Going to the Fair

We took the girls to the carnival this weekend.

T has been begging to "go out" with her little friend P. We organized it so our families were at the fair together and they went on their first "date" (their words, not ours). They were adorable.

At one point during the evening he leaned over, put his hand on T's arm and asked her if she'd like him to win a prize for her. The sweetness of that gesture just melted my heart completely. Then T did something I'm proud of despite it spoiling the moment. She said "That's ok. I can win my own."

It looks like I have a budding rollercoaster buddy in little D. I had to take two seasons in a row off from riding because I was pregnant two summers in a row. Since then the logistics of going to an amusement park with two littles has evaded me. I'm hoping to get out to a park on my own at some point, but that hasn't happened yet. We went on Wednesday night as well. She said she didn't want to go on the swing (made for her age group) but insisted I take her on the Ferris Wheel. As we rode up she said "This ride is AMAZING". Saturday the line was too long, so instead she opted for the swing.

On our way back to rejoin the group she saw the strongman bell and needed to try it. It was supposed to be 3 tries for $2. She couldn't get a decent swing going and it was too cute (and there was no line) so she got to try a lot.

And sometimes you get a capture that makes you think "What's going on here". T was trying to close the teacup door and she literally got all up in D's face.

Photographing a 4 year old.

My Daughter is a ham. I sew her stuff and tell her we're going to do a photo shoot. These are some of the best shots from the series.

I'm not really sure what this zen like pose is from...

This is pretty standard when I tell her to say cheese.

I'm working on digitizing the pattern for the blazer. This morning I made it out of an interlock knit and it's super comfortable feeling. I want to make one for myself. The tunic was one I sewed from some fabric I received in a Girl Charlee bargain box. As it turns out 9 inches is all you need to make a tunic like that in a size 4.

Belle's Dress

T is going to a birthday party tomorrow. Her little friend E is turning 4.
Now that the girls are in preschool I don't really know their friends as well as I used to. I emailed E's mom to find out what she is into. "She loves dora, playdoh, princess belle, paints, dress-up and clothes - especially frilly ones." I think I nailed it. We'll find out soon.
My favorite local fabric warehouse had this beautiful buttery satin and I managed to snag 2 1/2 yards for $5. The deals you can get when you're willing to work around imperfections can be fantastic!
I took a basic peasant dress top. (I used the pattern pieces from this pattern.)

From there I made a simple A-line underskirt in white. The top skirt was just a rectangle, cut the width of the satin by about 10 inches longer than the underskirt. After attaching the two skirts to the bodice I put the dress on the dress form and started pinning. I followed Melly Sew's tutorial for the skirt. It was really easy. It was a bit tedious trying to do it with the girls around, but once they went to bed I was able to get into a rhythm and found myself shocked when I realized I was down to only two pins left.

I am really excited to give this to her little friend. Are you good at giving birthday gifts? What is your favorite gift you've ever given?

I won!

I entered a sewing contest over at one of my favorite fabric suppliers, Girl Charlee.
And I won! They asked people to sew something with their black and white chevron jersey.

I had sewn up a tank and panties set for the Tallest. She loves them. She's had me make about a dozen pairs of panties for her. It's a great destash project. I've digitized the pattern, I just need some other people to test it before I put it Out There. Any volunteers? (Details: they are designed for a knit fabric, and I graded them to fit kids size 2-5)

What's new?

It's been a while since I've blogged here, so I thought I'd do a quick What's New post.

The single biggest change with naturally with the girls. They are 3 and 4 now and both in preschool. While I would love to be one of those home-schooling supermoms, they love going to school and I love it too. Now I can go grocery shopping without having to push one of those carts with the cars attached. I can wash my hair in peace. I can even crawl back into bed for a nap.

They also have strong opinions on what they will and will not wear. It was a rare day when they would choose to wear something I'd made. Until I started working with knits. Once I started with knits they started demanding new clothes all the time.



 I've been doing a lot of pattern design lately. I'm excited to show some of it off.

So what's new with you?

Stay Tuned!

I've taken a few years off of blogging here but with more time for my sewing adventures I'm coming back!
Stay tuned!

Why I'm a bad blogger

I thought I'd share with you what I normally look like when I blog. This might give you insight into why I don't blog nearly as much as I'd like.



I sneak everything into nap time. This little sweetheart, however, often needs to be held during her naps. She struggles to fall asleep - unless we're in the car.


(she's in my lap on a pillow in this picture)

So what have I been up to otherwise?
Well we're Home right now. Home for me is Ottawa. As much as we've made a home in New Jersey, if you ask me where I call home it's Ottawa. I hope one day the rest of my family will be able to say the same thing. Unfortunately there are certain obligations that keep us in New Jersey.



We took the girls to Park Safari. It's about a 3 hour drive from Ottawa. They have a safari where you drive around a route and look at all kinds of animals. Huge signs say "don't feed the zebras, they bite" but they were the only ones interested in the food we bought at the entrance.
We didn't feed the zebras but other people weren't as paranoid as I was.


Zebras don't eat babies do they?

We all had so much fun and T is still talking about the "seebas"