Write, Mama. Write.

Bird mobile

I've had this idea for at least six months (it was even on the list!).  I wanted to jump on the mobile swap bandwagon but I thought it might add a little self-induced stress and I'm plumb full o' stress.  Also, I wondered how I would box it up to send it.  I was worried the reality of this would be so far from the idea in my head, but I think it worked just fine.  Jewelry wire for the bird legs was so perfect ($1 for a big package at the local craft store, easy to bend/twist/poke into fabric).  Now I have a mobile but nowhere to actually hang a mobile.  I used more wire twisted at the top of the branch for hanging which is nice because you can move it around to hang on anything.  Close ups of two birds here and here (favorite vintage feedsack fabric for the underbelly and wings).  I loved this one in the mobile pool, and really liked the ideas behind this one and this one too.

Great, sunny weekend, made some bibs, parenting is tough and fun

We've had the most beautiful run of days, full of blue skies chased by an occasional sprinkle.  Things just seem lighter with windows cracked open and finger nails dirty from tending outdoor beds.  Driver, buff (plastic) arms doing the heavy lifting, navigates the dump truck from pile to pile outside (two year old providing true muscle).  We stomp in little puddles and our hippo umbrella tries to take to the skies.  A beautiful rainbow arched over the town yesterday and the boy couldn't quite see it.  We tried to show him.  We pulled over to show him.  We had to settle for rainbows in books though, which weren't half bad.  When your eyes aren't used to looking for something it can be difficult to see, even when it arches over you and encompasses your living space and lightens moods.  Spring is creeping in just like that.      

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I knocked out bib after bib after bib this weekend, orange for the boy and stripes for others.  I think our fabric bib lifespan is one year in this household.  It seems silly to make new bibs for this big, big boy just like it seemed ridiculous to buy a new diaper pail when our old one failed.  Then again, we still spill, we're still in the diaper phase and everything happens at a different pace for different people.  After a stretch of ease I'm a bit startled at the whole comparison thing popping up again.  You know how, when they're babies, everyone has an opinion or a glance or a question about what a child can and should do at any given time?  After they turned one it felt like people settled down.  I know I did.  There weren't as many mental milestones to tick off and well-child visits even spread out to two a year.  Since this second birthday I've noticed a gradual increase in the opinions or glances or questions.  There's an increase in comparisons and even, ever so slightly, in my doubts.  Now it's preschool and potty training and how much independence versus how much togetherness and how in the world does this all work when I don't really know what I'm doing? sprouting up again.  There are hard forehead bonks, tough negotiations, there's letting go and holding tight.  It's that parenting dance, making me dizzy, tossing me around with my head back laughing.  I remember a parent telling me first grade was going to make or break their child's chance at Harvard, and I remember my inner teacher reaction (something like: Oh my goodness!-- Chill out... They're six).  I want to remain very confident in my belief that we have the ingredients for raising a happy little boy.  We have puddle jumping, dirty fingernails, rainbows in books and our dizzy dance of give and take.  Oh my goodness!... He's two.

Somehow that little update all boils down to: Great, sunny weekend... Made some bibs... Parenting is tough and fun...

Making progress

A stitch, cut, a row here and there.  Without meaning to I keep finding these sad, little fix-it projects.  This vintage linen jacket was about a dollar and needs a new lining. 

Think of the hours someone put into this double spread.  Then another someone spent a lot of time finding each little spot for repair, tied them with blue ribbons and attached a note imploring someone else (me) to recognize the time and skill involved in crocheting this and to spend just a little time to bring it back to glory.  All for a few dollars, all shoved down by the floor in a corner.  Would you be able to resist? 

I'm still going with the hats, kid needles and all (brilliant!).  We were invited out for breakfast this morning and it was wonderful.  It was drizzle down by the docks, good coffee and conversation, a happy boy and something different.  Making progress.    

I discovered the joy of new pillows

The joy I feel about these pillows is totally disproportionate to the amount of effort it takes to whip up one of these babies.  The couch looks better, things are brighter, there's a bit of NEW in the air which has been stagnant with Oh-please-oh-please-
oh-please-Universe-let-us-get-OUT-of-here mumblings.  We put an offer on another house last week and still haven't heard because the fellow's bank now gets to decide everything.  Someone in California is making big decisions about our future, or maybe the issue is that they are NOT making big decisions about our future because we're waiting.  Still.  Waiting.  And I know that things happen for a reason and what will be will be and the right thing will come and we're lucky to be looking when other people have banks in charge of their homes.  Moving to our next step will happen and it will happen this year.  But this house (which someone else wants too) has a big yard and a laundry room and room for my machine to sit out while I closed the door to the rest of the world and... I've had far too long to move in, build a future and live a life in that home in my mind.  I want these pillows to be for our new house. 

Anyhow, I fell in love with that lotus print in red and waited too long to grab it.  Then I had the yellow sitting around here for months.  It was draped on the couch forever and we had these thoughts of it being to "wild" for our toned down, simple-simple sensibilities.  In a pillow it's perfect though, we all three agree, with some hand-dyed, super-soft cotton on the back from SMS (it's gone, but she does have everything else you could possibly dream up to love).  I have the cotton in many shades and I'm hoarding it like an invading army will come and ransack the house, looking for hand-dyed, super-soft cotton.  Like I'll have to use it to barter and feed the family or something.  If I don't use it, we can't enjoy it so I used the littlest bit.  The off-white fabric is this beautiful matelasse-like woven fabric.  I have a thing for the matelasse look.  White on white creating the texture.  Simple but not.

Lately the boy looks at me at totally random moments, grins and says, "Hi, Mama!" in the most sing-songy and adoring way.  It's like he's saying to himself: watch how I can melt her.  Those looks, his grins, the quick surprises in my gut of how deeply he is all that is good and all that we hope for... Those are the moments on moments creating the texture in my life as a mama.  Simple but not. 

Still
waiting.

He's got mail

Valentines for us, though we've already played with them because you can't wait weeks for fun like this.  I saw the little mailboxes in the Target $1 section and thought they'd be fun.  We're just on the cusp of mailing drawings to each other, I think, so I thought this would be fun for us to get excited about the whole "mail" idea.  There's Peltex/Timtex in between and I was going to use ric-rac for the stamps but then decided it would be too tedious.  I had this "print on fabric" stuff I'd wanted to try but next time I'd just use fabric markers and I think they'd look cooler and less "adult." 

