Super Proud Mama

My little T won 1st prize in the 1st grade category in a city-wide art contest today! Her painting was titled The Three Ballerinas. (I wish I could have gotten a better photo of it, but it was hung way over my head.)
She won a bicycle and helmet (Ironic, right? And, no, it's not one that her daddy sells.). Her painting will hang in the local hospital for a while, and then we hear that there's some kind of artist's reception in a couple of weeks.
I'm just so proud of her! She started going to the Jonesboro School of Art this summer and has absolutely loved every minute of it. We can't wait til the fall semester starts on Monday!

Sooo ready for fall

So, it for the past two months or so, it's felt like a sauna here in Arkansas. But, I saw this pattern for a whole $1 at a flea market last month and decided to try my hand at making a jacket. The reason I picked this pattern is because: a) it was cheap, b) I like the details, c) it has raglan sleeves instead of set-in sleeves, which should make it easier to sew. I'm working on the short version with the collar and the tabs on the cuffs. I bought some wool fabric from ebay. It's not as nice and soft as the high-end stuff, but it looks nice and it was cheap (relatively). I'm certain that when I'm done with this I probably will have spent about as much as it would cost to go to Target or TJ Maxx and buy a perfectly lovely jacket.... but what's the fun in that?Here's where I am so far. The sleeves sewn to the body, the collar made and basted to the neck. I'm happy so far. I'm a little nervous about parts of this (like getting the lining in and making the cuffs look nice and neat). I'll post more pictures as I go.
T's school starts tomorrow and mine starts Monday, so that will throw a wrinkle in things - no pun intended.

ps. I have no idea why the font on here is all wacky. I can't fix it for the life of me.

A Sprinkle of Sparkle

Inspired by all the great man's shirt to skirt/dress projects out there on the interwebs, I wanted to give one a try myself. I really had in mind to make a skirt for me, but the little one made a pretty good case for a new skirt... so, you know how that goes.
I took one of her daddy's old shirts, cut it just under the arms, added a contrast waistband w/elastic, sprinkled in some sparkly buttons, and bob's your uncle she has a new skirt.
I wanted to make it a little shorter, but the girl likes 'em long on account of her fear of anyone seeing her underpants.