Bridal Bouquet Done

Yesterday was a warm day with a high of 32C or 92F. Today is to be another warm day also and then it is suppose to cool off and have showers. We did have a heat shower yesterday just before dinner.

Lifestyle

Our big surprise this year is the miniature weigela bush that is in the front flower bed. It is covered in blooms this year meaning it loves the treatment we are giving it.

This bush will grow to be 3 feet tall and we were so excited when we found it in the front flower garden after we moved in almost 2 years ago. The second weigela bush is starting to bloom and will grow to be 6-8 feet tall.
We sat outside yesterday after lunch for a bit and talked to Son and family in Nova Scotia. Though on the north side of the house, it was warm sitting out there. We have been drinking a lot of water and I know I must drink more when at work.
The Spousal Unit put the old kitchen table together in the basement and we got it in its place. I will start to move my sewing machine to the basement when I have a few minutes. The ironing board has to go down also.
I started again at Weight Watchers. My frame of mind is there and I am ready to do this again. With the Spousal Unit being stronger and doing more things, I can, once again focus on myself.

Sewing

I finished the bridal bouquet and it was a lot of work. Tiny satin roses were hand stitched onto the pompom.

Then I tied a tiny ribbon onto a clear hair elastic and sewed that onto the pompom. More ribbons were sewn on. Finally I strung tiny clear seed beads and teal pearl beads onto silk thread which was sewn onto the pompom. It was declared done.

I cut out another pair of panties for the next doll to wear under her red and white dress.

I carefully removed the elastic from the children's panties while sitting outside. I then cut out the pattern and sewed the elastic back on. I did straight stitching with a zig-zag finish as I need to rethread my serger. I am thinking of adding 3/8" to the panties to make them a bit longer in the body. I'm still thinking on this.
Knitting
I looked at the socks I started in January and am almost ready to throw them in the trash. I don't mind the yarn but I need start again in the fall with a fresh mind. I have several negative thoughts associated with these socks so I feel I need to move on to another project.

Today

I start the first of four days so I won't get a lot done at home.
Until the next time..............................

Just the bouquet

Yesterday's last fling at the doll's outfit was to try and finish the veil and the bouquet.

I succeeded in getting the veil done but it took longer to make due to a lot of hand stitching.

The bouquet is just a pompom made out of the bridal netting. I will be sewing 11 satin roses on it, adding some ribbons and teal beads to add a splash of colour.
This dress took a lot of time but I did enjoy sewing it.
Next on the list -- red and white striped dress for the doll and a red and white purse for me.
Until the next time...............................

McCalls 6981 Doll's Dress Done

We had 2 days of summer and then it cooled down and rained for 2 days. Today is suppose to the start of our next hot spell with temperatures in the low 30C or 90F. We could see this spell last for a long time or just a week. Who knows this year.

Lifestyle

I bought and the Spousal Unit planted three large hosta plants in the back yard's shady spot. They will fill in an empty corner. We need a load of crushed gravel but that can come in the fall or next year. We can clean and tidy up around in that area on cooler days.
I am nearly ready to finish cleaning the basement. There isn't a lot to do but there are items that need to be brought upstairs and the rest needs to be sorted and dealt with. I need the old kitchen table set up so I can sew in the basement on hot days.
We are starting to move into inventory and I would love to start coding to get a bit of a head start. We have a meeting on Monday and then a staff meeting the following week.

Sewing

I got the lining and the crinoline sewn together yesterday and put it into the dress.

At this point, I could pin on the trim at the neckline and start the mile of hand sewing. The lining was prick stitched down at the zipper and then the trim at the neckline. Lastly, I prick stitched the lining to the dress at the arm openings. That job took well over an hour to do. Tiny spaces take about the same amount of time to prick stitch down as a regular sized garment.

The skirt isn't as puffy as I would like. The bridal netting is too soft for a crinoline but we had no white tulle. If and when I make this dress again, I would:

• Fit the bodice a little more tightly for this doll.
  
• When gathering, put in three rows of gathering at the waist (1/8, 3/8, & 5/8").
  
• Not put on the peplum.
  
