Back To School Sewing

Our oldest grandchild started first grade this week.  I can't even begin to fathom how we got here so fast.  So to mark this special event I wanted to sew her a little something to start off her school year.

The fabric is Sara Jane's "Wee Wander" Summer Ride and Out to Sea Sailor's ABC purchased from aspenfabrics on Etsy.  I love the whole collection and have made other outfits with this designer fabric from this shop.  I used "Wee Wander" Tree Lights for her birthday dress, (pictured right) a few months ago. 






I live in a rural area, 25 minutes from a fabric store unless you consider Walmart, so I love on-line tutorials and pdf patterns.  For the skirt I used Melly Sews free drawstring skirt tutorial found here.  Very straight forward and easy to follow.

But the dress I had some difficulties with.  The above photo is actually the second dress I made using the Poppy Dress Pattern found on Etsy.  After reading the finished measurements the pattern gave I decided to make a size 6. 

I've been sewing for 32 years, and as I was making it I knew something had to be off with the pattern. Well, it's a good thing Olivia has a little sister, because it ended up being a very cute, tea length dress for Lily, age 3. 







But luckily I had more than enough fabric to sew it up again, this time making it in a size 8.

And as you can see, it fits perfectly....... 

Comfortable enough for soccer and bug hunting.
 

Ryane's Home

 

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at our daughter Ryane's home.  She asked her dad to help her install a chandelier she designed herself in her dining room.

 

 

She and her husband bought their first home in March.  Then they had their first child in May. 

 

Now just this morning I heard on the Today show that today's home buyers are the millennial generation and they want to move into their new home and start living.  The last thing they want to buy is a "project" home.

 

Well, in no way did our kids buy a "project" home.  But our daughter cannot live in a home without turning it into her own piece of art.  

 

As I sat there watching them work I started looking around at all the changes they've made to their new home.  I asked her if I could take some photos and asked if I could share some of the creative changes she has made, with the help of her trusting husband and handyman father.

 

Keep in mind, nothing is staged in these photos and they are completely spur of the moment.

 

At six months pregnant and teaching full time high school art, the first week they moved in they painted all the rooms, and then remodeled the kitchen.....

 

 

They replaced the cupboards on one wall with open shelving, bulldozed the old tile and replaced it with marble subway tile, and her dad cut her a butcher block counter top to replace the old counter.

 


Next was the stairway up to the attic master bedroom......
 
 

She stripped and varnished the steps, added mirror tiles, and stenciled the wall. 

Here is some of her art she found time to make and add to her home......

some porcelain ceramic pieces she made.....

and a baby gym for the coming baby boy......

 

 

 

The master closet was turned into a nursery....

 

side note, I made the crib quilt and knitted the man in the moon in the window.

 

 

Her most recent project; these awesome shelves.....

 

 

she completed with a lot of help from her dad, the awesome handyman and spectacular grandpa,

my husband Paul.

 

So now, you might be asking how that chandelier turned out.  Well......

 

gorgeous of course!