Call Ajaire

Impossible?

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:27:00 +0000

Well, I haven't made much progress on the "Imagine the Impossibilities" challenge over at The Cottage Market.

I *did* take some before pictures though, hehe. Technically I still have a few days to get it together and I think I can at least make a dent. I'm holding on to hope!

I'll leave you with just a few pictures to show just how crazy the situation is. Keep in mind that there are several more bins with bits of fabric here and there as well. I'll post again on Monday to see if any progress was made this weekend. Wish me luck!

entrance to the closet under the stairs where I'll keep my
organized fabrics.... hehe organized...

here you can see there is quite a bit of room for lots of fabric to live.

sewing table (notice my machines aren't even on the table!)

Just two of the many bins of fabric/supplies I have.
The funny part is these are the most organized of the whole stash, hehe.

Chevron Fleece {Project Run and Play}

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:04:00 +0000

I'm excited to be done with Outerwear week at Project Run & Play by Thursday afternoon instead of taking it down to the wire Friday morning like I have the past few weeks. I knew when they first announced the theme weeks in December that Outerwear would be one I enjoyed.

For Christmas, Bean got a nice L.L. Bean fleece suit that she's been wearing which we love. It's fits nicely now, but she's growing like crazy so I want to have a back up for when her arms and legs inevitably outgrow her current one. The fit is loose now, but it's exactly as I was hoping it would turn out. Lots of room to grow!

A couple of years ago I did a promotion on black Friday for Macy's and Ocean Spray. They gave me a gigantic bright blue fleece to wear and since it had both of their logos on the front AND didn't fit I knew I'd never wear it again.

But there was so much of this nice fleece that of course I couldn't just throw it away. So add it to the stash I did and it turned out it was perfect for this project. I forgot to take a pic before I cut it all up, but you get the idea, hehe.

I added some purple fleece that I had small pieces of in my stash. My mother once gave me a big bag o' fleece bits that she got from who knows where. There are some good pieces in there, but also a lot of crap. I found this nice purple color that I thought would make the fleece jumpsuit a little more girly.

I had fun making a chevron on the front and on the back of the fleece. So even though the color combo feels very 80's snow suit to me, I was hoping the chevrons would give some interest and modernity to it! I also used a green blue knit fabric in my stash for the hand, foot, and head edges hoping for the same effect. There was something about that color blue and the pastel purple that killed me until I added the green blue to it. That helped bring it back to 2012. Or at least it did for me, hehe.

You'll also notice above that I used a two way zipper for the front so that I can easily change Bean's diaper without unzipping the top of the jumpsuit. That makes me feel a little better about those occasional chilly car seat changes.

I brought Bean outside to take a few pictures and she was SO happy to be out. She loves being outdoors and we haven't done it too much in the past few weeks due to weather. I am looking forward to the spring when we can be outside almost every day.

In other news... she's sitting up on her own now which is cute, hehe.

The following pics were barely taken before she was trying to take off. Even though you can tell the arms and legs are too long, it didn't seem to impede her!

Lastly, I did crochet her a hat too, but I forgot to bring it outside with us. Oh well, it's just as cute on her inside, hehe.

Linking up to:

I Heart Naptime

Through the Decades {Project Run and Play}

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:22:00 +0000

The 50s. That's the decade I was inspired by this week. Or more accurately it was the following picture which I found on Pinterest that did it for me.

Although I was more inspired by Jean-Jaques' outfit than either of the girls so I guess I caught the sewing for boys bug hehe. This time I wanted to turn up the girliness though!

I've had this gorgeous blue bottom weight fabric for years. I've been waiting for the right skirt or dress for myself to emerge, but with Bean's bright blue eyes I thought it was perfect for her. When the ladies at Project Run and Play mentioned the Sewing Through the Decades theme I knew I wanted a Peter Pan collar, poofy and a little frilly short legs, short sleeves, and a button down front. Out of all that came the Joanie Jumper.

Bean's Nana (Joanie) has the same gorgeous color of blue eyes so I thought the name suited. You can see the poofy legs which are created by the knife pleats in the front and some gathering in the back. They get a little frilliness from skinny elastic at the hem. As usual, I made a snappy crotch to make diaper changes easier (though Bean has suddenly decided launching herself from the diaper table is an AWESOME idea so "easier" is relative).

I also wanted to crochet some shoes for Bean to wear. I love this pattern from Sylver Designs on Etsy. I've made a few of the cross over strap mary janes for friends' babies, but I thought it was time Bean had her own pair. To fit with the 50s theme I thought I'd do some color changes and make them look like saddle shoes.

Disclaimer: I haven't crocheted in a while and to be honest I MUCH prefer knitting. Knitting seems to be more neat and tidy in the finished product. But wow I forgot how quick crocheting is. Also how easy color changing is.

They came out pretty cute for an on the fly decision, hehe.

In the picture on the right they are hanging on the closet door which is why you see the mirror in the background. I didn't think about how hard it would be to take a good picture of shoes made out of yarn, hehe. But lordy that picture on the left is cute. Chunky baby feet, hehe.

