Marine Dream Skirt

   I have had this stripy blue and white fabric for longer than I care to say.  However, I recently fell in love with it and the nautical-inspired flair I decided it does indeed have. I made a morning skirt out of it; that's what I call a skirt I sew in the morning and wear later in the day.


    The waist-band is 3-inch wide elastic.  both love and hate sewing-in wide, exposed elastic on a gathered skirt; it is a  a pain to do, but looks great!  It's an instant hour-glass figure (I don't have one, but I like to pretend I do by wearing the right clothes)!








   These pictures were taken at the Marine Museum
 in Quantico, VA.  It is an absolutely awesome museum; my husband has declared it his hands-down favorite!  The girls liked it, too especially the more kid-friendly exhibits, but there were some (like the Cold War reenactment) that made them a little uneasy.  My kids aren't frightened easily, so use your discretion if you have more tender-hearted children.

As an example of how my kids are:
When Punky was in kindergarten, we drove past some wild turkeys; I pointed them out.  She says, "let's get a gun and shoot them!  I'm sure they taste better than the turkey at Publix! [grocery store in the south]"  No one in our family hunts!

Infinite Summer Dress

 It's summer (-ish) again, so I am back to sewing!  It may be a different location, but for the most part, my photographer will still be my almost-8 year old, aka Punky.  I am going to try to schedule postings, so hopefully, my blog will be updated more regularly.

 Now to  the dress:

For my first project of summer, I wanted an infinity dress- one of those yardage eating, crazy dresses that can be worn in so many different ways.  However, so many of them end up in ways you can't wear a bra, and that doesn't work for me!  I found one tutorial that extended the waist band to cover the bra strap, but I was afraid it would mean I couldn't wear it as a skirt, so I made a bandeau that was removable.

Scout wanted to model, too.
She calls this "the fish pose"

Oh, the "Bettie Bangs" were an impulse move after I had trimmed my bangs to a more normal length.  What do you think?  Do they suit me, or should I let them grow out?  I have never done short fringe before!

Home is where the heart is

    Moving away from Florida was probably the hardest thing I have done in my adult life.  I was leaving my friends, and more importantly  family members hundreds of miles away.  Though I still have weepy moments, I have been adjusting fairly well (especially now that it is spring!)

   During one of my moments of home-sickness I created this project based off of this project I found on pinterest.  I loved it and had to recreate it.

    In my typical ADHD fashion, I did not wait to purchase supplies, I gathered things I had around the house- scrap wood, spray paint in my favorite "lagoon blue" shade, nails, sewing thread.  The project ended up costing me nothing except time and headache!


   I learned a few things doing this project.  First the tension of sewing thread will pull nails out of wood if you don't hammer them in enough.  I used a very thin scrap of wood, and probably wouldn't have had to nail all the pieces in twice had I taken the time to purchase more appropriate materials.  I also learned that FL has a shape that is extraordinarily difficult to recreate with threadcraft!  (I may have created a new word, or not, either way is cool).  I must consider moving to a more rectangular state if I ever try this again!