Tic Toc...I Love You All The Time

At long last!

This has got to be the oldest 

U.F.O. I have ever completed!

 India picked out this fabric all the 

way back in 2000!

I made a mistake in my last post and 

said I had bought it in 1999.

She was in second grade and just beginning to learn

how to tell time on a clock.

I cut out this dress and 

got it about half finished 

and then we packed up to move to 

New Hope, Pennsylvania. 

Somehow, I never unpacked

this to finish sewing this dress!

Ahnalin found this unfinished

dress in a box in our garage here in 

in Santa Rosa!!!

That means that this box had travelled

through several moves before 

being opened! 

OH MY!

For some reason,

I made the bodice with

facings instead of lining it.

Weird, 

especially since there was more

fabric packed with the pieces.

So, I cut out a lining 

and added interfacing.

And then the bodice looked a little

too  boring, 

so I pleated some gingham ribbon

and added a scrap 

of rick rack.

After all, 

I still adore rick rack!

Ugh!

How did I miss that thread?

I didn't have any buttons

in my stash that I loved 

with this fabric.

And there was no way I was going

to the fabric store to finish a

U.F.O that was 11 years old!

So, I dug through my button jar

and started layering buttons.

I liked this combo.

I had already sewn the hem band 

and pockets onto the skirt,

but I added more rick rack,

because, well, it's me!

Although I prefer button closures,

I had already put in the zipper,

so, out of a desire to just

"get'er done!",

I left the zipper in.

Ahnalin loves it!

She wanted to do "Pretty poses"

for this dress, 

so this is one of those.

Twirling!

And then,

of course,

the "Classic Ahnalin Pose"!

I am so glad I finally finished this little dress,

before Ahnalin grew out of it too!

---------------------------------

In other news,

I am doing well on the "Anti-Inflammatory Diet"

and am seeing results in my hand.

After a visit to the doctor,

and blood work,

we found out that there is some kind of 

auto-immune condition going on,

but we don't know what it is.

So, I am headed to a specialist to figure that out.

And, 

I will be starting the girls Halloween 

costumes this week.

Does this give you an idea of who

both of my daughters want to be for Halloween?

Happy Sewing!

Alterations, Aprons And A Really Old U.F.O!

Thank you, 

so much (!!!)

for your prayers and encouragement!

My hand is MUCH better and I have been 

able to do some sewing!

I am thrilled with the progress

my hand has made since I have been following

the Anti-inflammatory diet!

So, thankfully, I have been able to do

some work!

That has meant A LOT of alterations for 

various clients in town.

And, as usual, that means replacing

a lot of zippers, 

adjusting hems,

and letting out seams.

But I finally remembered to share a tip

that has saved me a lot of frustration.

I have been replacing a lot of invisible zippers lately.

And I truly HATE the little plastic feet by Coats,

that are sold next to the zippers.

Now I know that you can buy a special foot 

for installing an invisible zipper,

but I didn't want to buy one more thing!

So I tried all of my different machine feet 

and found out that my Piping foot worked perfectly!

I was thrilled and feeling rather thrifty as well!

Do you have any idea what this is?

It is the inside of a gorgeous bridal gown

that I am rebuilding for a client.

While I always welcome alterations business,

I LOVE altering bridal gowns!

I have been taking my machine over to 

the bride's home to work on her dress,

because my eager girls would have 

a hard time not sneaking a try-on!

Did I mention that I adore bridal gowns? 

And I have made a few aprons lately too!

I had an old friend order an apron

for her preschool daughter.

She picked these two fabrics

so I made the apron up 

with the same fabrics but

in reverse.

She picked this one!

And this is the other version.

I love them both!

This is a size small (2-4) 

and I will be listing it in my Etsy soon.

And that U.F.O.?

(UnFinished Object)

Well.............

I bought this fabric in 1999

and cut out a dress for India.......

who was in second grade at the time!

A month into the school year,

we moved from Lake Bluff, Illinois,

to New Hope, Pennsylvania.

So I must have packed up this 

partially sewn dress that I had

been making for India,

to encourage her to learn to tell time. 

Guess who found it while

"shopping in the garage"?

Ahnalin!! 

This is just crazy,

because we have moved 

2 more times since then!!

So, now Ahnalin is in second grade

and learning to tell time.

And I am finishing this dress for her!

However, I don't like

that I had made it with facings,

instead of lining the bodice.

So, I have taken off the facings

and am lining the bodice so 

I can attach it to the skirt.

The dress also only has seam

allowance for a zipper,

instead of buttons, 

but I am just keeping that the same.

So, hopefully tomorrow I will have photos of 

Ahnalin in her finished dress!

It feels so good to be able to sew again!

I need to get back to work now.

Happy Sewing!

Oh My! My Baby India Is 20!

Happy 20th Birthday India!!

Yes! 

She is 20 years old! 

And this is the bike she bought with her 

Birthday money.

Pretty sweet ride, eh?

So in honor of her birthday,

I thought I would show some fun photos of my

first baby.

I took this photo on her last day at work

as a "bookie" on the 

Storybook Land Canal Boats

at Disneyland. 

Ahnalin and I were riding Casey Jr. and 

as the track runs all around Storybook land,

our train happened to be directly overhead

as India's boat was going under the bridge.

 And here she is right 

before midnight on her final night of work

as she was graduating from the Disney College Program.

Ahnalin and I, 

along with some of her DCP buddies,

were honored to ride her final boat.

This was, without a doubt,

her very favorite job ever!

