New Look 6930-Pattern Review

This is wedding dress option #2 for my girls.  

New Look #6930

Cons:

• It is too baggy around the waistline-  I think a roomy waist is cute in some dress styles, but with the trim around the rib cage on this dress, the baggy-ness just makes it look like it doesn't fit right.  In order to make the dress look better I'd suggest getting a very long ribbon that ties in the front like show (because that is so adorable) but instead of sewing it to the dress all the way back to the zipper closure, stop at the side seem and let it hang free so that you could use it to tighten the dress to improve the fit.

Pros:

• I liked the use of bias tape to fold down the neckline.
• The directions were great and easy to follow.  
• It went together faster than I expected
• The ruffle and trim is SO CUTE!!!! 
• This sleeve is ruffled instead of lying flat, so as sleeves go it was on the easier side.

This project would be good for a seamstress who is ready to graduate from beginner to intermediate.

Mix-trail

I know I've posted about this trail mix we like someplace before, but I don't think I've shared the recipe.
We don't make this very often, but my husband and I took the kids out camping this weekend and let the kids help with the meal planning.  This is one of the things they said absolutely must be on the menu.  So I think they'd be sad if they grew up and couldn't find the recipe here on my blog.
My kids were little when we came up with the recipe and they kept forgetting the name and called it mix-trail instead of trail-mix.  So the name has stuck.

Less-Healthy version of Mix-Trail

6 cups of Cheerios

1 bag of Peanut Butter M & M's (11.40 oz bag)

1 bag of Craisins (10 oz. Bag) 

1 bag of Milk chocolate chips (11.5 oz bag)

1 can of Peanuts (14 oz. can)

1 bag of Caramel bits (11 oz. bag)

1. Combine everything into the biggest bowl or pot you have.
2. Mix
3. Separate into 2 gallon sized zip lock bags (1 for now, 1 for latter)

I like to serve this at big parties like Bunko night.  

But if you don't have a lot of people coming through the door, you will end up with a lot of left overs, eat them all shamelessly, and be sad about it when you realize your pants don't fit good anymore. So I made a more healthy version with a larger cheerio to candy ratio.  1/2 cup of this is about 235 calories for those calorie counters out there.  Also, this all fits into 1 ziplock bag.  I like to put the 1/2 cup measuring cup in the bag so I know how much I am eating.  

Healthy-er version of Mix-Trail

1 cup Caramel Bits

1 cup Milk Chocolate Chips

1 cup Peanut Butter M & M's

2 cups Peanuts

2 Cups Craisins

4 Cups Cheerios

1.  Put everything into a gallon size ziplock bag and close it without squeezing all the air out.  Shake it up good to mix everything together.  Serve

Now hide the left over candy or feed it to your kids so you don't end up eating it all in a moment of weakness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SIM 2464 pattern review

Wedding dress option #1

We have a wedding to go to this summer and my Mom tells us that my girls won't be flower girls, but she wants them to wear Coral dresses so that we can have family pictures that will look nice with the wedding backgrounds/flowers.  So first I searched Amazon (My favorite store :) for some dresses that would work, but I didn't see any coral dresses with sleeves that would work.  So I decided that I should consider making the dress.  I chose this pattern to try out from my stash and found some fabric scraps to try it out on. 

 I don't like spending $ on fabric for a pattern I've never tried before.  I made the size 8 top because Gwen already has plenty of clothes in her current size.   So you can see in the pictures that it is a little big, but I'll put it in the top of the closet and she will look adorable in it next summer with some leggings under it.

 She wasn't all that thrilled about doing a fashion show 1st thing in the morning.  but I had just finished it while she was sleeping and couldn't wait to check it out on her.

 My review of the pattern is this:

• The pattern is for intermediate sewers who know how to:
• use bias tape
• piece together curved pattern pieces
• handle a "3 way intersection" of pattern pieces (On the front)
• sew a casing
• Make a ruffle

• The guide for the elastic on the sleeve seemed to be too big.  It was as long as the sleeve was, so it would not have made a ruffle on the sleeve as shown.  I had to take it in a bit.
• That being sad, this is the easiest sleeve EVER!!!  I love that the top front, back and shoulder are all 1 piece.  That saves a lot of time not having to ease in a sleeve.
• There is not interfacing, so you skip that step, but then have lots of turning under of seems and stitching them in place to reinforce.
• I LOVE that there is no zipper and no buttons!
• However, Where the side seems come together, the elastic was a little bulky.  Next time I will make sure that the elastic is hidden about 1/4" or 1/2" in from the edge of the seem to cut down on all that bulk and hopefully make it more comfortable to wear.
• Also, I used 2 strips of 1" wide elastic instead of the recommended 5 strands of 1/4" elastic.  I think it still looks cute and it took way less time.
• The wording on some of the steps was not specific enough for a beginner seamstress.

Pros and Cons aside, I LOVE this pattern. I will make it again because...

• it is beautiful, it adjusts to fit any body type because of the elastic.
• It is light and airy without showing too much skin.  Perfect for a hot day.
• Elastic is SO much cheaper, easier to sew, and easier to wear than a zipper, buttons or Velcro.
• It does not take a ton of fabric and as you can see from the pattern, you can use coordinating fabrics from your stash, so it might not cost you anything to make it!  

However, I'm not sure if it will be right for this summer's wedding.  What do you think?  It's not very fancy and there are a lot of other patterns out there.  Maybe I could dress it up with a soft crepe and some sparkly trim.

