More sewing with El.

For pocketbook 2.0, the feature list includes:  a zipper, a curved bottom, and two handle shoulder strap.

She got a blue sewing machine for Christmas.  Now we're figuring out where to set up her sewing table and I'm thinking about what projects will be fun and useful.  We know a couple of babies, so fat quarter quilts.  My folks could use some new placemats and my nephew brings cloth napkins.  Our main things to work on are consistent seam allowances, locking seams, turning corners and remembering to put the presser foot back down.



The machine seems to be pretty good.  I was really missing some of the features of my machine, like a light, the threader, a zipper foot, and seam allowance markings.  But what it does, it seems to do well.


El sewed the tubes for the straps, and then we needed to switch back to my machine once we got home.  And, um, switch sewists.




My first stab at the curved bottom was not curvy enough.  I had her draw a line on the inside with a washable Crayola marker and sewed along those lines and it was finally good.  Also, the inside edges are just pinked together, not hidden.  Should be good enough for this draft.  Also, I need to figure out how to do zippers better this year.

Again, she's happy with this pocketbook and using it regularly.  Also, I let her cut up some Kaffe Fassett stash for the body.  Cause I'm nice and I love her.

Sewing with El.

This fall, E decided that she wanted to sew one afternoon.  She was 7 at the time.  I think everyone else was at a teenager movie, so we had some time and attention available.  She sewed a bunch of pieces of fabric together. Scraps that I had near my machine, left over from something else.

She was having fun.  Then realized she wanted to make a pocketbook.  For a 7 year old whose mother carries her wallet, she has a lot of pocketbooks already.  She decided she wanted one that had a crossover strap, a pocket on the outside, and a flap that folded over and buttoned.  She drew a picture of her idea and then we picked out some fabrics from the stash.  She had a thing in her mind and went for it.

The sewing itself, though required a little more precision and technical skill than she has right now, so she supervised and I sewed a lot of it together.  And she added a sewing machine of her own to her Christmas list.

We ended up with this:

She was really happy with this.  Sometimes, you go through the trouble of making something and then there's something about it that you don't like and you don't use it?  This bag was in heavy rotation.  Until she thought of pocketbook 2.0.  The adventure continues.  Stay tuned.

Baby Quilt!

I finished up El's baby quilt.



She's 2 1/2 now. According to Flickr, I started it in the summer of 2007, when I was expecting.



In November 2008, when I picked it up again, it was smaller than I remembered it.



So, I bought more fat quarters, cut them up, took apart the quilt I had and put it back together again. Then it took a while to square it up and quilt it. Binding it was done in 2 days though.

I used some of her old crib sheets on the back. And I quilted it with hot pink thread. Which doesn't even really show up on the front. The binding is a very colorful Kaffee print, but it blends right in as well.

Radio Silence

Sorry for the radio silence. I've been doing stuff, just not talking about it.

Wanna see?

1. I'm working on socks for La. It's the RPM pattern from Knitty. Only, knit across 52 stitches, so the pattern is 3 purl + 9 knit. The yarn is Claudia Hand Paint in Tranquility. La picked it out. Hopefully there will be enough left for mittens for her. They might end up being either fingerless mitts OR having part of it in another yarn.


2. I'm working on socks for the Monkey (don't tell. They're a surprise.) It's in some trekking that I've had for a while. Mostly knitting it at work (don't tell). In All Hands meetings or crazy-long conference calls. First sock is down to the toe.



3. I made new strips for El's quilt. I think the next step is to cut some of the pink strips, then take apart the other quilt, sew some of the leftover new rectangles to widen it, and reassemble.
I'm thinking of patching together some of her old receiveing blankets for the back.



4. I am working on a scarf for the Monkey. It's much farther than this. It's pretty entertaining. Great for putting the girls to sleep. Not as good for travelling.


5. I sewed up the strips I was saving to make a doll blanket for El. Not sure what to do with it next - cut them into stacked coins, add a solid color and make it a throw? Make it a strange shaped quilt? I have some dog fabric I want to use for the back.

This is not what I recall.

