it's been a while

ive been super busy sewing, homeschooling the girls and just dealing with life in general. what have you been up to lately?
here is a new version of the strip work spring and Easter peasant dress. isn't it too cute? i love the reds, pinks, blue and green colorways. the pink dots are Michael miller ta dots and the florals are from Tanya whelan.

Wow, It's already July ???? What have you all been up to?

Time surely flies by fast when you are having fun.
I love that the girls are on summer vacation from school. It makes for a more relaxed schedule. But we are so off schedule it isn't even funny . :)

The girls have been spending their time playing PS3-Little Big Planet 2. They love playing this game. I tried to play it myself but I have no clue what I am doing. I am more of a Super Mario kinda gal.
If you have never seen LBP (as my girls call it) it's pretty neat. The kids interact with other kids from all around the world, engaging in online play so to speak. We monitor who they are playing with and only allow them to play with kids that are their age (6-10 years old). No one older and we always check in to see who they are talking to. And they are always playing with the same 3 kids. A 10 yo boy from California, an 8 yo girl from California and then another little boy from somewhere else in the US. How it works is, they have a microphone connected to the PS3 and are able to talk to these kids all while playing the game, building new levels and games, mazes so to speak and just having fun. Doing what kids do.

We do not allow them to hook up the camera as we told them that we do not want them playing on the internet in that kind of way. (well not internet but through the internet connection, this is how they interact with the kids they talk to and play with). Anyways, all of the other parents of the kids they play with are also in agreement with this as well (yep, we've said a hello every now and then to the Mom and Dad of 2 of the kids...it's funny. They too think their kids are addicted to this game as well. haha)

Anyways, So we took advantage of a YMCA family membership to utilize for the summer. We have been a few times but since the schedule flip , we havent been in like 2 weeks. If you guys have a YMCA near you and are looking for something to do for the summer, I say jump in to this. There are no contracts to hold you to a yearly commitment. WHen you no longer want to use the membership, just cancel it. We were looking into community pools to join for the summer months so we could take the girls swimming and teach them to swim and lessons and memberships for just 3 months is so outrageous (one pool membership was $900 for May to Labor Day ) And swimming lessons (dont even ask the price of those). So we figured since hubby and I were both swim team members growing up as kids, we both decided we could teach the girls ourselves. And it worked. From the 3 lessons we gave the kids so far, they can now swim from one of the the pool to the next. It's amazing how fast they got it. They are like little fish now. Now we have to get the schedule flipped and get back to the pool so we can get in our daily exercise.

I am almost caught up on all my orders. I have been so super swamped the past 2 months with sewing that I haven't been able to get to pattern testing, pattern reviews or even sewing from a new book I have. Happy Home by Jennifer Paganelli. There are a few projects in this book that I want to sew for myself. Or that I would love to make as gifts for others (CHristmas is just around the corner, so its never too early to think about gifting ideas) So I will be getting back to reviews and testing this week. And I plan to be reorganizing my sewing room. I am going to pull everything out of there ... a sort of Clean Sweep (ever watch this show?) to my sewing room. But then I am afraid that once I Clean Sweep that room, I will need to Clean Sweep the rest of the house as well. Hmm....not a bad idea.

Anyways, I have a few patterns I am testing now for a very sweet pattern designer I found on etsy a few months back. Ruby Jean's Closet. Mary is not only a talented pattern designer, she is also very sweet as well. And I can't wait to share with you 2 new patterns that she has come up with that will just blow your socks off.

So I will be back in a day or two with 2 pattern reviews,  1 from Ruby Jean's Closet and the other by Sandra Lister of Footloose and Fancy Free. You won't wanna miss out. So keep your eyes peeled for my next installment of sewing fun.

Hugs and as always,
Happy Sewing !
Jenn

New Pattern Reviews coming up this week and Memorial Day...a day of rememberance and Thanks.

On a lighter note....I have a few new pattern reviews to share this week..so keep an eye out on the blog... and I will also be posting them on the facebook sewing group as well.  I am also working hard this week to link up with other sewing blogs and sharing my reviews with them as well.

So stay tuned.....

In the meantime....It's going to be a very relaxed day here today. The girls have 3 more days of school, ending on Thursday, May 31st. But today we are off for the Memorial Day holiday.

