Christmas Vacation

As always, I have big plans for days off and rarely get even half of it done but this time I have very good reason: grandchildren! Finding out parents had to work and kids were going to stay with others we piped up and said "Can we have them for a few days?" It turned out to be only one but we sure had a good time. Sarina, who has been working on her sewing with a new-to-her sewing machine, wanted to make up a few Barbie doll clothes and I wanted to make her some more leggings. Here's what we came up with:

Barbies with new dress, top, and skirt

I think the Barbie clothes were her sister's request but she made the beach bag on Barbies arm in the photo and had fun with serging the edges on the skirts. They were free patterns found online and were so wonderfully easy. Next up was using the minky fabric to make something and here's what we came up with:

New soft throw showing off all three fabrics

I had a big square of red bubble minky fabric and suggested we back it with flannel for stability. There were two pieces of heart printed fabric that just fit onto the back when sewn together so we could use up the largest portion of the soft fleece. She loved it and posed for the above photo with her newest teddy bear, also made of minky.

From our last sewing date we had picked out fabric for leggings and now I had the chance to get them all sewn up, especially since she hadn't brought enough clothes for a whole week away from home. I made up a pair several sizes smaller for another granddaughter but here's Sarina in her new pair:

Sarina in her new citrus print leggings

I had some pink solid for a shirt and she suggested I make the front or sleeves in the print so I made it up but she doesn't have it on in the photo (maybe under the hoodie?). We were using my Bernina 1100 serger and a Kenmore 385-1665510 serger but she really needs a speed control lever on a serger so it doesn't get away from her or one that just doesn't go too fast.

In the meantime I had a couple drive over from Wisconsin to pick up a treadle, the New Home in a compact cabinet:

New Home treadle, possibly before cleaning?

I also answered an ad for a Bernina 830 that was wanted by a nice old lady. I can say that because I'm an old lady: we are both old ladies at this point. She was frustrated by her very complex Pfaff and just wanted a good reliable sewing machine to make clothing, not quilting, and wanted it to work every time. As I've heard before "I want to be in charge, not the machine." A classic Bernina was her goal so I checked mine out, sent photos, and now she is ready to go!

Bernina Record 830

I'll leave you with a photo of my Snowman Pizza made for one part of the family Christmas gathering:

Snowman pizza: satisfying three different tastes