Goddess of Sewing

The Ultimate DIY House

2012-01-22T21:23:00.000-08:00

When something really great comes along, you just need to share it. I feel a little remiss in not having previously mentioned more about the program we used to get our home built. Several years ago we read an article in the newspaper about the open house of a group that had finished building their homes through Rural Housing Development Corporation (RHDC). It's a mutual self-help program. The basic idea is that a group of families works together to build their own homes. When all homes in the group are completed everyone moves in. Pretty great, right? It gets better. The program is for families that meet certain income guidelines; it's for families that would not otherwise be able to afford a home. We logged the information away in our brains to bring out again when we felt the time was right.

Fast forward to summer of 2010. My husband had just graduated from college (hallelujah!) and started a job. Two months later he got a promotion and a raise. With the raise we figured we would be able to afford the mortgage on a house if we went through a mutual self-help program. The time was almost right. We started to go through the application process. Before meeting with people in the RHDC office we decided to hold off for a little while. It was only a few months later that we decided the time really had come and we completed our application. We were accepted into the program in February of last year. We were the second family in our group to be approved. After that it was just waiting for the group to be complete, which took until late March or early April. We broke ground in May and started building in June. There was even an article written about the ground breaking in the paper. They misquoted me a bit, but that's okay. If you look at the second picture in the box you'll see me giving my little speech.

So how do nine families without any building experience get away with building homes that are safe, attractive, up to code, and actually livable? RHDC assigns one of their construction supervisors to work with each group. It's the supervisor's job to train the families on construction techniques, check for quality, and basically oversee the entire process. If we did something wrong we had to do it again until it was right. That's a rule that didn't budge. We were blessed to have a great supervisor who was not willing to compromise on any quality issues. It makes one feel so much more confident about how well the house will stand up to being lived in.

Aside from meeting income guidelines there were other rules we had to abide by. For example, each family is required to work a minimum of 35 hours per week. To say that's a bit of a stretch for working families is an understatement. We were allowed to have volunteers take on up to 17.5 of the weekly hours. Any time missed needed to be made up. Time missed on Saturday counted double. There was a lot of sacrifice involved in making our hours. We were lucky enough to have reliable babysitting that allowed us to work on the house together. With no volunteers we were able to get around 42 hours a week. Our group was also very fortunate to have lots of volunteers from United Way and BYU to help out. It was very much appreciated. Most of the work is done by the families building the homes, but there were also sub contractors who did part of the work. We framed the homes, but we did not do the work on insulation, stucco, or dry wall, to name a few. Those things were left to the professionals.

There really isn't too much to say about this program. The Hubs and I had other options for less-expensive housing, but we chose RHDC because of everything involved. We thought it would be a good thing to have a brand new home, as well as to learn first-hand the skills needed to construct and maintain a home. The homes are built to the highest standard and are energy star approved. We also loved the idea of being able to work with our neighbors and get to know them before moving in. We're so glad we applied when we did. My husband got another raise at the end of 2011, which was enough to have made us ineligible for the program. As it turned out, we've been able to build a home, build a community, and build confidence in what we can do. It's a program I would suggest to anyone.

This is What "Done" Looks Like

2012-01-18T14:41:00.000-08:00

Several months back I decided that I could blog the process of building our home (the original plan) or I could spend the time actually working on the house and do one massive post once everything was complete. Obviously, I chose the second option. I suppose I could go back with all the pictures I took and document the entire process. I think I prefer to just show pictures of the completed house and share the documentation part for making our new house into our new home. So here are a few pictures of the FINISHED house, courtesy of our building supervisor's Google album:

Kitchen and great room

Great room (living and dining until we finish the basement)

Entry and hallway, taken from formal living room

Kitchen

Master bedroom with bath and closet

Finished exterior

It's surreal to be finished with this project. We started coming to the work site on June 18, 2011. That was the day we came for safety and tool training. Most of the nine couples in our group were highly unfamiliar with the tools in the trailer. Palm nailer? Framing gun? Hole hawg? What are those? Times have certainly changed. Nail guns and circular saws were once kind of scary sounding to me. Now I go to tool departments and drill. I actually asked my husband for a circular saw for Christmas. He got me makeup brushes instead. I thought it was pretty funny.