I've been up for a while now...well, you know me, I havent been to bed yet :)... no surprise there. ;)
I'm catching up on a few sewing projects and plan to enjoy the afternoon with my girls and hubby and rest, and nap and we planned to play Wii bowling this afternoon as well. And of course, I can't forget to mention the bbq we will do here ourselves. Emily is such a nut for ribs, so she requested that since we hardly never buy them (her words) , let's have them today. haha.  So in addition to enjoying the day with a family game of Wii bowling, firing up the grill to and toasting star shaped marshmallows...most importantly, we plan to reflect upon all those men and women that have served in the past, the present and in the future to protect our country and that allow us to be safe and free. We thank you all. We give a special thanks to our own family members that served our country as well.

So although today is typically filled with family get togethers, bbq's and fun times, it's also a day of remembrance. Remembering those that have served our country in the past and have lost their lives while protecting our great nation. So we thank you from the bottom of our hearts and say a prayer for those brave men and women that are still away from their families on this holiday of rememberance.  We pray that you all come home safely to your loved ones. Thank you for everything.

So enjoy your day today. Enjoy time spent with your family and friends. And check back this week for another great pattern review. I can give you a hint.. a super cute girl's dress and matching doll dress. You won't want to miss this one.

Hugs
Jenn

Baby Bubble Sun Suits

I just adore ruffles. The more ruffles the merrier.

I just added a few new Ruffled Baby Bubble Sun Suits to the etsy shop.

Here's a sneak Peek !

I just love the way they turned out.

And just adore Jennifer Paganelli fabrics...they make everything that much more sweeter and special.

So Baby Bubbles are in the etsy shop ! Or if you are a Facebook Fan...then check out this week's Deal of the Week / Day.

Short post today ! Gotta get back to creating !

Happy Thursday.

xxoo

Jenn

Lucy Halter Dress and Top, Pattern Review

Recently I had the honor (and yes it was quite the honor ) to test the Lucy Halter Dress which is a new pattern for Jennifer Pagnaelli of Sis Boom by Carla Crim, the Scientific Seamstress.

I give this pattern a definite Thumbs Up !! 5 Stars and beyond

This dress is going to be a hot little number for this Summer season. Moms, you are gonna love this dress. It is going to be your favorite go to dress for any and all occassions. Whether you are going to the park with the kids, grocery shopping on Saturday, Church on Sundays, birthday parties, dinner dates...I could go on and on...but you get the picture. It's so chic and styled to be worn for everyday wear.

The dress is so cute and very easy to construct. It ranges in sizes from Women's size XS (0-2) to 3XL (24W-26W) so it accomodates any shape , size, curve and not so curvy body. And guess what ? No zippers (a definite plus) !

The bodice of the dress can be constructed to cover a little more or less and ties at the neck. Choose between the Classic Halter style bodice or the Full Coverage style bodice (shown below). The bodice is constructed using not only your chest measurements but your cup size as well so you get a perfect custom fit.

The skirt is an A-line style skirt that can be fashioned in any length (from mini to maxi) so you can wear the Lucy as a cute summer top or choose a knee length, in between or go full on floor length for a cute evening wear dress. The longer the skirt, the more the skirt flares at the bottom.

The back of the dress is styled to be an open back with an elasticized back waist band for ease of wear. And if you aren't to hip about showing that much back, no worries. Just throw on a cute cami or tank top (or cute tee shirt) underneath and you are good to go. Or wear a cute little cardigan or shrug and you are all covered and can wear your Lucy Halter dress/top with confidence.

I created the dress in a size 2 for my own daughter as she wears a girls size 14/16 and so this little dress is perfect for tweens, teens and mom's alike. Here is my daughter, Emily, modeling her new Lucy Halter dress.

Need a smaller size to match a younger sibling or daughter? No problem ! Jennifer Paganelli has got you covered there as you can find the little girl's dress (Sizes 2-14) in her awesome book Girl's World. A must have book for any seamstress no matter how much of a beginner or advanced level seamstress you may be. (Will make an awesome Mother's Day gift too !)

So pick up your copy of the Lucy Halter Dress today here and stitch one up. You can make yourself a new top or dress in 3 hours or less (that's counting piecing the pattern pieces together, cutting fabric and sewing).

