Sewing Projects

I thought I would post some pics of what I have been working on over the last 2 wks. These were really fun and lots of love in return. This is Summers new art bag. She starts classes on the 6th. She is so excited!! 

This is a guitar strap that I sewed for Daniel. He LOVES the guitar and obsessively plays it all day. He really needed a way to carry it around. It has multiple button holes so it's adjustable. Next time I would make it a little bigger so the older kids can use it. I used a guide from online.

Fitted Table Cloth attempt #1

Well, I am not sooo happy with my fitted table cloth. I ran into some problems with the casing that makes it look really sloppy but I CAN prevent it in the future(I hope). I made it for when we go on picnics. It should fit around a small/medium size picnic table. It has a draw string on one side. This is going to be great for my sewing table. Once I get some pretty fabric I will start on it.Sorry for the bad lighting!

Camping with a large family

We lasted 24 hours exactly! We made it through the night and that's what's important right? Ok, so here is where things went wrong. Why do I assume that the great outdoors is going to be this smorgasbord of fun to kids? Maybe it is for those that haven't had their brains changed by instant entertainment. I didn't think about the fact that there will be other campers there and well, I have 2 little ones that love to be loud. We left because we didn't want to disturb the other campers. It was pretty evident that naps were not happening and when there isn't a nap, there is trouble. And we had some. So, here's some tips that I learned. By the way, we had a lot of successes!
~Water. 3 gallons of water was not enough for my family in a 24 hour period.
~Don't be under the impression that you will stay clean. It's not going to happen.
~Camp near the bathrooms unless you bring a port-a-potty. We were near the bathrooms and that was a success for us!
~Bring protection. Camping can be scary! In the middle of the night I heard something in the woods and Dh got out with the hammer and flashlight. Whatever it was went away(we think it was a deer) but I was scared the rest of the night.
~Bring foods that you can eat without having to start a fire. It didn't rain on us but I was thinking about how hard it would have been if it had.
~Bring games! We didn't bring but 2 games and that was definitely a bad decision. Bring games that can be played inside the tent in case it rains
~Bring whistles for the children(and you) for safety. (We did this)
~Bring trash bags so that you can take your trash to a dump station. We used our grocery bags but it would have been easier to put it in one big bag.
~Bring things that have multiuse. Cups can serve as bowls for a meal. A cast iron pan makes great oatmeal. We didn't have to bring a pot. A knife can serve as protection and you can use it to make skewers out of the limbs of trees.
~A clothes line would have been nice. We could have hung up the kids clothes when they got wet.
~Bring a Bible. We got to have a prayer time and that was precious.

Will we go again? It is very likely. I enjoyed so many things about it. I am sure we will start feeling the need to get out there. I hope that we can make some progress with Alex before we go again. We had a difficult time with him. Here is Summer. This is the skirt I sewed for her. It is getting well loved. :)

Hopeful Weekend

We are gearing up for camping this weekend. I am excited but a little bit concerned. I am not sure if we are setting ourselves up for failure or not. We won't be far away from the house so I guess we can always come home if these get tough. I am planning on taking lots of pics-hopefully I will be able to upload them. I am having problems with my camera and that's one of the reasons there hasn't been as many pics.

Yesterday I sewed Charlotte culottes. I think they look pretty good. The day before that I sewed Kaitlyn and Summer matching skirts. I was able to get a picture of Charlotte's culottes but I will have to wait till this weekend to upload Summer's and Kaitlyn's pics. Here's Charlotte's culottes and a few of the other kids.

Fabric Sales

I got some new fabric yesterday! Linen was 50% off. I love linen, I am planning on making a skirt out of it. We will see how that goes. At the present, I am learning how to draft my own pattern. I can't stand store bought patterns. Nothing fits me right. I got a book called Make Your Own Patterns: An Easy Step-by-Step Guide to Making Over 60 Dressmaking Patterns Jason thinks he can create a program that takes the measurements you input and draws the pattern for you. That would be pretty cool! I think getting the drawing right is a major headache. I would be able to just print out the pattern, tape the pages together, and done. As of now I use parchment paper to make a pattern. I can't stand how it rolls. I am going to try to make this skirt a little shorter so I can use it to go camping in. This is a lightweight linen so it should be fairly cool. I might add some pockets to the next one if this one turns out nice. I would like to put some pockets and a D-ring on it to hold my keys or a small flashlight. Eventually I might sew in shorts. Those are my thoughts anyway, whether it will happen or not, that is a different story!

