Run away for the PLACKET!!!!

So I guess the word Placket scares the pants off of me! I've started
the Oliver + S dress in size 7, but that is about it...I started it.
All the pieces were cut out really fast, and I thought it would be
really quick. However, it is not fast if you refuse to attack the
placket. I just walk around the table like it's an old boyfriend
(don't make eye contact, it might berate you!). Never mind that I walk
around it 50 times a day, homeschool on it, and feed the kiddos over it. Ignore
it and it just might go away. At this point I would be very happy to
pay someone to sew this stinky thing, then proceed with a bold-faced lie on
this blog ..this is me now seriously considering it . Dang, can't do
it. I thought that it was a sign from above that sewmamasew.com is
doing a month long sew-a-long on this very dress, but the more I read
the more I got cold feet, and there the dress sits. So I've waited and
I've waited ..and now I am here writing this instead of sewing the
placket (I'm not kidding, really scared of the darn thing here!).

On an up note, I did finish the apron a looong time ago, and it's
great if I do say so myself:

I really enjoyed it. The pattern is so cute and flirty and super
quick. I just needed a little fabric and ribbon. That I had, no sweat.
$0

I'm so glad I did that first so I had ample time to freak out over the
word placket! I had never even heard that word before. In the words of
"My Supplier" I need to just put on my big girl pants and deal with
it.......I'm in so much trouble.

- Joy

The day has come (and passed) to declare.....

I'm really having too much fun with this whole thing. It lit a fire in

me I haven't felt in years, but trying to decide what to make is still

rough. I was really all over the place. All the things I had wanted to

do took more fabric of this or that than I had. Apparently I have a

ton of scraps, but not 2 yards of any 1 thing. So I finally just

sucked it up and picked: an Oliver +s dress for Ruby and an apron

pattern borrowed from Amanda. I think the apron will be my favorite

this month.

The dress was a little hard to find fabric for, but at the very end of

the last box, way, way down in the darkness was a ton of lavender linen

(which I don't ever remember having!). And the flower fabric was just

enough for the project; plus I will add a bit of jumbo rick rack to

the pocket.

Ahh to sew again ..I love it!

-Joy

Let the eye-rolling begin...

OK, so technically I didn't exactly finish my second project by the deadline... you got me there.  But, I don't consider it failure per se.  I'm choosing to look at it as an 'alternative success'.  Not to say that I've given up on the skater shorts completely... see?

But, in my defense (I'll be using that phrase quite a bit in this post, just saying...)  has anyone ever attempted to use a pattern from "Hot Scott Patterns" ?!?  Suffice it to say it requires a lot of 'creative visualization' on the sewer's part.  The written instructions leave a lot to interpretation, and the pictures look like xerox copies of a blurry b/w photo. 

And, considering my sewing time is usually at the end of the day when all my 'creative visualization' has been used for things like cutting PB&J sandwiches on the diagonal instead of straight across, hoping that will so completely mess with my kids heads that they'll be duped into eating it without complaint - and trying to figure out how to look trendy and cutting edge by tying scarves creatively around my middle to 'obscure' the fact that my 'cute jeans' are making me look like a Pillsbury biscuit can that's been twisted and the dough is escaping out the middle...

Aaaaaanyhoo...
All is not lost, here's what I have been working on.

Starting with a pair of hand-me-down jeans that my daughter didn't want because they were very plain and boring. (The frugal mom in me was screaming on the inside - 'What is wrong with you girl?! Can't you see quality jeans when you see them?!")  So, a compromise was made, and I decided to try my hand at reverse applique...

Take a scrap of fabric and pin it to the
back, right side facing wrong side,
then stitch in the desired shape.  I
usually sew in an intentionally 'messy'
way.  Sew 2-5 rows, then trim
around stitching.

...then, on the front, carefully cut the
outer fabric (denim) about 1/4" from
stitching, careful not to cut fabric
underneath.

final outcome.  I plan to add about
6-8 more circles, but you get the idea.

  

And, of course, there's ric-rac.

There are two other projects that I'm working on, but they are gifts for two upcoming birthdays, so I'll post those in about a week or so, when they're no longer a surprise!

Now see??  Aren't you proud of me?? 

 - Amanda

My oh my...

We have had a heck of a time signing in to blogging  land and now I'm a bit behind SO this is what I wrote a few days ago: