Weekend Break

On Friday, I spent all day working on this one blanket.  Yes, that's ALL day on ONE blanket.  At times, I did get a bit frustrated, but the finished product was definitely worth it, especially after we got to visit the sweet baby and give it to her.  Not sure if I would be able to sell this one....seeing that it took a whole day to make.

Hardest part?  Definitely the flower centers.  I was originally thinking of using buttons, but was afraid they'd be a choking hazard.  So, I decided to sew circles together and stuff them with some poly filling....conceptually, not difficult to make, but difficulty level increased due to the smallness in size.

So, after all that hard work, I took the weekend off and took advantage of the nice weather to plant my vegetable garden and spend time hanging out in Houston with some friends.  Checked out the Shell eco-marathon and hung out with yet another transplantee to the Houston area (or within 2 hr radius).  Slowly, we're starting a revolution....more of our NJ friends are moving down here to where things are just bigger and better!

I'm so excited, some of my veggies and fruits are growing.  Here's a peek at what's growing right now:

The strawberries in the garden are ripening and they are sooooo good!  They may not always be super sweet, but they have a super dose of strawberry flavor.  The lettuces are also going crazy right now...think I'll have a salad tonight!

Well now it's back to mopping the floor...I've got half of it done and am now procrastinating...

Chores vs Sewing

Well another week has gone by and I managed to get a little bit of sewing done.  The problem with being away for a week is that when you come back, all your usual responsibilities and chores are still waiting there for you...accumulating.  Now that the weather is warming up, gardening season is beginning....unfortunately I've neglected my garden beds all winter and while my plants were killed by the freeze, the weeds did just fine and are growing like there's no tomorrow.  So I'm off to weed out my garden to avoid one of those nasty HOA letters.  But before I go, here's a few projects I finished recently:

Some tag toys as gifts:

Some 6-12 month booties for my favorite girl Stella and her best friend Caleb with a grippy dot bottom.  They're flannel lined and have a layer of polyester batting in the sole to make them more cushy:

That's all for now....til next time!

Home Sweet Home

Finally home again after a full week in Victoria.  It's so nice to have more than just one room to hang out in.  Being gone for so long has left me with a bunch of errands to run, so I haven't had much time to sit and sew.  I guess that was one benefit of being locked in a hotel room without a car, there isn't much to do except sew and watch tv (or sew while watching tv).

Picked up a few more orders and am trying to get a special creation done for a friend who just had a baby girl.  I'll post a pic when I finish!

Here's a blanket I made recently.  I never thought that this castle fabric would be such a hot seller, but I do have to admit, it looks pretty cool when you use the 2-D effect.  It takes forever to cut and iron around the printed design, but the effect is awesome!  Since my blankets are all custom ordered right now, I don't keep extra fabric in stock.  I couldn't find the same exact background and border fabrics as the original, so I went with the same theme, but switched it up a little.

Day 7

edit:: I wasn't able to post this until today due to the fact that I could not upload my pictures while I was in Victoria.....so here it is, a few days late.

It's officially day 7 of my Victoria campout.  Yesterday, I was rescued from the hotel by a new friend and did some shopping.  Of course, one of my stops was the fabric shop.   I got some more great prints to add to my collection.  Can't wait to make some cute blankets out of them!

Today I ventured out to the Victoria plant sale.  One of the great things about small town living is that generally, things are cheaper out here.  I got a great little hibiscus plant for $5!  I wish I could've gotten more, but then I'd have to lug them all back to Houston with me. 

Anyway, I've pretty much run out of projects to sew here.  I had planned to work on my dress, but I met an obstacle even before starting...this does not bode well for my project.  When I bought the pattern, I noticed there was one for sizes 6-12 and one for sizes 14-whatever.  Thinking that since I'm roughly a size 6 in women's clothing, I'd have no problem fitting into anything under a 12 right?  WRONG.  Turns out, after measuring myself and comparing with the chart, parts of me are a size 14 and others are a 16!  I don't know whose bright idea it was number their sizes like that...I thought the goal was to flatter women, not make them feel like they should be looking in the plus size department.  Well, I guess I'm going to have to go get the larger sized pattern if I want something that's going to fit me and not the store mannequin.

In the mean time, I've made myself a pair of flannel sleep pants that can double as lounging pants.  I live in my pjs...on days I don't have to go anywhere, I spend all day in my comfortable, loose, pj pants.  However, I am embarrassed to admit that I've been alternating between a pair Pepe Le Pew with candy canes and Scooby Doo with santa hats pj bottoms for the past 5 years....they're both faded and about 4 inches too short for me.  They were passed over to me from my aunt who had gotten them as samples from a friend who worked as a pj designer.  I finally decided it was time to get rid of these pants (as comfortable as they are) and make myself a pair that I wouldn't be embarrassed to answer the door in.  So, now I've been walking around the hotel in these:

I made them slightly flared and more form fitting than regular pj bottoms...I've been living in these all week long here in Victoria.  This way, I can roll out of bed and grab breakfast downstairs, or run down to the business center without having to worry about drawing some weird stares.

