Momfetti

Hurry up, Saturday

2012-02-02T19:01:00.006+01:00

Look what is washed, ironed, mini-bolted, and ready to sew!

This weekend is going to be seriously fun.

Pins and Needles

2012-01-20T17:31:00.001+01:00

I have a confession to make: I didn't own a pin cushion. I have wanted one, but I just never got around to making one. For the past three years. I know, it's rather sad when you think about it. A sewist who can't sew a pin cushion.

It wasn't because I had no idea how to make one, it was because I had no idea what to make. I have been looking at pictures of them online for simply ages- creative, crazy, classic. So many styles to choose from. I simply couldn't decide which was right for me. Do I go for witty and create a potted cactus, a voodoo doll, or hedgehog? Do I go for artistic and create an embroidered masterpiece? Do I go for quick and easy and slap something together with hot glue and a tuna can? Decisions, decisions.

Today I came to the conclusion it was insane to spend three solid years looking for pin cushion inspiration. Really, really insane. So, the classic, traditional, every-one's-grandma-owns-one, squishy-poofy flower design it would be. I guess it is also called "the tomato," but mine looks decidedly more bloated buttercup and less heirloom tomato. And since I was in the pin cushion frame of mind, I sat down and made one.

Oh heck, who I am kidding? I made four.

Now to decide on the style of the emery cushion. I figure I will give it two years of seeking inspiration before I decide to go with the classic, traditional, every-one's-grandma-owns-one strawberry.

So Easy

2012-01-17T12:45:00.003+01:00

I write my patterns for a beginner. At least, I think I do. I try my best to photograph every step of the way and write clear instructions. But still, those little self-doubts start to creep into my head- "Where you clear enough?" "Does it really make sense?" "Are you sure a beginner can do this?"

I was expressing my self-doubt to the Husband when he said, "So what you are saying is, anyone, anyone at all, who can do that one kind of stitch can make these? Even a never-sewn-before sewer?" Of course, that is the theory and I told him as much. And he, a bit sarcastically, said he would be happy to test that theory. And I, not so sarcastically, took him up on that offer. And he, not at all sarcastically, went ahead with it.

I printed out the pdf pattern and pointed out where I kept my felt. I warned him if he touched my special cutting scissors I would kill him with those very same scissors, so if he valued his life he needed to use any one of the other pairs floating around. Only. I gave him a 5-minute crash course on how to do a blanket stitch. I walked away. He was on his own.

I checked in on his progress and he seemed to be managing just fine totally on his own. So far, so good. Heck, even his stitches were good. I mean- can you believe this is an only-been-sewing-less-than-an-hour job? He credited my 5-minute crash course. I credited his OCD perfectionist tendencies.

I kept checking on his progress. And by "checking" I mean "peeking into the craft room in morbid curiosity." He was still doing just fine without me. I think all those hours of gaming gave him some seriously nimble fingers. Of course, now that I admit that, I have to stop complaining about all those hours of gaming since now they can be considered "skill building" sessions.

And, after a smidgen over 4 hours, he was done. All my self-doubts quietly packed their bags and left in shame out the back door. My pattern is suitable for a beginner. Even a "never sewed before in my life" beginner.

By the way, he will be gifting these to a colleague who is expecting. He figured using blue and pink means it can be "team anything" so he is covered. And he decided to put his own, personal stamp on it by using a pac-man motif. How fun is that?

Rootie Tootie Bootie

2012-01-13T00:24:00.005+01:00

I just finished taking the pictorial walk-through shots for the Newborn Cosy-toes Booties. Here's a sneak peek at one of the final shots.

Assuming we are officially done with colds, flu's, tummy aches, headaches, and there are no Little House on the Prairie marathons running this weekend, I think I can safely say the pattern will be finished and in the shop ready for sale next week.

Delft Tile Mini-Bunting

2012-01-04T11:45:00.000+01:00

I have started to really embrace my new culture. You could go so far as to say I have a new-found love of all things Dutch. It has certainly been the main inspiration for the new line of home-confetti currently in production. One new item to make its debut in the shop is mini-bunting. Small enough to grace cubicles, shelves, or mirrors- just a touch of whimsy.

As we speak, I have a zillion little flags of different varieties strewn about my crafting table, all patiently waiting to be sewn into mini-bunting. The first theme to be stitched was the delft-tile mini-bunting. Bonus- I finally got to incorporate that cranberry floral print fabric I have been just dying to use! The bunting needed its red to make in officially Dutch, and what better way for it to be included than in the hand-made bias tape used to hang it?

The mini-bunting won't be appearing in the shop for a few more weeks. Be sure to follow me on twitter to find out its exact release date.

It has begun.

2012-01-02T18:57:00.003+01:00

I have all storage bins now marked as either two-for-one (unless I only had one left- in which case it was marked as half off). Egg cozies are also two-for-one. Wallets have been reduced 40%. Now all I have left to reduce in price are the tea bag cozies, and then double check my stock to ensure I listed everything. Phew!

On a fun note, I have already started created items from one of the new lines. Sneak preview is coming later this week- just as soon as I finish tweaking my brand spanking new light box and getting it ready for its "Momfetti Photo Studio" debut!

Out with the old, in with the new.

2011-12-24T13:26:00.000+01:00

Want to know a secret? Momfetti will be going through some MASSIVE changes in the new year.

Instead of the tried and true, things are going to get a massive shake up. I will focus on some special, unique pieces as well as Dutch-inspired pieces. I also will introduce a whole line of patterns, especially for those beginning sewists. I can't wait to show you the new line!

But that means clearing out the current stock, so of course I am having a huge clearance sale. Think of it as a "Going INTO Business Sale." Is there such a thing? All storage bins, tea cozies, and egg cozies will be buy-one-get-one-free. Wallets will be 40% off. Bags will be 60% off. And it all starts right after the new year.

However, you lucky blog readers get a head start. All you have to do is head to my shop: Momfetti on Etsy and send me a convo letting me know which items you want. I will make a special custom listing just for you reflecting these awesome prices. Right now. No waiting around and no missing out on your favorite item. Plus, I will make the shipping as-cheap-as-chips for you so go on and ignore those fees currently listed.

Happy shopping!

New directions.

2011-12-13T14:13:00.000+01:00

Yes, you read that right. Babyfetti is now carrying patterns. The owl slipper pattern has made it into the shop (at a special introductory price). More patterns will filter in over the next few weeks.

I am so excited to be taking the shop in this direction. Patterns will also be making their way into the main Momfetti shop in the new year. Which of your 'fetti favorites would you like to have in pattern form?

Dancer, and Prancer, and Comet, and On and On and On

2011-12-10T15:06:00.001+01:00

I have been making homemade cookies for the Eldest's lunch since school began. Most are plain, though I do frost the sugar cookies. And by frost I mean roughly coat the tops in plain, white, boring buttercream. Ho hum. This week I got a bit into the spirit and decided to spruce them up a bit, give them a bit of zing, have them join in with a few reindeer games, you know- be something other than plain boring ho-hum white.

Of course, I don't have a proper set of piping bags and tips. I have a generic €2 set with exactly three tips all too large to be of any use. Unless I were decorating something that needed large tips like, say, oh I don't know, something like a bus? I also don't have plastic baggies since I am not a fan of mixing plastic and food, so the googled "help I don't have a piping set what do I do" search failed. I improvised. I used a toothpick. How hard could it be? A couple blobs for eyes, a bigger blob for a nose, and a couple of lines for the antlers. Plop, plop, zip, zip, done. Easy.

Famous last words. Toothpicks make lousy paint brushes. They make even lousier frosting tools. It took me ages to do each one. AGES. Aaa-Ggg-Eee-Sss. The Husband and the Youngest did help out by eating a few of the "naked" ones so I didn't have to spend the time decorating them. How thoughtful.

I added "a proper piping set" to my list of kitchen must-haves. And another pack of toothpicks since I used an entire box. Because, you know, it obviously was THAT toothpick causing me hassle and I had to try another one. And another. And another.

And for those wondering how I managed to create that perfect shade of brown icing, I didn't. It isn't icing. I just melted a few chocolate chips and used that.

It all started with a growth spurt.

2011-12-07T22:20:00.000+01:00

The Youngest needed pants. She grew just enough so every single one of her long pants became 3/4 length pants instead. Which isn't so nice in late autumn when the temperatures are near freezing. Brrrr. I quick as a wink made her a new pair.

Big girls get big girl pants, which means her new pair has a real, working single-button fly just like Mommy's pants. Well, almost. Mommy doesn't have a cool pair of blue pants in a groovy pattern. Mommy has boring solid color pants. So I guess, really, they are practically just like Mommy's. I had enough fabric to list a couple pairs in the Babyfetti shop in case your toddler needs a pair as well.

And then, amazingly, she took a nap all by herself and after her snack she played quietly all by herself. So quietly and so all by herself that I was able to make a peasant tunic-length top and a whole new pair of pants to go with it. In the course of one day. I was just giddy with so much sewing time.

I used the long sleeve peasant dress tutorial from Prudent Baby, and tweaked it ever so slightly. I added a coordinating print band around the base of the dress, as well as ruffles around the sleeves and down the front. I also cut the neck fairly high since it is colder weather.

Now that I made one, I am feeling the need to make several more. I don't think she will mind. She seemed to find the whole outfit incredibly comfy. Really comfy. Toddler-yoga-on-the-couch comfy.

Light Up My Life

2011-11-29T22:07:00.000+01:00

The Youngest has finally reached that point where she is no longer demanding constant attention. Even better, she is also at the point where she wants to help. Playtime is easy now. We play: tidy up the living room, empty the dishwasher, take out the trash, go grocery shopping, make dinner... Oh, the countless fun games we play!

Today we played an extra special game: hanging up the outdoor Christmas lights.

Somehow she got it into her head that the one who holds the star wins.

Luckily enough for me, she decided that mommy gets a turn at winning and ran it over to me just as it was time to hang it.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will attempt the sequel to today's game: finish hanging the lights. Just because she loves to help with everything doesn't mean it goes any quicker. Sometimes having an extra pair of hands, an extra tiny pair of hands, means things go much slower. But who cares? After all it is playtime, right? Who wants to rush that?

Toadstool with a Hint of Gnome First Birthday

2011-11-17T13:44:00.001+01:00

I had an absolute fun time designing this party for the Youngest's first birthday. She may not remember a thing, but when she is older we can look at the pictures of all its polka-dotty goodness and I can tell her all about it. For me, that is the best part of holidays- the sharing of memories and stories for years to come.

First, there were the invites.

Next, came my abundant and perhaps overzealous use of bunting. It was everywhere, even on my homemade tiered cake stand (made from two single cake stands and a mini souffle pot).

The table was covered in polka-dot paper. Since our party was in an open house format, we were sure to have snacks available the entire time.

Instead of a birthday cake, we decided on cupcakes. That way our guests could enjoy as they stopped in. There were three different flavors: carrot, chocolate, and vanilla. Each was decorated with an adorable gnome or toadstool.

The Youngest enjoyed every yummy bite.

And yes, I dared to dress her in white. She had a special "just for her birthday" outfit on that I had "mostly" made (the top and slippers). I wasn't going to sweat a bit of green frosting or chocolate fingerprints soiling it. After all, those stains will just add to the fun of storytelling in years to come.

If you would like any names of my sources or how-to's for my DIY projects, please drop me a line. I will be happy to pass on all the information to you.

Easy-Peasy Snowmen Cupcakes

2011-11-10T19:45:00.000+01:00

It is amazing what you find in your pantry.

I wanted cupcakes today, but am pretty bored of my traditional ho-hum cupcakes with generic frosting and no decorations. I wanted to get into the spirit of the winter season a bit, embrace the fact it is nearly here. Jack Frost has begun to nip on my nose, socks are now required indoor footwear, and they just announced the first of the outdoor ice skating rinks will be open soon. Snow is certainly on my mind.

