Tiered Pillowcase Dress Sew Along: Preparations

I am excited about the upcoming sew along for the Tiered Pillowcase Dress!  I have been finishing up taking pictures and strategically planning out the posts for the next few weeks, whew... it's been a challenge, but we are almost there! :)

Today I am just going to post the fabric, supplies and tools that you will need to complete the project.  That way you can have the time to prewash your fabric and iron it and will be prepared to start in next week with the first step. I highly recommend that you prewash and iron any fabric being used to sew any garment.  Keep in mind that this dress is designed for woven fabrics and not knit fabrics. 

The instructions will be given to complete the dress in sizes 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, and 8-10.
The dress can be made in several different ways, it can be made in either 1, 2 or 3 fabrics, therefore I will give the fabric requirements for each section of the dress.  That is, bodice, tier 1 and tier 2.  

For all sizes you will need:
1 package of regular 1/2 inch single fold bias tape in a coordinating color to your bodice fabric
Coordinating thread
Mark-b-Gone pen for lighter colored fabrics or tailor's chalk or a sliver of bar soap too small to be used any longer as soap for darker fabrics
Rotary cutter, large mat and quilting ruler (24 inch is best)
Sharp scissors with pointed tips
Pins
Sewing machine
Serger (optional, but very helpful)

Fabric:
For sizes 2-3 and 4-5
Bodice - 1/2 yard
Tier 1- 1/2 yard
Tier 2- 2/3 yard
7/8 Inch grosgrain ribbon- 2 yards


For sizes 6-7 and 8-10
Bodice- 2/3 yard
Tier 1- 3/4 yard
Tier 2- 1 1/2 yards
7/8 Inch grosgrain ribbon- 3 yards

Have fun choosing your fabrics!  I can't wait to see what you all come up with!
Until next time!

Announcing Tiered Pillowcase Dress Sew Along

About a year or so ago I came up with an idea for a very simple little sundress.  I have enjoyed making them so I thought I'd share the pattern with you.  The more I thought about sharing the pattern, the more I thought about how much fun it would be to do a sew along.

So, beginning on March 3 and then for the following 5 weeks, I will walk you through the process of completing one of these dresses step by step.  I promise that it will be fun and easy!  At the end I will host a linky party where you can show off your creation.

In the coming months I also plan to share some simple ways to alter the pattern so that you can create your own unique dress design.

Soooo.... who's in???

The Office Olympics

Just a short post for Finish It Up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.  

So, one of my co-workers is in Sochi, Russia right now.  His daughter is playing on the US Women's Hockey  team.  All of us back here stateside have been rooting for Anne Schleper, even before she became part of the US team.  I am blessed to work in an place where people like to have fun.  We actually have a "Fun Committee" who comes up with all sorts of fun activities for us to do.

This month, in honor of Anne, we have the "Office Olympics".  Complete with a flag making competition and presentation, a chia pet growing and styling competition, a paper airplane flying competition and a chili cook off.  Closing ceremonies will happen after hours next Thursday which is the day that the US will hopefully be playing Canada in the gold medal round for the women's hockey competition.

I was in charge of our team's flag, so I spent the weekend doing appliqué.  Our team name is "Dynamic Duo2" (as in squared).  Hence, the square rings and the red square in the middle.

So here is my finish for the week.

My Dirty Little Secret

Today I am letting you in on my dirty little (ok not so little) secret.   There are UFOs  in my closet, and in my storage drawers, and in my cabinets... not the ones with the little green guys, but this kind....

UnFinished Objects.  And not just a few, either.... lots of them.  These are just the sewing projects... I didn't even include the knitting and crochet and other crafty endeavors... I'm not even sure I got all the sewing projects.... LOL.  

For years I have chastised myself for having UFO's hanging about.  Some of them for years at a time... Some of these even moved from my apartment to my house.... We moved in 2004.  I beat myself up for not finishing things in a reasonable time frame.  I thought of it as a lack of self discipline, I saw it as wasteful, I considered it some sort of failure on my part for not following through.  

I believe that at least a part of my self-judgement about this comes from hanging around the blogosphere.  Reading other people's blogs where they seem to just have it all together, living in a perfect little world where crafting takes center stage and every project turns out beautiful and is finished in record time.  Anyone else ever felt that way?  

Let's get real... no one REALLY lives like that, do they??? Because if they do, I want to know their secret....  

Granted, I am probably worse than a lot of people when it comes to flitting from one project to another.  I tend to see a "shiny" new project and go hopping down the bunny trail... But wait... isn't that part of the fun and the joy of being creative?  

That being said, I AM on a mission to reduce the number of UFO's buzzing around my home.  There is a joy, also to seeing a project come to completion.  

I have also decided, however, that there really is no need to chastise myself for unfinished projects.  I will get to them eventually and if I don't, it's really ok, because I learned something from each one.   It's a little about embracing who I am.  I have such a limited amount of sewing time that I want to relish as much of it as I can.  Why should I spend it in what feels like drudgery just because I "need" to finish the project in front of me that I am currently bored with?  If I come back to it another time, it will be fresh and interesting again and it will be enjoyable then. 

