Sabotaged!

My plans to sew a skirt today were sabotaged by an eight-year-old girl!  Am I the only one whose child wants to sew whenever I want to sew?! 

What took up the most time was re-threading Emily's machine numerous times, and me rotary cutting the strips of fabric that she sewed together.  (I don't want Emily using the rotary cutter until I take the time to show her how to use it properly).  After she sewed all her strips, I squared off the piece into a rectangle and showed her how to pivot at the corners as she sewed it into a pillow.  

  

~stuffing the pillow~

And what a cute little pillow it turned out to be!  Emily was excited when I told her how much I liked that all her little "squares" were cattywampus--a word she had never heard before.  You know how much she loves cats, and any word about cats is right up her alley. 

Okay, I really don't mind that my sewing plans were thwarted.  We had a good time in my sewing room today listening to Pandora while she sewed scraps of fabric together and I made slow progress on my skirt.  In the end, Emily ended up with an adorable little pillow and I got the pockets sewn into my skirt. 

And one day this summer I want to take a few days and teach Emily how to sew something more.  Perhaps I'll take her to "Mom's Sewing Camp" or something along those lines....any ideas?

 

my skirt - Simplicity 2226

Ottobre 4/2012 Skirt and Top

In which we don't comb our hair and we grow weeds in flower pots.... 

Taking a good photo today was just impossible.  She consented happily as long as I didn't fix her hair.  But then the sun shone too brightly, and along came Jinx to distract her. But who can resist a cute kitty?

The outfit was cut out last fall....and restarted (and almost finished!) a few months ago.  I think I've been knitting too often that I forgot how to sew.  I first had trouble with the  long sleeves (cut them off short, but still too long, so cut them off some more), then the binder attachment on my coverstitch machine gave me fits, and then my elastic thread was so old that the shirring at the waist refused to cooperate.  Finally, today, I finished the shirring with new elastic, added two snaps to the skirt, and ta da, the outfit is done. Big smile.  And now I want to sew all the things.  Maybe it's time for a knitting hiatus....

The Patterns:  Ottobre Autumn 4/2012
The Top:  Visiting Granny, design #31
Size: 128, (European sizing)
The Skirt: Spinning Around, design #32
Size 128, lengthened

(the brown skirt fabric has tiny polka dots, but they do weird things in the photos)

the pic from the magazine:

Tornado Socks

I'm home today with a migraine while the rest of my family is out helping with the tornado damage.  So many people were affected by these tornadoes, so many have lost their homes, so many are without.  It's sad. Overwhelming.  But encouraging, too, now, to see all the people from around the state and even from other states, coming together to help with the clean up and relief efforts.  

I received several emails and messages asking how my family weathered the storms.  I'm so grateful to report that we are all fine.  Two of my married daughters were closer to the tornadoes than I was, but they both were in shelters with their families during the worst of the storm.  It's especially during times like this that wake me up to a new awareness of how precious are my family and loved ones, how fragile is life. And I am thankful, so very thankful.

While my daughters were holing up in storm shelters, we sat in our living room watching the news on TV, following the path of devastation as the tornado worked its way some 40 miles to the east of where we live.  As I watched the news, my hands were busy knitting.  Because of the tense moment, my stitches were tighter than usual and my fingers flew faster. But I finished a pair of partially completed socks that I am dubbing as my "tornado" socks. 

Green Tornado Socks

Pattern: Charade (a free Ravelry download)
Yarn: Bare Sheep 100% merino, fingering 
Needles:  Size 0 (2.0 mm)
 
This next pair of socks was finished last week, and it's the start of a year-long KAL (knit-a-long).  The goal is to knit all 17 pairs of socks from the Soctopus book by the end of October 2014. The Soctopus group on Ravelry is the place to be if you want encouragement and help while knitting the beautiful socks from this book.

 

Pattern:  Totally Vanilla, from the Soctopus book
Yarn:  Felici, from Knit Picks in the color Putty
Needles: Size 1 (2.25 mm)

Prairie Dresses - McCall's 9424

Just look at these pretty girls and their big smiles!  They loved their new dresses and the matching doll outfits, and that made me happy.  It was a joy to sew these outfits, and a joy to see the girls' excitement and gratefulness. I'm sure they will have hours of fun and imagination as they play in their "Little House on the Prairie" dresses and bonnets.

The pattern for these dresses is one that I've sewn many times before.  First for my own girls years ago, and then again for another friend's daughters several years ago.  The pattern is still available in the pattern book, and I may just buy another to replace my worn and used copy.  

The pattern does run wide, but that's okay for a costume like this.  The girls will be able to wear them for several years, I imagine.  (I do wish I had made the sleeves a bit longer, though.)

The doll clothes is also a McCall's pattern, number 3627, and fits 18" dolls.  

I love this picture....reminds me of Holly Hobbie!

the doll dresses, bonnets, pantaloons, and aprons