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I have...
6 laundry baskets;
5 people in my house who make dirty laundry;
4 different kinds of laundry products to make everything nice and clean;
3 children, did I mention they make dirty laundry?
2 hours to spend washing clothes this afternoon, and
1 husband who will be very happy about that, because he has:
0 clean work shirts left.
It's been a productive week on the sewing front. First, there was this sweet little Olivia dress for a custom order:
Then I finished up two shirts for my boys to wear on an upcoming trip to the zoo. (I'll post pics of those when I get The Princess's shirt done.)
And last but certainly not least, I worked on inventory. This was a necessity, because I sold out of clothing last week at Universal Mama! No complaints here though. Having trouble keeping inventory in stock is a nice problem to have! I'll be stocking again tonight at 10 p.m. EST, so if you want to see what I made this week, head on over to UM and check out my previews. Thanks for looking!
My mother-in-law is an amazing knitter. We are blessed to always be well-stocked with winter gear, and my kids are the envy of the pre-school with their connected mittens that can't be lost. Now she is teaching The Princess to knit, and it was really fun to watch them working together yesterday.
My own mother likes to joke that talent "skips a generation", because her mother, my grandmother, was an accomplished seamstress. She doesn't give herself enough credit though, because my mother is the one who introduced me to needlepoint and cross-stitch, which was my introduction to the joy of needle and thread. Still, I do think of my grandmother when I am sewing clothes, and I know she'd be proud of me.
It's interesting how handcrafts connect us to past generations. It's lovely to see my daughter literally knitting a bond with her own grandmother as she learns this new skill. Sure, in the era of Target and Wal-Mart, maybe no one really has to learn to knit or sew anymore, but it connects us to a time when it was a necessity, and to the people for whom it was so important.
Radar and Superman, driving the "car" they made out of blocks today.
In my opinion, the best way to get a lot of sewing done in a limited amount of time is to sew assembly-line style. That means cutting out a bunch of stuff in the same color (or even the same fabric) and sewing it all up one task at a time... hem all the sleeves, sew all the shoulder seams, bind all the necklines, and so on.
I "assembly-lined" a couple yards of mermaids fabric recently. I love this print... it's cheerful and so very girly. First, there was this cute hoodie for a custom order:
Then I sewed up a couple of newborn lap tees, one for a baby gift and one for this set to sell:
I also made a size 12m lap tee:
And finally, a hastily-photographed half of a set of PJ's for The Princess. The shorts will be pink, so I'll be doing them later, when I'm assembly-lining something pink.
As you can see, I've had mermaids on the brain! Time to change fabrics. But not thread just yet. I've got a couple other aqua-background fabrics I've been wanting to work with... now seems like a good time.
The Princess has been asking me to help her make a doll, and has been waiting patiently for - well, I'm too embarrassed to tell you how long. Yesterday we finally got our shot. My thoughtful husband took charge of the boys for the whole afternoon so we could have some uninterrupted craft time.
Now, I may know how to sew, but this was my first time ever making a doll. We decided to try out Emily Martin's Black Apple Doll, using the free pattern and tutorial which you can download at Martha Stewart's website.
I can't say enough good things about this pattern. The instructions are very clear, especially because there is a video clip you can watch if you are a visual learner like me. I made two modifications to the directions. We used fabric markers instead of paints to draw the face (easier for my 7-year-old, who drew the face all by herself). I also had her draw the face before sewing and stuffing the doll. I thought it would be easier to draw on a flat surface.
This pattern is easy enough for your child to be able to help from start to finish, and it's a great opportunity for your child to learn a few techniques. And the end result is pretty darn cute, even if you make a whole lot of beginner's mistakes like I did. For example, much to my embarrassment, I sewed one of the arms on upside down. I was going to rip the seam and fix it, but The Princess insisted I leave it that way because "It looks like she is waving", which made me very happy indeed. I made a few other mistakes, but I'm not going to point those out to you because, well, I've got pride.
So now I present to you our first attempt at the Black Apple Doll, christened "Laura" by The Princess:
I'm sure it will come as no surprise to you that both of the boys now want their own Black Apple Doll, too. I think it will be a fun challenge to make this doll again in "boyish" versions.
Happy doll, happy Princess, happy Mama.
I sure do, and I'm happy to say that I will soon be back in business! Thanks to some clarifications given by the CPSC (ie. fabric, thread and yarn are highly unlikely to contain lead... well DUH), I will be re-opening my shop soon. I have some stuff in the works that I can't tell you about just yet. Patience, grasshopper. You can be sure I'll be breaking out the links and the previews just as soon as I can. This blog is a good place to stay up-to-date.
One of the nicest things about having an online business is meeting customers from around the world. That is something I have really missed. I'm really looking foward to having you all visit my Closet again very soon!
Oh, spring! You're finally here... I think!
March in our neck of the woods is like that famous phrase from Forrest Gump: Like a box of chocolates... you never know what you're gonna get. We can quite literally be wearing shorts, rainboots, and snowsuits in the same week. But finally the past two days, it seems like the warmup is truly on its way. At least we hope so.
As you can see, we celebrated the first tease of spring by heading outside to make some gigantic chalk drawings on the driveway.
I know you're quite impressed with my kids' artistic ability, but if you really want your socks knocked off, check out these amazing pavement chalk drawings by Julian Beever. Be sure to see the "anamorphic illusions"!
Today, with the double-whammy of a teacher workday and a "wintry mix", we were stuck in the house all day. Now, admittedly, the kids drove each other a little crazy and I had to use a lot of creativity to keep everyone happy. But I was secretly thrilled to be trapped at home.
You see, with the hectic schedule that comes with raising three children, I often feel more like a "Stay-in-the-Car Mom" than a "Stay-at-Home Mom". Sometimes it's just nice to have nowhere to go, and to be able to focus on simple pursuits like a good book, a hobby, and maybe an art project. Being "at home" together allows you to reconnect and forces you to communicate (for better or worse!). And it reinforces that this place we call home truly is the most important place in the world.
Maybe we should all make an effort to have more "at home" days and less "in the car" days. It would certainly benefit our environment, and I'm thinking it wouldn't be such a bad thing for the family either.
