Formally Excitable

I was wondering what to wear for the evening meals on the cruise and thought I had it nailed down.  But my sisters would like to do a formal night and all of us dress up in formals.  hmmm.. Will that fit in our carry-ons?  Don't know.

AND since a cruise line will not allow travel irons, what happens when you pull it out of your bag and it's hideously wrinkled?

AND what would I bring to wear anyway that is formal/glamorous enough?

AND would my sister get me all hyped up and then wear shorts to dinner while I"m the only one in a maxi dress?  Kind of like being invited to a Halloween party and you're the only one in costume...

AND I haven't lost enough weight to fit into my mother of the bride dress yet...  That last 4 pounds is being elusive...  And that would need massive ironing to be presentable...  Darn satin.

So many questions...  I did sew that brown maxi skirt for the fair...  What if...  

It's chiffon and no matter how much it gets wadded up in a bag, it still comes out looking good.  So maybe...  AND I didn't have a reason to wear it yet til now.

SO.. if I wear a slinky brown tank top with it, which I have... and a cape made a something shiny and drapey, which I don't have... yet...  But would be oh so easy to make after a stop at JoAnn's...  AND a fancy schmancy necklace that is too fancy to wear anywhere around here... hmmm

I think it's doable...  And if I'm woefully overdressed, who am I going to see on that cruise again?  besides my family I mean...

My only question now.  

If Meri brings a prom dress, how in the heck will it fit in HER carry on?

She might have to wear it on the flight...

Randomly missing my debit card.

 I've got one hem ALMOST all the way in on the prom dress.  Saw on a FB swap page that someone was looking for a prom dress for their daughter in the same size as two of the consignment prom dresses that I found for $5 each a few months ago. 

 I've sent her pics but don't know what she's going to go with if any of them.

I think they're just too nice to cut up...  So if she can use them, great!

Anyone watching the giraffe giving birth live feed?  I pipe in every once in a while, but cripes!  JUST when you think it's going to happen, it's another week...  I'm beginning to think it's a hoax...  

But probably not.  I just don't know giraffes.

Anyway, Meri needed me to run Ryan's framed graduation picture to school for some Day of the Dead shrine presentation she's doing.  I'm not sure what that means...  I guess we'll find out today.  For the last several days she's been working on getting some special food cooked up with a friend whose Mom has a Mexican food truck, so said friend is an expert.  Last night, Meri gave up on the special food and just bought some to take for the presentation.  

Can I have my debit card back now please??...

And here we go to Tuesday!!!!  Have a great one!

SDHD and Promises I've kept

So... I've been sewing.  Remember that "sort of sleezy" yet elegant blouse I was talking about the other day?  Yeah, the pieces of it haven't been sewn together and it's on the stack of UFOs (UnFinishedObjects).  Because I've been inspired by something else!

You can call it SDHD...  (sewing deficit hyperactive disorder)

Imagine if you will...

THIS dress

  

combined with THIS dress.

Can't do it?  Well, it's a challenge that I've accepted so I'll envisionify eventually for you.  I took the skirt and lining from one of the $5 prom dresses and it's become the base of this dress.  AND then I purchased some lace with a 50% off coupon and a Christmas gift card.  

So far, this dress will cost me $35.  

After the wedding, I'll let you decide how much it would go for off the rack.

For every BIG event in my life, I've made my own dress, so I can't justify spending loads of money on one completed garment.  I just can't.

It started with a Vogue dress for my brother's wedding.  (the center one in a purply drapey silk-like fabric.  I LOVED it and probably made a promise to myself, right then and there!)

My mom wondered why I always chose the REALLY elegant ones and not the easier more basic designs... DUH!  I LIKE them better!

I CAN spend the same if not more on fabric for one completed garment, but that's just me...  

Maybe you if you're a sewist too...

I spent ALL my free time Sunday through yesterday on the base of the dress and hope to get the zipper and some of the lace by Friday.  And I'm really feeling good about this.

Although I can't believe it's already Wednesday.  It seems like yesterday was Saturday...

If you're wondering why I haven't finished Meri's prom dress yet, it's because she hasn't been home.  

I KNOW!!!!  I WILL nail her down soon, whether she likes it or not.  Prom is in 24 days.

The countdown HAS begun!

Fabrics don't lie.

Still haven't found my camera...  That is weird and I'm beginning to suspect, not foul play, but mistaken identity...  Two other people who live here have cameras that look similar...  One has been gone the entire length of when it's been missing...  hmmm....  

BUT I still have my cell phone camera with the foggy pictures.  I should probably use some alcohol and a Q-tip and clean the lens sometime.  That works when Cheetos get jammed into the lens too.  But I won't get into that here.

