Another Car Caddy

I made one of my nephews a car caddy last year for Christmas. It turns out that his little brother loves it just as much and would often try to take it and play with it too. 

And ensue sibling disagreements over yet another toy...

So I made another one. Here's how this one turned out:

The inside.

The outside.

I love the detail on it. The paths on the corners,
the pond, the flower bed, and the road, of course.

The latch to keep the caddy closed.

I like how this one turned out too. When I finally have the time and space (which is always the excuse, I know), I'd love to make these and sell them on a regular basis. 

And every one of them would be different and unique. 

Ahh, Pregnancy and Maternity Clothes.

This pregnancy has really been rough on me so far. I've still been getting crafty pretty often, making things and starting projects, etc. I just haven't had the energy to photograph and blog about any of them. Well, I'm really hoping that changes soon. I'm 16 weeks now, and I've had more energy lately, even if I've still been feeling raunchy. But energy is good! I still sleep 10 or more hours a night, but I've been trying to go to bed at a more regular hour too... Like 1:30am instead of 3am. Baby steps! I can't just go to bed at 10pm after I've been staying up until 4am every night. Anyway, after my brief visit to the ER to start the week off, I've been doing a lot better.

Oh yeah. I went to the ER at 3am Monday morning. I had only thrown up once this whole pregnancy, and that was because I didn't eat as soon as I should have. But Sunday morning I was puking due to more than morning sickness. I also had diarrhea really bad, and I know that's not a normal symptom from pregnancy. By the end of the day, I knew I was sick. I couldn't keep anything down and I was dehydrated, which was starting to cause painful cramping in my abdomen. So we had an adventure to the ER.

They gave me some Zofran. It helped immediately and the nausea/vomiting was gone in a matter of minutes. They did an ultrasound, and the baby was fine. I dozed on and off all night, getting maybe an hour total of sleep. Then I was released to go home somewhere around 10am with a prescription for Zofran. It really is a miracle pill.

Bob is a really wonderful man though. He took care of me all day long, getting me whatever I wanted (mostly just 7-Up or Ginger Ale and crackers). Then he stayed with me in the ER all night without sleeping at all. And then he had a job interview at 8am. He went 40 hours straight by the time he got to sleep again, around 3pm. Bless his heart. I married a good man.

Good news: I'm beginning to feel better and Bob got the job.

So, like I mentioned before, I've been trying to keep busy and make stuff to keep from going crazy. I'll post about my projects little by little. The one I'm currently most excited about is my first piece of maternity clothing. I've looked, and the rumors that maternity clothing is expensive are true. Forget about using my grocery money to look cute! I'm making my maternity outfits.

Before we moved here, I went to the DI and found some large and hideous clothing that had potential as something it wasn't and bought them for cheap. One was a men's polo shirt, size large. I liked that it was a knit and the print on the fabric is what gave it potential.

Now, I tried to get a picture of it before working on it, but I failed to upload the photo to my laptop before altering it.... And this was the outcome:

[insert fail music here]

:(

Just imagine a shapeless polo shirt with a black collar and short sleeves that go all the way down to my forearms.

I need a new camera. I broke the screen on ours sometime when I was snowboarding last year. So I have no idea what's going on when the buttons are pushed on it. It's a surprise every time. I know which button to press for a timer, but that's all.

So after playing button mash on my camera I can show you that I made an adorable maternity tunic!

Adjustable front tie so that as I get bigger I can have it as tight or loose as I want.

Cute and fitted in the back!

Yay!! I made my first maternity shirt!

Bridesmaid Dresses: DONE!

I went to Tennessee for 10 days, from June 10-20th. Jennifer had her wedding and I wanted to have a short vacation. I sewed every morning, all afternoon, and even during half the night every day until the wedding. Then I had a day and a half to relax. It was NOT long enough. At all. It never is.

But I'm happy these dresses are done. I'm glad I had the opportunity to help Jennifer out and design and make her bridesmaid dresses from her wants and the ideas that came out of my little brain. In our first conversation about them, she told me she wanted them to stand out and just really pop. That they did!

Looking at how they turned out, there are things I would have changed about them and they would have looked better. Had I used my time more wisely I might have had time to actually make those adjustments as I realized them, like putting boning in every dress, not just the maid of honor's.

Overall, I think they looked great, and really made the wedding party look how Jennifer envisioned.

 Kaitlyn, the flower girl loved her dress.

Everyone really liked the zebra print lining.  

