Having Fun Sewing

I've only had my sewing machine for a few days, but I think I'm already addicted to it. I keep searching online for free sewing patterns. I have found several for repurposing old t-shirts. This appeals to me because I am a t-shirt hoarder. I've kept t-shirts from girls' camp, band, theater, CPR Saturday, youth conference, and those t-shirts they give out when you donate blood. I have a lot of t-shirts! But they're not stylish so I never wear them except occasionally as a pajama top.

I found this pattern for repurposing a t-shirt as yoga pants. I've seen patterns for making toddler pajama pants out of an adult shirt, but never something in my size. I was so excited that I had to go digging through my drawer to find the perfect shirt to turn into pants for me! No, I don't do yoga, but since when do you have to actually do yoga in order to wear a comfy pair of yoga pants? ;-)

Here's the finished result. I should have taken a picture of the original t-shirt, but I was too excited to actually get cutting and sewing.


In this picture, I'm also wearing one of the shirts that I got from the free pile earlier today. This is the only thing that actually fit me well, so everything else will be chopped up and sewed into something else.

I'm having so much fun with my awesome new sewing machine!!!

New Clothes to Repurpose

I had my Women at the Well rehearsal this morning, and it went pretty well. But the exciting part of the day came as I was walking home from rehearsal. Just before our street, I passed a rack of clothes and a couple piles of miscellaneous stuff, right next to a box that said "FREE." I hurried home to drop off my music, but I knew that I had to go back to the free stuff! So I tossed Zaylee into some shoes and a jacket and we headed over to see what we could find. Zaylee had fun playing with a stick and petting the dog that was in the yard (a very friendly collie), while I riffled through to find interesting clothes that could be repurposed. I ended up with two shirts, two skirts, a dress, and a pair of jeans.


I'm going to try them all on - if any fit and look just great I'll probably keep them for myself. But I purposefully chose things with interesting fabrics and patterns so that if they don't fit, I can cut them up and sew them into something new. Zaylee could use a few new dresses. :-)

Thomas' Pants

I've been working on Thomas' new pants for a couple days, and they're finally done! Well, mostly done. I still have to reinforce the seams, but the pants are wearably done. Sorry I didn't take a picture of the shirt I used to make the pants - it was actually a pretty ugly shirt, but I knew that the stripes would make for some really cute pants.


I couldn't get Thomas to stand up while wearing them - he wanted to sit and drink his water. But here's a couple pics of him wearing his cute new pants.



I also have his new shirt cut out, I just have to piece it together. I don't know if I'll have it done in time for Church on Sunday, but if not that's okay - he does have other shirts even though they are a bit on the small side. I can't wait until the whole outfit is done - Thomas is going to be so stinkin' cute when he wears it!

My New Book

We went to the thrift store (D.I.) this morning, just the kids and I. My specific purpose was to find fabric (via sheets or repurposable clothes) to make Thomas some new church clothes. I did find a pale green sheet that will make an adorable button-up collar shirt, and a large men's woven shirt that I will cut up to make into some matching pants. I can even use the buttons from the shirt I'm cutting up for the shirt I'm making. And there will be extra fabric from the large shirt to make a little bowtie or something to match the pants. Anyway, it will be a very cute little suit when I'm done with it.

After finding the sheet and shirt, the kids and I browsed the books for a while. I love looking for old cookbooks. Not old as in "blah," but old as in "wow that's so old it's cool!" And I found one that's really cool - the Southern Living 1983 Annual Recipes book. Every Southern Living recipe that was published the year that I was born. I get sentimental about my birth year. I even have a stack of Ensigns from 1983 - not all the months, but most of them. So it was exciting for me to find a big cookbook from that year.


There are a few photographs thrown in here and there, but it's mostly hand-drawn pictures, if any pictures are given at all. So awesome!


Anyway, keep an eye out for when I post Thomas' new suit. I haven't started on it yet, but I will shortly. I'm so excited! All in all, I consider this to have been a very successful D.I. run.

