Fun with the Singer

We stalked Goodwill today.  I am blessed with a husband that actually likes to check out what treasures might be found there!  Since we have a horde of children, we've saved a lot of money finding sports equipment, desks, clothes, replacement coffee carafes and drinking glasses, of course, and I could go on and on.

Tucked within the ladies clothes I found some girls' sized clothing that Laney would love - and at half price - so just a dollar or so.  I also found a Gap cable knit sweater, ladies medium, that I hoped to turn into a tunic for Laney.  And Laney found an appalling velour sparkly dress in some sort of browns and blues - oh, my, it was hard to bring it home - but I am softening in my old age, and she IS the baby....

Once home, Laney tried on a horsey sweatshirt/tunic thing that was a girls' 14/16.  Due to being shrunken in the dryer, I believe, it fit well as a tunic, except for really long arms.  So I lopped those off and knit stitched the hem, since the collar and skirt were finished that way.  She loves it, since she loves all things horsey.

The cable knit sweater was so fun - turned it inside out, took it in 1.5" on each side and narrowed the arms, plus raising/narrowing the armholes in the process.  Cute and easy, and around $1.80.


Then, with her sweet face, she asked if I'd make the ghastly dress fit.  Size 14, it would need some help for her size 7 frame.  Thankfully, it ties in the back, so I just worked on taking it in at the shoulders, which would raise the bodice, minimize the arm holes, and shorten the whole dress.  But by taking it in at the shoulders the tops of the sleeves would pucker funny, so I made a seam on the inside (which on THIS dress is fine to do) from the shoulder that runs out just below the elbow.  The sleeves are flowy, which Laney loves, and this kept them flowy, but more narrow on the top part of her arm.

Before

After - probably won't be worn
outside the house, though!

I had help sewing.  She is Molly Millington, as Anders calls her, our most darling of kittens.  She loves the sewing machine's needle, which scares me.  Will she finally be overcome with curiosity and I sew her little paw to Laney's dress?  Actually, that might help that dress...oh, no, that wouldn't be good.  And a free plug for Singer:  I have had this machine for over 19 years and it's been only cleaned for maintenance.  It's one of my favorite things.  I love it so much that I don't let my girls use it. Does that mean that I love my machine more than I love them?  Um.  It just means I am trying to practice stewardship, yeah, that's it!  Stewardship! I have two other machines that run that they may use if they want to.  And once they are proficient on those, yes, I'll share then.

And breaking news from the kitchen - I made the cheesecake chocolate chip cookies AGAIN and added two tablespoons of peanut butter, plus this time I used a 1/4 c. of regular sugar and 3/4 c. stevia.  And I used my homemade vanilla.  That's the best they've turned out.  (The cream cheese was the 1/3 less fat version, too.)  With a cup of coffee, oh, my, so yummy.  Great texture, and just sweet enough, with the hint of peanut butter.