[Adrienne]

I agree meleliza….it IS too hot to start now! I wish we started after Labor Day! How about some messenger bags for your little ones? Those can always be used for school or sleep overs or just to carry their treasures! AND if they use it for kindergarten or preschool, no one else will have one like it! As a teacher, one of a kind book bags are appreciated! ; ) No confusion!

Justsewit – Our school is year is divided into 6 six-week periods. We have Labor Day and Martin Luther King Day off. We get a week for Thanksgiving and a week off for Easter. (Considered our spring break.) We have two weeks off for Christmas/New Year. And since I live in southern Louisiana, we get 3 days of for Mardi Gras. (Not every school district does this.) So if you add it up, we get off about 5 weeks throughout the year. Our summer is generally about 8 -10 weeks. (Depends on how bad hurricane season is and if we have to make up any school days.) As teachers we are considered a 9 month employee. We are paid a salary based on the 9 months that we work. To stretch it out, most of us opt to have that salary divided over 12 months that way we receive a paycheck every month. You know, I’m not sure if we “technically” get paid for holidays! (I suppose I should know that!!) Summers, no….as explained above. However, I guess there’s a possibility that we do not since the salary is spread out over the year anyhow.

Do you guys have school “year round”? Is that why the new year starts in February?

[Mama_Knowles]

Lucky us, my kids don’t go back to school until Sep. 6th! I don’t know who loves it more them or me. I am wanting to make some tops and shorts for my boys for school but I still need to order the fabric. I seen some from the Sarahjane studios fabric that I just love, it’s all boy.

Sharon

[Nicole]

I would love a big school break!

I finished Son&Heirs Sketchbook shirt and he loves it but I am so cross I muffed the collar colours!

I think I may make another as it would have worked so well. With the collar down the shirt would have seemed all one print.

I am sewing Music Class skirts x5,and I have cut the Seahorse dress in an 8 from my everlasting soft denim,for a practice run and fitting wearable muslin.

Waiting to be cut is a Burda dress for a friends daughter,but I will cut a muslin for that as she is a keen swimmer and has enormous shoulders.

What are you sewing?

[Tamara]

Oooh! I don’t know how you’d do it with stretching the salary… just a bit different to how teachers are paid over here – permanent teachers get paid holidays (but not public holidays which always tie in to the school breaks) but those on contract don’t and because there are fewer teachers with permanency it means the government gets to skimp on salaries but doesn’t put it back into education itself – now they want independent public schools of which our school will become in 2013! I just hope the promises are held.

We get four terms with two weeks inbetween and a 6 week summer break and it isn’t enough for kids or teachers. We used to have three long terms with three weeks and 8 weeks of summer and that was better although we’d get tired.

I’m with you though Nicole, a big school break would be marvellous!

Sharon I love Children at play fabric – they are just so beautiful.

Today I’m continuing on with the pink dress because I ran out of a big piece of interfacing to draft the skirt, will have to resume today.

Also I’m getting some more black trackpants (sandbox) made for miss 8 3/4 as I discovered she was wearing her brother’s pants yesterday (which is not good)and had to wear her black nature walk pants today because of cross country – so we are a bit light on the school pant situation. I might get to do two by the end of the week so she has spares.

I discovered that I can cut my show sewing list down by half as there is no schedule this year for one of them and this means I can start on summer sewing earlier than intended.

[Mama_Knowles]

I started two Tea party dresses today. I am using up some scraps of fabric I have been holding onto. The skirt panels are small so this pattern worked out perfect. THey should work well with a long sleeve shirt underneth for when the weather turns cool.

[nancy]

O my, I have missed you all! After family health issues made me put away my sewing last winter I almost gave up… but my hiatus is over! I just finished another 2+2 blouse (size 2T) and found the sweetest buttons for it. Today I’ll be working Sketchbook in the smallest size w/short sleeves for a cousin’s daughter’s new baby boy. I found some wonderful seersucker in shades of muted blue + white for it (fabric choice inspired by some shorts for boys I saw in a member’s Flickr album).

Nicole, I love the two-color combo you did on this shirt and saw your blog post (song?) about the collar. I think it looks fab!

xo, Nancy

[Nicole]

Oh Nancy,its lovely to have you back! I have been so worried about you!

So pleased to hear from you and make sure you put some pictures up.

Thank you for being so kind about my shirt,grrrrrrrr,if you don’t laugh you cry.

