Moving Day Is on Its Way!
I think it’s official enough now that I can say, “WE’RE MOVING NEXT WEEK!” The house is under contract. The inspection is done. The appraisal is back. Closing is set for next Thursday. A good bit of the house is packed, and the moving truck will be arriving next Wednesday morning. That’s only 10 days away! Anyone want to come help me pack or wrangle a few little boys who won’t stop climbing the stacks of boxes?
New Family Photos! Plus A Little About Choosing the Outfits for Our Session
Woo-hoo! We got our family pictures back! And, I LOVE them! I’m so excited to have beautiful family photographs to display when we’re finally settled into our new home in Florida. Our photographer was Brandi of Brandi Thompson Photography, and she is simply amazing! She does such a great job of showing families actually interacting and enjoying each other. There’s so much life in her photography!
Before I go any further, you really have to click on the images to see the larger versions. The small photo size that my blog allows, simply does not do justice to how gorgeous this photography is!
Having professional photographs done is an investment, and I really wanted to do everything that I could to make sure that I would be thrilled with the pictures. Because there are so many of us, I knew that our clothes would really have to work well together. A few weeks before our session, I decided on three primary colors to use for our clothing, then I set out to make sure that everything coordinated nicely without looking matchy-matchy. I chose the colors red, white and blue, allowing multiple shades of blue so that we didn’t look overly patriotic. (Of course, we are very patriotic, so if it comes out that way, it’s really okay!) As I found fabrics that I liked for the clothing that I planned to sew or ran across clothing items that I thought might work for the rest of us, I threw it onto a design board. It really helped me to better visualize how it all worked together. Here’s what our final design board looked like:
(My top, tank and skirt and the girls’ dresses are all from Old Navy, as well as Sean’s red and white striped tee. Ray’s blue polo came from JCPenney. We found Allen’s red striped polo at Macy’s. The flowered fabrics are organic cotton from the Chick Chick collection by Nancy Mims for Robert Kaufman. The red plaid fabric is from the Stars & Stripes Collection from Deena Rutter for Riley Blake Designs, and the solid red fabric is Kona Cotton also from Robert Kaufman.)
I didn’t stop with the clothes, though. I wanted everything to work together, so I coordinated our shoes, too! (Is that going a bit overboard?)
(The three youngest boys wore Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars in red and dazzling blue. Sean’s shoes are navy blue Toms. Ray’s denim Vans and Samantha’s blue Candie’s sandals came from Kohls. Morgan’s white sandals can be found at Target, and Katie’s at Payless Shoes.)
I think the end result was definitely worth putting in a little planning time! We’re going to be looking at these pictures for many years. What do you think?
You can find lots more pictures and the larger versions of these, too, over on Brandi’s Blog: The “F” Family – Fun Frisco Family Session. While you’re there, be sure to check out the rest of her incredible photography, as well!
Maple Oatmeal Blueberry Crumble
Blueberry season is just wrapping up here in Texas which I think means it’s probably in full swing north of here. Our house is full of blueberry lovers, so when I was presented with an amazing deal on 1 1/2 gallons of fresh organic blueberries straight from the farm, how could I possibly pass it up? (I was actually excited not to have to take Charlie to the store to purchase these. He thinks blueberries are the best food ever created, but because he’s only two, he doesn’t say “blueberries” well. It comes out “boobies”. Have you ever stood in the produce department of a grocery store with a two-year-old screaming excitedly while bouncing in the cart, “BOOBIES! BOOBIES! BOOBIES!”?)
We’ve eaten loads of these straight from the bowl. We’ve made blueberry muffins, but for some reason, my kids don’t care for them much. They did inhale the blueberry maple syrup that I made with our weekly pancake dinner, though. (I used this recipe: Blueberry Maple Syrup.) Because we’re moving across the country, I didn’t want to freeze any, so I needed to come up with a recipe that we all really liked that would get these blueberries eaten! Enter my Maple Oatmeal Blueberry Crumble.
The Ingredient List
3 1/2 – 5 cups of blueberries (Blueberries are one of the “Dirty Dozen“, so try to choose organic only. Be sure that you’ve removed all the stems.)
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
2 1/2 cups of white whole wheat flour
2 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1 cup of butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pour blueberries into a bowl. Drizzle the 3 tablespoons of maple syrup over them and toss them lightly to cover. Set the berries aside.
Melt butter.
In a separate large bowl, combine flour, oats and cinnamon.
Pour 1 cup of maple syrup into the melted butter and stir.
Combine the butter/maple syrup combination with the dry ingredient.
