Why, Hello There!

You may think that I've long since kicked the bucket and that's why I haven't posted in four million years. . . but I haven't.

I'd just like fill you in on some random projects I've {miraculously} completed in the last little while. Boring, I know.  

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I may have alluded to this before, but one of my goals in life is to become proficient at sewing clothes. A couple years back, I kept getting the impression that I really ought to learn how to sew more than a pillowcase. . . and who am I to argue? Granted, it's a slow road when you're teaching yourself and you're about as sharp as a potato.

But, I mean, if there comes a time when modest clothing is hard/impossible to find or everyone decides plastic bags make for great attire, I'll be able to make something wearable. Hopefully. That's the idea, anyway.

It's taken me many, many long nights with my trusty seam ripper and pouring over blog tutorials again and again before getting anywhere NEAR making something that fits over the head of my subject. But! I'm getting there. Slowly. I just don't want anyone to look at these pictures and beg me for advice. . . because I don't have much to offer. :)

My first project? Making Hannah some dresses that aren't too short.

I don't know about all ya'll, but it seems like I have to buy her dresses at least 2 sizes too large just so she doesn't outgrow them in about a month. And by "outgrow", I mean "show off anything above her knee" because I'm old school like that.

I found a pattern at JoAnn and set to work {"See & Sew" B5442 to be exact}. After hitting a couple many road bumps, I finally finished. I had to get creative because I ran out of the main fabric, but I think the end result was darling! I added a yellow ruffle along the bottom and then added a little ruffle-y flower to pull it all together. It looks pretty darn cute with her white cardigan and brown boots.

My second attempt came about just yesterday. I tried it on her {after I finished} and went, "Whoa. Uhhh.... this is huge!" I swear unto you that I made the same size both times, but maybe I had a much larger seam allowance the second time?!? I have no clue. All I know is that the dress was so big that it was falling off her shoulders every two seconds.

Cue another flash of momentary creativity. I pinched the front in a 1/2" at the top and bottom and stitched it down. Then I sewed on some buttons.

Done.

Now it has a little pizzazz AND when she grows, I can just take off the buttons and pop the seam and she'll have an extra 1/2" to use. The best part? I don't actually have to unbutton anything. I just pretend. :)





I'm havin' way too much fun. Clearly.

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In completely unrelated news, I made a new best friend.

His name? Sharky.



See how beautiful and clean he is?

He doesn't look like that anymore. Not by a looooong shot. Ya see, he was fresh out of the box in that picture. I vacuumed the couch and the carpet in all our rooms and he looked like this. . .

He has never recovered. 

This poor vacuum is amazing!Which is a handy quality to have when you have an indoor large-breed dog and a toddler that likes to habitually shred things. 

Of course, it was only after that picture that I realized the "max fill" line was about 1/4 of the way up the canister. Whoops. 

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Did I ever tell you guys I painted my laundry room? I got a wild hair right after Curtis was born and told Chuck I was going to paint our laundry room yellow. I've always wanted a yellow room. What I really meant, of course, was "YOUR going to paint my laundry room yellow!"

However, I quickly realized that Chuck wasn't going to be party to my scheme and if I wanted a yellow laundry room, I was on my own. He wasn't going to stop me, but he wasn't about to make it easy for me to deface our beautiful home in such an abhorrent way. ;) 

Long story short, I finally found a yellow that was bright and bold without being like a McDonald's. I found some bead board wallpaper on Amazon and bought a roll {I read in the comments that it's really easy to scratch so not to use it in a high traffic area (such as a mudroom), but I wasn't very worried}. I bought some molding to paint and hang above the bead board to make it look less like wallpaper and got to work painting. Then hanging the wallpaper. Then finding decorations.

I can't, however, measure/cut/hang that darn molding by myself. It just can't be done. My brain would explode, guys. Not to mention I would cut off my fingers.

So. 

That's still pending. 

But here's what I've got so far!

{That picture was taken standing in front of the dryer and looking at the corner to the left.} 

See how uneven the wallpaper is hung there in the corner? Yeah, see. That's what happens when Husband lets me hang stuff. But fear not, the molding is thick enough to cover all that stuff. And THAT will be hung straight because I won't be doing it. :)

P.S. If you even look at the fluffy bead board wallpaper wrong, it scratches. So. Yes. Keep that in mind.
P.P.S. If you do buy the wallpaper, I would suggest buying two rolls. 'Nuff said.

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Moving right along.

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Remember how I said that I'm old school and don't really like dresses that go above the knee? Well, that's true for more than just my daughter. Up until just recently, I refused to wear any dress that wasn't full length. Of course, a lot of that had to do with my own insecurities about my legs. . . but after having two babies I decided to branch out in my styling choices. {And no, the irony isn't lost on me. My legs are definitely more aesthetically traumatizing after two pregnancies than before}. I decided I was tired of worrying about what other people thought of my pasty, spider-veiny legs. :)

I had my eyes peeled for a polka dot dress for many, many moons and finally found one. It was a little shorter than I would've liked, but nothing immodest. . . . just considerably shorter than anything I'd previously owned.

However, I made the fatal mistake of washing it without reading the tag shortly after purchasing it. I washed it in cold water and let it air dry, but the damage had been done.

When I wore it before, I was constantly pulling it down {it has a little stretch to it} and hoping a breeze wouldn't come along to show everyone my undies.

When I tried it on after washing it, however, I knew I was done for. If I dared wear it in public, I would be a nervous wreck. There was no way I would be comfortable in it. . . and that was a problem. There was no way I was going to let my polka dot dress go right after finding it! :)

Here's what it looked like after I washed it --




And, yes, I realize some of you might see that and think, "That's not very short! What's the problem?" but trust me. It'd probably be fine if I didn't have to move or bend or house at least one child on my lap at any given time. But for someone who doesn't like dresses above the knee, it just wasn't gonna fly.

P.S. I'm so sorry about the dirty mirror! You'd think I'd stop and clean it off before taking pictures, but no. Too lazy.

I did a little research and found something that I thought might work:  a nice, simple ruffle!

"Simple". . . yeah.

All in all, it was simple. . . just a little time consuming to measure and remeasure and cut and hem and iron and baste and ruffle and pin and sew. But, hey. It worked and was well worth the effort!

 I was worried because the dress is 100% polyester but my ruffle was a cotton blend, but I think it still works out. I cut the ruffle to be nearly 2 times the length as my skirt hem {to provide ample fabric to ruffle} and made it 6" wide. That way I had 1/2" {1/4" + 1/4"} on both the top and bottom to hem and still have 5" of coverage.

So, yeah. Mission accomplished. It is FAR, FAR, FAR from perfect, buy hey. Most of my projects are.


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Thanks for putting up with my huge long post of craziness. I'll post up some pictures of our family adventures el soono. :)