pregnancy/babywearing coat

i really liked the pregnancy/babywearing coat that lilliesofthevalley
sells on etsy. i liked everything but the pricetag. so i analyzed
the product pictures and put together my knock-off. it has served me
well. and today it came in handy. it was so ultra windy but the kids
wouldn't be satisfied just staying inside. and john slept warm and
snuggly the whole time.
the kids call it my "ninja coat" because with my hood up i look like a
ninja.
chris says i look like i am wearing a bathrobe. but john thinks i am
beautiful and warm- and so what else matters? Edited to add- I haven't made the tutorial. Been super busy. But I documented making a zip-in panel for my existing coat. I'm putting together the video now and will post it shortly(this weekend 9/27)

big sister and a homemade moby

fabric at the fabric store- $15
sibling bond- priceless.

upcycled baby carrier

christina's friend from mobile just bought a carrier- her specified
instructions were..."make it masculine. my husband won't wear any of
my carriers because they are too feminine"
i bought this old army duffle in a colorado springs goodwill. it had
so many cool things to work with! and the end result was ever so
masculine. not very pH balanced for a woman at all- but i wouldn't
mind wearing it at all.

knit auburn helmet

using the pilot cap pattern i purchased from little turtle knits i
made a little auburn helmet for "dolphin".
it just seems so little! chris was quick to remind me that "babies
are little".

the way i have found to do patterned colorwork in a knit piece is to
grid it out.
first i do a swatch- just a 20x20 stitch piece in stockinette stitch.
then i measure how many stitches can fit into an inch square area.
there are always more stitches fitting into the height of the inch
square(because stitches are shorter than they are wide).
so after i measure(i think for this particular yarn and needle combo i
came up with 4stitches wide by 6 stitches tall) then i grid it out
using the stitch dimensions.
so on a piece of paper i draw a grid using a straight edge. it ended
up looking a little squashed- remember how stitches are shorter than
they are wide?
so after i drew the grid and established my perimeter(the height and
width I ended up wanting the "AU" to be) i colored in the boxes i
wanted to knit dark blue.



finally, when it came to knitting, I just followed the grid, knitting
blue when i needed to.
after the knitting was done i went back and stitched the edges in
orange to give it more of a finished look.
i have done a dallas cowboys helmet for my nephew- so i think it could
work for any simple patterned football helmet.

jessie the yodeling cowgirl

from toy story 3- when buzz accidently gets switched to "spanish" mode.


while in spanish mode he is less inhibited and more open about his affections for jessie- who was completely unaware of his feelings

frankie has LOVED jessie from toy story for a long time. she saw a doll at kroger and has been hoping and hoping to get a jessie for her birthday. i began thinking about making one for her- and the thinking was so much fun that i decided to just go ahead and try. i actually have horded enough fabric pieces that i could put her together without buying a single thing- except skin colored fabric.

yellow fabric was from making binding for duckie hooded towels. red yarn is some left over merino i bought to make a diaper cover. white fabric and buttons came from one of chris' work shirts that got a nasty stain on it.

denim came from a button down size five polo denim shirt that got messed up along the way. it provided just the amount of flex i needed- true jeans were too stiff. the cow print fabric i had left over from making an ABC quilted wall hanging and cowprint stood for "c". i used corduroy for her boots- which actually extend up to her knee below her jeans. the soles of her boots are inside out corduroy.

oh- and to give her a real rag doll type feel i packed air soft bullets in her feet and hands. i actually am going to reinforce her hands a bit because it's just one layer of fabric thick and frankie already plays so enthusiastically with her that i can tell that the one layer will wear quickly. her butt i had to thicken up a bit. originally it was too flat to add the little airsoft bullet bean bag. so i took out the butt fabric and added some with darts so she'd have a solid seat to sit on. it fits the air soft bullet bean bag i sewed perfectly.

her hair i used the merino for as well. i first crocheted a little cap for her- then i cut long pieces of yarn and did sort of a latch hook rug type deal. the picture you see up on top isn't how her hair really looks now. i ended up taking all that out because the end product was a braid that was thicker than her head.

so instead i did one layer of plugs(i felt like a wig maker) all around the crown, then about 3 or 4 layers from the edge of the crown and back- but i did this ONLY around the front of her face. the back and sides remained one layer thick around the edge. not sure if that makes sense.

i toyed with the idea of getting a voice box and recording some yodeling to put into her chest area. but frankie is so good at yodeling and her imagination is just so ripe that she had no problem yodeling for jessie even when she was just a leg!

i tacked the chaps down to her thighs only with a mattress stitch to make the chaps hug to her legs a bit more, but keep the flare at the bottom.

the faceless jessie. i knew the doll would be a hit when frankie HAD to go to bed with her at this point. she didn't have a face and her legs were held to her body by giant straight pins. i wasn't so excited to have straight pins in bed with me but frankie wouldn't budge.

the belt buckle and hair bow are felt from a felt monstrance for a doll st. clare i made last summer.

she's so posable:)

i ended up painting her face. my favorite part was applying the ever so subtle rouge to her cheeks.

*** i now have a jessie doll for sale in my etsy shop- click here to link to it.

weekend craft: auburn reupholstered infant carseat

i kind of wished i could have taken pictures along the way so i could
have made a tutorial- it's pretty easy.
i just pin the fabric to the carseat's seperate fabric sections and
cut- then piece. after piecing i bind the new cover to the old one.
there are some replaceable covers that are elastic around the edges-
kind of a one size fits all type thing and they just slip over the
existing carseat and cover- but i like binding it to make it a solid
fit.
and as an added bonus- ALL this fabric- everything you see, came from
my fabric stash. yes- i am a horder:)
but it has come in handy during this time of financial insecurity. i
have told myself to "be creative with what you got!" and so far it
hasn't been too hard.
i think my favorite part is the little tiger tab covering the strap
adjuster.

a shirt for baby

just an organic gerber onesie and fabric markers.

samantha on golf

chris was watching espn when an add for some gold tournament came on.
it was full of special effects- the sand bunker sunk deeper, the
putting green changed shape at the last minute, and the wind picked up
making the grass look alive.
when the ad ended samantha looked disappointed and said "they make
golf sound ALOT more interesting than it really is."

morning project

mary jane really likes kangaroos and monsters. so i woke early this morning to piece together her very own kangaroo/monster hybrid hoodie. i even made a little squishy pillow cyclops baby, but when she woke up she decided she'd rather have her real baby in it and give the pillow cyclops to samantha. she requested a monster outfit for her real baby so i made one for her too.
i love fleece! it's sew easy!

homemade catholic tees

the soft structured carrier

i had a pattern for one but decided to just tear up my existing OLD OLD ergo and replace all the worn fabric with a fabric of my choice. the straps and belt are canvas and the body is some upholstery fabric i spotted in the remnant bin at hobby lobby. i started sometime around 5 yesterday evening and finished at about 9pm the same night. i was working feverishly because i feel so outnumbered without an ergo to carry the bean in.
now this carrier is going to my good friend so far away- just as soon as i make one for myself. i thought of her the ENTIRE time i was making it. it somehow made me feel just a little bit closer.

like mother, like daughter

our desktop background

because today is the first day of the divine mercy novena, we have this as our desktop background...

and also, a color-and-pray page we made for our littl'uns.

trip to the fabric store = easter dresses

the top left material is mary jane's dress and frock. the middle material is for bloomers- like little house on the prairie not cheerleader. the fabric on the bottom left is for frances' frock. the fabric on the bottom right is for samantha's dress and frock. i hope it turns out well. i'll post pics when i have them done.

socks!

i started these a week and a half ago. they are my second journey into sock knitting. my first journey came to an abrupt end when i got to turning the heal. the instructions in the pattern turned from english to greek so fast i didn't know what hit me. this time around i made a few mistakes but as you can see, they
can be worn at least. thanks to little christina for modeling. samantha will have a little present when she comes home from school!
the socks are knit with heart self striping sock yarn named "aloe" on size 2 double pointed needles. the pattern is the free flyer that was hanging next to the yarn in the store.

international bible study

fr. kevin called on skype yesterday. i was cooking dinner so it was close to one in the morning for him- but hey, that's fr. kevin. since i had to be off checking on the meat browning on the stove, samantha sat down to talk. she showed him her new testament she got for her baptism. she's been toting it to school to read during breaks. ---on a side note she told me that a few days ago she asked God to guide her to a bible passage and she just flipped it open right to Jesus' 40 days in the desert and his temptation by the devil---
anyhow, fr. kevin taught her how to look up verses. then he started calling out his favorites. she had help with the first few. then she wanted no more help and did the rest on her own. i had to snap a picture of this techno enhanced bible study.

thankful for confession

i met outside church with two of my sisters. we caught up about things while the kids played in the field and climbed the trees. father jack came over to us and chatted for a bit before regina made an odd request.
"father, would you hear confession over webcam?"
shakes his head.
"wouldn't you hear it over the phone, especially if that person has no priest to hear his confession?"
shakes his head again. then it occurs to him that she is asking for our brother.
he is learning first hand how hard it is to be without a priest. he, however, doesn't get the total picture because he can celebrate mass. he just can't listen to himself confess and then absolve himself.
father jack went on to say that he's finding out what it's like to be catholic in camaroon, where priests come around about once every 4 weeks.
"and then everyone in the village is out to see him and go to mass- do you think you'll be able to go to confession often with that priest? not likely."
but he did comfort us with the fact that since father kevin has the intense desire to get his confession heard, God will hear that and pour the necessary graces into his soul until a time comes when father kevin can get his soul in the box.

and so- be thankful. we have a priest shortage in america- but it's not THAT bad. be thankful and...get to confession!

