Monday, June 28, 2010

Sew with your kids


I've been letting Ethan push the "gas" on the sewing machine for awhile now and recently I've been letting him practice stitching with scrap fabric. Today I let him make his first project. We're working on a project for work (sneak peak behind Ethan on the right) and I let him use some scraps to make a simple stuffed pillow, or pin cushion. I love how intense his concentration was and how proud of himself he was to have it finished! Of course then he promptly stuck it full of pins, not completely unlike a voodoo doll.... He was pretty accurate with his lines. Maybe next time I'll stick him on sewing all those strips! :)

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Two more completed projects

I absolutely loved Corinnea's orange linen dress she made last week. So more Nicey Jane, and more of that perfect green Kona produced this:

Teal earrings by the Green World
The pattern was a little snug. I made a 14 and it still was a bit tight on my hips. I'm so glad I didn't make the dress first! Be sure and measure yourself and make sure you cut big enough.

Before I jump into showing you the next project, I wanted to show off these earrings Corinnea likes to say I pounced on the other day. Totally beautiful and deserving of pouncing!

Chandelier earrings by the Green World

I had a whim to make a kick pleat skirt. It started with the black and white number I made a few weekends ago, and then I figured out how to accomplish the fitted version. So Saturday morning I bought the fabric and by Saturday evening I had a skirt! The waistband is photographed here first to show you the fabric, and because it's boring and I wanted to get it out of the way first! Ha! It's Robert Kaufman Quilter's Tweed. I love the print, and the back side was lovely enough that I made the waistband out of it. Oh yeah, and I used Wonder Tape for the first time, AND a zipper foot for the first time! Oh my.... Wonder Tape, how do I love thee.... and yes, I've never had a sewing machine with a zipper foot. I will never be without one again!

We went outside to snap some photos of the skirt and had so much fun that a couple of young German girls actually started following us around! I wasn't paying attention to what they were saying until I heard ".... actress from Hollywood!" OMG! They FOLLOWED US HOME! I can't imagine why they would get the idea we were someone interesting..... Couldn't have been because I was walking around on a hot day in a cloche and heels!

Here's some of my favorites from the photo shoot!




I guess it may have seemed like we were someone of some importance since I did have my own personal photographer giving me directions and wearing a Hollywood t-shirt!

I've been trying to get my mom to do something crafty since she got here. Who knew that all I needed to do was hand her the Canon and watch her go! Here's some other fun photos she took today.


And if you were in the country of Germany at a little after 5:30, you know that Germany won their game today! Wow! Seriously, we live right next to the little Markplatz, and it was like a parade! Everyone driving around honking and blowing their vuvuzelas and waving flags! It's fun to watch.

I hope all of you had fun and exciting weekends!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Toy Story 3


We saw the movie tonight. It was really good! I didn't know how they were going to pull off ANOTHER Toy Story, but they did! I didn't realize it comes in a 3-D version, but I don't really care for 3-D so I didn't feel like I missed out on anything. The Patch Theater is playing it again tomorrow, but you might want to call ahead. They were doing something special tomorrow, including some food, and they might require reservations. The email wasn't really clear. Anyway, I enjoyed it. Hopefully you'll pick up on all the Star Wars references. There was more than normal, but they were more subtle. If you are prone to crying don't wear mascara. Ok, that's all my teasers. No spoilers! Go see it! :)

Thursday, June 24, 2010

You might have a problem if...

You choose your outfit to match the newest pair of earrings you couldn't live without....

Earrings by All Wound Up, for sale at the Patch Craft Shop


You can't stop making little boys shirts...

Simplicity Camp Shirt 3852


Three frappuccinos just doesn't seem like enough...
Patch Arts and Crafts is now able to serve your coffee hot or cold!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Crafterhours Skirt Week


We didn't win, but Lizy, Corinnea and I all got showcased today! Click the graphic to go to the site.

Monday, June 21, 2010

weekend update



Haven finished the 6th Grade.



Here's the shirt I didn't get a photograph in yet. Haven took the picture.

Ikea was hard. They were completely under renovation, they were out of stuff I needed, I forgot my Ikea credit card..... and this guest bed goes down in history as the most mistakes made in one do it yourself project ever. If I could put it on wrong I did. I don't know what the deal was. I'm normally very good at putting together Ikea stuff. Anyway, in the end I have more pink and more fun in the craft room. This little guest bed is pretty cool. It folds up for a sort of loungy chair thing, and then unfolds for a guest bed. And there's a stow away drawer underneath for bedding. See the lamp shade? I was about to give up when that one caught my eye. Just enough girly goodness without changing the color of the light. I also got some plastic containers to sort and store my fabric and the drawers are for wrapping paper, gift bags, etc.

And the reason I needed this furniture and major clean up of the craft room is because my mother arrived today! She's here for about four weeks. Yeah!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Ethan's New Do



Ethan wanted to get his hair cut like Daddy's. :) The before picture was a little staged to give it more drama... but not much. His hair had gotten pretty long! I know most people won't understand why this hair cut is significant, but since he was born I think he's only been to the stylist twice. I've been cutting his hair and it's stayed pretty long. This was a pretty big step! LOL! I think he's adorable!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Weekend Sewing

I made a pact to not do anything on Saturday except sew. I pointed out to Rob that I spent precious sewing time cooking him meals and he should feel very special!

