Back Again!

So what have I been doing for the last year? Stuff. Many sewing jobs and a lot of down time. I worked part time for a woman that makes vintage style swimsuits. You can check out her stuff at www.mysugardoll.com I had fun learning new techniques!

My son Andrew came home from serving his mission in Fiji. He was only home for a month when we shipped him off to live with his grandparents to go to school and help them out. He's back home again but will be leaving soon to attend school in Idaho.  

My daughter Ashton became engaged last year and her wedding will be in October. The reason for October you ask? So we can use pumpkins for the decor. We have purchased the gown, found a photographer. booked the church, reception venue and caterer plus the In n Out truck. This Saturday I will be heading to LA to purchase fabric with the bride and her bridesmaids for their gowns. The groom and his guys will be purchasing new suits in September. There is still a bit to get done but that's the big items taken care of.

This summer I also attended Chaffey College, I took a computer aided design class. It was taught by one of my all time favorite teachers, Colleen Poteet. My sewing skills have improved exponentially since meeting her. I was also offered part time employment by the college as an apprentice working in the fashion design program side by side with Colleen.  Definitely my favorite job ever! 

Here's a recent photo of the hubby and me at the Martin Johnson House in La Jolla, California, we were there for a wedding. Gorgeous location. 

A dress and jacket I made for my friend Natalie Hughes. She had purchased the jacket fabric in LA, when I asked what she was going to do with it she said she wasn't sure, she is an amazingly talented quilter and every year she makes quilts for the 4th grade class of her local elementary school as part of a reading project they do. I volunteered to cut batting and help with the binding along with some other ladies. When ever I was over at Natalie's I would see the green fabric on her shelf. Finally, as I was leaving one day I grabbed the fabric and told her I was taking it. She protested that it was hers and I told her she would get it back but only after I made something out of it. The jacket is what I came up with. While searching my fabric stash I found the light green linen and made her a dress to go with it. 

A dress for Natalie's daughter Bailey who was in a wedding, there was enough fabric left over to do a tiny dress for Bailey's daughter Peyton!

On the left is my wedding gown, I purchased it in 1988. It was very in at the time. It's been hanging in my closet for a while now and with the daughter getting married I got it out hoping to do something with it. I had an idea of making it look like a dress from the 1950's, the photo on the left is the bodice after I had taken the entire dress apart and recut it into a sweetheart shape. This is as far as I've gotten with it:

This is another fun project I got to work on,  my friend Edee and her granddaughter Ariel asked if I could replicate this vintage dress they found on Pinterest:

They loved the dress but wanted sleeves and a skirt that wasn't quite as full, here's my design:

And Ariel in her dress:

There have been other sewing jobs, most of them were alteration jobs. I have a customer that really loves Tommy Bahamas gear so I've been making stuff for him, mostly shirts and a pair of swim shorts. I tried my hand at making swim suits, I successfully made a couple for myself but I won't be posting any photos of myself in swimwear. And shoes! I have a couple of pairs of new shoes that are awesome! I will post those next time. 

Again, welcome back to my blog, I'll try to be better about posting, thanks for sticking with me! 

Terri