The Murray bits

We went to Murray, KY today - to see the oral surgeon for my wisdom teeth.  They gave me the news, not quite as bad as what I thought it might be...but still, it will take some planning to do what, to them, must be done. *Sigh*  Onward.

I stopped at the Murray Sewing center, and splurged on a yard of fabric that will become part of a new dress for Esme.  I need to weed out some of her things, as well...and I wanted to replace like for like.  I chose this

I had wanted a 'red calico' print with some blue in it.. which turns out to be hard to find.  Out of all of their stock, this was about the only thing that fit the bill.  I had searched our local place as well and not found anything that satisfied the idea.  Esme had pointed out several bright pink monstrosities that could have bee made into something nice...Mark indicated a pattern full of purple and green squirrel silhouettes (which would have made awesome pants) but my heart was set on a 'timeless dress'.  I have never made anything as beautiful as her Navy blue dress with Pockets, which had a little rose motif on it.  I have tried a few times to emulate it...but failed. The next decision on this one is to go with the apple green mixer print I have in my stash, or the bright red solid- for the skirt. I imagine this for the bodice front and back.. one yard should do that.

I have downloaded some English poetry in Amazon's free Kindle books - to browse after I finish the Emily Starr trilogy. She mentions so many of them in this series.  I have read all of them here and there ...but never had them so closely at hand as to read them when I wished.

We are home now, chickens fed and a relaxing night ahead of us. And I have tomorrow off, so there might be some time to sew.  The fabric is washing and drying...I should go pick out a pattern as that takes me longer now that she is bigger than it ever used to.

Stencil paint a tea towel with fabric medium and cardstock

 I am using fabric medium, which is a clear fluid meant to be mixed with regular acrylic paints in order to turn them into 'fabric paints'.  You could use straight fabric paints if that is what you have.  Remember to heat set them as directed.

I chose an old tea towel that had been through the wash quite a few times - for practice, and to see how long this fabric medium will wash.  Since I could not find my Xacto knife, I cut a simple botanic border in chunky geometric shapes using a pair of craft scissors.

I painted along the edge of the bottom between the 'leaves' and 'flowers' to create a border stripe and to help to line them up so I could repeat the pattern across the bottom of the towel.

When it dries, I will heat set it and throw it through the wash with something that won't matter if it bleeds through - like garden jeans etc etc.  I really like it, and hope it lasts well.  Wondering if maybe to mix up a second color and make some splotches and dots in a few of the shapes, or to leave it all one color.

a second time around, with a straight piece of paper laid out to create the border diagonally across the corner of a worn teatowel.  Use a good flat brush and place something absorbent behind the towel, like cardboard - or something tough, (as shown) like the top of a Sterilite or Rubbermaid container.  I used the container top because it is easy to wash off and as it is used for fabric storage, doesn't need to be pretty and perfect anyway.

Be creative, Enjoy!

 Esme helping out after she came home from school.

 

Thanks to Daddy for sweet pictures :) 

I am drawn to pattern... perhaps I am a gypsy?

The striped knitted blanket I've been working on since December, and a patchwork quilt that gets a few rows put on it every few months or so... it's about two or three years old now.  Today I may be finally ready to put the yellow diamond/triangle area onto the square part of the quilt.  It has been in progress for the past month or so and finally got to the proper width.

I can say I am drawn to the 'Bohemian' pattern and decorating style.   When I search through home decorating catalogs and websites I always end up saving the things that are full of intricate pattern and color.   It really isn't a surprise.  We live in the middle of the woods with ten dogs, live close to the land all summer and make as much of what we own as I can.  I am always telling Esme we can make that - or do something like that... and she also appreciates how much of the house has been made by 'us'.

Everything I make ends up being so brightly colored, unique and full of pattern and details that sometimes take much longer than anyone else would spend on them..... I get bored with one pattern in something - I start another.. and it all seems to fall together.  My art is like this, as well - intricate pen drawings that curl and squiggle and burst into color here and there...telling stories with animals and flowers and geometries that blend into each other as they move from one side of the page, to another.  Layers on layers of meaning... histories... time and thought encapsulated into craft.

Oh, and I wove more on the rug last night, added several more color bands.  Esme said it would be her rug - as the one she had in her room (that was made on the loom last year) was trashed in the water incident in January.  I had been planning to make a chair cushion cover out of it... but I think it is probably about the right size for her room in front of her bed.

