Friday, February 29, 2008

Caroline's Fleece Jacket

I cut this jacket out on Tuesday afternoon and I sewed it together last night. I was so proud of it and think it looks very cute. It was interesting sewing a jacket together as it was a bit different than other clothes that I had sewed before. I used fleece and sometimes when the layers were four or more deep it was a little hard to sew through. Caroline picked out the iron-on appliques. There are two butterflies on her left breast and on the bottom there are flowers and ladybugs. She went to bed before it was done and this morning I showed it to her.

She was quick to announce that she didn't like it because it didn't have Mickey Mouse on it. Well, that is just too bad!! Still it is cute and she wore it to school today without argument.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Dinner-Impossible


Do you know that show with the guy who is given a mission at the beginning of the show and it is to cook for a group of people with specific complications or venues that make it hard to accomplish his job? Well, tonight my husband and I had a very similar experience.

We were asked to cook for a youth program at our church. We expected to have a given set of instructions, number of people, etc when we got there. We were presented with a half set up room with tables and chairs, a bunch of food on the counter in the kitchen and a basic set of instructions. The instructions went something like this:

Cook Pasta

Cook sauce, meat in refrigerator

Make salad and bread, use left over vegetables from last week.

Dessert in freezer, 42 Ice Cream cookies already made.

On the counter was 8 jars of spaghetti sauce, four loaves of french bagette bread, frozen butter in a ziploc bag, 2 large bags of spaghetti noodles and 5 small ziploc bags of broccoli and 2 small bags of baby carrots. In the fridge was 10 lbs of hamburger meat and two large bags of lettuce precut and a big container of grape tomatoes.

Okay, start the hamburger meat and put on a big pot to boil the spaghetti noodles. Oh we arrive at 4:15 and dinner is promptly at 6pm. We start with that. We look at the jars of sauce and noodles and figure that we will be feeding an army. We get the meat browned drained and in a pot and I put in four jars of spaghetti sauce. Water hasn't boiled yet and it is now 5:oo. We start getting the room put together, chairs set up, places set with plates, salad plates, cups, forks, knives, napkins. We then find someone who tells us to figure for 40 people and we serve family style and each of the six tables need serving bowls or platters with food. Great! Now we are working. Water still not boiling, we figure out how to work the convection oven, stir the sauce again, find six platters, six bowls. Start making the salads. Is the broccoli left over from last week? We decide yes since no one can help us and start to cut it up. Water boiling, add the pasta, it is 5:30. In the salad goes the broccoli, cut the carrots, add the tomatoes. New big kid comes in and asks to help. We pour the cheese into bowls and send him out to put them on the tables. In goes the bread. Salads are done, stir the pasta and sauce. Turn off sauce. Pasta almost done. Salad goes to the passthru. Bread comes out and onto serving plates. Kid puts bread on tables. Drain the pasta, and start to put the sauce on the pasta. Toss, put on serving dish, put more sauce on top and to the passthru six times!

Kids all pile in and a server comes from each table to get the food. In two minutes they are all eating and we sneak out the back door for a little quiet time. We decide to run down to the bookstore and veg out for a minute before picking our kids back up.

When we get back we found out that they all started banging on the tables and chanting "we want the cooks, we want the cooks". Then they all sang to us except we weren't there because we didn't know. Oh well, next time!!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Fit for a Princess



This is the nightgown I made for my middle daughter. She loved it so much that she sat in front of the mirror and looked at herself for a full hour after I made it. My youngest liked it so much that she has asked me to make her one too. The pattern is McCalls #5510. I got it at Hancock Fabrics last week at their 'warehouse sale'. The pattern was 99cents and the material was $2 a yard. It took about 2 yards to make.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

The blankets


Here are the two fleece blankets I made yesterday evening.

Monday, February 18, 2008

I'm So Excited...

and I just can't hide it....

Oh my oh my! I can't tell you how excited I was tonight when I finally found my rubbermaid box of sewing supplies. I don't know what I was thinking but I decided to look one more time in my closet (aka: storage eave) and try to find it. I searched and searched and (yes the closet is that big) and I finally found it. I opened it up and it was like Christmas to me. I found my pinking sheers, bobbins, thread, needles, and lots of material. I hopped right on a project and started cutting the fleece blankets I wanted to make for the kids. I will post a picture of them tomorrow as they are all sleeping with the blankets right now. I chose coordinating fleece. For the girls, one side is a flower pattern and the other side is a matching plaid. For my son, his is a commemorative cub scout picture on one side and solid blue on the other. I sewed up the sides, turned it right side out and then ran another stitch around the outer edge to make a border of sorts. They love them.

I had a strip of fabric from the blankets as long as the blankets are and about 8 inches wide. With these scraps I made fleece boa scarves. I sew down the middle of the strips long ways and then cut with scissors the fringe (use your rotary blade it is faster) all along the edges. Here is a picture of the boa scarves:
I am just so excited to have my sewing machine out again. We had bought a smaller table at a yard sale early last fall for $5 for the table and two chairs. The chairs need refinishing and the table needs a new top but I cleaned it up and moved it into my bedroom to set up the machine. It is the perfect size for sewing and for the room space.

So my mind is running now of how to have a stay at home business and make stuff that will bring in an income. I think I may think on this a while. The three blankets took me a total of an hour to make and that includes making the scarves too. I need to figure a way to get the material wholesale and then to find a way to sell them.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Update on the sweater

I have been working on my youngest daughter's sweater and I have finished the back and am working on the front. It is about half way done. This sweater pattern is very quick and easy. I would recommend it for any first time sweater maker who wants to break out of the "I only knit scarves" rut.

I have been missing my crochet though recently and have been tempted to pick up my hooks. I really want to finish one project before starting another but the urges have been there.

Does anyone else read the Yarn Harlet blog? Boy does she knit fast.

Oh my middle daughter had learned to knit. She can't keep with a project very long and she sometimes forgets to take the stitch off her needle and she ends up adding stitches here and there but she is getting very good. One day she will decide to sit down and make a scarf and then she will be hooked!!! Waaa haaa haaaa..... She's under my spell now!

Friday, February 1, 2008