Pattern-Making 101

My computer/sewing/craft/all-purpose/future nursery room is extra messy right now...which means I've been sewing.  I've had diaper bags on the brain lately (which has somehow edged out all other maternity or baby-related prep items) and was searching around etsy to find a cute pattern.  No such luck, but I came across these bags.  I adore them so much that me, Miss Doesn't Make Stuff Without a Pattern, decided to try to recreate the bag by drafting a pattern from scratch.  I drew my pattern(s) on newsprint, then made a muslin mock-up.  This was attempt #2:
  

More to come later...

Formal Wear: Not the 90's Anymore

Steve and I got to spend a few minutes with some kids dolled up for their senior prom last weekend.  Is it just me or have styles changed?  A lot.  When I was in high school we wore floor-length gowns to the senior dance.  Maybe that's more a function of where I went to high school than when?  Whatever the case may be seeing those kids brought back funny memories of my school dance experiences (I'll spare you the photos).

Regular Check-ups

Every day when Steve comes home from work he has one question for me:  "Did you check the plants?"  I may or may not have depending on the day, but he doesn't miss a day.  In fact, he "checks the plants" at least twice every day.  Either as a result of Steve's faithful check-ups or the organic fertilizer the nursery sold us our balcony is being overtaken by tomato plants. 

Berry Surplus

What do you do when there's a strawberry surplus in the country?  At our house we take advantage of their low price and buy them.  Once we realize we've purchased way too many to conceivably consume in a few days, we scramble for something to do with them.  Like jam.  I'm still a canning novice so the first batch we renamed "strawberry syrup."  Darn you, expired pectin.  Now that we have 8 pints of strawberry and 3 pints of strawberry-pineapple jam, I think we can cross that category off the food storage list.  

Ropes in Round Top

Steve and I spent our weekend at a private ranch in Round Top, TX:

camping in a tent in this field

surrounded by these:

We helped plan a ropes course for this year's stake youth conference and attended as adult leaders.  We had almost as much fun as the kids, though probably got significantly more hours of sleep.  Steve and I operated one of the activity stations where the kids were challenged to walk together on these boards:  

It was interesting to observe the dynamic of the different groups and their approach to problem-solving.  The frustrated groups were the funniest to watch (was it wrong to laugh so hard?) and the successful ones made us so proud.  We love those youth!

p.s. Texas wildflowers are amazing.