Mornings with Maggie and Becky

when mommy isn't home

this is what Margaret

and Rebecca

are up too....

Aren't they cute? I can't believe that Katie's time as a first grader is coming to a close...

Sick Days...

Pro...John taking care of the girls all day for several days in a row.

Con...I'm in too much pain to enjoy it.

Pro...Urgent Care turned out to be a pleasant experience on Easter.

Con...24 hour CVS was NOT.

Pro...got a bag full of medicine, gatorade and cough drops to get me through...

Con...I'm impatient...I mean it has been 24 hours...shouldn't I be feeling almost fantastic yet?

Pro...I wasn't labeled a hypocondriac and sent home after they pocketed my money.

Con...I have strep throat and I only ever remember hearing kids get that....boo for my take home treat for volunteering at Katie's school.  (Though I would still do it again because it was a lot of fun, just be labeled as the weirdo mom with the mask on to not catch all their germs....)  I also got a side of a killer sinus infection that is also killing my ears and making it a little tough to hear...so I've had much better weekends...

Pro...I have lots of fun blog reading to catch up on when I'm up to it.

Con...I probably missed all the Silhouette giveaways that was going on.  Oh well...always next month, right?

Three

Happy Birthday to my middle princess!

Bananas are for Monkeys

New Stuff

Sorry I have been MIA lately...
I think I am at the point that I need to split my "family" blog and "crafty stuff" into a blog of its own.  It is too cluttered with my sewing stuff for family to weed through to find cute pictures of my girlies.

I went on my first trip to Zook's Fabrics and have several projects in the works that I will be sharing soon!  I post the new blog address when it is ready to go.

Today's Top 20

Amanda was kind enough to feature my Scrappy Produce Bag Tutorial on her Blog, Today's Top 20!  Go and see all the fun stuff she rounded up this week!

Ruffle Purse Tutorial--Version 1.0

You will need to print out the pattern pieces here and here.

I am still learning so any tips on how to make pattern pieces easier (but not require a program that costs hundreds of dollars, please clue me in!)

Start out by cutting out and taping together the pattern pieces.  Place the pattern on the fold and cut out 2 pieces of the lining fabric and 2 pieces of the outside fabric.

1.  Place the lining fabric pieces right side together and sew along the outside.  I was lazy and serged along the outsides since I try to use my serger for everything possible because I love it and it makes a nice edge.  This will be hidden so it really doesn't matter if you just sew a straight line.

2.  Cut 2-- 1.5 inch square pieces of fusible interfacing and iron on the wrong side of the lining fabric.  This will keep your magnetic snap from ripping your fabric. 

3.  Cut 6-7 2" strips of fabric to make your ruffles.  I again just took the lazy way out and serged the edge because Katie thinks serged edges look fancy, but it will look more polished if you fold over the edge twice a narrow 1/4" and stitch.

4.  Make gathers with the ruffles but running the fabric through your sewing machine with LSTT (Long stitch length, tight tension)  It should automatically gather your fabric for you as it passes under the needle, but if you want more gather, just lightly hold onto the thread at the top of your machine to increase the tension a bit more.

5.  Start at the top at the ruffle line.  Pin your ruffle onto your front panel to the outside fabric UPSIDE DOWN.  Sew it on...it looks funny, right?  Now either iron or press it down with your fingers so that the ruffle lays the right way.  Stitch it down and it will enclose the loose ends of your fabric. 

6.  Repeat with each ruffle, just overlapping them slightly unless you want a really full look.  (If you want to go wild, you can ruffle the back too!)

7.  Put the outside pieces together right sides together and stitch around the outside like you did for the lining.  Trim off any extra fabric and turn. to check that it looks the way you like.

8.  Line up the pieces of the lining with the outside shell and pin.  Stitch around and up and around the handle strips, leaving a hold several inches to turn.  Turn and topstitch around the outside to close up the turning hole.

9.  Tie up the straps and you're done!  Let me know if you make one!

You may have noticed that this says 1.0....I realized that I forgot to take pictures when I made the first purse which is why it isn't picture heavy like my normal tutorials, but I also came up with a nicer way to do ruffles san serger, so I'm making another ruffle purse for Maggie in the middle and will share that tutorial as version 2.0.  Who knows?  Maybe I can find a tip from someone to make my pattern pieces look not as wonky.  ;)