Well, I think it has happened to all of us. You are typing along and you save and it’s all going well. Then you go back a few days later to make some revisions and while making those revisions the whole thing disappears. Yep, you guessed it. I was working on another entry and when I went to insert some pictures it just up and disappeared. You can bet that next time I’ll be making doubly sure that things are saved, probably in a couple of different places.
Now I’ll quit whining and get on to the sewing part.
I have to confess that I haven’t really sewn since retreat. I know, I can hear you gasping all the way over here. I would love to claim that I find time to sew every day (I wish!) the truth is that I don’t. I won’t start whining about not being able to sew more because this is just where my life is at this point. Most of my day is spent helping my small blonde boy learn new things and have fun and cleaning (probably my least favorite part – and please don’t think that I’m keeping an immaculate house over here. It is more of an attempt to unbury the house). However, keeping in line with my previous admission of needing an embroidery machine I have started to sew said small blonde boy some pajamas. I found what I hoped was a simple pattern and gave Inez a call that I was in need of learning how to use her serger as well as how to construct said pajamas. I would have inflicted Hattie with my need for lessons in serging and clothing construction if she lived just a little closer to me. I believe that she is thanking her lucky stars that she was able to bypass that. As it stands to date I haven’t done too badly. I started with one pair of pajamas and then (of course) it turned into 5. This is pretty par for the course for me. I have a tendency to jump in with both feet and without looking.
Back to the pajamas. Of course I had to pick directional prints so I needed to buy extra. I even had enough extra that I could not only make the shirt and shorts but also long pants. It has been interesting for to learn this go around. Of course this is not the first time that I have attempted clothing construction. I would like to say that previous attempts went well, but that isn’t exactly true. I made my dear husband a pair of sleeping shorts and it didn’t dawn on me until after they were complete that the palm trees are upside down. Being the dear he is, he tells me that when he is wearing them he can look down and see them right side up. I also put in too much elastic so they are not a terribly good fit. I also attempted to make pullovers using fleece. Somehow I made a mistake and they ended up being too small. You can’t haven on anything other than a light weight t-shirt for these pullovers. I have to say one of the best things about this go around (aside from how much better these seem to be going) is that my small person is so excited to try on those shirts and pants/shorts. I felt bad that they weren’t finished enough to let him go on wearing them.
Here you can see the fabrics I’m working with.
Fun aren’t they? I know you are now counting them and only seeing four and this is where I tell you that there is another dinosaur one that for some reason didn’t make it into the photo. I probably should admit that I have picked up a 6th fabric, something in Star Wars, especially since the others aren’t complete yet.
Anyway, I also learned how to do a blind hem and use one of those special feet for my machine! 
See, I even have proof! There I am working on a blind hem. If you are looking for some good instructions on how to do the same, check here. There are some great pictures and a nice step by step guide to help you along. She does a great job of making it really easy (or maybe I’m just ready to move on to learning this stuff that it all makes sense).
Here are some of the shirts as I was putting the ribbing in them. (Pssst….you can also see that other dinosaur fabric that didn’t make it into the other picture). I will confess that putting the ribbing in did not go as well as I had hoped. I think Inez is going to have to give me another lesson in how to finish these collars.
In the meantime I’m going to have to make another trip for more elastic so I can actually finish the pants and shorts. For now he is just running around in the shirts and that makes my heart happy because he is so excited by them. I will confess that it has been about 3 weeks since I started them but I do have everything hemmed and 3 of the shirts are usable. I really just need to do the elastic casings and get more elastic. Maybe this weekend. At least that is what I’m hoping for.
Monkey's on the Porch 