The stamp images are from Michelle's French stamps.  We've known all of the letters for awhile now, and the boy can read his name so I think the teacher part of me thought this would help him start to identify other names (family members).  The stamps and names attach with iron-on Velcro so you can decide who gets mail.  I think it's working!  The process of learning to read and to appreciate exchange (of knowledge, love, art, words, ideas) through text is so utterly amazing.

Oh, and I meant to add that I did a little "spring" bookmark cleaning and updated the Create, Eat & Play categories on the sidebar (and some of the deeper links within that Create & Play categories).  I don't know if anyone ever goes there (I've forbidden myself from ever looking at any sort of visitor data so never have a clue) but there are some really good links and it totally appeals to my inner librarian.

Footwear, frustration and little somethings beyond

You are wonderful!  Thank you so much for your great suggestions.  The original title of this post was something like "Horrid Crafty Vortex, Footwear Edition," so that gives you an idea of the vibes around here.  We're going through a growth spurt, frustration fountain, tantrum explosion... Couple change/ disequilibrium words with words that evoke eruption and you have our descriptive phrase of the moment.  So I'm just mentally drained and then, throw in a spot of limitless dreaming, and we have a little post-holiday stew of AAAHHHH!  (I'm, We're, It's) Really sorta unpleasant at times. 

I needed a shot of something better and my hopes weren't crazy big, just a little something to look forward to beyond our daily AAAHHHH.  Boy, did you ever deliver!  You all are crazy knowledgeable with the kid music, I'm telling you.  And you get it, you know?  No bad synthesizer, preschool kid pop tunes for this crowd.  I'm emailing everyone back ASAP (insert minor change/disequilibrium + eruption phrase as excuse for my delay here) but I thank you in advance for your excellent recommendations.  With the exception of about three discs ALL of those songs/discs mentioned were in at the library so my hold list is out of this world and I have a little something to look forward to!  I'll do a little test listen with those before I purchase.  Picture the boy and I clapping like it just started to snow. 

Also, I've got a game plan for the doll.  I'll fill you in as I go, but the boy and I have an ambitious, three-part plan.  Flour... Well, Mom's disappointed.  It's this great multigrain blend to fall in love with, and I think for now I'll just start working my way through the coop flour offerings.  I do like the King Arthur.

Footwear, the bad: The Mary Janes are so, so wrong but in the light of day I've decided I learned a thing or two in the process.  I just knew how it was supposed go, you know, and it didn't.  I've sat here sad tonight, thinking of how many times I said, "Use your words" with the boy.  That would be, I suppose, like someone saying, "Use your sewing skills."  I do believe it might just make me livid with frustration when said in the midst of trying so hard to get something so right (when I know what it's supposed to look like... Just like when he knows what he wants me to understand). 

In good news on the footwear front: Mom found my old cowboy boots (I distinctly remember putting them on while lying on my back and having one fall and hit me with the tip on the nose) and I found these little black boots below, just like the ones on the farm.  Everybody needs barn, cowboy and ladybug boots, right?  If all else fails we can skip around in boots and dream of summer and cowboys, new dolls and better times.

Also good:
- 800+ FFF comments on the SMS blog this weekend... Very cool.
- One of our big someday dreams, where we live on acreage with a studio and work from home, includes a letterpress.  ReadyMade had a "Make Your Own Letterpress" article (press construction instructions are in the current issue).  I found it last night and darn it if I couldn't sleep until 2 a.m. with excitement.  I know it's not real-real, but it's $100 real as opposed to $5000 real and we can have a letterpress.  Someday dreams don't always have to happen in big chunks.
- Homemade biscotti recipe.  Yum.

Can you tell it's a cape?

It is, with a matching crown.  I saw this crazy, silver stuff for $1 a yard the other week and thought it'd make a fun cape for the boy.  One of our good friends turned two on Christmas Day, recently became a big brother, has a name that starts with the letter "B" and is just an all-around great kid.  The whole cape thing was in my mind so the birthday boy got a cape and a matching crown, for many fun, upcoming years of imaginative play.  I played with the blanket stitch on my machine on a whim and (don't look too closely!) it was so much fun.  That stitch is so tedious for me to do by hand...  It was so totally cool in a craft geek kind-of way to use GOLD quilting thread, bought for a quarter at a flea market.  I cut a rectangle out of the silver, hemmed it on three sides, made a "collar" out of red like you'd use double-folded bias tape and just gathered the silver into the red as I sewed (I started in the middle and went out to each end so it'd be somewhat even).  Here's how I did the velcro (ties worry me with little guys).

And the crown.  I know there are a lot of ways to make crowns.  This is an easy, birthday crafting, fun crown approach (not to be confused with a nature inspired, natural wool approach...), made with love, cheapo felt (again, from the flea market) and not a lot of time. 

I cut out two crown shapes with these approximate dimensions: 6" x 22".  It just fits my little two year old's 97th percentile head, so it's probably good for your average 2-3 year old.  This crown has four peaks...  I always make a paper version or two first, to see what I like when it sits on a head.  Then I trim down the one I want on top (highly sophisticated techniques around here, you know) and sew buttons on with felt circles in between (I've used pinking shears to make the circles before and I really like that... I just forgot this time).  I sew all around to "applique" the top piece to the bottom.  This time I used a blanket stitch.  In the past I've used a zig-zag, which is fun, and I've also sewn two of the same size together, turned them and sort-of topstitched around the whole thing.  I used about 3" of iron-on velcro (one side as shown above, one side on the opposite red felt).  It's easy, happy.  Fun.  You just feel different in a flowing, silver cape and a polka dot button crown.

Holiday gift recap

Since the last of the Christmas (um, New Year's with a Christmas theme?!) cards just made it out the door the last day of 2007, I suppose a late handmade gift recap is in keeping with the take-it-easy approach to our holidays.  Every time I didn't stress about something (i.e. seeing the "best" Santa early) it seemed to work out fine (low-key Santa with no other kiddos in sight, two days before Christmas).  It weirded me out (the "working out just fine" stuff) every time.  I did have tremendous post-Christmas angst about how much we were able to do, Tepid Response Factor, and the like.  But, all in all it was just right.  For us.  My favorite gift we gave was a felted ball for the boy, swirly, heavier than you'd imagine and handcrafted in our little town.  It's such a pleasure to hold and throw. 

