Tuesday, June 9, 2015

FINALLY CHECKING IN.....

How can it be that it is June the ninth and I haven't posted in over a week?  Honestly last week just got away from me.  And not because I was soo busy either.  I couldn't tell you what I was on.  In looking for a place to put blame I think I would say I just didn't feel all that great.  And I hate to say that it is STILL the shingles, but it just is.  Every time I am sure it's gone, NOPE, it rears its horrid head and I have not only the tingling sensation it causes, but residual pain, and at times just fatigue and generally puny.  I am mighty tired of it I can tell you that, and I have no doubt your tired of hearing of it too.  What is there to say afterall? lol   Another issue is this computer is just a mess.  If you've noticed, it won't type some numbers, it won't type parenthesis....and I've always been a parenthesis user...I've gone to these dots instead, lol....AND the shift key is broken on one side.  Soo frustrating.  Soo now that excuses and complaining are out of the way, I will tell you what I've been on.  My youngest son and his family are leaving soon for a 2 week vacation at the Jersey shore. That's where Larissa grew up and they have all fallen in love with that place.  They see her family and old friends and just generally enjoy every minute of it.  This time they are taking on a visit to New York too.  Anyway, I decided I would make beach bags for the girls to take with matching sun hats and decided to throw in a zippered pouch bag for good measure, lol.  ALL of these items I have just wanted to learn how to make for a while now, and this just seemed like the perfect excuse to do so.  I started at the end of last week watching tutorials, gathering my fabrics and supplies and getting started on Capri's sun hat.  Let me just say, my first one ended up being a complete disaster, lol.  I was carefully following directions....or so I thought....but attaching the round top of the hat to the hat itself was almost completely impossible.  I just couldn't figure out how or why it was SOOO difficult! They did say you had to "ease" it on and to take your time and be patient, but I just never dreamed it would be soo difficult.  I have done LOTS and LOTS of sewing over the years including MANY MANY sets of set in sleeves which also require easing something on, so honestly I wasn't expecting this to be such a big deal,  I FINALLY got it on there, though far from perfectly.  I was almost sweating.  And then! I decided to try it on my head figuring it should fit me if it was going to fit her, and there was NO WAY it was going to....not even close.  I question rather it would have even fit Claire...not really I am exaggerating some, but it was really small.  I pressed on for some dumb reason and attached the brim of the hat as well.  I don't know if I thought it would grow while I was sewing it or what.  It was almost as bad as the first part but not quite.  It looked AWFUL and would fit no one....Sooooo I considered throwing in the towel on the whole hat project but I can be mighty stubborn sometimes. And then suddenly it struck me. I had no doubt attached the wrong side of the hat circle to the circle of the top.  I decided to try again.  Cut out all my pieces, attached ALL my interfacing, and EVERY piece has some, and began again this time being SUPER careful to use what I knew was the right side. Sure enough it WAS my problem and the hat went together pretty easily and simply.  What a chore I made for myself for NO reason.  Why in the world it didn't occur to me that something must be wrong when it was sooo difficult I am not sure. Anyway, the hat was soon done, fit well, and was really pretty cute.  I decided to make a bow for the front of it.  Sooo now after this long story, let me show you....

I USED HOME DECORATOR FABRIC THAT WAS ON SALE LAST WEEK SO THAT THE HAT WOULD HAVE SOME SUBSTANCE AND TAKE SOME ABUSE, LOL.  I DECIDED TO PUT STIFF CRAFT DECORATOR INTERFACING IN THE BRIM TOO SO IT WOULD BE STIFFER STILL.

JUST TO SHOW YOU IT'S ON MY HEAD, LOL....IT FEELS LIKE I SHOULD SAY....TA DA!  LOL  try not to notice I've no make up on....lol
Our week-end was nice, but nothing out of the ordinary.  Yesterday I decided to move onto one of the beach bag totes as I was just anxious to see how it would be to put together.  I watched several tutorials and then combined a few of them kind of making up my own as I went along.  I wasn't sure what size to make them and I knew I wanted to embroider on them.  I've been in the mood for embroidery, and it just seemed like the perfect excuse to do so.  I just made Donatella's and honestly I am not sure I could repeat it if I tried, lol.  I intended for it to be a little bigger, but at six, I think this will work just fine. So let me show you that....

