I Love a Parade

 Weekly Rewind

Spaghetti dinner fundraiser for the 4th.

Waiting for the parade to start.

An Ojai tradition, swimming in the Libbey Park Fountain.

Out of all the holidays we celebrate in the United States, July 4th is my favorite. I think it is because I grew up in a small town that really knew how to celebrate the nation's birth; a pancake breakfast, parade, carnival and the best darn fireworks outside of the Capitol. Ojai still celebrates the 4th with many of the same traditions, though the carnival has gone by the wayside in recent years. The parade is the only one in the county on the 4th and draws entries from all over the area. It is very homegrown, with a chance for everyone to participate. There are tons of kids, dogs, horses, antique cars, tractors and crazy floats. People take it very seriously, with locals placing their chairs on the curb of Ojai Avenue up to a week ahead of time to reserve prime spots in the shade. It is an excellent opportunity to people watch as there are always people cruising up and down the street, greeting friends, selling cold drinks and showing off their dogs before the main event starts. 

Audrey Spotting the Airplanes with Aunt Susan

My parents host an annual barbecue for friends and family and we enjoyed burgers, home made ice cream and corn on the cob. This year the weather was very hot so my mom rigged up a "water slide" on the play structure in her yard by running the hose down the slide and placing a kiddie pool at the bottom of it. The kids loved it and I nicknamed it "The Redneck Riviera." It has been a pleasure being able to spend the last two summers in Ojai and introducing my own kids to the holiday. Grayden, being very theatrical, loves the pageantry and noise of the parade. He also enjoyed the poppers his Uncle Thad brought him as well as the big fireworks display put on by the City at the end of the night. Audrey liked pointing out the dogs and cars in the parade but since she didn't have a nap, was too tired to make it to the 9:30 fireworks show.

Audrey sharing ice cream with Great Grandpa and Evelyn.

The Project

• Fabric - 1/2 yard butterfly print cotton $2, 1/2 yard red polka-dot print cotton from my mom's stash
• Pattern -  none, my mom drafted the pattern off of a ready to wear garment
• Notions - 4 snaps from my mom's stash
• Total Time -  about 3 hours
• Total Cost - $2

When we packed up for our summer travels I put together a box of fabric and patterns that I mailed to my parent's house so I'd have some materials to work with. I included this red, white, blue and brown butterfly print with the idea that I'd make Audrey an outfit out of it for the 4th of July.  I purchased the fabric a few month ago in Gulfport and thought it looked very 4th festive without being exclusively for the holiday. While in Hawaii I bought Audrey a cute jumper with bloomer bottoms from a kid's consignment shop called Keiki Lolei. They are adorable on her so my mom thought she could draft a pattern to replicate them.

In designing the project I thought it would be cute to add some sort of contrast and found the red dot fabric in my mom's fabric stash. I used it as the yoke/straps and as the casing around the leg for the elastic. It is also used as the yoke facing and the facing in the crotch snap area. Sewing the project together was mostly effortless once I figured out how to properly cut and place the leg casing. Unfortunately we made the pattern a tad bit small and the jumper is too short in the crotch. We ended up cutting the front and back the same and should of in fact cut the back longer to allow room for her diaper and make up for the snap overlap. She was able to wear it but lost the puffiness that made the original jumpsuit so cute. You also can not see the elastic casing contrast detail on the legs very well since they are hiked up. Not sure if it was very comfortable...

Fortunately, my nine month old niece, Fiona, came to visit us this past weekend and I passed the outfit on to her. I think she'll be able to wear it if it is ever warm enough up in the Bay Area for shorts.