The First of Many ... Hopefully

Now that I own 7 18" doll clothing and accessories patterns, I decided it was time to get to work on making mini-things.  First ever doll project was this doll purse.  Took as long to make as altering Riley's pants as seen in the previous post.  But cute!

Fantastic Flares

I have been wanting to do this project for years!  Riley constantly wears holes in her jeans, and most of the time I just turn them into shorts.  But shorts are practical for northern Minnesota in November and she needs all the jeans she can keep.  So voila!  I turned the holey jeans into bell bottoms and added a little heart to match.  Not bad for 45 minutes work.

The next ones I'll do will be splitting the sides of Savvy's jeans up about 8 inches and adding side panels for a little flare feel.

Crafty, Crafty

Broke out the sewing machine a few days ago, and I've managed to get a few projects done.  Two, in fact, today.  One was a Christmas gift for my niece, Brenna.  The other was a bedside book holder for the top bunk.  I'll do another for the bottom bunk sometime this weekend.

So excited because I actually have a dedicated sewing area  now!  I'm such a neurotic mess.  :)

Winter is A'Knockin'

I can honestly say that I thought I was prepared for a Minnesota winter.  And I still think that.  But it got way colder much sooner than I thought it would.  November has seen about 6"-8" of snow accumulation so far, and we've already hit subzero lows at night.  How incredibly thankful was I that it was 22 degrees outside this morning!

Jesse got the snowblower running ... finally.  It was a gift from his dad, but we knew it wasn't in the best shape.  Two new tires, and a clean carburetor later, Jesse was able to clear the walkways without any big hitches.

Growing up in Texas, I never imagined that I would choose to spend my adult life living in the frozen tundra of northern Minnesota.  But I guess that's misleading.  It does get warm for a few months out of the year.  Most people up here are willing to accept a Texan and call her their own.  But I'm not sure that I will feel like a resident until I survive my first winter season.  I open my mouth and a small amount of my southern accent comes out, causing most of people up here to ask, "What did you say?"  And then say, "You're not from Minnesota, are you." 

Nope.  But my kids will be.  After all, they've never lived in a state longer than three years.  Two of them were born in Texas, one in California and one in Virginia.  It will be nice to put down roots.  Most likely my kids will say "flag" and it will rhyme with "beg".  Or they'll say "eh" a lot at the end of all their sentences.  You betcha.

Riley and Savvy are getting used to suiting up to go to school.  Hats, mittens, snowpants and a snow coat are standard gear.  They tote shoes to school in their backpacks and hang snowpants in lockers.  Wouldn't that have been a site to see in Pollok, Texas?

A white Christmas is almost a guarantee, but not quite.  The folks up here did have a brown Christmas a few years ago.  And it's hard to believe that Christmas is almost upon us again. Isaac will turn one year old on December 1, and Jesse has a birthday on the 16th.  Doesn't seem like a year has gone by since I had Isaac, but he is turning into a toddler already.  He say a few words:  Momma, Dadda, da-du (thank you) and elly (belly).  He's mischievous, rambunctious, whiny and into everything.  Climbing is his new accomplishment, so the ottoman, coffee table and footstool have been moved.  It will be interesting to see how he does with the Christmas tree.  That oughta be fun! 

Brooke ... well, Brooke is Brooke.  Naughty, hilarious, precarious Brooke.  Jokester extraordinaire who can be as sweet as sweet can be, and completely rotten two minutes later.  She loves swiping her sisters' things and dressing up.  Lately, she likes to put both of her feet into one leg of my pants and be a mermaid.

As chaotic as life has been lately, I wouldn't trade it for anything.  That said, a couple minutes peace and quiet would be wonderful!

"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 

~1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

How To Make An Apron

I love to sew, but I am only a basic seamstress.  This is an easy project for beginners.  You don't even need a pattern, just an approximate measurement.  This apron was one that I made for my sister for her birthday.  I've never written out a sewing how-to, so I hope it is coherent.  Have fun!

1.  Select your fabric.

First select your material.  I like contrasting fabrics that complement each other for aprons.  This reminding me of a 1950s housewife, and since the apron was to be used for holding clothespins I thought it was perfect!

 2.  Wash, dry, iron and cut the front panel in the main fabric.

The main part of the apron is just a rectangle, and a single layer.  Measure the wide across the front of the person the apron is for, and then double the width.  You will be gathering the waistline.  For this pattern I used 1/2 yard of fabric for the main piece.  That determined the length of the panel.  See the white part on the fabric in the pic above?  That's the selvage.  You want to make sure the selvage is running vertically.  These will be your sides of the apron panel.  

