37 weeks.

Here I am. 37 weeks. This babe could come any day now and just might. Jeremy figured out that my average birth date is 38 weeks, 2 days.  That would be next week people!

Seth wants the baby to be born RIGHT NOW and he tells me this daily.  He doesn't understand how very little control I have over the whole thing :)

So, let's play a little game, shall we?

You guess when the baby will be born.  Give me dates, times and weights.  Whoever is closest will get a prize sometime this year.

I can't promise anything for at least a couple of months you know, I'm going to be busy with a newborn ;)

Me and my boys

So....here are some stats to help you out.

Emma: 37 weeks 3 days, 7 lbs 8 oz., 10:35pm
Seth: 38 weeks 2 days, 9 lbs. 3 oz., 4:59 am
Amelia: 39 weeks 1 day, 7 lbs. 15 oz., 12:06 am
Liberty: 38 weeks 2 days, 8 lbs. 2 oz., 5:25 am

 So, what do you think?  When will our newest little man make his grand appearance???

Also, due to overwhelming love of my skirt on Facebook, I thought I would give you a heads up about where I got it.

I made it.  I know, shocking.  When I was pregnant with Libby, I had a brilliant idea, to make myself some skirts with shirred or smocked fabric at the top.  I went to Joann fabric and found a few prints I liked.  I wrapped it around my belly to figure out how much I needed and had it cut.  Then I went home, sewed up the seam and hemmed it to the length I wanted.  That was it.  Really simple.

I haven't been able to find a great selection at Joann this year, but I found some I love at Hancocks.  If you order it online, just measure your belly and go from there.  Super easy and OH so comfy!

Getting Ready

First of all, I want to thank you all for your sweet emails the last few days.  I have been so overwhelmed with your kindness and love.

I am feeling better about the baby.  I think it helps that I finished this today.

Cute isn't it??  I love owls, and when I saw this fabric, I knew exactly what had to be done with it.  I started to recover the pink carseat a few weeks ago.  However, while I could have come up with a pattern on my own, sometimes I just like to have had someone else tell me what to do.  So, off to Etsy I went and I found this tutorial!

Really easy to follow, probably even easier if you do what she tells you to by taking pictures of the seat as you are taking it apart though :) heehee.

Anyhoo, I am thrilled to be finished (so is Libby, she likes to sit in it now), and just can't wait to have a wee little babe in it.

Maternity Skirt 101

My favorite jeans to wear are the Secret Fit Belly jeans from Motherhood.  I love the spandex top that gives me full coverage and sucks me in at the same time.

I really wanted a skirt (or 5) that did the same thing.  However, despite my searching, I couldn't find any.  So, I took matters into my own hands and produced this

Cute, no?  I loved making it so much, and it really was so easy, that when I made my next skirt, I took loads of pictures so you all could make this skirt too.

So, here it is, my first tutorial (which means when you have loads of questions because my instructions were clear as mud you better ask).

To make any of the pictures bigger, just click on them.

Super Cute and Sassy Maternity Skirt

Materials
2ish yards of skirt fabric - anything that has a nice drape
1/4 yard swimsuit fabric - you want something with good stretch.

First thing you want to do is either find a skirt pattern you love, or a skirt you love.  This is going to be the template for your pattern.

I took my jeans that I love so much, folded them in half and laid them out.  I then put the skirt I love, again folded in half,  on top of the jeans so I could make my pattern.

Next I got a piece of wrapping paper (my favorite thing to make patterns with) and traced the top so I could have something to pin to the fabric.

This shows my layout.  Now I knew what shape to cut the skirt part in, and how much of the stretchy fabric I would need.

Next, I pinned the top of the skirt down so that I would be cutting where the skirt hits my hips.

Now with your fabric folded in half, lay out your pattern with the front of the skirt on the fold.

Now for the back.

I did the same thing I did for the front, except I turned my jeans around to make my back pattern piece.

After cutting it out, I laid the front that I had already cut out, on top of this.

Now here is something very important.  You see how the pattern piece I cut out curves on the front?  Don't cut that curve.  DO NOT  CUT THAT CURVE!!!  I did the first time and I had a great little V in the front of my skirt.  Just make it square as you can see I did in the picture.

Now that you have both sides cut out, serge or sew them together, right sides facing together.

Now it is time for the waistband.

As you can see when looking at the jeans and my drawing of what I wanted the top to look like, the front was going to be longer than the back.  With two little ones running around my sewing room and asking to listen to Jingle Bells, I couldn't concentrate enough to do that.  So, I just made my waistband all one size.  It works and I love it.

