What's been keeping me out of trouble!

This is a baby doll apron that I designed, it's reversible. The other side is pink and brown. It ended up being a gift for a young woman I know that got married on July 2nd.

This photo is of Johnnie Mae at the Viva Las Vegas Fashion Show. I have to say I really admire the girl, even back in my bathing beauty days I could never have appeared on a stage in my underwear although this was was more covered up than most people you see in everyday life. And believe me some of those people should really cover up!

This is Slinky Sparkles, she is a model and British burlesque performer. Those are very large fans in her hands. She was also modeling for the Viva Las Vegas Fashion Show. I wasn't able to get very good pictures due to the fact that I was using my phone to take the pictures and photography wasn't really allowed. I never have been one for rules. I fell in love with this corset and it was a great deal at the vendor show. By the time I had decided to buy one they had sold out. I do have some good photos of it so I can probably reproduce it but like sandwiches, corsets are just better when someone else makes it for you. The name of the designer during this particular section of the fashion show is, "What Katie Did" love this name for a company and as you can probably tell, they create vintage lingerie.

Here is a recent photo of the family at one of our favorite local Mexican restaurants. They do fajitas to die for and the diet coke is served in large glasses that they keep refilling. They also do the best salsa in town! If it's one thing I do well aside from sewing, it's salsa, I have worked for years perfecting and refining 2 recipes until I finally got the result I wanted and my salsa is good but I like theirs better. I spoke to the owner a couple of years ago and got him to give up his salsa recipe and can make it at home when I can't afford to go out. Now if only he would tell me what the sauce is he puts on the fajitas!

This is a fabric I found at Joanns, I loved the color in it and knew I had to make something out of it. Below is the result.

I created this dress fully intending to put it on Etsy and sell it. I posted it on facebook first and ended up selling it in about an hour. It started kind of as a joke directed at the store Anthropolgie. Some of their stuff is cute but some of their stuff I have to wonder if the designer or buyer is color blind. Some of the combinations they put together have no business being put together! And the prices! As far as I can tell they never have sales and most of the dresses there sell for $168.00! I don't know about you but that seems a bit steep for a dress where the colors don't match. So my solution was to come up with vintage looking dresses with sleeves and skirts that go to the knee and sell them to woman that were tired of trying to find cute/fun dresses and finding only band aids instead. I jokingly call my line Anthro-Apology. I have decided to name the dresses after the customer that buys a particular design first so this one is called the "Edie."

Fabric for dress number 2, the color on this is more purple but it photographed blue. This dress sold before I could finish it.

Here is the finished product, this is the "Anna" named for the mother of the bride in Mondays post. Although the dress is technically Brianna's, her mother paid for it therefore it gets named after her. Them's the breaks

Not good pictures, I had 2 pieces of fabric, 1 yard each and I came up with these little dresses. They are a size 3 toddler but I think will fit a smaller size child, maybe 18 months. I found a vintage pattern at a thrift store for 29 cents and tried it out. These dresses are adorable I wish I had someone that could model them for me.

This is my hubby's birthday present. None of the fabric stores have Green Lantern fabric but Target does carry the sheets. It was tricky trying to place the pattern since you want the design to be continuous, since I couldn't do that I settled for a large Green Lantern logo on the back and a smaller one on the pocket in the front. The entire shirt is top-stitched with glow in the dark thread that my friend Natalie gave me.

My adorable son Cameron just after having his braces removed. The first thing he wanted to eat? An apple. I think they did an excellent job on his smile and we couldn't be happier. This of course just makes him more appealing to all the girls out there so maybe I shouldn't be too happy the braces are gone.

This turned out to be a dress for me so I guess i will call it the "Terri" maybe not. I forgot to take a picture of the final product. Will try to do that soon. I loved this fabric, I found it in the garment district and paid a whopping $3.00 for the entire piece, it was slightly over 3 yards, more than enough for a dress. I lined the sleeves in a lime green satin just for fun.

