Keep Chugging!

So I have no internet access at home, and haven't for a week.  It should be fixed tomorrow.  And I'm still adjusting to my new schedule, although I can tell you that I like it much better than my previous arrangements.  So since I'm on my lunch break and still need to drop the old paycheck in the bank, I'm just giving you a quickie of what I've been up to.

~My favorite--an Immigration Day project for Emma.  She will be Adelaide Bryant who immigrated to the US from Liverpool, England in the 1900s.  It is so cute!  I'll post pictures when I have some.
~A wallet order
~A bag order
~I made my Dollywood bag and it is now doubling as a lunch box since I lined it with ripstop nylon.
~Mama told me she wants a bag like my pleated one too.  So that's to be done.

That's all for now.  Off to the bank!

Bear with Me!

Hi everyone!  I didn't fall off a mountain this weekend.  I promise.  Though I did decide to take the lazy way out on our vacation and I didn't take a lot of pictures.  I didn't even take the first ball of yarn.  It was amazing.

ANYWAY...

The reason I'm asking you to bear with me is because I started my new job yesterday!  8:30AM to 6PM with a 2 hr lunch, Monday through Thursday.  It's nice.  Plus I'm working for a boss who I loved so much that I kissed when I left yesterday.  My boss is my Daddy.  But I won't have as much down time to blog and mindlessly surf the internet for craft ideas like I did at my other job.  I'm OK with this.  Very OK. 

So just hang with me until I can get in a steady schedule and I promise I'll be back with goodies!  Goodies for all!

Selvage Earring Tutorial

Ever wonder what you could do with all those selvages or thin tiny fabric scraps?  Ever have an outfit that you could never find earrings to match?  Fret no more! 

I finally got the time to make my selvage earring tutorial!  So here goes.

Materials Needed:
~Low temp hot glue gun
~Bendable wire (I used floral wire)
~Ear wires
~Crimp beads
~Needle nosed pliers and wire cutters
~Scissors
~About 18 inches of selvage or just 18 inches of 1/2 inch thick fabric

Depending on how big you want your earrings, cut your wire into two equal lengths.  Mine were 5 inches.

Place a small strip of glue at an angle at the end of the selvage.  You want to use the smallest amount of glue possible so the ends will go into the crimp bead easily.  Glue the wire down at an angle like so.  Then just start wrapping the wire.  You may need to glue it at points here and there if the wires are much longer than 5 inches.

When you get to the end of your wire, glue down the selvage with a thin bit of hot glue.  Make sure to glue it to the wire and not just other fabric.  You don't want the wrapping to unspin.  When it's glued down, cut the extra selvage off.  This will be used to make the second earring.  Excuse my camera strap at the bottom of the picture.  It has nothing to do with the earrings.

Now bend your wrapped wire into the shape of a horseshoe. 

Pinch the ends of the wire together and apply a crimp bead to the top.  I used a wider set of pliers for this than my needle nose, but needle nose should work just fine.  Then trim off the scraggly ends at the top of the bead. 

Now use your needle nose pliers to open the bottom loop on the earwire enough to thread the crimp bead onto it.  Make sure the pretty side faces front and thread the crimp bead onto the earwire.  Close the earwire back with the needle noses.  If you were a little violent with your project (like me), you may need to reshape your fabric/wire loop at this point.

And there you have it!  Now just do the same thing for the other earring using the rest of the selvage scrap.

If you make some of these I'd love to see a picture!  Upload one to my Flickr group here --> Evan Becky's Fan Pics on Flickr



To-Do List 10-21-11

This post is more for my sanity than anything else.  But on the other hand, I'm thinking about doing a giveaway soon!  Who's with me?

~Alter the peasant dress (which may entail more work than I thought) It's done!  (hehehe!)  And I didn't have to tear it apart!
~Belt and bag to match peasant dress (I have some nice microsuede polyester for this!)<-- This is not done because I realized that my poly suede doesn't match.  I think I'll just buy a belt.  And save the poly suede for a different bag.
~Make the "fur" lined coat--This has been put on the back burner.  It's not all that important that I get it done.  I have all winter to wear it.
~Dollywood bag--I think I'm going through with it.  It shouldn't (shouldn't being the keyword) take long
~A-line skirt with black, white and pink plaid material
~Make a tutorial for the selvage earrings.<--Got the pictures made!  They are super cute! 
~Remake a train engineer hat for an order.  I knew in the back of my mind that this might happen though.  I made the hat a little too small.
~Redesign my jewelry case idea.  I like the new design much better
~Made the executive decision that I'm going to All About Fabrics again tomorrow for some molded plastic zippers and rip-stop nylon--These are for new travel kits Turns out I didn't need molded plastic zippers.  Oh well, they were cheap
~I'd really like to make a "catalog" of stuff that I make.

