Two Bags and a Whale

Sophia is always asking for toys from TV shows or books rather than toys she sees at the store. For instance, she doesn't want a Max or Ruby doll, she wants a red elephant like Max has. Well, I have looked for a red elephant with no avail. Then I saw this post on Crafster (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=313765.0) and thought that I could make her pillow dolls of her desired toys. It just so happened that on the day that I was attempting this, she decided she wanted a blue fish. I found a whale instead and this is the result.

In true Sophia form, she did not say thanks. She said, "It's too big." Arrrgghh. If you know Sophia, you know that she is obsessed with small things. Oh well. I did promise to make a baby whale, but I got distracted with the bags.

We are on our way to Germany in the next few weeks and I wanted to make something for my friend and Sophia's Godmother, Anna. We are not going to see them this trip due to bad planning by me, but I still wanted to make her and her son, Filippo, something. I have also been wanting to try the Everything Tote from Weekend Sewing, so it was a perfect opportunity to do both. The orange bag was my mock-up. I wanted to try out the pattern first and get out a few kinks before I made it as a gift. I had also read online that it was a HUGE bag, so I wanted to try a smaller version.

As so many people have blogged about, the bag is pretty simple to put together. The shape gives it some style and makes it a bit cooler than a normal tote, but basically it is a tote and those are easy now (one class and 6 or 7 totes later). The two main problems that I found are associated with the attachment of the binding and handles.

I do not know if there was a typo in the book or what, but they instructions result in a super thick handle that caused me to break my first needle!! (I am actually pretty proud of that.) I finally had to manually sew the place where the two handles meet by turning the wheel of the sewing machine instead of using the foot pedal. This was not hard, but time consuming and my wrist actually hurt after doing this just for an inch or so on each side.

The other problem is more of just a learning experience. With the first bag I followed the instructions and along with making the handles thick, it also made it difficult to get the binding and handles over far enough on the inside to hide the seams. The picture below shows the sloppy results. I don't mind that for myself (too much), but for a gift, I think not.

So, for Anna's I decided to use the original size (and yes, it is HUGE) since in Europe one is really required to carry lots more stuff with them (It is just not as easy to run home or to your car there). I picked out the fabric to make it look summery and sort of like a beach bag. Anna is from Italy and LOVES the water. I thought using this bag even in the midst of winter might make her smile. I thought that it would be a great bag to carry bulky beach towels and toys when going to either the beach or the indoor swimming pool.

I added a bit of embroidery because I have to make use of my machine!!

I made changes to the binding and handles. I don't know how to explain it, but I will try. The instructions had one making a lined bias tape that was folded three times by the end of the project. On the bag below, I still lined the bindings and handles, but I only folded it twice. This meant that they are a bit wider and much easier to sew. It also took care of covering the inside seams since I had plenty of material to fold to the inside. As you can see at the side, I opted not to overlap the handles. I am not sure if that was a smart idea and I am contemplating sewing the two edges together, but again, it prevented me from having a super thick area to sew over.

All in all, I am pleased with both bags and the whale. I have learned some new stuff and got back into sewing. That was a bit difficult after our trip to TN. I also have to say that it is much easier to sew for others than for oneself. I like my new orange bag, but I really didn't need it. That seems to be my thought on most things. I also like that I take more time and do a better, prettier job on gifts than I do for my own things. For myself, I want to make it and make it NOW. For others, I usually have a deadline, but I also want to be proud of what they get.

That is all for now. I will post soon and share some of the pictures from our Dollywood trip.

My First Sewing Circle

I wish that I would have gotten a picture of us all hard at work, but alas, we were so hard at work that we didn't think to take a picture of ourselves. Here is a picture of the finished product though.

The circle consisted of several moms from my mommies group: Jodi, our host and teacher, Casey, Dayna, and Melissa. We each picked out our own fabric and then made the dress according to some measurements that Jodi found on the Internet and has adapted during her last few dresses.

This little Winnie-the-Pooh dress is the first for Amelia. I made it a size 12 months, approximately. It is about 16 in. from chest to hem and 34 in. around. I tried to trim the width so that it would not swallow Amelia, but we will have to wait and see if it worked. This dress is for when she can walk, since it would be a bit hard to crawl in.

With that in mind, Amelia is trying hard to be an early walker. She continues to pull up on her crib and playpen. Here she is this morning:

She can now do this with just one hand and it doesn't seem to take as much effort. I need to lower the playpen to its lowest point, but she is so cute peeking over the top!

Back to the sewing circle...It all came about because Jodi had sewn several dresses to donate to a garage sale to benefit Iva (http://www.saveiva.org/home.shtml), Melissa's sister-in-law. We all want to help raise money for Iva's cancer treatment, so my second dress from last night will be donated. I hope that we get some other things made so that a "handmade products" link can be added to Iva's donations page. This is still just in the "we should..." phase, so we will have to wait and see. If you would like to donate before then, please do. Currently, as well as donating, you can purchase pictures by Dayna (http://daynalintonphotography.zenfolio.com/saveiva) with 100% of the proceeds going to help Iva.

