Beautiful purple lace dress with matching sweater!!!

 

I was in need of something pretty, comfortable and warm…always warm for winter because I hate to be cold! I didn’t have anything that fit the bill and so I had to sew something up.

I had this ugly plain purple long sleeved shapeless thick T-shirt that I don’t even know where it came from. It may have been my husbands, I don’t know but this is what I made with it.

Sorry, I forgot to take my before pictures…I get so excited you know, by the time I even think of the pictures I’ve got it half done!!! lol

Some of the pictures were taken, (by my husband Leon),on the water front, Killam’s Wharf, Yarmouth N.S. Canada

This is a beautiful painting someone painted on the side of the building!! Sorry forgot the name of the artist!!!…….

This is my purple sweater that I made

 

I folded the top in half to find the middle and I cut it. Just in the front though. I turned the edges under and sewed them down

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I can wear this with jeans, jogging pants or dress pants. Love it!!!

That may look like the virgin Mary behind me….but it is not! lol

I added the lace from the fabric I had to make my dress on the edge of the sleeves and hem. Makes a nice touch I think.

I then sewed up my dress using a simplicity pattern that I had on hand.

And here it is…..

The lace has been sewed with the fabric as one piece. Really hard to get the pieces to lay flat but if you pin them together first while they are laying flat it shouldn’t be a problem. Just be extra careful because one false move and your lace will be crooked and bunched up and will not lay flat against the backing fabric. I used the scalloped edging for the hem which omits having to make the hem on the lace. I just hemmed the backing fabric right underneath the lace.

This is what you do when you run out of fabric!!! Yup, I ran out of lace but that’s ok because it looks fine without it. You see I don’t totally have plans when I buy my fabric. I see it and I like it and so I buy it thinking I could make a dress or a top out of this and so I am not sure how much I should buy at the time but being creative helps figure out what to do about the shortage of fabric. There is always a way to use it.

I don’t know what the pen on the floor is about but I think it was on my keyboard when I moved it :/ 

I can wear this with a belt too.
I already wore this dress to church so some of you may have seen it already.
I wore it with plain black tights, probably looked better but I think they were in the wash when I took these pictures and so I substituted with these…

My sweater and jacket together!!! A perfect match!!!

 

Sleeves are sheer lace. Flowers are bright blue, dark green, white and black and the sheer part has a slight purple tinge to it. That is why I decided to use a purple or lilac if you prefer, fabric underneath.

 

It can be worn with or without a belt

Zipper in the back

I smocked it, I smocked it, I smocked it!!!! YES I DID LOL I smocked it!!!! This is the first time I have ever smocked anything and I really really enjoyed it and I will be doing it again!!!  Doing this technique gathers where ever you smock it and in this case my square top that I used became nicely gathered at the waist for a neat fit, great to do for someone that has curves (hourglass or pear shape, even someone with a rectangle or ruler shape this will give the illusion of curves as long as it is slightly baggy on the top and bottom of the waist) The fabric is pinched together and sewn in an even pattern making a kind of triangle look all around the sweater. Did I say I loved this??? I do!!!

 

I guess it was time that I posted these pictures because fall is almost over!!! It is getting colder here! We had a fabulous fall though and hoping we will have a beautiful winter too! Hope you enjoyed my pics of my revamped sweater and my new purple lace dress!!!

Just want to say a big thank you to all who support my blog!!! WOW, you guys are soooo great!!!

Canada,United States,Russia,China,United Kingdom,Sweden,Netherlands,Poland,Australia,Germany to name a few! Don’t be afraid to comment!! Love to hear from you!! :)

P.S. Don’t ever feel judged!!!! If you are feeling guilty(like someone is pointing a finger at you and hating you), this is NOT of God! It doesn’t matter WHO(or who they think they are) is doing the pointing!!!
If you are feeling convicted(knowing it’s wrong and that you shouldn’t be doing it) this is God speaking to you. For your own good try to listen.

John 8:2-11

New International Version (NIV)

8

² At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.

 ³ The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴ and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

⁵ In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

 ⁶ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.

 ⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

⁸ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹ At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time,

the older ones first,

until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Whenever someone is trying to make me feel guilty as if they are better than me and condemning me or putting me down, I remember this scripture and it is very helpful to me. Jesus never condemned anyone and neither should anyone else because all of us have faults and if you think yours is better than someone else’s, you are only fooling yourself… yes some have more sins than others and are more in your face but it doesn’t mean that someone who’s sin is hidden(and you know who you are) is better than someone else. Sin is sin to God.

What do you think Jesus was writing in the sand? Why do you think the oldest left first?

Don’t forget that even though Jesus said he didn’t condemn her, he asked her to leave it behind.

Is he saying it’s ok that you did it, I don’t condemn you, now go, I got you out of this one but now stop living that way?

Why do you think he said that? Was it so he could have his own way or was it for her own good that he said it? 

Jesus does NOT condemn and it does not matter WHAT sin your are committing but he asks for you to leave it. Will you do it for him?