Now for the new stuff:
~Try printing on ribbons and fabric using some tutorials I found online
~Make my Pretties with the wine satin and white lace.  Got that idea here --> Etcetorize
~Make the Sweater Bangles like I found here --> A Very Sweet November
~Make a Ruffle scarf like Merediths here --> Haute to Sew
~More Travel Kits and Gift Card Holders

And for the Must be Done Monday List:
~Get up early (hmm, this doesn't sound right, get up early on my day off...)
~Finish off my pedicure gift card from my Mother-in-law :)
~Find some bangles to make above said bangles
~Find some brown leg warmers, maybe...
~Find a dress belt if not done before Monday
~The Pretties
~Sweater Bangles
~Dollywood Bag
~Then if I have time, the pre-cut Travel Kits and Gift Card Holders

I should probably get up at about 6 AM.  That oughta do it.

Awkward and Awesome 10-20-11

I'm just gonna bust right on in with it.

Awkward

~All the craziness that seems to be going on everywhere!  I think that since it was cloudy all last week to cover up the full moon, everybody realized this week that they missed it, so they are extra crazy.  Going shopping today started to get on my nerves because people were being rude and had no regard for someone in scrubs who might have to go into work soon.

~Spending most of the past two days with urine all over my hands from working on the urinalysis counter.  Not the job I had in mind when I went to college.

~Almost ending up in a whipped cream fight on my back porch with a bunch of middle school girls.  See this post for a few pics. 

~Having to save my brother's girlfriend by tickling one of the above middle schoolers. 

~This wasn't awkward for me, but for Hubs.  Sam and Megan (my brother and his girlfriend) almost seeing Hubs in only his tidy whities on Sunday afternoon before the kids got to our house.

~Having to wash my dress jeans after only a few hours wear because Ike Beast slurped me up the side of the leg.  Dog slobber isn't exactly a fashion statement I'd like to make.

~Hoping to goodness that Ike Beast didn't get too "excited" (if you know what I mean...) for our Christmas card picture.

I just realized that all but the first two awkwards happened on Sunday.

Awesome

~Getting the Christmas card picture made with Ike looking at the camera and without him being too excited.  This was a Christmas miracle in and of itself.  I'll post the card when it gets closer to Christmas.  We just wanted to make sure we had enough time to print the pics.

~Scoring some great deals at Old Navy for Hubs.  I just hope he likes what I picked out.

~I bought some wine colored satin, white lace and tiny elastic at Hobby Lobby today.  Hubs and I are going on a romanic trip to the mountains next weekend.  Can you guess what's going to be made from the satin and lace?  ;)

~I found out what to do with the left over sweater from my pumpkins.  Look here -->A Very Sweet November

~I figured out how to alter my peasant dress without tearing it apart and starting over.  Sure, it would probably fit better if I started over, but I don't have time for that.  You really don't know how excited this really makes me.  I'm gonna try to do this before Sunday so I can have WIWW pics of it.

~Finding these little babies on sale for $15 at Old Navy today

I almost passed them by, but I couldn't help it.  I had been wanting some leopard print flats.  And my recent check of the website says that they are $20 from there and they don't have my size.  Score!  Now, for the first time in my life, I kind of want some brown leg warmers to wear with my jeggings and these shoes...

~The new Casting Crowns CD came out this week.  I pre-bought mine for practically $5 and picked it up today!

~Only 6.5 more days before I'm no longer an employee at the hospital!  Ok, so I really do like my job and most of the people I work with, I just hate the hours.  Plus, it doesn't matter how good the boss is elsewhere, they don't hold a candle to my Daddy being my boss.  I'm also soooo looking forward to being able to cook dinner for Hubs every night. 

I think that's all I'll leave you with today.  There really have been so many awesome things happend this week.  I think doing Awkward and Awesome is just God's way of telling me that the good really does rule over the bad and that He will always look out for me. 

Eventful Weekend

So much happened this weekend, yet, I feel like I didn't get much done.  And truthfully, I didn't get much done off my to-list, but a lot of stuff that needed to get done, got done.

First of all, I got my sweater punkins made:

I first saw these from Rachel at My Happily Ever After, who found the tutorial over at Small Fry and Co.  They do such a good job with it, I'm not gonna go into the gory details of it, but whether you are a seamstress or not, these were so easy to make.  I tried to find sweaters at the Goodwill that I didn't think anyone would wear, but I still had a hard time hacking up a perfectly good sweater.  But they made great centerpieces for my dining room table.  And I still have lots of sweater left of the gold and white ones because I only used the sleeves for those!

