A very special baby wrap

I am so excited to have finished this project! I have been plotting and planning this for months and finally got up the courage to order the items needed to make this project happen.

So silly me, I didn't take a before picture of baby n and me snuggling, ah well, so is life. Anyway, I bought a woven baby wrap to try out wrapping, I did okay with it but ended up tearing the fringe on it, I thought it would be okay, but the tear kept getting worse.


Here's the tear and the coloring of the wrap, it is a very plain khaki/greenish color (the company calls it Aloe) that looks terrible on me (but is snuggly) and has a torn fringe. Bummer. Then on thebabywearer.com, mamas were posting wraps that they had made into mei tais and podegis. An idea formed for me! So I decided to give this poor wrap a bit of a makeover :)


First, I popped it into a dye bath of Carribean Blue (from Dharma Trading Company), absolutely georgous color of greeny aqua blue!


Here's the drying in the sun picture, but that didn't take care of the tear or the fact that I couldn't use it in a back carry (my prefered method of carrying baby n). So I hit the sewing room and...


Emerged a lovely podegi! I added some fabric I love (and I have a matching handbag you might recall) to spruce it up a bit.

No baby carrier sewing session is complete without an 'action' shot! So my special to me wrap is in use once more- yay for sewing! :)

Love Annmarie

Anna Tunic

Been doing a bit of sewing. :) Decided that since I was complaining about not having clothing that fits I should do something about it! This week I sewed up the Anna Tunic pattern by Amy Butler, have used a few of her other patterns and enjoyed the results and I think this pattern is (for the most part) another winner. My only complaint is in the actual paper pieces. I cut pieces left to right, (being left handed has something to do with that I think) and managed to get confused cutting the back body of the tunic as the size lines were not marked close to the edge. I ended up having it about 1/2 an inch too short (I fixed the pattern after, but unfortunately could not fix the cut fabric) and it really affected the fit of the tunic. It sits a little higher on the neck and under the arms. So I guess what I am saying is, double check before cutting!!

I used some lovely fabric from Heather Bailey's Freshcut Line. The belt matches the top and the hem is bias tape made from coordinating fabric from the line.


I have a close up pic of the buttons, but I am not sharing as I have a crooked line of stitching I need to fix! Covered buttons in same material as hem tape :)


Okay I changed my mind, no laughing at the crooked stitches!

On a whole a very easy pattern to sew, I think it definitely needs to be lined as the lining helps the underarm seam lay nicely. If you have never sewed a curve it may prove challenging to turn and top stitch the yoke. :)

And that is basil in the colander, I made pesto last night! YUM!

Just for fun, (yes my eyes are closed my darling husband said this was a great picture and need to take no more, sigh) a pre-walk picture. The new addition is Ginger, we adopted her from the animal shelter, she is a very sweet 5 year old Russel Terrier mix that the boys adore. (and for the babywearers that is Girasol Peacock that baby N is wrapped in. :)

That's it for today, have a super project I am working on and should finish in the next couple of days!

Love Annmarie

Summer Fun

Been busy busy last month, nothing like a tornado, hail storms and power outages to keep life interesting. Oh and a canceled vacation (due to the van breaking down on the side of the road an HOUR from home! :( It's fixed now :) I did manage to sneak in some sewing before we embarked on our failed trip, so now I just get to enjoy everything at home!






First, I gotta brag a minute. This is the first house we have lived in that I can have a garden and well I am excited to say it is moving along quite nicely!

My lovely hibiscus Mother's Day plant. Fab huh? There has been too many blooms to count!


hmm looks like I didn't upload the garden pics I will have to do that later, but you can see part of my herb garden in the background of the hibiscus picture :).






First up is my mess of needles, oh it was bad bad. Couldn't even zip it up!
























Much better, all of the knitting needles are nicely nested and organized :D














The crochet needles and project bag. Four skeins of yarn fit in that bag!
















Another Amy Butler Barcelona skirt. I picked up this fabric on a whim in a coop thinking it would be lovely and summery. It was perfect for the 4th of July celebrations! I also altered 2 other skirts smaller so I have a few more clothes that fit!














A super HUGE diaper bag, fits everything and then some, and matching wristlet. The beige fabric is linen; the inside (which I didn't take a picture of) is Amy Butler Full Moon Polka dot in blue, coordinates nicely :)


























Wetbags (for cloth diapers, wet clothes, etc) the blue owls is hanging and hold at least a day and a half of diapers! the orange is minkee (and the stitching is wonky durn PUL, but it works), the skulls is wipes and spray bag and the blue is for cloth pads :)








That's it for now got a few knitting/crochet projects going- ohhh I gotta take pictures of the yarn swift Kev made me! It's awesome! And I am hoping to make some clothes that fit (lost all the baby weight- yay! ALL of my clothes are too big and falling off of me -boo! and embarrassing!)

Love Annmarie

What Fun:Tag!

I have been tagged by Made by Petchy! I am feeling the blogging love :)

So Here are the Rules: I answer 6 questions about myself. At the end of the post, I tag 6 people and post their names. I then go to their blogs and leave them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read my blog. Finally, I let the person who tagged me know when I’ve posted my answers.

Fantastic really, however, I don't know 6 bloggers so I am going to have the break the rules, and I am okay with that!