Real work began June 20, 2011 when we started training on basement walls. That means it was just under seven months from when we started to when all nine home passed inspection on January 17, 2012. All of us in the group take ownership of our homes on January 26th, immediately after the open house. Most families are moving in that evening. We'll be moving the first weekend in February so that we can personalize our wall colors before moving in. Exciting? You have no idea! Unless you've also done it.

I'm so proud of our group. We've all worked so hard and sacrificed so much to get this done. Our accomplishment is pretty impressive, especially when one considers our complete lack of prior experience and the very high quality of the end result. We can thank our supervisor for that. In the end it was all worth it. I feel like I can take on any project out there (and I definitely have plans!) with great results. Nothing is impossible. Congratulations, Group 33; we've earned it!

Sweet Potato Casserole...that's actually GOOD

2011-11-22T07:20:00.001-08:00

I grew up with candied yams with toasted marshmallow topping as a Thanksgiving side dish. I never liked it. Never. I mostly just peeled the marshmallows off the top and choked down the little bit of yams that stuck to the white stuff. Sweet potatoes and yams were simply a dish to be avoided once a year. Not anymore.

Nine years ago I spent Thanksgiving on a NATO base in Italy. I was a missionary there. My companion and I were invited to Thanksgiving dinner by an American family and we were over the moon about it. When the sweet potatoes came around I politely took a helping. To my great amazement I ended up with two more helpings before the meal was done. Me, the devout sweet potato hater! I made sure to get the recipe before I left that evening. I have since converted my sweet potato hating aunt, as well. It has since opened me up to the wonderful world of baked sweet potatoes and sweet potato fries.

If you can't stand yams or sweet potatoes (or even if you love them) give this a try. Really. It's worth a shot, right? I've changed it up just a little over the years, so I'll include those notes in italics. The picture is not one I've made. I'm not making it until Thanksgiving and by then it's too late to help anyone. But it looks similar.

Sweet Potato Casserole--delicious style

9 small to medium or 5 large sweet potatoes (or yams; they're cheaper). Peel and chop. Place in a large pot, cover with water, boil until tender. Because I can't be bothered with peeling and chopping I bake mine. It takes longer to cook, but is less irritating to me. Wrap three times in foil and bake at 400 for about an hour and a half. Allow to cool enough to handle and scoop out the insides.

Mash (or use beaters) with:

1/2 stick butter
1/2 to 3/4 cup evaporated milk I add this toward the end to check consistency. It should be creamy, but not liquid-y or stiff.
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp butter flavoring My husband doesn't like butter, so I leave this out.

Place in baking dish and spread with topping mixture.

Topping (sometimes I double this because I like it so much):

1 cup crushed corn flakes
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup melted butter Again, my husband doesn't like butter, so I cut it down a bit.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

You can make the mashed part the day before and then make and add the topping right before you cook it. That helps free up the oven on the big day. Give it a try and let me know if you can stomach it better than the non-tasty stuff.

Coconut Cream Cupcakes=Divine!

2011-07-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

My husband has a deep and abiding love for coconut. He probably developed that while he was a missionary in Fiji. It really is one of his favorite flavors. As luck would have it, I found a recipe for coconut cream cupcakes on the morning of his birthday. Score! They were fabulous! To give you an idea of just how fabulous these cupcakes are, his birthday was a month ago and I have made them three times since then. I'm just going to copy and paste the recipe as shown on www.carrottopmom.com. I'll use my own pictures and let you know how it went for me. It was my first time making cupcakes from scratch.