[meleliza]

You’re right, messenger bags would be nice. And quite stylish too. That might help up the unifrom’s cuteness. I’ll have to see if he agrees, because you never know what kids will like…

[nancy]

Thank you, Nicole. We had a scary time with my mother (tachycardia led to a fall and broken ankle bones… she lived in nursing care for 2 months while she healed and now is doing very well with her walker). whew!

1/2-way done with the short-sleeve Sketchbook shirt. I included it in my blog post last night. Are we allowed to put links to our blogs here? I will post some piccies on flickr.

xo, Nancy

[Nicole]

If you go to your details you can pop your web address in and then your ‘name’ will change to duckegg blue from chocolate brown and then people can click on that at are linked to your blog.

I would love to see your blog!

[Tamara]

I think I have to drop everything and quick make a baby gift. My friend was due to have her third baby, booked in for a c-section next Wednesday and the little tyke came early!! I just got a message saying she had a girl (lucky I got the smaller sized Playdate dress pattern and it arrived today). I don’t know how big she is or anything. But a pretty dress is always ideal as a gift no matter where they are in the line.

The day has been thrown out of whack! I’ve got both kids home, one with a cough and the other with horrible head lice (first time for everything) so de-licing and dosing kids up to get them back to school tomorrow and I have to help with the class sleep over tomorrow night!

On my to-do list is: Obviously shoved to the top now, a baby dress for the new little girl without a name (that I know of), finish off the icecream top I started whipping up yesterday, finish the pink jumprope dress, make another icecream dress with pretty applique flowers (because I want to). And I think that will do me in for the next week!

[Mama_Knowles]

You sound so busy! I took yesterday off from sewing and cleaning. I am feeling very well rested. 🙂 Not so sick any more, just a bit in the evening. (brocidous)I am hoping to make some shorts for the boys this weekend before school starts but one of the fabrics I had in mind grew legs and walked off. (I need to look every where Sweet pea has been today!) Plus I get to test a smocking pattern (non Oliver + S), I hope to get it Friday so I can start it, I am so excited about this!

Sharon

[Tamara]

Ooooh! That sounds like fun. What’s the smocking pattern may I ask? Always intrigued. And shorts should be straight forward enough (sweetpea must be developing a fetish for fabric!!!). My patterns turned up yay! I can now make pj’s and sailboat outfits.

I spent the best part of a day convincing this daughter of mine that the treatment will not hurt a bit. Got so mad I had to go for a very brisk walk down the hill to the rams and back. It wasn’t a nice situation screaming child desperate to throw a spanner in every direction to boycot the situation.

As a result, I was treating hair and cooking dinner at the same time and spent two hours trying to get these horrible little things out of her fringe and very top and I STILL didn’t get them. Urgh! disgusting!!!

So I have to call the school and tell them I don’t feel comfortable sending my child on this class sleepover tonight and of course that means I don’t get to go (honestly it was a chance to help out at school). I don’t care if they are all dead I just want them all out!! That’s what happens when you don’t have headlice – your first dosage is a BIIIIIIG one (or feels like it anyway).

So today I’m going to do my best to get to the sewing machine and create something pretty for this wee bairn born this week and try to hold on to my sanity (somehow).

[Nicole]

Just the elastic to go on the Music Class skirts,its a very sweet pattern and I do wish I had sewed it earlier!

I have cut out a Playdate for Missy L in Blue Park Ramble(City Weekend) and a Music Class blouse and a Class Picnic blouse for Miss Z in a silvery voile.

We have tweaked the Class Picnic a little,hopefully it works.

I must cut that Burda muslin but will happily admit my heart is not in it.

What are you sewing?

[Mama_Knowles]

Sounds you have had a day justsewit, I hope today is better! Sewing always makes me feel better. The smocking pattern is from Ellie Inspired, she makes classic childrens patterns. I am am so happy that I was able to make testers list. I still can’t find that fabric, it is driving me nuts! I did however find some fabric I didn’t remeber I had.

I can’t wait to see the music class outfits done Nicole! The silvery voile sounds so pretty. Right now I am trying to use up the fabric I have on hand. My hubby says that scares him because then he’ll have to buy more,lol.

I am sewing up 2 Puppet show tops and 4 shorts and one puppet show dress the next two days. I just got my pattern in the mail and everything else is on hold! We live in the south so Sweet pea can wear them till at least the end of October this year, maybe a bit later.