A couple of quickies

Wanna win an apron perfect for those Fourth of July parties? Go check out the Apronista's latest contest!

I posted a recipe for Strawberry Cream Pie on my other blog. It's a recipe that takes advantage of the delicious strawberries floating around

To you smart bloggers

As evident to anyone who has stopped by my blog once or twice, I am a novice blogger. I don't have any interest in learning html or designing my own blog. I love that Blogger exists for a lazy blogger-wannabe like me. But I have a question, why is my blog so skinny? Is that just the format Blogger allows? Or did I somehow make it that skinny? And can I change it without doing anything drastic? (in other words, taking no more than 30 seconds to make the change.)

Bookshelf Widget - How fun is this?

Check out the cute little bookshelf sitting on the right side of my blog! Marji pointed it out to me and it looks like a fun way to keep track of books I've read or maybe want to read. I don't have time at the moment to populate it but it only took 2 minutes to set up (no exaggeration). If you're a reader, click on the "Get Your Own Shelf" button and add one to your own blog.

I've also updated my blog list on the sidebar. Ther are some FABULOUS blogs listed over there. Incredible knitters and sewers but more importantly, some overall wonderful women! Go check them out. It is only a partial list of those to which I subscribe via Bloglines. If I missed you, drop me an email and I'll add your blog.

S3711

I made the second of the four bathrobes just in time for yesterday's baby shower. The pattern is Simplicity 3711. I made the matching booties from the pattern but didn't like how they turned out so I threw them away.




Here is a better picture of the first one, which I made one size bigger.

Getting to know you... I mean me!

Makes me think of that show tune from The King and I! Anyhoo, the lovely Allison tagged me with the latest meme making the rounds so here goes:

1) What was I doing 10 years ago? My kids were 11, 7 and 3 and I was heavily involved in PTA, Coaching and Girl Scouts when I wasn't working. I had been with my current company for just two years at that time and was getting ready to go to Saipan for the first time. The thought of being away from my kids for more than a week, halfway around the world was heart wrenching to me! I will be headed back to Saipan for my fourth visit in a few weeks.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

• Go to my son's last choir concert
• Pay bills
• Schedule staff time for work
• Book trip to Fort Myers
• Confirm that I am chaperoning Eighth Grade Dance tomorrow night I just got the call.
  

3) Snacks I enjoy:

• homemade cookies (or really any home baked goods)
  
• pretzels
• Cheese-Its
• popcorn
• chips and salsa
  
• watermelon, raspberries, strawberries
  

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

• Take Allison and me on a knitting retreat
  
• Hire a driver to take me wherever I want to go (I hate driving!)
  
• Hire someone to finish all the partially completed home improvement projects my ex-husband left me with
  
• Buy my daughter a car
• Buy a home in in the mountains and one on the SC shore
• Take a six month leave of absence from my job to catch up on life in general
• Charitable efforts would focus on inner city kids in my community
  

5) Places I have lived:

• Delaware
• Ohio
• England
• Montreal, Quebec

6) Jobs I have had:

• babysitter
• newspaper carrier
• day care center helper
• insurance admin assistant (intern)
• waitress
• accountant
• financial analyst
• aviation consultant
• Mama
  

7) 6 peeps I wanna know more about:

First is Ande who is funny as h*ll. (Didn't realize there were people as sarcastic as Allison and me out there!) Knit in the City
Then Lindsay with whom I share a cheerleading bond (our daughters, not us! But I'm sure Lindsay and I would be awesome, too.) Lindsay T Sews (Again)
Mimi who might just be the most prolific sewer I've ever encountered! MYRAIDA

And then the following bloggers whose blogs I've come across recently:

Sew Spicee
Sewing is like Chocolate ... highly addictive
Sew Uptight

Hello. My Name is Bonnie. And I haven't bought a pattern in two days.

Yes, we all talk about buying too much yarn... buying too much fabric... buying too many patterns. I am definitely guilty of all of the above. I fell off the pattern wagon this past weekend and I wasn't going to admit it until I kept reading about all the other pattern-obsessed bloggers who also succumbed to the Hancock and JoAnn Memorial Day sales. So here is my damage:

Butteick:	McCalls:	New Look:	Simplicity:	Vogue:
5206	5522	6806	2927	8480
2326	2213	6799	3523	8470
5187			3711	2907

So I have to ask... Who else fell off the wagon?

A great weekend and a Baby Boomlet

What a wonderful weekend it has been. The weather has been glorious (except for some clouds and sprinkles this afternoon) and the weekend has been a nice mix of downtime and get-togethers. My daughter's best friend graduates on Tuesday and her party was last night. We had a terrific time and she loved her bulletin board. My daughter also made an adorable picture collage that contained a picture of the two girls four years ago and a picture of the girls in a similar pose that was taken last month.