My New Toy

We discovered Big Lots the other day. Among many other fun and inexpensive items, including furniture and foods, there was a small stack of refurbished sewing machines in the top shelf in one of the aisles. Oh how I wanted one! But we had walked that day and couldn't carry it home, plus at $62, while that is inexpensive for a sewing machine, it wasn't exactly a small purchase and I had conflicted feelings. I wanted the sewing machine, but could I justify spending that much money on anything?

After a lot of thinking and vacillating back and forth on the issue, Jeff finally went back to Big Lots yesterday and bought me the sewing machine. Isn't he awesome?!


We waited to open it until the kids were in bed. I read the whole instruction book, ran the machine threadless for a couple seconds, and basically just oohed and aahed and experimented with my fun new toy.


This morning I used my new sewing machine to add about a yard of length to the wrap I made for Thomas, just like I said I wanted to. Now I can carry him in a few other positions that weren't really possible when it was shorter.

And I'm just so excited because there are so many things I can make now that I have a sewing machine! Thomas has outgrown most of his Sunday outfits, so I'd like to make him some new pants and a nice shirt. And I can make dresses for Zaylee and shirts for me and all sorts of fun things! Oh goodie!!!!

Budding Artist

Zaylee was doodling on her little DoodlePro this afternoon, and Jeff and I were thrilled when she showed us what she had drawn:


This is the first time we've seen that she's drawn faces that are recognizable as faces, with eyes and mouths. She's growing so fast! Zaylee says the one on the left is "Girl" (how she sometimes refers to herself), the middle one is "Daddy" and the one on the right is "Mommy" - kinda funny how close to being accurate her proportions actually are - Jeff's head is quite large and Zaylee's is quite small. :-)

The Attic in the Basement, Right Next to the Crystal Caves

We went to the library. Well actually, we have been to the library several times but this time I brought the camera to prove how awesome the children's section really is.

When I first walked up to the library building, the first thing I noticed (after the sheer size; can that huge building actually be a library?) is the fact that it's made of five stories of glass. It was hard to keep from having that "I'm from a small town and have never seen a library like this" look from being plastered all over my face as I gaped at the sky through the ceiling once we got inside. To get to the children's section (where we have spent most of our time) you take the glass elevator down to the basement level. Practically the entire floor is dedicated to children's books, with benches and couches for reading, computers for working or playing, and...



...The Attic.


The attic is an entire room in the children's section for playing. It's a wooden room that is designed to look like a Gramma's attic but without the mess of antiques and dust all over. There are lots of big teddy bears to play with...


And plenty of places to sit and read a book...


Or just sit without reading...


The attic is a fun place to play!



Located conveniently near the attic are the Crystal Caves. Though not quite as impressive as the attic, the caves are a nice place to wander around...


And a good place to sit and relax.


We love our local library!

Netted Bag for Tub Toys

The Problem:
With limited shelf space in the tub, the kids' tub toys end up in a big messy pile on the space saver in the shower, displacing various cleansers and making my razor hard to get to.


The Solution:
I crocheted a simple netted bag to hang on the space saver, in which the toys fit nicely.


Now everything looks neater and is more accessible, and the kids have a cute bag to keep their tub toys in. The bag took only about half an hour to crochet.

A Post About Two Things

First: A Cheap Alternative to Building Blocks

Zaylee and Thomas discovered that when they empty the canned foods cabinet, they can stack the cans over and over for hours of fun!





Second: Some Great D.I. Finds

We went to D.I. a couple days ago and found some great stuff! The original plan was to look for a sewing machine. We went to the D.I. closest to our apartment. No sewing machines, but we found a Moses basket for $2. We don't actually need it right now, but for a price like that I couldn't pass it up. We might need it someday! It came without a liner, but I can make one later.


Then we tried the next closest D.I. (being in Salt Lake, they're pretty much all over the place). Again, no sewing machine (well, there were a couple but they were probably older than I am). But we did find a little stroller. We have a double stroller that we have really enjoyed using, but it is very large and bulky, and a nightmare to get up and down the stairs of the apartment, especially with two small children in tow. So when we found this smaller stroller for $4, we grabbed it up.


