We're Packing!!!

Hello Everyone! I knew October would fly by and it has! Work has been intense but rewarding. I really love working with freshmen. We've been studying motion and forces and there's all kinds of labs and hands-on things they've been working on to learn the concepts better. So that brings me to this weekend. Tonight marks one week till my family takes off for Disney without me! (Don't worry, I am flying down later!) I really give my hubby lots of credit for flying with the girls alone. Fortunately they are generally pretty well behaved and I am thinking with Disney on the line....they will be especially good! LOL!

So I have been busy finishing up my sewing...still not done...and doing some last minute shopping in order to pack. As you may know, my hubby told me that the girls could have carry-ons only as he was not checking baggage. So... I figured I would try to fit as much as I could in their carry-ons and put the over-flow in my checked bag. So I started the long arduous process of assembling their belongings.



So step one is to throw everything on the bed!

Then I organize clothing into piles according to the day. I make sure each outfit has all its parts!

I add a few extra things like sweatshirts and leggins and shorts and some extra tees. I checked the weather for Kissimmee and right now the highs are in the low 80's and the lows are in the high 60's .... did you get that??? So I am hoping layers won't be needed. Its actually supposed to rain for the next week so hopefully that will be gone by next weekend!!!

OK back to packing. Next step I iron and fold all parts of the outfit and label a zip-lock bag with the name and date and place she will be wearing it.

And this is the fun part. Iput the outfit in the bag and close the zip-lock leaving about an inch opening. I roll the bag so all of the air escapes. Then quickly finish zipping it shut.....whaalaaaa....the bag is sucked in around the clothing and holds the entire outfit secure.
So I continue until everything is labeled and bagged.....these are Brooklyn's things....
These are Devon's piles... I was really amazed that all those outfits shrunk down to this:
So for the last step I threw all the bags in the carry-on. This is before I even pressed them down and I stepped back amazed. Everything fit in the carry-on!!! I couldn't believe it.
And here is my cute model earlier tonight showing you the three carry-ons all packed and ready to go! The girls practiced rolling their bags and it seems they can handle them well enough. I will pack a few toys and things in their backpacks for the airplane and we're all ready to go!!!!
I still have to pack for myself but it may be that I don't need to check a bag at all. Really the deciding factor is that huge wedding dress for BBB. I bought space bags so I am hoping I can suck all the air out with a vacuum and fit it all in my carry-on. Ok, well this ends my packing spree!

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And finally a sewing update! I am super excited to show you this new and upcoming pattern! The child version (Emily Tunic) was already released and this one (Shana Bell Tunic) is coming out any day now! Its another fabulous creation by Carla (Scientific Seamstress http://scientificseamstress.blogspot.com/2009/10/belle-of-ball.html ) and Jennifer (SisBoom http://jenniferpaganelli.typepad.com/sis_boom_day_dreams/2009/10/as-promised-1.html).

It's super comfy. I tried it on after sewing it in only a few hours. I wore it the rest of the day! I just LOVE it!!! It has cute bell sleeves and you can make it in several lengths!!!

So as I was finishing sewing last weekend, Devon asked where her Jasmine outfit was. I had promised to make it for her at the beginning of the summer and here it was October and still no outfit. I did have an excuse. When I bought the materials in June, I included things like tulle and gold lame and gold braid. And the fabric was a bit thick and stiff. I just couldn't imagine working with those materials would be any fun. Fear. Of the unknown. I knew the pattern I would use right away...Carla's Simply Sweet had a version that included a short ruffle bottom. Plus Carla has been doing these wonderful blogs on how to "princessify" her patterns so I added sleeves inspired by that. The pants were simply Easy Fits. My friend Heather made some for her daughter by adding elastic at the bottom. So I did the same thing. As it turns out, the blue fabric became very easy to work with and made assembly easy. The gold lame frayed when cut but it went thru the ruffler ok and I attached it to the bodice then zig-zagged the edges twice. The belt and tulle took some doing but really, it wasn't so hard if I went slow. I zig-zagged the braid on the edge with gold thread. The Jasmine applique was Heather's cute design and it stitched out so nicely. I put two other appliques on the pants. They were by Diva Duds. They too stitched out well. I really like her designs because she goes over each step three times. Anyways....here is Devon in her outfit! She was soooo excited that I made it for her!!! I hope she gets to meet the real Jasmine in Epcot.




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So this is the end of my little blog update! This weekend we are doing a fun hayride and I am sewing up a few more little things and I am all set to go! I think haircuts are in order too! My hope is that everyone stays healthy and that all of our family and friends who are going stay healthy too!!!! I am really looking forward to seeing everyone and spending time with my favorite people in my favorite place!!!!
Have a fun weekend everyone!!!!