Happy New Year!

I wish we had weather like this for a week or so........

But this is what I must endure here in sunny Florida............

Our Christmas was a good one.  Lots of smiles and laughs and food and presents.  We drove to my mother's house for Christmas Eve, Christmas with the kids on Sunday morning before Church then to Dear Hubby's family after Church.  It was a busy weekend.

I don't usually make New Year resolutions.  But I do make a list at the beginning of every month of things I hope to accomplish that month.  Sometimes they get completed and sometimes they either get erased or moved over to the next month.  It's my way to keep life a little organized.

Daughter in law bought me these vintage pattern notebooks for Christmas.  They are the best! (She LOVED ALL the Pioneer Woman stuff I got her!)



Looking back through my post of 2016, I have a few favorite items I sewed and wear regularly.

In January 2016 I made this skirt and jacket.  It's my go-to cold weather outfit.  Now I know it's only cold here a day or two, but this is the warmest things I own!

 I also made the Simplicity 1072 and even though it's too big, I wear it.  I really should make another one.

 I just wore this dress to Church for Christmas.  It was 85 degrees and this had short sleeves!  I have worn this one numerous time this past year.  I need to make another version.

 My go to shirt.  My favorite shirt. I've worn this shirt a hundred times!

This skirt is a staple in my closet too.  I've worn it almost as much as the shirt above!

 My favorite nightgown  and my favorite robe.  I wear them daily.





My ultimate favorite outfit is this one!  When Dear Hubby fell from our roof, I wore this dress and cardigan for three days.  Not a wrinkle!  No one ever knew I slept in it for two nights!  It's cool when it's hot outside.  It's not to casual, not too formal.  The PERFECT outfit!



It seems like I like purple.  I never noticed how much purple I have.  Maybe that's my color.....

I hope that my sewing this coming year is as productive as the past year has been and that I will continue to learn new techniques and grow in sewing and fitting.  I am looking forward to a year full of inspirations from both my sewing friends and blog friends.

I wish you a Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Year!

Until next time.............

Bonnie

Checking In........

Oh, how I've missed my sewing blog friends and sewing projects!

Dear Hubby is on the mend.  Progress is slow.  The Orthopedic surgeon scheduled him for an MRI, but since he has a pacemaker they had to reschedule him for a CTSCAN.  The radiologist didn't see any fracture in the foot and now have to wait to see the Orthopedic until January 5th.  His foot is continually painful and and swells.  I know that he is ready to get back to work, but there is some reason he is meant to be off until after the holidays.

My recent project on our home has been the dining room/entry.  I've painted the trim and walls.  Added trim around and on top of the doorways, hung new curtains and cleaned the french doors of the sewing room.  I'm planning on building two tables for either side of the french doors and add a rug under the dining room table.

Dining room before/Entry & into kitchen

Dining room after/ Entry & into kitchen

Dining room before/ Bedroom wall

Dining room after/ Bedroom wall

Dining room before/Sewing room wall

 

Dining room after/Sewing room wall

Christmas shopping was unusually tough this year.  Since de-cluttering, buying items made me think twice if the receiver REALLY needed it and was it useful.........Girl M is 14 and I thought that it would be much easier if I just let her pick out what she wanted.  She enjoyed shopping for herself way too much!  Boy F is 17 and all he asked for was over $300 a piece.  He's got good taste!  Dear Hubby is with me 24/7 so shopping for him was impossible while at the stores so what little I bought, I did online.  The most fun to shop for was our new daughter in law.  She loves Pioneer Woman and I do love buying Pioneer Woman stuff! Perfect!!!!

I purchased fabric this past week from Fabricmartfabrics.com in hopes that it would spark my sewing mojo.  I gearing up to sew but I also have a few rooms left to work on in the house too.  I keep thinking I want a new dress, but it's still hot here in Florida.  We hit a high this past week of 89 degrees.  I don't wish snow and sleet, but man, my Christmas tree has dried up and is almost dead from the heat!

I'm thinking of maybe sewing up a yoga style skirt and a maxi skirt from a black jersey knit fabric that I've had too long.  Maybe something easy will get my sewing mojo back!  I also have three UFO's waiting to be finished.  It would be nice to get them out of the way before the new year.

