Fabrics: Who Wants to Sew Some Curtains?

Since Maddy and I have been sewing together,

one of our favorite things to do on the weekend is . . . 

look at fabrics!

I know, I know, it sounds crazy, doesn't it!

But, we really do enjoy spending time at the fabric store and 

checking out the new spring fabrics, the clearance materials 

and everything in between!

FYI - Walmart sometimes has great fabrics!

One of my sewing goals for the year is to make

curtains/drapes for the living room and maybe dining room too!

This doggie fabric above is adorable -- for bandanas maybe -

but definitely not the living room!

The drapes I have are fine, but really plain and dull and sooooo dreadfully

boring -- snoozefest!

I feel like I need something with a bit more oomph!

I really like this blue fabric above -- am kind of drawn to blue.

For a while, I had blue carpet in the dining room, but we discovered original hardwood floors were

under it, so we tore out the carpet.  Come to think of it,

we currently have a large blue rug under the dining room table

that I just realized looks a lot like that fabric!

Another blue option!  I like it, but am afraid I could go blind 

or crazy or both sewing that up!  That's busy!

Am afraid Maddy would call the flowery one above "old lady" fabric!

Hmmm -- may have to re-think blue as I really like this red, but

would need to see it in person to make sure it doesn't look orangey in real life!

We'll see if or when I get to this project.

I did read a tutorial from Miss Mustard Seed (do you read her?)

and it doesn't look too terribly difficult.

Any favorites?

School's Out -- Freshman Year is in the Books!

Let's have a hip-hip-hooray for the end of the

school year!  Yippee!

It was a busy year for Miss Mads and as you all know, freshman year is

a huge adjustment!

Managing classes, homework, studying and cheerleading all

kept her very busy.

Add to that her new love of tap dancing (once a week lessons), guitar (weekly lessons) 

and her burgeoning sewing business -- that girl had it going on!

As she would say about homework -- the struggle is/was real! 

And she made it through!

Finals ended this morning!

Her summer looks bright with cheer practices starting

in full gear in July again.

So, the month of June will most likely be devoted to having her wisdom teeth removed, 

working on an online PE walking class and  her

sewing business.

Her sewing skills are exploding!  She is improving and trying new projects.

She watched a you-tube tutorial and sewed up

the infinity scarf in the photo for me

for Mother's Day and promptly borrowed it for photos! :)

Of course, her main sewing business remains doggie bandanas!

I'm so proud of all her hard work -- she's sold around 280 bandanas

since the end of January!

There are some stylin pups out there!  :)

Mr. Tennis and I are super proud of her and all her determination

and hard work during freshman year!

Way to go Miss M!

My Little Entrepreneur!

Miss Maddy and Muffy have been big fans of Instagram

dog accounts

and doggie bandanas for quite some time.

They have won many contests and "modeling" gigs -- 

Muffy is the model and paid with many, many doggie treats!

Hmmm -- perhaps that could be contributing to her (Muffy's)

winter weight gain!

Muffy modeling the "Picnic Plaid" bandana

For the past six months, Maddy has been designing 

the perfect doggie bandana in her spare time.  She's tried the tie-on ones,

the snap-on ones, velcro, etc.,

but neither she nor Muffy were fans.

They often came unfastened or caught Muffy's fur.

So, they determined a slide-on over-the-collar

bandana would be the way to go.

Your doggie cannot escape the fashionable bandana look

when it is fastened over the collar!

Sooooooo, she and I developed a pattern of sorts

and hit the fabric stores!

We made quite a few winter/Christmas bandanas, but did not have the 

Etsy store up and running at that time.  

We've really become focused on the spring/summer line!  

Miss M went to work and figured it out and now she has her

own little storefront on Etsy (happyhoundcollection).

Some of the spring collection

My little sewing machine is getting a workout!

If you're wondering about the division of labor in this enterprise,

Maddy is the taskmaster/designer/cutter of fabric/etsy go-to-person,

packaging master and

I am the seamstress.  

One of our favorite fabrics with either pink or purple on the reverse.

We love some of the spring fabrics we've found and the bandanas

are totally reversible!  

We offer two sizes (mini --our Scottie wears a mini) and

standard  size for larger dogs.  By special order, we can do Jumbo

for really big pups!

Easter Peeps and pastel plaid on the reverse side!

If you have time and the inclination, check out 

her Etsy store (happyhoundcollection)!  

Or contact me through the blog and I'll see what I can do.

She's quite the little entrepreneur!

