I am a member of an online local "for sale" group. I frequently see people selling name-brand - like BIG name-brand - shoes, clothes, decorations that are brand new and never use. Things like "cleaning out my closet and found..." or "bought this and never use it..." often accompany. Sometimes it's multiples of the same thing, like "6 pair of shoes, new in boxes, never worn." Seriously?? It blows my mind to consider buying something expensive and then never using it.
Over vacation I asked Daniel to get our 2nd toilet brush out of the attic. We only had one bathroom for so long that our second toilet brush was packed away. While he was up there I asked him to get down three boxes. Just any boxes he chose, so that I could sort through and purge the contents. I have yet to open the boxes but know they are all full of glass dishes that were wedding gifts. I hope it's an easy purge; not for sentimental reasons because I honestly won't remember who gave us what anymore, but because I am being picky with how much I fill up space with stuff.
An empty box, a small handful of nails, a toy hammer and some pre-poked nail-holes has provided lots of entertainment for the girls lately. So much so that today I had to make a second box so they could both hammer nails at the same time.
We got new flannel sheets several weeks ago. Our old set had worn completely through. The new set is so lovely to snuggle into each night!
I never liked grapefruit as a kid. For a long time we only got yellow grapefruit (when the neighbor boys sold it for the FFA), then pink became an option and Mom started ordering that. Mom and the other grapefruit likers in my family exclaimed how much sweeter the pink kind was; I still never liked it. Then I was pregnant with Sylvia and one day decided I needed to taste pink grapefruit. I have loved it ever since. This summer I wondered if I would still like it this winter (since I typically only buy it in-season) and I sure do! Susannah and Sylvia like it, too, though not quite as much as I do. Sylvia will eat a bite and make the most horrible sour-face and then ask for more.
I am still loving having my sewing machines set up and operating. I have so much sewing and creating that I want to do. Early this fall I finished sewing the kitchen valences that I started several years ago. I love seeing them hanging in the kitchen and they look perfect there. Then Susannah was in desperate need of bigger clothes to wear for church this winter. The fabric stash did not yield enough of the right kind of fabric so we went fabric shopping. By burning the midnight-and-beyond oil for a week, I made her dress. From purchasing the pattern on Sunday to her wearing her new dress to church the following Sunday. Her excitement made the early mornings so worth it.
I hope to become more efficient and familiar with sewing (again) so I can continue to turn out clothes for our children to wear. Each day when gets dressed and I see that her pants are getting shorter and wearing thinner, I toy with the thought - for just a moment - of re-purposing Daniel's jeans into new jeans for her. I think that's a bit beyond my ambition at the moment plus the demin from his jeans would be very heavy for her.
On that note, I am off to start the dryer for two of four sweaters we bought at Goodwill so I can get them turned into Christmas stockings. :) Then I will head upstairs and very carefully try to sew the second sleeve onto a doll dress (that I've already ripped off once).
6 comments:
That dress is stunningly beautiful! I think it looks just like the stuff I see on Pinterest, and other online sites with very cute clothes for little girls. You do have a knack for nice patterns and dress fabric. Of course, Susannah is prettier than any human should be, but even just the dress is amazing. I had no idea you could sew like this.
This makes me want to cry. There is so much I wish I could sew, but I just haven't worked out the time. My NY's gifts may not include sewn items if my days don't start changing.
I never liked grapefruit either until I was an adult. Now, during the winter it is my fruit of choice!
The dress is beautiful! I learned how to sew when I was very young and could probably pick it up again, but I doubt my first few projects would look as good as Susannah's dress! She is so beautiful.
The little dress is SO cute! I used to make my girls' dresses too! I even made one of them a coat once. Whew! I don't think I ever finished it LOL. You can even find patterns for doll and Barbie clothes.
I also pulled out my sewing machine recently and have rekindled my LOVE of sewing. My younger (youngest) daughter is in college and for her 21st birthday I took all of her old high school tshirts and made a quilt. It turned out so nice! I bawled like a baby when I gave it to her! LOL. I'm hoping to post pics of it on my blog soon. I'll let you know when I do.
I wanted to share with you that my mom used to make my clothes when I was little. She said that big skirts and lady's dresses (from garage sales, thrift stores, etc.) make the best little girl clothes. She used to even take apart those fancy lady pajamas that she found at garage sales and which most women don't wear anymore and remade them into pajamas that my girls just used to LOVE when they were little. She cut collars out of yokes and trimmed pockets with detailed cuffs. They were adorable.
I started sewing for my girls years ago and then we had a hiatus when they were in high school. But now, they are back after me (mostly because of Pinterest) of things I can make them. I love that and am so happy that I learned to sew.
In fact, the 21 year old asked for (and I was able to get at a black Friday sale) a sewing machine for Christmas. She's probably going to be the only college student sewing in Kansas City LOL.
Merry Christmas to you and your family! Happy sewing!
The dress you made is darling, Susannah looks like she is vry happy with it. I used to make my daughters' clothes, it was a lot of work, but I was happier with what they were wearing.
Um, this may be an unintelligent question, but is there supposed to be only a ruffle over one shoulder of the dress? Just curious if I'm missing something.
Lucy, Yes, there is supposed to be just one ruffle. It is supposed to look like it buttons over on the side but that is hard to see in the picture. It actually buttons down the back and the buttons on the front are just decorative.
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