A Little Sewing and a Friday Mommy Brag!!

Happy Friday!!

I am back to sewing, after my 4 day, much needed break.

Whew! But I am behind and must catch up.

This little ornament is a gift for a friend. I made it from a scrap of the red velveteen

from India's Queen Katharine dress. I like it so much I may make more!

It will be winging it's way, along with a Yaya's Apron to a friend in the South.

I love it because it reminds me that Jesus is the reason we celebrate this beautiful season.

A singular vintage ball button

Some antique cotton trim, most likely from Norway.

A darling patch pocket with a scrap of rickrack.

Long sleeves requested by a small girl.

4 different Christmas fabrics and even more rickrack.

Oh, and is that a Monkey Girl Bloomer Skirt?

Yes! It is another Christmas Outfit for the lovely Ahnalin!

What is that she is holding????

Could it be???

YES!!! Ahnalin is the Kindergarten Citizen of the Month!!

Woohoo!!!!

Congrats to the most precious girl in the whole world!

To those of you who understand the struggles of raising a  child with attachment disorder, SPD and PTSD,  you know what a miracle this is! We are so proud of our girl's hard work.

Mama loves you Ahnalin!

 And on another note, remember, you can make your own bloomer skirt just like Ahnalin's!

You can purchase the pattern by clicking on my Etsy button or by ordering it directly by using the button on the top right hand side of the blog.

OR, you can order it at You Can Make This. com.

If you order it from my Etsy or directly from the blog, I will send it to you directly within 24 hours. It is a PDF Ebook and I provide great customer service!

Have a beautiful weekend everyone!

Snowy Weekend Catch-up!

Last Saturday, yes, a whole week ago, Ahnalin sang in the Christmas concert at TCC with her Kindergarten class. I could not get any good shots during the actual performance,

but these are from the rehearsal.

Ahnalin sang her words and  performed the hand motions perfectly. However, the girl we affectionately refer to as "Boom Boom" told me that she could not do the dance moves because she had a broken leg. Um. ok. She is an amazing little dancer ,  but hey, if she says she has a broken leg, she must have one. Right?  

We did not stay through the elementary age part of the show because we had to get India to her Madrigal Dinner  and then turn around and drive down the hill to a family wedding reception.

Sadly, India missed the reception because she was performing. But some girlfriends curled her hair for her performance and we think she looks beautiful. This is her sad face later that night when she found out about all the cousins she missed out on.

Sunday was a wonderful day at church. All four of the singers on the vocal team, including me, were sick. Lovely. We still sang and were blessed by a beautiful dance team that came to minister as well.

But then that afternoon, we bade farewell to one of our beloved pastoral families, the Carothers' as they leave to begin their ministry in Fresno.

My parents were then supposed to travel over the mountains from Sparks to be with us for a few days. My mom was to speak at our MOPS Christmas Tea with me. But they called and said that the pass and freeway were closed due to the blizzard conditions and several fatal accidents. Very bad.

So, we cozied in for the evening and watched the snow fall. By Monday morning, we woke to this!

Yes. 11 inches fell over night. First SNOW DAY of the year! Yes it does snow in California.

School was canceled for Monday and Tuesday and all activities. Ahnalin spent hours outside in the snow. India slept and slept and slept.

Later on, they baked cookies. Actually they baked both days.

The cookies are all gone. Sorry.

We watched Christmas movies, drank cocoa with whipped cream,

and wore our pajamas for 3 days in a row. 

BLISS!

I probably could have gotten a lot of sewing done, however, after being sick and

forcing myself to sew for so long, I had promised Don and my mom that I would take 2

days off to rest. I actually took 4 days off of sewing.

I did not get well completely

but I do feel better

than I did.

Next post, a bit of sewing and a Friday brag!

India as Queen Katharine of Aragon

Yes, my Queenly daughter is holding that modern elixir known as a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha with Whipped Cream and Mocha Syrup.

Last night we went to the preview of the Madrigal Dinner. Preview is actually a paid dress rehearsal, but hey, the price was right! India played Queen Katharine of Aragon. Ever since she first heard of the Chamber Choir, and the Madrigal Dinner, she has aspired to play the Queen.  Way back when she was in 7th grade she asked me, "Mama, if I ever get chosen to play the Queen, will you make me an historically accurate gown?"  And of course, me being me, I said "Absolutely!" That was 6 years ago.

