DolciDeleria

Let's go to the Hop!

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 19:24:00 +0000

Caitlyn has been looking forward to the next Sock Hop event at her school since before last Halloween. That might be my fault, since I was trying to help her decide on a Halloween costume and suggested a 50's style skirt that she could wear for Halloween and for the Sock Hop.

Somehow I ended up making a pioneer girl outfit for Halloween and promising a poodle skirt in time for the Sock Hop. What's wrong with me???

Fortunately, it's an easy skirt. And with felt, there's no finishing: no hem, no fancy seam finishes. I used McCall's 6101, including the cat template, with no alterations. I probably could have redrafted the waist so there's a bit less felt all bunched up, but really, I couldn't be bothered. And this way, there's the hope that the skirt will fit for at least the next 4 or 5 Sock Hops.

(And now I have a circle skirt pattern! I bet you don't have to make them out of felt, either. Although I might want any version I make for regular wear to have a non-elastic waistband...)

The purple felt is an eco product, made from recycled plastics, which amazingly didn't melt under the iron. The embellishments all came out of the stash. The t-shirt is a project that hasn't happened yet - because I've not gotten around to it, we have a plain white t-shirt to go with the skirt. The belt we found at Goodwill on Monday, a rather amazing find since it's infinitely adjustable. The petticoat underneath is mine from a million years ago and has been part of the dress-up box for years. I made the scarf for Caitlyn's hair on a whim, picking up a remnant of coordinating sheer stuff when I got the felt.

I had a felt circle skirt when I was a kid. It was teal blue and printed with some design (possibly floral?) all around the perimeter. I loved the rhinestones on it something fierce. I loved to spin it out and drop down so that the skirt was spread evenly all around me. Was it just cool? Was I imagining I was the center of a blue flower? Did I like the perimeter the skirt set around me, thinking I was interesting but unapproachable?

It's actually probably a good thing that I more or less completely failed to compulsively document my life as a pre-teen. I don't think anyone - including me - really needs to know now what I thought then, about anything.

Caitlyn was happy to spin for photos. And she cartwheeled, too! This is the best photo I got, on her first cartwheel, although it wasn't until the third attempt that she figured out how to move with the skirt and land on her feet.

Blocks!

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Wed, 30 May 2012 21:22:00 +0000

I've ignored my various quilting projects for the last month or so, while I was working on projects for Caitlyn and the siggy blocks. I'm now playing catch-up, chasing down the cool kids, waving my rulers, bits of fabric fluttering behind me: "Wait for me!"

First up, the Bloggers' Block of the Month blocks:
Block 7

Block 8

Block 9

Block 9 is my favorite of this bunch. Note to self, though: don't try to assemble this one at the very end or the very start of the day. I unpicked seams so many times on this one and still kept putting the corner triangles in upside down!

And here's all 9 of my Blogger BOM blocks (sorry about the questionable lighting):

I think there are 3 more blocks to go and then I think we're on our own for layout and finishing. I'm currently thinking about putting them all on point with big white spacer squares between them. It's also looking like I'll have leftovers of the fabric I'm using, so I could do second versions of my favorite blocks for a total of 16 blocks and then do a 4x4 layout with sashing. Mock-ups ahead!

Pantry Inspection

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:08:00 +0000

Once the farmers' market starts up around here, it's time to review the pantry. What's left of the things I put up last summer? What did we run out of and what are we still eating? Do the storage goals for this year need to be adjusted? Will I be able to defrost the chest freezer before it's time to start putting new things in it?

I seem to recall that in previous years, this process usually produced a surprise or two. Dried carrots aren't good for much more than soup, for instance, and that only grudgingly. Bing cherries are amazing dried; Rainiers are not. Spinach should be well-packed into quart jars, otherwise a single baking dish of spanikopita can use a entire stash of loosely-packed pints, leaving the freezer bare of spinach for the rest of the winter. A little broccoli is a nice thing to have.

This year, I think the only surprise is that we did eat our way through most of the strawberries. Or Caitlyn did. (She likes to have berries in her lunches at school and she switches off between frozen blueberries and frozen strawberries. We pack them the evening before and they've thawed nicely by lunchtime.) But otherwise, our quantities worked out about right. If anything, I could scale back a little since we still have a quart of broccoli, a few jars of peas, a few more of corn, several small jars of dried peppers, some extra shredded zucchini.

I have a Food Storage Goals list stuck to the wall in the pantry with the targets for this year's food storage projects. I've even managed to add in the notes from last year (eg: 5 pints of small - cherry or grape - tomatoes from Alvarez Farms dries down to 4 half-pints) to help with the awkward question of how much produce to buy. This year, fewer Asian pears - no matter how good the deal. I've also customized the freezer inventory page from NW Edible Life so I've got one in the pantry and one on the freezer. I can mark down packed units (gallon bags of strawberries, quarts of tomatoes) as they come in and then check them off as they get eaten. Maybe next spring's pantry inspection will involve more review of spreadsheets and less unpack-what's-left-in-the-freezer-so-I-can-count-it.

For this year, I don't anticipate a lot of changes to my food storage habits. I did just splurge on a new kitchen scale and Canning for a New Generation so maybe there will be some small batches of new things tried. Like roasted tomatoes. Or dried blueberries. Maybe a salsa? Who wants to batch test?

57 Siggy Blocks

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:46:00 +0000

I've launched these on their journey to Ohio, where they will meet and mingle with siggy blocks from 56 other people before selecting a representative to bring 56 blocks home to me. The end result: a quilt with the names and locations of all the 57 quilters participating in this swap!