Learning as I go

Yesterday, I learned an important lesson.  I agreed to do a blanket out of a certain fabric.  I didn't have emough on hand, but I thought I'd be able to pick some up at my favorite shop in Victoria (they're the only ones that carry it).  Well when I got to the store, I received the nasty surprise that the fabric had sold out in the last week!  I had just been there a week and a half ago and they had plenty of it, but apparently there was a run on it.  Luckily, I found some of it online, but I had to buy a full yard of the fabric and pay extra shipping.  I'm just going to have to eat that expense.  Note to self, lesson learned: never assume anything!

Anyway, here's another blanket I made a little while ago that has recently been gifted:

Seems like I've been using this fabric alot lately.  I'm currently working on a bib and burp cloth set with the remainder I have of this fabric.  It will be one of the first items offered when I open up my etsy shop.  That's right, I'm working on  making a few items so that I can actually open up shop!  More details to come :)

My Favorite Model

This week I'm in Victoria again...Andy gave me the choice of driving my car or driving a rental car.  The difference is that I'm not allowed to drive the rental (insurance issues), leaving me stuck in the hotel.  However, if we drive my car, I have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn to take Andy to work.  Anyone who knows me know that I would of course I choose to have no car.  I mean seriously, I really need my sleep.  Besides, last week I braved the Victoria transit system and survived.  I got yelled at by the bus driver, didn't have exact change, and had a nice man give me a buck to ride the bus.  That was an adventure in itself. 

So here I am, sewing machine and all, hiding out at the Holiday Inn.  At least they have good cookies :-).  The best part of coming to Victoria has got to be Carino's Monday night 1/2 off family platter special (which we always take advantage of when we are here on Mondays).  We order a platter, take home the leftovers, and I have lunch for the next 3 days, all for the price of one dinner entree! 

A couple of days ago, my best friend sent me a few pics of her baby in a dress I made her.   Here's a look at the beautiful baby modeling her dress (along with her beautiful mommy for support - literally) This little girl is just so precious!  If you remember, she was featured on my blog in my first entry.  She's grown so much!  Oh how I wish they didn't live so far away.

Price List

It's about time that I figured out way to post a list of prices for the items that I make (or in this case, asked Andy to do it for me).  This way people don't have to email me asking for prices, and I don't have to type out my entire price list in an email.  I created a link to the right under "My Links" for easy access, but here it is for your viewing pleasure (you can click on the picture to see the full size, or view it as a pdf using the link to the right):

Custom Kicks

Spent more time in Victoria this week, but am back home today.  Ahhhh home sweet home.  Here's a custom pair of baby booties I made for a friend.  This baby's going out in high style...move over Nike!

On a personal note, today marks our 4th wedding anniversary!  We kicked it off Texan style last night with tickets to the Houston Rodeo and Rascal Flatts.  Don't think we'll do anything special today, but we're gonna celebrate tomorrow night at my favorite restaurant - Jasper's.  Mmmm...baked potato salad, here I come!

Old at Heart

My fears are confirmed, I might really be a 65 year old stuck in a 27 year old body....

Recently, I received a letter in the mail from "The Retirement Pros", which raised my curiosity. So I opened it up and the letter began like this:

"Dear Jennie:

Since you are near or in retirement, you'll benefit from Dr. Shelby Smith's Guide to Social Security....."

Then on the next page was a survey form with questions like

"your current ages is: (circle one) 50-55, 56-60, 61-64, 65-70"
"If already taking Social Security, at what age did you start? (circle one) <62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67..."

Now I may have hobbies like a senior citizen, I may go to bed at the same time, have as many health issues, and I may hang out with a lot of senior citizens, but that doesn't make me a senior citizen! It just so happens that most the women who stay at home during the day are either 1. stay at home moms or 2. retired women. Stay at home moms are generally closer to my age, but they are usually extremely busy entertaining their kids, running them to their activities, and catching a few minutes of shut-eye whenever possible. So, that leaves me with the retired women, who are home, have as much time as I do to "hang out", and do not need to worry about their kids' schedules. That's how I've become friends with so many of them.

Well at least I still have the style tastes of a 27-year-old....

It's been a long time goal of mine to make a dress for myself...so I picked up this pattern a couple of months ago and finally found some stretch fabric that might work for it....we'll see if I can pull this one off or not.

Home Away From Home

Here I am again, reporting from Victoria.  I think we must be VIPs at the Holiday Inn here.  I am becoming best friends with the lady who manages the breakfast bar.  I once told a friend that I've been travelling with my husband on business to Victoria and she thought it was very exciting until I clarified that it was Victoria TX, NOT Victoria Canada....

But, Andy's got quite a bit of work here for the next couple of weeks, and I'm tagging along for the fun of it.  Besides, when I'm here, I have an excuse to go shopping, watch HBO all day long, sew, and ignore the fact that my floor at home hasn't been mopped since Thanksgiving.

It's been a little bit of a frustrating week as I've been working a couple of blankets that have been giving me grief.  I don't know why, but sometimes I measure everything out correctly and the ends don't meet, or the embroidery is crooked.  It's hard for me to let a product go out if it doesn't pass my perfectionist standards....even when Andy assures me that I am the only one that notices it.

Well here are a couple of bib and bootie sets that did pass my quality control standards: