The Imaginative Seamstress

 Someone asked me to write a post on my wedding dress. First off I will say that the thought of making my own wedding dress seemed way over my head. I had no idea where to start with designing it. There were so many things you could do...lace overlay, sequins, plain white satin, colors on the dress...no that was pretty much never an option for me, but still it wasn't easy trying to pick a design, pattern, fabric... Josh had proposed 3 days before my family went on vacation to FL so mom and I planned to go looking at the mall and a dress shop to get some ideas. So one of the days out of our week there, mom and I went dress shopping. Here are some of the dresses we tried out...     Very Pretty, too big and the lace stuff was terribly stiff and annoying     This one was awesome but I didn't think I could dance in it since it wouldn't let me lift my arms  Cute, too short. See the lace overlay and the pretty ...

My mother-in-love asked me to make this project for some friends of her's who've been waiting for their first baby for a very long time. They've just had a baby boy this past month, God be praised! Here are pictures of how the swim cover turned out. 

Here's an inexpensive and easy idea for Play Yard sheets. I do know how to make fitted sheets but I don't currently have a regular crib, we just use a Graco Play Yard. So here goes.   Buy a used top sheet from a thrift store or a garage sale. They'll be broken in and soft. Its easy to find just a top sheet really cheap because you may not find a whole set. I bought a tan top sheet for $4. I took them home and pulled out the mat that sits in the bottom of the play yard. I folded the sheet so there would be a fold for me to place the mat on. I laid down the mat and cut around it, giving myself seam allowances. Be sure to place the mat so that the already hemmed and nice top edge of the sheet is at one end of your mat. Then sew the bottom closed and the side. Very simple, it basically looks like a large pillow case. And the great thing about it is that you don't have to hem it! I am sorry that I didn't take pictures of the process, but I didn't think of postin...

Its been a long day, with lots of work. First the housework...laundry, dishes, floors, baby too. Yesterday I made two batches of salsa, which turned out 12 pints. I started late in the afternoon, around 3pm and didn't finish until nearly midnight! What's on my mind this evening is my sister's wedding and the sewing she and I are doing for it. She was here today for several hours sewing up a storm. Thankfully, Jubilee was a little angel today! Yay! We're making two bridesmaids dresses and her wedding gown. I'm going through some of the same worries I had when I made my own wedding dress. First there were so many choices and so many ways you could go that it was overwhelming! We've gotten past that part. We have the pattern and fabric and a plan! This is good! But I'm a perfectionist and that makes things so hard, on me especially. ***I cannot give too many details about the dresses lest the Groom to be sees something he's not supposed to and the ...

  My Grandparents came up to TN to visit this past spring. They came for our bi-annual barn dance that my parents have put on since '04. And of course we spent some time at the lake while they were here. Grandma asked if I had a pre-made suit that might fit her. I didn't have one at the time... she had a top that fit her to a tee. We decided to draw a pattern from it and make her a top. For the bottoms I had a pair of maternity pants that she tried on. She loved the way the band around the belly felt. Rather than having a 1" band of elastic to hold the bottoms snug around the waist, she liked the band. I did end up cutting the band not so steep of a swoop like it would have been for a maternity pair.    The neckline she requested be square. Now this was the first time I've made a square neckline on a swimsuit. It worked out okay but when she tried it on it seemed to droop a bit. I suppose it was a little too wide. So I wasn...