Also, because of the weaving I felt like I was beaten this morning - had forgotten how much my arms and shoulder muscles - and back and hip muscles as well - used to hurt from the sitting upright, balancing the loom and moving the yarn back and forth again and again... it is a workout these muscles aren't used to anymore...

//note for later
Esme is outgrowing everything again.  I need to patch a few pairs of pants that have now become capris (highwater by two inches or more!) and go through the fabric stash to see what is available to make her some more.  measurements 25ch, 22w with 24 inch outer hip-ankle measurement - hemmed pants to 26 inch total length from Simplicity 8717 size 6.

Simplicity 8717 red and white and black

It is 'red and white and black day' at school tomorrow for Dr. Seuss.  We have black pants but nothing red and white for a shirt.  I bought this fat quarter at a small local business, Mockingbird Threadworks of Huntingdon, TN and hope to just barely squeeze the front facing and both sleeves out of it.  I have had this white striped red fabric for a while and it should do up nicely with the other fabric and still not be 'too' busy. 

 

The sleeves turned out great, but I had to do more to the bottom than the original pattern had to make it work.  I just didn't have enough width left in either the stripe, the fat quarter or anything else except the 'first villages' red, white and black fabric - which was so busy.  It did end up getting used though, as the back of the front facing and all of the back bottom facing (see last picture).

 

All four of the catahoula hounds had to get in on the act.
This is my favorite picture in a while!

 She is ready for Cat in the Hat day, tomorrow, at school.

Making the bottom edge match up was the hardest thing I've done in a while.

There was no leeway, as the front edge was already done and I had to use a little origami, tack it, then sew it in place.

New blue shorts set and calico puppies growing up

 This is the matching set she asked for the other day... she needed more playclothes and said she wanted them to match each other like the purple set I made a while back.  She is playing Minecraft on the computer.

Caught a shot here with Daddy and the calico puppies Sweetie (left) and Spud (right).  They are growing up, and so is Esme.  She is getting so tall.  She had written a letter to Gw today and begged me to deliver it to her father at my work.  It was the first thing she asked me about this morning.. and the first thing she asked after I got home from work.

Purple sundress and lightning bug hunter

sundress from scrap fabric

tieback sundress with lined top and long skirt

pictures courtesy of Mark

The fabric was from the flea market and it was already cut up in to long narrow pieces, so the front top is pieced vertically and the back top is pieced horizontally - with long tie straps out of several other pieces and the skirt of course pieced vertically out of the the rest.  Not too bad, considering - although the plaid mismatches all over from that.  In another fabric the same weight, it would be as nice, but it might not have come together the same way - as I did not use a pattern for the skirt and placed the pieces over another dress of mine to see how to cut and join them.

I really like the way it swishes and after making the skirt part (which was my original intention) it seemed to require a top that matched it and could 'hang' the skirt in a looser manner than a drawstring, zipper or elastic.  Esme and I also made cupcakes today, and she took a few up to Grandma with some watermelon.


Esme, the lightning bug hunter

She told me today that she says the WHEN now, not the FROM - the FROM makes the head go explode, so she says the WHEN now, is that good?  Well, yes... that sounds wonderful!  Thank you!  She is also saying things like 'ally-oop', 'eureka', 'luigi' and other words I have never heard her say before.  She asked me if dinner was a meal.. to which of course I said YES, and she said good, it will make her grow.  On the other hand - we had a discussion about her wanting to stay this size to play, and what a flea market was (when she knew what it was after I told her about giving away kittens there before).  When we were at the flea market she said 'oh, this is the yard sale.'  She is in the bath and there is school tomorrow... she found a little mud outside like usual ;) and a frog which she wanted me to take a picture of (A Mama frog with all the colors and the legs that go up and go down and she is stuck.. oh, (she went away))

bits

We have had a bit better attitude since yesterday... glad for the turnaround, and hope it lasts. I have not heard the results from the speech tester. The yellow/green fabrics I ordered from Sew Fine Fabrics on Etsy has arrived. It arrived very quickly, indeed! I have cut out a shirt from the sheep fabric and the other fabric is ready to cut another night. Normally I would have cut and sewn the shirt - but I was feeling a little drained. I sat and sewed yarn tails up on unfinished washcloths while Esme blew bubbles downstairs and played 'let's go to Jackson' with her bus and people figures. She did not cry as much this time when I had to go to sleep before her.

fabric buy and pretty heavy storms

I splurged the other day and sent away for some 'Lunch Box' yellow plaid fabric from Michael Miller, for a new jumper for Esme. Then, I added on a half yard of an organic cotton with yellow and black sheep on it - for a camp shirt :) That is my budget for a couple of months *yeep*. Now, we are also under tornado watch for the night, with some pretty heavy thunderstorm cells coming in all night. So, we are watching the radar. Mark will probably be sitting up for a little while after Esme and I are asleep. He says it looks like loud scary storms on the weather radar, a long diagonal 'red' line of severe activity that is near Memphis. I have to work very early again tomorrow... way too early for sanity.

