Three Knit Scarves

Red Scarf
Pattern: Drop Stitch Scarf Yarn: Caron Simply Soft

I finished it yesterday, and wore it today. Lovin' my new scarf!



Green Scarf This green scarf is also the same drop-stitch pattern, knit in October 2011 for a gift. I used Knit Picks Swish Tonal yarn and let me tell you, it was a dream to knit with. Beautiful yarn!

Black Scarf
The third scarf is one I made my son for Christmas. The pattern is called the Manly Scarf #7. Really. I think there must be manly scarves #'s 1 through 6, and maybe more....I didn't pursue it. But #7 is a winner because it was a fun pattern to knit, and my son wears his scarf all the time on these cold days. The yarn is Knit Picks Swish Worsted.

Yea for scarves! I love knitting and wearing them during the winter months. Happy knitting, happy sewing, happy whatever hobby you're enjoying. :) Ruth

Christmas Wedding

It has been 2 weeks since Katie was married! Two weeks already, and I meant to post a few pictures before now. I now have 3 married daughters--I can't believe it when I think about it. The girls are still my babies, but now the oldest 3 are married and all grown up.

The wedding was beautiful, and Katie was a lovely bride. I thought I'd share some snapshots of the decorations. Because the church was still decorated for Christmas with a tree and poinsettias, Katie decided to go with a red berry theme for her decorations.

Berries on the candelabras, on the pew bows, on the bird cage card holder, berries on the cake, and berries in the table centerpieces....it was simply delightful. By the way, the centerpieces were upturned glass goblets with red tea lights on the top and berries and greenery underneath, and the idea came from Pinterest. Gotta love Pinterest for great ideas!

Oh, one last thing, I still want to round up some pictures to show you of my youngest daughter and my 2 granddaughters wearing their wedding finery, especially since this is a sewing blog and Jessica and I sewed the dresses. Another post for another day....

blessings,
Ruth

Two Flower Girl Dresses

Finally, here is the finished dress I made my 6-year-old daughter for her sister's wedding. The pattern is New Look 6065, size 3 width with a size 5 length.

I also sewed this next dress for my 19-month-old granddaughter. My other granddaughter's dress was sewn by her mommy, Jessica, who I hope will post pictures too.


Tavi's dress is a McCall's 6268, views C and D combined. The pattern comes in sizes S, M, L, and XL. I made a size XL, and it fit perfectly. I used the same crepe backed satin as Emily's dress, with the matte side as the right side. For the sleeve bindings and the bloomers, I used the satin on the outside.


Take a look at the beautiful flower that Jessica made for Tavi's dress. Somehow or another she cut the flower petals out of satin and melted the edges. If you're interested, I'm sure Jessica can tell you how she made the flowers. Yes, flowers--she made 4 total--one for each of the 3 flower girls' hair, and one for the front of Tavi's dress.


The three flower girls each wore these sweet little blue beaded bracelets that I made. (I'm almost afraid to admit it, but I think I want another hobby--beading. These bracelets are simply beads strung on elastic thread, but oh, they were so fun to make. And now I want to make more. And more elaborate. Oh, the fun I could have if I decide to take up beading!)


Once I get them from the wedding photographer, I will post pictures of the girls wearing their lacy dresses. Can you believe I didn't take ANY photos with my camera?!

Blessings,
Ruth

Neat Containers Winner

Congratulations to Goosegirl of comment #12. You are the winner of the Neat Containers giveaway!

Goosegirl said: "I would love any of them. But I think I would really love the shoe kit combo pack. I keep all of my sewing notions in clear plastic shoe boxes, so I can see what is in there. But they are all cracked and broken and I need to replace them. These look so cool! Thank you for the chance."

Send me your mailing address and these will get shipped out to you. :)

Thank you to everyone who posted an entry for the giveaway. I enjoyed reading all your comments.

Ruth

Flower Girl Dress: New Look 6065

Wedding plans are coming along. Katie is getting married in 40-something days. I finally finished Emily's flower girl dress, and I'm ready now to start Tavi's dress.



For this dress, I used New Look 6065. Funny thing, Emily is 6, but I made the size 3 pattern with the size 5 length. The dress fits her perfectly, skinny thing. I practically did a happy dance when my invisible zipper went in almost perfectly the first time. Okay, it's a smidgeon off (see waist band) but not enough for me to get uptight about. I decided to leave it. :)


Pattern changes: I added gathers to the front bodice by adding 3-4 inches to the width of the front bodice piece. I also added length and a lace-edged lining to the skirt; the dress is almost floor length. Pictures will come, but probably not until after the wedding when Emily is dressed up and has her hair combed. :)

Thanks for reading!
Ruth

Neat Containers Giveaway

Whew! De-cluttering and organizing my sewing room has been a bigger job than I anticipated (why do I let it get this cluttered?!), and I've made little progress. Some, but not much. :/ I'll spare you the details of how bad it is right now (I think the process of cleaning sometimes makes the room look worse than it really is), but I do want to tell you about Neat Containers.

Here is a picture of some of my piles of this-and-that (oh, I confess, I do have more piles!)



And this picture shows the start of my transfer of the piles to the Neat Containers.


So yes, I'm slowly making progress. (Applause is appropriate here.) :)

I am using my set of containers in my sewing room, and I'm still working on filling them up. (And believe me, I have plenty of craft and sewing stuff to fill them all---really, I should de-stash!) The biggest size (shown in the middle) would be great for 12"x12" scrapbooking paper. I could see these containers nicely used totally for scrapbooking and rubber stamping supplies. (Does anybody still rubber stamp?!) I also think they would work wonderfully in a closet filled with belts, purses, scarves, socks, shoes, and so on.



Let me tell you what I love about the Neat Containers. They are clear--easy to see what's inside. They are stackable, and what's really cool is that you can pull them out kind of like a drawer and the rest of the stack does not fall over or collapse. The containers are easy to assemble, and the configuration can be changed easily at any time. Mostly, I love that my assorted supplies will all be in one place, easy to see at a glance, and readily available for use.

Now onto what you've been waiting for:
The Giveaway!!!

Neat Containers has graciously offered one of Sew Chic's readers (that's you!!!) a combo set of their wonderful storage containers.

To enter, you must:
1. Have a U.S. shipping address and not a PO box. (Sorry, but no international addresses).

2. Go to http://www.neatcontainers.com and browse around.

3. Comment on this post and tell me which Neat Container product you would like and how you would use it.

I will randomly draw a winner on November 27th. The winner will receive the small combo set pictured below.

Weekend Plans

Plans for this coming weekend--sew Emily's flower girl dress!

But first, I must straighten up the clutter in my sewing room. I'd show you a picture of what it currently looks like, but I'd be too embarrassed for you to see the piles. :/

Look what came in the mail this past weekend...Neat Containers...just in time for my organizing of the sewing room messes!


I was so excited when the representative at Neat Containers.com contacted me about reviewing these containers since I'm always on the lookout for something to organize and contain the little bits of this and that that, tools and gadgets, spools and ribbons, needles and whatnot.

You should get excited, too, because Neat Containers is going to give away one combo kit of these containers for one Sew Chic reader. Be watching...I'll announce the giveaway in a week or two. :) In the meantime, check out neatcontainers.com to see all the ways you can get organized.

Okay, wish me luck as I tackle the sewing room. I really must get these flower girl dresses sewn!