The blocks are easy to make. I'd love to find a better way of signing them, though, since my pen tends to catch and drag on the fabric a bit. Maybe a slightly fatter pen tip?

Rhubarb Binge-ing

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:37:00 +0000

When Caitlyn spotted the rhubarb at Wade's booth at opening day at our farmers' market three weeks ago (Eeek! Anyone else wondering where May is going in such a hurry??), she immediately requested rhubarb crisp. Naturally I bought too much rhubarb, forgetting that there was still a bag left in the freezer from last year.

So, a festival of rhubarb! We've had crisp twice. I like rhubarb muffins, but I think Caitlyn will like them better if I roll the rhubarb pieces in sugar before folding them into the muffin batter. I made a batch of this awesome rhubarb and rosewater syrup.

I don't know if I didn't boil it down long enough or if I was more thorough about straining out the juice (or maybe I was just a bit free with my interpretation of "1 pound rhubarb" and instead just used up the rhubarb from the freezer), but I got lots more than the recipe suggested I would. It would indeed be lovely on yogurt as suggested, or over pancakes or vanilla ice cream. Mostly, we've been drinking it.

A completely gratuitous photo of club soda bubbles on a spoon.

A finger worth of syrup, a couple of ice cubes, and club soda. A little sweet, a little tart, totally bubbly. It's worth it for the extremely silly faces Caitlyn makes when she drinks it.

Oh, and it works well with rum, too.

The one down side to making the syrup is the leftover rhubarb mush. I couldn't bear to throw it out. But it turns out that finding a recipe for something that includes rhubarb mush is harder than you'd think. Lots of crisps and cakes and muffins, but all the ones I found assumed you had raw rhubarb chunks.

So I went off-road with mixed success. I used this recipe from Not Without Salt, substituted about 1 1/2 cups of mush for the raw rhubarb, and added a streusel topping. Since the sun was out, I baked it in the Sun Oven:

It came out dense. Moist, but dense. I blamed the Sun Oven (the oven didn't quite make it to 300 degrees) and since there was still more rhubarb mush, I tried again. Same recipe, roughly the same amount of mush, with an added teaspoon of baking powder. The batter looked right when it went into the oven - a lot like most any other cake batter. I baked this second version inside.

And pretty much got the same thing. It's not really a cake. It holds it's cake shape, but it's dense and moist, kinda like a very stiff pudding. It's tasty, but it's a bit strange. So, maybe a different cake recipe to start from? More leavening? More eggs? Because I might make that syrup again and then I'll have rhubarb mush to put somewhere.

But I think I'll stick with crisp for the rest of this season.

Not about sewing at all

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

I keep meaning to get out side with the camera and show off the garden, but it's just not happening. Meanwhile, the garden isn't slowing down. It's a real spring this year, and things are off to a good start.

In the backyard, the peas are close to 10 inches tall. The potatoes are in and sprouting; it's actually almost time to add some more soil around the new plants (more soil depth now equals more potatoes later). So far, I've remembered to keep the carrot seedlings watered. The basil and squashes I started in the sunroom last month are hardening off and should move into the veggie beds this weekend, which will probably require another round of kale harvesting, since the kale is in the bed destined for this summer's beans and squash. Tomatoes will arrive early next month.

The cherry tree is loaded with green cherries, the pear tree with tiny pears. I'll need to remember to thin the pears this year since I didn't last year and lost a significant branch due to the weight. The apple tree and blueberry bushes have finished blooming, the strawberries are just getting started and the raspberries haven't quite gotten there yet. The lawn is full of tiny daisies and alyssum that I can't bring myself to mow down, the columbine and shasta daisies are approaching hip-high, and the clematis by the garage door is so covered with blossoms that not only can't you see the plant, it's pulling down the trellis.

Out in the p-patch plot, I've got more potatoes and two varieties of onions. The asparagus looks great - next year, I get to eat it! I'll add a couple squashes out there, but that's probably it, with the exception of a single tomato plant for the Urban Pollination Project.

Last year, I kept our p-patch plot to low maintenance things so that I could come out and water and weed as the weather required but mostly just let the plants do their own thing. This works well for me since one of the requirements for keeping your plot is that you have to "actively garden" it. Plants that need frequent harvesting, like peas or tomatoes, easily show off how infrequently I "actively garden" there, so I keep the plants that need more attention closer to the house, where they can remind me of their needs. Onions, potatoes and winter squash need water and then a thorough round of harvesting and that's it. I'm actively gardening with a minimum of activity!

Somewhat Spontaneous Skirt

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:23:00 +0000

And one last Clothing Caitlyn post before I move on to quilt blocks and garden photos...

While suffering through one of my fabric acquisition outings for non-Caitlyn-related projects, Caitlyn picked out this blue fabric. I thought it was sweet, so I picked a pink for contrast and planned to make her a skirt.

I really need to think things through before I start them.

I had a simple skirt-with-flounce in mind when I bought the fabric. That shifted to a tiered spin-able skirt when I started measuring and cutting. And when it was all done, I realized that what I wanted to have done was more like an a-line.

It's not that it's a bad skirt or even an unattractive one. I think I bought 1 yard of the blue fabric, which didn't work out to feeling like quite enough. It's just not as full as I'd like at the waist. And the single tier is a little weird.

