Adventures in Paradise

Cat Cat Sundress

When I found out that I was not only pregnant, but managing to stay pregnant (a real struggle) I went a little crazy with fabric shopping. I had PLANS, I tell you. Handmade bassinet and crib sheets, her quilt, baby clothes. But I was working 18-20 hour days for my first two trimesters and still training for half marathons and circus on the weekends. Not to mention the all day morning sickness I had up to the morning I gave birth. 

So...not a lot of sewing from what is now two years ago stashed fabrics. And she's getting big enough that soon the half yard cuts I bought won't make dresses. This week's Project Run and Play theme is sewing from your stash, and I happen to keep a handful of stash fabrics out on my cutting board as "next in line" prompts. One of the pieces in my stack was a half yard of knit fabric printed all over with cats. The Puppy's first word was " cat cat", and she's obsessed, even though Harvey doesn't always appreciate the yelly, smelly (not any more), grabby (also not anymore) Puppy as much as she does him. 

I've wanted to try shirring, and nothing says little girl summer like a shirred sundress. I loved mine as a kid, and she's only got one, that is more of a tunic than a dress because it's a 12 month size from last summer that I couldn't bear to give away (it's the elephant print one in the circus pictures from last week.)

This, BTW, is her expression when she is not going to move from this spot. Even a little. Because I want to climb back up the ladder over here. 

The downward climb did give a good shot of the matching bloomers for underneath. She's potty training now (her choice and timing) so they can be worn over a diaper or not. I drafted them from a pair she has - one piece with just side seams. I haven't figured out the fit completely, but these are wearable and now I'll just have to tweak a little bit once she's completely out of diapers.

There was enough to make a couple of hair ties, this one I finished with a lettuce hem and ties around her pony tail. Toddler hair is so fine that everything started falling out almost as soon as I got the elastic on. 

For those with an interest in history or literature, this is Lago d'Averno, thought to be the entrance to the underworld in Dante's Inferno. It's also my weekly running route - if I loop around it twice and around the smaller but less safe Lago di  Lucrino I can get in a little over five miles. 

Watermelon Sweater

I own a ridiculous amount of yarn (and fabric), but I'm also not going to turn away someone who says "hey, have some nice yarn for free", especially when they're friends and don't really know what they're doing around yarn. I ended up with four skeins of sock yarn (Knit Picks I think), two each in pink and green. I'd figured out recently that two skeins of sock yarn is no longer enough for a full sweater for the Puppy, so I figured I'd make good use of it while I had the time. Add a transatlantic flight in January and lots of travel in between (not the DC trip....flying with Puppy means no knitting time). I managed to finish this sweater just as the plane pulled up to the jetway in Berlin last week.

The green accents make her look like a little watermelon. I thought about duplicate stitching little seeds on the sweater, but that ended up being a little more work than I was up to at the moment. It's a modified version of the Starlette sweater, which I love. This is my second Starlette (a repeat, which I never do) but with real ribbing instead of the garter ribbing called for int he pattern because the garter rib didn't add enough structure in the yarn I used on the first one and it stretched out so quickly I had to sew some ribbon to the neckline. No pockets on this one because I forgot to put the stitches on hold and by the time I realized my mistake, I just didn't care. And one big button instead of two or three. It holds just fine and the Puppy rarely wears her sweaters buttons anyway. (Like mother, like daughter.)

It's a size 2, which is bigger than she needs, but she's not going to be wearing this regularly for several months since summer in Naples is HOT. But it will be a breath of summer in the cold of December and should fit her well then.

She seems pretty happy with it, and while it's not my colors, it incorporates one of her favorites - GREEN! My little one isn't in the pink phase yet, though she has plenty of that color scattered through her wardrobe. She loves green and purple and blue, and there don't seem to be any colors she dislikes. She wears a uniform to school, so no peer pressure about color choices yet, which I like.

Project Run and Play, Rig Baby Edition

I hadn't noticed the theme announcement, at least not until the very end of the alloted time to sew...and I was on the road to top things off. Four days, three countries, six airplanes, a train, a bus, a boat, and even a few cars. I spent four of five days this week on an airplane.

BUT

The opening week theme is circus. CIRCUS. For me, circus isn't a place you go to see on special occasions. It's not sawdust and glitter and cotton candy. It's hard work and bloody hands and sore muscles. And glitter. There's always glitter. You can't walk into any typical rig and not walk out without glitter on you. But it's also family. And to say that the Puppy has spent a fair portion of her life ensconced in that family would be an understatement.

