I'm BAAAAACK....to Sewing!

SHEW!!! It feels SO good to be sewing again!!! I have really missed it this past week!! I haven't gotten very far with the Retro Butterick '47 B5209 but at least it's a start!!
















I can't wait to get this one done!! I think it will end up being my favorite so far!! :)

Oh my goodness! I just realized! It has been more than a WEEK since I have been in a fabric store..... Oh my GOSH!! Am I sick? Someone call a doctor!! I think there's something wrong with me!!! YILES!!!  ;)

There are some great sales going on for McCall's, Vogue and Butterick patterns! All clearance and out-of-print patterns for $1.99!!! And there are some retro/vintage patterns in that! :) Make sure to click on the clearance and out-of-print links instead of the sale link. It was acting sort of wonky last night. :/

I managed to actually read a whole book last week! YAY!! I finally read the latest in the Sookie Stackhouse series, Deadlocked.  It was SOOOO good! I just love that series. But I felt that it ended on sort of a cliffhanger in a way. :/

I am behind on my True Blood viewing. I watched the first episode of this season but haven't had a chance to watch the others. I have to fix that!! LOL Even though the series is SOOO far removed from the books I just can't stop watching! But I do wish they would make MORE of an effort... This season seems to be going even farther away from the books.

OH! I have a better picture of that weird almost entirely white skunk!!



Isn't that weird!! He isn't very afraid of us, either. NOT good! Not good AT ALL!!! We need to figure out a way to discourage him from coming to eat in our yard!!

We had some major storms move through area last night. A lot of people are out of power and the heat is AWFUL!! I hope you all are OK!! We were lucky and managed to keep power and had no damage. SHEW!!!!

We ended VBS last night. My group of little people did SO well with the program!! They managed to remember most of the words and movements to all the songs!! I was so proud of them! There were some moments, though, where I thought we might lose them. LOL They started to get pretty rowdy a time or ten. ;) But they did great. I hope they all come back for Sunday School and church. I'm going to miss them.

So, how are YOU spending the weekend? Working on any cool projects? Reading any great books?? Seen any good movies?? LOL

I Have Been a Bad, Bad Blogger!

Yes, I have been a terrible, awful, no-good blogger this week. I didn't even post yesterday! GASP!!!!  You all know that we have been having VBS all week and that has taken A LOT of my time but here are a couple of things that you don't know.....

C2 (my youngest) is extremely shy and extremely attached to The Hubby and me. This week has been a major stress packed time for him. Even though he has been enjoying VBS it has put a lot of stress on him and he has been regressing. This past week I have had to be right beside him 24/7. And most of the time just being in the same room has not been enough. He wants me to hold him constantly. That's OK. We are working through it and once VBS is over things ought to go back to normal.

I have Fibromyalgia. I wasn't sure that I was going to talk about that here but then I decided that I definitely SHOULD. Spreading awareness is a GOOD thing, especially for a condition that is so misunderstood. It is a REAL thing. It can be a debilitating thing! So, while I have had LOADS of fun this week with VBS it has caused me to have a major flair up. That means lots of pain and exhaustion. It's OK. I am dealing with it and it's definitely better now that I am on medication. I knew that this would probably happen but I also knew how important it was for me to teach this week. There's no way my little guy would have gone otherwise and I have been so incredibly blessed this week watching the little people come to understand more about God and His amazing love for us. I will definitely be volunteering again next year.

So there you go. Another little peek inside my world.

OK, enough about that. LOL

I have finished cutting out the fabric for the Retro Butterick '47 B5209!!! YAY!!! I won't be able to start sewing on it until tomorrow, though. I haven't sewed a stitch all week!! WAH!!! :( Well, unless you count patching d's jeans... And I DON'T! LOL

OH!! D has had all kinds of compliments all week on the bag/backpack that I made her!! YAY!!! Maybe I should make some up to sell?? I have no clue about pricing though. I want to start selling but I am not sure where or how to start. Anyone have any advice in that area?? I am definitely open to suggestions! LOL



I am very sorry about being a BAD BAD blogger!! I hope you stick with me!! Things will get back to normal this weekend! Well, as normal as it ever is around here. ;)

Leave me a little note and tell me what YOU have been up to!! I would love to see what everyone is working on!!!

What I've Been Up To Lately

If you've been following along you know all about our VBS this week. It's been SOOOOO much fun but also SOOOOO exhausting!! LOL The kids are great though. I am definitely going to do this again next year. One little boy hugged me tonight and said, "Mrs. Stacy, you are my favorite teacher EVER!" It brought tears to my eyes. Sweet little people.