I made snowmen cupcakes.

I used a whole marshmallow for the body, and half a marshmallow "squished up a bit" (to make it look smaller) for the head. They are stuck together with a couple drops of warm tap water.

The carrot nose was my triumph. The Eldest had a dried fruit and nut phase recently, so I used a piece of her dried papaya snipped roughly into lengths with my kitchen scissors. I poked a hole in the face with the tip of a paring nice and wedged the papaya piece in. Had I not had the papaya, I was going to grate some carrot and use REAL carrot slivers for the carrot noses. Glad I have such random things as dried papaya lying around. Makes me feel rather exotic and foodie.

For the coal eyes and buttons, I boiled about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water in the bottom of a pan and immediately removed from heat. I popped about 5 chocolate chips (though you could easily use a bite's worth of a chocolate bar instead) into a ceramic coffee mug, then set the mug in the hot water. In just a few seconds, the chocolate melted. Using a toothpick as a "paint brush", I just dipped it in the chocolate "paint" and poked a bit onto (but not INto) the marshmallow. Easy peasy!

What's for lunch?

2011-11-05T10:39:00.000+01:00

In the end it is just a sandwich, a piece of fruit, a dessert, and a drink. As creative and clever as I want to be, at 6:30 am I am lucky enough to manage to push the button on the coffee machine to "on". There is no way I am going to manage a gourmet meal for the Eldest. Besides, lunchboxes "are sooooo elementary school" and with over 20 pounds of books, a bus, two trains, a bike trip, and a very smallish locker and only one backpack to make the journey, my gourmet filo pastry with salmon creme freche whip would just be squished goo by the time lunch even rolled around.

So we settle for a sandwich, a piece of fruit, a dessert, and a drink.

Wrapped in baking paper and tied with baker's twine.

The eldest loves her special packaging. She says it is sooooo cool. It is even one of her favorite things. I just smile. Of course it is. We all know that "brown paper packages tied up with strings" will always be a few of our favorite things.

Bunny Slippers

2011-10-06T14:36:00.000+02:00

The floor is rather chilly now, what with autumn finally arriving. The problem is the Youngest has trouble toddling around in just socks. They are way too slippery for our non-carpeted floors. I decided to make her a pair of slippers. Bunny slippers.

Layered in cozy warm wool with an open elastic back so they fit comfy and snug, but not squishy on the toes. I used pleather for the soles so they would be non-slip.

I have been dying to make some patterns for my shop, but was waiting for just the right thing. I think I just found it! She has been doing the trial run to make sure they really are toddler-feet friendly.

So far, so good.

Invites are done!

2011-09-23T13:31:00.000+02:00

I love flickr. I get so much inspiration, drool over the most amazing things, and forget to breathe over some truly stunning pictures. It is my pick-me-up, my wind-me-down, and my go-to site.

It is also where I stumble across some amazing finds. One night while searching for inspiration I stumbled across the Youngest's first birthday invites:

Well, now, that isn't entirely truthful. I did stumble across these invites on Flickr, but they aren't actually birthday invites. They are wedding invites. From Wicked Bride Stationery. And not only were they tweaked ever so slightly to meet my needs, but she even ensured that the carving on the tree was the Youngest's initials.

Seriously. How cool is that? You should really check out her Etsy shop. Besides her amazing service, she has some truly awesome invite sets. I only wish the Eldest was graduating already. I have my eye using the School Days Wedding invites for her graduation party.

Cover It Up.

2011-09-18T16:05:00.001+02:00

Ah, back to school. I live vicariously through the now-in-high-school Eldest. With her only slightly rolling her eyes, I wandered up and down every last aisle of the stationery store filling the "needs" as well as the "wants" list for school. Of course, if you ask me everything is a need. I need 24 different colors of sticky binder tabs. I do need an entire case of tape. Oh, and let's not forget the finger rubber sorter thingie. I need a finger rubber sorter thingie! Heck, I need six of them! I mean, of course, she needs all those things. Yeah, she needs them.

Back to school also means covering text books. What you can do in paper, you can do in fabric! Instead of boring brown kraft covers, or cute but easily torn wrapping paper covers, I opted for a set of coordinated prints with retro designs in muted pink, gray, and white. I am truly thankful the Eldest allows me to play school with all her real books.

Sadly, I don't have a serger so the overlock stitch had to be done on my regular machine. The first 3 covers were fine. An hour later I hadn't even gotten to cover 10 yet, and the only way to describe the process was: l-o-n-g s-l-o-w and t-e-d-i-o-u-s. Over two hours later, cover 16 was done and a needing new serger moved to the top of my "must have" list.

Play Dress (Signature Series)

2011-09-12T16:50:00.001+02:00

I am still working hard on my Signature Series of coordinates and outfits for toddlers. I couldn't resist taking a moment to break away from the sewing table to share with you some pictures of the latest addition. I am so thrilled with how this new pattern has turned out. I based the look on the traditional nineteenth century farm dress. Can't you just picture your little one out on the prairie picking wild flowers and tucking them into the pockets?

It features a yoke top and full skirt and sleeves. Buttons up the back add a fun yet functional detail. It comes with coordinating bloomers.

The dress is roomy and very comfy for active little girls. The Youngest has thoroughly road tested hers.

They will be making their way into the shop soon.

Autumn is on its way!

2011-09-03T15:29:00.000+02:00

I am so thrilled to be able to list the first batch of new clothing available in the Babyfetti shop! This pattern was inspired by illustrations from my collection of fairytales.

The Youngest adored playing in it this afternoon. She refused to believe this was work and not pleasure!

boing boing boing

2011-08-12T14:18:00.003+02:00

What do you get with 100 felted balls....

..... and several yards/meters of baker's twine?

Fun bunting, that's what!

It was so simple to make: I just threaded the felted balls onto the twine, tying a little knot on either side of each ball to keep it in place.

I found the balls at Yummi Shop, and the twine at Pretty Tape (both on Etsy).

Look what popped up.

2011-08-08T10:16:00.006+02:00

I purchased a dozen unfinished, pre-sanded toadstool shapes from Clickity Clack on Etsy. A touch of red and white paint was all the Eldest and I needed to finish them. It was such a simple and fun afternoon project. I love spending time with her crafting and chatting.

I used a brush on the dots rather than a cotton-swab. The swab would have provided perfect circles, but I wanted to keep the "I did it myself" look with these so I opted for the less accurate brush.

Because we will dot our buffet table with these, non-toxic paints were used.

String it up.

2011-08-03T14:02:00.007+02:00

I learned my lesson. Whatever length of time I think it will take to complete a project, I need to double it. No, quintuple it. Heck- dectuple it. Which is why at the beginning of August I am already preparing party decorations for the Youngest's first birthday in the middle of October.

I hate balloons. Really hate them. I much prefer pompoms or bunting, so my first project was to cut 100 little red felt pendant flags to sew into "mini" bunting. Felt means no hemming- I just literally cut triangles roughly 4 inches high and hand stitched with white embroidery floss.

Couldn't be simpler. In the course of just two naps I managed to make the first of three string of 33 pendants.

The party theme is "toadstools, with a hint of gnome." I thought I would tire of everything being toadstool shaped or polka-dotted for that matter, plus having such a tiny little person in a rather large room with a very vivid theme, I was worried the party may over shadow the birthday girl. With this in mind, everything will be in pixie-sized parts kept as simple as possible. Toadstools will be used as focal points, polka-dots in a supporting role, and color blocks of red and white (such as this all-red bunting) for the bulk of the filler decor.

Squee!

2011-08-01T00:06:00.004+02:00

I am so excited! Then again, spending money on crafty items always is exciting, isn't it?

For the Youngest's first birthday party, we are keeping the guest list pretty small and having something quiet in our living room. No big rented halls, bouncy castles, or pony rides for us. Just sweet and simple. Which, of course, refers only to the dimensions of the room and not my imagination.

Tonight I ordered 50 red and 50 white felted balls, 250 yards of baker's twine, and a dozen mini wood cut outs. Tomorrow I pull out my entire stash of red, white, and blue felt to start my first project.

Intrigued?

Lost...

2011-07-21T10:30:00.003+02:00

I have been doing quite a bit of soul searching lately. Perhaps it is because I finally hit 40 and this is my version of a mid-life crisis. Or perhaps it is because everything has finally caught up with me and I am finally admitting to myself that no, I can't do it all. The worst part is I have been trying to balance obligations with life. I am failing. Miserably. So much (seemingly) is on my plate I find that by the time I get started working on one thing, I have to pack it away and start on another. My life has been nothing but stops and starts with no real progress down the track. I am burned out, worn out, tired, and frustarted. And the worst part is that nothing has been accomplished.

Which is why the soul searching became necessary. There is no way I want to, nor am willing to, function like this. I have to clean out all the clutter and start with a clean slate. Then, once I begin again, I need to focus on what truly makes me happy, what makes me efficient, and what is best for my family. Tall order!

With that in mind, there are going to be a few changes. Over the next few weeks I am going to be working behind the scenes quite a bit so I can bring you a new, focused blog. I will be focusing strictly on what I am working on craft/sewing-wise and what is going on in the shop. I really enjoy creating tutorials and have been wanting to get into pattern making- so these will be taking a more forward position on the soon-to-be-improved blog. I am very excited about the future, and can't wait to share with you the zilion ideas that have been circling in my head waiting for landing clearance.

This is where you come in. I need your help. Part of clearing out the clutter in my life means clearing out the clutter in my shops. Even though I have posted on the Momfetti and Babyfetti shop notes a 15% off coupon, I am offering you an even better discount: 20% off everything. Clearance, regular, custom work. If it is posted on there you get it at 20% less. Just use "andFound" as your coupon code at check out. The sale will be for a few weeks only, so be sure to act quickly so you don't miss out. Click the shop links in the column over there, on your right, to head straight to them.

I am currently up to here...

2011-06-29T20:26:00.002+02:00

... in tissue and glue trying to finish this pinata in time for Saturday. Back soon!

Bacon Birthday Party: Invites

2011-06-23T13:53:00.002+02:00

Sizzling! The bacon invites for the bacon birthday party were a snap to put together! Here is how I did it.....

First, I typed all the text into Powerpoint. I prefer Powerpoint to Word because it is set up to be WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get), so I can place, flip, nudge, and do what I like with my objects without any formatting. A quick text box copy and pasted twice gave me three invite faces.

I printed these onto a bit stiffer than normal red paper (about the thickness of construction paper). I then took plain white, standard computer paper and cut it in long thing "wavy" strips, top to bottom. These were done rough and by eye. Bacon fat is wavy and uneven, so my strips didn't have to be regimental perfect.

I flipped the 3-up invite page over and began gluing the white wavy strips onto it with plain, ordinary white glue (also called school glue or PVA glue, depending on your area). The spacing was a bit random. I aimed for 9 strips kind-of, sort-of spaced evenly per sheet. Some sheets ended up with as many as 10 strips, some as low as 6. It was all by eye- no need to worry about measuring! Tip: I painted the glue on with a brush I recycled from one of those cheap watercolor sets. It puts the glue on smoothly, thinly, and covers every bit of it.

I let each page dry flat for about 15 minutes. I placed a heavy book on them while drying to help keep them flat, as the wetness of the glue normally makes paper curl.

Once dry, I zipped them on through my paper cutter and cut them into strips. Again, this was by eye. I wasn't too worried if they weren't exactly the same width. "Pretty darn close" was good enough for me!

All done! My daughter passed them out to all forty invitees in one afternoon. That's right: F-O-R-T-Y.

This is her last year in elementary school before heading off to middle/high school. She is the only one in her class not attending one of the local schools so this party is, in a way, a kind of birthday meets graduation meets farewell party. We also know that no one expects 100% attendance so, just this once, we let her go crazy and invite her entire class as well as her neighborhood friends plus, of course, our family. I am not worried. The party will have lots of bacon. Bacon makes everything alright- even crazy huge birthday parties.

