FOOD

We are actually home every day this week for dinner!  That's exciting to me.  Not excited that I have to cook all 7 nights, but excited to have a family meal every night.  We try super hard to sit down, all 5 of us for at least 1 meal of the day!

Sunday - spaghetti and meatballs, salad
Monday - cheese steak sandwiches, tots, fruit
Tuesday - tacos, Mexican rice
Wednesday - cheesy shell stuffed shells, salad, bread  (our meatless meal this week)
Thursday - orange chicken, rice, green beans
Friday - roast, potatoes, carrots  (soccer @5, so this will be in the crock pot and ready when we get home)
Saturday - BBQ something, not sure what yet though

hummm - looking over this, I just realized I have no recipes to link...they are all just either thrown together or in my head.

Carrier Tent

Last weekend, Alison and I went to a baby shower for my friend Kristee.  She is having  baby girl Harper in a few months!!

I asked if there was anything she wanted made, and she requested a carrier tent.  Her car seat is black/white and red, so this is what I came up with for her:

The trim and backside are black minky and the bows on top are just pinned on.  They can be removed for washing, or for her next kid - you know the boy that will come next...unless she is like us, and only makes girls  ;o)

I wish I would have had my camera at the shower, but we rushed over after Alison's soccer game.  They had a candy bar set up (Al was in heaven) and a table with all kinds of ribbons and flowers for everyone to make hair bows for the new baby girl - such a cute idea.  Alison LOVED it...Aimee taught her how to use a glue gun, and Al went crazy layering flowers and ribbon!

I dedicate this shirt to my Mom

When I was little, my Mom made a bunch of my clothes.  I never appreciated it until I started sewing.  This shirt looks just like something my Mom would have made for me.  Even the colors are something she would pick out - although I don't know if she could handle stripes with plaid  haha - just kidding Mom.

After making these dresses...I started thinking about what else I could re-purpose.  I can't keep going to Target ( because you know I can't just stick to the clearance clothing racks!)  And if I take any more of Brian's clothes he won't have anything left to wear.  SO...I went to the thrift store and had a look around.  I came home with these: (among other things)

a flat and fitted sheet for $2

and this Mens shirt for $1.50  (it was originally labeled $3.00 but it was on a white tag - and those were all half off that day)

I can't say that I enjoy making clothes.  In my head I like to be able to follow a pattern, sew it, and have it fit (like quilts!)  but clothes are so different.  My kids rarely fit the pattern exactly, I have to try the different parts on them before sewing it, and usually have to improvise a little with each piece.  BUT...they do look cute in it!

This is my favorite part - the ruffled sleeves.  They are just too perfect for my girly girl!

Here is my improv for this piece.  The pattern did not call for a button closure, but it was way too tight of a squeeze to get it on.  It would have been SO much easier if I had planned it from the beginning and left fabric to do it.  It looks ok on the outside, but inside it's a hot mess!

This is Brooke's favorite part - the pockets!  I wasn't going to put them on, but the front looked too plain without them.  I like how the pleats in the pockets match the pleats on the front of the shirt  :o)

The verdict:  She LOVE LOVE LOVES it  (as in she wants to wear it every day)- so that makes me love it. And it reminds me of my Mom, and that makes me happy too. I will make more clothes, but definitely just for my kids.  The inside seams are way too much of a mess to give something as a gift!

Not Too Shabby

So since my sewing  has improved a bit over the last year, I decided to try sewing some clothes again.

My last attempt turned out less than ideal.

I got this plus size shirt at Target for $5...

and this huge mens shirt from Wally World for $2.  Isn't it nice that the wall is in focus but the shirt isn't?!

Here are the 3 dresses cut out and ready to go!  The 3rd one is fabric I had left over from a Christmas project...

And here is the big reveal!!!  Alison loves loves loves hers...

And Ellie likes hers as "a long shirt"...I think it still looks cute with jeans though - better with clean jeans, but still cute.

and when I told her to look at her knees...



gosh I love these girls!

You may be wondering where Brooke is?

Well, the sizing for Ellie's dress fit Al...and Brooke's dress fit Ellie...SO Brooke didn't get a dress this time.  Although I have a dress cut that is way too big for any of my girls...maybe I will just sew it and find someone it fits!

I Appreciate Them!

This week at our school, it was teacher appreciation week.  On Tuesday (we didn't have school on Monday), each of the teachers got a gift card for the school coffee shop & a cup of their favorite coffee drink.  I wanted to do a little something on our own, besides what the school had planned with the money we donated.  SO...I made these coffee cozies. 

I got the pattern here.

I think I might adjust a few things for next time, but overall, they turned out cute - and Al's teachers like them, so that's what counts!  We also gave each of them (and her Kinder teachers from last year)  a homemade scarf.  I know its almost summer here, but Alison requested them specifically, so how could I tell her no?!

The Fabric District

On Saturday, my Mom, Christina and I headed to downtown Los Angeles to the fabric district.  Christina and I have been wanting to go, and it finally worked out that we could meet there.  It's a little overwhelming, and I didn't get as much as I hoped just because I didn't know what I was doing or where to go.  Next time though, I will come home with WAY more fabric!  And "next time"  needs to be relatively soon - hear that Christina?!  I will brush up on my bargaining skills ;o)

This place sold fabric my the pound.  I had never heard of that before.  You picked through dozens of boxes and they weighed it...for $2.50 per pound, you can get quite a bit.  It was about 1:00 when we got here and I was STARVING and had no patience to pick through these boxes.  Christina and I thought it would be funny though to stick your arm to the bottom of the box, pull something out, then challenge ourselves (or each other) to make something with it - next time!

(This is at Michael Lavine Loft)

The next 2 pictures I borrowed from Dana @ Made   I forgot to get them.  Her blog gave us a good starting point about what shops to hit ect.

While my Mom and I waited for Christina to meet us, we shopped around in this store!

They have a bunch of clothes and accessories that are SUPER inexpensive.  I got some headbands with giant flower 2/$1, a peasant skirt for a dollar, a giant bag of beads that I will donate to the school for $4.  But the best part is in the back, behind a wall, they have fabric that is $1.00 per yard!  I totally regret not buying more.  BUT this was our first stop and I didn't know what to expect from the other shops!
Here is the wall of fabric at the FIDM store!

Here is another photo from Dana @ Made that shows the street view.  The shops were tiny with tons of bolts of fabric.  If your looking for something specific, I think it would be hard.  I think it might be easier to just brows and grab fabric you like to add to your stash.

This is the regular Michael Lavine store - pretty much any fabric you can think of, they have here.  The catch?  It's not discounted like the street shops.  The quilting cotton was $8-$10 per yard.

This is the fabric yardage I cam home with...I swear it looked like more when I was carrying it around the street of LA!!

6 yards of knits - gray, dk gray, pink

5 yards of a lightweight woven fabric - white

3 yards of minky - black (only $5/yrd!)

Evolution of a bag

You may remember this post when I shared a bag I made.

I made a similar one for Grandma Karen (my brother's Mom) for Christmas.  Although we just saw her this weekend, so she just now received it!

It had a magnetic snap closure and a pocket inside...

 This week, I made another and added an exterior pocket also.  I need a little practice making the flap, but I'm really happy with how it turned out!

I used some of my $3/yrd fabric and it's a nice weight.  I thought having home decor fabric for both layers might make it too stiff, but it worked great.