Spring Top Sewalong!

2012 Goal: Sew More.  Part of that goal is to try and sew more clothing for myself.  Cool stuff, not cheesy "looks like its home made" stuff.

So along with sewing a dress for Angela & Thomas's wedding, I'm going to work at finishing up and making a few other projects for myself.  And perfect timing Made by Rae posted her "Spring Top Sewalong" for 2012 today!

I've been following her blog for a while now and have read and voted the last few years in the Spring Top sewalong - and although I thought about entering last year I never did.  This year I fully intend on finishing and entering a top.

In fact you can submit something that you have previously started but not finished.  Rules are you must have finished your top after March 1st 2012.  (no issues here, since its totally not finished)

I'm going to finish up (my almost started) Shearwater Kaftan summer top. I fell in love with this pattern last year  and searched for the perfect fabric.  Finding this great pale grey stone gauze fabric from etsy seller UniqueShiny.

Image borrowed from makeitperfect and Photograph courtesy of Fiona Harding Photography

But to date I've only got as far as cutting out all the pieces and sewing the the hem around the neck.  Time to pull it out and finish it.  And I really have been wanting to finish this for a while now.  In fact I had originally planned to finish it last year in time for Rhett's First birthday and Steph's baby shower which were both towards the end of last summer.  I always have such ambitious plans that never come to fruition.

But this is the time.  Maybe I'll even go and get started right now. You can start uploading pics for the Spring Top sewalong as early as Monday.  And there is a contest portion, although you don't have to be part of that you can just sew a top for the fun of it if you want!  Check out the site if your interested - I've posted a button with the link on my sidebar!

Making a Dress - Attempt #1

So this past week after looking at lots of patterns online I decided that instead of making my own pattern (right away) I was going to try out this pattern as it was written first.

Since my luck with clothes to this point hasn't been overly successful I still knew that I was going to need to make a "test" dress first. On Friday we headed up to Paul's Moms to spend the night and I brought my new tiny serger, since I knew she would be interested in seeing it.  Paul said I should also bring my sewing.  So I packed my dress pattern and some cheap broadcloth in case we had a chance to work on it.

Singer Tiny Serger - Bought of Kijiji For $30!

We were only going to spend Friday night and come home on Saturday night since it was my birthday but Paul's mom was excited to help out with sewing so we decided to stay until today.

Yesterday we set out to put the pattern together and sew the "test" dress.  I also decided to attempt to "serge" all the edges.  This was definitely the longest part as the tiny serger is "finicky". So as I worked on serging all the pieces, Paul's mom started the assembly of he bodice.  I learned some really good tips from her - she has made several dresses and clothes before.

So here is what we learned.  I am not a 32 petite. LOL  I measured myself before hand and I thought I was "close enough" to the original pattern size.  Ummm when making clothes, close enough does not cut it. The bodice is about 4 inches too small at the sides/ back. Luckily we found the pattern in "multi-sizes" online so i'm going to have to start all over again this weekend.

But it was a good first attempt.  I wasn't sure of the style before we started, but I think it will look nice. I like the way the top is fitting and with a little sweater and possibly a belt it should look great for the weddings we have this year.

Adjustments that i'm going to make on the 2nd attempt will be to make a fully lined bodice.  The pattern just has the bodice facings lined, but I going to fully line the whole thing to prevent it from being see-through if i chose a light weight fabric.  I'm also going to make the skirt a bit longer and hem it to just above my knee i think. I think i'm also going to leave the ruffle off, but i'm not sure yet. I think its going to depend on what I choose for my final fabric choice.

So my next step is to try and get to fabric land some time this week to pick up some more broadcloth for attempt number two. By the time I get to making the actual dress i'll be a pro at this pattern!

Wordless Wednesday

Organized & Clean Linen Closet

Dessert before Dinner

Full Moon

Happy Birthday Oreo!  You look good for being 100

Our Neighborhood

To sew or not to sew

I'm going to *attempt* to make my own dress.

I've been sewing for a long time (self-taught), however I will be the first one to admit that sewing clothing has not been something I've excelled at.  In fact the very few things I have made, I rarely wear.

I do love the school house tunic pattern, and until about 20 minutes ago when I put it on, I thought the size and fit was good.  However, my choice of fabric was so way off that I never wear it. In fact I just changed out of my pj's for the first time all day to put it on to take a few pics since I realized I didn't have any of it completely finished. 

