Sewing and Mullets

 I was in the Dollar Tree on Sunday and came across these!!!  My sister-in-law uses these to make darling bags and I made 3 myself for Christmas gifts.  The pics are below.

They didn't have them when I needed them, or I was looking in entirely the wrong place, but you repurpose the zippers from them to make bags with the drying mats from the kitchen department!  I just used zippers that I had in my stash.

Here's the video if you want to make them yourself!  VIDEO

Maddy's

Meri's - Meri was with me so she got first pick of dryer mats.

Then a few weeks ago, the girls and I went thrifting and I found a men's coat for $1!  I needed something halfway professional for my business trip this week so I bought it.  I looked like a football player in it until I altered the shoulders.  I brought it in an inch or two on each shoulder and it fits so much better now.

I've been agonizing over what to wear for the business stuff and think I've got a good selection of outfits.  Oh well.  It is what it is.

Anyway, I'm heading out on the road in a couple hours and will try to remember to post on Friday.  My sister has a Taco Tuesday night planned and I'll also get to meet up with another sister tomorrow night!  

So business during the day, party at night!  A regular "mullet" kind of week!

Have a good one!

SOME of the Stuff I made in 2023

Proof that Aggie liked to climb under the tree and sit WAY back on the window sill.

And the huge push to get the quilts made out of Robb's shirts commenced on 11/23/24.  I had been cutting, squaring, fusing with interfacing, tons before that.  Cutting up t-shirts have become 2nd nature to me now. I'm sure I'll do more of that in the future!

I could NOT have done it with without a rotary blade...

Here was my first blanket laid out.  The bottom layer of flannel was supposed to make a nice pattern but some squares got mixed up in the process.  and THAT'S OK!  

The 2nd layer of flannel spells out the word DAD and I thought it would be subtle.  BOY WAS IT!  You can't tell at all so I shouldn't have stressed about that...

Then the top layers were his shirts.  10 inch squares. 

I bought a new Fiskar snipping scissors and my hands still ache from all the cuts a bit.

All the flannels came from the American Sewing Guild ASG free tables.

These two were for the girls.

These were the squares for Leon's.  All the rows were ready to make the X's on and sew together, row by row.

I had to take them to the laundromat, due to excessive shedding.  I got the heads up early from a FB group I belong to.  Plus the weight of them was so heavy wet, that I had to put them in the super sized heavy duty washer.  I also did 10 batches of our clothes at that time because our washer was on the fritz.

The flannel squares for Leon's, the one with the dragons, came from my mother-in-law's bag of squares that had already been cut.  I watched a LOT of Grimm and In Plain Sight while making these.

So ultimately the only money spent on these were my time and the labels that take you to a youtube channel playlist with videos of Robb.

The kids seem to like them!  It was definitely a labor of love.  I plan to make one more for me and possibly one for my mother-in-law for her birthday in March and possibly one for Aggie's birthday in July.

Christmas is Bubbling Up

 Someone, (I will not name names here as it involves Christmas presents... ) shipped me a large heavy box on 12/11, priority mail.  It's coming from 3 hours away.

On 12/16, I checked the status and it got from Sioux City to Des Moines in 5 days...  It's going to take forever to LEAVE Des Moines so I might as well have ordered it from overseas.  However I worked hard on this project and if it's not here in time for Christmas, well...   I'm going to be a bit put out.

I called the distribution center to find out if I could just come pick it up and they don't have the functionality for that type of thing.  Also, she said they are running one to two weeks behind and the mail has them bursting at the seams.  

really...?

So that gives me confidence that if I mail off our Christmas letters, which haven't been proofed or printed yet, they may or may not get there before New Years. sigh...

So my dream of a Skype Christmas with Maddy and Matthew on an online call with us when we all open our presents is probably out.  I've only got half the handmade gifts being sent to them even done and hope to get them ALL done by tomorrow when I guess I'll ship them Fed Ex or UPS because they might stand a better chance of getting there by Thursday.

It's been a crazy busy week at work.  Crisis this way and that.  I usually spend my lunch time sewing but lately my lunches have been spent at my desk with a project that has to be done RIGHT NOW.

And my after hours are spent working late, making dinner or being worn out and going to bed early.

I have taken next week off, so I can complete the sewing projects that need to be done for the people in my immediate family that we'll be spending in person time with next Friday.

I really don't want to do another "Ok, it's not done yet" gift exchange, but will if I have to.

I think there's still one gift from last year that hasn't been completed yet...  But he's not complaining about it so as soon as it can be handed over, I'll do it.  Well, NEXT week or the week after.

