Starting to decorate

So... be prepared for some posts about decorating. We're moving into our new house this weekend (YIPPEE!!) so I went crazy at Bed, Bath, and Beyond today. I got the wall cabinet above for the boys' bathroom. I'm going for a jungle theme in there, planning to stencil monkeys on the wall.

I got this comforter/sheet set for the guest room. My parents are coming a week after we move in, so I have to be prepared, right? I looooove mostly white bedding. Not sure why. I guess it's the illusion of cleanliness. :-) Anyway, this is way too girly to pass the husband test for our bed, but it's perfect for a cheery guest room/sewing room.



Here's a little BB&B tip - if you go on their website and join their email list, they'll email you a coupon right away for 20% off one item - very handy when buying that bed-in-a-bag.

So, does this decorating stuff interest you? It will evolve to include wall painting and such pretty soon. :-) Sewing will also return in the next couple of weeks, along with my NEW SEWING MACHINE (still to-be-purchased)!

Braid Trim Tank

So my sister has this really cute dress from Target I wanted to replicate (it's a bit sad when I'm knocking off Target fashion). But without a pattern, I ended up making it way too big and unflattering, so I started over and cut out a simple tank top and trimmed it with the edging I made for the dress.



I didn't use a pattern for the top - just started with two rectangles and fit from there. The braid trim is made with 4 pieces (instead of 3 like a regular braid) to make it wider and replicate the Target dress. I attached the trim to the top with a regular machine straight stitch near the edge of the trim. That's how the Target dress was made. I would prefer the look of hand-stitched, but this looks fine and was so much faster.



I actually made this while staying at my parents' house a few weeks ago. No sewing going on here for a few more weeks until we're settled in our new house. For now, I'm still doing quite a lot of knitting and should have a sweater to show for it in a week or two!

Fall sewing desires

I'm no fashion or style blogger. I have no new take on style. Every time I try to define my own style, my brain has a meltdown. It's some type of classic/boho-lite/boring/whatever-caught-my-eye-last-week mishmash. Having let out that disclaimer, let me say I really like J.Crew. Never does a season pass when I don't covet at least 50% of their new arrivals. So, their new fall pieces are up, and here's what I'm really wanting to make (or break down and buy):

Oh my. Why do I love this so much? I want to wear this with jeans every weekend this winter. I guess this is the logical next step after last year's plaid shirts. It's a little more modern than a plain plaid flannel shirt, and it looks even more cozy in the half-button tunic shape. And it would be so easy to create this pattern from a basic buttondown shirt pattern. Must. Make. This.


I want to make more woven blouses this fall, both casual cotton and dressier silk. I really like the lace details on this one. I'd be limited to white, though, to match the lace to cotton, or I could do a dying experiment, I suppose!


I'm really loving this henley with tuxedo-shirt-type pleats instead of the recently ubiquitous ruffles.


I know that embellished tees and tanks are hardly anything new this year, but I really like how light and deliberate this one looks. Since it's on sale for $20, though, is it really worth making? I guess it'd still be $20 less to make something similar, though, given my stash of knits.


I always love the look of a nice jacket, but wear one maybe once a season. Seriously. I think I'd wear this one, though! It's a knit. It says it's felted wool jersey, but I think it could work with a sweatshirt-type fabric. Or, if I find an inexpensive wool jersey, I know what I'll be doing with it.


How can pants look so comfy and yet so polished? They're 4-way stretch, and I wonder if they would turn out a wrinkly mess on me. I bought a pair of these "minnie" style pants at an outlet and really love how they look. I'll have to post a pic. I don't know how I could possibly find or alter a pattern that would fit as well as these do. (don't think I'll be buying or making these in red, though. I've owned red pants, but I think this skin-tight variety is best kept to black, charcoal, or brown for me.)

Life marches on.

Nothing going on here on the sewing front. A bit of knitting, still. We're buying a house here in Florida (found out our offer was accepted this weekend), so this is a very exciting time, even though there is no sewing machine around yet. :-)

Laura Petrie pants

I don't know how I got this in my head, but I'm dying to make some Laura Petrie pants.
They're basic tight, slightly-cropped black pants, and I am pretty sure they would go with everything from a flowing floral blouse to a form fitting sweater, and I must make some at the earliest opportunity!
Probably got in my head from seeing these at J Crew.

