Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! + sewing = Rice's pillow

So I am waiting to get paid again before I get any new fabric...budget, budget...so I took an unwearable t-shirt that Rice loves and made it into a pillow. He didn't want to get rid of the shirt and it was just sitting in a drawer. Well, that was driving me nuts so now he says he can put this pillow in his "man/gaming room" when we get a house. Mission accomplished and it only cost me $3. This was my first pillow and my first stab at applique...which was a bit of a disaster lol.

Inspired!

I got some "mommy off time" today and I am TOTALLY inspired! First I picked up some new gladiator sandals. I love gladiator sandals and I have been itching to get some so I'm really excited about that! Then I went to Joanns to browse...alone! It was great...even though Joann's selection of fabric is terrible it gave me a chance to feel different textures and learn what different fabrics are like. I also got to look through the pattern books and price some sewing tools I have been wanting. Well, I have some internet searching to do. I am interested in these two looks for this summer so I am going to try to find the patterns to make the stuff including the bag but minus the cowboy hat lol. I am SOOOO excited.

No motivation lately...

Quickie post...I have been trying to get to a fabric store because I am dying to sew my new summer dress but I am seriously lacking the motivation to get out of the house period. All I have wanted to do the last few days is get up, stay in my pajamas, eat, and watch movies all day. I have miraculously kept up with working out somehow but the laundry is piling up and I really need to do some cleaning around here. My son has to practically drag me across the street to the playground. I think he is going nuts being cooped up inside and I feel bad for him. I did happen to check out a great tutorial on making your own maxi sundress here so I took some of my scrap jersey and gave the bodice part a whirl. It turned out great. That was my first time self drafting a pattern and it wasn't actually as hard as I thought it would be. Definitely a sewing confidence boost. Sooooo, stay tuned for my new sundress and a jersey maxi sundress. Also, we finally have some new foster kittens. I picked up the three, five week old kittens today. They are so playful and such a joy to watch. We will have them for three weeks so I will put up some pics of them soon. I have some more posts lined up...just a matter of time and motivation here. I'll catch ya later.

Sunshowers

I absolutely cannot get enough of this song! I think it just may be my current favorite song. I have listened to it so many times I would feel wrong not to blog about it.

New Look 6780 patter review #2

Pattern Description: easy misses knit tops-a lot of different combinations are possible here

Pattern Sizing:size A6-16...I made size 12

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

Were the instructions easy to follow?Very

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?I love this pattern...no dislikes

Fabric Used:100% cotton jersey-lime green from Hobby Lobby. This fabric was extremely off grain on one end so I had to alter the cutting layout a little so that I could cut around it.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:No design changes just the change in the cutting layout mentioned earlier.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?I already sewed up View C of this pattern and my mother-in-law wants View A with the short sleeves and I want to make View A and D still so I will definitely be sewing this again. I love this pattern and absolutely recommend it.

Conclusion: Great pattern full of options for many summery tops. Get this one!

Simplicity 5151 review

Pattern Description: Simple purse with bamboo handles

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

Were the instructions easy to follow?Very easy--even gave special tips to help me out.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?I loved how easy it was. I didn't like that I could not find the proper size handles and I did not like the difficulty sewing the handles in. It was easy enough, just really frustrating...if that makes sense. Oh, and I was confused as other reviewers were, about if the pattern wanted 5/8 inch SA or 1/2 inch. I just tried to follow the directions to a T and it turned out fine.

Fabric Used:I used 100% calico on the outside and 100% cotton twill for the lining to give it some more body. I am wondering if I should have just stuck with the calico for the lining as well because the thickness on the seams was hard to get under my presser foot and my feed dogs were having trouble sending it through. However if I just would have sewn in the handles by hand I could have avoided all of this. I still may rip it out and do it by hand so that it will look "correct" to me.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:No design changes except that I used 6 inch bamboo handles instead of the 7 1/2 inch ones the pattern calls for.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?I have one now so I don't see a need to make another unless someone wants one(and pays me $100 for it lol). I would recommend this pattern but I would definitely say to just save your time and hand sew the handles in.