But this shirt is not what I came to blog about.  Its about trying new things.  And i'm going to attempt to make a dress for my cousin's wedding in May. 

Now I've found a few patterns that I like, however I'm *contemplating* making my own pattern.  This is a crazy idea cause I've never made my own pattern before and I'm not good at math.  I think I'd be better to adjust a pattern to myself but even that is taking a risk.  Specially for a dress that I have to wear out in public and my entire family will see. 

My biggest fear is picking a style that works for my body and will fit well. I think the most frustrating part of sewing clothing for myself is that it never seems to work out the way I envisioned and I never know how to fix it once its done. 

Enough of that, lets get to the details, here are some of patterns that I've been thinking about.

This first dress that I've been thinking of modifying is actually a kids dress, but I think it could be adjusted to look a little more adult-like.

Photo from The Cottage home

Although I like that style I'm worried that since it is a kids dress, I might just look a well a kid. I really like this next dress pattern, but it might be a bit to simple for a dress to wear to a wedding. 

Photo from Sewing in no Mans Land

And this last one I just found tonight, it's a free pattern I found on Burda Style and could be fancy enough for the wedding, but simple enough to throw together. I'm not 100% sold on the ruffle, but it could be cute. 

Photo from Kylie Burrowes on Burda Style

So given all of these are free patterns, i'm thinking that I could make a few copies out of broadcloth and give them or at least one of them a test try first to see if the fit and style are right.  I'm also going to look at a few books at Indigo on my lunch break tomorrow to see if I can find anything on adjusting patterns could be something good to have on hand.

Ultimately If I had time in my crazy life, had extra money, or lets face it was smart enough I'd just go take the pattern making class at The Workroom and learn the proper way to do this. But part of me thinks learning on my own and figuring this out will be much more satisfying then just reading a pattern or someone teaching  me.  

Wish me luck.

February - Happy Leap Day

Again, I've been a bad blogger, a whole month without a real post, and no excuse cause I even had some great things to blog about.

First - Project365 - another month completed

I've missed a few days here and there, but overall I'm doing pretty well.  And I'm incorporating the photoaday pic's when ever I can, and particular on days where I need some inspiration.

This month I celebrated my 8th year working at Zenith.  Its crazy to me that I've been there for 8 years.  So long yet so short. Its a good achievement, even if I dislike it 80% of the time. It's been an intense month of late nights and lots of extra work. But next week is the launch of a major project I've been working on, fingers crossed things will calm down a bit after.

It has also been 10 years since we lost a good friend.  I still remember getting the phone call at my apartment on Davenport and Dad picking me up in Georgetown after a friend from school gave me a ride. I wish there were answers to why he decided to go, and I wish I could have told him how I felt about him one last time. I hope deep down he knew that he was loved.

I only finished one craft project this month and it was only this weekend.  I promise I'll do a separate post on that soon.  But I also started knitting a pair of cable mitts last week - I'm almost done the first one, ran into some issues on the decreases, but I think I've finally figured it out.  Fingers crossed.

Also I really need a vacation. Between work and lack of funds, it just doesn't seem to be an option right now.  The Ski trip was last weekend, but Paul went up early and I couldn't get the time off work so I had to miss out :(.  And Mom left for Arizona on Sunday with some girlfriends. Dad picks her up this Sunday and they are driving to Florida for the week.  I was trying to convince Paul that we should tag along.  But money and timing just didn't work out.

Oh well. Maybe next year.

Anywho, February is almost over, time for bed. I'm going to post more in March. (promise to myself)

My Day in Photos

Last Saturday I decided to participate in this photo challenge from Fat mum slim: Your day in photos.

It was a good day to take part cause unlike the last few weekends, I actually had (what I thought) were exciting plans! A knitting Party!

One of my best friends moved away about 4 (or maybe even 5 now) years ago, and I don't get to see her near as often as I would like. But last weekend she came down for a visit since her sister was hosting a knitting party.

So here it is, my day in photos, 1 picture for every hour I was awake.

