ice cream for Eve

    I've posted about Oliver + S before, back when I made shirts for the boys.  I have been sitting on their Ice Cream Dress pattern since I was still preggy.  Some of our friends had blessed us with some fabric funding for the babe.  She was finally looking big enough, and we need to get ready for all that warmer weather coming, right??? so I got out my pattern and made the smallest size (6-12 months).

     I love, love, love this dress on her.  I followed the directions, and, going a step at a time, going back & forth from my machine and my iron, it took nearly three hours!  Can you believe that?  Even though I didn't bother with the pockets (pockets are just crumb-catchers at that age)!

     I decided that there were a few bits in the order of construction that could be Anna-lyzed, so I cut out fabric for another one, and then let my brain mull it over for a couple of days.  Last night I sat back down, and sewed that dress in one hour and twenty minutes.  I even stopped here and there to catch what was happening on the Amazing Race, get water for someone who should be in bed, and fix a snack (for after sewing). 

     Sweet!  Elizabeth Zimmermann would be proud as I changed her little slogan and decided to be the boss of my own sewing!  I once had a math teacher inform me that she believed my brain seemed to work backwards somehow, and you bet I was thinking of her today as I worked that dress according to Anna-logic! 
     I feel like I should have a sewing/knitting bee.  Everybody could peer into the quirks of everyone else's styles.  Now doesn't that sound post-worthy?

work

Here's my three-year-old. Doing the picture-find in a Hidden Pictures magazine. Putting the stickers in the right spots. By himself. Sigh... If he was growing up any faster, I don't know what I'd do.

And I decided to try my first Oliver + S pattern. It's a Sketchbook Shirt, and I've finished everything but the buttons & their holes! I'm probably going to do the buttonholes by hand, as they don't make button presser-feet for my machine, and I'm not sure about all the settings. I fiddled with it for a while, but I'm not even sure that it was intended to do buttonholes, and I'm not willing to ruin the whole thing when I have perfectly good needle & thread!

I love the busy dog print. It's the same as the pinafore for their little sister, but it is really busy on the shirt! (Which I thought would be perfect for hiding any mistakes that I might make) I made one, to check the fit on both of them, instead of doing two at once!

I have to say, I loved this pattern, and that it was really well written and thought out! The boys are both really excited about their shirts, and are begging for the matching shorts to go with them. Well worth my time!

things to come

Okay. This post is totally self-indulgent. No bright ideas, no cute phrases, no crazy boys-with-chickens pics. Just a quick shot of how I spent my evening after the boys went to bed.

Yup. Girly things. Now, if you will kindly notice, both the pinafore and the bonnet are fully reversable, and they are blue. With puppies. I have had these patterns and this material stashed away, for heaven knows how long (probably a good 2 years), just waiting.

You know, people keep asking us: "What are you going to do with a little girl?" Which I find hysterical. Yes, boys and girls are different. I know that. I get that. I was surrounded with boys (and redneck, country boys to-boot) growing up, which accounts for much of my oddness (I don't know why my best-friend gave me such an odd look that time I remarked that a Mack truck was beautiful).

So, in case you too are wondering what I'm going to do with a little girl, I'll put it right here: I'm going to sew, sew, sew. And then I'm going to put her in all those fun, easy-going clothes I've made, and set her right down in the dirt/sand/grass that the rest of us are playing in. I'm going to make sure she knows how to ride 4-wheelers and shift gears, and start a good fire. I'm going to let her get good and dirty, climb the trees God made, examine the worms that till His earth, and teach her about nature.

And if you're thinking, "Good luck with that, just wait till she becomes a teenager," then I have an answer for that too. I refuse to worry about that. God isn't giving me a teenager. Today He's given me two awesome, fun little boys, and a tiny little girl. And I won't let the chubby fingers, the diaper changes, and the baby laughs slip through my fingers unnoticed because I'm worried about tomorrow.