3.  Finish the side and bottom edges of the apron panel.

 

I don't like to use pins.  They fall on the floor and little hands insert them into little mouths.  So you may see a few pins but not a lot in this project.  I like to press my seams and then sew. To get a clean seam, fold over fabric about 1/4" and then do it again.  Press.  Add a little spray sizing (light starch) to help it stay.  In this step, you will finish the bottom edge and the side edges.  Leave the top part unfinished.  You will have a rectangle finished on three sides when finished with this step.

It really doesn't matter on the width of the seam.  I like to put the edge of the fabric on the outer edge of the sewing foot.  Just make sure that you use the same size consistently for a uniform look.

4.  Gather the top edge of the apron panel.

Set the length of your stitches on the longest setting.  Stitch a line across the top about 3/8" from the top of the fabric.  Grab the bobbin thread on both sides and gently pull.  This will gather the fabric.

Determine the width of the front panel.  Once you've gathered the fabric to that measurement, tie a know in the thread on both sides.  Then even out the gathering so that the ruffling is consistent.  Set aside the front panel for now.

5.  Make the pocket.

There is no specific measurement for the pocket.  I eyeball it.  In this case I used a larger pocket because my sister would be using it to hold clothespins.  After you choose a size, add a little to the length and width to account for the seams.  Finish all four edges of the pocket before pinning to the front panel.  On the top of the pocket, I like to use a zigzag stitch, just for fun.  I used the same roll and press technique as I did on the panel seams.  Because this fabric is white, I used two layers of fabric to make it more opaque.  Normally this would just be a single layer of fabric, like the apron panel. 

Finish the seams on all four sides before pinning to front apron panel.

6.  Pin the pocket to the panel.

Pin the pocket to the panel, remembering to leave the top edge OPEN.  Stitch around the three sides.  I like to add a backstitch at the top corners for reinforcement.

 7.  Make the waist tie.  In this case, the tie/waist binding is in three pieces; the waist binding is the smaller piece, with two long ties on each end.  This forms a very long length of fabric.

The simplest way to do this is use a very wide ribbon or blanket binding and then fold it in half.  Since I wanted to make the tie and the pocket out of the same fabric, I made the tie.  And because this was for an adult, it's pretty long.  Measure how long you think you'll need for a good tie in the back.  I made this tie in three pieces:  one to bind the apron front panel, and two for the ties.  You can see in the picture the folding and pressing that I've done.  For the width:  I wanted the tie to be about 1 1/2" wide.  So I doubled that (because it folds) and added an inch (for folded seams), making the total width 4".  Normally, you could stop at this measurement.  In this instance, I added another 1.5" because it's white, and I wanted a second fold to make it more opaque.

After the pressing for the seams is complete, I stitched the end ties to the waist binding, right sides together.  Remember:  in the picture one side of the binding is double folded to make it more opaque.  Depending on your fabric, it may just be folded in half, not thirds.  (I hope that's not confusing.)  After the sections are stitched together, fold and press.

And then I centered and pinned the binding/tie to the apron.  Make sure the gathered edge is fully enclosed.

8.  Stitch the tie, enclosing the front apron panel in the binding.

Beginning at one end, stitch the tie closed on the end.  Then, close the binding by stitched a narrow seam along the bottom edge.  This will enclose the apron panel when it gets there.  Stitch the binding/tie along the length.  Then, stitch closed the other end.

 9.  If needed, tack the top of the pocket with a stitch or two at the top center.

Because the pocket was so large, I tacked it in the center of the top.  This stitch does NOT run the length of the pocket.  It's only a small tacking to keep the pocket from puckering.

10.  Trim all the hanging threads, and try it on for size.  

Our Little Entertainer

Boy vs Bed

Isaac learned the hard way last night.  If you go head to head with a solid wood bed rail, the rail is going to win every time.  Poor Boy has a shiner on his right eye.  He's fine today, but last night he screamed loud enough to wake the dead at the diminutive funeral home down the street.

FIGHT!

Snowball fight, that is!  A couple of the best snowball fight pics I've taken.  Haven't gotten as much snow as the weather channel predicted, but we got a couple of inches stuck on the ground.  Enough to make the roads slushy and for kids to play in for about an hour without getting bored.

 

 

Servant

For the last few weeks I've been in a slump.  It seemed that all I ever did was clean up after everyone else and never spend any time on the things that I love to do.

And it was absolutely dragging me down into the pits of despair.

This morning, I feel that God showed me how wrong my attitude has been; and I've made a promise to Him to do better by my family and those with whom I come in contact.

