Lessons Learned

Service your sewing machine!

Okay to all of you ladies out there who love to stitch up a cute garment for your child or make dreamy draperies for your home please listen up...

I don't want to sound like I'm trying to tell you what to do, but I want to save you some of the heartache I am going through right now. My sweet Mary Frances is not going to get a new Easter dress for the second year in a row in part because my sewing machine is acting up.

Please read your sewing machine manual or call the dealer and see how often your machine should be serviced. Then take a break from the machine and take it in to be serviced in order to keep it working in tip top shape.

I know none of us think we can give it up for the time it takes to be serviced nor do we want to spend the money but I can assure you mine is going in first thing Monday morning.

Today's Priceless Moment

I can't remember if I've told you or not, but on Fridays Frank takes Mary Frances to school. On the first Friday of the month, they go out for a breakfast date before going to school. Mary Frances looks forward to this all month long, and they talk at length about where they are going to go. Frank and I get a chuckle out of this because she always wants to go to Starbucks though to us it is such a grown up place. Neither Frank nor Mary Frances drink coffee!

Here is a picture from their August date...

Yes, last Friday was the first Friday of the month, but Frank was in Nashville so they rescheduled for this week. It turns out that Frank is going to be Orlando this Friday morning so they rescheduled again ~ They went today!

She woke up super sweet and eagerly put on the dress we had set out last night.

It was her Christmas dress! I smocked Mary Frances a simple bishop for Christmas this year. I must tell you, at first I wasn't going to because I was afraid she might be too old, and she wasn't going to get enough wear out of it. Then I saw that she had a school "holiday" program and I remembered years past where the kindergartners wore Christmas attire so I decided I would go for it. I also figured this might be the last year she will want/need a Christmas dress, and she does still want to where her bishop dresses. I am so thankful for that decision.

She is possibly the most excited about this dress than anything I have ever made her. I have to tell you that does my heart good. I sew for lots of reasons and most of them are incredibly selfish, but to see her so excited was what I really desire out of the hours I spend at my sewing machine.

And one last picture ~ This is Mary Frances' list for Santa. Aside from changing the font color she did this all by herself.

Baby Gift Debt

I have finally caught up on some LONG overdue baby gifts. I'm too embarrassed to let you know how long ago some of these babies were born.

Not only am I thrilled to cross these gifts off of my "to do" list, but I was excited to try some new things. I don't usually feel like my sewing, monogramming, or applique is terribly creative, but I tried some new things and liked the results.

I actually have one more bib that I think is going to turn out super cute, but I can't seem to move it past the end of my ironing board!

Not only are these gifts made, they are wrapped with a card attached. Many have been delivered and the rest are in mailers to drop by the post office after picking Stephen up from school, grabbing some egg boxes from the Pig, and making a Garden Club bank deposit ~ do you think he will fall asleep during all of that and I can sit and smock in the carpool line for Mary Frances? Keep your fingers crossed!

The Sad Truth: I actually completed the machine part of the gifts over a month ago, but it has taken me this long to get them washed, photographed, wrapped, and ready to deliver.

Oh well, such is my life!

Triple Stitched and Mass Produced

All fall and winter I have cringed when I look at my eldest son's clothes {that includes what he is wearing, what is in his closet, and what is in the laundry}, but I haven't had the time, energy, or money to do anything about it. Well I probably could have the money but my cheap {or as a sweet friend says, "frugal"} spirit won't let me.

Well, I am determined that this spring and summer are going to be different. Stephen has 10 pair of shorts stitched, labeled, washed, and ironed in his drawer. Not to mention two more pair that are made out of a thinner fabric and therefore lined that he can wear to church. Okay, I know 10 sounds a bit excessive, and I agree, but it is not uncommon for us to wear three pair in a day. He does great with his potty training on the two days he goes to school, but together we aren't great at it when he is at home or running errands with me. Fortunately, many of them were made with left-over scraps from previously created projects.

That's that for the mass produced portion of the post. If I could only get my monogram machine out to create some matching t-shirts he would be set for summer. Oh yeah, there are also a few smocked shirts I want to make. I'll let you know when I get those done.

Here is the one picture I found...one would think with as many pictures as I take and as many pair of shorts as there are I could have found a better one than that.

Now for triple stitched ~ There are few things more frustrating than spotting a hole in a garment you have painstakingly put together particularly when it is a lined garment. Well, I now triple stitch my crotch seams to try to prevent this from occurring. First, I stitch the seam with a normal seam. Then I go over the area that endures the most stress with the triple stitch on my machine. This is the #2 stitch in the picture below. Those are the first two stitches that I complete. The third is a zigzag over the edge to attempt to prevent fraying. I don't own a serger nor do I want one! For those of you out there who love your, I know I may eat those words one day, but there is no room in this 1700 square foot house filled with two adults and three children and all that comes with them.

Check your manual ~ I'm sure your machine has a comparable stitch. {It is also good for a simple decorative stitch on for example the edge of a baby blanket.}