Attack of the White Stuff

They said the snow would come.  I didn't believe it.  Why?  Well, if you live in the South long enough you begin to see a pattern.  Snow is predicted.  Everyone goes crazy and stocks up milk and bread.  The kids get excited.  The snow doesn't come.  This time, however, it looks like they were right on the prediction.  It started snowing yesterday morning and didn't stop until around 3 or 4 PM.  Then, it started again sometime this morning, and, as I type this at 10:30 AM, it is snowing pretty hard.  So, we are stuck inside, because as we know in the South the roads will be bad.  Also, most people here are not use to driving in the snow, because it rarely happens here.  So, inside we will stay.  Well, unless we get the urge to go have a snowball fight.  Hmmm...I wonder who will start that.  LOL!

While we are inside, I am trying to keep my hands busy on a new bishop.  I must admit that I had great plans for a cute green and white chevron bishop smocked dress.  After fighting with my pleater yesterday, I am not sure how it will look in the end.  I am not sure why, but sometimes my pleater has a mind of its own.  Actually, most of the time it is O.E.(operator error).  Despite all of my struggles, I managed to get the dress pleated.  The smocking will be flowers and the dress will be sized for a 2 year old.  The goal is for a 2 year old little girl to have something special to wear this Spring. 

What do you do to get ready for days inside?  Do you cut out a new pattern?  Do you get some yarn for crochet?  There are several things a "crafter" can do to avoid boredom.  Mine would include the smocking, sewing, and crochet.  So, when I get bored with my bishop pattern, I may find myself making a hat or scarf.  Who knows?  Post a comment below and let me know your favorite "snow day" activity. 

Also, before I forget, I am running a special in my shop for the month of February.  Here it is:

Easter is a long way off, but this dress takes some time to complete. Therefore, I am offering a deal. Pre-order the dress below by March and receive a $20 discount. Just enter the coupon code PREEASTER, when you purchase this dress in my shop. Hurry, the offer ends on March 1st.

Garden Tea Party Dress

Just click on the name of the dress and it will send you to my etsy shop.  You may purchase this dress there.  Are you not a big fan of white?  That is fine.  I can customize this dress to fit the colors you would like.  It would make a great Easter dress, Spring dress, or Flower Girl dress for a wedding.  Just send me a message via etsy and I can get started.  

Don't forget to post comments about what you like to do on a Snow Day.  Have a wonderful day and stay warm and inside, if you are near this storm. 

OH NO! I am LOST!

Ok, my husband and I have been discussing getting rid of our AT&T U-verse cable.  We really like the DVR thing, and being able to watch when we want.  The problem is, it is expensive.  We think we could save some money if we did things another way.  Our family is not a huge TV family.  We only have like 3 or 4 shows that we watch, and 2 that are favorites.  The others we most likely could get by not watching.  So, on to research.

We started by looking into Netflix.  We signed up for the one month free trial.  WOW!!!  The amount of shows that are available is amazing.  We found a bunch of old episodes of shows we watched as kids, and some new ones we had not seen.  We also tried Hulu Plus for a few days, but that was not much different than the Netflix.  Actually, Netflix gave us more options.  We are still in the process of trying to decide what to do, but for now the Netflix stays and the U-verse is on its way out. 

One of the new shows that we found is Dr. Who.  If you don't know, Dr. Who is a show from the BBC.  It is about a man that is a time traveler.  My kids loved it.  There are a few references to lifestyles that are questionable to us, but for the most part it is interesting.  Now, I told you my kids loved the show.  Me, on the other hand, became addicted.  I just keep watching.  I am totally lost in a huge time vortex.  OH NO!!!

Maybe I can get Dr. Who to come and save me.  LOL!!!

Seriously, I have spent time watching this show, but I have also been busy.  I did manage to complete one dress and started another.  Below is a picture of the first one.  The second one, began with a great idea, but it is not working out the way I had planned.

Bishop Smocked Dress

So, I decided to put the second one aside, and wait until I have had time to think about the finished product. 

Now, that I have put that one aside, I purchased some Green Chevron.  I have 2 ideas for 2 different bishop smocked dresses.  My plan is to have them ready by Spring.  Flowers and Flip Flops.  That is the idea that I have. 

So, if you ever get addicted to a show, make sure that you have something to work on while you are lost in the show.  By the way, the dress in the picture is available for sale on my Etsy shop.  It can be purchased there, or you can custom order one of my other outfits there. 

Ruffles, Ruffles Everywhere

So, here it is the end of the week, and I have not posted a blog.  Oops!  I almost forgot.  Have I been busy?  No.  Have I misplaced my computer? No.  I have just been lazy. 

My work this week has centered around one of my favorite customers.  She is always pleased with my work even when I am not.  The task this week was to make some denim ruffle pants.  She didn't ask for a monogram on the ruffle, but I thought I would give it a try.  It turned out great.  The pants were so very cute.  I had a hard time seeing them go.  She also wants a darker pair of denim pants.  So, next up is the darker pair.  Denim is such a great fabric for pants.  Denim goes with everything.  So, without going on too much, here are some pictures.

Come in sizes 6 mo. to 18 mo.

You can customize them to your liking.

You can pair these pants with just about anything that I make.  All of the bishop dress that I make can be shortened to a top and be paired with some cute ruffle pants.  If you like these, you can customize your order.  Just post a comment here or on my facebook page.  You can also send me a message on Etsy.

The other news for the week is that I started a Twitter account.  You may follow me there if you would like.  @sewingsweettrac

Happy 2014!!!  So, we celebrated the New Year the same way as always.  We watched the ball drop on Fox New channel.  It was pretty uneventful, but it was a blessing to watch with my family.  I pray that you were able to spend the New Year with your family.  I also pray that 2014 brings you a year full of blessings.

So, this is the first blog of the New Year.  Hmmm...What do blog about???  That is always the question.

Today, I am going to write about my creation yesterday.  For a while now, I have been making some Infinity Scarves, or Tube Scarves, or Endless Scarves.  They have so many different names.  When I make these, I notice that there is several inches of material left over.  Well, being me, I can't help but think, "You know there is something that can be made with that left over material"  For a long time, I had no ideas.  This Christmas, I was making some of these scarves for my mom and mother-in-law.  It finally hit me...HEADBANDS.  A headband is just simply a smaller infinity scarf.  WOW!  I seriously can't believe it took me this long.  So, yesterday, I began creating a headband.

It started out pretty simple.  Then, I tried the first one out.  Bummer!  The first one looks good, but I can barely get it over my head.  It is so very tight.  Well, maybe it is just my big head.  So, I gave it to my daughter to try out.  She couldn't even get it on at all.  So, back to the drawing board.

It seemed to be that the material stretched, but the stitching kept one side from stretching.  OH!  That is right.  I was using the wrong stitch.  DUH! A straight stitch doesn't stretch.  So, out comes the manual to the sewing machine.  Did you know that there is a stitch for stretchy material(LOL)?  Yes, I know dumb question.  I did know this, but I had forgotten.

After changing my stitch, I had better success.  The next 2 headbands turned out great.  One was still a little small, but would work great for a young girl.  The other one was good for an adult sized head.  I do still need to work with the size a little, but I have a good start.  Check out the pictures, and post a comment here about what you think.  Enjoy!

Other colors and styles to come.  The other big news of yesterday is that my daughter finished her first crocheted scarf.  She had decided a while ago that she wanted to learn to crochet.  We had some bumps in the road in the area of learning stitches, but she has got it down now.  Here are pictures of her first finished product.  I am a very proud momma.