The towels above were fun.  Kristin asked how I did them in Flickr so the short of it is:  I cut random lengths of fun fabrics, arrange them in a pleasing way, sew them together and then press the seams open.  I cut a length of this patchwork strip a little wider than the towel and then sew it on the towel with the right sides facing, patchwork upside down and lined up with the bottom of the towel.  I then iron a hem on either side to match the towel and a hem on the top of the patchwork.  Then I press the patchwork up to the towel.  I sew down from the top to attach the patchwork to the right side of the towel, then sew with the same 1/4" along the bottom (redundant because it's already been sewn on but it makes it look nice), continuing on up the left and over the top.  Basically I just sew all around the patchwork, if that makes sense.  They always turn out really straight and nice this way.  These are those same $1 section Target towels I've used before.

They were to go with these napkins and other, related kitchen-y things like cookbooks, homemade chocolate and caramel sauce, fudge, drink mixers, coffee, etc. (different extras for different siblings and their significant others).  I also made a tea cozy to go with a tea pot, which I never thought I'd ever do.  I wrote a little about it on Flickr (and more context: one of the recipients is British, and into a good, hot cup of tea).

We ate our black-eyed peas yesterday.  Lots of them (for good luck).  Here's to finding a house.

Itty bitty pincushions

I just sort-of amassed embroidered birds and such this year, stitching without a purpose.  Now I know they were for the week-before-Christmas pincushion gifts.  I was so happy to have the boys out shopping while I listened to Santaland Diaries and A Very Special Sedaris Christmas, puttering away with felt and thread and Christmas gifts to come. 

I didn't know how to include lots of (cute, little-- right?) pins without potential opening/stabbing issues but figured felt scraps and ribbon would do the trick.

Two gifts done (Bam!, Bam! I want to say) and many more in piles.

Vegas is a zoo (or, What to pack for a toddler on a trip)

That was wild!  Early on I decided there's plenty of drinking, gambling and, um, skin in Vegas so the really unique and amazing sight to see was our little toddler!  He perfected his aversion and coyness skills and had a blast.  Everyone was really very kind and accommodating, we saw lots of amazing things and we had fun.  Really.  More about all of that to come but for today here's my (oh, wait... The boy's) new bag.  I don't think he actually carried it once, but I had about an hour and a half the night before we left and he needed a carry on for his first flight.  Actually I've been thinking of this bag since our summer vacation and wasn't going to let this opportunity pass (who knows when we'll ever have another trip!). 

The boy picked the zoo fabric out from the growing collection under the bed.  It's lined in red with orange on the straps (thanks to you, Trina!).  I used a thin batting in the middle with a little Peltex on the bottom for stability.  With no time for measurements I was really happy that it actually worked.  I was going to use iron-on Velcro but the messenger-style flap was big enough to keep it all in and it worked great throughout the trip. 

I said I was going to write a list of toddler traveling delights last time and forgot.  These were all really successful items for a trip with a two year old and they all fit in the zoo bag:

• tape
• solar calculator
• sticky notes
• star-shaped hole punch
• clothespin doll kit
• kaleidoscope
• lots o' snacks
• coloring books with stickers
• water bottle
• index cards
• washable crayons
• washable markers
• books
• drawstring bags with little toys
• finger puppets
• wind-up car with track

I was worried about the time we'd spend in the hotel room but the selection of things we brought with us worked out great.  I found a little wooden set of farm animals with a barn and tractor and whipped up a little drawstring bag for those before we left.  At the same discount store I found a little Manhattan Toy Co. Take & Play Neighborhood fold-out kitchen & garage (little, with people you can play with).  The whole idea was open-ended play (well, I guess it always is around here...).  We brought two of our favorite Richard Scarry books (lots to talk about with those) and two compilation books (If You Give a... stories and Curious George stories).  Including a dollar store visit I spent under $25 for a great selection of things that kept us busy for many, many hours at the airport, on the plane and in the hotel room.

I am so glad to be home.

Gee's Bend inspiration

I finally made it to the Gee's Bend quilt exhibit, braving hours of traffic to get to a town 25 minutes away.  I think, in retrospect (and after sleeping), that it was worth the drive.  The quilts are incredible.  They were displayed in a gigantic space, two rows per wall, and the only slightly disappointing part for me was that a good chunk of them were from 2003 on and I was looking forward to the older quilts.  There was a great selection of quilts made out of corduroy, most of it in that 70's avocado color you think with appliances from that era.  It took me a few minutes to find the placard but then I learned that Sears had a sewing collective in a nearby Alabama community for corduroy pillow production (thousands and thousands of pillows).  The women in Gee's Bend bought the production scraps in bundles (and were also given scraps) and utilized them in their quilts. 

The boy was desperate to see the "Big Doggy," so I didn't get to just sit and dream like I wanted.  I did come up with two quilts I need to make.  Need to make.  One I'd describe as a quarter of a log cabin square, repeated.  I know, it only makes sense in my head.  The other though was one of my favorite quilts in the show: the entire quilt was one big log cabin square.  It was fantastic.  These two quilts I need to make join the boy's quilt (#1 in line) and the Redwork in Germany-inspired quilt (#2?-- They're jockeying for position).

I loved the freedom of the quilts.  Most of them aren't precisely square.  They're very graphic but feel completely organic, as you can look and imagine how they grew.  Every scrap finds a place.  Nothing was perfect and that made them so unique and beautiful in their individuality.  There was no formula for replication.  I walked away thinking about using what you can access, making every bit matter, reworking something until it feels right to you and you alone, about how the things you imbue with your creativity become art whether they're up on a wall in a museum or not.  I think about the craft/art distinction a lot.  Why does the Big Dog automatically become "art?"  Because it's big?  Because it's made out of cardboard and nails?  Because there's no practical use for it?  Why does that mentally, automatically, usually fall into the art category before a woman's stitching?  I love the Big Dog, by the way.  I'm just saying.  They're things to think about.  Perhaps it takes a passion for doing what you love to cross that boundary into art, for going with what feels right to you and you alone.  Somehow that part of you ends up speaking to someone, and even if it never does the process and product was an organic expression of your own individuality.  Art.    