Anywho, here is the fabric that Meri and I chose for her dress.  Actually the photo isn't TOO bad...  The white is an ivory bridal satin that isn't very drapy, but should work nicely for the bodice and all the pleating.  We won't have to line it either as it is NOT see through.  

The pattern pic is on yesterdays post if you want to see it.

The peach drapier shiny fabric will be the skirt part.  I got it all cut out last night and am looking forward to some time to start sewing things!!!  I think over lunch, I'll be able to rethread the serger and get some side seams serged up while watching the Mentalist.

Meri can say with a straight face, "I think it looks like a grandma dress. I don't like it."  and I believe her...  "Are you lying to me?" I ask.  "No"  After a few moments of me thinking that I'm either going to have to MAKE her learn to love it or if I have enough peach fabric left for a new bodice, she FINALLY cracks and says that she was kidding.  

If she's that good at lying already, high school is going to be tough around here...

Faces of Squirrels

 Maddy tried on "the dress" several times over the course of the weekend.  I got NO time to sew on Saturday and I'll tell you about that tomorrow...  But Friday night and Sunday were my times to get it done! 

And of course, it's not done yet....

 

I got the lining and zipper in (not in yet for these pictures), but in the process of doing that, I found that I need to rip out the back seam and straighten it a little underneath the zipper. 

Dang!  I was feeling too confident...

Ignore the red bra straps...Those are not in the final design of the dress...

So outside of the back seam and hem, that I need to cut 6 inches off of... (she's short), oh and some buttons!  Then I'll be done.

Already looking at my next project!!!  It'll be to whip this house into shape for the graduation party!  The invites have already started being delivered, so there's no backing out now!  

I've identified the problem areas and the family shivers in fear...

Wringing A Ripper

Seriously??  I'm out of photo space???  Yikes!  Well, it loaded this one before it bombed out on me.

This is the top of my dress.  The shoulders and sleeves are the back sides of the Shantung fabric.  Not sure about the lighting of this photo because the fabric is actually darker than this.  Oh well.  I've just got the hem to go and tonight may be the night for that!  I don't "think" anything is planned...

Bought shoes last night for it without having a sample bit of fabric with me.  Yeah... I was thinking ahead...  So if it doesn't match, oh well!

It just dawned on me that I'm pretty impressed with the people on Project Runway The Show That Must Not Be Named  TSTMNBN.  I sweat over this project all afternoon and evening on Saturday and had instructions from the pattern packet on how to put it all together!  They have to go with their own design and not just follow rote instructions...

However I didn't really follow the directions either.  I did REALLY well with the first version of this dress and read everything to make sure I knew what I was doing.  The instructions never mentioned "the cats" so you know... THAT really caught me off guard...

So when I was doing this one, I felt confident that I knew what I was doing.  Did this seam, did that one!  Then realized that I forgot to leave the slit in the skirt.  Oh I'm supposed to not sew the lining into the shoulder YET until the back is sewn to the front... 

I think I know what I want for Christmas.  About 10 seam rippers.  My two seem to disappear when I need them the most!  I think they were hiding because I've put them through the wringer with this dress!

Oh and before I forget... I REALLY don't want to learn a new format for this blog...  Should I fork over the $2.50 a month for 25 times the photo space????

Hopped Up On Caffeine...

I'm still working on my hourly intake of caffeine and am a little behind this morning. In just about everything...

No puppies yet. However Ellie is really showing... Don't need a "Puppies on board" tee for HER! She'd chew it off anyway...

Got the hems and gems sewn into the gown yesterday. All that is left is to sew on her belt. She had a breakthrough, she calls it, on what to do for that Saturday. So I'll try and get that wrapped up tonight so she can take it to a friends and try it on for them.
I know you can barely see the little gems sewn behind the hem... BUT it took 3 hours and I'll tell anyone... The waiter at our favorite Chinese restaurant thought it looked cool... Ok I kid... That was baby pictures and so last weekend!! Hopefully it will pull the poof out of the skirt enough to look like the original dress. But at this point, I don't care too much about that. It looks beautiful on her.

Prom stuff is heating up this week with events to do almost every night this week for the Junior parents to get ready. I'm not sure which I'm going to be doing... but we'll see what I can fit in. Saturday night I'll be up all night helping out with the after prom party. Teaching Sunday school the next day should be a hoot!

Got some curtains to revamp for a friend and THEN I can start it on Maddy's wardrobe for Girls State.