NOTE: You will need to plan a bit ahead for these! The amazing coconut flavor comes from a reduced coconut milk, which needs to be made one day ahead, and refrigerated overnight. Plan ahead. : )

Coconut Cream Cupcakes

Yields 18 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

Cupcakes:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup reduced coconut milk (NOT Reduced Fat. See below), room temperature (TOTAL, begin with 2 14oz cans of coconut milk)

Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup reduced coconut milk (see above), room temperature
2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups unsweetened flaked coconut, (optional, for garnish)

DIRECTIONS

For reduced coconut milk: Bring 2 cans (14 ounces each) coconut milk to boil in large deep saucepan over medium heat (coconut milk will boil up high in pan). Boil until reduced to 1 2/3 cups, stirring occasionally, 30-45 minutes. Transfer to small bowl. Cover; chill (coconut milk will settle slightly and thicken as it cools). DO THIS AHEAD, allowing to chill overnight: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled, allowing to come to room temperature when ready for use.
For cupcakes: Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line eighteen muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat on medium-high speed until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating and scraping sides well after each addition. Add half of flour mixture; mix on low speed just until blended. Do not overblend. Add 1 cup reduced coconut milk; mix just until blended. Add remaining flour mixture; mix on low speed just until blended. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake cupcakes until tops spring back when gently touched, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes in pans to rack; cool 10 minutes. Carefully remove cupcakes from pans and cool completely on rack.
For Frosting: Cream butter on high for 2 minutes. Add powdered sugar, reduced coconut milk, and vanilla extract. Beat gradually at first, until combined. Beat on high for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until smooth and creamy.
Frost cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with coconut if desired, for garnish. (They will have plenty of coconut flavor without the garnish!)
Do not refrigerate. As with all my cupcake recipes, the flavors are best at room temperature!

Everything turned out a lot easier than I expected, given the fact that non-cake mix cupcakes are new to me. I do have a couple of helpful hints to go along with this bit of yumminess. The batter ended up thicker than I expected. Make sure you really do use a deep pot to reduce the coconut milk. If not the pot isn't big enough the coconut milk will boil over. And if you forget to change out the foil on your burner before you use it again the boil-over will catch fire. I may or may not have learned that from personal experience. Twice.

The only change I made to the recipe was very minor. While the frosting is superb, I don't use a lot of it. I just cut the frosting recipe in half and it gave me the perfect amount. Two thumbs up! Thanks to Kelly for the great recipe! Now I just have to get rid of it all before we start the diet I need to get on.

Lots of Work

2011-07-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

I knew going into it that building a house would be no small undertaking, but wow. Just wow. I had assumed I would blog a little bit in the evenings after we got home and put the girls to bed. Ha! We put the girls to bed, plop down for a second, put the girls back to bed and finally just collapse into our own beds once we've got them down. The baby, in particular, isn't doing well with being put to sleep. She insists on being held. I'm working on letting her cry it out. It's not going well.

Despite the lack of sleep in our apartment, there is no lack of work happening at the house. Tomorrow will be spent putting up the exterior walls to our house. Woot! I don't have one of the current pictures from my camera to upload, but I can put up the one from the RHDC group website. What you can see is a completed basement wall, porch cap, and some of the trusses. You can also see one of our future neighbors. If you were to go to the site right this very moment you would see floor joists in place and (possibly) a sheet for the floor. It feels awesome to watch the progress of our house.

Baby Contest

2011-06-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

Back in the day my mom entered me in the Freedom Festival Baby contest. I've always loved the picture that came from that day.

I suppose I always thought I was a pretty cute baby. Now I have two beautiful girls of my own. I carried on the tradition for my older daughter's first two years. She won a prize in the costume category both years! I was extra proud of that because I'd made the dresses. In the second one she's a waitress and has her little medal.

This year it was time for my younger daughter. I dearly wanted to be there for it all (I have a lot of fun at these things) but it was the first day of building our house and missing that isn't exactly an option. My parents were gracious enough to take the girls and go through the process with my younger daughter. She didn't win a prize, but she's still the cutest little thing I think I've ever seen. I'll probably enter her next year, too. I'm really sad I missed this one.

Her sailor dress is one I bought to go with a sailor dress my older daughter has. I thought it was a cute little patriotic thing, as well. I also made her a costume. I made her a little Scarlett O'Hara costume to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. I thought it was pretty creative. The pictures don't show her to her full cuteness. I guess she was kind of freaked out when the photographer tried to get her attention by sticking that fuzzy toy in her face. My parents told me she was not happy and the fuzzy thing really distressed her. That sad face says it all. I still think she made a darling Scarlett.