No pictures (why were they so aghast when I asked?-- I said "with no flash!") and we only broke one thing in the gift shop.  If you click on the right quilt through that link you get a bigger view of Mom's favorite.  The littlest one in our bunch cried when we left because he loved the museum so much ("More moo-moo!  More!"-- that really is "museum" and not "cow").

Fabric mitten tutorial

How to make mittens with fabric (or old sweaters) in 10 steps.  It's lots of fun and fairly easy!

Benefits: Totally flexible sizing, fun variety of styles, faster than knitting (at least for me!), great variety of patterns in fabrics, cute.

Read through all of the directions first, and just assume that you should backstitch at the start and stop of every seam.

Materials:

• 1/4 yard of fabric for the outer portion of the mittens will likely suffice for just about any size.  You'll probably have extra left over!
• 1/4 yard lining fabric ~ Try to use something soft like fuzzy flannel.
• Coordinating thread
• Elastic (1/4" works fine)
• Optional for variations: ribbon, buttons, embroidery, old sweaters

1. Trace the hand that needs a mitten with the thumb extended to around a 30 degree angle and the rest of the fingers close together (black line/inside). 

Add a rounded, mitten shape to the tracing (red line/middle).  Make sure the lines go straight down from the outer thumb and pinky (left and right) points.   You don't want to taper in at all or hands won't fit through the wrist portion (see variations for tapering exceptions).

Extend the outer line approximately two inches past the start of the wrist and approximately one inch (or just slightly less) all around the mitten shape (blue line/outer).  Taper in slightly from your inch margin where the thumb meets the rest of the mitten (so you get that little dip).  You don't have to be totally precise, just be sure you end up with a shape similar to the blue (outer) one in my photo. 

2. Cut this out and use it as a template for your outer fabric and lining.  Fold your outer fabric so the right (pretty) sides face each other.  Pin your pattern and cut two at a time for a total of four pieces.  Do the same with your lining fabric.  You should now have a total of eight mitten-shaped pieces.

3. Now it's time to add any ribbon, buttons or embroidery to your mittens.  Left and right matters at this point, so lay the outer fabric out so you can visualize which two pieces you need for adding the embellishment.  If you're looking at the pretty side of the fabric, and one piece has a thumb on the right and one piece has a thumb on the left you're set.  Add the embellishments (see notes below on variations for more detail).

4. Pin elastic to one edge of the wrong side of an outer piece, approximately two inches down (where the wrist starts).  Sew across, pulling the elastic as you go so that when you get to the end it springs back on itself and bunches the outer fabric.  Do the same on the inside of all four outer pieces.

5. Sew two outer fabric pieces together with a 1/4" seam allowance, right (pretty) sides facing and thumbs matching.  To reinforce the area you might want to sew where the thumb meets the rest of the mitten two times.  The mittens will look like this:

6. Use pinking shears to trim (regular scissors will work if that's what you have) and make a cut (with regular scissors) at the thumb to the seam.  Do the same for second mitten, then follow the same process for your lining but use a 3/8" seam allowance.

7. Turn your outer fabric pieces so the right (pretty) sides face out.  Leave the lining pieces as they are and slip them over the outer fabric pieces so the thumbs match.

8. Sew around the top leaving a turning hole.  Trim excess fabric.  Turn inside out and use a turning tool (I use a chopstick) to smooth, especially in the thumbs.  Push the lining into the outer fabric and use your fingers to match up the thumbs.

9. Iron the top and then topstitch (really close to the edge).

10. Cut your strings and celebrate!

Variations: 

• Ribbons, buttons and/or embroidery: After you cut your outer pieces but before you sew them together, add ribbon, buttons and/or embroidery.  Use careful judgment with buttons for young children and consider using waxed (tooth) floss for extra durability as you hand sew the buttons.

• Sweaters: Felt old wool (or other 100% natural fiber content) sweaters (Google: how to felt sweaters).  I used a thrifted, vintage angora and lamb's wool sweater for this variation and the mittens are so soft!  Try to re-use the wrist cuffs from the sweater if you can.  If that's not feasible just taper the wrist portion of the mittens in slightly.  The natural stretch of the material will allow your hand to fit through the taper.  I've had the best luck hand sewing the tops of such mittens rather than using the sewing machine, and I also really like the heft and warmth of a double layer (the same material for the outside and lining pieces).  I leave out the elastic with this variation.

• Ties: This creates a more decorative, special occasion mitten and is best for babies.  For younger children you should watch out for loose ribbons and you should create knots in the ribbon on each end (after the last button hole on either side) so the ribbon can't be fully freed from the mitten.  Older children can really get these caught in lots of situations so I personally only recommend this variation for very young children who aren't yet getting around much.  For tie mittens do not include a thumb portion (just trace the hand and taper out slightly on each side instead of drawing straight down).  Do not add elastic but rather, after the topstitching is complete, add button holes at several points along the path where you would normally have added the elastic (the wrist point).  Weave the ribbon through the holes (my mittens with the vintage duck ribbon each have four button holes) and tie with a bow.

• Warmth: Add a layer of warm (but thin) cotton batting in between the lining and outer fabric.  To do this cut and sew the batting just as you do the lining (like you're making two sets of linings).  When it's time to sew the layers together turn the outer fabric pretty side out (as in all other variations).  Keep the lining nice side in and slip it over the outer fabric (as in all other variations).  Then slip the batting so it envelopes the other two layers, with all thumbs in alignment.  Sew at the top and follow the directions above.

• Waterproofing: If the mittens will see a ton of snow action, you can try laminated cotton fabric (essentially a vinyl much thinner and more flexible than an oilcloth) for the outer layer.  The mittens will be slightly stiff, but they'll stay dry.

• Gift idea: Wouldn't it be fun to give a pair of mittens with a good book?  Our favorite mitten books are The Mitten, The Mitten (these first two are great for compare & contrast) and The Mitten Tree (this is my all-time favorite mitten-related story but it looks like it's hard to find now...).