I have a few other patterns that I'm going to test out this month before I make the final call.  And hopefully I will finish my swaddling blanket tutorial soon.  I just made another swaddling blanket last week for a little miracle being sent to some friends here in New England.  When I printed out my how to swaddle directions I realized that I don't have directions on how to make the blanket, and it is so easy, I should.

-Bri

Homemade laundry soap

I think in a lot of ways I grew up fast, but in the area of doing my projects, it has taken me a long time to grow up.
I feel like I am beginning this shift from doing projects just because it's something I really really want to do, to doing projects that are practical and coincide with caring for my family.  The projects that I've been doing recently have been less time consuming and more purpose driven.  I am getting better at choosing when to do my projects by planing ahead and deciding to have a start and finish time instead of working until the kids are driving me crazy or I want to fall asleep.  I am also being more cost conscious.  For a while I had felt so justified in my right to sew/craft that I really didn't care about the price of a project, if I wanted to make it I would.  But I don't want to do that anymore.
Now I still get to learn new techniques and create so I'm happy and staying true to myself.  But I'm doing it all in a new way.
So today, in an effort to try something new and find a way to save money, I gave homemade laundry soap a try.  Grating the soap was a good work out and I didn't do the math, but I know that each load has got to be only like a penny or so.  ($4 for a box of borax, $3 for a box of washing soda, $99 for a bar of soap)  its got to be cheep because you only use a small amount of the borax and the soda, Your most expensive ingredient per batch is the soap, and you get 64 loads per batch.
I found the recipe Here

Homemade Laundry Soap

1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above

½ cup washing soda

½ cup borax powder 

~You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan.  Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts.  Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved.  Remove from heat.  Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket.   Now add your soap mixture and stir.  Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir.  Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel.  You use ½ cup per load.

After I did all the measuring I made a mark on the top of the water line in my bucket so that next time I don't have to measure out all the water.  I'll just pour the soap mixture into the bucket and fill it under the sink until I reach the line.

I used an old Costco sized powdered detergent bucket and it was plenty big.

I've been hearing from a lot of my friends who say that they do this and I've been wanting to try it for a while.  DON'T WAIT ANYMORE!  GIVE IT A TRY!!!

A few weeks ago my husband had to leave town for a class, since he was gone I got a project going to entertain myself after the kids went to bed.

I got this pattern and made a doll for each of my girls.

I'm not sure where I went wrong with the heads, but one is too big, the other is too small and I could have sworn that I followed the pattern exactly both times.  As they are, I think Gwen's (The one with the big head) looks sort of like Charlie Brown and Maggie's looks a bit like a voodoo doll.

My pattern deviations

1. Hair- The pattern told me to sew strips of yarn onto some type of paper and then sew it onto the dolls head, but I just used my crochet hook and strung yarn through the holes in the dolls head.  I made sure to fill the hairline in really well, the crown and part line too.  But for some of the less important areas, I only threaded yarn into holes on every other row of stitches and the hair is still too full.
2. body-I made underpants for them by using a fun color of yarn when I began the body, then when it told me to begin decreasing I switched over to the flesh colored yarn.

But the girls already love them and so I am happy overall.

Some of the things that I noticed about the pattern (good and bad)

1. The doll is a great size because clothes for an 18" doll (American girl style dolls) fit them fairly well.  
2. The hair reminds me of cabbage patch dolls from when I was a kid, so it will probably be great for using to practice braiding and stuff.
3. For the first doll I didn't have to buy any yarn at all.  I just used some scraps that I had in my box of yarn.  So it was basically a free toy.
4. The necks are not very strong so the heads flop back a lot.  (It's possible I didn't follow the pattern well enough.)
5. The dress was too complicated for me to follow, I was catching on, but I kept having to unravel it and start over until finally I decided to get creative and make my own dress.
6. I made about 1 body part a night so if you are working on this in the evenings too, consider that it will take about 6 nights.  (arms, legs, body, head, + 2 nights for the hair)

I wouldn't go so far as to say that I am looking forward to Sam's next business trip (because I'd take cuddling with my hubby, a snack, and our favorite show over a project) but I have a few more toy patterns that I am wanting to try out for Toby that I will get started when Sam hits the road.

Craft Hope Project #20
I LOVE this group called Craft Hope, they do a new project for a good cause every month.  I have been having fun checking in with them and dreaming of joining their ranks of sewers.  Well, this month I finally did it.

 I only made 6 bibs to send off, Not quite what I had been dreaming of doing, but every little bit helps :)

Here is the pattern and directions for the project

 And I made one for my cute little guy too, I can't believe he's so big that he needs one!

An old Friend form the dessert had a baby recently and I had this blanket pattern that I had been dying to try.

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/11/cathedral-window-baby-playmat.html

It was fun to watch how it went together, but I don't think I'd make it again because... 

• I felt like it was a waste of fabric to be cutting circles and leaving un-usable gaps instead of squares or triangles with straight edges.  So wasted fabric means an expensive project.  
• Also, when compared to conventional quilt construction,  I thought this method was more difficult to make the intersections look clean and nice.

However, I did love that there was not a ton of quilting to do when I was done and that I didn't ave to bind it .

I forgot to take a photo of the back of the blanket before sending it off to Baby Josh.  But it was the light blue fabric with little spots of the medium blue bias tape poking out at the intersections.

Here's the how-to

1. you cut the circles of top fabric, bottom fabric, and batting.
2. Sew them together into sandwiches
3. Sew on the double fold bias tape (This is what makes it look like a wedding ring quilt)
4. Draw squares onto the circles with a washable marker
5. Sew the circles together into strips along the marker lines
6. Sew the strips together
7. Sew down the curvy flaps and you are done.

Even though I won't make this one again, I still think that it looks cool.