Once I buckled down and set to it, getting my sewing area in order did not take long at all. After all, it is only a linen closet with the door off! AHAHAHA!

See, there's a weirdo hallway leading from the master bedroom to it's attached bath and that is where the master closet and the only linen closet in the place is.

All I did was rip out the bottom shelf and stick this old Singer sewing table in there. Well, it is the iron base from the table with a plywood board on top, but it works! Lots of yardage, buttons, trims, odds, and ends are on the remaining shelves. I even have a radio in there - and THAT is a treat!

We stashed the door in the bathroom and all my recycling clothes in the bedroom closet. Sadly, the serger has had to be put on a tv tray in the bedroom. I never use it a wild lot except for finishing things, so the aggravation of it being across the room isn't too bad.

But oh, the things I've made so far! I've started keeping a list of everything that I sew up just so I know later on where stuff came from. And who knows, maybe someday someone will read through it and laugh their heads off at my scribbled notes in the margins.

Anyway, here's some pics.

The first thing I worked on was another Oliver + S Popover Sundress. I really like this pattern, but this poor little dress seems ill-fated.

I made it from a $5 twin sheet that I got at Wal-Mart, a leftover bit of a pillowcase, and some bought red bias tape. I love the print on the sheet and I've been struggling to not use it on every single thing I've made so far.

And the dress is too cute on the sweet girl. But the first time she was supposed to wear it was to church three weeks ago. The Friday before, she comes down with a viral infection and can't go. Then, the Sunday after that I go out to the car with her only to find it overrun with ants. Inside and out! Cue me freaking out and not going to church.

I didn't even tempt fate yesterday. She wore something else entirely.

Next comes the big runs of things. Usually, I make one or two of something and never touch it again, but in the past month, Elizabeth has outgrown so much that I needed to replenish her wardrobe.


 Cue the Warhols! I don't think I did them right and I sure didn't do them in knit. Knits I'm hoarding for fall and winter. But these came out pretty good, I think. Good for the 100+ days since they barely touch Elizabeth at all. I've had the fabric for the one on the left since before the small girl was born and the green on the right is a pillowcase I picked up at Goodwill a few days before I made them.

Sidenote: we have an amazing Goodwill! First Saturday's are half off everything in the place. Every day there's 50% off a different colored tag. And Wednesday's and Sunday's are $.99 on the colored tag of the day. Guess where I'm going to be August 4?


Then came the racerback dresses. Now, I bombed making them before and I was determined not to do that again! So I cheated the binding, redrew the yoke on the back, and used tees that I'd found on sale at our local Dollar General for less than $2 each. There are actually three of them, but the lime and brown one was in the wash. That one is actually the best of the lot - the purple binding is a little too lightweight and there's not much stretch to the pink print binding. But none of that is bad enough to make them be tossed in the pile to be scrapped.

I've also made about four pairs of shorts and this adorable top, but shorts are boring to photograph so there won't be any pictures of those.


Now, Elizabeth is about to turn two. For her first birthday, I made a quilt for her crib. This time around I'm doing something different. I'm going to make her a dolly! She loves to read her Raggedy Ann book, so I found a pattern for a little Raggedy Ann. I don't think I have ever in my life pressed a pattern, but I am this time. And I'm also ironing the pattern pieces on to butcher paper - a temporary solution for making them sturdy enough to work with. Since Annie is one size, I'm not concerned about cutting this pattern. There are some little stuffed pets too, and another of her gifts is a vet set, so I see a pup or kitty in her future too.

I have been working on a lot of boring organizational stuff this week. After KCWC, I spent a week doing patterns for myself and hating every minute of it, so I've given up on that for now, When I stopped throwing my tailbone out of wack by sitting on the floor tracing patterns, I realized that my whole sewing area was a HOT MESS.

It isn't hard for this to happen. I sew on our dining table. While the table itself seats 6 comfortably, the room it resides in is lucky to hold the three of us for one meal a day. And it is open to the kitchen (nothing I hate worse than an open concept floor plan. HATEHATE.*) and our pantry is a massive antique corner cupboard that did an excellent job putting a knot on my head breaking my fall when I passed out cold while sewing one night.** I don't even have room to trace out my patterns on the table, so you can only imagine the state it gets in to.

So I set to on Wednesday trying to make sense of the chaos. And I now at least know where everything is again. My poor mother would still have eye-spasms over the chaos, but at least it is a controlled one and I know where my tweezers are.

I did get a little carried away with the tossing stuff and tossed my machine oil. Oops.

I also did a big tidy-and-pack-up of Elizabeth's clothes. And I have realized that he needs for summer are met. Unless she grows another inch. Half of which she grew this week during naps. *Sigh*

But thankfully, I have plenty of coordinating fabrics that I can use to add ruffles to the bottom of dresses! And my mom sent me a lovely Mother's Day present that I have used to get some new patterns, so all is not weeping and packing the toddler in a box to prevent further growth. I managed to find some oliver + s patterns that I have been coveting for a while, so I've ordered them.

I am just bitterly disappointed that Paypal is stupid about gift cards. I SO want the Charlie Tunic and Dress add-on from Made By Rae. But, with my gift card, Paypal attempts to verify it and it goes ppfftthh and declines it *every* time. And yeah, it's Paypal doing it. I tried to add the card to my account and it spit it back at me again. But, it will be a while before Elizabeth outgrows the pattern. Maybe when she starts to Kindergarten, she'll have one.

I did manage to finish a couple of Popover Sundresses, but I've been lazy about pictures. And it is hard to take pictures when Elizabeth is helping wash the deck chairs. But they are little mirrors of one another - one will be delivered to its new home tomorrow, the other is being auctioned off tomorrow for a charity event to support Elizabeth's playschool. The other project will find its home tomorrow too - but I can't post pics of it as it's a surprise present.

I'm working on a post about the lovely lady in the picture above. That's my grandmother who sewed. There is a rumor going around the family that I am an awful lot like her. I consider that a compliment. A big one. And I'm not sure that it is always meant as one.

* has anyone ever thought about what a nightmare it is to entertain in a space where your guests can see the disastrous mess one makes in the kitchen while putting a large party together? open plans only produce more entertaining stress! and don't get me started on combination mud-and-laundry rooms. STUPID!
 ** i'm fine. i have low blood pressure and didn't eat much that day which led to low blood sugar. Add that to having just gotten done with a very heavy period and you get me, falling over. The knot did go away about 6 weeks later and now I always sew with a pillow strapped to my head. That was a lie.

Today my sewing has been strictly limited to the one hour. I spent most of Elizabeth's naptime working on my presentation outline for the Upcycling class I'm doing on Thursday night. So. One hour only for today.

And I spent it doodling up a pattern and cutting out three peasant-type tops for Elizabeth. Here they are laid out neatly and looking like a pile of fabric!

The sleeves for the white and purple will be a contrasting fabric. The off-white is a top to go with the little plaid skirt from my lineup post. I've managed to get one sleeve in the white one, but I'm not getting any farther tonight. Elizabeth has school tomorrow morning, so it will be up-and-at-'em earlier than usual.

 But as an extra added bonus (and to make everyone reading think i'm super organized) here's my pattern box. Look at all those lovely folders! And on (almost) every folder that has a commercial pattern in it the front of the original envelope is on the front of the folder and the back envelope is on the back of the folder! Just ignore the big, whopping pattern bits handing out and the stray patterns wedged hopelessly at the front. And there is absolutely NOT a whole other box full of patterns scattered willy-nilly off stage right! Oh, no! Never!