All of a sudden, I am surrounded by people having babies! Most of these babies are boys and it's hard to think of "cute" things for baby boys. But I happened across Simplicity 3711 which has an adorable reversible bathrobe pattern in it. When my oldest child was born (Good Lord, that was 21 freakin' years ago!!!!), my two favorite gifts were a infant size bathing suit and a little bathrobe. Voila! Gift idea solved. In addition to the pattern, I picked up some flannel and broadcloth to make robes for all these babies. I tackled the one for my co-worker's son first. Since we are in the aviation business, I found a cute flannel with airplanes on it. This is my last project for the weekend (dedicated to Miss Ande, hee, hee. You didn't believe I would crank out one more thing, did you?) The actual color of the solid fabric doesn't look like either of the two following photos - I used flash on one, and no flash on the other. The true blue is somewhere in between.

Simplicity 3624 - Take Two

I made the Simplicity 3624 top a few weeks ago and have worn it several times since. It is so comfortable and I've received some nice compliments on it. I realized when I made the top it would also make a nice dress so I whipped one up last night. In total, the project took 2 1/2 hours. (Maybe 3 hours but I was drinking a martini and although way more fun, I seem to sew more slowly. Ha ha.) Anyhoo, I think I purchased the fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics (not positive) last year. I wore it to church today and will wear it to a graduation open house this afternoon. So comfortable! This will definitely be a dress I wear a lot for just hanging out.

Full review here at PR if you're interested.

On another note, Costco had the most beautiful, delicious raspberries yesterday. I had to make a batch of granola to go with the yogurt and berries.

Getting my Crafty Groove on!

After an exhausting couple of weeks with no sewing, knitting or crafting of any sort, I have most of the weekend free. After two trips to JoAnn's and one trip to Hancock's, I have enough "supplies" to keep me busy for awhile. The first project was bulletin boards with pockets for two high school graduates. My two daughters each picked the fabric for one of the boards. As you can tell, they have very similar tastes. In spite of me saying, "How 'bout this? How 'bout this? How 'bout this?" as I held up many different fabric combos, they stuck with their very first choices. Are these girls related to me? The queen of considering each and every single fabric combination before deciding? Oh well, they DID turn out cute.

Next up... A dress for me to wear to a graduation party... TOMORROW!

Auf Wiedersehen! And Welcome Home!

I'm back [waving to all]. We spent 3 days in Copenhagen, 1 day in Brussels and 2 days in Frankfurt before returning home last night. Although I was utterly exhausted by the time I returned (I don't think we had more than 5 hours sleep any night), what an fun and exciting week it was! The purpose of the trip was to tour some facilities in Europe who already engage in some of the initiatives my client is considering undertaking. As a consultant, I am usually on the "selling" side so it was great fun to be on the receiving end and have people take such good care of us. We were definitely wined and dined and got to see some very fun things. We stayed in three different luxurious hotels.

We started off with a canal cruise in Copenhagen - beautiful city!! - and spent an hour or two walking around the lovely downtown area.

Then took the train over to Malmo, Sweden for dinner. The restaurant was in a beautiful old building in the cellar.

Next, we flew to Brussels. We only had one day there (bad planning!) but we made the most of it. After a full day of meetings and tours, we spent a lovely evening in the downtown area. We started off with drinks at one of the little touristy cafes right on Grand Place and then headed to dinner at a fabulous French restaurant. As we walked to the restaurant, we passed by many other restaurants where the employees stood outside attempting to entice customers to dine at their establishments. It was quite amusing and one of the waiters stopped me and asked if he might "please have a hug from the beautiful American woman." LOL. My fellow travelers thought this was quite amusing. [note: I declined his request.]

My favorite was the three-hour boat cruise on the Rhine River followed by dinner at Johannisburg Castle. Gorgeous is all I can say!! Unfortunately, my camera battery died shortly after arriving in Frankfurt so I have no photos of the spectacular countryside. Dinner at the castle was very fun - typical German food and we spent a wonderful few hours laughing with each other. I felt like I was leaving friends when we departed.

Although this one was taken at an elegant lunch in Frankfurt, it represents how I felt when I walked in my door last night.

TTFN!

I'll be leaving tomorrow morning for my trip to Europe. Hope everyone has a great week. I leave you with a visit from the pups. My daughter had just given Martini (the black one) a bath and apparently didn't do a very good job drying her off. Herschel decided he did not want to miss out on the fun.