Last but certainly not least here are some pics of Bean in the Joanie Jumper. They show a little better how the short pants poof. If I could get her to sit still it would be nice to get a normal picture of her. But for now these crazy action shots will have to do. Little lady is feeling under the weather, but these were taken post nap (a LONG nap!!) so she was temporarily silly, giddy, and happy.

Yes, she's eating one of the precious shoes....

The picture on the left looks like she's saying something like "you little whipper snapper." Oh and before my older sister asks: no, she's not hanging from the closet by a hook. She's lying down in her crib, hehe.

Linking up to:

I Heart Naptime

Sharing the Pain {Blogger's Choice Bundle}

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Well, Laura has decided to help the judges out a bit and do a reader survey to see which bundles are the favorites out there. There are so many goods ones! I had already picked a few I liked and visited those ladies, but it's fun to be able to vote now too. You can pick your favorite three out of the 341(!) submitted.

My favorites are:

335 - Mine, hehe! Well, come on... if mine isn't my favorite then all that effort I put in choosing the best matches for MY blogger's choice was for nothing. Also, Laura said it was fine to vote for ourselves :)

311 - Lynne from Le Petit Cardinal Rouge's has a similar feel to mine. Hers has a deeper pink color theme that I really like. The fabric at the left two down from the top is the same as in mine at the right two down from the top. They are just slightly different thumbnails :)

111 - Lisa from Six Munchkin Stitching's has a few fabrics that I went back and forth about. I also love the giraffe print!

So take a minute and go vote for your favorites! I'd love to hear which ones you choose.

Imagine the Possibilities

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Oh lordy. What have I done? Hehe. Somehow I have joined the "Imagine the Impossibilities" challenge over at The Cottage Market. There are actually 6 blogs which have joined forces in hosting this challenge so you should check them all out.

When I first read about the challenge I immediately thought of my gigantic fabric stash. It's in desperate need of organizing. We moved so many times in the past few years and I dragged the stash along for the ride. When I say it's gigantic, I'm not sure anyone (except maybe my older sister who may or may not have been the one ACTUALLY dragging it during at least one of the moves) understands just how much fabric I've accumulated over the years.

We're settled in now and I have the space and even the shelves, but I haven't had the push I needed to get it under control. Well as you can see here, Andrea has announced to the world my impossible dream and if that's not enough to get my butt in gear I don't know what is, hehe.

The stash will need to be organized and shelved by the 31st of January. That's coming up fast (that's what happens when you join in HALF WAY through the month!), but I know I can do it. I'll post an update next monday just to keep myself on track. It will be amazing to get it all in one place and be able to see what I have. Especially since I'm trying to sew regularly for Bean. My goal is to not have to buy any new fabric for the clothes I make for her. Notions maybe. But not fabric. I may need to come back to look at the button a bunch of times this week 'cause the "YOU CAN DO IT!" line might come in handy.

I'll tell you one person who's going to be happy about this challenge. My husband. Although, I'm not sure even he won't be shocked to see all that fabric in one place, hehe.

Through the Decades Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:07:00 +0000

This week's Project Run & Play theme is Sewing Through the Decades. We're to choose a decade and make something with those years in mind. I think I'm going with the 50s. I have this picture that I'm using as inspiration:

There are lots of ideas floating around in my head so we'll see what comes out, hehe.

Ajaire's Blogger's Choice Bundle

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:06:00 +0000

Thanks to Sunni at Love Affair With My Brother (after months of following I still chuckle at such a genius name) I found out about this challenge presented by Quokka Quilts.

For two weeks I have been working at trying to pull together my own "blogger's choice bundle" from the fabrics at Fat Quarter Shop. This was no easy feat. There are so many different fabrics you could get lost in there for weeks. I knew I wanted mostly pinks and greens and there were unbelievable options to choose from. We were to choose 12 prints and 3 solids. I must have changed my mind 30 times. I kept a folder with the thumbnails of all the prints I swapped in and out and there are 52(!) different thumbnails in there. The following is what I came up with.

Numbered from left to right and top to bottom:
1: Emma Strawberry Tiny Swirling Dots Yardage
2: Pinfeathers Pink Birds of a Feather Yardage
3: Early Birds Lime Curlicue Yardage
4: Daisy Dance Pink Tiny Flower Buds Yardage
5: Froggin' Dark Lime Water Vines Yardage
6: Sugar Hill Cotton Ivory Lantern Yardage
7: Home to Roost Pink Sheep Yardage
8: Power Pop Strawberry Big Star Yardage
9: Finally Free Flamingo Allover Florals Yardage
10: Urban Zoologie Garden Tossed Whales Yardage
11: Finally Free Green Tossed Flowers Yardage
12: Modernology Sachet Impressions Yardage
13: Kona Cotton Grass Green Solid Yardage
14: Kona Cotton Cactus Yardage
15: Kona Cotton Melon Yardage

Linking up to Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundle

Froggy Shromper Boy and Girl Styling

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:32:00 +0000

Below is how I changed up the Froggy Shromper (for Project Run and Play) from boy's styling to girl's.

