Friday, June 24, 2011

Finished Project

This week Christa asked if I would make a dress for her. She is serving at a wedding reception and was not able to find a good "blue" dress at any of the retailers. So, I dug around in my sewing stuff until I found some  patterns. She narrowed it down to these two patterns. Her final choice was the New Look pattern 6699, which I used to make bridesmaid's dresses for my wedding last year. I love the NL pattern because you can design the dress how you want it. :)
The pattern choices
 

Simplicity 2498 - View D was from Paula's wedding
The pink checkered is what Christa decided on, but no gathered overlay.
The material used was some I found at a garage sale. It was a super deal, 5 yards for three dollars. :) Christa came over Tuesday evening and helped me cut out the material. One major thing when cutting out a pattern is to go by your measurements not the size on the pattern! Thankfully, I remembered to check before we started cutting out. It saved us from having to cut out entirely new pieces.


The next day I set to work sewing! :) I must say that sewing side seams is much easier than piecing it all together. Christa was patient as I pinned her in and made sure everything fit correctly.

Christa had originally wanted ruffles on the straps, but once they were on she quickly realized it was not the look she was wanting! So, off they came and on I went making the bodice. Making the bodice took up the most time by far. Of course, some of that is because the pieces look so similar. It made the pieces way to easy to get the top and bottom switched around. I definitely got my fill of seam ripping. (One of my goals is to make a project without having to seam rip!)

The zipper was the last piece to go in. Whew, not having a zipper foot can make things complicated. However, this was my second dress to make without a zipper foot. So, I knew (thank you experience!) to sew the zipper in with HUGE stitches. (It makes seam ripping so much easier.) Unfortunately, by then my brain was tired and I forgot to pay attention to where the excess material was. So, out came my seam ripper.

Despite all the mistakes . . . I did finish the dress! I decided staying up late was better than getting up early this morning to finish it. lol So, one AM arrived and the dress was completed. :)



Finished!

Christa :)



Christa's tea-length dress


C&R + Adopted family :)

Friday, June 3, 2011

Weekend Activities

The Matson visit was a success. :) Dinner Saturday night was plentiful, complete with cranberry fluff! It is absolutely the perfect summer dessert if you use frozen cranberries. An amazing blend of sweet, tart and cool.  Here is the recipe, so I don't lose it again:

Cranberry Fluff
1 1/2 c. sugar
12 oz. cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1 can pineapple (crushed OR whole)
1 pkg. cool whip
1/2 pkg. mini marshmallows . . . . which I was informed is a TX Baz. addition :)

Place sugar and cranberries in blender, add small amounts of pineapple juice if the sug/cran doesn't blend. (Getting the frozen berries smooth took most of the pineapple juice. When using fresh cranberries, you drain the juice!) Pour mixture into bowl. Blend pineapple and add to sugar mixture. Add cool whip and marshmallows. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Serves: LOTS!!

The evening was spent eating and catching up on life. Sunday, Michael, A. Sue and Rachie went to church. The boys got an early start of getting to the Indy 500. Michael met up with them just as the race was beginning. Unfortunately, the guys did not bring a camera. So, no group shots at the race. And I am still looking for my camera/pc connector, so no pics from me either.

The girls decided to try out 'lil Nashville after church. By the time we arrived  . . . it was definitely time for lunch! (The nice thing was we missed the lunch crowd.) We decided on a little place that served soups, salads and sandwiches. Their lemonade was absolutely amazing! Rach and A. Sue got salads, while I settled on hamburger with steak fries. Yummy! After finishing off lunch and getting lemonade to go . . . we looked at the map and decided to  walk each block and see the sights.

There were tons of ice cream shops and trinket and candle shops. We found so of the biggest bugs ever! Plus we found a character from UP. :) (Pictures will follow as soon as I find the connector!) The neatest place in town was the 1879 jail. It was a two story building that looked like it was made out of railrode ties. It was extremely cool inside! Seriously, the temperature was just about as cool as most of the a/c shops we went too. The main entry into the jail was extremely SHORT! Rach and I both had to duck for our picture. There were several cells downstairs and upstairs was a open room. One of the walls had several ball and chains attached to the it.


Before leaving we found one cute resale shop called Seven Sisters, tucked away in a corner. It was a good idea having a resale shop in Nashville, since there clothes were very nicely priced. All three of us looked through the wracks for "finds", but unfortunately the sizes just were not quite right.


Our favorite shops were ones that sold old antique signs with funny sayings. Here are a few the sayings, "If your smoking in here you had better be on fire"; Trespassers will be shot . . . Survivors will be shot again! and "I'm not short . . . I am fun sized!". After a hot afternoon, we needed some laughs.

Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could get icecream. (We joined the guys for dinner at the friends they stayed with.) We did stop at one of the ice cream parlors, but the line was all the way around the corner! (Their icecream must have been REALLY good!) So, the plan is start with icecream the next time we go. :)