Enlist the help of any early risers. (Jamie helped me make this batch for breakfast yesterday. Please excuse his almost-too-small-just-woke-up-wrinkled-mama-made jammies! They were a great fit when I made them over a year ago. You can peek back at them and see how much he’s grown right here.)
Once the crumble is all mixed, pour about half of it into a buttered 9 1/2 x 11 glass or ceramic baking dish. Press it in well. If it’s sticky, try wetting your fingers a little, or just lick it off your fingers when you’re finished!
Pour the blueberries evenly over the top.
Use your fingers to sprinkle the remaining crumble over the top.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the topping is browned and the blueberries are bubbling up on the sides. Go ahead and try to resist the urge to grab one of those crumbles off of the top. They’re so yummy! (I wonder how this would work as an oatmeal cookie . . . might have to try that.)
Enjoy! 
(A tiny little word of caution: when you eat this straight from the oven, it may temporarily turn your teeth slightly purple. Your children will think this is absolutely hilarious. If you’re serving company, they may not feel the same way, but if you add a little homemade vanilla ice cream, they’ll totally forgive you!)
Family Photo Sewing52 (Family) Projects in 2012: #16, 17 & 18
We took advantage of having all of our children and our granddaughter in this week and planned a family photo session yesterday with the amazing Brandi of Brandi Thompson Photography! After all the planning and sewing that led up to the session, I don’t know how I’m going to manage the couple of weeks that it’ll take to get our proofs back!
I used my Everyday Camp Shirt pattern for shirts for our two youngest boys. When I told Jamie that we were using the colors red, white and blue for pictures, he asked for plain red, with red buttons, and he was not about to be swayed. At least he was okay with me doing the topstitching in white! I actually love the look of a solid colored camp shirt with coordinating stitching. I added a second line of stitching on the sleeve and bottom hems for a little extra color.
For Charlie’s shirt, I chose this red plaid from the Stars & Stripes Collection from Deena Rutter for Riley Blake Designs, and . . .
. . . added airplane buttons for a little extra fun.
I spent more time on Katie’s outfit than I did on anything else. It’s a little sneak peek at a girls’ (yes, I said girls’!) pattern that I’m planning for the fall. Because it’s a new pattern, I had to sew up a few sample dresses to test out the design, sizing and construction. I’m really, really happy with how the final dress came out. (There will be a few other options with this pattern. You know that I won’t give you anything without choices, right? You’ll have to wait a little while to see the rest, though.)
Katie’s dress is organic cotton from the Chick Chick collection by Nancy Mims for Robert Kaufman. I found it last week, along with the plaid fabric for Charlie’s shirt, when I stopped in at The Quilt Asylum.
It’ll be a little bit, but I’ll be sure to share our photos as soon as they are ready!
200 Pairs of Shorts!
Have you heard the news?! We passed 200 pairs of shorts for July’s Hopeful Threads project! That means that not only do we have a huge pile of shorts to bless little boys through Children in Families in Cambodia, but we can send shorts to Ghana, too!
And, there is still time for you to sew! The free Mud Puddle Splashers pattern will be available through midnight tomorrow night. Grab it and sew a few pairs of shorts at naptime or even after the kids are in bed tonight. (Be sure to scroll through my other blog posts from this month for the back pocket addition and tips for sewing knit shorts in a flash!)
Look What I Found!
I was on the hunt for fabric for a couple of projects yesterday, so I ran up to this quilt shop, just north and east of Dallas, in McKinney. It’s called The Quilt Asylum. Is that not the greatest name for a quilt shop?! I love that they always have a nice selection of the latest fabric releases, and the ladies who work there are so friendly and helpful!
I browsed around the store for a bit looking for exactly the right fabric, then I turned and walked back towards the front of the store to see what I missed the first time around. (Do you do that when you shop for fabric? Sometimes I have to look over the rows multiple times to actually see everything!) When I turned, I saw this lovely rack of sewing patterns, and something on that rack of sewing patterns caught my eye! (Do you see what I saw?)
I don’t think I actually sprinted across the store, and I’m sure that I didn’t squeal as if I had just seen my favorite movie star, but I really wanted to do both of those things! Right there, hanging on the rack among stars like Serendipity Studios, Sew Liberated and Indygo Junction, were two Fishsticks Designs patterns!
It was the first time that I walked into a shop and found my patterns for sale! How cool is that? (I do wholesale my patterns directly to a few quilt shops around the country, but the majority of my wholesale distribution is through United Notions. Because of that, I don’t actually know what shops carry my patterns.)
