CHRISTEPHI

The past two nights we journeyed back in time to Bethlehem.  I played Mary the mother of Jesus,  Hubby dressed as Joseph, and Miss M was a mostly-well-behaved angel.  Our new little man was, of course, the star as he played Baby Jesus.  It was a big hit with the children visitors to have a real baby Jesus! One little boy brought the flute he made inside the "market" back out and asked if he could play a song for Jesus.  Who could resist such a request?! My little angel procured her own fan club over the course of the two evenings. She did all the activities at least three times and received special treatment from all the "shop keepers."  It was good for her ego since she saw her brother getting so much attention.   She has no modesty whatsoever (which I'm not concerned about at this age) and when people told her she was beautiful angel, she simply replied, "Yeah, I am!"   It was a once in a lifetime opportunity...there won't be anot

The little man was born at 9:17 p.m. on Thursday, November 12. He weighed in at 6 lbs. 8 oz. and 20 inches long.  That pound and a half difference between him and his sister at birth made for quite a different delivery experience, but both mama and baby are doing fine and mama made it without any pain medication. (C'mon, I have to boast a little!) I'm delighted to say his Going Home Outfit fit him perfectly -- especially the sweater which I had my doubts about!

Miss M was born at 36 weeks and 3 days...which means that this little guy could come at any time since today is the third day of week 36.  With that in mind, I whipped up this preemie sized Going Home Outfit.  I used Ottobre 6/2007 (which I just got as a back issue four days ago), pattern #3 "Overall for a premature baby" in size 45 cm based on the length my daughter was at birth. It was my first time using rib knit binding and my first time to use a double needle.  It's not perfect, and sadly the wonkiest parts are front and center, but it's not too noticeable and on a cute newborn, I doubt even the most particular seamstress would notice! The onesie is a preemie sized one I got at a thrift store for a few cents.  It was kind of coincidence that it goes so well. I finished up the last 6 diapers I needed to complete my newborn stash of 24 and 3 covers, so I think I'm all ready for the little guy!  As long as he's healthy, he's welcome to come any

I had most of Miss M's Halloween costume done a while back...just never got around to taking pictures of it until now.  It's based loosely on McCall's 5732 , but I really only used the pattern for the vest...and even then I modified it.   For the shirt I used an Ottobre raglan pattern (I'm not even sure which one), but added width so it'd be a bit fuller.  I made it out of light green silk.  The vest as made of darker green twill and lined with brown flannel for warmth.  I patchworked together a bunch of faux suede pieces of various shades of brown for the pants and kind of made up the pattern as I went...based on the McCall's pattern style, but not using their pattern pieces and making it a separate rather than a one-piece with the top.  I used elastic in the legs and a drawstring at the waist so she can keep wearing it as dress-up clothes for a while.  I completely made up the pattern for the wings and they turned out amazingly like what I envisioned and far b

After going through two prototypes ( here and here ), Miss M's Cinderella dress is finished!  Her birthday isn't until mid November, but I really wanted to have it done as soon as possible since we don't know when this baby will decide to arrive.  If he's on the same schedule Miss M was on, it could be as early as next week!  (And as long as he's healthy like she was, I wouldn't mind a bit!) I wasn't originally going to make the dress lace up in back, but I'm too cheap to use a zipper.  A zipper = $4 or so and you can buy a whole spool of ribbon for $0.50!  Besides, I'm going to use some scraps of the blue satin to make a cord for it...and this way it'll fit her longer because even when she's a little too big around for the dress, I can just tie the laces a little looser et voila ! The other change I made to the pattern, besides getting the fit of the bodice right, was to add an underskirt or crinoline of bleached muslin and tulle

My first Cinderella dress prototype was a big hit with Miss M, but unfortunately it didn't fit her properly.  I scrounged up some more fabric scraps my mom gave me a while back and came up with a second prototype.  This one fits much better!  I also took the time to do a few details that came to me a bit late in the making of prototype #1, namely tucks in the skirt, eyelet lace peeking out from the hemline and echoed at the neckline, and a lace-up back.  (I do need to get a more appropriate bit of ribbon since this sheer stuff is a little too fragile for an energetic toddler.) Making these is dangerously fun!  I have a feeling there will be more incarnations in the future.  Why, oh why does everyone I know have boys instead of girls!?  How many princess dresses can one little girl handle anyway? Oh, and yes, it was raining when I took the pictures...and the cement was quite chilly for bare feet!  But Miss M thought it was the best fun she'd had all week to go ou