And we did a big cleaning of the house.  Hubs was especially excited about that.  He's a clean freak.  I am not.  But I'm trying my best to keep it clean so we won't have so much work to do at Christmas.  That's really what took up most of my time on Saturday.  Between that and the preschool Fall Festival at church.  We aren't preschool workers, but our youth were helping to run booths, so we were also helping.  I also put on about 12 quarts of vegetable soup for my Mother-in-law's birthday party on Sunday.

So skip ahead to Sunday, after church we finished throwing together the birthday party.  This included making 2 dozen cornbread muffins and decorating a giant pumpkin pie with whipped cream.  The whipped cream melted and made a mess of the pie, but luckily it was store bought and I didn't feel like I had too much invested in it.  Everybody said it tasted good.  But we had a lot of fun and a lot of food!

Hubs's mom (and dad) blowing out candles.  That's her mother on the other side.  Can you believe that Hubs's grandmother will be 90 next month?!  (Don't tell her I told...)

Me and Emma, my middle niece.  She is a girl after my own heart.  She wanted to know what projects I was working on and was thrilled about my sewing room.  She's also the one who always makes sure I can come to her birthday parties.

Then on Sunday night we had our crazy bunch of Middle Schoolers over for Small Groups.  We decided that the snack for that night was going to be pancakes.  Hubs made about 50 pancakes and they were all gone by the end of the night.  Along with some ice cream, about half of the left over pumpkin pie and a few bags of chips.  They will eat you out of house and home!  And did I mention, that we had chocolate and strawberry syrups and whipped cream for the pancakes?  They took over that.

That's our pastor's daughter with her mouth open.

And her mom and dad lead High School Small Groups

They're crazy, but I love them!  

New Facebook Button!

Hey everybody!  I created a new button for my blog tonight.  If you don't notice it to the right, it looks kind of like this:



Just click the one on the right and it will take you to my Facebook fan page.  I promise I'm not one of those people who sends crazy updates out the wazoo and I'm planning on a special offer here in the next few days.  Go check it out please!

Awkward and Awesome 10-13-11

I'm back doing Awkward and Awesome!  I racked up a few awkwards for the week.

Awkward

~This was actually from last week and I forgot about it.  Stuffed peppers take longer than 30 min to cook.  Poor Hubs was eating them cruchy before he had to go to  his fire meeting.  He did nuke one in the microwave and it got a little better. 

~Losing an epic battle to some white velvet.  While wearing dark clothing.  It looks kind of like this:

A word to novice seamstreses like myself.  Velvet is sooo not worth the trouble.  It puckers and buckles when you try to sew it.  And it leaves its dust everywhere.  That pile of velvet is still sitting in the floor mocking me everytime I go in my sewing room.  If you want it, it's free to a good home.  As long as it doesn't eat the mailman on the way there.

~Still having velvet dust on your pants after washing them, but being late-ish for work and having to wear them anyway.

~Having a to-do list that never gets shorter, it only grows.

~Eating half a box of Better Cheddars for lunch yesterday.

Awesome

~Hubs saying that the stuffed peppers were amazing once they were cooked all the way through.

~Seeking revenge on the velvet by buying some really nice white flannel

~Realizing that the lady at the fabric shop didn't charge me full price for said flannel

~Getting some of my zippers sorted out so I know what Travel Kits I can make with which fabrics

~Washing my prized sweaters from Goodwill to make my sweater punkins

~My mother-in-law's birthday party on Sunday (her birthday's saturday, but we can't get the family together until Sunday).  We're having vegetable soup and corn bread for sure.  And some other stuff.

~The birthday card I made for a coworker's niece:

I think I'm gonna start writing my Awkwards down as they happen.  I keep remembering things from weeks past.  Maybe I shouldn't though.  It makes me realize all the awesome stuff that happens to me every week.

What I've Been Doing Lately

This won't be another to-do post.  That's for later this week.  I really haven't done much to knock stuff off my to-do list.  I keep adding stuff, but not striking others off.  However I do feel like I've gotten a good bit accomplished.  I feel like I'm on a good path forward, though my to-do list doesn't look like it. 

So, instead of worrying about my shop and sewing and such while I'm at work, I've been reading.  I love reading.  And I want to tell you about what I've been reading.

For Christmas last year, Hubs gave me a book that was the first in a series that I had had my eye on.  It was The Centurion's Wife by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke.

And on a recent trip to Lifeway, I looked at the Bargain Books and found the next two books in the series for only about $6 each!

I've gotten a little over halfway through The Hidden Flame, and it keeps me wanting to read more.  So far I've really enjoyed these books.  They do take a few liberties with characters in the Bible.  A few background stories are made up (the Centurion in the first book is the Centurion who asks Jesus to heal his servant, Ananias and Saphira are in the second and Saphira's brother is a major character), so if you are someone who would consider this blasphemey, you may not want to read these books.  Although some stories are written for Biblical characters, there is nothing that goes against the Bible.  There is actually a good bit of scripture throughout and the characters who are in the Bible are all well represented when it comes to what we know of their personalities from the Bible (Martha is always busy working, Herod was a character you loved to hate).  And then because they are written for us ladies, there is of course a bit of a love story woven through them, but you don't have to worry about a really smart young'un finding the book and reading any...ahem...love scenes.  I think anyone, whether they have extensive Biblical knowledge or not, would at least enjoy the books. 