It was so much fun having a few minutes of feeling a little like a celebrity, introducing myself and showing off my designs! Today, though, it’s back to reality, and my every-growing to-do list. My whole family is coming in this weekend, and we have a family photo session scheduled for Monday evening. Today’s goals include getting shirts done for Charlie and Jamie and working on a dress for Katie (one that I hope will end up as a new pattern for the fall).
There are just six days left to download and sew the free Mud Puddle Splashers pattern for Hopeful Threads and Children in Families! The latest count is 130 pairs of shorts! Think we can add 70 more for 200 total by next Tuesday?
In addition to the free pattern and the joy of sewing for someone in need, there are some great giveaways this month, including this Playdate Backpack filled with goodies from me! Each pair of shorts that you sew and donate enters you to win. You can check out all the other prizes including patterns from Figgy’s and Muddy Max Designs over on the Hopeful Threads blog.
Naptime Knit Mud Puddle Splashers
There are still 12 days left to grab the free Mud Puddle Splashers pattern and sew a pair of shorts for the Hopeful Threads’ Little Boys’ Shorts Sewing Project! I thought I’d take advantage of naptime at my house yesterday to show you the quickest way to sew the MPS using knit fabrics.
First, knit fabrics are wider than woven fabrics, so you can save a little time by combining the pocket and the body/leg piece. (You can do this on woven fabrics, too, but keep in mind that it will increase the amount of fabric that you’ll need, especially if you need to match up a stripe or print.) Tape your pattern together and cut out the correct size. Print and cut a second pocket pattern. (It’s page 26 of the pdf.)
On the back on each pocket piece, measure in and draw a straight line 1″ in from the straight edge.
On both the front body/leg piece and the back body/leg piece, measure and make a mark 3″ below the waist on the straight side.
Place each pocket piece on the straight edge of a body/leg piece, overlapping so that the line you drew on the pocket is even with the straight side of the body/leg and the top of the overlap is at the 3″ marking. Tape the pockets in place.
Now you have two pattern pieces where before you had four.
Alright, we’re ready to get started on these shorts. It’s 1:00 here, and all is quiet as naptime has commenced.
Check to make sure the little ones are sleeping peacefully.
Cut out your shorts pieces. You’ll have two fronts cut in opposite directions and two backs cut in opposite directions.
We’re moving right along.
Except for the hem and the elastic channel, I’m using just my serger since these are knit shorts. You can use your sewing machine with a walking foot just as easily, though. The front and back rise are serged up now, and I’ve created my memory crease along the waist. A little spray starch will help when pressing cotton or cotton blend jerseys that like to roll. Sides are pinned together and ready to be serged.
Less than 30 minutes since we started!
That 90 degree angle where the bottom of the pocket connects to the side of the pants can be a little tricky if you’re using your serger. I serge both sides from the bottom up.
When I get to that angle, I simply pull the fabric slightly so that the angle sort of disappears. If you go slowly, you should be able to make that turn without a problem.
If a few of the loops end up off of the fabric, don’t worry, as long as both of the needle stitches are on the fabric. It’ll hold just fine and won’t be noticeable unless someone turns the shorts inside out and looks really closely. With a little practice, you’ll soon be turning that corner beautifully without even thinking about it.
1:42, even with taking a little time to snap a few pictures while I was working.
I’ve hemmed the legs and pinned the inseam. I hemmed these shorts by serging off 1/4″, then folding up 1″ and hemming using the triple-stretch stitch on my sewing machine. You can find a tutorial on how I do that right here: Hemming Knits.
Two minutes to two . . . not going to finish in under an hour, but I’m almost done.
Ready for the elastic.
Before I put the elastic in, though, I’m going to rotate the side around a bit and press those pockets in nicely.
Elastic and tag are in and the shorts are done!
And, I still have time to get a few other chores done, or, better yet, to enjoy an afternoon cup of coffee and a little mama-time on Pinterest!
Hey, there are still a dozen naptimes left in the month! Plenty of time to add to the ever-increasing pile of shorts for Children in Families in Cambodia! I heard that the number has already reached 100! Do you think we can double that number in 12 days?
Toot Toot Shortalls for Charlie52 (Family) Projects in 2012: #15
Sadly, Charlie is about to outgrow this pattern. It’s definitely one of my very favorites for babies and toddlers, and outgrowing it means that my baby is approaching the end of his toddler-hood. Soon he’ll be a on to big boy things. For this summer, though, I’m going to enjoy how cute he looks in his Buttons & Buckles Shortalls!
