India's Surgery Update

Thank you For your prayers. India is home and finally doing better.
Her surgeon was able to repair her tendon and remove a lot of scar tissue from the damaged area. India's Type 1 Diabetes wrecked havoc with her before and after the surgery, but after several different types of pain meds, anti-nausea meds, and antibiotics, she is feeling better. Several frantic phone calls to the nurse and surgeon finally netted the right combination. The pain was so intense that it caused her adrenaline to spike her blood sugar, which caused hours of vomiting. This meant she was unable to eat anything. But finally, at about 9:00 PM she was able to eat and the pain meds stayed down. So, even though she can still feel the pain, she is loopy enough not to care.
Please continue to pray for my sweetie. I am sure this kind of surgery is painful by itself. But the addition of Type 1 Diabetes is not an easy one.

I am so grateful for praying friends. Your prayers and encouragement mean the world to us.
Thank you.


Note: this is my first time posting on my iPad and auto correct is driving me nuts!! I am hoping I caught all the weird word substitutions. If there is a wrong word or something funky, please forgive me. I am still learning this new thing.
Sivje

Pajamas, Prayer, and Bad Christmas Photos

Yes, I know it is the ninth of January

and I am just now posting photos of Christmas morning.

But I have been trying,

in my VERY LIMITED UNDERSTANDING,

to make something of these blurry photos.

You see, 

I DID make the girls matching Christmas jammies.

And Ahnalin received

the Disney Animators Mulan Doll

from her Daddy and me.

And she received her Molly doll

from her Nana and Papa.

And I made matching jammies for Molly too.

And India received a biography about her 

favorite boss.

And Don received a t-shirt with his namesake

on it!

And me.........

Yeah, my Hot Rockin' Hubby 

bought me an iPad2!

I still need to learn so much about 

how to use my drafting programs on it.

It feels super decadent to me,

but it is my computer.

I have been using Don's old 

MacBook and he needs it back!

So, I need to figure it out.

I am VERY open to any and all

tips and thoughts from 

anyone!

After we opened our gifts

and had some breakfast,

we headed to church for the Christmas service.

It was a beautiful service,

worshiping the newborn King Jesus

with our new church family. 

Because Don is the music minister,

he made the decision to 

have India join us in singing the

Christmas carols.

So, I got to sing with my India

and my HRH together.

What a gift!

After church,

the girls put their Christmas jammies

back on because they were so cozy.

And yes, the oven DID catch on fire

while I was making the Spanikopita.

I had planned on taking lovely photos

and posting the recipe. 

Really. 

But I couldn't find Ahnalin's camera

and my phone was taking these blurry shots

and I used too much butter

for the first time in 23 years of making this

and THE OVEN CAUGHT ON FIRE!!!!!!!

So we ran next door

and the neighbors had a fire extinguisher

and brought it over to put out the flames.

And God protected us so much,
because the fire was contained
to just the inside of the oven.

Thankfully,

the rest of Christmas dinner was food

I could make on top of the stove. 

So crazy!!!

Don wanted to clean the oven

but I said it could wait until

after Christmas dinner!!!!!!

He did it anyway. 

It is very clean now. 

Thank you Don!

After dinner,

we went to see 

The Muppets for the 2nd time.

This time, we all sang along.

You see, it was at the bargain theater

and everyone else was in a Christmas mood, so 

EVERYONE WAS SINGING ALONG!

It was a lovely Christmas day!

And yes, I am going to buy a new

fire extinguisher.

A few days later,

Ahnalin and I drove India to the 

airport so she could fly out to visit

her Chicago buddies!

She had a wonderful time,

but is SO READY to finally

have her surgery.

So, this morning

we are heading to the hospital for her

pre-op with the anesthesiologist.

Her surgery is set for 12:50 tomorrow,

but we are praying that the hospital will

move up her surgery slot so she can 

go in earlier.

With her Type 1 diabetes,

fasting for surgery is difficult.

Please, please pray for my girl.

Please.

Please pray that the surgeon will

be able to repair the tendons in her

right foot. 

Please pray that he can figure out 

what the strange lump is on

her ankle, and correct or 

remove it.

Please pray for India as she recovers,

that her blood sugars would remain stable

and that her immune system

will behave, for once,

so she can heal.

We really covet any prayers sent our way.

Thank you so much. 

I will update soon.

Sivje

Change On The Horizon

Change is Exciting!

(and kind of scary)

Let me step back a bit and let you know what is happening

in our family life.

I know I mostly write about sewing, and my kids, and my hubby.

Well, here is a bit more about my hubby.