What are your ideas for a patriotic costume?

Winner, Winner!

2011-06-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

Using the oh-so-scientific method of, "Honey, pick a number for me," we have the winner of the flag clippies! Two clippies go to Carrie, who said:

Saturday at 5:34pm · Privacy: · · · Share

- Carrie Prince I tried commenting, but it won't let me, so here's my comment: My favorite is to go balloon chasing on the 4th. BBQ's and spending time with family are up there on the list too
  Saturday at 6:01pm ·

I know her comment didn't show up on the blog, but she DID try. Congrats to Carrie! Let me know how you want your clippies made and we'll get it done. Woohoo!

GIVEAWAY!!!

2011-06-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

So I have a lot of ribbon left over from the flag clippies. Really, there is a LOT. I figured it would most likely sit there until inspiration struck again. The inspiration was to give away some flag clippies. Woohoo! I've never done a giveaway before, so I'm totally excited about it. Flag Day is coming up next week. So the contest will run until then.

How to enter:
1. Become a follower and leave a comment telling me your favorite Independence Day tradition.

That's all! If more than 20 people enter we'll have three winners. Each winner gets two clippies on their choice of alligator or french clip, as well as their choice of flapping or straight flag. I'm excited!

I'll start off the traditions. I love going to all the activities in Provo. The patriotic service is inspirational, Colonial Days is educational, the parade is wonderful to spend time with family, and I can't make it through without a Texas Twister from Freedom Days. Maybe it's cheating to use the Freedom Festival activities as my favorite tradition, but that's how it is. Family barbecues and fireworks also top the charts.

Good luck to all! The contest will end on Flag Day (June 14) at 5 pm MST. I'll choose a winner randomly. Check back to see if you won!

Tutu Onesie

2011-06-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

I used this onesie before and promised that the finished product would be shown. Here it is! I think this is one of the cutest little things for little girls I've seen in a long time. To get started you'll need a ruler, marking tool (I used the wax tailor chalk), elastic thread, and 3 inch strips of sheer tricot (also called nylon chiffon).

Start off by marking the onesie at 1/4" above the binding around the leg. Mark both the front and back.

Make three more marks, each one another 1/4"-3/8" above the previously line. I thought a simple 1/4" apart looked a bit too close together.

Gather the fabric strip down the middle. I used my ruffle foot. It would be really easy to just use a gathering stitch if you don't have a ruffle foot. You don't need to gather it super tight. This is one of those times when it's almost a "less is more" kind of situation. It may have been about a 2:1 ratio. I never checked.

Wind a bobbin with your elastic thread. This will add stretch so your stitching doesn't break. You could also use a stretch stitch and pull the onesie as you sew, but this is easier. Start off sewing on the line closest to the neck and move the onesie to the left for each line after that. It makes it easier. Trust me. Stitch the tricot on to the onesie, keeping the stitch on the fabric over the placement line and sewing on top of the gathering stitch.

IMPORTANT: Make sure to stretch the onesie a little bit as you sew. There will still be stretch if you don't, but it will pull in extra tight on her little backside.

Once you've done the first row, fold both tricot layers toward the neck. As I started sewing I realized that the very easiest thing to do was simply use the edge of the previous as a placement guide. It worked perfectly to put the edge of the presser foot against the folded-back edge of my last stitching row.

Another thing I discovered as I continued sewing was that I did not need the fourth placement line. It would certainly make the tutu more full, but I didn't care about that very much. I thought it looked good with three and I stopped there.

The look of the tutu can be changed by using different fabric colors or different widths of tricot strips. The animal print fabric was 3" wide, but I've also done it at 2" wide. I didn't think that was wide enough. You can decided what you want to do on your own. Below is a picture of what the two inch strips looked like the first time I tried the tutu onesie.

