Knitting In The North

Quiet Days

What a mama to do when she finally starts feeling better (after weeks of illness - weeks!), only to have her babes come down with it, too?  Liam got it, then Brian.  I hoped the girls had given it a miss, only to wake last night to poor Gwenyth's tears.  Fever, earache, cough...  poor little thing. 

 

So, today was another quiet day.  After so many, even I start to feel restless, so what to do?

 

 

 

Snuggle up under soft blankets,

 

 

Mix up a Pineapple Upside Down Cake,

 

 

 

Sneak outside for a brisk half hour of sawing freshly pruned apple branches,

 

 

Prepare a fresh batch of homemade yogurt,

 

 

Watch Liam be the only person on the entire planet glad to see snow swirling in the air,

 

 

Sew a sick little girl a Feel Better Zippered Pouch (to match her spring coat-in progress).

 

All in all, the day passed fairly peacefully, and yet I still feel productive.  Let's hope this is the last of the nasty germs for a while! 
 

 

 

 
  
 

 

Oh My Goodness, Oh My Goodness, Oh My Goodness!

You know when you're sick, and you forget stuff?  Even super good, awesomely happy stuff?  Well, maybe you don't but I do, and today I had the most wonderful "surprise"!

 

I knew I had made a fabric order, and was waiting impatiently for it to arrive, but had forgotten what I had ordered.  (Is this possible?  Apparently so.)  It arrived this morning (yet again, I was in my bathrobe - what on earth must the postman be thinking?), and I opened it up to see this.

 

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness!  I have been longing for this Happy Campers fabric for ages.  I would go over to the site, look at it all, put it in my shopping cart, then close the window and carefully walk away.  One day, however, there was a happy intersection of sale fabric and free shipping, and I just couldn't resist! 

 

Just look at that wonderful fabric!  Look at the little camper!  Look at the happy children!  The trees!  The tents!  Oh my goodness, oh my goodness...

 

 

We're There

There has come a point with each of my bigger children, as they got older, that they would no longer allow me to "dress" them.  I mean, of course, that they won't wear what I want them to!  Or, they simply have their own, very strong ideas of how to wear the items of clothing I present to them.

 

Gwenyth has certainly arrived at this place in the last few weeks.  Even though she's always had a mind of her own, over the last little while, every outfit I have offered her has been met with negotiation, and sometimes flat out refusal.  Groan.  This means that I have to come to terms with the idea that if I sew a sweet little jumper for her, she's not going to want to wear it with a button down shirt and cute little knee socks.  No, she has other plans...

 

 

Ahem.  Equally lovely, in it's own special way, of course. 

 

Gwen picked out this jumper pattern from a library book, One Yard Wonders, that we are very much enjoying.  The projects in it are perfect for a little sewing instant gratification, and useful, as well.  Watch for more here as the days go by, especially since my latest infusion of supplies.  It was made from thrifted fabric, which I foolishly believed had already been washed.  Ahem, again.  Mental note: treat all fabric from the thrift store as if it was from the fabric store, and wash immediately.  This jumper is an above-knee clothing piece now, but still being worn in colourful and eclectic ways.  
 

At Long Last

Have you ever seen something - a sweater, a purse, knitted, sewn, whatever, and just felt like you had to have it?  Who am I kidding - of course you have, right?  One day last fall, I saw a woman at my workplace with the most perfect looking messenger bag.  It was sewn up in fabulous fabric, and was exactly what I think a messenger bag should be.  I asked her about it, and she told me she had made it using an Amy Butler pattern.

 

 

I went searching for it, naturally, but was thwarted by high shipping costs, and poor exchange rates.  A little while ago, I came across a great fabric sale at Pink Chalk Fabrics (seriously, wonderful selection and GREAT service!), and when I saw that they carried this pattern, it clinched the deal for me.  

 

 

And, what is better than having a fat, squishy package arrive at your door?  I was so excited, I didn't even mind that I was still in my pyjamas when the postman showed up!  These goodies have been washed, dried and folded up neatly, waiting for me to cut into them.  Some are earmarked already (the two on either end of the top photo are for my dream bag, the orange in the second is for another, top secret bag for Katie, and the pink polka dot, is, obviously, for Princess Gwenyth, who very badly feels she needs a new dress.  Again.)  The rest is for plotting and planning and dreaming. 

 

What are you plotting and planning and dreaming about?

Vintage Repurposing

I've been planning this project for awhile now - I found this fabulous little square tablecloth at a thrift store in the fall, and immediately decided it would be a great little apron.  I've slowly been building up my sewing skills, and after looking through a couple of apron books from the library, I decided I was ready to give it a try.

 

I purchased 1/2 a yard of the beige fabric, and new beige thread, but the bulk of the apron is cut from the tablecloth itself.  The button is a thrifted vintage one found at the same place as the tablecloth (but on a different day, of course).  I cut the tablecloth across, just a bit south of half, for the skirt, and the cut the bodice from the opposite edge.   There's still a bit left over, and I'm thinking Gwenyth definitely needs a matching half apron - don't you agree?

Much Thanks

Gwenyth would like me to tell all of you who have sent her cards in the mail, "Thank you very much".  It has been wonderful (and highly entertaining) to watch her little face light up each day that she gets "mail of her very own"!  Really, thank you, thank you.  It is a small thing that has made a very big impact.

 

What I didn't love about the cards coming into our home, though, was finding her collection All. Over. The. House.  Stray cards were in her bed, in the bathroom, on the coffee table, the dining room table, the kitchen counter...  Sigh.  In my constant battle with clutter in a small house full of many people, this was not a good thing.