I should have stayed with the original, non-tiered plan. I think that would have worked out to being 16 inches of blue length (cut the yard length in half, remember to save a few inches for the waistband). Maybe I didn't have enough of the pink to make a 4 inch ruffle (I'm aiming to make 20 inch skirts for Caitlyn these days - maximize the growing room), but a simple contrast band without the ruffle would have worked.

Less about the volume or the speed of the turn-around. A little bit more about the Making a Solid Plan.

Simple Daffodil Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:59:00 +0000

And here's the last of my completed KCWC things.

This is McCalls 6387. I picked up the fabric on a whim while at Stash, and while I love the print, I think it's too small for this dress. It's got these sweet little daffodils on it and you totally can't tell for all the gathers.

It's cute and simple... and a bit too big. I held the pattern pieces up to Caitlyn several times but there's almost two inches of extra space in the width of the finished bodice.

Check out how much fabric is bunched up there between her hands! Grrr!

Oh, well. At least it spins.

It's loose and breezy, good for summer. I guess it's not a total wash.

Tunic the First

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Tue, 08 May 2012 18:30:00 +0000

So, KCWC is over. I didn't finish everything I'd cut out, so I guess we can officially call me Over-Ambitious. And with Caitlyn's illness last week, I still have one item left to do. That one will wait - I have 57 siggy blocks to make!

But first: the other things I did finish. Can I say they are KCWC finishes if they weren't finished in the proper week since they were part of my KCWC plans?

This is McCall's 6062, view A, cousin to this dress. I've not made a lot of tops, if you don't count shirts for Ian, which could explain why this looks more like a dress than a shirt. Tunic? Is that the technical term?

The red floral is an inherited something that's been in the stash for years. I've thought about turning it into a dress for Caitlyn since she was about 3. The pink is a Kona, although I couldn't tell you which one.

I gave the blind hemming thing another whirl, thinking the thinner fabric would result in something more... well, blind than the hem on the purple shorts. At first, it didn't look too promising.

But then I ironed.

A good pressing and the hem is much less visible. I think the stitches are still bigger than I'd like them to be, but maybe that has to do with how I'm folding the fabric or using the blind hem foot?

Caitlyn's first thought at seeing this was that it was a dress. It's just a tiny bit too short to wear without something underneath (although if I'd added an extra inch above and below the elastic band in the middle it would totally work). The photos on the pattern envelope suggest this should be worn with pants (the pattern includes elastic waist pants), but I'm pretty sure their version is shorter than mine. When Caitlyn put this on over jeans yesterday morning, I was less than enthusiastic. It's too short to be a dress and too long to be a shirt. And I really don't like the dress-over-jeans look. Maybe it would work if the pants were not jeans? We'll see if we can't find some black or grey leggings and see how that looks. Alternatively, I've made a top that should look great with jeans in about a year or two.

Out with a Whimper

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Tue, 01 May 2012 03:51:00 +0000

I like to think I would have finished everything I had cut out for KCWC on time, despite the (probably) 11 mile bike ride on Saturday. (Yeah, I know, 11 miles isn't much to regular bicyclists, but we're new at this. And Caitlyn's riding a bike that's too small and doesn't have gears. Forgive me if I'm over here all impressed with us all for that outing.)

But Caitlyn woke up sick Sunday morning. There has been no sewing. There's been no anything, really, just holding a bucket and her hair for her, then layering her with cool cloths. I've read til I'm hoarse, drunk tea and then read some more. I've spent a lot of time sitting with her as she naps. She plans to be much improved tomorrow, since if she's not she'll miss a field trip and the opening day of the farmers' market on Wednesday. I'll be surprised, though, given her fever this afternoon.

I do have a finished top to post, and I'm half-way done with the green and yellow dress. I'll finish up later this week, perhaps, then tidy my sewing corner for May's parade of quilt blocks. I've got blocks for both April and May for my three BOMs. I'm signed up for the Modern Siggy Swap (sign ups close tonight or tomorrow - I'm such a slacker about sharing this one) and Sew. Quilt. Give., a charity quilting bee (which still has space, I think). It's time to check in on the garden(s) and do the springtime pantry inventory, too.

But for right now, I'll be in Caitlyn's room, reading about mice and dogs and a girl with no gravity.

Of Tissue Paper and French Seams

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:12:00 +0000

Last year, I made Caitlyn a sunhat. For whatever reason (misreading the pattern, getting carried away), I bought a lot more fabric than I needed. I offered to make Caitlyn a skirt out of the leftovers and promptly buried the fabric in the piles of "pending" projects.

But it's KCWC! I found the buried fabric when digging through the piles for other fabrics, and now there is a skirt.

I drafted a pattern of sorts for this, mostly by using the assortment of lines on my
cutting mat/board. I started with Caitlyn's waist measurement (although it probably would have been smart to start with a hip measurement), added about 10 inches to it for waistband gathers and general "fudge" room, divided it by 4, added in seam allowance, and put a piece of tissue paper down on the cutting mat to line up with where the distance between the edge of the mat and the mat's diagonal line matched the number I'd calculated.

Sorry, I should have taken a picture of that. I bet the sentence above would make a lot more sense if I'd taken a picture.

Anyway, I used the mat's diagonal and handy scallop lines to shape the pattern piece. And then I decided that 4 sections of skirt weren't quite what I had in mind, so I folded my pattern piece in half vertically then adjusted my fold to account for seam allowance.

And, I should have taken a picture of that.

