I'm gonna do this.

Cashew has been asking for a red "sprinkle" dress ever since Filbert took the kids to see Toy Story 3. I got some clearance fabric a couple of months ago, but just haven't gotten around to getting started on this. Now I will.

Sewing Madness

There are times sewing can be sew not fun. I crack myself up.

My mom gave me her old sewing machine which she must have stored in dust. I did not know that storing it in dust was the preferred thing to do and it was polished on the outside so nicely that I just sat down to use it.

Two broken needles later, my mother-in-law came over to look at it. At my mom's suggestion, we looked at the inside to see if it needed cleaning. We pulled out clump after clump of dust. We think we found the culprit wedged deep inside one of the moving parts. I was a long piece of black thread with several knots in it. Mom, when was the last time you used that machine with black thread? (Clearly before you stored it in dust.)

The machine appears to work fine now.

Hazel's Hobby Corner

I promised some pictures of my latest creations, so here we go!

First of all, we have my garden, 3 tomato plants and 5 pepper plants.

Here's a tomato plant:

Tomatoes
Photo by Hazel

Here's another tomato (actually it might be the same tomato, just a different angle):

More tomatoes
Photo by Hazel

And here are the peppers along with Walnut's super scary blue widow spider whose name is Bluey.

Walnut's scary spider invades the pepper plants.
Photo by Hazel

Now for some sewing projects. I made pillowcases for Walnut and Peanut.

Walnut and Peanut's pillows.
Photo by Hazel

And the back view:

Walnut and Peanut's pillows-a view of the back.
Photo by Hazel

Here is Miss Cashew modeling her new skirt.

Cashew models a skirt by taking a turn on the runway.
Photo by Hazel

I am publishing this one just because it is super cute.

Cashew is cuteness in a nutshell. (pun intended)
Photo by Hazel

Now, for the pièce de résistance (check out my fancy French!) I had the house to myself on Wednesday so I took the entire afternoon to work on making a blouse from this tutorial. Three straight hours I spent working on this and at the end of three straight hours, I present to you all....

The beginnings of a shirt sewing project. This is one of the shoulder straps.
Photo by Hazel

School's out for Summer!

Today, it's been a week since school got out for Walnut and Peanut. We don't have any big plans, yet. Walnut is going to be in a Pepsi and Hot Dog bowling league and Peanut needs to get some speech therapy. All three of them need to have swimming lessons, but I'm not sure if that will happen. Lots of outside time is definitely on the agenda.

My plan is to do lots of sewing and jewelry making. I'm really enjoying my sewing machine. I've made pillow cases for the boys and just finished a skirt for Cashew. When Mandie gets back, I'll have her post some pictures of some of the stuff I've made. (I'm html impaired) I have material to make some shorts for the boys and on Wednesday, my blessed mother-in-law is taking my kids for the entire day and I'm going to attempt to follow this tutorial and make a blouse for my self.

I'm growing some plants, too. I have 3 tomato plants and 5 pepper plants growing in my back yard. I'm pretty excited about them, but I'm getting annoyed at those pesky weeds that keep popping up.

So that's the update on the Nuts. Stay tuned for news of a possible jewelry giveaway. I've made some bracelets that need a home.