To my mom(s)

I am one lucky chick. I have an amazing mother. This is the only picture I could find with her and me, and this was on Mother's Day in 2008. Time for more pictures!!

Me, Mom, and my sister Audrey.

My mom is the one who taught me how to sew. She is very talented. She made both of the blessing outfits for my kids without patterns. She looked at size 2 (2!!) versions of each outfit and figured how to size it down to 0-3 mo size...

She even made the pipping and frog eye closures herself!

 

I am lucky to have a good example and loving mother. She is a wonderful grandma too. Hero was born 2 days before her birthday and every year since then, she has been kind of lost in the shuffle. I appreciate her love of my kids, and they love her too!

Now, I am an extra lucky woman, because I have a great mother-in-law, whom I love! I've heard others complain about their crazy MILs, and I just laugh to myself. I have been living in the basement of my in-laws for almost a year now, and it's been great!

Here's a picture of my MIL and her daughter-in-laws... we are all lucky enough to have married on of her sons, who we know are great because of her!!

the Hsiao women (minus Jake's sister...)

She is funny and patient. Her boys like to tease, and she can dish it back just as quickly as they can! She is teaching me to cook traditional Chinese dishes, and Jake has been loving that!

over-seeing Chinese New Year preparations, I love that it's her 4 boys that can roll and assemble the dumplings so fast.

She is also a wonderful NaiNai (grandma). My kids love her!

To both moms, I say, thank you for being there for me, Jake and the kids. We are so lucky to have you in our lives!

My Greek Princess

First, thank you so much for all the compliments about my dress! I wanted to email you all back, but some of you don't have your email attached to your profile, so I couldn't. I hope you understand how much I love your comments and compliments!

Now, what you have all been waiting for since I teased you about it over a week ago!

I had a picture in my head of how I wanted this dress to look, and it worked out perfectly!! This was my first experience with pleating fabric (if you don't count having to iron the pleats from my uniform skirt all through school). It was a slow process at first, but in the end, well worth the effort! It's not hard, just requires patience.

After pleating two entire widths (one for the front, one for the back) of bridal satin, (left over from making my SIL's wedding dress a few years ago) I used New Look 6903 for the pattern and sewed it just as directed. I basted the pleated pieces along the neck, arms and sides before I started to sew to keep the pleats together. I added a sash to hold in the pleats and keep Pretty from looking like a total marshmallow.

I also added a lining of purple that is only connected at the arm holes and neckline.

It makes me think of Greek mythology, and I love it (I really wanted to name her Helen, as in Helen of Troy, but was vetoed by Jake). It fits her big enough and long enough that she will be able to wear it for a while.

Pretty is a fan too. After taking these pictures, I took the dress off and she fought me to keep it on, then cried when I put it up! I was also very pleased to see that when she drooled on it, it didn't darken the purple color. The only thing I have to worry about is when I wash it, will the pleats come out? I'm pretty sure they won't, but I'll keep you posted.

This makes me happy!

Shared on:

Bright Rust

About a month ago, I was getting ready for church. Normally, I'm a skirt and shirt kind of gal, but this day, I was in the mood for a dress. I opened the closet and realized. . . I have no dresses. Unless you count a traditional Chinese dress and my wedding dress (neither of which fit). I don't know how that happened. And I also don't know how I didn't know that I had no dresses.

Anyway, I bought a pattern and fabric and it turned out to be my first big project on my new machine. It is a stretch knit and the thread that matches perfectly was named "Bright Rust". I got to try out the "stretch stitch" on my machine; it looks like a lightning bolt and is totally awesome!

Simplicity 2369

I loved the whole experience of sewing it, and I'm in love with the new machine (I think she needs a name). This was supposed to be my Easter dress, but then Pretty was sick, so we didn't go to church. I only got to wear it for these pictures; but, hey, that was on Easter day so it counts.

Pretty's pleated masterpiece is almost completed and you will die, it turned out so cute!! I know I was supposed to have it done for Easter, but when Pretty was sick the day before, I knew it wasn't important to finish it that night. . . so I procrastinated again. It will be done today, I pinky swear!

a desperate plea.

