Catching up

No, I didn't forget you. I was busy finishing dresses for family portraits, then family descended for those portraits and Nugget's third birthday party. Grands stayed, parents left and we had a very busy and hot week for Camp  Mimi. If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you may have seen few photos already. It is one of the most tiring weeks of the year but also the most fun.

We go to the park.

We ride the carousel.

We ride the mini train at the mall.

That is just some of the fun we have, we also have popsicles to help beat the heat, in matching t-shirts, of course.


All in all a great time of cousins spending time together. I'm super tired right now but by next summer, I will be ready to do it all over again.

What's On the Machine?

Another round of "What's on the machine?"  I will say, getting all of these lined up was no easy feat. There had to be an easier way, but why go easy if you can work yourself into a sweat? I feel like I am still a novice machine embroiderer and there is so much I still don't know. I am am anxious to see if the vision in my head comes to fruition.

Smocked vs Banded Bishop Sleeve-Question Answered

I received an email while I was away asking a question regarding replacing smocking on a bishop sleeve with a band/cuff. I deleted the email, thinking I would be able to find the comment. Wrong, I couldn't find it. Good news is I remember that the question was asked.

Back to the question. It really is quite simple. Remember to click on the photo to enlarge.

This is my beleaguered bishop sleeve pattern piece. On the Children's Corner Bishop pattern there are markings for both the neckline gathering rows as well as the lower sleeve gathering rows. These are a guideline. To replace the smocking with a banded sleeve, I normally choose either the level of the top of row of dots (Indicated with a red line below in the photo.) or if I want it a tad longer I use the lowest row. Trace your pattern piece, using your preferred sleeve length, adding a 1/4" seam allowance along the bottom.

Cut a sleeve band if your pattern does not include one. It can be on the bias or the straight of grain. I liked the contrast of the gingham on the bias. If using a batiste or sheer fabric, I may interface the band piece. On this bishop it appears as if I used a 3/8" finished band. For that finished width, cut your band 1.5" wide. As I said, either on the bias or straight of grain. The length of the arm band will be the child's upper arm circumference plus 1.5" That length will give you ease plus seam allowances.

Here is Princess in the above banded sleeve bishop. She is nine months old here. I just prefer the smaller, shorter sleeve.

To give equal billing, here is her baby cousin, LG, at 15 months wearing the same pattern. Full disclosure; I didn't make this one, a dear friend did. My babies are so fortunate to have that village who sews for them.

I hope this answers your question. As I said, I prefer this bishop pattern for its sweet sleeve both the smocked and the banded. More of a tailored look which is my wheelhouse and both of my daughters as well.

Someone asked  what I was working on, all I will say is its cherry picking' time! Pics soon.

Keep stitching' faithful reader.

Where has Southern Matriarch Been?

No compass was needed, but I have been on the road. Twenty-five hundred miles, four flights and two weeks out of my own bed.  Like most times, it involved grandchildren. There were picnics to be had, walks to be taken, books to read, legos to build, recitals to see, teacher gifts to make and graduations to applaud.  All in the life of a busy Mimi.

I snapped photos of almost all of the garments I took with me.

LG in her Children's Corner Taylor. Happy girl. She is 20 mos old. I made an 18 month size. It fits perfect. I think the next one, I will use the 18 mos. with a 24 mos. crotch length.

Its almost cuter from the back. Who doesn't love ruffles on a hiney? I stopped Nugget right before he picked one of momma's lemons! I love the way those Parker's Pants fit though. He will be three next week and these are a size three. T-shirt is from Amazon, brand is Joe's USA. I really like them. This one had been washed a couple of times already. Not as inexpensive as some of the embroidery blank t-shirts, but holds up much better in shape and the neckline. Plus the knit is a heavier weight and stands up to being appliquéd/embroidered loads better.

He was proud of momma's flower bed, you would have thought he planted it. I hear those curls are gone, momma took him to get a haircut, he is not a fan. He can no longer twirl it while he talks to you.

This girl is getting too big for Mimi's liking. Almost six years old and loves to dance.

As much fun as her recital was, this was one tired, tiny dancer. Wanted to take her flowers and go home.