It's super cute for crawlers, walkers, or just a no-fuss and cool summer outfit. Next time there's a baby shower for a girl I may just whip one of these up. I always tend to have a little sheer tricot on hand.

Selection Day...Ahhhhh!!!

2011-06-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

Today was the day I've been itching to get at for quite a while. It was selection day!!! The Hubs and I had already chosen the main stucco color and the stone. I'm glad we had that done so we could focus on the other things. I took several pictures so you can see what we chose, as well as leaving me with a reminder. The description is above the pictures.

The lighter stucco is our main color and the darker is our trim color. The stucco colors look pretty gray in this picture, but they are more blue in person or once they're on a house. We prefer the blues and gray to brown, so these colors worked out perfectly for us.

To get an idea of what the colors look like outside I've included pictures from two previously built homes. The one on the left shows our main color and the one on the right is our trim. They look a little blueish and we totally love that!

After the stucco colors and stone we chose the shingles. The one we chose is the one just below where the two stucco colors touch. It's hard for me to get an idea of what that will look like over the entire house, so I guess we'll have to wait and see. It seems to coordinate pretty well.

The wood for the cabinets is knotty alder and the stain is Wild Cherry. We first chose it in oak, but the two together did not look good. There is also a chip for the countertop resting on the cabinet sample. Our appliances will be black, making this formica perfect for blending to wood and the appliances. The cupboards will have a cathedal arch at the top rather than being straight across at the top.

The kitchen, dining room, bathrooms, and wash room will have the vinyl shown in the middle. The rest of the house will be carpeted with the sample shown below. I never knew I was such a fan of taupe.

Interior lighting will have the hanging bowl in the dining room and the flush mount lights (just to the right of the bowl) throughout the rest of the house. The glass has the alabaster finish shown on the hanging bowl, rather than the melon finish shown on the flush mount light. You can also see other cabinet sample on the wall. The cabinet on the far right shows the arch that will be at the top out our cupboard doors.

The bathroon light bar is shown below. The choices for the bathrrom light were the one that you see or the same design with a darker finish. Our outdoor lights will be the mount shown just to the left of the bathroom bar. It will have a black finish.

Our interior door will be the Glenview style. There were three or four other choices, but this was our favorite.

These are the baseboards and casings. A new option is a flat board. I liked the clean look of the flat boards, but that one doesn't come with window sills. I liked what we chose because it does come with window sills and it's more decorative.

Below is a picture of another house built with the floor plan we selected. It gives a good idea about what our home will look like. We chose white for the garage door, fascia, and soffits. We also chose the octogon shape for the gable vents. This house has quoins (the decoritive"bricks" on the corners) but ours will not. I like quoins on home with trim that is lighter than the main color, but nor the other way around. As our trim will be darker, we went without quoins. Now we have just under two weeks before we start. Let the games begin!

Flag Clippies

2011-06-02T23:14:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite parts of summer is Independence Day and all the surrounding festivities. It's one of my favorite holidays. Every year I forget to buy a patriotic bow to put in my daughter's hair. Not this year. This year both my girls will be getting cute flag clippies. They were fun to make and I think they're pretty adorable.

Supplies:
Red and white striped ribbon (5/8" wide)
Blue polka dot ribbon (5/8" wide)
Silver ribbon (1/2" wide--optional)
Glue gun
Hair clip of choice

I just picked up ribbon when I was out at the store so I have a LOT of extra. If you can buy it by the inch it's even more economical. The stuff I bought was Offray brand. The silver ribbon was leftover from another Fourth of July project and was also Offray ribbon.

Cut the blue ribbon 1-1/2" long. Make sure to seal the edges with heat or Fray Check. I prefer to heat seal with a lighter. The edges shrink a little but it feels more secure.

Use the striped ribbon and the dotted ribbon to get an idea of how long you want your flag to be. I wanted my flag to look like it was flapping in the breeze, hence the fold. I ended up cutting it four inches wide before I sealed the edges. Cut two lengths.

Once the ribbon is cut, glue two edges to attach the "stars" to the stripes. Word to the wise: leave a bit of the bottom edge free of glue for later use.

