Wedding Dress to First Communion Dress

Hi All,

It's my daughter's first communion tomorrow.  I perused some stores looking for a pretty white dress, and there are plenty.  But there's something about store-bought that's just, meh.  Sure she would look nice and it wouldn't take away from such an important day but what if she wore something that was hand made?

And not only that, hand made from something that has meaning?

That's where my wedding dress comes in.  Why keep it hidden away?  It's not like I'm going to where it again.  When I said my vows, I meant them.  And there was plenty of material for a girls dress.

 Here's the wedding dress and shawl:

I basically followed this tutorial but tweaked it by making a split back.  I made my own pattern for the bodice top by tracing around an existing dress that fit my girl.  I wish I could be able to explain the process of the split back, but I really just winged it, so how do you explain that?  Before cutting into that wonderful white material I practiced by making another dress.

Deconstruction of the dress what actually kinda fun.  The top bodice was cut from the shawl and the bottom was from the front three panels of the dress. I also used some of the liner and fluffy part (can't think of the name of the fabric, so fluffy part will have to suffice).

This is my wedding dress now:

But let's get to the First Communion dress, shall we?

The front:

The back:

How about some some close-ups?:

Side by side:

There you have it.  I even have enough to make a vest and tie when it comes time for my son's first communion.

Now the top part of the wedding dress can be turned into a prom dress by adding some fun fabric to the bottom half.  We'll see in time.  I may be thinking too far ahead.

Blessings,
Christina

Fixing a Rosary

Hi All,

Toddler + Rosary = Broken Rosary

I had a few broken Rosaries stashed away in the house from previous toddlers whom are now grown.  I said to myself  "When I get jewelry wire I'll fix them".

Did I ever get that jewelry wire?  No.

Finally I decided to use what I had on hand, which is plenty of thread.  Instead of making a chain link with wire you'll be doing the same, except with thread.

Here are the tools I used to fix those Rosaries without wire.

Squeeze any open chain links with needle nosed pliers so they are closed.  This prevents the thread to slip off.

Take your long piece of thread and make a knot at the bottom making sure to get both sides of the thread so it's a long loop.

Insert your needle into a wire loop on the Rosary, then insert your your needle through your thread loop.  Pull taut.

Insert your needle through the other wire loop of the Rosary that you want to join.  Now you basically whip stitch a couple times through the loops to get a thread chain link.

To finish off you insert the needle through your chain link you made with the thread, but don't pull all the way.  Insert your needle into the loop you've created and pull taut.

Snip the thread and your done.

Blessings,
Christina

Getting Things Done

Hello All,

 So far so good with my New Years Resolution.  I've completed a marathon!  Check one off the bucket list. Also, although I'm not posting The Looney Spoons recipes I'm making, I am staying the course and trying an average of two recipes a week.  I've done 80 recipes out of some 360, so, there is progress being made.

I've also seen immediate results with my new list making binder.  There was one  task on my list that has been there for a few years.  It would make it onto those loose lists, or constantly be on the back of my mind.  Well, thanks to the binder I've finally completed it.  It was the simplest task too.  I had to add black eyes to this guy:

The kids had pulled them out a few days after I made it three years ago!  It took all of five minutes to finish it too!  I really don't know why I felt it was so insurmountable.  I just never got around to it.  Well I was tired of seeing it on my list and so you know the rest.

According to my New Years Resolution I said I would compete in a triathlon in July.  I'm unsure right now since I don't have a bike.  I don't really want to buy a road bike for only one day, but we'll see.

Getting things done sure makes this gal feel good.

Blessings,
Christina