Back to the Grind....almost!

WOW! It has been over a week since my last post! I feel I am being negligent! We got in Tuesday night around midnight (thanks for the nice LONG stopover daddy!), and I have been trying to get it together since! I am most definitely NOT a cleaner....I HATE to clean, and my poor house was left in such disarray when we went on our mini-vacation to the beach that I have been trying to clean it since Wednesday!! I say trying because those of you with small children know that as soon as you clean one room and move on to the next....well let's just say that first room is not so clean when you go back in it!! ARGH!!!! Thankfully the place we stayed had a washer and dryer so I was able to come home with clean clothes, but since there were DIRTY clothes here when I left....well, I've been doing some washing as well! So, all of this means there has been little time to sew since coming home! But thankfully, I have some things I held back on my last post....so here we go.


A cute little polka-dotted hooded towel, with a matching ribbon! It held up really well on the beach, with daily washing and drying. Although the little satin ribbon I used on the bow is starting to unravel a little. I love the font on this towel, it is Carmen, and I got it from a generous giver over on Sew Forum!

Next up is a beach bag made from a vinyl tablecloth I purchased at Target at the end of last Summer for $2! It is a quality vinyl which held the monogramming stitches and did not suffer any damage from being dragged on the beach!


I used the vinyl on the inside as well, so it was VERY easy to keep clean, didn't mind wet towels or swim suits, and the sand wiped out and off easily! I just used a Velcro tab closure across the top, because this bag and the two more girly bags were usually stuffed full!

The straps are also from the tablecloth, but this time I inserted them between the outer bag and liner, going over them a couple times as I top stitched it closed.

Remember all of the shirring I was talking about? Well here it is! I was doing a pair of the cute gingham bloomers for The Middle Child and started doing the elastic thread around the leg hem, when I realized....this isn't the leg!!! It was the waist!!! OOPS! Well, my kids have a couple of pairs of shorts with shirred waistbands, so why not?

The more rows you do tightens it a little more, so I just had to have her keep trying them on until we got the right fit! I like this because #1 no casing or elastic to insert, and B I think it is a more comfortable fit around the waist! I think that when I start on my Pajama Week, which I have been trying to convince all of my bloggy friends we need to do!!, I would rather do this type of waistband instead of the regular elastic since it doesn't fit so "tight"! What do you think?

So I had this skirt already made, just waiting for the casing and elastic.... It is a little long because there was no length taken for the casing, so I can add another band of fabric and add straps to make it a dress, or add straps and give it to Ms. Priss as a top, or even a skirt since it is stretched around a size 6 "dress" form, I use that term loosely, of course...it is just a plastic body form that came with a bathing suit I bought! :) I haven't tried it on her yet, but I think it will be stretchy enough around her waist. AHHH I love having these options! Elastic thread is AMAZING! I also made a pair of pink gingham bloomers and a red gingham top for Ms. Priss, but didn't take pictures. Maybe next post...I will be displaying all of my back-to-school items, since it will be starting next Tuesday!! The Middle Child will be starting a Pre-K 3 program at the end of August. Just me and The Boy two days a week! Will I be able to get more accomplished? HA!

And in closing, Amy from During Quiet Time tagged me with an interesting idea...
1-Collect the book that you have most handy
2-Turn to page 161
3-Find the 5th complete sentence
4-Cite the sentence on your blog
5-Pass it on to five other blogger friends

So here's my dilemma...The two books next to me are Sewing Green by Betz White, which I love, but it only has 142 pages. Next is Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little ones, which I also love, but page 161 is a picture page...flipping to page 162...I guess this would be the 5th complete sentence:

"With the coordinating solid fabric, follow the manufacturer's
instructions to fuse the Wonder-Under to the Wrong side of the fabric, then
cut:
- 1 heart applique', using the pattern piece."

So there it is...I am not going to tag anyone, since I just did one, but feel free to participate in this one, let me know and I will link to you! Until later...