Geranium in Bloom.

It recently came to my attention that my niece Helen has mostly outgrown all of her auntie-mades. She is a string bean - skinny but very tall for her age. She is also turning three in a couple of weeks. And she likes to wear dresses. Girls this age are really fun to sew for! So I've been on a little bit of a Helen sewing kick.

I decided to make the birthday girl a party dress.

Yes, this is Made By Rae's Geranium Dress. By now you've seen a million iterations of this fantastic pattern all over the 'nets. Don't tell my husband, but I might have gone a little overboard buying patterns recently. I have more (exciting) patterns than I have time to sew, eep! (I also got the Parsley pants, so stay tuned for those!)

Anyway, I opted for the cap sleeve, pleats (there are in-seam pockets!) and plain neckline. The bodice is lined in muslin.

And yes, the fabric is Echino "Bloom." (Geranium in Bloom! Get it? Hehehe. I am so clever!) I bought it to make something for myself, but is so ... loud. I love it, but I couldn't quite wrap my head around actually wearing something this bright. So it's funny that now that I've sewn this dress up for Helen, I keep thinking, "I would totally wear this dress!" Haha. So it goes.

I often buy fabric with one idea in mind, only to have second thoughts about its intended purpose. So the fabric sits in the stash for a while ... later, inspiration hits, and it's used for something very different! The end result is that I can feel smug and virtuous about using "stash" fabric instead of new fabric, ha. Because fabrics that sit unused in my piles for more than a year become free, didn't you know?

I hope to get some shots of the dress modeled by my lovely redheaded niece at some point ...

In other news, our garden is wild and wonderful this year. The tomatoes are flowering, the greens are ready to make salad, and there are so many honeybees you can hear them buzzing around the borage from across the garden!

Check out our poppy patch! Some of these plants are over six feet tall!

I love bees. When the children are a little older, I really want to keep my own hives. I may get chickens too. For now, two dogs and two kids are enough work, but I try to grow lots of bee-friendly flowers. I love to see honeybees and bumble bees rolling around delightedly in a poppy flower. It seems like a good life, being a bee. As Joe says, "The bees are my friends! But I don't touch the bees." That's right, Joe. Some friends need their personal space.

And here's farmer Joe, helping mama with the clothesline. He really is a looker, isn't he?

Ten Months!

Maggie is ten months old. These photo shoots are getting dang near impossible! Child will not stay on her back for two consecutive seconds. Insanity! Also, yeah, I think her knees and feet are kind of dirty? What can I say? She's constantly crawling around our dusty, dirty house!

When I found out we were having a girl, everyone told me how much easier and less active they are than little boys. But Maggie is a very active little girl. She does not seem as insane or destructive as Joe was, but my bet is on her walking earlier than he did. Joe walked at 13 months. Maggie can already stand up without support. She cruises furniture and can take one step, from one piece of furniture to another, unsupported. So I'm thinking Miss Margaret Joy is going to walk before a year. Who knows? Only time will tell.

But heavens above, she is cute! Right? My brown-eyed lassie.

As often happens in Oakland in the late Spring, we're in the middle of a big heat wave. The sort of heat wave that gets your hopes up about your tomato crop, and makes you want to sew (and wear) shorts.  So I whipped up a pair of Big Butt Baby Shorts, using red linen/cotton and a scrap of precious Heather Ross for the rear panel.

You know that our tomatoes are going to be terribly disappointed when the fog rolls in in June, of course. Who knows how often we will be wearing shorts ...


And she's off! Mermaid butt!!!

As a mother of a speech delayed kid, who, by the way, seemed perfectly normal at Maggie's age, at least to this inexperienced first time mom, I tend to second guess myself on the whole speech development thing with her. Like, I thought maybe she said "Mama"? I think that maybe she babbles a bit more than Joe did? But maybe not, maybe I just imagined it? Her poor pediatrician asks a simple question "what sounds does she say?" and it turns into an hour long, self-doubting diatribe on the other kid.

But recently she has started waving and saying, with perfectly clarity, "buh buh."  Usually after the person leaving has left the building, but nonetheless.

So, yeah, I think she does say "mama"! Be still my heart. Joe (love that boy to bits and pieces) didn't say "mama" until he was a good deal past two. Of course, Joe's speech is all the more special and precious for the wait, but then, so is Maggie's when it comes down to it. This mama does not take "mama" for granted.

