Where Did It Go To?

Where did 2012 go to? Wow! It went by fast, didn't it? And what happened during this past year here at the farm? Thankfully it was full of quite changes. No wild fires, no evacuations. Quite but none-the-less big changes. We've had a movie filmed here. Katie went to New York again. She also went to Colorado for the National Dairy Goat show. And she went to Idaho for the National Dairy Goat convention ( have you figured out yet that she loves doing dairy goats?) We have made new friends. And done things that we hadn't done before. Like going to the Renaissance Festival. This year I've also done more sewing then in any other previous year. In the space of two and a half months I have sewn three Civil War ball gowns, a Renaissance costume, a Civil War day dress, a cape, and a medieval dress for my self. In the last ten days I've sewn two night gowns, and a cloak for Judah. I love to sew!!! :) My sewing room has gone through several "transitions". I've had the sewing room for a year now. In that time it has been messy, clean, messy, clean. But almost always there is a project being worked on. It sure is nice having a dedicated space for my sewing. So yes. It has been a year full of blessings.

Sewing

 As I said in my previous post the shed is more or less finished. So for the last month I've been sewing. I made curtains for the shed windows, a dress and shirt for myself and a skirt and shirt for Liberty. Now I'm gathering all the stuff that I need to make Timmy's birthday present. I can hardly wait 'till I have every thing that  I need and can start sewing it! I tried making the same outfit for him last year but I didn't like the results.The outfit doesn't match up with the picture in  my head or the picture in the movie. So I put it in my box of "in a pinch it will do" costumes. I'd tell y'all what it'll look like but I know that some of my siblings read my blog. :) Here are pics of the dress and shirt that I made for myself.

Simplicity pattern #3673

This picture shows the bodice darts a little better then the photo does. I made view C.

Front of the dress.

The back of the dress.

 I made this dress exactly as the pattern said to. I don't usually make the clothes to look exactly like the picture on the pattern envelope. I almost always use the pattern as a starting point for a completely different look. That is what I did with this shirt.

Simplicity pattern #2249

What the shirt is supposed to look  like.

The sleeves that I wanted the shirt to have.

 The pattern is for a short sleeved, tunic style shirt that zips up the back. The neckline is supposed to have a notch in it and there's also supposed to be a ruffle that goes from the neckline down the front of the bodice to the bodice/skirt seam. I had read reviews that said this pattern tends to run a size larger than what you measure. So I decided to make this a pull over shirt with no zipper, no "neckline notch", ties, and 3/4 length sleeves. These are the results of my alterations.

The front of the finished shirt.

The back of the shirt.

It looks exactly like I wanted it to. :-) Thanks Sara for modeling them for me!

My Sewing Room

One of my jobs for this year was cleaning the shed behind the house. I can now say that
it is almost done. It is close enough to being done that I've been able to do some sewing. Woohoo! The only thing left is to finish putting down the peel-and-stick tile. I don't have any "before" pictures. Even if I did I wouldn't post them. That's how messy the shed was. :) But I do have "after" pictures. So this is what the shed looks like now that it's been cleaned and organized.

My sewing space.

I plan to turn the table into a ironing board.

                                  The loft. This is where I keep the bins full of material
                                       and the sewing machines that I don't often use.  

Carlson family storage space. I'm thinking about putting some sort of doors on these shelves and then painting them with blackboard paint. Keep it looking neat and tidy while having a good use for it.

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!! I remember what I was doing a year ago today. I wonder what I'll be doing on this day a year from now. You never know.  :) What I do know is that before then there are a lot of things that I want to accomplish and do. I have a new years resolution list, a new years list of goals for myself, and a  list of dresses that I want to make in the next year. So which list shall I start with? Lets start with the resolutions.

New Years Resolutions

1~ Read the Bible every day.
2~ Brush my teeth every day (I know, that sounds weird ).

Goals/ jobs for the new year

1~Clean out the storage shed behind the house.
2~ And there was some thing else that goes under this category, I just can't remember it.

And last but not least, the list of dresses that I want to make this year

Susan's red battle dress from "Prince Caspian".
Eowyn's green dress (aka the stable dress).
Susan's purple traveling dress from "Prince Caspian".
Eowyn's shield maiden dress.

Hmmmm. Does any one notice a general theme here? ;)
Oh yeah. And the dresses that I have to make this year.

Linnea' ball gown.
Sara's ball gown.
Grace's ball gown AND camp dress.
My camp dress/ ball gown.

Yet another themed sewing list. :)

So there's my list of things that I've set for my self to do in the coming year. But all that sewing will have to wait 'till the sewing/storage room is cleaned out and organized. So do I have any volunteers? ;)

Whew!

It has been a  very busy Christmas season. Lots of fun, lots of laughs, and lots of sewing. In the last 15 days I've sewn a St Lucia gown, a frilly night gown, and a cloak. The St Lucia gown took 4 days, the nightgown took 7 days, and the cloak took 4 days. I love sewing! It is so much fun!
And for Christmas Mom and Dad gave me a sewing room. We are going clean out and organize the storage shed so that I can spread out my sewing projects and sew without getting in any ones way. I can hardly wait! There will be a place for my sewing machines, a place for the fabric, a place for the sewing patterns, a place for every thing and every thing in its place. I can't wait! :) Mom also gave me a binder with every thing that I need to write down all my ideas for different dresses that I want to make. She and Dad are so thoughtful.