Silly Mommy. Would you eat borning cereal when there are peaches to be had?
mmmmm peaches.
Month: July 2010
Finally, a Dress
I ended up using the very green fabric I was certain last week looked awful with the striped and flower fabric from India.
I’m so glad I did. I just love how it turned out. It took a formal fabric and made it fun enough that a little girl can go romping about in it.
Stats:
Pattern: same as the shorts – Simplicity 4203
Size: 2T
Fabrics: 3 different fabrics were used. All 100% cotton.
Alterations: A lot. You’ll understand why in about a month when I finish the Mommy size version of the dress. For the record, I decided to forgo the following design features:
all trim
gathered skirt
ruffles
Then, I added a midriff section in a 2nd color. The skirt was redrawn to have an A-line silhouette. Lastly, the entire dress was lined with white fabric mainly because the India fabric is see-through.
It was my 1st attempt at altering a pattern. Almost every pattern piece had to be changed in some way. Boy, was I relieved to have the dress fit Elly.
With the dress reaching the floor, there is lots of room for growth length-wise. The A-line style even allows Elly to pack on more pounds on her belly and thighs without the dress becoming snug, a feature I have a feeling she’ll take advantage of.
A Liquid Diet
Perhaps because of the complications I had with breastfeeding coupled with the fact that I have been blessed with a child who likes to eat a lot, I assumed that Elly would jump at the chance to eat pureed foods. Surely, I was the one holding her back. Instead I have gotten looks from Elly ranging from complete horror to utter confusion.
The irony of it all is that I struggled with the decision of starting Elly on solids before she turned 6 months. It tortured me for days. The pros were based mostly on the fact that I love food and I was giddy to start cooking for her. The cons were twofold: 1 the AAP among other organizations recommend nursing exclusively for 6 months if possible and 2 pride held my hand. You see Elly’s pediatrician had told me that I wouldn’t be able to nurse Elly exclusively for 6 months because Elly was such a big baby and would require supplements in order to get enough to eat. Hogwash I said. It flies in the face of the law of supply and demand, which breastfeeding is based on. At all previous times when Elly demanded more to eat, my body simply supplied more. No reason to believe it wouldn’t continue to do so. Besides, have you seen Elly lately? Does she look like she’s starving?
My dilemma was all for naught. Elly is going to drag me over the 6-month mark and force me to simply stockpile all the pureed foods I’ve made for her into the freezer. It’s a good thing we have a 2nd freezer in the basement.
My MIL has promised me that Elly won’t remain on a liquid diet forever. By the time she goes to kindergarten, she will be eating solids. Of course, I was hoping for a bit earlier than that. One thing is for certain, we will be doing this at Elly’s pace. I am not in control.
Update: Yesterday after writing this up, I tried feeding Elly “watered down” oatmeal, which is to say oatmeal mixed with breastmilk until made runny. The verdict: she didn’t hate it! The look of ‘what are you putting in my mouth?’ was replaced with delight. Unfortunately, she didn’t know exactly what to do with it after that point and ended up spitting the majority of it back out. But, it was progress.
PS. You’ll forgive me for not getting an action shot of Elly eating. Things get very messy and sticky quickly. Heck, even I wear an apron to help save my clothes. All action shots will have to wait until the weekend when Dan is home to watch/help.
Doubting the Dress Fabric
I am having buyer’s remorse over the fabric I bought at my local quilt shop.
The fabric is fun. Who doesn’t love polka dots?
The colors are perfect.
So, what’s wrong with it?
See for yourself.
It conflicts with the India fabric rather than complementing it. Of course, the green fabric won’t go to waste. Fabric never does in this house. Even Dan’s retired dress shirts get a 2nd life in some small project or another. I’m thinking the green fabric might look better as a jumper.
With the green fabric set aside, other colors were auditioned. Using white as both the lining and the accent color has the opposite problem.
It’s too plain and dreadfully boring.
Adding in a border of flowers might solve my problem, but it’s a bit fiddly and might be too grown-up looking.
What do you think?
Should I have eliminated the green fabric in the first place?
