While Tangerine Dreams

Drippy Diaper Bag

I did it again; I played with Amy Butler's Nappy Bag pattern and made this for my big trip (big trip meaning my leaving for Vancouver tomorrow morning and also being a mother of two trip out). For those of you just tuning in; Edie refers to her sibling in utereo as Drippy Head; thus the Drippy Bag. Last time I made this pattern was with recycled sheets for and this time the recycling theme continues;  I used fabric I scored at the local Yard and Yardage sale (the challenge to use it all continues; slowly but surely) a velvety brown with cotton paisley lining, then I appliqued some felted stars on the outside. I'm pretty happy with the end product (weak pun intended).

I used one of the buttons from THE button suitcase. Craig thinks I'm crazy making such a huge bag, he's worried that I'm going to hurt my back but already I'm using all that ample head room to good use - mostly carrying extra layers/hats for both me and Edie; it's that time of year again you know? Cool in the mornings, could possibly be sweltering or freezing by noon. Can you imagine now trying to cram nappies and butt wiping devices on top of that? Good thing back strong. Ugh.

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving on a jet plane and off to camp and will be back Monday! Lots to share then I bet! Hope this thing passes as carry on.

Mum and Bum

It's getting chilly chill around these parts these days with rain, even frosty some mornings. My Mum is here! My Mum is here! My mum's visiting from the big city, I'm getting tonnes of work done (doing the Garlic Festival this weekend) though I was hoping we could go frolicking through the high meadows then straight into the river to cool off together like in some periodic Kiera Knightly flick but, alas, at least the frostiness makes my latte taste even better in the morning.

So, now that I can't just live in my bubble dress anymore I realize I'm lacking in pants that fit. The ones that I've been sporting everyday (when the bubble dress starts to get mangy) since this post are the pants featured in said post. So I tried making myself some pants that are designed for women in my delicate condition. I used Kwik Sew 3324 and it was simple enough but OH MY GAWD. Sooooo uncomfortable and it gives me wicked mum bum. My friend saw me at the grocery store and said, 'oh, Kathy, I didn't realize that that was you' (I had my back to her) and I said "I know. It's these God Forsaken pants.' Not that's there's anything wrong with mum bum mind you. Mum bum is a beautiful thing, I'm just not there yet in my parenting career yet.

 I hate them. They squeeze me, not hard but just a creepy, subtle pressure right above the sensitive belly button region. Then once that starts to make me go completely crazy I'll take a couple of steps in one direction and the creep creeps down towards and over my protruding navel nose and slides off my bump and my pant legs grow about five inches getting the beautiful Luke Duke blue cordoruy all muddy around my feet. I don't think it's all the patterns fault though. I've never ever like pants that secured up towards the waist, always been a low rider girl. Plus, I made the belly bra bit a bit too short too by not folding it carefully right in half like I was suppose to. You can see the shodiness in the craftswomanship around the waistband. I guess I was rushing too much. Limited one-kid-mummy time!

What a bummer (ha, ha) but I decided instead of getting grumpy each morning deciding what to keep my bottom half warm with to go to my Nomad friend's house and go shopping in her beautiful basement studio (including panties - yay!). There's the bellybutton nose up there (yes, I had it pierce in the mid-nineties. Was such a rebel). I didn't get one with Edie until a month before she arrived. With this one, the nose popped out pretty much the morning after we conceived. What's up with that? So much for my never buy new clothes challenge. This was an emergency situation - I was on the verge of pre-partum depression. Feel much better now. And my pants stay up.

Bubble Trouble

I got Home Stretch! The Built by Wendy book on sewing knits. I've been really looking forward to this ever since Wendy hinted in Sew U she wasn't going to get into the knitty gritty of sewing up comfy stretchies because she was working on a book entirely focused on that. I love it! Totally demystifying most of the questions I had around using my serger and what shortcuts I can safely take when it comes to knits.

I look totally crazed in this shot. I'm at the point of my pregnancy where normal clothing was causing Drippy Head to do some funky chickening and stretchy comfy was in order to allow the little critter to float about freely in his pod. I bought this glorious cotton/bamboo knit jersey here in town - 2 yards like the instructions called for - and turns out it wasn't enough to make the baby doll dress. Luckily I also bought some raspberry of the same fabric and decided to improvise and make the dress two tone. So after all the really really hard decision making (another debilitating feature these hormones are gracing me with) and then cutting and ready to serge ahead, I heard that sick noise and broke my serger. Panic because I thought I'd have to ship my machine out to some major city center but turns out there's a guy in town who actually has his day job in our little village so door to door service!

