Bubble Skirts

Now with instructions !

I have five granddaughters.  For Easter, I make them dresses—or buy them—if I got carried away and spent waay too much on sewing them.  There have been a few of those!  This year they wanted bubble skirts.  I let each one choose the fabric—they all went sparkly, and then got busy.  They were pretty simple.  I had already made a bubble skirt, so I got the girls’ measurements and figured it out.  Apparently I got away without making any doll skirts.  

My daughter, Kate, at A Piece of Kates made  her girls the matching flowers.

They are easy to make.  First I measured around the childs waist, added about 1/2 again for the gathering at the waist, make the outer skirt a little larger than the inner skirt.  I cut the front and back the same with the waist being the smallest and the bottom belling out.  Does that make sense?  Then the outer skirt is just a couple of inches wider and longer than the inside skirt.  Gather the bottom and elastic the waist and presto, finished! They are cuter in person than in pics!

 I still love them!  I wish I could get away with wearing a sparkly bubble skirt!  P.S.  I don't have any pics of them together-- two live away and I don't know why we didn't get the others together...

jammies!

I finally got around to sewing the Christmas winter jammies for the kids.  I used to have have a fabric buying thing, where if it’s on sale, I need it desperately!  Anyway, my sister told me a couple of years ago that I couldn’t buy any more fabric—especially flannel, until I sewed my way out.  So I have been making the grandkids jammie pants each year.  After I cut out the seven pair of jammies, I talked to my daughter on the phone, and she asked if I had cut out dolly jammies?  Now you have to know, I love to sew, but hate to cut out.  Eesh, of course, on to cut out four doll jammies.

The thing to remember about sewing more than one of anything is to sew like you are in a sweatshop—chain the same seam together over and over again.  Here is part before I cut them apart. 

 Then press the same seam over and over again.  I don’t backstitch much, but am a fanatic about pressing!  Even the doll clothes. 

All done, and they are sooo soft and snuggly! 

And see—this crate is almost empty—I think I have one more year to go!

Patches!

So the Adds—my 6 year old granddaughter-- came to me and said, “MeeMaa, I need my jeans patched.  Last time I wore them it was sooo cold that I had a tear coming out of my eye because of the hole in the knee.”  How pathetic was that!

This harkened me back to the days that I learned to patch jeans—I had a son that could take the knee out of jeans in two weeks.  I needed to know a quick and easy way to fix them.  Here’s how:

First, open the seam of the leg—in the seam that isn’t the flat fell one.  Yes, it will save loads of time to do it!  You will sew it back up at the end. 

(I didn't take pics-- but notice the new stitching on the side, that's where the seam was opened up...)

Then, you pick out the fabric of the patch—save some denim from other worn out jeans or pick out fun fabric.  Use the iron on wonder under and cut the patch.  If you have thin fabric for the front, put another layer of denim on the back.  I used to have all kinds of denim from the kids jeans, but I got rid of all of it, so Addie picked out the top layer and I scrounged up the back denim.  Iron on both sides.  If you have a boy, you will always put on double patches!  Sew around the edge of the patch.  As you can see, if I measured, the stitching would be better, but no one—except you will see the inside!  And I didn’t catch the inside patch well so I went around again!  Sew up the side seam and finish it either with a serger or zigzag stitch.  All done!! 

P.S. the model didn’t want to co–operate!, but she tries to wear them every day!

House on Fire!!

It is the day that we wait for all season… time to burn the gingerbread house. 

Over the years we have put the house outside for the birds to eat (no use—the birds don’t want old candy either), tried to firecracker it to death (a big disappointment—it doesn’t blow up like on cartoons, whack it with a baseball bat (it was ok, but fraught with danger of swinging bats and everyone wanting a turn) then finally we came up with putting it in the fireplace. FABULOUS!!    

When it starts burning, you hear the sizzling of the sugar, then smoke starts pouring out of the window, and soon fire out of the windows. Later, the house collapses and the Christmas season is officially over.