she's an American girl

I haven't sat at my machine in two weeks!

I just had to make a little something.

A new pair of panties was just the thing,

short and sweet

and practically free

since I used an old t-shirt of mine.

I still don't have the fit quite right.

Guess that means I'll just have to keep tryin', huh?

too bad

~

Momma sure loves you, my little American girl

good as new

My bag of clothespins got left out on the line

while we were on vacation last week.

Which left me with a bunch of nasty clothespins.

It just so happened that my dryer went out

two days after we returned home.

And me

with mildew-y clothespins!

Yuck!

I figured

that before I tossed them

I should at least try to clean them

so I poured 'em all in a bucket

and added a squirt of dish-soap

and a glug of bleach.

They tried floating to the top

so I grabbed a quart size zip bag, filled it with water

and set it on top of my pins.

An hour or so later

I poured off the now-brown bleach water

and wiped down each pin as I rinsed them under running water.

I clipped them along the top edge of a box to dry

and viola

good as new!

Lexi's quilt

Every time Lexi wears this shirt I say

to anyone within earshot

"Those colors are just begging to be made into a quilt!"

Then I remembered - I have the perfect back already

for a Lexi quilt!

Yes, I know, she already has one

but this is more her.

Though made with lots of love,

this won't go down in history as one of my best pieces of work.

My quilting was less than impressive...

I was pleased, however,

with how well my seams matched up

'specially considering how poorly I did last time on that.

I had some extra blocks

so I made a little doll quilt so I could practice my quilting.

I really wanted to do flowers all over,

but my skills are sorely lacking...

Ya'll know I like adding in a word or two

so I added 'dream baby'

sort of a positive reinforcement

subliminal message kind of thing...

Still had blocks left

so I made 2 tiny blankets

for the girl's little 4 inch dolls.

~

In looking at this quilting again

I think

if I would have just slowed down more and taken my time

I could have done the flowers like I wanted.

I just love the back!

both of 'em - actually

It may not be my best work work

but I think it'll still be quite loved.

This girl sure is!

tickled pink

I don't sew for myself much.

Partly cause it's a whole lot more fun to sew for my kiddos

but

mostly because

pretty much every thing I've ever made

for myself

is

well

hideous.

Except my skirt.

I made a skirt for Easter last year

and it turned out okay...

I figured out that part of my problem

was the pattern.

If I have to try on a kazillion shirts to find one that fits properly

why on earth should I assume

1 pattern

will fit me right??

So

I took a shirt I already own that I like the fit of

and made a pattern.

Just like I do for the girls

only

bigger.

I used some polka dot fabric I got off of Walmart's $1.50/yard table

to make a muslin.

Not surprisingly

I had to tweak my pattern a bit

and I learned I need to stretch my 'collar' a bit on the curves,

but still

the shirt is wearable.

I'm still geeking out about it!

(and dizzying polka dots aside - it's actually kinda cute)

Then I took a very large pair of pants

($ .50 at Salvation Army - oh yeah!)

took them apart

and re-made them into a pair of crop pants

that fit pretty darn good.

Complete with an invisible zipper!

I'm still geekin' out about that, too.

I bought the pants

thinking I would, of course, use them for the girls

but then I thought,

"How often will I find something I can re-make for me??"

and so I did...

And this morning,

I used real store bought fabric - on sale for $3.95/yd

and made another shirt for myself.

And it turned out pretty near perfect.

Of course

I had to make matching dresses for the girls, too...

many thanks to my little photographer

You got potential, Girl.

time for some boy sewin'

"What are you going to do with that?" Josiah asked,

looking at the red and white striped shirt

I'd brought home from a recent thrift store run.

(No one assumes clothes are for wearing anymore...)

I told him I was thinking it'd make some cute hats.

"No, I think it'd be better as a smaller shirt," he said.

so

I figured it was time for some boy - sewing.

As usual

I didn't think to pull out the camera

until after I'd cut into a 50 cent pair of pants.

If Josiah hadn't wanted belt loops

I would have finished his shorts in 15 minutes

since I used the existing hem

and both the inner and outer leg seams.

After I'd cut out the shorts

I realized

what was left of the pants

was just about perfect

for shorts for Brandon!

The crotch was quite baggy

so I took care of that first

then put a 1 inch hem in the bottom

and

viola

matching shorts for 2 of my best buds

the drawing board

I used one of Lana's laundry casualties

to make panties

so I could test my pattern

I still need to tweak my pattern some more

great fit in the bootie

but the front is 'off'

~

I adjusted the pattern

and sewed what I really wanted to sew

Before making another one

I think I need to lengthen the top just a little bit

and I'll need to enlarge the leg hole in the front even more

(I assume that's what's causing the bagginess)

but this one still works just fine

3 sun-dresses for $1.45

a little dress ~ 12 cents at a yard sale

2 pieces of card-stock

two 2/3 yards fabric pieces off the $1/yard table

that I was going to use for a shopping bag

and a couple of hours of fun

=