Circle top – Modifying a Ready to Wear Tee

I have a million other things to do (first birthday party tonight!) but have been wanting to blog so badly. After years of blogging I just get this itch when it’s been a while! I made the girls matching tops by modifying RTW shirts (well Bennet’s was a onsie, but I’m not a onsie fan and all of hers are chopped off like this).

I’ve had the idea to do this for years (in fact, the grid fabric I bought for this specific project for 12 years, the shame!). I got a fabulous shirt when I was in Japan; it was black and had little circles sprinkled on it of the best cotton fabrics. Wonderful prints. I freaking loved that shirt. Somehow it is one of those sad lost forever stories. I have no idea what happened to it. This is my take on it.
To make it I cut squares and then free hand cut circles out of those. I find it much easier to free hand circles from squares (I did the same thing for my much loved felt garland). I ironed them onto a piece of Heat n Bond lite (on my Silhouette tips and tricks page I talked about how this is the same as Silhouette’s branded sewable interfacing, but much cheaper). In hind site it might have been easier to cut the fabric out after I ironed on this stuff, but it worked, I just trimmed the edges to make sure sticky wasn’t everywhere. I pulled off the backing and then tacked them down on the shirt with the iron. With a sharp fresh needle in the machine I slowly stitched around the circles in coordinating thread. This would look adorable hand sewn, but I didn’t have the time. I left long tails, pulled the thread through to the back and knotted it. I wondered how it would stay, usually appliqué on t-shirts is zig-zaged on (like these shirts or this).

This is after many washings (and only wearing it once, it got trashed because I let her walk around with peppers that she drooled all down the front). The edges are just slightly frayed and it just adds to the shirt.

By the way trying to get a picture of this girl in said shirt? Ya… it was a challenge.

“mom you don’t want me to hide behind the table and put my rice cake front and center?”
Silly girl! This shirt remake works great for stains (the circles here are covering up a few of those yellow mysteries that I’ve learned develop between children while they sit in storage!). I’d love to see your take on it if you try it. It’s easy, and I’m sure I won’t wait 12 years to try it again. Maybe I’ll even make on for me!

Kids Clothes Week – Day 1 & 2

I have some major catching up to do on the blog. And a post has been started with photos of fun things we’ve been doing. But it’s Summer Kids Clothes Week and I decided I had to participate. So here’s what I’ve made so far:

My little poser. This is a sweet and easy little bubble top that I lengthened into a dress length to make a nightie out of this very soft tissue knit (from Fabric Depot’s outdoor sale last year).

Very good for spinning. She loved this. She loves most everything I make, I’m so lucky. I leave new things outside her door so in the morning she can find them when she wakes up. She stumbled into my room already wearing this. I’ve already got a second (mostly) cut out. A heavier weight so it can be worn out and about (though she did wear this out, I couldn’t stop her!).
There’s more but Bennet just woke up and I want to get this posted at least!

Eleven Months


I love that I do these updates, even though I should certainly be getting more sleep (groan only 5.5 hours yesterday broken up into three unsatisfying bits).

I like to do it because I am glad to have this time to focus on sweet Ben. She really does get less pictures take of her, the second child syndrome I was sure would “not happen with my child.” Ha.

There are so many things I like about being a parent. And one thing I really hate, the lack of sleep. But I like to tell myself that I can always use this specialized training if ever I am held hostage and some kind of sleep deprivation is used on me. But I guess I’m just an optimist like that.
I like that having kids has made me more patient. I like that it makes me see the world a different way. I like that I can clearly see how different people can be… right from the minute they are born. See little Bennet, Miss 3% on the scales? That doesn’t stop her from figuring out how to get off my (not so close to the ground) bed. I really thing she may be the kind that does not see obstacles, but just challenges (she may also be the kind of child who gives her mother a heart attack). Today she was so close to walking. I thought she would do it while Bj was at work, so I’ve tried slowing her progress a bit, it would be lovely for him to see it first. I’m planing a baby obstacle course for this weekend so we can get her to do it when we’re all paying attention.

