Three Months

6.30.2012

Yeah, we've got this smiling thing down!





But being so happy is exhausting...so now I'd just like to chill.  Ahh, that's better.


Siblings

6.27.2012


We moved a lot growing up...to the point that the only constant from year to year was family and the only playmates we could be sure to count on were siblings.  I happen to have three of them - two of which are older, one of which is younger - and I love them to death.  The relationships are not perfect -   there have been many screaming matches, months of silences, and moments where I could have killed them (and vice versa) - but in the end none of that matters.


Watching O and C interact together has to be one of my favorite things.  While O turned into an absolutely crazy kid the moment we brought C home, she never once has taken her frustrations out on the baby.  She tells her how cute she is, runs into her room to greet her when she wakes up, and tries to be as gentle with her as a three year old can be.  It's ridiculously adorable.


That said, O wouldn't be O without a little mischievousness going on.  Her new favorite thing is to tell me all of the things that C has said to her (did you know that my genius baby can talk?).  O likes to tell me "mom, the baby called me a poopy head" or "mom, the baby said she doesn't want to go to the supermarket" or my personal favorite, "mom, the baby told me that she doesn't like you."  Yep, she's trying to get her infant sister in trouble - that sounds about right for a sibling relationship.

Hello, Bandwagon. Would You Mind If I Hopped On?

6.25.2012

Have you noticed all the Wiksten tanks and tova tops all over the internet lately?  Yeah, me too.  They seem to be multiplying like crazy and I'm here to add yet another one.


I actually bought this fabric back in February when I found it in the clearance bin at Joanns and I knew that I wouldn't have much time to engage in random fabric shopping once the new little one arrived.  I even bought it knowing that someday I'd like to sew it up into a Tova top which in itself is miracle, because how many other times have I bought fabric to make something specific only to have that fabric sit on my shelf for months (or maybe even years)?  Yeah, let's not talk about that.


Fortunately in this case, I actually got around to making the top...although truth be told, it almost ended up shoved in a corner for all of eternity.  I cut out the recommended size for my bust measurement (a medium) and then tried it on after I'd sewn the inset and the front and the back.  It was humongous!  Don't believe me?  Perhaps you'll believe Ben who, when I asked him how it looked, replied "great if you're planning on gaining 40 pounds."  Not really the look I'm going for nowadays.  So I unpicked the side and shoulder seams, laid the fabric on top of the front and back pattern pieces, and recut the sides and the armholes as a size small (the inset was already finished and serged so that just stayed a size medium).


Fortunately, cutting out a size smaller seems to have done the trick.  I happen to love my new loose and comfy top....Ben, however, loves it not so much.  He told me that he doesn't understand why I keep making all these oversized, non-fitted tops and so I had to sit his booty down and explain that:

1) I just had a baby.  Does it look like I want to wear a bunch of fitted clothes?
2) If he'd like me to keep feeding his child out of my boob-a-las then he better get used to loose tops because you can't exactly pull up fitted woven tops to breastfeed.

And then a look of realization came over his face and he declared how much he likes my new top.

There, that's better.

Sometimes It's Tough Being 3...Or Is It That You Have To Be Tough To Be 3?

6.21.2012


Twirly Skirt

6.19.2012

How timely that Kristin wrote a post the other day about sewing confessions, because I happen to have one of my own - my child rarely wears the things that I make for her.  Instead she much rather wear a ridiculously long Christmas dress that one of our neighbors passed down to us.  Or a ladybug costume that is two sizes too small so that it can no longer be snapped under her crotch (hello, world, look at my underwear!).  Or she'd just like to run around in a tutu.  I'm slowly learning to make my peace with her fashion choices and am coming to the conclusion that if I want her to wear the things that I make, then I should probably make things that she'd like to wear.


And that's where Dana's tutorial for a simple circle skirt came into play.  You see, O is obsessed with twirling lately and she likes nothing more than standing in front of our fireplace and watching her reflection in the glass as she twirls around (on a side note, we may be raising a narcissist...).



I was hoping then that perhaps if I sewed her a twirly skirt she might actually wear something that I made.


And I'm happy to report that it appears to have worked.  You see, these pictures were actually taken on a day that O picked out her very own outfit.  That's right, she actually chose to wear the skirt that I made.  Hallelujah!


Who Would've Thought?

6.17.2012


Ben and I met when I was a wee-little 19 year old and he was all of 20.  We'd seen each other in chemistry class (that's right we had chemistry together - insert pun here) but didn't speak to each other until one night at a party.  Our story begins with both of us being drunk, making out, and Ben throwing up on the sidewalk later that night.  Most stories would end around that time too, but somehow the two of us have stuck with each other over the past 13 years.  We've been through excellent times together and some less excellent times together but it still amazes me when I look at him and realize that he's a father - my children's father.  Who would have thought that we'd end up here?  And I can't help but think how lucky we are to be here.

Happy Father's Day, Ben!

Random Randomness

6.13.2012

- it's June and our heat came on the other day.  That's how damn cold it's been around here lately.  Not cool, people.  Not cool.

- O has decided that she would no longer like to be potty trained and has taken to peeing in her underwear.  And yesterday, right before going to bed for the evening she pooed in her diaper.  It's been ages since she's done that.  And do you know how big a three year old's poo is?  Unfortunately we now do.

- I keep saying to people "I don't know what's wrong with me.  I just feel so tired."  And then I remember "oh yeah, I haven't had a full night's sleep in two and a half months" (actually longer than that since I had some lovely pregnancy-related insomnia going on).  Man, sleep deprivation sucks.  In fact, if I were a chubby two month old baby, this is totally the face that I would make at sleep deprivation.



Mid-Year Resolutions

6.11.2012

I realize that I'm approximately six months late to make a New Year's Resolution, so let's just call this a Mid-Year Resolution, shall we?

Here goes - I resolve to try my hand at pattern alterations to make the items that I sew more wearable and more to my liking.

Sure, I've made minor alterations to patterns in the past - took a in seam here, let out a seam there, added a little bit of length  - but I've never made large (or even medium) alterations to patterns.  And because of that I've been limited to whatever options the patterns offer, even if I'd like something a tad bit different.  So if you need me, I'll be over here summoning up some courage over the next couple of weeks to cut up some patterns and perhaps draft some extra pieces in an attempt to make some awesome clothing (ha!).


First up on my Mid-Year resolution list was a desire to sew a simple woven shirt with a low back.  I chose Grainline Studio's Scout Woven Tee as a starting point and made a simple alteration by lowering the neckline on the back of the pattern by about six and a half inches.  I happen to think that it makes the shirt a little "business in the front, party in the back" (well, a very mild party in the back...).


The amount that I ended up cut off in the back is a bit wide so I'm a little worried abut the shoulders slipping off but if it becomes too much of a concern I can always break out a safety pin or two and pin the shoulder seam to my bra strap (you won't tell anybody, will you?).  And I'm thinking that if I make this top again (which I no doubt will) I'll make it just a tad bit longer and probably in one size smaller so I get a bit of a better fit around the shoulder area.

In any case, my first attempt at fulfilling my Mid-Year's Resolution appears not to be too much of a disaster and truth be told, I actually really like wearing this shirt.  I love that the neckline is finished with bias binding and that I took the time to do french seams on the inside.  And look, I even made an attempt to match the horizontal pattern on the fabric at the side seams.


Would you look at me - actually paying attention to detail!

Pattern: Grainline Studio's Woven Scout Tee
Size: 8
Fabric: Anna Maria Horner's Village Path Sea from the Little Folks line

Three Out Of Three

6.03.2012

It seems that lately I can find time to sew but getting a picture taken of what I've made has somehow turned into the world's biggest hassle.  If I put the item on in the morning, there's no one around to be my super-star photographer and by the evening it's either a wrinkled mess or covered in spit-up.  Granted, I could just put it on in the evening to take a picture, but that is by far my laziest time of the day.

And as for writing an actual blog post...well, let's just say that I've started this one approximately five times and have never gotten around to finishing it (I just hope that I actually finish this one).

Which is a very long-winded way of saying, that while I can manage to squeeze in sewing here and there, the other two things somehow never seem to get done so it's a small miracle that I've gotten all three things done today.


This top is made from McCalls 5388 which I bought ages ago and am only now getting around to making.  Somehow I must have inherently known to wait to sew this until after I had baby #2 because this style is very forgiving to the post-partum body (thank you loose and flowy tops!).  Based on some reviews that I found online that mentioned that the yoke was rather large, I shortened the yoke by one inch which seems to have worked well for the fit.  The top also came out quite long (although I probably could have figured that one out just by looking at the picture on the cover of the pattern...duh!) so I ended up taking up about 5 inches in the hem.  And in an attempt to be more thoughtful about the things that I make (rather than just rushing through them like I have a bad habit of doing) I used french seams throughout the top (well, except for the armholes...let's not get crazy, people), made my own bias tape to finish the back of the neckline, and decided to gather and finish the sleeves with bias tape rather than use encased elastic.


I have to say that I'm really happy with the little changes that I've made and am hoping that this will be the beginning of me not blindly (and often stupidly) following all pattern instructions.  Here's to me actually using that soft, squishy thing inside my very hard head...I knew it was going to be good for something.


Pattern: McCalls 5388
Size: 10
Fabric: Maybe Sixpence from Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush line