Being unproductive sucks!

So, apparently I have to be sick to be productive. Since my last post the only sewing I've done is repairs and alterations on human clothes. Popped seam here, add button and button hole there, and make straight leg pants into skinny jeans. I even fixed the pocket on an Aeropostale hoodie. I'm working on turning a sheet in a curtain this week. Yep, my neighbors are enjoying bringing me out of my comfort zone. One day soon I'm going to have a couple of the girls over to raid my fabric stash and teach them how to make some PJ pants for themselves. I also want to teach them how to sew buttons, since I think every body should know how to do that.
In doll clothes news, I sent out my Summer Sewing Swap outfits, and received mine too. Here's what I sent out on AG Playthings:

My take on Molly's Polka Dot outfit (Seen here). More pics: Click here!

and on AG Dollhouse

Pucker blue satin and burnt orange satin dress with cropped jacket. More pics: Click here!

And here's what I got in return:

From AG Playthings: Molly's camp outfit and Capture the Flag gear.

More pics: Click here!

From AG Dollhouse: an outfit for Josefina.
More pics: Click Here!






So, the kids went back to school on the 15th. I should have gotten some sewing between then and now, but I haven't. I have no idea why I've been so unmotivated with all of this free time. I've gone from working 4 days a week back to working 3 days a week. I've been really tired lately, and I don't know why.
I hope this sewing funk ends soon. Halloween sewing season is upon us, and I need to get busy!

Productive while being sick? Yep

I can't believe I haven't updated my blog since my weekend trip to GA.
Here's a brief rundown for that weekend;
Friday: have lunch with hubby at his work and swap cars. Drive. Stop right outside of Columbia to help with a car accident for 2 hours. Drive. Hang out with Grandma.
Saturday: Attend services for the Colonel in Atlanta. Lunch with friend from school and his family in Athens. Stop by High School Reunion in Madison for an hour. Pick up my little man from his grandparents between Madison and Greensboro. Stop for dinner at Waffle House in Greensboro. Hang out with Grandma.
Sunday: Hang out with Grandma and leave after lunch. Drive. Arrive home in time for dinner. Sleep.

I literally went non-stop that weekend.

Since then, I've been pretty creative. I have made an outfit for the Sewing Swap on AG Playthings. I am participating in a Sewing Swap on AG Dollhouse too, but once I read my assignment, I knew I had the perfect outfit in stock, so that is what I'll be sending. It's still something that I made, and it is perfect for what they asked for, so I'm pretty happy. I hope the recipient is too.

I woke up sick on Thursday. I went to the doctor, thinking it was Strep Throat, and after a swab test and a CBC, they said it wasn't and that it was probably just a virus. I spent the rest of the day feeling like crap, and Friday was only slightly better. Over the weekend I've been slowly getting better. And somehow, even though I felt like total crap, I was able to sit down at my sewing desk and complete two dresses that I had cut out weeks ago and that have been sitting in my In Progress Box since then. I took pictures of them today and listed them on Etsy already.

I've made this pattern before:

I have another one cut out and will try to get to it next. It's a purple print with pink hems, bodice, and pockets.

Oh, there's just 1 more week until the kids go back to school! I must make myself get more sewing done this school year than I did last school year.

Until next time....
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I'm leaving on a jet plane...

Well, not a jet plane, but I am taking a weekend vacation. I'm heading to my home state of Georgia for a three day weekend. Now, as with every trip I take anywhere, I do my best to plan it out and try to cram as much stuff into as little time as possible. While gone this weekend I'm going to spend time with my grandmother (who had a a meeting with a surgeon today to schedule a lumpectomy on her breast today), attend my 10 year high school reunion, attend the funeral of one of my high school teachers who was a big influence in my life, and pick up my son from his grandparents house. I'm going to try and get together with some friends and have a night on the town, but we'll see how my schedule is looking at that time,
I've been able to get some sewing done this week. I participating in the Summer Sewing Swap on AG Playthings, and then today I signed up for a Sewing & Craft Swap on AG Dollhouse. My assignment for AG Playthings is perfect for me. As soon as I read it I had the perfect fabric in mind and I mentally started mixing and matching patterns. The cutting is done, and 3 out of 5 pieces are done. I should receive my AG Dollhouse assignment when I get back into town Sunday night.
With each Sewing Swap I participate in, I like to make something that shows off the techniques I am good at, but I also like to throw in a "never tried this before" technique in there too. So far, for the AG Playthings assignment, I've upcycled a tee shirt into undies, and I've used my new ruffle foot to make pleats. The verdicts: I still don't like knits, and I am going to need a lot of practice with my ruffle foot.