Tulip Tuesday: Special Moments

2011-06-21T10:10:00.003+02:00

The Youngest was baptized this past Sunday.

It was of course a joyous occasion, but also a bit of a sad one. While we are surrounded by a wonderful bunch of Dutch friends and family who were able to share it with us, our American family and friends were simply too far away to attend. Living so far from home means half of those you love will be excluded. It also means knowing you will be excluded from their special moments.

Still, we Americans are a country built on flying the nest, and flying it in a big way. First we immigrated from countries overseas to build the country, and then we packed our covered wagons and headed west. I guess I am just making our heritage come full circle.

Do we ever get over the fact that every holiday, every milestone, every bit of our journey through life will be bittersweet? I doubt it. All we can do is cherish the moments we are together. Saying that, our locals make one heck of an awesome support group. I love the fact we have such a fabulous group of friends and family on this side of the pond.

To leave home, to leave your family and all you know, is probably the hardest decision of choosing the life of an immigrant or expat. While you do miss your old circle, you gain a new one. I choose to look at it from the point of view that I never would have had the opportunity to meet such new and amazing people if I didn't go out into the world. Bitter at times? Yes. But let's not forget the sweet.

Make new friends, but keep the old.
One is silver, the other is gold.
A circle is round, it has no end.
That's how long, I will be your friend.
A fire burns bright, it warms the heart.
We've been friends, from the very start.
You have one hand, I have the other.
Put them together, We have each other.
Across the land, across the sea,

Friends forever we will always be.

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-18T11:45:00.002+02:00

(We are celebrating a day early since tomorrow is the Youngest's baptism.)

Happy Father's Day!

Tulip Tuesday: Bicycling

2011-06-14T10:39:00.010+02:00

Ah, the Dutch and bicycles. They go together like toast and jam, ham and cheese, beer and tailgate parties.

It is the same story for everyone: You read the glossy brochure showing happy Dutch people effortlessly gliding along on their shiny bicycles, and think, "hey! I want that! I need a bike!" You head out to the shop where you find out that €25 isn't going to buy you a bell much less a full bike. After coming to from fainting at the actual price of bikes, you settle on eating peanut butter for a month (or two) and buy one. Now it is sitting there, in your front hall, ready to go. If you are like me, you would leave it there in your hall sitting and collecting dust just a teensy bit longer because, frankly, you would be chicken. Like me. A big, fat chicken.

It wasn't riding bikes in particular that frightened me, it was the fact that I just didn't have that telepathic communication abilities the Dutch seem to have. It's like they all knew who was doing what, who was going where, and seemed to seamlessly merge bike, car, and person like a giant synchronized traffic dance. Gold medal award winning synchronized traffic dance. And I was the guy on the bench who missed way too many practices and was relegated to pouring the punch during half time.

Little known fact: the Dutch have bike "licenses." They give a course to school children (about 5th grade level) and tell them if they don't pass their bike exam, they won't get their bike license nor will they be allowed to ride their bikes. At least my daughter's school told them that. I have yet to see an actual license, or see a child banned from a bike for that matter, but I have seen the test. First there is classroom training and then there is the practical examination- just like we adults have for getting a driver's license. They even have an official bike-checker arrive to check all the bikes for road worthiness. The worthy bikes get a sticker with a big check mark on it.

Once the realization came to me that the Dutch really aren't born with a sixth sense but are taught how to bike in grammar school, it made biking seem more doable. Unfortunately, seeing as how I am an adult and all, I am not lucky enough to learn the biking code in a neat little course since it would be very awkward to try and enroll myself in a repeat year of 5th grade. I had to learn it the hard way, which is why I am offering you my super-easy, handy-dandy "Biking in the Netherlands for Non-telepathic Expats" guide. Consider it a quick start to the actual, official driver's manual published by the government which does clearly indicate all current laws for all traffic including biking. (like my clever insertion of "fine print"?)

First of all, make sure your bike has a bell. A very loud bell. You are going to need it.

Bikes are for the bike lane, people are for the people lane. Now, this seems like an obvious one but believe you me, even the Dutch get this wrong. A lot. You are perfectly entitled, while walking, to accidentally shift your heavy bag onto a bicyclist pushing passed you on the people lane. Just consider it a friendly "move the six inches on over to your own lane" reminder. On the flip side, you may ping your little bell repeatedly and as loudly as possible if some moron ventured onto the bike lane. And feel free to brush them a little too close as you speed by if they don't move in time. But be careful- sometimes lanes are shared. The telepathic people know which ones are which by sensing the lane's vibe. For the rest of us normal humans my rule of thumb is: if you can't see another lane within a few feet of yours, consider whatever lane you are on to be a shared lane. Pinging and bumping is considered anti-social in a shared lane. Oh, and those electric scoot-mobiles? They count as walkers, bikes, or cars, so they are always in the correct lane doing the correct thing.

Two wide is wide enough. You can ride two abreast, but it doesn't mean you always should. If your lane narrows to a width where you can rub seats, it's best to go single file when on-coming traffic is at hand. If you are three wide, be prepared for a bunch of dodging. It is up to you to move over in a timely fashion for oncoming bike traffic. If, however, you are merrily riding along and a three, or four, wide group is headed your way, it is NOT your responsibility to stop and clear the bike path to make room for them. Feel free to ping your bell as a reminder you know the rules and you are in no way going to make room for Mr. Number Three.

On your right has right-of-way. Unless there is a signpost/paint job on the ground telling you otherwise, the person coming towards you on the right always has right away- even if you are at a T-junction and you are bopping along straight through while they have to make a turn to join you. Anyone on your left has to let you go first. It's kind of fun when you get four people coming to a four way junction all at the same time. You either have everyone stopping and waving at each other to go, or you have one very brazen individual who speeds up rather than slows down to get there seconds before everyone else, making them the obvious and clear "I go first" person.

Upside-down triangles mean yield. If you see a row of them right across your path, it's a very clear indication you must yield to the other direction even if they are on your right. If they are on the other person's path then you get priority regardless of which way you want to go. This is super important when it comes to crossing streets. Streets with cars. Streets with big, metal, can-easily-smoosh-you cars.

It's not obvious so point it out. There aren't any clear cut hand signals. You just point to where you are going with whichever hand makes sense. Want to turn left? Use your left hand and point to the left. Want to turn right? Use your right arm and point to the right. Use your hands to indicate where you are going. No one likes stopping and waiting for someone who is turning, especially if it means by your turning they could have just gone.

Watch your back. Bikes don't have rear view mirrors. It doesn't hurt to turn over your shoulder and quickly take a look before you do some crazy maneuver like making a wide turn across the full path, or stopping in an odd spot. By the same token, keep in mind that the bike in front of you may just suddenly stop for no reason right in the middle of the path, or turn right in front of you. If Mr. In Front is, oh, let's say, busy lighting a cigarette with one hand and texting with the other and starts make a stupid maneuver right in front of you, feel free to ping your bell to let him know you are right behind.

Don't drink and bike. Apparently the same rules for driving drunk apply to bikes. So if you bike drunk you can lose your car license, get fined, or whatever other penalty they currently have if you drive a car drunk.

From what I learned, bike riding is more of a "running the ball into the end zone through the entire defensive line" and less telepathic synchronized traffic dancing. Keeping your finger on the bell and knowing when to give-way and when to insist on keeping your position are the only two things you have to remember. The rest is just enjoying the pollution-free and healthy ride.

Singing anything by Queen is optional.

Lookie what I found!

2011-06-03T13:44:00.005+02:00

I am working on a tutorial for a car seat coil toy, as well as finishing off a baptism gown and items for a baby shower. Not to mention making a bacon pinata and planning that party. And of course there is my night school to learn Dutch. Busy, busy, busy! That still doesn't stop me from surfing the net for things I didn't know I need.

One of those finds is this Pink Retro Kitchen and Refrigerator from KidKraft:

Isn't it the cutest thing ever? This is for the youngest's first birthday present. We are purchasing the furniture portion and I am making oodles of felt food to fill it up. The husband says I am in complete denial that I am really buying this for me. I refuse to admit he is right.

Tulip Tuesday: Table for Two

2011-05-31T17:23:00.004+02:00

One complaint I hear repeatedly is how lousy the service is in the Netherlands, especially how slow everything is in restaurants. I'll let you in on a little secret- it isn't slow at all. It's rather we are doing it wrong.

The husband called me one night from a business trip in San Diego from a Denny's parking lot with the shocking news that there was a large sign reading "one hour parking." He wondered how on earth you could get through an entire dinner in under an hour. I wondered how on earth he couldn't. Welcome to culture shock 101.

It seems to me that we Americans treat dinner as a stepping stone towards something greater, something to get out of the way so we can get on with the real purpose of the date, event, or activity. From time to time we even diminish it to "grabbing a quick bite" on the way. The Dutch, however, view dinner as the actual event. It isn't the appetizer to a date, it is the date. Armed with this knowledge, you can brave Dutch restaurants and actually enjoy your meal. Here is your eating out, Dutch style, survival course.

You have to accept the concept that this is going to take awhile. And by "awhile" I mean anywhere from 2-4 hours. Plan accordingly: put plenty of money in the parking meter, catch up on the daily news so you have plenty of conversation points, and don't come starving as you can expect your first course to not appear before 45 minutes. A granola bar should tie you over if it has been a long while since lunch. Really.

When you first walk into a restaurant, pause a minute by the door. Unless you are at an establishment of Michelin quality, you are not going to get a table by waiting for a host or hostess to seat you. You are going to have to find your own table. Take a good look around and determine where you are going to sit. The best seats are not the private tables way over there in the corner. The best spot is the table right next to someone holding a menu. If everyone has already ordered, then grab a spot next to someone who looks like they have just started their meal.

You see, just like there is no assigned seating, there are no assigned sections for the wait staff. In order to do anything- place your order, get refills, ask for ketchup- you are going to need to catch the eye and flag down one on your own. Pretend you are a lion. A whole bunch of you working together is more likely to catch one server than just you trying alone. And once one of you catches the server's attention, it's fair game and everyone shares. By choosing a neighbor who is close to your position within the dining experience, the chances of you getting all the way to desert before you are left alone is very good. And if you hold your menu high while you read it, you are bound to attract the next set of patrons entering the establishment thus securing your prime server-catching position the entire duration of your stay.

About that menu- closing it and placing it on the table in front of you is NOT a cue you are ready to order. Try making eye contact with a server instead. A smile and a slight wave, nod, or even a point to the menu lets them know you are ready to go. No need to be rude or aggressive, but certainly be a bit more forward than what you are used to. For all they know, you are deep in conversation and don't want to be bothered quite yet. Best to let them know now is a good moment for them to come on over.

Go ahead and order the starter. It isn't like you are going to try and cram in three courses in under an hour. This is a leisurely dinner and you are going to need sustenance to make it all the way to the main course. Because starter or no, you won't get your main course within 45 minutes of ordering anyway. You might as well embrace the evening and go for all three courses. Order your bottle of wine now. And if you want a glass of water later, well, you might as well order that, too. Your odds of getting both wine and water in time for your main meal is significantly greater this way. Don't worry about your ice melting. You won't get any ice.

It is time to sit back and enjoy your evening. Just let things happen as they happen. Go ahead and enter into that long debate, or feel free to discuss in detail your childhood, your philosophy, your dreams, your ambitions. Really enjoy the conversation. At some point, as if by magic, one of the random servers will deposit your starters in front of you, trying their best to not interrupt. Eat slowly, savor every bite. Push your plate aside but don't expect it to be taken away.

When your main arrives, it isn't unacceptable to hand your empty starter plate to the server delivering it. Sure someone will come by from time to time and collect empty glasses, but it is a bit more difficult in getting someone to clear away a pile of plates. Better take advantage of them being there. Also be sure to ask for any refills or anything else you may need. They most likely will bring a "communal" salad, vegetable, and/or bowl of french fries as many side dishes are served on the side, not on your main plate, and they can bring whatever else you need with them.