If I were really clever, I would have figured out how to adjust the pattern piece to get a waistband that I could just fold over into a casing. But since the skirt panels are flared for an a-line-ish shape, I went with an added casing. And I did remember to take a picture of that process:

I sewed the eight skirt panels together but left the last seam open so I could lay it flat. I put down tissue paper over the top of the skirt to create a pattern that matched the necessary length for the casing/facing and the curve at the top of the skirt. Ta-da! It worked!

I used a narrow hem in spite of my general tendency to add extra inches and hem up 3 or 4 of them for growing room for Caitlyn. The flared shape of the skirt would have made a fat hem weird. As it is, this is about 3 inches below Caitlyn's knee. I'm hoping we've moved past most of the shocking growth spurts and she'll take a few years at least to add in the inevitable next foot in height.

But I have learned that narrow hems (probably all hems, really) in cotton fabric don't like French seams. I've been more or less obsessed with French seams since I figured them out; the insides of things look so tidy in French seams. No exposed edges or dangling threads. But French seams are bulky, which is probably why the general recommendation is to serge or zig-zag raw edges unless you are working with sheer or very lightweight fabric. In quilting cotton (yes, most of the clothes I've made to-date are in quilting fabric), French seams, pressed to one side, are 5 layers of fabric. Fold them over on themselves twice for a rolled hem and you've tripled the stack of fabric you're working with. Awkward.

So, Caitlyn gets a skirt and I get one more reason to think about a serger.

Start with the Basics

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:53:00 +0000

This is not going to win any sort of cuteness awards. But what nearly-seven year old can't use a pair of purple shorts?

I gave these to Caitlyn last night to check the fit.

"Oh, Mama! You made pockets!"

I feel a bit like I missed the memo. Pockets? Since when was she excited about pockets? There are pockets on her other clothes (although not many of the ones I've made) and she doesn't use them (although, to be fair, the pockets are tiny and practically useless). I thought the critical thing was the purple color, since these aren't covered with a bold print or glitter.

But these shorts have pockets. She inspected them thoroughly, checking out the lining fabric (hot pink) and the size, before putting on the shorts and stuffing her hands into both pockets. I think I must have asked three times, "Please, hands out of the pockets while I check the fit of these!"

Which is pretty good, although there's no real room to grow. These sit right above her hip bones, where they should, and the leg length is good. I'm a little worried that they are too snug in the bum, but she says they are comfortable. If I make these again in a fabric that doesn't have stretch (which this strange purple stuff does), I might add just a little bit of room. Although I haven't the slightest idea how to to that in the back without getting all gappy and saggy in the front.

The pattern came from CraftPassion, and I didn't have any trouble with the instructions. I didn't put the knit band at the hem, opting for a regular hem.

I did look up how to do a blind hem for these. I'm not super thrilled with how it came out, since I think if I'd done the hem by hand the stitches would be less noticeable. I'll need to try the blind hem thing on different fabric, though, before I give up on it entirely. It could be that the technique is not well-suited to this fabric weight.

When is comes to sewing clothing, I've kept pretty much to tops, skirts and dresses. Pants and shorts kinda scare me. But I've got ideas about sewing pants for me, so perhaps starting off with shorts and pants for Caitlyn is a nice, gentle way to get started. After all, she's ok with elastic waistbands and she doesn't have any curves yet!

Perhaps Foolhardy

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:15:00 +0000

Despite the original idea that I would mostly ignore Kids Clothing Week this year in favor of making April Clothing Caitlyn Month, I find that now that KCWC is here, I'm not ignoring it. In fact, I may be a bit ambitious.

So, here's what's cut out and ready to go, from left to right.

McCall's 6387, in green and yellow daffodils, with fabric purchased at Stash, my new neighborhood fabric shop (squee!)
a home-drafted a-line-ish skirt with panels of fabric left from Caitlyn's summer hat
McCall's 6530 in purple and polka dots
McCall's 6062, view A (View B is this dress) in a red and pink from the stash. I realize that M6052 and M6530 are similar designs; I really should go through the pattern collection before I impulsively buy more patterns, even if they are on sale!
purple shorts using this free pattern and fabric off the remnant table (I've started these already). If they come out nicely, maybe I'll make another version in a denim

Here's what's not cut out:

a self-drafted knit top (copying existing t-shirts)
two versions of McCall's 6157, one in yellow and one in pink
a blue version of McCall's 5694
a pleated skirt based on this tutorial in a butterfly fabric
McCall's 6389 although I can't recall at the moment if I've got fabric picked out for it
a random embellishing project using a plain white t-shirt and the Bo-Nash kit I picked up at the Sewing Expo

So, I know what I'm doing for the rest of the week. Anyone else think I may have bitten off a bit much here?

Spring Break Recap, or Skimble Won't Let Anything Go Wrong

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:12:00 +0000

Last week was Spring Break in these parts, and I'd love to be able to say that Caitlyn and I did all sorts of amazing things. Instead, I had a cold. Not a bad one, just enough to slow me down and make me tired all the time. At one point I had kicked around the notion of heading east-ish for a day hike during Caitlyn's time off school. We settled for an outing to KidzBounce for nearly two hours of bouncy houses.

The highlight of the week off, though, was a production of Cats. For better or worse, I sang songs from the show to Caitlyn when she was a baby (Did she stop fussing because I was singing or pacing?) and she's had the soundtrack album as part of her music collection since she could handle a CD; she knows the music and has a favorite cat (Skimbleshanks). We didn't tell her we were going, just headed downtown, walked to the theatre and let her figure it out. Her happy dance is pretty good.