This part is easily the trickiest. The two strips of stripe fabric need to be glued together along the bottom. They can be joined by exactly overlapping the strips or by offsetting it just a touch to make the stripe width more uniform. The ribbon width was just off just enough to make a great marker for stripe placement. The picture on the right shows the difference between the stripes. The flag on the left shows the stripes overlapped exactly and the flag on the right shows them offset a little.

From here you can choose where you want your flag to flutter. Glue the ribbon onto itself on both sides to secure. I also left one without the flutter to see if I preferred that. I cut the ribbon a bit shorter until it was a length I liked better. I ended up "fluttering" it, anyway. The difference can be seen in the picture at the top.

To make the flag pole I simply cut 3 inches of ribbon and folded it in half. Then I sandwiched the flag between the layers. One trick that worked for me was to glue a dot at the top and at the bottom to help hold it in place while sandwiching the flag. Glue both sides of the ribbon to hold it down. Another option for the pole would be to use the reverse side of dotted ribbon and glue that on.

To finish off the bow, glue on your favorite hair clip. I happened to have a french clip available at the time. That's what is modeled below. I can't wait for my girls to wear theirs this summer! Total cost for the project was under $8. I'll have enough ribbon to make two for my oldest, one each for my baby and my niece, and I may even make one for myself.

Freezer Paper "Silk Screen"

2011-06-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

This technique is far from new but sometimes it's good to have a little reminder that it's possible. I'm sure it would be a lot easier to do with a Cricut or a Silhouette or something. I don't have one of those, so I use the good old freezer-paper-and-scissors method. Printing like this is a great way to personalize shirts or other fabrics without a lot of cost. The onesie I used in the pictures has an intended purpose. It'll be super cute when it's done. I'll make sure to post a tutorial for that when the time comes.

Before you begin make sure to pre-wash your fabric. The onesie I used shrunk quite a bit after its first washing. I'm just glad I knew that before I started this project.

The supplies you need are pretty basic:
Item to be painted
Freezer paper
Your chosen design
Scissors or craft knife
Paint and something to apply it
Iron
Tweezers

I decided this little onesie needed a makeover and that it would include an animal print. I wanted words and a graphic and thought the leopard paw was a good idea. Play with the design on your computer to make sure it's what you want. Be prepared to print and adjust your design once or twice. Once it's printed you'll be able to see if the design needs to be bigger or smaller.

When your design is ready it's time to trace it on the freezer paper. Place the shiny side of the freezer paper against the right side of the design. Trace, trace, trace! I've also put the freezer paper directly into the printer and done it that way. It saves time but it does not allow for any mind-changing. Tracing the design also allows you to use the original page as a reference page if you need one.

Now cut out the positive space from the design. If you want it to show up on the shirt you need to cut it out of the freezer paper. A craft knife will do a great job of only cutting out the area you intend to paint. I don't have a craft knife (because they're sooo expensive, right? Sure.) so I just cut through the paper and then make sure to iron it back in place on the fabric. You run the risk of having the paint seep through the cuts. You can decide if the risk is worth it to you.

Once the cutting is complete it's time to iron it all on. Set the iron to a high setting. Place the design on the onesie with the shiny side of the freezer paper DOWN (against the fabric). Gently press and iron the design until the paper sticks to the fabric.

Place something between the layers of fabric so the paint won't bleed through. I used a storage lid because it looked like it fit well. Apply the paint on the fabric. I used a sponge brush, but makeup sponges from the grocery store also work well and are super cheap. Don't be afraid of getting pant on the paper; you're just going to peel the paper off. When you've covered the design as much as you want, set the fabric aside. You don't want the paint to smear.

After about 10 minutes you can take the freezer paper off the fabric. Do NOT wait until the paint is fully dry to take the freezer paper off. Bits of freezer paper like to stick when the paint is dry. It make those little pieces a bear to get off. Using a pair of tweezer can make the removal process easier. There's just something ultra-satisfying about peeling away the paper bits. I don't know why--there just is.

Let dry for 24 hours before wearing or washing. There you have it! It's cheap, it's easy, and it's fun. I even find the cutting mildly therapeutic. Is that weird?

