Kid´s Week Sewing Challenge

 It´s a little bit large. Well quite a bit too big, but she can grow into it, right? Found the pattern on Craftsy. The fabric is Millie´s Closet.

 The top (Mama Stellato´s Amelia pattern) is the only part of the outfit I made. The fabric is Riley Blake´s Stars and Stripes.

And this outfit I made myself. Well, I bought a shirt and added the applique. But I made the pants from scratch. And the bow, too!

 

I´ve decided to take part in this
   next week. What better way to be sure that a Halloween costume or two get made, and maybe a couple more tops for the little one? I´ve been busy sewing, so this should help me keep my momentum.

Lazy, crazy days of summer

 We have a favorite activity at our house...it´s called let´s give Ralphie a treat. I´m just glad that we´ve gotten (mostly) past feeding him from the table. At least it´s not people food anymore. Well, she still gives him cheese, or tease as she calls it. I guess she´s learned that the way to a man´s heart is through his stomach...

 Since we aren´t taking a summer vacation this year we´ve tried to work in a few day trips. We had planned to go visit the gardens in Dessau/Wörlitz, but it rained cats and dogs, so we kept on going and went to Wittenberg to see where Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church. And I immediately thought of my 10th grade World History teacher, Mr. Owen. I´m pretty sure he´d be proud that I remember about Martin Luther and the lecture in class that day, 15 years ago! So here´s darling daughter trying to open the gate to get in and get a closer look at them! Learning young, we are.

 We´ve also been to the zoo in Dresden a couple of times. We´re more interested in hugging our friends and checking out other people´s strollers than we are in looking at the animals. But she did seem pretty interested when the zebras got into  a fight and the lion started roaring for added effect. The other animals, not so much.

Cleaning is very big at our house right now. Ralphie is blowing his coat so there´s lots to vacuum. Luckily someone loves to help Mommy. She´s also pretty good about mopping up her puddles, just not about sitting on the potty...sigh. I´m so ready to be done with diapers, but I guess she´s not quite there yet.

And the lazy, crazy days of summer haven´t left me much time to craft or sew, but I have gotten a top finished for fall. Just need to try it on the model and see how it fits, and then I´ll try to put up some pictures. The yard has come a long, long way, but I seem to forget the camera when I´m outside.

Busy

I´ve been busy. Something about being a mom seems to keep me from doing things I like to do...I haven´t made those curtains or finished the roman shades for our bedroom.

We have gotten a play area in the yard almost finished for our sweet girl. Almost. Daddy still needs to attach the slide and put mulch down under the swings.

We got a shelves and hanging space put up in our closet. Actually my Dad built them for us on his last trip here.

I´ve planted lots of new flowers in the yard, but the weeds have taken over, so no photos. But here´s what I´ve really been up to lately:

The January Blues

Actually it should be called the January grays because there is no blue sky, and I´m feeling sort of blue about the grayness. Most unfair because blue is one of my favorite colors. Maybe I should just say I´m feeling gray.

My productivity has been about zero so far. I have managed to get the tree undecorated and the lights boxed up, but the ornaments are still waiting to go to the attic. Le sigh.

I´ve done a million loads of laundry and I´m still not done washing or folding or putting away...this is the most draining, never-ending job known to man IMO.

I´ve done no work on my curtains. And that´s really what I should be doing. I´m sure my neighbors love getting a peek show as I change into my pj´s every night.

I have gotten 4 little clutches cut out and half-sewn for my nieces´ birthdays, though. For Christmas I made them these cute coin purses using a fabulous noodlehead tutorial.

Happy New Year!!

It´s January, again. And it´s 2012!! You know what I like about 2012? It´s got the number 12 in it and that just so happens to be the number of months in the year, and number of projects I´ve got planned. My house needs some help. Well lots of help, but admitting there´s a problem is the start of any 12-step group. So here it is, my personal admission: I´m horribly messy and terribly bad about starting things and not finishing. I hope to conquer part of that problem in 2012.

January: Finish those curtains, lady. That would be the ones for the guest room, the living room, and the master. Yup, seven windows worth of them.

February: get that laundry room organized and cleaned up. How can you find anything in there. Some place to hang your coat and stow the shoes would be good. And maybe some shelves with bins for the cleaning supplies that should be out of little one´s reach?

March: Get the storage shed cleaned and organized. Lord knows what all is in there. You might actually find some tools!

April: Now it´s time to work on an outdoor play area for the little one. You know sandbox, slide, swing, that kind of thing.

May: And those roses, they might need a real trellis to climb on instead of that cheap thing from the garden center.

June: What about the upstairs bath. A mirror, light fixture might be good.

July: And then there´s the guest bath. It has a mirror, but needs a light fixture. And some glass shelves for the nook over the toilet.

August: The master really needs to have the closet done. Not redone, but done.

September: TBA

October: TBA

November:

December: TBA

I mean it wouldn´t be fun if everything were set in stone, would it? I´m sure I have some projects up my sleeve. And I hope you´ll stay tuned to read about them, keep me on task and cheer me on.