And she got to wear a new dress!

I really wanted to finish this for Easter, but it just didn't happen. It's McCall's 6062, and while it's not a hard dress to make, it does have lot of parts and a lot of gathering!

I bought the pattern a couple years ago, when she was smaller, so I was a bit concerned about the sizing now, even going so far a to make a muslin for the bodice. Holding up the pattern tissue felt so inconclusive! In the end, I did do a bit of pattern grading, mostly to move the waist down, since Caitlyn is so tall for her age.

If I were to do it again, I think I'd try to take in the waist a bit. The ties in the back are nice but there's a lot of skirt that gets bunched together there. I may still try to do some shirring (which will be a totally new thing) with some elastic thread to at least make the bunching even.

Maybe it's the colors or maybe it's the two layer skirt, but this dress came out a bit more on the fancy side of things than I was really planning or expecting. It's a great thing to wear out for a evening at the theatre ("Growltiger was a Bravo Cat who traveled on a barge..."), but I'm having a really hard time seeing it as standard school-and-playground wear.

Fortunately, I've got much more basic things all cut out for KCWC. Of course, with the break last week, I'm behind in everything else now...

Challenge Check-In

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:34:00 +0000

No, I haven't been slacking on my personal sewing for Caitlyn challenge. And I hope to have more to show soon!

In the meantime, a nightgown.

I bought this pattern (McCall's 5510) several years ago in a fit of frustration. Caitlyn needed summer weight jammies and everything I found at the various department stores I checked out (ok, maybe it was only one) was branded with characters I didn't want in the house. I think Caitlyn was perhaps three at the time and there was no way I was going to buy something with Miley Cyrus or High School Musical on it (She was three! Sure, she's going to be exposed to marketing and all the conflicting messages about women and bodies and sexuality, but I don't need to rush into that!). We were reasonably close to Pacific Fabric's Sodo location, so I took my frustrated self there, picked out a pattern and told Caitlyn to pick something off the cotton remnants table.

(I also used this pattern for her tiger costume back in 2009.)

So, the first step in making this new nightgown was to grade the pattern up to fit the new, larger, almost 7 year old Caitlyn.

I don't really know what I'm doing when I grade patterns, having only skimmed over some how-tos. In the past, I've tended to just add length to the bottom and in the center where the pattern is placed on the center fold of the fabric. Last time I did that, though, I ended up with a dress that was mostly unwearable for a year while Caitlyn grew into it.

But this is a nightgown. If it's swimmingly huge, it's ok.

Oh, and look! I made my own bias tape for the neckline! Thanks to Coletterie for their continuous bias tape tutorial and for some guidance on figuring out how much tape to make. I might want one of those Clover bias tape makers someday, but as long as I'm making only 36 inches of tape at a time, I can do the folding without it.

Surprisingly, the nightgown fits pretty well. I added a lot of length to the skirt so it has an enormous hem right now. I figure Caitlyn's more likely to grow up than out, so with any luck this nightgown will last us another three or four years.

Now, on to things she can wear for more than bedtime!

Easter Treats

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:35:00 +0000

Last week, I found Betz White's photo tutorial for some super-cute, adorably tiny Easter baskets made from 3 oz. Dixie cups.

Naturally, I decided that I needed to make these for Easter. And put homemade candy in them. Never mind that I came up with this plan about a week before Easter. Clearly, it's a very sensible plan.

We painted our cups (instead of using markers like Betz) and I glittered some of them. Someday I'd like to upgrade the paint in our craft supplies from the washable Crayola stuff to something that doesn't feel like chalk when it's dry.

Caitlyn had a fine time painting. The weaving turned out to be a bit much, especially after the first round. I really should have checked out the instructions one more time before launching this project, since it might have been easier for her if I hadn't been taking a "I think it goes like this" approach. It could have also been that we were making 13 tiny baskets. Why thirteen? No idea.

I off-roaded a bit when it came to the candy making, too. The last batch of divinity I made (which apparently I didn't post about, so I can't link to it) lasted forever. It also used half a box of strawberry Jell-o, which gave the finished candy a rather aggressive fake strawberry flavor. So, this time, I cut the recipe in half and used plain gelatine with a teaspoon of lemon extract.

What we ended up with this time is a bit closer to lemon marshmallows. The lemon flavor comes through, although something lemony and this sweet is a bit odd, but the sugar/gelatine ratio is off. Perhaps there isn't a one-to-one correspondence between plain gelatine and Jell-o? The resulting candy isn't light and airy like divinity but chewy like several large marshmallows all at once, although thankfully without a similar volume.

I had much better success with my variation on White Chocolate Creme Eggs. I didn't have pecans, so I used almonds. And I didn't have white chocolate, so I used semi-sweet. And I didn't shape them into eggs, because rolling balls is so much easier. Whoops, looks like I made accidental truffles!

Come Christmas, I've got to remember chopsticks for candy dipping. This method worked out so much better than my multiple spoon technique! Also, cool the candies on wax paper. The balls all get a bit flat on the bottom but this is a vastly preferred alternative to having them sink into a wire cooling rack and breaking all to bits when you try to get them off again!

Two baking sheets filled with lemony-marshmallowy treats and vanilla-almond creme truffles. Not what I started out making but fine things to end with.

Each mini Easter basket got one of each candy. This one had a moment to chat with the Shasta daisies by the back gate, where the daisies are plotting to hop the sidewalk and embark on a mission of colonization.

