The tale of the $1600 skirt (LONG...lol)

Raelee wanted me to make her a skirt. She picked out the fabric and everything...polka dots. I wouldn't have expected anything different to be honest!  I had the fabric for months before I did anything with it. I finally got in the mood one day and got the fabric out, got the machine that my MIL gave me out...got to sewing. I was about halfway done when the machine broke. After messing with it a bit (I could see what was wrong) I got it working again. I sewed till I was about 3/4 the way done and it broke again. I talked to my MIL (who had had  the exact same problem with this machine and had spent a lot of money to have it fixed...it wasn't) told me to chunk it and get a new one. I didn't want to do that...it HAS to be able to be fixed right?  In the meantime, my friend loaned me her Viking. I liked it just fine...it sewed like a dream. I got the skirt finished!

 

There are many things I don't care for about this skirt, but it time and practice (or a gathering foot..lol) to learn how to do silly things like gathering. It's a learning process.

Todd and I had been talking about (since the other one broke) me getting a machine. I had a lot of guidance from my friend that sews a good part of her day away..and she is VERY good at it too. Between her, Todd and random people on a message board, they convinced me to invest money into a well made machine that will give me no problems in the long run. 

I went to a dealer in the nearby town and talked to them and played on the machines quite a bit. I instantly fell in love with one...Of course it was the first one I played with. I had a budget in mind..and this one was well over that. But it stitched cars...and flowers..and words!  It did it flawlessly! Stitching a name was no harder than stitching a straight stitch..only takes a bit more time.  There was another one there that was a sewing machine with an embroidery option...but the embroidery part cost $300 more if you wanted that. That brought the total up to nearly what the other one was.  Todd had me weigh the positives and negatives of each machine. The more expensive one's positives far outweighed the negatives ($$ and no embroidery which I wasn't interested in anyway.)  I STILL didn't want to pay that kind of money. It's a sewing machine for petes sake! I could get a serger, sewing machine AND an embroidery machine for what I would pay for that one. 

I sat in that shop for 2 hours playing with the 2. I went to lunch and went by the Bernina dealer. I just couldn't afford them...way out of my price range (Sorry GypsyMama!) I went back to the dealer (whom I rather liked at this point...he had a funny personality) and played some more. While I was there this entire day, there were several ladies that came in and each one of them sang the praises of Viking and the dealer that sold them. They even talked to me about what I sewed for Raelee and how to improve on it next time. Each time a person walked in with a problem or a question about their machine, the dealer (Hi Kevin!) stopped what he was doing and answered...same with phone calls. If I bought a machine at handcock fabrics, I wouldn't get that. That is HUGE for me and my beginner self. At that point, I gave him the go ahead to box it up (I was taking the floor model).

I have already gotten a lot of comments on the price. I'm ok with that. I invested money in something that I WANT to do...not something I do well. I took a leap of faith...and so did my husband (who  is SO good to me by the way).  The reasons I spent that money was not so much about the fun features she offered (auto needle threader, auto up/down foot peddle, auto 'locking' stitch at the beginning and end of your stitch...you don't have to reverse!, fun stitches, computerized stitching...let's face it, I'm a gadget person)  The convenience of having a dealer that can fix problems in house, that can trouble shoot anything from sewing a hem to the needle locking up..and do it for free was a major factor. 

A big reason I spent this kind of money is that now I have money invested into it. I have wanted to sew since Raelee was born. For no other reason than just for fun. Now she is getting to that age that finding modest clothing will be difficult. She loves long skirts...now I can give them to her in the prints and patterns we like!   Because I have a large amount of money invested in it, I am forced to learn it..and learn it well....and I will..because that's just how I am.

Soooo...last night, I get home, clean up the mess from the previous two machines. I cleared out a space in the massive cabinet in my dining room that I THOUGHT I was getting rid of..probably not now.  And set her up (She needs a name....help me here), washed fabric (Had to go purchase some...I had none in the house!), set the notions up (Had to go buy those too...thank goodness for Hobby Lobby half price sale), and FINALLY started cutting at 10 pm. I didn't sew the first stitch until 11...but I was getting something done last night...rofl I have learned I pretty much suck at cutting..even with a rotary and mat. I have to learn how to do that better.

I DID get a pillowcase for Raelee completed...and I'm in love with it and in love with the machine. It runs like a dream. I anticipate everybody getting pillowcases for the first 6 months or so for gifts...I know I can make them and it was relatively painless and OH SO CUTE!!!!

I'm changing this...not sure how I'm going to do it yet, but this won't work. I don't think it'll stay on there very well.

 

So, if you are in the market for a good, quality sewing machine..and you live in the area, I suggest you take a ride by The Sewing Shop (click me).  Kevin will hook you up!

Work in Progress Wednesday...and new beginnings

I can call this a work in progress I guess, because the ends of the yarn aren't woven in yet..lol  Other than that, it's DONE! YAY

I got some pretty Kleen Kanteen bottles for us for Christmas..and promptly forgot to give them to us for Christmas..but that's beside the point.  I knit a cozy for it. I have 3 more to knit, but that's ok, I know I can do this now :)  I think maybe I'll use cotton yarn next time rather than wool blend.  Anyway..it's not perfect, but it's done!