So, all of that to say that if you are a little  (or a lot) like me, it's ok.  I give you permission to explore the bunny trials and see what lies there.  Your old friends will be waiting for you when you return.  I promise, they won't hold a grudge, and neither will I. 

Happy trails.... :)  

Of Inspiration and Blogging

It occurred to me a couple of mornings ago that I have been blogging off and on for several years now.  Some years more than others, but I have never really found my "niche", so to speak.  I've never really had any direction or purpose for it.  My blog was just sort of a place to talk about whatever crafty endeavor I had going on at the moment and slap up a few pictures.  Occasionally there might have been an inspired post about something, but most of it was just non-cohesive randomness.  I have wrestled, at times, with whether or not it was worth my time to continue.  Yet, I could never really let go of it.

A couple of months ago I picked up a book at a thrift store about time management.  I laughed with my husband at the fact that I had bought a book on time management that I would probably never have time to read.  I was wrong.  I began to read it and something about the author's approach really rang true for me.  She approached time management as something to reflect your values and your purpose in life.  The setting of "big picture goals" for your life is encouraged and is what determines how you spend your time.  Do you want stronger friendships?  Stronger family relationships?  A clean, organized welcoming home?  Does how you spend your time reflect that?  If not then what changes need to happen?

This got me thinking about a lot of things in a different light. I began to look at my days and think, "how does this activity move me toward my goals?"  I began to look at my blocks of time and think about how they would be best spent.  I blocked out times for the activities that I deemed important.  It is still a work in progress and I have a lot of trial and error yet to learn from, but at least I am thinking in, what I believe to be, the right direction.

In particular I began to mull over this blog.  Having wrestled for years as to whether or not to continue, I decided that if I was to continue that it needs a purpose.  But what is that purpose?  I still wasn't sure so I asked myself, "what is it that I love about reading other's blogs and looking at pins on Pinterest and why do I go and look at different quilt layouts, or little girl's dresses on Google images?"  It dawned on me that I am looking for new ideas and inspiration.  I see something and I want to know, "Can I do that?".  I'm inspired to try, I'm inspired to explore, I'm inspired to do my own thing.

So, with that, a purpose for this blog has emerged, and I am SO excited about it!

I want "The Merry Church Mouse" to be about so much more than sewing or crafting.  I want it to be about inspiring others to try new things, to explore their own creativity, to be inspired in their spiritual lives and to gain confidence in who they were created to be, gloriously individual and uniquely gifted.

I hope to share posts that inspire, posts that instruct, posts that show that it is ok to be human, because we all are.  I hope that you will join me here and share your own inspirations and creativity with me.

Pass the Marmalade...

A few weeks ago I joined in for a sew along at SewCanShe.  It was a simple log cabin block sew along.  The blocks were to have 3 logs on each side and finish at 4.5 inches before being sewn together.  (You should go check out the winner,  simply stunning!)

I happily delved into my stash and came up with several fat quarters and quarter yard pieces that I had at one point grouped to use together.  Some of them were from the same line of fabrics and then there were a few additions from my stash.

I cut lots and lots of 1 inch strips and lots and lots of 1.5 inch centers.  I cut enough centers for 150 blocks.  I had in mind to make a small lap sized quilt.  I even had a recipient in mind, which is uncommon for me. LOL.

Well somewhere along the way I misjudged how much fabric I needed or there was more waste than I thought, or something... because after adding two logs to each side of 150 blocks, I came to the realization that there was NO WAY I was going to be able to finish them all with the amount of fabric I had left. In fact, I was no where near being able to finish that many.  Really, only about 25-30 were going to be able to have all the rounds of logs.

Now, it has been a few years since any of these fabrics were on the shelves anywhere, so I knew finding more was out of the question. Bummed, but still trying to be resourceful, I tried to decide what to do.  I still wanted to participate in the sew along, but that meant that at least one block had to be the proper finished size.  So I thought some more and decided to finish 25 blocks and make a wall hanging from them and use the rest of the blocks to make a runner for the top of my piano.

I worked on squaring up  the little blocks a few nights ago, but I got bored with them.  This is a common occurrence for me as I will share in an upcoming post.  I think I will need to do this in small doses until I have them all squared up.  I still have this many left to do.

So, because I got bored with it and I still had some sewing time left, I decided to look into my one of my UFO bins and see what was lurking in there begging to be finished.  I found these little drunkard's path blocks that I had cut out and played around with a couple of years ago.  They never became a full sized project because I got tired of cutting out the pieces. (Imagine that!)   I sewed them up into blocks and then sewed them up into this little piece.  I think I will use it for a throw pillow.  My living room needs some color!  The pink scraps I used are left over from various projects.  One of them isn't even finished and yet I no longer have any scraps from it!  Like I said.... I get bored easily. :)

What are you working on this week?  I'd love to hear about it!