I wish all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy & Prosperous New Year!

Until next time...............

Bonnie

Just an Update & Bathroom Remodel Photos

Dear Hubby is doing well since he broke his leg.  He is finally off the walker and the crutches and is walking around.  He has a limp and his foot and leg swell every day.  We have follow up appointment on Tuesday, November 29th for a leg x-ray to see how it has healed.  He still complains that his foot and ankle hurt all the time.  Never in the same places but something is still not right with the tendons.  I know he's bored at the house with me all day.  I just try to do my usual routine and I feel that I just run circles around him.  He did mention that he didn't know why I'm not a size 0 all the stuff I do all day......That would be nice, but I'm not a 0, and I never will be.

The week before Hubby broke is leg, I started a bathroom remodel project.  It took much longer than what I expected.  7 weeks total and I still have a few minor things I need to get done.  But we are hunting in Georgia this week so maybe next week I will get them finished.  I am so happy to be close to done.  We are getting to use the bathroom again and the shower chair is gone and so is ALL the country decor.

Here's a preview of the before:

Bathroom Before

Bathroom Before

 I am not a professional by any means but I must say I think the ending is beautiful.  I love the calming, elegant look of the finished bathroom.  Dear Hubby says it's a "Grown-up" bathroom and dear daughter says it looks like a bathroom from a hotel.

I'm just glad I'm almost done.  We added it up and I spent less than $300 to redo the bathroom.  Pretty thrifty!

Bathroom After

Bathroom After

I hope to get to some sewing soon.  I need a cold weather nightgown and maybe even a robe would be nice too.

I'm still working on minimizing my house.  It feels so good to have empty cabinet space, a place for everything and making use of minimal stuff.

My next project will be working on redecorating/painting the dining room.  I hope it won't take as long as the Master Bathroom but you never know..........

Until next time.............

Bonnie

Another Grey Hair!

I would like to Thank you for all the kind comments and concern during my Dear Hubby's ladder accident and broken leg.  You'll never know how much it has meant to me & kept me positive.

Dear Hubby is still unable to put any weight onto his foot/ankle that has the broken fibula.  He goes back to the Orthopedic Doctor on November 1st to look at his foot/ankle again.  He does have a grade 2 possible grade 3 sprain.  Even though it's been since the 6th of October, he is unable to put any weight onto that foot.

We are hoping for the best but.......he gave me another grey hair last week.  After getting him dressed and sitting him in his wheelchair in the kitchen so that I could put a dress on real quick he thought he could get himself a q-tip out of a cabinet in the kitchen.  He fell, hitting his eye on the kitchen counter & slicing his forearm.  Unfortunately the q-tip won!

This is what happens when you don't listen to your wife when she says "STAY SEATED!".

We didn't make it to Church, or out in public for a few days.  He cut his arm pretty bad but it could have been worse.  I'm glad he didn't hit on the cheek bone or the brow, we would have been getting stitches then.

It's a slow progress in recovery and my sewing is very sporadic to say the least.  I did get a little job of hemming 10 pair of pants for the Sheriff's Office, hopefully it will turn into something ongoing.

Until next time.........................

Missing all my sewing friends

Bonnie

Hurricane Matthew, Trauma Hospital and A Broken Leg

Dear Hubby had planned on fixing our leak in the roof at the fireplace chimney last month.  The company where we purchased the metal roofing from delayed our order for over two weeks, delaying Dear Hubby in replacing the leaking metal by a few weeks because he works night shift and he was sent last week to Ft. Lauderdale for training.

He was summoned home early because of the storm and had Thursday available to replace the metal roof before Hurricane Matthew arrived.  We had a day of preparation around the house to do before the up coming storm.

Well..........Dear Hubby was getting off the roof and while on the top rung of the ladder, the bottom slipped out and he fell about 10' from the roof onto our pool deck.  Having him yell for me was one of the worse sinking feelings in my stomach I have ever had.  Finding him laying on the deck in severe pain was the WORSE feeling I've ever had.

I do not do well under stress!

