabric

with all its glorious rufflage

I couldn't quite figure out how to make a skirt that would look decent;

where there were seams, the ruffles would be sewn down - flat.

So you'd have ruffle, ruffle, ruffle. seam. 

With a narrower ruffle fabric, I think that'd be okay,

but these ruffles are 4 inches!

I even cut off a few ruffles and made a little doll skirt as a test

and just as I suspected, it looked less-than-adorable.

Drat!!

So my fabric sat.

untouched.

When I'd think about it, I'd sigh.

Darn it, I'd wasted $7.50!

And then Monday,

marvelous Monday,

Katy posted a tutorial for a lovely skirt 

made with ruffle fabric!

I didn't manage to get to it Monday,

but the first chance I got yesterday

I whipped out a skirt for my grown girl.

It's not nearly as elegant as Katy's version

but still it's cute

and quite fun

and most importantly, Lana loves it.

Thanks, Katy!!

quality vs quantity

Wow.

I re-read my latest post.

My goodness, I do sound like the bragger!

I suppose I did warn you, though.

You see,

up until very recently,

I wasn't really much of a seamstress.

Oh

I sewed.

But I focused a lot more on finishing

than making something I could be truly proud of.

A piece of clothing that I could pack away in the clothes tub

and not be embarrassed

but rather, delighted

at the thought of anyone else actually using the garment.

I know many people enjoy

Marissa's dress a day challenge

and I suppose she does a lot to further the idea

of using what you have and upcycling

but there's something that bothers me.

(besides the ridiculously low-cut styles she prefers)

Quality.

Her clothing re-makes lack it.

I'm not trying to be ugly here;

when one tapes a hem with packing tape

they clearly (haha clearly - packing tape - get it?? :-)

they clearly aren't shooting for 'quality'.

When I sew

I want what I am making

to be better than the last thing I made.

Lately

that desire has paid off

and I am really beginning to love what I've sewn.

So

I don't think I'm bragging

so much as

celebrating.

Because a job well done

is something to celebrate, don't you think?

my very own mini boden

Up 'til about 3 weeks ago

I'd never heard of mini Boden.

Or regular Boden, for that matter.

Miss Chris mentioned she was going to make some

mini Boden knock-offs for her girls.

I thought I might join her.

"What other lovelies were in this catalog?" I wondered.

So I ordered one of my own.

Sure enough there were some cute

reasonably easy

copyables.

I've never fully lined anything before

and I was tempted,

briefly,

to skip the lining all together

reasoning that the dress would still be cute.

And then I asked myself,

"What would Katy do?"

No doubt about it, she'd line it!

And seeing that

she'd challenged us to try new things,

this being National Sewing Month and all,

I decided to go for it.

(the inspiration dress)

Although you can't really tell in my photos,

I put 3 pleats in each of the four sections of the dress.

After I did that

I cut out my lining pieces.

Everything fit together perfectly!

I don't know if I'll ever buy a pattern again.

I absolutely love how it turned out

and I am so pleased with my workmanship.

Aside from a serger malfunction near the end

(that I haven't yet managed to fix. hmmm)

which caused the inside of my sleeves to not be exactly the same

my work is very nearly flawless.

Well, maybe not flawless, exactly,

but very, very good!

And I'd be proud for my mother-in-law to pick it apart

if she were still alive to do so.

I can't wait to show it to Lily when she wakes up tomorrow!

the chair

I bought this little beauty

when I bought the buffet and hutch

for the dining room that - as yet - does not exist.

I had great plans for it;

I knew it'd be a quick project,

but I was waiting on a sale for the fabric.

Then I got the fabric

but I was busy with other

more pressing projects.

Finding just the right color spray paint

proved trickier than I anticipated

and in the end

the color in the can

was a bit brighter than the color on the lid.

I like it okay

but it wasn't a perfect match.

Which is pretty much always what I'm going for.

(although - it is a closer match

than this photo would lead you to believe)

But it'll still look fabulous on my porch, don't you think?