Sunday, May 29, 2011

Sewing on my mind

I have been sewing and creating a lot of things lately so I thought I'd share some of them.

The other day my sister, Julie, said her daughter, Josie, had hardly any pink hair accessories and most of her clothes are pink.
Now, being Josie's aunt I felt partly responsible so I quickly remedied that.
Josie has enough pink head gear to last her for some time.

I've also been in something of a sewing phase.
I have made Avery three dresses in the last couple months.
The first one is her Easter dress and the other one was just for fun.
Do you ever have something get stuck in your head that won't leave until you do something about it?
I get like that from time to time and the second dress was a result of it.
Both dresses were designed by me and sewn without a pattern.
Perhaps not the best way to sew but I have no patience
or skill with using patterns and I learn so much with each project.
We have family pictures coming up in the next month or so and I was inspired by this picture as to how I want the photo shoot to go.

I knew I wanted to make Avery's dress so I sought inspiration.
I got inspiration from all around me not least of which was J. Crew's Wirlwind dress from the summer catalog.
Here's a sneak peek at the finished result.
This dress was a challenge to me in many ways.
I have never taken professional sewing lessons before
and am extremely critical of my work.
I am overall pleased with this dress.
I feel I have come a long way.

Now that I have Avery's dress made I need to figure out what design I want for mine.
Any ideas?
I want all four of us to wear black and white (mostly white) with a splash of color.
I want the clothes to have a light summer feel
like a happy Sunday afternoon.
We will be photographing in a field.

Clothing designing may be uninteresting to some but it's what is on my mind.
I love creating and seeing my creations being put to use.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Red Rock Rio Salado Triathlon

I don't make a habit of writing numbers on myself.
They were for the triathlon.
It was a few weeks ago so it's taken me a while to blog about it.

This was my 7th race in the last year.
Each race was different from the next.
Although I did a triathlon on November last year,
this one was different because it was my first open water triathlon.
That's right, I swam in Tempe Town Lake.

SWIM
BIKE
(Lindsay left, me right)
RUN
My actual time was 1:51
because my start time was six minutes after the first start time.
I loved sprinting across the finish!
Lindsay was such a great partner to train with!
We motivated each other a lot!
When training we talked about how no matter how hard we train we still look like moms when we look in the mirror but I like that. I don't want to look like a teenager. I'm a mom and I love it!
The Jones Family
Andrew showing I'm #1.
It has become something of a tradition.
(We did the same here and here.)
Over all I was happy with how I did but I want to do better next time.
My run felt great but there was a lot of room for improvement in the swim and bike.
I'm so glad I did it!

Monday, May 23, 2011

100th post: outfit


Welcome to my 100th post!
I decided to do an outfit post since it's been a while.

To begin, I did a very simple hair style.
It doesn't need to take an hour for you to look good.
All I did was straighten it and curl the ends in a little
and you wouldn't believe the number of compliments I got.
Even though I'm growing my hair out, I'm really enjoying it at this length.
On a side note, isn't it interesting when the person you see in the mirror doesn't always look like the person you see through a camera lens? Andrew said I've been getting more freckles on my face lately and I didn't believe him until I saw the picture above.
About time I mow the lawn!
The outfit:
top - DEB wonder tee
necklace - Miss Selfridge (in England)
skirt - Anthropologie
green belt - thrifted
silk flower - boutique
shoes - Amazon

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Bowtie tutorial

I haven't done a tutorial yet
but I'm doing this bow tie tutorial
by special request.
They are rather easy to make so don't be
over-whelmed by all the pictures.
I'm a visual learner so I tried
to take a picture every step of the way.
Are you ready?

The main part of the bow tie
consists of two rectangles of fabric.
The larger one is 6" by 9",
the smaller one is 2" by 4".


