Tuesday, September 22, 2009

How To's

OK ya'll....Here it is, just like I promised! The Skirt I can't Post, since it's not mine. But the Shirt and Dress I will...Here goes:

SHIRT:
*Take another one of the kid's shirts and lay it over the fabric of choice. This is how wide it's going to be. Add about an inch to one side and cut out a rectangular shape the length you want it to be (remember the sleeves will add some length, if you add sleeves) This will be the back(A).

*Now make another rectangle that is 6-8 inches wider and 3 inches shorter than the first. This will be the front bottom(B). The front top (C) will be a 3 1/2 inch tall piece that is the same width as the back. (the 1/2 inch is for seem allowance)
* Using whatever method you prefer, gather the center of the bottom front until it's the same width as the back. Sew the bottom and top front pieces together. I use a tight straight stitch then zig-zag over the seem allowance to keep frays at bay.
(If you don't want sleeves, just skip to the bottom)
*Take 2 more pieces of fabric about 4x8 (or bigger for your kid, but at that ratio) and fold in half to make it 4x4. Cut at diagonal 1 in from center diagonal, leaving the fold on the bigger half. (D) You can leave more space near the top corner if you want a deeper neckline. I just cut it larger than I think I need then hand basted it together, threw it on Sydney and tried it, then cut shorter if I needed.
*Now take a sleeve and lay it on the front at the corner where the sleeve will be attached (leave room for neckline!) Mark and cut. Do this for both sides, front and back.
*Now would be a good time to hem the top around the neckline of all pieces. Also hem the outside of the sleeves. DO NOT hem the bottom, yet! You run the risk of the front and back not being even.
*Now attach the sleeves. Then sew the front to the back along the sides. Now you can hem the bottom. * If the neckline is not wide enough cut a 3 in. slit down the back starting at the neck. Hem edges and sew a single button at the top. For an easy button hole just sew a small piece of elastic near the top of the neckline, opposite the button. Elastic loops over the button and Voila: Complete shirt!!!
DRESS: (Do everything the same as above with the following exceptions)
* make it longer (this might seem like a "Duh" moment, but you'd be suprised!)
*I omitted the gathering in the front by making the front and back the same size and shape.
* Add a ribbon around where you want the waist. Just tack it at the side seems and leave loose at the back. This makes a real cute bow at the mid back.
Other than these things the basic pattern is the same.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Crafty

OK So mom got a little crazy with the sewing machine this week. Once I got started I couldn't stop. In fact I'm still going...making halloween costumes and christmas presents. I guess my reasoning is that it's better to get this stuff under way now rather than later. And as for Sydney's clothes....She can always use more clothes right? OK I can't take total credit for the skirt in this outfit. I got that idea from Suzie (Thanks bunches BTW) But the matching top (and the blue dress after) i did without a pattern and without measuring, just by sight. So if you want to know how I did it: I just cut some pieces out, did some gathering and put a button on the back. Sorry...I'm bad with instructions. I'll post some later, after I really think about it. See? That's my problem, I make things without thinking to write down how I did it. Then when people want to know, i'm like "I don't know, I just did it" Anyways I will post the instructions later. It's really simple. Gotta go chase down my super (cute) model!!! BYE!




Friday, September 11, 2009

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

GGGGOOOOOOO COUGARS!!!!!

SO Rise and Shout the Cougars are out.......
YAY COUGARS!! We're so excited that they won!! WooHoo!!
We just had to go all out for the first BYU game of the season, even though Sydney was asleep before half-time. And we had to make sure that her halloween costume fit. Thanks bunches to "Mamaw"Mary!!
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Ed-Venture Museum

Here's the last of the Vacation with Jade and Mary. The day before we sent them off into the wild blue yonder, we took them to a children's museum called Ed-Venture. It was great and even I hadn't been there before. Sydney loved it. It was very interactive and had stuff for kids to play with in every exhibit. Like the Fire engine area. It had stuff for kids to dress up in and a real fire truck for them to climb in and all over. Sydney got to do so much there, even ride a camel! (OK it was fake and even though you can't see her, Cera was hanging onto Sydney the entire time)Jade and cera got to place newscasters while Sydney was weather girl. She just mostly hit the board with the magnetized pictures of clouds.This place was so much fun that I'm sure we'll be back.


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Monday, September 7, 2009

Funny things signs say.....

We just couldn't get over some of the funny signs that we saw at the different places we went. Here's our favorites:
I love how the Restroom is featured as an attraction along with the Turkeys and Bison. And the Parrots and monkeys must have gotten a lot of people freaked out in order for them to post both of these other signs......

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Resting at home

With all the places we're visiting, we need some rest. This is what we do while resting at home.
Ok this wasn't at home but it was too cute to just stay in the scrapbook.

Makeover!!


Peek-a-boo


More Zoo

We fit right in don't we?

Chrissy gives kisses....

Our own personal monkey.

Trying to feed the copper cub a leaf.

Riverbanks Zoo











Check out Cera's face. Poor thing was scared of the birds and at one point one landed on her backside. She completely freaked and I had to take her cup from her while she ran out of the cage. Jade however thought it was the coolest thing she's ever done. We love this place. I think next year we'll get a membership. We've gone so often this year that we could have saved some money by getting one. Sydney has such fun when she goes here. She's still scared of feeding the goats, but Chrissy the Giraffe wasn't so bad this time. She especially loves the penguin house. She ran all over that place. Yup, I definitely foresee a Zoo membership in our future!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Bear with me, ya'll.....

Below is what we did last weekend with Mary and Jade here. Also with us was my mom Teresa, my sisters Cera and April and my cousin Kayla. The posts are in order (top to bottom) of the things we did over the weekend. Starting w/Charles Towne Landing 1 and ending with the Aquarium. Look for more posts soon though, cause we're doing so much stuff so fast that it's taking me a while to get it up on the blog. Next up should be the Zoo and we're not done. This week we're also planning to hit a few museams and the lake again. Stay tuned!!!

Charles Towne Landing part 1

We had so much at Charles Towne Landing. It's a historical park based on the first colony in this state. I includes a replica fort wall, ye olde style housing, mini-zoo and a new ship based on the 1600's. It also has an english garden and cannons and just so much stuff I can't even name it all.....and to top it off these jumbo military aircraft kept flying over us. I think they must have been training or something. They were Huge!!! Sydney had a blast until it got really hot and muggy. She loved the boat, especially below deck! and it was all we could do in some places to keep her from running all over the place without one of us holding her hand, or keeping track of her.

Charles Towne Landing Part 2

More @ Charles Towne Landing...... Riding Daddy
Steering the Ship


Sitting on the Old Oak Tree


Beach Bums @ Folley Beach, SC

Bummin' in the sand.....





Wave hoppin......
And havin' an all-around good time!

Charleston Aquarium Fun
















Sydney can't say "shish" (fish) enough! I've never seen her learn a word so fast, but she said it over and over, pointing to the tanks. She got a little confused when we met up with the snake, and she didn't like when it crawled on mommy. This was such fun today! We went to market street to take in the local color and some gelato! Then drove along Rainbow Row and the battlement. After that we ended up at the aquarium. Sydney was sleeping at first, but when she woke up, she would not hold still. She ran from exibit to tank to exibit. She got to pet a crab and stingray and "hoot"ed at the owls. It was great! She's had so much fun!