Before we moved back home to California,

Don had been a full-time music pastor

at several different churches across the U.S. 

As a family, we experienced a great many health difficulties,

several miscarriages, and many adoption

attempts that fell through leaving us heartbroken and 

emotionally and financially depleted.

Our last home, before we moved back to CA,

was a darling historical home in Historic Brownsburg, 

Bucks County, PA. 

The house was infested with bats and black mold,

but I loved it anyway. 

That house affected our health in a very bad way.

So eventually, when Don's parents built their lovely

home in the Sierra Foothills of CA, 

they asked us to move into it with them.

We gratefully accepted!

We have lived here ever since.

In this time, we have dealt with India's multiple diagnoses,

more miscarriages, more adoptions falling through,

Ahnalin's miraculous adoption, 

and then, of course the recession.

We started to attend a wonderful 

and loving church, 

called Twin Cities.

The people of Twin Cities loved on us

and loved us back to wholeness.

They were with us to mourn and 

to celebrate. 

The admonished and encouraged us. 

The showed us in VERY practical ways,

that we were worth more than just

the sum of our talents. 

They were the Hands and Feet of Jesus.

Almost as soon as we walked in the doors of Twin Cities,
we were folded into the arms of the
Celebration Arts Team.

You see, my husband,
and of course I say this COMPLETELY without bias,
is the greatest guitarist who has ever lived.

REALLY!


For 8 years Don played guitar
with the CA band.
And 5 years ago, he was hired
as the band leader.

Dave Bollen, the man on the right in the above picture,
is the Minister of Music at TCC and a very dear friend.
The first picture you see at the top of this post
was taken October 3 at about 6:30 AM,
on our last Sunday as a family at TCC.

Yes, we would arrive to begin rehearsal when the
moon was still out.
I love this place.

Ahnalin is sitting on a little stool on the stage at TCC
at our last morning rehearsal.

She was so sad that it was our last day there as a family.

TCC is the only church she has ever known
and she is fearful of getting to know a new church,
school, town, and friends.

Oh, I forgot to say why I am writing all this!

This is our NEW CHURCH!!

You see, Don was hired to
be the new worship leader of the
Contemporary Service at First Presbyterian Church 
in Santa Rosa, CA!!!!

Yes!!

Somehow, the Lord decided that it was
time for us to make a change.
And a WONDERFUL, EXCITING
change it is!!

Again, COMPLETELY without bias,
I can say that Sonoma County CA is truly the
MOST BEAUTIFUL place on Earth.

For years, Don and I have prayed that
the Lord would someday, in His Grace
and Mercy, provide a way for us to move back to this area.
And we love being in the ministry.
When we heard about this position,
and met the people,
we fell in love.

I mean,
WE FELL IN LOVE!

The people in our new church are loving and genuine and
they LOVE Jesus!

Sure, we have a few details to work out still,
but God has already answered so many prayers
and questions that I know the rest will somehow fall into place.
Last Sunday was our first official Sunday at
First Pres.
Ahnalin was fearful and nervous.
And because I had decided not to sing on Don's first Sunday,
I chose to stay with Ahnalin in her Sunday School class.

India was very sick and she laid down most of the morning but she
was there with us. So we started out at our new church as a
family.

Our dear friends from TCC,
Don and Lola Stamey, came to visit and support us
on our first Sunday.
Afterwards, they treated us to lunch at our
favorite local restaurant,
"Fitch Mountain Eddies" in Healdsburg.

And then, because I promised my friend Laura,
we dropped in to her daughter's
cupcakery called  "Sift" .

  In celebration, we each chose a different flavor
of cupcake and then cut them up
so we could each taste the different flavors.

(To my Prism diet buddies, yes, I tasted them all!)

After this, we drove around neighborhoods
looking for available homes for rent.

We are praying to find the right house
soon so that we can get moved in.

So, how, you may ask,
can you be praying for our family?

Well, thank you for asking!

Please pray for Ahnalin's anxiety during this transition.
She is extremely anxious, and we find that she is
struggling more with her PTSD and RAD than she has
for a very long time.
Please pray she meets a friend.

And for India, who is waiting to hear whether or not
she has been accepted into the Disney College Program.
This change and move is coming right at a time
when she is transitioning to adulthood.
And she is unsure what this will all mean for her.
Please pray that she is accepted into the DCP so that
she at least knows how to plan and pack. We all
feel that the DCP would be a great fit for her.
And please pray for her health.
She has an ulcer right now in addition to her other
medical issues and is so tired of feeling cruddy.

