first day

yesterday was calvin's first day of preschool.  i was filled with sentimental emotions the night before (how did my little baby boy get so big?) so i decided i need to do something, more specifically make something.  calvin needed to bring a little pillow and blanket to preschool with him for nap time so i decided to make a case for the pillow to match his blanket (he decided to bring the quilt i finished for him the night before he was born).

when he woke up in the morning, excited (read: very early) to go to school, he saw his pillow and love it.  he loved the turquoise part the best, because anything turquoise is the best (so says calvin...).

when i picked him up, he has so much he wanted to show me... from moon sand to a doctors kit to bikes in the gym room.  his first day was full of new things and new friends and a comfortable familiar blanket and new matching pillowcase make especially for him by mom.

28:15

made for valentine's day from this pattern.

28:14

for calvin's cooking themed birthday party i made aprons for the kids.  i used this free pattern.

aprons wrapped and ready for the party.

gifts

i made these little reusable bags for calvin's playgroup friends. each gift consisted of a large sandwich size bag and a smaller snack bag. i also included a napkin and bamboo spork. i lined the bags with PUL and sewed aplix to the tops so that the kids can easily open and close the bags themselves. i had all these supplies on hand (but originally bought from verybaby) and used fabric from my stash for the outsides.

i especially love how the napkins turned out. my friend made a blanket f0r maeve that had giant ricrak going around the outside. it inspired me to do medium ricrak as a border for the napkins. it added a little bit of color and fanciness. i put some organic cotton terry on the back of each napkin (also from verybaby) for added thickness, to clean up any messy faces or spills.

hopefully they will use get some use out of them. calvin has been using my prototypes for the last couple of weeks and i have washed them a few times to see how they stood up. i am happy to say that the bags are still perfect. calvin has loved using them and they came out of the wash ready for more use.

today's reflection: the best place

i would have to say home this year. there is no place like home.

nursing pillow

i whipped up this nursing pillow once i realized that i could no long function with just one. the second child gets nursed anywhere she needs to be... at the breakfast table, in the car, in the hammock, out by our little pool... so i needed one for upstairs and one for downstairs. calvin leads the way most of the time and maeve and i follow him so we never quite know where we will end up.

i used the pattern in simple sewing for baby by lotta jansdotter. i used fabric and batting from my stash. it only took about a half hour to sew up, but it took a couple of days to stuff. i used almost two full bags of cotton batting... and i hate lumps so i tore it into little tiny bits before i stuffed it in. the shape is a bit different from the 'boppy' brand nursing pillow, but i like it. i wash the whole thing when it gets spit up on (almost daily...) and it washes great.

maeve

she is four weeks old already. it has been crazy in some ways (but in not in the ways i expected it to be) and so amazing. she is a very mellow baby, which is so great in a second. she has the cutest scratchy little voice. she coos quite often (i think she is chatty like her mama). she especially coos at her brother. the is something magical about siblings. calvin loves her and kisses her constantly, all over, which i guess we all do...

here is a pic of her in the outfit i made. the pants are a perfect fit. they are roomy enough for the bulky cloth diaper and so soft. i want to make a few more, but i am still searching for the time.

more waiting, more sewing

here are a few more sewing projects that i have had a chance to finish since little miss has not arrived yet...

the martha stewart baby kimono (free pattern here). i love how it turned out, but the pattern is a little hard to follow and has some missing parts... but now that i have figured it out and done it once, i am inspired to make a few more. i think i will use snaps this time instead of ties for ease and speed of clothing changes. i made the smallest size, but hopefully the kimono style will fit for awhile.

and calvin got a new pair of pajama pants. i used a pair of pants that fit him well as a pattern and the method in simple sewing for baby by lotta.

so back to (waiting) enjoying each moment until baby arrives. maybe i will get some more sewing in, who knows...

a homemade outfit for baby

here it is.... a whole outfit for baby made by me. i set a goal for myself to make an entire outfit for the baby, but i sorta knew that i wouldn't really do it. i mean come on, i have never really sewn any clothes, besides pants for calvin and those left a bit to be desired in the fit department.

but now here it is! shoes from this pattern .

