When the storms are a brewing...

Outfit 120 - 2013-14 School Year

So, I was going to tell you this story yesterday, but it more directly related to today's outfit (since I technically made it yesterday). So, I saved the story telling. Here we go:

Yesterday morning around 5am, our weather radio went off and told us of a Severe Thunderstorm warning. I turned it off and tried to go back to sleep. Less than 5 minutes later, it went off again. This time, it was tornado warning - for where we live. So, we got up and turned on the news and this is what we saw

The red area is the path of the projected tornado and we were right in the line of it. We got the kids in our "safe" closet with pillows and blankets and kept watching and waiting. By God's grace by the time it got to us, the actual tornado had fallen apart. It touched down in a few places in this box leaving scenes like this

This was the official National Weather Service report about it.

RATING: EF-3
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 140 MPH
PATH LENGTH/STATUTE/: 11.5 MILES
PATH WIDTH/MAXIMUM/: 1200 YARDS
FATALITIES: 0
INJURIES: 13

START DATE: 04/29/2014
START TIME: 0356 AM
START LOCATION: 3 MILES NW OF CRAWFORD
START LAT/LON: 32.4650/-85.2336

END DATE: 04/29/2014
END TIME: 0412 AM
END LOCATION: 2 MILES NE OF SMITHS STATION
END LAT/LON: 32.5680/-85.0804

While we weren't hurt and our house wasn't damaged, this is what we had when it was all said and done. 

This was a little too close to my sons room for my taste, but thankfully it landed where it did. The upside is until we get it cut up, the kids are using it as a fort :) We are prayerful for everyone impacted by these storms. I know in other areas, there were fatalities. We pray for those communities and their families.

I had gone to bed about 1am that night and the storm warnings started a little before 5, so you can do the math on my sleep ;) After everything settled down, I sent the kids back to bed and the hubs and I decided to just let them sleep until they got up and I would take them into school whenever that was. ((Thats right, folks. We cancelled school for the threat of snow. Actually have a tornado, school....)). I had way too much adrenaline to go back to sleep, so I sat on the couch and read. Once they got up, I took them to school  (after a nice breakfast at Panera Bread Co.). After I dropped them off, I decided to go to JoAnn since they had 50% off their clearance fabric this week. I found my Godsend. They had this fabric on the bolt that was already gathered and attached to a wide elastic band - and get this - already had a narrow hem. I bought a yard of it and delcared Hallelujah. It was something similar to this 

You can find this online here http://www.joann.com/style-in-an-instant-spring-19in-chalskirt-bouquet-black/12043022.html#prefn1=isProject&prefn2=collection&prefv2=Style+In+An+Instant&prefv1=false&start=31. It is part of their "Style in an Instant" line. So, all I had to do is wrap it around her, decide how I wanted it to fit and cut. Then, I stitched, serged and done. A handmade skirt in the easiest of methods. I declared *whew* because I was so tired and braindead from the night before. And my mother has been having health problems that escalated yesterday that ended up with her having two drs visits. If you pray, if you could lift her up for healing, I would be so appreciative.

So, here is my post tornado skirt using the Joanns Style in an Instant!

This fabric is kind of spendy not on sale - but if you see it on the clearance (when its 50%) or if you have a coupon. It is the fastest sew ever. I probably could have let her make this herself. 

No tornado is going to keep us from finishing our Handmade School Year challenge. ;)

Thanks for stopping by and tomorrows outfit was produced tornado free :) 

Sometimes the 'Puzzle' just falls together

Outfit 119 - 2013-14 School Year

The tween designers are just cranking them out this week and new patterns are dropping like little gifts from Heaven right into my grubby seamstress paws (no seriously - seamstressing is pretty rough on the hands. Am I Right?). Today I am reviewing the new knit - and you know we love our knits - pattern from Hailey Bugs Closet. It has the cutest, most appropriate name - The Perfect Puzzle set. It is a dress/skirt/tshirt pattern all in one. It ranges from a 12m to a girls 12. I made mine in the 12. You can find the pattern here https://www.etsy.com/listing/187247855/the-perfect-puzzle-set-pdf-pattern-knit?ref=shop_home_active_2.