Well, off to finish packing my bag!

Summer Sewing Swap begins!

The other day I received my assignment for the Summer Sewing Swap on AG Playthings. I can't give too much detail, but I am super stoked about it. What I found really funny (in a good way) is that I asked for a 1940's outfit, and so did the person that was assigned to me.
So, the fabrics have been picked out, the patterns to mix and match have been picked out, and then the cutting began today.
Cutting out fabric is the hardest part of sewing. My hands and wrists have been hurting me a lot lately. Naproxen and Ibuprofen have been my best friends over the last few weeks. I have some padded braces I wear on my wrists/hands at night, and that helps since it keep me from curling my hands and wrists up while I sleep. I also use my paraffin wax to help ease the pain my hands.
 Now reading that last paragraph, you would think I was an old lady, right? Well, sorry to disappoint, but I'll be only be 28 in 2 months. So, it looks like I have about 60-70 more years of this. Really? Well, that just sucks.
My grandmother is almost 83 (she'll be 83 the day after I turn 28), and she still sews, crochets, and knits. About 10 years ago she was forced to retire from over 50 years of being an RN due to her back giving her problems. So now, she crafts during the week, and sells her wares and creations at a flea market on the weekends. She has arthritis too, and I know her hands give her trouble too, so I'm going to quit my bitching and just suck it up. Besides, the more you use it, the less it should hurt, right?
So, at the moment I'm taking a break from leaning over my table cutting out my fabric, but my back is feeling better already, so I'm headed back to the desk.
Maybe I can get my sweet hubby to do some of the cutting for me today. :)

Now available in Canada!

So, over the weekend I got an Etsy message from another member asking if I would be willing to ship to Canada. I didn't have it available on my listings since I wasn't sure how to calculate it. Well, I got it all figured out, and I now ship to Canada! I ship USPS First Class to Canada since shipping via USPS Priority is at least $20. For the United States I still prefer to ship via USPS Priority Mail.
So, the member who contacted me had good reason for it, she wanted 4 of my outfits. So on Monday afternoon I dropped off the Nutcracker Fritz costume, the Medieval inspired princess dress, the Polo shirt and pleated skirt set, and the 1824 Southwestern set.

I've been working on a new Popover Dress pattern from Oliver+S. My first attempt came out too snug since I didn't adjust the scale when printing. That error resulted in a Pop Her Head Off to Pop it Over Her Torso Dress instead of a Popover Dress. The end result is still cute, but I'm going to offer it for slim 18" dolls like Magic Attic and such.

Here it is on my "skinny" AG Elizabeth (the newer ones are slimmer than the older ones):

I think I may just cut the back open and insert some Velcro so it's much easier to get it off and on.

Going to try to get the opposite fabric version done this week, and will post it if I do. During one of our storms over the weekend I was able to get several items cut out, so it will be much easier to get things done this week since all I have to do it reach into my In Progress box and pick something.

Until next time...

Not only did I.....

Not only did I finish the Harry Potter robe the other day, I got it listed on Etsy. And not only did I get it listed on Etsy, but I listed two other items from my inventory too.

Check it out: here!

I had planned on listing the shirt and skirt set as separates, but once I put them on the doll to model, I kind of liked them together. Hopefully they'll sell easier together than separate. Hopefully something sells!

I also picked up a new free pattern from Oliver + S, and am excited to try it out. I got the pattern printed out, but now the hard part comes: picking a fabric.


Sorry for the short post (I'm sure you're glad though since I'm usually long winded). I'm off to get to work on the house, take care of the kids, and try to escape to my sewing area today.