Have fun!  Let me know if anything's way off here, and please show me any mittens you create (kitchentablecreative [at] hotmail [dot] com)!  There are so many opportunities for variation and creativity with these (and if you lose one you can just whip up another!).  Need a matching scarf?  I have a patchwork scarf tutorial over on the Sew, Mama, Sew! blog.  As with any of my how-tos feel free to use the process for you, your family, for your friends or for profit. 

What a weekend

I hit the book jackpot this weekend, and we (maybe) found a house.  I can't go into it because at this heightened level of anxiety actually writing about it might send me into shock/faint/unpleasantness and nobody wants that to happen.  I'm freaking out.  More to come.   

I'll just focus on mittens instead...  Soft, cashmere and angora mittens from a thrifted, vintage sweater.  The lining is an extra layer of the cashmere and the boy wanted buttons like snowflakes on them so this is the best I could do.  He's beyond the "placing things in his mouth to determine properties"-stage, and I used waxed floss (the tooth kind) to sew them on so I think they'll stick around.  Grandma gave us some beautiful buttons from her collection on Friday when we arrived for our weekly visit and the boy (unceremoniously) demanded them.  We have to work on that.  Most of these are Mother of Pearl.  Anyhow, they don't really yell out, "BOY!" but they are soft, lovely and warm. 

Handmade Holidays ~ Time to get to work!

It's here!  We've been working on this (seemingly) forever and it's a great resource for some of the best tutorials on the web.  I love it when everything is pulled together, all in one place so neat and tidy.  It seems that almost never happens in my life, but here you go...  I feel like I should pull a big sheet off the thing, toss glitter out and yell, "TA DA!"  All pulled together:

Sew,Mama,Sew! Handmade Holidays:
30 Days of Gifts to Sew

November 1 ~  Aprons
November 2 ~  Pincushions & Pins
November 3 ~  For the House
November 4 ~  Lunch Bags
November 5 ~  Tote Bags
November 6 ~  Blankets for Baby
November 7 ~  For your Purse or Pocket
November 8 ~  Whimsy
November 9 ~  Fabric Ornaments
November 10 ~ Ties and Belts
November 11 ~ Reading & Writing
November 12 ~ For the Table
November 13 ~ Placemats
November 14 ~ Kids’ Clothes
November 15 ~ Warm those Toes
November 16 ~ Gifts for the Crafter
November 17 ~ Purses
November 18 ~ For Baby
November 19 ~ Tech Gifts
November 20 ~ Gifts for Organization
November 21 ~ Pillows
November 22 ~ Fun for Hair
November 23 ~ Soft Toys & Games
November 24 ~ Sachets
November 25 ~ For the Kitchen
November 26 ~ Embellishments
November 27 ~ Gifts for Warmth
November 28 ~ Drawstring Bags
November 29 ~ Fabric Boxes
November 30 ~ Gift Compilations

For more about Handmade Holidays visit here.  Now I'm actually super-excited to start on some of my own gifts.  I spent October thinking about tutorials and sewing and presents and now I plan to spend November making said presents!

This is the last one

I forgot about these...  I found the cute umbrellas on Target clearance once upon a time and stocked up.  They needed little oilcloth totes to go with them, don't you think, for rainy day trips to the library?  Three more two year old gifts.  Phew! 

Speaking of rain, I prepared a picnic lunch for the masses (playgroup) this morning and the park was just right when we got there.  We started swinging and then came the rain, puddles, wet pants, crying, lack of appropriate weather gear and cold hands.  Luckily it was sunny this weekend and the guys were able to play lots outside while I recuperated and worked a bit on our big Handmade Holiday on the Sew, Mama, Sew! blog.  I'll link to the "here's all the buzz" post Wednesday... It's going to be completely fantastic, but I will say I've now dreamed about tutorials three nights in a row.  Better tutorials than Sopranos, I guess, because we did finally start in on the last shows.  I'm such a wuss and they're so good at toying with my emotions. 

Speaking of the holidays now, is it only me or do other people freak out just a little bit about it all at this point?  I love Thanksgiving and Christmas, carols, good will, the lights, smells, joy, and even most of the togetherness the holiday season brings.  We always debate about when the Christmas CDs can come out to play (Me: NOW!, T: Nope...).  BUT, it totally freaks me out when people talk about having everything done, X-number of presents already handcrafted, etc.  Sometimes the catalogs freak me out a bit too.  On the other hand, I totally want to be one of those people with everything done, X-number of presents already handcrafted, etc.  I want to casually sit on my couch in pajamas, sipping hot cocoa, thumbing through holiday fare while the Christmas CDs play, presents wrapped in October. 

It's never going to happen. 

Birthday crafting

This should just about finish up the two year old birthday crafting for a few months!  I mentioned the bunting in a previous, accidentally deleted post.  The gist of the mention was that I've had the fabric for this for over five months and am definitely a deadline crafter these days!  I was worried they'd look too Indy 500/Jiffy Lube-ish, but they are just plain fun.  It's a totally easy, happy, rewarding little sewing project.  I'm completely pro-bunting now.  There are lots of ways to do these, but I liked sewing them together (with a zig zag stitch) first before cutting them out (again) with pinking shears (they're two-sided).  I wanted the two sides to match up "just so" and this way they did.  I used leftover bias tape and three feet was perfect.  We have the Halloween version up now!

These crowns had about five different looks to them, but I'm finally happy with the way they turned out.  I was going for a festive/celebratory approach rather than a nature/Waldorf look.  When I taught first grade I cut heavy card stock into huge crowns and then spray painted them gold, stapling to fit on birthday mornings.  Kids felt so special all day long (wouldn't you?).  I did a rough estimation and I think I've made about 200 crowns in my life thus far!

I really like this one...

This one is my favorite of the two shower gifts.  I love this fabric (I've used it before!) and had such fun with this Disappearing Nine Patch Tutorial.  It was really, really fun to make.  I think I like this fabric because it's so good for a boy: cute but not too cute and boy but not too stereotypically boy (does that make any sense?).  This fabric, and those Pez (bits of which are in here too).

I think I might be partial to dots too, for some reason.