A week after we brought her home from the

Disney College Program,

my parents came for the weekend

and we drove over to Bodega Bay for a visit.

As usual, India chose to make goofy faces

in nearly every shot!

I love this picture. 

I actually took it in May when

I got to visit her all by myself

in Anaheim. 

This picture is a few years old but I love it.

India is holding my darling niece Cherish

and I think they both look beautiful.

This was taken a few years ago when

India, Ahnalin and I went to a friend's wedding.

This was taken when she was not yet 4

and we were moving away from her favorite

cousin, and best friend Tyler. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of these two.

India loved eating at the American Girl Cafe

in Chicago when we lived there.

This visit was when she was 7 years old.

This was taken at India's third birthday.

She LOVED this dress!

Blue gingham and the apron

was white with pink birthday cakes.

I even made a matching outfit for her Ginny doll!

And here she is just a few years ago in 

her Alice costume.

I stole this picture off of her Facebook page.

A friend took it when she was a freshman

standing outside the drama room at school.

Her shirt and her expression are pure India.

Here she was singing at a local restaurant

while her Daddy (aka Hot Rockin' Hubby)

accompanied her.

This is my all time favorite picture of my India.

She was 3 and

attending Healdsburg Preschool Co-op. 

She is just so yummy in this photo!!

I love my India so much.

She was my first baby.

She is the one who had to 

bear the brunt of all my first-time-mama parenting,

yet, somehow, she has managed 

to grow into a brilliant,

talented, 

beautiful,

funny,

amazing,

loving,

generous,

spontaneous,

gifted,

happy,

faithful,

imaginative,

committed,

and miraculous 

WOMAN!

I can't even begin to say how very proud I am of her.

As she enters this stage of her life,

her "20s",

I pray that the Lord will

bless her with wisdom,

joy,

courage,

faith,

health,

peace,

love,

relationships,

success,

miracles,

imagination,

and 

yes, I pray that she be blessed

with her heart's desires.

Jeremiah 29:11 is India's favorite verse.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,

"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you a hope and a future."

She is a lovely woman

but she will always be my baby.

India, mama loves you forever.

What I Have Been Up To

Oh My Oh My! 

Where do I start?

Yes, Princess Pei Pei lost another tooth.

But her permanent teeth are growing 

behind the baby teeth.

So you can't see much of a space.

We visited Discovery Kingdom

to celebrate Ahnalin's Chinaversary

and had a yummy, and super bad-for-us funnel cake sundae.

We went to our church retreat

at Westminster Woods

and this is the only picture I got!

Ahnalin loved playing all the fun games

and got soaking wet!

Our speakers were amazing

and I had so much fun being on the 

drama team and singing all weekend.

Sadly, India had to stay home because of her

rehearsals.

Oh!

I probably forgot to tell you!

Now that India is all graduated from the 

Disney College Program,

she is in college full time here in Santa Rosa.

AND......

She is in the musical, 

"My Fair Lady"!!

As we have walked to school each morning,

we are often greeted by the sight of 

hot air balloons that have landed in the school yard.

I had never seen one being deflated before,

so this was fascinating!

Ahnalin asked Daddy to take

the training wheels off her bike,

and in about 2 seconds flat, 

she rode away!

As to sewing,

well, between being "Taxi Mama" 

and doing alterations for a gajillion people,

I have not been super creative with fun sewing.

I am not complaining about the alterations jobs,

as they provide much needed "extra" (not really) income.

But I did manage to make a valance for my dining room.

This is some much loved fabric from my stash.

I don't have a lot of each fabric,

and I believe the floral is out of print.

So I am having to be fairly creative 

in order to get 2 more valances out of it!

And as usual, there is no pattern for this.....

just math. 

I have lots of Fall clothes cut out for Ahnalin

and need to get busy sewing them! 

It has been very hot here,

so she has been happy still wearing

summer clothes. 

But I need to get busy!

But I would be so grateful if you have any 

extra prayers to spare,

if you would send them my way.

I have been struggling with 

some pretty extreme pain and

swelling in my left hand.

Thankfully, we now have medical insurance,

so I was able to schedule a doctor appointment!

I get to see my new doc in just over a week

and I am praying for some answers regarding my hand.

But in the meantime, 

I have decided to try 

the anti-inflammatory diet.

It can't hurt me any more than 

my hand hurts already.

And I am wayyyyyyyyyyyy too young 

to feel this rotten. 

I mean, I have sewing to do!

I hope to have some fun things

to show soon.

Happy Sewing!

Happy 6th Chinaversary To Our Family!

We are a family.

And 6 years ago today

our precious Ahnalin was placed in our arms.

This is not the prettiest picture of me,

but we both had been crying.

God has brought us a long, long way.

We struggled with Reactive Attachment Disorder,

PTSD and Sensory Processing Disorder.

She didn't sleep at night

for a long, long time.

But God has healed her and now

she is a wonderful sleeper.

She was terrified of Daddy for a long time

but they are so tight now!

Ahnalin and India are REAL sisters in every sense of the word.

They fight (like crazy!) 

but love each other more than life.

We are so blessed to have each other.

We are a family.

Thank you Lord.

Twenty Three Years With The Hot Rockin' Hubby

Twenty three years ago today,

I married the love of my life.

 And I love him so very 

very

very

very much more now

thank I ever thought possible.

 Don, you are my very best friend.


You are exactly who I wanted

to share my life with.




Every day, 

no matter what happens,

I am glad that we belong to each other.




God must love me very much 

to have given you to me.




I love you,

my love.


Forever.


Love,
Sivje