First Garden Harvest

Our first little garden harvest was not much, but very delicious!  A bowl of green beans that we steamed and ate with dinner.  Yum!

Camping at Cape Henlopen

Last week we spent five nights camping at Cape Henlopen.  This is a beautiful Delaware State Park with gorgeous beaches, biking and hiking trails, an old military fort, and a nice campground.

We left on Fathers Day.  The minute we had our minivan all loaded up and ready to go, it started to rain.  Not good.  The rain was light and didn't last for long though, and we had a pleasant day setting up our campsite and enjoying nature.


Robert & the girls on Fathers Day



Roasting Hot Dogs

The next morning we woke up to rain.  A lot of rain.  We were not happy campers!  It poured for several hours while we sat and tried to occupy ourselves playing card games.  It finally let up, and the rest of the day was very nice.  The weather around here!  Sigh.  We had a huge thunderstorm one night, which got water in our tent, and for a couple of nights it was so hot and humid we could hardly sleep.  Needless to say, we will not be going camping in Delaware in the summer again.  Autumn, yes, but not summer.

We did manage to have a great time despite the weather though.  We walked on the beach and played in the water, hiked, biked, played games, sat around the campfire, and had lots of nice family time together.
 

Beautiful Beach

Ice cream treat in Lewes

Our new campstove has an oven!

Feet in the Atlantic

T-Shirt Dress for the Summer of No Pants



For my third project for the Summer of No Pants, I decided to make a t-shirt dress.  I wanted something that would go together a lot easier and faster than the last project  I did.  I used a striped t-shirt and a green sheet for this dress.  I shortened the sleeves on the shirt a little bit and cut it off at the place where I wanted the skirt to attach.  I measured the bottom of the shirt and doubled that measurement for the waist of the skirt front and back pieces, and cut out those pieces in an A-line shape.  Then I cut out some pockets, sewed the pockets and skirt together, gathered the top of the skirt, sewed it to the top, and made a sash.  Cute, quick, and comfortable dress!

UPDATE:  The neck on this dress was too high for my taste...it didn't look right and it bothered me.  I felt like I was choking!  So I made some bias tape from what I had left of the green sheet, cut down the neckline, and finished it with the bias tape.  I also added bias tape to the sleeve edges.  Here's the result:

Bracelets for Orphans

Today my daughters and I sent off a package with 40 bracelets in it.  We participated in our first Craft Hope project.  What is Craft Hope?  On the Craft Hope website, it is described as "a love inspired project designed to share handmade crafts with those who need them. It is our hope to combine our love for crafting and desire to help others into a project to make a difference around the world."  Craft Hope adopts one or two projects at a time, and enlists anyone who wants to help.  For this current project, they are collecting handmade bracelets to be distributed to orphans in Russia by Orphan Outreach.  Workers will be visiting a crisis center in St. Petersburg for children who have been abused, neglected and/or abandoned.  They will be helping in many different ways to meet the physical and emotional needs of these children.  Our bracelets will help show the children that they are special and someone cares about them. 

The girls and I made these bracelets out of little felt squares, which we strung onto elastic jewelry thread.  We had fun making them, especially knowing where they would go, and we're excited to see what the next project will be!

Summer of No Pants Project 2

 Yay, my second project for the Summer of No Pants is finished!  I made this dress using the pattern and instructions from the book Sew Serendipity .  I used Amy Butler fabric that I've been saving for a few months.  I got it on sale at Marie-Madeline Studio. 

I cannot begin to tell you the things that went wrong while making this dress!  It had nothing to do with the pattern or the instructions, it was just me and my inexperience, I guess.  I remember now why I sew mostly tote bags and other things that are not garments.  But, the dress turned out pretty cute in spite of all the problems I had.  It is SO comfortable, too!  I think I will be wearing it a lot this summer. 

Best Giveaway Ever! Trip to Paris

I just found out about the best blog giveaway I have ever seen.  Seriously.  Jordan at Oh Happy Day is hosting a giveaway for a trip to Paris, France!  The winner receives a 7 day trip for two to Paris, including airfare and hotel!!!  I have never won a giveaway.  This is the one I want to win!  I love Paris.  Love. It.  My husband and I visited there for a few days during our 20th anniversary trip to Europe.  It was amazing, and I have wanted to go back ever since.

You can enter this amazing giveaway at Oh Happy Day. 

Concert in a Field

Last night we saw Laura Story in concert...in a field.  Only in Delaware!  The concert was part of a yearly festival put on by the Greenwood Mennonite School.  It was really kind of nice, sitting out in the open in a field surrounded by farmland, listening to beautiful music.  Laura Story is very genuine, funny and gifted.  She shared her story and her heart with us.  She has written some amazing songs, including "Indescribable", which was recorded by Chris Tomlin, and "Blessings", which is one of my favorites.

Making a Muslin With My New Sewing Buddy

Well, I'm running behind on the Summer of No Pants challenge.  I didn't get my dress made this week. So, next week I will finish two; probably this dress and a skirt.  The dress I chose for this week is from the book Sew Serendipity by Kay Whitt.  I did what the book suggested, and made a muslin. The first one I have ever made.  What is a muslin, you ask?  I didn't know either...shows you what a great "sewist" I am!  A muslin is a sort of mock-up of the garment you are going to make.  In order to get a good fit and not waste your fabric, you first construct the garment out of inexpensive muslin (hence the name) or some other fabric you don't care about.  I used an old sheet.  I decided to go ahead and make the muslin even though it seemed a little unnecessary.  I'm not thrilled with the time and effort it takes, but  I can definitely see the value in making one, especially if you have fitting issues or are using a complicated pattern.  This pattern I'm using is not complicated, but it did take a little tweaking to get the fit right for me.

My muslin is pictured here on my new best friend, my Uniquely You dress form.  I LOVE THIS THING!  I think it was made with me in mind.  The form is made of high-density foam.  It comes with a cover that you sew to fit your body tightly.  You then zip the cover onto the form and, voila! You have a dress form with your measurements.  When I put the cover on, it fit me almost perfectly!  I could not believe it.  I made just a few minor changes here & there, and then zipped the cover onto the form.  That was the most difficult part, and I needed both of my daughters' help to wrestle the cover on and get it zipped up!  I think we made it harder on ourselves because we were laughing so much.  It was...well...a little strange, and very hilarious.  But now it (she?) stands in the corner of my sewing room, ready to assist me in getting the perfect fit.