I realized I had taken almost  no pictures of Wildman this time. He isn't a big fan of having his picture taken. That must explain why Captain America was only too willing to have his picture snapped!

There are no photos of the front of the Children's Corner Lillian. I have two of the back. Mimi missed her Spring Piano recital so was thrilled when the music teacher at school had all of the after school music students do a small recital.

The only other photos of Wildman. Don't stand in the way of that boy and cake! He is wistfully eyeing the cake table in this picture and complaining of being held back from his intended goal. Same brand and size shirt his cousin is wearing above. They are about the same size except for their legs. Again praise for this brand of t-shirt. His had been washed several times as well. I have purchased more in other colors. His Parker's Pants are a size four with a half inch added in length.

I did sew while I was away. Not the kind of sewing I took with me, and not a quick project either. Somehow, my "help" with the kindergarten teacher gifts grew and grew.

They turned out really cute. I learned a lot from the experience. I want to step right up and say though, I am not a quilter!! There are all kinds of mistakes and faux pas but the drawings the children made for their teachers are all that matter. The teachers loved them. The next time you tell yourself "oh that shouldn't take long", immediately go outside and hit yourself upside the head with a bat, because it will!! Much longer than you expect.

I am home now and zooming along in the sewing room. Family portraits and Camp Mimi are a week away. Stay tuned. I hope you too are working on something fun.


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Play Ball

Mimi can't forget the boys!  Summertime calls for t-shirts and shorts. I found this baseball embroidered seersucker at my local shop. It may be a Fabric Finder's fabric, but I'm not sure. It is lighter weight than I remember others being. So it is lined with Imperial broadcloth. Pattern is Children's Corner "Parker's Pants".

T-shirt applique is from Planet Applique, I think. T-shirt is purchased.

And since, I am not sure how much longer I can get away with this, I am running with it. The two year old Nugget will love it because he adores his older cousin. Wildman may begin to give me grief soon.We will see. For now, I can still make them match. I need more mannequins I think.

Until later, faithful reader. Keep stitching.

Sum-Sum-Summertime

This Mimi is headed to see grandchildren. Since I had something for Princess, I certainly could not arrive empty handed for the others. Excuse these photos, it is a dark, dreary day here today.

A perennial favorite, Children's Corner "Taylor" for the Little Girl. LG is 19 months old and Momma has ordered as many bubbles as possible. She feels like this might be her last summer for bubbles, so she wants to take full advantage. Time was tight, (when isn't it?) and I can whip up a Taylor pretty quickly. This child will either love flamingoes as an adult or hate them. Fabric was purchased from Farmhouse Fabrics. It is a Riley Blake print.

Monogrammed, of course. I have no idea what this font is, I was in a hurry. And when in a hurry, covered buttons are quicker than digging through the buttons and trying to find a match.

And what is a bubble without ruffles on the hiney? I used the same method here for these ruffles as on this Taylor several years ago. I am sure she will be adorable climbing on the table in ruffled butt bubble as always.

It Pays to Read

We all know the excitement of receiving goodies in the mail. Especially when you have a project ready to start and it arrives in the nick of time. Aren't these sweet translucent buttons just adorable? Ten sweet buttons are what I "ordered". (in my mind)

Imagine my surprise when I discover this bag o' buttons when I opened my package. I thought, 'that is odd, I wonder if they had an abundance and made this bag o' buttons one of their Free Gifts?" NO!

I decided to look at the invoice and there in highlighted text is "per 12 buttons"!! Of course I might be wrong, but I am rarely in doubt. I marched over to the computer just knowing that it was someone else's error! NOT!

Notice what it says right there in that green circle. Per 12! I am now the proud owner of 120 sweet pink buttons. Thank heaven it wasn't a button set that was $15 a set. It could be worse and I have no one to blame but myself.  Farmhouse Fabrics has always had great service, they have even called before when they thought there was an issue with an order. This was not their doing, it was 100% mine.

It. Pays. To. Read.