What I love most about these books, though, is getting a glimpse of Christianity at its youngest.  They take place right after Jesus has ascended to heaven.  Growing up in the Bible Belt, I've never really felt a sense of persecution or even doubt that what I believe is really true.  Even if they don't believe it, a majority of the people around here have been inside a Christian church, or at least know the story of Jesus and don't really care one way or another if I believe.  I never really thought about what it would be like to talk to someone who actually knew Jesus, but set him aside as just another crazy man who said he was the Messiah but is now dead.  I've also never really thought about the leap of faith that it takes to for someone whose background says they should believe something else, to trust Jesus.  I grew up in a Christian home, I know nothing else.  But for a Roman soldier, or a Pharisee to change his mind would be a totally different story.

So there's what I've been doing lately.  I encourage you, whether you are a Christian or not, to just go and check these books out.  If nothing else, you've come away with a good read. 

No Awkward, Just Awesome!

I was going to link up to Awkward and Awesome again, but I realized there wasn't anything awkward (at least not that I can remember) that happened to me this week.  I got a lot of stuff done this week.  I think this post is going to turn into a done and to-do post with a few bits of awesomeness at the end.  Here's my list from last week with what I got done crossed off:

~3 black wallets for my Mother-in-Law
~Blue, green and brown wallet for my coworker
~5 Year Old sized Clemson Grayson Leigh hat for a custom order~Alter the peasant dress (which may entail more work than I thought)
~Belt and bag to match peasant dress (I have some nice microsuede polyester for this!)
~While I'm talking about the dress, make a scarf from the scraps (Imagining that it will be really cute with a white long sleeve tee and denim skirt) (See my WIWW post for this week for that idea) and earrings from the selvage
~Make the "fur" lined coat--This has been put on the back burner.  It's not all that important that I get it done.  I have all winter to wear it.
~Make up bags
~Curling iron holders Got one prototype done, it's functional, but I've got some tweaking to do.
~Gift card holders/wallets These are cute!  Got to make lots more for the Christmas season though
~Make a scarf out of an old grimey t-shirt as inspired by The Crafty CPA's T-Shirt Recyling Ideas (this link leads to her blog post which links to a tutorial)--I'll probably do this tonight while watching Storage Wars with Hubs Also in my WIWW post for this week
~Dollywood bag?
~A-line skirt with black, white and pink plaid material

So I have all that to do, plus a few other things:
~Make a tutorial for the selvage earrings.  The more I sew, the more selvages I acquire, and I think that these earrings will be a cute addition to any seamstress's accessory wardrobe
~Remake a train engineer hat for an order.  I knew in the back of my mind that this might happen though.  I made the hat a little too small.
~Redesign my jewelry case idea. 
~Made the executive decision that I'm going to All About Fabrics again tomorrow for some molded plastic zippers and rip-stop nylon--These are for new travel kits
~I'd really like to make a "catalog" of stuff that I make.  This comes after a friend who owns a salon said she might want to carry some of my stuff.  I'd like to have a brochure at least of the things that are in my shop and some color options.  It would be easier than saying, "go to my shop at whatever address" or "here's my business card."  I think this might get me more business than a card.

Ooh, I had almost forgot!  I had considered doing a party like Scentsy and 31 parties for my stuff.  This might take more work than I can handle before the Christmas season, but it's still a dream. 

And the bit of awesomeness that excited me the most this afternoon?  Old Navy has released this season's Performance Fleece!  I want these, especially the Houndstooth one, and they're only $8 this weekend!

Saturday Night Special Time!

Hey everybody!  It's Saturday Night Special time again.  That means you can take 25% off your whole order in my shop tonight from 5 PM to 6 AM tomorrow.  Use coupon code SNS25 at checkout.  Click on anything below to go to that listing or click my name at the bottom to go to my shop. 







If you don't like anything in my shop, check out the other sales going on.  With as many people as there are participating tonight, I'm sure there's something you want there!

Click here for all Saturday Night Specials!

Happy Shopping!

Awkward and Awesome

I've been following Natalie at Blonde at Heart for a few months now, I think, and what initially made me fall in love with her blog were her Awkward and Awesome posts that are part of a link party.  (Click on the picture to go to the original link party.)  After reading the awkwardness and awesomeness of her week, I fell in love with Natalie's love for style, friends, her youth group and most importantly, God.  It's so much fun for me to find great God-fearing women who live all the way across the country.  Anyway, I thought it would be fun to link up myself, so here goes:

Awkward...

