Falling off the Wagon

I have been so good about my priorities. I'm sure that is evidenced by the lack of substantive posts here. I have been focused on the kids' homework and housekeeping (to a point - let's not get crazy here) and responsibility. Those are very difficult things for me to focus on.
But I fell off the wagon this weekend. I ran across the Portabello Pixie blog. Her children's clothes are fabulous! But you know what's even better? She has a tutorial on her page. About shirring. And about how you can toss together adorable children's clothing, on a whim, completely patternless. That's how I like things. Don't bother me with instructions and preparations. Just tell me how it works and let me jump in!
So, I made a trip to Hancock's (because it's closer than JoAnn's) and grabbed a couple yards of cute cotton and some fat quarters, too, for good measure. And when I got home, I thought that maybe I should do a practice run with something before I cut into fabric I actually bought. Hmm.....a sheet will do just fine. It's cotton, right? And what's one more mate-less fitted sheet?
So, here's my practice shirt. Bear in mind that I am SO not a seamstress. I can barely sew a straight line. You will notice, I'm sure, that the shirring is shorter on one side of the seam than the other. However, the shirt was declared "fabulous" and worn all day long.

So, on to my first attempt at the real deal. I learned a few things with the practice shirt. My shirring was much more even this time. But the ruffles took forever. I read somewhere that ruffles should start out at 2.5 times the length of the skirt. In retrospect, that was way too much. But I wanted this to be a quick and simple deal (ha!), so I'll change that for next time. And the dress was longer than I anticipated. And the pocket that I completely made up is pretty sloppy. But the dress was declared "magnificent" as it was when I suggested shortening it a bit. So it will stay as-is. And it was worn the rest of the evening.
















I have to say, I love this glamour pose, complete with Fruit Punch Lips:

I also made an attempt at a bubble bath recipe I found. I don't think I like it. I'm trying to find something new for the whole Kiki's Suds thing.
And, much knitting was done on the Mom Cardigan. I'm up to the under-arm increases on the last front panel. Almost there! She tried it on last weekend, in all of its one-armed glory, and it actually fits. So, that has given me reason to go on as far as the sweater is concerned. However, it will be a long time before I do another sweater. I'm much more into instant gratification with crafts. Could we call that instant craftification?
I suppose I will have to get back to life now that it's Monday. But it started off all wrong. Emma lost a shoe. But it's possible that Daddy or I threw it away when we cleaned up her room this weekend. You can't send kids to school in just any kind of shoe, though. They have to wear sneakers of a certain type, due to P.E. regulations. Very strict. So I had to run to Target and pick up some new sneaks for her this morning. We were all just late, late, late and that throws everything off. It does not help that I now have a new crafty trick on my mind. And I can't stop designing dresses and shirts and skirts for Emma. It's like when you first learn how to play Tetris. Remember? Once you understand how the puzzle works, all you can see when you close your eyes are little pieces falling into their correspondingly-shaped holes.
I. Must. Focus.
Get. Back. In. the Saddle.