10am - reading the weekly flyer's

11am - Cinnamon buns for breakfast/ brunch

12pm - Got distracted and played some gardens of time on facebook

1pm - Time to get ready - relaxing bubble bath

2pm - Picking out some yarn and patterns for a potential new project

3pm - Running late but on our way

4pm -Knitting Party/ Pot luck spread - yum

5pm - We hadn't even starting knitting yet - but Amanda shows off her latest project (a super cute baby dress)

6pm - We are finally knitting - trying to finish up a project that was started 3 years ago

7pm - Still knitting away

8pm - my view of some of the other knitters

9pm - College Friends

10pm - when knitting goes wrong.  This is actually a giant knit mitt - but its so big, it kinda looks like a shark.

11pm - Norman doesn't want to knit, but uses Manda's needles for some impromptu drumming

12am - Streetcar ride down to Queen and Broadview to meet Pauly to get home.

241 Tote

One of my 2012 goals is to sew more.

So far I'm not doing so bad.  Along with my Figure 8 Scarf I finished this "late" Christmas gift for my best friend Steph in the second week of January. (and that is when I actually started writing this post)

I've been looking at this pattern for a while and have seen a lot of great bags posted to pinterest lately. So when I read that someone loved it for holding sippy cuts and bottles I knew it would make a great everyday bag for Steph. (because she just had a baby and will be needing to lug bottles and sippy cups, she doesn't use them herself)

The pattern was easy to follow and I think the hardest part is choosing fabrics, cause you get to pick so many! The pattern is also written with two different versions.  One with pockets (which I choose) and one with two side zippers which I'm definitely going to try out at some point. 

The Main Fabric is from the Good Folks line from Anna Maria Horner, I've had it in my stash for a while waiting for something to showcase the main panel, and this was perfect.  I paired it with some Kona Navy and some grey that I had in my stash.

I definitely love the outside pockets on this bag, they are great for holding a water bottle or your keys.  I also put a pocket inside as well as a magnetic snap closure. 

Overall its a great tote bag, and I'm hoping Steph will get a lot of use out of it for either lugging around baby stuff for Ben, or just a great overall bag for herself.

Wordless Wednesday

First Finished Project of the Year

Okay I started this post over a week ago.  Luckily I've been more successful at my sewing goals for the year then blogging.

This year, we actually had a lot of time off at Christmas, but we were away for most of it, visiting with family. While we were away I caught a nasty bug (it wouldn't really be Christmas, if my sister, mom or I weren't sick), and I was still feeling like crap when we got home.

So even though we were home with nothing to do for a good 3 days, no real sewing got done.  But I started feeling much better by New Years, and on January 1st & 2nd I dove right into a new project for myself.

My sister got me an Anna Maria Horner Figure 8 Scarf Kit for Christmas, I'd been contemplating buying a kit for a while, just to try out the velveteen and voile to be honest. It's wonderful, my favourite is the velveteen for sure, it's so soft and cozy.  

The project is a quick one (or should be if you read through all the instructions first). Definitely should learn to listen to what the pattern says, like when it says "square up and make sure all sides are even" just do it, don't pretend like you know what your doing.

The fact that I have never sewed with either of these fabrics should have been the first clue that I should have been extra careful. I did read a few reviews that said lots of pins were necessary, but I didn't believe it at first.  After ripping the whole thing apart one and a half times, I've learned my lesson.  That voile is slippery.

But eventually I figured it out, I was a bit worried about the hand sewing, but it turned out really nice.

However its not getting much use.  Its just sooo big.  I did some searching and found I wasn't the only one that found it to be a bigger fit.  On Fresh Lemons she talks about making the scarf only 13" wide by 72" long for a thinner scarf that would be easier to manage.

This picture was from my #project365, and although it doesn't look so crazy here, its actually taking over my whole neck!

So I think I might end up taking this apart again with my seam ripper and cutting the width down.  I really love the fabric and I don't want this to be something that just sits in the closet looking pretty!

Either way, happy to have finished something so quickly in the new year!  Here's to a year of great sewing!

Almost ... Wordless Wednesday

Okay I've seen this "theme" on some other blogs, and since I've been putting off a post all week on my first finished sewing project of the year (I promise myself I will do it tomorrow or this weekend or when i'm not sore, sick and tired) I figured this would be an easy post to keep at it for the new year .

So here are a few pics that I've been taking for my project365/ janphotoaday challenge .

next time i'll leave out all the words.
enjoy.

Oh how a year (or more) goes by!

