Project One Hour: New Look 6796

I did pretty well getting my hour of sewing (or rather, cutting!) in each day at the end of May. Now that June is zooming past me, I am attempting to bring all the unfinished projects to a conclusion. The first finished product with much more to come ...

Father's Day Gifts

Dear Father and Father-in-Law -- STOP READING NOW!

One afternoon

Two Shirts

Three fat quarters

A bit of inspiration:

1. I have seen tie applique t-shirts and onesies all over blog land. Here, here, and here ... just to name a few. I thought I would do a little grown up spin on it.
2. I recently bought a shirt for the hubby with this logo on it (on clearance for $3, yay!). I thought to myself, I can do that ....

The results:

My Favorite Photo Action

For the record, I use PSE 7.

OK, moving on.

I really don't like to spend a lot of time editing photos, but I like to make my photos to look their best. Enter photo actions. My current favorite for portrait style pictures is from Rita over at Coffeeshop. It is called Perfect Portrait. Really, it is the only one I use. I like it so much, why spend a bunch of time finding more? Check out the before and after and tell me you aren't a fan, too:

Before

After

Project One Hour: Day Seven: kimono shoes

made with Aimee Larsen's kimono shoes pattern

It kills me that I hadn't discovered all the adorable baby shoe patterns out there when my little ones were babies. They would have had the best dressed feet this side of the Mississippi, for sure. On the other hand, maybe it is a good thing. They might have also been seriously neglected.

"I know the baby is hungry. Just a sec, I need to finish one more pair of shoes. Yes, I know she has been crying for 30 minutes. Just a sec."

"Oh sweetheart, you can sit in that yucky diaper for a few more minutes. I need to finish these shoes."

Not a pretty picture. I guess I better get the shoe sewing out of my system before we decide to bring even more chaos into our lives with baby #3.

Another item to add to the queue

What an ingenious idea for making reusable placemats. Ideas for variations are already spinning around in my head!

Project One Hour: Days Five and Six: Lots of cutting

Two dresses, one shirt, one pair of pants, and two pairs of shoes later; I am ready to get that sewing machine going.

Oh yeah, the bags, that is my sanity trick. When I have a lot of projects in the queue (when don't I?) I keep them in their own bags so that all the pieces and scraps don't get mixed up. Even before I start I will often separate the material and patterns into bags, just so I can remember what I was planning. Otherwise I end up with a jumble of fabric, patterns, and notions and it is inevitable that something will get lost. Inevitable, I tell ya!

Project One Hour: Day Three and Four: New Look 6796

I am sorry to say that the kids naps, or lack thereof, stopped me from being able to cut out much of the New Look pattern on day two; so that became day three.

Day four was sewing this fabulous pattern. I got the pockets on, sewed the sides together, and sewed the shoulder straps. It is too bad the very details that make clothing so cute are what make projects take SO much longer! Remember that when you want to buy some cute detailed dress. The little pockets or ruffles or sleeves or applique take forever to do. That is what you are paying for.