Flowery Skirt

I'm not much of a seamstress (um, I spelled that wrong the first time, ha!) but I do like to try to sew things I think up. This skirt was floating around in my head and even though it didn't turn out just how I wanted it to, I like it. I had NO IDEA how much fabric a pleat can take up - like multiply the waist measurement of FOUR and you'll have enough. ... If you want to do it like I did. Insane. I had to let some out in the back for it to fit Gwenna. ... The first time I did it, it was sized for a baby. Well, that's not true, I thought it was going to be large enough for Gwenna and it didn't even fit Meredith.

 

Gwenna was being cranky so no really great shots of her.  Oh well, it's the skirt that matters.  I sort of used this tutorial although it's obviously not the same skirt at all.  It just got me thinking about the pleated ruffle. At any rate, for my first real skirt I think it turned out well.  Some day when we're not flat broke I hope to make more skirts and dresses, buying less.  I like that I can make what I want and give my girls unique, modest clothing to wear.

Mer's Christmas PJ pants

We had the tradition in my house growing up of getting to open 1 gift on Christmas Eve.  It was always pajamas.  I don't remember how far back this goes but the first year I really remember doing it was 1998.  It was the first Christmas my family was in Arizona and my sister and I flew back to Chicago to spend the break (10 days) with my dad.  I wore my Christmas Eve pajamas (which we opened before Christmas) on the plane.  I still have a picture taken at my dad's after we had landed and arrived, in front of the Christmas tree, wearing the pants.

Last year my parents got my girls Christmas pajamas including robes - SO cute.  This year I made the spur of the moment decision, as I stood in front of the flannel at WalMart, to make them Christmas pajama pants to open up Christmas Eve. I let my girls pick out their own flannel.

I used this method, more or less. I just used folded flannel and hemmed them myself.  After all, if I can do it, it's NOT hard at all.  I only had to rip one seam, which, sadly, is good for me.

Gwenna's PJ pants will be next. Here is the flannel she picked out:

Beading

Some crafts are costly. A lot you can do with minimal supplies and a little know-how. But some... some are an investment. Then, ideally, each thing you make is less expensive than the last, in theory. When it comes to beading, you make an investment.

I was curious how much I'd like real jewelery making. I did seed beads on fishing line when I was in college, making numerous small strand bracelets. I made some pretty things that I wore for a long time but they ended up breaking over time. The fishing line wasn't strong enough and my kids grabby fingers were very strong.

Recently a friend of mine let me play around with her large supply of beads and make a few things. I have to say, it's a little addicting. It was SO fun to try different styles and color combinations. Here are my creations from that day.


I made three pairs of ear rings and 1 bracelet. I really like how they all turned out, especially the hoop ear rings. I made those with wire and then looped it around the ear ring post and help it with a crimp bead. It was a new experience for sure. Also, I'd never twisted wire for jewelery making with needle nose pliers since I have mostly made simple bracelets and rings that are made of, you guessed it, elastic. :)


I'd love to make the investment to get into beading and I hope to... some day.

Button Projects

I love simple and cute. I even love them independent of one another but I especailly love them together. That's why I love these two projects.

The first is cute hair ties for my girlies. They're super simple. I just tired elastic string through buttons to make little rubber bands with flowers on them. Simple, right? AND cute.



This second project was one I made before the hair ties. I made matching rings for my daughter and me. I saw the idea on Pinterest here. Again, just the same thing as the hair tie - a button and elastic thread. You just make it tighter and make sure you snip the ends really close. Simple and fun for mom and daughter.