Okay, I know, I know. I have so many things to be thankful for....health, mobility, life. I know that. But these days, I have an imbalance in my life which is about to make me crazy. I don't want to complain, but....

Hot Flashes. Awake half the night, sweating during the day, coming on full force hot flashes.

That said, I also know it's time for a little consultation with my doctor for a more long term solution, but for right now, I feel the need for a wardrobe adjustment. Summer, and all. But more than that, I know I need an attitude adjustment. For example: I will need to get over showing my arms. I will need to go without a cardi or jacket as a third layer. I will need to ban the Spanx for the summer. Scientific study has shown that wearing Spanx intensifies the effects of the hot flash by about a thousand percent. Seriously.

This weekend, I worked on a few arm-bearing, let it all hang out, no Spanx allowed tops. I'll share the details of them as Me-Made June gets underway, but here's a sneak peak:

It was a lovely, lovely weekend. I got to hold a brand new cousin baby, and admire all of his
newborn-ness for an entire afternoon. I love new babies. I love their little onesies.

I wish Icould wear nothing but onesies this summer. But, I'm glad I get to wear pretty dresses. My last dress, Vogue 1236 just got featured on theVogue Facebook Page!!!!!

May 25, 2011

The blue ikat dress. Vogue 1236. Now, this is a cute summer dress. I think.

My only modifications? Full Bust Adjustment. and a few darts in the back. If I were to make it again, I would raise the neckline, and lengthen it a bit.

I'm just not sure if I like it. This morning, the girl at Panera said she liked it. One of my co-workers liked it enough to mention it. But as the day went on, I had to wonder if it's too much print for this dress, for me. What do you think? Maybe if I wore a contrast belt instead of the self fabric tie belt?

Best thing about this pattern? ? No zippers, cool style, good basic or funky print dress. It was also in the Vogue "very easy" catagory, which it was...VERY easy. I think it took me about two hours to make it.

Go ahead, make one! I just may have to give it another try.

At least this print hides the teardrops...just finished watching the finale' of Oprah.

May 23, 2011

What a weekend. It was sort of one of those perfect kind of weekends, when there were not too many commitments, a good dose of family, visits with friends, and some time to garden, sew, work on projects, and relax.

One of the big projects I finished was a summer mini-makeover of the guest room. It all started with watching an episode of Sarah's House, which happened to coincide with me finishing a pillow job for someone.

Pillows make such a difference. If you change out a pillow, you change your room. Jenna had me do several new covers for her family room, and I worked out a few techniques that I had never done before. That was enough to inspire me to to my own pillow covers.

So, to the stash I went. I found some wonderful English tropical decorator fabric that was given to me years ago. That covered two pillows... a simple case with tie closures.

Next, I decided on a coral print fabric which I thought would look cool quilted. So I quilted it ( by machine, with transparent thread) A simple envelope back.

Last, two euro-shams from a stripe that I found at Joann's to pull the other two prints together. One of may favorite places to find pillow fabric is in the remnant bins. So often, a yard or less is enough to do a pillow or two ( if you do a plain back) My two euro shams were made from remnant fabric, and have a zipper back and flange.

Oh, and one other tip? I got a standard sized pillow at Wal-mart for $2.50. Then I grabbed it by the end, shook the crazy out of it till all the filling was at one end, and serged the other end (without filling) so I had reasonably good substitute for a purchased 20" square pillow-form. For $2.50!

The dresser got repainted, lamps switched out from the household lamp supply, a worn red quilt put on the end of the bed and a few accessories.

After changing the position of the bed, it was done....a comfortable, sunny, delightful summer guest room.

All this, because I had an idea about a pillow. I just may visit and stay awhile!

May 20, 2011

I'm not exactly sure why this happened. I took the next two pictures within seconds of each other at about 7:30 at night. It makes me know that I would love to take a photography class.

Anyway, it's my beloved weeping Redbud tree. And it occurred to me that I had fabric that reminded me of these pictures. So I made anotherHotPatterns Boho Deluxe Peasant Top.

I added some under the bust detail by gathering about 8" worth or the front with elastic, and then added a self-fabric rosette, beaded in the center.

I really love this pattern. I know, I know, a girl like me shouldn't wear a peasant top. But, the Hotpatterns peasant top is so nicely cut. It's not as billowy...with a more shaped bodice, and not too many gathers. I typically don't wear this type of top alone, but under a sweater or jacket, so it works for me...especially if I emphasize the high waist area by drawing it in with some sort of embellishment.

My own Redbud top!

(learn more about the Lavender Twist Weeping Redbud)

May 18, 2011

Even with all the rain, my yard still makes me happy. I love how the bright chartruese pops here and there in a garden of green when I look out the window.

And how, up close, there are so many other little textures and colors

These are my favorite few weeks of the year. One morning, you look out, and the trees are bare. The next morning, the green mist appears, and it seems as if overnight, the branches will be fully leafed. And all the while my head is in the clouds, observing the trees above, a new something happens each day in the garden below.

