Projects Archives - Page 154 of 217

Ruffle Skirt

December 7, 2011 jennifer Quilting and Sewing

In the midst of our crazy week last night, and on a night when I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry myself to sleep, I went to a sewing class and made this skirt for my daughter.

I love fabric and I love to sew, but I’m scared to death of making clothing. Oh, I’ve known for a while that I really ought to learn to make skirts at least, especially with five daughters. I also know how difficult it is to find skirts that are long enough to be modest. Yet I’m intimidated by the patterns so I haven’t done it.

Two weeks ago I was in a fabric store for some thread and overheard several women talking about this fabric. I decided to peek at it, and it was gorgeous. Gorgeous in several different colors. I listened more and discovered they were talking about making skirts with it. I asked a question and they pointed above my head at the sample hanging from the ceiling. The class was less than a week away and they still had an opening. On a total whim, I bought fabric in four different colors and signed up for the class.

I started with a skirt for my two year old because I could pick my favorite color, the vintage aqua that I love so much. I enjoyed learning more about how to deal with this particular material, which is tricky with the ruffles. My machine and I had to do some fiddling to figure out the best settings for slippery fabric since all we usually do is cotton quilting weight material. I also got to learn about using a double needle to attach the thick elastic waistband to the material. The double needle allows the elastic to stretch without breaking any thread. I didn’t know that before Thursday night!

Really this is such a simple skirt that I shouldn’t be bragging about making it, which is exactly why it was a good first project for me. I plan to make one for each of my daughters in the next couple of weeks. It happens that both of my little ones fit this skirt and it’s made me smile to see them taking turns wearing it.

It always feels good to learn something new, doesn’t it?

One comment sewing

Christmas in the Dining Room

December 6, 2011 jennifer Christmas, Decorating

One room, at least, is ready for Christmas. I enjoy decorating the dining room for holidays because it’s the room that stays most like I left it. My children cheerfully redecorate everything else they see but for some reason they generally leave the dining room alone.

I placed a vintage Christmas tablecloth across the table and replaced the large mirrored tray I’ve been using in there. While unpacking boxes in the basement I remembered the ceramic lamb I always use at Easter and decided to bring it up. We are, after all, celebrating the birth of the Lamb of God.

So using the lamb as a starting point, I then pulled a nativity scene from another room and used it as well.

I placed Mary, Joseph and the baby on a cake platter with more lambs to continue the theme. I love the simplicity of it.

For height I borrowed a large trophy vase from my family room mantel and filled it with picks I had on hand; some inexpensive berries, beaded leaves purchased last year from Ballard Designs, and green flocked pinecones around the edge.

The wise men are placed around the other side of the tray to add visual interest from all three of the openings to the room.

A few ornaments were added to the dining room cabinet. I still love the blue in that cabinet. I’m so glad I painted it earlier in the year!

My favorite vintage bust just makes me happy perched up there.

I love walking through this room. In fact, I realized that many members of our family walk through this room countless times a day. Perhaps displaying a nativity scene in here was a good move because it will be so often seen by all of us.

I’ve been a total stress case this week, calm on the outside but nerves humming on the inside. The little ones are still so needy and emotional. In the past two days we’ve had only a couple of waking hours when one or both of them weren’t crying. Seriously, my almost four year old cried for over 2.5 hours on Monday night, just to make sure we all knew she wasn’t happy with us. It’s been wearing on me, I think. I wonder if they’re just not feeling better yet or what? Either way, I’ve got to calm down. Maybe I should pull up a chair at the dining room table and make myself sit there until I’m quiet inside.

I hope your Christmas preparations are in full swing and on schedule! More importantly, I hope you make time to be still and ponder the reason why we’re doing all this in the first place.

Please excuse me while I attempt to go follow my own advice.

Jennifer

One comment Christmas, Decorating

Kellie’s Baby Shower

December 3, 2011 jennifer Entertaining

Honestly, it was a miracle that this baby shower happened at all. With the stomach flu making its way through our family all week I was amazed that no one was sick on the day of the shower. Somehow I got a few Christmas decorations up and the main floor was clean and sanitized.

Most of the things on my list for the shower were crossed off, undone. The bare essentials were all I could offer. While I’d envisioned much better, it all worked out fine. Everyone had a nice time, a lot of people came, the mother-to-be was happy, and because the Christmas decorations were out it still felt festive. I suppose this should be a good reminder to me that even without all the extras I have swirling around in my head, a party can still be a party.

Kristen and I decided to serve a light lunch. We each made a pot of soup. Along with that we had rolls, a veggie tray and mini-cupcakes. Simple but nourishing. Kristen made a delicious chicken noodle soup. I made a vegetable chowder. It’s a recipe I’d forgotten about but now that I’ve re-discovered it I’m sure it will make it’s way to my my table a lot this winter. I’ll share soon.

I had planned on making homemade rolls. It seemed like the least I could do with such a simple menu. But when the big day arrived I realized it wasn’t the best idea so instead I purchased a few dozen different kinds of rolls and offered a variety. This, too, was a good reminder to me that it’s ok to just buy something and call it good. They tasted great and people seemed to like choosing their own.

We served oyster crackers with the soup. They were pretty in my urn vase.

The veggie tray helped to round things out and Kristen saved the day by baking some miniature Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes . They looked so cute with a little kiss of frosting on the top (thanks to my daughter. She’s getting pretty handy with a bag of frosting!).

It was a light but nourishing meal, which many women seem to like. I’m so glad we did it, and I particularly enjoyed hosting it with my sister. She’s really amazing.

Now, on to the rest of December!

Hopeful Homemaker