Halter Top

I've been wanting to make a halter top for my 2 year old daughter and finally got around to it a couple nights ago. I had been looking for a skorts pattern for her as well and the one I ended up liking had a halter top pattern too (as well as several other tops and shorts). The pattern was easy (although I didn't totally follow the directions because I wanted it reversible) and didn't take long to sew together. She wore it today and looked so cute in it!! The next version will be a couple or so inches longer (I don't like her belly hanging out much)! :-)

Since I was taking pictures of my daughter, I had to get some of my son! They both love posing for pictures (most of the time!!)!!

need time for sewing.....

I had plans over the weekend and yesterday to do a bunch of sewing, but haven't had much success getting anything done! Yesterday I did get a pattern traced for a halter top for my daughter and got some pieces of fabric cut out for it last night, but that is as far as I have gotten. I did start on an order the end of last week for a diaper bag set, but that is sitting unfinished too. The outside of the diaper bag is done and the pockets and inside pieces are cut out, but still need to cut the fleece and stabilizer to sew in with the inside of the bag. I found my last swivel hook last night to use as a key clip inside the bag and got my zippers today at Joann's. Maybe tonight I'll get something done. I should be working on stuff right now, but I'm fighting a bit of a headache.....plus my kids should be up from naps any minute now! Here is the pattern I am working on for my daughter and the partially finished diaper bag.......

Several hours later I come back to this partial post to finish it off. My kids woke up from a nap and our friends invited us over for a short swim. At 5:00 we pull into the driveway at my friends' house and head to the pool to join in the fun.....it was lots of fun. The water felt cold when I first dipped in, but within minutes it felt wonderful!! Both kids got in the water, but my 4 year old son didn't last long. He tried a couple times, but I think it is going to take a little while to get use to the water again for him. My 2 year old daughter was hesitant at first and grabbed on tight when she first got in (even though she was ready to jump in all by herself before I was ready to get in!!). Within about 10 minutes she was swimming around in a floaty telling me not to touch!! Anytime I would put my hand on her floaty she'd tell me not to touch....she wanted to do swim/float around all by herself. I stayed close or had my friend close to her when I was working with her 6 year old on diving into the water. Anyway, I can't wait for the next swim!!

So, back to sewing....On Monday I went shopping with my best friend Paula and my 2 year old daughter. I'm making drapes for her family/living room, so she wanted to get the fabric while it was 50% off at Joann's. I didn't find anything at Joann's, although I did look for fabric to make myself some outfits. We headed Hancock after and there I found some black/white/red fabric to make myself a couple tops and some black fabric to make myself some capris. I have a feeling I'll be using whatever I have left to make some for my daughter, who insisted the fabric was for her! Here is one pattern I'm thinking of using for one of my tops. I'm not sure which view I'm going to use yet (maybe A or D). And the fabrics I bought to make myself some tops and a pair of capris.

I guess I better get busy sewing....

Long list of projects....

I have a long list of projects to work on and need to get motivated! Hopefully in just a few minutes I will get started and accomplish a LOT today! One project is past due, another due to be finished before I head to my parents' on June 10 and the others are projects I just want to get done!

• baby doll t-shirt(s) (this will be a first, so wish me luck!)
• birthday gift for a special little 6 year old (better late than never!!)
• diaper bag set (ordered by a friend I will see when I visit my parents)
• summer outfits for the kids (several new, cute fabrics to make them some outfits)
• finish reorganizing my craft room (ongoing project I started a while ago and never finished!)

Here are some fabrics I'm using for the kids' clothes....my favorite is the robot fabric, which I plan to use for both the kids. A shirt or shorts for my son and probably a dress and some bloomer for my daughter. I'll coordinate the orange and white dots with the robot fabric for my daughter. These fabrics are from Hobby Lobby and Hancock Fabrics....stores I don't get to visit often because they are on the other side of town, but I think I will be visiting more often these days!!

Here are some knit fabrics I plan to use for the kids' clothes...

Here are the fabrics my friend picked out for her diaper bag set. The pink and brown ticking stripe is a Michael Miller fabric and the brown is a Kona cotton from Hancock fabrics.

Baby boy shower gift

A friend called a week before a baby shower to see if I could throw together a baby gift for her and her friend to go in on. She gave me the baby's name, color themes and one of the themes in the baby's room to work with. After finding out her budget I put together a tag blanket with a matching bib and burp, an embroidered onesie and a matching tag softie. When she picked up the gift she picked out a couple extra burps and a bib to complete the set. She said the gift was a hit at the shower, which I always love to hear!!

Jewelry Pouches

Seems like I'm always working on something, but never get around to blogging and posting pics, so here are a couple of some jewelry pouches I finished up yesterday afternoon for a customer. They are large, custom order pouches.

A Prayer Answered

My younger brother has been living in PA since last June (2008) and has had the worst job ever! He's been the General Manager for an RV Park. The summer was fun, long hours, but lots of socializing and he learned a lot. During the summer season it was expected he would work 7 days a week, 12+ hours a days. For the time the park was open he didn't mind the hours, but it's not something you want to do 365 days a year! He's been sick a lot, I think due to the excessive stress. He was told he would be able to work a 27 hour week during the off season, but as he got into the off season they started requiring him to work 7 days a week, 5 12 hour days at least an 8 hour day on Saturday and then more hours making sales calls on Sunday. He's been miserable for months and started looking for a job, but the job market, as we all know, is not good! A few weeks ago his manager quit because things were unbearable and she was interviewing for a couple jobs. She took one, then recommended my brother for the other. The one she didn't take is right here in Indianapolis and it turns out is right around the corner from our house (literally 3 minutes to the entrance). It's been a long process, but today he got the call......a job offer!!! He is so excited, as are we!!! I haven't lived in the same state as my brother for 10 years and it's been even longer since I lived anywhere close to him. He will have a free place to live and will be less than 5 minutes from our house! He starts the day after Memorial Day. Next on the list is for my parents to move here!! :-)