First garment in a year!

I can not believe it has been nearly two months since my last posting! I have been so busy being a mom I haven't even stepped into my sewing room in weeks! Everett is growing so fast!! He's starting to smile and coo and he just melts my heart <3

The Christmas party is coming up on the 12th and I realized that I haven't sewn a garment since the Christmas party last year.  I have no idea how that happened or where the time went, but my sewing machine is screaming my name!! I've got a gorgeous purple synthetic fabric that I bought from Walmart a few months ago during a 5 yards for 5 dollars sale. It will be perfect for a cocktail dress! Now I just need to decided which pattern I'm going use.  My friend, Kim, is coming over on Monday to sew with me.  I'll probably make a final decision on what kind of cocktail dress I want to wear before then.  Plus, I need new measurements of myself because my size has changed a bit since I had Everett. Stay tuned, there will be more to come as the project unfolds. 

Everett has arrived!!

On Friday evening my husband, Garett, and I grabbed some dinner at El Leoncito - the local Cuban/Mexican restaurant then did our weekly grocery shopping.  Just as we were returning home, I got my first contraction!! I was so excited that I was finally going to meet my little baby soon! Little did I know, it was going to be 26 hours of labor!! It was the longest 26 hours of my life and the quickest at the same time. Finally at 10:35pm Saturday evening, I got to hold my handsome little man in my arms for the first time! It  was the most amazing moment of our lives! Just like that, all the pain I had just endured and the long day that had just passed seemed like a distant blur.

He weighed 7lb, 11oz and was 20.5 inches long. We decided to name our new son Everett. We've had the name picked out for months and as soon as I saw him, I knew it was a great fit! My husband and my friend/doula, Christie, really helped me through labor and I don't think I would have been able to stay so strong through it all without their support and encouragement!! My family was there to support me as well, they stayed in the waiting room for fourteen hours awaiting his arrival! Oh, and the staff at the hospital was the best!! I had the sweetest most caring nurses and the nurse midwife who delivered Everett was so amazing and encouraging! I am so grateful to have such wonderful people in my life -- and a happy, healthy baby boy!! Needless to say, my sewing projects I had planned on finishing this weekend are on hold until I get to catch up on my sleep and get used to being a Mom!

Amazing Thrift Store Finds and Annoying Camera Problems

I've been super excited and wanting to post about my amazing thrift store find all week.  Unfortunately, my camera decided it was going to crap out on me.  First, I spent two days looking for the upload cord --- I have a terrible habit of putting things in new places, convincing myself that when I go to look for it, I'll know exactly where it is!...And then I go to look for it, forget the object's new special home, and find it when I'm no longer looking. I Finally found the cord in a random drawer, plugged the it into the camera, hooked the camera up to it's charging portal, let it sit for a few hours and.....nothing happened. I still don't know whats wrong with the it. I had to resort to taking pictures with my iPhone.  The picture quality is less than ideal but I hope you still enjoy my amazing thrift store finds!!

There's this new church-owned thrift store right off the highway.  Saturday morning, I decided to make a special trip to see if they had anything interesting.  First thing I see when I walk in is an area the size of my closet that is stacked with books.  Almost immediately, I spot the bright orange cover of "The Vogue Sewing Book!"

This book is in near perfect condition! It even still has an order form in the middle for ordering a book for a friend. The form says to send $15.00 by check or money order to purchase and send a book to a friend. I could not believe they only wanted $2.00 for this book!

Next to all the books, I found a small box of random craft stuff.  There was a bag of glitter, some glue pens, basic kiddie craft supplies, and a bag of zippers for only $1.00! Fourteen total and a package of elastic!! 

At the bottom of this small box, I noticed a few vintage patterns peeking out.  They were only 50 cents a piece so, of course, I had to buy them all.  Well, there were only four, but I bought all four and I can't wait  to make some new shift dresses and pants for fall!  

Oh how I love cute pants patterns!! I'm 6'0" tall and have a 36" inseam.  It's not easy to find pants that fit me just right and when I do find them long enough, my choice of styles is very limited and usually they're denim.  Not being able to find clothes that fit my long skinny legs and arms is actually one of the reasons I started sewing when I was a teenager.  I got tired of not finding pants and shirts that fit me the way they were designed to fit.   

I continued to look around the store but didn't find any shoes or clothes that caught my eye.  The rest of the walls were lined with shelves filled with trinkets and random appliances --- nothing too interesting there either.  

All in all, I'm glad I decided to make the 20 minute drive and will definitely be returning in the future! 

I'll found out tomorrow if my camera is fixable so I can post the progress on the curtains for Everett's room. They're coming along nicely despite the fact that every time I sit down to work on them, I get pulled away.  I'm determined to finish them by this weekend since Tuesday is my due date and he should make his big arrival any day now!! 

Bumpers are Finished!

Yeah!!! I've finished the bumpers for the crib and I'm really happy with the way they turned out! I almost want to crawl in and snuggle against the soft sides!! 

I think the bumpers go very nicely with the sheet and dust ruffle! What do you think?

Now that the crib bedding is complete, I just need to finish the curtains!  The pattern for the curtains is a valance, but living in the sunshine state, I'd rather have something that covers the whole window and adds a little color to the room.  Unfortunately, my landlord is very adamant about us not painting the walls; even though I said I would paint the boring eggshell color back over it whenever we decide to move.  So I'm forced to add color to my boring eggshell-colored rooms which ever way possible.  Full-curtains will just have to do the trick for this room.  I'm considering buying some of those vinyl decals for the walls of his room as well.  I found some on Etsy but haven't decided which one, if any, I'd like to put up.  I should be able to sew and hang the curtain this weekend.  I hope everyone has a great weekend! Feel free to comment with any questions or comments you may have. I'd love to hear some feedback!

Baby Bumpers

Of course, as soon as I say that I've got free time, I suddenly become busy. I've still made time to work on the bumpers though.  I've finished three of them and only have three more to go.  I chose a milk chocolate brown ribbon for the ties. Make sure if using ribbon you seal the ends (a lighter held close will do the trick) to keep them from unravelling later on.

The contrast was really nice and even looks good once tied on the crib! I was excited to get to practice some hand-sewing when I had to hand-stitch the opening in the bottom after I slid in the bumper pads.  All in all I'm very happy with the bumpers and can't wait to finish the final three.  Hopefully, they'll be done by tonight.  Once they're all completed, I'll post the with pictures of them in the crib, next to the sheets and dust ruffle.  Then, it's on to the curtains! 

37 Weeks and Plenty of Free Time

Since I'm on maternity leave from work and school now, I've finally got free time to do things that I've put on my "someday when I'm not so busy" mental to-do list.  For example, start this blog, finish the bedding for the little man's nursery, and who knows, maybe even start some apparel projects I've bought supplies for but have yet to begin.

Weeks ago I finished the dust-ruffle and the fitted sheet, cut out half the fabric for the bumpers and then got completely side-tracked with cute apparel projects that I can't wait to begin...after I finish the crib bedding of course! After all, I'm full-term (finally) so the lil booger could be here any day!!
I'm using Simplicity Pattern 2279 but I chose a different theme.

The theme is sailboats and I found some really cute nursery fabric at JoAnn's thanks to my Mom who's making him baby blankets.

It's kind of her thing to make blankets for all the new babies in our extended family, just like her Mom used to do for all her grandkids years ago.  Sewing and Crocheting are kind of my family's hobbies but we'll get into that another day.

Wish me luck and focus....I'm so easily distracted lately.