Cara’s green flowered with fake leather jacket

 

 

Here it is, Cara’s jacket!

I made this for her as a surprise. She didn’t know she was getting it. I had seen this fabric at Wal-Mart and thought it might look good on her as green is one of her favourite colors and so I bought it. One day while we were skypeing my video was not working but hers was and so I held the fabric up to the screen so I could see if it went well with her complexion and it did!! She had no clue what I was up to. So I sewed her up a little jacket and tried to make it fairly warm as those fall and winters are cold in Alberta!! It was a bit short on me and so I figured it should be about right for her as she is 5 feet nothing even though she might claim she’s an inch taller!! lol I don’t believe it!! Anyway I sent her the jacket and I think she may have been a bit disappointed as she was pregnant and I think she was hoping that the surprise was something baby oriented. I had started making the jacket before I found out she was pregnant and so I decided to send it to her anyway. I figured she might have a few months to wear it. She found that it was a little too short and was showing too much of her belly. I guess her top half is the same size as I am but her bottom half is what is shorter than mine. We are actually the same size although I am 5’4”. She had decided to keep the jacket until next year and when I came up to visit I could adjust the length but since she lost the baby I don’t know what she’s going to do……

 

The jacket has shades of seafoam green and black swirly flowers.

I trimmed the jacket with fake leather

 

The jacket has two pockets in front, you can’t see them well as the jacket fabric is kind of camouflaged.

 

 

  

The jacket does not look the greatest on me because it’s not really my color(and besides that I don’t think I’m wearing any makeup, yikes!!) but I figured I’d be waiting a looooooong time before Cara takes pictures and send’s it to me so….I’m it! lol

The end, there is no more. :)  Yes there is but I didn’t upload them! Sorry if I put too many pictures!! I can’t help it!! lol I like to take many pictures so I can get a good one and then I don’t know which ones to put up if they all turn out good but I figure when I go to other peoples blogs I like to see a lot of pictures, I am not into reading the blog as much as I am into pictures and so, this is my style… ;) and a picture says a thousand words!!!

 

P.S. I have so many things on the go right now, I don’t know if I am coming or going creatively that is. I am making some fabric with pieces of fabric that I have from my discontinued fabric sample books and I don’t know if I want to make pants with it or a quilt! lol

I’ve got this really cool lace purple dress that I made and took pictures that I have to blog about, with a matching sweater!!

I have a entertainment center that I want to revamp. I have about 10 pictures I need to hang on the wall. I have housework that needs to be done,that’s not creative in my eyes though! hahaha. I have walls that need to be painted. I need to finish some alterations. My cupboards would need a good cleaning, some of them anyway, I already did some. I am in the living Christmas tree at church and I have 10 really hard songs(beauty and the beast type songs) to learn by Christmas Plus I think 5 more to learn for advent. Plus I am on the worship team at church and have to learn new songs there. I am trying to practice my guitar playing so I can get better at it so I can record some of my songs. etc. etc. etc. but it’s all good, I’d rather be busy than not busy enough. I do not like to be bored and am not bored very often. The only time I get bored is when I’m feeling really bad physically and I cannot muster enough energy to do the things I want. That gets me really frustrated at first but then it makes me sit still and just relax my body.

I’ve started going to physiotherapy lately and she has been giving me exercises and things to do for my body as I have problem with my neck, arm, lower back, hips and feet…yes I know, that is why I’m going to physio!!! That’s the joy of having been in a car accident and having your feet shattered, it messes everything else up too. Anyway to get back to what I was saying, she gave me these simple exercise to do and one of them was sitting in a proper sitting position with your back straight and to stack about 4 pillows on your lap until your arms are resting on them at about shoulder height and to sit like that for a little while….Well that was hard for me. I can’t do anything with my hands!!! I never realized how much I use my hands!!! or I knew I used my hands a lot but I never realized how much I don’t stop using them. They never stop, it’s either I am sewing,painting,playing guitar,doing housework,paperwork or on the computer or doing some craft, everything I do requires my hands and neck to be moving and so I really need to make a special effort to rest my arms, hands and neck. I think why I do this is because I can’t be on my feet as much as the normal person and so I try to keep busy in other ways so I don’t mind not being on my feet and I guess I have to not do that as much or take frequent breaks, like every half hour. I even have to set a timer because when I get involved in something I have total concentration and hours can fly by without me even knowing!! Oh well I’ll get it after a while!

talk to you in the next blog xox

Hot cherry corduroy pants!!!

Hello everyone!!!
I whipped up these pants yesterday!! I really like them and they fit wonderfully…except the waist is a tad too tight but I know what to do about that! ha! Just a few pounds ;)

 

Here it is, drum roll please!!!!

 

 

 

This is where I cut them out, on top of my dining room table.(got to use it for something) Pattern is my own that I designed to fit me.