Miss M has been promised a Cinderella dress for her birthday.  Knowing that McCall's and Simplicity patterns tend to run super wide for my slim daughter, I decided to do some pre-measuring and a prototype before cutting into my "good" fabric.  As suspected, it came out wide...but it definitely passes the 2-almost-3-year-old test.  She declared quite vehemently, "I'm going to keep wearing it. It's clothes."  (Can you tell she is frequently told to put "clothes" on and not stay in her pajamas all day?)  I haven't even hemmed it yet...and it's too wide so the sleeves slip down her shoulders giving it a decidedly naughty look -- not the look I'm going for on my toddler!  But, for this evening, she's a happy peasant-princess. Miss M loves to dress up.  Today she told me she wanted to be "a super" with a cape and a mask.  She frequently plays as a magician, a princess, a butterfly, a bird, or a ballerina.  That&#

After finishing 18 cloth diapers , I was a bit tired of them -- the repetition gets boring after a while.  I wanted to sew something else, so I traced off Ottobre 1/2009 numbers 1 and 2, the Nuppu wraparound jacket and Nunnu knit pants.  I cut them out of cheerful green double knit I got a Hancock Fabrics a few months ago.  I used size 50 (the smallest size) and the finished product is comparable to the 0-3 month store-bought outfits we've been given. I couldn't decide which pieces I wanted to be stripes and which solid, so I enlisted Hubby's help. Turns out he had very strong opinions about which parts should be which, so it's a good thing I asked!  He was also quite adamant about wanting a ninja embroidered on the front (once I shot down the Gears of War logo and Batman symbol).  This little guy from How to Draw a Cartoon Ninja fit the bill nicely.  I got an awful kink in my neck while working on it, but I'm pleased with the end result. I sewed it

After making the decision to cloth diaper , it took me a bit of time to get going on the sewing side of things.  But...a little over a month later...I've got my first 18 newborn sized diapers finished! I plan on making 6 more to have a full 2 dozen, plus 2-3 covers.  I'll get started on the covers today. As you can see, no two are exactly the same.  Although, three of the green ones come pretty close. Once I finish the set, I'll wash 'em all real good a time or two before baby arrives.  I'll probably do an absorbency test too, just for the sake of curiosity. Then it'll be time to resize the pattern again for when baby outgrows these!  Ahh, the sewing never ends...  :-)

I finished my SWAP according to the September 21st deadline and am just now finally getting around to posting the complete ensemble here.  I really enjoyed the entire process.  It was especially great once everything was cut out because when I had a few minutes to sew, I could sit down, grab something, and sew!  I'll definitely be using this method again in the future. I'm so glad I didn't try to do full length pants (except for the leggings) because Miss M seems to be sprouting up overnight these days.  I had to go out and buy her a package of new socks because her feet are getting too long for her old ones...and I had to get them from the little girl's section, not the baby department!  She's got long and narrow feet like me. I'd still like to add two pairs of leggings (off-white and dark green) and 2-3 pinafore dresses for layering.  I have fabric already, I just need to do some other sewing first. Hubby's work had a surprise baby shower for him

My grandma recently sent me two huge lawn-and-leaf bags full of fabric, eyelet, lace, trims, buttons, well, a whole bunch of wonderful supplies!  There's a huge piece of polar fleece, that I suspect is at least partial wool content (my nose tells me so, but I haven't done a burn test yet)...super soft and cuddly!  And scraps of Thinsulate -- the perfect size for making a coat for Miss M or the new baby. Also doll making supplies -- joints, eyes, hair, long doll-making needles, etc.  I probably won't use them, but I'm sure someone somewhere would be glad to trade for something I would use.  So, as a thank you for her thoughtful gift (I'm just 1 out of her 8 kids and 33 grandkids, so I'm sure she could have passed it all on to someone else!), I decided to make her a mini tree quilt. It's my first time ever doing a quilt binding and while it didn't turn out perfectly, I'm quite pleased overall!  I'm planning to make three slightly larger ones to

