Pillow with Fringe

Posted in Sewing Funtime by

My aunt recently got a new living room set and wanted to add some accent pillows. She felt the ones that came with the set (neutral stripes) looked too masculine and so purchased some fabric to re-cover the pillows. However she liked the fringe that was on the original stripe pillow and wanted to try to salvage it for the new pillows.

So I took the stripe pillow and fabric home with me to see what I could do. I used my seam ripper to take the pillow apart but the fringe didn’t fare so well – some of it started to come apart. So i stopped what I was doing so it wouldn’t get any worse. Luckily, my aunt had smaller pillows that she wanted to work with, and there was more than enough fringe to use on the smaller pillow (whew!).

So I made a new cover with fringe for the smaller pillow and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It just seems slightly loose-fitting on the pillow itself, but still looks nice:

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I sent a picture of it to my aunt and she was really happy with the way it turned out. I just need to bring it to her – hopefully we’ll get together soon.

 

Deja Vu: Golf Club Cover

Posted in Knitting by

Yes, I made a second one.  Fiance asked if I could make one in Patriots colors, so we went to Joann’s so he could pick out which ones he wanted. (He had debated on whether he wanted to do blue and red, blue and grey, all three, etc.) He decided on blue and grey:

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The yarn was a slightly different weight than what I used for the first club cover, but it was just as easy to do. I think I’m going to take a break from golf club covers for a bit. :)

On to my mittens! (I’m almost done with the first one!)

Monthly Wrap Up: August 2013

Posted in Monthly Wrap-Up by

monthly wrapup

Reading

Number of Books read:  8

Favorite book read this month: Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

Number of 5 star ratings: 1 (Rose Garden)

Reading challenge progress (% complete)
What’s In a Name 6: 100%
Historical Fiction: 100%
2013 Reading Goal: 68% (51 of 75)

Reading Challenges Completed: 2
Hooray! I’ve finished the two hosted reading challenges! I just haven’t written the reviews…

 

Crafts

Completed Knitting Projects: 2
Golf Club Cover
x2 – I made a second one in navy and grey, no pictures yet (will post shortly)

Completed Sewing Projects: 1
I did a pillow for my aunt. She recently got a new couch set and wanted to have some accent pillows. She purchased some fabric and wanted to use fringe from another pillow she had. So I created a cover for one of her pillows. (I’ll post about it that soon too)

 

Get Fit!

Number of Gym Days this month: 3 or 4 (I can’t remember if I went 2 or 3 days the first week it opened… hehe)
Just started at the new gym that opened at work on the 19th. Really excited that it is right downstairs from me (first floor of my building) and they have some fun classes I can attend (Zumba, Ballet, Pilates, Core stuff, Bootcamp….) I haven’t attended any classes yet, but I plan to start this upcoming week.
I did go for a few walks (each approx. 2.7 miles) a few times in the month, too.

Total inches lost: 5!
I measure my bust, waist, hips, left & right upper arms, and left & right thighs, so I lost a total of 5″ in those areas. So excited — in fact, I was very surprised when I added it all up — there was only one measurement where I didn’t lose anything – but I didn’t gain, there was no change. So happy!

Total pounds lost: 3.5

Personal Record: I guess my personal record would be losing the 5 inches :)

I’ve also started tracking what I eat on the myfitnesspal app, which has been a big help with portion control and my food choices – I’ve been eating more fruits and smaller portions of less-healthy food. I think I’m on the right track :)

Knitting is Back!

Posted in Knitting by

So I’ve been looking for knitting projects to do for a few reasons:
1. I have a lot of yarn that I haven’t used yet
2. I’ve seen a few recently done knitting projects and it makes me want to pick it up again
3. I just finished reading a book that involved knitting and whenever I read a book with knitting in it, I always want to start knitting again
but the main reason? I can’t sit on my couch with my sewing machine in my lap (and sometimes I just want to work on something crafty while lounging on the couch watching TV)

So, after browsing patterns on Ravelry for about a week, (and adding and removing projects to/from my queue), I finally chose a mitten pattern, which I started and finished the cuff on one so far. I’ve never made mittens before and figured I’d start now in case I run into problems – at least they’ll be finished by the time I need them!

Then last night, fiancée asked if I knew of any patterns for golf club covers. I told him to go to allfreeknitting.com and search for one. He found a pattern on The Purl Bee. So I made the 5 Wood Cover for him. I did it really quickly – started it last night (did about 4 inches of it) and then finished it just a little while ago. Probably one of the quickest projects I’ve done  (but still probably around 5-6 hours in total) – but now my hands are tired!