for the pants i made up a pattern loosely based on a pair of pants that i had from when calvin was a baby and the pattern in the creative family book by amanda blake soule. i made these way better the second time. they are a one-nighter project (which is so satisfying at the moment...). i have a few more in the works for calvin.

the shirts is completely made up by me (based on a hand-me-down shirt that a friend gave me). i learned a lot making this shirt, as it is my very first shirt ever. the arms and neck are made with lingerie elastic so i am hoping this shirt will fit easily over her head and she can wear it for awhile. after making it, i altered the pattern a bit and i might make another one before baby comes (depends on when she arrives...), but for now i am happy with this one and think that it is wearable.

hopefully i will have pictures to post soon of a baby wearing this mama-made goodness!

gifts

i made coffee cozies as gifts for all the teachers i worked directly with this year. i used this great and easy pattern. i love how they turned out. happy end of the school year!

busy

::columbia graduation::

::waffle weave dishcloth::

::cloth napkins for the kids::

::dahlias planted in the porch planters::

::shoes:one pair to gift and one to keep::

::cloth diaper burp cloths::

the last month has been filled with graduation, lots of knitting and sewing, and spring planting. school ends wednesday and then i am ready for some relaxation time before baby makes her debut. if only the rain would stop so that i could lay in the hammock, sipping lemonade. i am trying to make the most of these rainy days and chip away at my crazy long, must do before baby arrives to-do list. i am off to do just that.

new shoes

i made these little shoes for a friends of mine who just had her second babe. I used this pattern and they was super simple and i just love how they turned out. i am excited to make a few pairs for my little one before she makes her debut in july.  

easter sewing

i made calvin a pair of pants for easter.  this was my first pants making experience ever.  i used the method in the the creative family and they was super easy!  they only took me about 2 1/2 hours total to make.  i love how they turned out.

 

here is calvin's easter basket.  my step-mom got the super cute basket.  i filled it with a book about spring, the red balloon movie, stickers, a bit of candy and the pants.

the pants fit perfectly and i would love to say that they were his favorite thing from the easter bunny... but they were soon forgotten once he saw the chocolate bunny.

my little gnome

happy halloween everyone! we are having 5 other one year olds over for some trick-or-treating and food (and maybe even some dancing!)... i must keep cooking. enjoy that last day of october!

100th post

wow. 100 posts. 100 ramblings about what i am thinking/doing/making.


i started this blog to communicate with friends and family that live in distant lands about what was happening in my everyday life. it has turned into a place for me to show/write about my life and also a place to meet new (cyber) friends. the online community of artsy/crafty moms is amazing and special. our moms did not have this medium to use as a resource for inspiration, gratification, and validation. i cherish it daily.


in honor of my 100th post i am doing a little give-away. leave a comment by friday sept. 12 and i will pick a person at random to win a handmade fabric box. i made some for calvin here. i use them to hold calvin's books, bibs, and other assorted things.

happy 100th post!

baby shower

i went a friend's baby shower on saturday. it was animal themed so i made these brownies (using ari's award winning recipe) and put animal crackers on top. the animal crackers added a nice little crunch. so good.

i made a quilt for the new little one. they do not know the gender so i went with yellow and orange. i used the pattern from here. all the fabrics were from my stash so they came from all different places at all different times.

i am back to work this week, part-time. i am looking forward to the predictability of a schedule, but not spending mornings with calvin depresses me a bit. i am eager to put my newly aquired masters degree in literacy to work.

1.5

today calvin is one and a half. crazy. in the last month he has changed so much. i try to savor each new word and discovered skill, celebrating with him when he accomplishes a new task and exclaims "i did it!". i try to remember it all, sometimes i remember to write it down.

the humidity took the day off here... so we are enjoying the day outside. i made this airplane library tote for calvin. i used timtex so that it would be super sturdy. i wanted it to be able to stand up on its own so that at the library i can just put it down and calvin can fill it with his book choices. i added one single strap to make it easy for calvin to carry it. he is "mr. i can do it all by myself" lately. calvin is into airplanes right now (ever since his cousin left on an airplane...) so when i found this fabric here i had to get it for him.

we are going to dine outside tonight (calvin's favorite place to eat) and have happy 1/2 birthday blueberry pie for dessert. perfect.

