Discovering the World of Clothing Up-cycling

I recently got the itch to learn to sew again. My mother had taught me how to use a machine as part of my homeschool home economics class, but I just remember that the seam ripper was permanently attached to my hand with every project I endeavored! Since several of my friends sew I've recently been inspired to try again, and Scott graciously allowed me to take some of our tax return and buy a small Janome. Even though it is a basic machine, and the cheapest they come, I LOVE IT! Either I've gotten smarter, or they make machines better now a-days because I've only had to use the seam ripper one time in the last three months! :)

BUT..... I adamantly told my friends and family that I WOULD NOT sew clothing, just craft things. I had visions of the matching jumpers my dear, sweet mother sewed for me and my sisters every Christmas and Easter up until I finished jr. high.... ANYWAY, my sister Melissa came to me a few weeks ago after seeing a blog (named sewlikemymom.com of all things!!!) that described how to make skirts out of T-shirts. Melissa was so excited and wanted to try it. Since that was technically "sewing clothing," I refused at first, but she eventually won. If you know Melissa, you know she always wins (right, Aaron?)! ;)

We went shopping at Goodwill and kinda went crazy purchasing 9 shirts!!! Then we studied the instructions on the blog and started sewing. Ahem... well, I started sewing and Mel kept me company by chatting and surfing the web next to me. ;)

In the end, Melissa was right! (Of course!) It was super easy to make the skirts, and they are really comfortable to wear. I am now inspired to up-cycle other clothes I would normally throw away or donate, and refashion them into something new! It is really fun and helps avoid the cost of having to buy expensive fabric! Sewlikemymom's tutorial is excellent and very detailed, so if you want to make these, read her tutorial here! I'll just give you a brief overview of the process.

HOW TO MAKE A SKIRT FROM A T-SHIRT:

1. First you take your shirt and cut it off below the arms.

 2. Then you thread your machine with regular thread, and put elastic thread in the bobbin. You have to hand wind that elastic thread onto the bobbins, and you'll need about 3 bobbins to make one skirt. (Elastic thread is only $ .97 at Walmart!)

3. Then you sew about 8 - 12 rows at the top of the skirt using your pressure foot as a guide of how much space to leave between each row. The elastic thread starts to gather up the knit tighter with each row you make. When you have finished your rows, iron with steam the gathered portion at the top to make the shirring get even tighter. 

That's it! A cute skirt in less than an hour! And for only $2.99! :) You don't even need to hem it because the bottom of the skirt is the bottom of the previous skirt. So cool!

I'm glad Melissa talked me into trying this project. It was a great sister bonding experience! I'll never doubt her again.... ;)

Melissa, Jackie, and I sporting our new skirts made from shirts!

Photography Fail!!!

I've discovered Pinterest. It is an awesome site where you can bookmark or "pin" links/pictures that you see online that you want to remember. You can also see what your friends (or those you "follow") like, and "repin" things you like that they've "pinned." It's kinda confusing speech, but easy to get the hang of and a lot of fun to work with. I've enjoyed "pinning" lots of craft ideas to try in the future! Just wish I had the time to actually do them... 

But, anyway, I saw that someone else had pinned some adorable pictures of babies and children to inspire photographers, and I repinned a few of their pics so I could try them out on my kids. One of the pictures I couldn't wait to try on Selah. Not only did the baby in the photo look similar to her, but the props were easy. I thought it would be a piece of cake. I thought wrong. I am not a photographer! Obviously, I need to leave this to the pros! Want to see how my photo shoot of Selah bombed??? Well, first look at the picture I was trying to mimic:

This picture was originally from http://www.mollyjonesphotography.com/

Isn't it adorable? Well, prepare to be amazed. This was my attempt at a remake...

The best one was actually the first one I took. I should've stopped while ahead...

Not bad... just a little fuzzy.

getting antsy

trying to wiggle her way off the towels

crying because mom wouldn't let her

Rescued by Daddy... Let's take a little break!

"Uh oh. Mom says it's time to try again! Why won't she leave me alone?!!"

Cute, except I couldn't get her one eye to not be squished!!!

I'll spare you the half dozen other photos I took trying to get both eyes to be equally open. The photo session ended quite dramatically with her catapulting herself off the towels. It was quite a feat to snap the picture and grab her before she actually fell! We decided to leave well enough alone, and leave the photography to the pros!

the catapult!

Actually, Tina Powers, a friend from church took lovely pictures of Selah at 3 weeks of age, and I just got the CD of images. They turned out beautifully! I'll be posting some to my facebook soon! In the future, I'll just leave the adorable poses to her. :)

Here are my favorites from Tina:

Now, Tina is the pro! Isn't she amazing?!!

We're Ba-ack!!!

Wow! What a crazy week! After the girls left on Friday, Scott and I were busy finishing up last minute preparations for the mission trip to Chicago. Although Friday and Saturday were really late nights, God allowed all the loose ends to get tied together in time, and we departed after church on Sunday for the Church in West Ridge. 

Our group in front of The Bean

The week was wonderful! Even though there were a few challenges we didn't anticipate (like extreme heat, no air conditioning in the church except for the rooms we slept in, and no hot water in the showers), the experience was all we prayed for and more. The teens were eager to serve and do projects for the church, even working hard to accomplish tasks that were mundane and undesirable. I couldn't be more pleased and grateful for their positive attitudes and camaraderie of spirit. We worked with precious (but sometimes naughty!) inner-city children running a day camp each afternoon, and the teens developed sweet relationships with many of the children. Even though they were run ragged by these kids, they were broken up when saying good-bye at the end of the week. The evenings that we had time to reflect, it was clear that God used the experience to mold their hearts and draw them closer to Himself. Could we ask for more?!!

organizing the Blessing Closet donations

Blessing Closet organized and open for the community!