For my waistband measurement, I took the fabric and measured it against my jeans to get the right width.  I cut two of these and serged right sides together.

If you don't have a pair of jeans that you love like I do, just take the stretchy fabric and put it around your waist until it is comfortable.  You don't want it so tight that it cuts off the circulation, but you want it tight enough to stay in place.

After I had my right sides serged together, I folded it like I would fold the top of a sock down, wrong sides together.  This makes it two layers thick.  Now you don't have to do this, but if you don't, you will want to make a small hem at the top.

You can see that the waistband is much smaller than the skirt.  This is good, you want it this way.

Pin the waistband to the skirt, right sides together.  I pin at each side, matching up seams and the center front and center back.

 Now baste this together.  Basting is using a long stitch, I set my machine at a 4, so that it is easy to rip out if I need to.

Try on your skirt and be sure it fits how you like.  If it doesn't, then take out the stitches you just did and redo the waistband.  Lucky for me, it was perfect, so I was ready to serge.

 When you start to serge it (or do a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine) you will see that it is a bit bunched up.  Stretch it out while you sew, being sure that the fabric lays flat.

Now it's time to hem this baby up.  Try it on again and check the length.  Mine was a lot longer than I wanted, so I actually ended up cutting off about 4 inches.   Pin it where you want it and make a nice hem.

This next step is extremely important.  Try it on and have your 4 year old take a picture so you can share it with the world.  Be sure that your undies are cutting into your belly so it looks like you have two.  I can't stress the importance of this step enough.

Now, find the perfect sassy maternity shirt and show off your Sassy Self for all the world to see!

You just made a skirt and it wasn't too painful, now was it??

Questions??  Please ask.  I will answer all questions in the comments, so everyone can see.  Share what you made with me, I can't wait to see!!!

*With the first skirt I made, I used a different skirt as my pattern than the second.  So, the first one is a bit more full than the second.  The skirt pattern I used for the red and gray skirt is adapted from the Amy Butler Barcelona skirt pattern.

Getting Ready

I can't believe that next week at this time I will be in New York at Blogher!!!  I can't wait.

But, while I can't wait, I have SO much to get done before we leave on Wednesday.  Besides getting everything ready for my Mom to come (she is staying with the hooligans while we're gone), keeping the kids fed and happy, I am also working on a few other projects...

Remember this?  This is the Clapotis I made in 2007 (look at those leaves, I love fall here!) and I decided I needed one for Summertime.  When I found the perfect yarn (made of SUGAR CANE!!!) I knew I had to do it again.

Isn't this just a beautiful color???  I am about 2/3 of the way done, so I am working every spare minute I have on it.

I am also making a few new outfits for New York.  I have 3 dresses I have made and am now going to make myself a wrap skirt with this fabric

It's not quite that bright, but it is so beautiful!

That is where I am trying to get ready.  Oh, and of course loving on my babies every chance I get.  I am going to miss them so much!!!

Calling All Crafty Types

Ok, I normally wouldn't even post this as it greatly diminishes my chances of winning, but really, it is such a great deal I had to share it with all of you.

My good friend, Loralee, recently started working for Where Women Create.  This is a great magazine for all things crafty.  They are hosting a conference in September called The Creative Connection.  Keynote speakers include Amy Butler (I KNOW!!!) and Ree Drummond.  There are fabulous panelists and it promises to be a weekend to remember.

Well, the generous folks of Creative Connection are giving away not 1, but 3 fully paid trips and passes to the conference.  That's right, hotel, airfare and conference registration!!!!  The conference is September 15-18 in Minneapolis, MN.

So, what do you have to do??  Well, this is the easy part. Read the official rules and then send an email to larkcraftsTCC@sterlingpublishing.com, with the following:
1.Your name, age, e-mail address, and mailing address
2. An essay of 250 words or less answering the following question: How will attending the Creative Connection Event impact your creativity and/or creative business?
If you have an artistic bone in your body and/or love hearing from speakers like The Pioneer Woman, Amy Butler and Mary Jane Butters, YOU MUST, MUST ENTER!
*****ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY 5PM (EST), FRIDAY JULY 23rd********

I am entering, and I hope you will too!!!  Hope to have at least one person I know win!!!!  That means YOU MOM!!!!  Enter!!!!  Everyone else too....ENTER!!!