And for my Hot Rockin' Hubby,
please pray for him as he is learning the culture of a new church and job.
Please pray that he would be able to joyfully embrace the mission of
our new church home. He is making friends already with the musicians
in his new band, and I am so grateful for these wonderful people.
He is so excited and happy,
and I am so glad to see him that way!

For me, well for all of us really,
please pray that
God would direct us to the right house.
I am praying for a school where Ahnalin will feel accepted and
eager to learn. She is a great student but so nervous about it all.
I pray that our new home will allow us to get a dog
for our girls, who have begged for one for so many years.
I pray for a home where we can
entertain friends.
I pray for a home with a place for me to set up my sewing.
And mostly I pray that our family will be a family in our new place.

Yes, I know this is a much different post than I usually write.
I will be back to sewing next post.
If you have stuck with me in this post, thank you so much.
I am so grateful for your friendship and encouragement.

So, I have a lot of packing to do, in addition to
sewing some testers for other designers and
some custom items for clients.
I will try to post as often as I can,
but I really do beg for your prayers.

Happy Sewing!

Me

Hi Everyone. I am just checking in to tell you that I am still here. I am almost ready to show you some of the Disney outfits I am making.
But I have been pretty yucky feeling lately. I finally went to the doctor yesterday. I have no insurance for me so I actually, willingly paid full price to see my doctor. FULL PRICE!
Anyway, I have cellulitis in my right ear and it hurts like crazy and has been causing flu-like symptoms. I think my fever is finally going down.
My parents are in town for Ahnalin's ballet recital and my  mom is preaching at me to be a good girl and get rest. So, I am not staying up til crazy hours sewing. Which means I have less to show for myself.

But I will finally have something to post tomorrow.

And if you think about it, please pray that I start to get better. We leave for Disneyland on Wednesday and I don't want to be feeling this sick.

Thank you all.

Sivje

Totally Swamped!

Hi Bloggy Friends.

  I am still here! Really! 

I know I have been wayyyyyyy behind on all my blogging promises 

and I am still working on them. 

This is my sewing table right now!

I have the tutorial for India's satin drawstring bag almost done but forgot a few key photos, so I need to do those. And I am working on a dress for myself and will photograph the prickstitched zipper process when I do it. And I have to make both India's and Ahnalin's graduation dresses. 

India's will be out of this white embroidered batiste.

And Ahnalin's will be out of this Beatrix Potter fabric

that I got on clearance at my favorite fabric store. I can't get it to

rotate but the designs are from Ahnalin's favorite stories.

Did I mention that India is graduating from high school on June 12? 

Well, we are having a party for her that afternoon and I still have to get the invitations in the mail. I sent out E-vites but a bunch of the email addresses bounced back so I feel like a total ding-dong. I need to get those corrected and then send them out again. India has big dreams of Alice in Wonderland decorations and I want to do that for her but I am struggling to just keep my head above water right now. So, my guess is that her party will just resemble a yummy summer bar-b-q instead of the party of her dreams.

In addition to all this stuff, I am working on details for getting my patterns listed

at some new-to-me online stores. So soon,

you will have a a few new options for purchasing my patterns.

Last week, India was in her final choir concert of her high school career.

There is still the Chamber Choir Dessert Concert which 

is Friday, but this picture was taken at the last concert 

of the Concert Choir along with all the other choirs.

India is in one of the black dresses in the center. 

Ahnalin was in a cranky mood and Don and I realized that this would be

our last chance to hear the entire concert without having 

to chase down Ahnalin. 

So, she stayed home with Nana and Papa and Don and I got 

to listen to the whole concert! 

It was wonderful!

The choirs are so good and the music was lovely.

And this was Ahnalin last week.

Yes, the end of May and Ahnalin was wearing her coat,

because it was cold and rainy but there were blossoms on the trees.

We noticed that she had picked off most of the blossoms within her reach on the 

tree because she uses them for little displays all over the house and yard.

So, hopefully in the next day or so, I can show you my new dress

and at least a few other things. 

I am sorry I have been soooooo remiss in posting.

If you have a spare prayer, please send some my way.
My migraines have been brutal lately and they are interfering 

with my productivity.

Love to you all!

Thank you for your wonderful comments on the Bollywood Ball Gown posts.

You all are so encouraging to me.

Happy Sewing!

A "Little" Yaya Apron Update

Yes! Yaya's Apron will include a pattern for 18" dolls!

Ok I know I am tooting my own horn,

but isn't this little apron cute????

So Don and I have been busy working on getting the

Yaya Apron pattern ready to go out to testers, 

and we are getting closer by the minute.

The instructions are all done.

The sizes are all done.