Alright. I knew that my shop and the Silly Monster Pattern weren't going to take off right away, but my giveaway over at Sew.Craft.Create has 1 entry. . .


There are supposed to be 2 winners, but there is only 1 comment. Pathetic.

Save my pride... please enter the giveaway. Or is the monster really that sad?

death to pleating!

Once upon a time, I saw a super cute pleated dress for a baby. I thought to myself, "I could do that," then came home to try it. 

What was I thinking?

This took me an hour or so to complete...

That's right, 4 inches of pleating. . . 1 hour. This dress was supposed to be for Pretty's 1st birthday pictures (which still have not been scheduled). Instead, I am finishing it for Easter.

In the interest of full disclosure, it got easier after the first 4 inches because I figured out how to do it better. I also let go of having perfect pleats... Wish me luck!!

Easy-Peasy Pincushion (a mini tutorial)

For my sister's birthday, I decided to make her a bunch of new pincushions. (Ok, so the plan wasn't for this many. . .) I started by making her a wrist pincushion from this tutorial. This was the project that I was so frustrated with my machine and turned out to be the final one on my old Brother. Because of time and grumpiness, I didn't get to take a picture of it.

So the first project sewn on my new machine was the flower pincushion by Anna Maria Horner. Even printing out the pattern and seeing how big the pieces were didn't prepare me for the size of this pincushion. It's big, really pretty, but big. Knowing that Audrey would want smaller, I decided to make some more like mine. But what am I going to do with a big pincushion? So she still gets it.

 When I bought my little silver tins from the thrift store, I only got the two I needed and left the other 5. I still kick myself for that. I love my pincushions! So to make my sister's I went back and searched in vain for little silver containers. In the end, I found some good options and brought them home.

To make this easy pincushion, just cut about a 6 in diameter circle (I used a cereal bowl for a template). Sew a gather stitch around the edge, gather and stuff. I put a bit of sawdust in first so the pins will go through it. I don't know how true it is, but I grew up being taught that because of the natural oil in wood, it would keep your pins smoother and in better condition longer.

yup, I really do label stuff like that...

Anyway, sawdust first, then fiberfill until it's firm. Lastly, pull the thread tight and tie the ends together so it won't separate.

Then just use hot glue on the inside of your cute container (I love the little flowers on this one!) and shove the cushion in. I go around the edge of the cushion, moving it aside and adding more glue so it's very secure.

And that's it! Easy-peasy pincushion! And so cute, too!

So, 4 pincushions and a pack of new pearly pins makes for a good gift. And for too many pincushions. I hope you find use for them all, Aud.

My New Toy

First, did you guys know that I guest posted over at Sew.Craft.Create? Head on over to enter the giveaway of a Silly Monster or Silly Monster Pattern!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remember a few months back, when I complained about my sewing machine's tension not working? Well, lucky for me, my husband did. And when the tension went out for the third time (that he heard about it) last week, Jake decided it was time for a new machine. Plus, my birthday is at the end of the month, so it was a good excuse.

I don't know about you guys, but when it comes to spending a lot of money in one shot, I get a bit anxious. . . and I usually chicken out (which is going to make buying a house an absolute nightmare for me). I shopped around and ended up with this new beauty.

Even after testing it at the store and loving it, I ended up walking around the store aimlessly for a while, on the phone with my husband. He had to convince me to buy it. And then, when I got home, I wouldn't open the box for an hour or so. Don't get me wrong, I was SUPER EXCITED about it, I was just so afraid of it not being what I wanted and the trouble of having to take it back or something. . . am I crazy?

How appropriate is it that I ended up buying a machine from Singer's "Confidence" line?

I've only sewn a few small things on it, but plan to try it out on a new dress for me today and tomorrow. I also plan to spend some time just trying all these stitches! (Is 89 a dog? It is. . . it's a dog.)

With the limited amount I've used it, I already know that I love the automatic threader (my finger's on that below), and that there is a thread cutter on the machine. I can't wait to get to know this machine and sew lots of great things on it! Wish me luck!