Miss M and I went on a short walk into the nearby park and took a few pictures.  We thought we'd share! According to my wildflower book, this sunny yellow fellow is Oxeye. The thistles are going to seed, see the fluffy thistledown? There were busy honey bees everywhere! Which is good because the local bee population has been suffering the past few years (or so I've been told). It took a while to identify these berries.  At first my dad thought they were hackberries, but I wasn't so sure since the arrangement on the branches didn't seem quite right.  So I kept looking and I'm pretty sure they're coralberries.  Whatever they are, aren't they pretty?! The leaves are just starting to change on the trees around here...this must have been one of the first to fall. Isn't it stunning?  I'm afraid my photography doesn't quite do it justice.  I do believe fall is my favorite season!  What's yours?

This is the fourth mei tai I've made from Kristen's Scandi Mei Tai tutorial .  I love every one of them!  The first three were gifts for friends and cousins having their first babies.  I finally made one for me! Here it is being tried out for the first time by hubby and Miss M. (Just imagine me trying to carry her around while 7 months pregnant...nah, I'll let hubby do the heavy work!) (You can click on it to see it a bit bigger). You can see how neglected Miss M is when I sew...that pathetic falling-down ponytail!  Oh well, at least she kept herself busy with stickers (you should have seen my pant legs)! Here's some shots of the ones I gave away.  I hear they are much loved! These two were for two of my cousins.  My other cousin picked out the fabric and I did the sewing.  Funny, I just realized that all of these were for boy babies!

When Miss M was born, we lived in a tiny one-bedroom apartment.  The on-site laundry facilities consisted of a single coin-operated washer and two dryers.  Whenever I did laundry, I always washed the adult clothes first so the final load of baby stuff would have as little "contamination" as possible -- particularly the residue of other people's laundry detergents and fabric softeners.  Miss M had such bad eczema that her tiny baby cheeks would bleed on her crib sheets at night.  Prescription ointments didn't work.  I wonder now if cloth diapering would have helped with her sensitive skin, but it really wouldn't have been feasible for us what with the time involved and the expense of coin-operated laundering.  We finally discovered Aquaphor by Eucerin ; it helped keep the worst of the eczema at bay until she outgrew her hypersensitivity. This time around, however, I have my own washer and dryer (hallelujah!) and have decided to cloth diaper the new baby.  It was

I was recently given a few old books by a neighbor who is moving.  Lovely copies of Treasure Island , Rebecca , and an old book on etiquette called Social Etiquette, or Manners and Customs of Polite Society  published about 1900. (I discovered that you can read the full text online for free since it falls outside modern copyright laws). There is much in the book that is no longer applicable in today's society such as how and when to leave calling cards and when men should lift their hats in greeting.  However, the core premise of the book, the very essence of etiquette, is something that will be appropriate for all peoples, at all times, in all places. Truly good manners, truly good breeding come from cultivating goodness from within. If we try to "put on" good manners when we go out or for special occasions "they will fit but illy, as borrowed plumes are wont to do" (p. 20). And all this is based on one thing: the Golden Rule from Scripture which says, &quo

Hubby said this is the best thing I've ever made...in fact, he said it looks like something you'd buy at Dillard's (which is the most expensive place he knows of, so that was a major compliment)!  I bought this stunning cherry blossom fabric on eBay a few years ago and loved it so much that I couldn't use it for anything. I finally got over that and this was the perfect project for it. I used the "Pink Daisy" overalls pattern from Ottobre (3/2009 #8) for the dress, but modified the lower half to be a skirt, rather than pants.  The main fabric is a nice heavy green twill I had left over from a baby carrier I made my cousin.  It's fully lined with the cherry blossom quilting cotton...I had originally planned to line only the top half, but I'm glad I lined the whole thing. It makes for a nice, warm jumper for fall/winter/spring!  I wasn't sure what to do for buttons, so I snagged some navy blue ones from my stash, covered them in fabric, et voila

