Carnivorous Canopy

Remember my bright idea to make a new canopy for my porch swing? OMG! What was I thinking, sure it was gifted fabric, it just wasn’t in the budget to buy a new one, the old one was so gross and really how hard could it be……..well it could be and was REALLY HARD.

After all the yard work that Gwen and I did, I just had to finish the canopy to bring it up snuff.

Here it is striped bare, as you can see it still has good bones and when I looked at the canopy that was on it didn’t look too complicated but anyone who knows me, knows I can take something simple and make it really complicated.

For starters I wanted to be able to take it off in inclement weather, which is why the original one got so gross, my solution—the greatest invention ever VELCRO. I used two long strips of Velcro for the closures; that way I can easily remove it in bad weather.

Here it is all ready for company. The cushion in the picture is the original one on the opposite side because the other side is really gross; hopefully I can get it covered before the end of summer. I made the arm pillows back in May. The front's a little wonky but I'm so okay with that.




Here is a side view, again a little wonky need to iron it and sew the corners together, they're just pinned in this picture.

I made the back a lot longer than the original, I like it that way.

I still have to move one of the pieces of elastic that I used instead of the fabric corner brackets, as you can see I made them but trying to get the placement right was a nightmare so I went with elastic instead and it worked great. I had to keep “fitting” the canopy to get the placement for the sides and closures correct that was a huge pain. It’s great to be able to take the canopy off but after doing it 5 or 6 times it stops being fun.

Was it worth it? Well yeah, as I often say I have always had more time/talent than money and I thank God that he saw fit to bless me with the ability to make something out of nothing or else my life would be really pitiful.

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow

Nothing happened the way I wanted it to this past weekend. After making the dress for my DD at the last minute she decides she’s going to wear something else ARRGH! This is why I don’t sew for people. My DD is banded, no sewing for her EVER again and the Gertrude type dress she choose over mine was hideous, I wasn’t the only person who thought so. But my GS looks cute as ever with his little clip on tie.

I made her try it on when we got home and then I gave it away to someone who would appreciate it.

Me, Kendall and LJ.

The graduation was hysterical and there were so many instances of GTFOH, Adrienne would have worn her camera out. I was trying to take a picture of this guy’s shirt on the sly, he saw me and posed---GTFOH.

We were treated to this view the entire graduation, how can you not know, didn’t he feel a draft or something.

Then the weather changed my party plans, so of course I sewed.

Finished Trisha’s dress, since it is a halter you just can’t get the full view on a hanger, hopefully I will be able to get some of Trisha wearing it.

Tried to salvage the weekend with some baking, another Cream Cheese Pound cake, it finally came out the pan perfect and was so yummy. I tried to get Gwen to take some home but she said her clothes were already getting tight. She's eaten at my house two Sunday's in a row, I'm going to have her sign a waiver or something so I don't get blamed.

Well that's it for me. I don't have anything cut out but I have some ideals rolling around in my head so stay tuned. This weekend is the Macy's Music Festival, I plan to have backup batteries for my camera lol.

Sewing Isn't For Everyone

And I may just have to admit that my DD probably won't ever sew. We purchased this one seam prefab dress from Hancock, with the understanding that she would sew the one seam down the back and I would make the lining and a short jacket to go with it.

Today's her graduation and last night she begged me to do it for her, of course I did and after doing it realized it probably wasn't that great of an initiation project. She would have needed to match the print while sewing the one seam which could have been a little frustrating.

And the lining was "interesting" I just cut a piece on the fold, serged the edges and attached it to the top by stretching it as I sewed, then I discovered it wasn't wide enough so I had to cut it and add two pieces, she surely would not have enjoyed that process. I also decided to add two straps because the lining made it a little heavy and we don't want to have any slippage issues. When I added the two pieces to the lining they weren't as long as the original so I ended up cutting the lining length, it's short but as long as it covers what God gave her it should be fine. Knowing her aversion to undergarments, a lining was a must, now I can relax when she's taking pictures in direct sunlight.

There will be lots of graduation/birthday/graduation festivities this weekend so I don't know how much "real" sewing I will get done. Trisha's maxi dress is waiting patiently .

I Hate Yard Work

So why is this my backyard. It takes almost 2 hours just to mow it and it's why I didn't get much sewing done, and what I did do I'm almost ashamed to show you.