In other news...  Leon saw a picture in a photo album of Maddy and Ryan in a bubble bath from when they were SUPER small.  My bathroom has a whirlpool bath and my three loved souping up the bubbles with the blowers.  Nowadays however, if you run the blowers too long, it will drip into the dining room below. So it doesn't get ran all that often and if it does, just for a minute or so at a time.  

We like to live on the edge.

But Leon saw the picture with tons of bubbles and little faces peeking out of them and wanted to have the same experience.

So we did last night.  To a certain extent.

I didn't let him run the blowers TOO much but we got a good amount of suds to play in.  He was in the bath for 45 minutes.  Every time I yelled in if he was ready to get out, there was a loud, "NOPE!!! Not until tomorrow!!"

Finally Robb suggested that we watch a little more  of The Santa Clause II and he hopped right out and into the shower to rinse off the suds.  I guess the bath water was getting on the chill side by that time.

He's got one more day of online school left before his Christmas break. Whew!  

1st semester in the books!

Sew and Tell

Wow.  Christmas is over.  I forgot to get pics of most of the things that I sewed...  Maybe my children will send me pics of themselves with the items.  Probably not.

I made Maddy, Meri and Jen shirts from the same pattern, various sizes.  With the promise that if they needed me to take it in, I could.  Better to be too big than too small.  And they were all comfy shirts that would fit best looser anyway.  

I was getting Ryan's old room set up for my sewing room.  I was pretty certain I couldn't get my sewing machine or tables in there until probably February when he and Jen move into their new place, but I stored some fabric and sewing books on the shelves.  Jen was over and saw this fabric in the room.  She texted me and said that it was gorgeous!  I asked her what she could see it become and she gave me some ideas, so I took one of the options of a tunic.  She loves long flowy tunics!  So that's why I selected the fabric below for hers.

Jen said that this is the same fabric they make Lularoe stuff out of. hmm.  I think I got it at Walmart.

Maddy and Matthew have the same chairs as our extra dining room chairs.  I'd gotten them at a garage sale somewhere years ago and 8 of them were stacked and ready for use any time.  They got four of them when they got married.  So I made them one chair cover.  Only one.  Partly because I wanted them to have input as to how they looked, partly because I only had enough fabric for one and partly because I didn't have time to make all of them...  The fabric matches their couch.  I may make them in a stretchy fabric instead but now that I've got some input, I'll tackle that next week.

I made Matthew a suit bag with handles and an extra pocket on the back.  I made up the pattern based on this suit bag that I found online.  It sells for $350.  However I made it from a heavy duty canvas curtain that I had in my stash, so this one probably wouldn't sell for as much.  I used two overly long zippers that I'd bought by the bulk when I was making the futon cover for Maddy's futon a while back.  I cut them to fit.  The suit bag I made doesn't have all the fancy leather bits, but I did put a little bit on the straps.

Ryan got a denim duffle bag because I usually see him carrying around one that I had made for Maddy from once upon a time.  Her's had little frills and cutesy things on it.  His new one does not.  It's basic denim with a shoulder strap that I'd saved from some bag that had been destroyed a long time ago.  The denim was from my stash as well.  I purchased metal hooks for the straps.

And for the many nieces and nephews, I made a plethora of fleece fingerless gloves, tucked in a long candy cane and called it good.  The kids liked them!  You can play electronics in the cars and still keep your hands warm!  

I made a purple poncho for Ada along with a pair of matching fingerless gloves.  When I tried it on myself to see how it looked, I immediately broke out in a sweat and hot flash.  PERFECT!  Ada is ALWAYS cold!  But it even made HER overheat when she tried it on.  She might have to wait for the weather to get colder to truly appreciate it...

I cut out a shirt for myself yesterday.  Sleeveless flowy top for the cruise.  maybe.  I also ordered some foldover elastic from Dana Marie to finish the neck and arm holes.  I'll do a tutorial on it some day.  So that top is on hold for a little while.  And I'm scouring my stash for more possible shirts.  The best ones will get picked for the trip.

Back to work.  Enjoy the time warp week between Christmas and New Years!

Time is running out!

The other big gift that I started yesterday is mostly done.  I just need a nice cover.  I'll, for sure, be taking pictures of them before I wrap them up.

Remember the Linux miracle I pulled off last week?  Yeah, it screwed something up.  But while in the process of the major cleanup this morning, I fixed what was wrong and it's working like a dream now!  Beauty out of ashes... ;)

Today, I have another gift to complete.  I'm trying to do one major one a day.  Time is running short...

Why did I wait until December to start on my sewing project gifts???

Or to get any Christmas gifts purchased?...

What projects are you making for gifts this year?  

Go on, you can tell me.  Your family and friends don't read this blog.