Our no-spend week turned out to be an exercise in both self control and negotiation.  I'm not sure hubby was quite as sold on the idea as I was to begin with, especially for the weekend.  All day Saturday he said things to me like, "You don't have to cook tonight.  We can just go out.  You deserve a break.  Wanna just order pizza?  Let's just go order from the $1 menu." etc., etc., etc.  I made a conscious effort to not be frustrated at his attempts to sabotage our no-spending his unwillingness to cooperate. Instead, I tried to understand why he was being this way.  I was first tempted to say he simply lacked self-control.  My husband was raised Catholic which instilled in him a strong sense of "it's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission."  In other words, his natural inclination is to do what he wants and deal with the consequences afterwards, like going to Confession Sunday morning after partying all night Saturday.  I, on the other h

Well, we made it through our no-spend week weekdays ...just two weekend days left.   Those'll be the hardest!  I convinced hubby to pick up his video game on his way home from work Tuesday instead of coming home first and going back out for it (he likes to have us with him when he shops).  So he didn't need to fill up his gas tank this week!  But we had a major blowout today...McDonald's was kind enough to provide our supper...for a fee!  Actually, hubby called me on his lunch break today and asked if he could go to Dairy Queen for lunch.  "Didn't you pack your lunch?!" "Yeah, but I feel like eating something hot."  Anyway, I convinced him to just eat the lunch he packed, but he insisted we go out to McDonald's tonight.  I must admit I was secretly glad because it meant I could sit at my sewing machine a little longer instead of getting up to make supper.  Plus, Miss M didn't take her nap today and was in need of special love and attention b

I've finished up four more garments for the Ottobre Fall SWAP (sewing with a plan).  I'm really pleased with how wonderfully this whole sewing plan is going!  I've done most of the "easy" garments and am starting in on some of the more complex items. The fabric I used in the Muru tunic (Ottobre 1/2009 #6) was taken from an old t-shirt cardigan of mine that magically grew shorter and shorter on me.  I even re-used the ribbing and buttons.  I swear, I had a bad case of preggo brain when sewing it because I must have ripped out every seam at least once. It wasn't the pattern, just me.  In fact, the pattern was really quite simple and I enjoyed making it!  I nixed the whole clear elastic thing though 'cause the knit was so tender and the elastic so stiff...it just wasn't working.  I gathered it with old fashioned basting threads.  I'm not sure if I'll try the clear elastic again next time I make this pattern; it will probably depend on h

I'm happy to announce that the nilaga turned out quite well...sufficiently like my mother-in-law's to pass the critical "Hubby Test." It makes enough to feed an entire clan, so we'll be having it again a few more times this week. I based mine off of this recipe .  I added one seeded jalapeño from the garden 'cause I know my mother-in-law does.  It only stayed in while the meat cooked (which took way longer than the 1 hour the recipe says!); I took it out before adding the other vegetables.  Miss M only ate rice and broth, no veggies or meat; hubby ate a plate of rice with veggies and meat, but no broth; and what you see above is my bowl before I added rice. When I woke up this morning, the weather forecast said 90% chance of rain and while it didn't rain very hard, we did get a bit of a shower. Since there wasn't any thunder, I let Miss M play outside with her "bra-lella." She's wearing her "Wendy" dress.  Wh

Today's the first day of our no-spend week. I did what I could this weekend to plan and prepare, so we'll see how it all goes! But first...  We went to a parade Saturday!  Miss M has been begging to see a parade (and, in fact, "seeing" them in the most unlikely places), so when I heard there was to be a parade at the Parkville Days celebration, we decided we just had to go. There were two marching bands, clowns, a carnival, pony rides, and one very happy toddler!  You couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous day. We got hungry, but opted to buy a small snack rather than spend an arm and a leg for carnival food that most likely would have been less than satisfactory portion-wise.  That saw us through the rest of our errands and we ate at home. I made my meal menu that night. I doubt anyone plans meals quite like I do, but who knows, maybe my way could be helpful to someone else at some point.  Instead of planning specifically what I'll cook on