First a few pics of the boy's styling since it is technically still Boy's Week.

As you can see, the boy's style is straightforward and plain. I didn't want to embellish too much, though I thought details were important. So I created some pockets including a fun upper pocket that is shaped like a froggy's mouth to go along with the big white froggy-eye buttons. I fully lined the shromper in a creamy fabric with green vines that I have a ton of and LOVE. Once again everything I used for this project was in my stash.

For shorts, the legs are a bit long for Bean right now, but I really would like this to fit her (the buttons are adjustable) in the spring so I left them longer.

Now that Bean has so many teeth, she has started doing this cheesey toothy grin that looks hilarious. I love it. Her hair is also growing like crazy and sticks up every which way, hehe.

As far as any other detailing, it should be noted that I used a snappy crotch for the inner leg seam and inside each leg hem is elastic which pokes out underneath through eyelets. I then use these along with a cute little flower I crocheted lickity split to transform the shromper for a girl.

You can see in the above picture how the elastic comes out of the right side eyelet and then gets buttoned to the left side button in order to pull some tension on the elastic in the hem and create some rouching. For the boy's styling, the elastic simply buttons on it's own side (ie the elastic coming out of the right eyelet wraps around the right button). This little bit of tension is enough to make a difference in the leg hems. I think it's really cute when a shromper bubbles above the knee. Pair with some tights (couldn't find them since our trip!) or leggings and attach the flower to the button on the back of the shromper and voila! Girl!

It's subtle, but really makes a difference when it's on. I think with tights it'd be even cuter. If I can ever locate Bean's cute pale pink ones I'll snap a pic and you'll see, hehe.

But for now:

I am not kidding when I say it's nearly impossible to get pics of her these days. These ones don't do the transformation justice, but I must say they're pretty cute all the same, hehe.

If anyone's interested in seeing more pics or hearing more about the construction of the froggy shromper just leave a comment and let me know!

**Update** I forgot to mention that I used this pattern which I found on Pinterest for the flower.

Boys' Week {Project Run and Play}

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:02:00 +0000

Well, I made it through Boys' Week over at Project Run and Play without a boy and I actually LOVE what I created. I wanted to make something for Bean even though it would be boy-ish. I thought of a cute way to girl it up once the contest was over and for something that was just a thought it my mind to actually turn out exactly as I was hoping is kind of exciting. Especially since this was a functional-type of experiment and not something asthetic.

After seeing You and Mie's GORGEOUS winter romper entered for the Junebug Dress Remix, I fell in love with the idea of making a shorts romper. A shromper. With a few details I thought I could take a boy's shromper and fit it for a girl. This is what I came up with.

A fully lined shromper. I fell in love with how the top pocket I made adds a hint of frogginess to the front. So I call it the Froggy Shromper, hehe.

Stay tuned for some pics of Bean in the Froggy Shromper with both boy AND girl styling. It turned out so cute! I swear it's worth the wait to see how the girl pics turned out :)

Linking up to:

**Update** You can click here to see the post of the transformation!

Are You Sick... Or Just Sick of Blogging?

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:17:00 +0000

My older sister blogs over at lia sophia tomgirl and I have her feed in my google reader. I noticed yesterday that she hadn't posted in a week or so which is unheard of. She always has something to say out there and I know she ~~enjoys blogging~~ has an addiction so I wasn't sure what was wrong.

I of course noticed this in the middle of the night while nursing my teething baby so I didn't give it much thought. But by morning when yet another day had gone by with nary a word I got a little nervous. I started thinking maybe she was sick. Or maybe she had an accident. Maybe there was a meltdown on the compound.

It should be noted that I live 600 or so miles away from the rest of my family. My older sister lives across the driveway from my parents in the "old house" and there is a campground and car wash on the premises. This is lovingly referred to as the compound. It should also be noted that my older sister doesn't "do" Facebook so her blog is the main point of contact that I have with her. Ok maybe it can't be considered contact when it's only one way (hey, google reader makes it tough to leave comments, ok?!?!), but it's still my best source for her ridiculous stories and happenings between the too infrequent Skype calls we seem to find time for.

Back to yesterday morning and my strange feeling that something bad had happened. I sent her an email asking "hey why so quiet on the blogging front?" and she didn't reply right away. Yes she's a teacher and therefore has a good excuse (aka working during the day on a weekday) but I still got more nervous as the day went on. Finally I got an email back saying she had posted eight (!) times since I had last seen a post and she was worried about her feed. She thought things had seemed awfully quiet in the comments realm, but was otherwise unaware there was an issue. So she spent some time last night trying figure out what went wrong and somehow she must have figured it out because during Bean's early morning (like WAY early) teething nurse, all those previous posts showed up finally in my reader.

Crisis averted.

I did find it funny however that in her reply she wrote: "sick for 8 days and mom didn't call to let you know."

