You had it coming!

And not the "Cell Block Tango".

I've been working furiously to get my cruise wardrobe finished. Flu?! BAH! Bronchitis that makes me cough so hard I pee myself? Piffle!

I've got the luttlerloh blouse (155) on the dressform. It needs two MORE buttons at $3.25 for two buttons. GAH! By the time I'm done, I'll have $8 worth of buttons on it. A casual blouse to wear with capris (154)!!! RAWR.

The coordinating capris are done (but for the hem). May I just say how awful the sketches are for the luttlerloh patterns? Especially when you're used to vintage pattern envelop illustrations.

The luttlerloh skirt is finished and has some nifty crystal fringe on the hem. It also goes well with the blouse, but is much more dressy.

I've got the Butterick 3052 pattern graded up (fingers crossed it works).



This will be made in two different views (A lower left & B) in two different fabrics. One is butterflies/flowers to go with the above skirt. The other is in yellow/black/grey to go with the skirt (yellow) and slacks (grey) from the Simplicity 4044.





Speaking of which, I'm headed out today to get that pattern copied at my local blueprint copy store. It will run me about half what Kinko's would charge. Once I've got my pattern copied, it can be graded up a bit and then ONWARD!

The Golden Rule?

OK, so I made my first Lutterloh outfit last night. Well, mostly made. Not sure what I think of it. It went together easily enough and my invisible zipper rocks, but for some reason, using the correct measurements, I have to make my seam allowance 3/5" instead of the 5/8" that I measured out from the pattern. Once I'm finished with it I'll post pics. Hopefully. ;-)

Hah. Proof that nearly anything can be found on the interwebz! The skirt part of the picture below is what I'm making.

Image courtesy of LutterlohSystem.com

Oh The Huge Manatee

You'd think I have enough on my plate with regard to sewing, right? Obviously my childrens' new school thought I had plenty of spare time on my hands...

Yesterday, I registered the girls for school and got the news that uniforms were being required this year for the first time ever (thanks! I just spent all my clothes budget buying my oldest clothes for school because nothing fit her already yet) and I could conveniently array them in polo shirts (for GIRLS??? WTH??? Say it ain't so!!!) and either khaki, navy or black bottoms (pants, shorts, skirts or skorts). Oh yes and by the way, mom, you can get those polos at The Evil Empire.

Now let me go on record as saying I despise Wal-Mart. I understand that for many, many folks, that place is the ONLY place they have to shop and I'm sorry that is the case. Aside from that, I'm unimpressed with their so-called "everyday low prices" because at my last comparison shop, they weren't any cheaper for the same items I buy at my local Super Target. So here I am, trapped in a no-win situation. I have to give Big Box Mart my hard earned cash because it's the ONLY place to get the shirts required for school at anything resembling a *reasonable* price in the correct colors. ORANGE??? NO ONE sells them except BBM. No one. Unless I want to spend $35 for an already embroidered "eurostyle" shirt. For a child. Oh hell no. So BBM got $50 (that's ten shirts) + 7% sales tax.

And on top of that, I'm going to have to alter each and every shirt to get them to fit my children. because obviously size XS (4/5) means Muy Gordo in BMM-ese. I'm not kidding when I say that my 5yo would be able to wear these shirts well into high school. Heck, *I* could have worn them in high school. She's such a TINY little thing. She still wears size 1-3 dance tights and can wear some 18-24 months pants. When I sew for her, it's around a size 2-3 and those still have room to grow. So yeah, mommy is going to have to de-sleeve, take in and re-sleeve and then hem all ten of these mother-lovin' shirts. Because the 7yo swims in them, too.

Add to that the necessity of britches. I *could* send my kids to school in the unaltered shirts and call them dresses, but I'm pretty sure that isn't what the school admins had in mind. So britches it is. And I'll be doggoned if I am going to spend $10 to $Infinity on school bottoms. No Way No How. $5 and they might have had me. So off I go to Joann's because the rules say "khaki, black or navy" and there's NO restriction on what kind of fabric I can use. OR the style. Heh. I'm obeying the letter of the law, I promise! It's not my fault I conviently have

Simplicity 4384

and

Simplicity 5540

in both of my girls' sizes... ($1 each a couple of weeks ago on sale!!! WOOT!!!) AND that Joann's had all their bottom weights and suitings (except Sew Classic) on 60% off sale. How could I resist that? For $51 & change, I was able to get enough fabric to sew each girl at LEAST half a dozen bottoms (if not more) which will last them at least 2 years each. That breaks down to ($51/12)/2. Or $2.13 per item per year. Now tell me, is there ANYWHERE you can manage that (inlcuding sales tax?) For custom tailored pants/skirts/shorts? In really AWESOME fabric that has spandex for better ease? I.Don't.Think.So. Heh.

