Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Summer Sewing at the Ranch


The kids and I took a little break last week and headed out to a special little place out in the Hill Country: my parent's ranch. This is a place we love, and after spending a week out there last summer, we decided to give it another go this year.

Along with lots of swimming, wildlife observation and s'mores, we made time for some serious crafting. My friend, Jamie, joined us at the ranch with her son, and we had big plans for knocking out a lot of sewing while the kids played.

I have to admit that the crafting portion of the vacation was pretty darn blissful. We transformed the Party Barn into a massive sewing area, complete with cutting, ironing and sewing stations. It made for dream-like sewing conditions.

We decided to keep our sewing to-do list pretty simple, and stuck to knocking out tons of elastic-waist skirts (and a bag, for Jamie). We pulled out our trusty skirt patterns from our Beginning I Sewing Series classes at the Stitch Lab and went to town. After a couple of days (and one *very* late night) we'd knocked out eight skirts and one bag. All in all, a very productive use of our time.

Doing so much hard-core sewing made me really miss sewing. I do so much embroidery, that it had been a really long time since I'd been behind a sewing machine, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it. Not to mention, it was hugely satisfying to crank out essentially an entire summer skirt wardrobe in just a couple of days. I've already worn three of the skirts since we've been back!

So what summer crafting have you been up to?

6 comments :

  1. What fun!!! I wish I had a sewing buddy.

    I have been trying to build stock up for my etsy shop AND I have been invited to sell at a couple of craft fairs. Pretty exciting to be asked but very un-nerving trying to guess what might sell in a particular venue!

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  2. Sounds like an amazing time! I want a party barn too! xoxo

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  3. That looks like such a blissful place to sew. I *love* that retro state fabric---I have a few yards of it waiting for the "perfect" project.

    I've been in a creative funk the past few months, but after starting an embroidery project I feel my grove coming back and now I'm anxious to hit the sewing machine; perhaps to sew a few summer dresses? Who knows, but it'll be fun to figure it out.

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  4. i love all these photos with the fancy a~ffects. And ww how fun to bust out all those sweimgin' summer skirts ...talk about sassafrass!

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  5. Aaaaah! The Hill Country! My sweetie tells me it is beautiful there - in his mind the prettiest part of the great state of Texas!

    Knowing how busy you are most of the time, I am thrilled to know that you were able to take a break and just focus on family and relaxing. Isn't is great sometimes to have nothing to think about or do except what (and who) you brought with you! I know you had to have come away nourished and recharged.

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  6. LOVE this. What a great place to sew! I've set up my machine in front of the window overlooking the lake at my mom's place, but always have to clean up for family meals. Look at all that space! Bliss! and with s'mores. What a great idea.

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Have fun and be nice! :)
XOX
Rach