It hadn't even crossed my mind to pick up the phone and ask someone if there was an issue. It was a weird test of cyberland meets reality and I failed miserably.

Jan Bug Jumper How To {June Bug Dress Remix}

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 17:31:00 +0000

I knew when playing along with the Project Run and Play June Bug dress remix week that my remix would be a romper. I wanted something for Bean that could be worn with a long or short sleeved onesie. She has a purple striped jumper from the gap that I love on her for the same reasons. So I used a mix of the Junebug top minus the sleeves, Jessica from me so crazy's method of snappy legs from her Drop Bottom Pjs, and the purple jumper shape for the bottom. The following were the steps I took. But first the formula hehe.

I drafted the pattern pieces using butcher paper, a shirt that fits Bean well, and the purple jumper. Not pictured is also the crotch piece (that diamond sort of shaped piece) and the strips of jean fabric needed for the snappy portion. Those were just the length of the entire inner leg seam of the purple jumper by 2in and one by 3in (a la the Drop Bottom Pjs).

I cut all of the pieces out of the jean colored fabric except for the bib portion of the top. That was cut from a fun pink fabric I had in my stash.

For the top of the jumper I really just followed the intructions for the Junebug dress, stopping when I got to the part where she sewed up the sleeves. There I just turned under the seam allowance and then top stitched around all the top seams with a pink thread for a little more of a girly look.

For the buttons I hand sewed a piece of ribbon under the bib threading each button in the correct spot and tacking it down as I went. I really liked the way the buttons turned out.

For the bottom I took the pieces I cut out and used the bottom portion of the Drop Bottom Pjs starting at step 12 and ending around step 19. I love this method of snappy crotch hehe. For the pants hem I took a rectangle of fabric about 8 inches wide by the length of the bottom edge of one leg. Then I folded in seam allowances on the sides, folded the rectangle in half wrong sides together, and stitched up the sides. The raw edge was sewn to the raw bottom edge of the pant leg and then top stitched with pink thread like the top.

I think my favorite part of the jumper (other than the buttons) might be the top stitching around the crotch. The little pink stitching cracks me up hehe.

Finally I just gathered the bottom a bit to fit the top, sewed the top to the bottom, pressed the seam toward the top, and top stitched around the waist. I made sure to make this part of the jumper wide enough to get it on Bean easily since there isn't a lot of give to the seam.

I am really please with how the jumper came out. Bean looks adorable in it. The little leg cuffs look business suit-ish which makes me smile, hehe.

Jan Bug Jumper {June Bug Dress Remix}

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:17:00 +0000

The great ladies over at Project Run and Play have decided that this season they'll have a contest each theme week for those of us not officially competing to play along at home. I really enjoyed the past seasons (this is season 3) and I'm excited to see what the designers come up with each week. I'm a big fan of Project Runway and this is even better since it's kids' clothes!

This week's theme is Pattern Remix. Each of the other seasons has done a pattern remix week as well and it's been a fun theme. The pattern this time is from Jess at

(who I follow and really enjoy reading)

The pattern to remix is her June Bug dress.

I remember when she posted the pattern for this dress, I really loved the cute buttons on the bib front. So of course I was excited about trying to make something for my little one (Bean) using the June Bug dress as inspiration.

The only rules were once we're done sewing, we post a picture (and a link to a blog post if desired) to the Project Run and Play flickr group and this has to be something we made recently - as in since the contest was announced.

I've decided this year I really want to sew more. After moving so many times over the past few years and not having a good setup to sew in I finally have the space in our home to create a sewing area and it's calling to me. I just need some inspiration. That's where Bean comes in. If Project Run and Play is the inspiration, then lets call Bean the muse, hehe.

What I came up with this week is a romper which can be paired with a short or long sleeved shirt depending upon the season. I had this great jean-look wearable linen in my stash (oh we'll get to talking about the ridiculous stash in another post, trust me) which I thought would be perfect. I paired it with some fun pink fabric and then some pink topstitching to complete the look.

I call it the Jan Bug Jumper since it was made in Jan-uary hehe.

A post with the basics of how I put together this Jumper is forthcoming. But for now here's a couple of pics with Bean wearing it.

I also used part of a tutorial by Jessica from

(yes I follow and yes I love!)
I used the bottom/leg portion of her Drop Down Bottom PJs (which I made for Bean as well!) to deal with the leg snappy section. It sews up so nicely I don't think I'll make a snap crotch pant any other way now.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out and it's become my favorite outfit Bean owns. Next week's challenge is boy's clothes. This may be more of a challenge for me since I don't have a boy to work with. Lets just say you may see Bean in something not so pink next week hehe.

Wrap up 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:44:00 +0000

Well it's time to wrap up 2011 and this one will be short and sweet...

There were no 2011 blog postings; apparently I did nothing this past year.

That is unless you call growing, birthing, and nurturing this little one "something."

(and for the record we do hehe)

Happy new year and look for more happenings around this lonely blog in 2012!