Here is all my patterns cut out. The black, white and grey fabric on top right is my next project waiting to be sewed!! You’ll have to wait and see what it is!!!! Maybe a bit corny! hehehe

Sewing it up with my wonderful Husqvarna Viking Designer 1!!  Back crotch

 

And now the finished product,,,,, tada!

 

Me and my gui-tar

     

 

And now I have a new pair of pants to wear!! Yay for me because I really need more casual pants!!!

Now that I have made these pants it gave me the “fever” to make more pants!!! I have all these discontinued sample fabric books from my custom made drapery business and I thought I wonder if I could use it and piece them all together to make a big piece of fabric and then make pants from it….and so that is what I am doing now. Piecing them together one by one. Hopefully it won’t take to long to put it together as I don’t have a long attention span when it comes to making things!
It’s going to be some wild crazy pants that’s all I know!!! I may never even wear them in public although you’ll get the …uhm…. privilege to see them!!! lol
I’ve also made a few other things coming up later.

 

P.S. On a sadder note, some of you know that my daughter Cara had a miscarriage :( (So appreciate all the prayers and kind words we received!!!)  and so this changes my plans AGAIN. I had been working on a cute baby quilt but now I don’t seem to have the desire to work on it right now and so I may put it aside for a while and finish it later. It is really pretty colors of bright teal, white, browns and yellows. Perfect for a boy or a girl.

 

The episode with Cara

I have to tell you this experience I just went through.
When Cara told me that she was going for her first ultra-sound she was so excited but she had been a bit worried saying what if I go and they tell me there is no baby there (she had three pregnancy test that said she was!) or what if they say there are six!! I explained to her that it is normal to feel that way in the early months and everything is probably fine but just to make sure, I prayed to God that she would come back home and call me with exciting news that she had seen the baby and saw it’s heart beat and that she would be soooo happy.

 

That wasn’t to be. Instead, I got a call while she is driving herself home,(her boyfriend was driving behind her as he had met her at the hospital from work) on the highway with her heart breaking and sobbing, saying that the doctors think that the baby died at six weeks and here she was 11 weeks not knowing if her baby was alive or not. This is hard for me as a mother to handle, when your child really needs you and she is so far away and there is nothing you can do but listen to her cry in devastation!!

I was disappointed and angry and I told God so! I said “God, why do you answer most of my prayers but you didn’t answer this really important prayer???  I’m really disappointed in you, why would you do this Lord, I know there must be a reason but it’s so disappointing. This is really troubling me, I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t answer my prayer? Am I guilty of something? Did I forget to confess something or ask forgiveness??? I repent!!! Forgive me God!!!Why didn’t you answer my prayer?? Should I even bother praying anymore??? I know probably I shouldn’t feel that way and I’m sorry, because you’ve answered many of my prayers, but GOD this is my daughter that is having major problems here and I can’t be there!!?? Come on!!!

And so these thoughts kept troubling me from that moment on. Wednesday evening we went to our bible study group and we are going through an Alpha course. (This is a course where you watch videos and anyone who wants to ask questions about God can go and have their questions answered without being judged or feeling stupid, there are no stupid questions) The topic on the video that night was….I don’t even remember what the topic was because I was so bothered, all I remember is that it explained that sometimes God says NO. Just like sometimes when our children are growing up and we have to say no to them because if we don’t, we know that it would be very bad for them, and even though they don’t understand why we say no, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t. It is the same with God, sometimes he has to say no, we may not know why but knowing God the way I do, I know and trust that it is for the best, whatever the reason may be because God ALWAYS has our best interest at heart. That is His nature.

So that made me be more accepting of the situation and I was feeling that God had answered my prayers of why. Sometimes the answer is NO, even though it is hard to accept. And it might not have anything to do with what you have done or haven’t done. There may be a good reason why Cara shouldn’t have this child now, only God knows that. It sure is best that she didn’t carry it to term and it be still born!! That would be even worse.

I continued praying as normal and forgave God for disappointing me. Cara then went on to find out the baby had died and that she would have to have a d&c to remove the baby from the womb, again all I could do is pray. I prayed that Cara and her boyfriend would find a good parking spot, that the nurses would be motherly and doctors would be friendly and do a good job with the procedure. I prayed that they wouldn’t be bored, I prayed that they would be out of the hospital sooner than planned. I prayed that Jordan, Cara’s boyfriend would be especially good with Cara. I prayed that Cara wouldn’t be scared as she was being put to sleep for the first time in her life. I prayed that she wouldn’t be down in spirit and that she would be calm. I prayed for everything that I could think of and so did my husband Leon among a lot of other people too. When I talked to Cara and she told me of the happenings in the hospital and how well everything had went and how nice the nurses were and the doctors too, and how they joked around with her and made her laugh and how they explained every little detail to her and how they got out of the hospital before they thought they would leave etc etc.  I realized God had answered all my prayers this time. The answer was YES!!! And that made me very happy!!!
How can you not love a God like that??? He’s the best!!!!