If you haven't already ironed the fabric
now is the time to do it!
Next you cut and iron on interfacing to both
rectangles on the underside of the fabric
following the interfacing packaging instructions
cutting the interfacing to rectangles slightly
smaller then the fabric to avoid
bulky seems later on.
Set the smaller rectangle aside for a while.
Fold the larger rectangle in half the long way
and sew with interfacing on the outside.
Open to reveal fabric side and iron with
seam in the middle as shown below.
Bring the long ends together with seam on the outside
and sew for the 2nd time.
Fold the new seam inside and iron again
with seam in the middle.
Cinch the middle and hand stitch
or glue with hot glue gun.
I have done both and found that gluing
is much faster and still looks good.
Now take the smaller rectangle, fold in half long ways
and sew along side like you did with the bigger rectangle.
Turn fabric out and iron with seam in the middle.
Before stitching the smaller rectangle to the middle
attach elastic to back side of bow.
Once again, you can either hand stitch
or glue to complete this step.
Make sure when you measure the elastic
you give room for a collar so it's not too tight around the neck.
Before you're done attach the Velcro.
And there you are!
Notice I have two different sizes.
The measurements I posted above were for the
bigger bow tie which fits boys ages 3+.
To make a smaller one cut the fabric to
7" by 5" and 1 1/2" by 3".
Also, notice I added an extension to the smaller bow tie
below to allow easy adjustment for growth.
Happy sewing!

N & G wedding {part 2}

Out of 7 weddings in my family (including mine)
this was one of my favorite.
I felt pretty, the back yard was beautiful,
and I was surrounded by family and friends.
Aren't weddings wonderful?

This is my favorite picture of my parents.
I love how my mom is helping my dad
with his boutonniere just like my mom
helped me with my high school date's.
Diana was such a sweet maid of honor
and she looks fabulous in orange,
which happens to be her favorite color.
Here's the best man.
Nora has nannied Jenee and Ivan Prince's kids for 6 years.
She refers to them as "her kids".
Jenee was a big part of the wedding reception.
[On a side note I did Nora's hair for the reception.
I was so worried it wouldn't turn out
but she looks beautiful no matter what.]
Doesn't Julie look fabulous
just 3 weeks after delivery?
I wish I took more pictures of the actual reception
but here are some photos of my friends.
[The Webers on the left, Reachel in the middle, Julie and Jonny on the right.]
Considering Nora loves ice cream so much, the sundae bar was perfect.
The bride and groom left in style.
[the end]

Friday, May 20, 2011

N & G wedding {part 1}

Are you ready for some Nora and Garrett wedding pictures?
I thought so.
[Above I'm holding the maid of honor's bouquet.]

Nora made a count down chain to the big day.
I though it was cute they had a #0 to indicate the big day.
I thought most chains ended at #1.
* *

The sealing was just perfect for the newly weds
and I was honored to be in the bride's room for
Nora, Julie, and Louise to help with
the dress and make-up after they were sealed.

As usual, the groom took longer than the bride to
get ready before exiting the temple.
Could it be the groom isn't used to wearing so many layers?

[Whoa, I really do have bad posture!]
The weather was excellent, although a little on the warm side,
but it was a lovely day to be outside.

They did it!
What a cute couple!
Garrett carried the all-white suit very well.

[Above is the traditional family "Ooo" photo]
Before the reception started we were able
to take some family pictures.
Here are a few I was able to capture.
[Stapley & Seymore family men]
[parents of the bride]
[parents of the groom]

Here are all my siblings and their families.
My family is growing so fast!
[Louise, Stanley, and Steven Johnson]
[DJ, Sara, and Joseph Stapley]
[Peter, Emily, Dean, and Robinson Stapley]
[Chris, Kristy, Dillon, Lizette Stapley]
[Julie, James, and Josie Manning]
[Ruth Stapley]

Why is it so hard to get a good family
picture where everyone is looking
at the camera and smiling perfect?
Andrew always told me
"It's the imperfections that make us beautiful."
I love that my kids are wiggly and full of energy!