I read back over last month’s post and it’s funny that I was even worried about food at all. She had just started eating last month, and already she is saying no thanks to my lovingly prepared baby food (by spraying it all over herself and me). She would rather have what we’re having so I’ve obliged her. Can babies have fish and eggs? I keep meaning to look this up. I very much hope that we are rounding the corner on her food issues, this mama is DYING FOR YOGURT. Oh the fresh berries in the yard. I want a parfait like you would not believe. I have I really not had (even the tiniest trace amount of) dairy in 8 months?!?! That doesn’t even seem possible. I didn’t think I had that kind of will power, but that darling face certainly does make it easier. I am glad I can have soy, and thus, gum again though.
Enough about me. What else about Bennet? She has started the great baby language that I LOVE. She talks in it constantly and it reminded me that I needed to step up my sign language game so she can communicate with me more successfully. I signed to Tuesday all the time (I grew up learning to sign), and she had quite the large amount of signs by two, though she knows very few now. We watched a little baby signing time clip and Bennet thought it was great. I think she’d probably thing any screen thing was great, but I don’t intend to test that theory.
She is super expressive and has a great, “you have got to be kidding me” look. I need to get that one down. Tuesday and her still love each other, though she is going for more of Tuesday’s “set ups” which is unfortunate. I’ve already pulled a Playmobil flip flop from her mouth. We have dog gates around said set-ups now.
She wears trainers most of the time at home. I do realize that the only reason she really needs anything is because of me. It is just so much work to take her potty all the time that I fall back on trainers. By so much work, I mean, it interrupts what I want to do. So then I feel selfish and guilty. She really doesn’t seem to care and I rarely have to deal with poop so I’m going to give myself a break…. well I’ll try. I did take her to the grocery store in a trainer and was glad that she didn’t pee on me.
My love affair with my children continues. I just feel so lucky. My mom had a birthday and we hosted. Bj made fish tacos. Bill asked us what we thought we would be doing on our 55th birthdays. Hmm. More of this I think. Family, friends… grandchildren? Well, hopefully someday. After all babies are so wonderful.
10 months, 9 months, 8 months, 7 months, 6 months, 5 months, 4 months, 3 months, 2 months, 1 month.

Teeny Tiny Trainer Tutorial

Tuesday was tiny, Bennet is tinier! Add to that starting EC earlier than we did with Tuesday and there are not many trainers that fit my wee girl. I did find these from Charlie Banana (it doubles as a swim diaper) and got one. SO cute. But since I sew and my friend showed me a great (free) pattern that mostly uses scraps of fabric I just couldn’t justify buying more!

I took the smallest size and made it even smaller. Though the small size is rated for 0-6 months it was easy enough to customize the rise (length from crotch up to the top of the waistband) and leg and waist openings. My babies never had much chunk on them so making these openings smaller was key. The tutorial on her site is great, but I thought I would show you the modifications I made and give a few tips if you’re interested. The pattern goes up to 3-4 years so while I made these teeny tiny for Elimination Communication they could be made big for older kid potty training too!

Here are all the pieces I cut out: four pieces of flannel for the absorbent layer (just scraps, old Pjs work great for this), a waistband and two legbands cut from spandex pants I was never going to fit back into (Adidas running pants, I loved working with this material, but old swimsuits and nice tees also work. Anything with 2 way stretch – just pull the material each way and see if both ways stretch, if yes, it’s two way stretch), the two big pieces are the main panel. I cut one out of a soft old tee and one out of fleece. This is different than the pattern. I have no waterproof layer, but the fleece gives a little protection, enough for me since I change her after one pee anyway.

Here is what I’ve done now. The leg and waistbands have been sewn right sides together (I chained pieced them since that slippery material always wants to get eaten by the machine). I tried this step with my serger and didn’t like the results, for me the regular stitch here is just fine. I did a messy zig zag to tack the four layers of flannel onto the old tee shirt. No one will see this so don’t bother with perfection here.

I’ve flipped the flannel to the inside and laid it next to the fleece outer layer. Right sides together, pinning the edges to grab the tee shirt (inner) layer and outer layer (four layers total) I sew up the side. Since I have one I use a serger, regular stitches will work. The waist and leg bands have been pressed wrong sides together (I open the seams up).

