Today I'm guest posting over at The Train to Crazy about a cycling jersey that I made for Ben as part of Andrea's Sewing for Men series.  Won't you pop on over there to check it out?

Today is Ben's birthday after all.  Happy Birthday, Ben!

And here's the cake that I made for him in celebration of the day that he was born.  Look what you can do with a cake and two bags of Reese's Pieces!  Who knew?

(birthday cake inspiration from here )

And as a parting gift to you, I'll leave you with this picture of Ben attempting to grow his mustache out during his paternity leave.  He wasn't amused when he found out that I had labeled the picture as "creepy Ben" on our computer but I'm pretty sure that the name is an accurate description.

Eleven Months

It's been a rough month for this little one.

Four teeth have either made their appearance or are on their way in.

Three weeks of a diaper rash that went from bad, to a bit better, to "Oh My God, what's happened to my child's butt!?!"

And that resulted in a very grouchy 11 month old who has been fighting a fever for the last two days from this diaper rash turned skin infection.

And then on top of all of that she pulled one of O's toys down on top of her and cut her gum, resulting in a mouth full of blood.

Needless to say I almost had a heart attack when I saw that.

And amidst all of this we've learned that C abhors oral medication and throws up in protest when you attempt to make her take some (as we learned on two separate occasions when she threw up both the Tylenol and the oral antibiotic).  That led to Ben heading out at 1 in the morning to pick up an acetaminophen suppository and let me tell you, you've officially reached a new level of parenthood when you've stuck medication in your child's rear end.  And for the record, I'm a huge wimp and I made Ben do it.

But all the craziness that's been going on in the past month is forgotten when we see this little one do her first little baby sign and say "all done" as she does it.

You know what that is, right?  A victory!  (see said baby below making the victory sign - otherwise known as her best Richard Nixon impersonation).

26 Acts of Kindness

In the aftermath of the shooting at Newtown I came across a post that asked that people commit to completeing 26 acts of kindness for the 26 lives that were lost in this tragedy.  And amidst the feelings of helpless that I had at the time, it felt comforting to know that there was in fact a little something that I could do.

And I've been doing it.

I've donated blood.

I took time off of work so that my babysitter wouldn't miss any of her daughter's gymnastics meet.

I gave a ton of baby items to a pregnant friend.

And I helped some strange man who told me that he was stuck in his car (but that's a story for another day).

And so it seemed like perfect timing when Nicke asked if I would join a sewing bee that she's a part of that makes quilts for hospice patients and their families.  Yes, I'm completely intimidated working with other women who I'm convinced quilt far better than I do, but I'm also determined not to let my petty fears get in the way of bringing some good into the world.


So thank you, Nicke, for heading up this bee in the first place and thank you for inviting me to be a part of it. 

Here's to many more acts of kindness in this world. 

Baby In The Hood

I had a minor freak out the other day when I realize that C is now ten months old and possibly out-growing the size range of some of the patterns that I have loved for years but have never gotten around to making.  So imagine my relief when I broke open my copy of Anna Maria Horner's Handmade Beginnings the other day and discovered that her pattern for the Baby In the Hood Jacket goes up to size 18 to 24 months.  Whew!

Elastic around the hood? Possibly the most ingenious thing ever!

There are so many great things about Anna Maria's patterns, but one of the best is that her love of fabrics comes through in every pattern that she writes.  Fortunately, I was able to dig through the stash and find two fabrics that go well together and which I had just enough of (and I do mean just enough of...it was a close call on this one).  On a side note, have I mentioned that I'm trying to control the fabric buying until the Sewing and Stitchery Expo comes to town?  Oh yes I am. 

Okay, back to this little jacket.  The main fabric is an Amy Butler fabric that is left over from the back of this quilt and the contrasting fabric...well, I have no idea what it is (aren't I the best blogger ever?) but it's left over from some quilting project that I'm pretty sure that I never got around to finishing (oops).  As for the lining, I knew that I wanted something a bit warmer than regular quilting cotton but I also wanted it to be washable so I settled on cotton flannel.  Originally I was going to head out to my local quilt store to check out their limited flannel options but then I realized that I had approximately fifteen flannel swaddle blankets that made for the girls when they were babies that I no longer had any use for, so I found one that coordinated well with the outer fabrics and I chopped that sucker up.  Problem solved.