These were originally cut out for Spring Quilt Market but time ran short, and they were set aside. I actually think my sweet friend, Michelle, cut them out during out marathon cut-out-everything-that-Bonnie-needs-to-sew-for-Market day! (I love that Michelle had a hand in these, especially since her little guy, Simeon, tends to be the recipient of Charlie’s outgrown, handmade clothes. It’s so, so nice to have a friend that appreciates receiving handmade hand-me-downs!)
Isn’t it exciting when you find the perfect buttons for an outfit? It actually makes me look forward to sewing buttonholes!
You only have two weeks left to sew for the Little Boys’ Shorts Sewing Project at Hopeful Threads. It’s so exciting to see all the shorts that are being added everyday! I hope to have some tips for sewing done-during-naptime knit shorts tomorrow. Be sure to check back in!
Adding a Back Pocket to Your Mud Puddle Splashers
Ready to add a back pocket to your Mud Puddle Splashers? Go print the pattern to get started: MPS Back Pocket. (Be sure not to select sizing options such as “Fit to Page”. However, you should check the box next to “Rotate and Center”.)
First, a little aside from the basic tutorial: When I’m sewing with a stripe or a plaid, I like to turn the fabric and cut the pockets on the bias for a little added interest. If you’d like to do that, first find the line on your sewing ruler that says 45. (My ruler is upside down in this picture so the “45” is backwards, but you get the idea.) Place that line on one of the straight lines of your fabric so that your ruler is now turned at a 45 degree angle.
Line the edge of your pattern up along the edge of your ruler, or if you’re not cutting on the bias, just place the pattern on your fabric. (The bottom half of the pattern will be the outside of your pocket, in case you want to center a design on the pocket.)
Trace the pattern.
Cut out your pocket.
Fold the pocket piece over, matching up the points. Pin. Sew around the two sides and bottom, leaving a 1 1/2″ opening in one side for turning. Trim the fabric at the corners and at the point.
Turn the pocket through the opening. Push out all the corners and the point neatly. (A clean chopstick works well for pushing out corners.) Tuck the edges of the opening in. Press well.
Topstitch the top edge of your pocket, once at 5/8″, then once 1/8″ to 1/4″ below the first line of stitching.
Center the pocket on the Back Body/Leg piece. If you’re only going to do one pocket, it is traditionally placed on the right-hand side. Pin the pocket 4 1/4″ below the waist for sizes 2T-4T, 4 1/2″ below the waist for sizes 5 to 6/7, and 4 3/4″ for size 8. The pocket is going to look like it’s really low. It’s fine, I promise!
Topstitch the pocket in place 1/8″ from the edge on the sides and bottom. Sew a second line of stitching 1/8″ to 1/4″ inside the first.
Follow the Mud Puddle Splashers instructions to complete your shorts.
See! That was easy, right? (If you’ve landed here and don’t know what the Mud Puddle Splashers are, just click over to this post right here: Mud Puddle Splashers Free PDF.)
Updated, Easier-to-Finish Faux Fly Instructions for the Mud Puddle Splashers
Sometimes after thinking things over, you just have to make a change! As I was working on the pocket tutorial for the Mud Puddle Splashers last night I was reflecting on the pattern itself and wondering if a little update might be in order. The pattern is going together really nicely, and I’m thrilled that everyone is enjoying it. Most people have been skipping the faux fly, though, and I love the look of the shorts with it. It occurred to me that the faux fly had a few steps that really aren’t necessary. Another thing that was bugging me is that when you topstitch the back rise on the smallest two sizes it takes away a bit of the diaper room. (Some kids in toddler sizes don’t need diaper room, but a lot, like my Charlie, still do!) So, this morning, I made a few modifications to the instructions to speed up the finishing of the faux fly, removing the topstitching of the back rise and shortening the topstitching of the front rise to just the section adjacent to the fly. Nothing major, but it’ll give the same finished look faster, and it’ll keep that little bit of extra bum room for diapered little ones.
No worries at all, if you’ve sewn according to the original instructions! My two little guys have a collection of shorts sewn that way, and we love them!
Just click on the picture below for the updated pdf. If you just want to print the pages with the changes, you’ll want pages 5 and 6. (Just reiterating here that the pattern itself has not changed, just the instructions for finishing the faux fly version.) The original MPS post has the updated link and the original link has been removed, so feel free to continue referring your friends straight there. Oh, and please spread the word about the updated, easier-to-finish faux fly!
As a weird aside, WordPress thinks that “faux” is not a word. I actually just went and Googled it because I was suddenly afraid that I was unknowingly using a word that isn’t really a word. According to Websters, it is in fact a word: faux, meaning “imitation, not genuine or real”. Whew! Okay, back to your regularly scheduled day. I’ll be back around lunch time with the back pocket addition to the Mud Puddle Splashers!
