Customer Creation - Karen Capri Set

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How cute is she! One of my customers bought the Karen pattern yesterday and made this last night.

Thanks M for sending me these pictures. What a blessing to see these awesome children wearing my designs.

Busy Memorial Weekend

I love 3 day weekends. I seem to get so much more accomplished with the extra day. Even though I went to the airport to pick someone up Friday night and attended a get together at my daughter's house Saturday afternoon, I managed to get some sewing done. I made two Emily dresses for two brothers I work with that are both expecting baby girls in a couple of months. Since they are big LSU fans, I chose a purple/gold plaid for the dresses and used solid purple for the pleated inserts. I still have the buttons and buttonholes to do and will add some bows at the top of the pleats to finish but should be able to complete them this week.

Sunday after church I went to Louisiana nursery outlet and purchased a few more plants for my courtyard and back yard. Things are finally started to take shape but there are still so many more plants I want. I keep telling myself this will be a ongoing project so I don't have to have it all done this year.

This bromeliad was on sale 20% off.

This bougainvillea has been cut back to form a bush rather than vine. This saved me from having to purchase a trellis for it to climb on.

I've been getting cards punched at the nursery and was able to redeem them Monday which amounted to a $9 discount on my purchase. As I was walking to my car, I saw this hibiscus and decided since I saved $9, I would get this also. There were many different colors but this one really stood out for me.

Monday I barbequed for my mom and dad and visited with them. They are getting older so I treasure the time we spend together.

While watering plants, I saw this bird sitting in one of my bushes. It allowed me to get very close to take pictures. When my mom came over and we were outside, it was still hanging around the bushes. My mom said it looked like a young bird that perhaps couldn't fly well yet.

This first picture you can barely see it peeking out from behind the bush.

I took this one from behind the bush.The hibiscus I bought a couple of months ago is doing great. It just blooms and blooms.

I also spent some time Sunday and Monday working out details on a new pattern. I think I have the design done and am ready to make a few for testing and instructions. Once I feel it is ready, I'll get some of my customers to test it also. This is going to be a very simple wrap dress with a hint of a cap sleeve. I made one but had to change several things and am anxious to make more with the changes to see how the finished project will look.

Another Customer Creation using Betsey/Joey Shorts Pattern

Just got these great pictures from a customer. These are from the Betsey/Joey Shorts Pattern that is reversible or non reversible. Thanks L for the great pictures. Love the strawberry and football prints.

Here is what she said:
We are just having so much fun with these shorts! :-) Thanks so much!!

Fruit and Flowers

I'm slowly getting my back yard landscaped. I added a patio extension and fence a couple of months ago. Recently I had some flower beds done along the fence and side of the house.

This small bed I reserved for annuals and perennials. I planted the mixed colors of gerber daisies. Along the back are 3 plants with tiny purple flowers. I'm not sure what the name of them are but they caught my eye so I decided to add them also. I seriously considered only using yellow gerber daisies with the purple flowers to make it LSU colors but couldn't resist the other bright colored gerber daisies.


A few months ago I purchased two clay pots from Tuesday morning and have been looking for dwarf fruit trees to fill them. I found them at Louisiana Nursery Outlet. If you look closely, you can see that the satsuma has fruit on it.

Although the three blueberry bushes I planted earlier this year are small, they all have berries them. It is such a satisfying feeling to me to be able to pick flowers and fruit off the plants in my yard.
Each time I get something to put in the back yard, I think of 10 other things I'd like to do. I'm sure it will be a work in progress for many years.

Prayer for Foster Children

Last night I attended a prayer vigil for children in foster care in Louisiana sponsored by His Heart for Orphans Adoption Ministry at Healing Place Church. We had pictures and information on the children so we were able to pray for specific needs for them as well as workers, foster parents, families of the children, those involved in running the agencies and for action on the children's behalf. It's heartbreaking to see the faces of these precious children that don't have a permanent home. There is such a huge need in this area and I was blessed to be a part of the prayer team.