Since the first evaluation I am convinced Esme knows what we were doing there - she has been listening to more new combinations and trying to take corrections. My main hope for this Wednesday evaluation is to find out where to direct her better and what we need to practice more on. Last night when I was tucking her in she noted I said 'We need to tuck Cookie Rabbit in so she'll be warm. Let's tuck her in.' And she said 'Cookie Rabbit, she, her?' That made me stop in my tracks... she's right. I sometimes call Cookie Rabbit a 'him' and sometimes a 'her'. I never mix my genders in the same sentence/thought, but I do not call her consistently one gender or another. It can't be easy at all for her when Mama changes things up like that without really thinking about it myself! So, I'm trying to watch my own language a bit more too.

Wind and Butterflies

I am further amazed by our garden today - I have no pictures of the produce but there is another hearty soup of tomato and shelled beans brewing downstairs. There were a few small green peppers and plenty of green tomatoes to pull and bring inside to turn. There were dried beans of both Shackamaxon and Whipporwill cowpeas and a few beautiful Mayflower beans. The Whipporwills have increased their numbers from 9 seeds planted to nearly fifty saved, and many more eaten. I do think they are a local 'landrace' as they came from Waverly, TN via a now closed Etsy shop. They are almost as constant as the black eyed peas and much easier to collect, peel and save. In other words, I like them a lot ;)



And I was also amazed by the butterflies on the zinnias. Dozens and dozens of them. Just begging to be photographed.



Esme also begged to be photographed ;) The wind was high out there - so she was having a great time playing with the sand but a hard time keeping her hair out of her eyes. That really isn't anything new for her or me.



We also stopped at the Quilting Bee in Camden and Esme got to pick out her fabric for a dress. She picked out a green 1930s reproduction that reminded me of Christmas lights. She was very sweet with the lady there, who was not feeling well with what sounded like a kidney disorder (not a cold/flu type not feel well). She asked the lady very very quietly if she could take a nap on the pretty blanket she showed to her. The lady did not understand, she said it so softly. I told her no, we would have to nap on blankets at home. She then insisted on giving the lady a kiss before we left. That purchase was not part of her birthday money - more Mama's allowance, as we rarely get over there to visit. Esme did get to spend some of her birthday money on a pack of pipe cleaners, pom poms and a big pack of glitter paint in the craft section, and an elephant book. She still has a lot left but was overwhelmed with just those things and wanting to play with them. I will put the rest away for her for a little while and keep it in mind when she asks for something.

On the way home we stopped at an Amish sign for Apple Cider and picked up a jug. Grandma and Grandpa will have to help us drink it. It is very good but Mark says it will not last long. The children there all ran away when we pulled up - but they had button-back dresses and overalls on, and no shoes. Esme was all ready to go with them but I stopped her and kept her by the truck. She really wanted to play with them. The older girl that helped us I am sure would have liked to talk to Esme more but I know they are not supposed to - so I guess it was my own 'formality' that kept back that opportunity. I could hear her German accent when she said 'come Matthew' to one of the younger children. Those words in English and German are nearly identical, but there is different emphasis. Mark said he thought she did want to talk to us more - and that it might not have been such a bad thing to let Esme run after the other children...

//notes//
Since I bought fabric today in Camden I feel I shouldn't do too much in Jackson.... practicality gene kicking in again. Even though I just cut out a dress from the fabric I bought today and am well set to have that sewn this weekend or sooner. Grandma said it wasn't often I got to Jackson.. so should take the opportunity. Rats, because.. she's right. I will enjoy going there and seeing what Esme and Grandma like. I have a red calico fabric in my mind's eye that I have not seen in reality yet. Last time Esme was at that fabric store she picked out the Osaka dress fabric and her red pants which are both still in good use.


zinnias in November


this butterfly seemed to say: 'Whee! I'm an airplane!'
It made me laugh quite a bit when I saw it in the camera queue.

Highwater pants, bookstores and winter fabrics

It is Mark's birthday tomorrow - so we went to Jackson unexpectedly for him to pick up some new books that had been released. His big find was John Scalzi's 'Agents to the Stars' in hardcover, as well as some Charles Stross and David Weber paperbacks. He is curled up on an electric blanket now snuggled in the bed and reading one of them.

Esme was a VERY good girl in the bookstore, for a three-year-old. She ran around the room a lot, but did not bump into anyone, knock anything down and never went out of my sight. She also put everything she had picked up or investigated back in the right place and did not complain or cry about it. And when we were ready to go we put back the horse on a stick she was carrying and went to go see Daddy in the car. I had jellybeans I had bought for her at the coffee shop there - so there was a brief 'put me down!' when I started to carry her out but it was immediately followed by 'oh jellybean! 1 2 3 jellybean box please!' I said out loud to a store lady that a jellybean box was not a bad idea at all, considering the alternative ;) She thanked Esme for putting the horsie away where he lived ;)


Highwater pants.
A good example of how much she has grown!

In the picture she has her knee up, but these pants are highwater by several inches when standing. I'm sure I've made these not too long ago... Mark called them the 'golfer' pants. The bee raglan shirt she is wearing under the jacket is getting tight around the middle, too. So - it is definitely time for me to get cracking on new larger clothes.

Mark's aunt Dot called while we were in transit - and she was extremely tickled by the pictures and card I had sent her earlier this month. I am glad she was so happy :) She gave me further encouragement to make a book out of all of the craft and clothing projects I've made for Esme over the years. It would be a huge endeavor!


'Memories of Osaka' floral fabric

While we were all the way in Jackson, Mark said it would be a waste of a trip if I didn't go to Hancock Fabrics... Even with the latest influx of fabric I was left hunting through my stash for a few coordinates (and not finding them) and was running out of both colors of brown thread. So, I conceded ;) how could I not? I also let Esme choose a few other things within a small budget.

Esme chose this brown and pink floral. I would not have chosen it myself, even for her... but she was adamant about it. She wanted THAT dress... Hmm. I can see something very classic in it that will get a lot of use and wash well. So, a good choice. It was also the most expensive thing on the receipt! The kid has taste, apparently. I spent less than half of what I had at the Murray Sewing Center...but that is why I chose to go to Hancock's instead of the specialty store in Jackson. It wasn't my birthday ;) and I really only needed solids -- everything else was extra.


other browns and a red

The red fabric was also Esme's choosing, for pants - she said. I really thought she meant something else next to it - with dragons... but no, she pulled this whole bolt into the cart saying that THIS one the pants (and the floral the dress and everything else.. well the pants). I think I bought enough! She wanted some red plain fabric for pants, too - but I told her I had it at home. She really likes RED! The brown fabrics are solids meant for coordinating the fabrics from the last trip, and a blue floral I was surprised to see since the last time (6 months plus) I was in that store. I bought a half yard of the blue just because it still 'spoke' to me after all that time as something I wished I had gotten then.


The project at hand

And this is the Cinderella dress - inside-out and hanging in the window for adjustment. It is half done and ready for the skirt to be better distributed about the waistline... when that is done properly I can sew it on and be ready to put the sleeves in and finish the rest of the hems and zipper. The sleeves will be some of the soft blue from the last batch of fabrics. Can you believe this is the same pattern as the cow dress? Butterick 2194.

I've moved my sewing machine back upstairs because it is just too COLD downstairs even in the middle of the day. Hopefully that will help me get more work done again. I had moved it down there a few months back when Esme was in her bubble obsession and didn't want to come back upstairs with me.

Sewing machine rant : The machine is a Singer Advance 7422. It wants to be a pain mostly when the bobbin thread is low... and especially when there is fuzz collected there. It starts churning and burbling and threatening to sieze. If it does sieze it throws the entire bobbin carrier into the back of the machine and nibbles on it with the needle before coming to a stop. That doesn't kill it, but it is a very tough thing to unravel and make right again. I have to take the cover plate off with a very tiny screwdriver (or a bobbin), clean out any fuzz in there, realign the carrier, fill the bobbin with new thread (emptying out the last few yards on it) and then reassemble everything and start over. And then it acts like normal... until the bobbin thread gets low again and it starts it's wobble all over routine again. Apparently... this is a common problem with this machine and it just needs a 'onceover' often. Mark is buying me a new bobbin case for it for Christmas :) The part is a 051045 Singer item (future reference) and they are apparently hard to find!

Fabric hug and Fabric Fly

Esme's reaction to newly washed and dried fabric.


I hide, I fly!

'flying' with fabric into Mom's pillows


Esme: I hug!
Mumum: Really, child?


Sweet smile

Fabric splurge

December road trip stash

Today was our road trip to the 'Murray Sewing Center' in Murray, KY. My friend George at work said his wife bought beautiful fabrics there. We left at ten this morning and got back at three - so it really isn't as far as Jackson is, which usually takes most of the day. Jackson has more highway nonsense and lane changes etc. And yes, I spent a bit more than I really meant to - but I plan to make another jacket with the brown floral, and clothes for Esme with the rest of them. Mark said for the first time in a very long time I spent more on my fabric purchase than he did on the movie he bought. He said I had to remember that one :) I'll probably get five pieces of clothing for Esme out of here (I planned around what I had at home for matches/sleeves/trim etc.) and the jacket for myself. I showed Esme a green tree fabric and she demanded to find a purple tree. Good thing I found one! The two basic colors are to match to the 'purple tree' fabric Esme found - and things I should keep on hand but haven't with all the bother the local fabric counter has given me.


Robert Kaufman 'Whispering Woods' fabric
aka 'purple tree'

Esme found a 'Scooby Doo' doll next door at an indoor flea market, and she was excited about that. He was tucked in with a lot of toys on a shelf and she pointed him out to me. I was surprised she remembered the cartoon (we had it on the other day) enough to tell me his name and ask please Scooby Doo doggie??

The 'Disney princess' fabric is one I was going to buy at the local fabric counter, but the lady walked away. Since we happened to go to the Murray WM afterward for the movie, I stopped at their fabric counter and picked it up. Their lady was very nice and extremely busy - despite being in cramped quarters with a line.

Other pretties: (fabric pages)
multicolored Zoologie owls
caramel holly
blue umbrellas
green storm waves
pink blossoms

Note: I squeaked all but the sleeves of a raglan shirt out of the princess fabric. I made the skirt just an inch shorter and getting all the skirt pieces AND bodice pieces out of a half yard is an accomplishment. Especially when this fabric is a one-way and I was fussy-cutting a 'Cinderella' figure directly in the middle of the front of the shirt. Esme loves Cinderella and "reads" the book nearly every night before she goes to sleep :) I got the long sleeves cut out of the blue fabric from the apple shirt skirt. I think I'll cut out several projects to keep downstairs by the sewing machine - and then I can get a seam or two done in betweeen what Esme wants to play down there without walking all the way back upstairs for something (and getting wait me! wait me!)

Red raglan shirt with the birds

It was so cold last night! I got up in the middle of the night and put on a second shirt and another blanket on the bed! I tucked Esme into her blankets as well, but that lasted maybe five minutes before she threw them back off....oh well, we try. I think I sewed for about three hours last night and Esme fell fast asleep watching Spongebob, which she calls 'BeeBob'.

I was 'bad' last night on the way home from work - I was supposed to buy a can of coffee - for myself - and instead I couldn't resist this bird fabric and put the coffee off until after the weekend. I still have a little coffee at home, and inspiration is worth it. If you know me well - that is a big statement to hear! I just saw little raglan sleeves made out of the bird fabric! I had also bought some regular sleeve fabric (white on white) and fell for a red fabric with white flowers that was actually not even unwrapped yet. I kept staring at it while she cut the other two and finally asked if it was for sale yet - and she unwrapped it and cut me a half yard ;) I spent five dollars on all three fabrics but being unexpected I still count that as a splurge. I know I have so much fabric I can use at home - but they keep threatening to close down the department at that WM and when I see something I would really like - I worry it won't be there soon. I think they have it all planned that way - because I saw a LINE at the counter that night to buy fabric. The red fabric this shirt is made of is a regular polycotton. It is from my stash. So, I am using my stash fabric up as well! Polycotton doesn't stretch as much or lay as nicely as pure cotton but I wasn't willing to cut into the other fabric without having the pattern planned out better.


I did not brush her hair out before the picture - because then she would expect to go to town/Grandma's house and bug me mercilessly. I'll brush it out later when we really will go to Grandma's house (we hope)

I searched through my patterns and could not find the front pieces for the raglan pattern at all :( So I tried once again to make it up - and ran into a tiny problem with the underarm of the sleeve in the front. It was not as bad as I thought it would be when I tried it on her - it just pulls a tiny bit when she reaches far forward. I'll try to fix that when I cut into the rest of the fabric I bought.


If you look right under and behind the arm you see the 'pull'
The neck would lay better in a different fabric
but I might also cut it a bit deeper on the next.


The black fabric has little white quails on it in leaves

I put the circle in the front of the bodice while Esme was playing longer in the bathtub. I felt bad about losing that odd corner of the fabric without anything to do with it - and decided that was a good use for it.

Mama make the pink this one shirt the dress the shirt

This is a 'mama please' expression I don't often catch on the camera.
It's kind of like the 'dog face' from the movie BOLT *hehe*


"Mumum make the pink, this one shirt the dress the shirt..." That is Esme-speak for 'Mama please make this dress here and make it out of this pink fabric.' She definitely tells me what she wants, although she does change her mind often! She has really been into the idea of pink color lately, since a little before that pink sweatshirt came into our lives (put upon bunny dog post) but definitely en force since then! I finished the OTHER pink dress but left off the red gingham ties for now... Mark isn't sure it needs it but I might make some thin ties for it later anyway. Now, I have another pink one to make.


McCalls 7708 copyright 1965

Esme wants the white one in the top left, but in pink... or she just wanted the windmill toy. She also wants the red balloon. I'm much more partial to the top right or the bottom center... for reasons of ease of edge finishing.


bodice facing for 'D' top center

AFTERNOON: Esme is napping. I'm staring at this bodice facing. It is supposed to be sewn face-to-face and then turned inside out and finished some more. It hurts my brain a little I think.. but not as much as the view 'E' top left that Esme wanted! For some reason they want you to finish that one inside-out and then baste the edge and turn it right-side out and stitch on a braided trim. I was thinking of bias cut fabric could work for it... maybe that would be second-time-around try. It's funny: the views I thought were easiest to make (A,C) were the exact and only one cut out of the 1965 pattern. All the rest of the pattern pieces were uncut and intact. I'm cutting out D,E now and reading ahead.

Mark read my post yesterday about needing to make more clothes - so he tried his hand at this.



I told him tubes don't wash well ;) He said we'd just throw her out in the rain. Haha! He is kidding, of course. It says 'if found return to:' and 'reward - one oatmeal cookie' on it in magic marker.

I made the paper tube into a tree with cardboard leaves after she got out of it. Then we made a construction paper family of brown bears with 'honey' and other food which were just squares of other colors of paper I had lying on the table. She is still playing that game with it this morning. They jump down the hole into the bottom of the tree, she tosses 'food' into them.. she makes 'eating' noises and then she pulls the tube back off the pile of bears/squares and picks them up to start again. It is extremely cute. She was trying to explain it to my mom on the phone last night but my mom of course could not see any of it and had a very hard time understanding her. Esme kept saying 'it fantastic Nana! Fan-TAS-TICK!' And then she would roll into laughter and Nana would, too.. and they had a lot of fun with hardly any 'real' conversation at all.

NIGHT: Woohoo! It probably took me an hour to cut out the dress - as I was very careful with the pattern. I also tend to take breaks in between cutting bits of the dress out (facing / bodice / skirt) or I get frustrated with it in an odd way. And then it took exactly four hours (but there was also dinner in there after Esme woke up) to sew the entire thing up and try it on Esme. It fits a little large, and the skirt is SO poufy she looks like a flower fairy! I am proud of it, and I think she is, too. Pictures tomorrow I hope! And second time around - there probably will be one, with a slightly smaller bodice back piece and much less skirt. The bodice facing I was thinking would be hard was actually quite elegant... I like how they did that!


link to the post with the finished pictures of this dress

Mama the tailor (ramblings from the sewing of toddler clothes)

I know I'm in the minority, but it makes more sense to me to measure a child and make clothes for them than for a company to make twelve thousand of a certain item in a certain size and then try to find children to fit them. And I do understand that by automating clothing they become a lot cheaper... but they also become lower quality or 'all alike'... so I am continuing to be 'Mama the tailor' for as long as I can keep up with it. It isn't easy! She just keeps growing *wink* and she's not easy at all on the clothes themselves. I wouldn't expect her to be - and I wash them hard, too - so what isn't stained or torn is faded from overwashing! I was looking for something for Esme to wear to the bank this morning and it was slim pickings. The recently made green shirt was about the only one that was in really 'nice' condition - and she wore that last time they saw us *hmm*.... I was lucky it was colder out in the morning so I found one of her long sleeved raglan tops.

And so, I need to start another round of clothes and separate quite a few more of what she already has into different sets.

And *growl* another local WM stopped selling fabric. The few like-minded ladies at work were complaining about it. Now we are down to one - and they keep threatening to stop. I've been told of two new family businesses selling fabric in the area - but both are very hard for me to get to. I'm on the fence whether I should visit one tomorrow on my day off or sew a few new items for Esme in that time from what I have. I picked up another yard of pink fabric for Esme tonight with butterflies on it. That was from the one local WM that IS still carrying fabric. I think she'll love the 'flutterbugs.' Also I was given about five pounds of buttons from someone at work - so many little delicate pink ones in them... they gave me more influence to make another pink dress or a lightweight pink jacket.

I also got some more brown thread for sewing Esme's woollen jacket, which is cut out but I was almost out of brown thread and really didn't want to compromise to red.

Also: My friend Melanie says it is not just a good idea for kids - but she wants to be measured and sewn for, too! haha. I've made myself a few things this past year that I still wear often, but almost always at home. Finishing adult clothes just seems a lot harder - more people pay attention to the details etc.... and they require more fabric, and more ironing! And I know I'm a sewing geek -- today I was staring at my manager's sleeve and commented to her that the little gathering of darts there at the short sleeve cuff was really pretty. Secretly I wanted to take that cuff apart and look at the way it was made. Ha! So - when you are staring at or following people around trying to figure out how that dart is made or that sleeve is cut etc.. maybe you are a sewing geek ;) I know so many people think I am staring at their collars really hard, too, but don't have any idea why!

Fabric bonus and pattern thoughts

Received some bright polycotton solids and a bit of other assorted fabric from a lady at work today. This was a bag she had laying in a craft room and stumbled across it. It is all in good condition - and I promised I'd see what I could do with it. There is a nice piece of long white curtain fabric that is almost exactly like the fabric on the sleeves of Esme's last shirt.

I have been looking through old patterns again on the Internet. It is sad I can think through what most of the adjustments would be from patterns I already own. Well, not sad for me, just for the pattern seller! A few of those also show the pattern pieces from the back of the envelope - which feels like cheating ;) I saw a child's sundress with huge pockets someone wants 15.00 for as 'antique.' They showed the pattern pieces and I am going to try to work it up using of my other patterns as a base. Esme would love the pockets!

Not a whole lot else today - had to work very early and we did grocery shopping after work. Esme was extremely good at the store. We had supper but she didn't want to eat much. I have tomorrow off.. and maybe Esme will stop running full speed tonight long enough for me to start a project ;) Yea, right haha.

Feeling green coalesces

Little green dresses start to come together
can't you just tell the left side of the worktable is where Esme sits and plays?

I cut out the green dresses last night - and maybe will start sewing on them after we get back from town. Both of these dress tops (and unseen short sleeve pieces) came out of the fat quarters from the quilt shop in Huntingdon last time I visited. *yipe* I just didn't want to use them until I was sure the pattern was good. The green gingham was SO cute (it has little clovers in the middle of the squares) and I couldn't find any more of it :( It was an Aunt Grace reproduction fabric - and is now out of print. Lucky me to pick that one, huh? I had also bought a yard of the lighter green skirt fabric - and was able to squeak a pair of pants out of it as well. And I do mean 'squeak' - the pants pieces just barely came to the edges of the fabric that was left after cutting the back pieces and skirt out of the yard. Mark says if I dress Esme in these and let her outside we'll have to flag her with blaze orange or she'll get lost in the woods. Haha! Actually - I have a yard or so of bright orange fabric maybe I could make a coat with a tie sash around the middle so she could wear it through the woods and protect her arms from poison ivy/thorns etc...

I'll still have to look through what else I have and see what I'd like to make for two other little girls -- especially something lighter that won't be too hot to wear outside. I have fifty little zippers coming from Ebay sometime this next week (hopefully) as I'm down to mostly pink and orange ones from the last assortment of 50 I had ordered.

And I'm saving my scraps for something later on -- maybe a patchwork taken in little pieces to work.

NOTES:
I was cruising Crafting Japanese just now - and found these wonderful pages to save for another time:
Japanese clothing book pictures @ icewerks
Crafty Dogma's gray tunic <-- looks like I could make this for me!
some cute kid's Japanese clothes at wee wonderfuls

I was planning on going to Huntingdon again today -- but Esme needed miso soup and that is in Paris. Mark also wanted a porkchop - and that is also in Paris. So I just stopped at the WM and picked up a yard and a half of coordinating fabrics to start out my projects for the other girls. If one of them doesn't like frogs I know Esme will love to have one. So either way - someone will be wearing frogs. Esme saw my dental hygienist at the WM buying fabric for her little boy's room. Tami wanted to see Esme's teeth and Esme said 'NO WAY'. Of course she is counting down the months until she says Esme should come become a patient of theirs.. Mark is scared of dentists so he's unsure of it all. Tami said she hasn't seen my things on Etsy lately and she's right... I feel like I should make some things for the shop but then I barely have time to do what I want to do to keep (or give away specifically)... and am always worried what I make without that spark might never get a home etc.. It is a tough feeling. So mostly, the shop stays empty for the moment until that spark is true.

fabric love

I love this new collection of fabrics from Alexander Henry, called Willow Grove. Here is a link to their search field on Etsy. There are birds and fruits and mushrooms and little villages. So cute! I can't decide if I like the browns or red ones better! And then there is this blue set, too!

This other one is yellow with giraffes - not quite as lovely up close but the thumbnails keep drawing me to it - so there is something there. Another yellow one with little kissing love birds and hearts from Michael Miller's 'Hedgehog and the big E' line.

feeling like green

I went to Mockingbird Threadworks on Friday afternoon, and bought a few green fabrics to make Esme another dress. Yes, before I even put the size 5 together. What? Why? I really wanted another color green. I didn't need it - but I had the fabric itch.. to go and feel the fabric in person and compare colors. I had tried it online and just felt like I wasn't getting inspired or anywhere else either. Maybe I'm flaking out ;) The store only had a quarter yard of the fabric I really really liked. I bought another yard of something coordinating and hope I'll get a size 4 out of combining the two. The darts are finished in the front of the size 5 and I've been taking little scraps of blue fabric to work to make into cats on my lunch hour... cutting freeform and not following any pattern -- just to keep my mind active.

Also on Friday Mark helped me take the sewing machine apart again and find where it was squeaking. I ended up cleaning it quite a bit again, too. It now runs without any squeaks... which is a little eerie considering how I've gotten used to at least some noise from it! Three in one oil is a wonderful tool.

Esme had such fun playing 'tea' and petting the ceramic kitty at the store. Jean, the owner, was really genuine in her interactions with Esme. She talked to her and listened to her and showed her books and agreed things were pretty. Between Mark and Jean I actually took a breath and looked at all the fabrics I wanted to before making a choice - sometimes I usually feel I must rush and settle for something so as not to spend so much time... ie: give the toddler a chance to throw a fit when Mom's attention is elsewhere etc... you know how it goes. Mark and Jean talked with Esme and I wasn't afraid she would start getting into things she shouldn't under Daddy's watchful eye. It turns out Jean also did the hat monogram for the baseball hat Mark wears everywhere. She worked years ago at the store that made the specialty monogram - and still had a copy of it in her computer files... *whoa*... I guess unique makes for memorable.

I feel bad I won't go more often to the store to buy - especially since it is right there in Huntingdon. She does carry more 'seamstress' and children's designer fabrics than the other quilt shop in Camden does. That is the main reason I've been there three times in a few months... and do plan on returning, but only when I really get the itch to touch, compare and find a fabric I can't get anywhere else and don't want to wait for/pay shipping. She has a small shop, but definitely a treasure and one I hope stays in our community.

New fabric store in Huntingdon

We were on our way to the grocery store and I had heard of a new 'yarn shop' that was supposed to open near the Huntingdon historical museum. We stopped in for a look and it was a new quilt and fabric shop.

I got some of the alphabet fabric from the Dick and Jane series and told the lady I was glad to see some brighter, less-stodgy selections. I plan to make some placemats for Esme's table with the alphabet fabric so she can point out letters to me and have somewhere to put her crackers etc... while we're in the kitchen without washing the table down every time.

The name of the store is Mockingbird Threads, and she has some nice children's prints, quilting fabrics and lots of handmade clothes, bags etc... It is also a closer drive for me than Camden - so I might actually stop by more than once every few months.