Fabric from Africa*Great Friend*Lake Chelan

Early last week, this friend came to visit me... She has made three trips to Cameroon with a medical team... and each time brought home fabric. So, she came to visit me, and we spent a day and a half marathon sewing to create things with said fabric.

We made Pajama Pants... if you would like to learn to sew, but just don't know where to start, may I suggest Pajama Pants? They are SO easy&fast--a great hour long project, and the best part is that you can wear them and admire them every night-I particularly love making them with fabric I love, but that wouldn't necessarily work as a skirt or dress. And, you can make them exactly the way you like them so they will fit perfectly when they are done. (started out with Simplicity pattern 4429, altered as we saw fit)

We made the darlingest of summer dresses... (started out with Simplicity pattern 2421, altered as we saw fit)

Two handbags for knitting stuff... (pattern from 101 one yard wonders)

And a twirly skirt. (my design.) Every girl can use a twirly skirt. But, they take A LOT of fabric to make an adult sized one. This was 6 1/2 yards... perfect for this project-we saved a few strips for a quilt, but used close to all of it. I imagine it with cute cowgirl boots and a long sleeved shirt in the winter, and flip flops and a tank in the summer. It's a really lightweight cotton and took to this design beautifully.

We had plans to sew all day Monday, and stop sewing Tuesday morning at noon to head up to Lake Chelan. We ended up stopping at 12:30--not bad--with everything completely done. So, we headed up to Lake Chelan for an afternoon of fun.

It was a gorgeous summer day... Looking Northwest... the other end of the Lake is about 45-ish miles up there!

Looking North across the Lake at Manson...

Eating chips and being hams...

Sand wreaks havoc on pedicures...

Apparently I had a toe obsession on this day...

My beautiful girl... who was in heaven. She loves swimming in lakes, unlike her mother.

Debris took the opportunity to do some push-ups on the beach. Her father will be so proud.

Aw!

On the way home we stopped by a local fruit stand and got local fresh-from-the-tree Rainier Cherries. Lovely and Glorious, they have become the epitome of summer time for our family.

Stay tuned for posts about our wonderful July Fourth Weekend... I'm working my way through all 292 pictures we got, and will do a post very soon!