I’m pretty pleased with the way it turned out (and so is fiancée) :)

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that’s a loop on top, btw – not sure why they need one…

Monthly Wrap Up: July 2013

Posted in Monthly Wrap-Up by

monthly wrapup

Reading

Number of Books read: 5

Favorite book read this month: Undecided

Number of 5 star ratings: 0

Reading challenge progress (% complete)
What’s In a Name 6: 100%
Historical Fiction: 70% (currently reading 2 other historical fiction novels)
2013 Reading Goal: 57% (43 of 75)

Reading Challenges Completed: 1

Crafts

Completed Knitting Projects: N/A
I’ve been looking up patterns, trying to find something new to do

Completed Sewing Projects: 1
my beach bag (I started it at the end of June and finished it at the beginning of July)
But I got fabric for 2 dresses, so hopefully I’ll make at least one of them in August!

Get Fit!

Number of Gym Days this month: 1 :( (but for a couple days I did some workouts from the OnDemand menu — does that count?)

Total inches lost: gained 1 inch :( (lost .3 lb since last month)

Personal Record: N/A… I was pretty crappy with the gym, so no personal records…gotta step it up!

Coming Soon!

Posted in Random Post by

So I realize I’ve pretty much fallen off here lately. I’ve been really crazy busy at work, especially because I was involved in organizing a move to a new building. A whole new building was built right near our current buildings and 600 employees were being moved in one weekend. I was a move coordinator for my department and ended being way more involved in the whole process than I thought I would be – can we say stressful? Anyway, we finally moved in last week. It’s such a great space; I was excited to go to work every day last week! (It’s an open space concept – no offices, we have workstations instead of closed-off cubicles, and more!)

But now that the move is over, there’s a bit less on my plate (even though I have a few residual issues to deal with) and I’ve breathed a small sign of relief.

So onto things blog-related…

Even though I haven’t been posting anything, I’m still reading your blog posts! (and I’m a bit behind, so you may notice me commenting on posts from a couple weeks ago!)

I’m still reading books even though I’m not posting reviews  (you can watch my read list grow by checking out my “2013” tab at the top). (and of course, constantly adding books to my to read list because of all the fabulous books you guys read and recommend!)

I just bought fabric to make the Sewaholic Cambie Dress View A & the Easy Kimono Dress by Pattern Runway – I can’t wait to get started!

And of course, I’m prepping my monthly wrap up post :)

And that’s about it blog-wise.

Outside of blogging & work – fiancée and I are wedding reception venue-hunting. There are so many things to take into consideration! I know that will keep me busy over the next (almost) year and a half!

How are all of you doing?

Like I Need Another One…

Posted in Sewing Funtime by

For someone who never considered herself a “girly girl” and isn’t into the whole designer bag thing, I have a LOT of bags (mainly from stores like Target or Old Navy), and of course I don’t ever use them all. (I should probably go through them and see which ones I can donate, or need to toss due to wear and tear…) Anyway, when I saw Sue Kim’s book, Bags the Modern Classics, on Amazon a while back, I knew I needed to get it!

I picked out the first pattern I wanted to do, the Floral Bag (instructions and pictures on pages 108-115).  I went to Joann’s and picked out some fun interior and exterior fabrics to use for a spring-y bag:

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One of the nice things about the book is that some of the projects have different size options, so if you liked one style but wanted it smaller or larger, there might already be details and instructions given to you — no need to do the math and figure out how much more or less material you would need!  (also another bonus: some parts of the patterns are at the back of the book to trace)

I started drafting this post a while back (toward the end of May, actually) and so it’s been a while since I got the book and purchased the fabrics, but I only just finished the bag yesterday. I needed to order the magnetic snap the pattern calls for and figured I’d wait until that came in the mail. That way, I would stop only because I felt like taking a break and not because I was missing parts to complete the project. (it’s always easier to have a self-imposed time out instead of one because you’re missing things!)

I chose the large size bag, assuming the small one would not be big enough. Shame on me for not really paying attention to the finished dimensions listed in the book! When I finished sewing the exterior, I started laughing – the bag is huge! Certainly something I would never use as a purse/everyday kind of bag. So fiancé came up with a good idea: use it as a beach bag! I put it to use today – we packed up towels and bathing suits to go swimming at my parents’ house. And my sister asked if I’d make one for her for her upcoming trip to Florida. :) So we’ll probably go to Joann’s tomorrow sometime (she leaves on Friday morning) so she can pick out her fabrics.

