Sharon Sews

Okay! Okay! Here's a photo of the dress I sewed so I would have something to wear with my navy blue pink polka dot shoes. In the future I'll know better than to think I can get away with no photos of the actual garment *LOL*. You decide for yourself, but after seeing the photos I agree with my husband's opinion. As you may recall , he pointed out that without a belt the dress is shapeless. (Extremely comfy, I might add, but shapeless.) Unless I plan on constantly posing in a contorted model stance whenever I wear the dress, I'll be adding a belt. And in an effort to find other items of clothing to coordinate with the shoes, I purchased a navy blue/pink stripe knit from Gorgeous Fabrics. It arrived yesterday (thankfully all in one piece as the bottom of the box had been slit open. Guess someone wasn't interested in fabric - whew!). Stay tuned as this latest purchase is destined to become some type of knit top.

It started with the shoes. Navy blue with baby pink polka dots. Sigh... Eager to wear them, I scanned my closet only to realize that I do not own a single item of navy blue clothing. However, a quick glance at my fabric stash revealed a beautiful piece of navy blue knit with a nice hand and weight. Perfect for a knit dress. Or maybe a tunic and a slim skirt. Or maybe a short flippy skirt. Or maybe a dress. But that flippy skirt sure would be cute. But I wouldn't have anything to wear with the skirt. I finally put a stop to this internal debate with a "Stop! Pick a pattern already and get sewing!" With a scant 1-3/8 yards (60" wide) to work with, my choices were very limited. Vogue 7055 was chosen. It's an out of print (OOP) Sandra Betzina design from 1999 that I had never taken the time to sew. The dress appeared to be a fairly classic tee-shirt dress so, before I could change my mind, I laid out the pattern pieces, cut and began sewing. The dress, with it&#

While I found I didn't have time for sewing while the remodel was underway, I did find plenty of time for another one of my favorite pastimes - reading. After plowing through a number of books borrowed from the library, I turned my attention to a book I'd recently received - The Noticer , by Andy Andrews. I had not heard of the author, but according to the book jacket he is a best-selling novelist as well as a popular corporate speaker. I made it to page nine before stopping to place a sticky note - the first of many - on the page to help me remember a bit of wisdom written there. "...everybody wants to be on the mountaintop, but if you'll remember, mountaintops are rocky and cold. There is no growth on the top of a mountain. Sure, the view is great, but what's a view for? A view just gives us a glimpse of our next destination - our next target. But to hit that target, we must come off the mountain, go through the valley, and begin to climb the next slope."

Operation: Remodel is complete. Actually, it was completed a week ago. This particular remodel wasn't in our home. It was in my parent's home. My brother and sister-in-law treated them to a much needed one-week vacation and my hubby wanted to bless them with a bathroom remodel. A surprise bathroom remodel . Not just paint-the-wall-and-put-down-some-new-tiles remodel. A gut-everything-and-begin-fresh-remodel. Oh, by the way, did I mention that he only had one week to complete this task? Now here, dear readers, is where I just gotta take a minute to brag on my husband. My man is not only an incredibly generous soul, but does he ever have talent. My parents reside in a 1950s rambler. One of those older homes that only has one bathroom. When hubby learned they would be gone for one week the first thing out of his mouth was "let's redo their bathroom. I'll see if I can get that week off from work." Once he confirmed he could take the week off we began purc