Girls slip tutorial

I have been sewing like a mad women, getting ready for this fall (even though it's still over 110* outside). The adorable dresses I am making for my girls are mostly made of quilters cotton, so while pretty, they arn't very warm. I decided to make them some slips to wear under there dresses as the weather cools down. Here's what I did:

Supply's needed:
1. Stretch knit tank in the size of the child (My girl is a 4t)
2. matching, non stretch, fabric of choice (I used peach skin)
3. Tape measurer
4. Thread
5. scissors or rotary cutter and mat
6. Sewing machine or serger.

Lets get started.

1. Measure the waist in question (My daughter is 20"). For the length measure from high on the waist to the desired hem spot (I had them land just above the knee)  you will need 2 pieces of fabric this width and the length you have chosen. (skirt can be shortened after it is completed but not lengthened so if your unsure go a little long.)

2. Davide the waist measurement by 2 then add 4" (My total is 14"). Now divide your new number by 2 (mine is now 7") Fold one piece of your fabric in half and cut a 1" groove at the top of the fabric, This will be the waist of your skirt.

3. Take your waist measurement and divide that by 2 (my total is 10") This will be the hem line of your skirt. Cut  a 1" groove in the bottom of the fabric at that measurement.

4. Use your measuring tape or a ruler to make a straight line between the 2 grooves...

Cut.

Now you have the front half of your skirt.
5. Cut the other piece of fabric the same way for the back panel. so you will have the front and back of your skirt.

6. Pin front and back together. Sew with 1/4" seam allowance and then zig zag finish the edges OR serge the side seams.

7. Cut your tank about 2" below the arm hole.

8. Turn top inside out and slide skirt into the top side of the top, right sides together, so that the top of the skirt and the bottom of the top are together.

9. Sew or Serge the two together STRETCHING THE TOP SO THAT IT IS THE SAME SIZE AS THE SKIRT.

Here is the top relaxed.

Here is the top stretched to match the skirt.

If sewing, zigzag finish the edge. 

10. Hem or serge the bottom edge of the slip. 

Your done. 

Easy and painless. This is my first tutorial. Let me know what you think, or if anything did not make since to you. Thanks! 

Happy sewing! 

Day five...

So, as it turned out juice fasting is not good for mammy's milk or baby, so I had to modify to an almost raw diet. I've been juicing along with fresh fruits and veggies, raw nuts and whole grains. Now, thats not to say that I have not cheated a bit, I have been eating bb&j on wheat bread (instead of whole grain). But other then that its been all raw foods until last night when we caved and got a PIZZA and then to make matters worse we rode our bikes to get ice cream... oh the shame. At least we did not take the car... lol! I only had 2 small pieces of pizza and we both had a big fresh salad.

Today I'm back on track. I have gone 5 days without coffee. The last coffee I had was on Friday at 12:30pm so I plan on ending my coffee fast on Friday. It is hard enough when I'm home but we are camping this weekend and I know it will be much better with coffee :)

The plan is to make fresh eating a life style for our family. I know the better we eat, the better we feel. And the better we feel the more we have to offer to each other and to those around us.

God bless!
Michelle

Juice Fast Day 1 of 10

Hy Husband and I watched a documentary "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". It was made by a man who was sick and over weigh, he went 60 days consuming nothing but freshly juiced fruits and veggies. By the end of his 60 day's he had changed his life. My Honey and I decided we would like to give his shorter fast a try and have started a 10 day fast... Are we crazy? maybe! We eat mostly natural, organic foods, we don't eat red meat at all so why fast? We are both terribly addicted to coffee and I eat ice cream and/or cookies every day. Our biggest issue is that we have no energy. We are both 30ish and should not feel so tired at the end of the day that we can's play with our kids. So the plan is to feel healthier and more energized at the end of our 10.

I will try to post daily of my progress.

Day 1:
Today I feel tired and foggy. I live on coffee so cutting it out is hard. I also love sugar (ice cream and cookies) so cutting that out had been hard too. I think the worst is feeding my kids. We took them to SubWay for dinner tonight and it was all I could do not to steal their food. But I resisted!