 

The solution I found in my copy of Handmade Home - a mail satchel, of course!  Why didn't I think of that?  Once the holidays were over, and I could think somewhat clearly again, I ran down to my studio on the first available afternoon, and made one.  (Isn't nap time wonderful?)

 

 

It was a big hit.  (And see the lovely thrifted ribbon?!?  I love ribbon.  Um, I may have mentioned that already?)  Now, even if I find the bag in Gwen's bed, or the bathroom, or the coffee table, or the dining room table, or the kitchen counter, it's a much more pleasant reaction I have, and a much easier problem to fix. 

 

The outside of the bag is thrifted fabric, (which matches this skirt, conveniently enough, and even better, not planned) while the inside is a remnant Gwenyth picked out herself ages ago, and I've had floating around ever since.  The satchel is nicely sized to hold all possible cards & letters.  Isn't it amazing how the little things can be so special?

 

 

:: If you sent your return address with your card, you may just find a thank you note of your very own in your mailbox one day.  If you didn't include a return addres, but would like a custom made, Gwenyth-designed card, please feel free to drop me an email, okay?

 
 

Christmas Jammies

One project I was absolutely determined to finish in time for the holidays was a pair of pajamas for each of the kids.  Part of our Christmas Eve tradition is to open just one gift before bed.  It's always pajamas (sometimes with a little extra tucked in, sometimes not).

 

About a year ago, our local fabric store closed down.  At the big closeout sales, I picked up the fabric I used for both Gwenyth & Katie's pjs.  The blue & red dinosaur flannel I found at the thrift store (a very exciting find, indeed).  I had planned to sew little bottoms for Liam, just like Katie & Brian's, but then found this one-piece pajama in Liam's size at the thrift store.  They were so cute, they even have a little "trap door" in the back.  So sweet.  I appliqued a dinosaur onto Liam's jammies, and a store-bought t-shirt for Brian.  On Katie's, I appliqued a silhouette of a purse.

 

Gwenyth's nightie was much more of a trial for me - I don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon!  Another nightgown, fine, but that particular pattern is out.  The ruffle was supposed to be hemmed, but that seemed like a nuisance, so I finished it off with binding tape.  The back of the neck was meant to have a tie, but ties just get tangled in Gwen's hair, so I skipped that part, too.  "Winging it" can be really hard for me to do, but sometimes, it just has to be done, right?

 

I had hoped to sew up little tote-type bags to hold each pair, but didn't manage to get there.  I suppose that can start my list for next Christmas!  The most important part, of course, is that each child really seemed to appreciate them - Brian loves that "the boys match", Gwenyth floats around like a princess, and Katie's were just cool enough to pass muster.  What more could a mother ask for?

Just Swingin'

At the end of a long day, there is not a whole lot of crafting energy still hanging around.  However, there are still things to be done, and still children who need a bit of mommy time - finding the right crafts, that will be fulfilling for the kids, and yet not completely draining for me, has been the big thing here lately.

 

When I came across this book, Creative Play for your Toddler, I knew right away there were one or two things that Gwenyth in particular would get a real kick out of.  I was surprised, though, when she chose this little swing as the project she wanted to work on together.

 

Wonderfully simple, sewn from some thrifted fabric, with a bit of dowel for support, and some sparkly yarn for hanging, this seat has seen stuffed toys and dolls in regular rotation, and spends most of the time inside, hanging from the corner of the bunkbed.  Every now & then, on a freak warm day, it gets out to this little branch, to give whichever toy is in favour that day some "fresh air". 

 

This is definitely my kind of sewing project - straight lines, quickly finished, and useful in the end.  Now - back to my secret Christmas knitting; there's not much time left...
 

Handkerchief Bag

I did it!  After thinking and thinking and thinking some more, I grabbed a window of opportunity, some fabric & a zipper I'd picked up at the thrift store, and sewed up this little holder.

 

As I mentioned the other day, when I saw this bag for storing hankies, I immediately felt the need for one of our own.  It took me a while, though (just a few months), to screw up my courage and have at it. 

 

The bag itself works quite well - it has a 4" opening in the front for pulling a handkerchief out, and a zipper (gasp!) in the bag for quick reloads.  Now that we're using it, I wish I had made the strap a tad wider, and the bag itself a bit longer (we have more hankies than I originally thought).  Still, it's functional, it looks good in my kitchen, the kids love pulling out their own handkerchief, and it has a zipper.  My very first one!  Which I put in, without the aid of a zipper foot!  (I really, really need to clean up my studio.)  Phew, all this excitement has tired me out - time for a cup of tea.

 

Just in case you're not getting the idea of how exciting this bag is, here's a picture of the Very Exciting Zipper for you to admire...
  
 

Odds & Ends

 

 

I'm feeling all over the place these days; work is busy, daycare is busy, Christmas is only 39 days away (Yep, I said it.  Whatcha going to do about it?).  Here are some things floating around at the moment:

 

• It snowed a whole bunch.  The weather forecast is for rain this week, which means a lot of melting, messy slush.  For the moment, I'm going to ignore the thought of rain, and enjoy the fluffy white stuff.
• Feed Your Soul - an amazing art project with free downloads.  There is some fabulous work there.
• Spiced candied nuts.  They sound yummy.
• I needed a plan to get everything done this year for Christmas.  Organized Christmas has a Christmas Planner that saved the day for me.  There's nothing I like more than a useful list. 
• A bunch of free printables to tuck into kids' lunchboxes.  Or wherever.  I think it would be fun to stick these into rolled socks when I'm doing the laundry.
• I need a bag like this for holding our handkerchiefs.  Right now they're in a pile in the dining room, which is not ideal.  Do you think I can manage to sew in a zipper?  It seems scary to me.  

 

So - what's floating around in there for you right now?