Weekend Outdoors

Beautiful weather - check

Delicious apples - check

Family together - check

Memories made - check

A Mouse in the House

This little gal might have to be baby #2's first stuffed animal.  I love her little expression.  The Craggy Moor makes adorable handmade animals and each little one is unique in it's own way.  I can just see her perched on a shelf in a little kiddos room...so sweet.

Freebie From Good Gravy

So just how cute are these?  Lelan over at Good Gravy has a design style that I adore.  Clean lines, great colors and she's always coming up with free printables.  I've already printed these off and can't wait to put them in my books.  Go get yours here.  I love this gal's style so much she did the invites and thanks yous for Ava's butterfly party and I couldn't have been happier.

Let the Sewing Resume

I just finished up a sewing project for a friend (Hi Amy!) that ended up taking me waaaay longer than it should have due to the baby and the constant sickness.  The patterns are nothing new but the fabrics are super cute so I thought I would share.  12 "green" snack bags and 2 drawstring swim bags in adorable fabrics...so fun.  Ava and I both think the farm animals are our favorites.  

Ava is my little assistant now for all sewing projects.  By assistant I mean kid who spreads all the fabric that's been cut all over the table and counts the cows, piggies, bugs, etc. while making the appropriate mooing and oinking noises.  At least she's working on counting skills, right?

Up next for sewing is a doll for Ava.  I'll share as I start to make some progress.  

So sorry for being such a slacker but...

The big 2 year old!

"Moooommm, stop with the pictures would ya??"

I really do have a decent reason for my summer laziness.  Steve and I are expecting our second kiddo in February.  As with my first pregnancy, I was pretty nauseous all the time the first 3 months.  The thought of sitting at the computer was enough to send me running to the bathroom.   The sewing machine went in the closet and last night finally saw the light of day again.  Now that I'm past the first trimester, I should be getting back to normal and I know my house is especially happy of that.  Clean laundry all the time, home cooked meals, taking Ava out of the house and farther away from the couch where mommy spent too much time trying not to be sick :o) Thank goodness I'm feeling better just in time for my favorite season, FALL!! 

I decided that trying to tell you about our summer sounded daunting so instead I'm just going to start from right now and go forward.  We've got tons of things on our fall calendar already and lots of small projects in the works so I have plenty to share.  

Little Miss Ava did have her second birthday (yay!) and we went to Destin, FL recently for a little R&R.  Ava loved the beach and ocean.  She is definitely a water baby which is good because both mommy and daddy love the beach and we are already planning future beach vacations.

Thanks to all of you who stuck around during my really, really long absence!!

Tutorial: Drawstring Wet Bag

This is a perfect, quick project for taking your suits on all those trips to and from the pool and beach.  The bag is lined with a water resistant fabric that lets you throw your wet suits in this bag and not get everything else in you pool bag soaking wet.  You can make these in any size you want you'll just have to adjust the measurement to suit your needs.  Here we go...

Materials:

• 34 x 12 rectangle of fabric for the outside of your bag (I used a sand dollar fabric)
• 2 rectangles of 16.5 x 12 PUL (polyurethane laminated fabric) bought at my local Joann's Fabrics
• 1 yard of nylon cording for the drawstring
• 1 cord stop
• coordinating thread

After you have your 3 rectangles cut, place the outside fabric right side up.  Then place your PUL fabric right side down at each end and pin the two ends in place. There will be an inch gap in the middle, as shown above.  Sew each end.

Take your super long rectangle and fold it in half with right sides together.  From the fold measure up 13 1/2 inches and put a pin on the edge.  Then measure 3/4 inch from that pin and place another pin.  This will be the opening to pull the drawstring through.  You will not sew this gap closed!!!

After securing your fabric with pins, it's time to get sewing.  Sew along the 3 sides leaving the drawsting opening and the opening to turn your bag right side out at the end of the PUL fabric.  Remember to back stitch on each side of the openings to give it some extra strength.

Turn your bag right side out.  To close the opening in the PUL fabric, top stitch across that end of the bag from end to end.

Tuck your PUL lining into the bag.  Because your PUL fabric is a little shorter than the outer fabric, you need to work the lining down in the bag.  Now it's time to sew the casing for the drawsting.  Simply find the opening on the side and sew 2 straight lines on each side all the way around the bag.  Make sure to back stitch where the opening is.  (Don't sew the bag with the cording in...I forgot to take a picture of this step until I was done with the bag :o)

After your casing is sewn, use a safety pin to feed the cording through the bag.  I used a lighter to seal the ends of the cording to prevent fraying.  Thread your cord stop through and ta-da!  You have a stylish water proof bag to tote around your wet suits all summer long.  This finished bag measures about 11 x 16 and can hold a couple kiddie suits and maybe an adult suit.  You would need to make a bigger one for the entire family though.

PS.  Don't put this bag in the dryer or you'll have a stuck together mess.  It is safe to throw in the washing machine though. Oh and you shouldn't iron the lining either.  You could pull the lining out to iron the outside fabric if it gets too wrinkly for your taste.  Happy sewing!!

Quiet Time Coloring

More super cute coloring pages over at Vale Design.  Her coloring pages are always so cute and just the thing for a few quiet moments for mommy.  These work great while I'm trying to fix dinner.  If I give her some stickers too, she's in heaven and quiet for a whole 10 minutes...15 if I'm lucky!