Quilt for Baby, using what I had

Here's the first of two quilts I made for a combined shower on Monday.  We missed the shower when the Fall o' Illness reared its ugly head once more.  But the sun is shining.  The boy is better.  And I made a quilt for a new baby, using what I had. 

Someone gave me a charm pack of Moda's Pampered Pooch and I'm not really a pampered pooch sort of gal but babies like dogs, right?  I like the high contrast too, and the colors were good for all of these new baby boys we have around here.  I cut the fabric for borders one night and forgot that I intended to put a border around each square (making the quilt bigger and spreading the busy squares out a bit).  Bigger borders and red corner squares solved the problem.  The black, batting and blue were all given to me and the back is from a sheet set on the Target clearance rack.  All in all a $2 and two hour investment but something I like and feel proud to give (it's not so wrinkly now that it's been washed; now it's just "quilty"). 

When I started really sewing again after a childhood stitching next to Mom, I made quilts for everyone.  They weren't fancy or very well-made, but I love the "building" of it all.  I love seeing what happens (I quilt like I cook... A little of this might look/taste nice?  Could this work?  No... Let's turn it into this...).  Quilt packs (prepackaged fabric and patterns) baffle me.  I like taking little bits and turning them into something bigger.  I like knowing that randomly, in future moments, someone will enjoy coziness and warmth from something I made.  More photos here, if you're so inclined.

Elephants, without slacks & heels

I made an elephant, finishing up about 30 minutes before the croup hit.  Birthday Boy wants to name him "Grandpa" but I maintain that will cause confusion.

This past week, spanning the stomach flu through croup, the boy and I have done numbers 2, 3, 7, 11, 13, 15, 19, 26, 30, 32, 34 (modified for contagion: car ride), 35, 41 and 45.  We also read countless books (over and over), did so many loads of laundry together and just sort-of wandered around trying to entertain each other in our 725 square foot quarantine zone.  During one of our doctor visits a nurse noticed my exhaustion, I guess, and asked if I'd been up all night with him (yes).  Then she asked if I worked outside of the home (no).  Then she said, "Well, that's a relief.  Can you imagine having to work when you've been up with a sick child?  Double-timing like that would be so hard. (etc., etc.)"  Oh.  Huh.  I get that dressing in slacks and heels wouldn't be my preferred dress in such a case (it wouldn't ever be my preferred dress, for the record), and if I had to interact with loads and loads of people in a job it would be hard after staying up all night.  But I'm not sitting around, snoozing in my pajamas all day (OK, maybe I stayed in my pajamas 'til noon a few days in a row).  Taking care of a really sick toddler is tough stuff, especially when you're sick too and especially when it's his birthday!  There.  That's what I wanted her to hear.  I read somewhere that often people who love to write have a distinct personality type.  It said writing gives this group of people a way to "say" what they always wish they could say but they might be too shy, contemplative, courteous, what-have-you to do so in the moment (the moment of initial interaction that sparks the thoughts).  That's me.  So, Group Health Lady, I'm beat.  A day at an office, sitting on a comfortable chair with coffee, sounds like a bit of a vacation right now.

The cupcakes don't look like much, and the whole "eating your birthday cake after an evening at Urgent Care"-thing was sort-of sad.  But the birthday bib made it a bit more celebratory.  He liked it.

Elephant data: 100% lambswool from a thrifted, vintage $2 sweater (with holes) and Trina's fabric for ears and feet.  From Toys To Sew, Pull-Along Nelly without the pull-along and named, for the moment, Grandpa.  The book was due at the library so I copied the template but wanted him bigger.  I used the highly technical let's-just-cut-the-pieces-yeah-bigger approach, to give him bulk, and I have no idea how the tummy's supposed to be put together on this fellow (didn't copy the instructions).  He's very special and unique, I'd say.  I kind-of love how, due to my sewing ineptitude, he plops on his big belly wherever he goes.  He was instantly trumped by Great Aunt Sharon's stuffed dinosaur gift, Douglas!

How to make a chalk cloth mat

How could I have left out the inspiration for that apron in yesterday's post?  Joanna's beautiful gift was so perfect when my sister and I tried to sell at the street fair.  Since Trina sells her beautiful jewelry at a market, I thought it would work well for her and I'm loving the patchwork approach these days.  It's a good way to "quilt" without the time commitment!  Phew.  I woke up in the middle of the night and, among other thoughts, realized I hadn't written all of that yesterday!

The first grader in our dinner bunch on Sunday received a chalk cloth mat.  These are such wonderful gifts for kids in a huge range of ages and though I don't have a good picture, you can sort-of see here how I do them:

1. Prepare a contrasting pocket big enough to hold your chalk.
2. Sew this on the backing fabric in the lower right corner.
3. Prepare long ties (I used bias tape but I've used ribbon before too).
4. Fold the backing fabric in half lengthwise; in the middle of this folded half side place
the ties with long part of the ties under the backing fabric.
5. Make a sandwich with the right side of your backing fabric facing the right side of the chalk cloth (ties in between).
6. Sew all around like a place mat, leaving a turning hole.
7. Turn, poke the corners out with a chopstick or other turning tool, iron (careful not to iron directly on the chalk cloth or it'll melt, melt, melt) and then stitch all round the chalk cloth mat. 

You can also give them a binding, etc.  A lot of people sell them with oilcloth on the back but I don't care for the resulting bulk (though a vinyl fabric isn't bad).  To give/store you fold in half lengthwise, pop the chalk in, roll and tie.  Ta da!

One big, long, fabric weekend

This was my weekend o' fabric.  Kristin and Lauren picked me up on their way to the Northwest Fabric & Notions Show.  I was able to see Kristin in action, buying the next big fabrics.  There was fabric everywhere.  Hanging, laying, swimming...  Well, not swimming.  But people were draping it over their arms, walking around with swatches, thumbing through books with prints of the next fabrics (surely in production around the world, waiting for their big release and my sewing machine).  I fell in love numerous times and created quite a few beautiful pieces in my mind throughout the afternoon!  Early 2008 is going to hurt our collective pocketbook, Sewing Friends.  There was a lot to see, and some of my favorite fabric designers haven't yet released their (eagerly awaited) newest lines! 

