Stormin' Leon and other sewing projects

Grandma's little helper!!  He can pull the chairs out from the table now and go wherever he wants to...  Well, until we see him and start counting!  Oh and he is so smart now, he knows how to count to three!  He's not actually doing the counting with us, but when we pass "2", his knee is coming down off the table back to the chair.

Not sure if that's obedience or just figuring out his boundaries and what he can get away with...

On Saturday I did the jeans hem!  Ryan was over and pulled Leon off my back, literally, so I could sew.  Leon WAS very interested in how the sewing machine is threaded, but after I sewed through one of my fingers, I figured this wasn't the safest place for him. 

Meri was funny!  As she dug through our medical kit for bandaids, she said, "I think you may need stitches!"

HA! HA!  lol!  We just crack up around here on the simplest things! And the needle went in just one spot.  I just didn't want to bleed on my sewing project.

Ok - back to the jeans!  I found a blog online that showed me how to do this and keep the original hem stitching so it doesn't look like you did anything!  From a distance anyway!

Measure how much hem you want to take up.  Divide that in half.  In this example, we wanted to take 2 inches off the hem.  So...  I folded the hem up half that, one inch, but did NOT include the original hem in the inch.  Just the folded part.  Ironed it just so I could be as exact as possible.  Pinned the side seams so they'd line up.  Stitched closely to the original stitch all the way around.  Then you fold it back under, press and try them on! 

The girl I was hemming this for couldn't come until Sunday to try them on, so the project sat at this step until then.  But if they fit and are the right length, then you can trim off the excess that you folded under.

This is what they look like after that.  Can you tell the difference?  Don't say "Yes of course!" Trust me... from a distance they are perfect.  She was happy!

While they sat and waited, I started a new project.  I'm really into this recycling thing these days but am NOT a tree-hugger.  They itch.  The girls and I spent the morning hitting our all-city garage sale.  All 15!  ;) 

We're a small town...  

Found a few jackpots for clothes for Leon.  I LOVE it when I can spend 20-25 cents per piece of clothing for a baby!  He's well stocked into this winter and next summer!  Got them all sorted by size when we got back. 

I also found a couple mens shirts that had some great fabric!  I know it kind of looks like a table cloth, but it's a lot cuter in person!  AND as usual I didn't plan ahead and take a before picture...  Maddy couldn't envision my thoughts, so I jumped in.  Here is the shirt after I cut it.  It's a typical long sleeved, button up man's shirt.  I angled the back to hang lower and cut the sleeves so they'll be 3/4 to elbow length.  She can fold them up.

Then I went to work.  I hemmed up the sleeves, folded the bottom up one inch into a casing.  Moved the button-hole (because I hate to sew new button-holes!) up a little and made it a hole for the draw-strings.  The shirt is attached at the belly where the draw-strings come together, but then she can button it up from there.  And since it's a man's shirt, the buttons go backwards from what she's used to. 

Get used to it!  I made the draw string out of the bottom of the shirt that I cut off.  Instead of having the draw string go all the way around the back, the back has a strip of elastic instead, sewed onto the strings.  That should make it a bit more comfy, don't you think?

While I was working on this, Leon started getting crabby and wanting Grandma.  It was sunny out, so we suggested that Ryan and Meri take Leon for a walk in the stroller.  Perfect!  Everyone was happy!  They took off.  About 20 minutes later I was at the draw strings of the project, almost done!  I noticed that the sun was gone now...  I called into the living room and mentioned that to Robb.  He said, Yep - looks like it might rain soon, better go pick up the kids!

He couldn't find his sandals.  Found out later that Ryan had worn them on the walk...  So I grabbed my shoes and headed out the door as it started pouring down rain and my cell phone started going off.  It was Meri.  They had made it to the pool and were huddled under a tree waiting. 

I got there with the car and while Ryan got Leon into his seat, I put the stroller in the trunk.  When I got in the car, Leon had the BIGGEST pout I'd ever seen!  I know he was upset for being so drenched... Poor kid!

We had to drive back for Leon's other shoe that got kicked off under the tree, but then we made it back to the house to dry off. 

Someone has rain-storm hair!