And now we are just dealing with getting 

all the pattern pieces oriented properly 

in the drawing program so that they print correctly in PDF format.

So, there is a light at the end of the tunnel here!

Thank you all for your encouragement and patience.

I am so grateful for you all.

Oh, and just to "toot" a little more,

I set up a Facebook Fan page.

The link is over on the right hand side.

And now for a little India and Ahnalin update...

They are BOTH going to school tomorrow!!

No one has a fever tonight!

WOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!

If I seem a little batty, it is because I have been 

nursemaid for two sick kids for over a few weeks

and I am getting a bit twitchy.

So, Mama needs a few minutes of brain space to remember 

what Easter week is all about. 

Now, I need to get back to my smocking!

Happy Sewing and Blessed Holy Week to you all.

Princess Puffed Sleeves

Few garment styles say "Little Girl" as well as 

Puffed Sleeves. 
 And being a sewist who loves to sew girly dresses,
I make a lot of puffed sleeves.

Today, I finished up this little princess costume 

for a local client. 

It is a birthday present for her granddaughter.

And I must say, she will be quite the princess

in this gown. 

The client brought me the pattern 

and all the fabric a few days ago 

and I really thought it would not be a 

big deal to make this dress.
I mean, I have made a gazillion princess

costumes and dresses over the years.

So it could not take me that much time, right?

Really???

But this pattern, Butterick BP186 dated 2005,

has to take the cake as the most poorly written

pattern I have ever used. 

The pieces fit together fine, but the instructions

were ATROCIOUS!!!!! 

Instructions did not match up with illustrations.

Entire portions of the instructions were missing.

And even the amount and type of interfacing for the hat

was nowhere to be found.

Fortunately, I was able to figure it out. 

But there were some things that I felt needed to be added to this

pattern to make it look better, be more functional

and feel more 

"Princessy"  to a young child playing dress-up.

So, back to those "Puffed Sleeves".

The silvery fabric for these sleeves is very thin.

My concern was that after a few wearings, 

they would just deflate. 

The answer?

Sleeve heads!

And since the pathetic pattern did not call for them, 

I fell back on my favorite method.

And since you are all so nice, I will share it with you.

I had already sewn the sleeves into the bodice when I decided to do this,

so I will show you how to make the sleeve heads and add them to the sleeve.

Grab you sleeve pattern piece and some fusible interfacing.

Fold the interfacing and lay the pattern piece on top.

Use the pattern markings that indicate where you gather 

to help you know where to lay the pattern on the fold.

Make sure you have transferred these markings to you

sleeves and bodice so that you can match up the edges of the sleeve heads 

and the sleeves.

Then cut along the pattern piece.

When you unpin the pattern piece and open up the folded piece of interfacing,

your piece should look like this.

Cut two of these, one for each sleeve.

Fold the piece back and press it so that the sides fuse together.

Your sleeve heads will look like this now.

Now run two rows of gathering stitches along the rounded

edges of the sleeve heads.

These rows of gathering stitches will follow the curve of the sleeve too.

Now, take your bodice where you have already sewn 

the sleeves into the shoulder opening.

I apologize for the how the silver fabric looks. 

It bleaches out with the flash.

Pin your sleeve heads right along the seam line of the sleeve.

Pull up the gathering stitches so that you can match up the

edges of the sleeve head with the transferred dots on your sleeve seam. 

Then stitch the sleeve head into the sleeve at the shoulder, 

using the same seam allowance as the sleeve.

Then zigzag and trim or serge the seam allowance 

to control the gathers and reduce bulk.

When you put the sleeve right side out,

you should see a nice, supported "PUFF"!

And this puff will not sag. 

So, sleeve heads are easy to add and really make a difference with puffed sleeves. 

Another change I made to the pattern was that 

I only sewed the sequins and lace on the outside

of the dress. 

The original pattern had the sequins actually sewed into 

the seam allowance. 

And that can make for an itchy dress!

So I sewed the sequins on AFTER the dress

was completed and there were a few layers

of lining and fabric between those sequins and the young princess.

Another change was the subtraction of the zipper

and the addition of Velcro dots. 

The client suggested this change so that 

her granddaughter could put the dress on herself 

instead of needing her Mommy to zip her up.

The plus signs on the back of the bodice

show where the Velcro is stitched down.

Even though this dress is for someone else, I still

had to have Ahnalin model it.

My little princess actually prefers pink so 

I had no problem convincing her that this dress was going to another girl.

And just because I had to show you all

how things REALLY look when I sew,

this was the kitchen table while I was sewing.

Yep. 

It was a MESS!

