sewmona – Page 12

Pattern Review: Joggers by Patterns for Pirates

Full View of Joggers

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I recently got to test the Baby Bear Joggers pattern from Patterns for Pirates. Here in SWFL, we don’t have much need for warm clothes, but there are usually a couple weeks a year where we might want pants. Since we’re from PA, my kids love cooler days when they can wear their favorite winter clothes. As they’ve grown, they’ve requested new warm clothes. Usually one or two pairs of pants and two or three long sleeve shirts are more than plenty! P4P Joggers was perfect for making a new pair of cool weather pants. My son calls them “warm pants” because I made them out of cotton fleece so it’s only fuzzy on the inside.

Back of Joggers

These are a slimmer fit pant and as always there are plenty of options – two pocket options, two waistband options, and three hem options.

I made the slat pockets, or there are also patch pockets. The waistband is elastic and there is also a yoga band option.

I did a roll-up hem, because no hemming! There’s also the options for an elastic hem or a cuffed hem.

Since shorts are what we wear most of the time, I made some Jogger shorts too. These are the patch pockets and I added the red strip down the side (it’s just a 3″ strip sewn over the side seam).

Jogger Shorts with patch pockets

Get your Baby Bear Jogger pattern and there’s also a Mama Bear Joggers and a Papa Bear Joggers pattern – Joggers for the whole family!

Why Paper Patterns

A couple weeks ago I posted my top 5 reasons to use PDF patterns. However, there are also some really good reasons to use paper patterns. Here are my top 5 reasons to use paper patterns.

Cheaper – This is a big one! JoAnns regularly has patterns for $.99. You can’t beat that price. Even if you have to buy more than one to get all the sizes you need, it’s still a great deal! Even WalMart sells patterns.
Perfect for personal use – If you aren’t selling what you make, then paper patterns make perfect sense.
No printer, ink, or paper required – Paying for ink and paper can be expensive! Having patterns printed at a copy/print shop can save your printer ink, but it’s still going to cost you. Paper patterns avoid this.
Easier to store – I don’t know about anyone else, but I have a terrible time storing my PDF patterns. Once they’re taped together, there’s no easy way to store them. Paper patterns are fairly easy to fold up and put back into the envelope they came in.
One stop shopping – you can look through three or four different designer catalogs at one store.

I think they can be summed up into one word – convenience.

What about you – do you prefer paper patterns or PDF patterns? Why?

W.P. Franklin Campground, Alva FL

Recently we wanted to get away for the weekend. Someplace close to home so we could get there at a decent time even though we weren’t leaving until after work. I found this campground while checking out our favorite campground (which sadly had no sites available). There was one site available for the weekend at W.P. Franklin Campground and when I saw it was on an island – that sealed the deal for me! Hubby was thrilled – fishing right outside the camper! Almost all sites are along the river. They’re paved and have a nice little pavilion along with a grill and fire ring.

I love sunset (if you follow me on instagram, then you already know that). The sunsets over the Caloosahatchee River are gorgeous!

You can walk out on part of the dam to fish. They actually have a very nice (large) fishing area with benches off to the right.

There were turtles swimming around the dam too. We saw fish jumping and a couple manatees too.

We could watch boats going through the lock from the campground, but it’s on the other side so you can’t see anything except the boats. One day we drove around to the other side of the river – there’s two ways to go and both are about 15 minutes. We went through Alva – a neat little town with a museum (we didn’t get to stop this time…maybe next time). Of course we had to stop for the drawbridge.

The maze of walkways at the lock (they aren’t open to the public, but I would love to run through all of them!). There’s also a visitor’s center and a park with a nice little playground near the lock.

This, right here, was probably the best part of the whole campground! Right out our camper door was the river and plenty of room for the kids to run! Hubby got to fish to his hearts content. The kids could fish for a bit, run around, go back to fishing…it was wonderful!

I will say that the sites are close together, but with all the open space behind the sites ,you don’t really notice it! Also, there are no full hook up sites. The dump station was easy to get to, but we just made sure we were careful with our water usage (we used the bath house for all showers). We will definitely be going back!

My Favorite Sewing Gadgets

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I’m not much of a gadget person, but there are a few that I really love! Here are my current top three in no particular order.

