Tooth pillow - zoom loom - screen printing

I made Grace a tooth pillow!  Just in time too.  It was a fairly spontaneous project, we were out eating a roll at Grand Central and talking about her first (barely) loose tooth.  She was wondering when she would get a pillow for her tooth like Owen... so we sketched one out right then on a napkin.  

 we got home and cut out the pieces and sort of free-handed sewed them together.  Really I am not sure how to use the embroidery foot on the machine, it made a mess on the back of the fabric but the front looked pretty cute!

 
 So... when Grace lost her first tooth today... we put it in mousie's little pocket up front.  When we dropped Grace off at school, her teacher asked about what would happen with her tooth?  I told him that the tooth fairy would come and replace it with a dollar!  Grace was wearing her fairy-mouse-ballerina shirt and he told us that in Mexico, it is a little mouse that takes your tooth. So in an abundance of coincidences... we also designed a little mouse for her tooth pillow as well... so if reality is the average of everyone's story, it is probably a fairy mouse right?

zoom loom ... for my HS amigos, I made coaster sets this on a zoom loom that I got as a prize from a drawing earlier this year.  They are pretty fun to make, each takes about 15 minutes, so pretty quick (until you start adding all of the individual coasters up!).  They are great for a little bit of stash busting (a very little bit), but I thwarted my own efforts and got some bright warm colors as well from the needlepoint store.

I have a few around that Owen made me and they actually work really really well, they are lightweight, but don't stick to the bottom of your cup, the are absorbant and don't have problems of seeping through.  Plus, they are thin... which means I don't have to raise my blinds to get my cup on the window sill (important things I know).

 Finally, for our big burst of christmas presents... Owen designed this dragon for t-shirts this year... as well as a pretty clever chop.

 It is pretty cool!  The cousins seemed to like them!

I love hankies

These were also gifties this year... pocket squares or hankies... whatever floats your boat.

Yes, I love my new serger, my favorites are the darker chambray, they look the sharpest, but I"m not sure how they are on the nose.... the ginghams are super fun too... and can I tell you, cotton gingham is hard to find.  That's all I found folks... pink and blue plus these have a bit of stretch to them (I can't remember the blend, spandex maybe, but at least they are not printed and soft enough).  what's up with that?  Isn't it practically a staple?

So, the the tricks are the nice edges... use a wooly thread on the looper, and the corners are really a pain... you sort of have to take the very last stitch on the fabric, go two stitches beyond and turn, and make sure you catch the rest.  If I messed up, I just would run off the edge of both sides, which makes for a decent corner, but I fear unraveling, plus it takes off a bit more fabric and get my hankies a bit off square.  Dab a bit of fray check and voila.

Posie stuffies

 just a few more for gifts.  This guy has his shirt sewn on with felt "buttons" because for a really little baby, I figured buttons weren't a great idea.  Too bad because that fabric is reversible, but that's okay, it looks dapper.

 I did give up on making shoes, in part 'cause they are really fiddly to do, though adorable and also because they were lost almost immediately, and I hated that I kept fussing about where is the Fox's shoe?  Why does he only have one  shoe?

Buddies are better than shoes anyhow.  I got some new felt from Mill End (instead of from my stash) so that I didn't end up with a pastel colored critter, though it would be cute.  They all have the same liberty in their ears... using a small cut there is plenty for all sorts of sweet touches here and there.

Okay two more and that's it.   Here are a little pair with matching gingham outfits / knit outfits.

That is what... five total.  The first two are for the kiddos, the last three are gifties for little ones.O and G's fox also had a little pendelton-esque jacket on that is so very cute, and we have a gingham apron as well.  I have lots of Christmas making to do, but maybe we'll get some other accessories for the gifts as well.

I ought to make some notes.  These didn't take nearly as long as I thought they would, and the blanket stitching was a nice way to spend an evening.  So... if I don't crash into bed as soon as the kids go down, I typically have maybe 1-2 hours ... three if I'm pushing it in an evening to sort of watch TV and make stuff.  I would take a day to cut out the fabric, clothes included for up to two critters.  About a day and a half to sew the pieces, and the last half day to stuff ans assemble, so what three evenings keeping my hands busy while sitting on the couch.  The knitware took a little longer than I thought, but I could do it pretty easily while playing with the kids.  Hmm, sounds like a lot when I write it out like that, but it was easy, relaxing craft therapy time.

Gingerbread soap

So I sprained my ankle, and am sort of stuck around the house on a few fine fall days.  I sent the kids and bri out for a Mushroom hunt, and am trying to squeeze in a batch of soap.  After spending the bulk of the morning hunting for my favorite Shea butter recipe that only currently exists as a print out mom sent me a few years ago, I ended up trying a new recipe (and swearing that if I ever find my trusty recipe,  I will transcribe it here so as not to completely loose it again!)...

