Spring Top Sewalong Entered!

The top has been accepted and entered. I also found out the name of the floral print. I emailed the folks over at Pacific Fabrics. Annette and Michelle got back to me. Michelle said that the print is called Floral Lawn Print Plum. It's not part of a specific line but it's lovely just the same! Pacific Fabrics got back to me really quickly! I really appreciate it their help! Thanks Michelle!
Rae over at Made by Rae (the host of the Spring Top Sewalong) has posted some of the prizes for the Sewalong. There's a lot of really cool packages. I love all the bows, patterns and fabrics. It's really nice that I had never heard of any of the companies either so even if I don't win I get to learn about new businesses that I clearly need to know about! Check out these bows by Bird Song Bows!

How pretty are they? I have a few friends with little girls who these bows would look amazing in. Well and Tesla of course.

Also apparently there is going to be a Reader's Choice Winner.... My goodness, now I'm nervous. I wasn't so nervous until I realized people are actually going to be looking and judging the top. Yikes! You should go over to the Flicker Pool and check out the other entries. There's some really amazing tops. A lot that people made up on their own. My goodness I wish I could do that. Check them out here. I'll find out how you go about voting and update next week once it starts.

Oh, I also wanted to mention that Fabric Flair is having a huge sale right now. Most everything is under $7.00 a yard. I bought some really great auto inspired fabric by Riley Blake. Check it out!

I know that I'm going to make some fun stuff for Ben with this!


Thanks for visiting Tesla's Mom! Leave a comment!

Spring Top Sewalong: A Completed Top!

Well I did it! I have to say I'm proud of myself every time I finish something. Usually I make things with no particular deadline, or perhaps a birthday or holiday deadline, but for the Spring Top Sewalong is different. Perhaps because I have been reading all about these amazing sewers and quilters for awhile now and they all seem to have this great community in which they share and create things together, and with the entry into this I'm joining in on the fun and not just sitting on the side lines. Or maybe because I am feeling like I am not getting anything done and to pick a pattern, buy the fabric and sew a top that looks pretty darn good on me within any given time crunch is, well, satisfying. The pattern I used is from NEWLOOK or Simplicity #6937. I used a Robert Kaufman Solid Plum for the yolk and unfortunately the patterned fabric name is not correct on the receipt.
Without further ado, here is my Spring Top for the Spring Top Sewalong hosted by Made by Rae.

I had all these grand ideas that I would do my hair and makeup before Nigel came over to take the picture. But then everyone in my family got sick with over 100 degree temperatures. So I ended up handing Ben to Nigel when he got here to hold while I changed, then coming back in and handing Ben to Jason who was about to throw up at any moment. Then ran outside took the pictures, ran back in changed back into sweats and grabbed Ben from Jason who just about fell over. So the fact that I'm laughing in this picture makes me smile.

I like this one, I'm striking a pose... Or showing off the cool sleeves. I really like the feel of them. They are very light and airy and cover my arms nicely.

This is the official entry photo. The entry is supposed to just show off the shirt. So the head and legs came off.
What do you think? Leave a comment!

Would you like to see the other tops entered?  Go ahead and check out the Flicker group, here.

Garage Sales

Kids cost a lot. Diapers, clothes, food, and toys toys toys. Last year, I hit one garage sale in a neighborhood across the street from mine. I found a Richard Scarry book with lots of short stories, a Thomas the Tank Train set and a Hanna Andersson quilted jacket like this one but yellow, altogether I spent $5.00.  The jacket is my daughters absolute favorite, and it can totally work for a boy, so it'll last for years.
Well now, that Tesla is old enough to play outside more and more I really want to get things that will be good for out door play so I have been hitting garage sales on a more regular basis. T also has a lot of friends who are boys and a little brother so I'm trying to find things that will appeal to them too. (Not just girly stuff.) Last weekend I found a Mega Blocks Firetruck, Little People Dinosaur set and some army guys and planes and such.

All for $8.00!

Not bad right? Tesla loves the truck but mostly the dinosaurs. I haven't showed her the army stuff yet. That will be strictly outside, because there's a lot of them and they are just cheapy toys and will most likely get broken quickly. The firetruck was pretty gross when I got it. It was covered in spiders, dirt and I think animal hair. Not sure though. It was probably played with just outside and these things happen. I soaked it in some water, soap and vinegar, scrubbed the whole thing down and used some goo gone for the labels that were kind of coming off. It looks great! I think everyone will have fun with it.
The other night we also found a Little Tikes Playhouse for the back yard for $35 on Craigslist. I still need to clean it and then put it back together before we show T but it will be a great addition to play time. I'm still looking for more activity items, like a T-ball set, but I there's no rush. In the mean time I'll keep hitting garage sales and see what I find. I'm hoping the lady who had the one last year that I bought the Hanna Andersson jacket at will have another one this year! She has two little girls that are about a year and half older than Tesla, so the possibilities are endless for good things I can find there!

What are you looking for at garage sales?
Let me know you're reading along and leave a comment.... You know it would make my day!

Spring Top Sew Along Progress Part 2

I added the yoke/collar to the top that I am making for the Spring Top Sew Along hosted by Made by Rae. I ended up not following the directions on the pattern and making it up as I went along. I can't believe I got it on. The fact that it doesn't look right and that it eventually needed to be pulled off completely and redone is beside the point. I actually just got it on all by my lonesome. The reason that I did it was because the directions made no sense to me. Really no sense. It was like they were written in a foreign language I just couldn't decipher them. I googled the pattern and with the exception of one person no one else thought they made sense either. So I didn't feel to bad about my skills.
The issue with the yoke and the reason I pulled it off was because of that puckering at the right breast. It doesn't do that on the other side and I thought it didn't look right. Also look at the side view.

See that? The yoke is falling backwards off the shirt. Not exactly the look I'm going for. The bad news is I ended up getting a great idea to fix it at four o'clock in the morning and then whatever it is that I did ended up looking so much worse. That's when I pulled the whole thing apart and started over.

The shirt is officially done. But our friend Nigel is coming over tomorrow night for dinner and he's going to take pictures. There is a very specific way that the picture needs to be taken and I also want the color to show through correctly. I would have my sister do it because she's an awesome photographer but I want the pictures NOW, and since it's not a really serious thing I hate to ask her to come right over and take the pictures. Not sure if I will post them here first or on the contest site first. The shirt looks great though and I'm really proud of it.

Snap Press

Does anyone have a snap press? I do a lot with snaps. I make a lot of bibs and I prefer snaps to Velcro because little ones can't get them off without help, and as a friend put it, Velcro tires. I used to use this thing that required that you hammer the snap into place, which you can imagine is really annoying when it doesn't work right. Now I use the Dritz Plier kit.

It works great, but again I do a lot of snaps and sometimes it can take several attempts before it goes in correctly.

I'm thinking about getting this:

That really looks like it would do the trick... Anyone have any opinions?