I EMBROIDERED HER NAME KIND OF BOLDLY ON THE TOP.  SHE TOLD ME SHE WANTED RAINBOW FABRIC....THIS WAS THE BEST I COULD DO.  SHE SEEMED TO REALLY LIKE IT!

AND THESE SHELLS ON THE OTHER SIDE WERE A DESIGN THAT CAME WITH MY MACHINE THAT I HAD NEVER USED.....I ENDED UP REALLY LIKING IT TOO!

I LINED IT WITH  PINK POLKA DOTS!
I started off this day with good intentions, but somewhere somehow this day got away from me too.  I think I spent quite a bit of it on the phone to different people, though I did do some laundry too.  I had intended to make Capri's beach bag today, but I have some time consuming embroidery planned for that, and so when it got to be that I could see I wouldn't have a lot of time to sew I went with the zippered pouch bags instead.  I have always wanted to make one of these for some reason.  Again, I watched several tutorials, combined my favorite parts from a few of them and put both of theirs together.  My second one is definitely better then the first attempt, and I have a feeling that I could improve them even more.  But for little girls, they are good enough, lol.  They were easy, quick, and fun to put together, so I know there will be more of these in the future.  Here they are....

CAPRI'S....LOVED THE COLORS....HER BEACH TOTE WILL BE MADE WITH THE SAME FABRICS

I WANTED TO PUT THE LITTLE TABS ON THE END OF THE ZIPPER...MUCH EASIER THEN I THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE!

INSIDE LINING OF HER POUCH  BAD COLORING HERE AS THIS IS REALLY A PRETTY SHADE OF GREEN!

JUST HAVE THE BEACH BAG TO GO ON HER


TELLA'S POUCH

THESE LITTLE NYLON ZIPPERS WERE SOO EASY TO FIT TO THE POUCHES

JUST HAVE TELLA'S HAT LEFT TO DO





PRETTY FUN!


And I guess that's it for now.  We actually got some rain today, in fact it's raining right now.  But kind of weird out and definitely warm and humid.  I will leave you with a couple of pics of Claire. Sorry I still can't resist!  Hope you all have a GOOD week!  Blessings to you all!  Debbie

REMEMBER THIS LITTLE CHEERY ROMPER?  SOO CUTE ON HER I THINK

SHE ALMOST LOOKS LIKE AN ACTUAL DOLL IN THIS PIC, LOL.  HOW I LOVE THE EYELET TOP ON HER!





7 comments:

  1. Debbie, the bags for the girls are just darling! And the little zippered totes too! I love them!
    Little Claire is just too cute for words!!! What a doll she is indeed!!
    XO Kris

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fabulous beach accessories ... and even more adorable little Claire!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! Your grandgirlies are so blessed. Deb, I am sorry that you are still dealing with shingles.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So sorry the shingles are still haunting you. Ugh! The hats and beach bags are just the cutest! You must always be thinking about your next project. Love it! Blessings to you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am so sorry that the shingles just keep cropping up. Drat! I was hoping they would just go away. I am so impressed with your hats and the bags. My goodness, I saw some that were not as cute as yours are and they wanted 75 dollars! I don't know if they were as nicely lined either. That hat is awesome.
    You have been busy and with shingles too. I really think Claire is so cute with all of her clothes and headbands. Wasn't the rain lovely? We are humid today, but we have clouds again like it might rain today. We are supposed to hit 100 today. So it is going to be like the midwest. Have a lovely weekend, I do hope your shingles go away soon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Such pretty bags and hat. You do such beautiful work. Love the pictures of Claire too.

    ReplyDelete

I am so glad that you would take the time to comment on my thoughts and feelings, it is such a blessing to me!