Fabric featured on Emily's dress is both Pink and Orange from the New Crazy Love line by the talented and fabulous Jennifer Paganelli of Sis Boom.

And You can purchase your fabrics listed in my etsy shop

Don't sew ? Well, no problem, because Ive got you covered there as well. Pick up your custom made Lucy Halter Dress/Top in my etsy shop as well.

Happy Sewing !

xxooxx,

Jennifer

I can never find....

the link to my own blog ! It's like, where on earth did it go.
But I found it. (sigh of relief) and so here I am...Friday night...about to cut fabric and get to sewing...or possibly watch a movie and then go to bed. Maybe even read a book.

Im reading a book I picked up at the library 2 weeks ago...
Veganist by Kathy Freston

(here's the link from Amazon.com... but if interested, you can find it at your local library or there is even a kindle edition-and am in no way promoting her book or affiliated with her or amazon in any way...just wanted to share it with you. you never know, you just may find it interesting too)

Veganist by Kathy Freston

Yep, Veganist. It's all about changing your lifestyle and attempting to go full on Vegan. Yeah, we went down that road for all of 2 weeks back 6 months ago or so. We weaned off meat and dairy products, and animal products for about a week and then went full on veggies, fruits, nuts, legumes...healthy for us meals. We all felt better, lost a few pounds, had more energy,didnt feel run down all the time. And then the big T arrived...;.Thanksgiving ! Turkey, dressing, gravy, rich desserts and more and we decided to go off our Veganist ways that day...which turned into another day (got to have leftovers) and then a week, a month, and so on. We have skipped out on dairy milk though. We only drink Soy milk. I prefer to drink chocolate soy milk but I cook with plain soy milk and the girls use vanilla soy milk in their cereal. We also splurge on this wonderful ice cream made from coconut milk that is just to die for.

Here is the ice cream that we love. And I just realized it comes in so many other flavors. It is so delicious. It has a coconutty taste, rich chocoloate, it's smooth and something about it reminds me of chocolate pudding pops. LOL. I get this from WalMart (it's cheaper there for this little pint, or whatever its called) but Im sure you can find it at most grocers. I know Trader Joes and Publix sell alot of products like this (if you have one of those shops in your area, we dont, but will soon) . Or you can click on the store finder tab on the website and see if this is sold in your area. It's awesome and definitely worth a try. I highly recommend it.

So Delicious Coconut Milk Ice Cream 

And we switched butter out for margarine made with flax seed oil and is non dairy, gluten free, cholesterol free and vegan. So a few things we still do. But I want to go back to full on Vegan...or as this book refers to...Veganist. And talks about taking small steps to getting rid of things in your diet one at a time until you are fully rid of all animal and animal by products (including honey...). So very interesting.

And I am also going back on some juicing. Yep, I did the juicing thing for about a month and lost like 30 lbs in that month...but that was back last spring and since then, guess where that 30 lbs are? Right back where they were before the juicing. LOL. oh well. It was good and I felt good but so hard to do. I was gonna go for 60 days but man, 30 days was hard enough and it wasnt full on all day juicing either...I ate dinner and juiced everything else all day long. Dinner time was too hard to sit there with my juice after having to cook dinner for the family. Breakfast and lunch were easy...as no time to eat breakfast anyways when trying to get the girls ready for school and im not a big cereal eater, so that was a plus. then the kids were at school all day, so lunch and snack, not a problem but then dinner got me.

Anyways, this post is so off subject, but then again not. As it's a day in the life of my SouthernBabies...which encompasses my 2 Southern girls, my southern life and my boutique SouthernBabies. so you never know what you may get over here. A patchwork blog is what it really is...a little of this, a little of that.

Tomorrow or this weekend, Im gonna post a review of a vegan Red , White and blue cake the girls and I are gonna make. Yep, it's vegan and has a  cooked soy vanilla icing as well as fresh raspberries in the cake batter and fresh blueberries on top for garnish (got it out of a Vegan baking cook book I pickedup at the library as well.). So will let ya know how it turns out and will post photos as well...unless it turns out to be a big mess. LOL

Happy Friday !
xxoo
Jenn