formal gowns? anyone?

I decided a few months ago, I am going to attempt sewing my military ball gown this year. The ball is every November and last year, it was difficult to find many choices at that time of year. I got a great black dress that fit really well, but this year I want to make something fabulous instead! I've been perusing patterns online for months now and have determined that it's the fabric choice that matters maybe more than the pattern.

This one is a major contender:

I like the white version, the one on the model, but what is the trim on there?? I know this is a style that I could easily pull off and would be comfortable sitting for several hours (because that's what you do at these things. How they're allowed to call them "balls", I will never know!)

Slightly more risky, but another that I'm seriously considering is this one:

I say more risky, because I really don't know how this style will look on me, with the gathering at the side. I really like the view on the top left. Come to think of it, actually, it's possible my gown from last year had those side gathers. Hmmm, I'll have to go check it out.

Okay, until a few days ago, I was almost sure I was going this route:

Obviously, this is not a formal gown, but I would adapt it to be floor length (I noticed short is a kind of unspoken no-no for this event) and in a formal fabric, I think it would work and could be really great. The little satin belt makes me happy and I know this would flatter me just fine. I went ahead and picked up this pattern last week when Vogue went on sale for 3.99.

BUT, a few nights ago, while watching How I Met Your Mother, with Casey, I shouted "Oh, my goodness, Casey, look what Robin's wearing!" He had no idea what I was going on about, but check this out!

This is the dress! However, I am not lovin' the fit of the bodice here at all--look how it's pulling at the waist and it's also way too low cut for me to feel comfortable. Not at all how it looks on the pattern envelope. So, now I'm having second thoughts. I do already have the pattern and I'm sure I can dig up some fabric to make a muslin, so I might as well just see.

I'm rather surprised that I can't seem to find many photos or reviews of formal gown patterns. I guess I'll be pioneering :)

In any case, what would YOU do????

Chalkboard paint

I bought a huge frame at a garage sale last summer and finally, before we started our current school year, got around to giving it new life as a chalkboard! Whenever Casey and I undertake a new house project, big or small, we tend to bounce a LOT of ideas around before jumping in. In this case, we decided to buy a piece of plywood, have it cut the right size, paint it, then screw it right into the wall, screwing the frame on over it. I didn't want it hung like a regular picture because I need it to stay put while in use! Here's how it turned out:

So, now that I've used the stuff, here are my tips for successfully using chalkboard paint:

• Buy the roll-on kind. I tried the spray paint first and even though I primed my wood first, I had a hard time getting an even coverage. I used the whole can over several coats and it still looked spotty. Plus, it didn't erase at all.
• Let it cure for 3 or 4 DAYS! Don't use it at all until it's been that long! 
• Before using it, rub a piece of sideways chalk all over it in a circular motion, so it gets in all the tiny cracks. Then, rub that in with your eraser, also in a circular motion. After that, wipe down with a warm rag and you're good to go! 
• Don't use colored chalk! It does not wipe off. The white chalk comes off fine with a wet rag, but the colored stuff stays. 

Although not the same as a real chalkboard, this is working for me! Just don't expect it to erase very well with just the eraser. Every couple days, I just take the wet rag to it and it looks like new :)

Brilliant!

Now that we are getting into the swing of things, I am finding a few tricks that work for my homeschooling organization. I read this idea somewhere and it is brilliant, so I had to share. For awhile, I kept the books and things that we used daily during circle time in a little plastic tub. The tub would start with us in the living room for circle time, move to the table for school work, then maybe to the kitchen if I read out loud during lunch. But, the books just kinda get piled up in there and I got tired of digging through books. The solution? A dish drainer!!

It is segmented perfectly for books, so I can flip through them so easily. Plus, the silverware caddy is convenient for the smaller things we use daily during circle time.

Now, I gave you a good idea, so it's your turn :)  Will you be my sounding board for a sec??

First off, I cannot believe how busy I feel now that school is in full swing. I feel like I never sit down!! There is so much that needs done and school only adds to the home maintenance! I have only sewn one seam in an entire week, which kinda bums me out, but obviously those expectations need to change too. A few things I'm working on to improve things where housework is concerned:

1. Lowering my standard. A family that is home all day cannot have the same standard of "tidy" as a family who works and goes to school. We are here all the time, so I need to be ok with some degree of mess.
2. I have not required enough of the kids. I'm working on this. The little things they are capable of doing could really add up and help me out a lot. I'm wondering, though; do you have any tips for motivating your kids to help out with a good attitude?
3. There are a few things I feel like I have under control. One is the laundry, the other is the kitchen. I think if I can maintain these two areas, plus have the family room generally picked up by the end of the night, I'll be happy with that.  

What are YOUR tricks for keeping up????? Please, I really want to know!!

Ode to Colorado

Every time I leave the city and enter the nearby more mountainous parts of my lovely state, I am always so in awe of God's wonders. He didn't have to make everything so beautiful, ya know, but aren't we glad He did? It always reminds me that our creative desires and love for beauty is a result of being created in His very image.

We escaped home and spent the night with Casey's parents in Colorado City last weekend. While there we witnessed a sideways-blowing crazy rain storm, which resulted in this amazing rainbow!

Amazing!
I can never get enough of the views from their yard down there, even though it seems the camera never quite captures it like real life!