While it is a bit of work when I would normally be lounging

on the sofa watching The Real Housewives or cleaning house (ha),  it's

totally fun to do with Maddy and it reminds me 

of my sweet Mom and how much she loved to sew!

She'd be so proud of us!

Doggie Bandanas, Craft Fairs and Holiday Napkins!

As you may recall, Maddy and I took on
special little project recently -- sewing and embroidering.
I almost felt like Ma Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie -
but I admit, I did have electricity and sewing and embroidery  machines!

After a couple weeks of nearly non-stop sewing in the evenings-- well, we did
take bathroom and school/work breaks, the craft fair took place last

Saturday!

Mads and I were so excited and had quite a bit of inventory including

doggie bandanas, a few dog collar scrunchies and holiday embroidered napkins.

Yes, the napkins would go into the category of 

"what one thing doesn't belong with the others?"

but

we wanted to include them, as we loved them.

Yes, we are  those people who think whatever we

make (especially homemade) is fabulous!  :)

You probably can't tell, but these bandanas are really well made, have soft

coordinating-color flannel on the back for doggies and do not tie.

 Instead, we sewed a channel for the 

dog's collar to go through.  So, you slide the collar through and then clip

 the collar shut around your pup's neck, voila - the bandana cannot fall off!  

Doggies - beware -- there is no sneaking out of this bandana!

Back to the craft fair report - guess when the weather decided to change and snow 

decided to fall???  Last Saturday!

Soooooo, I'm attributing poor turnout to the weather 

and the people who did visit either didn't have dogs, had never

seen anything but paper napkins before and had no intention

of purchasing anything at the craft fair.

We sold maybe 5 bandanas and 1 scrunchie in 6 hours!
Big disappointment!  :(

While we were bummed, we decided we would try again some other time,
but NOT at that craft fair!

Dog collar scrunchie!

It really was not a waste of effort or time as Maddy told me

her favorite part was the time we spent on the production

line with her cutting and me sewing!

Some evenings she had me sewing up to 10 PM!

Maddy designed her own logo and
had a business card printed
We have an entrepreneur on our hands!
Shark Tank here we come!

The Turkey Weekend Update!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We were truly blessed with good health this year 

(even though I have another cold) 

 as last year Mr. Tennis was in the 

hospital at Thanksgiving -- so this was a huge improvement!

Please excuse messy kitchen in the background!

My son and his family hosted us for Thanksgiving, so Maddy and

I made a couple things to take along - her fave - green bean casserole and 

my fave - pumpkin pie!

She helped a teensy bit when she wasn't

 busy making her list for Black Friday shopping!

After shopping on Friday like crazy girls (JoAnn's Fabrics!!),

we had a quieter Saturday morning

watching this little angel for a few hours!

Little Miss Dorothy - now 8 months old and

as cute and sweet as a button.

She's such an adorable and easy baby!

We let her watch Shrek with us -- she laughed her

little head off!  :)

Maddy and I spent more of the weekend shopping (she loves to shop)

and sewing - more on that to come!

Have a happy week!

Finally Friday!

TGIF - Finally Friday!  Yippee!

I don't know about you, but this has seemed like a long week!

Maybe the anticipation of a short week and Black Friday 

next week has me a little antsy!

How bout you?
I know this highschooler is very, very happy at the thought

of a short school week!

Has this happened to you?
Not sure if it is due to the upcoming holidays or what, but
lately it seems that the marketing geniuses have my number!

So far this week, I've ordered or wanted to order

a Simply Fit Board (yes, I will be svelte and fit by Christmas!),

a stocking cap with a light on it for morning or nighttime walks

AND . . . some crazy panties called

Skinny 360 panties that are supposed to make a gal feel great and look slim and trim!
What the what??!

The women wearing them on FB ads say they are 

AMAAAZING!
Plus, I just received an ad for botox from my local medical
provider -- a look in the mirror and I'm saying, sign me up!
While I try to avoid at least some of these temptations,
let's change the subject, shall we?

In other weekend news, Miss M and I are putting on

our crafting aprons and getting busy
with some holiday projects.

Photo from world wide web, but this is basically my machine! Isn't it so cute!

This most adorable vintage sewing machine was

passed down to me by my Great-Aunt Carrie!  It needed a little tune-up

but is now purring like a kitten.

Stay tuned!

We are also learning machine embroidery on this cool machine!
Perhaps we will have some items to show you next week, but
then again, we may begin our holiday shopping early!

We're just really happy that it is finally Friday!
Enjoy your weekend and do some shopping! :)