Sew Serendipity Jacket

For my birthday, my mom gave me the book, Sew Serendipity. The book is great. If gives garment sewing techniques in the beginning. It has a basic jacket, skirt, and dress/tunic pattern and then it shows how to alter each one with other details to personalize it. The directions are clear and easy to follow and there are a lot of pictures. I was also pleased that I didn't have to do any alterations to the pattern to make it fit, which is a first for me. I chose to make the jacket because I had never sewn one before. I didn't know what kind of fabric I would buy, so I just went fabric shopping until I found something I liked. I found a great wool blend that was black and purple.

I also found these great buttons that I thought went well with the design of the jacket.

Since I hadn't done a lining before and the pattern did not include directions for one, I hadn't planned on lining it. When I completed the jacket, I realized that I wouldn't be 100% happy with it without a lining.

I went back to Hancock Fabrics and found this terrific purple that was the perfect match for the jacket. I am so happy with the finished product and it fits great too, but I don't have a photographer here that can photograph me wearing it.

Now if only it would be cold enough to wear it...

Ryan is 4!

Ryan turned 4 on Friday. I can hardly believe it. He is growing up so fast. He absolutely loved the bike that we gave him. He just looked and giggled when he saw it. It took him a couple of minutes before he even touched it. He absolutely fell in love with his bike after his first ride. He especially loves getting up to speed and them slamming on his brakes to see how long of a black mark he can leave behind with his tires.

His party was also great. He had decided shortly after his 3rd birthday that he would be having a tractor party. At first, he wanted to have it out on Pa's farm so he could play on all the tractors for his party, but as his actual birthday drew closer, he decided that he would like to have it at Grandma Debbie's. He also thought Disneyland would be a good venue, but we nixed that, much to his disappointment. I also let him take cookies to preschool on Friday, which he loved.

Enjoy the video of Ryan and Madelyn blowing out the candles on his tractor cake.

I can't wait to see how Ryan grows and learns this year. Every year is so special.

New Purse from Old Things

I was feeling like I needed a project, but I didn't want to spend any money. I went through my fabric stash and found a gorgeous piece of upholstery fabric that my mom bought for me a while ago. I also found a burnt orange piece of fabric that was a nice compliment to the upholstery fabric. I had leftover pieces of fake leather, interfacings, and purse hardware. I decided that my project should be a purse. This whole week, I thought about what the purse should look like. Well, last Christmas, I splurged and bought a purse (in navy, not the color pictured) and I LOVE this purse. I have not carried a different purse since I bought it. Knowing me and my love of purses, I haven't EVER gone this long without switching purses. I decided that I was going to copy that purse pattern.

It was really simple. It is just three rectangles, with the two sewn together to make the front, and one whole rectangle for the back. I added a couple pockets, some hardware, buttons, and embellishments and this purse is the result! I'm pleased with it.

Now if only the weather would cooperate and cool off so my fall wardrobe could be worn with this handbag.

Bike Riding

Going back to work has made blogging impossible the last two weeks. By the time I got the boys to bed after working all day, I fell asleep on the couch. I'm back to my part time routine now and have more time to update.

Our family has been enjoying this great weather the last few days. Ryan has been really into riding his big wheel, although he desperately wants his own bike (shh, don't tell him, but he's getting one for his birthday).



I have been tired of pushing a stroller with Jack, while jogging to keep up with him so Phil and I decided to get our bikes fixed up so we could ride. Phil and I do not understand those skinny little bike seats (please explain if you do know) so we went off to Action Sports to buy the fat "cruiser seats."



While we were there, Ryan tried out the kids bikes and rode all over the store. I can't wait till his birthday. I also fell in love with a turquoise and brown beach cruiser bike. It is so pretty. My bike also needed new inner tubes and some serious oiling.

For our first ride, since we had nothing for Jack to ride in, we had my mom watch Jack and we took Ryan on the mile ride to my grandma's house from my mom's house. He was exhausted by the time we got there so my grandma had to drive him home while we rode. It was still really fun.

Yesterday, I decided that I needed to get something for Jack to ride in so that Ryan and I could take bike rides during the day. I found a bike seat that attaches to my bike frame and I mounted it last night.

After Phil got home, we took a ride around our neighborhood. Jack LOVED it. He squealed and laughed the whole time.

Now that we have all our bike gear ready, I can't wait for Ryan's birthday so he can ride his new bike.

Dress in a Day

A while back, when Joann's was running a pattern sale, I picked up several patterns, particularly the Cynthia Rowley ones.

I knew I liked them, but wasn't sure how they'd look on me since I'm a pear shape, and a big girl, and a shift typically isn't particularly flattering. This week, I decided to give it a try. For those of you who sew, but also don't fit into one pattern size like me, you can mark your size for the bust, waist, and hips, then draw a new line to create a pattern that will fit you. This is what I did, and I was pleasantly surprised at how the dress turned out.

I also omitted the ruffle and added several inches to the bottom so it would be long enough for me. I really like the dark purple fabric and it is the softest cotton sateen. I looked through the fabric at Joann's forever to find it. Poor Ryan finally laid on the floor and said, "I don't think I feel so good, my tummy hurts. Mommy, I'm hungry!" (Malisa, Julie, does this sound familiar?) Anyway, I like it and think it will be great to wear now, but also later with some tights, a sweater, and a scarf when it cools off.

Boy Pants

I have been wanting to make these boy pants ever since I saw them on Made by Rae's Celebrate the Boy month. Last week, my mom and I went to Strawberry Patches to pick some accent fabric to make these pants. My mom already had a lot of left over khaki twill so I knew I would use that for the main fabric for these pants. The difficult part of this was that the pattern came in a size 3. I had to figure out how to make these work in different sizes for Jack and Ryan. These pants were also fully lined. I made them according to the directions, but they were really bulky. I removed the top portion of the lining and just kept the lining for the cuffs. Much better. They are also a lot less bulky and fit better on the boys. I also got the latest Boden catalog and I fell in love with the monster shirts. I decided that the boys would need monster shirts to match their pants. I'm really please with how they came out.

Ryan also really likes his monster shirt!

New Dress

While I was in Portland I found a great little fabric store called Josephine's Dry Goods. This store was small, but focused on garment sewing instead of quilting. They had absolutely gorgeous fabrics. I fell in love with a collection called Spellbound and settled on the fabric called "Blue Wallpaper." I knew I wanted to make either a blouse or a dress, but the fabric print was busy so I knew the design had to be simple. While reading Anna Maria Horner's blog, I so her tutorial on this dress and knew that had to be the one. I made a few tweaks to the design to suit me and below is the dress I came up with. I love it and it is the most comfortable dress ever.