For the new beginnings: I have a baby broccoli! I actually have 2 of them. I'm so stinkin excited. I'll have a whole slew of them next year b/c I'll plant a bunch of them :)

Raelee has been picking lettuce out of our garden for 2 weeks now and we still have more. This is from the seed packet she planted b/c she wanted a 'salad' to grow. Here is your salad honey!  She can pick it herself, rinse it and then put her own dressing on it. She is in heaven!

What do we do in nice weather? Head outdoors!

Yesterday was a fabulous day!  We headed outside for some time with Buster and for Raelee to skate (hence the socks on her hands..lol)   She's holding a bunny that my mom sewed for me when I was little. I bow down to her, I could never sew that well. At any rate, it has become Raelee's new favorite toy and I'm proud to see Raelee playing with it...and I'm sure Granny will be also :)

Note the pretty pink sparkly shoes in this picture...she insisted upon buying them. I told her that she could have them if she paid for them. So she did. $20 is a lot to a 6.5 year old!  She's proud to show them to anybody and everybody that will look at them...and she pipes up "And I bought them with  my own money!"

Tell me these 2 aren't best friends. Doesn't it look like he's telling her a secret? LOL

I don't really WANT To know what's he's saying to me in this picture....not the bark collar on him..lol

To build a nest

Continuing on our bird unit.  We talked about birds nests last week and how birds used whatever was around them for their nests. I was reading a friends nature crafts book and saw a box that you put birds nest materials in it for the birds. Timing couldn't have been more perfect!  We did just that...made a bird nest materials box out of a recycled milk carton.

A wise woman once told me that a child can do anything if you give them the proper tools and knowledge to do it. So, I gave my daughter a serrated knife to cut through the milk carton. She cut a little door and wanted to stop. She decided a milk carton would be the perfect fairy box. I had to convince her that Mrs. Steph would loan her another milk carton to make a fairy house and maybe her a Ms. Seven could do it together.

She has been collecting materials for a couple of weeks. She had added spanish moss, cypress leaves, dryer lint, cat fur, human hair, string, ribbon, easter grass, dryer sheets, etc. She added this to her milk carton.

We also got an onion bag (with onion skins still in it), and stuffed it full too.

We walked outside and decided where to hang them. We decided that we would put it in a tree below the birdhouse in our backyard. More on this birdhouse later. I actually think I'll end up moving the bag and carton b/c it's behind the playhouse and I can't see them at all. I think I want to see them so we know they are getting used.

 

 

 

Daddy is even doing his part...this is the screen to his shop. The birds were working on it last year..one string at a time. I imagine there are some pretty wiry nests up in that house.

 

Back to the bird house. This birdhouse is one of my most prized possessions. My dad (middle picture..lol) made it 2 years ago. It was his 'stop smoking project'. He was a HARD CORE smoker. I don't have many pictures of him and Raelee (until she was 4) that he doesn't have a cigarette in his hand or mouth.  He stopped smoking cold turkey. In order to keep his hands busy, he made 4 birdhouses.  I got one of them. To this day, I get tears in my eyes when I talk about the birdhouse.

All of the surrounding neighbors also love my birdhouse. I have had SO many compliments on it and how happy it makes them to see all of the Purple martins in it and flying around it and the joyful music that came with it.

I truly believe this birdhouse saved my dad's life.  I think the birds appreciate it too. ;) Please enlarge this picture to appreciate it fully.

 

All about feathers

In a quest to learn all things bird, we started (and finished) learning about feathers.  We read books about them, we looked up things on the internet and we experimented a bit with them.

Her favorite thing was writing with a feather like they did many many years ago. We were both very surprised to find that feathers dipped in ink felt very much like a felt tipped marker. It was neat to write with.

 

We also talked about the way feathers repel water.  After she played with the feather in water for a bit, we put cooking oil in the water (watched it bead up and NOT mix together) and put the feather back in. She noticed how heavy the feather got and how slimy and gross it felt.  We then put some dish detergent on it and washed it off. We are waiting now to see if we were able to get all of the oil off...we are both doubtful.

 

 

We also watched a few youtube video's on oil spills and how they affect the coastal birds. She was very saddened by watching them.

We have many many more bird activities planned...stay tuned!

Movie night!

I am trying to start doing a family movie night. We DO watch movies together..but not in an organized manner..lol So tonight is our Movie Night!  We are watching the American Girl movie Samantha.  Since it is an AG movie, you know the 'girls' have to watch it too! Here they all are waiting patiently for Daddy to get off of the phone with his friends, then again with work.  What you can't see is Patches is in the room too at the foot of the bed waiting..and Goofy is also down there. If I wasn't in the room, I'm sure Goofy would be in the room as well.

 

We miss you Annie

I found this picture today while going through old pictures. I love it..it suits her. Edited to add: I printed this picture out for Raelee to scrapbook. She came back in a few minutes later and the picture was nearly ruined because she was crying and she put it up to her face to kiss. It made me cry :(

Edited to add #2: She went in her room while I was writing this blog post and she shut the door. When I published the blog, I went to check on her. She had put this on the door and was laying in her bed sobbing. :( We cuddled for a while and cried together. Now she doesn't want to scrapbook anymore. :(