~Asking a coworker what the password was to one of our machines.  Not so awkward until we both finally realized that it was right above the screen where I entered the password.

~Dropping tube caps several different times all over the floor.

~This here is both awkward and awesome.  Awesome because I made a cute checkbook wallet with an ID window to match my new bag:

Awkward because I miscalculated my seam allowances and top stitching, so that even though it looks cool, nothing, not even the checkbook fits.

Oh well, lesson learned.  I'll just have to make another one. 

~Really Awkward:  Getting accidentally "felt up" by your 21 year old brother while you were playing monkey-in-the-middle with him and his girlfriend...at church!  But it was kind of awesome because Sam got really embarassed.  He got more padding than anything anyway :P

Awesome...

~There were 84 kids at our church's Wednesday night youth service!  I can't wait until I switch jobs so I can be a part of it!

~Date night with Hubs last Saturday night

~Two and possibly three Etsy orders in one week!

~My new bag! 

I really liked the general shape of the Made by Rae Buttercup Bag (there's a free pattern behind that link), but I liked the depth and the two pleats and straight lines at the top and sides of These Ickady Bags on Etsy, with the one big panel like Sew Spoiled's Ladybug Bags.  So I just piled what I liked from each one and drew up my own pattern for it.  I love it!  PS. if you love it too, I have it for sale in My Etsy Shop.

~Two days off next week that include another date night!

 

~Most awesomest:  Get ready for a long metaphor here...Having God knock your bowl full of milk and Cheerios out of your hands (I love my Cheerios in the morning), having a big cry over the spilled cereal, having several women (some who I know offline, others who I know online) coming to help you clean up the mess, then after those dear women have given you hugs and left, you look down into your bowl and realize it's full of peanut M&M's instead of Cheerios.  My heart is so full right now because of some of the things God is doing for me.  

I encourage anyone reading to at least think about what has been Awkward and Awesome this week.  It's made me not take my self too seriously (which I really didn't do in the first place :D) and it also made me realize that there are so many more awesome things than awkward.  Count your blessings y'all!

Wednesday To-Do Sepetmber 28, 2011

I won't rambe on with a lot of junk here, I don't think.  Today's to-do post is mainly just to keep me up to speed with what I need to-do.  Especially since I have two days off next week!

~3 black wallets for my Mother-in-Law
~Blue, green and brown wallet for my coworker
~5 Year Old sized Clemson Grayson Leigh hat for a custom order
~Alter the peasant dress (which may entail more work than I thought)
~Belt and bag to match peasant dress (I have some nice microsuede polyester for this!)
~While I'm talking about the dress, make a scarf from the scraps (Imagining that it will be really cute with a white long sleeve tee and denim skirt) and earrings from the selvage
~Make the "fur" lined coat--This has been put on the back burner.  It's not all that important that I get it done.  I have all winter to wear it.
~Make up bags
~Curling iron holders
~Gift card holders/wallets
~Make a scarf out of an old grimey t-shirt as inspired by The Crafty CPA's T-Shirt Recyling Ideas (this link leads to her blog post which links to a tutorial)--I'll probably do this tonight while watching Storage Wars with Hubs
~Maybe I'll make a bag to carry around Dollywood.  I don't know.  We'll see since I don't need a bag to carry around Dolllywood.  I already have a good store-bought one.  It's just good marketing to carry around something you made.
~I scored some awesome black and white plaid with a pink stripe at Hancock today.  60% off!  It had a little water damage (the building is old) but I think it will wash out and I want to make a hot little A-line skirt with it.  I have all winter to do this too. 

That looks like a lot.  And I suppose it is.  But it's a lot of little projects.  I think they are acheivable, especially since I got the duffle bag and the dress done and I decided to think about the coat later. 

Oh!  And Hubs and I are going on another date on Tuesday night.  I took advantage of Outback's million steak giveaway, but the catch was you had to use the voucher Monday through Thursday.  But that's what days off are for!

It's gonna be a good two days off!

You Know That Dress I've Been Talking About...

That plaid peasant dress that I first told you about in July...that dress that I've been dreaming about since before that...that dress that I've been putting off FOREVER...yeah, well, I finally finished it!

Well, I say I finished it.  It still needs a little work because it's floofier that I wanted it to be.  I pulled a lot of fabric around the back to make it look the way I wanted it to.  And I'm going to make a belt that matches a little better (and doesn't have the buckle turned around to the back so it matches).  The colors also came out a little wonky on this picture.  It's really khaki, navy and wine colored.   

I'll have better pictures later.  This one was taken while standing on the edge of the bathtub, because I don't have a full length mirror, at about 4:30 AM because I was crazy enough to stay up late to finish it.  I was just so excited to show y'all something that I can check off my to-do list!