Black & White Part Three

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:12:00 +0000

This is the part where I went a little crazy with the Black and White themed apron I made recently for Tie One On. The previous posts can be found here and here.

I thought the apron was finished and I was really pleased with the result.

Then I decided the bottom section was a little too plain and black. I've been doing a little bit of free motion quilting recently and I still don't feel as comfortable as I'd like to be when doing it. I thought maybe I'd use this black "canvas" to practice some more.

i switched my presser foot from the one on the right to the one on the left

this free-motion quilting foot is great

i had to unscrew and remove the entire foot

then i screwed the other one on

i thought it might be a good idea to use a scrap piece of fabric

to test-run this flower idea i had

so far so good

ugh

ugh-ly

i might need some more practice...

at least the petals sort of met in the middle this time

also, you'll notice the freezer paper that i ironed on to the back

the freezer paper helped to give some bulk to the fabric

i thought maybe if i circled the center it might make the petals look like they meet up nicely

This is where i have a problem with my free-motion sewing. I love the way it looks when someone else does it. When I'm doing it however, I am way too critical and need things to line up too perfectly. I am getting better about just enjoying the end result and not worrying too much about the few stray stitches along the way. I do like the way it looks in the end, but I still have trouble letting myself go during the process.

So I thought I better just skip the FOURTH test run and dive in to the apron. I also told myself that no matter how bad it came out I wouldn't use my seam ripper.

i ironed a big piece of freezer paper to the back of the apron bottom

i also grabbed my spray bottle which came in handy later

i sketched a flower chain with some chalk

just so i could have a general idea of where

the flowers should be placed

here it is after stitching

you can see that it doesn't line up exactly

that's ok

i like how it looks

i LIKE the imperfections

(those last three phrases are my new mantra)

this is how the freezer paper looks after stitching

it's a little easier to see the stiches here

you can also see how i got about two flowers in

when my bobbin thread ran out

seriously?

i was so nervous about the whole process

and it's going along great

i'm repeating my mantra

that's ok

i like how it looks

i LIKE the imperfections

then my bobbin thread ran out

so frustrating

it didn't stop me though

i just tied the threads together on the back

when i was done

then i used my trusty spray bottle

i like that it's orange

spraying the paper makes it a little easier to remove

peel away the pieces of the freezer paper from the back

gently use a tweezer if necessary

it helps to remove the smaller bits

this is the back and you can still see a few

pieces of the paper stuck in the centers

that's ok

they'll work their way out eventually

i also used the spray bottle to remove the chalk from the front

i must say i really do like how the flowers look

much better once the chalk lines were removed

now it doesn't look so plain right?

i can't wait to wear this apron

i had no idea what it would look like when i started

but i love how it turned out

now it's time to tackle a quilt using this flower chain stitch

Black & White Part Two

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:11:00 +0000

On to the assembly of my Black and White themed Tie One On apron. In my previous post I showed you how I made the pattern and now I'll show you how I sewed it together.

i folded the strips for the straps in half with right sides facing

they were pressed, but still didn't lay exactly flat since it is swimsuit fabric

by folding over one end before sewing the wrong sides together

i was was able to create a nice edge

this was the end of the strap which would not be concealed later

the second strap was sewn together the same way

i guess i should say it was serged together the same way

if you don't have a serger you could use a zigzag stitch

using a safety pin i turned the strap tubes right side out

and then topstitched so they would lay flat and not be so tubey anymore

By the way...

sharing my space with cats

means i have to use my serger

AND my sewing machine

in the same space

but i'm happy to at least HAVE a serger

here are the two straps

each with only one nice finished edge

the other will be concealed in a minute

but first i have to sew the hand-wipe band together

with right sides facing, serge the top (curved) edge of the band pieces together

then press toward the backing fabric

i also stitched the serged seam to the backing fabric to make sure the seam would

stay nice and flat

that swimsuiting can be tricky

i don't want any surprises once the apron's been washed and worn

while i was stitching the seam down i did this:

by pulling the fabric away from the seam but still sewing along the seam i was able to mimic

the effect of pressing the fabric once the bands would be folded back with wrong sides together

as you can see below i used white thread to keep that seam in line

this is the bottom rectangle

three of the sides are pressed and folded in two times

just to clean up the edges

i could have use the serger to keep the inside edges nice

but i liked the bulk on the edges that folding created

plus i wanted to use a zigzag stitch to sew the seams

i thought it would be a nice decorative border

the black seemed too plain

it looked like a napkin

i could use a napkin next time

the zigzag gives it flare

now find the midpoint of the raw edge

and the midpoint of the swimsuit fabric band

pin them together from their midpoints outward

on both sides

notice that the band is not folded in half yet

the black part on top above will be the back of the band

this is a strange view, but the lower part of the apron is hanging down from the band

this is after the previous seam was sewn

this gives you a better idea of what's going on

i wanted to show that the lower part of the apron still existed

this next part might get weird

and the apron's starting to look like a t-shirt

just trust me

i worked the edges one at a time

above you are looking at the raw edge of a strap about to be concealed

you may notice in these next pictures that i folded up the other edges

that was before i decided to sew the seams one at a time

it really wasn't necessary

and looks a little silly now

so we'll just pretend it didn't happen

deal?