Erica, the maid of honor, really liked her dress. I was so glad it fit her perfectly--I hadn't had a chance to do a fitting for her until three days before the wedding! Luckily, I didn't have to make a single alteration.

I was also happy that Erica's dress fit her so well because she was bending over and fixing Jennifer's dress all evening. I'm glad it was high-cut enough that she didn't fall out of it or have a single problem with it.

Look at how adorable this shot is! Those dresses looked great, as did all of the girls, especially Jennifer.

Wedding Dress Alteration

I have this sign in my front yard advertising that I make bridesmaid dresses and formals. I've had it there since January, maybe longer. It never really seemed to do anything for me except look nice and professional.

Then last week a girl called me because she sees that sign in my yard nearly every day as she walks up to campus.

Yay!!

She was actually wondering if I could put some sleeves on her wedding dress.

The last time I did something like that..... They didn't turn out very well. (Sorry about that, Trina. But I did it for free!) If I'd known then what I know now, they would have turned out a LOT better...

Anyway, she came on over and showed me the dress and extra fabric she'd gotten from the bridal store, and told me what she had in mind. As it turns out, she originally was going to have a bolero made by the alterations specialist at this bridal store, but when it was made, it just was not what she wanted. They altered it, and didn't do anything that she'd asked them to do. Then they wouldn't make the bustle for the train like she wanted. She finally just gave up, frustrated at how expensive it was and how it was all for nothing. (It's not the first time I've heard complaints about that specific bridal store or fixed something they messed up on another wedding gown.)

Then she called me.

It's a pretty easy job, really. Well, for me it is. It just takes a little time, especially since I'm sewing some lace onto it by hand. It's just about done, so I took pictures.

Before:

After:

I actually like it with the sleeves more. I think wedding dress designers just design sleeveless gowns because it's easier. Sleeves can be tricky, but these ones weren't difficult at all.

I hope it's what she wants!


As if that wasn't enough, that same day another girl knocked on my door wondering about bridesmaid dresses for her wedding in August. So much for slowing down after this month....

I guess Heavenly Father is answering my prayers about how we'll earn and save enough money to move to San Diego.

I should be a wedding planner.

Sometimes I think I'd love to  be a wedding planner. I love coordinating colors and styles. I love creating desserts and appetizers and full course meals. I love designing formal clothing and accessories. I love making things pretty and I have such an eye for little details. And I love to be organized (I just wish I could afford to splurge on the best organizational items so I could do it like I want to).

My friend Jennifer is getting married in June. She asked me to make her bridesmaid dresses. Her colors: purple and zebra print with lime green accents.

Here are what the dresses are looking like:

I designed them with her ideas and suggestions. I think they're turning out pretty fun! I flew to TN over Easter weekend and fitted all the bridesmaids. All of the girls seemed to like them, and some were thrilled at how cute and figure flattering they are. It's always nice to be a bridesmaid and like the dress enough to wear it later. It also makes me feel good that I'm really getting really experienced at professional quality sewing, especially since this was the first pattern I made myself! 

Jennifer was also interested in a hair piece for her big day. After several emails full of ideas, I came up with this for her:

There are olivine (bright green) colored crystals in the center of the daisy and two types of feathers behind it. I really like how it turned out, and she loves it too! 

Now I just need to attach it to an alligator clip and send it to her. And then it's time to finish those bridesmaid dresses...

I've Been Hacked!

That's right, my sneaky and subversive husband has hacked my account, and has typed this blog post as a surprise to me. Just so y'all don't get confused, he'll be talking as though he's me, even though I, Janae, had nothing to do with this particular post.

Let's start off by setting down some basics that we can all agree on.