It's petite friendly (of course it is, it's tailored to me!).  But I think the best part about this dress it that I fully lined it.  Sleeves and all.  The broadcloth that I bought for the lining is so soft and it makes it so warm!  I can't wait to wear it to the mountains with some leggings and my western-ish boots!

Linking up here!

An Apology

In an effort to make my blog a more positive place to visit, going to try to link up at some positive places.  I apologize for being a downer sometimes.  I've been really frustrated with some of the things going on in my life and although I realize it's not an appropriate response, negativity is my first response.  I guess I felt at liberty to rant like that because I thought blogs were supposed to be places that you could pen out your feelings, be they good or bad.  Reminding myself that there don't seem to be many people who care about my blog (I look at my stats, most non-informational posts only get about 3 pageviews) makes it not hurt so bad when I do get the low pageviews.

Here is where I need to apologize again.  I shouldn't be focusing on the people who don't read my blog more than the people who do.  I know I have some dear friends who read along, but don't comment, which is no worse than I've done in the past.  I'm sorry if' I've hurt anyone's feelings with things I've said here.  It's time that I quit fighting my demons and start embracing my angels.

So how about if I strike a deal with you?  When I need to rant and rave and get things off my chest, I'll find a picture of a caution sign to post at the top.  That way, if there's something negative in there that you just don't feel like reading today, you don't have to.  I'll give you fair warning and a guarantee that there will be no negativity in a post if it doesn't have the caution sign. 

Is that a fair deal?

I'm Warning You...

This might not be a fun post.  There probably won't be any pictures.  There won't be any tutorials.  This means no one will read it because most people only read blogs for pictures or tutorials.  I have a few exceptions. 

There will be a massive to-do list that I can't seem to get done.  And it's of no fault of my own.  I keep saying that I want my business to be successful, but I really don't know how I'd make it work if it was.  I hate sewing when I get off work (keep in mind, I get home at 11PM, not 6PM).  I feel like I should be spending that time with Hubs even though he's usually half dead.  I'm also tired and usually ill when I get off work, and when I'm tired, I make mistakes.  And that makes me more ill.  My last sewing project I tried after I got off work ended up being thrown across the room and a few various other things were kicked around the room.  And I was covered in velvet fuzz.  I still have a bad taste in my mouth from that. 

So...I don't sew after work.  I don't sew before work either because I can't ever finish anything. 

Anyway.  Here's my to-do list for this weekend and the next few weeks.
~5 wallets for various customers (3 black for my Mother-in-law, 1 purple and yellow for one of my middle schoolers, 1 blue brown and green for a friend at work)
~Make-up bags for the shop and potentially a wholesale order for a friend who owns a hair salon
~Curling Iron/Flat Iron covers for the hair salon
~Fold over flap bags
~Gift Card holders for Christmas
~Market Bags
~My Dress for the mountains
~Figure out wholesale costs for most everything in my shop

My plan is to design patterns and figure wholesale costs this evening at work.  Then tonight I'll draft out the patterns onto posterboard and cut fabric.  Then maybe I can plug and chug at the actual construction tomorrow. 

Sorry again for a boring post.  But I feel like I needed to get that off my chest.  I'm sure I'm forgetting something too.  I'll be the last to know.

Wonderful Weekend in Cherry Grove

So I had a blast this weekend!  13 of us from our Sunday School Class packed up and headed to Cherry Grove beach.  I actually never set foot on the beach.  I actually never even wore short sleeves all weekend.  It was cloudy and "cold" considering how hot it's been lately.  But we had fun.  The great thing about going on a trip with a couples' class is that there are lots of kind of sketchy things said, but since we're married, it's ok.  The only odd woman out was one of Hubs and my best friends.  She's engaged and her significant other works crazy hours.  We ended up sharing a room with her.  That led to some other sketchy comments about Hubs staying in a room with two women, but it was all in good fun and we all know where our hearts are. 

On the other hand, I thought I was going to have to fight a hoochie drunk woman in the Japanese restaurant.  We think that she and her hubs were swingers and she was sitting beside MY Hubs.  I don't get mad when Hubs says that another woman is pretty.  I don't get mad at him when a woman tries to flirt with him.  I get mad at the woman doing the flirting and our group saw a side of me that I don't think they knew I had.  Luckily, they left when she finally determined that I wasn't going to let her at my Hubs. 

As always when I go on vacation, I ate waaaaay to much.  Japanese, Italian, Burgers from Johnny Rocket's, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, the list keeps going.  Speaking of eating, our first stop on the way to Myrtle Beach was Redbone Alley in Florence, SC.  This restaurant is a place that had we not heard was good, Hubs and I would have never stopped there.  It's in an old department store building and backs up to a Piggly Wiggly.  It honestly looks old and out of date from the outside. 

