Selfish Sewing

I've posted before about my business, LoveBugs Accessories. I make a bunch of accessory type items... soother clips, teething rings, crayon rolls, hair stuff, ect... I love creating stuff!

But I also love creating stuff for my family. LoveBugs started because I wanted to make Brianna hair stuff (or "pretties" as we call them). I've made nightgowns and pj pants several times but I've always had a hard time reading patterns and old school patterns require cutting up sizes and rendering the other sizes useless.

(I am in no way compensated for the comments below, just my honest opinion!)

Thanks to Stitch Upon a Time, A Sparkly Baby, and Patterns for Pirates (and their respective facebook groups), I've been able to start making other cool things. WITH patterns! PDF patterns are awesome and the ladies behind those shops make them easy to read and understand with lots of pictures. The latest version of Adobe Reader allows you to remove layers of patterns and only print the sizes you need (while not destroying the other sizes!).

So now, I am testing out making all sorts of different clothing items for the family! Buying fabric is so much fun when there is such a great selection online! No more being stuck with just the one in-town fabric store! I have many more patterns to try, but these are my faves so far....

Olivia's Easter dress

Matching monster shorts and tanks for Joshua and Olivia

The first real pattern dress I've made for myself

Undies for everyone!

Leggings

Olivia's panda outfit

Brianna's running clothes

Weekly *cough* Monthly Wrap Up - May

Ok, so this is kinda a Month of May Wrap Up, since I didn't really post much this month. It's been a little crazy around here prepping for my surgeries in June (15 teeth extractions and a hysterectomy). We've also been outside a LOT enjoying the totally awesome weather! Enjoy a boat load of pics!

The girls have found their new favorite schooly YouTuber - AsapSCIENCE. They have spent hours watching random videos. Some are silly (like Can You Actually Eat a Bus) but some are really cool (like What if You Stopped Going Outside). There ARE some mature videos that some may not want younger ones watching, so maybe preview before you set kids loose.

Olivia attempted to help Joshua learn how to peddle his bike. He is totally lost lol He never cared to learn to ride a tricycle so he has no idea what he's doing. Olivia is confused as to why he can't peddle. It's interesting to say the least! Olivia herself has some new bike learning to do as we took off her training wheels. She's really struggling with balance but I think that's because her training wheels were so crooked that she rode her bike off centered for so long, she has to learn how to ride upright.

Brianna had her first race of the year. Her training has MUCH improved since last year so here's hoping for a great season! Olivia had her first soccer game of the year too. She's on the red team this year which totally confused her (she was blue last year). We think we'll be signing Joshua up for soccer next year, speech depending.

We'll be starting summer schedule early, due to the aforementioned surgeries. I hope to be able to finish their biology course over the summer still. It was originally planned to be completed *before* summer schedule but life happens. Otherwise, they'll be slowly puttering their way through their various work in math and English (and in Brianna's case, French).

Olivia teaching Joshua to ride his bike

Lee helping Olivia learn to ride her bike without training wheels

Brianna's favorite school spot

Watching for our cat to give birth (sadly one was stillborn, the other we lost 5 days later)

Olivia planted her garden box by herself this year

Playing the "even/odd game" with Daddy

Open hydrants means loads of water fun!

Joshua helped plant the big garden this year

Soccer practice

Progress on my temperature blanket January-April 

Olivia's psoriasis is flaring up :(

Linking up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers and The Practical Mom