• I'm Janae, and I'm incredibly attractive. Also, I'm lots of fun.
• I have such a wide range of interests and talents that I can hardly keep up with them. I love to cook, bake, sew, craft with paper, scissors, fabric, glue, wood, and just about anything else I can get my hands on
• I have an excellent eye for design and aesthetics, and I love to bring that to play in organizing and decorating my home, and in all those crafty things. 
• I want to learn and do so much more! I've always wanted to go hang gliding, I love climbing but don't go enough, and I love snowboarding, but same problem there. I still need to learn to crochet and a bunch of other crafts and hobbies. 
• I'm hopelessly addicted to Halo. I wasn't very good a few years ago, but after weekly sessions with friends, I can legitimately hold my own. I've even won a few rounds. 
• I really really really want to learn metalsmithing so I can design and cast my own jewelery. Why does everything I want to do cost so much?
• Case in point, I also want to travel the globe. I want to see third world countries and the remnants of the height of European monarchies. I want to see the tropics, the tundra, and be swallowed in the vastness of the Sahara. I want to see all the different places right here in the U.S., from the Painted Desert, to the Redwoods, to Mt. Rushmore, to the Everglades, to New York City, to the coasts of Maine, to the underground Boston music scene...
• Have you noticed how cute I am? I'm seriously attractive, really! Who else do you know that could pull off any hair color, any outfit, any style? We are few and far between. Worship us.
• I throw the BEST parties.       ....E V A R R R.
•  I am one tough chick. If you had any idea all of the crap I've been through in my life to get where I am, you would probably faint. Or maybe you'd relate if you've been there, too. Respect my journey.
• A side effect of all that is PTSD, which I've written other posts about, from time to time. This makes even the most trivial of matters sometimes insurmountable in the moment. Do you get it? Maybe. But unless you've dealt with it, I doubt it.  Like I said, I'm tough. I always make it through it.
• I have an incredible amount of faith, and a very strong testimony of the Restored Gospel. Sometimes the social side of attending church is hard for me to deal with (see above), but I will always love the Savior, the Gospel, and my Heavenly Father. It's unshakable.
• My husband is better than your husband. 
• Did I mention how ridiculously attractive I am?
• Have you hung out with me lately? Why not? I promise you that I am outrageously hilarious, and a load of fun! Seriously, what's your excuse?
• I've changed through about 9 different majors in college (lots of interests) so I know a lot about a lot of stuff, instead of a little bit about a lot of stuff or everything about one thing. Except for sewing- my husband thinks I might know just about everything about that, but I don't really think so; There's always something new to learn!
• I love animals and I really want a dog! We never really got to have one growing up and now that I'm older, I want one. 
• I love my sisters-in-law and I wish I hung out with them more. What do we have in common? What can we do together?
• I'm going to be the coolest mom ever, except for maybe my mom, who is perpetually amazing. My husband has no doubt that I can live up to her legacy, though.

Well, that's about all for now. Comment on this post and tell me how much you love me, because after all, I'm not really writing this, so it's not fishing for compliments, is it?!

Christmas stockings

I didn't want to buy stockings.
So I made them.
And it was easy.


Here's how:

I cut out iron-on interfacing the shape, size (including the seam allowance), and orientation I wanted them to be (toes facing left as I look at it).
I cut three more stocking shapes out of some left over golden satin, taking into account orientation again for backing and lining.
I cut out scraps of Christmas colored fabrics.
I ironed them onto the interfacing.
I trimmed off whatever extra was hanging off the edge of the interfacing.
I used embroidery thread and tightly zig-zag stitched between the patches.
I sewed two of the satin pieces together for the inside lining.
I sewed the patchwork piece and the last satin piece together for the outside.
I put the lining inside the patchwork and satin outside piece.
I sewed the lining to the outside around the top.
I sewed a loop for hanging the stocking in place at the top.
I sewed a strip of satin around the top.
I pressed then hand sewed the satin strip in place on the inside.

And voila!! 

Stockings!
Original and there is not a single one exactly like either of these in the world.
(Except maybe my mom's, who I got the idea from--but she used different fabric than I had and made hers years ago.)




And in case anyone is wondering about those tags on our stockings...

It became a tradition in my family when I was growing up for each person who served a full-time mission for church to clip their missionary name tag to their stocking (thanks to my oldest brother Russ for starting it). I want to keep that tradition going, so Bob and I put our name tags on our stockings this year. Besides, missionaries teach about Christ every day--His birth, His life, His atonement, and His resurrection. I think that in today's world, missionaries are full of the Christmas spirit year-round, so what a great time of year to keep in mind the importance of missionary work and sharing the Gospel with others as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.

newly recovered throw pillows

When Bob and I got married, we moved into an unfurnished apartment. That meant we were taking any furniture anyone wanted to give to us, no matter how stylishly hideous it was. In fact, the other day I realized that we've only bought three pieces of furniture that we use on a regular basis, and we we got some wicked-good deals on them--our entertainment center, one of our dressers, and our bed. Otherwise, it's all been free.

So before we got married someone told me their apartment complex was getting new couches and just throwing out the old ones. I was all over that. I couldn't afford to care what it looked like--we just needed a place to sit when people come over and to snuggle while watching movies.

Since we've been married I'd been looking at couch covers on a regular basis. For a while I used two huge blankets--two because it's such a massive beast of furniture that one wouldn't cover it. Then some friends of ours gave us a bright red cover that they weren't using anymore (Thank you, Zach & Teresa!!). I have to say, almost any solid color is better than that navy, green, red, and tan plaid. (Although, with our green carpet it looks like Christmas year round in our living room with that red couch cover. Good thing I like that holiday!)

So for a while we've had this pretty red couch, and the plaid pillows matched it okay, but let's be honest, the pillows really were hideous regardless of what color they were paired with.

The other day while at the fabric store, I found a rockin' deal on some upholstery fabric. There I was, standing in line to get some fabric cut. Of course, the cutting counter is right next to the discount aisle. I find this nice fuzzy cross-hatched looking brown fabric and liked it. Then I looked at the price. It was originally $9 a yard, marked down to $6, and that day it was half off of that. $3 a yard later, I was all stocked up and ready to go.

Using that, I finally decided it was time to give those plaid pillows a face lift.

The process:

The outcome:

A tip: My original throw pillows were super flat and pretty worthless. I made these pillows an inch smaller so the stuffing would puff them out more and not get so flat.

Bob likes them because they're firm and fluffy. I like them because of that too, and because they're pretty.

(I also really like the holes in Bob's socks in this picture.)

home made gifts from me

I decided to try and make several Christmas presents this year, since Bob and I have thinner wallets than normal. I wanted to try and make everyone's gifts, but I think someone stole all my time sometime this month. Seriously, whoever broke in and robbed my time, I'll find you and get it back one day. So I only made a few gifts.


Lucky for me, after posting about my roll-up pencil case a while back, my sister-in-law, Lauren, mentioned wanting something like it for all of her crochet hooks and things. I know it wasn't a huge surprise what she was getting from me for Christmas, but I hope she liked getting it anyway. I love cute little ribbons and I tend to get my overall theme for a project from whatever is printed or designed on the ribbon I use for it. Just FYI, those appliqués took a ridiculously long amount of time, but they were so worth it. Merry Christmas!

Lauren also mentioned an idea for something similar that I could make for one of her sons who has a lot of little toy cars. I can't take credit for the idea. It came from here. But I made my own adjustments to the pattern and idea, and I like how it turned out. I hope Grant does too. And I hope some of his cars fit in it. Sorry if they don't.

I wanted to make a few other things for Lauren's other kids, but I just ran out of time. So Lauren, I'm sorry I took the easy way out and bought some toys and dress-up stuff for the other two kids, and I had no idea what I could possibly make for Cam, so I was planning on buying him something anyway.  I hope Christmas was great for y'all regardless of how well our presents were or weren't received!


The last gift I made was for Bob. I still think it's lame, but I couldn't afford to go out and buy anything, and Bob has expensive taste so everything he'd like to get as a gift costs about two or more of his paychecks combined. So I sucked it up and made him a nice flannel robe. He only mentioned a few times this year how I have one (that I made in high school) and he wished he had one.

So I found some fabric I already had and dug out the pattern I used 6 years ago. Then I had to figure out ways to get him out of the house so I could work on it. When he had work, it was easy. But when he didn't have work it got tricky. I got him to run some errands for me one day, and what normally would take him at least an hour and a half took him 45 minutes! I saw him drive back  up to the house as I was in the middle of hemming the bottom. Really, Bob? The ONE time I NEED you to take a longtime, you take finish of everything in a ridiculously fast amount of time?! So I stopped where I was, quickly wadded up the nearly-done robe, hid it in the closet among the massive amounts of fabrics that I have, and jumped in the shower to avoid suspicion because I'm a terrible liar.

Somehow I got it all done. He claims to like it a lot, but I still think it was kind of a lame gift since it was the only thing I got him, while he got me a new Calle street soccer ball and new snow pants. Although, I did take care of all the stocking stuffers (not that I mind because I got EXACTLY what I wanted in my stocking this year), so I suppose I'm allowed to slack off a little bit on him, right?

House = Home

Since Bob and I have been married, I've wanted a nice bed frame, or at least a headboard. When we were still living in that crummy basement apartment we started building a simple one together, and then it got put on hold.... And six months later I finished it with a little bit of Bob's help.

I was at Jo-Ann's yesterday and got inspired by their Veteran's Day sale. Tons of things were 50% off. So we went back tonight and bought some upholstery foam and canvas. And then I found some other fabric that was already discounted to $6 a yard in the red-tag section (from $9+), and it was all half off as well. $3 a yard?! I think so! I love good sales.