If at any point you need something, try and flag someone down. It is acceptable to politely stop one who is helping the table next to yours. See, now aren't you glad you sat in the more populated area of the restaurant?

When your meal is over, you may want to signal this by having your plate empty, slightly pushed away, your fork and knife laying side by side in the 2 o'clock position, and leaning back in your chair. Don't be afraid to signal a server if these cues get missed for, say, longer than 15 minutes or so. Let them know you are ready for dessert. A menu will be brought to you, and if they haven't already done it, you may ask if they wouldn't mind removing your dinner plates.

If you would like coffee and a sweet, keep in mind these will be served separately just as though they were two separate courses. Your sweet will come first, and coffee after. It is best to order both at the same time. Again, the server will quietly bring them to you as to not interrupt your conversation, but don't be afraid to catch an eye and signal you are ready for coffee once your sweet is finished. After your coffee, served with the obligatory cookie and perhaps even a piece of chocolate, is over you should just ask for your bill. If not, you may continue to remain at the table for quite some time.

Some establishments prefer you to pay at the counter. Others prefer at the table. It absolutely never hurts to point blank ask, "where should I pay this?" when the bill is handed to you. Pay in full and then give the tip directly to the person assisting you with the bill. Don't leave it on the table, and don't worry if this is the first time you have seen them the entire night. They collectively service tables, so they collectively share tips. Paying one is the same as paying them all.

The amount of tip is up to you. I have seen an average of 5-10% from the locals. Some people do not tip at all unless there is an exceptional amount of service. Others don't care about percentages and just "round up"- so whether the bill came to €16.01 or €19.58 they will pay an even €20. You can always "spot the American" by the larger tip. Insulting someone with an over tip is just a rumor- they will thank you just the same if you leave 10% or 20%.

The best advice I can ever give a new expat or immigrant when they arrive here is to just go with the flow, embrace being Dutch. Under American standards, you would have left the restaurant fuming and complaining about the terrible service. Under Dutch standards, you actually had one heck of a great night. Which would you rather have?

The Really Big Dress.

2011-05-27T15:47:00.006+02:00

The Eldest is in group 8, which is 6th grade in USA terms. Next year she will be heading off to "high school" (the literal translation of the Dutch name is high school- they have "basic school" and "high school" classifications only). Since they are the soon-to-be graduates and leaving behind all that is kiddie and heading for the adult world of the higher level education, they celebrated by having a dance. On a school night. Until super late (10 pm). By majority vote, they chose the theme for this year's dance to be a gala.

The parent group really embraced the theme. They rented a limo for the entire group 8. One limo for seventy pre-teens. The teacher's parking lot is separated from the school by a rather large hedge, blocking it from view. All the students gathered in the parking lot before the dance. 8 at a time climbed into the stretch limo which drove them the 50 yards (50 meters) from the parking lot right up onto school grounds stopping at the main entrance to the school.

8 excited students climbed out to the cheering of friends and family, and posed for the hired photographers who snapped their grand entrance before they headed down a red carpet to the gala entrance.

This way, every child got to have a ride in a limo and make a spectacular entrance to the dance. An hour's rental on a limo split 70 ways is incredibly cheap. I am so glad our parent group is incredibly clever!

Now, to go with a limo-paparazzi-red-carpet-grand-entrance, you obviously need a limo-paparazzi-red-carpet-grand-entrance dress. The Eldest, being the apple that fell oh so close to this tree, fell in love with a huge, flouncy, organza strewn pageant creation. I admit, it was stunning, and my inner 12 year old was jumping up and down squealing when I saw it. Of course, I played cool as a cucumber mom and just took her measurements.

Now, I admit: I lied. I told the dress-makers that the event was Saturday the 21st, not Wednesday the 25th. I figure this way I would have it with a few days to spare to make sure it was pressed and aired out. That little lie proved to be a saving grace because a mere 36 hours before the supposed date, I noticed a surprise bonus in my bank account. The amount looked rather familiar and it slowly, slowly sank in: this was exactly what I paid for the dress. No explanation, no notice, nothing. I looked at my husband and said, "I guess this means we aren't getting the dress after all?"

Gulp.

There it was, 10 pm on Thursday night and the beautiful gala gown the Eldest has been talking about for over one month solid wasn't going to happen. There was only one thing to do- make her one myself and make her one fast.

Which is exactly what I did. I got to work. Well, I got to work once I finally convinced the Eldest that everything would be fine and that she would have a suitable dress, and no, it wouldn't look like a dress homemade by her mom in only two days.

Remember my last post where I mentioned my super-awesome husband making my 3 projects in 30 days possible? This is where he was his most super-awesome. He went shopping with me and did his utmost to translate everything into Dutch since my vocabulary is limited to inviting you in and offering you coffee. Considering he neither sews nor knows the inter-workings of hoops skirts, patterns, or fabric types, he did a darn good job and we got everything we needed in only one afternoon. He then spent the next two days with the Youngest, who is now going through her separation anxiety phase and if isn't within 2 inches of mommy has a screaming fit. Somehow he managed to distract her, entertain her, and (which I found rather charming) nap with her to keep her out of my sewing room so I could focus on what needed to be done.

After completing a hoop skirt, I moved onto the dress. I used Burda Pattern 9761 as a base. I made some simple changes to the pattern:

I tweaked the neckline to make it squared-off-sweetheart instead of scooped
I added to the skirt to increase the distance round the hem to create enough fullness to cover the 128 inch hoop
I used a swag and poof over-skirt instead of the three layer over-skirt in the pattern.
I added a sewn-in sash at the bottom of the bodice made out of organza.

Rather than use fabric roses as pictured on the pattern, I used a few loose sequins and jewelery beads for a neckline trim.

I trimmed the sash with a brooch.

I was pretty happy with the result. I wish I had more time to make a crinoline to hide the line of the bones on the hoop. She changed shoes at the last minute and went from a flat to a 2 inch high heel, which was just enough to make a crinoline really necessary.

She was thrilled with the result. She felt beautiful, very gala-y (is that even a word?), and was happy with the fact it was in her two favorite colors and had plenty of bling. She was so pleased it didn't look like something her mom threw together over the weekend. She loved it. And that was the most important thing!

Here comes the sun!

2011-05-25T11:39:00.005+02:00

3 big projects in 30 days. With a teething baby and me returning to school for an intense Dutch language course (I have 18 months to get to university level Dutch. Eeek!), it has been more than bit crazy in the house. Thankfully the husband pitches in where he can, and doesn't complain if he has to wear the same shirt two days in a row because I just didn't get around to laundry. Again. (sorry, honey!) Behind every great woman, there is a great man. Or something like that.

First project is now complete! I made a custom order of tulip handbags. The bride will be giving these as gifts to her bridesmaids for her wedding this summer. I love her selection in fabrics- the buttery yellow is so warm and summery.

Tulip Tuesday: Powdering Your Nose

2011-05-17T13:45:00.004+02:00

Call it powdering your nose, visiting the little girl's (or boy's) room, seeing a man about a horse, or heading off to Waterloo, at some point we all just have to go. Many of us cringe at calling it "the toilet" instead of "the restroom" or "the facilities," and thankfully the Dutch also call it a W.C. (pronounced vay-say) to spare us the indignity of loudly announcing to the guy behind the bar, "Hey! I need a toilet!"

It's something that in polite society we simply don't discuss. But when you move and experience things like shelf toilets, double flushers, 20 cent coin dishes, bathroom ladies, and "why on earth is there a calendar in here?" moments, perhaps we should lift the lid on the rules of etiquette just for a minute.

First, let me let you in on a little secret: the bathroom lady is your new best friend. I know she looks like a mild-mannered stranger adorned in a hostess apron, elbow-length rubber gloves, and sporting a mystery bottle and dodgy rag. In reality she is a super hero. She will bring you toilet paper if for some reason the one in the holder jams and you just can't get any out. She will wipe down the seat, bowl, walls, and handle so you can safely use the men's room in relative hygiene comfort- thus saving you from doing the pee-pee dance because the line for the ladies' is way too long. She will watch your kids so they can stay asleep in the stroller and quiet for the first time that day while you take that quick moment for yourself. And she will hunt down your mother, friend, or even a total stranger if you are caught out and realize you need a feminine hygiene product and you just don't have one at hand.

The first time you meet her you may feel a bit uncomfortable, or unsure of the protocol. Do you pay first or after? Do you just drop that 20 eurocents (or 40 or 50) in the dish or hand it to her? Should you tip her? One thing I learned about "being Dutch" is to just go with the flow. I prefer to pay first, directly into the dish. Then it is done and out of the way and I can concentrate on more important things. I never tip. I am not sure if that is correct, but watching hundreds of others who go before me also never tip I figure this is a pretty safe bet this is the social norm. Besides, the one time I did leave more than I was supposed to the bathroom lady actually hunted me down to give me my change. I can offer one piece of advice though: never eat the candy. Not everyone washes their hands afterward and you don't want to know what that stuff could be teeming with.

Which leads me to the private "vay-say" located in every one's house. If you happen to be at a modern house or an older one that has been recently remodeled, the chances of you coming face to face with a shelf toilet is highly unlikely. Sadly, this isn't the norm and you will find yourself dealing with this evil creature on more than one occasion.

A shelf toilet is a seemingly normal toilet that has a very high shelf located just above the mini-bowl-o-water. It is on this shelf that you do your business. Yes, you read that right. You do your business directly on a shelf. Once you are done, you get the pleasure of staring at your "accomplishment" in its full glory. In answer to my "why on earth" question, I was told it was the best way to check your poo for worms each and every time you went. You know what? I am just not at all convinced an entire society is that mad-keen on checking their poop for parasites. Especially not the "go with the flow" Dutch who won't see a doctor unless their arm has fallen off and all attempts to duct tape it back on themselves have failed. They just don't seem like a society obsessed with wormy poo. Not to the level that special toilets were created just for this purpose. Personally, I think they were rejects from some other country and the Dutch, being know for frugality, did the "waste not want not" routine and bought them at a rather cheap price. In bulk.

I can tell you that no one I know actually does, or at least admits to, checking their movements for actual movement. I do know several people, however, who accidentally scraped their knuckles across the unmentionable as they wiped because darn if that shelf isn't just way too high for comfort. I also know that most of us have had residual issues. As in issues with the residual, because believe you me, no toilet flushes strong or hard enough to remove every bit of business off the shelf in one go. Which brings me to the toilet brush. It will be such a vital tool in going and cleaning up after you go that every private bathroom has at least one next to each and every toilet.

Here is my advice, especially to you germ-o-phobes out there who realize the toilet brush is probably the dirtiest, nastiest, thing on the planet and if there ever is a cholera outbreak it will be linked to that €2.99 piece of plastic sitting in a plastic cup: if you put a thin layer of toilet paper on the shelf before you use it, it will wash away cleanly. Every single time.

You are welcome.

Now let us discuss other things to do while you are in the smallest room in the house. Whether it is fancy or plain, elegant or over-the-top, it will have a calendar in it. Not just any calendar, but a special bathroom calendar. Every one's birthday, regardless of how distantly related they are, will be written on here. It's so you can plan ahead. I find it a bit rude myself. "Uncle Steve? Hi! I was just sitting on the loo and noticed it was your day today. Happy Birthday!" There is no way to hide the fact you were thinking of them while doing #2. Everyone knows that the only place to hang a calendar with birthdays is right opposite a toilet, therefore everyone knows exactly what you were doing when you thought of theirs.