I had intended to add an interior pocket – not in the pattern, but I thought that it would be a nice addition – I even cut out pieces for it – but then I forgot/decided not to add it on. The pattern also has an optional flower/brooch type thing to add to the exterior, but I opted not to add it – I didn’t really like it.

I’m actually really pleased with how the bag turned out, despite the size. But I know now to do things: 1. pay attention to the finished dimensions on the other projects and 2. make this bag in the smaller size if I do it again!

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exterior

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interior with magnetic snap

Monthly Wrap Up: June 2013

Posted in Monthly Wrap-Up by

monthly wrapup

Reading

Number of Books read: 5

Favorite book read this month: Shadow of Night, by Deborah Harkness

Number of 5 star ratings: 0

Reading challenge progress (% complete)
What’s In a Name 6: 100%
Historical Fiction: 70%
2013 Reading Goal: 51%

Reading Challenges Completed: 1

 

Crafts

Completed Knitting Projects: 0

Completed Sewing Projects: 1
The Pajama pants Sew-a-Long!

 

*Get Fit!

Number of Gym Days this month: 6

Total inches lost: -.25″

Personal Record/Accomplishment: I conquered my irrational fear of the treadmill!  I’m always afraid of losing my balance and being flung off the belt on the treadmill. I finally conquered that fear by doing a 30 minute interval routine on the treadmill – and some of it was jogging without holding on! (I think this would be a good way to help me begin training to actually run a 5K!) I’ve done it twice! :)

 

*Get Fit! is a new section I’m adding to my monthly wrap-ups to hold myself more accountable. Feel free to reach out and ask me how I’m doing – it’s a good motivator to have a good answer to a question like that! :)
Personal Record/Accomplishment could be anything: increased number of reps for an exercise, increase in weights for an exercise, trying something new, longer distance/time on elliptical/treadmill, etc. …

Pyjama Party with Karen @ Did You Make That?

Posted in Sewing Funtime by

didyoumakethat

Karen @ Did You Make That? hosted a pyjama party sew-along this month. She was specifically using Sewaholic’s new Tofino pattern, but encouraged us to join even if we decided to use a different pattern. The goal is to follow along and have pajama pants completed by June 23.

I hadn’t purchased the Tofino pattern (and frankly, from my limited experience with piping, I’m not sure if I want to purchase it – not a fan of piping…) but I still had the pattern from the pajama pants I made in my sewing class last year, so I figured I could do those. I had a bunch of left over paw print fleece from when I made Sonny’s bed, so I figured I should probably use that up (otherwise, it would just sit around doing nothing).

I wasn’t sure how to organize this post, so after some thought I figured I would put it all in one post and break it down by linking to each of Karen’s posts and talking about what I did and my experiences. Since I’m not using the Tofino pattern, some of what I do won’t exactly match up, but in the end we’ll all have pajama pants!

[I'm going to warn you now: this is going to be a long post!]

I’m using Simplicity 2116 pajama pants.

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Pyjama Party Goes Live
Karen announces the pajama party!

Pyjama Party Preparation
Let’s get that pattern cut out! Last year in the class, I cut this pattern for a size Large but decided to cut out the Medium for this go-around (and I’m happy I did!)

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Pyjama Party 1 – The Belt
My pattern doesn’t have a belt, so I didn’t do anything on this “step” but I did read Karen’s post. She uses some great pictures to supplement her commentary (especially on the bit about turning the belt inside out!)

Pyjama Party 2 – Piping & Side Seams
So as I mentioned, I did not enjoy working with piping in my sewing class, but it’s probably just because I’d never done it before. Karen has some great tips about working with piping (maybe someday I’ll attempt piping again). So finally something both our patterns have: side seams! I definitely recommend doing what Karen says and pinning at the ends and  notches first, then in between – it definitely helps keep the 2 pant leg pieces aligned.

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Pyjama Party 4 – Sewing the Crotch Seam
I switched this with the “third step”. In my class, we actually did the crotch seams first, then the side seams and then the inside seam. I couldn’t remember what I had done at first, so I did the side seams, then found the instructions from my teacher. So after the side seams I did the crotch seam. I stitched at each curve, back piece to back piece and front to front. But Karen shares a great tip on how to secure the seam to make sure everything matches up to complete a nice, neat crotch seam in her method.