Even though we spent quite a chunk of money, we saved the same amount that we paid because of how great of a sale everything was. Maybe we should have waited to buy all of that, but then it would have cost full price and we would have had to save up even more for even longer. Oh well. I think it was worth it.

So it started out as a bunch of stuff...

 ...and it turned into a simple upholstered headboard.

 Bob documented my progress. 

He also blatantly spoke of my attractiveness since I know how to handle tools.

There's even extra fabric left over that I can use to make some small wall-hangings and/or re-cover some throw pillows.

Now I want to find a deal on some pillow cases, because all the different shades of orange and the random blue one just make it all way too busy. I'm thinking dark brown. It would tie everything together so much better.


We also bought a curtain rod for the living room and now we have curtains up around that huge front window. And we found some baskets for our shoe shelf next to the front door.

I liked our house when we moved in back in August, but I'm loving this place more every day!

Lastly, here's my latest creation of custom-made clothing for a client of mine:

Pretty retro, huh? He loves it. I can't wait to get it done and see him wearing it. I really hope he wears it during concerts and shows that he and his band put on. It's so appropriate for him and his personality. 

And now that these projects are just about done, I'm going to work on Christmas gifts. 

The list never ends, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Life is good when I have fabric, beads, wire, glue, scissors, and pliers covering my hobby table.

Stress and Success (part III) + Halloween

And in the last week, I've been a sewing maniac. I made three Halloween costumes, altered two other costumes, finished a skirt for my sewing class, started and made a lot of progress on a nice collared shirt for one of my customers.

The costumes I made were fantastic. Jennie Ray was Daphne for Halloween, and she and I made a perfect purple dress and ascot for it. Rebecca Flake was the Little Mermaid during the "Kiss the Girl" song in the movie, so she and I made a pretty blue corset and a light blue skirt and altered a white blouse to go under the corset. I also made a zombie cheerleader costume for Alyssa who is 11 years old. (She's a girl I recently began mentoring, which I'll write a whole blog about later.) Her outfit was black with glittery skulls and white accents, including a big letter A on the front of her top. I also made her a black and white striped turtleneck and leggings to go underneath. Lastly I made two bows with the left over black and white striped ribbon for her hair. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of her in her costume, and I'm really bummed about that. :(

Jennie & Becca's costumes.

Then Bob and I had been debating all week about our costumes. Someone in one of my classes mentioned Barbie and Ken the other day, and I thought that would be hilarious. Bob and I just watched Toy Story 3 last weekend, so I wanted to dress up like the Barbie and Ken from that movie. We'd found some wigs earlier in the week at a Halloween store. Then on Friday, the day before our Halloween party, we went to the DI searching for anything really. We lucked out with Bob and found some awesome pleated shorts, a horrible blue-patterned shirt, a belt, and even some sweet loafers. I looked and looked, and finally found what I thought might just work. It was an ugly light bluish-teal leisure suit kind of thing. I tried it on and it was kinda big and fit me weirdly, but I could alter it just fine and make it work. I found a perfect pink belt to go with it too, and borrowed some pink leg warmers, hot pink heels, and a pink head band from Jennie Ray.  I altered everything that night, and when Bob put his costume on he really wasn't sure if he could go as Ken. I think he was just embarrassed to be wearing the light blue ascot that I made him.

So Saturday rolled around and we had breakfast Jennie and Rebecca's apartment. I gave Chelsie a hair cut. We all carved pumpkins. And then we got ready for the night. I have to say, Bob and I looked so good!

Bob carved the cat, I carved the face with the stem as a nose.

We made it to our Halloween party a few minutes late. When we showed up everyone was seated at tables and the people in charge were giving instructions for how the evening would go. Bob and I walked in a door towards the front of the room and just stood next to the wall, looking for a place to sit. Then I noticed everyone looking at us and giggling. At one point the people up in front had to stop talking because everyone was laughing about our costumes instead of listening to instructions. Then I noticed that Bob had walked in stiff-armed and legged, smiling and waving like a Ken doll. I honestly loved all the attention.

We got so many compliments on our outfits. Everyone loved them I think, and everyone knew exactly who we were supposed to be. That was my favorite part, aside from the fact that nobody recognized us at first. They knew who we were dressed up as, but all the hair in the wigs really threw everybody off. It was great!

Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head were even there!

Bob as Ken.

Me as Barbie.

We ended up winning the Best Overall Costume award, a $10 gift certificate to Spoon It Up. I love frozen yogurt, and I love winning contests. It was so worth all the makeup and fake eyelashes and alterations and headaches of the week. Halloween has been great this year.