And the picture above is just ONE of the many options. You can do so much with this pattern. It is a great knit stash buster or upcycling pattern, too. I actually upcycled a shirt I bought during our London trip last year. I loved the colors but it didn't fit right when we got home, so I had the perfect knit colors to go with it when I decided to make this pattern, so thats what it became. 

Here is my version of the Perfect Puzzle Pattern in the dress version, size 12.

The Hailey Bugs Closet Perfect Puzzle is a perfect addition to your PDF tween sewing repertoire. Thank you for stopping by tonight! See you tomorrow!

Wish they all could be California Girls....

Outfit 118 - 2013-14 School Year

I hope all of you had a great weekend and for those of you in the path of the storms or currently going through them, our prayers are with you.

My weekend turned out nothing near what I expected. I ended up sick. Bleh - fever, sinuses. Overall, Im feeling better today, but still a little piqued. And I ended up having to take baby girl to the acute care after school because her teacher thought she may have pink eye. Turned out to be just allergies, thankfully. So, she has some prescription Flonase and allergy eye drops. Hopefully they will help her. The pollen has just been awful around here lately.

So, today's outfit comes with some excitement. I'm sure a lot of you have heard about the Bundle Up Sale going on.

This is a really cool opportunity to stock up on some great new patterns by some time tested designers. And a lot of them go up into the bigger girl/tween sizes. And the next Bundle they are planning I have heard is womens wear! So, it is really a cool thing. Today's pattern is from the Bundle and it is from super sweet designer Kymy from Everything Your Mama Made. It is the new California dress and peplum. 

Look at the bargain with this one - it goes from Newborn to size 18 tween (and I bet a lot of you grownie moms could fit into that 18). It is a simple sew and looks so store bought. And it is very versatile too. I was able to get it sewn even with a fever :)

You can get the bundle pricing on this pattern here http://bit.ly/1jAu9xV. And here is our Everything Your Mama Made & More California dress.

Isn't this dress super cute (and comfy looking?) And even more good news? This comes out in womens sizes later this week. Mama here sure could use one. I actually made this in the 14, but I really would have probably been fine in the 12.  

I was thinking this weekend that including today, I only had 11 more outfits to go. Now, that this one is posted, its down to 10. We went shopping in Justice this weekend for a gift for one of her friends birthdays and I let her get a couple of summer items. I said to her - I bet you are looking forward to wearing storebought clothes for next year. She got this all dejected look and said I want to wear your clothes. I said I just can't commit to a WHOLE year of clothes again. She stuck out her bottom lip. I think I will probably do 2 or 3 a week, but 4 a week has basically become my job this year. And I have had to have such a turnaround that I haven't been able to make elaborate pieces. I am hopeful she and I will come to a mutually pleasing solution for her first year of middle school wardrobe. :) 

So, come back tomorrow as we start counting down the last 10 outfit for the 2013-14 school year.

Oui, Oui, Paris!

Outfit 117 - 2013-14 School Year

So, we are back to a Paris themed outfit. Actually, this shirt was supposed to go with the skirt I did a few days ago, but when I put them together, I didn't like it. So, I made a pair of capris to go with it and liked that look much better. I used another of Applique Junkie's faux smocked patterns to make the shirt http://www.appliquejunkie.com/images/large/poodleswm.JPG

For today's pants, I used a black and white polka dot fabric from JoAnns that I honestly hate. It has the worst feel to it ever. It was the only black and white polka dot they had and I didn't have time to hit another store. I even came home and washed it with fabric softener, still ugh. The pattern, however, was amazing. It is from Jocole and is their Mega Ruffle Pant. I made it as a capri length in the size 14. http://www.jocole.net/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8_15&products_id=88  

So, here is our Walmart white tshirt with the Applique Junkie faux smocking and Jocole Mega Ruffle capris.

