Ahhhhhh! Baby project completed!

What fun this project has been.  I haven't sewed with a machine since before Christmas and I really missed it.  I think that I will be satisfied for a little while now that I have made all the things I wanted to make for the new baby.  Best of all...I have a brand new heavy duty sewing machine that is making my sewing projects ever so much easier.  I didn't realize how time consuming my old machine had become.  It is a blessing in disguise that it broke down.  Below are the pictures of what else I have made besides the things I showed in my last blog.  All together I made 1 blanket, 2 towels, 7 wash clothes, 1 taggy cloth, 6 burping cloths, 2 crib sheets, 80 bum wipes, 10 receiving blankets, 2 sleepers, 3 sleep sacks, 3 white onsies, 4 colored onsies, 1 pocket diaper cover, 6 reversible diaper covers, 8 white PUL diaper covers with printed flannel outsides, 3 solid colored PUL diaper covers with white flannel insides, 8 specialty bibs (dog, cat, turtle, crab, 2 bugs, alligator, mystery animal), 3 PUL feeding bibs, 4 terry cloth feeding bibs, 14 drooling bibs (2 are PUL lined).  If you do not know what I mean by the PUL term, it is a water proof material that is great for diaper covers and bib liners.

2 extra small and 1 small onsies

white PUL lined flannel diaper covers

sleep sacks

PUL lined feeding bibs

PUL lined drooling bibs

cat & dog specialty bibs

turtle & crab specialty bibs

alligator and mystery animal bibs

bug specialty bibs

Winnie-the Pooh fleece sleeper

extra small onsies

small and medium onsies

table loaded with all the things I have made

taggy cloth (I make one for all the babies)

solid PUL diaper covers with flannel lining

Now, if only I can stay away from the sewing room and the material shop, I should be all set with sewing machine sewing for the time being.  I need to get back to knitting. I am currently working on pillows for the grand babies who will be celebrating their 2nd birthdays very soon...that would be Dot, Zoe, and Joey.  I have started making Dot's which is a daisy pillow, since she really likes daisies.  I couldn't find a pattern, so I am creating my own.  It is coming along nicely and is nearly finished.  I have to knit four more petals and then sew them together.  I'm not sure what I will do for the other two, but I need to get going with something for Zoe since her birthday is next month as is Dot's.  I have a little more time for Joey since his birthday is not until June.  Well, it is late and I need to get to bed.  School vacation is over, so it is back to babysitting tomorrow morning.

Why????Enough already!!!!

I'm sick with all the machine problems I have been having for the past three days.  Is it really only three days...it seems like an eternity.  What has me so upset and ready to cry is the sewing machines.  It all started on Saturday.  I was busy sewing on a special request project for a crib bumper and crib skirt that my daughter-in-law Ellen asked me to make for the new baby.  She bought the material and asked me to make them for her.  I was gliding along and had the bumper nearly completed.  All I needed to do was put the ties on...and that is when it all started.  My machine suddenly would not change stitch size.  Some how it got stuck sewing stitches so tightly that it was like on the setting for sewing in a button hole.  Nothing I could do would change the size.  I gave up trying and when I talked to Ellen she said she would bring me a machine that I could use to finish my projects.  She brought it over on Sunday and I started in afresh with new hope to finish all the things I have cut out and ready to sew.  I loved it...the machine was so quiet and smooth.  I finished the bumper, made the skirt, and sewed a sleeper, made 6 bibs, and sewed the edges of 12 more bum wipes.  What a machine...it was great.  Then, on Monday I was anxious to get going again since I have vacation from the babies this week and I wanted to get everything finished for the baby shower coming up on the 5th.  I sewed the edges of 4 receiving blankets and when I was nearly finished with the 5th blanket the machine suddenly stopped.  Something had jammed inside.  I checked the bobbin and everything else that usually causes a jam...nothing appeared to be wrong...I just could not even manually turn the wheel to get the mechanism to go up and down.  After going online to find a solution...I found no one that could answer my problem without looking at the machine.  I had my daughter bring her machine over so I could continue to work.  It is a different model than any I have used before.  It seemed that I could not get it threaded correctly and she has lost the user manual.  This was enough to drive me crazy, so I went out last night and bought me a new heavy duty Singer machine.  I am most familiar with Singer since I have been using them all my life.  I was so excited to get home and get started.  What next you may be wondering...well the drama does not end with my purchase of a new machine.  I came home and set it up and followed all the directions for threading it since it had a new type of bobbin device than I have ever used before.  Guess what?  I can't get it to sew correctly.  It is sewing like the bobbin is not correctly threaded, but for the life of me, I cannot see what I am doing wrong.  As soon as the store opens this morning I am going back to get some help.  I just can't understand why this is all happening...all I want to do is sew.