Hooray for neighbors who throw large Easter brunch parties! The candy (for better or worse) was our contribution to the menu (don't worry, it fit right in between the doughnuts and the French toast bake), and all those baskets went off to new homes.

I do have leftover Easter candy in the fridge now, though. Anyone want a lemon marshmallow?

Spring Flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 22:06:00 +0000

It's been raining for ages here. But the sun is out today, it's thinking about being warm-ish, the flowering trees are gorgeous, our fruit trees are about to bloom, and there are flowers about. Every autumn I love the change in the season, thinking "This is my favorite time of year!" only to think the same about spring, six months later.

Hoping your day is lovely, too, where ever you are!

Snip, Snip, Sew, Sew

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:49:00 +0000

You may have seen this dress before.

I made it for Caitlyn when she was in preschool and it's been one of her favorites. See it in the back yard, at the Ren Faire, on the first day of kindergarten, with a shark, and with a hat. It's had a long and much loved run.

And it'd become too short.

We'd recently read I Had a Favorite Dress, in which a girl outgrows her favorite dress and her (rather amazing) mother turns it into a whole series of things (a shirt, a skirt, a scarf, a hair clip, etc).

Inspired by the book and by my current clothing-making obsessions, I cut the top off, made a waistband and - ta-da! - "new" skirt!

For the most part, I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. I picked out several rows of stitching to detach the bodice from the skirt, measured Caitlyn repeatedly, used two layers of scrap lightweight interfacing to give the waistband some structure, and finished off with some topstitching.

The fit isn't quite right, despite all the measuring, but I think it's because I let the new waistband follow the slight curve of the original bodice. Keeping the curve meant that the waistband could be a bit taller, but it also bows out a little in front instead of lying flat. This bothers me a lot more than it bothers Caitlyn. Also, she doesn't care a bit that the zipper in the back is off-center, or that I didn't do a fantastic job of putting it back in, so it's a more visible zipper than it was on the dress.

Nope. Caitlyn doesn't care. She's got her purple skirt again.

Keeping Caitlyn Clothed

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:48:00 +0000

One day last week, Caitlyn picked out an outfit for school but then changed her skirt choice by the time she was ready to have Mama do her hair for the day. When I asked her why the change, she told me that when she had put on the original skirt and made sure the waistband wasn't below her hips, she realized the skirt was too short.

At this rate, we're not going to make it until April 23-30 for Elsie Marley's Kids Clothes Week Challenge. I've already dropped all the hems I can drop. If it's too short now, it must be retired.

Besides I've been collecting fabric for Caitlyn clothes for nearly a year. No way can I get through this stack in a week.

So, I hereby declare that around here and for this year, April will be Clothing Caitlyn Challenge Month. Here's what's on deck:

McCalls 6062
McCalls 6530
McCalls 6389
McCalls 6387
a patternless plaid pleated skirt
a nightgown based on her old nightgown pattern that will require me to grade the pattern up
a skirt based on this tutorial
and two skirts possibly based on this or last year's salad skirt.

If you don't hear from me, maybe someone will come check to be sure the fabric piles haven't tipped over and buried me?

How does she eat?

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:29:00 +0000

Caitlyn has lost yet another tooth, bringing her count of currently missing teeth to four: three on top, one on the bottom. This time, she bit down on a cinnamon roll rather injudiciously and knocked the tooth sideways. When straightening it didn't quite help with the discomfort, she agreed to let me pull it. She spent several minutes mentally preparing herself for this trauma, sucking on ice cubes, being held by Mama.

The tooth came out easily. Caitlyn squawked like a kid getting ready to cry, paused long enough to realize that it didn't hurt at all, and busted up laughing.

She still has another really loose tooth on the bottom, one that's been really loose for weeks. You can kinda see it in the photo; it's the one next to the center two bottom incisors that doesn't quite line up with the ones next to it. How she managed to eat the rest of her cinnamon roll without this one coming out as well is one of life's little mysteries.

So to answer the question: Messily. Caitlyn's about out of biting teeth these days, although she's got four new molars coming in so chewing isn't so much of a problem. We had falafel burgers the other day, and Caitlyn needed hers cut into bite-sized portions. Fun times!

(Circus) Graduation Day

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:22:00 +0000

Last week, Caitlyn had her last class with Leslie, her circus coach of at least two years. Time to move on to Circus 2B!

I don't often bring a camera to circus class. Most of the time, parents are gently directed to an observation room. Because of the way SANCA has grown, these days the observation room overlooks only about half the gym, resulting in about 2/3 of Caitlyn's circus time happening out of view. But every twelve weeks, out come the folding chairs for "Demonstration Week." I brought the camera and followed the class around, ignoring the chairs and watching everything through the viewfinder. Classic parent moment.

Every class starts out with warm ups and then tripods to headstands.

Then something they call "kick ups", followed by handstands against the wall.

Caitlyn loves the trampoline. But it's really hard to get good photographs! The class has worked up to a "trampoline routine" involving seat drops, dropping to hands and knees, dropping to a flat on-the-belly position, and rotations while jumping. They all tend to travel a bit as they jump, but they all have remarkable control when it comes to freezing on command and walking off the tramp.

It's not circus without a tightwire! Caitlyn can get about two, sometimes three, steps down the wire before wobbling and leaping off. I think she'd do better if she slowed down and didn't try to race to the other end!

