Sewing for G

After finishing projects for his brothers, I needed to give G equal time.  I let him look through some of my patterns and he chose the jacket and T from Ottobre 1/06
I don't have the T started yet.  As in, not even traced.  But I did finish the jacket.  Hooray!  It was only a bit of an ordeal.  E and baby M managed to loose my buttonhole foot.  But I got creative and did snaps on the pocket instead of buttons.  I haven't lined anything in a long time, so that was a nice mental challenge to do again.
I asked G if he wanted the "OttoJeans" print on the back or something else.  He was adamant about it being "OttoJeans" so there ya go.  He did figure out that my machine does letters, so he had to have his name on the jacket somewhere.  Not just his initials on the front patch.  So I did his name on the inside lining.
He's happy, I'm happy.  Happy!  Happy!

Ostara

We had a great Ostara this year.  It was our first time celebrating with others and it was a nice change.  I have been taking classes through Lyceum of Trees which have been wonderful.  The group hosts regular Sabbats and Esbats that are open and often kid-friendly.  We were a little late getting to the party as G also had a birthday party to attend for one of his friends.  So, we missed the egg dying with natural dyes (boo) but everyone was so sweet and reset an egg hunt for my kids.   Here they are hunting for eggs.

I love this last one.  E figured out pretty quick that the eggs had CANDY inside.  Forget this gathering for fun stuff.  He had to stop right then, empty his pockets and start eating immediately.   And since big M couldn't eat the candy and G just wasn't as interested as his younger, sugar addicted brother, E made a right haul.  Below is the haul.  Yeah, we had to drag him away.  Guess what his favorite holiday is now?

Our friend Gina and her kids  loaned us some books, so we read the story of the Rabbit in the moon.  After eating some candy, we enjoyed the potluck.  Mmmm, yummy food!
Then, with a slight break in the rain, the Lyceum elders conducted the Ostara ritual.  We held our eggs and thought of something good we wanted to bring into our lives. Ostara is about the coming spring full of growth, potential, things taking root.  This is literal as we watch plants start growing again, but also figurative as we begin thinking of new projects and areas of our lives we want to improve.  So we held  our wishes in our eggs and promised to take them into ourselves as we ate the eggs.  I'm bad at describing it, but it was beautiful, I promise.  :-)
At home, we talked some about the newness that Spring provides.  I love Spring.  I love watching the flowers start to bloom.  I adore trees in bloom!  We have sung "Popcorn Popping" about a million times. More or less.  And I am thinking about the garden.  I planted some kale, spinach and kolrabi.  I am waiting for the new moon when I will plant the rest of my seeds. I'm running a little late, but better late than never I guess.  Those seeds will hang out in the greenhouse until the temperatures rise a bit and the rain stops pelting so hard on a near daily basis.
Anyway, Yay! for spring.  May all the good you are hoping for take healthy root in your life, and may the warming sun give you strength in your endeavors.

Sewing for royalty

These are 3 of the crowns I made for E's preschool.  I keep forgetting to take pictures of the ones I made for my OWN children.  I also made a cape for E and will make one for little M too.  I totally love sewing like this.  Quick and easy.  Instant results--well, almost instant.  But much faster than entire outfits, that's for sure.
These are Ottobre again.  Issue 4/04.  I cut down the size on the crowns just a little.  Since I was making them for preschool heads, I just removed one side of the tab.  I also used velcro on the capes.  I never use anything that ties around the neck.  The pattern may actually call for velcro, I don't know as I didn't actually read it LOL.

Amazing!

First, a picture for Grandma.  She sent this cute tutu and onesie for the girl.  Don't forget to check her out at Etsy. 

And now comes the amazing-ness.

First, the before image.  And really, it's not even a full before image.  I had already been working for quite some time when I snapped this.  It just took me that long to say, "hey!  I'd better take a before so I can truly appreciate the change!"

It had gotten so bad that I just couldn't do much of anything in my kitchen.  I had some space next to the stove, but even that involved shoving stuff out of the way.  And I couldn't use the snack bar at all.  So I cleaned all day yesterday.  I kept wanting to give up, but I had promised myself a trip to IKEA if I got the living room and kitchen cleaned up this week.  I'm going to see if I can add the younger boys' room to that list for next week.  Then I'll go during spring break week after next.

This is the next day.  After making dinner, breakfast and lunch and a trip to the grocery store.  So I'd say we're doing pretty well. I can look around and see a million more things I need to do, but really the counters were the main problem and they were the worst they'd been since we moved in.
Another reward that the boys had a blast with was the coin jar.  I've been tossing coins in a can and bowl on the counter for ages and never gotten around to taking them in to do anything with them.  So this morning we took them to the grocery store and dumped them all in the coinstar machine.  $93.52!!! Holy crap, that's a lot of spare change.  So now we get to shop around at Amazon and see what strikes our (my) fancy.
I have to say it is very disheartening that despite my week of cleaning and organizing and purging, my house is still a mess.  I'm more of an instant gratification type.  This is slow work.  And every time I get something  done, littles are dumping something out.  But such is the life of a mom of younglings. I'm trying to appreciate their incredible curiosity. Although, included in my plans for when I have older children, is the plan to do some decorating when I can reasonably expect things like curtains to stay on the wall and small furniture to not be used as forts and projectiles.  Any guesses how long that will take? Anyone want to come help me decorate then?  Because I'm clueless!