Seriously, it's been over a year since I've made a blog post. Fail. There is no excuse for not keeping it up other then pure laziness. 

Anyways, its fine cause 2011 was kinda crappy, and I'm glad its over. It was a ruff year.  

Here's hoping 2012 brings more happiness and fulfillment then 2011.  

I think it's only fair (mostly for myself) to sum up 2011. I'll refrain from posting crap about work, since that is still a daily occurrence that even I don't want to hear about anymore. 

I'm sure this will be long, but after a year I suppose its alright.  Let's hope I can keep up a bit more regularly after this.  Its a goal, but not a resolution, cause lets face it who keeps up with them. 

January 2011
- Spent New Years in Sault Ste Marie for Amanda & Drew's Wedding


February 2011
- Amanda & Tim got married! Spent a (short) but great night celebrating 
- Ski Weekend up north with the KW Crew where I skied more then Paul since his gout was really bad that weekend :(
- Helped say good bye to a Friend's dad who passed away suddenly
- Reached an impressive 7 years at Zenith


March 2011
- Turned 30 and was not happy about it. I'm over it now since i'll be 31 in less then 3 months


April 2011
- Watched ourselves on TV for the first time! 
- Totally wiped out running for the train on front street, screwing up my knee for months
- Bought a new sewing machine that does fancy stuff :)
- Hosted Easter dinner at our place for the Cronin/ Moore Family


May 2011
- Celebrated a special Mothers day brunch at my sisters with the Campbell Family mom's
- Celebrated Krista's upcoming nuptials by showering her with love and gifts in Stroud
- Spent the first long weekend of the summer at home since the trailer was leaking gas
- Supported a friend as she said goodbye to her grandma
- Finished my first quilt of the year (baby quilt for baby Elise)


June 2011
- Said goodbye to my aunt who was and always will be a fighter
- Celebrated owning our house for a whole year


July 2011
- Spent Canada Day up north and celebrated Grandpa Moore's 80th b-day & had Family pictures taken
- Scott & Krista got married! Spent a great weekend in Barrie with family
- Made a cute little bag for the wedding to match my dress
- Went to advanced screening of the last Harry Potter movie - sad to see it end :(
- Went Garden touring with Mom and helped my cousins with a garage sale
- Became obsessed with pinterest


August 2011
- Spent the Civic weekend in Michigan visiting Uncle Barry
- Said goodbye to my Papa Lavender who was a truly great man 
- Finished my second quilt of the year for Alicia & Chad's big day
- Made a great bag for the wedding - favourite clutch bag I've made yet
- Alicia & Chad got married on a beautiful day (and Pauly's b-day)
- Celebrated our nephew Rhett's first birthday! 
- Celebrated and showered Steph & Steve and their upcoming little boy!
- Watched two of my closest friends at work leave for good reasons and was sad to not be going with them


September 2011
- Celebrated and bid farewell to friends moving to San Francisco 
- Tried canning again - 9 jars of salsa and 9 jars of tomato sauce to last through the winter
- Registered and started drivers training 3 years after getting my G1 and 14 years after I could have gotten my licence 


October 2011
- Welcomed my 2nd substitute nephew!  Benjamin Cook on October 2nd
- Started in-car drivers lessons
- Went to 3 thanksgiving dinners in one weekend
- Worked on my very first mug rug for a birthday gift, and made a kick ass kids car mat for my 1st substitute nephew
- Took a whole week off work at the same time and spent it with friends 


November 2011 
- Celebrated 5 years with Paul - sometimes he's the best
- Spent a lot of time at work
- Went black Friday shopping in Erie PA with my cousins and spent lots of money
- Drove on the 401 for the first time


December 2011
- Was busy and away from our place for every weekend 
- Became obsessed with the Party Rock Anthem song
- Went to my work Christmas Party and then Paul's work Christmas Party the next night in heels both nights and thought my feet were going to fall off
- Finished 5 sewing Birthday/Christmas gifts (3 pillows, 1 apron, 1 quilt)
- Went to 5 family Christmas and was total spoiled with gifts

My Year in Review - Slightly out of order 

Okay so it was a busier year then I thought.  A lot of up's and downs.  4 Funerals, 3 Weddings and we welcomed several new babies to our circle of friends. 


I didn't sew nearly as much as I would have liked too, but I still finished a lot of really great projects that I was super proud of. 