It won't be the most uncomfortable thing, however. That is reserved for the cold. It is a Dutch law, apparently, that all "vay-says" have windows that open to the outdoors, they must be left open at all times but especially when it is snowing outside, and under no circumstances must there ever ever EVER be hot water plumbed into them. Unless I missed something in science class, there really is no reason to not use or even have hot water available. I do know that using ice water to scrub the poo off your knuckles because of the stupid shelf in the toilet is up there with one of the worst experiences of my life. It is very hard to clean thoroughly when your fingers are little cramped blocks of frozen flesh.

Lastly, some advice on double flushers. The little button is a short flush, for #1. The big button is a long flush, for #2. It saves water. It is good for the environment. If you happen to run into someone who has a novel toilet with two equal buttons, or a button that has been sliced down the middle, flush 'em both. Serves them right to have something so darn confusing in the first place.

That Time of Year Again!

2011-05-14T08:31:00.003+02:00

It's nearly June! Time to start preparing for the Eldest's twelfth birthday party!

This year June is bringing two more large celebrations my direction. Besides the Eldest's twelfth, it is my fortieth birthday the week before, and the week before that is the Youngest's Baptism. Thankfully we got our game plan together.

Now, you may remember that last year my daughter opted for a peacock theme. Every year she picks a new one, and this year she went with something a bit, well, unexpected.

You see, it all started me and the glorious day when I drove home and saw the sign. It was a mini-billboard, actually, and on was "Spektafel" in huge letters plastered across an ad for an airshow at the local airport.

Now, quickly, I used my best Dutch to put the word into something I could understand. Spek means bacon, and tafel means table. Bacon Table? Bacon Table. Hmmm. Bacon. Table. It clicked! It must mean a buffet! A buffet of nothing but bacon! At this moment I thought the Dutch were the single most brilliant people on the planet. Why hasn't anyone else thought of a huge bacon buffet? We were soooo going to this airshow thing this weekend because I was going to bask in the glory that is an all-bacon buffet.

I got home quite excited and told the husband how we were going to head to the airshow. He was quite surprised as normally I hate airshows. I explained it wasn't the planes we were going to see, but the bacon buffet. A look of confusion. "A bacon, what?" he asked.

"Bacon buffet. Bacon table, actually. The sign said "spektafel". Bacon table. Ergo, bacon buffet." I proudly answered.

He looked at me quizzically for a second, then two, then suddenly burst into laughter. He said you mean "spektakel. With a k, not an f. That means spectacular or extravaganza. You know, like a large event: a circus spectacular, a carnival spectacular, a Vegas show spectacular." I guess I should have been embarrassed, but in all honesty I was so let down by the thought there would be no bacon buffet I wasn't thinking of my silly mistake.

This year, the Eldest, in honor of my spectacular mistake, has decided to theme her birthday entirely around bacon. It will be Bri's Birthday Spektafel. And, just for me, she will be having a bacon buffet lunch. So, just for her, I am making her a large bacon shaped pinata. It's going to be great!

Tulip Tuesday: Speaking In Tongues

2011-05-10T14:55:00.013+02:00

(Yes, I do realize it is Wednesday.)

You are aware of the stereotype of "soccer moms." Soccer moms think their kids are the best on the team, and aren't afraid to tell you so. Several times. Soccer moms are out in front cheering all the kids on, but do something wrong and they are first in line to point it out. Soccer moms think others need to follow the rules but their own kids are allowed exceptions. Soccer moms may bring the oranges for the team, but you will get only one and you better not get sticky finger prints on the inside of their car.

When it comes to language skills, the Dutch are such soccer moms.

Soccer moms think their kids are the best on the team, and aren't afraid to tell you so. Several times.

The one thing I hear the most is how "everyone speaks English in the Netherlands." It isn't true- not by any means- but don't tell the Dutch that. That would be committing some act of treason.

First of all, children don't speak Dutch. Sure they learn in school, but that starts at age 10-11. And they don't learn it in a year either, it takes until they are about 15-16 before you can communicate effectively. You may think that I am being just a wee bit pedantic about it and really, do little kids count? I argue that talking to little kids is important. They are the ones who are most likely to run out in front of your shopping cart/bicycle/car. They are the ones who seem to outnumber adults in the grocery stores, movie theaters, libraries, and restaurants. They are the ones who will be playing with your kids, jumping on your couch, and tossing around your favorite object d'art like it is a water balloon just itching to burst open all over your living room floor.

On the other end of the spectrum are the elderly. As my husband puts it, "most haven't spoken English since the liberation." We all know if you don't use it, you lose it. And by now most seniors have lost it- the ability to speak English that is. I have yet to meet a senior who can carry on a conversation with me in English. Sure many understand English, but they can't speak it. Conversations are usually you speaking English to them, they answering in Dutch, and both of you crossing your fingers and hoping that some correct communication might have actually taken place.

Then you have to weed out the adults that are immigrants and expats (many of which don't speak English as they tend to speak their own native languages), the adults that didn't do well in English class in school and have forgotten most of it, and the adults that think they are above speaking English and will refuse to speak to you in anything other than Dutch.

The way I see it, at least half the population doesn't (or won't) speak English.

They will continue to insist they all speak English, though. There is nothing you can do to convince them otherwise. Not even dragging over several non-English-speaking-innocent-bystanders to prove your point will convince them. All that will do is make everyone think you have gone insane. Trust me. I found this out the hard way.

Soccer moms are out in front cheering the kids on, but do something wrong and they are first in line to point it out.

If you say you want to try to learn Dutch they will smile broadly and be incredibly supportive. They will say how great it is you are taking that step towards integration. They will lecture you on the importance of being able to speak the language. And mixed in amongst their reasons for learning Dutch, they will toss in the obligatory fact of everyone speaking English. Please be kind and simply overlook the mixed messages of "must learn language" and "no need to learn language." Or better yet, count how many times they counter their own arguments in a single lecture. It's like buzzword bingo with a twist.

Just don't actually try speaking in Dutch.

You will get the pursed lips, the eye roll, or the look that says "can you just please switch to English? Your accent is making my ears bleed." You will be mocked, teased, or even stared at blankly because obviously they have no idea what on earth came out of your mouth since certainly couldn't be Dutch.

Get it right and it still won't be right enough. My husband has learned this first hand. He is Dutch. He was born here, raised here, lived here all his life. His entire family has lived under Dutch rule on Dutch soil speaking Dutch since Adam was banished from the Garden of Eden. He also is incredibly gifted with languages and especially accents. He doesn't speak English with a Dutch one, but rather with a dead-on perfect western-twanged American one. Exactly like my mid-Californian one. When we go out, we speak English in perfect non-Dutch accents. I can easily see how it would appear that we are both American.

Yet when he speaks Dutch, they won't let him. Really! They will always switch back into English. For his benefit, they say. Of course they will give him the attaboy. His Dutch is very good, they say. He speaks Dutch nicely, they say. Don't try to speak in Dutch, sir, my English is better than your Dutch, they say. My favorite "compliment" of all time is: "Your accent is really good. Keep trying and someday you might actually sound native."

I repeat this compliment to him every single time one of his fellow countrymen tells me "everyone speaks English." Every. Single. Time.

Soccer moms think others need to follow the rules but their own kids are allowed exceptions.

It is true that there are a lot of English sayings that have crept into everyday Dutch use. The problem is, only Dutch people can use the English sayings when speaking Dutch. English speakers just appear as if they don't know the language and need to be corrected. For example, if a colleague says "go for it!" in English to your brilliant idea, it is totally acceptable. If you say it to them about their brilliant idea, they will stop everything, get very serious, and give you a Dutch translation.

Soccer moms may bring the oranges for the team, but you will get only one and you better not get sticky finger prints on the inside of their car.

If you do manage to convince someone you speak Dutch enough to be allowed to use it in conversation, you can only do so in a serious, constructive manner. Wit is reserved for native speakers. So is sarcasm.

We had moved mid-year and rather than disrupt her education we opted to keep the Eldest in the same school until summer. This meant a 45 minute bike ride each direction. Everyone knew this because she complained about it. Daily.

The last day of school finally rolled around. The lecture for the afternoon was summer activities and the teacher asked, "Is anyone going on a biking vacation?" To which the Eldest jokingly replied, "I do! I have to bike home to start my vacation."

She later told me how mortified that not only did her teacher NOT laugh at her joke, but insisted on stopping the whole conversation to explain what a biking vacation was.

Ah, Dutch.

I will still learn the language. Not just because it is required for me to be eligible for naturalization. Not just because it is required by the government for me to reside here. But because I live here now and want to be part of all of life, not just the English speaking part. I know I will ever be fluent. I know I will be mocked for having a heavy accent, teased for using the wrong word or phrase, and probably sound like an idiot most of the time. I just keep telling myself that verbally slaughtering the Dutch language is what they get for their soccer mom attitude.

So there.

Tulip Tuesdays: the Prequel

2011-05-03T10:44:00.007+02:00

I recently received an email that asked: "I was wondering if I could convince you to do a post on adjusting to living in the Netherlands...." I am not quite sure if I am the best example of being adjusted- by any definition of the word. However there is one thing I know very well and that is this truth: No one understands what it is like being an immigrant or an expat, unless they have done it themselves.

Going somewhere on vacation and actually living there are two very different animals. Case in point: ask anyone who visited the Netherlands to name "uniquely Dutch" things and chances are they would easily prattle off: windmills, cheese, wooden shoes, dikes, tulips, bicycles, and the Red Light District.

Ask an immigrant/expat and the list would be quite different: shelf toilets, bathroom birthday calendars, only cold water in the sink, chocolate sprinkles on bread, one cookie per cup, and circle parties.

To those fellow "overseas-ers" who are transplants themselves, I could offer something more pertinent to real life than a travel guide ever would. And to those who have never lived abroad, or never lived in the Netherlands, I could give a glimpse of what it is like living away from home. With that in mind, I decided to give the emailed request the good, old college try and do "Tulip Tuesdays," a retelling of my adventures of living in the Netherlands.

Starting next Tuesday, you can expect weekly installments. And, in honor of my first day of official, proper, in-a-classroom language lessons, I will be dedicating the first post to the use, misuse, and abuse, of language. And yes, eventually I will explain to those not-in-the-know what the heck circle parties(and the rest of the list) are.

Easter Outfit Revealed.

2011-04-19T15:21:00.004+02:00

Thanks to a newly found ability to play on her own for whole minutes at a time, I managed to finish her Easter outfit before Easter. Well, almost finish. The hat band needs to be completed, but worse case scenario even without it I can call the outfit done.

The pants are long enough so they don't ride up when she is on her hands and knees or rolling around on the floor. Considering she spends most of her time this way it was important to me her pants didn't ride up, allowing her to get rug burn on her knees. Ouch!

I used both patterns from Knippie Magazine, Feb/March edition. Alterations were minimal. For the "jacket" (I am using it as a shirt), I had to cut several inches off the sleeve length, but the rest of the top fit perfectly as to pattern. For the pants, I slightly tapered the legs on the pants to narrow them towards the ankle, and I modified the ruffle as I didn't want to lose yet another battle with the overlock function on my regular machine.

The hat is my own pattern, still being tweaked.

For fabric, I went for something bright and colorful and not bunny/fluffy chicky, or crisp white with lace, as you would expect for Easter. This way, she can wear the outfit again and again, well into summer. Or at least until her next growth spurt.

Sneak Preview

2011-04-14T13:18:00.003+02:00

My "37 yards of fabric" delivery is here! Since its arrival, every piece has been washed, dried, ironed, and folded neatly. Better yet, the first project is half way finished! Here is a sneak preview:

I also started working on a few tutorials for you, so you get to benefit by my new-found springtime energy and inspiration!

But of course.

2011-03-25T12:06:00.002+01:00

Slowly getting my time back has been a wonderful thing. I managed to finish off several dozen projects for the shop, start to get my house in order (take that, dust bunnies!), and even got back into cooking almost every day of the week. It has been so wonderful that I ambitiously purchased 37 yards of material with a mind to whip them all into the cutest outfits ever for the Youngest.