June 22nd, 2016. I think this was the last time I was on an apparatus before she was born less than two weeks later. I couldn't get my hips over my head anymore.

Her first visit to the rig outside the womb was at five weeks, and she was a regular until we moved to Italy, dressed appropriately for special occasions like birthday celebrations. Tutus are ALWAYS appropriate when on the flying trapeze, not so much on the aerial apparatus I prefer. That requires tightly fitting clothing so that your shirt doesn't droop over your head when you're upside down, and your pants don't wrap around the apparatus

More recently on a trip to DC (See the Zoo pics in an earlier post), I had the chance to rejoin one of my families of choice, and see how much my body remembered. The Puppy joined another rig kid who was waiting for her class. She wasn't too happy to see me on the apparatus, but whenever anyone else flew, she asked for "more, more" until someone else hit the air. The cell phone eased things when Mamma was the one working (on the same silk hammock as in the prenatal picture.)

The next day I was on the flying trapeze and the Puppy climbed (partway) up the ladder to the platform, with some help at shoulder height. (and to assure that she wouldn't go any further, because she was intent on reaching the 23 foot high platform.)

She also got her first swing on the low bar. Had to wrench my little circus girl off the bar. She loves trampolines, the wobble board I keep in the living room, and will balance on anything she can. There's a real chance that she will make it to the top of a rig in September if the weather holds up.

So...what does one make, within a constrained time that covers everything circus means to this family? I guess it's a good thing I have a supply of crazy spandex in the stash! I started with basics that would be perfect for a special occasion at the rig...shiny, shiny spandex tank and coordinating short tights.  

And then we hopped onto the wobble board. I can't actually use it to work out on when she's awake because I have to share. For some reason she prefers it upside down.

For the really big birthday parties, there's a matching skirt, the best photo of which I could get was below, because she was done and it was pretty close to bedtime. 

The whole ensemble is big enough that it should still fit her in the fall when we head back to the States for my 25th college reunion (I *know*) which happens to be close to a good friend with a trapeze rig that might give us a shot at having a little fun. 

Happy Coincidence

I make a handful of business trips to London every year and on my most recent trip, I stopped in at Liberty. It's a big department store with a big reputation. I think a long time ago it used to be a crafter's dream, but now it's mostly really high end stuff that doesn't always appeal to me. The yarn selection is limited to Rowan Yarns and while I love them, my stash is sufficient, and mostly high end. And while my fabric stash is also sufficient, it's only recently that I've discovered garment quality fabric outside of Joann's. And Liberty fabrics are stunning - visually, although I don't actually like busy little florals, and in a tactile sense - the lawn is famous for a reason. On this trip I ran into a print called "Queue for the Zoo" and picked up a yard for my animal obsessed Puppy. Then I ended up having a meeting scheduled in Washington, DC and the timing was such that if I took some extra leave, the nanny could go get some dental work taken care of and the Puppy and I could enjoy a little together time, including a visit to the National Zoo, of course.

Naturally, the dress needed to be made. I wanted to make something cute and flowy, but didn't want to deal with gathering and the like, so I went with a dress I'd seen online a few times, Sunki, by Figgy's. Everyone who made it online seemed to love it and it looked really neat. I'll admit I'm not the most proficient seamstress, but I didn't love the pattern so much. 

Those green side panels are what makes the dress, and the directions for them are a mess. The pattern piece and the diagram in the directions are not shaped the same, which led me to spend quite some time looking at the pdf to be sure there wasn't something I'd missed. Then I went looking for a tutorial and the best one I could find just said something along the lines of "I just manipulated the fabric so that it fit." So that's what I did, and it turned out okay after several attempts, but there's still a tuck in the top of the right pocket/panel because I just couldn't bear to rip again for something that was going onto a toddler body in constant motion.  The second panel turned out better and if I make the dress again, it will be less frustrating. Still - I don't think it's too much to ask for the drawing to match the actual pattern piece. That's not hand holding, that's accuracy. The 2T is wide on the Puppy, but the 18M woulnd't have fit for long, so I don't mind. I did chop off a whole lot of length for my tiny girl.

She happily wears the dress for one reason...ELEPHANTS! That's her signing Elephant in ASL after she got to see her first one in person. She makes the sign (and trumpets like a tiny elephant) whenever she sees the dress. It was a bit warm for leggings, but my enthusiastic girl was running out of skin on her knees from several big tumbles, and I knew she'd be rushing about like a crazy person, so I added some protection for the day.