This is the crib skirt.

This is the crib bumper with the paisley outside and red inside.  I made it in two parts so that it is easier to handle.  It was while I was doing the ties on this project that I started with all the machine problems.

These are the bibs that I finished with Ellen's machine.

This is the sleeper that I finished with Ellen's machine.

I want to share with you the things that I have already sewed for the baby.  I am a real sewing fanatic as you will see.  These are the things I have finished, but I still have another sleeper, 3 sleep sacks, 3 more onsies, and 8 more specialty bibs that have been cut out and are ready to sew.

6 burping cloths...I downloaded these images onto printer iron-on applique paper.

crib sheets

6 reversible diaper covers, side one

same 6 reversible diaper covers, side two

In this pocket diaper cover, the diaper fits into a pocket and does not touch the babies skin.

These 6 drool bibs were made from remnants of the flannel I used for the receiving blankets.

I downloaded the images for the first 3 bibs onto printer cloth which I then machine appliqued onto the bibs.  I embroidered the bear bib. 

This reversible blanket was made by simply tying the fringed edges together...no sewing involved.

6 receiving blankets

I embroidered these two bath towels and made 4 wash cloths.

These are the bum wipes made from remnants of all the material left over from the other projects.

Every baby gets a bear.

Time to get to the store with my machine.

Surprise Project

I got a surprise when I went to church this Sunday.  I teach a class of three-year old children.  I have had four in my class, but a new one appeared at my door.  I use a special technique to get the children settled into class each week with puppets that I have made to look like the children.  I also have an extra boy and a girl puppet to use in case I have visitors.  I was able to use the boy for my new student, but it was just temporary until I could get his puppet made.  So, what did I do first thing this Monday morning?  Of course I got right to work and made my new student puppet.  Here are some pictures of what we look like.

This is what our class puppets look like, including the new boy and me.

This is Phebe and her puppet.

This is Matthew and his puppet.

This is Jason and his puppet.

This is Braeden and his puppet.

This is my new little Ryan and his puppet.

I enjoy doing these little things for my students.  They seem to enjoy them so much and at the end of the year I let them take them home.  I also made a memory game with their pictures on the cards.  I made two cards of each student and we play Memory.  They love it when they find their own pictures. 

Time to get back to my embroidery.  I am almost done with it.  I only have two towels left to do.  I have been able to complete some more sewing machine projects this weekend.  I finished making six diaper covers, a diaper pocket cover, and two onesies.  Still have to work on the sleepers.

I'm happy when...

I'm happy when...I finish a project and it looks okay...socks are done for awhile...I have a new project in the fire...the babies are both sleeping and I have time to blog, sew, knit, or do just whatever I wish to do!

Pair #2 finished and looking okay.

Yes, the socks are the same size...the picture is just deceiving.

Oh, by the way, Kim accepted the mismatched pair of socks, so I don't have to knit another one.   I'm so happy because the sock project was driving me nuts.  I tried something different with this pair because Kim said that the place where her others wore out was under the heel.  I decided to try reinforcing the heel by using a double strand of yarn in the bottom of the heel.  It worked out just the way I hoped it would and I was feeling pretty proud of myself...until I finished the first sock and looked at it...it was way too short.  Oh, no!!! What had I done?  I checked my pattern and realized that I was supposed to work thirty rounds for the foot and I had only knitted twenty.  That meant that I had to take it out from the toe to where I had started my decreases.  It wasn't easy because it was hard to tell where to stop unraveling and I no longer had my beginning of the round marker.  The yarn is so small that it was hard to pick up the stitches once I got back to where I thought I needed to be.  I am so happy that yarn is so forgiving...it is quite easy to repair a mistake without it being too noticeable.  Once I finished the sock for the second time, I had to go back and repair a few holes where I had not picked up the stitches properly.  I was so worried that the second sock would not be the same size as the first because of not knowing whether or not I had actually knitted thirty rounds on the first one.  Yes...they were just the same length (that is why I mentioned it in the above photo.  ALL RIGHT!!!

Now that Kim's socks are finished, I can get back to work on the big project that I said I would talk about when the socks were completed.   Our new grand-baby will be born in April and I have started a bunch of little things that are needed for a newborn.  I have made crib sheets, receiving blankets, towels, wash clothes, burping clothes, drool bibs, feeding bibs, and bum wipes.  I have sleepers ready to sew and plans for some onesies and diaper covers.  I have been using a variety of methods for appliqueing the pictures onto the items.  I have downloaded pictures onto printer iron-on transfers and sew-on cloth and I have copied pictures onto others  to embroider.  For a time, I will embroider instead of knit.  It will be a nice change since I have not done any embroidery for a while.

Need to go...Lexi is awake and needs my attention.

Oh...the frustration of it all!!!!