What was I doing ten years ago? I was in HIGH SCHOOL! So uhh... I think about this time 10 years ago I was applying for jobs and finishing up the school year, ended up working at a retirement home as a waitstaff and picked loads and loads of strawberries.


Five things on my to-do list for today? It's the end of the day, so I will do the list for tomorrow:
1. Pay bills.
2. Sweep and mop the kitchen.
3. Call Bro and congratulate him on graduating from High School.
4. Check the strawberries to see if any more are ripe (and hopefully beat the rabbit to them!)
5. Do something I love... work on the turquoise shorties for the boys.

Snacks I like? Chocolate, cherries, biscuits (ate them all today for snacks) and i have a really hankerin' for biscotti but I don't have any in the house.

Things I would do if I was a billionaire? Buy a home! Visit all of our family, travel, go to Norway and visit the place of my (maiden last) namesake

Places I have lived? Better sit down this could take a while!
Billings, Montana
Cheney, Washington
Fort Polk, Louisiana
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Columbia, South Carolina
Manhattan, Kansas

I know, y'all haven't heard of half of them huh? :)

Six(err some) people I want to know more about?
Kristin of see mommy sew

Mummybuttons of sewing in my sleep

and Denise! Yes I know you don't have a blog yet but I KNOW you read this and you NEED to start one ;)

off to do my tagging duties!

Annmarie

Birthday Zen

Tis Birthday season around here. We have, I think, 10 birthdays in 2 months between our families! We all know how birthdays can get: easy to go over the top, worry about everything being perfect and not really enjoying the day. Last year we were forced into simple due to the fact we were living in a hotel room! But it was really nice, Little i had fun playing and eating good food, so why not do it again (well not the hotel room part, the simple part!). I kept it real simple, got some yummy pizza, made a simple cake (the decorations on the cake were matchbox cars!) and invited a couple friends, we had a great time playing and eating 'cake? caaakkee? CAAKKKEE!!' as little i was saying all day. Oh and yes I did do a little bit of sewing for him! :)

Little i cooking up breakfast in his new apron and kitchen! The apron is lined with some cute red dotted fabric (you can see it a bit on his apron strings) Ended up being the perfect size for him: his other aprons are too long and the neck hangs low, i used snaps on the 'ties' so it is easy to adjust bigger later on and easy for him to put on/take off.







Little i's cars shirt. He asked for cars for his birthday so he got them! I appliquéd the car fabric onto a ready made tee, makes for a really fast project!







Not his birthday, but since I had some tees ready to appliqué ;) This is his lucky duck shirt. I know there are no ducks on it. When he was getting ready for bed he pointed at his shirt and said duck with a tooth brush in his mouth. No sweetie that's a dog. No mama, me a lucka duck, dog and CAR, one, foo, three, mama me! (in case you don't understand caveman/three year old: I am a lucky duck cause my mama made me a shirt that has cars and dogs and numbers and is just for me!) what a sweet kid :)









All I've finished for now, the warm weather has lured me outside, far away from my lovely sewing machine...
Annmarie

A bit boring, but sewing :)

I have managed to do a wee bit of sewing, that I can show you, that is. I have been working on secret fairy gifts so no posting pictures-that would ruin the surprise (so do customs labels, but unfortunately there is nothing I can do about that!)

First off a crazy kid pic.

No Mama, I really prefer to play the piano with my FEET!!

I think I officially have a furniture climber, and I was so lucky with little i...

And on to the sewing :) Coffee sleeves much cuter than those cardboard ones!

Cloth wipes and pocket diaper inserts. The cloth wipes were made with large pieces of scrap fabric and reverse to cotton velour or hemp fleece (nice and soft). The pocket diaper inserts are made with microfiber cloths (from the Walmart automotive dept) and hemp jersey/fleece.

Oh yes! I forgot about this project! I finally download all of the pictures. These were a pair of linen capris that I wore after baby n was born. I lost the baby weight a lot faster than I thought I would so these were ill fitting way before I was ready to give them up. So they got revamped!

Into a skirt! I really liked the drawstring waist and the pockets on the capris so I kept that and cut out some of the bulk and droopy bottom by adding a panel of fabric in the front and the back.

Lovely, light and breezy perfect for summer, if the weather here can decide to play nice!

That's all for tonight hopefully I will be sewing more soon. :)

Love Annmarie

Has It really been so long?

Has it really been over a month since I last posted? It doesn't seem possible-we have been so busy! Spring Break, field exercises, nice weather, nap boycotts... So really I haven't been doing much sewing, hence no posting. Would you like to see why?

Let me dig up a few pics for ya:

ah this one is good the I-will-dance-with-Cheerios-on-my-head morning. Sadly he was not the one who spilled the Cheerios all over: it was me. I've really no excuse, well maybe...the coffee wasn't done brewing yet.

The We-don't-like-how-Mommy-has-arranged-the-cabinets day. I believe baby n was the instigator in this little operation.

And finally, the cabinets have eyes. Sticker eyes, at least they can come off!

I did manage to get a few projects done, a charm pack/patchwork apron for me and a bib for baby n. Oh yes, that's right, baby n had a birthday!!! Happy Birthday sweet boy!

This is the pre-spaghetti and lemon cupcake feast. Okay that's it. Well that is all I have pictures of for now. Happy Tax day!

Love Annmarie