Last week was crazy busy in the best way. We celebrated my dad's birthday and Mother's Day with some horse racing smashed between. All good, but exhausting. I woke up this morning to the realization that this is the beginning of the last three weeks of school. 14 full days and 1 half day left. It's going to fly by with the field trips and special events.  There is so much I want to accomplish before my days are filled with swimming and sunblock and time is running out. I made a list of chores that need doing and have committed to crossing at least one off every day. I started last night by going through Jane's drawers. All winter clothes are stored, outgrown clothes are in the hand-me-down pile. Check. I also started cleaning and organizing the family room bookshelves and will finish those today. Some of the items on this list can be accomplished rather quickly and others will take a big time commitment (the sewing room, ahem). I figure if I can attack one of these items every day, this house will be in great shape within a week or two.

It is also the beginning of Kids Clothing Week Challenge and I'm in. I don't have any specific plans beyond another set of nightgowns. My kids are pretty well kitted out for the summer - the only holes in their wardrobes are dresses and skirts. I have one Japanese craft book that has clothing in larger sizes (130, 140, 145, 150) that I am going to use as a starting point. The silhouettes are very simple and look like they will come together pretty fast. And when I'm finished sewing for the girls, it's back to my dress.

So yeah, it's the week I get things done. How about you? What are you up to?

Gumbo is Jane's newest stuffed animal. She made Gumbo yesterday all on her own, using the sewing machine that the girls received for Christmas. I helped thread the machine, taught her how to pivot the fabric with the needle down and was at hand for little issues.  The rest Jane did on her own. She was super pleased with her creation and I think she should be. It's a big accomplishment to set out to design a project, make it and see it through to the end, mistakes and all. I'm very proud of her.

I was in the middle of sewing my dress when Jane decided to start this project. The timing wasn't optimal for me - I can't tell you how many times I had to put down my sewing to help with hers - but I am glad that I was present to help Jane make Gumbo. Watching her create this was a joy and as we were working, I was happy to set aside what I wanted to do right then and join her. These moments don't come often and when they do, I'm going to grab them.

And the dress? Well, that's entirely different story.

I've been wanting to sew clothes for myself for some time now. When I first started sewing, that's what I made - a-line skirts, dresses, jumpers. I wasn't afraid of cutting fabric one bit. I was also a teenager with a very different body than I have now, if you catch my drift. In the past few years, I've tried a few items with so-so results and, as such, have been hesitant to jump back in. I get so frustrated when I spend oodles of time and money on lovely fabric and not have it work out. So, I stick with quilts and accessories because in my mind they are fool proof most of the time.

Last week, while the house was upside down, I sewed Jane's costume and some other skirts for the school play. I don't have any photos to share yet - I finished *just* before we had to walk out the door for the first dress rehearsal. The costumes were simple pieces - elastic waist skirt, peasant blouse, belt - but I found myself immensely satisfied putting clothing together instead of a pillow or such.  It made me rethink my adversion to sewing clothing for myself. What I am waiting for? It's just fabric and thread, both of which are plentiful around here. Why am I so scared to make mistakes? I'm often telling the girls to just try something, that they will learn from their errors. Sheesh, I bet I would, too.

Hello, Erin? Would you listen to yourself? Gather some courage and get sewing.

I've had the Evening Empire Dress pattern for a long time now. I wanted to make it last summer and chickened out because of all I said above and because I realized once it arrived here, that it's not going to be the most flattering dress on me.  Yesterday it dawned on me....one of the best parts about sewing for yourself is that you can take something and make it work for you. I thought about the dresses in my closet that fit me well and that I like to wear. I knew that I would have to lengthen the bodice on this dress to flatter me. My torso is longer than average and also the thinnest part of my body - I had to emphasize it in some way while keeping the fullness in the skirt to accommodate my hips.

Melissa convinced me to make a muslin. So I did. (And this is the part where I become brave and actually post a picture of it on me.)

I took some quick measurements with my strapless bra on and went with the size large. I took the pattern pieces and drafted a band under the bust to lengthen the bodice.  I sewed it all up, including the seam where the zipper will go in order to save time. And then I tried it on. I think it will work. I'm going to add an extra 5/8" to the pattern piece so that the seam line will be where the raw edge of the band is now. I may have to adjust the bust seams and/or let out the sides a tiny bit - there's plenty of room to do that with a 5/8" seam allowance.  I will add straps to the dress, too, although I may make them thinner than the pattern calls for.

