Wrap up

The summer is ending. The kids start school in two days.  We have been traveling all over the place and having a fun and exciting summer.  But the younger kids are starting to fight (all the time) and it's hard to keep kids occupied without electronic devices.  A couple of weeks ago I was not ready for school start.  Over the last couple of weeks though as the fighting got worse and the house got messier I quickly became ready. 

The sewing classes this summer were a huge hit and a lot of fun. I learned that some kids are naturally better at sewing than others- just like anything.  I guess the ones who seem to be good at it are the ones who actually take their time and try to do it right instead of just trying to get the project finished.  The kids who rush through and don't take the time end up with projects that look bad.  I'm really glad I decided to do the classes this summer. It also gave me the opportunity/motivation to sew more with my kids.  I actually got all my kids to sew SOMETHING this summer.  Ian and Adele love sewing.  Emilia and Elise don't love sewing but they did make something for their girl's camp secret sisters.  We also got to have Erica come to our house for a couple of days and we sewed with her too.  When I look back and remember this summer I will remember this as the sewing summer.

 

Trying to get the darn thing threaded.

  

And last of all, here I am doing my last (hopefully!) sewing project of the summer:  Sewing the SUU nursing patch onto my uniform.  I have been working all summer getting all my immunizations, documentation and school stuff in order.  Not to mention getting my bacterial issues under control.  Now that I seem to be free from my resistant bacteria (and after this darn cold I have) clears up I will be ready to begin the crazy new adventure that is starting in a week.  (GULP.)  I'd be lying if I didn't say that I'm a bit nervous for it all to start.  It's not so much that I'm worried about the actual school thing, I'm just worried about how I will be able to juggle it all.  My kids are in more activities this fall than last fall and I will have more credits.  I'm just trying to take it one semester at a time.  

Sewing Class!

I mentioned a few months ago that I was setting up a sewing camp for the summer.  I have already had a couple of sessions of class and it has been so much fun!  It has also been really great because it has helped me to teach my own kids to sew, and they LOVE it!  We have made so much stuff!  I have a mini-session next week and then I am going to take a break for some vacationing.  After that I have one last session and it is PACKED!  It's going to be a lot of fun. (And maybe a little crazy.)

My little sweatshop!

These girls are dangerous!

Days for Girls

Holy cow we have been doing SO much sewing! All through the months of April, May and June I have been helping a lady in my ward with a project called Days for Girls.  It's an organization that provides re-usable menstrual supplies to girls in developing countries.  It helps them to be able to stay in school and get educated.  My friend made a goal of providing 1000 kits and planned to take them with her on her humanitarian trip to Bolivia.  It's a really great organization and I have had a good time helping with it.  I feel like it's service that I can do, and can hopefully make a difference in the lives of these girls!

Elvin Costumes

My kids are pretty low key when it comes to costumes, usually.  This year someone told Emilia she should be the new Cinderella for Halloween since she looked like her.  So she asked me if she could be Cinderella.  We talked about it. Then I told her if I was going to make something that was this elaborate I'd rather have her wear it somewhere besides OUTSIDE in the DARK and in the dirt at the trunk-or-treat.  In other words, I didn't want to go to great lengths to make a fancy dress that was going to be destroyed.

So then she thought it would be fun to wear Cinderella's peasant dress.  More reasonable, I thought, only I couldn't find an actual pattern for that style of bodice, and I told her I could do something similar.

Then came the idea of being an elf.  This I could do.

Then Elise jumped on the elf wagon and decided she wanted to be an elf too.  (Only she wants to wear war paint, that was the "thing" she wanted all along. War paint.)

So for the last 2 Saturdays I have been creating elf costumes.  We still need to put the whole ensemble together, but the main parts are done.  Still trying to find a solution for pointy ears.  The cheap ones on Amazon have to come from China and they won't make it on time.  (Funny how patterns do not ever turn out the way they look on the pattern package.  It is so bad in fact that I won't even buy patterns that don't have an actual photo on them.  Because the drawings REALLY never look the same as the actual product. When I look at the photo I can see that if it looks bad when the professionals make it, then I'm just not even touching it.  And some patterns just do.)

Frogs

When Linda and I were teenagers she had a bean bag frog that she got from who knows where.  We loved that thing and decided to trace it and use it for a pattern.    We traced it and I started making frogs.  Then I went to college and made frogs for my roommates.  I made one for Karen and she used it when she was at the MTC.  They used it to play a game that she called "pasa la rana" (pass the frog).  One of the elders in her district loved the frog so she gave it to him.  He took it to South America somewhere and ended up letting a lady trace it to make a pattern and they ended up making dozens of frogs.