So I came home from the show and sewed until 3:30 a.m.

Then, yesterday, my cousins came to visit.  We are some sort of cousins but, though Grandma has likely told me the "step" relation many times, I'm never sure if it's second, third or whatever.  Just cousins, I'd say.  It's so much fun to hang out as adults, with kids of our own running around.  And Trina, who has a beautiful way with jewelry, brought two gigantic tubs of fabric for me.  Gigantic.  I'm a little speechless.  The ideas are swimming (there we go with the swimming again).  In a quite inadequate effort to "exchange" a bit I made her a peg apron for when she does her market stall.  I tried to incorporate some of the color I know she likes but I'm afraid I missed the mark a bit.  It does include one of my favorite vintage flour sack fabrics (the greenish with circles) and I also used a little Kaffe Fassett Paperweight which I've long-loved (oh, and that raindrop stripe...  Love that raindrop stripe).  So, anyway, the effort was there but I'll be sewing some more in a desperate attempt to somehow thank them for their wonderful generosity. 

Hurray for the best fabric shops with fantastic owners (Kristin's eye is impeccable) and cousins bearing tubs of cloth and good conversation.

Patchwork scarf tutorial

Here's what the elephant turned into.  I did a simple, "talk you through it" tutorial for an easy patchwork scarf on the Sew, Mama, Sew blog.  We're kicking Kids' Clothes Month off with a sew-along.  Ready to make one?  Let me know so I can see it!

I don't know...

A bit more "thank you for our vacation" crafting for people with new stables (perhaps for the tack room?).  I thought the Heather Ross fabric would be good for lovers of horses and really, when you have little money to spare and you need a gift for someone who can get anything they want and need?...  I think you go with what you know, throw in a little effort and hope it doesn't end up thrifted in a week!  It's not what I'd choose for myself, but I think it ended up fine.  I slipcovered the pillows (canvas-like fabric on the back with "equestrian" ties) and then whipped up a little tote with the rest of the yard.  The fabric needed a little something so I tried a fancy stitch for the first time in my life and I loved the texture.  Not too hokey, just a little puckered.  Good.  I realized I can now make a tote in fifteen minutes.

We spent Labor Day doing absolutely no labor.  I did dry tons of herbs this weekend and made successful, delicious homemade bread with my mom's recipe.  I haven't been happy with our bread machine bread, but I hate spending $3.50-$4.50/loaf for bread with some nutritional content and fewer preservatives.  Enter Mom's bread secrets, a little Canadian flour and three very full people.  I added butter, cinnamon and sugar to some extra dough for yummy cinnamon rolls.  We are stuffed.  The plan is to do one big batch every two weeks.

I cannot believe September is upon us and still have to update the calendar (and blog).  We're officially entering my favorite season.  I have an urge to make cider, break out the sweaters and sip tea by the fire (though it was at least in the high 70's here today and now we're experiencing a fantastically slap-dash loud and thrilling thunderstorm).  There's only a little, teeny part of me missing a classroom of new kids tomorrow but we have plans to head to the library, swing a bit, make muffins, do laundry and a make progress on a little coat. 

Patchwork towels + thoughts

Oops... Minor derailment from the "getting back on track" effort with a 24-hour flu bug (the boy) and resultant pick-up-the-pieces-and-do-lots-o'-laundry aftermath.  Add to that a little crafting with a deadline and I had another little blog break, didn't I?   

I do not like crafting with a deadline.  I like puttering when I sew or knit.  It just feels like too many things can go too wrong with such things (for me, anyhow), and if I can rip things out and try again it's no biggie.  When the clock keeps ticking it's more of a biggie.  Anyhow, these turned out fine and nothing went wrong.  They're exactly what I envisioned, and credit should go to Sally (of course) for being the preeminent patchwork kitchen towel inspiration of our craft blogging milieu.  We (sorely) need a set for our own house now!  My Summer of Crafting for Family Life is going to soon be my Fall of Crafting for Family Life.  When I wave to T in the morning outside the air has that crisp smell of back-to-school (slight pang still felt...  I loved calling my soon-to-be-students before school started, asking them how I'd be able to recognize them and talking about "Charlotte's Web" and such... One of the best answers for that question: "I'm a golden-haired, smart girl!").

Miscellany: Kirsten won something in that post a few back so I'm waiting to hear what/who is heading her way.  Best quote from the hundreds of posts on Bloglines when I got back was from Wee Wonderfuls: "He's gone on some sort of crazed toddler, multi-personality, power trip, tantrum freak out rampage... I half expect to find a board book version of 'Art of War' under his bed covers. He's kicking our ass."  It cracks me up and sort-of makes me want to look under the boy's mattress.  We're going through a little something here too.

This post is a little patchworky, isn't it?  I'll slowly get back to a balance (and unpack those last few things from the trunk-- Is that my way of trying to make vacation last?).  Far too many "...-":' here today, but it's this post or nothing and I can forgive the writing this once.  I forgot to mention these are some of the thank you gifts for our vacation.  We were able to stay in someone's vacation home which meant it cost us, essentially, the gas money to go (which was, essentially, the only way we were ever going to afford a vacation!).  These are for someone with a black, white and butter yellow kitchen and I'm afraid the orange might not be a good thing, though it was a good decision in the artistic sense!

Edited to add: the birds are Joel Dewberry and the brown floral is Robert Kaufman, both from Sew, Mama, Sew.  The orange is part of a Martha Stewart dish towel (my favorite!) and the white towels are waffle weave from the dollar section at Target.

 

And now for a little knitting...

We finished Harry this weekend and it was all too much to continue to cut and pile up sewing projects while listening.  I wanted to plop on the couch, relax and hear the details but if I only did that I fell asleep immediately.  So... I'm not a good knitter.  I think I hold everything too tightly and end up getting all sorts of kinks and weird things going on (and that's just in my shoulders-- I won't even get into the knit item!).  Each square's completion seemed a major (horns should toot) deal and this time I even blocked the squares which is just as satisfying as I'd heard it might be.  I'm trying to deplete the yarn piles around here.  In my imaginary world where I can carry a tune and dress in a casual, yet classic style I'm also one of those knitters.  You know the ones.  Sigh.