Thirty. Seven. Yards.

What on earth was I thinking? Give a new mom a couple hours a week all to herself and suddenly she thinks she is superwoman. Probably the most shocking thing is I do not even have patterns. So, I have 37 yards of material about to be delivered and only a rough idea of what I might make out it but nothing on paper. Like I said, what on earth was I thinking?

I decided to make two styles of dresses (and bloomers to match), a jacket, 2 styles of tops, and 2 styles of pants. The first thing to tackle was the dress. I used a base from a pattern found in Knippie magazine, but as there are no pictures besides the one-angle shot on the model and a rough fabric layout outline, and my Dutch is incredibly limited, I kind of hand to wing it.

Everything turned out fine except for the very puffy 80's-power-woman sleeve thing which I hate. I am going to redo it with proper sleeves for trial run number two.

The length is short enough to be more of a tunic top. I love this length as it keeps the hem free and clear of the knees, just in case she ever decides to start crawling. Plus once summer rolls around and she can go without leggings, a little ruffly diaper cover matching her outfit would look cute.

The husband says once I make all my patterns and "my new line," I should consider selling clothing to boutiques. What do you think? Think the world needs a chunky baby girl line?

Birthday and Coffee

2011-02-14T17:27:00.006+01:00

My husband's birthday is today, but we celebrated last Saturday. Knowing the room would be filled with people, I kept the decor pretty simple and up high. To celebrate his Dutchness, I made sure to circle up the furniture in traditional style.

The theme was coffee, and we served plenty of it. Our buffet featured "things that go well with coffee." The homemade, from-scratch snickerdoodles and oatmeal cookies were made with extra love by the eldest daughter. The cakes were purchased from our favorite bakery, Sweet Things. The smaller size cake was carrot, the medium size cake was vanilla with lemon curd and cream, and the larger was chocolate with whipped cream and caramel sauce. It was hard to choose just one to enjoy, so of course I had to eat more than one slice.

For fun, I made a mini banner.

In the kitchen I had the assistance of some fun and funky felt owls to identify the variety of coffee available for our guests.

It was wonderful to see so many friends and family, and to share even more good times with them all.

ps-

My youngest is concerned I haven't been blogging nearly enough. She decided to help me today.

There's Nobody Here But Us Chickens!

2011-02-03T13:28:00.006+01:00

We have a saying in our family: You know, you can never have too many chickens.

We use it often- and not just whenever we see a chicken. You would be amazed how often you can slip the phrase into conversation. Heck, you can even use it as an ice breaker. So when I saw chicken fabric, I knew without a doubt I had to buy some. In both available colors. I made them into wallets.

They are available in my shop.

Lest you think I have gone chicken crazy, I also added 7 other designs that have nothing to do with chickens. Really. I even have one of something else you can't have too many of: cupcakes. With sprinkles.

And for those that were asking.... 4 pairs of newborn booties are now available as well. You can find them here.

cup of 'stache

2011-01-25T08:31:00.008+01:00

This year, come hell or high water, we are going to celebrate everything. Everything. Birthdays, holidays, achievements, the works.

First up is the husband's birthday/Valentine's day. This isn't me being cheap and trying to get a 2-for-1 celebration- he actually was born on Valentine's day. Just to be sure he isn't cheated out of a special, just-for-him day, we are throwing his party the Saturday before his actual birthday.

This has nothing to do with my "thing" for celebrating birthdays the closest Saturday to the actual day rather than on the day itself either. Really. Really, really. Ok it has. But in the end it lets me have my thing and gives him a special, just-for-him day so, really, where is the harm?

For fun, I decided to theme his birthday party. Birthday themes aren't just for kids anymore! Rather go for an obvious theme: "moustache"...

... I went for the less obvious theme: "coffee". In celebration of his current obsession with his Nespresso machine.

You are never going to believe what I found. This:

How amazingly perfect is this? Moustache espresso sets! Talk about the best ever gift! Now, I have to find a way to sweet talk kaoriglass on Etsy into shipping overseas. Wish me luck!

Updated! Kaoriglass was great and I was able to purchase this after all!

Rocket launcher.

2011-01-22T18:12:00.007+01:00

The youngest has been especially clingy. She also seems to know the exact moment I want to head over to the computer and chooses it to present the horror that is the poopy diaper. Or punch herself in the nose upsetting herself. Or decide to be utterly starving.

I found some of those cute socks with the little foot rattles sewn onto the toes. I put them on. I showed her how to operate them. She was in her playpen kicking away and cooing at her feet. She seemed to enjoy it. I could hear giggles. I could hear rattle rattle rattle. I could hear more giggles. I slowly slid out my chair to sit down at the computer.

Then woosh! Two little rattle rockets shot out of her playpen and landed in a heap on the floor. This was followed by a very angry, very unhappy baby letting me know her great displeasure.

I have no idea how on earth she managed to get both socks down to the tips of her toes where she could kick them off and out of her playpen at the exact same moment I sat down at the computer.

Sigh.

I put the rattles back on her feet. She is now lying quiet and still enough for me to toss in a few words and hope for the best. As long as I periodically say "aboo. Goo goo ah-ha" in her direction she seems to be happy enough. Hey! It's a start.

Stuck to the roof of my mouth.

2011-01-10T09:29:00.008+01:00

My time is pretty limited so I have to set my goal bar pretty low. Very low. Very, very low. Would bruise my ankles low. If a project takes 15 minutes or less, I am good.

I really shouldn't complain. The youngest has slept 8 hours a night. Solid. Count me as the luckiest mother on the planet. However, she compensates for this lovely, uninterrupted sleep by only cat-napping during the day: a half-hour here, forty-five minutes there. So while I get a great, blissful night of sleep, I am go-go-go all day long. She is getting pretty darn good at playing on her own so between her cat naps and the ten-to-twenty minute self-play intervals, I have a chance to squeeze in things like: getting dressed, washing the dishes, laundry, making meals, enjoying a cup of tea. And, on occasion, I even squeeze in a tidbit of sewing or crafting.

Which is why when she went down for a 10 minute play interval yesterday, I had time to create something start to finish, including the clean up. I made peanut butter.

For Christmas, I received a food processor. Something I have been wanting for quite awhile. As you can see, I was rather excited when I opened my package.

Once the general squealing stopped, the long list of amazing things I could make followed. Peanut butter wasn't necessarily the top of the list, but it was one that would give me instant gratification.

Making peanut butter is very simple. You need about half a pound (500 g) of nuts. I got mine from the nut-vendor at the local market. They roast and salt them on the spot- yet another thing I adore about living in Europe. I love the markets. You can also purchase nuts in bulk in health food sections of grocery stores, or as in the case of our local grocery store, mixed in amongst the crackers and pre-made packs of chexmix. For the best flavor, make sure they are the roasted kind. Whether you get salted or not is to your taste.

Here you can see the skins, the lovely toasty color, and the little granules of salt. I just tossed them into the food processor exactly as they are here- no peeling, no rinsing, no other prep other than "open bag and pour." Well, I did sneak a few to snack on as I was pouring. Cooks privilege and all.

Once in the food processor, start the machine up on high. While it is chopping the nuts, gently pour in two tablespoons of oil. Be sure the oil is something without a strong flavor- like sunflower or vegetable oil. I use rice bran oil which is made from brown rice and high in vitamin E. The oil is added to make the peanut butter a bit more fluid so it spreads easier. You can be a purist and skip the oil, but it will be a bit thicker and more of a paste than a butter.

You will need to sweeten just a bit. I toss in 2-4 tablespoons of sugar, depending on how my sweet-tooth is at that moment. If you are using European sugar, be sure the sugar is fine ground. The regular crystal sugar will leave crunchy chunks in the peanut butter. Not the pleasant crunchy bits, either.

Let the machine run for a minute or two. Or three. Ok, maybe four. It will really all depend on the speed of your machine. The magic moment you are looking for is when the peanuts inside the bowl suddenly ball up. It's pretty cool to see a uniform mush of crushed peanut suddenly turn into a smooshy ball of peanut butter. It's almost like magic. Kitchen magic.

I spoon mine into a jar with a rubber seal and store on the counter at room temperature. I like to keep it in a warm, spreadable condition. I store for a week or two- by then it is gone and I need make a fresh batch- however you can easily store it up to 6 months.

The cost is about the same as buying a jar of peanut butter. I didn't make it to save money, I did make it because I can control the flavor by adding other nuts (like cashew-and-peanut butter) or modifying sugar/oil/salt amounts. Plus there is that satisfaction of starting a project, and 5 minutes later you accomplished it. Setting the bar low is awesome. And you get to celebrate by eating fresh peanut butter. Mmmmm.

Your turn.

2011-01-07T18:24:00.004+01:00

Now that Christmas is over and I am pretty confident I am not ruining a surprise for anyone, I have great pleasure is sharing with you some photos of projects sent into me.

Stacy from Texas made the DSi Carrying Case in a butterfly fabric that I am just smitten with:

Not only did Carla use the fabric flower tutorial to make a stunning flower...

... but she made modified it and used the petals as leaves on this rose! Fab idea!

I love to see what you have created using my tutorials- please keep those pictures coming!

Progress

2010-12-13T11:53:00.010+01:00

The youngest is now 8 weeks old. These first two months have been a lot harder than I expected. It turns out she is one of those babies, and I am one of those mothers.

She turned out to have a stomach issue and vomit every day. Sometimes several times a day. Not the cute little bit that you say "oopsie" to and use the corner of a burp cloth to wipe it up either. Oh, no. With her, it reached epic proportions. She produced 80 - 125mL (3 - 5 oz) of the horror at a time. Really. And she only seemed to do it when I was holding her- usually timed to when I just put on a clean shirt or just got out of the shower. Her problem? Nothing more than a bit of gluttony. She had a bad habit of swallowing air while she gulped down her milk, and a tendency to overeat.

After all my eye-rolling and all my mocking, I turned out to be exactly what I thought was utterly ridiculous: an attachment parent. At first I was in denial, but once I faced facts I was able to stand up and say, "Hi. My name is Tuppence and I believe in attachment parenting."

It is a huge time commitment, and I still don't know how on earth I have been managing on only 4-6 hours of very-interrupted sleep in every 24 hour period. There were moments when I felt like hiding in the basement, and others when I just broke down and cried. I even admit there have been days when I have been insanely jealous of the husband who got to escape to work. My "me" time shrunk to nil. I basically spent my days and my nights cleaning up baby puke, doing laundry, rocking her to sleep in an upright position, and trying to remember when I actually took a shower last. The internet sources said 6 weeks and it would start to improve. I took it literally and started to count down to this magical day when she would wake up and be 6 weeks old and everything would be better. There would be rainbows. There would be sunshine. There would be little fairies showering the earth with chocolate sprinkles and baby marshmallows.

Amazingly, at 5 weeks and 5 days old she suddenly improved. She vomited less and started to eat normally. At 7 weeks her eating cycles changed from every 2-3 hours to every 4-5 hours. 8 weeks has rolled around and she is able to play on her own for up to 30 minutes at a time before requiring some kind of "touch" to let her know mom or dad is there and she isn't alone. She can be put down in her bed still awake (though very drowsy) and actually go to sleep without a fuss. And last night- oh! beautiful night- she slept a whole 5 hours and 38 minutes. I am sure she would have gone clear to 6 hours had I not panicked and started poking at her to make sure she was still breathing.

It looks like "me" time is now going to be possible at last! It will have to come in spurts and I need to be flexible, as her play and sleep times are that way. Still, some is better than none. It is going to feel so good to sit down in front of my sewing machine again, and to blog regularly again. It is going to feel even better knowing that I can do it without guilt because I know she is still getting enough "mom" time as well.

Welcome to the World

2010-10-20T07:43:00.008+02:00

Our little Floor has finally arrived!

