Sunshine!

Yeah, the sun is shinning and it makes my mood waaaaay better. I have had a terrible cold, thus the blog silence, and I finally feel among the living again. I finished knitting another baby sweater and only have to sew the buttons on so I can gift it tomorrow. I will post that pic soon. I haven't finished my cardi yet as I seem to be working on smaller projects instead. most of them are finishing up so hopefully I will get back at it soon. Made a few more pair of underwear and repaired a few items. Not very exciting but needed to be done and is also productive. I have some new refashioning ideas from wardrobe refashion site and can't wait to give them a try. Can't seem to get up off this chair and get busy though. Bean and ham soup in the crock pot and I need to get bread dough mixed up to go with it. We'll have to wait and see if the boys eat it. I will leave you with a picture of a sock doll I made recently-no one to gift it to yet but now there is one ready if I need it.

PJ's

My rework pile just got a little smaller. Last week I was thinking I needed some new PJs but then I remembered I had some very lightly used ones that just didn't fit the same after being washed a couple times. I hate rolling over at night and feeling a draft up my back because the top is too short. Or how about when the flannel pants shrink 3 inches after being washed? I had some fleece and knit scraps in my stash so I added a few inches to the bottom of the tops and let the hems out at the bottom of the pants. I also had 2 pair of flannel pants that were just a little too tight after being washed to be comfortable. I unpicked the side seams form the waistband down about 6-8 inches and inserted a wedge of fleece. I now have 3 new pair of pajamas. There are still 3 sets waiting in the pile, and hopefully I will get those finished tomorrow.

The top on the left is a t-shirt material and I wear it with some pants from another set that the top has some "lace" on it that didn't wash well. I cut the bottom off that top and added it to the yellow one. Now it coordinates with the pants. Perfect. The set on the right is flannel and I added strips of fleece to the top and the pants to lengthen both. So glad I have these as they are telling us another cold air mass is headed our way at the end of the week. Here is a close up of the cute snowmen and cats on these PJs. Aren't they cute? Purple is one of my favorite colors.

Since reading about refashion on the blogs, I have amassed quite a stash of clothing items waiting to be re purposed or altered. I think hubby is getting a little concerned about what I am saving all this stuff for. Some items have turned out better than others, but all have been wearable. Most have been tops/cardigans. Unfortunately I have gained a few pounds this past year and I need to take the time to sew up a few pairs of pants. This is a more involved undertaking and I can't get myself going on this. Hopefully soon. I have one pair almost all cut out and several yards of fabric for other pairs in my stash already. I need some days off without hubby home. Tomorrow is such a day, so we will see what I accomplish.

Ice Ice Baby

This is what it looks like out my front window. That is a sheet of ice people. I am sooooo tired of using my vacation time at work for this crappy weather. At this rate, I won't have any left when the weather gets nice. This is also one view of my "new" sewing/craft room. I, surprisingly was able to convince my hubby that it was a much better use of space. You see, my other space was upstairs and measured about 7'x9'. Very small and not user friendly, not to mention I just didn't go up there. Instead my stuff was usually spread around the dining room so that I could do laundry and other chores in between sewing etc. We also use a corn stove to heat the house, and with the cold weather we have been having, we hung a blanket at the bottom of the stairs and in the family room doorway to help heat up the main living space. We haven't really used the living room and the family room since TV went digital. We all watch programs together in one room so the family room was just sitting there not being used. I still can't believe he let me have the room. It took a lot of talking and convincing him that we could move the computer and weights out of Hathead's room so he had more space also. That is what convinced him. This has lead to multiple trips up and down the stairs to get everything moved. The boys had to be bribed with pizza to get this all done. Whatever it takes, right?! It took us two days, but things are finally organized and I am so excited to start on my many sewing projects. Oh, and I said I could make some money with my projects and that helped win him over too. Now I have to get busy. Here are some more pics of my space.

There is a large closet that holds off season clothes and jackets/blazers. There are shelves to the left and right of the hanging clothes as well as two full length shelves above the rod. I have a small bookcase beside the desk that holds my patterns and 2 larger shelves to hold books, accessories, sewing baskets and some of my fabric stash. The rest is in the closet as well as my yarn stash. In the middle of the room is a drop leaf table for cutting and work space. I can't describe the excitement I feel at having this space to use. I am so thankful to the men in my house for letting me have this room. I promise to use it and try to keep in in some semblance of order. I have multiple things cut out already waiting to be sewn. I can't wait to expand my wardrobe and do more refashioning. I am so lucky!