I made some ponchos for the kids so that we could turn down the heat and save some money. Right now we are at 65(last year we were at 77 because Andrew was a newborn) so we have a long way to go but we are getting there! I also made Jason and I one. It takes less than 5 minutes to make one. If you get the cheaper fleece it is so cheap! The kids got these character ones but they had a 40% off sale so it wasn't as bad as it could have been but next time..no characters! It was more expensive than I had expected but I had already told them they could pick it out. Lesson learned. I could have bought all of ours for half the price if I had used solid prints. Oh well. We used the selvage as a belt. :)
Andrew's Poncho












Alex with his poncho and cloth sword(dagger) I made him












Toby and Summer's poncho












The girl's poncho

This week was so much better than the last month or so! Dh didn't have to work as much. We are supposed to go upstate to see my nephew(it's his birthday) and check on my G-ma. She isn't doing so great. I am looking forward to seeing everyone but it always comes at a price. After visiting I always get homesick, wishing we could move closer to family. It lasts for a good week at least. I will try to take some pics while we are away. Today I have to pack for a family of 8..and school! I feel like I am sitting on the start line of a race.Ready, Set, Go!


On another note, I can't seem to find time to work on my website. I know this will change with the aging of my children but it's frustrating! I thought I had the design that I liked but something's funky in IE so I have to fix it. On top of that, I am going snail's pace with sewing my dress. I work on it about 5 min a day and it is taking forever! I might just use blogger to upload all my newbie projects. Then I wouldn't have to worry about a website etc... That's a thought.

Beginning to add some info to the website.

Well after talking with Dh, I have decided to add some stuff to the blog. I will begin adding some recipes that I use often and I will hopefully be able to update often on the kids diet. It will take me a while but hopefully progress will be made! Ok, as for pianomagic, it is coming along slowly. My biggest problem is that I don't know enough simple songs to get up a list before I move on to the next lessons. At least I have a year! :) Today is Easter and I surely hope it isn't going to be stressful. All Jason's immediate family are coming over and I am hoping that things go well and the kids are good. I am staying home with Alex while everyone else goes to church. The kids will all have to stay in the sanctuary with the Adults so I am wondering how the relatives will react. I don't know if they realize that they will not be able to "enjoy" the Easter sermon like they usually do. We will see. Jason is so excited about today but I am a little sad. I love his family but we hardly ever spend any holiday with my family. I miss them. I don't miss the drama that goes with it but I do love every one of them with an unconditional, deep love. I wish we were closer so that it wasn't "asking to much" to come and visit. This is the downside to having a large family- noone realizes how difficult it is to drive in the car for 2-3 hours with little ones. They think the only reason I don't come up there is because it will "ruin" my schedule! How I wish they would come down and visit and "ruin" my schedule! Anyway, I found a great blog that illustrates how to make a wrap skirt! I am so excited! I can't wait to try it. Unfortunately, I don't have enough fabric right now. Oh well. Maybe I should practice on some old sheets. We take this week off from school so maybe I will have some time. I want to make Kaitlyn a skirt as well. Charlotte keeps asking me to teach her piano. I am so reluctant. Kaitlyn has basically tought herself through some piano books how to play some songs(very easy ones). Charlotte is not like Kaitlyn. She needs guidance. I just don't know if she can handle the frustration. I don't want to put a bad taste in her mouth for piano. Plus, I hate the way we traditionaly learn how to play. It gives us the premisconception that this is the ONLY way to play. I wish I could instill confidence in their ability to hear and pick out a tune. I wish someone had done that with me. You know, tought me how to play by ear and to trust myself. I have the pianos downstairs now and it has been great. I play alot more and Kaitlyn loves to play as well. Update on their reading: Kaitlyn is devouring books! She reads about a book a day. These are 80-100 pages each ranging from 2nd to 6th grade levels depending on the book. She can recall all details as well. Amazes me!!! Where did this child come from? She is technically only in the 2nd grade. We went to the library the other day and I told the librarian that I was looking for books for Charlotte. She is in the "middle" right now, meaning some books are too easy, some are too hard, but none seem to fit. She is in Kindergarten. The lady took me over to the Dr Suess books!!!! I just laughed and said, oh no, those are way too easy! She looked at me, astounded, and said, "Oh wow, that's great!" So she gave me some harder books(we had to go over to the OTHER side of the kids section!). Can you believe that?? My kindergartener suprised the librarian with how well she reads. I am so proud of them. They don't realize how smart they are though. They don't have the chance to compare themselves with others(which I am glad of) so they just expect more out of themselves. It is so neat to see them growing into these intelligent little girls. I do fear however, that they will surpass me early on. Especially Kaitlyn, because she is ALWAYS learning something. She has Jason in her. She doesn't need very much guidance, she can read and learn how to knit or crochet by herself! How to play the piano, etc.. She has an understanding of God that I don't see in most kids either. Charlotte is my imaginative one. If she can ever get enough discipline, she will go far. She is like me though, she has to have a motivation for it, and a reward! LOL If the goal is not met within a short timeframe, I will drop it. So will she. Ok, that's enough for now.