After thinking about it when I was posting about the Fuzzy Feet, I went back and got the quilts in progress for the Monkey and for El. In my mind....the tops were both almost done and done, respectively. In reality, though, there was not as much quilt as I remembered. The goal for each is something about the same size as La's. 3'x7'ish? I last blogged about the two in June 2007. Ugh.

For El:

What I've got done is great for a toddler sized bed. Which, might have been what I was thinking of at the time. But I think I'm really imagining a twin size quilt. La and I went out and bought more fat quarters that coordinate. I think I need to make about 3 more strips to really make it the way I want it to be. I'm planning to make the strips, then rip some seams in the quilt, insert the new ones and resew.

For the Monkey:
I was sure his was almost done.

In real life, it's about half done.

I was planning to put yellow sashings in between the blocks. I tried just putting the blocks on the yellow fabric to simulate. It's really swimmy. And it messes up the flow of the diagonal stripes. more squares.

Well....aside from the sickness....

60% of our household is currently on some sort of antibiotics. There's nothing like getting sick to get you into bed at the time you've been saying you need to go to bed for weeks. It's been kind of an adventure.

I don't have any good reason, but I started some socks last week. I wanted something mindless (um, I have 2 other stockinette projects on the needles), something portable (I have not taken this anywhere and don't even have a knitting bag for it), something new (must be it.)



It's Socks that Rock in Lucy. It was already wound, ready to go. I had forgotten that I wanted to use the Jitterbug next. The cuff is some sort of odd rib pattern that I made up. These are sort of quick and dirty socks. I'm not completely happy with it, but, OTOH, I didn't feel like stopping to look anything up, and I didn't. Sometimes you get what you get.

On a related note, El seems to have a merino problem. So, next up is some sort of blankie in STR Henpecked (she got to pick of the two STR hanks I had in my stash.)

Finished Stuff For Ellie

I made some appliqued onesies during my last set of D & D sewing. I think they turned out pretty well. I used cookie cutters for the shapes, Wonder-Under for the fusible web and a zig-zag stitch in the polka-dot color to make sure it stays put. Martha Stewart's siter has some good general directions and a template for a French Bulldog picture. The top row are 18month sized onesies for later and the bottom two are in El's current size.



We took a road trip last weekend to Charlotte. All three kids are very good travelers. The DVD player and a supply of Green Tea Ginger Ale probably didn't hurt anything either. I managed to get both sleeves and both button bands done on El's sweater on the drive up. Now I need to sew on buttons and weave in the ends.



Pattern Notes: I think it's sort of a regular old top-down raglan cardigan. A good baseline is at CosmicPlutoKnits. The ribbing is 3x3. The cuff and hem ribbing is kind of deep. I slipped the first stich on each row and picked them up to make the button band. I may need to stabilize the neck, where the ribbing ends and the stockinette starts.

Yarn and Needles: Size 5 needles, Heavyweight Socks that Rock in Mustang Sally.

Upshot: I am very happy with this sweater and hope that it is cold enough to use at the same time as it fits Ellie.

While in Charlotte, I started a sweater for me out of some Classic Elite Skye Tweed, but frogged it. I'm not sure if it is the yarn-needle combination (earthy, slubby yarn, plastic needles) but it was just uphill all the way. So I cast on for the sweater for DH with Cascade 128 and it's really fun so far. However, just as the other sweater was too small for him, this one may be too big. Hopefully pictures soon.

Knitting and Sewing - Oh My!

1. I made good on the doll quilt for La. I ran out of white squares that were leftover from Valerie's doll quilt - which explains the middle block. I used some leftover flannel for the back. I think it's probably left over from recieving blankets.



2. I've gone past the pits on the sweater for El. I really like it. And it's worth the purling back to have such nice stockinette. It's wonderful and squooshy and soft and such a rich red. This picture really does not do it justice.



3. Over Memorial Day, the kids got curtains hung up in their rooms.

New curtains for the boy.


Old curtains for the girls.

