Wish I Had Time To Sew...

Weekly Rewind
The past few weeks since Joe returned to Japan have been challenging. Grayden did not adjust well to the departure and the first week we spent much of the time constantly battling over every single aspect of the day. I finally realized I had not had a pleasant day with him since Joe left and decided to ease up on my nagging and the sleeping arrangements only to be rewarded with major regression in the toilet use department. I think we are finally starting to ease out of the readjustment period and things are normalizing, as much as can be considered normal after almost seven months of separation. 

With all of the added drama around here I have not had much time to sew, blog or do much else! We did manage to escape to Pensacola for a beach trip the weekend after Labor Day. This was in the middle of Grayden's toilet troubles but, despite the inconvenience of multiple clothing changes, we had a nice time playing in the sand and at the hotel pool. Both kids enjoy the water a lot and we all had fun splashing in the waves in the incredibly warm water. I hadn't been to Pensacola since Joe graduated from OCS there 14 years ago and I really didn't recognize the place since it was rebuilt after a hurricane in 2004. The weekend of the trip also coincided with our 14th wedding anniversary weekend so it was nice to get away, even if Joe was missing from the picture.

The kids both continue to enjoy preschool and I feel so lucky to have a supportive and welcoming community for them to be part of during this deployment. Grayden's teachers have been very understanding and patient through his turmoil. Audrey walks in to her class with a smile every time I drop her off and the days she doesn't go to school she waltzes into Grayden's class as if she is going to stay and hang out with the big kids.

I have rededicated myself to exercising as many days as possible and joined a gym close to home that offers babysitting while I work out. I have become a spin class convert, taking an intense class twice a week. I leave the class wiped out yet energized and it has helped me burn off the five pounds I gained in California this summer!

The Project

• Fabric - 1 1/2 yards quilting cotton boarder print, $9; 1 1/2 yards quilting cotton coordinating fabric , $9.
• Patterns - Simplicity 2377 $1 ; Liby Lu's Botique pdf pattern $8; Simplicity 2668 (bloomers) $1
  
• Notions - 2 yards 1/4" elastic, $2; 2 packages bias tape, $3.
• Total Time - probably 5 or 6 hours; without a boarder print would have been quicker!
  
• Total Cost - $33

Susan, Alice and Cousin Jenny, 1975.

Over the past few weeks I have squeezed in short blocks of sewing during Audrey's nap time and managed to complete two dresses for two special little girls. My friend Joy gave birth to her second daughter Olivia at the end of August so I wanted to make something for the baby and her big sister Sofia. My inspiration was the coordinating handmade outfits my mom dressed my sister Susan and I in when we were tots.

A part of sewing that I enjoy is how, similar to running, it affords the opportunity for introspection. I savor the quiet moments where I can actively focus on something while also letting my mind wander. While sewing these dresses I thought about Joy's mom who passed away a little over a year ago after a multi-year struggle with cancer. She was a talented seamstress who had made many beautiful dresses for Sofia and had even made a darling 4th of July romper for Grayden when he was a year old. I thought about how it is sad that little Olivia will not know her grandmother but that she will have the pleasure of wearing the handmade dresses she made.

I made Sofia's dress first, out of two coordinating fabrics I had purchased in the spring from my local quilt shop. I loved the bright boarder print and found it in two different color combinations along with coordinating field patterns. I thought a tiered peasant dress would be a good use of the boarder print and had the Simplicity pattern in my stash. It was super easy to sew, the hardest (and most enjoyable) part was figuring out how to best deconstruct the boarder print to layout the tiers of the dress. Pondering the layout always takes me a bit of time but I figure the extra time makes for a more professional looking garment.

When it came time to make the baby dress I didn't seem to have a pattern that would work well with the fabric so I decided to look online for patterns available on Etsy. I found this dress pattern. This was my first experience downloading a garment pattern and printing and taping the pieces together was easier than I anticipated. I think an adult size dress may be a bit more difficult since there would be many more pieces to tape together. I ended up having to buy more of the fabric (which luckily they had) since the small piece of the boarder print I had left wasn't big enough for the pattern. The resulting dress will probably be way too big for a three week old baby but she'll be able to grow into it (maybe by Easter!).