                      

Pyjama Party 3 – Inside Leg Seams
I used the method that my teacher in class showed me because I found it to be quick and easy with only one seam to stitch (from one bottom of pant leg all the way across to the other end). Karen makes a comment that we might think we cut out the wrong size because the pant legs look so big – that’s definitely how I felt when I made these for the first time last year! So luckily, I was expecting that this time around.

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Pyjama Party Show and Tell, Plus Giveaway
There was a virtual pajama party show and tell on Friday. Unfortunately, due to the time difference, I wasn’t able to attend. :(

Pyjama Party 5 – False fly & Buttonholes
Not applicable to my pattern but it was interesting to see how it’s done!

Pyjama Party 6 – Attaching the Waistband
I don’t have a waistband the way this pattern calls for, but I did have to create the waistband “casing” for the elastic band.

Pyjama Party 7 – Waistband, Hems & Done!
I folded the waistband to encase the elastic, edgestitched most of it, but left an opening to put the elastic band in. I used a safety pin to help me feed the elastic through and then stitched the elastic together and sewed up the opening. I also added a little bit of black bias tape to act as a tag. Then I hemmed the pant legs & I was done!

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waistband

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bias tape tag

Pyjama Party Launches!
So I didn’t post this in time (I’m posting it the next day). Karen is probably going to wonder why all of her posts are getting ping-backs since I’ve linked to all of them!  And here’s my finished product! (they’re pretty comfy, but certainly not the pjs I should be wearing in the middle of a heat wave!)

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Thanks, Karen, for putting this together – I had fun reading the tutorials for the sew-a-long and going along with it, even though I was doing a different pattern. I’d love to join in again the next time you do one!

REVIEW: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafon

Posted in Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Challenge by

The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #1)The Shadow of the Wind
Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Translated by Lucia Graves
eBook (borrowed from library)

Goodreads synopsis: Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets–an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

I’m not sure why it has taken me so long to write this review. Anyway, now that it’s been a while since I read this, my review isn’t going to be as thorough.

I can’t remember where I heard about this book, but it had been sitting on my Goodreads to read queue since last February (as in, 2012). I wasn’t sure what to expect by the time I got around to reading it, to be honest, but historical fiction that involves books? well, get me a copy!

I had to take some time to process this after reading it – there was a lot of detail and it was such a robust story. So many characters, so emotional… It reminded me somewhat of the Count of Monte Cristo, actually; revenge, heartbreak, murder.

The idea of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books is amazing – I would love to visit a place like that. So many books and authors that people have forgotten – what a treasure trove! The mysteries that surround the novel Daniel chooses to protect from this Cemetery are complex, heart-breaking, scary and sad. So many lives are intertwined! If it wasn’t for Daniel’s persistence in searching for more of Carax’s books, the mysteries would never have been uncovered. Some ghosts may never have been laid to rest – and others may never have been resurrected.

One of the most astonishing things for this novel was the beautiful translation. It was so well done, I would never have known it was a translation if I hadn’t seen that!  It was a very enjoyable read. I definitely recommend it.

Vacations

Posted in Not a Book, Random Post by

Vacations are fun, I think we can all agree. Sometimes they don’t always go according to our plan, but sometimes that makes them better.

The last couple of years I’ve gone on a week-long vacation to Aruba at the beginning of December. It’s a lovely island and you can do as much or as little as you want – there are plenty of things to do.  And everyone is super friendly! (I definitely recommend you go at least once!)

However, with a wedding coming up next year, I’m trying to be more financially conscious/responsible and don’t want to spend too much on a vacation this year. I obviously deserve the time off and want to (and need to, for my sanity!).

So I’ve thought about doing long weekends instead of a full week. Though I’m not opposed to closer, cheaper vacations.  Does anyone have any ideas for long weekend vacations (more specifically on the east coast of the US)?

Just a little while ago I saw a commercial for Hershey, PA and I’ve never been, so I thought that might be a good one to do. (I may or may not have seen that commercial on the Disney Channel while watching Monsters, Inc. by myself…)  And I’d love to do a weekend in Washington, D.C. (another place I’ve never been) and definitely NYC (and now that I’m into sewing, I want to go to Mood!). But if anyone has any out-of-the-box suggestions, I’d love to hear them, so put them in the comments!

Super Sweet Blogging Award

Posted in Blog Awards by

My friend from high school, Darcel, awarded me with the Super Sweet Blogger award!  Thanks Darcel!! (click here to check out her great blog about health and fitness!)

award

So without further ado, here are the rules, responses and my blog nominations!

