A great post I hope ya'll will read -

I was catching up on my blog reading a little bit this afternoon, and came upon this GREAT post by Carolyn on Diary of a Sewing Fanatic. It really touched my heart, as I continue to adjust to my 'lumps and bumps' that make up my body and the doubts that plague all of us women as we watch the movie stars/models etc aging beautifully and not being able to tell if they are 30 or 65.

It's whats inside that counts, the beauty comes from within, never forget that. Our bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and we need to accept that. We can't look like anyone, except the woman God created us to be. Remember that! :)

Merry Christmas!

Jack's kitten :)

Yes, I'm a few days late, but ya'll shouldn't be surprised by that. This year was a first. I got all my Christmas gifts made and shipped before Christmas Day! I was so happy. :) So, now I get to share pictures of everything I made. Hopefully I remembered to take pictures of them all!

Monsters, for the little boys in Idaho :)

Made this little bear for Olivia, thought she was so cute.

I made this Shark Bath Puppet for Jack

And this Minkee blankie for Evan, he seems to like it :)

And I made 4 hats for the boys in Alaska, but I forgot to take pictures of them :(

I also made candles, soap, bubble bath, chapstick, and facial scrub for all the Mommies, and then, we get gift cards for the Daddy's and the older grandkids. Once they get past about 12 or so, I don't think they are so excited about the things Grandma makes :)
But I have fun doing it! And again will make this promise - Start earlier this year!!!!!
I hope you had a lovely, Merry Christmas and that you spent time with your family and loved ones. I pray that you know the reason for the season, and are thankful for the Greatest Gift ever given.

My Sewing Weekend!

The finished vest and blouse

Yes, I spent most of my weekend sewing - and get this - it was sewing for MOI! It was so much fun. I'm going to show you the finished picture right off, and not make you scroll all the way down to the bottom. That way, you know whether or not you want to scroll all the way down, cause I have a few detail pictures.
The vest is McCalls 6211, made with 100% wool, lined in silk. The blouse is silk chiffon - and oh my, isn't that fun to work with! lol Here is a tip - Set your iron on the silk setting, and spray starch every edge you're going to sew. A few times, I starched it 2-3 times. Made it SO much easier to work with. Otherwise, it's kind of like sewing on air.

I just love how the wool and silk sew together!

  Instead of doing a facing with this wispy fabric, I did a sort of ruched edge. This fabric had lovely edges in pure white. Once edge was about 6" wide and on the opposite edge, it was 2" white. I cut a long strip of the 2" wide, sewed it together into a circle, and divided it into 4ths. I did the same on the neckline. Then, I did a gathering stitch on both long sides of the strip, gathered it to fit, and sewed it to the neckline right sides together. I folded it over, again, gathered to fit, and sewed to the back of the garment, to the seam I had just  made. Does that make sense? I added some crocheted edging I had made.

    I did do a thin white band at the bottom of the sleeves, and even though I cut them longer, they were too short. (I have long arms) So, I used the 6" white edge to make ruffles for sleeves, and added the same crochet edging around the white band. The edge is the selvedge, no need to hem! 

I had some 'diamond' buttons in my button jar, which I thought were perfect for closures at the band, and added some elastic. This band hit my arm about 2" above my wrist, so the elastic had to be longer than normal. I'm going to make some changes to this part of the sleeve, and eliminate the button/elastic and put some sort of something there instead, so there will be no closure. They kept coming undone and it was a real pain. 

I wore this to my husbands company Christmas party last night and I was literally sewing on those buttons as it was time to go. The vest is supposed to have a belt, but I didn't have time to make it, and truthfully, I didn't miss it. 

That vest was SO easy to make, it fit me perfectly, I plan to make many more. Did I already say that? :) 

So, this week, I'm finishing up odds and ends of gifts. Saturday I mailed all my packages for my family and grandkids. After Christmas, Pictures will be coming :) 

Are you ready?

Guess we should pick a winner eh? lol

I have to start with an apology - I completely forgot about the giveaway, and truthfully, I thought more would enter!!! However - the winner is Deb!
Deb, I've emailed you - please send me your address!

Ok, now that that is over and done with :) I wanted to share my sister's new blog with you. She designed and made this Scoodie herself, and I think it's about the cutest thing! Go take a look and leave her some love and encouragement and buy a  Scoodie!!!! :) I'm not even going to post a picture of it here, yup, I'm going to make you go there and look!!!

I've been working like a crazy woman trying to finish all the grandkids presents. But they are finished and in their respective shipping boxes, ready to be mailed tomorrow. I can't believe I finished BEFORE Christmas. I'm ashamed to say that normally they receive their boxes about New Years Day. :( Such a bad Grandma.

But, now I have some time to sew for myself and that's what I'm going to do. My husbands company Christmas party is Sunday night and I'd sure like something new to wear.

On one the sewing lists I’m on, someone shared a picture of a gorgeous wool vest in RTW  from the Pendleton site - and I just love it!

I have this beautiful piece of brown wool, with a faint blue plaid that I was going to use to make a jumper, but this changed my mind!

Then someone found a Vogue pattern, very much like it  

 I was going to get it, but eliminate the little flappy things in the back, but I wasn’t quite ready to spend $12 on a pattern. Cheapskate that I am! Lol 

then, someone found a McCalls patterns very similar for 6.99 and so I bought that as a Download. Then, I ordered some silk to line it. This will be new to me, I’ve never really lined anything.

Last night I made a muslin of the vest, and here is the honest truth - it fit me perfectly. No adjustments for anything!! Amazing. Now, assuming the silk arrives SOON, I can hopefully wear it to the party, which is really very casual, it's not a 'party dress' kind of party, although that would be fun too. I'd love to make a party dress :)

I'm also making progress on Mike's shirt - I've got the two fronts sewn to the back yoke, and the collar stand on. I had to adjust that twice, since it didn't fit around his neck the first time :/ But now it does, and I'm ready to put the collar on! I'll do pictures of that soon.

Now, if the elves would just come and put away the Christmas decoration boxes, it'd be much easier to maneuver around this house! Merry Christmas :)