I was going for this.

Oh, boy - guilt - bag the second - play dough

Oh, boy
We have a little crib my parents brought over, with a small high chair that my sister and I used to play with.  The crib came with darling, little, handmade quilts and lots of memories, and the boy was enthralled.  I peeked in on him the other day, hearing familiar little crib noises and thinking, "Oh!-- He's playing with the crib!"  I've tried to model lots of "tucking Bear in for night-night," etc.  He had his Little People oil tanker fueling a hole in the crib rail and was whaling on the foot of the crib bed with his plastic hammer.   While I was watching he turned from this to the high chair and set up a wooden "train" with blocks along the tray, yelling, "Choooooo!  Chooooo!"  Boys can be so different from girls sometimes. 

Guilt
For whatever reason I'm just falling behind on everything lately.  It's just one of those "can't get it together" periods and I'm also not getting enough sleep so everything seems more overwhelming than it really is.  The little guy just completely fell apart as I tried to get him down for a nap (too tired, too much...) and I had this moment of: Oh, my goodness-- I did this same thing last night (too tired, too much...).  So.  I love the bloggerly love of returning comments and emailing back and forth and developing a community online which I really appreciate and I suppose have come to need.  I just can't get it together lately to get everything done, and emails and even commenting when I visit and think "Wow!" isn't possible.  It's 'give up hour four of four of sleep' or 'ignore the need to do what's right' and sleep wins because I know if I don't get hour four I'll be Super Crabby Mama and we'll end up with a cranky day.  I have this super-sized ability for guilt.  Last fall I realized it was special when the neighbor's gigantic maple tree spread leaves over four sets of neighbors' lawns and I felt empathetic guilt.  Like, 'if I had that tree in my yard I'd feel the need to rake everyone else's yard and bake them cookies'-guilt.  It's the neighbor's tree, trees lose leaves (every year, everyone expects it), I could care less about leaves in my yard and I was imagining feeling someone else's irrelevant, unnecessary guilt.  Which is to say not returning emails about lovely comments here and not returning kindnesses in kind (more my entitled guilt than that wrought by the neighbor's tree) has left me not wanting to stop in here.  I've kind-of been frozen.  I know, get over myself.  Anyhow, blanket apology here: I'm sorry.  And a determination to plow ahead, get out from falling behind and just let the guilt slide.  It really makes my day when someone writes that my muu-muu looks non-maternity or finds a pattern just for me or just says, "I hear you."  It matters to me a lot these days when new molars and mysterious fridge odors and too much rain become too much of all there is.  So, thank you for stopping by and I appreciate it and I'm sorry.

Bag the second
I did make another bag for Bag Month and I think I'll actually end up using this one.  Brown and blue are just about my favorite color combination these days, and I like the modified handles a lot more than the pattern's In Town (Amy Butler) handles.  Just so you know, leaving out the pocket and shortening (and widening) the handles made this a 1/4 yard exterior, 1/4 yard interior (skinny quarter yards) bag.  I think the pattern calls for a 1/2 yard of each!  Kristin wrote up a nice little post on "Staff Bags" over at Sew, Mama, Sew and also changed the blog.  What do you think?!

Play dough
Since this is a completely random post, fitting my completely random thought patterns lately, I'll just add that we tried a simple play dough recipe the other day and it was disgusting.  The boy had this "Uh, what are we doin' here, Mama?" look on his face the entire time and I just kept thinking "Thank goodness this is failing miserably with just me and my little guy and not with 25 first graders and three parent volunteers."  So, we made more of a mess with this recipe (the first one) and it was fantastic.  Name-brand play dough-like fantastic.  The link to bubbles looks like great fun too...

I like the dots.

Muumuu, maternity or me?

When I was pregnant I was surprised to discover that most of my clothes fit most of the way through.  I have a tendency to buy things way too big.  Anyhow I made a deal with myself that I'd try to buy things from there on out that actually fit me, and I've done a fairly good job with it (I don't remember what the deal involved other than the You must buy clothes that fit part).  Here's the thing though: I love this dress, modified from Built By Wendy 3835 out of one of my favorite, new-to-me prints.  The pattern is super-easy and modifying the shirt into dress length is practically on the pattern itself (someone had done this... Can't remember who, but it gave me the idea).  I'm such a clothing sewing novice and this was no problem at all, with hilarious (to me and me alone) inner dialogue going: "Oh, I see..." and "Eh? Oh! Wow..." and "There's no way this is gonna... Cool!"   It's a nice, easy pattern and I made a dress.  This picture is pre-darts.  I'd forgotten about the brilliance of darts.  It's got a smidge more shape to it now (good) and I can whip out darts like nothing (Eh? Oh! Cool...).  I'm a little concerned that it could easily take someone through at least the first half of a pregnancy (and rather than buy maternity clothing next time I would so just whip out half a dozen of these tops), and I really didn't want the muumuu look (T said, "What's a muumuu?").  I've been assured that it doesn't look like I'm wearing wallpaper and the boy said, "Aaaahhhhh" when he saw me in it.  It's light, summery, happy...   

I'm so super-cheap, you know, and I would often see how much it costs to make a certain clothing item yourself and think: Um, why?!  The other night I had about forty-five minutes free to whisk off to peruse patterns.  The next day I had fifteen minutes to sit down and catch up with catalogs (specifically Boden and the Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale catalog).  Then last night I had a free hour (I fled the house) and looked through The Loft sale racks.  I know... Where are all of these extra moments coming from?!  Anyhow, sewing epiphany hit.  This dress is made of absolutely beautiful, I-fell-in-love-with-it fabric.  I made it exactly to suit what I wanted (hemline, elastic tension... all of it).  It's so the look of things right now and I made it for under $20.  With almost no clothing experience I think I could make most of the looks in those catalogs for myself, in fabrics I love, without much trouble.  It's empowering.  Will I do that?  No.  But I could, and I can infuse a stagnant, yuck wardrobe with some nice things on our budget.  I just did.

Harry, one bag + rain (and that's about as creative as I can get in the funk of all this weather)

Harry- T's been reading the Harry books aloud in the evenings for months now.  I do formatting work on the computer, cut projects out or knit or some such thing and listen.  We both read all of the book