My youngest is in my VBS class, that's the main reason I took the 4s and 5s. He is extremely shy and I knew there was no way he would ever participate otherwise. He surprised us all tonight. He got up in front of all the VBS kids and said his Bible memory verse!! Into the microphone!!! And won a gift certificate to Chick-Fil-A for chicken nuggets! His favorite food! LOL Of course, I had to stand up there with him, but still!! It was so amazing that he got past his fear and did that. I am so proud of my little guy. 

Here are a few pics of what I've been up to. I actually got to starting cutting the fabric for the Retro Butterick '47 today!! YAY!! Hoping to finish the cutting tomorrow and possibly start sewing it on Friday! :) YAY!! I am missing my sewing. ;) It's definitely my therapy. 



Bonnie "helping" me with the cutting.... SIGH......



My pitiful sign outside of my VBS classroom. Hey, I was in a hurry! ;) I looked all over for airplane stickers to put in there and couldn't find them ANY WHERE! 



My classroom door. It looks MUCH better than my pitiful sign. LOL  (This was before my printer went out.)



C2 getting his picture taken at VBS. :)



That is the almost entirely white skunk that keeps coming into our yard. Anyone know how to get rid of those things??? 

Sooooo, what have YOU been doing lately??? Working on any projects?? Leave me a comment and let me know!!

I Won a Blog Award!

YAY!!! Thank you to Joni Holt over at WTF Am I Thinking for giving me the award!



Now, there are RULES for this award and they are:

#1: Choose 5 up and coming blogs to pass the Liebster Blog award to. Each blog must have less than 200 followers.


#2: Show your thanks and appreciation to the blogger that gave you the award by linking back to them


#3. Share 5 random facts about yourself


#4: Post the award to your blog

Soooo here are the bloggers that I am passing this award on to:

1 - Dresses and Me

2 - Farmer's Daughter-in-Law

3 - Red Writing Hood

4 - Modern Yet Old-Fashioned

5 - Folk Haven



5 Random Facts About Me

Oohh..... This is a tough one.....

1 - I came close to being born in Spain. My dad was in the Air Force and was stationed there until about a month before I was born.

2 - I have 6 piercings. 5 in my ears and one in my nose. I had my eyebrow pierced years ago but I took it out. I REALLLLY wish I had left it in..

3 - I once dyed my hair a shade of red that can only be described as Ronald McDonald Red. NOT a good look for me and NOT what I was going for. LOL

4 - I have read the Harry Potter books more times than I can remember.

5 - We have owned a slew of strange and weird animals including sugar gliders, Argentinian frogs, Brazilian Possums, bearded dragons, pot-bellied pigs and MANY more. LOL



Other weird and random facts can be found in my About Me. ;)



Off to VBS!!!! I will have to wait to alert the other blogs until I get home!

I Made a Button!!!!

Nope, not a sewing button.... A BLOG button!!! YAY!! Look at me looking all like a real blogger! LOL

Do you see it over there on the side??? Right below Archives and right above the RSS buttons?? What do you think???

I made it with the help of this site "Grab My Button" Code Generator and it was VERY easy!!!

If you are new to blogging and need a button that is definitely the place to generate it. Or if you are thinking about blogging, save this! You will want our own button, trust me.... LOL You will need a picture on your site that you want to use as your button. I had one that I made a couple of weeks ago and just went in and added it to my first post. Then I clicked on the picture after it the edit was saved to get the URL. Easy peasy!

Let me know if you try it!!

Patterns, Patterns and More Patterns

SHEW!!! I am EXHAUSTED!!! And it was only the first night of VBS! LOL To quote d, "It was like trying to herd cats with ADHD." LOL I think that's an apt comparison.  We had nine 4 and 5 yr olds! NINE! But I had 3 helpers. I don't even want to think about how it would have gone without them! LOL But it was FUN!!!! Tonight ought to be, too!

Music was our first stop after the opening BUT the music system wasn't working properly. That led to the other ladies and me trying to think of every church song we ever sang as kids.  We sang "Jesus Loves Me" several times. ;)

OH! D got a compliment on the bag I made for her! YAY!! :) She was thrilled!

A sweet friend from church gave me some patterns last night! YAY!!! Check them out!

















YAY!!! I <3 retro patterns!! :)

I am HOPING to start cutting the fabric for the Retro Butterick '47  B5209 tonight, BUT that will all depend on how much energy I have left over..... LOL

The cats are very put out with me. There's been no sewing for them to sleep on or mess with! LOL

C1 isn't wearing something made by me today. Is it crazy that I feel sad when she wears something store bought?? LOL She has tons of store bought clothes in her closet but I just LOVE it when she wears something that I made for her.  Oh, well.... Maybe tomorrow. ;)

Drawstring Backpack Tutorial AKA The D Bag

D asked me to make her a drawstring backpack. She hardly ever asks me to make her ANYTHING so I jumped right on it. LOL

You will need -

1/2 yard of main fabric

1/2 yard of contrast

ribbon, rick rack, something for the drawstring ;)





Step 1 - Measure how long you will need your straps to be. Fold fabric over to where you have 4" below the fold. Cut 2.