New Buttericks and some Research

The summer Butterick patterns are up (Thanks, Mimi). I was sort of "ehhh" about the whole collection. I like 5206, 5209, 5214, 5218, 5223 but the rest are rather boring or repeats of patterns already out there. I had to laugh at the See & Sew Pattern # 5202. Look at the line drawing:



Look familiar? How about Vogue's 8351. Here is that line drawing:
BTW, if you make View A of this dress, it is an adorable dress and I get many compliments on mine. But be forewarned, the neckline is VERY low. I raised it by an inch and I'm still a little uncomfortable with it for business (bra straps tend to pop out.)


In response to my previous post, Cidell had an excellent point. I need to do some research.

Translation for the word "fabric":
Danish - vævning
French - tissu
Dutch - stof
German - stoff

And because Allison will want me know this...

Translation for the word "yarn":
Danish - garn
French - fil
Dutch - garen
German - garn

"Didn't she used to sew / knit?"

No sewing going on for me nor will there be anytime soon. Last weekend was World Cheerleading Competitions, held in Orlando, FL. It's the top competition for competitive cheerleading and my daughter's team received a bid to attend for the second year in a row. They had 57 teams in their division and did well enough to make it to finals on Day 2. They placed either 13th or 15th depending on which coach you ask. (They only announced top ten at the competition but they do give all scores to the coaches.) We were very proud of the girls' performance - probably their best performance all season. It was an amazing competition with some incredible talent out there. I didn't get any good competition pictures but here is a picture of my daughter (on the right), her best friend and one of their coaches (known as Big Dog, no kidding.)

From Orlando, I headed directly to Denver for a conference. My first time in that area of the country and I am IN LOVE - especially with Boulder. OMG, you people who live in that part of the country are incredibly blessed for the natural resources. I spent some time hiking in Chautauqua Park and it was beautiful (in spite of realizing how out of shape I really am!) I forgot to take pictures.

Then, I received a call from a client two days ago - "Bonnie, we think it would be a good idea for you to accompany us on our trip to Copenhagen, Brussels and Frankfurt.... We leave next Sunday. Can you fit it in your schedule?" My head is still spinning as I make all the arrangements but I am very excited - I've never been to Copenhagen or Frankfurt.

Finally, meet my rocker son. LOL. I am quite proud of him as he saved up money to buy this drum set all on his own. We picked it up Thursday night. But peeps, ummm, drums are loud, even sequestered in the basement. Who knew?

S3624 or Procrastination at its best!

First, let me say thanks for the positive comments and emails on the lime gauze top. I received some good ideas and will revisit the top soon. Hopefully, I can turn it into something I like.

I'm leaving my house at 6:00 am tomorrow to fly to Orlando with my daughter for a cheerleading competition. And then on Monday I will fly from Orlando to Denver for a 3-day conference. I travel a lot so packing isn't usually that big of a deal but a multi-city multi-purpose trip requires some creative packing to avoid two suitcases. Then there are all the arrangements I need to make regarding my son, the dogs, the house, etc. But instead of focusing on that mundane stuff, I decided to make a new top for my trip. Simplicity 3624 is now MY NEW FAVORITE PATTERN!! Love this one! So quick and cute, I think! Perfect for dinner in Orlando or cocktail hour in Denver. Dontcha think?

I cut it out and started sewing it last night and finished it up tonight after work. Probably took two hours including cutting. I made View C although a bit shorter. I will definitely be making this one again. In fact, I am going to turn View B into a dress.

BTW, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The cheerleader daughter is at a concert tonight. And she hasn't started to pack either. I suspect we'll both sleep on the plane tomorrow!

Rocket Party

Here are some pictures of our neighborhood Rocket Party held last Saturday. We launched at a local school and then gathered at a friend's house for a grill-out afterwards. Much fun was had!! My son assembled the rocket but then we ran out of time before we got to the painting. We proclaimed that ours was the Earth Day Rocket, left intentionally natural. Nobody believed it.

It was fun to watch. These things went hundreds of feet in the air. I don't know who was more excited, the dads or the kids! After a launch, the kids would take off running after the rockets to retrieve them. There were a few casualties. For our last launch, my son opted for the super charged engine. Our rocket was never recovered! I figured somebody out bringing in their Sunday paper probably found it in their yard.

Some evidence of the day:

"Aw, Mom, this is embarrassing. Get off me. And take those stupid Crocs off your feet."



"Their rocket might be pretty but size DOES matter. I'm just sayin'..."



".....3...2...1... BLAST OFF!"



"Houston, we have a problem."




Tonight, "Awards" were presented. LOL.

Fabric Randomness

I didn't really need to post three times today but I didn't plan ahead. So here goes another post!

Wanted to give a shout out to Marji who took a rough fall a couple days ago. Hope you feel better very soon! And before she took her tumble, she did a little de-stashing and sent me a wonderful package containing these two lovelies! How sweet is that?!!