• Add the zipper and lining again as it makes the dress so nice to put on the doll.
  
• Put boning around the bottom of the skirt lining (in the hem) and omit the crinoline.

Overall, I am happy with the gown and how it turned out. Next is the veil and the bouquet.

Today

I work the late shift so I am hoping that I will get the veil done and on the doll. I will try to do the bouquet but will have to wait and see if I can get it done. I think it is going to be labour intensive.
Until the next time.........................

A Zipper in a Tiny Dress

It was warm yesterday with a high of 32.4C or 90F. Today is suppose to be a few degrees cooler with showers tonight.

Lifestyle

After a quick trip shopping, I cleaned the rest of the house and did a load of laundry. With those jobs under my belt, I knew I could have a bit of time outside.
The Spousal Unit and I sat on the front porch for a bit at noon enjoying the very light breeze before it got too hot. In the afternoon, we planted two rose bushes in the heat and arranged the patio furniture as we are planning on getting a 10 foot umbrella. It is looking nice out in the yard.

Sewing

With a few hours to sew on the bridal gown, I cut and sewed and got the skirt on the dress and the zipper put in.

The peplum is out by 1/8" on one side but I'm not worrying about it. I learned that I need to put in four rows of gathering when putting in a gathered skirt. It helps keep the gathers lie more smoothly. I still have the bottom of the zipper to finish by hand.

The lining and the crinoline are cut out and ready to be sewn to the bodice lining. The veil is pinned onto the bridal veiling ready to be made. The end is near on this dress. It has taken me a lot longer than I thought it would take to make. I hope to have the lining put in on Thursday and get the trim hand sewn around the neck. Both days off I have had to stop sewing by 3 p.m. as it was too hot to sew.
I have been on Pintrest looking for ideas for doll outfits and I am looking forward to making some outfits for the dolls that are from independent patterns rather than BMV patterns.
Today I work and then it will be a quiet evening for us. I am going to look at keys for the Bullet Journal this evening if I don't fall asleep.
Until the next time..........................

Adding the Peplum

Yesterday was hot with a high of almost 30C or 85F. It is amazing how we can be cool one day and hot the next. This is how it is in our area. We are suppose to be about 33C or 91F today.

Lifestyle

With the heat comes watering all the plants and the lawn. The Spousal Unit is diligent about that watering by hand every day and with the sprinkler on odd days. The plants are doing well with his diligence.
With the heat, we have been running the a/c for a couple of hours late in the afternoon. It is certainly nice to have it when the weather is this warm. At night we keep all the windows open and then close the up during the day. It does keep the house cool for a long time.

Sewing

I spent a lot of time sewing on the dress yesterday. Once the side seams were sewn, I hand stitched the trim down so it would lie flat. The work began on the peplum.

The peplum has three layers; satin, netting and lining. When turned, I rolled it to a sharp edge and hand basted it down prior to pressing it. It was then gathered and hand basted on to the bodice.
The skirt has been cut out of the satin and the lining fabric and the pattern is pinned onto the overlay. The satin skirt is sewn and the overlay needs to be done next. The dress calls for an attached crinoline and I have thought long and hard about it. I have finally decided to attach it to the lining. That way it will be hidden between the skirt and the lining.

Today

I have to do a bit of laundry, shop, and clean up some of the house. Then I can sew on the doll's dress. It won't be finished today but it certainly will be a dress by tonight.
Until the next time........................

Second Sleeve Done

It got warm yesterday. The high got to 24.1C or 75F. It is suppose to get to 31C or 88F. Perfect for a long weekend.

Lifestyle

Yesterday the traffic was so busy at 4:30 p.m. that the cars were backed up for a couple of miles or more as everyone was heading out to the lake or the cottage for the weekend.
I worked the late shift and the ladies and I rearranged the yarn between customers. It looks goods as far as we are concerned.
I got a battery charger for my camera and have been playing with it around the dolls. I will be trying to do some outdoor shots with them soon along with blurry backgrounds.

Sewing

The second sleeve was done in about 90 minutes. Knowing what to do helped out considerably as I moved through the steps. I did the same amount of hand sewing and it took about as long to do as the first one.