The Rules

  1. Thank the Super Sweet Blogger that nominated you.
  2. Answer 5 Super Sweet questions.
  3. Include the Super Sweet Blogging Award in your blog post
  4. Nominate a baker’s dozen (13) other deserving bloggers.
  5. Notify your Super Sweet nominees on their blog.

The 5 Super Sweet Questions

  1. Cookies or Cake?  hmm, cookies – but sometimes it’s hard to only eat a few, and cake is so yummy too — can I pick brownies instead?!
  2. Chocolate or Vanilla?  chocolate!
  3. Favorite Sweet Treat?  hmm – bad for you sweet treat: chocolate (currently Dove milk chocolate pieces – yum!) or ICE CREAM!   please share some good for you sweet treats! (I like fruits, but not all are considered sweet!)
  4. When Do You Crave Sweet Things The Most?  After meals
  5. Sweet Nickname?  hmm, I tend to call my dog Sonny “Sonny-buns” (it makes me think of cinnamon buns!) :)

And the nominees are….

1. Can you re-nominate?  If so, I’m sending it back to Darcel @ Quobreakerfitness (I’ve read some really interesting things and debating on whether to try out the shakeology things!)
2. The Oddness of Moving Things
3. The Librarian Who Doesn’t Say Shhh
4. Second Lunch
5. Dresses and Me
6. The Middlest Sister
7. Did You Make That?
8. Sew Busy Lizzy

(So I did fewer than the baker’s dozen…)

ArmchairBEA 2013 – FAIL

Posted in Armchair BEA by

I had every intention of participating in ArmchairBEA this year.  I signed up, I was checking in on updates (the schedule, the prizes, the Twitter party schedules)… I even drafted the introduction post and was waiting until they had the link-up active so I could add mine. But I’ve been so busy at work that the last thing I want to do when I get home is sit on a computer. So, I ended up not participating at all. :(  The event ended today (June 2), but by Friday I finally gave up. I thought I could catch up and join in, but by then I felt like I missed too much.

Oh well — there’s always next year!

 

(link is to the agenda for the event, and all of the posting topics are to the left on their website)

Monthly Wrap Up: May 2013

Posted in Monthly Wrap-Up by

monthly wrapup

Number of books read: 5.5
Favorite book read in May: The Maze Runner, James Dashner
this one just made it into May – I finished it on May 30. I say .5 in my completed books because one of them was a really short (few chapters, really) story, based on characters from a series I read by Debora Geary.  It took a little less than a half hour, so it’s not a “full book”, if you know what I mean. (But Goodreads counts it as one)

*Number of 5 star ratings given: None

Reading challenge progress (% complete)
What’s In a Name 6: 100%
Historical Fiction: 60%
2013 Reading Goal: 44% (according to Goodreads, I’m 3 books ahead of schedule!…and I seem to be 1-2 books ahead most of the time…side note: last year, I don’t think I was even on track, never mind ahead!)

Number of reading challenges completed: 1
Finally posted the wrap-up post for the What’s In a Name? Challenge.

Number of sewing projects completed: 0
womp womp.  I haven’t done anything since I finished my dress.  However, I did buy a book of bag patterns and I bought all the materials last weekend to make one, so I’ll get into that soon enough.  Also, I’m joining a pajama party sew-a-long (hosted by Karen at Did You Make That?) and will be working on that in early June – it’s scheduled to begin June 3. (I could definitely produce more than 0-2 items per month if I had the extra money to spend on fabrics and notions!)

*(a new category I decided to add!)

With My Reading Buddy – May 2013

Posted in With My Reading Buddy by

withmyreadingbuddy

My second year as a Power Lunch mentor came to a close last week. The program has a new name “Read to a Child” (instead of Everybody WINS!)

Anyway, my buddy and I were able to finish all 4 Zac Power books before the year ended, so that was good!

Last week there was a year-end celebration at the school where all the students who participated got a certificate of completion (and the 4th graders got a “graduation” certificate, since that’s the highest grade that participates).

My buddy and I will have one more year left together before he “graduates”. He gave me a card that says “Thanks for reading me the Zac Power books.”  He’s too cute.

I ended up getting him the first 2 Goosebumps books. Not the read-your-own-adventure ones like I got him last year, but the regular books. I remembered I had a bag of books from when I was younger still at my parents house so one weekend I went over there and went through it and found a few books my buddy might like. They were all in good condition, so I thought it would be a great idea to pass them on – why should they sit in a bag where no one reads them, you know? He was happy to get the 2 books and I think he’ll actually read them over the summer!

So, school’s out! (for me at least) :)