Step 2 - While still folded in half with right sides together, press, pin and sew.  Do the same to other strap.



Step 3 - Press flat with seam in the middle. Fold in half again, press and pin.  Do the same to the other strap.



Step 4 - Sew 2 straight lines down the straps, one on each side.  Do the same to the other strap.



Step 5 - Pin your straps to the outside of the main bag fabric.



Step 6 - Sew the end of the strap to the bag using a finishing stitch. Do that to all 4 ends.



Step 7 - Fold the strap down and sew a square with an X to reinforce it. Do that to all 4 ends.



Step 8 - Pin and sew the 2 sides of your bag.



Step 9 -  Cut a piece of contrast 4" wide by the width of both sides of your bag.

Step 10 - Fold in half and press.



Step 11 - Fold up 1/4" of one side and press. Do that to the other side.



Step 12 - Fold in ends and press.



Step 13 - Open the casing you just made and pin to the top of your bag.

Step 14- Sew the casing to the top of your bag, leaving the ends open.



Step 15 - Grab your drawstring, if uncut DO NOT CUT! Pin one end and insert into casing.





Step 16 - Pull out a good bit of the drawstring. Cut and sew the ends together. I used a tight zig zag stitch.



Step 17 - Knot.

You're DONE!!!!





Let me know if you found this easy to follow!! And if you make one LET ME KNOW!! :)

Upcoming Projects

This is going to be a VERY busy week for me. Vacation Bible School starts tomorrow and I will be teaching the 4 and 5 year olds! I'm a little nervous and VERY excited!!!! I spent part of the afternoon fixing up my room. :) I'll take some pictures tomorrow once I have it all finished.

This week I will be working on.....



Retro Butterick '47 B 5209 - I LOVE that hat!!!!

I'll be using this fabric!



And at some point I want to make d a purse out of this....



I'll also be attempting a purse for myself out of this......

That is the fabric I won from Handmade by Hilani. I think it will go nicely with a navy blue. :)

It will probably be a slow week sewing wise but I will at least post some great patterns and fabric pictures to keep you entertained. And when I DO make the purses I will be sure to include tutorials. ;)

I hope you all are enjoying the tutorials. I would LOVE to know if anyone has tried one out.

Don't forget to check out my Pinterest boards. TONS of great stuff there!!!

c1 wore her Fab Mod Dress to church this morning. She loved it. It looked very comfy. I wore this with my petticoat. It was nice and comfy in the heat! :)

So, what are YOU working on????

Fast and Easy Fab Mod Dress Tutorial

The Fab Mod Dress



Here it is! A new tutorial! :)



What you will need -

1 yard of fabric

2 buttons

Double fold bias tape

Scraps of coordinating fabric (for pockets)



Measurements - child's chest, length for armholes and length of dress















Step 1 - Remove cats from fabric!!!







Step 2- Fold fabric 1/4 width of chest +1/2". Fold going into a slight slant. (The dress is slightly A-line.)









Step 3 - Cut length, width and neck line







Step 4 - Cut armholes







Step 5 - Take front dress piece and  place over folded fabric. Cut back piece while using front piece as a guide.  You may want to pin it.







This is what you should have.







Step 6- Remove cat from your work area!













Step 7 - Take your scraps and find something to use as a guide to cut them in the shape you want them to be. Well, I guess you could just eye-ball it.... LOL  Cut 4.







Step 8 - Pin 2 pieces together and sew up 3 sides. Do the same to the other 2 pieces.

Turn right side out and press.







Step 9 - Turn down 1/2" from the top and press.









Step 10 - Figure out where you want to place your buttons on the pockets. Sew the buttons on.





Step 11 - Pin the pockets on the front and sew the 3 sides.















Step 12 - Place the front and the back right sides together. Pin the tops of the dress and both sides. Sew them together.  Press your seams.











Step 13 - Open your bias tape and pin it around the neckline and armholes. Sew it in place and press.











Step 14 - Turn a 1/2 over on the bottom, press and turn it in another 1/2". Press and pin.  Sew your hem and press again! (I pressed the whole thing one more time.. LOL)



Now you are DONE!!! You just made the Fab Mod Dress!! :)







I hope this was easy to follow! Let me know if you make it! I would love to see it! :)