A Flannel Dress for Scarlet

Yesterday I attempted to make my first dress for the girls, and I am quite pleased with the results! I bought this McCall’s 5966 pattern a year or more ago after being inspired by this post. 

I haven’t been able to find any warm, long dresses for little girls so I knew I would have to make my own, but the thought of sewing clothes is a bit daunting to me.  I have a difficult time following the patterns and directions.  I learn best by someone actually showing me how to do something.

I got this flannel off of the local quilt shops $1.99/yard table.  It took a bit less than 2 yards total.  I loved working with this type of material; it is very forgiving!

Scarlet specifically requested pockets, so of course I had to add those.

  

The only other alteration that I made was changing the zipper that the pattern called for, and added buttons instead.

Next, I have to make one for Jade.  And hopefully several more for both of them. 

A Quilt Project

 

 

 

 

 

Hello to all.  This is Kara, Ryan’s wife, and this is my very  first blog post.  Ever.  I hope to update on a regular basis to share the things we are working on.  The above picture is a quilt that I recently made with the help of my apprentices (Jade and Scarlet) :) 

Here is the backing:

 

I pieced this from the extra fabric that I didn’t use on the front, and also added a small border to make it big enough.  I always like to add a label with the recipient’s name, special occasion, date, etc. (shown here in the bottom right corner).  This quilt was for Ryan’s sister Erin, who is so special to us!

The pattern is called a split nine patch, and I machine quilted along the diagonal rows as well as around the border perimeter.

It is always so rewarding to finish a project that you’ve been working on, and even more so to know that someone else is able to enjoy the fruit of your labors!

Corn and Metal and Peas, oh my!

Friday the 30th.

It has been too long since my last update or blog rant on anything, so here is one(an update, not a rant). I have been busy working on the house, trying to get the metal roofing on to protect the cellulose insulation we had sprayed in recently. I am very pleased with the performance of the cellulose. The upstairs is now almost the same temp as the down stairs at 3pm in July. That, my friends, is an achievement! So here is the roof covered in 1.5" rigid foam insulation and almost ready for metal.
That took a couple days to accomplish both sides of the house, and get the 1x4 lathe strips down that were to be the attachment points for the metal. then the metal-laying commenced.



Now with one side down, we (my dad has been helping me alot lately) move to the next side.

Now the metal is done. I know I don't have a picture up of it, but you'll just have to trust me on that. Done. Well, except for the ridge cap, but I ran out of money, so that is having to wait a week or two along with the drywall purchase. [Anyone who wants to donate to the housing fund for my needy poor little children, feel free, they will appreciate it and look at you with big puppy thank you eyes.]

Now that the metal was mostly done, I had to pay attention to the garden. It needed weeding(and still does) and harvesting. After checking on my field corn patch...
After making sure they weren't getting too tall, Dad and I proceeded to spend an hour or so picking from my "happy cow-pea" row. This is them prior to the pods being ready.
After a good bit of picking, we both had sore backs. But the bin was full of peas!


I forget the size of this bin, but it is half-full of dry peas, whatever the size(Update, Kara says it is an 18-gallon tub). It is alot, anyway. We planted a packet of Purple-Hull Peas that was probably around an ounce in weight, and this represents about 2/3 of the pods on the plants. Praise the Lord God for the increase! Here are the pea-shelling specialists holding the fruit of their labors.

I have set back about a pound of the very best pods for future seed, hoping to improve our stock. I unscientifically estimated the yield from our first picking at 8-10# of peas. That is amazing, because there is still 1/3 to 1/2 that amount yet to pick, and this from a 3' by 50' row. Wow!

I hope you enjoyed our pictorial life. I'm trying to get Kara to do a picture-rich post on her recent jam-making excursions. She made plum and peach, and they are fantastic. She will have to fill y'all in on that when she has a moment - which isn't often with 3 children under 5. Have a good day.

Ryan