CRASH & Crochet Ruffle Scarf

I was put out of blogging commission for a little while due to our hard drive crashing. I know - BAD! The good news is we have mostly everything backed up on an external drive. Right now, the IT department aka My Hubby is getting everything up and running. He's transferring data, loading software, and defragmenting drives. Whew - I didn't know so much was involved when your system goes down. We appreciate the IT department and so happy we didn't lose everything.
On to the fun stuff! A few months ago Gold showcased a cute crocheted ruffle scarf and I knew I had to make one. Here's mine.

I really like this scarf. You can download the pattern for free from the LB website. It is called the Belle Scarf. I had this skein of homespun for a few years and finally used it. Very easy and quick pattern. I wore it today and people wanted to touch it because it looked so soft. Yikes --with all the germs out there you hate to have folks touching your personal effects. Enjoy your weekend.

Disclaimer - The photos may be a little off - just realized that my photo editing software is missing. I'm not sure what device it came with. I also have crazy shadows dancing across my face. Oh well! I'm off to sew.

Made IT! Monday - 11/2/09

As you know Halloween was the past weekend and of course I had to make a costume. My daughter wanted to be a fairy and my son kept changing his mind, so I made my daughter's costume and my son wore Batman PJ's. I didn't make the wings but bought them from the dollar store and embellished them. I know they don't match and they are gaudy but hey I was being cheap! I did have to go to the fabric store to buy material for her costume but since I sewed it up I am still true to my One Bin Fabric Challenge. I have some things cut out that will be sewn soon.
Her birthday is the day after Halloween so she is too excited. We typically celebrate the week after so she can be the star! Her party is this weekend so not much sewing going on but after that - it's on!
Here's my little fairy enjoying Halloween.

One Bin Fabric Challenge

I've blogged before about the water that sometimes gets into our basement when we have heavy rains. When we got the super heavy rains, that caused severe flooding in some parts of GA, we had more water than usual. We don't get a ton in our basement, but just enough to be annoying. During the last clean-up a thought popped into my - what if my fabric got ruined! Yikes - the very thought made me shudder. I keep it in storage bins so I'm sure it is fine, but what if.....There was sweat and tears and of course money put into my collection of fabric so losing it would be devastating. Then it occurred to me that maybe I should put accumulation on pause for a minute and turn those flat pieces of fabric into wearable items or at least attempt to transform them.
So with the help of my 3 year old, I started filling a new storage bin with fabric that I want to sew and of course it was easy to fill. Then I thought it would be fun to do my own challenge or contest. I will challenge myself to eliminate 1 bin from my collection (you see I am not revealing how many I have - yep intentional) by December 31st. I know this is an impossible challenge for me - you see my rate of production but I love to challenge myself. If I just clear half a bin I will be happy. I think this is a great way to bring in the new year. The bin has cotton, fleece, flannel, wool, polyester suiting, etc. and I've selected my patterns to correspond. I only have two guidelines: 1. If I decide I want to work with a new fabric I can add it and remove something else 2. If I need fabric for a project that I will sew immediately then I can purchase it. Wish me luck! I'll feature my finished projects on Made IT! Mondays. If anyone else wants to lighten their loads as well please join in with me!

My adorable and very active little helper

The Fabric

I leave you with a parting shot of our adventure today. Our family went to a state park and observed this spectacular view.

Amicalola Falls State Park

More Pics for Refashion/Re-Form Friday

I just remembered that I took a before pic of the mirror - so you can see the transformation. I also took another pic this morning of the finished product. Natural light is a good thing. Now you can actually see the detail.

One of my neighbors just dropped her stuff off and it puts my stuff to shame! All in the name of charity:) I didn't ask if I could post it but I may sneak a photo to show you all later. Make it a great weekend.

Refashion/Re-form Friday

I am playing with some different themes on my blog (ie Made IT! Monday and today's theme). I am just trying something new. I have all these ideas in my head and I am trying to make them tangible. This is a Re-Form post.
A family friend, who is the creator of the event HOTOBERFEST here in Atlanta asked that I work with the little ones to make some art out of recycled materials. The art will be sold to benefit the Joseph B. Whitehead Boys and Girls Club. If you are in town this Saturday come check it out. I will be volunteering in one of the booths.
Project #1 - We had some leftover while tiles from a bathroom in our old house. In Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts book she has a project on making coasters and trivots using old tiles and ceramic paint (you "fire" the tiles in the oven after you paint them so the paint sets and is dishwasher safe and heat resistant). My daughter painted these by using non-writing end of a color pencil and toothpicks (the kind where one end is a small circle). I think she did a good job. I helped by filling in some of the empty spaces. I learned that I need to take a back seat in her creative process. I think I gave a little too much direction because she got frustrated fast. We added felt to the bottoms so they won't scratch surfaces.


Project #2 was made from a mirror I found at a thrift store for a buck. I sanded it down and then painted it a solid color. I found some old CD's in the basement (while moving boxes out of water) that we bought awhile ago but never used because they were the wrong type of rewritable discs. The technology is now obsolete due to jump drives. I cut the CD's up (this part should be done by adults only) and then glued them to the mirror. Little people can help with arranging the pieces - though with care and close supervision because some of the pieces can be sharp depending on how you cut them. The end result is kind of cool. One CD was silver and the other was blueish. It was tough to get a good picture because the mirror and CD pieces are reflective. I had to do most of this project because of the sharp pieces involved.

Made IT! Monday - 9/28/09

With the arrival of Fall, new clothes are needed for the season - clothing with more weight, texture, and new colors. My daughter is first up on the the Fall sewing list. I had some leftover twill from a pair of capris I made her when she was 2 but not enough to make the skirt she wanted. Digging through my stash I found this fun floral print that I bought to make patches for her jeans. The pattern calls for just 3 tiers and I wanted the last tier to be the lighter weight material so their would be a little motion to the skirt. I added the floral material to the 2nd tier to break up the khaki. She has some adorable boots that will match with this. I hope she will be a willing model soon, so you can see the skirt in action.



More about MADE IT! Monday later. I have been silent due to the life and also our basement (where I sew) got its share of water during all the flooding in GA. My sewing space is a wreck but I sewed in the dining room. Which is an adventure with 2 little people that are very curious about my machines and notions. Edit - not sure why the picture is not centered properly but when you click on it, it is.

Meet Grace

Say hello to my new right hand girl - Grace.

She is part of the Babylock family also known as BL40A. My mommy purchased this little gem for me back in May but it was on back order until July. Isn't my mommy so sweet! She insisted that I needed a new machine since I was using her old Singer from the mid-80's. I haven't had time to take my new owner's class yet - the kids are keeping me oh so busy this summer, but that hasn't stop me from playing with her. I did purchase from a authorized dealer here in GA so I could have local support. As I use her more and more I'll let you know how she runs. My old Singer will still be used just not as frequently. I think it will be fun to have 2 machines. Does that mean double productivity? In my case since I haven't been sewing 0 x 2 still = 0. I'm buckling down and really trying to manage my time better. Hope to see some results soon from my efforts and I plan to have more to show. Plus one kid is heading back to school so that gives me a little extra time.