go team!!!!

Conner is on a soccer team this fall.  It means one or two nights a week at a practice and a Saturday morning game.  It gives the little siblings and parents lots of time to chat on the sidelines!
Abby made a new friend - and they played together happily for a while.

I was using my husband's camera which I'm not used to yet.  Sorry it's a little out of focus.

Her little friend E was just the right size for the GO TEAM soccer dress.  She's concentrating so hard in this picture - too cute!

Nevermind that the game was behind her, she was still cheering for her big brother - I'm sure.

Here's mom's picture taken at home.  What a doll.

Thanks A for sharing your adorable daughter!  Thanks E for modeling!

tags

MaryAnne had some fun questions to answer... here's what I came up with.

1. What does your child/children want to be for Halloween?  - right now we're discussing Sully, Batman (NOT my favorite choice), and the Beast (from Beauty & the Beast).  I'm hoping we can narrow it down soon - I'm personally rallying for Sully.  Then Abby can be Boo :)
2. What’s your favorite color?
   Blue!!!! turquoise, cobalt, bright blues, pastel blues - love them all.  Even the funky bright blue you get on your dashboard panel when you put on your brights in the car.
3. What’s your favorite website?
   I think I agree with MaryAnne on this one - Google reader.  It's definitely the most visited. :)
4. Has your child/children started their Christmas list yet?
   Not really, but I'm sure relatives will start asking soon.  Especially since my son sees things when we're out and about, and I often tell him "put it on your wish list".  It shouldn't be hard to make a real wish list instead of just the hypothetical/ stop asking me in the store list!
5. What do you worry most about (that is, if you are a worrier like myself)?
   I just want my family and friends to be healthy and happy.  Lately that's been a little hard to come by for some of them, so I just want things to turn around for them!
6. What is the one food you could not give up (and yes, chocolate is a food group)?
   Chocolate.  And probably cheese.  And bread.  Basically any carbs that are bad for me.
7. What is something that you do not like doing on a daily basis, but you do anyway?
   cleaning. dishes. turning off my sewing machine.
8. What meal do you cook most for dinner?
   Sadly, lately it seems anything that can be cooked in 20 minutes or less.  Mac & cheese, hot dogs, pizza, chicken nuggets.... our evening schedules are busier than I want them to be right now (can't wait for soccer to be done!)
9. Do you have a tattoo? No - and no plans or wishes to get one!!
10. Who is your favorite children’s author?
    so many great choices!  I would most love to meet Tomie dePaola.  I most love reading Laura Ingalls Wilder.  But even those two choices seem so limiting...  Eric Carle. Eve Bunting. Patricia Polacco. Sharon Creech. Kevin Henkes. ok. I'll stop now.
11. What is your favorite fragrance, ie, perfume, body splash, lotion?
    Lily of the Valley or Honeysuckle.  I rarely use them, but enjoy sweet flower smells.
12. What is your favorite nice place to eat out without kids?
    Barones - our favorite pizza restaurant!  We love some of the chains too though - Chili's, Red Robin.
13. What is your favorite childhood memory? summer vacations with the family - we took so many special trips around the United States.  My favorite vacations are probably to Lake Michigan & the family cottage in South Haven.
14. If you could travel anywhere instantly, for a single afternoon, where would you go?  probably to see my brother, or someplace in the Appalachian mountains.  Although - I've always wanted to go to Hawaii......
15. What’s something quirky or funny that you remember doing as a child?  I'm sure if I thought long enough I could come up with a long list of funny things I did - and I'm sure my brother would be happy to help.  I know I loved goofing around with my cousins.  As far as quirky - I used to eat my candy (like M&Ms, skittles, valentine's hearts) in rainbow order.

Do any of these questions trigger funny stories - or great answers?  Share in the comments or link to your blog post full of answers!

my new purse

Check out my new purse - guess what?  It's blue!  If it looks familiar, I made a smaller version for my mom here.  It's fully lined with white dotted fabric & the darker blue floral.

It has lots of pockets.  The pattern calls for two large pockets on the inside.  I chose to sew one pocket into three sections and the other pocket into two sections.  They're perfect for pens, chocolate bars, sunglasses, notepads, Matchbox cars and numerous other goodies.

