Sewing during Recovery....

I had ear surgery on January 28th.  I had a benign cyst removed called a Cholesteatoma.  I had no idea that I had a growing cyst in ear...the only problem I had was hearing loss.   It was with the coaxing from my husband that the cyst was finally diagnosed.   A year ago, he insisted that I get a hearing test done.  Guess he was tired of me saying, "Pardon me??" every other sentence.  So I finally succumbed to the idea of getting a hearing aid and made the appointment at Costco to get my hearing tested.   It was the Costco dude that determined that something was wrong in my middle ear and that I needed a more thorough check up with a specialist.  

As the months went on and appointments made, I finally got to see the ENT specialist in North Vancouver, B.C. Canada.    An amazing doctor and surgeon....one of the best!!  The surgery was about 4 hours long.  He removed the invasive cyst and a did a bunch of reconstruction of my inner ear.  I am sporting a couple of titanium implants (to replace damaged bones), my ear canal is rebuilt from cartilage taken from my outer ear.   My inner ear is plugged full of organic plant matter which will be removed on March 12.  I joked that I was going to smell like a rotten brussel sprout field...thankfully that's not the case so far!!  LOL

So with recovery, comes reduced activity.  I'm not allowed to do anything strenuous -- no exercise, no running, no heavy lifting.  I am a very active person by nature...so this "laying low" is challenging!!  

But thankfully, I can sew!!  So that's what I've been doing!  I've been having a blast and the sewing bug has kicked in full gear!  

Here is a tunic top for my daughter.  I wanted something fresh and Springy!  

Pattern:  Ottobre Spring 2013

Size 146

Fabric:  Miller Miller "Mod Blooms" by Patty Young

Nex are some denim jeggings.  So sad as these are just too tight!  I should have read the pattern more closely -- fabric should be the super stretch denim, which these are not.  In hindsight I should have gone up a couple of sizes.
Pattern:  Ottobre Fall 2011
Size: 152
Fabric:  Stretch denim

Thankfully I had just enough denim to make a second pair.  I went up a couple of sizes and the fit is spot on!!  Yeah!

With these jeggings I decided to add some fancy stitching to the back pockets.  I just marked and freestyled and stitched using the triple stitch on my machine.  Love how they turned out!

Size: 152 in the waist tapered out to a 164 in the hips

Close-up of back pockets. 

The front with the faux pocket stitching. 

Here is a shot of my daughter just before going to school this morning.  

I also made a top for me!  I've been wanting to make this Jalie top for quite awhile.  After reading a bunch of pattern reviews I knew that I would have to do a broad shoulder adjustment and a bicep adjustment.   So glad I did...the fit is perfect! 

Pattern:  Jalie 2805

Size: U (8)

Broad shoulder adjustment and bicep adjustment

Fabric:  Cotton jersey knit

As always, thank you for reading! 

Until next time, Happy Sewing!!

I'm back with an update and also oodles of pajamas to share....

First, I owe you (whoever reads this blog), an apology.  I'm been completely MIA since the Summer. I have no excuses really....just busy with this thing called life.   Summer is always a busy time on the farm and especially busy at the end when I am busy canning and preserving food for the winter.  I always feel somewhat like a squirrel....gathering and storing food for my family for the months ahead.  LOL   

 Roma tomatoes. To be used for spaghetti sauce, casseroles, chili.

I usually grow surreal amounts of zucchini in my garden.  This puts the big whales to perfect use!

Zucchini relish in the pints and zucchini salsa in the quarts. I think we only have a couple salsa jars left.  We eat a lot of salsa!!

I laid out  the peaches for a day to let them ripen and then canned them with syrup.  My kids love canned peaches.

Beautiful!!

These are pears from our tree.  So good!

 

Canned with syrup.  Yummy!

The Fall also brings the corn harvest.  We make corn silage for our dairy cattle.

Of course, on the farm we always have new birth...new kittens...

New calves....

My youngest daughter doing her chores.  Look at all those baby calves!!  So cute!!

Here are bigger heifers...enjoying their dinner.

Halloween 2014!

 I made my youngest daughter her Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz Halloween costume.  

PATTERN:  Butterick 4320

FABRIC:  Cotton Gingham

SIZE:  8/10

 Christmas 2014!  

 Christmas morning....oh how I love my family!  

Finally the pajama-athon!!

First up...a nightgown for my youngest daughter.   

PATTERN:  Simplicity 5941

FABRIC:  cotton woven that I had bought white to dye.  It had the white butterflies imprinted and the dye didn't dye over them.  I used dye from Dharma Trading .  I love their fabric dyes.

SIZE:  10

I love the old, vintage feel of this nightgown.  It makes me happy and best of all my daughter, Jenelle, loves it!!  

A pretty and feminine pajama set for me!!
PATTERN:  Women's Ottobre Winter 2011
FABRIC:  Ivory cotton eyelet
SIZE:  38
I love this set!  I'm so tired of wearing tattered tank tops to bed.  I am in desperate need of pajamas. This fits the bill perfectly.

Look how pretty the bodice is!  Love the picot elastic trim peeking out of the top of the bodice and the hem line.  

 The shorts are also from the Women's 2011 issue.  I added 3" to the hem length as I felt they were a tad too short for my liking.   Again...the picot trim elastic is a nice touch.

Another set of pj shorts.  Same as above, but with more added length to the hem.  Love these.

I added grommets instead of doing buttonholes for the tie.

Yet another pair of pj shorts.  These are for my oldest daughter.  These are sewn from the same Ottobre pattern, but with no modifications.  See how short these suckers are!  Too short in my opinion.  Basically covers her butt.  Eeeeekkkk.....

 Next up a pj set for my youngest son, Matthew.
PATTERN for SHIRT:  Ottobre 2008 Raglan
SIZE:  158
PATTERN for SHORTS:  Kwik Sew for Children Book.  Modified shorts.  I eliminated the side seam so the pattern piece is just one piece instead of two pieces.   SIZE: XL
FABRIC:  Cotton interlock

I used my Babylock Coverstitch machine in reverse to get the top coverstitch look.

Had a bit of the print left over so I made Matthew a pair of underwear.  

PATTERN:  Ottobre Winter 2004 long Johns - modified.  I eliminated the back (butt) piece so the pattern is only two pieces.  I also eliminated the top casing allowance and used exposed elastic instead.  

Thanks so much for reading!  Hope you enjoyed the picture overload!  

Until next time......happy sewing!