Kids Clothes Week (In my case, I should really call it Kids Clothes Day)

So two weeks ago started the first ever Summer KCW. I am so excited that KCW is going to be a quarterly event and I am really looking forward to Fall KCW already considering all I managed for the summer session was a pair of shorts :(

I had intentions of sewing shorts and tees for both kids but all I managed was this pair of shorts for Erin using Dana's Kids Shorts Pattern and an appliqued store bought tee. Oh well...there is always the fall!

I think she likes her new outfit!

Added a goat applique with a template from Aesthetic Nest you can purchase here.

rick rack trim on the pockets

Erin pretending to be a black bear - umm okay ha!

"shorts are good for jumping around mom"

fabric is from Joann purchased last year. it is cotton but that is all i know!

 

 

Dana's pattern is so easy to use and all the great tutorials on her site are very helpful! The shorts came together quickly and I even serged all the inside seams so they look pretty on the inside as well. I made a size 5 but used the size 4 elastic measurements for my skinny almost 6 year old. I probably could have cut a size 4 as the shirts are a bit roomy but hopefully that just means they will still fit her next summer.

Hopefully I have more success in the fall! And can get something sewn for Jack!

Thanks for stopping by!
Meghan

So I took a little mud bath this weekend...



This past Saturday, my brother Robert, three of my cousins and a friend took part in a little event called The Tough Mudder. Here is a description of the event from their website: "Tough Mudder events are hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. With the most innovative courses, 1,000,000 inspiring participants worldwide to date, and more than $5 million raised for the Wounded Warrior Project, Tough Mudder is the premier adventure challenge series in the world."

Okay so its not such a little event - ha! This is the second time I have participated in a Tough Mudder event. I did the one at Mount Snow last summer and it was hard - really hard! It took us six hours to complete (partly because I was a lot slower last summer and the other part being they had us go up and down the mountain seven times!) This year I was determined to finish faster. The Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge. I was challenging myself to do better and I did! Our team finished in four hours! I am so proud of us!

 

Team Pride N Joy

 This is such an amazing experience! It is probably the hardest thing I have ever done physically. But also one of the most rewarding. The whole vibe of the Tough Mudder is amazing as well. Every person who participates is really your team member. There is such a sense of camaraderie. It really is amazing how perfect strangers come together to help one another even if it means slowing them down. Because that is what Tough Mudder is about, helping one another over come obstacles.

And the obstacles are no joke! The event was held at Tall Pines ATV Park in Andover, NY. If you click here it will take you to the event page where you can scroll down to click on a copy of the course map. It is a PDF and I am not sure how to add it here! Names of the obstacles include Electric Eel, Walk the Plank, Boa Constrictor and ElectroShock Therapy to name a few. ElectroShock Therapy is the last obstacle of the course. You have to run through wires hanging down with 10,000 volts of electricity coursing through them! I got hit - it REALLY hurts!!!

 

Electric Eel

Cage Crawl

trying not to get hit with tennis balls!

Walk the Plank

Electroshock Therapy
 

In addition to the obstacles, they also had "Burn Zones" set up where you had to do push ups, burpees, planks, tricep dips or short cardio bursts.

 

Planks



  The whole course was 11 1/2 miles long so in some cases you were running about 2-3 miles between obstacles. Tough Mudder really challenges you in every way - especially mentally. It really is about overcoming fears and pushing yourself to keep going all while helping your fellow Mudders along the way. It really is such an amazing experience!! I am sore and bruised and I can't wait to do it again next year!!

Done!

Thanks for stopping by!
Meghan

Giant Beach Bag

Hello! It has been awhile...how's your summer going? We have been pretty busy with trips to the lake and down to Long Island to see family. It has been a lot of fun so far and we have more trips and activities planned so sewing has been slow here. I did get to sew a couple of things last week. It was very rainy here, so I was able to spend some quality time with my sewing machine and work on a project that was needed. With all the trips to the lake and all the towels and stuff that goes along with it, I really needed a bigger bag to haul everything in. I was shoving our towels and blanket and snacks into a pretty small bag that I used when it was just me traveling to the beach!

I had some fabric in my stash that I knew I wanted to use and I wanted the bag to be large enough to hold four towels and our beach blanket. I wanted to add some pockets to the outside for easy access to the sunscreen, swimmies and for any shells or rocks the kids decided they had to keep! Plus, I wanted a bag that I could throw into the wash along with the towels. I stacked my towels and blanket, measured the pile to get the dimensions for my bag and did a quick little sketch of how I wanted the bag to look. Then went to bed trying to figure out how the heck I was going to sew it together! The next morning I woke up, got the kids breakfast, made myself a cup of coffee and settled down to catch up on the blogs I follow still baffled as to how I was going to sew my bag together. It was as if the sewing gods were answering my prayers because there in my feed was a post from Steph at girl. Inspired saying she was guest posting at i heart naptime with an over sized beach bag tutorial! Sah-weeet! The beach bag was even bigger than the one I had drawn which was great and she had easy to follow instructions on how to put the bag together. I made a few changes to the design so it matched the bag I had originally sketched. Instead of the interior zip pocket that Steph added, I added the two exterior pockets from my sketch to either side of the bag. I also constructed the straps differently than she did. Instead of the straps being sandwiched between the exterior and interior pieces, I added the straps after the bag was constructed so that they were visible on the exterior of the bag. I did start out with the same dimensions that Steph had but I cut my pocket pieces the wrong size so I had to change the size of the bag. It was not a big deal though and my bag still holds a lot of stuff!

two large pockets for storage

fits all our gear perfectly

 



all packed and ready to go!

I am so glad that I found this tutorial! This bag is just what I needed for hauling all our gear to the lake or to my in-laws pool!

Thanks for stopping by!
Meghan

p.s. it is already day two of KCW! head on over to see some awesome inspiration and guest posts. i better get a move on ;)

Washi and a haircut - two bits! (lame title i know!)

Hello! I finally took my sewing machine out of vacation mode and finished up my Washi tunic. Hooray! It only took me ten weeks to finish it - such a procrastinator!

Well, in all fairness to myself, other projects just took priority. But I really wanted to finish what I started back in April. It has been sitting on a dress form (borrowed from my awesome friend Angela) staring at me for too long. Today I decided we were not going anywhere. We have been on the move all week and just needed a day of rest. Plus the weather has been iffy and today we had a big rain storm so outdoor activities were not happening anyway. Which made me feel much better about staying indoors ;)

So, I finished my Washi tunic and I love it! It was easy to sew thanks to Rae's awesome instructions and a little help from this tutorial - I was intimidated about sewing with elastic thread until I watched this. The fabric I used is Global Garden by Kathy Hall for Andover Fabric. I purchased it well over a year ago as part of a fabric de-stash that The Cottage Mama had in her shop. I looked around on the Andover site and some other fabric sites but it does not seem to be available anymore. It was not my favorite fabric that I purchased, the other fabrics in the bundle are what caused me to make the purchase, but there was about 2 and 1/2 yards of it and I wasn't sure what else to use it for so Washi tunic it became! And I must say, it is really growing on me. The color and print are not what I generally go for in clothing for myself but I like it. And it it very comfortable and soft.

first time shirring anything!

I did make a muslin first (something I admit I never do). And it fit perfect. I cut out the size medium and started to sew it together and then it sat, for ten weeks. In those ten weeks I have been really exercising and watching what I eat so the tunic is a little big. You can't really notice in the pictures but the neckline is a little loose and it does have a slight maternity shirt look to it because the skirt part of the tunic sticks out a bit. I think I just might be able to sew a small next time. I still love this shirt though and I will wear it. I can't wait to sew the dress version. I already have some fabric set aside for one that my mom got me for my birthday (she also purchased me the Washi pattern for my birthday - she rocks!)

So here are the two best pics of me in my new Washi Tunic:

nice headless shot

nice cheesy pose and here is where the haircut part of the title comes in - I chopped it off!



Thank you to my husband for taking these fabulous pictures ha! I really don't know if I will ever get used to having my picture taken for the blog. It is way more fun to photograph the kids! I am loving my new tunic and sewing for myself. I also am in love with my new haircut! I have been wanting to cut it short for awhile now and decided last week to go for it. I was down at my parents' house on Long Island so I went to visit my favorite hairdresser Jessica - check out her Facebook fan page here. Despite the fact that I have been living upstate for eight and a half years now, I still go to Jessica to get my hair cut. She is awesome so why change right? Plus we went to high school together so I have know her for way longer than I would like to admit ;)

Thanks for stopping by!
Meghan