Gwen came over and forced me to clean out the weeds and the landscaping, we worked from Thursday and finally finished up on Sunday. I can't believe we did what we did, I should have taken before pictures but it was a mess. I've promised myself that I won't let it get like that again.



I finished the jacket and needed a white tank top to wear under it, this is where my chop shop sewing came in, I'm so ashamed.


I used the white stretch knit I got in Texas, I didn't have much left after using it to line the zebra print maxi so I hacked this together. I added the ric-rac around the neckline because it looked to much like a wife beater lol. If you look closely you can see the darts don't match and instead of hand sewing I just machine stitched the opening after turning it to the right side. I really didn't care because I only plan to wear it under the Ms. Peggy jacket but there's really no excuse for sloppy sewing.

I hope you forgive me and if you're so inclined please share some of your dirty little sewing secrets, it will make me feel better about myself lol.

Matching Plaids and Christmas in July

Butterick 5331 is almost finished, I did view B with the cap sleeves from view D. Here is a picture of the seams and the plaid matched up great.

I still have to sew down the facing, hem it, do buttons/buttonholes, I'm going with covered buttons. I know it looks like it doesn't match in the front but it's just on the hanger a little wonky. I didn't have any more white bias tape so I used that funky orange.

I have been doing a little knitting. While on the phone with my oldest sister I mentioned that I had made a shrug, she requested one so here it is but unless I want to start a family war, I'm going to have to get 4 more made before Christmas, 2 for my other sister's and 2 for my nieces. I'm also crocheting her a matching slouchy hat and of course I have to weave in the ends.

Luckily I found more of this yarn on sale at Big Lots for 1.50/skein as you can see I stocked up and they gave a coupon for 20% off this Sunday so I'll probably go back and get more. At least I'm getting an early start on my Christmas gifts.

It's looking pretty good for Trisha's maxi dress to get done over the weekend, I've gotten all my selfish projects out of the way.

Finally Got It Right

Almost finished the capris, just have to hem them. The legs are so wide, it's actually closer to gauchos or a split skirt but I like them and can't wait to finish the plaid jacket.
This picture shows the color better and it also shows what I finally got right. After making I don't know how many pairs of pants with a front fly I realized I had been putting them in wrong, my fly was always on the right, I was folding some clothes and noticed a pair of jeans and that's when I realized I've been doing it wrong for years, oh well better late than never.

Here's a picture of Kendall's birthday cake, he couldn't make up his mind so I helped him by suggesting chocolate. I wanted to try a new whipped cream frosting, it was so good, my cakes are ALWAYS from scratch I just can't bear a cake mix or that awful canned frosting. I actually saw this on some one's blog but I used my recipe and then just folded in the whipped cream. I should confess after saying everything is always from scratch this was the first time I made the whip cream, which all you do is whip heavy cream but it was awesome and I got my chocolate fix. My frosting recipe is really easy but since I don't measure I can't really post it, it's coco, butter, vanilla, a little sour cream, powdered sugar and warm milk or water until you have the right consistency, I think I probably folded in about 1 cup whipped cream, my kids always clean the bowl and they loved it.

That's my almost mid-week post, I hope everyone is having a great week so far.

Happy Birthday Kendall

My son is 18 today, WOW! I can't believe it.

Here's a little Mommy inspired prose.

And Still He Grew

You gave me a precious gift
And walked away
I stayed
And he grew
I enjoyed dancing in the sun with him
He smiled and giggled
And he grew
At times I grew weary
But still he grew
It was hard trying to teach
The boy how to be a man
And still he grew
I worried about teaching him to shave
With a pink razor
But still he grew
Today the boy is a man
But to me he will always be my baby
Yes, he grew to be a man
But somehow I don’t think my job is through

Mommy loves you more than you can know.

Love the Show, Hate the Patterns

This is Simplicity 2652, a Project Runway pattern and let's just say I won't be buying any more of those. I like the way the jacket came out but it was so unnecessarily convoluted. I initially made it to go with the geometric maxi dress but I think I like it better with the zebra print maxi.

I didn't put the elastic in the sleeves, I like it better without it.

Up next Butterick 5331, view B with some of the gifted fabric from Ms. Peggy. I was going to make this pattern with some of the gazillions of yards of my Wal-Mart plaid but when I got this fabric I immediately changed my mind. The picture doesn't really show the colors, I love the lime green, orange and blue. I have some navy blue twill for the capris.