I did leave the house once, but only after the first project of the day was completed. The Schlep Bag.
I co-lead a small group of youth girls and we do crafts once every couple of months. We had the idea to do a bag for the next craft that they can carry their Bibles and journals in. I set about looking for a fun and easy pattern, and I found a picture of the bag here. You can download the free pattern here, but another website said it has problems. I didn't use it anyway. I just figured it out and went for it. It's not perfect for books because the square bottom sags when you put heavy things in it. But it's still so cute. Maybe I'll put some cardboard in the bottom... just thought of that...

Next up, I'm on the third remake of that shirred dress I wore to the art contest and the theater. I ran out of elastic thread so no pictures of that. It is trying to be reborn as a shirt this time.

And speaking of shirts, I have a cute shirt that's too small, so I tried to recreate the pattern using the dressform and pattern ease. It's VERY similar to Corinnea's shirt. The front gathering is done with a little elastic, and I made the elastic too long. That's why there aren't pics of me in it. I need to fix it first! But I really like it otherwise.
Number four (three if you count completed projects) is the pencil skirt.


I saw a girl walking to the commissary the other day and I loved the flippy little ruffle at the bottom of her skirt. This fabric was bought for a shirt, (the shirt above actually) but the fabric was too heavy, even after washing. So I decided to make the skirt instead. I really like it! I didn't have a black zipper so I made the waistband out of a ribbed t-shirt. I made it a little big, but other than that I really like how it fits.

The last project of the evening was the Kimono Dress and Obi Sash from the book Weekend Sewing. I need the elastic thread for that too, so no pics yet. But that's five projects, four completed in one day!

Today we had our annual IBC church picnic in Bad Liebenzell. The rain held off and it stayed fairly nice. I was able to wear the skirt and be bear footed and only got chilly towards the end. I have lots of pictures to go through, but this was my favorite of the day!

If you can't tell, he's drying his socks.

Hope you all had lovely weekends too!

Friday, June 11, 2010

Hub Idol

Haven sang in her first talent show today. She sang "Break Away" by Kelly Clarkson. I thought that was cute since it was "Hub Idol" and Kelly Clarkson was an Idol winner! She did a GREAT job! Unfortunately my little camera battery died so I didn't get any video. I hope someone else from the evening will share a video with me. The group pic is of some of the kids she hangs out with. The girls on the far left and far right are her closest friends. The boy in the middle "IS" Michael Jackson. He won third place in the contest for a dance routine to Smooth Criminal which was very good! And a boy from our youth group won first place! It was a fun event!

Old Skirt - New Photo

*Photo by Corinnea*

I don't remember if I made this skirt before I was blogging, or if I just never posted about it, or if I did and completely forgot about it. But since Kara mentioned the Crafterhours Skirt Week challenge I decided this was my favorite and I should enter it. The panels are fitted around the hips and then they swing out full at the bottom. It's a Michael Miller fabric but I can't figure out what it's called. It's like tweed or something. Corinnea? The pattern is based on a skirt from H&M and a couple of years ago I made three or four skirts out of the same pattern. I really like it. The top is Amy Butler's Cabo Halter, still a favorite pattern.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Corinnea's on a Roll!!!

Check her out! She got featured on Crafter Hours too! Two in one day! She's on a roll!

----> Click Here <----

LOOK LOOK LOOK!

Corinnea was featured on Sew Mama Sew!!!!!!
----> Click here <-----

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Yes, another school house tunic

The other fabrics teased her because she had been in the trunk so long. They said she must not be loved. The other fabrics came and went, but there she sat. Lonely. Sad. Until one day, she became a schoolhouse tunic! After Corinnea made her stripey one I knew that's what this fabric was destined for. It's Bleeker Street by Marcos Brothers and it's been in my trunk for a while now.

And here's the video I tried to upload yesterday. It's pretty cute. Worth sitting through, I think. Haven's choir singing "Smell in my Bedroom"

Monday, June 7, 2010

All work and no play

I taught a lot this week. Friday Block Printing, Saturday Digital Scrapbooking, and today was Mom and Tots ceramic painting. Today's class was at RB and after class Ethan and I walked across the street to the vineyards. I have lived here eight years and have never bothered to do that. The sun finally decided to join us in Germany, and the day was beautiful!
I had never seen baby grapes before! That was pretty interesting!


I have been sewing a lot lately and Ethan wanted in on the action. He picked these two new fabrics from the shop for his shirts. These are camp shirts, Simplicity pattern 3852. Both are Hoffman fabrics, left "A is for Alligator" and right "Beep Bots." I added knit cuffs to the sleeves to look like a t-shirt underneath - an idea from another shirt Ethan has.
Haven had her choir recital on Thursday night. They had some cute silly songs. I'm trying to upload a video, but having trouble. I'll try again tomorrow.