Fall 2010 SWAP progress II

Monday was the deadline for my Fall SWAP. Um...I'm not quite done. (And I'm not quite sure how I started this post Monday and now it's suddenly Friday, but that's a different story). I did, however, make more good progress before the deadline went flying by!

I made a second Puolukka bodysuit (Ottobre 6/2009, #1), this time of organic cotton baby rib knit from Fabric.com. It's delicious! I am going to have to order some in other colors to make myself undershirts for winter. It's so soft and comfy! Again, this is for Miss M to wear under dresses and with skirts this fall and winter. It'll look especially nice with the Vadelma pinafore dress that isn't quite done (and therefore not pictured here).

The Dolly dress (Ottobre 6/2008 #6) is darling, albeit a wee bit too short for a "dress." But that's alright, I prefer Miss M to wear leggings in the fall and winter anyway, so no harm done. It's funny though...Miss M is 80 inches tall, so I made the size 74 width and size 86 length. Oh well, it's easy enough to lengthen it next time. It's made from Michael Miller's Birds of Norway babywale corduroy.

The Jänönheinä tunic (Ottobre 4/2010, #2) and Lilac triangular scarf (Ottobre 3/2010, #40) are made of dark green Kona cotton. I'm very pleased with the fit and shape of the Jänönheinä. When I was making it, I looked at the front and back pieces and said, "This could almost fit me!" But it turned out to be just right once it was gathered to the neckline binding. It was a last minute stroke of genius (if I do say so myself) to add the lace along both sides of the button band. Doesn't it finish it off nicely? I love it when that happens!

I didn't realize at first that the Montmartre skirt (Ottobre 4/2010, #25) is as full as a circle skirt. It's made of some lovely cotton velveteen by Hilco that I splurged ridiculous amounts of money on. (At least for me). But I'm glad I did. The colors are so appealing...and Miss M likes it too, which is important 'cause she's mighty particular about what she wants to wear.

I've made the Little Rosy cape (Ottobre 6/2008, #22A) once before and thought it could use a little length, so I added about 4 inches at the bottom and maybe 2 to the height of the hood. I used some good ol' Red Heart yarn to blanket stitch around the front edges and fashion ties and a braided tassel on the hood.

I'll have to interrupt my work on the SWAP to whip up two baby buntings for Hubby's coworkers who are having babies and then I'll get to the final two shirts and the St. Germain trenchcoat.

MFW ECC: What's different this time around?

I am so excited to go through Exploring Countries and Cultures again. The last time my kids were so little -- 3rd grade and Kindergarten. And now they are in 5th and 8th grades! They have grown so much over the past five years. As I began to think about our plan for this year, I realized two things: 1) my gifted eldest child remembers just about everything we covered in ECC the first time, and 2) my younger one hasn't had many of the basics that ECC covers. So I was faced with a dilemma -- how do I adjust ECC to suit the very different needs of both children? How do I shift the focus for my 8th grader to aspects of ECC that she hadn't spent time on before (such as types of governments, imports and exports, etc.) while also taking my younger child through the more foundational information that he missed when he was just a kindergartener? ECC is designed to be parent-led, family learning, with a supplement for 7th and 8th grade. But I came to the conclusion that I need to deco...

Pilcrow pajamas

I finally finished a sewing project...it's been a while, huh? Little Guy has outgrown most of his pajamas and bodysuits. He has several onesies, but they're mostly short sleeved which isn't really appropriate for this time of year without a cardigan. Ottobre to the rescue! I had traced off the "Naava coverall" (Ottobre 6/2009, #3) but it was already a size too small. I "remedied" that by simply cutting it out a little larger all around and keeping my original seam allowance...a bit sloppy perhaps, but time-saving! I actually cut out two at the same time from the same material. I was going for practicality (something for the kid to wear!) rather than fashion. The other one is nearly done - just the leg binding and snaps left to do. Still, I needed to do something fun to spruce 'em up a bit. The other one was voted by hubby to be video game themed, so I decided to make this one reflect my abject nerdiness personality....

Letter posters with memory verses

I have very fond memories of the cursive letter banner that was posted around the top of the walls in my fifth grade classroom. I thought it would be fun to make something similar for our homeschool classroom (a.k.a. our kitchen). I decided to include a Bible verse for each letter. At this point it's mostly for my own benefit since Miss M doesn't read yet. They serve as great reminders to help her memorize these important bits of Scripture while her little mind is still a sponge. (It saddens me that my memorization skills are not what they were when I was a kid!) The fun part is I saved my work in a pdf file for you to use too! Just click the image above to download the file. I laminated mine before sticking them around my kitchen walls with ticky tacky. (The laminator is a new toy!) Enjoy!

CHRISTEPHI

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