A Palm oil free (Recipe)! So that's exciting, I do like the idea of moving away from palm-oil.  I doubled it, didn't have any silk, and unsuccessfully tried for a swirl.  Mess-city by the way....will I never learn?   I had a third of the batch colored with red clay, a third with turmeric ... which looked a lot like red clay... and a third natural.  The batch was setting up too fast by the time everything was blended so really, I ended up with lumpy messes sort of dashed into the molds.  I gave them a quick stir and will hope for the best, though am worried there will be air bubbles and ugliness, and I am pretty sure just uneven odd color chunks throughout.  I got the scent with two tsp of cinnamon leaf, two of ginger, one of clove and one of vanilla, and a half spoon of lemon.  I think it was a pretty good gingerbread smell, not perfect but nice.


Trying deodorant, and with the cooler weather, that last batch ended up okay  and firm enough.This time I mixed 1 tsp each of cocoa butter, shea butter, coconut oil, a half tsp avocado oil and a half tsp of beezwax. I added 1.5 tsp each of baking soda and arrowroot powder as well as 10 drops lime, 10 drops grapefruit, 5 drops lemon ('cause it was out) and 10 drops hops.  It is more yellow, and sets soft still (more beezwax I suppose, but soft isn't too bad really).

When holed up at home, I was actually pretty productive but not in the most directed fashion.  I have put aside all sorts of practical and lovely sewing project to tackle another basil fox and now a maggie bunny!  These guys are so much fun and I sort of love them when I am done (I keep them out, admire how cute they are in their wee outfits).  I have plans for at least one more of each, and then really will tackle that dress that has scared me a bit.

Mr. Basil Fox...

 Our newest stuffie... Basil Fox... or as Grace prefers... Foxy.

 a cutie pattern from Posy Mr. Basil Fox .  I love his little clothes, though I think they are as much work as making clothes for regular folks.  Yep those are little real buttons on his collar shirt and adorable little boots.  I had a small scrap of Ultrasuede that seemed like a good idea for the boots, but it was tough to sew through.  The pattern is well written, there were a few bits I had to puzzle through, but the pieces came together quite easily.  I got the nose a bit crooked... the gusset needs to be cut very evenly, mine was just a touch off of even and it shows up significantly.  The clothes were fiddly, but really not quite as bad as I anticipated they would go together.  Plus doll clothes... how cute.  I am going to try another fox or two, and then try the rabbit!

He was quickly adopted into Grace's softie family. First she asked me what Foxes eat, and I replied... probably mostly mice.  SO... she then explained how she had to go catch and kill "billions" of mice, and then cooked them up to make a soup for Foxy.  She then sweetly spoonfed him for much of the afternoon, since she had made so much mouse soup.

Coconut milk and taking notes: deodorant and soap

New homemade love:  coconut milk

it just doesn't get much easier and it is so delicious, probably a bzillion calories too so I should be cautious, but it is good... the outcome is much more like canned coconut milk (but without the can or concerns associated with cans) than coconut drinks you get in cartons.    SO.  2 cups dried coconut, unsweetened and 4 cups water... let it soak no more than 30 min or so then whiz the heck out of it (I do 3-5 min in the vitamix... man I love that blender much more than I thought I would).  Strain it (I used a beer brewing strainer bag, probably like an oversized nut-milk bag or jelly bag, a strainer would probably be sufficient too if it is fine enough).  Enjoy.  It does separate so you can give it a good shake/stir before consuming.  There may be a too good puck of coconut oil at the top, depending upon the batch of coconut.  Lesson learned... don't let these things soak all that long, some recipes I found online suggest really long soaks and for both this and almond milk when I did it, I ended up with a sort of weird floral-sour flavor... not awful, but not what I wanted.  Shorter soak seems to remedy this problem.  Now I can handle a little dairy, but if you need a dairy replacement... this is it.  I"ve tried most of them and although this has a little more flavor than some, the natural richness and yumminess totally is worth it... unless you hate coconut.

Okay, I sometimes make a deodorant I love and sometimes, a little less so....  I refer to a recipe, but largely wing-it... making potions the kids call it.... not very scientific of me.   So I am writing these down until I have one I like

Sept 14 recipe
Tablespoon of each coconut oil and Shea butter, arrowroot and baking soda.
Added maybe 1/2 tsp beezwax pellets
10 drops of  lime and 10 of grapefruit
Maybe 10 of hops too

Okay day one impressions.... This batch is too big for my container by about a tsp or more.  It's still in the 80s in the house sometimes and it is a little soft and greasy for me.

