Day 2-Diary of a Sometimes-Seamstress

Having kids really gets in the way of sewing (or any other "me" time, even if it's really not for me.)  I managed to get down to my sewing machine around 9 after watching the weigh-in portion of The Biggest Loser (go Moses!!) and playing with my happy baby.  I made a lot of progress on the bodice.  The 2 front pieces and one side are all sewn together and raw edges surged.  The other side has been left open for the zipper.  The back piece has both darts in place.  The tie is very nearly done.  (Husbands don't help with the get-the-sewing-done either.)  And it's all pressed.  Pressing really makes a difference.  If you sew, do it.  You'll be glad you took the extra time. After my progress today, I'm glad I gave myself 2 full weeks to get it done. :)

Diary of a Sometimes-Seamstress

I've been on a little bit of a hunt for a modest, cute, age appropriate (read: not for grandma or my babysitter) dress for church.  It has to be long enough.  It has to have a high enough neckline (ok-and backline) to stand alone or use minimal help from some sort of layering tee.  It has to be cute.  It must be a dress (not a skirt-not that I don't love my skirts). And mostly it has to be affordable.  My results turned up..........nada.  Nothing. Zilch. Oh-I've found plenty of cute, modest dresses.  But they're too rich for my blood (budget-whatever). 

My mom passed on her can-do attitude, and my sewing skills have improved immenseley over the last several years.  So, why not?  I'll try my hand at sewing myself a cute dress!

Today is day one. Here's what I've accomplished so far:

Pattern? Check.
Cute fabric (on sale even)? Check.
Mom and friend on speed dial for help? check and check.

After picking out my pattern from my stash, I loaded up 3 cute girlies and headed to Hobby Lobby.  It wasn't my first choice because their cute fabrics are well-known.  I didn't really want a "Hobby Lobby" dress.  Fortune was with me, though, and I found exactly what I wanted and for 30% off.  There was exactly the amount I needed left on the bolt.  Sweet.   After laundering my 4 yards of undescribed cotton, I set out to do my least favorite part.  The cutting.  Ummm...yeah.  There were a lot of pieces.  Which was okay.  Then I looked closer.  Several pieces needed to be cut out 4 times.  One piece 8 times.  Phew.  Little break.  Ok.  Back to business.  Pattern cut, pinned, and fabric cut.  (all 1 million pieces) The left side of the bodice took me 10 minutes to sew together correctly.  The right side took 10 seconds.  :p  I feel like I accomplished a lot on it already. 

My goal is to have it finished in time to wear it to church the Sunday after General Conference. Assuming it turns out well, that's when I'll reveal it here as well. That gives me about 2 weeks.  Plenty of time to take it slow and do a good job.  Wish me luck!

Necessity is the Mother

of all creation?  Invention?  Either works here really.

Lyndsi is having a party to celebrate her birthday.  She's been so cute about the whole thing-planning everything.  More on that later.  To appease the miser...I mean the husband...I opted for the frugal route. And I am having so much fun with it.  We made her invitations using photoshop and then just printed 12 invites (4 x 6) at Walgreen's.  I think it cost just shy of $2.50.  And Walgreen's isn't the cheapest by far.  (I just happen to really like the quality of my photoshop stuff there.) 

The only downside to a 4 x 6 invitation is you need a special sized envelope that runs about $6 a box of 50.  In typical fashion, I forgot I needed them til this morning when Lyndsi needed to take a few to school.  She's going off track today, so it was really important that her school friends got their invites today.  I pulled on my thinking cap and came up with a pretty great idea if I do say so myself. 

I grabbed a few pieces of cardstock from my stash and cut it to about 6 x 10.  I adhered the photo somewhere near the bottom-center.  I folded the ends over and secured it with a cute party hat I cut from my Cricut.  I love it!  Aside from Christmas cards, I will never need to buy this size of envelope again!

If you're interested in this idea, but don't have a Photoshop program, there are free places online to do the same thing. One of them is picnik.com.  (I understand it's pretty easy to use, too.)