by folding the band pieces right sides together

at the already stitched seam

i could catch the strap inside

(yes those are the folded edges.... so silly)

you can see where the zigzag edge of the lower apron

meets the edge of the back band panel about to be sewn

i sewed from the zigzag stitching around the corner and down

an L shape

i also reinforced the corners since i planned to snip the extra fabric away

both sides of the apron were sewn this way

the sides were turned right-side out and pressed

this is the back view, but you can see the strap coming out the side

again, this is the back view

it looks like a t-shirt

the middle seam has not been stitched down at this point

see?

i topstitched with a zigzag in order to keep the pattern going

and to hide my mess of bobbin threads under the seam

now it's starting to look like an apron

or a t-shirt

i thought i was done...

Cute right? Not WWE-nightmare at all right?

I met my goals:

high-waisted, swimsuit hand-wiping panel, black, white, simple.

I decided to go one step further before it was complete. I may have failed simple....

Black & White

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:28:00 +0000

Time for another Apron contest over at Tie One On. The theme for this one is Black & White. I've been thinking about making another apron since the plaid one I made in the fall and I was hoping to find the time to make one before the end of February. My mother is coming to visit for the weekend and was supposed to arrive this morning. Due to bad weather her flight was canceled which means she's delayed until tonight. It's too bad we'll miss the day together, but that did give me a few hours to kill. My thoughts immediately went to the apron.

I had no idea what type of apron to make. I like the way half aprons look and I'm more apt to wear one if there's only one set of ties, but I have this terrible habit of wiping my hands near my waist so half aprons don't have enough coverage for me. I also love anything with a high waist these days.

ok maybe not "anything"

I thought maybe a high waist black leather apron would be perfect.

Just kidding.

I thought maybe a high waist apron with an area made especially for hand wiping would be best. I also wanted something simple since I only had a few hours to play with. So I went through my stash and found some black and white fabrics. These were narrowed down to:

a black piece of i'm not sure what type of fabric.

it feels like a light canvas and i have no idea where it came from.

i just know it's perfect for an apron.

it almost feels like a heavy napkin fabric?

and the flowery fabric is PERFECT. guess what it's made from.....

swimsuit material!!!

i made a suit out of it years ago and i had a piece just the right size.

you do realize i meant swim"suit" right?

just checking

First I had to make a quick pattern for the high waist area since I wanted it to curve at the top edge and look sharp. I had a gift bag that was too crumpled up to save so I cut it up to use as a pattern.

it's at this point that i'm going to apologize for the blurry pics. the lighting was terrible in my sewing area this morning so i played with some of the settings. the results are less than perfect

Most of the measurements were just where the ruler ended up since nothing had to be exact, but this is what i came up with:

32" wide by 6" high at the center point

from the center i measured out 3 1/2" on both sides twice

the first off-center points are 5 1/2" high

the second off-center points are 5" high

I have Styling Design Ruler which I don't really use the way it's probably meant to be used. I got it for a class a took a few years ago. I enjoyed the class, but we never really used the ruler much during it. I've used it a ton since, but again I have no idea what I'm doing with it half the time. That being said, I used it this morning.

from the center point to the first off-center points i drew the arc from about 14 1/2 to 18

seriously though, you could use anything to make this arc.

there's no need to get out a fancy ruler.

i just like the way it feels when i use it.

like something amazing is being created.

it's like using beakers and flasks in the kitchen...

not that kind of flask

this kind

Anyway, back to the pattern

for the second off-center points i drew the arc from about 6 1/4 to 10

that's because this part of the apron will be around my hip

no it won't

i just liked the shape of that arc

please ignore the part where the ruler mentions hips

Then I drew a straight line to the side edge. When I cut out the pattern and pinned it to my dress form it started to look like what I had envisioned.

yes that's right...

...i had envisioned a wrestling belt

I started to doubt my vision. I started to doubt my skills. I started to doubt my Styling Design Ruler....

I pressed on and pinned some of the black fabric to the dress form to figure out what size rectangle to cut.

what's that?

do i have a cat?

why do you ask?

oh. yeah that's gross.

don't worry.

i have to share my sewing area with the cats

but i have a secret weapon:

the apron will be machine-washable

i also have this not-so-secret weapon

it's that new pledge hair picker-upper-thing

and it works pretty well

sorry, but cats shed

Remember how I pinned the black fabric to determine the size rectangle I should cut? Well it turned out to be about 17" by 21" which I of course forgot to actually measure. It looked like this when cut and pinned:

except it was less fuzzy in person

When I took the paper pattern off the dress form I cut it in the center since I wanted both sides to be the same. I cut a piece of the black fabric on the fold using the pattern.

the other side of the paper was shiny and blue, remember?

I also cut a piece of the swimsuit fabric on the fold.