8 grandkids on this side of the fam. 5 boys, 3 girls. These are the girls :)

Love this one of Natalie!

It occurred to us recently that we have never taken the kids to Bishop's Castle, which is only minutes from my in-laws house.  This place is the result of one guy and his father before him, I think, over several decades. It's crazy and ridiculous and awe-inspiring and a death-trap all rolled into one :)

Natalie and Kelby were FEARLESS! It was freaking me out. This is NOT a safe place. Layla, on the other hand was absolutely terrified. In her defense, I was not thrilled about the initial super-steep staircase either ;)
Can you see it in her face?? hahaha!

While I'm on Colorado and its merits, love this oldie from good ol' Five Iron Frenzy:

It's true, ya know :)

first sewing lessons

Hmm, the new Blogger is different, huh?

I've had my eye on this book for quite awhile and when I got a good coupon in my inbox for Barnes & Noble, I snapped it up!

Natalie especially is so excited to try something; she was practically in my sewing chair after flipping through it once, ha!  I told her we'll be starting with some hand sewing :) Before we try something from the book, I thought I'd have the girls give embroidery a go. It was so much fun, they loved it.

I tried to show Natalie how to make smaller stitches, but she kept saying, "Yeah, ok, I think I have the hang of this now".  Too cute :)

Happily, I also have a new grown-up sewing student! I'm going to start teaching my friend Maggie how to sew and she is super excited, she said she wants to sew everything and be just like me and I said, "You want to be a 50's housewife like me!?"

God is the Ruler yet

I have been absolutely loving the old hymn, This is my Father's World. We sang it in church today because I requested it of our music minister and because he's married to me, he obliged ;)  The lyrics are wonderful, but my favorite is the final verse:

This is my Father's world, 

Oh, let me never forget

That though the wrong seems often so strong, 

God is the ruler yet.

This is my Father's world, 

The battle is not done.

Jesus who died will be satisfied 

And earth and Heaven be one.

A short while back, I fell in love with Jadon Lavik's version (the whole album is very good, actually):


And, what do ya know, this song is part of our homeschooling curriculum (which is called My Father's World) so it looks like I'll be dwelling on these words lots :)

Seasons come and seasons go

Welp, we have officially begun our school year as of Monday and although I'm sure I'll feel out of my element for the first few weeks (months?) of every new year that we homeschool, things are going well :) I am enjoying the My Father's World curriculum--very hands-on, which is great for us creative types!

Last week, as a last hurrah for summer sewing, I pulled out a piece of vintage cotton that I was recently given and gave Simplicity 2591 another whirl:

I reviewed the pattern right here, if you're interested in reading that. I wore it today and really like it :) The fabric makes me smile and it makes me feel a bit like a 50's housewife. Those fab pockets can't be beat!

But before that, I pulled out a little p.j. pattern and some flannel pieces and made each of the kids some Fall p.j. pants. I'm still deciding if I will buy sleep shirts or make them, but they were all thrilled about the pants, even though I put them downstairs in the cold weather tub for now :)

In order to tell the back from the front, I like to put little tags in them, like this...

Kinda makes me want to make some for myself!

This pile is about a third of the last batch of fabrics that my dear older friend at church gave me (this is Kelby's idea of helping me fold it)

Rosemarie, who gives me all this wonderful fabric, made Kelby this little man shirt for his birthday!!

SO sweet, he loves it :) It has his name embroidered on the tag, which he things is pretty cool.

My Sewing Nook

Remember me telling you how a spider had babies in my sewing room?? That actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise :) Because of that little incident, I spent about a week doing all my sewing on our dining room table.  I loved it. I got so much more sewing time in because I didn't have to wait until the kids were busy or down for bed to go hole up and sew! Because of this, I decided to move my sewing downstairs.

I am lucky enough to have both a living room and a family room, a dining room and an eat-in kitchen. I took one end of the living room, brought an unused desk over from my Mom's (which I had actually painted years ago, in a color that I still love, thankfully) and had Casey drag up a shelf from the basement that was left here when we moved in. Then, after that, I had him drag it outside and cut the legs shorter and then drag it back in. What a guy :)

Anyway, here's where I'm sewing now...

I opted for the window on the end that isn't the first thing you see from the front door and where the couch sort of separates things from the living room. I think it looks so pretty! Who says a living room workspace has to be an eyesore???

My little spot has some of my favorite special things in it: A washboard that was my grandmother's, vintage drawing books that were my Mom's when she was a kid, an old shoe pin cushion that was my other grandmother's, a tile my friend Jenn made me that I use as a pattern weight, a china bowl Casey brought home from Iraq, the Matroyshka doll my Dad got me in Russia and some inspiring little Mary Engelbreit prints (still miss her magazine!)

My fabric, patterns and many supplies are still stored up in the guest room and the spiders have been taken care of thanks to my trusty Terminix guy, in case you're wondering.  While I was moving furniture, I went ahead and painted that room. I did it with no taping, in a room full of furniture and three kids in the room with me and it took me about 2 hours. That's how you know you've painted an entire house from top to bottom. I now consider myself a pro :)

I snapped this picture of Kelby's room after we tidied it yesterday. Now that he has his new bed, he really seems to own his room. Before it was just a place to sleep, but now he arranges his toys, sweet-talks the girls into making his bed just how he likes it, etc...