Florence Rebecca Maria (Floor for short) was born on 15.10.10 (that's 10.15.10 for the Americans!). Both she and I got a clean bill of health within a couple of hours after birth, so she, the husband, and I came home right away. Can you guess which one was greeted first by a sleepy but excited big sister?

There will be plenty of blog posts and even a give-away coming soon, but for the next few days things will be continue to remain bit quiet. After all, aren't the first few weeks all about sleeping, sleeping, and more sleeping anyway?

One

2010-10-05T17:53:00.011+02:00

... is the number of surprises I had last week.

The husband approached me a couple of weeks and said there was a baby expo in Amsterdam he wanted to attend- it would be all day Saturday, the second. I said it sounded fine to me, and then promptly forgot about it. A few days later I tried booking something else for that day, and he exclaimed "Remember the Baby Expo!" with as much passion as Texans have for the Alamo, and insisted I reschedule the other plans. The baby expo must come first. A few days later, I forgot and tried scheduling something else. I received the "Remember the Baby Expo!" Again and again, several more times over that week, I forgot all about the baby expo and tried to schedule something else on that Saturday. With irritation, the husband insisted I put it in my calendar. Got it. I must remember the baby expo!

It was so strange he was taking this baby expo thing to such an extreme. We had already purchased or made everything we needed for the new baby anyway. How important could this really be? It's just a baby expo. I was dying to know what it was that made him plan something weeks in advance, talk about it constantly, and, against his natural tendency to be perpetually late, demand we be there "when it opens and no later."

This expo sounded like it must be the expo to end all expos. I expected nothing less than unicorns and dancing frogs greeting us on our arrival. I expected fairies to carry us around on carpets woven of rose petals. I had to share the details with others! I asked for the website so I could check it out for myself.

He went white. He went red. He went a funny shade of green.

I told him never mind. I clicked on immediately: it was obvious he planned something and it was supposed to be a secret. I wasn't about to burst his bubble and ruin the surprise. Besides, I knew what he was up to. I had been whining for weeks about how hard it was to find eco-toys for children, and I was certain he found a few eco-toy suppliers and didn't want me discovering this beforehand. He thinks he is so clever.

Saturday rolled around and off we went, he convinced he pulled one over on me, and I knowing exactly what he was up to. We found a parking spot right down town, no where near any large hotels or convention centers. I started the teasing questions, "oh, is it in a hotel conference room? Is it in this hotel? Or that hotel?" and pointed to small bed and breakfasts and apartments as we went along. He kept his poker face and tried to play it off with lame jokes, pointing out first a youth hostel and then a bar and joking how it was in there, or there, or over there in the souvenir shop.

Suddenly he stopped walking. I looked at him blankly. He looked at a door next to him; my eyes followed his. I caught the company name on the door. It mentioned manicures. It mentioned pedicures. Oh, ha ha- you are so funny there, husband! He had been asking about pedicures the week before and I figured this was the next fake location for this baby expo. He started to open the door. I stared in complete disbelief. You don't just walk into a salon trying to out-tease your wife. This was certainly taking the joke to far. He suggested I go in, which I did, completely confused.

I looked up and saw Jen. And Chris. And Kristin. And the first thing that popped into my head was "Wow! What are they doing here? What are the odds of that happening?" Suddenly the talking and greeting and excitement started pouring out, and the realization started sinking in. It took quite a few seconds for me to click on that (a) there was no baby expo, (b) they were here not out of coincidence but on purpose, and (c) this was a surprise pampering day!

The husband excused himself (his task of getting me there was now completed) while I was helped onto the bench and handed a from-scratch, all-organic, homemade blueberry muffin. I took the whole situation, especially the blueberry muffin, quite seriously at first (as you can see).

Knowing how much she would love it, and considering we had already made her an honorary "one of the girls", the eldest was included in the pampering. She was first to stick her toes in the water and begin her pedicure.

Jen (pictured right) and I quickly followed the eldest and got our feet in the lovely water bath. Kristin (pictured left) kept us supplied in muffins.

Chris kept taking pictures and all of us were talking and having a great time.

Shortly after, we were joined by Nick (in the striped shirt) who drove all the way up from Luxembourg. Our group was complete!

Chris, Kristin, and Nick got their pedicures while the Eldest and I got manicures. We slowly filled the entire salon with muffin crumbs and endless amounts of laughter.

Chris took a break from the camera and came over to join me.

From there we all went to lunch. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, they surprised me with an amazing baby gift. Which I am not going to announce just quite yet. It deserves a post of its own.

I was so thrilled, and so happy. What an amazing day. What an amazing group of friends.

On the way home we got stuck in a traffic jam. I barely noticed. I spent the two and a half hour drive telling and retelling of the whole afternoon to the husband. I must have used the word "awesome" at least a billion times. And it truly was.

It was awesome.

Eleven and a Half

2010-09-29T15:39:00.004+02:00

.... are the number of booties I have finished.

It would have been twelve (six pairs) if I didn't get overzealous while cutting the laces and accidentally cut one of the taupe laces in half. Oops. Now it's an hour-and-a-half round trip to the fabric store to buy enough cording to make on more lace. Unless I can sweet talk the husband into stopping by for me on his way home from work. Perhaps batting my eyelashes and reminding him it's better for the environment might help?

I made three pairs with a circle motif on the outside ankle, and three pairs with a heart motif.

One great advantage to having a cooler-weather baby is the excuse to make pairs warm woolen booties! The laces were left long so they can be adjusted to fit her actual foot size and trimmed after (if needed).

Two

2010-09-28T14:36:00.004+02:00

... is the number of throw pillows I have completed for my comfy chair in the nursery. I used the same material as I used in the quilts to tie everything together.

I use this chair quite a bit now. I have insomnia so I have been curling up on it with a book and reading until my mind clears itself enough to get some sleep.

The cushion covers are similar in style to the 5-minute cushion cover. I upgraded the pattern a bit to include strips of fabric instead of one solid block, and I used buttons to act as a closure instead of just a tuck-and-fold closure.

Seventeen.

2010-09-24T18:16:00.008+02:00

That is the number of burp cloths I have now completed. I was going for 20 in total, but when I got as far as 17 I decided it was close enough. Project done!

The fronts are all made of 100% quilting cotton in fun patterns. I didn't use any of the material from the nursery. I thought it would be more fun to have random, baby-friendly prints instead.

I know many sewists prefer to use pre-fold diapers for the reverse side, but I don't. I opted to use 100% cotton towel material. Partially because I don't like the seams dividing the pre-folds into thirds, but mainly because I like the fluffy feel and highly absorbent quality of the towel material.

Each one is about 11" x 17" (28 cm x 43 cm). This seemed to be a good, average size based on what I researched online- time will tell if that is an accurate measure or not! And as always, they are fully machine washable- even on a hot setting.

Stuck in the middle with you.

2010-09-20T15:19:00.007+02:00

We have only 18 more days to go until my final pregnancy examination. There is every possibility that the exam could trigger labor, so we were advised to bring my hospital bag along to the appointment just in case we don't go home that night as a family of three but rather a family of four. Suddenly having a baby seems very, very real. The long steadfast jog to the finish line has become a panicked sprint. And since my "to-do" list is finally turning into my "has-done" list, I can start posting results!

One of the first major projects was the shuffling of bedrooms to make way for baby. You will remember how we had to noise-insulate and paint the Eldest's room, and how we had to paint the Youngest's room. After waiting for 2 weeks for the paint to cure, we were able to put the decals up on the walls in both rooms.

The Eldest had her room done first. Her motif was a giant peacock. It took us longer to figure out the perfect spot for it than it did for the husband to stick, rub, and peel it into place. Really, it was that quick and easy.

Once the peacock was up, we started to work on the arch. It was here we realized that this should have been the first thing to go on the wall, since the peacock actually sits over the arch and not under. Ooops! I put the camera down and tackled it with my craft scalpel, cutting it to fit around the peacock's curves. Phew. Disaster averted!!

The Eldest wanted to do some of it on her own. Using the smaller pieces as examples, the Husband explained the process to her. It only took a few minutes for her to advance from "watching" to "completely doing it herself."

Once the arch and peacock were on the wall, it was time to put on the eyes that lie within the feathers. Each eye and the center of each eye had to be put on individually. That's one heck of a lot of individual stickers. We made it a team effort. I cut the individual stickers out and handed them in order from top to bottom, he rubbed in place, she carefully peeled the backing.

It took us just under an hour to get all the eyes and eye-centers in place.

But the final product was well worth the time and effort. Don't you think?

Glowing with enthusiasm and excitement from completing this first project, we could hardly wait for the next weekend to move onto the Youngest's room and her decal.

We learned from our previous mistake and laid out the pieces first. It never hurts to ensure we were putting everything up in the correct order.

The husband placed the first part on the wall with masking tape to get a rough idea of where it should hang. The Eldest was right there, helping as he went along. Here she is handing pieces of masking tape.

It took us several attempts to find just the right location. Once we did, we put the first piece officially on the wall, squared it, leveled it, and taped it in place ready to go. That's when it happened. It being "the complete and utter failure of our ability to do this easily and without problems." It started with the masking tape failing. Constantly.

It then moved onto half the decal sticking to the wall, half the decal remaining stuck to the backing- each one ripping in the process. What a nightmare!

The Eldest quickly and quietly made her escape. The Husband and I started venting our frustrations. He quit, I quit, and we both swore we would just rip it off the wall and NOT put it up. Ever. At some point my stubborn streak and his manly pride both kicked in and it became us vs. the decal.

We weren't going to let a piece of vinyl get the better us. No way, no how.

The Husband popped down 3 flights of stairs to get the ladder and my trusty craft scalpel, hauled them back up 3 flights, and let me perform surgery on the decapitated butterflies. He had to leave the room himself because seeing his pregnant wife on top of the ladder really freaked him out. His pleading failed- I wasn't about to climb down. It was me or the vinyl in the "battle of the first section" and I was determined to win.

The camera was then put away while we assembled the remaining pieces. Just in case there was blood shed, tears, or the tearing out of hair. Neither of us wanted to capture that moment on film. We fought against tearing vinyl, masking tape failures, misalignment of pieces, sticky parts not sticking and non-sticky parts sticking, and a panic over missing butterfly antenna. At one point, a good sized chunk of pink paint was ripped from the wall, but I used a butterfly to conceal the damage. Finally, after six hours, the main body of the tree was done.

Another hour and a half brought us the trunk and the "fluttering-away butterflies" to completion. The war between us vs. the decal was finally over.

We won.

An American at a Dutch wedding, in Cuba?

2010-09-09T15:37:00.009+02:00

The husband and I received an invitation to a wedding to be held on 08.09.10 from 14:44 until 22:22 at a place called "Mango's Beach Bar." We would not have missed Erik and Tanja's wedding for the world anyway, but with an invite like that you don't dare even think about missing it!

The day started out with us running late. Very late. We flew out to the car rattling through our checklists out loud to each other in the hope we didn't forget anything. I should have written my list down. Halfway through Amsterdam I realized I had forgotten something.

As a general bit of advisement to you, my dear readers, I highly recommend you do not clutch your stomach and scream "Oh my God! Oh my God!" when you are 8 months pregnant. Your husband will automatically assume something silly and insignificant happened- like your water just broke- and not realize something super important happened- like you just realized you forgot your camera and a pair of flip flops at home.

Once he got over his heart attack, he set about consoling me with the fact that I now had a chance to try out the camera on my phone. He had no silver lining for my missing flip-flops.

We arrived at Mango's Beach Bar and instantly we realized we were no longer in the Netherlands but rather in Cuba. At least, the travel channel version of Cuba. Even though it was a miserable, rainy day it was going to be a hot La Habana party at Mango's!