Climbing might be Caitlyn's favorite activity. She is pretty pleased with how high she can climb, but so disappointed she didn't make it all the way to the top, especially since this is one of the activities I almost never see from the observation room. I think she made just a little bit further up than this, about 14 or 16 feet off the mat, before heading down. After this summer, she'll be old enough to think about specializing if she wants to, focusing more on aerial work or tumbling skills.

At the end of class, we took a class picture (since there were all these parents with cameras) and the kids arranged themselves in a pyramid. Caitlyn was in the center bottom position, sharing the weight of two of her classmates with the other two in the bottom row. They stayed like that for several minutes it seemed, which is pretty impressive strength and balance for a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds.

Caitlyn made a drawing just for Leslie and wrote out a thank you note, which we packaged up in another of In Color Order's lined drawstring bags. I got to use my new Fasturn tools to make the drawstring, too! Caitlyn's bummed that Leslie won't be her coach any more, but she's already looking forward to her new class (new coach, new friends, new skills, longer sessions) on Thursday.

Picking through The 100

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 18:18:00 +0000

Since I'm thinking about wardrobe improvement these days, I checked out The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own. Coletterie had recently posted about this book, asking about what 100 pieces would be in readers' personal essential collections.

First off, what's with the word "stylish"? Every person has a "style" - maybe it's trendy or sloppy instead of classy or elegant, but it's still a style. How did "stylish" come to mean "style worth copying"? Why is "stylish" associated with looking as though you have nothing better to do than drink cocktails and inspire people to wonder how recently you last had sex?

I do appreciate author Nina Garcia's note in the introduction: this shiny silver book of 100 items is her list of 100 must-haves, and other people's lists are probably different. Since I sincerely doubt I can come up with 100 fashion-related things I couldn't live without (and I'm not sure I would like myself if I could), I am instead viewing this list as a list of suggestions, things I might consider as part of my Wardrobe Improvement Project. If I want to get out of my rut of faded jeans and floppy shirts, perhaps the Must-Haves of a New York fashionista can be the perfect source of inspiration.

1. A-Line Dress: Something to think about trying. I don't think I've ever worn one, since I like to highlight my waist. It's also a common profile in dresses for toddlers and preschoolers, so I'm a little concerned that this profile isn't appropriate for me. Also, I'd probably want it a little longer than is properly "stylish". Maybe it's something to look for on those rare occasions I find myself shopping.

6. Bangles: I've always liked the idea of bangles, ever since the popular girls wore loads of plastic jelly bracelets in fifth grade. Still, I'm not sure I'll go shopping for bangles. Maybe I'll luck into some nice ones someday.

7. Belts: Since my waist is a part of my body I'm not trying to camouflage, it's perhaps surprising that I have only three (strictly functional) belts. I did just discover that A Fashionable Stitch sells belt kits, though, so maybe more may be in my future.

10. Black Opaque Tights: While mine are probably not as opaque as Ms. Garcia would recommend (since I can't bring myself to spend $80 on a pair of tights), these are my choice for leg-exposing cool season outfits.

11. Blazer: I had one in college. Loved it. It's gone now, and I've no idea what happened to it. I'd like to replace it, probably with a more fitted version.

13: Brooch: I'd like one, if only to keep shawls from automatically falling off 30 seconds after wrapping them.

17. Cape: I have one, and I made it. It almost never comes out to play, though, since in Seattle, cool enough for a cape is almost always also too wet for this particular cape. Perhaps one day I'll make a new one, in something less likely to soak up every tiny raindrop.

18. Cashmere Sweater: I'd love one, thanks! Not that I'm sure how it would fit into my life (how does one wash cashmere?), so I don't really see this as an upcoming purchase.

26. Denim Jacket: Somehow I made it through the 80s without acquiring one of these. Still want one, though.

28. Driving shoe: A "more fashionable option to the loafer". I have two pairs of black 8 hole Dr. Martens (one for yard work, one for everyday), a pair of black pumps, a pair of black knee-high boots with minimal heel, and a pair of walking sandals. Once upon a time, the Docs were all I needed. These days, I'm thinking maybe I should branch out a bit. Perhaps a "driving shoe" could be an option. Only if they come in black, though.

36. Gloves: Someday, I'll have a pair of properly fitting leather gloves.

38. Hobo Bag: Would this "Go Anywhere" bag work?

42. Jeans: The foundation of my current wardrobe. And since I'm not going to throw out something that's working, jeans will probably remain a key piece of the clothing puzzle. I plan to try making my own, since I'm officially tired of jeans (like everything else) being too short.

45. Knee Boots: I love tall boots, but finding them without a sky-high heel is hard. Maybe if I wore high heels more often, they wouldn't hurt so much. But this is one of those areas where comfort is going to outweigh fabulous. I simply cannot feel amazing when my feet hurt!

48. Little Black Dress: More versatile than the Evening Gown (# 30), even I know about the importance of the little black dress. Doesn't mean I own one, though.

53. Man's White Shirt: I stole one from Ian years ago.

62. Pajamas: These are are my Make Someday list.

65. Pencil Skirt: Like the A-line Dress, I think I might want to try this, just because I never have. Push my edges a little. Just because really full and really long has been the standard skirt for me doesn't mean I might not be stuck in a rut and in need of a little shake-up.

73. Robe: Before I went to college, I asked for a robe. My grandmother, bless her heart, bought me a green terry cloth robe, size small. On me, that means that it's just past my knees, with 3/4 length sleeves. Someday, when I'm a grown up, maybe I'll have a robe that fits.