The fabric is going in the wash today and, with any luck, I'll be sewing this up over the weekend. I will show and tell, regardless of the outcome. I want to sew for myself and figuring out what works and what doesn't is the only way I am going to get better at this.  If I really screw up, I figure the girls will get some lovely voile skirts during Kids Clothing Week Challenge. And if I manage to make this work, well then I have a dress.

Either way it's going to be just fine.

Just popping in to say hello. We're having our floors refinished and our house is all sixes and sevens. I'll be back here soon. In the meantime, enjoy some green.

If you haven't heard the buzz yet, Denyse Schmidt designed a line of fabric that is available exclusively at JoAnn's. I went by my local store on Tuesday, but they didn't have it. The nice woman at the cutting table told me that their trucks come in on Thursday so the new merchandise is out on Friday. Good to know. I went back today and they were there. I was happy to see that they are beautiful quality and gorgeous colors. I haven't bought any fabric this year other than a couple of solids and the backing for the Liberty quilt so I splurged and picked up some of each. I have no plans for it at the moment, but Natural Patchwork arrived this week and man, oh man, there are some inspiring numbers in that book.  I also have my eye on a few projects in Susan Beal's Modern Log Cabin Quilting.  Another awesome book.

I've finished sewing all 54 blocks, each made of 15 squares.

I've laid the blocks out on the floor, moving furniture to make enough room. I didn't fuss too much about what went where - just changed the place of a couple and left it at that.

I ordered 7 yards of fabric for the back.

Now to sew it all together and come up with a quilting plan. This one may have to be out-sourced to a long-arm quilter. It is one huge quilt!

We skipped town last week. The girls were on spring break and we headed South to enjoy warmer temps, salt water and sand. I didn't turn on my computer for 7 days and I read 3 books. We drank beer and margaritas poolside, snorkeled and sea kayaked, went to bed early and slept late. It was the epitome of relaxation - good friends, lots of laughs, not a care in the world. We came home sunkissed and ready to eat vegetables for a week straight. All so good.

Before we left and after I sewed up all the patchwork things, I made the girls some new nightgowns. Sewing pajamas is intensely gratifying for me. The girls will always wear them and if I make a mistake or three, I don't have to worry about the garments being seen in public. I never really use a pattern, but instead make my own. Crazy? Not really. It's actually very easy.  I just take something they already have (a nightgown from Target, in this instance) and trace it. Then I add seam allowances and cut.  This one was only two pieces cut on the fold (a front and a back) and some strips to bind the arm and neck holes.

For these, I used the Oliver + S City Weekend knits - about a yard of each.  This fabric has a lovely hand and the girls confirm that it is super soft. I sewed the side and shoulder seams with the serger, but you could easily do that with a regular sewing machine, too. The neck and armholes were bound using 1.5" strips of the knit, done with the regular machine. On Kate's pink nightgown, I used the serger to make a lettuce edge along the bottem per her request. Jane wanted a regular hem and asked if I could put a bow on the front. Done. It took me about an hour to sew each one up and maybe 15 minutes or so to cut each out. So with the tracing of the pattern, this is about a two hour project.  And now that I have the pattern, it'll be even faster to make a couple more.

I've been slowly cleaning out the studio - getting rid of the stuff I will not use and trying to use up what I have on hand. With that in mind, along with the bag holder, I also made Georgia two potholders.  Again, everything came out of the scrap stash - prints, solids, batting.  For some reason, I really enjoy making potholders. I think it is because they are like mini-quilts that will get used again and again. I can play with fabric combinations, quilting techniques and maybe even throw in some persnickity piecing if I'm up for it. They come together fast and I love projects that I can start and finish within an hour.  Also, the ones I have in my own kitchen do double duty as trivets and are stained like nothing else. That just makes me like them even more.

I dipped into the fabric stash to make these patchwork dish towels for a friend's birthday. She loves purple as much as I love green.  I don't have many good purple scraps to choose from so I culled some great prints with purple and sewed them to some waffle weave dish towels that were unearthed last week.  Again, a quick and useful project - my favorite kind. There are a few more towels hanging around - I might whip some up for our kitchen or maybe as hand towels for the powder room.  Or maybe both.

P.S. Have you heard about Molly's newest project - Blarter? Go check it out. I think it is brilliant and have no doubts that it will be a great resource and tool for us crafty bloggers.