Sew What! Skirt

I got the book Sew What! Skirts a few months ago and finally got a chance to try it out.  The concept is really appealling:  draw your own pattern to match your unique body.  I read through the instructions and picked a skirt and started creating. 

While the idea really appeals to me, this method of skirt making did not work as well for me as I thought it would.  I measured carefully.  I drew carefully.  I’m not an artist so it’s possible my curves weren’t drawn as well as they should have been.  What I ended up with was a skirt that was WAY too big in the waist with pokey hips.  😦

I’m a clothes-sewing novice so I’m not sure what the problem is, but it seems to me that one of the problems is this:  the measurement for the front piece and the back piece are the same, even though *most* of us have bottoms in the back.  So I looked through the book again and it says that if you are particularly curvy, you might need to add darts to the back and there are instructions to add inches for the darts before cutting.  Well, okay.  While I hadn’t added any inches in the original measurements, darts were really necessary.  Hubby had to help me pin them after I poked myself a few times in the bottom – ouch!

So this is the Polka Dotty skirt.  I learned to do slits which it turns out are SUPER easy.  I don’t think I picked a good fabric for this skirt, so it may turn into a purse or mini patchfolio.  Has anyone else sewn a skirt from this book?  Should I try another one or give up?  I’m interested to know your thoughts.

A few people have asked about the mini patchfolio pattern.  Estimated time until completion: 2 weeks.

And the kite?  It hasn’t flown.  Yet.  I really think it’s too heavy to fly – double layers of fabric and binding plus wood dowels need a pretty strong wind.  If I were to do it again I’d use one layer of fabric, leave the edges raw, and use some lightweight plastic for the cross bars.  Sounds like a good homeschool activity that the boys can make themselves when they’re older.  🙂

And school has started at CraftApple homeschool.  Our Chinese school changed their class days to Sunday so we had to drop out and guess who has taken over the kid’s Chinese instruction?  That’s right.  Me.  Thankfully the internet is here to remind me of how to say obscure words that the kids keep coming up with.  “Mom, how do you say winter wonderland in Chinese?” 

Wall Pockets

I’ve been playing around with wall pockets again.  My first attempt turned out not to be so sturdy.  The corkboard is flexible and can bend a bit under it’s own weight when hanging and when I stuck a push pin in it, the pin point came out the back.  Hmmmm.  To solve both problems, I added a layer of cardboard to the back.  This one has been done for a few days and is holding up really nicely.

I also wanted to try a board with 3 pockets on it.  No corkboard to deal with – just 2 layers of cardboard on the inside.

This one was a bit more challenging, but seems pretty sturdy.  I think I’d like to change the depth of the pockets, and maybe sew up the middle to make two pockets on top level.  I still have the problem of how to close everything up.  For this one, I sewed through the cardboard.  There must be a better way to do it that I just can’t wrap my brain around.  When I made the flap of fabric above the cardboard, it wrinkled under the pull of the weight of the board.  Any suggestions?

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And have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE teaching the kids Kindergarten?  Don’t get me wrong – there’s work involved and the time commitment is increasing as I they can do more, but I love having them home and watching them get excited about what they’re learning.  This week we are looking at the letter C, cows, dairy products, and how God’s Word helps us grow spiritually, just like milk helps their bodies grow physically.  Today, we made BUTTER!

 

I’m such a city girl – who knew we could make butter at home?  Everyone took turns shaking up the whipping cream – mmmmm.

New and Improved Tool Belts/Aprons; First Day of Kindergarten; and 1,000th Commenter!

Remember the nail aprons I got at Home Deep and adapted for the boys? Well it really bothered me that the straps were soooooo long and a potential danger to younger children.  I wanted to make a couple for some kiddos we know and decided that velcro would definitely make the need for longer straps obsolete.

(Blurriness due to 5 year-old taking picture.  Scrunched up face due to silly 4 year-old.)

I found some fun cotton duck that was perfect for a boy, and interfaced some cotton to make an apron for a girl.  Hard to tell, but the front panel has 2 pockets. Today was our first day of Kindergarten!  Timo did great, and I’m pretty sure my 4 year-old will be able to keep up so this may have been his first day of K as well.  Poor little Nathan (the shirtless one) spent much of his school time sad because he wasn’t allowed to use the glue stick.  It was a great day – we were able to finish 2 whole days worth of lessons as well as some computer practice and extra reading.  And here is our picture to commemorate the day:

And my 1000th commenter was Rachel!!!  Congratulations, Rachel!  And since I’m feeling generous, I am also recognizing my 999th commenter, Kimberly!  Kimberly is quite possibly my longest blog friend ever besides my sister, of course.  Congratulations, ladies, you will each be receiving a set of quilted cards.  Please let me know if you prefer springy pink cards or fall-ish themed cards.