Children's Corner "Lillian"

Someone is growing into quite the young lady. It was time to try a more grown up dress. Lezette Thomason, former owner of Children's Corner Patterns, presented a challenge on the FB Sew Classic for Children page. Take the Lillian pattern and rework it. So that is what I did.

This was my inspiration that I saw on Pinterest.

Fabric was a well aged piece of 100% cotton that Princess's mother brought back from Princess's first trip abroad. She was lucky enough to go to Paris at the wise age of five months. How fun is that selvage?

I mimicked the appliqués from the inspiration piece coupled with a faux collar, all of a large scale pique. The appliqués also repeat the shape in the fabric print.

Because my fabric was a print I could have made it easier on myself with the center front. You can't really tell there is a center seam between the two rows of triple stitched top stitching down either side. And buttons, those were tough to match. Finally ended up with craft buttons from Joann.

After using buttons all down the front, I felt like buttons down the back would just be button overload. A zipper was called for. A zipper!! A real sign that a little one is growing up. A moment of silence should be taken at this time.

All in all a cool summer dress for Princess. Need to get some baseball shorts made for her brother before I send this. She doesn't like it if I send her something and not him. Keep stitching, faithful reader.

First there was ONE...

Have you heard of the Sew Together Bag by Sew Demented? If you haven't, you may be the only person. A friend from my SAGA chapter brought one to a gathering our chapter hosted last summer. We were crazy about it. Then another member made one for herself and her daughter. The crazy was on! A group of friends got together and the member who had made one for herself and her daughter agreed to "lead" the rest of us in a sew along to make one for ourselves. Little did we know what a slippery slope this would be.

You have to have fabrics for this cute scrappy looking bag. The scrappier, the better. That took a few of us to one of our local quilt shops, Janie Lou Quilt Shop. They were only too willing to feed our obsession, show us the ones they had made. Don't you love those bunnies? You know the problem with a cute quilt shop? All those dang fat quarter bundles wrapped with ribbon with a cute hang tag. Cute, fresh, modern fabrics in on trend color combinations. All there together for the taking. (Well pay first, it will work out better for you.) All the colors, patterns and designs just calling your name. I bought so da** many its not funny a few. I slapped myself silly when I found myself picking up a Christmas bundle. NOBODY NEEDS A CHRISTMAS bag!! NOBODY!

As you can see inside each pocket is a different fabric. Orange and Navy aren't normally colors I would be drawn to, but that pink stripes and the bunnies just wouldn't be ignored. SO I bought the whole bundle. Of course I did!

After the cute fat quarter bundle, you need zippers. Oh you need so many cute colored zippers. Not those plain ones in boring colors from the big box store, J*'s or H*L*, no you need cute electric colors!

And why buy ONE when you can buy two dozen? WHY? There is a GREAT seller on Etsy called Zipit.  Stupendous service and so quick. Ordered on Tuesday, had by Thursday. And has a large assortment of colors in just as many lengths. Truly the zippers come out to well under $1/each. I can justify with the best of 'em.

I loved my bag, monogrammed of course. It was so quick, done in an evening and a little bit. No time at all. And fun! Well there my downfall began."I could make these for the girls!" I said; "It won't take but a minute", I said.

And so I did. Even more of those cute FQ bundles jumped into my bag and more of my $$ jumped right out.

For the theater/stage manager/tv and movie lover daughter.

For my go getter, stylin' daughter.

For my sophisticated style, accountant, daughter in law. Note the account ledger fabric in one of the pockets.

For my don't go too loud, tailored style daughter.

I did these four for Christmas gifts. "I'm finished" I said to myself........

Well no I wasn't! I went to Sewing at the Beach in January and needed to take girlfriend gifts with me. Soon four more bundles jumped into my bag. And more $ jumped out. (Are you noting a trend here?) This photo was taken at night with my camera phone, excuse the poor photo and no, there are no photos of the insides. I needed to pack the night before I left.

So it began with ONE Sew Together Bag and then there were NINE! I can put those zippers in in my sleep. No two are alike, and that is the fun of it. There are some great blogs out there with step by step photo instructions for making the bag. The best one is by Quilt Barn. Check it out.

Have fun faithful reader and I apologize now to your wallet.