Sew Pretty Bubble Tea

When Sew Pretty Tee Shirt Dresses book arrived in my home, each member of my family went through it and chose their favourites and I had requests, plans, and and demands from all directions. For once I didn’t even mind, because these projects all start with a finished tshirt or tank top, and refashioning is right up my alley. If you have never tried this type of project, you might be surprised to realize just how much time you save when you start with some finished elements. Whether you’re using stained tshirts, too short tshirts, or even buying cheap tshirts on sale just to make dresses with, this kind of project is a quick way to customize your girls’ wardrobes! 
 

My husband chose this simply darling tie-waisted ‘wrap’ dress and requested one for Nicole.

This dress immediately reminded me of a dress I had pinned ages ago, so you just know I have to make it for at least one of my girls.

And after flipping through the whole book, Nicole has decided she must have one of the cover dress before her wardrobe will be complete. (Olivia had no opinion, she was likely off conditioning her hair with A&D Diaper Ointment or getting into my hot pink lipstick.) I had grand plans of doing one of these gorgeous projects. But then life happened. And I kind of like the plot twist, because instead of pretty happy shiny “And with all the free time in the universe, Laura whipped up boutique dresses at her leisure while sewing aprons to donate to silent auctions and baking goods to donate to lunches and raising three children AND keeping them alive…” which I mean, HAHAHA. Not even fairy tales go there.

What really happened is much more grounded in reality. For some reason, I often find myself deciding The Night Before that I would like to whip something up for one of my girls and staying up all night making that happen. So I flipped through the book and selected a few simpler projects, and then narrowed it down to the Bubble Tea dress. From cutting, deliberating over fabrics, changing my mind on who I was sewing for, all the way to completion, this project took me less than two hours. None of these dresses have patterns to mess with, just cutting instructions. I altered the bubble a tiny bit to fit in the amount of fabric I had decided on using, but otherwise followed directions that really helped move this project along.

So whether you’re living the dream or you’re a bit closer to my own reality, this book has sweet little projects for you. And if you’re curious, I was in bed by 11:30 AFTER also doing some laundry. A new record for procrastination projects! I recommend this book for beginners looking to start out with some big satisfaction, all the way to advanced sewists who would like some quick and easy wow factor. Not to mention that all these based-on-a-tee dresses are super comfortable for their intended models!

If you want to see more projects that involved a little more planning and a little less flying by the seat of one’s pants, or even get a chance to win a copy of this dress, check out the other fabulous bloggers on the blog tour!

May 5
The New York Mom will feature a finished project
Nouveau Stitch will feature a finished project, “Flirty Shirt”
Just Pure Lovely will host a giveaway
The Crafty Princess Diaries will host a giveaway

May 6
Craft Knife will feature a finished project, “Cool Water”
Stitched by Crystal will feature a project for her 9-month-old
BlogHer DIY will feature a project

May 7
Prudent Baby will review and host a giveaway
House of 34 will host a giveaway

May 8
Smashed Peas and Carrots will feature a finished project, “Bubble Tea”
Simply Modern Mom will review and might do a project

May 9
Marsha’s Spot will feature a finished project, “Patchwork of Art” and host a giveaway
Sew Spoiled will review the book
Maya Made will feature a finished project

May 10
Dollar Store Crafts will feature a project
Only From Scratch will feature a project

May 11
A Few Shortcuts will review and host a giveaway
Wild Olive will feature a finished project
Positively Splendid will feature a finished project

May 12
On the Laundry Line will feature a finished project
Elegance and Elephants will feature a finished project

May 13
Luvinthemommyhood will review and host a giveaway
My Little Gems will host a giveaway

I received a complimentary copy of Sew Pretty T-Shirt Dresses in exchange for this review. All opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own. Images above from Sew Pretty T-Shirt Dresses by Sweet Seams Studio, published by Sixth&Spring Books. Photography by Dan Howell and dress design and instructions copyright © 2013 by Sixth&Spring Books/Soho Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

LG Canada and Dufresne–Buyer Beware

I’ve owned a brand new LG washer and dryer purchased for over $2000 cash from Dufresne for about five weeks now.