Business in Portland, Oregon

I traveled to Portland last week for a work trip with two of my co workers. We had classes all day but managed to get in a little sightseeing in the evenings. This was my first trip to Portland and I wasn't sure what to expect. The weather was very pleasant, around 50 at the beginning of the week and up to 80 or so towards the end of the week. We were told we were lucky and weather wise we had a good week. Evidently, like Louisiana, the weather is unpredictable.

Portland has lots of greenery and parks and gardens tucked away all over the area. There were lots of people riding bikes and walking. We were told the office we had class was "walking distance" when it actually was almost 2 miles. Evidently that is considered walking distance for the local people.

This was the view from one of the restaurants we went to for dinner.

We were told that the Japanese Gardens are the 2nd best Japanese Gardens besides those in Japan. This is one of many fountains in the garden.

One of the waterfalls in the Japanese Gardens

Chinese Gardens

There was a tea room where we enjoyed tea in these little pots and cups. I chose the peppermint tea but there were many to choose from. I purchased a couple of flavors to bring home

There are lots of trees in Portland. This one was in one of the gardens. The colors were so beautiful.

Japanese Elm in the Japanese Garden.

Japanese Elm at my house. Maybe they will look the same someday.

Emily Dress Pattern Now Available on Etsy

My new Emily dress pattern is now availabe on Etsy and soon to be available on YCMT.

I also have a 3 dress pattern collection listed on Etsy that has The Annette Reversible Sundress, Tana Tutu Dress and Emily Dress .

Thanks to my models and testers for helping me get this pattern available.

More Shorts from Betsey/Joey Shorts Pattern

These are some shorts I made for my friends two boys from the Betsey/Joey shorts pattern. I made each of them two pairs of shorts - one of the fish print and one plaid. All are reversible.

All four only took a couple of hours to sew together. The pattern is very easy and the kind of pattern you end up using over and over.

Emily Dress - Tester Creation

These are some pictures from one of my customers who tested my new Emily pattern. Isn't this adorable with the parasol. The tshirt and the pants underneath really change the look. How cute!!!

Here is what she said:
I had really fun to work with this pattern - everything went so smooth, everything matched to the next piece.And how magically this tooo-wide piece with the inserted strips turned into this lovely pleated front.

It has been so much fun having customers helping with the testing and seeing these wonderful creations they make.

Babysitting Night

I have many friends with children some of them allow me the pleasure of babysitting for them occasionally. Since all of my children are grown and I have not been blessed with any grandchildren yet, this is a real treat for me. I call it getting a "baby fix". Here are some pictures of my babysitting night this past weekend. The 3 children are a year apart (ages 2, 3 & 4). I have to admit I was a little anxious that it might be more difficult keeping them entertained now that they are older and more active, but they were great and we had alot of fun.

You might recognize the little girl as one of my models on the Annette Reversible Sundress and the boys were my models for the Betsey/Joey Shorts Pattern.

I keep a crate of "craft" supplies to use when I have children. They love it and it keeps them entertained. We made paper chains, paper airplanes and a little bit of a mess but it cleaned up quickly when we were done.

Later before bedtime, we went out on the courtyard for a snack of cheerios and milk and some bubble fun.

After that we watched Stuart 2 on tv and all three fell asleep.

Emily Dress Pattern

I recruited a couple of my customers to hep me test my new pattern - Emily. I sent them the pattern last week and was excited to open my email and find these pictures of the completed dress. I really like the dark pleats against the lighter pattern.

Here is what she said,
I've never done anything with pleats and this was super easy and fun!!

Thanks to you L for helping me test this pattern and to your daughter for being such an adorable model.

I still have one more tester, then I'll make adjustments based on their comments, get the cover done and then it will be ready to sell, maybe next week.

My Betsey/Joey Pattern is now available on YCMT. This was my first pattern for boys and girls and has lots of options to change the look.