Of course, most of the time, she's saying, "buh buh mama!" She has places to go! Things to explore! A brother to keep up with! "Peace out, mama!" But still, I'll take it! Love you, Bunny Sweets Maggie McGee. Catch ya later, Pumpkin Berry.*

* Yes, I give my children embarrassing pet names. Lots of them.

Citronille "Guillemette."

Have you heard of Citronille patterns? It is a line of (mostly) children's sewing patterns. Gorgeous, old-fashioned, and very French. As in, the instructions are in French.

Do I know any French? Uh, no. Not really. But I didn't let that stop me (or even slow me down). Luckily, some illustrations are provided, and for the rest, there is always Google Translate ...

This is the Guillemette blouse.  Just a simple peasant blouse/tunic style. I have some beautiful Liberty lawn, which I was thinking of turning into a peasant blouse for Maggie, but I decided to make a trial version first. This fabric might look familiar to long-time followers of the blog. I made a dress from it when Joe was a toddler. It is a soft, light, swiss dot in a dark green print. To me, it has a bit of an old-lady-curtains vibe. Which I happen to love.

The main change I made was to use elastic in the neckline instead of gathering and binding it in bias as the pattern calls for. You can't see it in these photos, but I used pink bias at the neckline and wrists, and pink hem facing at the hem. I love bias hem facing for curved hems. It is so much easier than trying to press a hem, and it looks polished and professional to boot. I just attached the bias hem facing, pressed it, and machine stitched it down. Because the facing is cut on the bias, it adapts itself to the shape of the hem (even a very curved hem), so there is no need to ease the hemline to fit, and there are no puckers. A little hot steam, pin, stitch, and done. Here, I was pleased with the longer length of the tunic without hemming, so it was especially perfect (and a good way of getting the most from a shorter length of fabric).

This tunic is a practical piece. It looks great with leggings, but it's not so long that it gets in the way of crawling (longer tops and dresses make Maggie mad; baby girl needs to be able to get around). It's lightweight but gives a little coverage for cool ocean breezes. It would be very easy to make it short sleeved, or even sew it up in a knit, too. Nice basic cut.

But while I think this blouse turned out really cute, I am not 150% in love with this pattern. For such a simple pattern, the fit is a bit weird - puffy all over, but strangely tight around the armpits (I shaved a little excess fabric off with my serger, which improved that issue but did not resolve it completely). Since ordering the pattern, I've read elswhere that Citronille sizing can be a bit wonky, and I am inclined to agree at this point (although it could just be this pattern, in this particular size). 

So, having made up this trial version, I decided that I would prefer to use the Liberty lawn for another Class Picnic Blouse. The fit, details, and finishing on the Class Picnic are impeccable. As usual, Oliver + s is just a step above the competition. And I think that the little yoke will really help show off the beautiful Liberty fabric. For such precious fabric, I would rather use a slightly more precise and well drafted pattern. English instructions are also a plus.

And this is why, when considering how to use your gorgeous but pricey Liberty, it is always good to make a trial version in beautiful, but not-so-precious fabric that has been sitting in your stash for years! I do love this little blouse, it is a very easy and fun way to use small amounts of pretty fabric, and I have a feeling this won't be the last one I make. C'est si bon!

Four.

Just like that. I have a four year old.

It hasn't completely sunk in for me yet.  Or for Joe, who keeps insisting he's "still three."

It has been a great year for Joe. A challenging year for us parents, but a great year for him. Our speech delayed child is talking our ears off (read: arguing with us about every.single.thing), asserting his will, and learning new things everyday. Joe is funny, smart, and caring. He says "I love you, Mama/Daddy!" and "I love you, Maggie" all the time now. But he's also very stubborn. He is a Taurus after all. He's untouchable, like Eliot Ness.

And he's a great big brother. He loves his little sister. And she loves him too.

(Note: He is not allowed to carry his little sister, but he ignores this rule and carries her around every day, despite our scoldings. And she really doesn't seem to mind.)

Baby wearing at its best.

Last Saturday, I attended the Golden Gate All Day Sacred Harp Singing in San Francisco, with Maggie. I wore her in the ring sling, pretty much the whole day, and she was generally happy and as snug as a bug. Here we are leading the song "Messiah" (page 131 on the top - Denson book) towards the end of the day (video taken by my friend Dan Harper).