I put two key fobs on one side, and two circular key rings on the other side.  You can never have too many ways to organize!

Because I'm dorky like that, I made myself a little cell phone cozy.  I just wanted to something to keep it from getting scratched in the big cavern.  I suppose I could have just used one of the side pockets, but I wanted to keep those open for something else!

The top has a zipper - it's kind of a pain to attach it to the lining, but I'm glad it's there.  If I get sick of it, I can always rip it out and put in magnetic snaps.

There are two outside pockets as well (one on each side).

One more shot against my bedroom wall.  {Have I mentioned I like blue?}

 

{edited to add.... the original pattern is McCalls 5822}

{entered in Lemon Squeezy Home's Purse Week Contest - go check out all the great entries, get inspired, and vote if you would like!}

three sisters

Three sisters enjoying their sibling shirts (originally blogged about here).

I made the older sisters matching pinafores, and the baby got a matching onesie dress.

Aren't they adorable?

so sweet.

Thanks to Megan for her photography skills, and to Lisa for sharing her kids!  (Lisa also makes bows so check her out!)

pouches and bags

I know I've been missing for a little while here in blog land.  There are lots of reasons, none of them blog-worthy.  So let's just see if I can become more regular again!!!

Here are a couple little things I've been working on....

This little ruffled clutch from a Noodlehead tutorial came together so quickly and easily... even though there was a zipper involved!!!  It's a birthday present for a friend.  I think a few more may be in the works.

I also made a couple more pencil cases from Lier's Sew Mama Sew tutorial.

Do I dare say I'm getting comfortable with zippers?  Yikes!  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this one yet, but Christmas is coming...I'm sure it will find a good home!

My son's already claimed this for some of his treasures, but then he saw some guitar fabric so that may be next in line!

I've got a bunch of fabrics picked out and in the wings waiting to be sewn together.  They'll be making an appearance (hopefully) in the next week or two as clutches or cases.  I've got to stock up on more zippers now!!!

featured and FALL!

Quick note - check out my feature on Little Lizard King.  She featured my pink & purple pinafore amidst some of her other customer creations.  I am in the midst of some great company - there's some other really cute outfits there.  She has a lot of patterns that I'm excited to try out!

I told you I would get busy with some fall clothes - so here we go!
We did a little photo shoot outside because the weather was finally cooperating with fall clothing!!!  It's been so hot, humid and rainy that we haven't been able to get anything good outside!

This first one is an upcycled knit project using the Little Blue Boo Sienna Dress, long sleeved version.  I don't really love it like I thought I would, so I'm trying to figure out what to do.  I am pretty sure the big sleeves have to go - I like skinnier sleeves better.  The whole top just looks so bulky and the bottom so skinny.  I think I need to tighten up the top a little.  (Not every dress is a success!)  Maybe I'll try some freezer paper stencil pumpkin face on the orange and a ruffle on the bottom?

This is another "Annikka's Dress" by Olabelhe designs.  The first time I sewed this pattern it was (surprisingly) blue.  However, I am actually kind of enjoying the fall colors on this one!

I chose a dark brown with black swirls for the arms & underskirt, a printed orange on orange for the bodice & cuffs, and a leafy print for the overskirt.

She had been looking at the pumpkins in our garden/weed patch and was ready to go back inside!  It was windy this morning!

As she was walking up the steps I realized I'm going to have to teach her long dress on steps etiquette - she stepped on it a couple times!  I also realized I'm going to have to find her some more tights that fit!!!

Another dress I finished up this week was a long-sleeved version of Patty Young's "Abigail" dress.  I've gotten a lot of compliments on the short-sleeved version, and wanted her to have one for fall/winter too.

Her knits are a little pricey (worth it, but still pricey) so for this long-sleeved dress I used her dots & a black floral knit from Joann's.  I'm really happy with how they went together.

Abby's getting quite good at posing by the tree in the front yard.  Today she was a less somber model - she happily spun around numerous times and grinned her cheesy little had off.

Hope you all have a relaxing Labor Day weekend!  I've got a couple not-as-exciting things to finish up, but hopefully will have a little time for fun sewing too in the midst of family time!  What are you doing with your weekend?