Annika’s Skirt (McCalls M6066)

Twin Dresses (Simplicity 2677 – I made the shirt version a while ago here)

Thank you to all of you who have given your confidence in my new calling as seminary teacher.  I have really appreciated reading your words of encouragement.  Things on the seminary front have been going much better (hallelujah!), but it has been a rough road.  Think of it as my own smaller scale version of Moses 1.  But now things are starting to go in the right direction.  I feel strengthened.  I feel like it is not the overwhelming, impossible task I did earlier.

Can I just tell you that I LOVE studying the scriptures.  It has been (sadly) a long time since I’ve dug deep and really studied.  Oh, I read – don’t get me wrong – but that’s not the same thing.  I feel like I’ve found my long lost friend – something I’ve been searching for but didn’t really know I was missing.  You know when things start clicking together, pieces to the eternal puzzle fit a little better, and it just feels like pure knowledge?  It is hard to describe, but I feel spiritually invigorated, alive!  Seriously.  If it has been a long time (like me) that you have felt that way about scripture study, just thoroughly study, little by little (not just read), Moses 1 or 2 Nephi 2.

I finally finished some matching dresses for the little ladies using Simplicity 5695.  I had actually cut out the pieces last May, but due to our move to Switzerland, I just now got around to finishing them.

Here is a dress I made for Annika from Simplicity 3859, also cut out back in May.

I think it’s adorable.  Annika apparently doesn’t.  I cannot get her to even try it on, even though pink is her favorite.  Ditto for the other dress above.  I’ve resolved to only make clothes for the twins going forward, since they’re not opinionated. . . yet.

Yes, I am still *loving* my new sewing machine!  It runs beautifully.  ’Nuf said.

The upside is the machine was insured, and we live in the land of Bernina sewing machines.  Before we moved overseas, I contemplated getting a Bernina when we moved to Switzerland as my old Viking has given me grief on a number of occasions (five trips to the repair shop last year).  However, Berninas tend to be a smidge on the pricey side, which reigned me in when I found out what “pricey” really means.  For example, I went to a Bernina shop in Oregon, and the basic model, with all metal interior parts, was $2,000 – ouch!   I digress.  Truth be told, I wasn’t completely distraught when old Viking kicked the bucket as owning a Bernina started looking like an option again.  They were made in Switzerland – they had to be cheaper if you lived where they were made, right?  And so, I started my quest for a replacement machine.  After checking out the local Bernina store here (where cotton fabrics are the typical $20-30/yard), I found that a new Bernina costs about as much as back home.  Hm.

Using my very limited German, I found the equivalent of Swiss ebay online (ricardo.ch).  Happily, used Berninas were plentiful and actually reasonably priced!  Suffice it to say, I placed a bid and “won” a refurbished Bernina Record 830 machine.  Yes, the prospect of buying a used machine online was iffy to say the least, especially because even though it was nowhere near $2k, it was still more than my last one (free) and more than your basic Sears model.  Fortunately, the man we bought it from is a sewing machine repair guy by day, and this is his side business.  The machine runs like a dream so far, and it has all-metal parts.  This baby could last for years!  I’m sure by now Jonathan has tired of me commenting how smoothly it hums.

I also managed to snag a Pfaff Hobbylock 4762 Serger online for a steal, though I still need to try it out to see how it works.  I know, I know.   But trying it out has meant that I had to clean the Situation Room, our spare bedroom (SR for short).  It has been the most difficult room to organize after moving in since it seems to accumulate everything we haven’t found a home for yet or don’t want the kids to play with including the computer, our recycling, the Bernina (and copious amounts of fabric), and our books.  However, I did accomplish this task just recently.  The serger now has its own special home.  However, then there was the trip to Nuremberg, and finally two and a half weeks (to date) of a sick family.  If it ends up not working, we’ll know why it was a steal.  But if it does work, then Sweet!

Like most everything else we own, we bought a used ironing board from an expat returning to their home country; however, the cover on the board had a huge burn spot.  The padding was also so thin that, when I iron Jonathan’s shirts, it often leaves criss-cross patterns from the top of the board.  So, my first project with the Bernina was a new cover from a tutorial at Sew4Home.com (thanks, Lori!).  I didn’t do a middle section like I did with my last cover, and I used elastic instead of a tie.  I also added a layer of heat resistant padding from Joann’s that I had leftover from my last cover.  It has made a big difference – no more criss-cross ironing marks!  It probably took an hour and a half to finish everything:

And I also (finally!) finished two Christmas banners started last December (and mostly sewn by my good friend, Melissa).  I was a little embarrassed by how little there was left to do on them.  But at least they are done, and they look great hung up – our only Christmas decorations other than our tree.  One says Joy (Peace on reverse).  The other says Christmas (Believe on reverse).  The picture quality is not the greatest, but here they are . . .

So, Jenelle pulled out her sewing skills and made costumes for Annika, Jonathan and herself.

Annika’s costume was Jenelle’s crowning achievement this year.  Fortunately, she eventually agreed to put it on.

After a photo session, the family set off for a ’round-the-cul-de-sac trick-or-treat walk.  Annika declined to say “trick-or-treat” at any house, but maybe she can do that next year.

After returning home, Annika sat down on the living room floor to sample each piece of her modest-sized loot.  They next morning, she asked her parents where her “snacks” were — but by that time, they had mysteriously disappeared.

Jenelle’s sewing projects were particularly impressive this year due to repeated problems with her Swedish sewing machine, which she inherited from her grandmother (the machine, not the problems).  (The machine’s name is unprintable here because it contains too many consecutive consonants.)  After repeated trips to the repair shop failed to remedy the problems, Jenelle bought a pdf of the machine’s manual on eBay and then fixed the machine herself.  Since then, MIT has offered to confer an honorary doctorate on her, but Jenelle is too tired and too busy to bother with such fluff.

More Halloween pictures are here.