Here is my latest basket

We had a good day yesterday. We went to the bookstore, Target, and Joanne's. I got some more fabric-Yeah!! We decided that we will go to the Mil's for Christmas but we are going to celebrate ours here before we leave. That way, we can still make it special. I wish we were closer so that we wouldn't be put in these situations. Everyone gets their feelings hurt no matter what decision we make. I don't understand why they just can't make their own decisions and THEN if someone wants to be including, great. Why does their christmas have to revolve around everyone else. I get that its family time but when you have a large extended family, people have to take that into consideration. Today I will likely finish another basket, wrap presents, and clean. We also need to cook for the week. So, today will be filled with necessary duties. Hopefully we will still have a good time though!

I haven't been posting as uch because I have been trying to go to bed later and wake up later. Jason is usually on the computer at night so I haven't had a chance. Well, Thanksgiving went fine. We stayed home because Toby came down with a cold. Unfortunately, this will effect our plans for tomorrow. We won't be able to have church. It's so frustrating but I guess 'tis the season, huh. The vacation time that Jason has taken off has been nice. We were able to talk about a lot of things. Today we will probably go to the new bookstore. I will also work on my baskets. I have another project I want to start after this that I am excited about. A friend of mine showed me how to let Kaitlyn begin her own quilt so I am letting her do that and she uses the scrap material from my baskets. It works really well! Gotta go, hopefully today will be fun and relaxing!

This weekend was great! We had a blast Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we went to the bookstore, fabric store, and out to eat. Sunday we had church here and then went to hang out at the farmers market and walmart. We had such a good church service here. It's so nice to be able to talk about what you read instead of listening and believing everything you here from one person! Oh, I also finished my sewing project. It didn't turn out exactly as I would have liked so I will be making some changes next time. Here is a pic.


This was right after breakfast and I didn't wipe the table down so excuse the crumbs :) Here are a few pics of summer saying cheese.

Yesterday was not a great day but I did get a couple of things done. I experimented with the soap, turned out smelling and looking ok but now I need molds for it. I was thinking of making the molds out of polymer clay. It may be too time consuming though. I also started sewing my basket that I would love to turn into a christmas gift. Unfortunately I have some learning curves to overcome so it isn't going as fast as I would like. What is a row in terms of quilting?? I have no clue so I am headed to the internet to find out today. Oh, as for the biscottis, I made them but they turned out more like a cookie so I am going to try a different recipe next time. On Tuesday we had a family come over during the day and we had a great time. I really enjoyed talking to this Mom. She believes in many of the things I do so it was nice. We were supposed to sew but I kind of messed things up by not having everything together so we decided to just chat. Today we are going to park day with some other homeschoolers. We always enjoy ourselves there. I am so glad it's Friday(how many times have I said that!). I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week! Before you know it I am going to be 27, and have a 7 and 6 year old!! Birthdays are coming quickly...

I'll just finish updating on the weekend. Saturday we went to the zoo. It was great because they had all the boo in the zoo stuff up. Nothing was lit but we still got to see everything. I can't bring myself spending $5 a child to go get candy. We are going to anderson this weekend to a pumpkin patch so I hope the kids take that as their "halloween". We bought them costumes and this is how it's broken down. Kaitlyn is a bride, Charlotte is a princess, Toby is Mr. Incredible, and Summer is a princess. They look adorable. I am planning on getting some pictures this year! Yesterday and today have been really nice. We have taken the week off of school so I am catching up on some things. I finished my MOTH schedule and sewed Kaitlyn a skirt today. We made some beds and a "bridge" out of craft sticks and hot glue. They had fun with that. I am expecting to be able to go to MNO tonight so that will be nice. I have found a tea I really like. It's Earl Grey. It has a flavor I really didn't expect-YUM! I am trying to cut back on my soda and this is a great substitute. I haven't had soda in a week! Oh, one more thing. My FIL sent me a letter in the mail that said he donated 2 bible in my name!! How great is that. That REALLY made my day.

Bad days.

Today has been one of those "bad days". Don't ask me what that is because I can't explain it. There have been some good things though. I am just about finished on a website maintenance project, we finished school for the day, and I AM alive!! Can't forget that. This past weekend was great. Dh and I got to spend time together that was much needed! I love him so much. He is my best friend. It gave us renewed energy to finish some projects we have. Unfortunately Mondays are not my best day. I seem to get more motivated later on in the week. So, hopefully I will be a little more productive. I still have a few things I want to do today. WE are planning on going to the library in a bit. I want to learn how to sew but I am not sure I will be any good at it.