I can put Zaylee in the stroller while I carry Thomas in the wrap, or I can put Thomas in the stroller and let Zaylee walk. It works well either way. Plus it folds up so small and is uber portable!


Next to the double stroller. Which would you rather cart up and down a flight of stairs? :-)

That's a Wrap!

The other day I was surfing the 'Net and came across a wonderful website dedicated to babywearing. I don't remember how I got there but I stayed on that site for a long time, studying the various babywearing techniques and types. The more I looked at it the more I wanted a baby wrap of my own. There are instructions on how to make your own - so seriously simple that I decided I couldn't wait and had to have one right away! I dug out a box of fabrics from under Zaylee's bed (I had to remove the mattress and several of the supports to do so; the box was all the way in the back corner) and chose a fabric. I had purchased it at D.I. a few years ago and never really done anything with it. All I had to do was cut a strip of fabric 12 feet long (that's as long as the fabric was) and 25 inches wide, and I had a wrap!

Then came the fun part. I started practicing all the wrapping techiques I could, at first using one of Zaylee's babydolls for practice. After I got more confident, I practiced a bit on Thomas (remember my last post, where I said he wanted nothing to do with it?) then went back to working on the doll. Since then I've used the wrap with Thomas a couple times: when we went shopping on Monday and on a walk yesterday. He's very much warmed up to the wrap when he realizes that it means he gets to go outside!

Here's the wrap - just a simple piece of fabric (ignore the silly look on my face; I hate taking my own picture!):


And two of my favorite ways to carry Thomas - on the hip:


And on the back:


Neat, huh? I kind of want to sew another foot or two onto the end so that I can do some of the other carries that require a bit more length, but for the time being (until I get a sewing machine) I'll just enjoy it the way it is. :-)

I'm Not Needed - And That's a Good Thing

At the moment my children don't need me. In fact, they don't even want me. Zaylee and Thomas are playing in their room. Together. Happily. There is laughter coming through the door. This is a rarity in our house.

I keep peeking in. I just made a wrap to use for toting Thomas around (it's easier than lugging the double stroller up and down the stairs in the apartment), and have been pulling Thomas from his play to practice the various positions for carrying him. Each time, the position works, but Thomas struggles for all he's worth to get back down to Zaylee and the toys. The kids want me out of the room - they want to be left alone to play.

Right now, I'm not needed.

And that's a good thing.

Some Pictures

I've been getting really into the digital photography book that Michelle gave me for my birthday way back in November. I'm learning to use my camera better, and get good pictures despite it being just a simple point-and-shoot. Today it was snowing, and I was excited to look out the window at the snow-covered shrubs and see picture opportunities. So I bundled up a bit and took the camera out. Here's the best shots from my little excursion to the bushes beneath our window.

For this one I laid down in the snow on my back to get a shot of the underside of the branches. Everyone sees the snowy shrubs from the top, how many people actually look at the bottom?


These were some stark little branches by the entry wall. I like how the wall in the background acts as sort of a frame.


And this is my favorite picture. I wanted to try to get a focal point in this picture, so I chose a little leaf and, following the Rule of Thirds, positioned it in the left third of the picture.


For the above picture, I used a trick I learned from the book about auto-focus. When you want your subject to be off-center but still in focus, center the subject in the viewfinder (or LCD screen since my camera doesn't have a separate viewfinder) and hold the button down halfway. The auto-focus focuses on the subject because it's in the middle. Then, while continuing to hold the button halfway, shift the camera so the subject is where you want it. Then press the button the rest of the way to take the picture. The camera is still auto-focused on the subject, even though it's no longer in the center of the picture. Neat, huh?

Lucky...

Lucky you! The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year. {might be a little while}
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or maybe even some creation I haven't even invented yet. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

* * *Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!* * *

Night at the Museum

Okay, actually it was an afternoon at the museum, but I thought that would be a fun title.

Yesterday after my Women at the Well rehearsal, we went with Jeff's sister Joy and her family to the Utah Museum of Natural History. We had a really good time there, looking at all the exhibits, letting the kids explore a bit, and spending time with family.