Even though it is a tiny space, I find myself still dreaming of "what could be" and if there could be roses on the fence or room for one more peony.

And there is a chickadee nesting in one of the birdhouses.

May 13, 2011

Well, here it is, Friday. Goodness the weeks go by so quickly around here.

My serger malfunctioned. So it went to the sewing machine hospital for the week. After getting it back last night, I felt like I had a brand new machine! But I have to tell you, I was on edge all week...sort of like missing a family member. Now that she's home again, we can all breathe normally.

It did give me a few minutes during the week to plan some next projects. Like a crazy woman, I commited to Me Made June 11. This should be interesting...wearing something handmade every day in June and posting about it. Thankfully, it can be a whole outfit, an accessory, knit, sewn, whatever. And I think I pretty much do that all the time anyway. But I did, of course, think about my next round of sewing.

My plans? De-stash...use what I already have.

A knit maxi dress. After seeing Susan's McCall's 6074, I realized I have that same pattern and some great knit fabric in my stash. And it's a one hour dress????? What could go wrong?

I'm thinking this pattern could look very cool with a big beaded medallion at the bodice... you see them everywhere:

I wonder how I could do that?????

An Anthro-inspired top:

I LOVE the neckline on this top, and the tie scarf attached, but I think I'll make mine short sleeved or even a kimono short sleeve instead of the ruffle. I have a Burda pattern that I think I can use for this.

An anthro-inspired tote :

I found a great clearance piece of home dec slubby linen-y looking fabric for $3 a yard! Just waiting on a tan and white linen cotton gingham to be delivered.

An eyelet JCrew inspired dress (no longer available):

I'll use McCall's 6354 or Simplicity 2199.

I have some black eyelet and some white eyelet....maybe one of each?

And another dress, from a beautiful ikat print stash fabric, made fromVogue DKNY 1236:

Oh, where to begin...what would YOU make first? So many choices.

I love being a girl.

May 09, 2011

Happy Mother's Day! It goes without saying that being a mom, or having a mom, is one of those amazing blessings that should be honored every day. Isn't it a beautiful thing? No matter what your relationship is with your mom or your child, the fact is that giving life is an incredible, amazing blessing and a beautiful gift.

Want to see one of the ways that I celebrated my Mom? I gave her this personalized tote bag.

I made up a very basic roomy, box bottom tote from ivory canvas. And sturdied up the bottom with a rectangle of Peltex between the lining and the bag.

And lined it with vintage brown gingham.

And then applied an iron-on monogram from Martha Stewart clip art. To finish it off, I took apart a few silk flower blossoms and gathered them by hand to attach to the bag.

For carrying books, groceries, shopping spree bags, beach items, big knitting projects, picnic stuff...whatever you can think of to use it for, it's just adorable!

I'm about to have this be my Go-To Gift Idea for the women in my life!

Another Simplicity 2181

After posting this project to Pattern Review, I was asked by several people to show how I did the Simplicity 2181 Full Bust Adjustment. So, here we go. In my very non-conventional, fly by the seat of my pants way:

This is my Edward Scissorhands version! SO, I took a breath, and detailed just what I did.

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Red lines approximate where I cut my pattern apart. When it was in pieces, I did my adjustment sort of like this: Note where the pieces were spread apart, and where they had to hinge. This is a weird sort of underbust seaming, but once you see how it works, I think the adjustment will make sense. I made some notes on the following image to help:

Blue rectangle represents where the seam for under the bust will be created by folding and sewing together, matching dots and notches. In the photo below, this seam is within the blue square:

(bright green line represents the re-drafted area represented by the green shading in the previous diagram)

Now, if that doesn't make sense, by all means, email me!

It's going to be a bright, bright sunshiney day!

May 02, 2011

Today, I'll share some knitting.

I've had this overwhelming compulsion lately to knit little animals. I don't know why...maybe because they are small, cute and a knitting challenge in a wee little package.

(Purl Bee Fuzzy Easter Chick)

(Jess Hutchinson Bear from "Unusual Toys for you to Knit and Enjoy" and "Bunny".

But in my knitting bag right this very moment is a lovely ivory cotton blend vest that I found while browsing through the latest issue of Vogue Knitting. It goes like this: I'm in the grocery store, I'm flipping through VK just like every other month...

"Hmmmm. Interesting... that's different...well, now, I don't know know aboutthat...Seriously? Has this sweater ever been knitted other than the test garment?... Oh, my. Just who is wearing that?"

And then, you happen upon the ONE thing that makes buying Vogue Knitting rather than two bags of Cheetos to hide in your car worth it. For me, it was this cardi vest:

And I'm knitting it from some stash cotton blend yarn that I had in mind for a "Rebecca" vest a few years back ( which I came across in much the same manner as stated above)

So, that's what I'm knitting while I'm plastered on the sofa at night watching reality television.

And next up will be this cute sweater, "Quintet" , from the last Twist Collective:


which I will knit from Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere (without stripes) ...another stash find:

I think it will be a lovely little sweater for chilly summer evenings...if we ever get summer in Western New York.