Nap Time Sewing

I love this shirt.  I think this is going to be my new favorite pattern.  For Winter, I may make long sleeves to go with it.  So comfy and really easy.

The only thing I don't like is that it goes a little lower than I would like, next time I will make the seam allowance on the yoke a little larger to bring the yoke up higher.

Also, I will wash the fabric beforehand.  Yeah, I know, you are always supposed to do that and usually I do, but I was so excited to get this from Fabric.com so when it came, I dug in right away.  And...well...there are now some nice green looking spots under my arms.  And my bra is a bit green too.

Can you see it?  Right there where the green has faded a bit?  Yeah, I took that picture and didn't even realize what it would show until that night when I took off my shirt.

Oh well, live and learn.

Who Needs Anthropologie?

When Loralee told me she needed a skirt (or two) because of a dare from some of her friends at  Blogher , I was on a mission.
First, she has some issues with her legs (seriously, I am not being mean, she really does) and it makes her pretty self-conscious showing them.
Second, she needed something comfortable and easy to move in.  She is a busy Mom and can't be slowed down by a pencil skirt or something that needs a lot of care in the washing.
Third, I needed to come up with a pattern that will not take too terribly long and will work with a good cotton fabric.

The first skirt is a basic gathered skirt pattern that I have come up with myself.  It is super comfortable and fun.  I added a thick ribbon at the bottom and it is perfect.

Loralee wore this the first day of the Casual Blogger Conference and it was a HIT!  Seriously, so many compliments and I loved listening to each and every one of them!

The second skirt took a little lot more time but was SO worth it.

If you are going to Blogher this year, you will see this skirt (and the other one too).  We are (and when I say we, I mean me) adding some fabric flowers to the ribbon.

This skirt has pleats and gathers, two kind of fabric, ribbon, a zipper and is SO cute!!!  Many people asked me how much this skirt would cost.  Let's break it down shall we?  I will only make it out of good fabric.  If it is going to be worn a lot, it needs to be durable.  So for fabric, zipper, ribbon and thread $40.  When I sew, I charge $10/hour, sounds reasonable right?  Well, this skirt takes 8 hours to make.  So, this skirt will sell for a grand total of $120.

So, while you could go to Anthropologie and get a skirt for about the same price or go to Kohls, JC Penney, Old Navy or The Gap and get one for half that price, you will not get something custom made for you that no one else owns.  I like that.  I love having something that no one else does and is specifically made for me.

These will be in my Etsy shop soon.  You like??

Because of a Shirt at TJ Maxx

Come check out my review and giveaway for an awesome new kids book!

I went to TJ Maxx the other day.  I don't typically go shopping for myself, but I had $25 that I had just gotten from my in-laws for Mother's Day and it was burning a hole in my pocket.  Oh, and I had just sold a sling too, so I decided to splurge a little.

So, off to TJ Maxx I went and found a few shirts that I thought were cute.  Then I found some Born Sandals for only $40!!!  SQUEE!  Running short on time (darn that school pick up) I hurried and tried on the shirts.  I settled on one that I thought would look cute with jeans and took off like a crazy woman to get Seth from school.

I got home and remembered some fabric I had bought to make myself a dress.  Excited that the stars had aligned and I would actually have something that MATCHED, a ran downstairs with my new shirt in hand and put it by the fabric, oh my gosh it was meant to be.

I whipped up a slightly modified gathered skirt from this pattern.  It took all of about 30 minutes and I am thrilled with the results.  At Church, my friends said they would never guess it was homemade, except that it was mine and that typically means that I made it.

I finished it and talked the man into a little photo shoot so I could see how it looked on.  I don't have a full length mirror in my house, so this is what I do. We got one good shot before shoot turned a little silly....

But that's okay because I can be as silly as I want to when I am wearing the most comfortable outfit that I now own and when it is so super cute!

Snow.

Today is April 28 (thanks Connie) and it is SNOWING at my house.  I am just beyond upset about this.  I hate snow in the Winter, I LOATHE it in the Spring.  Jeremy has the attitude that it is just white rain, but I can't get on board with that.  Stupid snow.

So, I am editing photos and remembering LAST WEEK when it was in the 60's and 70's and I got some nice tan on my skin.

 My new dress I made for myself.  I LOVE IT!!!

 Dresses I made for the girls.

Busy

I have been so busy recently. 

Busy enjoying the sunshine

 

busy sewing, 

busy living

my

life

How about you?  What have you been up to?

This post is part of Beth's You Capture