He wouldn't want that.

Oops!

Oops! I realized the other week that I totally and completely forgot to send something fun to my girlfriend back home when she had her baby. I think this occured to me when I was posting a picture of the little pirate lass from our last trip to Ft. Pierce. She and her mother and sisters made a big deal over my first pregnancy, so I couldn't let this go! I doubt very highly that she reads this blog, so I thought I'd show off what I've been up to lately!
I made her little girl a couple of bubble suit jumper thing-a-ma-jigs, and a bonnet. I'm going to use the extra fabric to make a couple of these and put them in my shop too...
They seem like just the right thing for summer (or really most of the year where this kid lives), so hopefully they'll fit okay, and she won't mind the ribbons! The pattern I used for the first one was okay, but I felt like it left a good bit of room for improvement, so I altered a few things for the second one, and was really happy with it (not only was my way a bit neater, it was also easier - go figure)!

Sillies and Secrets

First, the Sillies! L totally loves to set things up. He's been going to his room more and more to play this way. He fascinates me, and I like watching him and examining the things he sets up to get a little peek into the way his mind works, and who he is on the inside. I see lots of myself in him, when he does things like this:

And I see lots of myself in M, when he does this!

And some more sillyness...


And L's most recent display of creativity - he's been rearranging the stars on his walls and has discovered that he can use them to display some of the things he loves! I love it - Peter flying through the stars...!


And now for the secrets! Here's some of what I've been working on for the boys' Christmas gifts! We've gotten them a couple things and trying to emphasize giving a couple special gifts, rather than just a bunch of stuff. For L's 4th birthday he received a singing balloon and a firetruck. He was in raptures. I totally see why the Jewish people give one gift a day for Hanukkah. Somehow it's really hard to truly appreciate a big pile of gifts!

Anyways! Off my soap-box! Here are the secrets! I've been making a map of Never Never Land for them to share - super secret! I only work on it at night, when I'm fairly certain of not being walked in on. Tomorrow I'm going to stitch in some lining and attach a back, and then it will be done. There's also the growing bear for M!



Checking the cuddlyness...


Finished Bear! Going to get a cute ribbon to dress his neck for his big Christmas debut!


Can I just say how satisfying it is to have finished Bear? Even though his eyes are so funny?

Oh, and we had a first today, M stuck a Cheerio up his nose. He was not happy at all.

Fun for Mommy

Okay, so I had a ton of fun yesterday! M's 6th tooth finally broke the gumline, so he's back to his old self, exploring and tearing through the house at a rate that would wear out his brother!

I used the day to do some sewing! Not pictured is the bathrobe/pajama robe I made for myself. By far the most complicated pattern I've tried (that was quite a surprise), and I'm pleased with how it turned out, inspite of my horrid machine. I've done some looking online, and apparently most of the basic Kenmore sewing machines are great, but there was a few years where the models give people problems. Guess who bought hers during that time frame?

At one point, as I was picking out the 46 random loops that suddenly appeared on the bottom of my project (which just happened to be the RIGHT side), I came very close to throwing the whole thing off the balcony. Very close. Very, very, well, you get the idea!
Personally, I think it would be lovely if my whole family decided to get together and get me a new machine for Christmas, just an idea for all of you out there. I could pick out the machine and everything.
Anyways, I made these tiny little shoes for M (L thought they were for Jack at first, but even Jack's feet are too tiny - being an inch long). Here they are with the bag I made the other week.

The pair on the right are kinda snug and fit him now, the pair on the left I made a little bit bigger, for his next pair of shoes. I am so pleased with these! Totally cute, easy to make, and comfy. M was soooo excited when I put them on, and made no efforts to pull them off (complete opposite of L's first reaction to those hard-soled things he had).
Well, heading to Ft. Pierce on Monday! Can't wait! I've been getting all my stuff together for the school Author Visits I'm doing, and going to pack this weekend!