Sewing In No Mans Land http://www.sewinginnomansland.com Sewer, photographer, Foreign Service wife and mother. Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:01:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 sewinginnomansland/KLMDhttp://feedburner.google.com Styled Family Photos and an Incredible Giveaway http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/17/styled-family-photos-and-an-incredible-giveaway/ http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/17/styled-family-photos-and-an-incredible-giveaway/#comments Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:01:55 +0000 admin http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/?p=3684 I am really excited to share our most recent family pictures AND give away a $100 gift card!

Hop on over to Wild Wandering for all the details. And don’t worry I am participating in three sewing series in the next two weeks and we have several fun sewing giveaways lined up. But believe me if you like photography at all you are going to want to enter this giveaway!

Cheers!

Kelly

 



]]> http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/17/styled-family-photos-and-an-incredible-giveaway/feed/ 1 The End Is Coming http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/13/the-end-is-coming/ http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/13/the-end-is-coming/#comments Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:15:28 +0000 admin http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/?p=3679 The end of the school year that is! I am about 80% excited for lazy mornings and sun filled afternoons and 20% oh my gosh no what are we going to do for two months. No matter what my feeling is, it is coming and I wanted to make sure the kid’s teachers know how much we appreciate them. I had been looking for teacher gifts that weren’t overly hooky when my ultra-stylish friend Elizabeth posted the following idea.

She adapted it from THIS tutorial where you can find the free printable. Elizabeth made hers more personalized and added some extra touches which I think gave it even more charm!

Of course I immediately ordered some blue ball jars from amazon (you can find them HERE) but I am STILL waiting for them! Fingers crossed they come before school is out ha! Are you making your child’s teacher something or do you save that for teacher appreciation? If I could get my hands on some succulents you better believe these would be all over my house!

Thanks Elizabeth for the super idea and link!

Cheers!

Kelly



]]> http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/13/the-end-is-coming/feed/ 0 Winner of the Not Too Shabby give away http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/12/winner-of-the-not-too-shabby-give-away/ http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/12/winner-of-the-not-too-shabby-give-away/#comments Wed, 12 Jun 2013 21:01:17 +0000 admin http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/?p=3674 Without much further ado, I wanted to let you know who won the Shabby Apple $50 gift certificate, the winner is …

http://www.wildwandering.com/2013/06/12/winner-of-the-not-too-shabby-give-away/

 



]]> http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/12/winner-of-the-not-too-shabby-give-away/feed/ 0 Sprucing up the laundry room http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/11/sprucing-up-the-laundry-room/ http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/11/sprucing-up-the-laundry-room/#comments Tue, 11 Jun 2013 20:58:15 +0000 admin http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/?p=3667 For the first time ever I have a large laundry room. I was particularly excited to have a place to hang the pictures from THIS photoshoot. I also was excited to be able to have a place to dump all our dirty laundry and close the door and walk away… just walk away. Aside from hanging the pictures I have been trying to think of easy ways to make this space more inviting with out spending too much mola. I have loved the laundry rooms I have found on pintrest and decided I needed to just suck it up and get started so I actually want to spend time in this room. The first project I decided to tackle is an ironing board cover. I could not believe when I googled “ironing board cover” all the posts that popped up. Plenty of excellent tutorials so unless I do something wildly different you won’t see one here. What I didn’t get hung up on was fabric choice! Do I go bold because it is a little space and can handle it?

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Do I stay classic so that if my taste changes I won’t have to redo this project in the future?
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Do I give up ironing completely and we all walk around wrinkled? I am not going to lie that is somewhat tempting….

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I thought this burlap one look super cool and I am a huge fan of anything burlap. But I can’t imagine actually ironing on it.

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I want the room to be fresh and clean… um, like laundry ha! Have any of you made a ironing board cover and loved the print you chose? Should I take the dive and go bold?

Cheers!

Kelly



]]> http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/11/sprucing-up-the-laundry-room/feed/ 7 Sawyer is Seven! http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/11/sawyer-is-seven/ http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/11/sawyer-is-seven/#comments Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:12:00 +0000 admin http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/?p=3664 It has to be hard being the oldest. Your parents are constantly learning on you and often have the highest expectations for you. You are always the example and it just seems are held to a higher standard then the siblings that follow. Sawyer is no exception to this. There are choices we make with his parenting that we never repeat. But then again I am a third child so I don’t know if this is really true and if as an oldest you really feel it. Any oldest children out there? Luckily he is an absolutely fantastic child. He turned seven last months. Seven. I thought I would share the …

http://www.wildwandering.com/2013/06/11/sawyer-is-seven/



]]> http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/11/sawyer-is-seven/feed/ 1 Raining in Brussels http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/10/raining-in-brussels/ http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/10/raining-in-brussels/#comments Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:34:37 +0000 admin http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/?p=3661 The winner of the Shabby Apple gift card will be announced tomorrow so you have one more night to enter!

