Flea Market Finds - 4/30/11

 Today's  flea market finds.. 4/30/11

  My local flea market ,meets once a month.  I go each month, but rarely  find
sewing notions.. Excitement hit, when I walked into a booth and the lady had
some vintage finds..so fun..
  I bought 3 fabrics...each with 3 -4  yds in each
               blue and white -denim /chambray type fabric
               black,purple, yellow floral rayon fabric
               white seersucker  with tiny red,blue and yellow tiny lines

                1- vintage pattern [70's]
                1- self covered buttons

What a  great fun find.. Great day..  I brought my finds home, and put my fabrics in the washer
and oh how pretty  they were when  they come out of the dryer..

UK Fabric Meet

 Excited..excited... I recieved  a package from a very sweet friend,CharoletteT.  It said,"open on  May 14th..I can't wait.. But I will.... I will be joining the UK Meet from Blue Mountain, Ms.. I  will be having
so much fun.. thinking about all the excitement, and hearing the giggles. I will be thinking about each of them.
  Charolette. You made my day,  thankyou so much.. You are just tooo sweet..I apprecaite you so much.

Emilys First Sewing Project- Age 5

  Now.. this dress may not look like much to you...... but to a grandma... it is a very prized possession.
 Let me tell you the story of Emily [my oldest grandaughter ,now 12 yrs old] .I was baby sitting her,
and sitting at my sewing machine ,just sewing away..She kept instisting, she wanted to sew too...Finally,
  I had her sit right beside me, gave her some scrap fabrics, scissors, and a big needle that I threaded
for her.. She not only cut out her amazing dress, but picked the fabric,  and designed it, and  sewed..All
by herself. [NOW.... do you not think I have a dress designer on the way?ha] She was so proud of her
self. This prize dress ,has hung in my sewing room ,every since.

   She loves sewing .She and I can talk for hours about it, and we love to visit fabric stores.

TV Character Challenge

Tv Character Challenge - 4/17/11
 In this weeks challenge ,we were to pick a  tv character, and make a garment  that  looked like
thier dresses or an inspiration from them. I chose Olivia Walton from The Waltons. I was really
disappointed with the out come.I love all of Olivia's dresses. But, my pattern or pictures did not
work this week.. I chose a brown and white polka dot fabric [Olivia had one ,on one of the shows].
Note;  I spent more on this dress than normal..I went out and bought fabric ,just for it..[and liked it the
least.Argh!!!!]

Easter Hat Challenge [without a hat]

  Easter Dress Challenge-- 4/24/11
 This weeks challenge was to: create a garment that would go with a pretty hat..Since hats
and Easter dresses go together. I didnt have a hat...or didnt see myself wearing a hat..But,
wanted to do the challenge anyway.. I chose to do a polka dot dress.

Pattern- Simplicity [Lisette pattern]- Hancock fabric- 99 cents
Fabric- salmon and white polka dot [in my stash]- free
Notions: ebay find- 25 cents
Time to complete- 5 hours
Wear again- yes

Note: I love the Lisette line of patterns..They fit really well ,with little adjustments needed.

Grandkids..

Kenny Roberson 111

Just a few pictures of my grandchildren..I have five.. They are all wonderful.. Our daughter ,has 2 girls....Emily and Callie. Our son has 3 children , One boy Kenny and twin girls , Amy and Ashlee.


Callie Davis--Dr. Seuss Week




Callie , Cindy and Emily




Emily Davis



Callie Davis.. Strastburg Dress I made her for- Easter -2009




Amy and Ashlee Roberson





Kenny.. Karate Trophy



Weight Loss

  Well.. this is a not fun post.. I made it through Christmas, and My weight had  really gotten out of control. I weighed more than ,I had ever before. My already health problems ,were getting worse and worse. I knew ,I had to do something..but ...just didnt seem to ever get motiviated.. I had to leave my job of 25 years as Respiratory Therepist at the Hospital. I was really depressed.  I had never had a weight problem, I was always the thin one, that could eat anything, and never gain a pound.[oh, for the good ole days,haha]

   I sewed for my daughter ,ever chance I got. all through her growing up years and into college.And with working, and family.. there was never time for  "sewing for me"... Then came 4 grandaughters.Once I left work,  I sewed for them.