Blueberries for Breakfast

We've moved into the world of baby food here. I got a book called, "Blender Baby Food" for Mother's Day. Since then, I've been filling up the freezer with all sorts of goodness. Our collection includes, Peaches, Apples, Blueberries, and Pears for fruits. Peas, Carrots, Sweet Potato, and Green Beans for veggies. There might be more, but I can't think of what. We have squash (frozen) and beets (fresh) to make. I've frozen them in ice cube trays and then dumped them into big ziplocs. Then I send them to school with El. Even after thawing they smell really good. The applesauce would be fab with a little cinnamon on oatmeal. Even cooler, is that most of the veggies were made from frozen (well, not the sweet potatoes).

Easy Come, Easy Go

I started this sweater for El. It was coming right along.

Then I started the sleeves. And they were fiddly. I can totally see why the directions are set up the way they are, with a seam down the inside of the sleeve (and down the sides of the sweater).

The sleeves, I started working in stockinette in the round. I know how hard it is to get that little girl's thumb through long sleeves and can't imagine it getting any easier this winter. The yarn looked soooo much better in stockinette.

I tried the sweater on El, while still on the needles and it didn't really close well.

I looked in the inside and could see strange pooling. And the lace didn't look great in the varigated colors.

I never really liked how the button holes were (a)I mis-remembered the directions so they were one stitch over from where they should be (b)I forgot to start them when I should (c)there was a third problem but it flew right out of my head.

The sweater is well on it's way to becoming yarn once again. One day it might be a plain stockinette sweater. I'm still debating pullover or cardigan. There are a couple classics in a Debbie Bliss book I have.

New Projects

Two of them. One for me. One for El.

1. I cut this out Friday night. Haven't had a chance to try sewing it. I figure it's good practice for making a dress for me.

2. El is working on crawling. She will put her head and chest up. Then down and put her back end up. Then down. Then look around like she knew she knows how to do this but can't quite remember how. Then flip herself over and get mad because that's definitely not it. Every once in a while, she gets everything in gear and crawls a couple of steps. It's not the destination. It's the journey.

Switcheroo Update

(Hopefully) I recently discovered how to schedule posts. Or you're getting an onslaught of posts. Who knows.

El and La were sick this week. During the 2 hours of torture where I made La go without TV (and El was snoozing), we did some work in her room.

1. We made some room at the foot of her bed. Now you can safely reach the hamper. The "treasure box" (from Ikea) has the dress up clothes. Is it wrong to love the dichotomy of Hannah Montana and the Space Shuttle?


2. We made use of the top shelf of the closet. La got to pick out what stuffed animals to keep. Frankly, she didn't remember that she had lots of them. And we hung up the fairy pictures from her old room.


3. We started to clear out a place for her bookshelf. It'll go in the half of the closet that is behind the crib. The long blue dress you see is an Ao Dai that belonged to their Grandma Ngo (Each of the granddaughters got one). We're going to have to find a new spot for the pretend stove and pretend sink (that my dad built for my sister and I when we were La's age.)

Knitting! Woo-Hoo!

I have really been knitting lately.

1. I finished up Ellie's socks. I used the same yarn as for my sister's Jaywalkers, back in the day. I used the Baby To Toddler socks pattern, which I've used once before.



2. I made a tribble. A one-day knit. Peaches and Creme dishcloth cotton. I'll probably be making more of these.



3. I cast on a February Baby Sweater (ravelry link) for the 5 year old. I think it'll be quite lovely in this yarn, the yarn La picked out for a sweater for El. I think I'll make El a Febuary sweater too, but out of different yarn. I'm about 2/3 done with the yoke. I was worried that I'd have to do a lot of scaling to get the pattern to work in her size, but the yarn is kind of a heavy worsted (size 8 needle), and so far the numbers in the pattern seem to be working out. We'll see, though, if the yoke ends up being wide enough.

Making stuff for El.

1. A sock. that means I'm committed to making the second sock pretty soon. She's a moving target, you know.



2. A hat! Another Florida hat. She doesn't seem to mind hats, which is good because she doesn't have much hair yet. This was pretty easy to sew up (the bunny was good practice) and looks cute on her. The view I used is the blue hat on the bottom right of the pattern.



3. A crib! This is my nephews' crib. We're very thankful that my sister was ready to part with it. (Talk about perfectly spaced cousins!) It is beautiful and El is right at home in it already.



Once I'm done with the baby sock, I think I'm going to start a sweater for La.

Ketchup!

OK. In no particular order.

I. Things are trucking on the switcheroo. DH and my dad built the loft bed from Ikea. We may need to shorten it a smidge. Here are some photos to catch you up with where we are. First the boy's room, then the girls'.

A. BOY:

1. The finished Floor.


2. It's curtains for you.


3. FLOR samples. Fedora and House Pet. He likes the red on the top right.
4. The newly assembled loft bed.


B. GIRL:

1. Area rug made of FLOR tiles. The airplanes were on clearance.


2. Trying out the garland (pennant. Bunting. Used Car Lot flags? Streamers? Prayer Flags? Triangles suspended from Bias Tape? Whatever.)


II. Knitting
A. Finished the blankey for El. I'm not sure how I feel about the colors still, but DH really likes it. Hopefully Ellie will too.



B. Baby Socks for El. The Mim Knits pattern again. Leftover Lorna's Laces (Icehouse?) From the Jaywalkers I made for my sister.


C. When I went from working on the blanket to the socks, there was quite a chorus of "You never knit anything for me" from La. So, I went back to working on the couch blanket, which is a project she dreamed up. No new photo, though. It was a hassle and a half to get it back on the needles.

III. Sewing
Been doing a lot of clean up work with sewing. Finished a pair of languishing shorts for La - only needed elastic. Finished the doll quilt for La (haven't photographed it yet). Made the curtains and finished the garland. Bound the watercolor quilt. Now it just needs to be dropped off at the LQS. Not sure what's next on the agenda - more pants and shorts for the girls? A dress for me? Finishing the two Linus quilts that I started on Maternity leave (they need to be sandwiched and quilted)? Hopefully soon I'll be able to finish El and the Monkey's quilts.

It's the little things

that I've been working on. I only have a little time too - I still need to wash bottles before bed.

We had a little bit of a cold snap and it turns out El is getting big. Her newborn hats that seemed giant were just fitting and her sweater? The one that she swam in on the way home from the hospital? Well, it didn't reach her waist anymore.

I finished off the skein of Socks That Rock heavyweight and made a new little hat. I had to stretch the yarn with some stripes of yellow.



And for La's soccer games, I decided she needed a "Florida Hat" (my grandpa is bald. we would send him these cotton fedoras from Kmart and he called them Florida Hats and would wear them when he was out in the sun). Similarly El's hair is very thin (I hesitate to call her bald, but some might say that she is) This is El's new Florida Hat. It's Bernat Cottontots that I've had for a while. Was very easy to make - very similar in concept to Lilly I cast on 2x the stitches that the hat required. Joined in the round and knit 5 rounds. Then K2Tog for a whole round. Then continued to knit as though I were making a baby hat (eg. knit for a good number of inches then begin decreases). I used N, S, E, W raglan decreases, I think, but sprial or spokes would have worked fine too.



Also in the small department, small shoes. These are from the stardustshoes cloth shoe pattern. They were pretty straightforward but I don't think I did the toe right (but it's good enough for a first draft).

I used an impulse buy fat quarter that I had lying around and leftover flannel from my flannel pants problem that I had this summer.





Next up? I'm working on a baby hat for a friend due in May - modeled after the Cotton Stria Stripes hat in Itty Bitty Hats. I cut out some wee bunnies for the girls' Easter baskets.


I'm having an Easter Dress moment - I found out that we're planning to go to church on Easter. When my sister and I were kids, my mom would sew us Easter dresses - it was a big production where we picked out patterns and fabric and my mom would sew her heart out. And we would have fabuous Easter dresses. Sometimes long ones. Sometimes with a pinafore. It's really hard not to start rummaging through my patterns and try to whip something up for one or both girls for Sunday. I bought material to make a spring dress for La. I might just take a look to see if I have a straightforward looking patten with a twirly skirt in her size. No pressure or anything.