On our three day whirl wind trip we made sure to see some of Brussels (where we were staying) and see the main sights. We will be back for sure so we didn’t kill ourselves trying to see everything. Its a good thing we were being so flexible because it was rainy and COLD that morning and the poor kiddos were pretty much miserable! Since it was early in the morning on a weekend we found parking easily and walked to the famous fountain manneken pis which is the statue of a little boy peeing …

http://www.wildwandering.com/2013/06/10/raining-in-brussels/

 



]]> http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/10/raining-in-brussels/feed/ 0 Hand Made Hand Me Downs http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/05/hand-made-hand-me-downs/ http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/05/hand-made-hand-me-downs/#comments Wed, 05 Jun 2013 13:39:31 +0000 admin http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/?p=3636 When I started sewing it was because there were so many kids clothes that I wanted but could not find in stores (or if I did find them they were outrageously priced). From the start I have wanted to create things that lasted. There was no point in investing the time and money if it was only going to be washed once and ruined. You know what I mean, there are just some projects that never look the same once they have been laundered. With cuties as messy as mine I strive for clothes that are beautiful but sturdy. Seems like an oxymoron right? I don’t think any of my creations fits this more then the Bali Bliss outfit. Made of soft breathable cotton and vintage lace it has a delicate look but this little number has been washed over and over and still comes back swinging. The pattern for the Bali Bliss is available HERE  (more on Craftsy tomorrow) and her headband is the same one I made for Evie two years ago.  Her little shoes are Joyfolie hand me downs from Evie as well.

Today Chloe wore it for the first time and I am so sad that it is just now getting warm enough for her to wear it and she will be outgrowing it soon. Not too sad though because that just means I get to make another in a new fun color palette, one that screams Chloe.

It is so funny to see the differences between the girls. Evie was so tan and had so much hair. Chloe is fairer then fair and still sports a baby mullet at over 18 months. Their personalities are just as varied.

She was not a huge fan of the geese. Especially when they tried to eat the flower off her shoes ha!

I don’t know if it is because she is our last but I just eat her up!

I knew she was done playing photoshoot when she started eating her headband.

And here is a flash back for you of Evie in the same outfit in East Timor as opposed to a gorgeous Paris park:
Look at all that gorgeous hair and those big brown eyes! Oh my is she a cutie ha! Not that I am in anyway partial :) If you are looking for a weekend sewing project and in the mood for something summery, this is it friends!
Cheers!
Kelly


]]> http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/05/hand-made-hand-me-downs/feed/ 3 Spring in full bloom! http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/04/spring-in-full-bloom/ http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/04/spring-in-full-bloom/#comments Tue, 04 Jun 2013 09:31:44 +0000 admin http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/?p=3624 We are talking about our whirl wind trip to the Keukenhof over on Wild Wandering today. The colors and flowers were certainly inspirational! Hop on over and check it out!

Cheers!

Kelly



]]> http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/04/spring-in-full-bloom/feed/ 0 Shabby Apple giveaway!!! http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/03/shabby-apple-giveaway-2/ http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/03/shabby-apple-giveaway-2/#comments Mon, 03 Jun 2013 20:21:41 +0000 admin http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/?p=3618 We have a giveaway today for Shabby Apple on Wild Wandering today!
http://www.wildwandering.com/2013/06/03/not-to-shabby-give-away/



]]> http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/06/03/shabby-apple-giveaway-2/feed/ 1 A Morning Sew http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/05/29/a-morning-sew/ http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/2013/05/29/a-morning-sew/#comments Wed, 29 May 2013 12:53:32 +0000 admin http://www.sewinginnomansland.com/?p=3603 Chris and I escaped to the Loire valley this last weekend and let me just say I am DYING to get some sewing done thanks to all the inspiration. Unfortunately when I gave away my stockpiles of fabric in Timor to the sewing school I never restocked up. I have only been buying fabric when I have a specific project in mind which saves money and space BUT when inspiration hits means I have a REALLY limited amount of fabric to work with. I am trying to find a hole in our crazy visitor and travel schedule when I can make it up to the fabric district but I REALLY wanted to sew a trial run dress before I launched in with the good fabric anyway so I gathered up a bunch of the super bright scraps I have and went to town using THIS pattern. The prep work was pretty intense but once everything was cut out, ironed and laid out it came together really quickly. Of course Evie was excited since it was sooooo many bright colors.

The light cotton is really to heavy for the drapping and will look much nicer when the nylon chiffon arrives. For once the elastic thread was wound perfect and I didn’t even yell once at it ha! Of course chloe had to have a turn trying it on.

She promptly collapsed on the couch. What is great is you really can sew it with mostly scraps so I was able to order several colors of Dupioni silk remnants for pretty cheap. On the other hand the nylon chiffon I have never been able to find locally though it might make an appearance around halloween time. Evie’s teacher asked if she would be Little Red Riding hood in the school performance in a few weeks and I think I am going to modify this dress for her costume, even if all she really needs is a white shirt and a red skirt ha! I hope you have been working on some fun projects of your own!

Cheers!

Kelly



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