Underneath the princess gown items was a pair of jeans

that I am hemming for a client, the pink batiste

sleeves Ahnalin's Easter dress that I am still smocking,

and some muslins! 

MESS!

My goal is to get some more Yaya's Apron work done

this weekend and then clean my sewing area. 

And this time I MEAN IT!!

(Anybody want a peanut?)

Sorry, random "Princess Bride" quotes pop out at the most inopportune times!

Oh, and I wanted to thank you all for your prayers and kind
words for my India.

She is still really ill and has not made it to school
all week.

On Wednesday, we made our trip to U.C. Davis medical Center
for a follow-up appt. with the doctor in the immunology clinic.

The last time we went, I was very frustrated because the doctor
did not take me seriously and her response to me was,
"India just may be a girl who gets sick a lot."

Was that the best she could do????

So, after I demanded some titer testing
and blood work for antibodies,
the doctor then ordered 2 blood tests.

Well, flash forward to our appt on Wednesday.

The results were interesting and now,
low and behold,
the doc is taking this seriously!!

You see, for some reason India
is missing quite a few antibodies that she is supposed to have.

So, more tests were ordered and we are praying we get to the
bottom of this immunological issue.

In the meantime, I am just still asking for healing
prayers for my sweet girl.

She has missed so much school and we are getting grief over that.


I am so grateful for your prayers.


Oh, and in other news,
over a week ago,
Ahnalin decided to take the "Radio Flyer" for
a drive down our very steep driveway.

Yeah.

She crashed and burned and
really banged up her feet and legs.

And I probably should have taken her to the doctor,
but to be honest, she was walking fine
and is a pretty tough little broad.

So we just cleaned her up and put on
bandages and thought that would be that.

However, now, a week later, they are still not
healing. They break open and bleed and look really nasty.

So, both of my girls are headed back to the doc office again in the morning.

I am tired of this!!!


(Not sure if I should mention this, but one of the times Ahnalin's feet broke open again the other day was because she was climbing up a rock wall on the side of the house and she scraped the scabs off. Gag!! She never quits!!!)

Happy Sewing my friends!

My India

I am once again asking for prayer for my 18 year old daughter, India.

Yes, she is sick again. 

This time, she has had bronchitis for almost 2 weeks, 

though we only got the diagnosis on Friday. 

I just get sick of taking her to the doctor and 

having her be on antibiotics all the time. 

She was out of school most of the week and even

missed a special birthday party on Friday night. 

However, the birthday girl also happened to be 

the daughter of our family doctor,

whom we had just seen for the diagnosis.

But she felt too rotten to go anyway.

We were working hard to get India well so that she would be able to sing.

You see, she was to sing on a very special feature song

on Sunday in the regular services.

Normally India sings with the high school band, 

and she does a great job.

But this week, the feature song was a 

very important song to India, and 

so she requested to

audition for a chance to sing the song.

What happened was truly a gift.

A dear friend, and fellow vocal team member

Heather Henderson sang the song

with India as a duet. 

In addition, one of India's friends, Rachel (in the picture with her),

and another friend of mine, Cassie, who are both

truly gifted dancers, choreographed 

a dance to the song.

The song "Stand in the Rain"

by Superchick

talks about the importance of enduring through even

the hardest pain. 

And we know that that endurance only comes through

Jesus.

And the dancers mirrored

India and Heather singing, 

showing the importance of mentorship 

and support when a person is struggling

to stand for what is right. 

The song reflects so much

the fight that India fights every day, 

just to survive and beat her disease.

India managed to sing the song in each of the three services.

She did a beautiful job. 

She made me cry.......

 in a good way.

Yet after each time, 

she crashed back into a deep sleep  

backstage. 

Yes, this lovely picture is the green room

backstage at our church. 

I am not exactly sure what various props are in this picture

but it cracks me up. 

India was really not feeling well here.

She has plenty of makeup on so she did not 

fade out under the lights. 

I am trying to upload the video of the song. 

So if you want to see it, let me know and I will try.

I am so proud of my girl.

Please continue praying for her. 

She needs all the prayer she can get.

We are trying to get her well enough to get back to school.

On Wednesday, we have another appointment

with the immunology clinic at U.C. Davis. 

I am praying for better answers than last time. 

She is struggling with her blood sugars and 

ketones, just like every time she is ill.

It is not fair.

Here is India with my Daddy. 

Even though her makeup still looks 

good, I can see that she is really starting 

to fade in this picture. 

Please just pray for her healing.

Thank you all so much.

I know I owe you all a good sewing post and 

some other things. I will get to them.

Really. 

Love to you all.

Sivje