Serged edges are neat and tidy, but the leg openings are a bit wild with all those layers so the next step I added to tame them before trying to put on the bands.

I flipped it right side out to show you, but I find it easier to sew from the inside. Just a simple zig zag, doesn’t have to be pretty, really it only temporarily holds it in place so that you can put on leg bands.

No pictures of that part because it is a real struggle. These things are TINY and it is all I can do to get them around my machine. See original tutorial she has a good picture. My tip if you’re having trouble would be to skip serging the leg bands, especially if you are doing something for 14 lbs and under babies. They are crazy small! I really hate this part, but the slipping and sliding (and cussing under my breath) is worth it in the end.

Really a great little trainer. And the reason for the t-shirt layer becomes apparent. This way from the outside you don’t see any stitching where the soaker is held into place. I think this looks much nicer and am so pleased my friend came up with this work around. It adds a little bit of extra time, so it may not be worth it to you, but I’m sold on this.

Here’s a stack next to the tiniest undies we own: Under the Nile XXXS, or about for a average one year old. The trainers may look bigger, but you can see the leg openings are actually smaller, which is what matters here. The green trainer shown uses anti pill fleece, which I recommend, and an old tee shirt that I loved to death that was 2 way stretch.

It was hard to get a shot of her in these things as you can see, so here is a video of her in action!

That was a prototype that wasn’t quite to the size I was aiming for, so it’s a little big, but as you can see works great when she moves. The adorable shirt is from this Etsy shop of my friend Sciarrino.

A little kitchen needs good editing.

Oh my little kitchen. 9.5 x 12.5 feet (including the walkway to get to the basement) was just getting so overrun. Really I had just crowded too much in there I think. I didn’t take full before pictures, but you saw the disaster it was the other day. When we went to put in the french doors I moved everything out of the small corner cabinets in the dining room and realized just how dusty things there were. We haven’t changed much about what was in them for years. Now that Tuesday can reach up there I thought I should put the china up and out of the way. But there was no where in the kitchen for it to go.
Time for a complete clean out. I pulled everything off every shelf. I cleaned, purged and put it all back together.

The basket of chips was me finally giving in to the fact that we always have chips and they need a place to go besides crammed next to the microwave or crunched up in a drawer. Bj has already taken his coffee maker thing off of the tray so I might have some convincing to do on some of the reorganization.

The bulk of my time was spent here, moving things around to better suit us and what we use most often. I’ve talked about my dishes here (always on the lookout for them!). I probably still kept too many serving dishes, but I really do like to entertain. This is the longest I’ve gone with out throwing a shower of some sort!

And I took all of this out and reorganized and labeled (easy since they are just chalkboard labels I cut with my Silhouette). We only have this cupboard, one drawer and our refrigerator and freezer for food. If I get something in bulk I can store it in the basement (where my preserves are – out of the light), otherwise everything has to fit in this kitchen. When I’m on top of my game in the meal planning department this is no problem. When I’m not random crap gets bought and builds up here.

(Please ignore the pineapple, they were 10 for $10 and I haven’t had a chance to process and freeze them yet). Our pots and pans go here, one drawer is all tea, another small cooking utensils and the last well, it’s the drawer we all have in the kitchen! The bins hold baking supplies, parts to our small kitchen appliances, cookie cutters and I have a whole bin dedicated to popsicle making. This buffet thing from Ikea is not the best, it does block the walkway to the basement a bit, but we needed the space. In the corner of this picture you can see our learning tower. It’s a testament to how much we use and love it that we make it work in this small kitchen!

Recycling bin, and my spice cabinet. And my cutie. We have a gate here and can also close the door going to the basement for safety.

(from our yard: strawberries and mint)
I stayed up too late (12:30) working on this, but you know that super satisfied feeling you have completing something big? When you go to bed and are just so happy you finished the thing? That was me. I was so pleased with myself. So happy I did it all. It cost me all of zero dollars to feel like I was getting a completely re-organized and updated kitchen (the basket I found in another room).
Now, what to cook…
 

The Arron and Erin

I highly suggest you make one.