Remember how I have to share my sewing space with cats?

ugh....
i don't have a secret weapon for dealing with kitty snags on swimsuit fabric.
yet.
i saved that piece in case i find one.
or invent one.

The last two pieces I cut will be used for ties. I like the idea of using the swimsuiting for ties. It gives them a stretchiness.

these are 2" by 14" strips of the swimsuit fabric

also i found where i DID take an accurate measurement of

the black rectangle

and it says 17" by 21"

so i should feel smart

because i figured it out without the piece of paper

but i really just feel dumb for forgetting about the piece of paper

Now that I had all the pieces cut out and ready to go I had to figure out what to do with them. I'll post the assembly section soon.

Keep your fingers crossed that this apron doesn't look turn out looking like a WWE nightmare....

Why I love warm fuzzy lighting

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:06:00 +0000

Beth at The Stories of A to Z is having a Get Your Face On!! party so I decided to join in. You can read all about it here:

At first I didn't have any desire to post my face before OR after my ~~morning~~ daily routine. Then I looked at how many women were joining in and I couldn't believe there weren't any Mary Kay users out there! Where are all of you??

I must admit I'm a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant, but prior to selling their products I USED them for 6 or 7 years. So this may seem like a gratuitous plug for my business, but I really do love this stuff.

I use these four products every day.

Timewise Cleanser, Moisturizer, Day and Night Solution

Now I know that Beth didn't ask us to post a greasy-haired-i-just-finished-working-out-and-haven't-showered-since-yesterday photo, but I wanted to show a before washing photo so you'd get the full picture.

Before I turn the water on for the shower I put on Lip Mask which is great at removing any dry skin.

That's the weird white stuff on my lips.

This gives it a chance to work it's magic before I rinse it off in the shower.

Then I wash with the cleanser and when I get out of the shower (and let my hair dry and put it up out of my face so you can see) my face looks like this

shiny and clean and in a scary scary light.

This is where I pause and ask myself "why would you - after neglecting your blog for months - decide to plaster photos of your face taken the day BEFORE you get your eyebrows waxed all over your blog. I mean, it's not like you didn't know you had the appointment scheduled...."

I then use either the day or night solution depending upon what time of day it is.

I'm not going to lie.... i run out of the night solution before i use up the day solution.

The thing i like the most about the Mary Kay Timewise products is that they're created to work together. This makes the whole applying foundation step a lot faster. I squirt some of the moisturizer on my hand and then some of the foundation. Then I mix them together and apply them both AT THE SAME TIME.

I also apply some of the Lip Balm and use the Age Fighting Lip Primer to seal it in. This stuff really keeps whatever you put on your lips on your lips. I have terribly dry lips and sealing the balm in with the primer really helps keep them moist.

This is my face (again SCARY scary light) with just the previous steps applied

Some days this is about as far as I get. If I am going out of the house I will apply at least some mascara. I don't know why, but mascara sort of seals the deal for me. It doesn't matter how much other makeup I put on, if I don't put on mascara I don't feel put together.

This waterproof is the best out there. I've been hooked for YEARS. Everyone goes on and on about the Mary Kay Ultimate mascara, but i always come back to the waterproof formula.

Hooray for warm fuzzy lighting! This is the normal every day look for me. I didn't go as far as putting on any blush, eye liner, lipstick (or gloss), or eye shadow. Maybe I'll post a pic of what that looks like AFTER my brow waxing appointment.

In order of appearance: Satin Lips Lip Balm, Timewise Cleanser Combo to Oily (refer to oily hair pic from the beginning of this post for any questions), Day or Night Formula, Moisturizer AND Foundation, Lip Balm AND Lip Primer, Mascara.

Before and After

even with the creepy greasy hair i STILL prefer the no-flash lighting

This is why I love warm fuzzy lighting

Etsy Profile

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:15:00 +0000

When I redid the Call Ajaire Etsy banner recently I thought I'd use a few pictures to represent where I am and where I come from. Sort of my life in seven pics.

It took longer than I thought.

Since it applies to this blog as well I thought I'd repost the bio here:

I started with twenty MUST includes and through gritted teeth whittled it (ooh i should try whittling) down to seven. So here goes...

(in no true order other than eye-pleasing)

1. I hadn't embroidered in years, but decided to give it a go for some christmas presents this year. This is my parents' house and where I spent most of my younger years. I love quilting and the way the little scrappy pieces sort of wander this way and that yet are clearly framing the emroidery in three even rows. I had a lot of fun with these projects and am excited to have found my way back to embroidery.

2. This is one of the candy dishes we used at our wedding. By far my FAVORITE colors of green. I love the pink jelly beans contrast. Plus they taste good!