So, my serger's back, good as new, all tuned up and I was able to crank out this dress in a day. I made some alterations to the pattern (which Wendy totally encourages) like shortening the sleeves and I tried to make a bubble dress out of it by adding an elastic hem at the bottom. I like the effect but I don't like the finishing on the hem (you can see why in the first 'mama shouldn't huff' shot). Looks super shabby. If I was a perfectionist I might cut it off, add a casing and slide the elastic through that. But, no time for that action. I have a million more projects to crank out before the Drippy Head debut and the bubble action works for now.

Thank Heaven...

... for little girls because they let their mamas dress them up in vintage pillow cases. I made of few of these and were super quick and fun. This one's one of two of a kind. Because, well, there were two of the same pillow cases I found at the thrift store. To make, I followed this awesome tutorial. I love the faded out flower power look, the softy feel and even the smell of these seventies sheets (and I got super picky smelling devices right now!). Reminds me of the sheets I slept on on hot, hot Montreal summer nights growing up where I had to flip my pillow over throughout the night to get some cool side to be able to get back to sleep.

So this project was an extension of my Good Sheet Collection. Being pregnant (ha! bet you thought I was going to forget to bring that up) I'm also super picky on the materials and fibers I want to don my offsprings. I'm starting to get icked out these days about even buying cotton from the fabric store. Did you know that conventional cotton uses a sheet load of pesticides? A sheet load! Options then are to buy second hand, which is pretty much what we've always done, buy organic cotton or bamboo and hemp which are naturally poison free or vintage materials such as sheets and towels which are used enough that everything's been washed away or hasn't yet been so liberally dosed up with the crap.

We found Edie a used play kitchen. Not exactly the most Waldorf-y thing I've ever laid my eyes on but she loves it and wants to play with it all the time so I deemed it her outdoor kitchen . The skeeters come out right before supper time so it works out perfectly. I'm not exactly sure I want to bring this thing into the house yet or not. Craig says I'm picky; I say I'm nesting because, you know, the bun in the oven thing.

From Here to Maternity (Wear)

This is my face before latte. Craig was leaving to go out of town so I had to communicate to him, without the use of words, that I needed him to take my picture wearing my new shirt. It was like "uh. uh!" and  me shoving the camera into his hand.

The pattern is a Hot Pattern's Poetry In Motion Top - the swing top to be specific, and I used some gingham fabric I scored at the Yard and Yardage sale this spring for a knocked-up Daisy Mae feel. Super easy. It's in their No Sweat easy sew category and righteously so. Easy sew is what I'm all about these days. Wickedly baby brained. I had a few hours to sew one day while monkey was at her play care place and I just kept sewing the same seam and then ripping out the mistake over and over again. It was so weird how it wasn't totally pissing me off. Guess I'm just really enjoying the sewing process these days.

Yeah, my body's ready now for accomodating clothes so I broke the pledge I took a few years ago and bought some spanking new hemp pants. Soooooooo comfy! They're Nomads Hemp Wear -  a really sweet local couple own the company. Highly recommended for expanding belly regions.

Sheety Diaper Bag

My best friend from high school had a baby. Her second. This fabric totally reminds me of her. She's super groovy and use to sport all kinds of flower power type prints (at least I think she did - high school's still a kind of all a blur). So, I made an Amy Butler Nappy bag all from vintage bedsheets and pillow cases.

Some of the interior pockets. Skipped out on the cell phone pocket because, well, we don't have cell phone coverage out here. And, the bottle pocket. Lots of reviews on the pattern states that these are a pain in the ass to install and I don't she's a bottler anyway. Did I mention she recently moved out to these parts? That's pretty cool (Peace Sisters 4 Evah! - yeah, we were pretty cool back in the day). So, with her first babe she lugged around this giant backpack for a diaper bag. Totally cool if she's still down with that but just in case she can use this to stuff with goose feathers and take a much needed Mummy of two siesta.

Butt First

 

It's been a week of firsts for Edie. Above pic is clue number one.

