My first knitting project!

{Sorry for the poor picture quality, it's from my camera phone}

Here it is! This was my first time using a knitting pattern. I knew how to knit and purl, but not very well. The only thing that I had knit previous to this were maybe 3 scarves, that were mostly all knit stitch. I'm pretty stoked, even though it's not perfect. I'm easily distracted, and I have a toddler, so there are lots of errors. I won't point them out, but they are there. I used this pattern  from ravelry, and patons classic wool yarn. Since sewing with upcycled sweaters for the shop, I have so much love for wool things, especially 100% wool. I hope to cast on something new within the next week, but have to find some seamless needles that I like better.

Also, I will be at a local show on November 10th-11th, come see me if you are in the area.  I will have all sorts of longies, soaker, diaper covers, and maybe a few surprises ;) Hope to see you there.

kcwc {days 4-7}

I did stop sewing for my toddler after day 3, I'm not a quitter, I'm a knitter. Ok, I may be the only one who thinks that was funny, but in all seriousness, I've been knitting. I'm horribly slow and easily distracted. Soon I will reveal my VERY FIRST knitting project {Well, I have knit scarves before, but never used a pattern}! I don't want to spoil anything, so no pictures quite yet. I just didn't want you to think I totally forgot about the kcwc. Also, check out ravelry, but beware, IT'S ADDICTING! Even if you aren't a knitter, this may inspire you to start.

I'm knitting and purling away and am almost finished, so hang tight :)

kcwc {day three} Toddler unders

Soon we will be potty learning, which means we will need undies, so here are some undies. These didn't take more than 20 minutes from start to finish, so I didn't sew for a full hour yesterday, but I was out having fun running and jumping and playing with a toddler which was more fun. So, here is a mommy designed pair of unders, a pattern drafted by me, sewn by me, and soon to be peed in. They are the same fabric from day one. I'm blogging them a day late also, oops.

There are so many cute ideas for kcwc, also, be sure to check out Made by Rae for her challenge within a challenge! Her mini-washi dress is so stinkin' cute! {I have the washi dress pattern in my size, just have to sew it up, and now I might have to make one for the little also.}

kcwc {Day two} Autumnal Tunic

This tunic is loosely based on this pattern, I think I have sewn about 12 dresses/shirts/tunics from this pattern. {well worth the $4.50 and it goes all the way up to size 7!!}For this specific tunic, I lengthened the sleeves {about 4 inches or so, I didn't really measure} and shortened the length. This is the 3T size, and perfect for layering. I didn't time myself this time, but I have in the past when I have made a dress from this pattern, and it took about  45 minutes {I sew rather fast and don't always follow the exact directions}. The awesome gold feather fabric on the sleeves is from my local fabric shoppe Sew to speak, and is this print . The bodice print is from Joann's and the regular price was less than $5/yard {of course I didn't pay that much, I always carry my 40% off coupons}.

I also made her corduroy pants a couple months ago, they are an upcycled  pair of women's cords from half price day at the thrift store. They also have the feather print hiding in the pockets, and the same knit ribbing that was $2 at the thrift store as yesterday's dress .

I'm enjoying seeing all the fun of  kcwc over at Elsie Marley! So many cute ideas. 

kcwc fall 2012 {Day one}

{My lovely model was standing still, that's all I can ask for, smiling for the camera is asking too much :)}

Sometimes you have to learn from your mistakes, especially when sewing with knit fabric. This dress would be considered a sewing fail in my book {The neck is far too big, the result of "I'll just wing it"}. Now, that doesn't mean that I won't try again or that I won't put this dress on my child ever {it's pretty cute even if it's not perfect}. My sewing machine has a stretch stitch which is perfect for sewing with knits. I have tried to use a double needle, but that ended in a really big disaster, which I'm pretty sure was user error. My machine actually has 2 stretch stitches that work well for knit fabric, I'm not an expert so I won't go into all the details of sewing with knits, but this post over at Made by Rae is super fun and helpful. The fabric is a 100% cotton knit that I got from Joann's and is super soft and stretchy {and the print is also very fun also}, the neck and arm ribbing are from the thrift store, I found a 2 yard piece for $2! {I LOVE the thrift store}. The pattern is the playdate dress from Craftiness is not optional, with modified sleeves that I drafted from a hand-me-down turtleneck that I cut the sleeves off of to use as a pattern. Besides the neck, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and She wore it all day. I need to seam rip the neck ribbing, and make it smaller, but it's serged, and ripping out serged seams in not my favorite. 

Be sure to check out all the other kcwc over at Elsie Marley, there are so many cute ideas, there is also a flickr pool

Blue Prarie Dress {kcwc fall 2012 preview}

 It's MONDAY! which means the first day of the kcwc over at Elsie Marley. But.... I'm having some technical difficulties on the picture uploading front, please standby :) In the meantime, here is a dress that I sewed up on Saturday. I used a modified version of this pattern, it's supposed to be for a nightgown, but works well for the structure of a dress. The top yoke and sleeves are Anna Maria Horner's  dancefloor (in teal) that I scored at the Lottie Da destash sale. I only paid $3 for a scrap piece that was about a 3/4 yard. The body fabric, I picked up at Joann's from the Denyse Schmidt daisy mae collection. It was on clearance for $4.80/yard. So, including elastic and matching thread, this dress was less than $10 to create! {Not including the pattern, I think it was around $4}. I made a 2t size yoke and sleeves with a 3T size body. I have a tall skinny toddler, and simplicity patterns tend to run rather large (especially if it's supposed to be a roomy nightgown.) I also didn't prewash the fabric, which is mostly because I'm lazy, but also so that it would shrink up from the actual 2T size. 

