April 2013 Spring finally!

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Emily

I have a friend who wanted Easter dresses for her girls. They are 10 and 12.

I had to make some adjustments. For the Pink dress I had to add a few inches to the hip area, but neglected to add the same amount to the skirt. So I had to make some adjustments to the skirt.

For the Blue dress I had to add sleeves since she didn’t want to wear a sweater over her arms. This fit pretty much out of the pattern. The pattern was sleeveless and thank goodness for my Threads magazine that had instructions for adding a kimono sleeve.

With the left over material I made skirts for my girls. The blue skirt is a circle skirt with a zipper on the side and a snap on the waistband to close. I really didn’t want to add a button. The pink skirt is just a A line skirt with ruffles on the bottom edge. Both the skirts ended up to big for the girls, but that does mean that they can grow into them. They should wear these for quite a few years yet.

MISC Stuff

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Emily

What do you think?

I got a new fabulous book called The Dressmaker’s Handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques by Lynda Maynard. I wanted to practice some of those techniques on a wearable muslin. So this is what I made. I made a mistake on the neckline though because the gray band stands away from my neck right at my shoulder. I should have stretched it just a little bit to make it lay flat. Now I know.

The Back

The neckline.

This is also the first time that I used a double needle in my machine. I have to say that I am now addicted. They are wonderful to have when you need to hem or top stitch on a knit shirt.

My next project didn’t go so well.

Eh, not good.

I had a picture in my head. I wasn’t able to make it like that because the fabric is a thin sweater knit and you can see right through it. But I am going to wear it anyways. I just need to make a few minor/major adjustments.

Craftsy has cool classes

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Emily

I finally did it. I bought a class through Craftsy. I had been keeping and eye on the site to see what they had to offer. Then one came along that I decided that I couldn’t live without.

Sew the Perfect Fit. It is a video fitting class. I have been wanting to learn how to properly fit clothes for such a long time. And now it is here! I have already watched the videos and I am now waiting on my pattern to come in so that I can practice my fitting techniques. Yay!!

Now I have my eye on a new pants fitting class by Sandra Betzina. I am on that one next. Whoo, Hoo!!

Peg People, finally finished!!

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Emily

Let me just say that I am thrilled that Christmas is so much closer than it was and that I am done with the Peg People.

It’s the Hulk!

Captain America

Thor

Iron Man

Loki, got to have a bad guy.

Since I couldn’t have horns sticking up…

The Team

And now for the girls.

Mermaids of course.

Just for my daughters.

Things I am working on now.

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Emily

When I would go to Hobby Lobby and buy peg people. I didn’t pay attention to how many bags I actually got. I would go through out the months and just pick up a bag. I never kept track or anything, but by the time I was ready to paint them I had 32 pegs for a nativity that just needed eight.

So since my kids loved playing with the nativity pegs I decided I would paint them some pegs for them. They are for Christmas but here are some of the mermaid pegs for my daughters.

Sorry for the blurry pics. They are the only ones that I had. I don’t want my daughters to see them.

I have also tried to use the enamel paints from Folkart. They are in the same sections as the regular acrylic paints at the craft store.

The paints seem to be doing well enough, I still need to see how they hold up through the dishwasher. The design I am not to thrilled about but that can be worked on.

The Nativity is done.

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Emily

The only thing I have to do left is to put a clear coat on them so that they will be protected while they are played with.

Let me know what you think.

These are the three wise men.

My Angel and Shepherd.

And Joseph, Mary and Jesus.

You only get arms if you are holding something. I have the backsides, do you want to see them too?

Here comes Christmas

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Emily

Can you believe that I don’t have a Nativity Scene in any of my Christmas decorations?!

I decided this year that I wanted to have a Nativity scene for my mantel but wanted something that would be sturdy since more than likely my kids would play with it. I had started out buying a pack of peg people at Hobby Lobby whenever I had the chance to go. I ended up with a lot of peg people. But I have plans for those extras so it all works out.

Here are my people with their basic coats on.

I find that I have a hard time painting people without faces, but it would be wise to paint the face last that way if I mess up it won’t be so aggravating to correct.

Everyone got a little more detailed.

I have a 70′s vibe going on that I am not quite sure how I got there. Wait until you see the wisemen. You will know what I mean then.

Here are my wise men and shepherd.

The red wise man has a Kung Fu vibe about him. He is my favorite so far. Once I have more details I will take a final picture to show.

I have more peg people that I am making for my kids too. The daughters will be getting some mermaids and family to play with. For Julian I decided that I will be trying my hand at the Avengers for him. He really liked the movie so I am hoping to do the characters justice with my painting skills. We will see what happens though.

I will post more pictures once I have things worked on some more.

Halloween Costumes 2012

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Emily

I don’t know why I do this to myself every year. I want to make the kids costumes and then I go crazy making them. Even though I started in September.

So here they are.

Julian wanted to be a Red Ninjago character. He showed me a minifig with the golden dragon and told me that he wanted to look just like him, sword and everything. So here you go. Except that it only took a few minutes for him to break the sword. I knew I should have put a wooden brace in there.

Yah!! The Red Golden Dragon Ninja!!

Here is my Mermaid. She has loved Ariel for so long. And she wanted to red hair but I didn’t think that I had enough time to make a wig so we sprayed her hair instead. Just the top and down her back. I wanted to keep her hair that was touching her clothes to remain color free since it does rub off. The tail is a skirt so that she can walk and run without any problems.

She was being terrorized by the Ninja and Flounder

And my youngest. I thought it would be a fab idea to have the girl go as Flounder since I have Ariel anyways. I looked on line for inspiration and saw the costume for Flounder in the Broadway production. I also sprayed her hair in light blue with Dark Blue streaks. I then painted her forehead yellow with blue stripes there. I didn’t want anything around her face or mouth since she would be eating in this costume.