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I went in a fabric store today and only spent $6, and didn’t buy any fabric! I’d used some of this rickrack making that little apron, so I ran out last night when I tried to finish this apron! This morning, the children and I went to JoAnn’s to get more (and something for the dolls, more on that if I finish them).
I’ll have to get a pic of the reverse side. It’s red with grey pocket trim. And, the red’s not nearly that bright, the flash caught it!

I actually picked up about the most craptastic jumbo rick rack ever, but managed to finish just before the jumbled part. Maybe I’ll get a pic of it, but believe me- I’m not using a good 8 inches of this! I’m so happy it was a foot or so from the end (about a foot good, 8+ inches bad, rest of pack mostly good).

Wonderful invention!! I told Ben about this a week or two ago and he told me to get one. I just tried it out and I’m ‘as pleased as punch.’ Thank you, Jan, for your great tutorial! You were more helpful than the package insert!

This doll could use a face, but I rather like the blank. We can just cut out some felt eyes and mouths and switch them.. Mood faces!

“Here you tea.” BB handed me a china tea cup and ran out of the room.
(Sigh), she’s already broken one from this set.
“Here you tea,” she said as she handed one to Ben.
“Betsy,” he said, “Please don’t play with these, they’re breakable.”
“Go read,” she said, and pointed to the Book on his lap.

BB wasn’t feeling well Friday. Thursday night, well.. she tossed her dinner in bed, poor thing. So, Friday, I got out the scraps and we picked out what to dress the dolls in, then I got sewing.

Does this remind you of gumball machines, too?

It all started when… I was looking through the aprons and came across this fabulous Big Sky apron. I fell in love! And I saw that there’s a link on the upper right to a “Make-A-Long Story.” I looked through some of the dolls in her Flickr album -my favorites: curls, these fabulous lips, hanging skirt , a pocket, and pigtails -and decided to make one. One turned to some.

BB took the paper pieces and pieced a doll to look at on the floor. When I’d finished the arms and legs, she took those and replaced the paper arms and legs. When her doll was sewn, she eagerly awaited the filling. While I was sewing the bottom closed, I had to set the doll down for a few minutes to care for baby Cow. BB took the doll (needle hanging) and admired her. Now that it’s done, she curls up with the doll -now named Elizabeth- whenever she lies down.

I ran out of filling whilst stuffing AJ’s doll. So, I asked Ben to pick up some fluff on his way home from work (”If you’re late, I’ll make you one of what I’m working on and you’ll have to play with it with the children.”) He wasn’t home till well after 9PM, with no fluff!

(He found a lovely scrap of wool for his doll’s hair)

So far, that’s 4 dolls for under $20 ($10 for pattern, ~$4 per bag of fluff; we bought 3, but have only used part of 1 plus the half of the stash bag). I’ll try to get a picture of all the dolls when I can round them up.

I cut out a Busy Bias Apron the other night for me. I’ve got the pockets together now and am working on getting them sewn to the apron fronts. I had been hoping to squeeze a full sized apron from another fabric, but just didn’t have enough. Instead, I made this:

(I know, bad posture.. I need to exercise to fix that..)

The white has colored bobby pins all over, the red is a pretty floral. Plus, it’s got rick rack accents! And, the scallop looks like rick rack to me! I’d like to get a close up of the pocket, but here’s a full view (photos courtesy of a wonderful 9yo photographer):

Pattern: Butterick B4087
Size: Medium (I admit it!)
For: me!
Result: Husband approved

Another Tie One On, just in time! Maybe I can finish my Busy Bias and squeeze that in before the deadline..

Wow! As in mind boggling (not the W.o.W. game). I clicked over to http://www.cookiea.com/ and haven’t made it past the front page. Wow. Maybe I shouldn’t click in there till I have time to knit again.. Like next pregnancy..

The children started something.. I pulled down fabric and began laying it out. Then the girls took over and laid out a huge square of a whole bunch of the squares (they were cut out while in OK last year). Then I pinned some together and TJ sewed them.

They’re so excited about what they’re working on!!

A month or two ago, I picked up some coordinating St. Jude’s fabric from Hancock’s. I had just received the Busy Bias Apron pattern by The Paisley Pincushion and was excited to try it out. I cut out 2 aprons and put the pile in the sewing room.

This weekend, I made 4 slings. One is done, the other 3 just need pockets. Then I felt like finishing a pile! So, I looked around and there were the bright aprons, just needing to be sewn!

Pattern: Busy Bias Apron by Paisley Pincushion
Sizes: both D, Child 2-6
Fabric: orange with monkeys, pink with confetti squares
Girls: AJ (4.5yo) & BB (2.75+yo)
Reaction: LOVE THEM!!

Added:
Cow was looking at AJ’s apron and Laughed!! I think she likes the monkeys!

Oh, and this fits Project Spectrum with the pink there.

We started a project this morning. Our basic family tree, in a perhaps strange way, looks like this so far:

It was really cute watching the paperdoll people play Ring Around the Rosy on the green ‘grass’ while I was cutting out more and more paper people. TJ made some ‘warriors’ for himself, to protect the family, and BB ran off with them so she didn’t have to give them up.

I haven’t put in Ben’s stepdad and stepmom yet for lack of space -perhaps I didn’t think through the full ramifications of the size of our family when I began? It may end up 3D… The children will want to see where the aunts/uncles and cousins come in (I haven’t placed their cousins yet, and I want to add them in, too!). And, we left space for the future, just in case.. Who knows if this will survive, but it’s a good start.

Red: our children
Orange: Ben & siblings
Purple: My siblings & I
Lt. Blue: MIL & siblings
Yellow: FIL & siblings
Dk. Blue: Dad & siblings
Green: Mom & siblings

There’s a smiley face on each child and direct ancestor.

I made some dresses for the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I know, it’s quicker to say “Easter,” but I was raised by a man who tried to teach us to differentiate between the truth from the Word and things of the world. In our home, the eggs are for cooking. Coloring them has nothing to do with the calendar month. Rabbits are for the stew pot or for pets. Neither are mentioned in the accounts of Scripture as what last Sunday was about. When we give plush animal gifts to the children this time of year, they are lambs, not chicks or rabbits. I have nothing against these others, they just don’t seem to me to exalt the Lord at this time.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. I began this entry last week:
I’m on the brink. Last week, I bought this great fabric for an apron. Only, it’s a bias cut apron, so the food would be facing the wrong way.

This week, I’ve been working on a dress. When I was choosing which fabric to use, I almost picked the food fabric. Problem: only 2 yards of the awesome food fabric. The contrasting fabric I got is pink. I would have no problem wearing the way too bright food fabric as a dress.. But, pink?

I debated.

It frightens us.

I hemmed.

Would I wear it? With that color there?

I hawed.

My sanity was on the brink.

I layed out the fabric and cut away! I would have a food fabric dress! I would use the pink! I would make 3 dresses!

Simplicity 7120
View A top, view E/F skirt
size 5

Simplicity 7120
View A top, view E/F skirt
size 3

Simplicity 4243
View E
size S

It’s a better picture of AJ than of the dress, but you might be able to get the idea.

pattern: New Look 6587
modifications:
shoulders widened (to cover more shoulder) by 2 inches
neckline raised ~2 inches
sleeves lengthened and added split
skirt lengthened and made more A-line (less gathers)

I enjoy this fabric. It was a toss up between this and another fun print, but the flutterbies won out. The fabric was originally bought for dresses for the girls -almost 2 years ago.

And, I admit that there were those times while sewing the dress that I referred to myself as Miss Frizzle.