Ramblings from a bad blogger!

Really, this is nothing new for me!  I go through good blogging periods and then just fall off the face of the earth again.  Anyway, my big update this time (and possibly a good excuse for not blogging) is that Rob and I are expecting a baby.  I am 12 weeks now.  Tomorrow actually but close enough.  On top of being tired I seem to have lost interest in a lot of things.  I no longer care what half the people on my facebook friends list have to say anymore (nothing against most of them!) and I don't even do a very good job at keeping up with reading blogs.  I do read them but it's more like catch up on a weeks worth of posts on Sunday morning instead of reading them every day or every other day.  Besides that, I have done about zero sewing this whole summer with the exception of this weekend.  The problem is, we don't have central air and live in a third floor apartment.  My sewing area is in the bedroom which is cooled by fans.  They work fine for sleeping but not so much for sewing.  Fans like to blow my stuff around and make it hard to work.  It has been slightly cooler and I actually got the urge to sew this weekend.  Yesterday I finished up some bib and burp cloth sets that I started in May/June and today I made myself a nursing cover.  That would be the first of many things that I made to use with the baby.  The bib and burp cloths are actually to sell on Etsy.  I will make some for myself/baby in October when we find out the sex.  I plan to make all the bedding for baby as well as changing pad cover, Boppy cover, wet bags, maybe some cloth diapers, and many more items.  If it is a girl I will probably make a ton of cute clothes.  Ideally, I would like to blog about all the things that I make for baby but we'll see.

Our other, less exciting news is that in November we are moving.  That was pretty much the plan before we found out we were pregnant.  There are just too many things that I have come to hate about this place and with a baby there is no way we could live here.  First off, one bedroom won't cut it.  Second, I'm tired of not having central air.  Plus, I want laundry that we don't have to go outside to get to and then have quarters for. Not gonna happen with a baby.  Especially not with a cloth diapered baby!  I'm also looking forward to having a bigger kitchen that has a dishwasher.  We will most likely move to another apartment (in a different complex/city of course) but I still like the idea of renting a house.  I don't think we are quite where we need to be to buy just yet but that would be nice as well.  We do plan on exploring all options of course but at this point I see us in another apartment.

Now, I couldn't write a post and not include pictures of what I actually accomplished this weekend.  Well I could but if I had promised to post them later, it wouldn't get done so here they are!

Here are the bib and burp cloth sets that are getting listed on Etsy tonight.

 The set pictured below has two burp cloths in the set and is made with flannel instead of cotton for the front.  All are made with white chenille on the back side.

 The ones above were the first ones I made.  The bibs were kind of big in my opinion so I decided to make them a little smaller.  I also decided to make them with side opening instead of right in the middle.  I liked that more too.  So the rest of the bibs are a little different.  And the set below has two bibs that go with it and a coordinating burp cloth instead of a matching burp cloth.

 A boy set!  I have more fabrics that coordinate with this one all cut out and ready to go so there will be more boy stuff coming soon.  But this was my favorite so I made it first.

 These last two are actually coordinating sets and could go together or separate.  The first one also has a coordinating set to go with it but I only have the fabric cut out so far.

 And here is my nursing cover!  If I were to make it again, I would make it longer and also make sure the print is going the opposite direction.  I would also add a pocket to the inside for nursing pads.  I probably could still add the pocket though.  Or I may just make a whole new one!  I also think I may add these to the shop!

Adding a scalloped edge to a dress

As promised, here is my first ever tutorial!!  Today we will be adding a scallop edge to the bottom of a dress.

Cute yes?  The dress is actually Simplicity pattern #5489.  I cut out the contrasting band as directed and made the changes that I explain below.  It could easily be added to any dress pattern.  Just make sure you cut the long edge of the band on the fold.

Once you have your band cut out, fold it in half lengthwise right sides facing in.  Mine was a solid color so it didn't matter.

Before you start tracing your scallops, be sure to mark you seam allowance so that you are not sewing into them.  Next find something round to trace.  I used a Starbucks lid.  It was the perfect size to make an exact number of whole scallops without having too much or too little!  I did not plan or measure to make sure it happened, it just worked out.  It would probably look best if your scallops begin and end right at your seam marks.  Mine also worked out so that I had an even number of scallops so I did not have one folded on the one side.  Also, you will notice the three dots on my lid.  I made marks to make sure that my scallops were even.  The center one is for you to line up on the seam.  The other two are where you start and end your scallop.  I also did not draw my line right on the fold of the fabric.  Leave just a little bit of space since you will be sewing right on the line you drew.

  Quick picture of the drawn scallops.

Now sew along the marks you drew.

Cut out the extra space between scallops and clip your curves being careful not to cut your thread.  Pinking shears make this was easier and faster than cutting and then clipping curves!  If you don't have them, go buy some!  Seriously, so easy!!  In the picture above you can see that I did not draw my lines all the way to the bottom.  I also didn't find it necessary to cut that little bit on the bottom.  Do make sure that you take regular scissors and cut in between the scallops a little more.  This helps with the puckering when you turn it right side out.