I have to say that I was a bit worried that the nine to twelve months size was going to be a bit on the small size for C given that she is a chunky-monkey but in the end it turned out to be the perfect size.  It fits her perfectly right now, but it's also big enough that it should fit her for the next couple of months which is fantastic because she needs a little coat to take her through the spring and the only other coat that we have for her is a huge puffy coat that:

1) doesn't work with car seats
2) is so puffy that it literally doesn't allow her to move
3) makes her look like a giant red Stay Puff Marshmallow Man

Needless to say, she very much appreciates the fact that she can actually move in this coat.  No doubt if she could talk she would say "Thanks, Mom.  It's about freaking time."

The Jacket That Makes Me Want To Sing Billy Joel Songs

You know what's the best?  When you go to make a certain pattern only to find out that you've already traced and cut out the right size.  It's almost as good as when you put on an old coat, only to find five dollars in the pocket.  Score!

Lucky for me, that's just what happened when I took out the Uptown Girl Jacket pattern to make a new coat for O.  "Past Carolyn" obviously knew that "Present Carolyn" was going to want to make this for three year old O and therefore kindly traced and cut out the correct size.  Thanks, "Past Carolyn."  You're the best!

Since the pattern pieces were all cut out, all that I had to do was choose which fabrics to use.  For the outside I chose some white cotton shirting that has little chartreuse dots on it. I originally bought this fabric online intending to make a blouse for myself but I also originally thought that the dots were yellow and I didn't discover that they're more on the green side until they arrived on my doorstep. Oh well.  That's just the reality of buying fabric online sometimes.  For the lining I used some Robert Kaufman cotton lawn leftover from this project.  Unfortunately, I didn't have enough to line the entire jacket so I chose to just cut those pieces that would show when the coat was buttoned up in the cotton lawn and I cut those pieces that wouldn't show in the same fabric as the outside.

The last time I made this coat, I lined it with fleece to make it a bit warmer and therefore more wearable, but this time I chose to quilt the outer layer to add some warmth (inspired by this fantastic little coat).  Can I just say that quilting children's clothes in an awesome way to use up leftover pieces of batting from past quilt projects?  Now quilting each piece definitely added to the time that it took to make this project, but fortunately this is an amazingly simple little jacket to put together.  Just sew the outside pieces together, sew the lining pieces together, sew the two together, turn them inside out, bada-bing, bada-boom, you basically have a jacket.

But best of all is that you have a kid who loves her new jacket (despite what these faces may lead you to believe).

As I was trying it on O, I asked her if she would wear this and she replied, "Oh yes.  I'll definitely wear my new coat."

And this momma is definitely glad to hear that.

Pattern: Uptown Girl Jacket by Make It Perfect
Size: Size 3 (given that O turns four in about four months and that this jacket is still a bit large on her, I'm thinking that this pattern runs a bit big)
Modifications:  Since I quilted the outer layer of the coat, I left off all of the interfacing that it called for. I also did this with my past version of the coat that I lined with fleece.

Ten Dollars Ledges

Allow me first to apologize to my dad, who I previously called "a woodworking drop-out," but without his help I probably wouldn't have been able to get these simple shelves built.  Sorry, Pops!

And allow me also to state the obvious - somehow when you have kids, everything takes ten times as long to get done!  The actual building of these shelves wasn't so bad.  We were able to build both of them in an afternoon at my parent's house (and thanks to my mom too for watching the kids while my dad and I cut and drilled away).  But man, finishing wood projects is the pits.  It took many weeks to find the time to spray paint these little suckers (often while standing outside in freezing temperatures).  In the end though, each layer of spray paint and each sanding in between was worth it because not only are these shelves smooth as a baby's behind, but they are also quite awesome looking (if I don't say so myself).

Yes, my so-called "ten dollar ledges" ended up costing me almost forty bucks, but that's probably because I sprang for slightly more expensive wood than was called for and given that I'm a total newbie, I ended up having to buy even the most basic items to make this project (screws, wood glue, a countersink bit.  Did you see that?  I just used the term "countersink bit."  Does it seem like I actually know what I'm talking about?  Ha!).

All in all, though, these shelves were completely worth it and if you're looking for me, you may just find me walking back and forth past C's bedroom admiring shelves full of books.  Best of all though, is the fact that I'm not the only one who appears to love them.

Ten Months

Ten months?  Do you know what that means?  She's almost a year old!  Absolutely mind blowing.  Especially since this was her last January.

And look at her today!

She snuggles, she laughs, she tears magazines to shreds if you turn your back for one second.

She loves her big sister and fortunately the feeling still seems to be mutual (we'll see how long that lasts).