After a moment of panic, nausea and sheer terror, I begged him to let me call 911 because I couldn't help him up.  His hip and leg were in terrible pain.  I was sure I was going to be sick.  I knew I had to hold it together.  It's funny how you remember odd things during a crisis.  I have never in my 42 years had to call 911.

I did it and the ambulance, fire truck, two deputies and two neighbors showed up within 5 minutes.  The EMT's cut my very modest husbands' clothing from him, assessed his injuries, had him in a Aspen collar, on a board and off to the local (1 hour away) trauma hospital.  The EMT's decided the Trauma hospital since it was a fall and they initially thought that he may have a broken hip and multiple leg fractures.

I must say there is nothing like a hospital that specializes in Trauma injuries.  Dear Hubby remembers that upon arrival at the emergency that there were over ten staff members waiting for him.  As soon as the gurney wheels hit the ground they were working on him.  He said that he was attended to by so many people and so quickly.

By the time I drove the hour through evacuation interstate traffic Dear Hubby was coming out of his Cat-scan.  I was driven by the Valet to an entrance, told whom to ask for and quickly directed to my husband's bedside.

Ladder Fall

Bruises

Scrapes

Knee Immobilizer/Leg Cast

The staff was so caring.  Not only concerned with my husband's needs but mine also.  They allowed me to stay overnight the whole three days. Making accommodations for me and making sure that I ate and got fresh air during my stay.

After several consults with an orthopedic surgeon and a staff of doctors and trauma nurses, Dear Hubby has a broken fibula (small bone in lower leg), possible torn tendons, a severe ankle/foot sprain and many abrasions and bruises.

I am so thankful for the wonderful care at the hospital and that Dear Hubby is now home with a an knee immobilizer leg cast and a bottle of pain meds.  Which he refuses to take.  He's managing his pain with Ibuprofen and rest.  We are scheduled to call the Orthopedic Doctor this morning for an appointment which will let us know the extent of damage to his leg and ankle.

Foot Bruising

I hope that he will make a speedy recovery and that things will get back to normal soon.  It's been so long, I don't even know what normal is anymore.

I miss sewing, I miss blogging, I miss normal!

PS The good news is that the storm was just enough off shore that we received only 1" of rain and minimal wind damage.  We need all the luck we can get!

Until next time...............

Bonnie

Still No Sewing but ANOTHER Hurricane!

Sorry for the absence of my postings.  There has been no sewing going on this past month.  Now that my back is feeling better I have been doing a little remodel/redecorating in the house and now we have ANOTHER hurricane.

Creepy Hurricane Matthew Picture

We are fortunate enough to be in just the outer area of hurricane Matthew but still the wind gust are expected to be between 39-79mph.  That is enough for me.  We will be evacuating to our son and daughter in law's home since they live in a block home.  Hopefully we will be able to return home late tomorrow evening.

One of my biggest peeves during storms like this is that people refuse to evacuate.  Since DH is in law enforcement is angers me that they expect to be rescued during a storm just because they didn't want to leave.  They don't consider other people's safety is being risked just because they are stubborn.  I will just have to pray....  Dear Hubby will be working during the storm and I worry about not only falling trees, but power lines and people trying to drive during the storm but also people expecting rescue during high winds.  But another danger is that people will be cooped up all day with each other drinking alcohol and they start fighting, calling law enforcement, needing a referee!  Sorry for the rant, I think it's from the drop in air pressure!

Prayers for Florida and that we all stay safe and are able to return home soon after the storm.  Also hoping that my sewing mojo returns soon too.

Until next time............

Bonnie

Not Much Sewing-Hurricane Hermine-Fireplace Remodel

Monday I got the cleaning bug and vacuumed every inch of our house, swept, cleaned windows and washed clothes.  Needless to say I've overdone it and I am paying for it this week with a super aching back and hips.

Between my back and hips I haven't sewn a thing all week.  I'm sad........I miss sewing.......but I HURT!

We've been prepping for Hurrican Hermine all week too.  Nothing too much just putting the  lawn chairs away, cleaning the yard a little.  But the rain has been coming in huge amounts.  Since Tuesday we've had over 6" of rain.

South of us about 50-60 miles has received over 20" of rain.  I'm glad it wasn't us!

Dear Hubby has been busy working on our fireplace.  We noticed that after using it this past winter that one of the side panels had a crack.  After further inspection he found that the inner chimney has rusted and insulation is exposed.  I'm so happy he looked into it but sad since we are not going to be able to use it any longer.

But to make things better he cleaned it all out, painted the walls and bottom bricks black and purchased an electric insert.  Now I can have fire ALL year long.  There is a heater for the winter time too!

I am so impressed with how the fireplace looks now, we should have done this years ago!

I hope to get back to sewing soon and get feeling better sooner than that!

Until then...................

Bonnie

Butterick 5022 School Shorts

I have been holding onto this post for over a month.

 I admit I like to post good stuff.  This is good but there were hurt feelings while sewing.  I don't sew well when I am mad, hurt, hungry, angry or upset.

After all the drama with fitting the Butterick 6061 shorts for Dear Daughter I went back to her TNT shorts pattern.  The Butterick 5022.  She still has a pair of short from this pattern I made her over 4 years ago.  She still wears them too.

Butterick 5022 Shorts

Look at the difference between the Butterick 6061 and the 5022 pattern pieces.  The B6061 altered pattern is the brown paper and the B5022 is the tissue.  That's aLOT of difference.

Butterick 5022 compared to 6061 Pattern piece

For a muslin these look pretty good.  The crotch fits, the waist fits, the butt fits.  What else can go wrong?

Butterick 5022 Muslin

I added elastic into the back waistband to help with the vast difference between her hip & waist measurements.  She wears a belt most days anyways so I know it will cover the elastic.

Butterick 5022 Back View

Look how straight that side seam is.  That's a great fitting pair of shorts.

Butterick 5022 Side view

Overall, I think the fit is perfect & these shorts are a go!

Butterick 5022 Muslin

The first "real" pair of shorts are a stretch twill.  Three simple pieces.  (I changed up the pocket).  Easy enough.

Butterick 5022 Stretch Twill Khaki

$1.00 Pair of Shorts!

This pattern only takes 1 yard of 56+" wide fabric.  Perfect!

I had her try on the shorts before finishing the waistband to make sure she liked them.  She was happy with the fit.  I added belt loops per her request.

Butterick 5022 Khaki Stretch Twill Shorts

Butterick 5022 Side View

Butterick 5022-Back View

After I finished the belt loops Girl M tried on the shorts and was happy with them.

So my next pair were a Dark Indigo denim.  Same pattern, same everything but...........

She HATED them.  She didn't like the length, she didn't like the rear or the waist height.

So what do you do once you've purchased fabric for 6 pairs of shorts from Fabric.com?  I fixed what she didn't like (AGAIN!), sewed up the rest of the fabric and they are now neatly folded on my sewing table until she comes and ask for them.

I refuse to take the shorts to her.  She's seen them sitting on the cutting table but has yet asked for them or taken them to her room.  The spot on the leg is from my camera lens.

Dark Indigo Denim Shorts $6.98

Butterick 5022-Dark Indigo Denim Shorts

Fly topstitching & Jeans style button

I added pockets to the back.  Topstitched a design on the pockets.  (The photo was prior to adding elastic to the waistband.)

Butterick 5022 Back View

Black stretch denim with vintage roses and back pockets. $4.89

Butterick 5022 Black Denim Floral Shorts

Back View

Black cotton twill $5.98.  Classy and a perfect wardrobe staple. Sorry for the smudge on the camera lens.

Butterick 5022 Black Cotton Twill Shorts

The Khaki Pair $1.00.

Butterick 5022 Khaki Shorts

I sewed up a white denim pair $5.08.

Butterick 5022 White Denim Shorts

Back View

Here they all are.........still sitting on the cutting table.

Butterick 5022 Shorts

I'll let you know how long they sit here, waiting for her to wear them.  So as much as I hate to admit it, NO MORE SEWING FOR HER.  It breaks my heart because this year she is in high school and there are no uniforms.  The dress code is pretty lax and she can wear almost anything.

I guess I've learned my lesson.

Until next time.................. (I'm off to sew something for MYSELF)

Bonnie