Conclusion: I have a great new purse for spring/summer and it only took me a couple of hours.

Man pushups YEAH!!!

So this is what I like to do in my spare time lol and sometimes I wonder if someone were to look in our windows would they think we were totally weird. My house is a wreck, I'm working out, my kid is doing acrobats in the recliner while watching Cars for the millionth time (we literally watch this every single day), and my husband is cheering me on as he tapes me doing pushups. Is that weird?? What is a normal night in your house like??

A compilation of things

Ahhhh its nap time. I did a 50% water change in the big fish tank all by myself today for the first time. Rice and I usually do it together or he mans it alone. It took me hours! I'm glad it is done though and I am sure the fish are grateful to have some fresh water. I decided to put our big cave in for them this time. The poor fish have nowhere to hide. I noticed today that when Taison stands in front of the tank the fish all move into the back corners and scurry back and forth at the back. They are terrified of him! I can't imagine why...lol. Now that the tank is cycled we need to figure out what type of fish we want. We had big beautiful cichlids in there before but they were pretty mean and it was a little over crowded so we thought about doing a community tank this time with schooling fish. One problem...that's boring! Now that we have a Betta and these goldfish I have realized that I miss the personality that the big fish brought to the table...errrr tank. All of our big fish had names and they usually did something to make us laugh on a daily basis. So, I think that I would like to have a little of both this time around. So far these angelfish cichlids are at the top of the list. They school too which is an added bonus. We will probably end up setting up the rest of our tank around the angelfish as far as tank-mates. Money, money, money...we will have to get a little at a time. Why do our hobbies always have to be so expensive?! On the sewing front I have cut out my pattern pieces for my purse but I need some more needles for my machine so I am stalled on that until I can get to Joann's. In the mean time I may go ahead and cut out the pattern pieces for my next knit shirt (just a different view on the same pattern I just used). If I take a pic of the fabrics before I finish them I will post it. I am happy to report that I have officially gained 10 lbs. and I know that most of it has to be muscle because I am still able to wear the same size clothes. However, I am feeling a little pudgy in my bathing suit so I am going to start adding some cardio back into the weekly routine. I feel like my core is getting stronger too as I am almost able to make it through the whole ab section of the Tracy Anderson DVD I have. I will get there dammit! She is so quiet and nice yet so hard core. I cuss her out every time I do it. Well, I am off to do 30 minutes on the bike and hopefully an hour of stretching before the little man wakes up. My recovery week is almost over so I am going to have to pick out a new workout plan for the next 4 weeks. I will keep you posted. Tell me what you have been up to today...or lately! Oh YA!! I forgot to put up a pic of my new haircut and check out that sunburn!! lol.

Breakfast, ramblings, and Taison's thoughts...

I woke up this morning at about 11am and made breakfast. I took a picture so I could share a pretty common breakfast of mine with you all (people ask me what I eat a lot). This breakfast includes: 4-5 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1 whole wheat wrap, 1 oz cheddar cheese, 2 tablespoons salsa, green onion, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries or blueberries, 1 tablespoon honey, cinnamon to taste. I am really full immediately following this but it doesn't take long before I am bursting with energy to start my day. Oh yes and I try to drink 16 oz of cold water between waking up and finishing my breakfast(this doesn't always happen lol).
On to the rest of the morning. I am loving this weather!! I got to hang out with Taison by the kitty pool again today and I have my first official sunburn of '09. Our fish tank finally finished cycling so we are ready to start building the habitat and putting our fish in. I have no idea what to do with the rest of the goldfish that are in there now though. I don't want to kill them and I don't really want them to get eaten. Maybe we can donate them back to the fish store. Rice found all the 2008 pictures that I thought he has lost. I was soooo relieved. I can't sew anything right now because I spent my play money on getting my hair cut. Once we get paid again I should be able to get some more fabric. Recession ya know?! Rice and Taison took a nap together and I did the abs portion of the Tracy Anderson Post Pregnancy Workout DVD I won from fitbottomed girls. I think it is about 30 minutes straight of abs and core work and its killer. Then I did an hour of much needed stretching with the P90x stretch. I have been bulking for a month so I am taking this week off to do cardio, tons of stretching and some core work. After my men woke up Rice went to play ball and Taison and I hit up the playground for a little while. I made homemade pizza tonight--Rice's was pepperoni and cheese and ours was ground turkey breast, onions, tomatoes, and cheese. It turned out pretty good but I am still trying to find the right crust recipe. If anyone knows a good one let me know!
Up for tonight is a little cardio, somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes. I found an old martial arts inspired cardio DVD I might check out. It looks like it will make me laugh because I am very uncoordinated and I will basically just be throwing my arms and legs around. I hope I don't hurt anyone! Other than that its just hanging out with the fam, watching the boob tube, and surfing the net until bedtime. Have a great night!! I will leave you with this...