97. Wide Leg Trousers: Much like the pencil skirt and A-line dress, I'd like to try these just to see how they look on me. I think I need a digital version of myself I can dress up, so I can try these things with minimal up-front investment.

98. Wrap Dress: See above.

So there it is. Twenty-one items that appeal, seven of which I'm likely to work on (belts, blazer, bag, jeans, LBD, pencil skirt, trousers). The list didn't include basic tops (I can't really count cashmere as a basic), and my project definitely includes these.

Raise your hand if you think I'm biting off more than I can chew!

The Blocks of March

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:48:00 +0000

It's Block of the Month round-up time!

First up, the block for the Blogger's BOM. It's really February's block, but since new blocks are announced late in the month, I just make them the following month.

This block looks like February, what with the pink/red/purple thing. I guess I wasn't thinking things through all the way when I picked out the solids for this block. Mostly I wanted to be sure that I wasn't leaning too hard on the yellow, orange, and green I'd used in the last two blocks. I started with blue instead of the pink, but it seemed there wouldn't be any bright spots that way. So, pink.

Still, this block makes me happy. Lots of fun to be had with Jeni's HST BOM. And I'm super excited about my plans for putting these together into a full quilt... I'm having a hard time waiting until the blocks are done!

String blocks! Craftsy's BOM focused on string blocks this month and I'm in love! I've been pinning string blocks on my Quilt Inspiration board and now that I know how to do them (how did I not know how to put together a string block before this???), all I can think about is string quilts.

This "broken spider web" block would make a wonderful quilt. It could go totally scrappy but I'm thinking more about using strips with a narrow range of colors, like this:

... or maybe make each "spider web" a slightly different color.

I also want to do this:

Again, totally possible and cool with random scraps, but so lovely when the colors are limited! Or what if the colors in the "squares" were shifted a bit so the end effect was a spectrum made out of these on-point strings? I bet it'd be pretty, although the planning might make my head explode.

Realistically, I'll probably start with a scrappy version. It'll be too late for Stitched in Color's Festival of Scrappiness, but when the pile of skirts and dresses for Caitlyn is finished, I'll have tons of bright scraps to work with.

Not for me

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:43:00 +0000

This one is Ian's. And it's not black!

This is a shirt of firsts.

It's my first plaid. I'm absurdly pleased with myself for how closely I got the stripes to line up. The hardest part was more the fault of the fabric than the plaid. This is a rather loosely woven flannel, with a tendency to wobble. So the stripes may line up, but they aren't totally straight.

It's the first time I did anything more to finish off an edge beyond zig-zagging it. I flat-felled just about everything, making it the first time I paid as much attention to the inside of something as the outside. I was a little afraid I would feel this process was taking too long, but instead I'm finding I'm really pleased with myself. Sure it took longer, but it was time taken to do something right. As a bonus, these seams should be super durable. Maybe not so much a consideration for Ian but a good thing when making clothes for Caitlyn.

It's the first time I properly used the overlock feature on my machine, after stumbling over a post out there on the interwebs which explained how the overlock stitch was supposed to work. I've just used the zig-zag stitch in the past for finishing raw edges. Maybe now I'll go find out how the blind hem stitch is supposed to work.

I used almost all my presser feet: walking foot for long seams, which helped with the wobbling fabric; regular foot for other seams; overlock foot for finishing off the armscye; blind hem foot since I could treat it like an edgestiching foot; and the buttonhole foot. I didn't use the zip foot (no zipper!) or my new quilting foot. It's the first time I've been that conscientious about using the right foot for the job.

And I now have labels! Not that Ian needs a reminder of where this shirt came from, but I'm really liking the polished feel the label gives. It's going to be fun working these labels into Caitlyn's clothes, future quilts and other projects. Thanks, Cassie!

Next up: quilt blocks and then clothes for Caitlyn. I've had to retire one dress and there are others not far behind. I don't think we're going to be able to hold out for Elsie Marley to hold a Spring version of Kid's Clothing Week!

Way to be "On Message"

noreply@blogger.com (Christina Gilman) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 03:39:00 +0000

To the gentleman representing the Star Kids movie in front of Central Co-op:

I appreciate being passionate about your art and your project. And, believe it or not, I've got some idea of what's involved in making a movie and how much money is needed.

However, I don't appreciate being harassed on my way into a grocery store. It's the end of the day, I've a first grader who needs to get home, and we're out of milk. I don't particularly have the time (or frankly, the interest - I've heard the Star Kids pitch on my way into a lot of grocery stores in the last several years) to do anything but walk on past you.

And I especially don't appreciate your comments when I refuse to allow you to give random free stuff to my kid. No, I don't want the plastic animal, the bubbles, or the coloring page. We have enough of all of those things. (Not to mention that giving kids bottles of bubbles before they enter a grocery store seems pretty much a setup for disaster.) I'm attempting to teach my daughter that she shouldn't expect free things/gifts/surprise toys/sample doughnuts whenever we're out of the house. You don't know if we have allergies, if my child is on some form of disciplinary restriction, or if we have faith-based guidelines that require us to eat organic and shun plastic.

So, hollering, "Gee, it sucks when you can't give free stuff to kids!" after us as we entered the store was particularly uncalled for.

Star Kids claims to be about inspiring kids, to "teach positive values and show positive role models." Well done. In your efforts to be inspiring to kids who might see your movie, you've completely forgotten to be inspiring (or gracious or well-mannered or respectful) to the kids and parents you see right now.