    I had found Mena's blog , at the end of last year, where she had made a dress a week for her self. I was so impressed.  I loved reading about each dress and waiting to see what the next one would look like. I dreaded to see  the year end.. But at the end of that year, she wrote in her blog, that she wanted to encourage ,"just a few ladies to sew for themselves".That was just the encouragement ,I needed. I knew, after my many years of sewing for others, It was time to "SEW  for Me". So, I joined the sew weekly challenge. but....one  problem.. I had refused pictures of me, because of  the weight I had gained. Now.. with sew weekly...you HAD to take pictures.yuky!!!!!!!  But. once I was forced to see those pictures. I knew it was time to work on my weight..[not for looks, but for my health]. I started watching what I was eating, eating healthy.. and  gradually included walking into it.

  I stared this  approximately the middle of January,2011. Up todate, I have lost 20 pounds.. YEA!!!!! I still have 25 pounds to go. But, I will continue , and as slow as it seems, I will keep on ,keeping on.

   And for this , I woud like to thank Mena of Sew Weekly. She doesnt know ,just how much I appreciate her motiviation to make me.
1- sew for me ..it has been so fun and rewarding
2- loose weight ..it has already benefitted my health, and know , as the rest comes off, will continue to improve.
3- Provide the place ..for us girls to meet . I have made some great friends.
  And one of these friends..is Cathe.. she too encourages me on this weight loss. She is fantstic, and I thank her so much.

Sew Weekly Challenge- Inspiration from Our Childhood Picture-4/10/11

 Inspiration from Childhood Picture...Sew weekly Challenge - 4/10/11

   I didn't have a picture of me as a child, so I debated and debated on not doing this challenge.But ,I really wanted to participate..As , I rambled through the many photo albums of all my grandchildren..I found a picture of my 10 yr old grandaughter ,Callie.. She was 2 years old at the time. I have been told by my family, that she really looks alot like me ,when I was small. I decided to use her picture ,for my inspiration. She was sitting on a picnic table,with a tire swing behind her.. Oh, this brought back so many of my own childhood  memories. We always had that tire swing in our yard.
   She was wearing a simple green check  a-line sleeveless dress with watermelons on it. So, I chose a green gingham check fabric, and appliqued  a watermelon on the front of it. The dress was very comfortable ,and will make for a nice ,cool summer dress.
Fabric-2.00 yd- $5.00
Pattern- Hancock Fabric sale- 99 cents [I used Simplicity 2995-project runway]
Notions- vintage zipper [free]
Time to Complete- 3 hours

Wear again- yes

Emilys Formal for Jimmy Awards- 4-14-11

 Emilys Formal Dress for Jimmy's Award at Blue Mountain College

 Emily was invited to the Jimmy awards, she was an actor in there college threater production.
She and I went to Hancock Fabrics in Tupelo,Ms and chose the  fabrics and pattern. We had
so much fun..She loves sewing and she and I can spend hours shopping fabric stores..

Apron Challenge-[Kiss the Cook] - April 3-2011

Sew weekly challenge: Make an apron and  a  little black dress [Burda Pattern]

    This week was a busy week, My grandaughter Emily had to go to the Jimmy awards,
and needed a formal dress for the occasion[I will post later on that dress]. So, I didnt
want to skip the challenge, I did a simple chefs apron and left off the Burda dress.

       I went to my stash and found the perfect fabric. Kiss the cook fabric.

Vogue Retro Patterns

 On my last shopping trip to Tupelo. I went to Hancock Fabrics.. And the Vogue patterns were on sale for 3.99 each.. I found these 2 retro vintage patterns.. Look forward to making dresses from them.

Vintage Patterns

    Thanks to Mena of Sew Weekly, I have discovered  vintage patterns.. I love them.. I am learning to grade patterns. These are some of the vingtage patterns I have found on Ebay lately.

My First Dress from a Graded Vintage Pattern

       Vintage Pattern--Simplicity 4433
       
        This was the first vintage pattern I ever graded the pattern to fit.. It turned out really well. I embroidered flowers on the white sewed in ties. I thought it really added to the vintage look. I also used vintage ric rack from my  yard sale find.

   This has given me confidence to  try more grading.Yea!!