I think it is wonderful when you can do something that is fun and still help people. There seems to be a lot of that in the handmade community. I wish I had discovered this long ago. Just image what I could have done in Europe with no job AND no kids.

Fleeting Moments...

Even though I have a hard time with kids sometimes and having four of them around me constantly for five weeks tried my patience and that of my fellow parents (Sonja, Anthony, and Eric), I do realize that these moments are fleeting. Even now, Sophia seems so much older than she did just a few months ago. Amelia too, seems to be bounding towards toddlerhood, growing up so much quicker than I expect. That is why I am so thankful for Dayna who came over in June at the end of Sonja's visit to capture the chaos that is our kids. She was able to show me their smiles and happiness because all I could see at the time were messes and squabbles.

So even though it was hard to choose here are just a few of my favorites...

Sewing has been going on...as well as life

Amelia gets to go first this time. This is her crawling on the dog pads which seem to be her favorite spots!! Dog hair is just so interesting for babies as are the dogs that shed it.On to the sewing part...Here is the smocked sundress I made for Ella (niece). Sophia got one too but as always she will not wear it. I am so psyched that Sonja (sister) brought me her mechanical Brother. It shirrs and making these dresses is easy and very satisfying especially since I tried for about two weeks earlier and FAILED. (http://grumbeere.blogspot.com/2009/04/few-failures-come-my-way.html) And now to my most recent success and giddy-moment. These super cute skirts are for the girls to wear on Fourth of July as well as for pictures with Dayna (http://grumbeere.blogspot.com/2009/05/no-sewing-just-some-family-pictures.html). The photo session was set for tomorrow so I made the skirts today :) As I said earlier, deadlines are great. Of course that is if you meet them. Today is Father's Day and although I got Eric's cool pants made, I failed to get my own father's present even thought of. Back to the skirts, they are my second attempt at the napkin/bandanna skirt found at http://amazingmae.blogspot.com/2009/03/napkin-skirt-now-doesnt-that-sound.html.

These turned out really well because Sonja (still the sister) got me to decrease the width and so they are a little different from the previous two that I made. I still have no hope for Sophia but she better wear them for the photo shoot. I still have to make the tops (just embellishing t-shirts), but since Dayna rescheduled for Tuesday instead of Monday I have another day, yea!!!

Exciting Happenings

Okay, this has been a great summer so far. Amelia got baptized at St. Paul's Catholic Church on June 7, 2009. Her godparents, Melissa and George, came with their families. We had 12 kids in all at the pool afterwards, so it really felt like a celebration.

Then there is swimming...Sophia and our neighbor, Kelsie, started swim lessons two weeks ago. The first class went great, but the next two were a bit hairy. Poor Tante Sonja had to deal with them though since Eric and I were gone. Eli started his swim lessons a week later and has loved both of them.

Well, love 'em or hate 'em the results are wonderful. After a few days in the pool practicing what Mr. Sam taught them and having their Papas' encouragement here are the results. I am totally floored by the whole thing. I tell you what...summer is a great thing.

Not to be outdone, Amelia is officially crawling and doing so all over the house. While sister and Eli were all over the pool, she was all over Sadie.

Big Show Continued...

Just one more video. I love them so...

Sophia's Big Show

Oh my goodness, I can not believe how much fun I had today watching Sophia's big show at The Little Gym. We have been going there for a year and a half now, but this was her first dance class and her first solo class (no mama). It has been a hard transition and each week could be either great or horrible. At home, she always talked about it and ALWAYS wanted to wear her leotard. However, sometimes we got there and she didn't want to do anything. Today started that way too with her just sitting on the floor and not doing the practice run. Then the audience came in and man, she thought she was a star.

It was great and I was very impressed with how well they did. I have never seen them do the whole routine. I was also impressed that all the other parents got their girls to wear things in their hair!! She wouldn't even consider a ponytail let alone something on top of that! I felt somewhat bad that I didn't buy Sophia's outfit from TLG like the other parents, but $35 seemed a lot when I was not sure that we would make it to the end of the semester. I ended up buying her a red leotard and making the tutu just a week ago when I was sure that she would participate. She chose red out of the choices of red, yellow, and purple but as you can see purple was the overwhelming favorite.

They did a tap and ballet dance and then went into the gym to do a floor and balance beam routine. By the time they got to the balance beam they were all a bit wild. I think it was about as much as 3 and 4 year olds can handle. Today almost made me feel bad about not signing her up for next semester, but after this one and 3 days of school instead of 2 I just don't know if I could handle it. I hope that she will actually ask about it when school starts and then I will feel like it is worth the money and hassle. Until then...

BRAVO girls!