Loot! And gratitude!

Thanks again to everyone who left comments and suggestions on my skirt yesterday. I really do appreciate the input!

I spent most of yesterday working on a muslin for the Lisette Market Blouse (the short sleeved one).  After I cut out the fabric, I serged all the way around each piece.  Way fun!  I don't know if that's the approved way to do things, but I think it's pretty darn cool to have all the seams finished before I even start to sew the blouse! And while I had the serger going, I serged the hem of the skirt too.  So now I'll just have to do a little gathering and press it back, then sew it down.  Fingers crossed!

No more fraying!

muslin - I changed all my threads to white

So even though my birthday isn't until Sunday, I've managed to acquire some loot! Last Saturday, I received a package from my mom.  I was going to save it to open on my birthday, but I really needed a pick-me-up on Monday, so I tore in.  Look what she sent me:

Fitting and Pattern Alteration - it looks like this is going to be an invaluable resource.  I was really blown away.  My mom is the best (for a whole lot of reasons)! Thanks,  Mom!

Then yesterday while I was serging away, my mail lady rang my bell.  She had two treats for me.  First up was the giveaway I won last week from Melizza at Pincushion Treats - two goodies!  First off, an adorable pincushion that she made herself:

I love it that she roams around London (one of my favorite cities in the world!) looking for sweet little bits and bobs to make her pincushions.  I feel honored to own this treasure!  And as if this wasn't enough, she also included a belt buckle she picked up at Liberty of London!

I have big plans for this little buckle, which I'll elaborate on another time.  Thanks, Melizza!

The other treat I got in the mail yesterday was a handmade card and some goodies from my lovely friend Andrea at Stitch Parade:

If you read Andrea's blog, then you know she made her own undies after taking a class a few weeks ago.  She sent me some of the very same stretch lace she used!

the loopy black one

and yellow - my favorite color!

So now of course, I'm going to have to try my hand at making undies too!  Thanks again, Andrea - I'm so touched by your gift!

A little later in the afternoon, I was taking the garbage out and I heard the UPS truck.  The rest of my "serger bundle" arrived.  After flipping through the books, I'm glad I got them:

They have lots of tips and creative ideas for using the machine.  Which, by the way, I've decided to name Sergio.  My sewing machine is a Kenmore, and it never had a name before, but now that I've named the serger, I'm going to call the sewing machine Ken.

Ken and Sergio.  I loves them.