This Moment

A Friday ritual (minus a Friday here and there). A moment from our week I want to remember and cherish. No words necessary. Have a great weekend!

Wanderlust

I've been out of work for three weeks and I'm officially bored. I would even go so far as to say that I am feeling blue. Unmotivated. Can't read. Can't blog. Can't knit. Completely uninspired.

My brother-in-law (who happens to be an amazingly talented chef at Higgins Restaurant in Portland) was at our house for the last 4 days. He was in town for some chef-type business, but since he had Sunday free we took him to Lake Shabbona, Chris' favorite spot to take the girls when their mommy is feeling rotten. My mother-in-law and I joined the gang, we packed a picnic and loaded the car up with fishing poles.

In the middle of the afternoon, sometime after devouring my third hotdog and my second pound of melon... standing on the shore and casting into the waters of Lake Shabbona, I realized (partly) why this May has been different from Mays past. We have taken no trips.

We love to travel, and I usually spend all of Spring semester counting down the days until I turn in final grades and we pack up and go somewhere. Last year we got in the car and drove 13 hours to the Smoky Mountains, where we camped along deep creek for 7 nights with the girls. Two Mays ago we sent an almost-two-year-old Mae to her grandma's house for a week while we took Bela on a trip to Barcelona, Spain and the Pyrenees.

This year? Check out this earlier post and you may understand why May just isn't going to be what it used to be. This, however, does not mean that we did not have a wonderful time yesterday. In fact, it was a fabulous day. Maybe Waterman, IL isn't Barcelona, Spain, but I hope we go again and again this summer.

Bela on splinter duty 

The end of the day starts to look rainy...

but not too rainy for ice cream. 

Is it ever a bad time for a soft serve twist?

Bela's Storybook

In the depths of winter, sometime just post february blizzard, Chris was struck by the desire to take us all ice fishing. Flooded with memories of my Grandpa Ellis' ice shack and the trips I took with him out on frozen Lake Bloomington, I agreed. But then we all got sick, really really sick. We had to postpone our trip and decided to continue with our plans later in the Spring.

Now, the website of the place where we rented described the "cabin" as remote, neighborless. And although it was a short drive to the lake where we had planned on fishing, it was on the shores of the Rock River. It sounded like just what we needed. A weekend away with the girls, a cabin with a fireplace, an outdoor fire pit, a spot on the river near the dam.

When we drove to the outskirts of Edgerton, which is near Janesville, WI, and crossed the Rock River, the first thing we noticed was the lack of remoteness. It was just the dumpy side of town, and there were neighbors. We spotted our "cabin" from across the water before we crossed the dam, and Chris and I exchanged glances. It resembled the oversized playhouse we had built in our backyard one afternoon when Bela was very little. It sat between a giant house and a dump. And the "woods" from the picture quickly sloped into someone else's back yard.

One of the many things I love about Chris is that he never gets upset, he never throws a fit, and he almost never complains about stuff not turning out how he had imagined. Maybe the secret here is that he knew all along that we were headed to a small dump, and never told me so I would agree to go. But whatever his inspiration, he turned lemons into lemonade that weekend.

After the initial shock wore off, he proceeded to entertain the kids non-stop for the next 24 hours. He built a fire in the fire pit, he took the girls fishing, and we all had good family time inside our little shack.

Bela created a Storybook of the weekend, to remember all the good things that happened, and I wanted to share it here.

Daddy goes fishing 

Bela Jumps Rope 100 times

Bela reads a book

Daddy and Mae Mae cook on the grill

This is definitely not something anyone told me about. I assume it has to do with  Daddy and Mae Mae cooking on the grill. 

This must be the girls and Me. As you can see, I did very little that weekend. 

Bela and Mae eat

This was a two page spread that actually read :Beautiful Flowers Grow"

Her final two page spread: The Rock River. And there we all are, crossing the dam. 

I think it's just lovely, and I plan on buying a whole collection of small notebooks like this one, so the girls can make their storybooks on each and every family trip we take. What a beautiful way to remember it all.

