Heat and Sewing - So much to say about so little

It is SO hard to come back here and try to write just a few of the things that have happened this month.  The HOT month of June.  Thank goodness for air conditioners and not having to go outside very much. 

We have enjoyed the patio in the mornings and late in the evening.  Discussions are about all that's happened on the landscaping part of it.  I can't imagine putting plants in the planters right now and have them struggle in the heat, so I think we'll wait until fall.  Or that's my excuse anyway.  Mama goes out there any time of day to "warm up" when Mike and I have had one of our battles of the thermostat.  Either he is sweltering (at 79) or I'm having to put on 3 layers of clothes to work (at 73). 

But we're thankful that everything is working as it should, and we haven't had any major repairs in awhile.  We did have some gutters put up in the front of the house and gutter guards on the back ones.  I have no idea why we had partial gutters.

The seeds I threw out in the spring have turned into a small jungle of zinnias. 

At first something was eating big chunks out of their leaves, but they didn't seem to mind and are thriving amongst the basil and weeds.

This is one flower that loves the heat.

And on to sewing.   I've done a lot of it, trying to force myself to use better technique, to take my time, and to read the directions before I mess it up completely.  My grade is probably a 75 on all that, especially when the results of some of them are pretty good - no matter how many times I had to take out the stitches to get there.

Fitting is a whole new thing for me.  Before when I made children's clothes, I did it just for fun and went right by the pattern with no one to fit.  Now that I'm sewing for a 4-month-old who seems to double in size every time I see a picture and a 1-year-old and 3-year-old, patterns are only used as a basic outline, and I sometimes just end of making my own.

This is the cute Petite Poche Vintage Sunsuit that I wrote about earlier.

This pictures was taken a couple of weeks ago when she received it.  An almost perfect fit - maybe a little big. 

This was last week.  Much too fascinated with swinging mirrors and monkeys to model.

And the current state of the vintage sunsuit.  A droopy bikini.

This was a 6-month size, so I decided to make a 12-month one last night.  It wasn't until I had it cut out and half piped that I realized how similar the fabric is.

Another bubble I made was this Children's Corner Taylor.  Super easy to make, and it's perfect for a monogram or other machine embroidery.  Lots of ways to vary it.  I did a monogram for the first one.

This was the first trying on last month.  So sad!

This was yesterday, so looks like the 3-month size is a winner - for a few weeks anyway.

This is what the next one is going to look like.  It's hard to see here, but it's diagonal rows of tiny pintucks and a little ruffle - very different (and it will make me look like I did a lot of work).  I think I got this at Joann Fabrics and need to get some more.  I think a dress for next year would be cute.

I don't have a good one of the Emma dress.  This is as close as it gets - NOT impressed with all my work.

Other things on the back burner are embroidered T-shirts and pants to match.

I made this size 1 from the Britches and Bloomers Baby Pants pattern.  Easy to make.  I already had the shirt and added the paw.

For years, I've collected knit shirts and things to embroider on when I saw them on sale, and so I have this collection.  Some need pants to match, like the Christmas ones and the birdie, and some need monograms or designs and pants to match,

 The leggings will work if the size is right at the right time - always a gamble.  And I'm working on getting my embroidery placed better.

I almost forgot I made Graysen a beach towel before we went to the beach.

 I told Emily that this pictures deserves a "Bless her heart," if anything ever did.

The fit on the sunsuit is not so bad - but that hat!

This is better.

Below is my little boy sewing.  Tyler is 3, and Bronner is almost a year old.  They are the sweetest things and always look perfect.  Their mom Amanda appreciates monogramming and cute designs and jonjons and bubbles, and their dad Nick is very tolerant of it - up until a certain age - so we have to hurry.

I've had such fun learning to make a lined jonjon (I'm sure it's not spelled that way, but it's quick to type), and I love using some boy-themed embroidery designs.

I didn't get any better pictures of the turtles, but they turned out to be so cute.

Tyler has the gingham and chevron shorts to match, and Bronner has a totally different jonjon out of the gingham.

This is a beach picture from FB.  Beautiful family.

Amanda already had this seersucker jonjon and wanted a monogram, so this is how it turned out.

And little brother's sailboat patch.  I'm not going to say how many things went wrong on this, but it was definitely a learning experience.   

Writing this, downloading the pictures and editing has taken half the afternoon, and I still didn't get around to Mike's first ever baby shower - in Guatemala.  Ít deserves a post of its own anyway.  I'll do that later today or tomorrow.  Those babies are coming soon, I think.