Summertime and the living is easy

No sewing or knitting going on here in PA. Just visiting my parents and relaxing with the two sweetest little boys that God ever made (some possible bias, though). Aside from some flashbacks to last fall, when I stayed here for 3 months while Hubs was in Afghanistan, all is going very well. If I get the energy tonight, I'll start work on some swimsuits for the boys.

Questions answered!

It's time for a comment/question roundup! These are all questions left in comments of the last month or so that I feel the need to follow-up with... so hopefully you all are checking back in!

Tammy has left a new comment on your post "Me Made May... I lost count":
Man alive! Do you make all your clothes? You've been busy! I especially like the tunic and circle skirt :)

(aside from Jenny: check out Tammy's yummy and beautiful cakes! I so wish I lived in California!)

Branka has left a new comment on your post "Me Made May... I lost count":
Wow, you've been very busy, nice job on all of these, especially the maxi dress!

Tammy and Branka, I was super lazy when writing that particular blog post and didn't link back to any original posts for those clothes. I made nothing in that post during May! They were all from the last year or two. I have been sewing quite a lot the past few months, though, I'll admit. My mojo has kicked into overdrive! I really don't make all my clothes, but I have made a lot more than I've bought during the past year. I've still never made jeans and have made very few pants. I also have bought many more sweaters over the years than I have knitted or sewn. Um, don't sew much outerwear, no underwear of any type, and very few jammies. :-) There you have it.


saintpudalia has left a new comment on your post "Me Made May 29/Simplicity 2473":
I'm curious: Did you line any part of this? I love this fabric and almost bought it just two days ago! But then I thought it might be too sheer for a dress and seeing as how it's already super-hot where I live....well, I didn't get it. Now I really want to because it looks great and I even have this pattern!

I did line this with very lightweight cotton batiste. I didn't want to add any real weight since this is a summer dress, but I was also concerned about opacity. In the end, the batiste did the trick and keeps me from feeling too nekkid, while minimizing wrinkles and keeping the dress cool.


Trisha has left a new comment on your post "Circle Skirt/Me Made May 30":
Great job on making the skirt without a pattern! What's your secret for installing invisible zippers? I don't have an invisible zipper foot for my machine, so if you have any tips, I'd appreciate them!

I don't have any real secrets for the zipper installation, but here's what I do: I install the zipper before I sew the seam. Sometimes I use fusing tape to anchor the zipper first, but when I'm feeling lucky, I just use pins. I first zig-zag kind of in the middle of the tape to baste it. Then, I go back with a regular zipper foot and just stitch as close to the teeth as possible. The foot helps to roll out the teeth. I'll take pictures when I do the next one!


Uta has left a new comment on your post "Oh my, what a week! I've been sewing away and hav...":
Ah yes, the creature comforts of the US... BUT you won't have fabric markets! (I'm only saying this to make myself feel better, of course.) Living on the beach sounds fabulous, I hope you enjoy it. I think the top looks fine, and maybe you'll need it for all the air-conditioning (that I bet you aren't used to anymore, right?).

Uta, I will definitely miss those fabric markets! I'm actually wanting to sew up some linen I got at one before I leave here, but it may not happen. Other things I will miss:
Schnitzel and spaetzle
all the little family-owned restaurants with outdoor seating all spring and summer
the fun and feeling of triumph of learning new German words every day, sometimes from 3-year-olds
the feeling of security of living in a country with a very low violent crime rate
Spargel!!
Walking to the store/ice cream shop/strassenbahn (streetcar)/playground/everything else - not possible in U.S. suburbia
Being a quick plane trip and long weekend away from so many other countries and cultures
all the friends I've made here - German, American ex-pats, and other Europeans...
Ok, that got a bit deep. (apologies for everything I'm sure I've misspelled).

Kathryn, who commented earlier on that post, is my sister and has had to listen to me whine oh so many times about not being able to go buy medicine in the wee hours of the night here. :-)