I know, I know I'm supposed to be making a maxi dress for LaTrisha but I found out that she won't be here until Monday so I will work on it after I finish this jacket and the capri's to go with it. I can't help it after sewing for everybody else (mainly my DD) for so many years I am loving sewing for myself and I'm finally getting the wardrobe I always thought I should have since I sew, is that so wrong.

The Suspense is Over and People Just Give Me Stuff

Have you ever worked on something that had you from the word go! This maxi dress did, and it really is just a simple pattern the fabric does the work but I think I put a few twist in too.


Remember me showing the fabric for what was suppose to be my first maxi dress before it got bumped by the call of the wild dress, well all I have left to do is hem it and it makes me kinda sad, this was such a blast to sew, I don't think I've been so excited about a project since sewing for my DD when she was little, I could really go crazy with her stuff and I did. The pattern I finally decided on was Simplicity 2582, view B.

The dress started out ordinary enough, although I did love the fabric, which is odd because I didn't buy it the first time I saw it but waited and frantically went back the next day hoping it was still there. It came together easy enough but mid-way through I started to get inspired so I went out and bought all this, which became......

This awesome zipper pull, I knew I wanted something other than the standard boring zipper pull and since I was doing a truly invisible zipper I thought this would really be that something extra. The beads pick up the green and two different colors of the blue, although you can't tell in the picture. Love it!

I know someone is going to ask me how I inserted the zipper without any stitching on the outside but please don't ask because I can't really explain it. I just knew I wanted the zipper to be as invisible as possible and I'm really pleased with the results.

Another shot of the really invisible zipper.

Oh yeah and people just keep giving me stuff. Finally some good krama finding it's way back to me. My friend called and asked me did I want a sewing machine. DUH! of course I want a free sewing machine, never mind that I have 2 regular and a serger, there's always room for one more. So without further ado please meet Annie.....

I named her Annie because she was orphaned but she's found a new home now. I took her apart and gave her a good cleaning and oiling and she's purring like a kitten.

Here she is all cleaned up and ready to go, I'm happy to have this machine because it has a case and neither of my other machines do so I can take her with me when I travel to Texas and maybe sew up some of the Wal-Mart fabric I know I'm going to buy.

Well that's it for mid-week sewing, my DD bought one of those almost ready dresses that only needs one seam, I'm hoping this sparks some interest in sewing, it breaks my heart that my DD can't/won't sew but I'm still holding out hope. Keep hope alive, keep hope alive.

Wait! There's More

After seeing Adrienne's zebra print dress, Erica B and Gold's interpretation of this pattern and the awesome sale at Hancock, I could ignore the call of the wild no longer, so I whipped this up. In case you missed theirs, this is Simplicity 3503 view E.

After promising my DD and my friend's DD a maxi dress nobody was getting one until I had one, yep I'm really in a selfish mode of sewing these days. My DD said I was going to look like Betty Rubble from the Flintstones, she is such a hater lol.

I only have remnants left of the nude knit tricot so I lined the dress with some other Texas fabric, this is a white stretch knit, I think it was 1.50/yd at Wal-Mart in either Texas or Louisana, we hit both.

I wasn't going to post this picture, I was trying it on for the final fit and had my DS snap this picture, you have to excuse my Sunday hair, I'm going to go work on it so it can be Monday hair.

I really like the way the dress fits but I forgot Erica's review where she said she lengthened the bodice, I should have done that but I'm not taking it out, it will be just fine.

I didn't start the maxi dress that I have cut out because I thought this one would be really quick and it was, start to finish maybe 3 1/2 hours.

Okay, I think that's all the sewing I can fit in today, I got that Sunday hair to work on, the dishes in the sink won't wash themselves and it's not worth fighting with the kids to get them to wash them.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Just a little sewing

I knew this would be a busy weekend and that means not a lot of time to sew but I did finish the khaki capris. They are McCalls 5393 view A without the side pockets.





I found a really cute braided cording at JoAnn's fabric to use for the drawstring. I think I've said it before but I hate the JoAnns by my house and if it wasn't for the fact that it's only 5 minutes away I'm sure I wouldn't shop there.




The khaki's will go great with the Simplicity 2852 tunic. My Mother use to always say that I shouldn't wear beige because I am beige so of course I wear it all the time.

I made promises to sew maxi dresses for my friend's daughter and my DD and Hancock's had a really great 4th of July sale so there should be some interesting things coming out of my sewing room soon.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July.