Next is to fit the side seams so they are looking nice. Not too loose and not too tight. Once that is done, it is on to the skirt.
Today
I am at work all day and then home to rest tonight. I have Sunday and Monday off which will be nice.
Until the next time..........................

The First Sleeve is Done

It was a beautiful day yesterday and we enjoyed the warmth and sunshine all day.

I spent the day sewing and it took me a good 4 hours to do the first sleeve on the dress.

The sleeve needed to have a piece of bias tape put for an elastic casing. That was machine sewn down with the back of the bias tape facing the inside of the sleeve.

Next the trim was hand sewn down.

 The elastic was put in to gather it to fit on the upper arm of the doll. The hem was hand sewn up and trimmed close to the stitching line.

After that was done, the sleeve was gathered and sewn onto the bodice.

As I don't want the seam to show, I pressed it with my fingers towards the bodice and hand basted it down. The lining will cover up the seam allowance when I put it in.
Lastly, I hand sewed the trim to the sleeve hem. All done by hand.

A shot of steam and a bit of finger pressing will fix the pleating on the trim.
I started the second sleeve today and in 40 minutes I had the sleeve ready for the elastic. The learning curve is finished and I can do quicker thank goodness.
Until the next time.................................

McCall's 6981 - Doll's Bodice

We have had our fair share of rain once again. Today, the sun is shining but there are big clouds forming along the hills and mountains meaning we could have showers.

Lifestyle

After being so busy at work, I finally am getting some days off. I have two off, two on, and two off so I am hoping to get some rest and do a few things.
The Spousal Unit has most of the garden in and now needs to buy roses to replace the ones that died over the winter. He also wants to mow the lawns before it rains again. Hopefully this afternoon.

Sewing

While doing laundry, I decided to trace and cut out the bodice of the doll's wedding dress.

McCalls 6981

I did it in stages with cutting out the satin pieces first and doing the tailor tacks.

Then I had to zoom into the picture to see what was happening with the bodice. I then cut out the overlay for the bodice and started working on it. Pinning came first.

Then basting the center front and two side pieces.

And the back pieces got the same treatment.

The center front and back pieces overlay has stitching with pearls in it. The front side pieces has stitching but no pearls.
I then pinned the center front to one side piece matching the edges carefully. I sewed from the dot on the side piece down using silk thread. (Okay, I am crazy but I needed to try out the thread.)

Once the shoulder seams were sewn together, I pinned the top together for a fitting. A 3/8" seam is needed on the side seam at the waist going up to 1/4" under the arm.

Next up is the lining which I will start on this afternoon. I am enjoying the process of doing a high end doll dress.
Until tomorrow...............................

Finishing the Future Log

Time to finish the Future Log. Sorry it has been a few days but I was working and didn't have time to do the tutorial.
When we left, the Future Log looked like this.

Now it is time to build the calendars. The days of the week are done with two lines held in one dot from each side. The first line is on row three and the second line one below.

Do this for each calendar box so your have a spread that looks like this.

When I put in the days of the week, I started with Sunday. It is how we start our week at work and it fits in well with my thinking. I used the .01 micron tip pen for all my printing. I added a little dot to each end of the lines.

I did the full page before I started the calendars. I also put in the month. You can see I made a spelling error on July as I was thinking June.

Next I did the dates for each month. One thing I do find difficult is seeing the dots that make up the grids on the page. They are faint.

I added birthdays to the future log. I have one more to add.

I will add days off when the schedule is done so I can see at a glance when I can sew and blog.

Next up is to do a key and I am looking at ideas for it. How much do I need on that page is what I am looking at right now.

Take a break until we do the Key. Until the next time...........



The Future Log Part 1

The Future Log is the first item I started in the Bullet Journal. It is on the first two full pages of the journal.
The Future Log is a glance at the year, or in my case, 6 months. I want to be able to see the following when I open to these pages.

• Birthdays
• Days off
• Holidays
• Days to blog and sew

After a lot of internet scouring, I found a format I liked and I even had a mess on my first page.

I quickly taped the pages together and started again. And again until I got it right.