Just Going With The Float

It was a long day yesterday.  Not a lot got done but it was just long.  The laws of physics just don't work here. 

And for some reason I kept waking up last night.  Why, I have no idea.  Well, the dog started howling at one point, but I don't think that's what did it at 10:30 and around 12.  

I may have to warm up some milk at night...  But only if I can add chocolate, but that might defeat the purpose.

Anyway, here is Leon in the bath.  He wanted to see what his hair looked like in the water.

Um, it's floating and looks cool.  Not good enough!  Take a picture and prove it!

I got one bigger gift done yesterday and another started, but that one could take a while. And these were gifts that I just dreamed up yesterday afternoon!  I hope the recipients like them.  And they have nothing to do with the sewing machine...  

Well, back to the drawing board!  or programming desk. whatever.

I need some caffeine.  

Christmastime's a comin'!!

I got several Christmas presents cut out yesterday.  Not the big ones, but the ones for nieces, nephews, Sunday school kids and my kids and their significant others.  At least I think I have enough...  The big thing will be measurements and I've got a variety so hopefully everyone can find one that fits them.  We'll see...  I won't tell you what they are yet.

But suffice it to say, my bestie is getting something purple...  I made that last week  and will show you when she receives it a week from Saturday.

Hopefully over lunch and breaks today, I'll sew them together and hope they look good.  It IS using up a LOT of my variety bits of fleece stash!  And I'm happy about that!  No spending for these gifts other than blood, sweat and tears.  

you know, the usual.

Tonight is Robb's company Christmas party and I'm wearing the black skirt that I made a couple weeks ago.  Meri thought she had the perfect top to compliment it and brought it earlier this week before she caught the flu.  I tried it on and just don't think it's a good match.  It fits beautifully and I think I'll make a pattern off of it, but the colors just don't match that skirt.  I have an idea from another top that I have, but it will take a seam ripper to make it happen.  And a neck scarf out of the same fabric as the skirt.

hmmm...

Have a great weekend!

Sew... Last Week...

As usual, our Christmas started early.  On Saturday, Robb's sister and her family arrived and we had a super secret steak night.  The day was full of cleaning and food prep until they arrived mid afternoon.  

Sunday afternoon was full of re-clean the house and constant dish washing in front of them. They helped some too but mostly our BIL worked on Meri's car in the sub-zero degree weather.  He is a car wizard...  and a great guy!  We wrapped up a ton of presents that afternoon also as well as got some crock pots full of soups.  That evening, Robb's brothers and their families arrived and we had Robb's side of the family Christmas soup dinner and gifts.  

 

The tiles went over well!  As they were opening and admiring them, I said, "Do you remember these gracing the wedding reception tables as cheese platters?"  One nodded in agreement and enthusiatically said YES!  

LIAR!  "Well, you didn't.  They didn't make it ONTO the tables!  So we decorated them and now they're yours."  They make awesome coasters and trivets.

On Monday, we mostly relaxed.  One of Robb's brother's families hung around and didn't leave until Tuesday morning.  So we put together a puzzle that I had received the previous year as a gift and then we colored it.  Pretty cool!  And these women below are puzzle masters...

On Tuesday, they took off and I re-cleaned the house and did some more food prep with Robb.  We were having our personal family Christmas that evening.  Maddy and Matthew were able to attend after all due to a wedding that Maddy wanted to go to that weekend.  Matthew still had to work, so he left her here for the rest of the week and headed home on Wednesday morning.  But we were all together on Tuesday night (most of us for the dinner) (Chinese food this time!  Turkey and ham are getting old...) and then all of us for gifts as soon as Ryan got home from work.

The kids practiced being surgeons while waiting.

 

 

and Meri just napped.

Leon was super patient waiting for his dad, and we did let him open a few stocking stuffers.  It was a very late night for all of us.  

 

They all loved their sharks vs mermaid blankets.  Or at least, that's what they said!  

But Ryan hasn't taken his off and waddles around the house with his feet in the fins all the time, so maybe they really did like them...  

Leon found 3 pins still in his...  oops!  

 Ryan had brought home a package of giant handbells party crackers from work that night and we had a blast pulling them apart and playing music with the bells provided.  There were 8 of us and 8 bells and Maddy directed calling out the bell numbers.  

SO much fun!  Staying up til midnight was totally worth it!  Plus we got some funky little hats to wear too!

I spent the rest of the week working on refinishing a special chair for Matthew. 