This was my first invisible zipper and I either did not iron the zipper flat enough, or the cheapo invisible zippers I bought were just not great (you get what you pay for). Still, it works, it's just not invisible. We could have sat here all day staring at the waterfall. This was the only nice day of our trip, it rained like mad the other days, including the day we ran the 5K in honor of Tee. The group of us thought it was the  perfect way to honor our friend...a run, cheering for all the other runners from the finish line, dancing in the event area after the race ended, and a Starbucks stop before going our separate ways. We'd rather be doing it with her, but if we can no longer do so, then at least we can do it right for her.

 

About The Puppy

Since the addition of the Puppy happened while I was on a blog hiatus, I figured I'd explain the nickname a bit...and share some adorable pictures, of course.

Then I first found out I was for sure pregnant (there was some science at work, so I was cautious) and got the first ultrasound, I took a pic of it and sent it to myself, with the Subject line "Sono", and is "Sonogram". No idea what that was my word choice, but it was...and then I discovered that it had auto corrected to "Dino" from "Sono". So...she became Baby Dino from about one month in utero until birth. Even my Pinterest Board was labeled "Baby Dino"

That lasted until I brought her home and my child phobic Niko decided she was his.I had some idea that it would work out - he figured out I was pregnant early on and spent a lot of those 9 months with his head laying on my tummy. When we were out for walks or to play at the park he often stood guard over me instead of romping with his buddies.

This was day 5, after I got home from the hospital and my mom picked Niko up from the Doggie Daycare where he'd been boarding. He ran right up to us at the changing table, then followed me to the glider and proceeded to clean his puppy's feet.

And it's been that way ever since. He is her guardian...

The dirty diaper alert dog...

A companion at bath time...

A partner in adventure... (this is at an abandoned church in Tuscany)

And an all around snuggle buddy.

Baby Blues

This week's Project Run and Play's featured color is blue...which is perfect for me. Still haven't sewed many things for the puppy and some of it isn't clothing (sheets, quilt), so I'm pretty limited. And oddly, I've sewn a lot of black and white in clothing for her. The advantage of being able to impose my preferences on her while I can, I guess. And there's the blue striped PJs I just made, too. But the first article of clothing I ever sewed for her was in a deep Navy blue corduroy with daisies scattered around.

It's the basic dress from the Oliver & S Building Block Book with long sleeves, in the 6-12 month size. I'd definitely make a few changes were I to sew the same dress from the same pattern again. I added the white mini pom pom trip to the collar when I realized just how dark this dress was, and I think I'd still add it, but this time during construction and also to the sleeves, and I might add some piping at the waist. It was the first time I'd constructed a placket and I had a devil of a time with that. It doesn't sit quite right. It had to sit in the dresser for a while because I made it when she was tiny, but she grew into it in time for fall in Naples, so it's first real outing was to a Chestnut Festival in Montella, a mountain town to the west of Naples.

The 6-12 month size was a perfect fit at 16 months but she's just a bit too big for it now. Thankfully, my honorary granddaughter (child of one of my Officers from DECATUR) is a winter baby, so this will go to her next.  More importantly, she was totally comfortable running and playing in the dress...hence it's slightly rumpled state.

My Puppy can be quite the charmer when the mood strikes, and it struck hard that day. She was ON. The friend I was with said, "one day we're going to take her and walk ahead while you look at the people are her and see how they react to her." Then I pulled this pic off the camera...

Italians LOVE kids, especially babies, but this kid was on fire that day, even without a nap. She engaged with anyone who would engage with her, usually with kisses and waves.  I love this pic because even though the placket is a mess, you can see the buttons down the back, which come from my old button collection, which means they belonged to the Puppy's great-great-grandmother at some point. They're well-used, so probably from the 30s, maybe the 40s at the latest. They were a perfect match for the centers of the daisies.

More Pajamas - Kid's Clothes Week

Another set of pajamas - sort of. (No idea why the pictures are rotated. I'll try to fix it from another machine.)

This is about as still as she ever stands - handing me a fistful of rose petals. The pink pants are another pair of Bedtime Story pajama bottoms, this time trimmed to a capri length for warmer summer evenings - or this weekend, which turned out to be practically summer.

I used this fabric in a quilt that was auctioned off for charity, the waistband was the backing and the stripes were the bindings. It was the first continuous bias binding I ever made and I had no idea how much to make, or how much a small square of fabric makes, so I used a large square. I have A LOT of leftover bias binding. I need to keep it handy for when the puppy goes through her pink phase. When does that start? She wears a school uniform now, red and blue, so there's no peer pressure to conform to a gender specific color scheme. It also doesn't seem to be a thing in Italy, but when we get back to the U.S., she'll be close to 3, so I figure that's when it will hit.