The Bible says, "Serve the Lord with gladness, come before Him with joyful singing." (Psalm 100:2 NASV)  It occurred to me this morning that my whining and complaining were probably not the joyful singing that God likes to hear.  I have become like my children, always rebelling and voicing my disapproval in loud obnoxious terms.

God has given me this family -- my blessing.  And here I am complaining about it.  Shame on me!  The King of Kings came down from Glory to be a servant, so who am I to shun the duty?  Today I will gladly serve my family.  I will pick up random dirty socks on the floor 37 times a day, and laugh at the antics my toddler performs daily instead of being annoyed.  I will look for the joy in everything, and praise my children more than I correct them.

I hope.  That's the plan, and with God's help, I think I can do it.  I know I will have bad days and I will stumble.  I just have to trust that God will stand me up and dust me off, and not have to remind me with a spiritual spanking.

Boy in a Box

Or a basket or a foot stool ...

 

 

The Restoration Movement

Over the past week, I have been plodding along, trying to get the painting finished in this house.  I finally completed the dining room, only to have it end up looking like the green screen in special effects sets.  Pretty sure that sucker is going to be re-painted a light yellow.  Which will tie in perfectly to our reclaimed table in the kitchen.  A nice segue, if you will.

And I've come to find out that black is not the most forgiving paint color out there.  In fact, when it veers outside the intended lines, it screams "FAILURE!" at me.  Needless to say, I will be dragging the khaki paint up from the basement to touch up the kitchen once all is said, done and coated in black.

A few pictures of the progress ... which is slim, but remains the reason I have not blogged in a week.

Brown cabinets after the hardware was changed

Painted the door off-white and the trim black

There is a black stripe that runs completely around the kitchen now

Began painting the cabinets yesterday.  Going to be a tedious process.  One step at a time!

The ONE cabinet door that has been completed.

Detail of the artistic endeavors of yours truly

Home Again ...

Go back in time to July, when we first laid eyes on the house that is now our home.  In the basement I fell in love with a table.  A cool, vintage enameled table with loads of character.  Also down there was a cool old Frigidaire refrigerator and an operable range/oven from the fifties.

We got the appliances in the contract, but not the table.  Our realtor attempted to salvage the table for us by placing a "do not remove" tag on it for when the auction company came through and emptied out the house.  Alas, the auction company ignored the paper and took my precious table away.  I was heartbroken and regretful that I didn't specify the table in the contract.  Oh well, I thought.  Que sera, sera.

About a month ago, Jesse's mom went to an auction conducted by that particular company.  She kept an eye out for my wayward piece of furniture, but to no avail.  She even asked Chris, the company's owner, if she remembered the table.  She did, and pointed to a ravaged looking husk of an excuse for a table and said that was the one.  When Carol called and described it, I knew it was NOT the one.  So my hopes were dashed once again.

Until last Friday when Carol called and said Chris contacted her.  She had found the table!  And thank goodness she only wanted $35 for it, because that was my limit.  Yeah, even my hopes and dreams have a monetary limit sometimes.  I made arrangements with Chris to pick it up, and yesterday we brought it home.

Right back where it belongs.  It's now my kitchen island and no longer hidden in the basement.  I think it's great -- for a table, that is.

And now the next item for my treasure hunt:  an accent chair for the living room.  Budget:  $50 or less.  Maybe by Christmastime I'll have it in the living room.

Three Ghouls and a Monster

Ah, November 1st.  I am sooo glad to see your face!  My usual excitement over Halloween was dampened by my older children's inability to choose a costume and stick to it.  In the end we had a scarecrow, a magical princess and a little blue furry monster.  Brooke wasn't the only monster.  Thing 4 went as himself.  Ha!  But he was really good, all things considered.

Things considered being the somewhat lame fall festival at the community center.  We were there for exactly 22 minutes.  The kids just looked at me and said, "That's all?"  Yeah, kids.  That's it.  Against my better judgment we went trick-or-treating around a couple blocks in the neighborhood.  Jesse has told me stories of how big Halloween was up here when he was a child and I had high expectations.  Unfortunately, it seems as though the 'hood is gentrifying, as there were only about five houses with lights on for trick-or-treaters.  By the time we got home, my fingers were frozen, the kids' hands were numb, and noses were doing their best fountain imitations; but they were happy and that's all the counts.  Decent candy haul, or one that will last for a while on my rationed daily issue.

I think next year we'll plan ahead and come up with more creative costumes -- and stick to the plan.  None of this wishy-washy crud again.  The older girls will be able to help make theirs I hope. 

Now we are excited for November and the Thanksgiving to come.  We'll be with a large group of family this year, and for that we are most grateful.  I'll be missing my Texas/Louisiana crew, no doubt.