30 Minutes Per Day - Week of Sept. 21, 2009

I think I did pretty well this week compared to last week, when it seemed like I was struggling to get anything done! I worked on my son's shirt and a few things for my daughter.

Sunday I got a good head start on my son's shirt, to the point that all I had left was the collar, buttonholes and buttons. Here's what I got done this week:

Monday: I made and added the collar to the shirt. This took longer than 30 minutes, but I really wanted to get this task finished, so I stuck with it and finished it up.

Tuesday: All I had to do was buttonholes and buttons! My son really liked the buttons I picked out. He was able to wear the shirt to school on Wednesday.


Wednesday: I cut out two pieces for my daughter's winter church wardrobe. The first is a black turtleneck from Simplicity 9362, which is out of print, but what I consider a TNT knit top for her:

The second is a skirt of grey corduroy printed with black paisleys. This is definitely from a TNT pattern for her, Simplicity 4897. I've changed the pockets and zipper from the original. The pockets were originally just topstitched to the outside, I've changed them to a regular hip pocket. I've changed the zipper from a center front to an invisible zipper in the side seam. While these are not major changes, they are refinements that make the skirt a little less casual and a little nicer for church. You can see one of the new pockets below.


Thursday: I worked on the turtleneck and got the shoulders sewn, the collar on and the sleeves attached. I had to try it on my daughter to check for sleeve length, so that was a good place to stop for the day.

Friday: I was able to work twice today on my daughter's projects. I got the turtleneck finished, by sewing the side seams and stitching the hems on the coverstitch machine. Not exciting, but it is done:


Later in the afternoon, I was able to start construction on the skirt. I got the pockets on the front done, the darts stitched in the back, and the skirt assembled and prepped for the zipper.

I think I'll be able to finish the skirt and make another knit top next week for her.

If you've been following along and have tried just sewing a little bit every day, good for you! I hope that you can see that even with just a little bit of time you can get things done. Even tracing a pattern, cleaning and organizing your work area or changing the threads in the serger is progress and sets you up for success when you do have more time to sew.

Another little note, I have a few requests for tips and tutorials. I have not forgot about these! I will try to get them worked into the posts soon!

Parting Shot: Ready. I'm off to hike in the White Mountains today with my husband. The visiting relatives are watching the children, so we'll be hiking Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Lafayette in Franconia Notch today - about 9 miles. Each peak is over 5,000 feet and we'll walk the ridge between the two peaks. I'll have pictures next week!


***For those of you curious about my birthday shoes shown earlier this week, the brand is Clark's. I'm not sure if you can still get that style as they were bought at an outlet store and were the only pair like them in the store.***