I don't want to do a big, long post with a bunch of writing, so I'll just post some pictures of the stuff we saw and did.

Here's Zaylee (and cousin Marilee in the background) at the dinosaur "dig," where the kids get to use brushes to wipe sand off dinosaur bones.


Sorry for the blur, the museum doesn't allow flash, and the lighting wasn't all that great. All the pictures I took of the kids turned out like this or worse, so this is the only one I'm posting.

Next is one of the displays in anthropology. These are some of the tools that ancient people used in their everyday life.


Next up is the drawer of shoes. In a small corner of the anthropology department, there are three drawers you can pull out and look at real ancient shoes under glass. These were the moccasins of early American Indians. I mainly am mentioning this because of the smell. When you open the drawers you get this enormous whiff of centuries-old foot odor - whew!!! Still, it's a neat display.


After the rock gallery (where we saw a quartz three times the size of Zaylee's head and an enormous variety of minerals and stones of various sizes, shapes, and colors) we headed into the bug gallery. Zaylee and Thomas were particularly fascinated with this part of the museum, as they got to see triops and ants and beetles and all manner of creepy crawlies. My personal favorite was the tarantula.


Friendly-looking little guy, isn't he? He was hiding in a dark burrow at the bottom of his case, and there's a button to press to turn on the light so you can see him. Jeff's niece Jaime let out a yelp every time she saw the tarantula (she's 10, or 11?). At several inches in length, I have to admit he was a bit yelp-inspiring and I let out a gasp when I first saw him too!

Next up was the "zoo" of the museum, where there are a variety of taxidermied animals. Like this wolf:


I had fun taking this picture, trying to get a good close angle. I wish there wasn't a glare from the glass case, it would have been much more realistic looking!

The last display room housed the dinosaur bones. Here's a mother dinosaur standing guard over her nest.


We finished up the tour by creating earthquakes (there's a place on the floor where you jump and it records it on a seismograph. Joy's husband Jim made the biggest "earthquake" - he's got quite a jump!), looking at a 3-D topography map of the area (complete with those goofy red and blue 3-D glasses), and wandering around the gift shop. Jeff and I, of course, didn't buy anything because we're ultra cheap, but if we weren't saving money there was an awesome Native American cradle that I would have loved to get, for only $200! lol...

After that we had to call it a day. Jeff and I had talks to write (we spoke in Church today) and soup to make (we had a linger-longer after Church today). I got my talk written, but I had a killer migraine due to having spent the afternoon walking around. So my talk was kind of short - I made it as long as I could before I simply had to stop from the pain.

About the linger-longer: We made turkey vegetable soup. The broth was homemade, from when we simmered our turkey carcass for two days, and there were potatoes and carrots and celery and onion and cabbage and barley, and of course turkey. It was so delicious! At the linger-longer there were a beautiful array of homemade soups. I'm sad I only got to try three or four of them. But they were sure good!

Now it's time for dinner, I think we'll have soup...

Girls' Night out and LOVE Banners

Last night I had a girls' night out with Angie (of The American Homemaker) and some other girls, and we had a great time! First we snacked on some delicious treats that we each had brought, like spinach artichoke dip (I love that stuff, I was in heaven!) on French bread, warm and chocolaty brownies, barbecue chicken bites, and some delicious chocolate truffles that I made yesterday just for the occasion. After that we got crafty and made some adorable Valentine cards and LOVE banners. We used Angie's papers and craft supplies and everyone came up with something different for their banners, but they were all so fun. I didn't have my camera with me to take pics of everyone's stuff, but here's my banner hung delightfully above my couch.


I did mine in vintage colors (so soft and romantic!), while some of the others chose to use pinks and reds for a bright and cheerful Valentine's look. Here's the banner that Angie made last night, and here's the link to her tutorial on how to make them, if you want to make your own. Lots of fun!

Cleaning Up

I witnessed what I consider to be the pinnacle of my bad housekeeping skills this evening as I watched Jeff use the hose attachment to vacuum the gunk off the table before dinner.

Can I really be that bad of a housekeeper? I guess so.