 The college cross country team pick up any furniture on the sides of the roads when they're running and give it to the freshmen men.  Matthew was the proud recipient of a super comfy chair and loved it all through his college career.  However when they got married and moved all their furniture into their apartment, this one stuck out like a sore thumb.  The upholstery was very outdated, worn and ripped in spots.  After a lot of deliberation, they had Robb and I move it down and out to the dumpsters.  On the walk out, Robb joked, "Wouldn't Matthew be surprised if we recovered it and gave it back to them for Christmas?"  So we threw it into our van instead.  

He got to unwrap a section of the new fabric (same as the new futon cover) pinned to the old fabric.  "wha??"  He didn't understand what it all was about until Maddy started laughing and then he realized it too.  Now they'll have MATCHING furniture!!!  Well, almost.  I wasn't done with the recovering yet AND since I'd lost the paper with the futon measurements, I didn't have the futon cover done either.  Maddy got to open a scrap of fabric that illustrated that gift. The futon project is totally THIS week.

I had last week off from work, but spent every spare minute working on the chair.  Well, when I wasn't sitting down and reading my new Cook book that Ryan gave me this year...

The girls and I were going to try and drive to go see my folks on Thursday but the weather was icy and we had to turn around and go home.  Friday was only more snow, so that didn't work out either.

Instead, we spent the morning making the rest of the lefse and some crab rangoons and deep fried stuffed pickles.  Then I got back to that darn chair.

Good thing I didn't have anywhere else to go because that chair was a tricky one!  But finally got it mostly finished by the time Robb and I drove Maddy back to Wisconsin on Saturday. 

That night, Maddy and Matthew helped me put the hardware back on the chair parts and put it all together again.  After putting in some sliders backwards the first time, we had success on the second attempt and he tried it out.  

Don't know what we'll do with the extra screws...

I left them with those two in case they discover what they're for... :\  

I learned a lot recovering the LazyBoy and found some things that I'll do differently the next time I recover it.

And I think the Christmas tree will stay up until I have more energy back.  Maybe Easter?

Chortling Softly

I just finished the first season of the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and I'm feeling like I might be funny.  Leon doesn't think so.  MERI sure doesn't think so.  

 Oh well, chuckling over here on my own.  At least I'm amused.

The Christmas lights on the house look like a landing strip from space.  I didn't realize that the lights from the wedding tents were that bright.  No wonder everyone came away from the wedding with a tan...

The only thing not lit up is baby Jesus.  I need a light bulb for his glow mold.  

The tree is done unless I find another box of ornaments in the garage and it's been cold the last couple days, so that's not happening.  I guess it's done.

OH and the leg lamp is up in the front window, so our Christmas decorating is complete. 

 Just need to clean the house and bake a bunch.  

and don't forget SEW a bunch...

I will be in the car a lot in the weeks ahead, so I'm getting a bunch of hand sewing projects put together for that.  Since one of our cars is acting up a bit and leaking something that I'm afraid to taste and see what it is, we're going to rent a car.  And it's actually going to be cheaper for this trip!  Yay!

Well, back to work and all the fun that that entails.

I won't give up my day job...

And We're Still Eating...

Sunday morning's breakfast needed to be special.  

We had only eleven extra people in the house but it CAN'T be turkey... again...

So Robb made two pans of the breakfast casserole with leftover gravy from the big breakfast on Saturday.

He found the recipe HERE and put his own take on it and has it memorized now.

And for the record, we always buy the foil pans in the bulk from Sam's Club and keep them handy for such events.  Clean up is easy!  Unless you're trying to find room in the fridge for the leftovers.

We're slowly eating away the leftovers of last weekend.  I can't believe it's Thursday already but that is A-OK!  I can do with another weekend soon.

I did some sewing last night but it was on Christmas presents so it's a no show until January.  I'm planning on a huge sewing stint tonight & tomorrow night with Christmas music to back me up.

Our Christmas plans are in the air at the moment, but I'm sure they'll firm up soon.

In the meanwhile, I'll pack on some pounds and help clean out the fridge...

;)

Make mental note to buy lettuce over the weekend...

Play Acting That I Sew

The final play performance was on Saturday night.  I attended all three nights, Robb did twice.  

The Seniors of the troupe

Aside from our chairs breaking during intermission and having to give up our second to front row seats for WAY in the back nose bleed seats, it was a great performance!

The two directing teachers enjoyed the capes and said they were going to wear them on Monday. Heck, they were going to wear them to church the next day!  Or so they said...

That remains to be seen.  I'll have to ask some questions.

  

The Fabulous Four!

 One of the capes up close.

I loved seeing Meri's smiles...  

Then I spent the rest of the day and part of Sunday, making this.

A Christmas present for Leon.

Sharks have fringe...  You just didn't know that because you don't get too close to them...

I hope he likes it!

Or at least acts like it.