When a plan comes together

The turkey soup turned out *ok* last night.  It wasn't great, but oh well.  It was just Robb and myself and no restaurant bloggers or food critics anywhere.  Thanks for all your suggestions!  Due to stomach issues, I wasn't able to make it into a taco soup, but I am definitely filing that away for future use.

I've got my trusty DDP by my side and ready to take on today.  I half made a pair of shorts yesterday out of an old t-shirt of Robb's that had shrunk in the dryer.  I turned the shirt hem side up and cut the pattern that I use for my leggings out of it.  I'm not sure how it will turn out but an extra pair of shorts is an extra pair of shorts.  I hope to finish them up over lunch and breaks.

I was able to solve a work problem this morning that had been hounding me for months!  I love it when an AHA moment happens!  

That sounded a bit like the A-Team...

And if you remember them, you're old too.

Our ASG sewing group has a special speaker next month and if you sew something from her patterns (Dana Marie), you get to enter a drawing for something special.  I have none of her patterns...  

There is also a sewing meeting next week and I would love to make something to get some tips from them.  For THAT sewing meeting, we make clothes from independent pattern makers and not the big 4 pattern companies (Vogue, Simplicity, Butterick, McCalls).  So if I made a Dana Marie pattern, that is definitely an independent pattern company and would fit in perfectly.  The rules aren't strict strict, and usually if I make something regardless of the pattern maker, I'll show it there, but I want to get into the sync of things better.  Those meetings are hugely inspirational to me!  It's amazing what these women can do.  When they enter something in the state fair, they get more than Average scores, I'll tell you that!  That is my goal for next year.  To be better than an "average" sewist.

I guess I need to shoot for quality over quantity...  shoot.

This will be my year to improve my skills!

What are you hoping to improve?

Repurposing Fools and Vice Versa

Have you ever sawed a mattress in half?  Me neither...  Til now.

We got a new memory foam mattress and this is the old worn out one.

Robb had said he wants to pitch it, but he's out of town til later today and I can't move the thing on my own...  AND I had developed a brilliant idea.

Plus, it's such a shame to thrown away such a huge piece of foam without trying something first...

So I pulled out my tape measure and bread knife.  I'm thinking I should have used the electric knife, but maybe for the next step.  This was messy enough...

I cut that sucker into two pieces and it's SO much easier to manage now!

 

Then I marked off 4 sections on each.  Can you guess what I'm going to do yet?

Probably not.  My mind is a plethora of ideas waiting to happen until there's no one around to stop me.

I'm going to cut it into those 8 parts and then sew heavy duty fabric covers for each section, probably with a zipper or velcro closure.  It'll make 8 covered cushions to be used when we need more seating in the living room or a bedroom.  Some will probably go to Meri and Ryan's place, some to Maddys, if they want any.  

And WOW, does it make the mattress easier to haul outta here!

On a different note, I found the mystery beeping in the kitchen that's been driving Robb nuts lately.  The food thermometer!  It got trapped under something in the drawer and was going ballistic.  

Do you hear that?  Nope, me neither.  Not anymore...  

Robb went to Illinois with his brother yesterday early and is bringing back "the Sweetness" aka "the Sweet Civic" aka Doug's old Honda Civic that he doesn't want anymore.  He's making a pit stop in Wisconsin to see Maddy, then HOME!  

It's been a wacky couple days. 

WHAT is she DOing?!

What am I doing??!!!  Ask me in a private message and I may or may not tell you.

But I will for sure tell you in 6 months.

Ryan was home last night and pulled out his Catan board game and insisted that we all play with him, including Leon.  Leon got bored about a half hour in, but his only other option was to go to bed.  It was getting late.  So he stayed in the game and won...  

Ryan and Meri ganged up on me and it was all I could do even build a road.  cripes.  

my kids are rotten...  

I'd never played before and neither had Leon, but his dad was helping him out.  

NEXT time, I'm going to kick their bricks!

Sew Destructive!

Ok...  The girls and I had been thrifting about a hundred years ago, or at least that's what it seems like.  This top was purchased.  It was brand new with the tags.  Whomever had purchased it to begin with must have changed their mind when they got home.

As I mentioned yesterday, I tore in with the seam ripper before I got a picture, so this is kind of reconstructed.  In a sloppy and unprofessional way.  As is the story of my life these days.

The ruffle that we thought was so cute on the bottom REALLY accentuates your butt.  It's CUTE, but not for this shirt.  We wondered how to get in and out of it.  The lacing up the front wasn't very productive.  And if we took the ruffle off, the collar just didn't work, color-wise. 

So it sat for months, years, however long it was!  I kept it in my minds eye and thought about it.  So when I finally had a chance to sew, I couldn't decide on a pattern and this cropped up in my mind.  AHA!  I'll start small!  I pulled out the seam ripper and this is what I've ended up with so far.

Oh and I DID find how you get in and out of it without messing with the lacings.  The silly thing had a zipper under one arm...  I'm going to remove it and sew the seam up.

I still have to restitch the hem and neckline.  Then I think I'll put the laces back in but not criss cross them.  Maybe just weave them through on each side and let them dangle at the bottom.  Make it a kind of shrug-like jacket.


Meri hasn't even tried this on yet!  Before OR after!  Well, if it doesn't fit her, maybe I'll keep it!!

Got another project to work on as soon as I'm done with this.  A friend of Maddy's wants me to hem a pair of jeans.  I get to try out a technique that I've only admired from afar thus far!

Wish me luck!