Curly Hair is forgiving

It's New Year's Eve. Today we went to the park, Aidan's Place, and were there for just over 2 hours. I have to admit that I love the fact that I no longer have to be the playmate for a single child or be right behind a 2 year old. Omari is a very watchful big sister and they have fun together.

I cut the girls's hair today as you can see. About 4 inches off of Omari and just over 2 inches off of Naiobi. I am happy. I have taken Omari to get a haircut only a handful of times. Each time, the stylist did not want to cut off as much as I wanted. What do they care?! I'm the one who has to handle it on a daily basis! Only once has Omari's hair been cut in a fashion suitable for curly hair. But it was a super expensive haircut and we can not afford to do it on one head, much less on 2 heads. So, mom came in and snipped away. Curly hair is very forgiving. Naiobi's pigtails look adorable with the little poofs. Omari's hair is still long and I'm tempted to cut it shorter.

Anyway, that doesn't have anything to do with sewing but, it WAS crafty!

Oh, today I also got a massage. A gift certificate redeemed and I feel so light. All those nights bent over the sewing machine, tracing patterns, cutting out patterns, cutting out fabric have a toll on your shoulders and back.

As for our activities tonight, we have nothing planned. I baked cookies with the girls and they will stay up until 9pm to ring in New York's New Year. I don't think we've done anything on New Years since 1998 into 1999. We were in Times Square freezing to death! Whoever reads this, be safe out there.

A nightgown for Naiobi

I made this nightgown using the same pattern I used to make her robe. OH, her robe was way too long and I've got to hem it up. And as much as she wanted a nightgown like her sisters, she has fought me tooth and nail to wear this. Anyway, it was easy to put together. I didn't put any ruffles at the top b/c I didn't have any premade ones and i didn't feel like making any.

Finally better.

Oh my gosh! I see the light! My family and I were sick for an entire week. We were completely miserable but as of yesterday, everyone is feeling better. I didn't end up making the tissue pack covers that I was going to give as gifts. We were coming home evenings and going to sleep around 6pm. Nobody was eating anything. Our appetite is finally back and tonight we ate pasta. I even took the girls out to the light festival and we walked it!

I did get to make quite few of the crayon rolls, 8 to be exact. The first four have rick rack but i ran out for the last 4. I still have to make some for Omari and Naiobi. I got the tutorial from the skiptomylou blog.




I made this little ball for Brianna following a tutorial from this website: Grand Revival Design


And then I made this door organizer for Suzie who's always loosing her keys following this tutorial.


And Finally, I made this blouse for myself. I just love, love, love the fabric. The fit, eh, not so great. I just have to come to terms that I am not a size 12 when it comes to patterns. I need to buy size 14. However, when a pattern ends at 12, and I have to buy another pattern that holds sizes 14+, I don't want to do that. Anyway, about this top, the bustline is too short. I fit a good 3 fingers under the bustline to my actual bust line, so if I make it again, I'll have to add some inches there. Also, I didn't like the sleeves in the end. They bell bottom out, and they are just annoying if you have to do anything at all, like eat or brush your teeth. Also, you can see that it's quite snug around the middle and you can clearly see my pooch and my belly button indent. I also think it's way too long although it looks find with the jeans I was wearing, I can't see it looking good with anything else. I eliminated the facing at the neckline by binding it in self fabric. One last thing, if I'd had hem tape I would have used it. But I didn't and the hem at the sleeves and the bottom of the shirt completely frayed. It was embarassing and I kept trying to keep the sleeves from turning out at the party I wore it to.

Bitty Booties

I made this little set up last night. Elena's baby shower is today but Omari is sick and Kevin's working so I can't go. The booties are from http://www.heatherbaileydesign.com/Booties.html. I made them from boiled wool and didn't line them. The baby's going to be wearing socks anyway, right?