She got the honor of getting to go this year! I guess it's kind of like Mock Trial in Middle school. Girls State is a mock government. She'll be staying on a nearby college campus for a week with tons of girls from all over the state and learning more than she ever wanted to know about government. She needs to dress professionally. So I imagine lots of skirts, blouses and jackets. I'll have to check their list again about what she should be bringing...

I haven't planned anything for all my free time after that. But as it happens with extra money too... something will come up to use it.

Found out there is a dog snatcher around these parts... According to my daughter, who heard it from a teacher, who heard it from the police... someone is snatching dogs and using them in illegal dog fights. Just thinking about it makes me very uneasy this week and I am making sure all the doors are locked securely. It's not like I'm against them taking a dog or three... But I don't want to deal with the family heartache if one is taken.

This weekend was a blur. Sewing meetings, shopping, bridal shower, church potluck, sewing and a relaxing visit to a friends. I think I ate too much.

I'd better get back to work. Today is already hopping!

It's A Sweetheart Of A Dress

The dress is turning out to be a sweetheart of a dress! You know how I mentioned how easily it's coming together?!Yep, it came apart just as easily. Twice... and... It fits her even better the third time you rip the waistband out and put it back in.This was Saturday afternoon before the zipper was put in. The side is just pinned together and looks a little weird.

The status as of last night, the zipper has been handsewn in for accuracy, which still isn't as accurate as I'd like, but oh well... I'm NOT going to pull it out again! Maddy will just have to keep her arm down... Make it an Irish dance! It's not THAT bad... I jest.

I need to refit her again to check on the hem. The waist was supposed to be gathered in specific spots, but it looked wonky on her, so I pulled it off and just made it a gentle gathering all the way around. I measured for the hem when it was still wonky... So that will need to be checked.
Will be working tonight to make the trim to go around the top of it. We tried gathered and pleated. Above is the gathered example. It kind of looks costumey. When we were at church yesterday, we found the exact pleats on a ladies sweater there and she even took it off for me to examine. NOW I know what it's supposed to look like and I made a prototype last night, but it's going to take a LOT of ironing and precision to pull it off. I'm hoping I can find an easy how to online today.This was my first attempt before I saw the sweater example. The pleats are too wide. I need to make them skinnier.

Anyone know of any tutorials out there to show you how to make them? It's supposed to look something like this... but different.

Whoa Is Me!

Our internet was offline from Sunday afternoon on. My family felt crippled... One daughter couldn't get on FB and another couldn't google a recipe for chocolate cupcakes. She actually had to crack open a *gasp* cookbook! And my husband just felt tortured because he had to kill zombies all by himself without all his imaginary friends helping him out...

It was great for me! No social networking distractions! All day yesterday, except for the appropriate potty, meal and laundry breaks was spent sewing. I added the two lower layers of Meri's dress and the ribbons on all three, as well as the arm scythe ribbons. AND figured out how to mask the waist underneath so you wouldn't see my serging. I'm just going to cover it up with another ribbon!
The ribbon-ing is homemade bias tape made with my latest favorite doo-hickey.
I'm saving all the handstitching for later this week. Then at 12:30, I switched gears and threads and started back in on the wedding dress. I found these SHOUT wipes at the Dollar General and they got all the markings off the fabric that I thought had really screwed up the dress.

WHEW!

Got the lining sewed in on Saturday so that I could really focus on the laced up back. I put it in once, then tried it on Tiffany. If I laced it all the way up as tight as I could, she'd still be pulling it up all evening, so I took out the lacings and moved them out quite a ways to make it work better. It looks beautiful on her so far!
If anyone has some advice on how I'm supposed to lace this thing, I would greatly appreciate it! It's not exactly like tying a shoe...Then started in on the hem which will take some time because you have to baste all 5 yards of it like 3 times, before then removing one of the bastings and then sewing in the horsehair braid. I think I can find an easier way to do this before the next wedding dress I make... I'm going through TONS of thread!

So I'm seeing a light at the end of the sewing tunnel, but see lots of other projects that have been lining up ready to take their place. The dining room table will be full for a long time to come. Sorry hon!

One of them is a baptism outfit out of my sisters wedding gown for a new nephew that I thought I had until November to make.

Yesterday morning early I got a text from her that she was headed to the emergency room. She was due right around Thanksgiving Day. Found out by noon that I was an auntie again! Oh that poor kid... It was very rough morning for her and her husband. But they now have a little LITTLE boy to add to their little family. His big sister will love him to death if given the chance. My sister is doing great, but emergency surgeries, as I know full well, will make recovery a long process.
Little Braedon was born at 2 lbs 15 oz. YIKES! None of my kids were born less than 9 lbs... But he's doing great and breathing mostly on his own. Please pray for him because he really needs it!