And I don't mind ironing on a few school patches. Not at all. Really. Because it's not as if I've nothing better to do with my time.

car shopping, an exercise in futility

The title says it all. Once upon a time, we were a two car family. Two paid in full cars. Until one got stolen. And it didn't have theft insurance because it was such a beater. And so we perservered with one car for one year because we didn't want to make a "rash" decision and then another five months because we didn't have adequate fundage to commit to such a purchase and because gas was SO HIGH and we were used to it all. Now the time has come to purchase a second car. And loathe as we are to take financing, it's just going to have to happen. We're not picky, really. If we were going to write a personal ad, it would look like this:

Hot mama needs hot car. Fuel guzzling road hogs need not apply. Import a
plus, and if you're RED, so much the better. Leather seats turn me on. Must have
adequate entertainment features for those long hauls.

The reality is, finding a CLEAN, low miles, appropriate (think three kids in car seats) vehicle that is in our price range is nearly impossible. Bah humbug. It's not like we're on a deadline or anything. It's not like August 24th is LOOOOOOOOMING or nuthin'.

Harumph.

There's nothing like the smell...

of devil's food cake cupcakes baking in the afternoon. I haven't baked a thing since March and I was going through baking withdrawal. It's amazing just how *soothing* the smell of chocolate is to the savage beast menstrual female psyche. Even if I can't *eat* them myself, it's taking me to my happy place.

Unfortunately, I missed entering ICE: Savory. I had the ccakes made but didn't follow through. Too much going on. And I'm not entering June's because I just am Way Too Busy. Maybe July or August, but definitely in September depending on the challenge ingredient.

Tomorrow is the last day of Pre-K for the middle child and I volunteered to make treats for the class. It's also "water day" which means bathing suit, towel & spare clothes. Water day is fun day for sure.

Well, the timer is about to run out on the second batch of cupcakes. Can you smell them from where you're sitting? Maybe I'll even post a picture. ;-) But then I'm evil like that.

Progress Update

Vogue 2636 is about 70% complete. Bodice needs to be attached to skirt, sleeves to bodice and zipper to side. Hem also needed but that means yet another run to the fabric store to get the appropriate hem tape. I'm thinking that happens on Saturday...

Round Three

Of my sewing-capades is in full effect. I cut the pattern on the largest size because my measurements differ anywhere from 2" to half an inch from the [cough]size 22[cough] on the pattern envelope. Talk about demoralizing. Anyhoo, the pattern is kick-a$$ awesome. I never thought I'd like it as much as I do. And this fabric that my MIL gave my nana who didn't want it and gave it to me because it was "too expensive" to have it made up is to DIE for. The picture just doesn't do it justice...




Here's the project in progress...

Sew Say We All...

Today I finished the two piece vintage skirt/midriff top (except for buttons). I'm saving the buttons for TV time. See? I can multi-task. One thing though... Simplicity 9978 only calls for FOUR buttons for that outfit. For the top. It's plain to see that the skirt buttons, but I guess we're just supposed to *guess* how many we need for the skirt. Meh. I bought some lovely sand infused ones that are semi-transluscent and they totally go with this better than the mere FOUR buttons I purchased earlier that there were no more of today. I guess it was meant to be since I wasn't really keen on the first set anyhow.

I also started on the Vintage Vogue 2636 I posted about earlier. Because I've got a weird shape, of necessity I must pin-baste the thing together FIRST and then go back and sew it. Which is PITA but oh well. I'm 98% done with that step and tweaking the fit. I will say that it looks very nice on the dress form. Better than I anticipated. The backing of the fabric is super silky polyester knit. No slip necessary, yay! The skirt on it isn't nearly as full as some of the others, but it's got plenty of ease.

And in other news, I bought a new pair of scissors. But this time, instead of buying the "chipper chicken" (name the movie this references & win a prize), I sprung for the spring action knife edge Gingher scissors. Sure they were a mere $44 & change. But I was SICK TO DEATH of having to find the doggone "sweet spot" on my POS spring loaded scissors so as not to mangle whatever I was working on. And did I mention I got 40% off? WOOHOO. So they only ended up being $26 + tax. Not too bad, really.

Also, I've begun conceptualising my oldest's First Holy Communion Dress. That's for Easter 2010. I've already got the fabric and the pattern and the thread. I've had those for years now. Today I scored (on my button run) a pearl headband for the veil. Tissues out... I'm going to use the pearl enhanced netting from my wedding veil for hers. Sniff sniff. My baby is getting so big. And I got 40% off the headband, too. I had a dream about it last night actually. And there it was.

Last week I got the most adorable cuddle fleece for oldest daughter's winter coat. Again 40% off. Which since it was already $13/yard was VEEERY helpful. It will be lined with cotton interlock fabric that is super soft so it has a little extra warmth and body. I found the perfect pattern for ONLY $1 folks. A BUCK!!!! Crazy, no?

I'll post pictures of all this madness later on. Right now, I'm too pooped to pop, so I'll sign off and check you on the flip side.