Happy Anniversary

Today is our first anniversary!! We almost forgot lol. We have been together going on six years now so its not a monumental day or anything. Then again I guess it is so...kudos us. I got my hair cut this morning which always makes me feel brand new and it was great to have the alone time. Rice and Taison went to "Grandma's" house while I was getting my hair cut so I had some extra time at the mall to do some RTW snoop shopping. Basically I pick out lots of different clothes from the new season stuff and try it on, making note of what looks good on me and what fabrics I like. I also browsed through shoes and there are SOOO many that I want for spring/summer. I just have to be patient and try to budget a couple in. After we all got home Taison and Rice took a nap and I got to do some research on some different fabrics I want for my next project and I ordered the Simplicity 2638 pattern. When Taison got up we went outside and played in the kitty pool for about an hour, came in, ate, and headed to the gym on base to shoot hoops. It was a blast and Taison loved it. We will definitely be doing this again. I love that he is getting older and we can do so much more with him. I have learned that I am SOOOOO not a baby-type person. Now we are home and hanging out. I think hubby and I are going to watch a movie together tonight after Taison goes to bed. I am looking forward to that. It was another great day.

A great day and a new book!

Great day! Got up at 7am for once and got a lot of cleaning done early. Finally paid off the last of our medical bills today and got almost all of Rice's stuff paid off. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest! We are one step closer to home ownership! Exciting!! I went to one of my favorite little places today, Chamblin's Bookmine (a huge used book store), armed with my gift card and picked up this book. I was having a hard time picking fabric for my sewing projects due to my ignorance on the subject so I am excited to have this as a reference. It was beautiful today and we all played outside for about an hour before conking out for an awesome four hour nap. Got up and made turkey burgers with fettuccine alfredo and broccoli, worked out, and now I am watching Cars for the 193rd time!

It's done! New Look 6780 pattern review

Pattern Description: Four basic stretch knit tops-I made View C.

Pattern Sizing:A 6-16 (I made a 12)

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

Were the instructions easy to follow?Yes very

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I liked how easy this was to put together even for me as a beginner. A great top and a sewing confidence booster. No dislikes

Fabric Used: Cotton blend stretch knit from Joann's-60%cotton, 40% polyester

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:Well, I made two of these actually. The first one I lengthened 4 inches to accommodate for my height(a rookie mistake) and ended up with a great little beach cover up as it was too long. The second one I made exactly as the pattern said.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I will definitely be sewing the other tops on this pattern and I totally recommend this pattern!

Conclusion: Love this top and it was super easy! Get this one!!

My new top....errr dress.

I wanted to make a top...

and I ended up with a dress! lol

Here's why. The pattern I used said that the standard height for my body type was between 5'5 to 5'6. Well, I am about 5'10 so I lengthened the pattern 4 inches...right? WRONG!! I still do not know why this didn't work. I must have the upper body of a 5'5/5'6 female and just have longer legs. I mean I knew I was high waisted but man! Maybe someone can enlighten me on why this didn't work. Another weird thing is that my base of neck to waist measurement is the same as someone 5'5 to 5'6...WTH? Anyway, I love this top/dress lol and everything else turned out perfectly so next time I will just make it according to the original pattern. Luckily this was my practice one so I will start on the REAL one today. I had a great experience with my first knit garment. Just for kicks here is my SUPER long top with some capris~maybe you can get the idea of what it is SUPPOSED to look like lol.