 Turn right side out and iron.

Open up your ends (you can leave the rest right side out, just flip each end scallop wrong side out).  Line up your two short end wrong side out and pin them together. 

Sew them together.

Flip right side out and iron.

Here you can see that my scallops lined up perfectly with my seams.  Still don't how I got that lucky!

Now we are going to add the band to our dress.

Make sure to line up the seams of the band with the seams of the dress and then continue to pin all the way around.  We are pinning them right sides together.  Your band shouldn't matter what side you use but make sure to pin it to the right side of your dress.  I just chose which side of the band I liked the best (which one showed the least amount of puckering).

Now straight stitch all the way around.

Finish your raw edges.  I don't have a serger so I use the zig-zag setting making sure one side is just off the edge so it pulls in the raw edge and leaves a nice finished look.

Iron your dress so that the seam is facing up.

Now top stitch all the way around and you are done!

Yay for my first tutorial!!  I'd love some feedback.  If I did an okay job I may try to do more.  However I am more of a follow a tutorial kind of girl than write my own.  Maybe I should start posting links to the tutorials I follow and share a few pictures of my finished products instead.

Back to Blogging

I know my last post said that this blog was moving.  Well it's not.  I was having issues with my email address that is linked to this blog.  I decided to delete that email account and start a new one.  Well the issue was solved and I never deleted it.  It was more work than it was worth.  I never did post in the new blog I started.  I think it would just be easier to keep this one and delete the other.

Anyway, I've been wanting to start blogging again.  I really do want to keep up with it and hopefully get it to really take off.  It is going to continue to help promote my etsy store but also be about other things as well.  It will mostly be about sewing and crafting but I'd also like to use it for my photography (unless/until that gets big enough to need a blog of its own) and other day to day life things.

So, to celebrate starting to blog again, I thought I would post a tutorial.  It will be my very first (hopefully of many) tutorials!  I am usually a follow a pattern/tutorial kind of girl but this time I came up with something all on my own and didn't even have to Google how to do it!  I was planning on making a dress from a pattern a friend gave me.  Before I got around to it, I saw a little girl wearing a dress that had a scalloped edge.  I knew right then that I wanted to attempt that and the dress that I was planning to make would be perfect!  It is pretty much a jumper type dress with a band at the bottom.  I followed the instruction of the dress until I got to the band.  I then did my own thing with the band before attaching it.  And I have to say, it looks pretty darn cute.  I am totally proud of myself for doing it too!  Sorry, you will have to wait to see pictures until I post the tutorial.  No sneak peek here!  I'm hoping to have the tutorial up within a week.

Also, for another post, I will show you what else I have been working on.

I moved this blog

In order to simplify things I decided to merge accounts. In order to do that, I had to create a whole new blog complete with new blog address. So if you would like to stay up to date (har har, not that I blog much at the moment) you can now find this blog at:

www.abitofthisshop.blogspot.com

I could get used to that

This past week I was off of work. It gave me time to really focus on my sewing and really get the business going. I did great right off the bat and I couldn't be happier! I started my facebook page on Friday night and by Sunday night I had over 30 people like my page! I also had orders to work on. My schedule for the week went like this... Wake up between 5-5:15 to go to the gym and work out. Come home, eat breakfast and shower. Once places were open I would go and run my errands such as going to Joann's for supplies/fabric, taking my car in for an oil change, post office and bank stuff, etc. Then I would be home by 10 and start sewing. I would work until I got hungry for lunch and then work again until either I finished a project or it was dinner time. Then I would spend some time with my husband. It was really nice to have a routine like that and I enjoyed it more than I though I would (and I knew I would really enjoy it). It actually made me start thinking of finding a part time job so I could focus on this more. Unfortunately I don't think I'm in a place where I can give up my full time job just yet. Maybe someday! Until then, I am going to try and find time whenever I can to work on things.

Changes and getting started again

I haven't done much with this blog or with my "business" lately. However I have decided to get started again. I am also changing the name mostly because the old name was kind of boring but also because my initials are no longer CH. Or at least they won't be once I finally get around to changing my last name. For now I have decided not to delete my current blog. I will rename it but it will still have the old URL. I really don't want to try switching all of that so for now this blog stays. I do need to start posting on it more often and also work on getting followers.

The other change that I've made is creating a new facebook page. Just search for "A Bit of This." By the way, that's the new name in case you couldn't tell by the heading.

New Idea!!

I am going to try to make a reusable sandwich bag. If it works out, I will try to sell them. I can't wait to try it out! First I have to find some good fabric and a liner. I will post updates soon. This is my last week of work before my three week vacation so hopefully I will have time to work on some stuff. I also am excited to get started on the ribbon blanket that I bought stuff for!