Starting from the center of the book, I drew my lines to the edges stopping 1 dot in. I drew the lines using this formula:

• Line on top row of dots
• Leave 12 spaces and draw the next line.
• Line on next row
• Leave 12 spaces and draw the next line and repeat until you are at the last line which should be on the last row of dots. 

Next are the calendar boxes. Each calendar box starts at the first dot at the edge of the page and are 9 dots wide by 10 dots long. I made dots on the edge one down and up from the long lines and counted to make sure there were 10 dots starting the first dot as 0. Count 9 dots over from the first dot. I started by saying blank, Sunday to Saturday and blank. It's a bit confusing so use a pencil when you start this process to help you out.

The future log is now ready to fill in each month. I will be starting in July as I feel it is going to take me a while to get this ready to journal in.

Take a break until the next time. We will fill in the calendars and do the Key.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!!

I got this lovely bouquet of flowers from Son, Daughter-in-Law, and grandson for Mother's Day. It is beautiful for on our dining room table.
And from Daughter, Son-in-Law, and the pets I got this lovely bouquet.

I got the living room of the basement apartment cleaned up by 4 p.m. on Friday. I was thrilled to have it done and am ready to cut out fabric galore. Let's have a look.
On the north wall, I have the cutting table which is set up with both leaves up. I can put it down if necessary. The table in the corner has my cutting tools on it with magazines underneath and trays on the floor. The waste basket has rulers in it.

To the left of the table there is a corner desk which has my patterns on the top. I put the old rocker near it as I don't have another place to put it.

The pole lamps are there temporarily as they give off a yellow light. If I can't get LED lights I will give them away. The white table holds sewing books so I can easily access them.

The TV is in the corner and on the wall will be a kitchen table for the sewing machine and serger to sit on during the summer. I will be sewing down there in the hot weather.

The box in front of the fireplace holds an acrylic surface for the sewing machine and I plan on using it when I sew downstairs. I can store it under the table when using the embroidery unit.
Though I don't have a cube storage unit, I am happy with how the area looks for summer sewing and year round cutting. I am happy to start sewing again on my days off.
Until the next time.......................

Bullet Journal (BUJO) Materials

Yesterday I got everything I needed for my Sewing Bullet Journal. I am not going overboard as I want to keep it simple after looking at all the bullet journals examples and finding out that you don't need everything they have when starting.

I did buy a Leuchtturm 1917 journal at Chapters and it was $11.00 less than at Amazon. I also saved $10.00 using up my Plum Rewards Points which made it a deal ($14.00).
The Washi tape (in navy blue) and the micro pigma pens I bought at Michaels. I had the .3 and the .5 pens at home and bought the .2 today. I save 50% on one item plus 10% off my purchase for being a senior.
The highlighters and post it notes I bought at Walmart. The pencil we had at home along with the eraser and the tabs but they are at Walmart. I usually buy them when on sale for back to school.
I got everything I needed for less than $25.00 and was happy I had a few of the items in the house.
I am ready to start and am looking at ideas for the next few days of preparing my Journal for use. I am using this mainly for sewing projects but will include Lifestyle in it.  
Until the next time................................

Anthology Bag In Red and White

When they forecasted "rain" for yesterday, we got rain. They say 9.4 mm or 4/10" but we think more in our area. There was water everywhere. Today is clear and sunny but we could have showers.

Lifestyle

As this year is Canada's 150th year since Confederation, we are seeing a lot of red and white in our community. I have been admiring the thousands of red and white tulips that are in full bloom throughout the city. It has me wondering what will be planted in those areas for the summer.
The accountant has come and gone and we learned a few things our previous fellow should have told us. We did claim the basement apartment but we will probably close it down next year. During the get ready time, we got the filing system done and I can now store papers for the next year. All is okay and we move forward for another year.
No other work got done in the basement but that was expected. I need to work on it so I can sew my projects. Today's job.

Sewing

I scooted over to the store last night to pick up another project. I am making the Anthology Bag in red and white.

The pattern was on the staffroom table some months ago and I made a copy as it was free. I can find the picture of the bag (above) but not the free pattern as it was released to match the fabric in 2009. My fabric choice for this bag is for the Canada Day celebration in the store.