But as lovely as this little one is, she has not been the greatest sleeper for the past several months and this has led to Ben and I having many a discussion about what we should do to work on this issue.  Unfortunately, at the end of all those discussions I think that the only conclusion that we've come to is that somehow after two children we're still clueless when it comes to this whole parenting thing.

Fourth Time's The Charm?

Given that I've made this top three times already, you'd think that I would have learned all that there is to know about making the Renfrew Top. 

But you'd be wrong because I learned at least two new things this fourth (!) time around.

1.   Fabric choice does make a difference (everybody say it with me now - "duh!").  The first time that I made this top for myself I sewed it out of sweatshirt fabric which had very little stretch to it and the size 6 that I cut out happened to be the perfect size for a nice fitted shirt.  This time, though, I cut out the same size shirt but I made the top out of an interlock fabric with a fair amount of stretch. 

Same size, different fabric, and a whole different fit.

Because of the added stretch in this fabric the fit is much looser this time around.  So much so that when I first put it on I wasn't sure that I liked this version of the shirt.  After wearing it a couple of times though I have to say that it's growing on me and while the different fit was a complete surprise, perhaps it'll end up being a pleasant surprise in the end. 

2.  Knit tops made out of striped fabric should only be made by people who are detail oriented and possess infinite patience.  Unfortunately, I am not one of those people. 

In sewing the top together I realized that I probably should have been much more precise when laying out the fabric and the pattern to ensure that the fabric was straight and that the stripes were laid out correctly.  I was able to do some finagling to get the neckline and the side stripes to match up perfectly but the cuffs and the bottom band are definitely off.  My hope is that people will be so distracted by the ridiculously bright colors on this shirt that they won't notice that some of my stripes are wonky.  We'll see if this slight of hand works.

P.S.  So cold outside!

Sewing With My Head Instead Of My Heart

The vast majority of the time I pick projects with my heart rather than my head.

I make summer dresses in the middle of winter.
I make kids' pants out of fabrics that need to be hand washed.
I sew projects that I love but that my daughter is less than enthusiastic about.

I sew things because I love them.

But with winter here and a definite chill in the air (otherwise known as - "it is freaking freezing around here lately, people!!"), it became abundantly clear that I needed to pick some projects out of necessity because when O put on a pair of her pants the other day, this is how they fit.

And for the record, these used to be full-length pants.

So out came the basic pocket pants pattern from Growing Up Sew Liberated (I love this pattern) and out came whatever bottom-weight fabrics I managed to find in my stash.

The first pair are made out a lightweight denim and because I'm a big copy-cat I ended up using the reverse side of the denim as the contrasting fabric, just as they did with the sample in the book.  I did leave off the cuff though and just traced a larger size for length to make up for the missing cuff.  I also ended up keeping the front of the waist flat, only putting elastic in the back portion of the pants.  I love the look of a flat front but appreciate having the elastic in the back for comfort and for a better fit on growing kiddos.  And I'd like to thank Oliver and S patterns for introducing me to this option.

The second pair are made out of some leftover fabric from a project that's still sitting unfinished next to my machine.  The green is twill fabric and the pink is lightweight corduroy - both just from Joann Fabrics.  Yes, the color combo is completely crazy but that's what you get when you're trying to avoid buying new fabric (thanks very much to my December credit card bill for encouraging me not to hit up any local fabric stores for new fabric).

Now can I get a woot-woot for pants that actually fit?

Woot-woot!

Alrighty then.

Life Is What Happens To You While You're Busy Making Other Plans

Can I just tell you how excited I was for this weekend?

It was the first weekend in over two months that we had absolutely nothing planned.  And it was our first weekend at home since having house guests for the last three weeks.  This weekend was going to be filled with...well, it was going to be filled with whatever I wanted it to be filled with.

Or so I thought.

Because when Saturday rolled around so did a stomach bug that left me pathetically moaning in bed for a day.  Fortunately I was feeling better 24 hours later, although still a little wiped out.  Unfortunately, C decided that this would be the perfect night to refuse to be put back to sleep and O decided that this would be a fantastic night to wet the bed (Okay, okay.  I realize that I may be projecting a little bit and that they didn't actually decide these things given that one is a baby and the other one has not mastered the art of night time bladder control yet.   That's just what it feels like when you're o-so-tired).

In any case, this weekend has not gone exactly how I had planned.

On a more positive note, being house-bound this weekend did give me plenty of opportunity to lounge around in this giant one-piece long underwear that Ben got me for Christmas (otherwise known as "the most unflattering piece of clothing that you can buy for your wife").  Seriously, it is not attractive (hence, the photo of only the top half).