First House Update

2011-05-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

Technically I haven't made anything on the house yet. However, the foundation is in and I am RIDICULOUSLY excited about it. How cool is it to see your house go from this:

to this:

I can tell you (now that I've experienced it) that it is way cool! All of a sudden it feels so real. Ours is one of two houses in the group that has the foundation in. Another house has the footings poured and most of the others will have their work done this next week. We hope to start framing work in about three weeks. Yeehaw! I guess I'd better practice saying that now that we'll be "rural" residents. ;)

Grocery Brilliance

2011-05-19T09:32:00.000-07:00

My local grocery store has an absolute genius in charge of marketing. Their most recent development (that I've noticed) is a section right by the meat section and attached to the end of an open refrigerated section. Hanging from the ceiling are banners that show the two dinner ideas for the week. It includes the name of the meal and the ingredients. It even has suggested side dished. The table below the banners holds a container for free copies of each recipes and several bags filled with the non-perishable items for each recipe. The refrigerated section holds the perishable items. Single stop dinner shopping! Brilliant! So far we have tried the pork barbacoa (delicious) and the cranberry orange chicken (double delicious!). If you go n the right day they even have someone there handing out samples of the dinner. I will be so sad when we move away from this store. We may just have to make sure we only do our shopping after picky my husband up from work and before we go home. If I get the chance I will a copy of the orange cranberry chicken.

Makeup Artist

2011-04-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

Jen is a newly local makeup artist. She is fabulous and also has a fabulous blog. I wrote about it on my personal blog, so I'll just put that same information below. If you're looking for someone to do your makeup for a special occasion, she's great. She also did a shoot with my featured photographer. The link to those pictures is here. Enjoy!

I've mentioned a couple of times that makeup is my new hobby. That came from a blog called Classy Cosmetics. She's such a cute girl and very sweet. Her blog is a great way to learn about techniques and products. She's also got a giveaway on this post that looks great. I've always wanted to try MAC, but it's a little pricey for me. So go to her blog, become a follower, and comment on this post that I'm the one who sent you. She really is a lot of fun. Just make sure you go there before the 17th so you can enter the giveaway, too!

What I've Been Up To

2011-03-01T23:03:00.000-08:00

I've been off the sewing grid for a while and have not blogged here. It's not that I haven't been busy since the last post, I've just been busy with different things. First off, I spent quite of bit of time...creatively. Creating a new life, to be more exact.

Isn't she cute?

After the last wedding dress and before the baby was born I was doing contract work with Shabby Apple. They make really cute dresses. I did sewing and pattern work on one of the dresses. The link for their bridesmaid line is here. That kept me pretty busy, particularly during wedding season. I also made a few bridesmaid and wedding dresses for another company. When I get those pictures I will post them and their descriptions.

Since then I haven't done much sewing, just a few alterations here and there. It gets a bit tricky with a toddler and a baby. I'm hoping to start up again soon, but I'm not going to push it. The one big project I did tackle was a blessing dress for the baby.

I had the fabric stored for over six years before using it. The fabric is all leftovers from my wedding dress. The satin on my daughter's dress is the same as the main body of my dress. The jacket and bonnet are the lace from my bodice. The collar on the baby dress is the embroidered satin from the cut away part of the gown's skirt. There is also trim lace at the baby's waist that was around the hem and opening of my skirt. My mother did the beading on the trim lace, just as she did when I got married. The finishing touch was the pair of booties I crocheted.

The only other sewing project I've done from scratch since the baby was a sheep costume for baby's first Halloween. My mom made my older daughter's Little Bo Peep costume. They were adorable. They just didn't take any pictures together.

Now that the baby is getting a little older I would love to start sewing more fun things for the girls to match. I'm thinking zebra print pettiskirts with a bright trim.

Heidi

2010-07-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

This is the beautiful and fabulous Heidi. She was really a joy to work with and so easy-going. That's not an easy trick to master when you're prepping for your wedding. Heidi came to me with ideas for what she wanted in her wedding dress. She has a very elegant, simple, and clean style. After a few revisions we ended up with the dress that had the elements she wanted, as well as a fun blue sash to add to her beauty.