This dress is the "Annette" she bought it for her daughter Tori. This one was also sold before I could finish it. I just love the neckline on this dress. It is very vintage with a round yoke and the tabs at the waist. I thought about also doing the yoke in a contrast but this appealed to me more just having the touch of orange, cute but not overpowering. I'm thinking of making another one with a sailor theme, solid red with white trim and solid white with navy trim.

This is the beginning of another reversible apron. I found the fabric when I was searching my stash to see if I had anything else I could make a dress out of. I can't believe how popular aprons are. I may end up giving this to my mother in law or not, it's a bit on the bright side and wouldn't match her kitchen. We'll see when I finish it.

This is Helle, we used to get together and sew a lot more than we do now. She fell in love with the Annette dress and wanted to make her own so I loaned her the pattern and talked her through making it while I cut out a ton of projects. I hate cutting stuff out, I wish I had someone who would just do that for me, I would pay them in salsa. Any takers?

As you probably know, sheet sets come with a top and a bottom and a pillow case. This is the top sheet from the set and my hubby has the shirt made of the bottom. He also got the pillow case out of the deal. This one is for sale, I gave John first dibs but he liked his darker one and said he was fine if I wanted to sell it. This is a mens extra large and also has glow in the dark top stitching and it has green buttons.

I was told by friends at church that they were going to buy me a larger dress form since all I was making was size 8! So meet Belva, she is the dress form not the dress. She expands from a large 12 to an 18 so I can make more sizes on her. She's not mine she actually belongs to Helle, she is kind enough to let me keep her at my house. On the right, is the one I purchased at PGM in LA for school, she is a size 8 and doesn't expand. I named her Ava after Ava Gardner, I hope to soon wear that size again, if only I didn't like food so much, I mean I love food! I have a smaller one that expands from a 4 to a 10 named Betty Lou but she is old and will need to retire soon. The dress on Belva is a 16-18 and looks cuter in person and yes is for sale.

My 3 younger kids up at Mile High Cherries last week, we went with some friends to pick cherries. Great fun, and I learned a valuable lesson, it's not enough to put on sunscreen one must also wear insect repellent. My boys and my hubby who didn't bother with either were fine, I on the other hand was swarmed every time I stood still because the bugs liked the smell of my sunscreen. I have bug bites up and down my legs. We ended up at Los Rios Ranchos in Oak Glen and after a picnic lunch we picked up an apple pie, some cider and a bag of apples. A good day.

Ignore my husband's blurry hand in this photo. I was trying to get a picture of the center piece, it was made of heavy paper! It was very unique. They had larger ones on the ground that must have been 3 feet across. This was at the reception of the young woman that I gave the apron to at the top of this post. There was a photo booth and good food, it was great fun, my husband who originally didn't want to go thoroughly enjoyed himself. Part of it was he decided to wear shorts. So he was comfy and well fed. I also liked the "rice" that was thrown at the bride and groom, instead of rice it was heart shaped cake/donut sprinkles, ingenious.

Well that catches you up on most of the stuff that I've been up to. I haven't sewed in a few days now. It's been too hot to do anything. Summer has well and truly arrived, no complaints I love the hot weather. Yesterday was a lot of fun, we had dinner at a friend's house with a few friends from church and then watched a firework show from their front yard. I enjoyed that so much more than the thought of going to Disneyland or the beach like I used to do when I was a kid. The thought of the traffic afterwards just doesn't appeal. Coming up, I'm hoping to get my kitchen cabinet doors down and sanded so they can be painted. My entire downstairs needs to be painted but that's another story. I would like to gut my backyard too and make it more welcoming, with fruit trees and flowers. So many plans and never enough energy to do them all! I hope you all had a safe and happy Fourth of July!
Terri

Sewing, laundry, rain, chauffeuring and did I mention sewing?

