Well, darn!

As I previously mentioned, I had bought Simplicity 2668 to make for Caroline for her first birthday, and since it contained her current size, I was going to make one now to learn how it was going to fit her in seven months. 

It's coming along nicely. Unfortunately, it's also very large! 

She meets the minimum height and weight for the six months size, and she wears six months sizes off the rack in most brands, but this dress nearly goes to her ankles. It may be better when the pins are removed and I can actually put it on her. 

Before I can finish the collar (this is the facing pinned in to give you an idea) and sew in the zipper, I have to finish the arm holes. Which I am so torn about! They only call for a 3/8 inch seam, however, they already look gigantic! I'm seriously tempted to finish them off with bias trim so they don't get any bigger..the only thing that makes me hesitate is that the collar also has a 3/8 inch seam to be added in, which will bring them up further. 

I think I'm going to follow the pattern..maybe..you'll have to wait and see! 

Coming along

I found a quilt pattern online that used the same size blocks I had made for my basket quilt, set on point, and it used a lot fewer blocks with a lot larger measurement than I would have thought. It got me wondering if I had grossly miscalculated how many blocks I actually needed, and if I was perhaps, far closer to finishing than I had thought. 


I taped these 41 blocks to my wall to see how big it actually was. Turns out it's about 6 feet square at this point, though not all of the blocks are trimmed. And I actually had fifteen or so blocks that I didn't put on the wall. However, I realized that I definitely need more. It isn't big enough for a queen sized bed yet, and I also have only made one block out of about four different prints on this. I was definitely wishing for more color options as I got down toward the bottom. So, even if I grossly miscalculated (and I'm still not sure I did), I think I want to make them all anyway just for the layout options. 

Monday Moments

I am breastfeeding. I haven't really mentioned it because it's such a personal thing, but it happens to lead directly to today's moment. I hadn't been planning on introducing any cereals or anything to Caroline until she was 6 months old, but last week her nursing sessions were running about 90 minutes between the end of one and the start of another. She didn't do these back to back sessions once, or twice even..she continued this for seven hours. 

I decided she was sending me a pretty painful direct message. She needed more. So the cereal came out a few days later. Her doctor had already given me the go-ahead nearly a month ago, so I knew exactly how he wanted me to handle things. 

Sadly, she wasn't really a fan. She opened her mouth up at first, but then after a few bites she pushed the food out of her mouth with her tongue and was very actively evading the spoon. So I'm still nursing on demand, even if the demand seems insane, and every couple days I'm strapping her in to the high chair and hoping she shows some interest. 

A swing and a miss...

I made this. It's one of the dollar Simplicity patterns (2613 to be exact) I picked up at the last big sale JoAnn Fabrics had. I like the pattern, but I don't like the result. It all looked so cute in the store, but it looks muddled to me now.


Despite the fact that three out of the five people I asked for advice about this project loved it, as is, I just don't. The eyes and nose don't stand out enough, the black in the plush makes only half of the mouth visible when I stitch it in...everything just matches a little too much. 

He was supposed to be a gift (and also supposed to be a she, but I think he's a boy). Since I'm not feeling it, I'll still be gifting it, but changing the destination. My step-daughter thought he was really cute and helped me pick out the ribbon at the store, so I think she'll be over the moon when I let her take him. 

Monday Moments

It's Monday again and I'm supposed to share some cute photos of my kids and a story about how much I love my life. Only today, I could really use a break from all of this wonderfulness. 

Gabe is so difficult lately. Four is an awful age, and I can just tell by the number of people who hear how old he is and respond with, "Oh, that's such a fun time." Only they're confusing actual fun right now with the hilarious stories of their child's naughty antics they have to tell years later. 

I have completely rocked his world by having a baby. I want to be understanding about it, but more often than I want to be understanding, I'd like to put him in a straight jacket. 

This morning, for example, when the baby got twenty minutes of sleep because he couldn't find me, walked into his room, saw the baby sleeping and decided it would be an awesome idea to slam the door twice. At which point he realized that I was in the bathroom, at which point he further realized that he also needed to use the bathroom and started screaming to be let in. So I hurriedly finished and opened the door (and I mean, this probably took me all of thirty seconds) to find him standing on the rug with pee on his shorts. 

I'd like to write more, but I obviously have laundry to do. 

Completed!

Last Monday I posted that I would enter the challenge over at Amy's Creative Side and complete my sister's birthday gift. I'm happy to say that I did it! Her birthday was last Tuesday, and I had most of the doll completed by then, but wanted to add all of the little extras. I hope she really enjoys her.

This was really a project for my sister that was also inspired by her. She really liked this:

   

..Which got me to thinking what that might look like. I think I'm a little too far removed from high school to have any idea what goth kids dress like anymore, but I think I did a pretty decent job. I hope! I'll either be getting an elated phone call or a very confused one. 

Panda and pleated skirt patterns are Dolls and Daydreams (who is having a giveaway right now!). Boots and bag are my own. :)

Challenging again

It has been a long time since I have entered one of Amy's challenges, but I happened to see it this morning as I am desperately trying to finish a birthday gift for my sister. I want to finish it on time, but maybe the chance at some thread and fabric goodies will make me finish it on time.

So, hopefully you can come back next week and see what this is!

And possibly, if I am seriously lucky I can finish this little cutie up now that her face is done and off of the hoop! Big goals for me! What will you be up to this week?