If you're not familiar with Sacred Harp music and this video interests you, you can learn more here.

It was a beautiful day, and a really lovely singing! (And the food was delicious as always!)

KCW - Finale.

Well, I can't say it was my most productive KCW ever. I didn't sew for an hour a day. Okay, I didn't sew every day. Okay, yeah, I didn't even sew most days.

But hey, I sewed! I'm all about defining my own success these days. The kids and dogs are fed? Yay, me! I sewed a little bit during KCW? Awesome!

As I've shared, the fact that I have very little time to sew these days hasn't stopped me from dreaming about projects. Or buying new patterns. Or finally subscribing to Ottobre (for kids).

Which is totally as awesome as everyone says!

So here is my first Ottobre pattern, the Mariken gingham dress from issue 1/2013. I was drawn to it because it's so hard to find dresses with sleeves, but a light cotton dress with long sleeves is the perfect garment for chilly SF Bay Area summers. I made it up in gingham, just like the sample in the magazine, because (a) I am not very imaginative (however, I did choose celery gingham, rather than the red in the magazine); and (b) I love gingham. This is in size 98 (about 4T), for my little niece Helen (who is a very tall almost three-year-old now).

I am a bit gingham-obsessed lately, I admit. Every time I see nice 100% cotton woven gingham at a fabric store, I have to buy it. Fortunately for my wallet, it turns out that 100% cotton woven check is suprisingly tough to come by. This gingham is Kaufman's Carolina Gingham. It has a slightly homespun feel - it's not a smooth shirting - and is pleasantly crinkly (although I'm thinking you'd want to get it out of the dryer and shake it out right away). I love the color range these ginghams come in! I also got a couple yards of the larger scale orange gingham. Of course. I can't be expected to resist orange gingham!

This is a simple, basic dress. A good starting point, I thought, as I try to get used to Ottobre patterns and instructions. Or I should say, lack of instructions. Basically, if you like to be told exactly how to sew a garment, you might want to stick to Oliver + s patterns (and other indie pattern makers who really walk you through the whole process). Ottobre pattern instructions ... well, I don't really know, because I ended up just making the dress the way I thought I should make the dress. In short, not for beginners. But for your money, the sheer number of awesome, hip, and versatile patterns per issue just cannot be beat. Also, the size range in patterns is fantastic; it's actually pretty overwhelming. One issue could outfit your children through high school.

Here's a major first for me: My first invisible zipper! It looks pretty good, and I only ripped it out twice!  Again, I'm defining my own success here. No, seriously, as zippers go, the invisible zipper actually went in pretty smoothly. It might - *gasp* - be a little easier than a regular zipper? That's something I did not expect.  But look, no topstitching to mess up! My biggest hiccup here was getting that back bodice seam to match up horizontally.

So I don't think that seam allowances are included in Ottobre patterns, but instead of taking a systematic approach to this and adding seam allowances to the pattern before cutting, I just eyeballed seam allowances ... in some places, but not others. Yeah, not systematic. Hopefully it won't look too wonky on.

I serged this throughout, so hopefully it will stand up to lots of washings. Below, you can see the dress inside out. When have I ever shown my readers the inside of something I've made? (Okay, maybe a few times, but not frequently.) I thought Helen would enjoy a little surprise, so I faced the neck with pink gingham and dug into my vintage bias/hem bindings stash for pink facings for the wrists and hem.

When I see it like this, it makes me want to make a dress that has the facings "facing" out! Cute! Anyway, it's super clean inside.

Yes, yes. I'm a happy serger now.  I did great without it, I will continue to tell new sewists that they don't need one, but now that I have it, I'm using it and loving it! For any of you on the fence, the purchase is completely justified! (I also bought a dead cheap serger, and it's fine.)


In other news, I think we can safely say that Maggie likes refried beans.

And with that, we end this Spring (or Autumn for my Aussie readers) KCW. I sewed about the same amount that I always do, but one thing was different: I got to read all of your awesome KCW posts!

Undies: Fit.

For those of you inquiring about the fit, it's perfect! Lots of room for movement! As Joe demonstrates here (this is what happens when I say, "Joe, turn around and let me photograph your bottom!").

These are size 4 undies on my size 4T boy.