New Undies

The little man is getting bigger!  At three-and-a-half, his size 2 undies were getting a bit snug on him.  So, this week I whipped up a new set of undies in size 4.  Now, the hardest decision of the day is which pair to put on in the morning.

Check out my pattern here if you’re interested in making undies for your little ones.  Both boys and girls styles are included in sizes 2-4-6-8 for years of comfy and cute little tushies.  Once you try them, you’ll be convinced that there’s nothing like mama-made undies.

Yikes! Stripes!

How many striped shirts does a boy need?  Apparently, five is not too many.  

I sewed up this quintet of striped tees for E-Boy the other day.  I got most of these wonderful striped jerseys on clearance from Chez Ami, where you have to buy a two-yard cut of each print.  As I was cutting out the shirts, I realized that a toddler sized tee doesn’t make much of a dent in two yards of fabric.  We may have matching shirts for years to come.  Oh, yes, for those of you with a long memory, the one in front is a duplicate of one we had last year.  Fortunately, I’m the only one in my house who remembers (or cares) what clothes the boy wears from one year to the next.

Long Sleeves.

Here are some of the shirts I’ve been sewing for the girls this Fall.  I’ve been hoarding this purple campan stripe since I bought it this spring, just waiting for long sleeve weather.  The pattern is from the latest issue of Ottobre.  I used knits for the butterfly applique, leaving the edges raw to roll a bit when they’re washed.  The rhinestone antennae add a bit of bling, and I used a reverse coverstitch with woooly nylon for the hems (you can just see  it on the sleeve in this picture).  The two shirts are identical (no wonder people think my girls are twins) except for the tags; one has pink striped ribbon for a tag, the other has pink polka dot ribbon.  Wouldn’t you know, the girls both wanted the one with the polka dot ribbon tag.

I love the stripe/dot combination on these tunics.  I used another Ottobre pattern for these, the “strawberry tunic” from Otto 3/08.  I lengthened the sleeves since I’m sewing for Fall.  I also had to alter the back to have a yoke, since I was working with half-yard lengths of fabric.  The girls had to flip a coin over these shirts, since they both wanted the pink/blue one.  Me, I prefer the red/pink version as I had both coordinating solids for the yoke/binding.

Snow Days and Sick Days.

The winter storms are here, and with them come quiet days at home.  Actually, this week hasn’t been as quiet as it should be due to having sick kids at home.  On Wednesday, A. stayed home from school with a fever, Thursday was E.’s turn.  To keep the sickies busy, I helped them create these shrinky-dink ornaments for our tree (on the left are mine, already shrunk; on the right are E-boy’s, ready to go in the oven).

I spent some time crocheting a hat and some fingerless mitts out of the leftover yarn from making my slippers.  Can you tell which project came last?  I think the not-quite-matching look makes them charming…

E. spent some time practicing new hairstyles in front of the mirror.  Hubby insisted I take a picture of this one.  She said, “I have a garden on my head!”  She’s going to be trouble when she gets a little bigger… who am I kidding, she’s already trouble.

And finally, we did a little baking.  These gingerbread bears turned out pretty yummy!  However, I do recommend removing them from the tray immediately after baking, as the recipe directs.  I was busy bundling up a two-year-old in snow clothes, and didn’t get to one of the batches right away, which resulted in a lot of broken cookies.  The kids helped me dispose of them, so I can’t say it was such a bad thing.

Here’s hoping you’re staying warm and cozy and happily busy during these cold winter weeks!

The Big Chill

After much waiting, the snow and cold weather has arrived.  We got about five inches of snow at the house this weekend, and the kids were all glad for the chance to get out and play in the snow.  Mama was not so glad for the chance to shovel the driveway so we could get out of the garage, however. Here are some pictures I snapped before my fingers went numb.

Back to School

Where did the summer go?  I’m still in denial that the calendar has turned to September.  This year, A. is in third grade and E. is going to first grade.  They will both be out of the house all day every day.  So, many days it will be very quiet with just me and E-boy in the house.

Here are the girls all ready for their first day of school:

Due to a bus snafu, we didn’t get the traditional picture of the kids walking up to the school bus, so you’ll have to imagine that one.  Maybe one of these days I’ll take a picture of them getting on the bus to sort of reinvent the occasion…okay, probably not.

While my days are a little more quiet with the girls away at school, my afternoons have suddenly become filled with soccer practice and gymnastics lessons.  It’s taking a bit to get used to this new routine of fitting in dinner, homework and activities.  I think I’ll have to dust off the crock pot to help me out with dinners some nights!

Finally!

My oldest child has reached 48 inches.

This summer, we have been frequenting our local waterslide park.  There are lots of slides that are fun for kids of all ages (and Hubby), but two of the slides require riders to be four feet tall to ride them.  Each time we go to the park, A. asks to be measured, hoping to get the coveted “4″ stamp on her hand.  Last time, the man told her, “maybe next year” as she missed the mark by maybe 1/4 inch.  This time, the girls in charge of measuring granted her wish!  She got stamped with her “4″ and rushed off with Daddy to ride the “big” slides.  And I’ll admit, I took advantage of her company, and enjoyed a few rides with her on the “big” slides, myself.

I’m in Trouble.

Here’s what E-Boy managed to do the other day while I wasn’t looking.

He used a chair to reach the drawer in the kitchen where I keep pens and pencils, took out a blue highlighter, and decorated himself.  When I came into the kitchen, he looked up at me and said “me ba”.  I’m not sure if he was acknowledging what he did was bad, or telling me he needed a bath to wash off the blue.

A few weeks ago this same child got the better of me when it comes to punishment.  His sisters were each sitting in a corner for some infraction that I don’t recall, probably bickering with each other.  E-Boy sat down in a third corner for a self-imposed time out.  I explained to him that he didn’t need to sit in the corner because he wasn’t in trouble.  He got up, hit his sister, and asked me, “now me in trouble, mommy”.  Yes, sweet boy, now you’re in trouble.  What in the world am I going to do with you?

More Fall Sewing.

I just adore these dresses I made for my girls!  The pattern is from the most recent issue of Ottobre design.

For the denim dress, I did topstitching with two threads through the needle, hot pink and red.  I love the emphasis this gives to the topstitching, and the color combo is just plain fun!  I used large pink buttons on the pockets and sewed them on with red thread. 

The corduroy dress is cute, too.  But, it taught me an important lesson.  When sewing a complicated pattern, with lots of pieces and topstitching, patterned fabric is not the best.  All the work I did sort of blends into the bold heart print.  The kids love it anyway, though, and that’s what counts.

Fall Fashion Trend: Corduroy.

This is the time of year when I feel inspired to sew for the upcoming season.  So, even though the weather has been swelteringly hot, I’ve been  sewing with corduroy.  The first project, a “round neck dress” in corduroy coordinates.  I love the colors in these fabrics, perfect on my blue-eyed-blondes.  Thanks to Mary for the inspiration to use this summery pattern for Fall sewing, it worked out perfectly! 

Actually, I have to let you know, this is the sample for the next size range of my round neck top/dress pattern.  I had so many requests to make this style available for older girls, I drafted three more sizes, which fit girls approximately size 8 to 14.  Look for it coming to my Etsy shop soon!

I also faced one of my sewing fears: the zipper fly.  I’m really proud of the way these pants turned out, even though they’re not perfect, I know what I should do differently next time.