Sewing Projects

It's been awhile since I really sewed much.  Little bits of things here and there and some mending, but not much "real" sewing.  Part of the problem has of course been time!  But I got bit by the bug last week (or the week before?) and bought some new patterns.

The first FO is from this new Oliver+S pattern I bought.  Click on the image to go to the pattern at Oliver+S.  Sooo cute!

Here's my variation.  Aren't you impressed that the only thing NOT from my stash were the buttons?  The red knit is from a bin of fabric I got from my IL's friend.  The blue linen-look is from a cotton IKEA curtain.  The Curious George was just in my bins.  I cut out motifs from the print and appliqued them all over.  E is very happy with his Curious George clothes.  I will definitely be using this pattern again.  It was easy to sew and came out great.

This is for Big M.  He likes sweatshirts and is forever in need of pants.  Can we all take a moment of silence to mourn the fact that the sweatshirt fits me?

Ok, thanks.

The pants and top are both from the 1/2010 issue of Ottobre.  I have plans to make him a coordinating t-shirt as well.  Just as soon as I find a knit I like.  I want a stripe or a subtle woodland type pattern.  Do you know how stinkin hard it is to find decent knit prints for boys??  Well, boys over 4?

Anyway,  the top is design #38, the New Generation sweatshirt.  I made a size 152.  I hope it's big enough.   The body is from a cotton french terry I found at Mill End. It's grey with a thin brown stripe.  The inner collar is a stone wall print from Moda.  M likes the pockets in the middle. Oh, and the cuffs are some random bit of teal ribbing I had in my stash.

The pants use more the Moda Stone Wall and are made from ripstop cotton.  Also from Mill End.  They are design #40, Casual Cut sweatpants.  I know, I know, the pattern is for a stretch knit.  And I worried about it the whole time I was sewing them.  But I think it turned out okay.  I left out the drawstring and just used the elastic on its own.  I really should have used contrasting topstitch thread.  The pockets have a neat topstitch detail that just doesn't show up in this picture.  Oh well.  I like them anyway.

The plan for the t-shirt is to 1--find a knit I like.  Then I'm going with a design from a previous Ottobre that has a cotton placket on the shirt.  I'll use the stone print again on the placket and in an accent tab.  Then the teal ribbing for the sleeve and neck edgings.  That should tie it all into a complete outfit.

I also have black and red fabric to do a jacket and shirt for G.  He wants an outfit too, but he wants jeans.    I've made jeans for the kids before, so I suggested I improve upon a rtw pair of jeans.  He's okay with that.  Phew!

Then, to include baby M (of course!), I have coordinating apple print, stripe and dots.  She will get the pinafore dress and pants from Ottobre 1/10 and a cotton top from (I think) 1/2006.  This should all keep me occupied for a while.

BUT, I also want to do some sewing for me.  I just have a hard time finding the right fabric for the right pattern.  You know?  That and I live in jeans or yoga pants and t-shirts.  So I have a hard time justifying the time and expense of sewing something new.

A little creative variety

My dad, PapaCoyote, had the idea to let my kids experience a different kind of gardening.  So he gave them mushroom kits for Christmas!  M especially has had a lot of fun tending to his various fungus.  E could care less, so M has taken over all 3.  Why all 3?  Well, if you take over responsibility for 2, they're all yours, right?  Besides, G has the Wii basketball to master, so he's busy.  I believe Dad bought the kits from Territorial Seed.

Anyway, we had our first Shitake harvest today.  Here's the take.  I don't know what we're having for dinner yet, but it includes fresh sauteed mushrooms!

The crayons have been popular lately and the kids really want to color together.  Well, make that Baby M really wants to color with her brothers.  And on the wall.  Time for a 2 birds with one stone solution.  I grabbed a roll of paper and taped it to the wall under the window in the dining room.  Just cheap IKEA paper.  This is my thoughtful young artist making sure his castle has everything it needs.  It took him all of 1 minute to adapt to the idea of sharing art space with his sister.  He is such an awesome and patient big brother!  He amazes me everyday.

My camera ham.  I get out the camera and she poses in front of it.  What's funny is that her brothers have all done this too, but she is so different!  See?  What a nice, sweet pose!  She smiles too, but every time I snapped the picture, she stopped.  Oh well.

Getting ready for Valentines Day!  I made this felt heart banner this week.  Every other heart has a candy heart-type saying on it written out in fabric paint.  If anyone is interested in a how-to, let me know.

Cheesecake Ice Cream

I've had a request for this recipe, so I thought I'd share it here.  It definitely doesn't belong in my allergy-free blog!
This makes enough to fit nicely in my Cuisinart 1.5 qt freezer.