KCWC Days 4, 5, & 6

Catch up time. With a good camera and a lot of natural light, I'm a mediocre photographer at best. Though my husband has provided me with the camera, there has been a shameful lack of sunlight around here the last few days. Cold and rainy, that's how it goes. So I've been saving up all these clothes for a time when I could beg Chris to bring his camera, his lights, and his magic to photograph some of the things I've put together for days 4, 5, and 6 of Kids Clothes Week Challenge.

Thursday
Shorts
Pattern: From the Japanese book Heart Warming Life Series
Fabric: Linen stripe, from my stash
Made for: Bela in size 120

I made some of these last week in a pink and white seersucker. She thought they were very boyish, but she seems to like this pair.

Shirt
Pattern: From a different volume of the same series 
Fabric: Knit, purchased at JoAnn's  
Made for: Bela, size 120

I really love these shorts, especially the horizontal striped cuffs on the legs. The t-shirt is a bit long, and I haven't mastered sewing jersey yet, but give me some time.
 
 

Friday

 Shorts
Pattern: See above, modified. I shortened the legs, got rid of the pockets, increased the rise, and eliminated the separate waistband. I then just folded down the rise and inserted 1/2" wide elastic.
Fabric: interlock, from remnant bin at JoAnn's
Made for: Bela, size 120

Dress
Pattern: My own. I stole the basic outline of the top part of a dress from a third volume of the Heart Warming Life Series (mind you, that would be the third volume in my collection, not volume 3. Did you know I can't read Japanese? Luckily a few parts of the titles are in English, but I can't find volume numbers). I shortened the bodice and created my own skirt for it.
Fabric: Top - orange knit from Mood Fabric, NYC; Bottom - smocked/elasticized woven from Textile Outlet Warehouse
Made for: Bela, in a size that looked more or less like her. 





 Saturday

Tops

Top 1 - modified from the top part of Friday's dress, a little wider, a little shorter. I added bias tape arm and neck binding with ties. Fabric is old, from my stash. Very sheer, with butterflies and a little sparkle.

Top 2 - Also from my stash, this fabric has been around here for awhile. Sweet and light for summer, with green bias tape trim.

  Here are the rest of the photos. Tomorrow is the last day of the challenge. Maybe I'll end by sewing what my kids wear 90% of the time - nightgowns. 

 

KCWC Day Three

Wednesday

Remember how I told you that Bela hates everything I make her? It turns out she also hates it when I stop making things for her. It's as though we are paired together in this strange, unending dance. I make, she hates, I stop, she complains. And again.


She loved Mae's green and white striped dress (Mae calls it her "lying in the grass looking at the clouds" dress). She oooohed over Mae's gingham smocked sun dress. So, what's a mama to do?

I made one of each for her too.

Above (and below) a modified version of the smocked sun dress from Weekend Sewing (Heather Ross). The book only has up to size 4. I just added a couple extra rows of smocking and made it longer. Voilà. It's funny, but the difference between an almost 4 year old and a 6 1/2 year old is really just a matter of height.

Pattern: Smocked Sun Dress (size 6ish)
Fabric: Cotton Plaid Shirting, purchased as a remnant from Fishman's Fabric
Made for Bela

And below, something I promised myself I would never do. When Mae was delivered and the midwife announced she was a girl, I mentally agreed I would never dress my girls alike. As in matchy-matchy. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Bela liked the dress so much, though Mae did not. However, when I subtly implied it may be cuter than crap if they went to school as twins, well, the rest is history.

And now, it's off to JoAnn's to buy some needles for sewing jersey. Today is T-shirt day. Wish me luck.

KCWC Day Two

Tuesday

Double post today to catch up with my Kids Clothes Week Challenge stuff. Here is Mae again, in a gingham sundress. I've had this fabric for a long time, and thought I would make myself a blouse out of it. It looks much cuter on her. I smocked the bodice by threading the bobbin with elastic thread. Fun and easy.