I finally started on a Harry Potter robe

That's right, the movie comes out in like 2 weeks, and I just now started on the only Harry Potter robe I plan on making until the Halloween season.
My hands have been hurting a lot lately, and even though I've tried alternating between using them and letting them rest, the pain is constant. I guess I can stop being a little stubborn (HA!) and start using my sleeping braces again and start a religious Ibuprofen regimen, but we'll see. I'm not a natural remedy kind of person, but I do not like having to take pills. I'm more of a "grin and bear it" and "walk it off" kind of person. For my boys however, hugs and kisses (and bandaids) still seem to make everything better.
I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I'll go ahead and mention it now. I suffer from Anxiety and Depression. I had a breakdown right before Halloween last year, and have been on medication since. I have an anti-depressant and a mood stabilizer. Last Sunday I decided I was done relying on those pills, and I didn't like the constant fatigue and lack of interest in my hobbies. Well, that went okay for a few days, and then I had a rough few days. Last night I decided to go back to my mood stabilizer. Fingers crossed that this helps me feel better and doesn't hinder my creativity.
I could honestly sit down and complete a Harry Potter robe in a day, but the motivation and the desire and just hard to muster, and my hands and back cause me to take frequent breaks. I'm not even 30 years old yet, and I already feel like an old lady (no offense to the older ladies out there). I plan to continue sewing, even into my old age whether my body likes it or not. I plan to eventually open my own doll clothes store front (complete with matching girl and doll clothes, girl and doll dressing rooms, and bolts of fabrics and an outfit catalog for special orders. That's not for probably another 20 years, but hey, a girl can dream right?
I'm still scrapbooking and paper crafting. On Friday night I attended the first Friday Night Crop in the new Scrap, Stamp, Ink. The only supplies I took were my basics: my tools, my inks, and my solid cardstock packs. I had no project in mind, I just wanted to play. I did the same thing recently at another local scrapbook store, Stickled Pink. I wasn't as successful that night I was this past Friday night. One of the designers had directions for a pocket album, and the directions were a bit of a pain in the neck, but between 4 of us, we got through it. I do not have a picture of mine, but I used the same paper stack as the designer that brought the directions, and this is what she came up with: Deb's Paper Journey

Well, it's off to give the kids a bath and put them to bed. It may be Summer vacation for them, but we're keeping hem on the same sleep schedule (as far as bedtime goes) since Jim still works his early day shift and I'm still babysitting the cuteness known as Madison during the week.

New fabrics are inspiring

Yesterday while we were out and about, we went by one of our local Wal-Marts. I picked the one I did since it still has a fabric section. I wasn't sure if I wanted more fabric or not (have you seen my fabric stash?), but I knew that looking at the fabric department would inspire me. Well, inspiration hit and I ended up a with several fabrics.

Corduroy, corduroy, twill, cotton, suiting, Tutti Frutti, polyester silky, and a pink waffle texture.

The most inspirational fabrics are the 3rd from the left and the 2nd from the right. As I was zig zag stitching that cut edges so I could prewash the fabrics I pulled out my sketchbook and jotted down a few sketches of outfits I was inspired to use some of the fabrics for. My ability to draw isn't very good, but it works well enough for me to take the outfit from on the paper to on a doll.

I really need to get to work on my Harry Potter robes, but it has been so hard to get motivated.

First sale in months

So, even though I haven't been sewing a lot lately, I decided to update my Etsy shop with the rest of my inventory. Well, about an hour after I listed the Godfather costume from The Nutcracker, it sold! It was my first sale in months! Well, my first creation I've sold in months. The last thing I sold was at the Charleston Scrapbooking Craft Fair, and before that there were a few things I sold on consignment at the same store.
Sadly, Charleston Scrapbooking closed it's doors at the end of May. The owner has opened a new and smaller business closer to her house (which means it's closer to mine too), so I still have a place I can scrapbook. Wednesday night was my first visit to the new store, and man, I'm loving the 5 minute commute. Once the weather isn't so flippin' hot, I could probably walk there. I'm not sure about the walking though since I live off Main St. and the shop is right off the Bypass. We'll see.
This week I've spent cleaning up my craft area and organizing my doll stuff that I brought down and unpacked on Saturday. I have to say it's kind of nice to know when I'm looking for a blanket I can look in the Bedroom Stuff box and find it. I also am working on setting up two displays. I still have my vintage kitchen set up on my baker's rack in the hallway, but it's been piled up with so much random doll stuff that I need to clear it up. I did finish my other display which is a dining room scene. It sits on the end table in my living room, right next to the front door. I will leave my dolls out of the displays, an they will continue to be stored upstairs on the totally awesome bunkbed set my dad made for me.

Actually playing with my doll stuff, sort of

A year ago the two neighbor girls moved out of state to stay with their dad for a year. Since they were the ones who used my doll stuff, and I needed the space, I packed up all of my doll stuff and put it away a few months ago. Well today, we have them over to play, and I dragged out all (except 3) boxes of doll stuff for them to play with and told them they could take over my kitchen, dining room, and half of the hallway.
Here are the boxes on my dining room table before we unpacked them:

And here is a picture of them playing. It was two of my boys and 4 girls.

And after about 2 hours, they were done, and cleaned it all up all by themselves without me reminding them:

They had fun. It was nice to see my doll stuff being enjoyed since I barely touch it anymore. I still buy stuff I find in doll scale, but since I haven't been sewing as much and I don't have the display space anymore, it hardly gets touched.
I love that when I tell the girls where I get some of the stuff I can see their faces light up like "Oh wow, I didn't think about that!". I think their moms are going to come after me when the girls start begging to go to World Market to get doll kitchen stuff. :)