Reversible Jacket

Love this pattern from Bettsy Kingston pattern that I found on Etsy. I made this jacket ironically right after I got my serger, and since this is completely reversible, there were no exposed seems, so the serger got no use!


I used Anna Maria Horner's fabric from her Good Folks collection. I just love her fabric so much, having a hard time getting sick of it.



And I can't resist. Here is the little chipmunk face again. Sporting her jacket on Thanksgiving.

Giving Thanks....

I'm thankful for so many things its hard to sum it up! Thanksgiving to us is just as much about friends as it is about family. We are so lucky to have friends that we consider 'family'. Although there was family we could not be with this year, we were so lucky to have spent the day with lots of family!

First off, I'm thankful for fall tablescapes, and no one does it better my friend Lainey (maybe Martha, but it would be stiff competition). It was gorgeous.

And of course I have to throw a pic of Melo in. Thankful is an understatement.

I'm thankful for these delicious bacon wrapped pear and goat cheese deliciousnesses. I can wait for a girls day lunch, to have these and 'pear'ed with some girls day wine!

And i'm thankful for my friend Brian's Grandma's stuffing (the best!) And equally thankful for Lainey who makes it every year.

Sooooo thankful for this guy!

I'm thankful that our friends and family go together so naturally. And thankful for wine and bonfires.

I'm thankful that this little girl had a great day, and that I caught this little chipmunk face on camera.

...And that I caught this little face on camera. Big buddy and Melo pooped out after a wonderful day...

Happy Thanksgiving! Time to switch modes, today we got our tree!

Upcycled (if you can call it that) shirt into leggings!

First project with my new serger = success! Kind of spur of the moment, but I pulled an old long sleeved tee from my closet, and looked at the sleeves and though, 'those would be good leggings!'

And to finish the look - put together this headband using this tutorial from Simple Analogy . I'm disappointed that I didn't completely follow the directions, because her flowers are so perfect! I will try again though for sure!

Do you like my purse? I heard it was in style :-)

I still have the whole shirt to use for something else, because this was literally just the sleeves. Oh - and this is one of those cheap-o Old Navy shirts that you buy to wear under sweaters and vests, that only last a season. Fabric is fabric right?!

Punkin at the Pumpkin Patch!

Sunday we took Melody to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins and take pictures. She absolutely loved it!

While she took her nap, I put together this top, for her to wear. The colors were great! I can't get enough of Anna Maria Horner's fabrics! This was made from a couple different collections and everything matches!

I just got in the mail today more fabric from this collection and Innocent Crush, her new fabric, and still everything coordinates! Love that I don't have to think too hard! Oh - and the straps are from a really old skirt (like 10 years old!) that I made in college!

My little punkin loving the beautiful fall day!

Mike turns 30!

and I finally cut into the Anna Maria Horner fabric that's been laying in my sewing room for a month!

I made this from her Square Dance fabric, and instructions from her blog. It didn't too long (always twice as long as I think it's going to take). But, I love how it turned out! It's still 95 degrees here, so I think there is some life left in it, before fall. Then i'm thinking it would be cute with tights and boots!

We had a wonderful day with friends and family! Wow - 30!

Minor Distraction

I'm not sure why i'm posting this. I for 1.) Don't have a single follower and 2.) am so super swamped I can hardly breath. I needed a break and just needed to buy something to get me through my day, so I came across these super cute felt flowers on Etsy.
With one click (order complete) Yay! Check them out on AMarketCollection. I'm seeing a fall jumper in Miss Melody's future! Of course by the time I get to it, it might be spring again!

Shirring - Plain and Simple! (Mini tutorial)

Basic shirring. Seems simple enough. I was excited to try this mainly to give elasticity to my fabrics, for more versatility. So I tried. I shirred 3 rows to a skirt, and it worked horribly.

I did some research, and found a lot of people saying the same thing. 'Wrap the elastic around the bobbin loose', 'wrap the elastic around the bobbin tight'...So which one is it? I tried both and saw no difference! I even got the old sewing manual out, now that's desperate!

So I kept trying. Then I remembered reading amongst the many tutorials I browsed through, something about spraying and putting the fabric on the dryer. So with one last ditch effort, before I summed it up to my faulty machine, I tried again.

This is how it went down:
- Wrap the bobbin with the elastic not too loose, but not too tight
- Keep your tension normal on our thread, but use a longer setting, like 3 1/2 - 4
- Shirr many lines, at least 8
- SPRAY with a spray bottle (Watch your material shrink in half! - This was key!)
- Stream Iron



Tada! I'm having a bunch of fun with this. I've made a couple baby dresses, and a skirt!