What I’ve Been Up To…

It seems like it’s been a really long time since I’ve been here. Prior to Christmas I was working on …stuff. You know, getting ready for Christmas. I was also working on Everyday Explorers Australia (EE-A) for SchoolhouseTeachers. Also attempted was the kids’ school schedules but for whatever reason, yeah, that didn’t really amount to much. I’ve been working on that the last couple of days. It’s going well –when I stay focused!

Right before Christmas, I posted a quick post about Lee completing her first sewing project. It took her a few days to get it all done because she had other commitments but really was quite a quick project. Watching her and helping her some gave me the sewing itch. I haven’t sewn an actual patterned project since high school (and then I think my teacher did most of the work!) so I knew I needed something easy.

With somewhat moderate expectations of receiving a gift card to Jo-Ann’s Fabric for Christmas (*wink*), I started looking online for what I’d spend my money on. I just so happened to receive a gift card to said store from my sister-in-law for Christmas Here is what I chose (B):

 

and this for the top (A- short sleeves) –the pattern says see&sew B5480:

It was very tough to find the fabric for my choices! I was at Jo-Ann’s for 2 hours. No joke. The lady that helped me was very nice since I apparently knew nothing about sewing lol.

Here are the final results of my sewing projects I’m very proud of them (now I want to lose some weight so my skirt will be smaller next time!). I wear a size *ahem* 12 when I buy clothes off the rack. The pattern size: 16. And that was for the waist measurement. The skirt color on my monitor is fairly close to what I see in real life. The inside is double stitched to prevent too much fraying but I think next time I’ll try something else; I just don’t like it much. Oh and I don’t have a zipper foot so I had to do some hand-stitching at the zipper. Silly me, I didn’t bother matching the thread. The fabric is microsuede.

The shirt I chose size medium, which is interestingly what I generally wear for off-the-rack clothing. The color is an off-white, very very light cream color. The closest perhaps for my monitor is the last one. This will definitely be a warmer weather shirt! It is also sheer so I’ll wear a tank top under it. I did French seams for the shirt and am very happy with how that looks. The fabric is… uh, oops. I don’t remember. Those who sew more or have a fabric inclined nature probably know what it is It flows, and doesn’t wrinkle.

And since that is a warm weather shirt, I have to share what other shopping I’ve done. I got a Target gift card from my father-in-law and found this on sale:

At first I wasn’t crazy about the cowl neck (if that is what it’s called- and I’m still not crazy about it) but this sweater is so extremely soft that I don’t care what kind of neck it has! The color is a lot like the shirt I made. It’s a creamy white that has a hint of yellow. The photos make it whiter than it is.

While I was at Target I picked up some smashbook goodies. I’d heard about a smashbook not long ago- it’s a bit like a portable scrapbook- perhaps it could even be like a commonplace book but a bit more fancy. Anyway- my other sister-in-law had given me a great fat notebook (with my favorite color) and purple ink pens for Christmas. I loved them right away. The smashbook additions are just making it even better The pen has a glue stick on one end and a .45 point pen on the other. Here’s a pinterest search for smashbooks or you can see some for sale here.

I also received Amazon gift cards that I purchased an MP3 player (mine broke shortly after moving here) and two sets of 5 Pyrex glass containers. They should arrive in the next few days.

Yesterday and today I’ve been finishing up the week’s work for EE-A and also the kids’ school schedules. I’ve got Lee’s all done, just have to get Fox’s independent subjects plugged in. Tomorrow and the next day I have training at H&R Block for 3 hours each.

And that will mark the end of my break! It’s been a good month and some, that’s for sure