polkadotbug

Pretty Ruffles

Ah yes! I am still alive. I cannot even begin to understand how time goes so quickly.   I feel like I am constantly rushing around and yet still nothing gets done. 

I caved in and bought Sandi Henderson’s ruffle pants pattern.  They are so cute.  I made a fall orange/green pair (Sandi Henderson’s fabric too) and a corduroy pair. 

These were done a few weeks ago when it was sunny and beautiful out.  Now is rainy and cold.  We were supposed to have our village Halloween parade today but that’s not happening now.  Darn weather.

Next are my two favorite new bags.  They are already gone though.  I sold them to Chique Boutique, the very first boutique that my items will be sold at!  Nuts.  Thanks Devon!  She purchased some bags, bonnets, bibs, checkbook covers, and bows. 

Sorry about the second picture.  Andrew didn’t feel like getting his camera out that night and working magic on my bag so I had to use the standard old camera.  Andrew, you should’ve known I’d call you on that.  It’s amazing how much nicer my things look with a really good camera! 

Ok, that’s it for now.  We are going to a little Halloween party at my aunt’s house today.  Molly is a little rambunctious. 

Celebrating One Whole Year

My youngest munchkin has turned 1.  Instead of a cake I decided to do a cupcake pyramid.  At first I felt a little bad about not making an elaborate birthday cake, but the cupcakes were just as time consuming and special (I thought).  There were two different kinds and they were stuffed- chocolate stuffed with more frosting and yellow stuffed with lemon.  Mmm… 

What a big girl she is getting to be already.  Her attitude and stubborness are getting much bigger too.  Hard to believe that happens so quickly!  Happy Birthday baby girl. 

On a crafty note, I had my first experience with knit!

I saw this great zebra fabric (in chocolate brown) on the clearance rack at Joann’s.   I initially bought it to cover a chair cushion, but it was so cheap that I bought the rest of the bolt so I could make more things out of it.  It’s stretchy and super comfy.  My serger had no problems putting these pants together for me.  I didn’t even hem the bottoms because they rolled up so perfectly.  They seriously took about 10 minutes to make and Molly loves them.  I used some scraps to make a matching headband.  I love simple things… 

Pretty Problem Pants

Hi!  I am here!  I feel like this is my special diary and I have this stong urge to write in it all the time, but can never sit down long enough to do it!  I liked this pic of Molly and I a lot.  We had the same color shirt on and Molly thought we were twins.  That's all I want to know is how I can transplant her hair onto my head.  It's absolutely perfect. 

I want to start by thanking everyone for my birthday wishes and healing wrist wishes.  My birthday was delightful.  The girls at work went all out for me and I came in to a desk covered with balloons, flowers, banners, etc.  My sister (whom I also work with) made me a wonderful ice cream sandwich cake. YUM.  Thanks Ang!  She doesn't even read my blog but I thought I'd throw that out there anyways.

My wrist is much better now.  It's still very sore but I can do almost everything.  I just need to go to physical therapy once a week so I can stretch out the tendon and massage the scar tissue.  Fun!

With the healing wrist I actually got around to a little sewing this weekend.  You can see the girlies in their matching pants.  I started with a pair for Abby and of course Molly wanted the same exact fabrics for herself.  I don't blame her because they are adorable patterns from Sandi Henderson's new Farmers Market line, but I only ordered one yard and I could've used a little more.  I love it so much that I guess I will eventually be buying a lot more.  I need a separate bank account for this addiction I've developed.  Why does everyone have to keep coming out with new amazing fabrics!  Of course I really don't have a pattern, so I did my classic "wing it." 

I must admit that they look pretty cute in the pictures but let me tell you the whole truth.  Anyone reading this who is not an expert sewer (a novice like me) should appreciate my blunders.  Abby's pants were sewn um... upside down I guess you can say.  Basically, what was supposed to be the legs turned into the crotch and the crotch ended up the legs.  This makes for a very "low rise" type of pants that only make it 1/2 way up the diaper and fall off continuously (doesn't help that the elastic was to big too also).  Elastic always gets me because I hate pants that are too tight and leave marks on their bellies so I overshoot.  Note to self... elastic stretches a lot.

With Molly's pants I made sure that I had the crotch/leg situation under control when sewing but I still didn't make the crotch big enough.  The I have been following has the front and back of the pants exactly the same.  Is this normal?  I realize that you need more room for the butt to fit in the back so maybe I should be looking into a different pattern?  Or should I just leave a really lot of room in the crotch area?  They looked really cute on Molly but she did have to keep pulling them up so her little butt crack wouldn't sneak out.  It was definitely a learning experience, although I still really don't know how to do it right.   

Oh yeah, the serged seams tore in the crotch area on Molly's pants before the end of the day.  I was told that I didn't have to sew the seams and then serge afterwards, that the serger would take care of everything.  Is this true?  Do I just have to reinforce the high stress areas? 

I hope you have some advice for me! 

Pants! For Boys!

 

Well, I have finally branched out!  This is my very first creation made especially for boys.  Reversible pants in green and brown stripes and plaid.  Let me tell you that you definitely have to look a little harder when trying to find fabrics suitable for baby boys.  Or maybe it's just me because the girly things really catch my eye. The two fabrics match a little better than they do in the picture, the color is a little bit off.  I plan to get a few of these made for the Indie Market.  I felt terrible at the first show when people stood in front of the table with baby boys.  Maybe I'll feel a little better if I have at least one option! 

The pants are quite easy to construct.  This was only my second pair that I've made and it didn't take long at all.  Well, once I corrected my first mess up that is.  If I didn't catch my mistake when I did, I would have ended up with pants that had two different legs instead of pants that were reversible.

Clown pants?  Maybe that's next.

Here's the other side: