Fixing Up The House...

When we moved into our present house five years ago, I knew dogs had lived here.  The first winter when we closed up the house and turned on the furnace, I smelled them daily.  Even after shampooing the carpeting multiple times, I could still tell.
When my DH would ask what I wanted for Christmas or my birthday, new carpeting was always on the list.  He's say "That's no kind of present!"  Ha!  My nose disagreed!!

This year we got a pretty good tax refund.  Once again we discussed new carpeting for my birthday in the spring.

Finally, finally, things got moving.  We pulled all of the furniture out of the two guest bedrooms and painted walls.  And a couple of weeks later I promised to shop for carpeting.

DH started removing the old carpeting.  The house smelled better right away. 

A month passed.  Summer got really HOT.  Work was crazy, our office was moving and I was on the committee that was organizing that.  Carpeting got put on the back burner.

The week of July 4th, I finally got the urge to get something going.  Well, a month of crap piled in the garage and parking the cars in the driveway finally got to me!

I knew what I wanted... light brown good quality carpeting with a million year wear guarantee and a new carpet smell!  Not too expensive either.

Long story short -- went shopping, found the right color, got the right price, and last week Larry and Dan came over and spent two days hammering, cutting and laying pad and carpet.  Now when I dash up the stairs my feet say 'thanks, we enjoyed that'!  And when the alarm goes off and I have to roll out of bed, they say 'oh, THAT wasn't so bad, we feel NICE down here!'



See?

I'm On The Five Year Plan

I spent some time in my sewing studio this past weekend, working on some projects.  I think I must be on the Five Year Plan in my garment sewing life.  Why do I say that, you ask?  Well...

Yesterday I sewed part of a blouse.  I only sewed PART of a blouse because when I cut out said blouse, somewhere within the last five years, I unpinned it from its pattern. 

I put the pieces into a gallon sized zip lock bag.  Good thinking, right?  Keep the pieces together so you can find them when you need them.  Nothing organizes better than gallon sized bags!

See, I had good intentions...  from front to back:  jacket, blouse, vest, vest, jacket, blouse and jacket.

Except I forgot to include the pattern envelope and the instruction sheet!  I have the brand and the number, but if you've been in my sewing room, you know that I have a TON of patterns in various boxes and bins, and that pattern could be in any one of them!

Lucky for me, I remember the picture/drawing from the front of the envelope, so I have a chance of finding it just from that, instead of having to read the numbers...

So I sewed the most obvious pieces -- front yokes to lower fronts, matching the notches, and back yoke to lower back.  I stopped at putting interfacing onto the facing pieces because it was getting late and I need my beauty sleep more and more these days.

Left and right fronts, waiting for facings.

Before I go too much further I need to find the pattern envelope.  Oh, and some light weight interfacing.  The fabric is a light weight linen blend from Joann Fabrics.  The pattern is kind of a loose fitting top with asymmetrical hems and a cross-over front.  There were some trousers included.  I didn't cut those out.  I still may, if I can find a coordinating fabric in my stash.  This linen was purchased at least 10 years ago, but teal is back...



I think I may be able to find something in here somewhere...

How do I know I'm on the Five Year Plan with this outfit?  DH and I have been living in this house for five years now, and I know this pattern was in my stash when I moved in!  So it's at LEAST the five year plan -- that is, if I finish it in 2012!!

Keep your fingers crossed, and keep sewing!

Oh, and keep good thoughts on the pants fabric, OK?  I'd hate to have to do more fabric shopping...