First up is a bobbin holder. For years my bobbins just floated in the drawer with my thread. It tended to be a tangled mess! I decided that this bobbin saver couldn’t make it any worse! My thread drawer is still a little messy, but my bobbins are all contained. I have both plastic and metal bobbins and they both fit just fine.

It’s just a little messy…

There are many different brands of Wonder clips. They come in several sizes and all kinds of colors/patterns. I love that they don’t put holes in my material. Plus, it doesn’t matter which way you put them on, pinning a seam. Frequently I get a seam all pinned and then realize I’ve got the pins going the wrong way so when I sew, I have to push them out towards the sewing needle rather than pulling them out towards me.

I got these self-threading needles years ago as evidenced by the 3 for $.99 Murphy’s sticker! They are so easy! It makes hand sewing just a little more bearable. You simply push the thread in through the top. No trying to find the eye.

One bonus “gadget” because I’m not sure it’s actually a gadget, is my twin needle.

I’ve started using it a lot more and I love the professional finished look I get.

What is your favorite gadget?

Collier Seminole State Park

Over spring break, we spent three nights at Collier Seminole State Park. We didn’t take our bikes or our kayaks and after we got there, we wished we had! John did bring his fishing stuff and spent some time at the dock fishing.

There’s a lot of history here. This is the park keepers house. The bottom is the visitors center and the top is off limits now.

Collier Seminole State Park House

This is a dugout canoe that Native Americans would’ve used. I can’t get over how narrow it is! I think my 8 year old would fit best. I’m not sure you would get me in that and stay right side up in the water!

Collier Seminole State Park Dugout

This contraption is a walking dredge that was used to build Tamiami Trail through the Everglades. The story of how they finished the road is pretty neat!

Collier Seminole State Park Campground Walking Dredge

We weren’t sure about the campground when we first pulled in. We felt like we were so close to our neighbors. As it turned out, it wasn’t so bad. Yes, the sites in the middle are closer together.

Collier Seminole State Park Campground

But, they have the center of the circle for kids to run around in.

Collier Seminole State Park Campground

It kept us from feeling too crowded. The sites around the outside are wider. The only hook ups are water and electric.

Collier Seminole State Park Campground

The kids loved playing around this fire ring? sand box? Whatever it was, they had fun!

Collier Seminole State Park Campground

We were given a family membership to the Naples Zoo and we finally made it. I’m not much of a zoo person, but this was OK. It isn’t huge, but it was worth the trip and we might even go back. There was giraffe feeding and camel rides that my youngest thinks he just has to do.

The primate excursion is a 15 minute boat ride around the islands where the monkeys live. This lesser ape (I think) was putting on a show for us!

Naples Zoo

A giant anteater – I really can’t believe how big he was!

Naples Zoo

Of all the animals there, the ducklings win the cutest award! They were totally unfazed by all the people passing by their puddle. Naples Zoo

I had read about Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in our local paper and thought it sounded interesting. When I realized it was less than an hour from the campground, I decided we should check that out too. It turned out to be pretty neat. The boardwalk is 2.25 miles long and there are several places to stop along the way (but no facilities). We were surprised at how many people were there! Our kid were not as impressed with the walk, although I think if they had each had their own pair of binoculars it might’ve been a little better.

One of the first things we spotted was a Painted Bunting. These brightly colored birds flitted from the feeder to the nearby palm trees. I could’ve watched them for longer (and tried to get more pictures), but the kids were already restless and not impressed with these little birds. As a side note – there were some serious bird watchers and they were always willing to point out what they were looking at and tell us what kind of bird it was. There were some signs along the way pointing out the birds most commonly sighted.

Painted Bunting at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Towards the end of the walk, there was a small “pond” left (rainy season is still a month or two away) and there were lots of birds and some alligators.

Alligator on a log at Corkscrew Swamp Audubon Sanctuary

The gators were just laying around soaking up the sun.

Alligator hugging a log at Corkscrew Swamp Audubon Sanctuary

The birds were totally unconcerned about the gators laying nearby.

Birds feeding near gators at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

We watched these two anhingas fight for dinner (or maybe just for the seat on the tree stump).

Anhingas fighting at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

You can see why they are also called snake birds. Look at him with just his head sticking up from the water. Anhingas fighting at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

We’re planning to go back to Collier Seminole State Park with our bikes and kayaks. Have you visited Naples, FL? Any suggestions for things we must see/do?