What a lovely bride!

Adding Straps

2010-03-12T09:31:00.000-08:00

Silly me for not taking a before picture of this dress, but I do have the after. This particular dress started off strapless and the bride requested straps. After cutting fabric off the bottom to shorten the hem I used the excess fabric to create the straps. I thought the effect was great and that the pleated straps looked like they could have been original to the dress. (click on the picture to see it in better detail)

Blue Babies

2010-03-12T09:12:00.000-08:00

This was just a quick project of matching dresses for my daughter and niece to take pictures in. The girls only cooperated for one shot, but at least we got the one. I love their matching blue eyes and their sweet little faces.

Change the Dress

2009-12-09T19:31:00.000-08:00

Th general alterations I do on most wedding gowns are simple things like the hem that aren't really noticeable in a picture. This gown required work that shows very clearly. The bride loved the dress, but not all the fabric on the skirt. I made it into one layer over the top and then hemmed both layers. The other change was in the bottom of the bodice. The dress originally ended in a V-point in front and the bride wanted it more round. The "after" picture of the dress looks like it has a lot more shine to the skirt, but the real difference is just in the use of natural light in the "before" picture and a camera flash in the "after" picture.

Before

After

Halloween

2009-11-06T22:14:00.000-08:00

These are a couple of costumes I did for Halloween of (I think) 2007. My husband and I were Aragorn and Arwen from Lord of the Rings. I didn't make the boot covers, but I did cut the fabric strips for my husband to wrap his boots. :) The look I was going for in the picture was melancholy, but it comes across as irritated.

For Halloween this year we didn't dress up (life was pretty hectic), but I couldn't let my baby skip out on the festivities. Here she is as Cinderella.

She makes a cute princess.

Shellee

2009-10-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

This Shellee, my brand-spankin' new sister in law. She found her dream dress and went to the store to buy it only to discover it was discontinued and only available in sizes 20 and up. As you can see from the pictures, those sizes wouldn't work for her. From the pictures she showed me I created her wedding dress. She chose dupioni silk for the dress, which allows for beautiful ruching. The silhouette she chose was perfect for her. Shellee made a beautiful bride and we're excited to finally have her in the family.

I just loved this shot of Aaron and Shellee

These two love birds make a great couple!

Heather

2009-10-11T21:38:00.000-07:00

Heather was my first bridal gown customer and a dream to work with. She is a fabulous seamstress. You can find her blog here. Heather wanted a unique dress and had chosen some great fabric with stripes. I appreciated that Heather knew what she wanted for her dress. Her chosen design elements were a full skirt, dropped waist, Queen Ann neckline, petal sleeves, and a band to separate the skirt and bodice. We worked together to find exactly the right look (especially the skirt) and were very pleased with the outcome. After the bridal portraits were taken we decided it would be fun to add a matching band at the bottom of the hem. She looked fantastic.

Buttons down the back are a classically beautiful look.

Isn't she fun?

Heather sent me some great photos with pictures of the band. I couldn't decide which was my favorite, so I've included several.

Here she is with her lucky groom, Kevin.

A close up of the band.

Full length shot of the finished product.

I just thought this one was cute.

Children's Clothing

2009-09-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

Most of the sewing I do for children is for my daughter. She's so cute and so fun to make clothes for.

This first picture is from the Freedom Festival Baby Contest. Yes, she did win a prize. :)

The second picture is a one year portrait. I made the pettiskirt she's wearing. Yards and yards and yards and yards (I could keep going) of fabric go into making this adorable bit of fluffy goodness.

Some Wedding Gowns

2009-09-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

This first gown is my own and (obviously) modelled by yours truly.

This second gown is shown in a few snapshots I grabbed of someone else in a finished dress. It fits the real bride perfectly, but my model still looks pretty good. I'm still waiting to get some bridal portraits which will show it off as it is meant to be seen.

Here's some extra detail of the lace on the bodice.