The large part of the body will be the maple leaves, next the stripes and bottom, lining, and handles in the red. I will tutorial it as I cut and sew it. It will be showcased beside a dress made out of the maple leaf fabric. I will be laying out the three projects on the cutting table and getting busy.

Bullet Journal

I have been reading about how people do their bullet journals for sewing/crafts. There are about as many as there are people. Some are gorgeous and others are minimal. I am gleaning ideas from them all. Today I will be buying my supplies.

• Journal for 6 months only (June to December)
• Pens - fine nib ones that I will report on later
• Post-Its for tabs and markings
• Washi tape, if I can find it.
• 6" ruler

I am ready to jump in and one thing I read is just do it. I am hoping that I can work on this in the evenings. Will let you know how I am doing as I relook at videos and write and sketch my ideas for the first few pages.

Today

I am shopping and cleaning up the basement so I can set up my cutting table. I need to push to get that area cleaned and the floors washed as I am almost there. Until the next time......................

 

Trying the Bullet Journal Again

Our daily highs and lows are now in the normal range for this time of the year. We are still having some showers and will likely have a good thunderstorm tonight. With that comes cooler temperatures.

Lifestyle

Elliott was to the vet on Tuesday and has lost around 3 pounds since we started him on his diet. He is so much more active than he was. He also got a bit of worming medicine which put him under the weather for 24 hours. Other than that we continue on with his regime to loose a couple of more pounds.
The Spousal Unit has been busy planting our small garden plot, mowing the lawns, and being outside. He is so much healthier than he was a year ago and has become quite active this spring.
I just finished 5 days at work and am slowly getting ready for inventory. I am doing a pre-inventory count as I have to put in big after inventory orders plus one more small order of items we need to get through inventory by months end. I have also helped people with some interesting projects which included two formal gowns and one costume. I do love helping with those projects. They set my creative juices flowing.

Sewing

Using a wonderful 50% coupon for notions, I bought the following items for future reference.

I am getting fabric and some cut notions on Saturday with a Mother's Day coupon.
Prior to going to work, I did a Bullet Journal. With working, it has become a thing of the past that keeps niggling in my head. I know I did it too complicated and am trying to get my head wrapped around on how I can keep track of my days at work and my sewing projects. Right now I am liking Sewing Bullet Journal by The Fold Line. It is simple, has some pages I can paste into the journal, and allows me some flexibility without going overboard. I need to think this through carefully so it won't be a burden in my life and I let it die.

Today

We have the accountants coming and I have a ton of printing to do. This appointment was done while I was working and not able to get at the paperwork. I will, I say, I will get some stuff done for me this afternoon.
Until the next time.................................

A Red and White Doll's Outfit

After several mornings of double digits temperature, we finally had a cooler one at 4C or 39F. The sky is clear and it could be a warm one.

Lifestyle

With the warm weather we had, the snow at the higher elevation started to melt quickly. Everywhere is seeing the results with flooding. People are being evacuated from their homes. One person we know is missing in the community we lived in and another person is missing in a community east of us. With yesterday and last night cooler, there is probably less water running in the creeks but it will be bad again today.
We were asked yesterday if we wanted to rent our basement suite out and we are not sure. I said we would contact the person and let him know. We both want to have the space to ourselves but who knows what our decision will be.
The Spousal Unit has been working in the yard and will be finished the mulch today. We looked at his rose bushes and feel we may have to replace them all. Such a shame as he takes such good care of them. We have 3 other plants to replace in the front of the house.

Sewing

I have to sew as I now have four doll outfits to make. The latest one is for July 1 in a red and white theme. We did justice on it yesterday while looking at red and white fabric.

I am going to make the dress in a red and white stripe.

We chose the trim as it is so Canadian. The Velcro is one sided and very soft and supple. I am getting more of it in white and black for the dolls.

I don't think I have enough for the scarf which is fine as it is the dress we want to show case. I think I will have to make a crinoline for under the dress though. 

At the moment, she will wear white sandals.

Today

I am at work and will probably get nothing done around the house this evening.
Until the next time............................