Men in white coats

So yeah... Got the dresses cut out last week, did minimal sewing over the weekend but have been trying to squeeze in an hour a day to make some progress. Making my daughters bridesmaid dresses first, but it's been a challenge. If I need to have one of them try theirs on, their schedule is either so busy they can't fit in a fitting, or they grumble the whole time because the unfinished edges itch.

sigh...

Ok.. Use your imagination here... This one is Meri's. The left shoulder is being blanked out by my arm. There really IS a shoulder there! There will be two more layers (varying lengths) of the skirt under the first one eventually. I have to do a french seam on the sheer stuff, so it's been tricky. Each hem will have the heavier satin edging it to make them stand out a little. It fits her perfectly. Like it was designed for her. Which it was.

This one is Maddy's. One strap over her right shoulder and lots of tucks and pleats everywhere. The core of the dress is done and I got the placement of the zipper last night. Then onto the lining. For the 25 pattern pieces of this dress, it's actually going together more quickly than Meri's. Kind of like a puzzle. If this turns out, then I'll make another one of these in January for Mad's Sweetheart Ball dress. Might skip a few corners...

Well, that's my life in a tackle box. *I was going to say nut shell, but I'm not CRAZY!* *yet*

Regarding sewing and eating cake.

Remember me telling you that Meri wanted to finish her dress for the 4H fashion revue on Saturday? and she told me Thursday morning?...?

She got it done! by 10:30pm Friday night!

She then wore it to the mall where the judging was going to take place on Saturday morning and spoke confidently with the judge. Meri explained what she learned and did to make certain things happen on the dress. Then she modeled it for the fashion show that afternoon in the middle of the mall.
When she made the sample dress, she must have used stretchy fabric, because when she was making this dress and tried it on, suddenly it didn't work... She was two inches too short on some areas and a couple inches too short or long in others. Also we discovered that she had sewn on the side bust areas upside down on the outside, but not the lining.... So things just weren't lining up like they should...

She improvised and came up with inset decorative pieces that make the dress totally unique. I never did get a picture of her back. That was the cutest! The straps crisscross in the back going through little loops to tie a bow right above her zipper. I'll have to get a picture of that... She's very proud of her creation and we are proud of her!

Anyway, she got all the points for each area of judging and got a purple ribbon! *that means REALLY good!* She didn't win the award to take it to the State Fair tho, so she was a bit disappointed about that. But she really needed a nap too by that time...

Meri will take it to the county fair to be judged again, this time on her quality of her work. It very well might go to the State fair for that!

And Sunday was my birthday! *thank you... thank you....*

We celebrated by going to the HuHot and having Mongols make my food! Awesome! I went back for seconds...

Then back home where Ryan and Tiffany were able to join us and we enjoyed cake, ice cream and gifts. I got two plungers and a set of sheets! I'm old now. Practical gifts thrill me! I got other stuff too. Jewelry, a cookbook, bobbin winder, pottery and some other things. And Maddy made the cake.

Thinking of that makes me hungry... Yeah, I KNOW it's 9:07am, but doesn't chocolate cake sound pretty good right now?

Well - they just left...

Have a great evening kids!

Colorful Creations

I used the counter top mixer on my Easter Story cookies on Saturday night and they turned out great! I think next year, I'll make it mix for 15 minutes instead of 12. I think it will rise higher... But as it stands, they were good! The kids forgot to open the tomb oven until Sunday afternoon, but the cookies were hollow and tasted delicious! As I munch and type....Great breakfast at church and the men cleaned up! I'm going to have to remember that hidden talent for future pot lucks...

And I left my camera at church... But remembered that I have an Ipod! So I took pics the rest of the day with that.

ALL the kids wanted to do the hunting and not be the hider! Okey doke! So Robb (first year in a LONG time) and I hid all the eggs and candy. His favorite hiding place was sticking the whole full 18 count egg box on a branch and call it good... At my laughing insistence he hid them individually. I hid the candy everywhere.When the kids began the hunt, I was surprised that they knew HOW to pick up in the yard. Another hidden talent I'll need to tap in the future. However they left all the Mr Goodbars because none of them liked them...Hello!???! I like them! Pick them up for me!

Here are the girls Easter dresses. They just grabbed whatever shoes to go egg hunting...Of course, Ryan found the most of the real eggs and someone was upset because of that... So after wards they dumped everything out on the table and they traded this for that and eventually everyone was happy and sugared over sufficiently.

Then they played with their food...

Guess what I had for breakfast?!
Pretty eggs.