Ciabatta bread with mayo on both sides (I used soy free Vegenaise, it’s better than mayo, really).
Have the deli slice you very thin salami
Layer on spinach and roasted peppers
Thinly slice an apple and take out the star (the core)
If you want it add provolone (I still am not able to eat dairy because of Bennet)
Press it like it’s hot.
Yum, yum, YUM!

Around the house in 15 minutes

Quickly.

I finally got to paint without “help” (Tuesday worked near me painting all her canvases pink, but mine escaped her brush). Some of the underpainting Tuesday probably worked on, these canvases have been out for years. Tuesday claimed this one for her room and I’m glad she did. I really like. I think it’s close to the best I can do for now. I can’t believe I’ve been out of college for 9 years (I was an art major). Bj says this reminds him of my old stuff, I think he’s right.


Oh this girl. She wants to stay up with us, going to bed after nine. Wakes at least once in the night, for at least an hour (ensuring I’m as awake as possible) and then up a little after five. She usually does go back to sleep for an early morning nap… right around the time Tuesday wakes up.

Getting Mama is just the best! All her clothes are too small, a combo of me being too tired to pull out the next size and sort the (way too many) clothes, and not wanting to put away this size.

I have a small area of Bj’s office carved out to be the school room. Of course Tuesday DOES NOT WANT TO DO SCHOOL. And I don’t want to push it. So we read, read, read (and learn in many other places and ways than I had planned of course. But I do like my plans).

(Bennet pulled on the camera strap as I took this, hence the blur). First chapter book, The Borrowers. I didn’t realize so many of the books I loved as a child had such old-timey language (oh my God, old-timy, I can’t even think of the word I want to use here!). But we’re getting through it. She loves it. We read a chapter at night with all the lights off (I wear a headlamp) so she can “imagine it all” and then talk about what happened in the chapter after. We’re reading a bunch of the My First Little House On the Prairie books. She wants a lot more information. I told her they are also chapter books and she’s begging for them. I think I’m going to go the audio book route for the first one, my friend said they were good. And audio books are one of the kinds of books you get extra points for trying for our library’s summer reading program, which we’re participating in for the first time. We went after dance this evening. You’re supposed to keep track of hours read/read to. By lights out we were up to an hour and 22 minutes. Yes we read A LOT.

So I don’t feel bad about purchases like these. The full set, found on a Yahoo homeschooling swap board. We check them out weekly from the library (a few at a time) and Tuesday was freaking out over having the set. Bj is still getting used to phonetic pronunciations of letters (me too really). “Papa how do you say this letter O?” “O” (no, it’s ah, like the o in octopus). Some of the various sounds we worked on today:
/p/ “Tuesday I know two colors that start with this sound.” She sounded out all her colors before she came across pink and purple
/m/ “what sound does this letter make?” “Mama!”
/qu/ trying to get her to hear the difference between this and /k/c/
/oo/ book, we made little spiral bound books and I used our newly arrived blends sandpaper letters to lay out /b/oo/k/s for her to copy.
/or/ and of course horse. All the sudden horses!
/h/ she showed me she could do her /h/ vs. /m/ sort perfectly so I promised a new sound bin… oops I’m just remembering that now and I want to go to bed. Maybe she’ll forget (not likely)
Requests for this week a /v/ bin and /w/ bin, ideas of what to put in those? Wonder if I have a walrus in my miniature collection. I don’t quite have everything entered into Evernote yet (wanted to make it searchable).

I finally got my french doors. It turned into a whole debacle and I don’t even want to get into it all. Just know that I found a wasp in my bathroom. I’d like these cracks filled STAT. STAT means now yesterday. We also got a new front door (that’s what happens when you go to a door store and see the perfect display door already finished on sale). The install of that broke our doorbell, which took days (and lots of holes and mayhem) to fix. We still love it, I’ll have to show you. Looking at this photo I want to clear off the serving pieces and china and put school stuff in there too – a botany center maybe?!? Hopefully Bj just looks at the pictures on this blog, I guess we’ll find out…

Too bad the cleaners only clean and don’t also tidy up… and cook (Did you know double stuffed Oreos have no dairy? Unfortunately it’s true.).
There, that was 15 minutes around my house with my camera… and all day on and off to publish it!