Cheesecake Ice Cream

8 oz cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar (I use superfine for ice cream, but any sweetener you want would be great.  Some people may want more.)
dash salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup heavy cream

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until it is smooth and creamy.  Beat in the sugar, salt and vanilla.  Add the buttermilk and beat until smooth. Add the cream and mix well.  Chill in the refrigerator for an hour or two then freeze according to your ice cream freezer's directions.  If you NEED an ice cream fix fast you can certainly just skip the refrigeration step.
You can serve it as it or top it with any toppings you want.  I've thought of making some fruit sorbet and serving it layered with sorbet.  Sorta like cherry cheesecake only in a sundae!  Chocolate  sauce is always a winner too.

Don't melt

It's hard, I know.  When you see something this precious.

Don't mind me, I'm just photo-hosting.  This picture was taken back in Sept.  Before the great hair cut.  *sniff*

Pants!

My mom and I went to the Goodwill Outlet Store last week.  We didn't get a huge load, but found some fun stuff.  Of course!  One of my finds was a Gap XL blouse in a lightweight, light pink cotton.  It had a beautiful eyelet hem on the body and sleeves.
Today, I cut off the sleeves and turned them into pants for Baby M.  I should have taken pictures of the process I know!  Sorry.  I couldn't even find a picture of the shirt since I cut it up before taking a picture.  Oh well.  It was very simple, really.  I cut off the sleeves. They were raglan, so that gave me more length to work with.  Then I eyeballed a crotch curve.  I used the sleeve seam as the pants inseam.  When I got the pants put together, I realized there just wasn't enough width in the back.  So I took out the back seam and put in a triangle of fabric.  It looks a little sloppy, but I plan to make a tunic-style top to wear with them for summer, so I'm not too worried about it.
The body of the shirt will be a skirt.
Here's pictures.  Oh, and they need some ironing too.  But I have to un-bury my ironing board.  I'll get there.

New Year, New Projects

If you know me, you know I like to have projects going.  Mustn't be bored.  No! NO!  Not that my life has much risk of leading to boredom of any kind.  But better safe than sorry right?  So, some of my projects for the new year...
First, a crafty project.  I love, love, love crafts.  You may have picked up on that.  Did you?  One craft that I haven't done since I was little is embroidery.  I like it, it's beautiful, I just didn't feel much need to do it.  But I have been drawn to it again.  The universe aligned and I'm back to embroidery.  :-)  My kids are getting a little bigger and a little more independent.  So having a needle, thread and work with teeny stitches is becoming more realistic.  Then, Alicia Paulson came out with her new book, Embroidery Companion.  If you craft, you really should check out her books.  The other is Stitched In Time.  It is a beautiful collection of crafts.
Anyway, the amazing Annette at A Simple Breath is hosting a year long sew-along for the Embroidery Companion.  "Just the thing," I thought!  A group of crafters, all working on the same project each month, providing me with some motivation and accountability!  So, I am currently working on the first project--Tea Towels!  Fun!  I am enjoying it very much, but I am having to do it in such teeny-short bursts I fear I am going to have 12 more UFO's at the end of 2011.  Some things to work on in 2012 I guess!

Next up is a more intellectual pursuit.  I have been feeling for sometime that something is missing and that something is ritual and seasonal awareness.  Apparently I am not alone!  I have found that several of my friends were feeling the same way.  To support each other in attempting to bring this to our lives, we have started a blog called, Motherwheel: LDS Families Celebrating the Seasons.  We just launched this week!  Currently there are introductions to the families participating and some basic information.  We plan to share our experiences as we celebrate the 8 Sabbats of the Wheel of the Year.  I am also currently working on some book reviews to share as well as some informational posts. One about references to the New Moon in the Bible and one about some history of the symbol of the serpent. Aaaand, I am taking a year-long class related to this project.  The classes are once a month and sound just about perfect.  My brain is swimming I tell ya! Hopefully I get really good at the embroidery so it can allow my brain some wandering time.

Of course, later in the year, I also have the garden to keep me busy.  This will be the first  Spring I can plant super early, so I am making some plans of what to plant.  Yum!  I hope this is the year my kids magically start liking vegetables.  LOL
I talked to the kids some about their role in the planting.  They are looking forward to being a part of the garden again.  They really do enjoy it.  M and G are thinking about starting extra seeds this year to sell to people they know.  I think it would be an excellent way for them to make some extra money.

And finally, for now at least (ha!), I took the plunge and purchased the kit from LearningHerbs.com.  Hooray!  I love herbs and we use a fair bit of herbal remedies, but I get frustrated with my lack of knowledge.  I had looked into herbalist classes in the past, but couldn't figure out how to make the time and effort to do that.  But this is a kit that takes the learning through project by project.  Hopefully, by the end of my kit experience, I will have enough basic knowledge to continue to self-teach until I feel ready to take full-on classes.  Or maybe I will be satisfied for a time with my level of knowledge.  Who knows? At any rate, my kit should arrive in a few days.

So, now that I write that all out, I can say I look pretty crazy.  Good thing one of my other projects is to work on including the kids in more housework.  I apparently just scheduled my 24 hours and didn't leave room for much else!  If you see me dinking around Facebook, ask me how I'm doing and if I have time to be there.  The answer will probably be No.  At least I have guaranteed no boredom for another year.  :-)