The Creation Station...

I made Trinny a new dress... I would normally never put black on a child under ten, but I messed up the baby doll top I was making for Cori (don't worry Cori I ordered some more fabric!). Happy Mistake! The photo shoot was FUN and Trin was quite the little performer as you can see. The pout was me saying "Give Me Sad"!

The Creation Station...

Is still humming along. I made the above outfit for Ari and Paperless Towels (soft flannel on oneside and durable Bamboo/Hemp twill on the other side). Sylver's machine is finally finished-I wish you could see it in person! Jesse did an awesome job for her! He made the color and put indigo and silver metalic with a touch of pearl in it. Truly lovely. Her name, according to Sylver, is Jewely (Julie). 

Also, I found an amazing antique Singer 201 in the cabinet w/ storage bench for $25 at Goodwill this week! This machine sells for $150-$300 on eBay, but she will be staying put. She works perfectly! I spent some time polishing the tarnish off, buffing her paint, and oiling/cleaning her. A Very Old, Elegant, Lady... her birthday is April 15, 1941 according to her serial #. Jesse is going to refinish the cabinet for me and I am going to re-upholster the bench. It is so amazing to find something so old that works exactly the way it was engineered to. I smashed some new technology with a hammer this week (a stupid piece o' crap cordless phone, long story), so I am feeling particularly appreciative of things that work the way they are supposed to. 

The Creation Station...

is SMOKIN'!

Sylver got a Featherweight 221 that Daddy painted a luscious lavender for her! We are putting it back together and applying new decals, so pictures will likely be a week or more. We took her Christmas machine back to Sears because I was tired of it making her cry and stopping every 30 seconds to rethread it for her. We decided to get her a Featherweight because it is practically indestructible and she can hand it down to her children. No computer, all metal, does straight stitch and reverse and does it perfectly. Anything fancier that she needs can be accomplished with an attachment or by using my machine. 

I have been working on the above projects for the last week. I used fabrics that I wouldn't cry about if I messed up too badly. I am glad I did! I got halfway through the patchwork ball before I realized that my High School Geometry class left me poorly equipped for life, LOL, so I started over. I am super happy with it now! My sister is visiting and will be taking this with her. Then I started on the dress. It is a super stretchy rib... ie a VERY good learning experience for working with knits. I ripped out the neckline twice before nailing it the 3rd time. This dress is going to live with Adrian next door... I took it to her tonight and she was SO sweet! "OH, Ms. Jennie, THANK YOU!" I can't wait to take some modeling pictures of her when the weather warms up! 

It's not perfect, but I really learn so much just by DOING that I am really building my confidence. I am really raring to go now! I am going to make a few more patchwork balls for gifts this week and then tackle a new dress pattern for a certain little one's 2 year Birthday ;) 

A New Dress for Sylver...

 

I finished this up tonight. I will take some pictures of Sylver modeling the finished product in the morning. You can see her trying it on while in process-the fit is just perfect! I had to fit her in a 7/8 for width but a 9/10 for length. I am so happy with how it turned out! The hood is really cute-long and knotted, like a gnome hood! Sweet :) The fabric is a soft cozy bamboo fleece and Sylver is CRAZY about it!

Our Creation Station and Sylver's Projects

While the weather outside is snowy, icey and VERY cold, I have been busy organizing our "Creation Station".... washing, ironing and putting away fabric, and learning how to use not only my embroidery machine, but my serger. I took my embroidery class on Saturday and it was wonderful! I can't wait to sew some new stuff to embroider! I have always been a sucker for embroidery so to be able to do it myself is just awesome!
Sylver has the space to the left of the third picture. Her fabrics, sewing box, book and machine are stored there. The right of our long table is my fabrics, embroidery thread and patterns. My Gram's VERY old sewing book is there, as well as a vintage iron. FYI, Vintage Irons work better than the new irons. They get hotter, last longer (up to 30 years!) and are heavier...but they don't have auto off so you can't leave them on! They have these really cool cloth cords and they just wear like.... well, like iron! The cutting table has my inspiration poster board, the cutting mat, and my embroidery machine.
You can see Sylver sewing up some car pillows for herself, her friends and her brother. She is patient, focused and has learned to thread her machine herself. FYI, her lips are blue from a ring pop and she lost her bottom right tooth, so she is sporting an slight but oh so adorable lisp right now! She informed me yesterday that she doesn't have a sweet tooth because they are ALL sttttthhhhweet. She is such a little candy fanatic!

Expert Seam Ripper (aka Adventures in Sewing)

I have taken up sewing... I got a sewing machine and lessons for my birthday and some more lessons and an embroidery machine for Christmas. My sewing was taking over our nourishment center (dining room) so Jesse put up a workspace for me in the basement and it's ON! LOL
This was my first real piece of clothing (the first one doesn't count!).
Alright, I will 'fess up. Part of my PPD is really bad insomnia. A couple of times a week I can' t take the lack of sleep anymore and I will take an ambien. Last week I had one of those nights and didn't go to bed... that is ALWAYS a mistake, LOL. Apparently I decided that I could be Donna Karan and whip up a shirt while talking on the phone with my sister. In the morning an entire spool of thread was gone, my seam ripper had run away screaming and there was something resembling floral roadkill on my sewing table. Let's just say it is a Sewing Hall of Shame Masterpiece. But, it all ended well, because I made a "normal" one that is only slightly messed up. Not bad for my first try!