But on the inside...

It really looks like you're eating outside in a well decorated alley.  The balcony in the second picture has tables and chairs that you can eat at when the restaurant gets crowded enough.  And the food was amazing!  It's a little on the gourmet side, so don't go there expecting a cheeseburger, but it was soooo good!  It's totally worth stopping at if you're going to be in Florence.

For the rest of the trip we went outlet shopping and went to the Bass Pro Shops in Myrtle Beach (I love Bass Pro!).  Hopefully I'll have some outfit updates tomorrow from the trip and I'll show you my prizes from the Loft outlet.  I have determined that I love that store, but I don't need to go in it because of prices. 

It was a quick trip, but a much needed one.  Now I'm couting down to the trip to Pigeon Forge that Hubs and I (just us two) are going to take in October.  Only 6 more weeks!

It's Friday Y'all!

Wait...what's that...oh yeah...it's only Thursday.  Well it's my Friday.  I'm off tomorrow!  I feel justified in gloating a bit because while all of y'all were talking about Labor Day plans and posting pictures of days at the lake and beach and what not, I was working. 

There.  Got my little bit of meaness out. 

I'm excited to be going to the beach this weekend with Hubs and my Sunday School class.  We've rented a rather large condo at Cherry Grove (North Myrtle Beach) and are going to be on our way come 9 AM tomorrow.  It's only about a 4.5 hour drive from here in the Upstate, and we're planning on eating at  restaraunt in Florence.  I'll get a chance to use my new duffel bag and hopefully wear some of my new clothes.

I wasn't originally planning on wearing my new clothes since they are all fallish, but my last check of the weather says that the high for the weekend is 75, and since it's been around 95 here this week, I'm calling that fall.  I've decided to share my fashion choices for the weekend and hopefully there will be pictures to follow next week.

This Shirt...

with these jeans...

And I would love to have some of these to go with it.  I'll have to look for some at the Crocs outlet.

Shirt:  Old Navy Women's Camp Shirt in Brown Plaid $24.94 
Jeans:  Old Navy Women's Wide Leg Trouser Jeans in Rinse $34.50 
Shoes:  Crocs Wrapped Loafer in Espresso/Espresso $69.99

This shirt with an almost olive green cami...

With these jeans in Dark Fade (not the color shown here)

With these sandals in Brown

Shirt: Old Navy Women's Rib Knit Henley in Lemon Decadence $14.00 

Jeans: Old Navy Women's The Flirt Bootcut Jeans $29.50

Sandas:  Old Navy Women's Double Buckle T-Strap Sandals $18.99

I'll probably also take my neon Old Navy Performance Fleece pullover and a few of their Perfect T's.  I promise Old Navy didn't reimburse me for anything I've said here, though I wish they had.  I love Old Navy clothes because 1) they are cheap.  No use in spending a fortune on a highly trendy piece that won't be in style next year 2) their clothes are made for women.  You know with curves and all, yet most of their X Smalls fit me.  3) they sell petite sizes online and have a great return policy.  I can buy a petite size online, and if it doesn't fit, I take it back to the store.  4) Their stuff is just too darn cute!

I might take a bathing suit.  Just because we are going to the beach.  But I can't promise I'll put it on...

My Celebrity Look-Alikes

I found this at Perfect in My Mind and had to give it a try.  It's the celebrity collage at myheritage.com.



Most of them I'm happy with.  Except for Gary Sinise.  All I'm hearing now is, "Lt. Dan!  Ice cream!"

I will say though in the past few weeks since "The Help" came out, I've been told by most of my Middle School girls that I look like one of the characters.  I'm thinking it's this one in the solid pink dress:

But I've yet to see the movie.

It was kind of fun.  Give it a try!

You Know that Duffel Bag I Keep Talking About...

Well here it is. I finally got the motivation to finish it. Well, I got frustrated at another project and didn't have anywhere else to turn. I actually did want to have it finished before this weekend so I can take it to the beach with me. Hubs and I are going to Cherry Grove with our Sunday School class and found that it's easier to pack separate for little weekend trips like this. So it's finished. And I'm rather proud of it.   

As always, I know the picture is crappy, but it's 1AM, and I don't feel like waking Hubs up so he can take one of me in the cutesy clothes that you know I always wear in the beautiful daylight on our back porch. 

(The above was said because I don't ever wear cutesy clothes, Hubs and I never see each other, and come on, is it ever daylight in SC at 1AM?  I work at a hospital.  I wear scrubs.  Hubs and I really only sleep in the same bed.  I feel like when I start my new job we'll have to have another wedding ceremony because I sometimes I feel like I only see him as much as when we were dating.  That was a long bit to put in parentheses.)

Seriously though, I don't know how so many of you bloggers have such beautiful blogs and pictures.  If I had them, it would make my life a lie.