Initial next-time thoughts:  Add at least equivalent amounts of cocoa butter!  I think I did this on previous versions, but forgot this time.  Use tsp instead of tbs.  Maybe I need to go back and add in cocoa butter.
See, this is why I should write this stuff down cause perhaps I did teaspoons of everything and a greater proportion, of beezwax... Last recipe was much harder, which was good for summer.  Stronger smell too, which I liked, and it fit in my jar... This batch is too big

Soap tonight... Shea butter recipe x4... split before adding e.o. and color.

1- Making orange- clove turmeric 2:1total about an ounce, there is about .1oz cinnamon in there too.  not much, didn't want it to be too warm.  Added about a tbs of tumeric... this may have been a lot for a half batch.  Filled up 9 of the molds with this, very orange.

2- clary sage, rosemary, lavender and a bit of macha... 1:1:1 1 oz total probably only a tsp macha.  It turned a decent sagey green, we'll see how it sets up.  I drizzled some uncolored stuff on top to top-off the mould, so it should end up a nice two-tone.

And for some sweetness, a little crepe flower headband I made G. for her birthday.  There is also a butterfly garland I am pretty happy with!

 She actually wore this for days!  I think she liked it too.

summer projects

A family cross-stitch.  I haven't done cross stitch... it is possible that ever is the correct answer, but probably not since I was a young kid.  This was fun, even though I had to pull Bri all the way out 'cause his first version made him waay too short and just with a weird head.  This is better.  Scooter's ears also need some work, but overall, it was fun and I am happy with it.  I'll probably try another soon.

 Tomatoes... 6o lbs picked and 21 jars packed ready to go for cooking this year... so excited

 I roughly sorted them into Heriloom, golden, some  marzano shaped ones and just a general red mix batch.  Rasmussen doesn't actually label their field very well, but it was fun to pick nonetheless.  

 After much hesitation, I tacked the Wiksten Tova top using some of my precious nani iro double gauze.  It was a little tricky, but there is a sew-along that restated some of the directions in a way that just worked for me and ... voila...!  I also love it, it is so comfy and the fabric looks like a pretty watercolor.

Mom got me a serger for my big 4-0 and although I was initially pretty terrified, a class set me going in the right direction... it was essential for the gauze.  I also have totally put it through its paces... I made several (three) a-line knit skirts with a yoga band top.  Two of them will definitely stay in rotation, the third (really the first one I made... this one) didn't wash well,


 fabric was just too fine, so a good sturdy knit is really a much better plan for a skirt.  I also made two tanks (Wikstein tank) both of which I really like.

.  One is a bit snug 'cause I didn't figure out the french seams correctly and ended up taking in a little too much, but it still fits and I still love it!  You can't see the double weave goodness, the front is the gingham, and the back is the reverse, which is basically a demin looking black... as is the pocket, also can't see from this pic.

Okay that is entirely too many "self" pictures for a post, so here is a cuter subject....

and one more serger star... a cute skort for Grace.... and the first thing I put on the serger  Perfect for my monkey-bar girl.

However, I really need to get some new patterns, I have two tanks, three skirts and three of the tovas... that pretty much covers most of what I will wear.  Although the lady at the fabric store was trying to convince mt that it is okay to have a "uniform", I probably ought to branch out a bit.

Figgy raglan with short sleeves

Figgy gifty... short-sleeves for Alice's 7th.  I kinda dig the bow headband... easier than you would think.  Just had a rectangle, made a small loop that I threaded on to the rectangle.  sewed the wrong sides together and then just threaded one of the sides through so the small loop snugged right on the seam and voila.  cute bow.
I didn't have quite enough fabric for it to go along the grain correctly, so I cut things out sideways, I still think it looks pretty good, but I hope it wears correctly.

another comfy dress

another comfy dress from {lbg}, these are so easy and nice to sew.  This was even longer... in part because the fabric from JoAnn was the end of the bolt, so I got the last half yard which allowed for Grace's preferred length!

Hmm, the best shot I have of a really cute "ballet shirt" (as she thinks of it).  It's a cute reversible wrap shirt from craftiness is not optional.  The front is a pink and green floral that G picked out, the reverse is a swan print (her ballet performance has her class as the swan princesses).  I'll get a better picture one of these days.  The ties are just purple ribbons.  Easy on and off so as not to mess up ballet hair.

Thanks pinterest for the beautiful rhubarb tart recipe!  Val helped me out, rhubarb from the robust bush in our front yard.  It is almost as pretty as the inspiration!

and tasty too!  Very creamy, and I sort of skimped (okay didn't add) the cream because I didin't want to go to the store, so just upped the ricotta and marscapone to come close to the correct amounts.  The crust with almonds, sugar and eggs) was yummy!