Distributing items in the Food Pantry

Preparing Community Meal

Serving the food

Kid's Camp - preschoolers

More children who attended the Kid's Camp

Selah and Samuel bathing in the sink... the only ones who got warm water!!! :-)

saying good-bye

Oh, and our own girls survived the week beautifully! Praise God that we are all home safe and sound, and a huge THANK YOU to all the relatives that had our girls in their homes last week. I think they passed through the hands of all except one of Scott's siblings! :) Brooklyn and Cassidy certainly enjoyed playing with all of their cousins, and can't wait until the next time they get to visit!

Missing My Girls

In two days, Scott and I leave on a mission trip with the teens from our church. Because we can't effectively serve while caring for all three of our girls, we asked Scott's parents to take Brooklyn and Cassidy for the week. Graciously, they agreed. So, this morning we packed them up and sent them off with Grandma and Grandpa FOR TEN DAYS!!! I thought that this would be no big deal, but as I saw the vehicle disappear down the road, I felt like I could cry (I didn't, but certainly felt like I could!). My babies are growing up and are on their first trip without mom and dad! I wonder and worry about how they will do... they've only been away from home for one night at a time before, and never six hours away in another state! I know they are going to have a blast with their grandparents and cousins, and I'll be praying they behave and don't feel too homesick. 

Bye, Bye!

Dear Lord, Please take care of my girls. I love them so much and want them to stay safe. Please give their grandparents an extra abundance of patience and wisdom. Help me to trust You and not worry. Thank You for Your omnipresence. Oh... and help them to have a fun time! :) Amen

Tutorial: Baby Doll Sleeping Bag

The last several months I've been enjoying tapping into my creative crafty side and learning how to sew again. I've discovered the wonderful world of free online tutorials for so many different crafts and sewing projects, and I'm in love. My bookmark list has grown dramatically (which annoys my husband) because there are so many new things I want to try. I've done a few things already, and hope to blog about them soon so other people can try these cool projects!

I also decided I want to "give back" to the online crafting world by posting my own tutorial for a baby doll sleeping bag I put together. There may be other tutorials for this on the web that would be better/easier, but I just decided to try to do this off the top of my head, and I was pleasantly surprised with how well this turned out! And the best part is, my daughters' love it!!!

Here are the instructions. Besides the normal sewing stuff, you'll need 1/2 yard of fleece material and stuffing/batting/fill (or tons of cotton balls!). Keep in mind that this is for a 14 in. doll. If you are making this for a larger doll, you'll have to adjust the measurements.

1. Fold your material in half (right sides together) and place your doll on top. Cut out a rectangle around the doll, leaving a little extra room for a seam allowance.

I don't remember the width of the material, but I believe it ended up being 37 inches long (when unfolded)

2. The folded edge will be the bottom of your sleeping bag. Measure about 6.5 inches down from the unfolded short edge of your material and cut across on ONLY ONE LAYER. This will end up being the pillow part of the bag.

Only cut through the top layer or you will ruin the sleeping bag!

3. Pin around the three unfolded sides of the sleeping bag, keeping the cut pieces lined up together.

4. Pause to take a picture of a little girl trying to be funny, feed the baby, and put the kids to bed. (This step is optional!)

5. Sew around the three sides of the sleeping bag. When you get to the cut, make sure that you keep it lined up. You don't want the material to shift or separate, making a gap. 

6. Reach inside the opening and turn the sleeping bag right-side out so the seams are inside. Then on the pillow part, measure and mark a rectangle about an inch in, and sew around it leaving a three inch opening on the cut side to insert your batting/stuffing.

I used fill for stuffing pillows, but you could even use a bunch of cotton balls if you have those on hand!

7. After inserting your stuffing, you'll need to sew the final three inch opening shut. This is a little tricky, but if you really force the stuffing back in away from your sewing line, you should be fine!

That's it! Because fleece doesn't fray, you don't need to do anything with the open edge of the fabric between the bag and the pillow. So nice! Now all you have to do is slip a baby doll inside and give it to a child who will enjoy it.

And because it's so easy and you must have multiples of everything when you have two little girls that play with dolls, make another one! 

Seriously, this whole thing took me less than an hour (not including the interruptions). You can do this!!! :-)

Linking to these parties

Growing Up

Just had to share a few pictures. Selah is growing so fast! She still is so tiny, yet feels bigger and heavier everyday. How is it that the more kids you have, the faster it feels that they grow up? And why is it that I have to remind myself to take pictures of my third kid? It isn't that she isn't adorable (because she is!), but maybe just because each little outfit and facial expression isn't such a novelty as it was with the first? hmmm... not sure. I was just talking with a friend about how she has to remind herself the same way to take pictures of her third, so at least I don't feel quite so badly! Well, without further ado, here she is:

See the chub?!! She loves her tummy!

Nursing her in the lobby at a friend's wedding. Can we say AWKWARD?!!

Finally her capris are actually looking like capris!

Smiles (for mom!!!)

Grandma J. came to visit! :)