Hopefully I will be posting later today with my real first kcwc garment. 

Rockin' the suburbs just like Michael Jackson did

Good Morning! 

This is my life right now, the fun stuff, not the boring everyday stuff.

 p.s. breakfast is exciting, especially when it's not cold pizza. 

{Breakfast} Oatmeal, raisins, chia seeds, cinnamon and honey, with a side of farm fresh raw milk

{Getting ready to sew up some fall goodness for kcwc} 

{Meet my close friends, my serger and sewing machine!

 Don't mind the mess behind the magic, I'm creative not tidy}

Hello Fall!

 The days of hanging clothes on the line may be coming to an end very shortly. The weather here has turned. I've been known to hang clothes all the way to late fall though, so there is still time. I miss the hot sweaty days already.

{We use charlie's soap  for all our laundry, but specifically for cloth diapers. We also recycled the jugs. Here is my clothes pin holder on my clothesline.}

 In other crafting news, I'm trying to get familiar with sewing laminated cotton, which is not going so well. I kind of really dislike this stuff. It's sticky. I have a roller foot for my sewing machine, but I'm not a fan honestly. I checked this book out at the library, which is rather helpful. I'm not giving up yet, because I have two full rolls of the stuff! {I have a wholesale account for buying fabric, WHICH IS DANGEROUS!!} My toddler still needs a raincoat, maybe during this I will muster up the courage. Oh, I also really am not good at bias tape sewing, I don't have the patience it. I need to work on that too.

I'm planning and stocking fabric for the kid's clothes week challenge, hopefully I have enough time for all these ideas floating around in my head.

Dolly the waldorf inspired doll

As some of you may know, I'm cheap{frugal}. The only thing is, I like nice expensive things. Good thing I'm crafty, because I don't have the cash to plop down for an authentic waldorf doll. Those babies are expensive {pun intended}. So, instead I had to get out my thinking cap. I looked at lots of tutorials for waldorf inspired dolls (this one, and this one, and this one helped). I tea dyed an old white t-shirt, used an old sock to form the head and wool scraps for the stuffing and the yarn hair I had from a time I thought I was a knitter. I did have to buy a needle set that was long enough to stitch the eyes and mouth, but the rosy cheeks are from real blush from my make-up stash {that I clearly don't use}. I made Dolly a while ago, sometime in late fall, but she is more and more loved every day.

Pondering Patterns

Well, fall has decided to come to my neighborhood this week. I'm very excited, I LOVE fall!  It's my favorite of all the seasons even if it has to be the prelude to winter. Anyways, fall means that the little will need mama to sew her some new clothes that will cover her arms and legs and keep her warm for our adventures. So, in preparation for that, I will be participating in Elsie Marley's kids clothes week challenge. I will be pinning my little heart out on my pinterest in the coming week.

::To celebrate the change of the season, I'm also listening to music that is "fall-ish" {whatever that means}, the Lumineers pandora station is my favorite at the moment, followed closely by Margot & The Nuclear so and so's.::

Orchard fun

Quick change trousers for fall

Fall is supposedly upon us, it's September and all you know. The weather lately has not been anything besides summer here though, mostly in the 80's, but a new fall wardrobe will be needed soon enough. So, to prepare, I have been thinking of clothes for cooler weather, and my go to pants pattern for a toddler. This pattern is the quick change trouser pattern from this book. This is the second pair that I have made, the first I used flannel to line the inside{so soft and warm}, but seeing as it's not winter yet, I decided to use quilting cotton for this pair. I'm sure I will make more this winter lined with flannel. Anyways, this pair is the 24 month size, and fits well over my 22 month old, who wears cloth diapers. The purple and green fabrics were on clearance at Joann's for $6 a yard, the white/green/black dots are an Amy Butler print that I have half a bolt of {I'm a fabric hoarder, I should go to meetings or something}and the yellow is a Heather Bailey Print.  This pair only took me about an hour start to finish, and I even read and followed all the precise directions {which I don't always do. Am I the only one who skims the pictures for directions?} This is a great tutorial,  if you need more room in the back for cloth diapers. For us, making the next size up has done the trick, but if you think you may need a little more room, it's an easy fix. For us, we are also starting potty learning, so soon the fluffy butt will be replaced by undies.

Creating for {almost} free

I love creating new things, everyday. It feeds my spirit to make something new, and resonates with my being. It feels good to get the ideas out of my mind and into something tangible. My husband and my wallet are not always thrilled with this creativeness, so I have to be thrifty. Here is one of the {almost}free and fun things that I have created this summer. While on vacation in Tennessee we collected river rocks {free}. We had fun splashing in the river in the hot sweaty summer sun. We painted them {paint is almost free if you have some laying around, which I always do, or your local craft store will have it for a couple dollars}. I got some ideas from pinterest and as a family we painted river rocks. When I say the family, I mean my extended family from 3 different states. It was a very fun memorable time. 

Sonnie sue is now a mother

Not that I have ever been a regular blogger, but I think I may just start to be. Being a mother is more fun that I ever imagined, so I would like to share all the fun with you (my 9 followers at the moment :) ) So this is the beginning of blogging for real this time. I mean it, or at least I'll try. I'm 22 months into mothering, and have lots of good stuff to share.