And now, as a senior, she is Queen Katharine.

I used Simplicity 2589 as the pattern. I read the pattern reviews and they were all positive.

However, I will admit that I started sewing this dress the day after Thanksgiving, as in 1 week ago.

I have not been feeling well for weeks and have had a fever. So these things may have colored my opinion of this pattern.

All that being said, I HATED THIS PATTERN!!!!!! OH HOW I HATED IT!!!!

If you have been following this blog for very long, you know how I do not like any of my seams to show. I like everything neat and tidy, tucked inside of lining or french seams. Well, that can't be done with this pattern. It made me crazy!!!!

As I showed earlier, the seams all show inside the bodice. UGH!!

Oh, I forgot to say that I shortened the bodice by 1 1/2 inches in length. I also shortened the shoulder pieces, as India has little shoulders.

India is pretty obsessed with "The Tudors"

And she really preferred the french sleeve as opposed to the English over sleeve.  So I drafted a sleeve

to fit her little shoulders and arms.

I have to admit to being partially to blame, after all my years of fascination with the

wives of Henry VIII.

Alison Weir wrote a fabulous book years ago which got me hooked!

So, India wanted a french sleeve and she got it.

 

This is the back view showing the eyelets and lacing. I had not added the back flap under the lacing yet when I took the picture. There is boning in the front panel and back of the bodice so it holds its shape.

Now, I must apologize because I got on a roll and forgot to take pictures of the rest.

 

I am sorry this is so dark. I am worthless with photo editing so I can't figure how to lighten it up.

But this is India wearing the gown at the dress rehearsal. I left the french sleeve because I LOVED how it looked on her.

However, after talking to my friend who was in charge of costumes, we decided that I needed to add the English over sleeve as it was more regal.

One of my giant frustrations with this pattern was how the voluminous skirt was to be hand gathered and then hand stitched to the bodice. The pattern called for the skirt top to be finished with gingham. So, when the hand gathered skirt is handsewn to the bodice, some of the gingham shows. I have been sewing a million years and there was no way to make this look good!

So, I am going to have to get over myself and realize that India loves the gown. I am going to have a photographer friend take some real portraits of India in her gown

WITHOUT the Starbucks cup in hand.

The fabric was a bolt of red velveteen I bought from Walmart. It was really reasonable, but the little fluffs of velveteen fuzz are EVERYWHERE!

The sleeves and front panel of the underskirt are harvested from some old drapery panels that someone had donated to the costume department.

The rest of the underskirt is stiff muslin. I had purchased all the supplies to make the

corset, farthingale, bum roll and shift. However, after sewing the whole time with a fever, I decided to give my self a break and not sew those. India was really sad though, as she LOVES corsets. So, I will get that done for Christmas for her.

India and her friend Tarney before the show

India has her lady in waiting Erin bowing to her!

India and her King Henry

Queen Katharine greeting Queen Claude of France (India's buddy Laurissa)

King Henry, Queen Katharine, Queen Claude and the King of France

I hope to get more good pictures from a friend who actually knows how to take them!

But the evening was wonderful and the kids did a great job performing.

And I am happy I was able to create yet another of her dream dresses.

Blog Giveaway on Marie Madeline Studio

Have you been over to Marie Madeline Studio? I just know I would love these girls in real life!
They make pretty, feminine and modest clothing and aprons, as well as sell fabric, design patterns and make quilts.

These beautiful ladies are going to give away one of these beautiful quilts and I desperately want to win one of them. So.....while I hesitate to tell you all about it, I will get 10 more entries for this blog post!!!!
http://mariemadelinestudio.typepad.com/mariemadeline_studio/2009/11/the-happy-scrappy-quilt-giveaway-again/comments/page/12/?cid=6a00e54f14327c88340120a6ec3952970b#comment-form
So, head on over there and enter. But please, make sure you let them know that Sivje at Goosegirl Sews sent you.

Have a beautiful day!

Sivje

Thanksgiving and My Nutty Family

Yes, this would be cranberry sauce from the can.

We have to get the kind that is organic, without corn syrup or food dyes. But yes, it HAS to still be in the shape of the can in order for India to think it is truly Thanksgiving.

Whatever!

And this, this is my mother. Yep! She is the one who is very demanding about pictures.

However, when I tried to take her picture during the weekend, this is what I got.

This is my cute mother. She made faces every time I tried to take her picture!