LENT

so for lent i decided to be like the kids and give up something i really hate. like homework or chores. i decided it was time to say goodbye to the rest of my hair. i mean, so many hairs have left me without looking back. not so much as a phone call. so today i said "enough!". on ash wednesday it seems like what should have been my christian response to such a problem would pan out like this- me keep my rapidly thinning hair. me offer a prayer for lost orphans everytime i find one on my pillow, in the shower drain, in franky's diaper, or in my food- ugh! but what would happen is this - i'd be praying ceaselessly as paul calls us to do. and while i think paul means well, i don't think he meant that kind of prayer. at least not for my vocation as a mother to six. so here it is.

BEFORE













AFTER

why i'm open to as many as...

God wants me to have.

a post in response to this one

i'm open to whatever. i'm not just talking about how many kids. i'm talking WHATEVER. i mean, rewind my life ten years. who'd have thought i'd be living this life? i would have chosen to elope. backpack in europe with chris as a honeymoon for a year. move to manhatten where i'd be a starving artist wife to a man with a gift for investing on wall street. we'd have quiet weekends in the park. i'd talk with friends about art, critiqueing the exhibit that was showing at the local gallery. kids would come eventually. each compartmentalized into two years apart until we had a fair sized family. we'd move to the countryside somewhere in virginia and try our hand at homesteading.

but instead, we chose to let God lead. he's got the plan. he sees the whole picture while we are left to look at shadows on a cave's wall. and where did he lead us? he led us to a place where just staring into your child's eyes is the shortest route to heaven. he led us to watching the kids play outside in the dusky evening of mid february. he led us to moving beds around to make room, adding plates to the table, stretching our hearts beyond limits that we set for ourselves.
yes, marriages can be strained by children. but only if your heart refuses to make room. children seem to add a catalyst to life. they can either bring out the flaws more, or make your spouse more attractive.
when i see chris pick up mary jane when she's upset and soothe her while gently rocking in the chair, i fall in love all over again.
when i see chris bent over a block of wood as the boys eagerly watch a pinewood derby car emerge from the dust, he is more attractive than he was when we were dating.
when i see him play "everyone vs. me" to end the soccer practice and he leads a pack of yelling six year old boys around the field, he's even more attractive than the day i first laid eyes on him.
when we are married and without children we are like the sand that is in the clam. but when we have kids, we are polished slowly overtime to become pearls.
samantha is always the first to remind me- when she hears me praying for patience, "mommy, God will not give you patience, but chances to practice it."
and i didn't even go into the benefits that come to the children when we are open to God's plan. i reap everyday the benefits i received when my parents said "yes". i have lifelong friends that will see me through ANYTHING. i could call them in the middle of the night and ask for help and know that they will not turn me down. and as my parents age, they have a host of caretakers willing to carry that cross and willing to give each other that break.
to so many, the choice to have or not have kids is similar to the choice to buy or don't buy a boat or condo. but children are so much more than that- and if one fails to see that, one fails to see God at work.

show and tell

i made fleece pajamas for the kids for Christmas.




mary jane's are cut the same as samantha's but have a different print. i enjoyed making the girls pajamas. they are so roomy- once samantha is in bed she just pulls her feet inside and has her own little cocoon all night.



George has so many pj pants that i just made him a pillow.


i knit a pilot cap/dallas coyboys helmet for my little nephew/Godson jon-luc. i had george model it before i gave it away.

i made giganta-booties for max back in october. they are auburn colored because he's a fan by osmosis. you see, chris' fanatacism is so fantastic, it's contagious.



i am knitting some booties for a friend of mine's little angel. they will be finished once i sew them up the back.



got some lambswool sweaters at st. vincent de paul's. turned this houndstooth sweater into some wool soaker longies. i just cut the sleeves off and made them have a higher rise than most pants. i folded over the waist and sewed it down to make a sheath for some drawstring. then i lanolized them to be water proof and voila!



mary jane loves pockets and i love the comfort of a t-shirt dress. so i made this t-shirt dress for her from one of my old pregnancy shirts. she has 3 of these so far, and there are a few more shirts sitting on the sewing pile waiting to be repurposed.

and finally- a little something for myself - and the bean of course. modeled after a moby wrap. i like this carrier for long time wear and walking. not so easy as a sling to nurse in but it's SUPER comfy!


i wanted to take a pic of the alphabet wall hanging i made back in 2001. it was actually my second sewing project on my path to learning how to sew. i had just as much fun searching for the fabric as i did piecing it together.

here is a closup for detail.