Two of those five weeks, it’s sat in my basement, unplugged and useless.

When we received a critical error message and went through the process our instruction manual gave us and realized it was broken, we were a bit irritated but not worried. It was three weeks old... we were sure we’d get an exchange. Things like this happen, sometimes you’re just unlucky, and we were sure that on such a big purchase, we would receive due help and attention.

Two weeks later, and between my husband and I we have probably spent about 4 hours on the phone trying to get this dealt with in a timely manner. I’ve hauled laundry – and two kids under the age of four, including one who had the flu – around several times. I’ve sat around waiting for a repair man, who arrived half an hour past the three hour time window we’d been given without any sort of apology, and then left half an hour later mumbling about another faulty motor and telling his dispatcher “Don’t worry about it, no, we’ll deal with it and order parts on Monday.” (this was a week and a half after our washer had broken, we’d been tugged around for a few days and told that we might get a replacement but probably a repair as that was LG’s policy, repair not replace.)

It’s been two full weeks now, and I’ve been told today that in 3 to 5 days the warranty department at LG Canada will review my case and decide if I get a replacement. In the same amount of time I will get parts in for another attempt at a repair. So by the time I can do laundry in my $2000 machines again, I’ll have owned them for 6 weeks and half of that time, they’ll have been broken.

Dufresne says they’re doing all they can and that it’s up to LG, but as the wife of a small business owner, I know that is total crap. They have buying power, and could replace our washer and fight with LG themselves. In fact, I had to call in myself and argue for a replacement after the first failed repair, and without even having to fight for it I was told my case would be considered for replacement... not in a hasty manner, unfortunately. LG Canada is equally bad; when a washer breaks three weeks after it’s purchased, it’s clearly a faulty product and the consumer should not have to deal with repairs. I would never have purchased an LG product if I had been aware of that policy. Likewise, I wouldn’t have purchased from Dufresne if I’d known I would be left to fight the battle myself. We have been treated courteously by all customer representatives from both companies, I’ll say that. (aside from the repair man, who wasn’t particularly courteous but not totally rude, but himself said that he had little experience with my washer machine so he wasn’t completely sure what he was doing. Talk about reassurance?!) But courtesy doesn’t help me when I’m elbows deep in laundry with a shiny new machine looking pretty and doing nothing in my basement.

Now that I’ve had this experience, I’ve heard from others who have had a similar experience with a TV from Dufresne and I do believe they wound up taking it to Doug Dufresne himself before they got some resolution.

Lastly, I’m particularly irked by the fact that I paid cash... I feel like if I had paid with my Visa instead, I could have used Buyer Protection through them to fight this battle. Instead I face endless frustration and on-hold music. LG care greatly about me and will PERSONALLY do their best to make sure I receive assistance in a timely manner, in case you’re curious.

We’re just about ready to go buy a Whirlpool at Best Buy and drop off our LG in the parking lot at Dufresne and go at with sledgehammers. Can I be arrested for that?

(PS, if you’re from Dufrense or LG… yes, thank you, I have in fact contacted the customer service line. If you aren’t, that’s the suggestion I get on twitter or Facebook from the reps that manage those.)

What is and what should be

What should be on my mind: three loads of unfolded laundry.

What is on my mind: Iiiiiiiiiii’m going to the fabricstore todaaaaaay, with-ooooooout aaaaaany chiiiiiiiild-reeeeen! That’s supposed to be singsong. And I’m not interested in anyone pointing out I only have one child at this moment, it sounds better this way. With my luck I’ll go into labour at the cutting table. I’ll be all like, NO, SERIOUSLY. CUT THAT SHIT. I HAVE TO GO HOME TO GET MY BAG ANYWAYS. I’m hardcore like that.

What should be on my mind: eating something. Something healthy.

What is on my mind: candy corn. I can blame the internet for that. Everyone is crafting candy corn this or baking candy corn that and I’ve been holding off for so long but the candy store is right across from the fabric store.

