Emily Guerra

So it has been awhile since I posted last. I lost my sewing mojo…again.

But with Halloween around the corner I had to do something for my kids. So here we go.

I love this pumpkin of my mine. She did complain when she first put it on but then I couldn't get it off of her.

Side View. I love her fluffiness.

She is a bunny rabbit. I am going to put a long sleeve shirt on her the evening of Halloween. Layers are important you know.

Side View.

I just need to get J in there now.

Happy Halloween!! What did you for Halloween?

I don’t know what happened in May. It was over before I had even started planning what to make for the month.

June however I did manage to make a skirt for myself and a dress for my daughter.

I even added pockets too!

I found the cotton print at Joanns on clearance for $1.50 a yard. I got what was left which was just over two yards. Then for N I found a pattern that I thought would be really cute and fabric that I couldn’t pass up.

When N wore the dress to Church yesterday she was like a ray of sunshine, she was so bright!

The pattern is Modkid Kyoko.  She won’t be three until August so I chose to make the 3T so that she can wear it all summer. I am very happy with how this pattern turned out. It was very simple to put together. I think that the hardest time I had was just having time to make all the bias tape. Yes, I did choose to make my bias tape and did not buy it.  I forget how easy it is to make bias tape but how time consuming!

I also made a bunch of shorts for N too. She really doesn’t have to much in the way of summer clothes. I wanted something that would be modest since it is hard to find anything like I want in the stores. So I made her knee length shorts out of my scraps.

These are scraps from a pair of wrap around pants that I made my mom.

Let us see what July brings us.

I have a whole list of things that I want to create and in starting that list…again…I found this awesome fabric that had sweets all over it. I thought that it would be a really cute dress for L.

I did get sidetracked from the dress when I was asked to make the costumes but got back to it once finished. Here it is in all its glory.

Isn't she the cutest!

Here is a shot of the matching bloomers.

How cute!

I know, I know. It is a pretty tacky looking dress but I won’t be able to dress her like this when she gets older so I have to make my crazy ideas now when she can’t complain.

I need to make her a matching headband too. That is next  I think.

I will start off by saying that I did make me a little something for April. It was a really quick project and I have worn it already but will be still working out some kinks with it.

(I will post a picture when I have one. The skirt is in the dryer now)

I made this because I ran out of time since I was working on the costumes for the Youth Celebration on April 30th. I had 19 costumes to put together for the YM and YW of my ward.

The YM will be wearing cummerbunds, bowties and sequined armbands. The YW will be wearing Flapperesque dresses with a row of sequins at the hip and a row of fringe at the knee.

As you can see here.

I am so grateful for the women who helped me out in making the costumes. I wouldn’t have been able to do it on time without their help. I am also so excited about being able to to the show!! Yay!

Ok, I know that it isn’t actually March any longer, so that makes me late in posting this but I have been keeping up with my goal. Except for April…

Anyways, for March I made a coat. Nothing fancy by any means but I saw this pattern at the Sewing Expo that was here at the beginning of March. Me and my sewing buddy Tiffany went to on the last day.

This is the front of the coat. It is made of a red, black, and gold brocade that has dragons on it.

I really like this but where am I going to wear this? I was thinking of shortening the sleeve to 3/4′s and shortening the length a little bit too.

I haven’t decided yet though.

February was such a slow month for me! I don’t know what happened. But within the last week of February I pulled myself together and created a shirt to go with my skirt that I made in January.

I had bought this really soft, drapey knit from Joanns. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with it. Then I decided that I wanted a cowl to go with it and one thing lead to another and here we are.

Here is the front with the skirt from last month

Here is the back.

If I ever get the chance I will post a photo of me wearing my outfit. I really like this shirt. So soft.  The only problem that you can even see in the photo’s is that it is pretty see through so I am going to have to find a nice silky undershirt to wear as well.

I made two items during the month of January.

The first is a pair of pajama bottoms.

Sorry about the crummy photo. I love the flannel that I made these with. I didn't realize that flannel was so warm. Fabulous for winter jammies.

Next is the skirt that I made.

Here is the front . It is kinda wrinkly. I didn't get a chance to iron it before the kids woke up from their naps.

And here is the back. Still wrinkly. I was in need of a new skirt since #3 was born. I didn't have anything really decent enough to wear to church that fit. I really like how I drafted this skirt the only thing that I don't like is the fabric. It has a bit of stretch to it but it collect lint like crazy and it doesn't iron very well. But it fits that is all that counts.

So for February I have planned a belt and a knit top with this very pretty ivory cotton jersey. We will see how it goes.

Being pregnant last year I wasn’t able to keep up with all my goals that I had set out to do.  So I am starting over and hopefully this blog will help me be accountable to improve my sewing skills, make more of my own clothes and keep track of how much I spend per item of clothing. (That is the idea anyways)

In the many blogs that I read, or skim through, I saw that one of the ladies out there set a goal for herself that she will make one item of clothing for herself once a month. So that would be 12 items for the year. I think that is a great goal. So I am going to do the same thing. I wish that I could tell you who it was but I can’t remember.  If I find the blog post again I will link to it.

I think that this is manageable for me as well. I have an entire month to complete an item and still have time to make things for my kids and husband if I feel the need to.

I also put some of my goals on the right hand side just to remind me of what I want to accomplish this year as well. As the year progresses I hope to not only accomplish those goals but to add new ones as well.

I hope that this works. Last year I didn’t do much except to percolate a baby and that was exhausting.

So I hope that this works and maybe in the meantime I will manage to organize my house and have my family eat healthier meals, but I wouldn’t count on it.

And normally I would be up to my ears in making gifts for everyone. Not this year! And that really is disappointing to me because I got a new sewing machine from my sister.

The Janome Memorycraft 9000

My sister got this machine from her husband about 10 years ago. It is retired but still works fabulously. It is also an embroidery machine. I never had one of those so I am excited that she sent it to me.  I can’t wait to play with it.

In the mean time I finished the pajama’s for the kids. I wanted to make them some jamies for Christmas.

The monkey's are for N and Spiderman for J. They both look the same size for N can grow into hers.

I used the same pattern that I had drafted from a tshirt of J’s to use for N as well. I just need to finish off the bottom of the t-shirts and get those wrapped.

Next on my list is a baby doll quilt for N and a bag to hold J’s Mario figures.

There was a small person added to our family.

This is Lorenna. Isn't she cute?

I wanted to make sure that I got pictures of her while she still fit into the onesie gown that I made her. She was a big girl compared to my other two kids. She weighted 8 lbs and 7 ozs.

Here she is in all her glory! The gown just fits. It won't be long until she won't be able to wear it any longer.

Such a cutie!