Pattern: Smocked Sundress, Weekend Sewing (Heather Ross)
Fabric: Black and White Gingham (probably from JoAnn's)
Size: 4

Kids Clothes Week Challenge

Monday

It's time for the annual Spring edition of the kids' clothes week challenge, sponsored and led by Meg Spaeth over on her blog, Elsie Marley.  I did an awful job during her fall challenge, and ended up dumping almost all my plans. So I've kicked up the pace a bit over here and have my Day 1 posting to share. Enjoy!


Pattern: Dress N, from Girl's Everyday Dress 
Fabric: Linen blend, purchased at JoAnn's
Size: 100 (For Mae)

If I were a better photographer/stylist, I would have ironed it, snipped all the hanging threads, and put it on a pretty hanger. The best I could do was include some lilac picked from our back yard. I have a little embellishment left I'd like to do on it, but first I must learn to sew a fabric "yo-yo." If I figure out what that is and can decipher the japanese instructions, I'll let you know.

Summer

As an academic professional, I spend Labor Day through Easter dreaming of Summer. 15 glorious weeks they give me to do as I fancy. 15 weeks of knitting and sewing, swimming and running, picking cherries and making jam, hanging with friends. Hanging with my girls.

But, as a woman who is clinically incapable of sitting still, of shirking responsibility, or of turning down chances to make extra money, I have accepted an offer to teach summer school this year. My enticing 15 weeks have been whittled down to 5. My camping trip to Northeast Georgia? Up in smoke. The remote possibility of passing through the Bonnaroo Music Festival on our way? A fantasy.

And so, I've been busy this last week. I guess I have a lot to cram into 5 weeks. And as a special follow up to my mother's day post yesterday, you can read the fine print below. My kids definitely don't appreciate me nearly as much as they should.

An oldie but goodie. This is the first sweater I ever made for Bela, about 3 years ago. I ran out of green yarn, did a horrendous job of seaming it, and never sewed a button on. So I blocked it, cleaned it up, and put a nice big green button on it for Mae. 

She hates it.

 This sweater was from a pattern called Sweet Peasy. It is knit in a rayon/silk blend, in a bright, coral color that Bela usually loves. I added sweet green glass buttons.

She hates it. It's too big on her shoulders. 

Another set of cute little buttons. And look! I can finally make button holes, thanks to my pink Janome. 
I started this spring coat a year and a half ago. For Bela. But I couldn't put the buttons in, so it sat and sat. Now it's Mae's.

She politely rejected it. She likes her raincoat better. 

Rejects

I'm dying over how cute these are. I made them from a japanese pattern. In japanese. It took me way longer than it should take anyone to sew a pair of shorts, but now I get it. So cute, I wish I had some for me.

Bela won't wear these. She says they look like 'boy shorts'. I assured her boys do not wear cute pink striped seersucker shorts. She looked at me like I was stupid. 

My lovely friend Karen gave me this fabric, from Japan. A cute linen print. She made a twirly sun dress for her daughter Una out of this. Mae loved it. So, I made her this skirt, note the cute gingham bias tape trim. I found it at JoAnn's and had to have it. 

I must admit that Mae loves this and wore it today.

While Karen was sewing Una's sundress over here last week, I got inspired. Mae demanded a twirly dress with multiple tiers, just like Una's. For Bela I made this one with a simple bodice and full skirt.

She hates it. It's "too big". 

 I also finished this beauty I'd set aside awhile ago. Just needed to find the right contrast fabric for the neck binding and tie. Cute, right?

She hates the sleeves. 

 Here is the twirly, multi-tiered dress that Mae demanded.

She hates it. It's not the same fabric as Una's. 

 And finally, an old skirt of mine I wore in those few awkward post-partum weeks after Mae was born. I cut it up and put a cotton/hemp jersey waistband on it for Bela. It was originally too big for her so I made it smaller the other day. And guess what?

She loves it.