The rhubarb in batons like this is beautiful, though a little tough to eat with.  Val even peeled them for me but it sort of squishes the filling out to cut through it.  It's worth the pretty presentation though.

quiet

You know what's weird.  There have been a few quiet weekends this term, where we have no particular plans, no papers to grade or lectures to write.  I'm not saying there isn't stuff to do, but there occasionally, is less press.  Not just work, but at home too.  The kids are playing together, maybe for a few hours, and I'm just home, they don't really want/need me to play with them, and I'm don't want to interrupt their time together, getting along.  It feels so delicate, and wonderful to hear them working out problems with eachother and enjoying, even relishing their time together... without me orchestrating... I hope it's not delicate, but right now it still is, so I do not want to interfere.

I've already vacuumed, cleaned up the kitchen, done the laundry, the basics.  We have a few activities (ballet, church) that have kept us from taking any real road trips, we have play-dates... but it's weird... not bad weird... just weird.  I don't think I have figured it out yet; is this just this moment in time, or is it a glimpse of the future?  I have not yet figured out what to do with myself.  I guiltily sneak a coffee, cookie and a read a magazine... maybe even a whole magazine; I hunt for things to do, a closet to tackle, or I pull out my sewing machine or make plans for my next batch of soap, and though nice... and man do I sometimes need to exercise my creative outlets, it doesn't feel quite right.  To add to this, when the quiet does eventually break ( and it does indeed break), I shatter... my resilience is diminished.

It's a subtle transition we are going through, and I am not sure what to call-it other than pleasantly unsettling.

further adventures in knits: comfy knit dress {lbg studio}

This one was pretty fun.  There is a great tutorial, and it really fits the bill.  I had to go with the 4-5 sizing suggestions and lengthened the tiers (Hmm, I'd have to remeasure, but I think I went with 9 and 12") because G. prefers her dresses long.  

 and spinny, long and spinny.  I'm sort of excited that she has worn this one already a few times.  I made another one last night, and she wouldn't wear it today... but it was cold, so we'll see.  I'll put some pics up if I can get her to try it on.

blindfold

So, I made the kids a each a sleeping mask in preparation for a trip where we would have a couple of late night flights.  Who knew they would want to wear them around... all the time.... 'cause it's fun just seeing how far you can get around blind.  I sorta forgot about the seam allowance so they are a bit small, but still very effective!

Seraphic tee... the next pair

Well, this is the best I could do to get the kids to show-off their shirts... they are happy to wear them though!  G's is a double sided knit, with little pink dots on the inside (she likes the sleeves rolled up to show them off).  O's is a nice light stripe with orange sleeves.  The light-weight stripe feels nice, but it was sort of a pain to sew without any seam tape.  It rolled up a lot, which made the collar a bit of a trial.  I made secret pockets matching the front one on the inside!

Figgy's Seraphic Tee... or adventures in sewing with knits

 So I took the plunge and bought Figgy's online pattern for this awesome raglan tee.  Last weekend I took both kids to the fabric stores up on Alberta and they chose these pretty awesome knits from Modern Domestic.  After a few days I got the gumption up to lay out the pieces and trace out the 4/5 for Grace and the 8/9 for Owen.  Frankly, that was the worst part, I was really hoping to just get the pattern on large format, but it is new, and I am impatient so...

 And knits!  Upon the advice of folks upon mentioning venturing into the knit world, I used the walking foot on my machine and a ball point needle and it actually went pretty smoothly!  Grace's sleeves are a little short because I did two of the same side (I should have thought it through, or the directions could have been more explicit in stating that they should be reversed... as a newbie I am not that good at thinking ahead.)

 It was a relatively easy assembly, they look pretty cute, AND the kids love them.  WIN WIN WIN!  The blue cotton is an awesome double sided affair that is so soft, I just reversed it for the dark blue.

Just a few other notes.  One of the reasons I tried this is because I discovered how to access my stretchy stitches on my sewing machine and made a quick nightshirt/dress for Grace that doesn't get worn at all.  BUT it stretches.  So I was happy.  I did the equivalent of a stretchy strait stitch on G's shirt, and it is okay, but at the hem it doesn't say very flat and sort of flares and rolls up.  It looks okay, but it is not great.  The pattern sort of casually mentions a twin needle, and I thought maybe I had one that came with my machine that had never been used because it looks hard.  Turns out... not hard at all.  Used it for Owen's hems and they are beautiful!  Just thread a second spool right on through there and sew in a strait stitch (the manual says not with a stitch width greater than 4), I did a 0 'cause it is a strait stitch, so that seemed fine and it was just like the pros.  One fold up, and the double stitch caught almost the whole hem, and it lies nice and flat.