talented women

I have been blessed to be surrounded by some many talented women in my life- here are some things that they have created.

This receiving blanket and burp cloth were made by my aunt. I love the mitered edges and the rick-rack

Then this is my mom’s glory! She is SO amazing and I wish I was as talented as she is in sewing. Isn’t this blanket just stunning?

This is such a good show of the quilting… hearts in a paisley pattern… love it!

These were some simple gauzy blankets that I threw together that will be great for this summer. They were easy to make… just some satin ribbon sewn around the edges to finish them off. I love the white one that is eyelet.

This is another one of my mom’s doings. Don’t you LOVE the fabric and it feels so amazing! I love good fabric!

I love the decorative stitching…

This is my hubby’s favorite set… again from my mom.

My mom was thinking smart and made me some mitered edge blankets that are only one sided. These will help with swaddling in the heat.

This photo shows the back side of the white blanket. So classy and beautifully sewn.

Then this beauty is something I CANNOT wait to get little miss B into. My good friend Anna made it after I sent some photos over to her. She has an etsy shop here if you are interested….

Then little miss A got a package from Mima (my mom) this past week with a whole bunch of items for her baby- this flannel blanket she even quilted… so cute!

Then another mitered blanket… I just had to share photos of it because I LOVE the dancers. I want something out of it… pj bottoms would be fantastic!

Then she sent over this genius play wipes case with wipes! A is always using real wipes and so this is the perfect solution to her wiping everyone’s bum… even her kitty’s and trying to do ours… that always catches us off guard!

maternity wear

for some odd reason or another (like that I am 5’ 10”) I can’t find maternity clothes that fit me. skirts, dresses, and pants are too short on my legs and t-shirts and tops are short on my torso! when I get big, I am like the most immodest thing on the planet. it is really frustrating. well, thankfully I come from an extremely tall family! most of my immediate family, aunts, uncles, and cousins are 6’or taller. and luckily for me, 5 of my cousins are pregnant right now! my aunts are amazing seamstresses and one of them came up with a maternity skirt that is comfortable, long, and takes like 20 minutes to sew. it is like heaven sent for me!

with the two that I made this week I now have 4 skirts out of this pattern and plan on making some more. the skirt is just too easy and looks too good to not want to make more. sorry about the wrinkles, they were ironed until A got to them thinking they were dress-ups. :)

next is this beauty! i have always wondered about belly bands and if they would work for my shape (like an s-curve from algebra). not just that, I wasn’t willing to pay to “experiment” with one. when I saw this tutorial, I just had to at least try one!

 

this took me two tries – the first worked out perfectly; however, when I put it on, all I could hear was threads popping! then it pathetically fell apart. you want to know what NOT to do? DON’T surge the seams unless you have stretchy string. I thought I would be all cool and sleek with a surged edge, but it didn’t stretch with my curves. so the second one I used a zig-sag on my machine and it has been awesome! NO more riding up, NO more immodesty when I need to nurse, and NO pants falling off! plus, it is fit just for me and my body (I made it taller than the one in the tutorial). I have worn it all afternoon. LOVE IT! definitely plan on making more and think a set of two or three would be fun for a gift to the billions of friends of mine who are Prego!

we have been so busy here! more to come!!!

maternity pencil skirt

So I am having the wardrobe issue – the one where you look in your closet and see nothing to wear. My body is in such transition that I really don’t feel like I have anything to wear. I want to look pregnant, but not “big” yet. I want and need some classic pieces that I can mix and match. Sadly, my wardrobe consists of 4 shade shirts and three pairs of the same sweat pants in different colors. So today, I pulled out my wonderful sewing machine and tried my hand at creating a maternity pencil skirt. I don’t think that it turned out bad – it fits, there are no puckers, and it is wearable – which is more than I can say about other projects I have tried lately and about my other clothes :)

Anyway, I took a skirt pattern that I have ten billion other pencil skirts out of and added a panel. It was a challenge for me for a couple of reasons – I have never sewn knit, I don’t know my way about my machine as well as I would like, there was a small waistband that goes around the whole top of the skirt, I couldn’t try it on before I had almost a complete product. I think that next time I will do all the same things except make the bottom of the panel a u-shape and not straight across. I think it would fit better and I wouldn’t have to wear my longest tops to cover the panel.

I really feel like the Spirit inspired me on some of the steps and knew I needed an ounce of success. Anyway, without further ado – my skirt and budding tummy…