All Saints Day parade

Halloween is over and it is time for All Saints Day at school this week. St. Michael is the protector of heavenly armies and policeman. His teacher did not want us to spend money on costumes.. I think I did pretty well- my goal was to spend $5 or less. I bought these new flip flops for 50 cents at the Goodwill- spray painted them gold. Wings are coat hanger wire with a nylon stocking on them spray painted gold $1. Leather skirt is left over pleather from Halloween costume. White skirt is 1/2 yd of white cotton from stash. Silver armour shirt was an adult running shirt for 99 cents from the Goodwill that I cut up to make this shirt and added pleather shoulder strips to look like shoulder armour. Gold taffeta sash was a half yd on clearance with a coupon for $1.79 at Joanns. Ribbon on sandals was $1.99 for a whole roll. He has as sword and a little justice scales he will carry too.


Here is the look we were going for...

Our costume turned out like this..

I sewed a little eye hook to the back of the shirt to hold up the wings but realized I sewed the opposite piece to the wrong side of the wings! whoops- easy fix though.

Some Halloween sewing just in the nick of time for trick or treating!

Well it has been a long time since I made a blog entry! We struggled through a round with the nasty H1N1 flu bug and we seem to be on the mend now. I barely managed to get these Halloween costumes sewn up in time for trick or treating. Michael is Obi Wan from Star Wars and Daniel is Ash Ketchum- master Pokemon trainer.

A huge shoutout to Kellie, a fellow sewingmama for sending me the pattern for this really hard to find Star Wars costume. And she wouldn't let me even pay for postage! Thanks Kellie!

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Here is my son in his Obi Wan outfit... I made a few mistakes, but he didn't seem to care. It is a little big and the shoulder armour moves around a little bit. I added some pleather to the waist band for a faux belt with a pleather velcro wrapper to hold his saber and made some pleather boot covers too. The dickey came out a little short but it is hidden under the tunic. His pants are Kwik Sew for children.


On the right is my son who is Ash Ketchum- master Pokemon trainer. My husband did his hat for me. I used a Kwik Sew campshirt and modified it a little to make it look like Ash. And of course a little backpack to carry Pikachu along... The middle kid is my nephew in his TMNT costume.

Summer is almost over....

I can hardly believe it, but summer is almost over! I was reading with my boys on the couch this evening I suddenly noticed how dirty their feet were... You know summer feet- grass stained, bug bitten, scratched up and dirty~ the signs of a truly great outdoor day. Alas... it is about to end in less than a week...

The boys and I just returned from a two week vacation in the hills of beautiful New Hampshire visiting my parents. We had a great time in a picture perfect New England postcard town. It took a bit to get used to no internet, limited television options, no cellular service and the slow pace of being in a rural area. Then you get use to the slower pace as you climb mountains, pick more blueberries than you could ever believe, read tons of books, and spend the days doing a whole lot of nothing. Each hour the town clock would toll the time on the common, chickens frequently would wander onto the patio from the neighbor's yard, and the rooster would crow all day long... We baked and ate (or rather the boys baked with gramma and cooked with grampa who is a world class chef.) I sewed alot on a great Janome machine that my mom just bought. We took a day trip to the seashore... where the boys splashed in the very COLD surf, jumped rope with seaweed and contributed to found beach art sculptures. There was an annual flea market on the common and the boys got to sell lemonade and blueberries. They made a whooping $9 and after the three way split which they promptly spent at the flea market- except for my nephew Timothy, Mr. Thrifty, who came home with a bag of treasures all from the free boxes of the vendors packing up for the day...


So now back to reality- vacation is over. Summer is over. Focus- focus- focus- school supplies, school uniforms.... no more sleeping in and eating blueberry pie and ice cream or blueberry scones for breakfast...

Here are some things I managed to sew while I was in the boonies...
A dress for my neice, Sadie, who came to visit for the weekend

A purse for my Aunt Sally- a very brave woman battling cancer with dignity and courage one can only dream about...



A knitting bag and I forgot to take a pic of the sling tote for my mother- great for all those books she buys for the grandkids and trips to the farmers' market...


Some coasters from the leftover fabric from the dress for Sadie


A bag for my sewing friend, Tonya, who took me all over to the best fabric spots and ohhh the treasures I found!


An a few other things I didn't get pics of... a Kuspik for my sister-in-law, Megan, who lives in Alaska, a kuspik for my nephew, James, a couple of reusable totes for wrapping paper, some utilitarian reusable swiffer pads....

Oh how I love summer! But then Fall is wonderful too... I already have some ideas of what to sew up for the cooler air... hoodies, corduroy, hats, and of course a fall handbag...

Thankfullness and a little more sewing....

Lately, I have been feeling really thankful... no particular holiday or reason... just really thankful. God is so good and so real in my life. I have these little conversations in my head with Him and I have to stop and tell myself "stop that catastrophizing~ things are good. God is good." So yes, ~ I am so thankful! In these, now pardon the cliche, "hard economic times and troubled economy" I am thankful for my family- especially for my wonderful husband. He is such a great father and friend. He works hard every day and always has time and patience for the kids and me after a long day. I am thankful for my husband's job which seems pretty recession proof at the moment. I am thankful for my good health and that my kids are in good health. Actually I am working hard to improve my health and make it more of a priority...

And speaking of making myself a priority... my good friend, Danielle, and I just finished our first boot camp. You know how it is... everyday I say I am going to make some changes and get myself in shape... well 6 years of excuses later we did it with God leading us the whole way. Let me tell you a little bit about boot camp... It is probably the most physically and mentally challenging thing I have done besides have children. Our instructor, Elizabeth, is the best. She has really intense and creative workouts that you simultaneously love and hate. She pushes you to be your best even when you think you might pass out! I signed up for this thing 6 weeks ago blindly when Danielle called me to say it started the next week at 5:45am. Well, let's just say she forgot to mention the class was designed for the "advanced exerciser" (ahem- I would barely call myself an exerciser). We had great teammates who encouraged us the entire time and it was actually fun. And would you believe I am a little sad that I can't sign up for the next session because my hubby's work schedule is getting crazy and child watch is not open at 5:45am? Maybe I will have to go the later class even if it will be hot as Hades. I think we might become boot camp junkies afterall...

Of course this was the perfect opportunity to make a few bags for our instructor and team leaders.... You need these little backpacks for all the running around we do... I love to make these with a swivel key fob holder and a pocket in them and longer straps than those cheap ones the kids get from camp....


We visited my inlaws this past week and the boys had such a great time visting and playing with their cousins. Of course I brought my sewing machine and made a few things while we were there... Matching skateboarding shirts for my youngest son and his cousin, an airplane outfit for my nephew, a few bags, and a few boxy bags for presents.




This Boxy Bag is so fun and easy to make. It is a wonderful tutorial from a really talented Sewing Mama, Stacy, found here
http://patchyapple.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/patchyapple-boxy-bag-tutorial/

An of course I still love this reversible retro style Emmaline apron...they aprons make the perfect gift- even if the recipient is not a cook! It just is fun to wear. So I finally made myself one too- in my favorite Joel Dewberry aviary pattern for fall and summery floral print on the reverse side...

Gallery of Bags... how many does a gal really need?

I was just thinking about how much I love making bags. Little bags, tote bags, purses, wristlets, beachbags... (do I sound like the guy on Forest Gump talking about kinds of shrimp?) Of course these were not all for me, but I do find when I make a bag for a present or for a custom I often love it so much that it is hard to give/sell it... Because really, how many bags does a gal really "need" ?!?