Fast forward 20 years and I was talking to Linda about the frogs.  Our kids were like, WHAT are bean bag frogs?  So I broke out the old pattern, revised it a bit and I have been making frogs ever since.  I have made a LOT of these little guys.  (Like over 30.)  I keep making them and giving them away before I can give them to the people I originally made them for. I have now made them for my kids and many of my kids' cousins.  And friends.  And now Carol has commissioned me to make 25 for the siblings of kids with cancer camp.

Aprons are Done!

After working very hard for the last few weeks the aprons are done!  I wanted to get them done before the reunion so I could deliver them to Carol and not have to ship them.  Here they are!  I hope the moms love them.

35 Aprons

I JUST finished my last apron.  (Well, actually the last 4.)  I wanted so badly to get them done today. Here they are.  Whew.  It's good to get this project done. Now on to the next one.

Sewing Stuff

My biggest sewing project of the year is almost done! As you know I am making 35 aprons for the moms of kids with cancer camp which is in October. I have been TRYING to get them done by August 3 when we have our family reunion so I can hand them off to my sis Carol and be done with them!  I have 30 done and 5 to go!  I'm super excited about that!

I haven't been doing sewing lessons this summer. I thought my little gals would do a few lessons at least but they must be having a busy summer just like I am. I do have a new friend that is interested in some lessons so we will see about that.  I don't have a lot of free time these days but it would be fun.  So maybe for the RIGHT student I could make it happen.

The other big sewing project that has been going on around here lately was sewing for the pioneer trek.  Elise and Emilia both sewed an apron for themselves to wear. I also sewed 2 bonnets and 4 skirts for them.  I found some ultra cheap fabric on clearance at Joann and some even cheaper at D.I. and whipped out some pioneery clothing for them.  Of course when a couple of people are having fun sewing the other ones want to get involved.  Ian also made some shorts and Adele was having fun sewing a pillow.

Sewing for Dolls

The other day Adele was complaining that Carrie and Callie didn't have nightgowns and she wanted me to make some.  I used some flannel scraps and made these.  Now they need someone to help them tackle that bed head.

More aprons

I have been making SO many aprons!  I made a bunch for family members for Christmas, some for teacher gifts and some for other people.  I think I made 11 for Christmas.  And I have a big project of 35 more to do.  Well, actually I only have 29 more to do because I have made 6.

Carol asked me if I would help make aprons for the gift bags that they give to moms who have kids with cancer.  Every year they have a retreat for the moms and they give them gift bags with stuff for them.  The theme for 2015 is Christmas and Carol suggested giving them an apron for baking.  So I'm working on a bunch. I have them all cut out and folded together with all the pieces.  It's been a fun and worthwhile project.

More Sewing Projects

We had to make some ornaments in our sewing class!  I found the CUTEST felt ornaments online and now I have gotten my whole family (minus Kent) sewing felt ornaments.    Here are a few of mine. We are planning to make more.

Adele made the candy cane ornament and Ian made the snowman.  They turned out so cute.

Dolls

The girls I am teaching in my sewing class are making dolls (which means that I have had to learn to make dolls too.)  The hair is a challenge, I'm not gonna lie.  Now I know why there are so many creepy dolls out there.  I just finished the 3rd one yesterday and some clothes too. My next project is to make a boy.  Adele is actually very excited for me to start letting her play with them.  So I guess the project is a success!

Sewing Lessons

I decided a couple of months ago to see if anyone around here wanted to learn to sew.  I posted something in the local Facebook group and got quite a response.  I ended up with 4 students, and have another that I think will be starting in a month or two.  I started out thinking I'd have an adult class and a kids class.  The adult class ended up being two private lessons because there wasn't a good time for everyone to meet.  I started the kids class a little later- after Adele and Ian got done with the soccer season.  I have really enjoyed teaching sewing and I hope that I will get more students in the future. I expect that during the summer I will have more kids classes.  Ian has been really excited to learn to sew and has joined my kids class. With him there are 3 in that class and I think that's just about as many as I can help at the same time.

The adults I teach both have different levels of sewing experience.  One is a beginner and we have made trick-or-treat bags, crayon rolls and aprons.  The other girl has been working on a dress, and hats and props for her photography business. She takes lots of pics of newborns so she wanted to make some hats, bonnets and diaper covers for the babies.   The kids I teach so far have made tomato pincushions, tote bags and next time we will start making some dolls.

