{Sewing} My New Baby

I have been so busy making Valentine gifts for my girls.  (You will see in a later post).  I have been sewing left and right to ensure that I am done on time.  Well I was on my last pair of pants last night and “pop” went my serger.  I was so upset because this was the last pair of pants and now this happens.  I tried to re-thread, adjust the needles, and do just about everything that you can think of and still….the serger would not work.  It is so ironic that this should happen to me because in our local Sunday’s paper there was an ad for a free maintenance check.  I told my husband it is about time for me to get my sewing machine serviced but really I forgot about it.   Once this happened last night, the first thing I did this morning was to start researching for another serger.  I looked at different features and was amazed.  I have purchased several  sewing magazines for the longest and I always see an ad for a Baby Lock product and I immediately went to Baby Lock’s website.   I have read so many good reviews and I think the whole “swoosh” jet-air threading had me mesmerized.  It takes me so long to thread my serger.  I wanted to see this machine but there are no local sewing centers here.   The nearest sewing machine center is in Savannah, Georgia which is about 45 minutes away.  My husband suggested that I just get the serger fixed and I said he was right, I will just get it fix.  If I was taking my serger to be fixed, I thought I might as well take my sewing machine also so that it can be serviced.  I loaded up my sewing machine and serger and off to Savannah I went.  The man was sooo nice and stated that he would be able to fix it.  Then he asked how did I like my sewing machine.  I stated that it was O.K. that I had this machine for like 10 years now, and I was really considering an upgrade once I did my research on sewing machines. 

He showed me a demonstration on this machine below:

Janome Magnolia 7330

I think that I blanked out because while driving I looked in the back seat, and I had a new sewing machine!   So totally not what I went there for but I really did want to upgrade.  I am still getting my sewing machine serviced and will pass it down to my daughter.  As far as the serger I will keep it but the cool thing about the new Janome is that I will not even have to use the serger!

What type of machine do you own?

{Pattern Review} Simplicity 4384

I hope that everyone had a Happy New Year!!!  I definitely had a great one.  I spent my New Year's in Virginia celebrating my brother-in-law's retirement party.  He spent 24 years in the US Army.  Thank you so much for serving our country!!!!!  It was wonderful!  As his retirement gift my sister bought a 2011 Chevrolet Camaro.  It was awesome and such a special gift.

I have had so many ideas and New Year's resolution on how I will change this year.  I just hope I will be able to fulfill my goals.

I just finished Simplicity pattern 4384 and before I go any further let me tell you, I had so much fun sewing these pants because they are super easy, super fast, and just a cute pair of interchangeable pants for a little girl.  Here is my pattern review for Simplicity 4384:


Pattern Description:
Easy to sew child's jumper, skirt, pants, jacket and poncho. I chose view C which is the child's pants

Pattern Sizing:
I cut a size 8

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes it did

Were the instructions easy to follow? Very easy to follow

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like this pattern because if you are looking for a quick pair of pants that can be dressed up or down for your child this is it. The instructions were super easy to follow and the pants turned out great!

Fabric Used: Cotton twill

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: My daughter is tall like me so I measured the pants on her first and made my own hem to fit her.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I would sew this again and I do recommend this to others that are looking for a quick pair or pants that can be interchanged with a shirt, sweater or jacket.

Conclusion: I made these pants to go with the jacket that I recently reciewed which is McCall's 5697. I think that the two garments are great together. My daughter will be able to wear this to church or when we go out on the weekends. I am super happy with the way these pants turned out and I definitely recommend this to beginner's as well as others who need a quick pair of pants that can be interchanged with different types of tops!

Here is the finished product:

I have so many things I would like to sew for 2011 so I will keep you posted!!
Happy Sewing!!

{Mission Unaccomplished....But Completed}

During the last post, I wanted to complete McCall pattern 5697 by December 7, 2010.  As you can see I did not complete the project by the date but indeed it is complete.  Now I am not going to bore you with all different types of excuses but I will say this, have you ever had a picture in your mind about how you want something to look and when you go to shop for the items you can not find them?  Well this was sort of my situation.  My mom picked out the fabric from Joann Fabrics and Crafts during the after-Thanksgiving sale.  I got off to a good start cutting, pinning and sewing.  The notions needed for this jacket was three 1' buttons.  In my mind, I pictured some cute little pink buttons shaped like a flower.  Well several stores later, I found every color but pink so in the end I just ended up settling for the black round ones just so I could finish and post.  So here is the finish project

and here is the back..

I really had fun with this pattern although I messed up a little with the serger but like a lady told me a long time ago, "anything can be fixed or covered up."



{Goal Reached} Christmas Pajamas

{Goal Reached}  In a previous post on my blog, I told everyone that I wanted to make my nephew some pajamas out of the Disney Car’s holiday print that I purchased at JoAnn’s during the After-Thanksgiving sale.  I gave myself until December 6, 2010 so that I would have time to put the pajamas in the mail and my nephew would be able to wear them for the holidays and especially the night before Christmas.  Now, before I post these pics, I want to let you know that a lot of things were not done around the house.  For example, I did not cook on Wednesday so we had leftovers that night.  Laundry was not done and I did not get a chance to plant my Christmas cactuses that I bought about a week ago and I did not do a thousand other things around the house that needed to be done.  The good news is I finished on Thursday afternoon and I also was able to put the items in the mail the same day.

Here are the pajamas that I made and put in the mail on Thursday afternoon.  I think they turned out really cute and once I get my fabric stash under control, I look forward to making him more sets.

Now that I have completed my goal before December 6, 2010, I plan on cutting out the pattern for my next project.  This weekend, I would like to do a little Christmas decorations  with the kids and some gardening.  I will make my next goal accomplishment for December 7, 2010.  I will use McCall pattern 5697 

Wish me luck!

{These Are My Confessions}

I think that maybe I blogged too soon.  What was I thinking with the holidays around the corner?  I have a confession to make.  I really think that I am a fabricholic and a patternholic.  I have an explanation for my purchases and now I just need for them to become a reality.

Joann Fabrics keeps emailing me all of these good sales and I just could not resist this time.  The day after Thanksgiving they had such a great deal with their fabrics and patterns.  I am not making an excuse but all of the patterns that you see were only .99 cents.  I purchased two of the patterns on an earlier date.  I also had a 50% off coupon so I can not dare let that go to waste.  I always preach to my sister, just because somebody sends you a coupon does not mean you have to react.  It is a calling card and looked who got reeled right in.

                                                                                                                             

I took the pledge with Etsy a couple of years ago to make handmade items for Christmas.  Now I have just a few exceptions but for the most part, I am sticking to the pledge. 

I promise I will share with all my creations from these purchases but I really do need to stop this.  I've tried New Year’s Resolutions but somewhere down the line I just keep giving in.  I am going now to cut the fabric for my nephew.  I will be making him some pajamas out of the Cars Christmas Print fabric.  Normally my husband makes fun of me because he knows that I have good intentions but time is never on my side.  I am giving myself a deadline for this project.  I want to have these completed by Monday, December 6, 2010.  This way I can get them in the mail and he can wear them during the holidays.  I think that if I can pull this off, this will motivate me even more to continue to use up all of this fabric that I have.

So stay tuned…..