feeling gifty?

this is a sneak peak at two gifts i just got into the mail. the first is to my little bako boy.

these two little gifts match this blanket that i made for him just after he was born.

i also got this belated gift in the mail:

i loved making this. (it has not been delivered yet... so i am being a bit vague as to what it is) it is an adapted pattern from this book. i did two things i had never done before: make my own bias tape and use fabric ink to stamp letters onto fabric. both came out awesome and were easier than i thought they were going to be. i foresee lots of bias tape making in my future. i used the fabric ink pads that i got at the renegade craft fair (from the small object).

also, speaking of gift giving... i really want someone to gift this book to me. maybe for my half birthday, which is aug. 25th? just saying...

hearing aid

when mason was here visiting i made three new headbands to hold his bone conductive hearing aid. my sister picked out some great fabrics (the gray is cashmere) in very boy colors (he is often mistaken for a girl because he is wearing a 'headband').

i added five inches to his current headband, so that it will grow with him, but after i fully constructed the first one and tried it on him, it was way too big. I cut off about three inches from each one and now they fit. they are still a tad big, but wearable so *hopefully* they will fit for awhile. at 5 or 6 years old mason will probably get this so he will not need the headband anymore.

here is mason wearing the brown one i made him last december. it was already getting too small.

these headbands were fun to make and pretty easy. jessica said that they are hard to find, especially in boyish colors, so if you are looking for one email me.

done.

i am officially done with all of my master's degree classes. wow. this feels like yesterday. (although i know lucy now and we are friends in a loose sense of the word...i would never show her that picture!) it feels great to be done, but makes me a bit sad at the same time. on my last day of school i heard kylene beers speak. she is so amazingly dedicated to improving education for all students, especially for america's poorest students. her keynote speech was moving and moved me to unrelenting tears. i was blubbering. it was embarrassing. this day already marked the ending of a chapter in my life (i don't do well with endings), which caused me to be overly emotional and when kylene started a slide show of images of children displaced by katrina on the 20 foot screen before me, set to bette midler singing 'the wind beneath my wings' (which alone makes me cry) it was more than i could handle. the guy next to me handing me tissue.

the day progressed from there. i felt like i was on an emotional roller coaster...one minute i was giggling with excitement and looking forward to summer and the next tearing up because i would have to say goodbye to a friend or realize this would be the last time i would walk this hall as a student.

columbia only has one actual graduation ceremony (in May) so it felt a bit anti-climactic but i did get to have a nice lunch with a fellow graduate at kitchenette. the chick pea burger there is so yummy!

i came home and quickly got sewing. a good friend is getting married soon and i wanted to make her an apron so she can get all domestic with her soon to be hubby. they live in the BVI and so we can't make it to their three day wedding sailboat race and celebration. i know it is going to be amazing.

i love how the apron turned out. (bryn if you're reading this close your eyes)

i got the fabric awhile ago with bryn in mind and i think it looks super cute as an apron. i love the gathering at the top.

(i made sam model it so i could snap a pic...he is a good sport...sometimes)

the colors will be good for island living too. the pattern is the vintage apron from 'bend the rules sewing' by amy. i love that book!

we are off to the farmer's market. we still have lots of family here, so the days are filled... and fun.

(ps. today is our 5 year wedding anniversary. we are going out to dinner...all alone... and then maybe to a movie. wow! i can't wait!)

dogs, balloons, and stuff

i love japanese fabric. i especially love this linen fabric i just got. two of calvin's favorite things right now are dogs and balloons. so i HAD to get his fabric.

then i saw this one. cars and safari animals. ohhh. again had to get it.

i whipped these two bibs out last night and calvin already loves them. he is carrying around the one with the balloons and dogs everywhere.

i am thinking about making a little lunch/library bag out of the rest. i haven't quite decided yet though.

i have a huge week ahead. last week of my master's program...ever. i am very much looking forward to being done. also we have family visiting for a couple of weeks. i hope to get to some strawberry picking. all of the jam making around the blogisphere lately has got me itching to try making some. calvin just had toast with blackberry jam this morning for the first time and he loved it. the jam all over this face was precious.