ANYWAY...

Onto the bag...

My Grand Idea was to put D rings on the top so you can hook various other matching bags to it with carabiners, clasps, whatever.  I always run out of room in the main part of my bag.  Therefore I am forced to put makeup and other things in Hubs's bag.  Not any more!  I also have plans to make a few other small bags to hook around the outside.

There's a nice little pleated pocket on both ends so I can cram any last minute things in there.

And it zips up with a molded plastic zipper.

Here's a better look at that makeup bag.  I might have to start selling these in my shop.  It's fully interfaced with fusible fleece like the duffel bag.  That should help to keep your makeup a little cooler in a hot car.  It's also lined with PUL so if anything leaks, I can just wipe it out.

The Grand Plan was to sell these Duffel Bag sets in my shop, but since it was a rather pain-in-the-butt to make, it doesn't look like that's going to happen.  Unless someone messages me and says they're willing to pay a butt load of money for it, in which case, I might oblige.  The makeup bag is definitely a keeper for the shop though.

Now...on to the beach so I can test this baby out! 

Linking up here!

Button Up Shirt Quick Petite Fashion Fix

Sometime last week I told you all that I have a new-found love for fashion blogs.  Particularly petite fashion blogs.  I am 5 feet tall and weigh 120 lbs.  Most extra small tops are big on me and I wear about a size 6 in bottoms (four if it's a skirt, I have chunky legs).  I've found lots of petite fashion blogs that offer reviews on sizes, places that offer petite sizes and things that are worth buying big and having altered.  My problem with this, though, is that I don't want to pay the prices that these girls can pay.  I work in healthcare (even in my upcoming new job) and wear scrubs for most of my waking moments.  It's just not worth it to buy a few high fashion, higher priced pieces that I can't wear next year.  It's not even worth it to have most pieces altered.  So being the craft blog fanatic that I am, I decided to make my own posts about how to easily alter some regular clothes into petite clothes.  Well, how to alter some clothes that are just too big into figure flattering clothes for a petite woman. 

So for post number one, I'll show you how to alter a too big button up shirt into a tie-backed tunic style shirt.

You will need:
A too-big button up shirt (really any too big shirt with side seams for that matter)
Ribbon of your choice (If your ribbon is polyester, you may want to singe the ends a bit so it doesn't fray)
Tailor's chalk/disappearing pencil or something of the like, just make sure it washes off
Seam Ripper
Sewing stuff (needles, thread, scissors, etc.)--you don't necessarily need a machine for this, but it makes life easier

This here is the finished product:

I found this shirt at my local Fashion Shack for about $8.  Our Fashion Shack works a lot like Plato's Closet.  They'll buy your used stuff (and if you choose store credit they'll give you more money for it).  The shirt originally came from The Gap and is an XS.  I just loved the floral print (nice and small, what petite girlies need) and the pintucking on the front.  It's also very lightweight, so it's perfect for summer for someone cold natured like me. 

This here is what it looked like before I fixed it:

Hmmm.  A little baggy for my liking.  Ok, so you may say it looks fine.  I just lost some weight and I want to show off this figure before I ruin it with kiddos.  It needs fixing.

Step 1:  You'll want to find where you want the top to cinch in the most.  For the most figure flattering, I would go with the smallest part of your torso.  This may be right up under your bust, or around your natural waist.  Mine was somewhere in between.  Mark that spot with your chalk on the side seams.  I also measured on both sides of my shirt to make sure they were even.



Step 2:  Now on the inside of the shirt, rip a small hole (just big enough to get your ribbon through) in the side seam where your chalk mark is.

Step 3:  Insert your ribbon into the newly made hole and stitch in place.  You may or may not want to pin it there for a bit, I lived dangerously.  Try to sew as directly on top of the original seam as you can.  I started about a quarter inch on top of the stitching still in place, sewed over the ribbon, and about a quarter inch on the other stitching still in place, then doubled the whole length back.  This will be a little bit of a stress point after all.

Step 4:  If you are lucky enough to own a serger, go back on the inside and serge on top of the raw edges that you left after ripping the seam out.  I do not own a serger, so I just zig zagged it.  It serves the same purpose.  (No one's going to see it anyway.)

Now just repeat for the other side!

Throw it on over your favorite pair of leggings or skinny jeans and you're ready for a little casual date night!  Or a Sunday School outing, 'cause that's where I went in it. 

In hindsight, I think I would make my ribbon ties longer, but hey, this fix only took about 15 minutes, and I have more ribbon, so if it bothers me too bad, I'll just redo it. 

I hope this is of some use to someone.  As always, if you use this tutorial (or any of my patterns/tutorials) please post pictures to my Flickr Group here --> Evan Becky Fan Pics  I would genuinely love to see what you've created!

Linking up Here: