Snow

view from our front door

a snowed-in Mouse cat

little birds around the spotlights in the yard

It is snowing outside, and at eight in the morning Esme decides she HAS to go walk in it. I should have said 'No', right? But after you are brought socks, shoes and a jacket and told it is 'snow rain' it is a little harder to say 'No.' So - we went out in it. Of course we ended up at Grandma's house - but I told Esme she was still in her bed. And that Daddy was still in his bed, and that they were smart because it was COLD out here! She finally agreed that it was cold, and that we should go home and eat an apple. I told her we would probably go to see Grandma 'in truck' later.



This is where the Osaka dress is. Look familiar? Haha. I actually got quite a bit done on it last night and it is looking very good. Just as a pat on the back - I went to JcPenney online and looked for a dress that looks similar to this one. 20+ bucks, made of rayon and polyester, with ribbon bows all around the waist. Which means it would not wash anywhere near as well with as little care as I give the laundry. 100% cotton fabrics are much better for that. Plus I know this fits, and Mark wouldn't feel too awful taking her out into the woods in it if she wanted to go for a walk (when it wasn't snowing). He said he is amazed at how many thornpatches Esme's clothes have been through without much damage to them, and more importantly, to her. Clothes are meant to be worn and used - and this is still an 'everyday' dress.

I'll probably have four or five hours of work in on it when it is done - but if it is for Esme I don't count the labor ;) I spent 18 dollars total at the Hancock's fabric shop that day - for everything I bought. There are at least two more pairs of pants to be gotten out of that trip and the top of another dress. When the cost of fabric outweighs the cost of something at the store - then I might have to think harder about making her clothes. She'll probably start disliking 'mama made' just for the principle of the thing before that.

pattering about with the patterns...

Spending several hours today just paging through Ebay listings of patterns... not even intending to buy! And I didn't... because with what size 3 and 4 patterns I have there are so many things I can make for Esme. But, I have to pick and choose within my time! That is hard. I'm writing this to record a little thought for the future... so many patterns out there size 5,6,7,8.... will she even want Mumum to sew her anything when she gets to those sizes? Will it matter anymore, then? Time changes so much and quicker than we think it ever could. At this moment she is carrying the kitten to the dog and having the kitten's head licked. We are about to sit down to soup and fish sticks. There is a pair of pants ready to be hemmed about the waist and ankles at my machine, and I should cut out another soon. And Esme really wants her Osaka fabric to be 'made dress'.... but I'm scared to start it without making my changes to the pattern in another fabric first. But, she is wearing the 'Cinderella' dress and I've put it on her every day possible that it is clean... so I should just dive in and do it. Really, I should.

They are hard to see, but she is wearing the long 'bell bottom' pants pattern. It has plenty of room to grow. She is also wearing the Cinderella dress which was washed again this morning in the laundry. It is getting good hard use! It just fits so much better than her other 'shirts'. So - that being so, I did start the Osaka dress... here is the front of it. Somehow I ended up having to add another small band to the front stomach area... weird especially when I was trying to make that area LONGER when I cut it out, not shorter!


Emptying toys out of a business box we have, after she put them all in there on top of her 'memory' game cards.


Now she is down to just the memory cards, tossing out a counting kitty for good measure, and sitting on the cards.


front of the Osaka dress
Butterick 2194, again, with alterations

Getting everything to lay 'flat' and nice together is the only thing that takes a lot of attention with this one. The scissors are pointing to the area that tries to buckle up when attaching together, and then again when trying to attach the skirt all the way around.

I did the different color skirt again, zipper back, 1/2 inch extra cut on the front neckline, and long sleeves from a modern pattern I have. It should look a lot like the Cinderella dress when it is done, with a brown skirt and floral sleeves.

library and calendar

I started Esme on a calendar yesterday - just to show her now and then how we are getting to Christmas, and other things that we do. I've taped it up to the whiteboard in our living room and put pictures on Christmas Day, Daddy's birthday (a few days ago) and today (library). I made a little kitty icon that will 'walk' to each day to show where we are. I don't think she understands it right now - but has some idea because she told me today that the kitty was a 'morningtime kitty' ;) Last night before we went to bed I told her when it was morningtime the kitty would go to the next day. She also pretended to read the days of the week from left to right and got most of them right again today - she said Friday a few times, though .. I really think she "reads" at this stage by memorizing first and last letters and also the number of letters in the word. She told me 'STAR' was 'SEA' and 'PENGUIN' was 'POPCORN' today, as well as getting a lot of other ones right.

We are playing with some letters and counting elephants and watching Big Red Dog. Esme is mostly ready and Daddy is in the bathtub. I'm being directed to go sit in car bed and play book ;)

It is cold and rainy outside -- so we'll see what happens today! We might have to go to the library later if the rain doesn't last long.

Later: We did go to the library and Esme played her puzzle game on the computer and played with the big cardboard blocks. I found her a few books at the 25 cent sale counter that I hope she will like. We stopped at the store and bought some candy canes and christmas stickers (very very hard to find!) She didn't see the candy canes - I put them in a cupboard until later next week. I would like to make Esme a stocking but I feel it will take me too long to knit.... might try to sew her one up anyway. We were watching Christmas youtubes (old Disney etc) and she really liked that last night.

Did the laundry before we left. I really, really need to pick up the house a bit more today... the rain makes that a hard task all dim and cold all the animals inside under foot. But, we will start somewhere and see where we get.

little bits and pieces

Esme was so sweet this morning, and helpful. She did everything asked to get ready for the morning, find new clothes, get on the changing table and get changed, put on socks, locate drink cup, put old clothes in hamper. I didn't push the hair, though - which is doing a good impression of Albert Einstein. She is sitting on her changing table wrestling with the kitten right now. I've heard 'You are so cute.' and 'You are E'me's cat' several times. She is speaking in the third person quite a bit more - this is E'me's room/bed/drink cup/chair/food/movie ... whatever she feels she must lay claim to at the moment. I've finished another shirt for her and cut out a pair of pants. I'm thinking of heavier fabrics from my collection for another pair of pants. The chambray 'jeans' are very nice.

We watched 'Snow White' together and she was entranced by the animals cleaning of the house, and the singing and the 'take bath' of all the little men. She completely tanked it after the queen turned into a witch - she was done with it, then. But - she usually pays attention better the second time around to the parts she ignored earlier. I was impressed she laid in my lap on the electric blanket and snuggled until Snow White told the dwarves to go wash. Then Esme sat up on her knees and waggled her finger at the dwarves and told them they were DIRTY and needed a bath Go boy Go NOW you DIRTY. She loves to be the boss.

Once I offered to read her a story last night she went to sleep well - we read the story from her Richard Scarry's book about the uncle cats who catch the big fish and bring it home for the nine kittens and their mommy. The mommy cooks the fish and they all eat at a big table. She really likes that one - and was counting all the baby kitties and their fish plates.

HUH moments She was talking to me in her sleep last night - something about 'mumum.... E'me want (?)... mumum... wait me mumum...'. She was entirely asleep. This morning she had a ball of playdough stashed in the 'trunk' of her rolly car downstairs. Neither of us have any idea how long that has been there -- it was still fresh. ??

Extremely simple games: She has several superballs caught under a small plastic bowl, and a small plastic funnel. She will play rolling them around and catching them for a long time.

Cinderella Dress

It's Daddy's birthday!
Happy birthday to you, Mark. I hope you are having a good one.
It sure looks like it ;) He is actually downstairs making a big pizza now.


She's trying to master funny faces...
Just a second after this she ran away trying to hide from the camera.



I had so much trouble with my machine yesterday! This dress is very 'rustic' as a result... with zigzagged sleeve hems and the ribbon ties zigged on as well. Un fact, it reminds me a little of rustic Japanese children's clothes from books I have seen over the years. But - it is done, and already in the wash after being worn for only about an hour.. hmm... but she does like it and it fits well. She told me to put it back in the wash when I was examining something... it got wet - put back mumum - wash machine! I can really use to add an inch or two to the sleeve which I had borrowed over from another pattern.

As she has grown it may behoove me to adapt this pattern more to her like I did the raglan shirt pattern. I might drop the waist line down a whole inch, lengthen the sleeves and work the neckline like this one (just a tad deeper than normal cut). Basically, an entire rework into an original pattern again.... That might be a good thing to get perfected before I use her 'Osaka' fabric. That blue floral might be a good use for that!

Not Pictured: I finished a pair of bellbottom 'jeans' for her, as well. They are elastic-waist, but made out of chambray (a slightly lighter weight denim-like fabric) from my stash. I've been taking them to work all this week to do hand-stitching on the bottom hems. They are actually just one centimeter or so TOO long for her, which is good!

We stopped by Grandma and Grandpa's on the way home from town to have a tiny 'happy birthday Daddy' celebration. Esme wasn't too happy about that not being all about her, but she played with Daddy's balloons and ate some strawberry off the cake. That was a good thing for her as she was still obsessing over her birthday from last month ;)

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!