Speaking of school, the Nanny also told me that she requires a plain white tee shirt for a Mother's Day project and that the only plain white tee's the Puppy has are long sleeved onesies, which are now too warm. And also going to be too small as they are a 6-12 m size (Leveret clothes are generously sized, but my 22 month old is still wearing lots of 12m clothing.) So, the first of the planned plain tee shirts is this white one.

It looks like a high-low hem, but the extra length in the back just makes the shirt go over the diaper better. You can't really tell there's a difference when she's wearing the shirt. There's a keyhole back with a button because I can't figure out how to make a bias neckband that lays flat and still goes over the kid's head. Next attempt I will make a wider tape - I just eyeballed this and I think a little extra width may make a difference. There will be at least one or two more of these white tee shirts in the future, and versions in red and turquoise as well.

Kids Clothes Week

It's the middle of Kid's Clothes Week and I've managed to make one of the sets of pajamas that I'd planned for the Puppy. I started with plans for three pairs of bottoms and one top out of old quilting cotton and a couple of white knit tops to go along. I did some of the sewing assembly line style, but came to a point where the sewing was going to be seen in top stitching, so I finished the blue set first. This is an Oliver & S Popover Sundress - which is free - that I chopped into a top by measuring how long I wanted the back to be and cutting the excess. It's trimmed with some pre-made bias binding that I bought before I left San Diego in 2012. I think it's slightly younger than the pretty striped fabric that I never found the right quilt for.

The only way I could get her to step away from "Baby Signing Time" was to start singing "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands." This is her mid-clap.

The bottoms are finished in the same bias binding. I am so glad I found a way to use this yard of happy fabric. It wasn't enough to make the full Bedtime Story PJ top, but just enough for the Popover Sundress top as long as I could find a good match for the binding. I think it will be perfect for the hot Neapolitan summer nights and for my little one who thinks she wants to be potty trained, I wanted to avoid one piece jammies.

Next up is a similar set, but it white with pink and yellow stripes that I used to bind a quilt way back in 2008ish. With a bit of trim used for the backing of the same quilt. It was going to be two pairs of pants from that fabric, but I had a serger problem that rendered the pants impractical (Pro Tip: Don't use the serger with the not-quite-2-year-old on your lap.) But since the Oliver & S pants are cut in a single piece, I think I can salvage the fabric into a little summer PJ top.

I Do Still Knit

I started this baby blanket before P was born but it took me until her first birthday to finish it (uh...her quilt should be finished in time for her second birthday.) This is the Puppy inspecting it right off the needles. Post-blocking it's a good crib size blanket.

The blanket is the Baby Moderne Log Cabin from the Mason Dixon book (the first one...there may be more now, but I have been out of the loop.) Colors inspired by a beachy-table runner at my cousin's house in Gloucester, Mass. It's Cascade 220 Superwash, and makes a nice squishy blanket that has spent the winter in the Puppy's crib. The only modifications I made to the pattern were to separate the colors with a garter ridge of the dark blue and to use attached i-Cord instead to finish the edges. I just like not having raw edges on this style.

 

In other news, this is the sewing blog world's Kids Clothes Week and I intend to spend the goal hour per day of kid clothing sewing making up for the sole gap in the Puppy's wardrobe...spring and summer jammies. The 12m fleece footies are too small and too hot, as are the Christmas jammies below. I'll be using the same pattern bottoms in quilting cotton, and while they are too big to be scrap projects, I've got three pairs cut out that will take care of two pieces of fabric that have been leftover from quilt projects for close to a decade. I also have tentative plans for a spring/summer outfit to wear when (if) we visit DC this summer.

Sew Red

For Project Run and Play's "Red" week. I won't be able to show much for these weeks....the puppy is only 21 months old and I haven't sewn that much for her yet. I was pretty okay with using the hordes of baby shower gifts to clothe her...and even at her age, she's still wearing some 12m clothing. My desire to sew for her is countered by the overwhelming size of her wardrobe. It's a good thing kid clothes are so small at this age! But, she had to have Christmas jammies, right? These are the Oliver &S Bedtime Story Pajamas and the puppy loves them, primarily because I have a matching pair of bottoms.

I made my pajama pants from a pattern that I don't love, so when the Nanny asked for a pair in the same flannel, I jumped at the chance to buy a new pattern. These are actually the Nanny's pajamas, made from Lisette for Butterick 6296. I'm much happier with them.