My sweatshop

Since the girls I teach are interested in making dolls I have had to come up with a pattern that wasn't too hard for them.  The doll at the top of the post was the first doll I made.  I decided it is way too small and difficult for kids to make when they don't have a lot of sewing experience.  So I came up with the pattern above.  I'm still working on the hair!  The first one I made has the dark brown Yoda hair/ears.  I literally started laughing out loud when I turned that doll right side out. The hair was not supposed to do that!  The next one turned out slightly better but I have some more experimenting to do.  This is my first attempt at doll-making.

A Bazillion Aprons

So about a month ago my sister Carol asked me if I'd be able to make 35 aprons for her.  She volunteers with a group that does a retreat for moms who have kids with cancer.  They pamper these moms and give them gifts and goodies.  Their next retreat is in October 2015 and they have a Christmas theme.  Carol thought it would be fun to give them Christmas aprons.   I put together a few combos for the aprons and got them all cut out.  In the mean time Carol decided she'd like me to make a couple more aprons for gifts for friends.  So I added 2.  Then my sister Kathy decided she wanted to give some to her daughter-in-laws and one to a son.  And then I made a couple more for gifts for a couple other sisters....So in the last 3 weeks I have cut out fabric for 35 plus completely made another 9.  And I still have 2 or 3 that I want to make before I can even start on the 35 that I have to make for the cancer moms.  I'm glad I have 11 more months to get those done.

One for Carol.  One of my very favorite combos ever!

Sewing

Between all the crazy new house stuff we have been doing, school, work and soccer, I haven't had much time for sewing.  A friend gave me a project idea that she wanted me to brain through and I finally got around to it.  While I was working on it I kept thinking about how much I enjoy sewing and how I had really missed it.  I decided I need to pick it up and do more sewing.  I decided that I wanted to teach sewing classes so I got on our local Facebook page and advertised.  There was a lot of interest at first and it looked like I'd have 4 adult students.  One bailed and one said she wanted to start in November.  I also got some names for another sewing class with kids.  I decided to wait to start the kids class until soccer gets over since I am way too busy after school with soccer practice.  I taught my first class last week and it was fun. I am excited to start my kids class as well. I am planning to reduce my hours at work (or maybe even go back to a temp status) because I just haven't had the time to do stuff that I need to do.  And also the stuff that I want to do.

Ian is going to be a scary clown for Halloween.

A Dress for Carrie

I spent WAY too much time making this tiny little dress for a doll. Seriously, it probably took just as long as a person dress.  But it turned out cute and Adele was thrilled, so I guess it was all worth it!  ;)

What We Did ALL Summer

It has kind of been a different summer.  I babysat a couple of girls this summer so we tried to stay busy.  We went swimming a lot and to movies.  And the park. And ate a lot of shaved ice.  Here are some pix of some of the stuff we did this summer:

Making collages

Playing in the water with our 2 "extra" girls.  Poor Ian.  Went from 1 boy in 4 girls to 1 in 6

I did some sewing.  Made this dress for Adele.

And an apron for my sister Kathy

Emilia's best friend Tamara moved. I took them out for a fro-yo

Tamara moved back!  Her dad's new job didn't work out and after 5 weeks she came back!

It rained a LOT during July

And look at cute Ian!  He played baseball this summer

 So, yeah, that's sort of the nutshell version of what we did this summer!  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of kids fighting or doing extra jobs because they were fighting.  We did a lot of that this summer too.

Dress

I have had  the pattern for this dress for a long time. I bought it when the patterns were on sale for a buck.   When I opened it up later I realized that it wasn't a super easy pattern and it had some tricky things that I hadn't done before.  So the pattern sat in my box for a couple of years. I finally decided to make it a learning experience and I gave it a try.  It still isn't done. I still have to put the zipper in it.  I am worried that it might be too big for Adele and maybe it won't fit her until next year. That would be a bummer.

Dress

I have been sewing again!  I just need to put a ribbon on it for a tie. This fabric is a thin corduroy and it makes a really cute dress! I  can't wait til Sunday so she can wear it to church!

I like it so much more with the ribbon on it!  

Pillowcase Dress

I got an old pillowcase from my friend Dana when I helped her pack and move. I thought it would make the cutest skirt or possibly a pillowcase dress.  I have never been a huge fan of the regular pillowcase dresses because I think they need more shape, or a more defined waist.   I finally pulled out that pillowcase and made a dress for Adele: 

The bottom ruffle was already a part of the pillowcase so I just cut the pillowcase in half and used the bottom for the skirt.  With the top I made the bodice and the sleeves. I love the dainty flower pattern and the red edging on the bottom.