And then there is my Daddy.....

NOW I know where India gets it from.

And then there was Ahnalin. Oh yeah, you can see her neck now.

Yeah, I cut her hair the other day. I won't go into the whole nightmare, but after certain

notes came home from school stating that the entire Kindergarten class had been exposed to lice uh...some highly contagious stuff, and Ahnalin reacted really badly to the shampoo, I couldn't take it any more and I cut her hair. Myself. It is crooked. Really, really crooked!!!!

This was her hair before I cut it. The nasty shampoo had turned her scalp into a dry, scaly mess and her hair was brittle like straw. I was so sad to do it but knew that if I did not do it when I made the decision, I never would get up the courage to do it.

This was the "after".  My Mother-in-law and I cut it a few days before Thanksgiving, but Ahnalin has taken a few minutes every day since then to tell me how much she hates her haircut.

So, the picture up a ways is the view I got each time she pouted.

Here are the girls playing one of the many hundreds of games of "Candyland" that took place this weekend. You see, I told India that since I was working on her Queen Katharine costume for the Madrigal dinner, she had to keep her sister occupied. To Ahnalin, "occupied" translated to "Dida has to do whatever I say."  HAHA!!! I stayed out of it!

This is just proof that I really was there.

I think Ahnalin took this picture while I was cooking something.

I started on India's gown and realized that I needed to get pics of the process. India, in true India fashion, decided to be goofy.

This is the front of the bodice of the dress.

I am using Simplicity 2589 and Simplicity 2621. So far I am not loving the instructions.

I prefer to hide the seams inside the lining, but for whatever reason, this pattern does it differently. Because I have to have the whole thing done by Wednesday, I decided to just follow the pattern and realize that no one will publicly humiliate me because the seams are visible in the bodice.

Yes, the seams are finished, but I can see them!!!! I don''t like that!!

The boning is all done, and now I need Don to hammer in the grommets on the back opening. The skirt pieces are almost ready for me to attach to the bodice. I still have to make the sleeves and attach those.

I am still scrounging for fabrics to do the sleeves and underskirt. Even with using bargain fabrics and remnants, this costume is costing me wayyyyyyyyyyy more

than I am used to spending on any one outfit.

I will post more pics as I sew.

So, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving and had so much fun. I am so blessed to be with my loving, nutty and generous family.

I pray you had a great Thanksgiving as well.

Stay tuned for more pics of the Queen Katharine costume over the next few days.

Sivje

A Tinkerbell Dress for Princess Madison

I just finished Madison's dress!

Madison is another precious princess from China and her mommy orders a custom dress from me every year for Madison's birthday.

This year, Madison requested purple shiny fabric with Tinkerbell smocking with flowers.

I found a purple cotton sateen with a lovely hand, heavy enough for a winter dress.

Madison requested her name on her dress and for

some reason the shiny thread is reflecting the light.

I sewed on some sparkly lime green beads and lime green

rickrack to pick up the color in Tink's outfit.

I love the green rickrack on the collar.

Yes, the sash in the back is really that big.

I LOVE big sashes and this one tied so pretty.

Little, tiny cuff with green rickrack and lavender flower button.

We all know I can't take good pictures, so there is some weird shine on this one.

Normally, I sew the petticoat in to the dress, but this time, I made it separately just in case Madison was overcome with the need to twirl when she did not want to wear her dress.

So, there it is. Madison's Tinkerbell dress. I can't wait to see pictures of her wearing it.

It will be in a box, winging it's way to this "Fairy" princess on Friday!

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are so blessed to be celebrating Thanksgiving with my parents in Sparks! We leave in just a few minutes to head over the mountains.....


Over the river and through the woods,
To Grandmother's house we go!

I am so grateful to have a loving family who supports me and encourages me everyday.
I am grateful for a loving, handsome and talented "Hot Rockin' Hubby" who still loves me after 21 years of adventurous marriage.
I am grateful that both sets of our parents are still in love and married to each other since the beginning. They model commitment to me every day.
I am grateful that my children are currently healthy and love to be with me.
I am grateful to live in a country that is still free, where I can worship God daily without fear.
I am grateful to live in California where I can get to the mountains, ocean, desert, and valley all in a few hours drive.
And most of all, I am grateful for my Lord Jesus, who gave up everything so that I could have life.

I pray you all have a blessed and beautiful Thanksgiving.

Sivje