My New Sewing Area

My family of 5 lives in a two bedroom, one bath, 1150 square foot house. I've never complained about the size. In fact, it only makes me want to always live in a modest sized home because there is so much less to clean which leaves more time for sewing ;). The only "inconvenience", so to speak, has been not having anywhere to put my sewing stuff. In the past, I've taken over the kitchen table and the area surrounding. However, on Saturday, my husband was moving our computer table over so I could have more room to sew around the kitchen table. The computer table broke while he was moving it (it was already kind of broken). My in-laws came to the rescue (as usual) and brought us a huge table to put the computer on (very sturdy) and my husband's old desk from his room. More furniture actually makes for more room in that small space AND I get to always have my sewing machine, serger, and snap press at the ready. Saves me so much time not having to set everything up when I want to sew. Does this mean I have to start cooking and having family meals now that my kitchen table is no longer buried in sewing machines and fabric??

Pure Bliss!

On my 27th birthday, my mom bought me a sewing machine. She said it was because she felt guilty for never really teaching me how to sew. I think it was because she loves me. The day I brought my sewing machine home and started playing with it, I learned a valuable lesson-- Material possessions can make a girl really, really happy. And not just temporarily either. This baby has been bringing me joy for 7 years now.



On my 34th birthday, I bought this with some money I'd accumulated from selling things in my etsy shop. I don't exactly make money since any revenue immediately gets invested in fun things like this...and of course more fabric.



Again, pure bliss.

This is what I whipped up in just a few minutes with my serger. I needed a new pack 'n play sheet. Our crib was recalled and so my sweet baby Lorelai has been sleeping in the pack 'n play, while Genevieve sleeps in the crib that is on loan from friend's of ours.


Now she can sleep in style. I bet she's as happy as I am that I could serge this up for her. I wonder if she dreamt of apple orchards all night. I think I'll make another one. Something pink.

Something to Wear!!

You know those people who always say they have nothing to wear to a certain function/event??? Well, I really have nothing to wear to my husband's law school graduation.

Here's the problem...

• I still don't quite fit into all my pre-twins clothes (I can get stuff on, it's still just a little snug).


• Literally zero $$ (especially since I found out I have to take another certification test this summer...bleh).


• I'm nursing so I can't wear a dress (I have one...I just don't think it would be appropriate to lift up the entire dress to feed one of the twins at a graduation ceremony).

So....... my sweet friend Jodell came to the rescue and helped me make this beauty with some fabric from my stash. We didn't even use a pattern!! The skirt is fully lined with some sweet white muslin that I purchased at fabric.com and it also has a side zipper. This is about a size 8.

I think I look terrible in the picture and it looks so much cuter in person...but we were in a hurry to take it the pic. You can buy similar shirts in Jodell's etsy shop.

I love sewing days with my bff :)

Special thanks to my sweet 7 month old Genevieve for taking a 3 hour nap while we worked on my outfit.

My Mother's Day Gift...To Myself

My husband had his very last law school exam Saturday. Needless to say we are broke and there's no extra moola for gifts (fabric, yes...gifts, no). So for a mother's day gift to me, he gave me time (precious time) to make this rad apron. With teaching part-time, 6 month old twins, a two-year old, an etsy shop...it is nearly impossible to find time to sew unless I sacrifice my already limited sleep.

My friend Jodi can whip one up in 45 minutes (seriously, she's done it). I used her pattern, but changed it a little. I only had a little bit of fabric to work with since I still had to have enough to finish making this gift set and then have enough to make my apron. I didn't add a ruffle. (I'm not a really ruffly kind of gal anyway) and I closed the bottom with bias tape (that I made myself). The straps are shorter than I would have liked (not enough fabric). I also made it full length. Right now I'm feeding my twins 1 meal a day and it is messy!! I don't have time to be changing my clothes during the day or washing them for that matter, so I'm hoping my apron will cut down on the already abundant amount of laundry. FYI: The Amy Butler Lotus line is out of print. Good thing I recently ordered more. It's my fav.

I also made one for my mother-in-law for mother's day. She loved it.