I am happy to report I have finished: 1 wedding dress, 6, I think it was 6, bridesmaids skirts, 2 skirts for the brides cousins and 1 mother of the bride dress in the last month and a half.  2 days before I completed the wedding gown I was contacted by a young woman who was given my name by Helle, she needs not 1 but 2 dresses for Prom.  So I will be making this:

She wants it slightly modified with spaghetti straps and a low low back.  I'm just glad the fabric isn't sequins but rather a lovely silk and embellished lace.   I will be using a Butterick Pattern 4657 and modifying it.  I find when I am crunched for time this is the easiest method.

After checking out tons of patterns I decided this was the closest to the style. 

This is the second dress she has requested, and yes the skirt will have feathers.  This one she wants in black. The bustier top will not have the jewels on it since again they brought me fabric that is already embellished.

This is another pattern I have had in my collection for some time and have wanted to make it forever.  I found some gorgeous cotton fabric that just said Easter to me so why not make it now?  My Sweetie and I are planning to head to Viva Las Vegas Weekend in April and vintage clothing is needed.  This is Butterick pattern 4790 from 1952.  It was called the "Walk Away Dress." You can read a brief history here.  It was easy to make with just 3 pattern pieces and then binding. I love the fact that some of the pattern companies are reissuing vintage patterns.  I love them, the dresses are so feminine.

Here is the fabric and the binding, now to search the closet for some shoes that will go with this dress.  














So for my Sweetie who has a great sense of humor and since I rarely sew for him, I found an outrageous  fabric that I will be making a Hawaiian Shirt out of.  The fabric is called Mirage and I purchased it at Michael Levine's in Downtown LA.   I also found buttons made from coconut!

That is everything that is on my sewing table at the moment.  Monday I peaked into Jordan and Jonathan's room and realized the laundry is up to my hip.  It has spilled out of the hamper and is threatening to overtake the room.  Jonathan was doing the laundry for himself and his brother but has decided it's for the birds.  So I guess it's back to me.  I hate laundry.  I don't mind folding it but I hate sorting and remembering to take it out of the washer then put it in the dryer.  I hate that after I fold it, instead of putting it away my kids will leave it on the dining room table and just take what they need for that day.  There has to be an easier way. 

It has also been raining quite a bit.  I'm not crazy about winter but some of the positives about it: warm jammy pants, my hubby's sweatshirts, my mother's beef stew, wearing boots, my new polka dot coat, hats and the mountains (hills)behind our house get covered occasionally by snow.  During the cooler times of the year the tops of the mountains (hills) also get covered by the clouds blown in from the ocean.  I love this, when my kids were little we started calling it the "cloud monster" because of the way it crept over the top of them.  Lately I've taken to calling them the Misty Mountains.  I've been rereading Lord of the Rings in my spare time. 

The rest of the time seems to be taken up by chauffeuring kids here and there.  To school, from school, to Church, friends houses, jobs and doctor appointments.  I cringe every time I have to get gas.  OUCH!  If this keeps up I'm investing in horses for the boys.  At least I am grateful that I no longer have to travel 10 miles to the grocery store, we now have one 2 miles away, along with a gas station a bank and Subway!  If I'm feeling ambitious and weather permitting I may even walk there.  I believe somewhere in my garage is one of those old lady shopping carts.  Notice I didn't say ride my bike, the hills in our community still defeat me.

The above photo is of Cameron's big toe on the left side about a half inch above the joint you can see the break.  The doctor said it's healing nicely and he should be back running in about 5 weeks.  Hard to believe he managed to go hiking with his Scout Troop last Friday and Saturday up Mt. San Jacinto. Go Cam!
  
So that's life this week, the kids are out of school next week for Spring Break, I will need to start a list of projects for them.  Our friend Kurt Rose is extremely ill and in need of prayers. My son Andrew reports that he is well and has been on his Mission now 8 months! Where did the time go?  I continue to feel blessed that I have a family that loves me, a (repaired) roof over my head, food to eat, clothes to wear, cars to drive and good friends willing to celebrate or sympathize with me.  But most of all, I am grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord Jesus Christ in my life.
Terri