First horsey ride at her buddy's fourth birthday party;

witnessed her first rainbow (gawd, seeing her little eyes light up when she saw this was one of those moments I've only experienced a handful of times and only as a mom where it feels like my heart grew an inch in a single spurt);

and, her first haircut. Again, this was one of those few (okay, many) moments I've experienced during my gig as mom when I had to step out of the room momentarily because my crying would confuse the child. This was actually her second haircut. I cut off 2 mm when she was a year old to promote hair growth but I don't think it counts as a haircut if your able to snort up all the hair trimmings. I cut a few inches off all over and then she really wanted me to cut her bangs so when she goes to her playschool the kids will say, I actually couldn't believe she said this for some reason (in her mock deep kid's voice) "Edie, did you do something to your hair?". So I did, asking her about twenty times, "now, are you sure?" and, oh my god, she aged, like, a year. So I had to step outside (luckily the bathroom door leads directly outside) and wipe the tears away. It was so weird. Craig thinks she looks like a Little Miss Beauty Contestant now. I want my little Ragamuffin back! Just kidding. I'll just cut back on the baths from 10 to 15 days now.

There's little Miss and Mr Sunshine. These two lounging around on Father's Day. Edie's sporting by the way the Tea Party Dress I spoke of over here. So cute, she picked out the fabric because Strawberry Shortcake is her alias. The pattern comes with bloomers I made but she's not into wearing. Not sure why. I would totally wear them myself. Hmmm....

What's with the Lawn Face?

It's tricky to catch full-self portraits in these parts. I need a full length mirror in my sewing room at least. Craig's office is just behind this window so after some time the man felt for me and quickly snapped a shot from his desk.

I'm from the camp of taking about fifty shots of the same thing to increase chances of a keeper or two - you know, like a million monkeys in a room there's bound to be one in there typing or something like that. Craig's a one shot kind of guy (not trying to be punny this time). He was super busy with a project at the time so it was; "you look like a lawnchair" >snap<. So, I was surprised I didn't look totally offended in the end product. I guess I have delayed facial expressions. Just looks like I'm sporting a wheel barrel bracelet (never mind. Can't see it in the actual post)!

This is a Built by You dress from Simplicity (3964)  (again, check out Leya's frickin' cute one here) and I was actually all proud of the fact that alot of my projects these days have been utilizing vintage fabrics I scored at the local Yard and Yardage sale in the spring. Sure, I look mildly coked-out or l should be hanging from Scar Face's window sill but I just made a five dollar dress! Six when you count in the fact I bought the pattern on a $1.00 on all Simplicity pattern sale. Brace yourself and grab your sunglasses for there's more frugal fashions coming down the pipes in the next while. This pregancy's made me into a sewing maniac.

Amy Butler's Beer Belly Apron

I made an apron to go with my Amy Buttah skirt. It's like buttah and my developing beer belly is growing comfortably over the waistband. Yes! I can wear it all summer according to my winter plans.


And there's the back of it. It's the Barcelona skirt pattern too. I like it and been wearing it lots. Over the skirt, over my cords, over my tights; all over it. I'm loving sewing these days. Craig's mom's in town now so I'm hoping to get some more projects crossed off my list. Craig says no more clothes until Edie's bedroom curtains are done but, baby needs a tea party dress first (and I need to dye the silk I got for the curtains first. Guess what colour. You'll never guess.).


I'd love to stay and chat but I'm at the restaurant again feeling weird and worried that I've been gone too long again. I'll sneak out again sometime soon.

Farm I See

 
I know, my puns are getting weaker and weaker; I'll blame it on the hormones like everything else. Our little not-so-underground-anymore (they asked me to take pictures for the local paper - you know, because they know about the blog now  - kidding! Because I was the only nerd with a camera) farmer's coalition meeting this weekend encompassed a tour of these two member's farm. It was really quite outstanding. The husband having been born on the homestead in a little cabin still standing there across the garden way and his parents have been farming there forever so everything is super established. The amount of food they produce is inspiring. They only spend about $100 a month on toilet paper I think they said (don't drink the water from the tap). We had our usual amazing potluck and our hosts brought to the table borscht made with only ingredients they grew or raised, fresh baked multi-grain bread and the most amazing canned peaches straight from their orchid. It was heaven. Among the eye candy we saw ducks, chickens, beehives, cows...

...cutes looking at cows...

... and cutes hiding under their mamas' new skirts they just made.

This is the under skirt I wore to the tour and I then finished the apron overlay on Sunday just in time for our dinner guests' arrival (can you tell my energy's creeping back?) but haven't had a chance/keep forgetting to get a picture of it. Chances are good it will happen soon since I've been wearing it everyday since (well, it's only been two days this morning I guess, but I want to wear it everyday). And that's my girl, Peggy! She's my sewing/knit buddy and I'm her cake tester. She makes amazing cake. AND, she's the farmer behind the famous Fabulous Farms. Her fabulousness has been captured here before. Oh yeah, she's a natural building specialist, too. She helped us finish some plastering in our house before we moved in here. There's nothing this woman can't do!