It was a fun and cute outfit! 

So, another week of sewing come and gone. Testing has now come and gone and we leave three weeks from tomorrow. Yay! Counting the days :) I've turned into that terrible end of the year mom that I read about on Jen Hatmaker's blog http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2013/05/30/worst-end-of-school-year-mom-ever. Im glad somebody was real about that because I really thought it was just me. Lately, I feel like you could pluck my nerves like guitar strings. It seems like every minute of the last three weeks is planned out and everywhere you turn someone has their hand out for money, time, energy and I am, frankly, exhausted. And, if you know me, you know I make sewing for this blog a priority. It comes first. I committed to this and I am not going to throw in the towel at mile 22. However, a lot of people in my life don't seem to respect it and the time it takes to do it. Either that or they think I am some sort of mystical sew fairy that can whip things up in three seconds. I am also the worst 'no' sayer to anyone. So, pretty much all you have to do is stand around and keep asking me to do something and eventually I will. So, here I am, three weeks before school is out feeling like my legs are about to fall out from under me and no one seems to care :( Its oh why can't you make it to this after school thing, oh by the way we are having an extra after school practice, oh could you just make x-y-z. Oh youre busy, well I am sure you will still do a great job. I try not to put too much negativity on the blog, but I am feeling like a run over bus today and this was about my only place to rant. So, thank you for putting up with my ramblings (I saved them till the end for the folks who just come for the pictures). And if you are feeling crazy here lately and just dragging yourself to the finish line called the end of the year - I am with you.

See you Monday :) 

Sailing.....

Outfit 116 - 2013-14 School Year

So, we made it to the Hump Day of testing. Actually testing will be finished tomorrow and she has a field trip on Friday, so another week down. I can't believe we leave 3 weeks from Friday. Actually, 3 weeks from today will be her last outfit for the school year as she has her 5th grade retreat that Thursday and we leave for our Transatlantic cruise that Friday. Man, this year has flown by. I can't believe in basically three weeks I will be the mom to two middle schoolers. Thats nutty crazy. So, I am not going to dwell on that - I'm going to focus on what's ahead - the CRUISE! I don't like to fly, so we are going on a transatlantic cruise to Barcelona in about 3 weeks. So, I had this amazing boat fabric. It's the Michael Miller Out to Sea fabric line. <3 it! So, I decided to do a mash up. Applique Junkie (http://appliquejunkie.com/) released these super cute faux smocked designs. So, I grabbed the anchor one http://www.appliquejunkie.com/item_775/Faux-Smocked-Anchors-Embroidery-Design.htm

I did the Little Lizard King Blue Ribbon dress using the pre-existing shirt option http://littlelizardking.com/shirts-tops/99-blue-ribbon-winner.html.

 After I cut the shirt, I embroidered the smocked design onto it. And here are our fun, cruise inspired pics! (forgive the wrinkly skirt. She had running club after school and shoved the dress into her bag. Ugh! I should have ironed it.....)

See ya tomorrow and thanks for stopping by tonight!

Tiers of Joy

Outfit 115 - 2013-14 School Year

Today we have a super cute, super twirly skirt from Whimsy Couture. It is their 4 tiered skirt https://www.etsy.com/listing/164277378/sale-whimsy-couture-sewing-pattern?ref=shop_home_active_14

And if you are looking for a pattern that is an amazing bargain - this is it. Right now it is on sale for $6.00 and you get sizes 3m - LADIES 16. It is an easy sew. The only thing that is time consuming is really gathering tiers 3 and 4 and it isn't hard, it's just gathering.

I found todays fabrics at Hancock and I loved them because they made me excited about our upcoming trip in a few weeks. One of our stops is Paris. So, here is our Parisian inspired Whimsy Couture 4 tier skirt. It is super twirly and lots of fun!

Told ya it was a fun one! Thanks for coming today and we hope to see you tomorrow!!