It's a Bird's Life --- And a Mini-Me

Did I mention that I bought a ton of fabric recently?

I am trying to make a dent in my stash prior to cutting into the new. Because it pains me to cut in to fabric that was recently purchased. A hoarding symptom, probably.

I have a long list of items that I want to sew.

I started trolling round the net for patterns again, so first up, Reversible Wrap Top with Flutter Sleeves pattern by Craftiness is not Optional

It is definitely one of the better free patterns that I've used, and dare I say, better than some that I have actually purchased. Easy enough to follow along and the finished product is pretty durn cute. Sizes are limited, but sufficient.

Usually not a fan of reversible patterns as one sides gets used more than the other, so if I make it again for Isabel, I shall probably make it with a plain lining on one side.

Isabel's was made using the 4/5T sizing. It fits fine with room to spare on her now. 

Made a 12/18M version as part of a "Welcome to the World" present for a little girl of a friend

...except she's been in the world for about 6 months now...another case of where the aspiration is there, but the motivation is not. I am working on it.

Fabric Selection:

Isabel got all stash-fabric (she was consulted on the fabric selection, as usual) and the baby got part new, part stash.

12/18M - Michael Miller's Lil' Daisy in Grey from the Plain Jane collection, Riley Blake's Simple Buntings in Aqua from the Simple Life collection, sleeves in Heather Bailey's Hello Roses in Taupe from the Nicey Jane Collection

4/5T - Oddly enough, all fabric in her top has a bird theme -- definitely purely coincidental...Michael Miller's Humming Birds in White from the Flora and Fauna Collection, Riley Blake's Trees in Blue from the Happier collection and Michael Miller's Love Birds in Black from the Hedgehog collection (LOVE this fabric)

What I Did on My Birthday

We had cake, naturally -- thanks to the ex for that

Isabel decided that the cake was rather plain, so decided to add some flair to it

My garden treated me to some birthday flowers (Little Lamb hydrangeas from the front yard) in a thrifted vase ($4!)

A gorgeous, HUGE monarch-like butterfly came to visit the butterfly bush in the side garden

Isabel got a new dress

And we went to the carnival

Where she proceeded to sit all the adult-like rides that she could.

Right at 42 inches tall, she could sit on a select few

And there was no looking back for her

And she got a snowcone

 

One would think it was HER birthday....which it may as well have been, since she said "Because she was with me to celebrate my birthday,  SHE gets to choose what to do. And no, I don't get to choose the activity for her birthday, because that rule only applies to adult birthdays. When it is a kid's birthday, the kid naturally gets to choose...."

She may be a lawyer when she grows up.

Oliver + S Teaparty Sundress - Review and Thoughts

I am actively trying to get back into sewing.

I've placed orders for new piles of fabric (despite the mountain of fabric that I've been hoarding - another topic for another day), and since they have been so kind as to send emails with codes for 50% off patterns, I've bought some new O+S patterns to (hopefully) work on.

In the meantime, I am going through some of the older patterns that I bought in the previous years (but never used!! the shame!) and hopefully make something before she outgrows the size selection available

First up, the Tea Party Sundress.

 

I may have overdone it with the detailing -- I was too lazy to put in actual piping, but felt that the skirt needed more defining between the panels, so I triple stitched along most seams

(Don't mind the purple marker stains you can see in the bodice -- that's just the washable marker I use to mark out the pattern on the fabric -- they disappear once it goes into the wash. Isabel is not the only one who gets to use fun stationery!)

The pattern is fairly straight forward, as all O+S patterns are...However, I disliked the method of hemming the skirt -- it was a new technique and required hand-stitching (which I abhor, and which I am quite terrible at)

I tore out the stitching twice, and finally just decided to machine-stitch it...which resulted in a not quite so pretty outcome...

Because the skirt hem curves, it didn't match up fully despite my best intentions...And it left me with an inch of hem that just didn't fit for me to stitch it together, so I left it alone.

At least it is on the back of the dress, so it is not too terribly noticeable when it is worn (or so I tell myself -- it just looks like she creased it really bad from sitting on it)

Ah well.

As for fit, I made a size 5 for my 4 year old, so the fit is a tad roomy for her currently, but she will be able to wear it next summer as well. 

 

Fabric selection from my hoard:

Bodice is Pink Dots from Tanya Whelan's Ava Rose Collection (Isabel matched it -- I say she did well -- I would never have paired the two together)

Skirt is "Hopscotch Vine Trellis" in blue -- not sure who the manufacturer is

(While looking for the fabric names from my orders from Fabric.com's archive, I found that the pattern was purchased in December of 2009. Only to be made 3 1/2 years later....whoops...I've always had more aspiration than motivation!) 

 

Goodbye, Twenties

Today is the last day of me being in my 20's.

While I don't appreciate getting older (the wrinkles, the body changes...ugh -- I essentially stopped celebrating my birthday when I turned 25 - worst birthday EVER), I think I am looking forward to being in my 30s.

I lead a very non-exciting and unadventurous life.

Much as I aspire to be, I will never be that heroine in books that get whisked away on a whirlwind romance that ends with splendor and everlasting love. I will never be the person who has a network of connections that allows me to travel round the world, staying at mansions and villas, hobnobbing with the rich and famous.

Why? Because I am too darn practical and introverted for that.

And I have come to terms it.

What I wish for these days is actually to have a calm and quiet life.

They say a life without risk is not worth living.

I say, I've had my fair share of devastating life events and I have no desire to go through that again.

EVER.

Now that I am finally older, I have realized this:

Life isn't about grandeur, or flash or about huge accomplishments. It isn't about that big promotion, or having a closet full of designer items (although there's still a tiny part of me that still thinks having a vintage Kelly would be awesome)

Not to me.

Not anymore at least

It is about the little things. The simple things. Things that hit closer to home.

For one - ensuring that I set time aside to ENJOY Isabel being a child. To cherish the fact that she still thinks I'm one of the cool ones, and actually WANTS me to spend time with her, playing, cuddling, watching a movie, crafting....

Camping in our backyard...

Going to carnivals and sitting on rides together (most fun ride...EVER, this one spinning one) 

Impromtu picnics at the end of a ...gasp...workday!

Quiet time reading...or playing Gardenscapes together on the Ipad...

THESE are what is important.

The warm comfortable feeling of being needed, wanted, cherished.

Loved.

Sometimes I need to work on remembering it. Sometimes I need to be hit on the head to remember it.

But I try.

"Children deserve your best, not what is leftover."

Dog Days

Ok, finally -- something garden UN-related.

I SEWED!

=D

Yes, very exciting news.

I lead a very dull life, sorry.

It's been about a 7 month break from my sewing machine - there just wasn't any motivation.

I stopped by a yard sale on a whim about a month or so ago (even yard sales don't seem to strike up my fancy these days) and found a bag of vintage sewing notions -- I bought them with the hopes that it will help encourage me to take the time to sew again .

That, and I am somewhat of a hoarder (I wonder where I got that particular trait from...I'm looking at you, mom!)

All for a grand total of...a dollar. Gotta love yard sales.

The other part of the story is this:

I've been looking around for something that won't be an eyesore, and even those would cost me a good $30-$40 on the cheap end of the scale.

And I'm cheap.

So, with much encouragement from my daughter (yes, really), she sat at the sewing table, doing a workbook to practice her alphabets, and I cut out the fabric.

And voila!

 

A complete "how hard can it be" wing-it project, where I ventured into using an invisible zipper for the first time.

It is essentially a pillow cover, in which i stuffed Isabel's old crib bumpers into (we are all about recycling here), hence why it looks a tad lumpy.
But it works

All for a total of $2.10
(for the zipper. I hoard fabric as well)

Because Melly is slightly dumb hyper, Buddy worked as a better model

(which then resulted in her getting jealous - again - and tried to bully him off it. Fun times)

The other side is made with cozy flannel , to suit the colder months. 

And it makes a nice contrast, in case I get sick of looking at the print.

And also because I ran out of the cotton print fabric.

Here's the interesting bit (to me, at least)

Because  I was working from my stash as much as I could, I used bias tapes that were produced about 30 years apart.

Do you notice a difference?

 

The bias tape for the top trim was made in 2008.

The one on the bottom, in 1980 (purchased from the yard sale)

I think...or perhaps it is the other way round...

Regardless, there is a slight color variation (Brite Pink vs Berry Sorbet - seems like the names got a tad fancier), but other than that, I don't notice much of a difference.

I think that is amazing.

A Little Evening Gathering..

The blue hydrangea (Endless summer variety) bush is overflowing with blooms, so I decided to help lessen its burden again in the twilight hours one evening

 

Buddy is visiting with Melly and I for a week while Isabel and her dad goes back to the Mid-West for a visit with family

 

I am finding that I much prefer the white hydrangeas these days...I hope that the 4 bushes of whites (blushing bride and endless summer varieties) that I've planted will do as well as the blue (which at 3 years, is the most mature)

  

Guess what else is also starting to bear fruit? 

Japanese eggplant tree from my little square foot gardening patch...the only one that is bearing fruit at the moment. I have decided that tomatoes plants are too much trouble for me -- I don't even particularly LIKE tomatoes. Next year, I shall have to reconsider the plan of attack. 

Vegetable gardening is a tad too time-consuming for me. I who generally like to do something once and be done with it.

 

 

My basil is doing great though...but again, much more than I know what to do with it...

I have been missing my darling dreadfully...

  

 

But it is nice to be able to actually have time in the nights to do WHATEVER I WANT. 

Catching up on movies is one - I don't remember the last time I've actually watched a grown up movie the whole way through. The dogs are good cuddlers for that.

 

How Does My Garden Grow

I was gone for a week on a business trip last week.

Before leaving, my lily plants were showing a bloom or two

When I came back a week later, I was tired and longing to just get back to a routine.

And my little garden welcomed me home in great style -

The hydrangeas in Grandma's Corner was blooming as quick as they can

 

And I snipped some to grace the kitchen table, in time for our weekend breakfast routine.

It is happy days indeed when I can have fresh flowers in the house courtesy of my OWN plants from my OWN garden. Makes all the sweat and dirt-filled fingernails worth it.

 

Garden Update!

* Again, lots of boring pictures of green stuff...skip if this is not your cup of tea

The temperature is warming up -- you can tell when one walks around with ice-cream on her face:

Another way to tell is when you notice the flower buds developing and opening

Lilies:

Hydrangea in Grandma's Corner: (few weeks before)

One flower is starting to bloom: (this past weekend)

Foxglove:

 

Hydrangea in the front yard -- doing spectacularly well -- Look at the difference a month of sunshine can have!

Before:

Now:

I am intent on having a vegetable garden area this year -- And I like free just as much as the next guy...So here I am, trying to grow celery from the base that was cut off from store-bought celery --- and it works! It is fascinating seeing it grow from something that is usually discarded...and my Chinese penny-pinching ways is alarmed at how much money was being literally thrown out with the garbage.

Other randoms:

Treating myself to fresh cut flowers every once in a while

The way I enjoy my quiet time when my baby girl is away:

 

Right now, my mind is busy making plans on putting in flower beds in the front of the yard by the sidewalk to shield my poor neighbors from having to endure looking at my weed patch....Grass growing is really not for me

 

*I may or may not look like this when the plans are running through my mind.