Okay I think that's a good start to the new year, even if it took me so long to write that i'm now posting at 2:20 in the morning on the 2nd of January. Oh well, better late then never?

Stressed and starting to panic.

There are only 10 days till Christmas. 

I said I would limit the number of handmade gifts that I made this year, in order to limit my frustration and stress levels in the pending weeks prior to Christmas.  Therefore only make 3 “gifts” for Christmas 2010, but then my aunts and cousins wanted some pillows to remember my late uncle, and there was really no way to say no to that, and then they asked “could they be ready by Christmas” and of course I couldn’t say no, instead I said “Sure, no problem”.  So that brings the handmade project list to 6 things by Christmas.

Do you want to know how many are started?

Zero.

Do you want to know realistically how many days I have to sew 6 things (3 of which are new projects that I’ve never made before and there are bound to be some kind of issues).  Two days.

In all reality two full days (a weekend to be exact) should be plenty of time to finish my pending list of doom.  However we all know how I’ve been this year and procrastination has become my fault (although still second to complaining about work...lol)

I’m going to need to buckle down. Focus. And get things done. Anyone want to make a bet?

Okay, i’m off to shower.  I can’t decide if i’m going to go to the staff party tomorrow night and if I am what am I going to wear?  I bought a new outfit tonight, and just not happy with any of it.  Top/ Skirt or shoes.  I think they are all going back to the stores they came from.   Why does dressing up have to be so darn hard!

Our House - The Tour

Okay, its about time I posted pic's of our house.  I finally feel like its a place where its acceptable to show you all!  Although there is still a lot of improvements that we will be working on in the coming years I'm sure!

Shall we take a little tour?

Let's start a the beginning. Here is our entrance way.  Our whole house is open concept and I love that when you walk in you can see right into the kitchen and get a feel for the whole place.

Paul working away at the dinning room table, with our tiny Christmas tree in the corner. I have since replaced that tiny green evergreen wreath with a beautiful teal feather wreath.  Pictures to come.

On the first floor is our dinning room.  This second picture makes our hutch look so small and makes this space seem sooo empty, but I swear its not that bad.  Although it could probably use something above it.

This is our living room - originally this couch looked tiny in the space, but I think its great now allows for a great entertaining space.

Kitchen space - I love the breakfast bar, there is no need for just the two of us to need a eat-in kitchen and a "formal" dinning space.  This allows the best of both worlds. 

Powder Room on the Main Floor/ Landing to the basement

Stairway to upstairs with our fire escape pictures from Ikea!

2nd Floor! 

Main/ Guest Bath on 2nd Floor.  There is more storage in this bathroom alone then our whole last apartment's bathroom!

2nd Floor hallway

Spare Room/ paul's future office

2nd Floor Laundry - Can I tell you what a difference it makes having your OWN washer and dryer.  And how convenient it is have it outside your bedroom!  I like having the freedom to wash things whenever I want/ need.

My work-in-progress The Craft Room!!! With Bonus sneak peak at my Tree Skirt.

And Last but not least, one of my favourite rooms in our house - our bedroom!  I love the colour we ended up painting it.  The purple just wasn't for us.  But this grey is so calming and so cozy.  We got a new duvet last christmas and I purposely "saved" it and didn't open/ use it until we got the house - it was awesome cause when we moved it felt like we had all new stuff.

I know, we desperately need some art/ headboard.  I'm working on it.

We are also getting a new dresser to replace the short one.  I think its pretty, however its really broken on the inside and is not really holding clothes inside it anymore!

Walk in!

Ensuite!

And cute bonus picture of my new "winter" bathroom accent towels!

So that's our place.  And if you want a real "live" version and haven't been to visit, you'll have to wait until April (in Canada) to see us when our episode of "Property Virgins" airs on HGTV.  Don't worry i'll give as much notice as I get so you can set your PVR's to laugh for the full half hour we are on!!   If you live in the states and missed the first 3 airings already, never fear, we are going to be part of their Christmas Marathon I believe on December 23rd!

The great thing about the episode, (which by the way i'm DYING to see) is that when we saw this house during the show it was really the first time we were seeing the house.  We never saw a listing or picture before hand, so all our my reactions are the real deal.

And in case your visiting and have never met me in person before, yes I really get that excited!