And in other fabric fun, I received this cool two-sided fabric from Michael's Fabric. It is turquoise on one side and a Burberry stripe on the other. I plan to make this little raincoat at some point. I think I might have already posted this but if I didn't, high fives to Sherri at Michael's Fabric - excellent communication and very fast shipping. I will definitely order from them again.


And Finally, I picked up these two fabrics from Hancocks on Sunday. The black, red and white will become a shirtdress (S2923?) and the red will probably become S2926 with black piping trim.

S3887 or Put Your Blinders On!

Almost finished S3887. I say almost because I bought some embellishments for the neckline but I can't decide whether I like this top. Let me rephrase that. I know I don't like this specific top but I can't tell if 1) it's just too big at the neckline or 2) I don't like the color of the fabric or 3) the style is not for me. Or some combination of all three! The top makes me look huge. (BTW, forgive the athletic shorts - getting ready to go walking.)

What do you think? Should I try this one again in a smaller size and less ahem... colorful fabric? Or move on to something else? Gelbean's and Adrienne's versions were so darn cute! (Shoot, I just read some of the reviews at PR and several point out that the back neck band is too big. And I now remember reading this BEFORE I started. Ugh.)

Hey, maybe I had it hiked up too high? Does it look better here?

Happy Earth Day!

I have been thinking about making some reusable fabric grocery totes. I have a couple from Trader Joe's that I TRY to remember to carry into the store to eliminate at least some of the plastic grocery bags. I think it would be fun to make some decorative ones so I can look both chic and eco-friendly. Ha ha ha. My mom mentioned a month or two ago that she would like to start using reusable bags, too, so I would like to make some for her, too.

Anyhoo, can anybody point me to a basic pattern for a simple shopping tote? I would want it to have a wide enough bottom and enough height to hold boxes of cereal and the like. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I could draft a pattern as simple as that myself but PEOPLE.... I am too busy looking chic and saving the earth. I mean really... only so many hours in the day!

Butterick Recall

Remember Butterick 5173? The pattern was recalled due to the serious error. They offered a replacement pattern if you returned the faulty pattern. I mailed mine last Monday and received the replacement today. I think that's fast customer service!

Butterick included a coupon for a free See & Sew pattern to compensate for the shipping. I think I'm going to pick 5168
I like the jacket.


After browsing the See & Sew patterns, there were not too many that appealed to me. Is it me or is the fit of the garments on the models really bad? Look at this - the turquoise dress looks to be about two sizes too big for the model:


And this - both crotches are all wonky:

B5179 or How to Over-Complicate an Easy Pattern

As I mentioned, I got lots of sewing done yesterday. This dress was item # 3. Described as a Fast & Easy, it really should have taken no more than 2 hours including cutting. But ask me how long it took me. "How long did it take you, Bonnie?" Oh, probably 5 hours and I almost ruined it!

The dress is Butterick 5179 and I made view C although I added the contrast band from View A and used the same contrast fabric for the yoke. The pattern was easy to follow but I added a little time after deciding the challis I was using was a bit too sheer and needed a lining. I cut out the smallest size and it still came out like a tent.I know the dress is sort of a flowy dress but what I got was WAY bigger than the picture indicated. Mistake # 1, didn't make a muslin.

No problem, I thought. I'll just take it in a bit at the waist to give it some shape and reduce the volume. I'll just wing it. Mistake # 2, don't wing it. Always measure. I ended up with a good waist size but it jutted out awkwardly at the bottom - I didn't have a cleanly graduating seam because I didn't measure. Plus, somehow I distorted the band at the bottom so it didn't line up with the side seams. I have no idea how that happened. Oh, did I mention, all my seams were serged at this point? Ugh. Mistake # 3, don't serge until you've done the final basting.

So, I laid the dress out and drew a clean seam on both the dress and the lining. And serged it. Tried it on and realized it was too tight! Mistake # 4, see Mistake # 3. Crap, by this time I'm seriously losing interest in this "Fast and Easy" dress but I want to wear it to the cheer banquet this afternoon so I persevered. I realized I had some extra room in the back center seam so I undid the band on the bottom (for the 4th time) and opened up the back seam, adding some width that way.

Basted it all together and WHEW, it fits although it's definitely not perfect. It's a little shorter than I wanted but that was because I re-serged the bottom band several times and lost length each time. The upside is the zipper turned out perfectly and the contrast yoke matched up perfectly.

So moral of this story is DON'T CUT CORNERS. You would think I would know this after admiring so many expert sewers but I got impatient. (My normal M.O.) I will actually make this dress again in the sleeveless version but I will alter the pattern up front to get the fit I want.