The little hat is from Ottobre Design Magazine, the 4/2004 issue. I made it a little different than the pattern asked for. Because this is also wool and I didn't want it to be scratchy on the baby's head, I split the pattern apart, and used brown interlock to make what would become the lining of the hat. It was fairly easy and I'm happy with myself for figuring it out. I'm happy with the little set and already cut out another one for another baby shower.

I'm bummed I can't go to the shower. I even made me a blouse since my friends always see me wearing the same things. Oh well.

Turning a t-shirt into a dress

I used an ottobre design t-shirt pattern from the 4-2004 issue to make this dress. I first made the t-shirt using a stretch velvet. Then I chopped off about 3 inches from the bottom and added a circle skirt.

I did the same thing for Omari's dress. Except this was an actual dress that we found at the thrift store for $1. It's quite an unflattering dress for an adult in my opinion. I used the same pattern to cut out the sleeves and the bodice. Then I added the skirt back on. I used elastic along the top edge of the skirt applied with a zig-zag stitch. Then I used a zig zag stitch again to attach it but this time with a width set at 0 so that it looks like a straight stitch.

This girl wanted to actually wear it in the adult size! She's a little kooky sometimes.


This is what the dress really looked like.

The Alleys

I just LOVE going to the alleys (aka the garment district) for fabric shopping. There's this one place called Shawn-tex on San Julian and 9th where it's amazing he's been in business for 20 years. Now, it is the ugliest, dirtiest, most cramped spot you will ever go to and if you're not an experienced fabric buyer you don't really know what you're getting in terms of fiber content, but I just go by what feels good in my hand. He also has tons of zippers and elastic trims like for lingerie.

I just bought 9 yards of fabric for $9. I did a burn test to check for fiber content. These two are natural fibers! I got the white, 2 yards for a dollar! This is a nice, thick jersey that I'm going to use to make the girls undershirts and panties. The other is a bit like french terry but it's not. Some type of fleece maybe but also natural fibers. I got that at $2 for 3 yards. It's a gray green color on the smooth side and a natural looking color on the other. I'm going to use that to make myself a top and some sleep pants for Kevin who says I never make him anything. I don't. I also got 4 yards of thick, navy blue fleece to make the girls coats. That was $6. Just a steal!

Are you wondering why I was a the alleys on a Wednesday morning? Well, I volunteered at the school this morning and then decided I'd go look for some trim to finish up Naiiobi's dress. I was going to go tomorrow but then thought, Why put off til tomorrow what you can do today? So, I went down to the trim area over on Maple and 8th and couldn't find exactly what I was looking to match, but got something else. Now I'm home. I think I'mgoing to head to Macy's to get gifts for the babysitter and her assistant. Hey, I don't have time to make gifts for everybody! Then I want to come back and take a nap, or maybe I should take a nap first. Then I need to go recycle bottles, pick up the Bourne Ultimatum, get N and then get O and friend A. Jeez, maybe I'll just sleep until it's time to get the kids. And to think, I was going to come home and sew.

Knitting needle/Crochet Hook case

I made this case following the tutorial on multicrafty. I didn't make it exactly b/c I don't think the person I made it for has that many needles/hooks. I like it lots and can't wait to make one for myself. I should add that instead of using another piece of fabric for the contrast strips, I used lime green bias tape and Satin blanket binding! That makes it just a little bit easier and faster in my book! Thanks Angie for the tutorial.

I Panicked!

I was panicked that I didn't have anything useful in my scraps bag to make the crayon rolls. So I bought some fabric at Joann's. A total of $10 worth of remnants. Last night I sat down to cut them out and realized how little they actually require. Turns out I would have had plenty in my scraps bag and would have only needed to buy some boy appropriate remnants. Oh well. Will have more to add to the scraps bag!

Scrapbook Box

I finished this up and gave to K. Yu as part of her baby shower gift. I made it in a workshop at one of the Scrapbook Conventions I went to this year. It was a lot of work but fun and she liked it.