The juice is has been ok or even good until we juiced Beets and Kale with carrots, ginger and apples and it's making me nauseous. I wont be doing that again.

I have heard so many people say that they feel great at the end, even by day 3 your body starts to feel so much better then it was before, so I am waiting for that and leaning on my honey to pull me through. He makes it look so easy...
Until tomorrow,
Michelle

New Sewing Class: Introduction to Sewing.

I will be teaching a sewing corse "Introduction To Sewing". In this corse we will learn the very basics in sewing. Such as:

How to thread your machine,
Basic machine settings,
How to start and stop a stitch,
How to take proper body measurements,
How to understand Fabric grain,
How to pick fabric and how to read the bolt tag,
How to hem and narrow hem,
How to make casing for elastic.

We will also be completing two sewing projects that utilize these skills.

This will be a three week corse starting on Thursday, July 28th at 5:00pm.
August 12th at 5pm. The cost of the corse is $45.00

Please e-mail me for full details or to register for this class. Space is limited.

Please let me know if you would like a class given on different day or time.

Thank you, and happy sewing!

UPDATE:
Class start date has been moved to Thursday August 12, 2011 at 5pm
We will meet 8-12, 8-19 and 8-25. Thank you!

Sewing with PUL

I started using cloth diapers on my youngest DD the end of last year (about 7 months ago). When I first looked into them I could not believe how easy they were. I had this picture in my head of burp cloths and diaper pins... Leaky messes, no fun! But that was not it at all. The choices were great, the issue I had was the price (although when you look at what you are saving by not buying disposable's it far outweighs the cost). I figures why not make my own. So the search is on for pattern's, fabric choices fastening options. Lets just say I ended with Pocket diapers, Kam Snaps (http://www.kamsnaps.com/) to fasten them though hook & loop (Velcro) works great too., Micro Fleece to line them, many types of soakers and waterproof PUL for the outer.

Sewing with PUL can be a little tricky because while one side of it is fabric the other side is sticky plastic. So when sewing the plastic sticks to the machine/foot rather then smoothly passing through. I hear a walking foot helps with this which would be great if I had one, but being that I don't, I set out looking for a low tech solution. What I found... tissue paper! It's that easy. Just put the tissue paper on the sticky side of the PUL before running through the machine, stitching over it then pull it off when your done.

I've taken to saving the paper left over when you cut out a store bought pattern. It works GREAT!

Here is my sweet girl napping with one of her cute diapers.

Swim Suit Season!

It's hot here in sunny California so I set off to make swim suits for my girls and myself. We have a high modesty standard in our home so the project came down to finding the right pattern.

At last, after searching the web I found Fashionably Modest swimsuit pattern http://www.fashionablymodestpatterns.com/ I made the girls suits and they are adorable. I am working on mine now.

I had trouble finding fabric. You really need 4 way stretch lycra and our Joannes only has a few solids, no cute girl prints. So off to www.etsy.com I go, did a search for "swimwear fabric" and found just enough for my girls suits. I ended up getting a solid for me at Joannes so I could use my 50% off coupon I had.

What I've learned through this so far is that:
1. You need 4 way lycra for swim wear and Etsy is the best place to find it.
2. Most elastic is chlorine resistent, Just read the box.
3. I LOVE my serger. It's great for stretch fabric.

My DD, AM

My DD, S

Let the Blogging begin:

Hello! I am new to Blogging however I have been enjoying (and learning from) other bloggers so I thought I would give it a go.

I am a mommy of 3 great kids My boy "A" 8 years and my girls "S" 3 years and "AM" 1 year this month. I also have a great husband who supports me in all my craziness. Thanks hun!  We also have 2 dog's.

I run a Daycare in our home so you can imagine it gets a little crazy around here most days, but it allows me to be here with and for my kids and I would not change that for anything.
I am glad to say that as of today I am officially on vacation for just over 2 weeks! A much needed break to hang with my fam.

I LOVE to sew! That it what I will be blogging about the most. I get a kick out of creating my own designs. I may even give tutorial writhing a try... we'll see how well that goes :)

I hope you check back or better yet follow my page see where this adventure can take us.