Inventory

So this weekend is our annual inventory count at the store. Normally it takes about 20 people over three LONG days plus several hours of me doing paperwork before and after counting. Today 15 people counted the entire store in ONE DAY! We finally got a computerized scanning system and it made all the difference in the world! This may sound incredibly boring to everyone else... but our friends who have moved but still read my blog will totally get it! (and be jealous that we didn't get the scanners when THEY were here to count!) There's still followup paperwork to do and the store to put back together, so I'll still be un-crafty for a few more days.

PJ Love

These are two more of the PJ pants I made. (The fourth pair went to Mary.) When we first moved to Germany we got these sheets for our duvets - one set red, one set gray. Then I swapped the pillow cases. I saved those sheets all these years even though they haven't been on our bed in a loooong time. Sometime last fall I had the idea that sheets would make comfy pjs, so I pulled these sheets out for experimenting. They were finally finished on Valentine's Day, quite appropriate I say! Of course the problem, as I mentioned in my last post, is that now all I want to wear is my pjs!

Catching Up

Luxe PJs

A couple of people said I should post the pajama pants, but I'm not posting a pic of me IN them. The shirt is the Summertime Blouse, and is not technically a pj shirt, but I didn't really like the way it looks on me. It made me look pregnant, in my opinion. But it's made of voile and SO comfy! So I figured it would make nice pjs. The pants are a silk/cotton blend and soooo luxurious feeling! I really enjoyed making pj pants. I made four pairs! (not all silk!) I love lounging around the house in them!

Did you see that the Colette blog did some tutorials on flat felled seams?

Study Hall Skirt

(photo by Katelyn)

I know this is called the Study Hall Skirt, but the whole time I was making it I was thinking it looked like a cheerleader skirt! (Just a LOT longer!) The fabrics are both polka dots, even though it's hard to see in the photo. This is a good pattern. The only alteration I made was to add a lining, and that's just my personal preference. Cotton sticks to tights and bunches and crawls, so I line all my skirts. If you use this pattern I recommend using a serger. You have to finish a lot of seams and iron them open, so if you zig zag every side of the fabric piece it would take you forever!

Me Made March is coming soon!

I, Kelly, have signed up as a participant of Me-Made-March '11. I endeavor to wear two hand-made pieces of clothing or accessories each day for the duration of March 2011.

After participating in Self-Stitched September my clothing habits changed dramatically. I find myself going first for the hand made garments and being a bit pouty and whiny if I have to wear something ready to wear. After my last big wave of long sleeved shirts I even had hand-made things to wear on the really cold days. March should be a breeze to get through on hand-made clothes. Since it's supposed to be a challenge I decided to up my pledge to TWO hand-made pieces. Since I know some days will be hard I will allow my second piece to be an accessory when needed. (I have so many handmade earrings that will be no problem.)

I did do a little sewing this weekend, but a stomach virus knocked me out cold Thursday night, and it took me all day Friday and most of today to recover. Since I had to lay around I decided pajama pants would be a good project. So I made my first pair out of an old sheet to test the fit. Next up silk! Oh yeah!

Audible.com

Audible is having a sale on the first book of some popular series. I just picked up four books for under $20!!!

Sewing

I know I've been pretty quiet lately. I have been doing stuff though. When Jennifer invited us to Ava's b-day party I asked what I could get her. Jennifer said, "anything. as long as it's not a stuffed animal. Except for Shaun the Sheep OR you could MAKE peep, quack, and chirp!" Riiiight. After Mary came in talking about peep, quack, and chirp I googled them. Hmm... Looks do-able. Obsessively Stitching had just done a long series on making stuffed Angry Birds, so I modified her pattern to make these:

Apparently it's a kids cartoon on PBS. The girls loved them. My children went nuts. After making these three birds I was harassed and cajoled by both of my children to make more birds. Knowing they had no clue who Peep, Quack and Chirp are I went ahead and made them Angry Birds. (They're from a video game, for anyone who is wondering) I now have orders for the tiny blue ones AND after my husband saw them he asked for one too. My plan is to make the whole set.

And sewing for myself.... First up a tunic from the Hilco Knip Mode.

The fabric is a stretchy meshy furry thing. Feels soft to the touch, but once I got it on it was pretty itchy. Not so much that I can't handle wearing it all day though.

Oh, I made the skirt too. It's canvas. I didn't think it would make a good skirt, but actually it's awesome! It has a nice weight to it and doesn't wrinkle too badly.

Next up McCall's 6120 with some striped knit from Hilco. I loooove this fabric.

Oh, I got my hair cut too. Right before the New Year.

Next to look forward to - Ethan is playing basketball. I have to get the pics off the camera and processed.

Katelyn's Famous Again!

Katelyn's Owl was on the Fabric Shopper Blog!