Gosh, I can’t wait until Elly can help me choose colors and fabrics.
Right now she loves everything.
Again Not a Dress
It’s a good thing that Elly isn’t old enough to understand my promise of making her a dress next. Once again, I got side-tracked.
However, I am getting closer. These are the shorts that Elly will wear underneath the dress I am making for her.
Do you see how her belly folds over her shorts? Giggle.
Her Daddy and I are so proud of her chubbiness.
Pattern: Simplicity 4203
Alterations: none outside of adding a tag – something my new machine did with great ease
Size: 2T
Fabric: cotton purchased from Quilt Generations in Pottstown. Thanks to their huge selection, I had no trouble matching colors to the fabric my best friend brought back from India. I feel so spoiled here in Pottstown having such a great selection of sewing/quilting stores.
Sitting Pretty
She can’t sit up straight for very long, tipping over in a matter of minutes. Yet, oh how she loves to try again and again.
News Flash: For the past few days, Elly has been going to bed at a more reasonable hour. Last night, she was in bed by midnight which is a huge improvement over the 3am bedtime.
So, what was the trick?
No trick. Dan and I still hadn’t come up with a Plan B.
No, it just took Elly turning 5 months old.
Duvet Cover for Christmas
It doesn’t look anything like a dress, does it?
I can explain.
My favorite place to shop for cotton fabric, Quilt Generations, was closed the evening I went searching for dress fabric. Due to the late hour, I ended up at Walmart. Not surprisingly, I didn’t find what I was looking for. However, Walmart did have an excellent selection of fleece, so I bought enough to make a duvet cover for Elly’s down comforter. Upon returning home, I realized the fleece fabric wasn’t going to fit in my china cabinet. (Where do you keep your fabric?) Thus, I opted to make the duvet cover first.
But perhaps I should backup for you might be wondering why a baby needs a down comforter in the first place. It’s an easy answer: because Dan and I each have one. Naturally, our daughter needs one as well to keep her warm during the cold winter nights.
Pattern: You don’t need one. A duvet cover is nothing more than 2 pieces of fabric stitched together with buttons at the bottom to keep the comforter from falling out.
Fabric: 1 yard of fleece for the front and 1 for the back or 2 yards total.
Time frame: 10 days though if I didn’t have Elly it would have been completed in just a few hours. Of course, there would be no reason to make a duvet out of such fun fabric if I didn’t have Elly.
Christmas Present #1 is finished
Woo!
And the backside of Elly’s duvet cover matches her new shirt. Perfect.
Christmas Question in July
I am halfway through making Elly her 1st of many Christmas gifts.
Here’s my question:
Should I wrap the gifts I make for Elly and put them under the tree?
On one side, Elly will only be 10.5 months old. Any gift opening will have to be done by Dan or I. Thus, I will be making Dan open a bunch of gifts for Elly that he has already seen and knows about. It seems a bit silly when you look at it that way. Rather than go through the ritual for tradition’s sake, we could focus on having a relaxing Christmas morning before we head over to family and the mayhem begins. (I do anticipate that Elly will be spoiled rotten).
On the other hand, it will be Elly’s 1st Christmas. There is a part of me that wants to lavish her with gifts even if she doesn’t understand why and can’t participate in the unwrapping. Plus, I will be making several gifts for her between now and Christmas: 4 dresses and a duvet cover. I suppose I could always place them directly in her closet.
My practical side says No. The mother in me is conflicted. The traditionalist says Yes.
Impromptu Tag Blanket
Pattern: You don’t need one. Besides Taggies has a patent and a copyright on the design so you’ll never find a pattern legally. However, a tag blanket is nothing more than two pieces of fabric sewn together with bits of ribbon sticking out.
Fabric: The green you recognize as being leftover from the quilt. The pink came from a basket cover that I received at my baby shower.
Thankfully, I have yet to offend anybody by my habit of repurposing fabric received as a gift.
Timeframe: approx 2 hours
Most importantly, does Elly like it?
Elly is absolutely my daughter; she loves to run her hands over fabric.
The Life, Designs & Crafts of Marie Haigh 