3. Though I don't think I'll ever truly love any color the way I do green, pink has caught my eye the last few years. Maybe it's the girly side of me trying to break it's way free or maybe pink just makes green look so much better (see the candy dish pic...really go look at it again...so maybe it's complement and not contrast)

4. I love knitting and crocheting. I taught myself about three years ago and I wish I had started sooner. (on ravelry as Ajaire) It's so satisfying to make something using just your hands. Well and some needles and yarn, but you get the idea. I've always been a sewer (eew that looks wrong...seamstress?) but knitting is so portable that I haven't done nearly as much sewing lately. I had a LONG bus commute when I lived outside seattle so I was knitting up a storm. That's when I started knitting and crocheting my coffee handlers. Essential programmer tool... way to carry multiple cups of coffee back to your desk at once without spilling on the stairs or in the elevator. I used to be called "a spiller."

5. Wedding present from my mother. LOVE the color. Basically Le Creuset doesn't sell the right shade of green for me so I went with flame. Sounds cool huh? This and the dutch oven I got in the same color are the greatest. I use them almost every night and the color just makes me happy. I do a lot of cooking and baking. My metal bundt pan is jealous of the dutch oven... so flashy, so useful.

6. I am thirty-something and married July 25, 2009. My husband is wonderful and the reason I'm able to spend more time knitting and less time on a bus. I knit and felted my wedding flowers and it was my first try at felting. I think I was afraid to try felting because of the wet-dog wool smell, but was so happy with the result that I should have started years ago. Plus I won a ribbon at a county fair in PA for the flowers so that was worth getting over my fear of smells. I made my dress too. (Refer back to the part about being a sewer)
I didn't mention it on etsy, but you can see i'm holding my grandmother's hanky in my hand around the flowers. My mother gave it to me to use on my wedding day because she had carried it when she married my father. This was my paternal grandmother and she was pretty special.

7. My older sister gave me this hand-me-down chair when I moved from MA to WA years over 10 ago. I remade some cushions with a piece of old-ladyish fabric that I love. There is something magical about this chair. It is sort of low to the ground and since my legs are very short it's one of the only chairs I am really comfortable in. And it rocks. Like it rocks back and forth... ok it rocks! It's a perfect yarn-craft chair. I can even tuck my legs up under me and sit comfy since it's pretty wide. The cats like it too so we have arguments over who it really belongs to.

Anything else you want to know? I'd love to hear how you found your way to my page and what you think so send me a message. or a massage.

Plaid Apron Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:43:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon Amy Karol's Tie One On site and decided to make an apron for this month's challenge. The theme was plaid and I had some plaid in my stash just itching (ooh bad wool joke) to be used. The problem was deciding which plaid!

I wanted the apron to look like a pleated private school skirt, but I couldn't decide on the color. So I made a new "plaid" from the plaid fabrics in my stash. Of course I forgot to take a picture of all the fabrics before I started so the little scrap of green is all I had at the end. That the comforter in the background is also plaid is not lost on me either :)

First I took some old muslin and created the shape I wanted the skirt to be, including figuring out the size of the pleats. I didn't hem the muslin since I wanted to use it as the back of the "quilt" I would make out of the plaids so I would match the lengths up later. (hehe you can see my trusty steamer in this pic which is VERY helpful when creating pleats)

Then I basically treated the new plaid like a quilt top and pieced it together using the darker green as the main background color. I debated using the orange as the main color, but I thought the green looked more traditional. I used the orange as accent later though hehe.

Once the fabric was put together I was ready to match it up to the muslin. I had taken in to account the size of the pleats and the size of the new plaid stripes so they would line up in a neat sort of pattern.

When I finally pinned the fabric up to the muslin I was happy with how it all came together. It didn't look EXACTLY like a traditional plaid, but was a fun combo of colors and patterns so it was alright with me!

I sewed the muslin and fabric together like a quilt without batting and hemmed under the bottom edge. Then I added a band of the green fabric where the apron (yes this is still going to be an apron I swear!) ties were going. Now it was really coming together.

I don't have any pictures of the next step where I pieced the top together which is a shame. It was a lot of pinning the white "shirt" fabric up to the dress form and figuring out the shape I wanted. I think I was lost in the process and forgot to take pictures which is something I need to improve on. More step by step pictures.

In the meantime I had the movie Hairspray on in the background (the Travolta/Pfeiffer version not the Ricki Lake/Sonny Bono) to give me some plaid inspiration. I decided that instead of having to tie the apron at the neck I would make a necktie sort of thing which would hold everything up. This shirt that Tracy Turnblad wears in the movie is what I was inspired by, but this picture shows a better back view even though it's a different Tracy. I added some accents around the neck, some buttons down the front, and a stripe of the orange plaid through the belt/tie strings and the apron was complete.

For some reason the pictures make the chest area look huge, but trust me it's not that big in real life! Here's a picture of the back which shows the neat necktie thing I was talking about. (you'll have to excuse my dress form's naked bum hehe)

I'm glad I found the tie one on site, because making this apron was a lot of fun. I'm sure wearing it will be just as great! I haven't been sewing as much as I would like lately and this project definitely helped feed my hunger.

Etsy

noreply@blogger.com (Ajaire) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:15:00 +0000

I finally started an etsy shop.
Take a look Call Ajaire