I can't believe what happened this time!  I bought the yarn for the self-striping socks like I did for the Christmas socks I made in 09.  I took both balls of yarn from the same bin and it looked like the same yarn.  Take a look at the socks and you will see that the yarn was close, but not the same.  I'm hoping that Kim will want to keep them.  If not, I will have to buy some more yarn and knit another sock, hoping to get a match for one of these.

You can see that the left sock has a darker color.  The connecting thin stripe is dark in the left sock and it is dotted in the right sock.  Also, the dark blue in the right sock is a lighter color than the dark blue stripe in the left sock.  Why couldn't it be the same?

You can see that the stripes are not in the same place, but that is supposed to happen with self-striping.  However, the different color is not suppose to happen.  Oh well...such is life!

I wanted to add some more pictures of socks I made for Christmas 09. Beside the socks that Lucy was wearing in my last blog, I have a few more to share.

Ellis, TW, and Ellen wearing their socks

This is Zoe in her socks. 

Zoe is also wearing her sweater that was like the one Lucy was wearing in my last blog.  You can see the cable a little bit in this sweater.  It shows a little bit along the buttons and on the sleeve cuffs.  Well, I need to get back to work on the next pair of socks.  Hopefully, the two balls of yarn will match.

My Little Goose

No, my Little Goose is not a project...she is my granddaughter Lucy.  We just call her Goose.  I don't have a lot of pictures of Lucy wearing things I have made.  Actually, she is wearing things that I made for her big sister Dorothy, but they fit her now, so she is wearing them.  Lucy is usually a very happy baby, but she had been feeling a little out of sorts yesterday when she came over wearing the sweater and socks.  These are the socks that I made for Christmas 09.  I also made the sweater for that Christmas.  The picture doesn't show it, but the sweater has a cabled front.  It was my first attempt at doing a cable project.

Check out the socks...nice and cozy!

This shows the sweater with the hood up. Still can't see the cable rows along the buttons.

Just wanted to share these pictures of our little Lucy.  She is such a sweet little girl.

What to do when...

What do you do when you make a mistake because the pattern wasn't correct?  Well, I found out when I made my grandsons shirts for Christmas.  For some reason the pattern was way too short.  For one, I was able to get some matching rib knitting and add a strip to the bottom of the shirt to extend the length.  However, for this shirt I was unable to find a matching ribbing.  I knew that I had seen shirts that had sleeves and lower extensions to the body, but I wasn't sure how to do it.  Yesterday, Joey had on a shirt with just what I was looking for.  I checked it out and decided that I could fix his shirt the same way.  I went to the store last night and picked up some material and came home and fixed his shirt.  The bottom extension is longer than I would like to have seen it, but I think it will work.  At least now he can wear it without it showing his bellybutton.

I actually think the shirt looks better with the extensions...more like a football shirt.

So, now that the shirt is fixed, I can turn my attentions to his pants.  This is the weekend and the time I get to do my sewing machine work.  I can't really get much done during the week unless I work at night when Joey and Lexi are not here.  It works well this way...knit during the week and sew on the weekends.  That way I get to break up my projects and I enjoy them more.  Now, if only I didn't have to clean my house first...projects are much more fun!

Lexi's sweater

Lexi's sweater is finished. I was worried because it looked way too wide, but when I tried it on her it fit just perfectly.  Her mother didn't like the neck the way the pattern showed, so I tried something a little different.  I wasn't sure if it would work, but I just made the same stitch that was used for the buttonhole edge instead of the bottom ribbing.  I worked four rows in the matching stitch and then four rows of stockinette stitch like the rest of the sweater.  Then I folded the collar in half, turned it in, and sewed it along the neck line.  It's a little thick, but I think her mother will like it better than the designed collar from the pattern.

 

My adorable little honey bunny in her new sweater.

What's the next project?  Well, for Christmas of 09 I knitted socks for everyone in the family...that was nine adults and four children.  Kim, one of my daughters-in-law, loves hers so much that she has nearly worn out her pair.  She has requested an order for two more pairs.  I started in last night and hope to have one pair done by next week.  Socks are quite difficult and take time because the yarn is so thin and the needles so small.  It takes ten rounds to get an inch and the top of the sock is eight inches, so eighty rounds of fifty-six stitches just to get the top done.  The foot is much more time consuming, but I'm up to the challenge.  If I can make thirteen pairs, I can easily make two.

Along with the socks, I am working on some sewing machine projects.  My daughter requested some more pants for Joey.  I made corduroy pants for Christmas for the grandsons.  Cheryl likes Joey's and asked me to make more.  I am making one corduroy pair and a pair of sweat pants. I have a much larger project started for the new baby due in April.  I will talk about it in my next blog.  No time now because Lexi just woke up and needs my attention.