What should be on my mind: buying baby socks. I have none purchased. This poor unborn child. Second-child-syndrome already. I should also be buying super fun things like nursing pads and pads that aren’t for nursing and Vitamin D and all that stuff I picked up on the Way Home From The Hospital Walmart Run last time. Cos man, my ticker says 17 days until due date. At least the baby room is like 1/3 of the way painted.

What is on my mind: club chairs and counter stools and shoes for mama and art supplies for Nicole and everything my consumer-brain could possibly wish for (except candy corn and fabric i guess) at CSN Stores. I like to waste lots of laundry-folding and dish-washing time browsing promote a good budget by doing a lot of comparison shopping there. I find the prices tend to compare and then go ahead and compete with a lot of big-famous-brand stores. I’m going to be doing another review with them this month again, so I get to spend more time, uh, comparison shopping. My husband thinks its great that I get to review something so if I’m all like “Oh, the laundry is in the baskets, I was trying to decide what to review so I didn’t get around to it.” he’s all like “sounds perfectly reasonable.” ohoho.

Okay I’d do more but I’m honestly not really thinking about anything anymore except for the candy corn, but I’m going to go do the right thing and eat a bowl of oatmeal.

candycorn candycorn candycorn candycorn candycorn candycorn

Exciting Things This Way Come

Okay so I have been totally off my game for a few months now. In fact, for about… a trimester, would you say? Sounds about right. I was showing my husband my sad little photo files from the last few months. April has a grand total of six photos, none of which are anything resembling exciting. SAD. I think I’ve done as many blog posts in the last few months. SAD. You know what’s not sad? Giveaways. OPPOSITE OF SAD. Remember a few months ago how I did a giveaway for CSN Stores? That chain of online stores that sell everything from toys to cookware to shoes to sofas? (Shipping on items from $69 and up is free, by the way, and I was doing some peeking  at a few of their many stores and I’m seeing items priced comparably or cheaper than at walmart and target but CSN SHIPS TO CANADA PEOPLE, NOT JUST THE STATES. I know. I’m getting all excited too.)

So, remember that? Yes? No? Irrelevant. I am doing a review with them!  AWESOME. And you’re wondering what that has to do with you, aren’t you. Because I did say giveaway, didn’t I. Well, the generosity of CSN Stores has gotten me all hot and bothered and I’m just so totally psyched that I’m going to have a giveaway for you guys. THAT’S RIGHT KIDS. Give. A. Way.

I get something awesome from them. You get something awesome from me. Everyone’s a winner. Okay, just me and one other person. But you’re all winners in my book. Participation ribbon, anyone? High-fives all around.*

But I didn’t say exciting thing. I said exciting things. What else is in the planner? (I don’t have a planner. I have a giant desktop calendar with magnets glued all over the back to hold it to my fridge. Go big or go home.)

Here’s a few things:

-homemade pizza pops. (recipe + step by step tutorial.)
-shirring. Lots of shirring. I’ve done some already, but there’s more to come.
-my basement will be finished in the next month or so, and there will be big reveal pictures of my finished upstairs and downstairs and in my lady’s chamber. And before November, both my babies chambers as well.

-I am going to attempt to hack this Anthro bedding set, from the comforter down to the ruffled pillowcases and sheets. And if… no, WHEN I am successful, I will do a tutorial. The queen comforter is $238 CAD, and the sheets $89.95. I think I might be able to pull off the whole thing for around the cost of just the sheet set. And I’m going to make the bed itself out of pipe cleaners.

Just kidding about that last part.

So… STAY TUNED!

And I just know you’re curious what I’m reviewing, soooo……TADAAA!

 

*No actual participation ribbons or high fives will be given out, but you’re all welcome to print out this sad little awesome participation ribbon picture.

squeakyshoe monster attack

You like how she looks all upset whenever I don’t scream?

Feel free to draw your own conclusions over whether you’d buy these shoes. They’re very cute, though. I did get the impression when I bought them that they came with extra soles you could swap out to skip the squeaking, guess I misunderstood. I think it’d be simple to stop though. And they’d be handy in a huge mall, the zoo, any busy public place where I’d be liable to stop looking at her for 2.5 seconds to do something else.