We headed straight to the bar, around which were wooden folding deck chairs for us to sit on. The bridal music started just a minute or two later. Phew! We just made it in time! The bridal party came rocking down the aisle towards the front of the bar, popped out the front door, ran around back, and came down the aisle again. And again. And again! It was hysterical. Everyone was clapping along and every new wave of bridal party repeats brought shouts and cheers and laughter. While the fun was going on, I was busy kicking myself for not only forgetting to bring my camera, but also for not reading the manual on my phone's camera. You can obviously see why:

The husband consoled me with how he was quite sure I could get photos from the other guests, you know, the ones who didn't forget their cameras? I am sure my outburst in the car deserved that little quip.

The officiant began his service. His speech was incredibly funny, and included everything from heckling the crowd and teasing the family, to his rather silly Official's Robe/pant suit hybrid, to comments in general about married life.

Once it was time for the vows, he switched to a more serious mode. After all, these were important and special words and he wasn't about to play around. In a clear and lovely voice, while their two sons stood by their side, he helped Erik and Tanja commit their lives and love to each other.

And of course encouraged them to seal the deal with a kiss.

After the rings were put on, they as well as their two sons plus their witnesses came forward to sign the marriage documents. With the sound of a bright red gavel, the officiant declared them legally married. It was now time to celebrate!

We headed on outside to a giant tent-covered sand pit for a congratulations and toast. The groom gave his thanks to everyone for coming.

And the two sons, Sebas and Tristan, presented their parents with a gift.

We then toasted the happy couple, not with traditional champagne, but with mojitoes. They even had a special non-alcoholic variety for the children, and "the one carrying the child." We each then had a chance to walk up to the bride and groom with our hugs, gifts, and hearty congratulations.

I hovered around the bride until I could get a shot of the back of her dress. Isn't it such a lovely gown? The red and black iridescent taffeta material was gorgeous, as was the lace detail around the entire neckline.

The bride and groom announced it was time for cake. Being the cake fanatic I am, this was my favorite moment. I was sure to get a front row view!

It was white sponge cake with raspberry jam and butter-cream filling, homemade by one of the guests. And simply heavenly. The very kind and thoughtful wait staff at Mango's cut me an extra large piece. I mean, I am eating for two so I need a portion of cake for two, right? Not that I got to finish it all. I turned my head for one minute and someone else helped themselves to my last bite. Or should I say half a dozen feathered someone elses?

I promptly moved to one of the overstuffed outdoor pillow covered benches to try and stay off my feet (seeing as how I left my back-up flip flops at home and would be stuck in my heels the entire night). All at once I looked around and realized I was part of a giant circle of guests mumbling to each other while the kids played in the middle. Oh, no! I had suddenly become part of that which is most feared by foreigners: the Dutch Circle Party! The husband thought he would capture my moment of sheer terror for you all....

Really tasty appetizers were served and the husband kept my non-alcoholic mojito glass full so I had no excuse to get up from my seat. I think it was all a ploy to keep me in that circle longer. Touche, husband, touche.

Luckily dinner broke up the circle. We ate a delicious barbecue dinner, followed by a dessert buffet. There was live Spanish guitar/violin music playing, an incredible amount of laughter and frivolity, and I don't think there was a single moment where someone wasn't smiling. After dark we headed out to the beach to set paper lanterns into the night sky.

The bride and groom, in yet another of their non-traditional way of doing traditional things, gave us a wedding favor as we said our goodbyes. Instead of chocolates or jordan almonds as one might expect, they handed us a bottle of champagne with these explicit instructions:

When you open this bottle and pour the first glass, drink a toast to us and think of us and this day. The whole rest of the bottle is for you. First drink a toast to yourselves and your future, and then enjoy the rest in happiness.

We have put the bottle aside, since I can't drink alcohol for a very long while, and will bring it out on 08.09.11 (their first anniversary). I am sure the husband and I will be honored to drink the first toast and the first glass to them, and we will be sure to think of them and their special wedding day!

Best Foot Forward.

2010-09-06T16:26:00.004+02:00

Last night I wrote out a list of everything I needed to have on hand before I actually give birth. Considering this new daughter will be here anywhere from 30-45 days from now, I felt like I needed to make the push to get it all done. Of course, once the list was made and I saw just how long it was, I practically had a heart attack.

Now, I know some things on that list are considered unnecessary to some moms but not to me. For instance: a baby album is one of my needs. Sure, sure, I could record her first smile, her first crawl, her first haircut just about anywhere, but an album is just so cute. And I am sure 20 burp-rags and 7 crib sheets might be on the high side of quantities truly needed for other moms, but for this mom who hates laundry as much as I do, I like to ensure I can go as long as possible between loads.

Luckily quite a few of these overzealous needs I can make on my own. Wanting a bit of a break from cotton rectangles, I decided to tackle baby booties. After drafting a pattern, I completed my prototype!

The brief:

No seams on the heel
No seam allowances on inside of the shoe to rub against baby's foot
Made of all wool felt and fully lined for warmth
Covers the entire foot
Some form of fastening (button, snap, lace-up, etc), but not elastic
Slightly adjusts to work with various sock thicknesses so never too tight
Easy to re-size so the pattern can be used clear up until she starts to toddle
Has a left and a right, not "can be used on either foot" style
In either a classic mary-jane or a classic bootie style

The proto-type's tongue ended up being too big (you can just see it folded over and tucked inside), but the pattern has been adjusted now for future booties. I think I may add a fourth row of holes for the laces. And of course embellishments. I think they need some seriously cute embellishments.

Now to get busy making a few final versions of these booties, and then tackling the rest of that massive "needs" list!

Modern Baby Quilt Tutorial (Part 3)

2010-08-26T16:13:00.006+02:00

This tutorial is in three parts:

Cutting and piecing the three layers
Quilting
Binding the edge (this blog post)

Modern Baby Quilt Tutorial

Part Three: Binding the edge

This final step will "seal" the rough edge of your quilt to cleanly finish it. If you need a refresher on how to make your own quilt binding, you can read the post here. Don't forget you can click on any of these pictures to open up a zoomed-in view of the image.

Step 1: It is best to start at the bottom of the quilt, near the center (don't worry about accuracy and finding the exact center- close enough is good enough!). There will be a slight overlap of fabric on the binding and it is better to have this down near baby's feet where it will the least noticeable.

Leave a tail of the binding loose and free, about a hand-length away from the quilt edge.

Step 2: Open the binding along the center fold only, using your finger. Tuck one half under the quilt edge. The quilt edge should sit on the inside center fold of the binding. You should see all the rough cut edges of the binding and quilt edge at this point.

Step 3: Fold the binding back in half, in essence pinching the quilt edge with the binding. This now hides all those rough cut edges and tucks them safely inside. Pin in place.

Step 4: Continue to "pinch and pin" all around the quilt edge. I recommend putting a pin every 2" (5 cm) or so. This is one step where many pins are better than fewer.

Corners will be a bit tricky. There are clever ways of making this work, but I like to treat it like putting sheets on my mattress. Push the center bit in and fold the two sides gently over it. Easy as that. Repeat on the top and the bottom of the binding so both sides of the quilt have a nice, tidy corner.

Notice I have the blue pin on the top of the quilt, holding just the top layer of binding against the quilt face. You can see I caught both the left and right halves to hold them both in place with one pin. The pin does not go all the way through to the other side.

The red pin is on the back, holding just the back layer of the binding against the back of the quilt. If you do this two pin method, you don't have to fiddle with trying to keep a firm grip on one side while folding the other side (it is a rather small, tight corner). Plus, most pins would bend and be ruined before they would go through that many layers in that small of space.

Step 5: Pin all away around until you get to where you started. You should have two tails of binding side by side. Trim one tail close to the edge of the binding, almost touching the other long tail. Trim the other long tail to about 1" (2.5 cm) in length.

(Oh no! the pictures for this step have a read error!!!)

Open the long tail piece of the binding along the center line (just like you did in step 2). Fold over the freshly cut edge towards the tail just a smidgen, and then refold the binding in half. You now have a crisp, clean, fray-free end-piece of binding.

Pin the crisp, clean, fray-free end-piece of binding down. It fits neatly over the cut-short tail to seal the quilt completely. Pin in place.

Step 6: All your basting stitches from the quilt edge should be neatly hidden away inside the binding. No frayed/cut edges should be visible on either the front or the back. It's good to step back and take a quick look to make sure everything is tucked in neatly on both sides. Now is the last chance to nudge things in place if you need to.

Step 7: You can hand or machine sew all the way around, sewing as close as possible to the "folded edges" of the binding. Be sure that when the needle goes in one side, it catches the "folded edge" of the binding and sews straight through catching the "folded edge" of the binding on the other side. This sews both sides in place at the same time.

When hand sewing, your needle should look like this going in on one side:

and like this coming out the other side:

If you chose to machine stitch, sew along this as close to the binding's "folded edge" as possible. Go slow and steady, checking often to ensure your needle has caught both the top and bottom facings.

Now your quilt is finished! Enjoy!

Modern Baby Quilt Tutorial (Part 2)

2010-08-23T13:58:00.013+02:00

This tutorial is in three parts:

Modern Baby Quilt Tutorial

Part Two: Quilting

Quilting is nothing more than making a fabric sandwich, and running thread through all the layers to hold that sandwich together. To keep this quilt as simple as possible (and to keep the modern look), the quilting will be limited to long, straight lines. Easy!

I have chosen the hand-baste method of quilting. This will add extra steps and you will, in essence, being sewing every seam twice (once by hand and then once by machine). However, the chances of the fabric sandwich slipping in anyway or breaking a needle is minimized- making it the most worry-free, hassle-free, and pain-free way of quilting. Not to mention you won't have to invest in a bunch of specialty quilting safety-pins.

Don't forget! You can get a zoomed-in view on any of these pictures by simply clicking on them with your mouse.

Step 1: You are ready to make your fabric sandwich. On a large, flat surface (I recommend a table and not the floor!) place the quilt back with the wrong side facing up.

Place the batting over the quilt back. There is no right/wrong side to the batting. It is ok if the batting is bigger than the quilt back. It is more important to line up the center of the batting with the center of the quilt back than it is to line up any of the sides.

Place the quilt front on top, with the right (finished) side facing up. Again, it is more important to line up the center of the quilt front with the center of the batting than it is to line up any of the sides. You should have some "overhang" of both quilt back and batting all the way around the quilt face. Smooth with your hands to eliminate any large folds or wrinkles.

Step 2: Keep the theme of "start in the center" in mind while you do this step. Find what looks like the center of the quilt face and pin through all three layers. Using your hands to smooth the fabric to keep it as wrinkle free as possible- but without pulling it tight- pin towards the edge of the quilt.

You must start at the middle but can work towards the left or the right. I chose to work towards my right. Once you have pinned a line from the center to the edge, go back to the center and pin to the other edge. You now have a complete line from border to border.

Head down a few inches and repeat this line pinning, always starting at the middle and working towards one edge, then going back to the middle and pinning towards the other edge. Keep using your hand to smooth the wrinkles and make sure everything is flat, but do not pull it tight! You want the "dimpled" look around every pin.

Work your way all the way down to the border. Starting back at your first center line of pins, repeat the process and work your way towards the top. When finished, you should have a lovely quilt sandwich with rows upon rows of pin-dimples.

Step 3: Basting is a series of small to medium length stitches (about 1/4"-3/8" or 6-10 mm in length). These will be pulled out later so neatness and exactness don't matter in the slightest bit. They are meant to be quick "in and outs" of the needle. Instead of knotting the ends, leave a tail of thread about 2" (5 cm) long. It's easy to grab one of these tails and pull out the whole line of basting stitches in one smooth tug later on.

Because everything is pinned in place and cannot slip, you can start the basting lines where you like. I prefer to start all the way over on the right side and sew towards the left. I also like to start at the bottom of the quilt and work my way towards the top. This is because it gives me the least likelihood of poking myself with pins.

Baste about an inch (2-3 cm) away from the strip seam. Baste on both sides of the seam. You can ignore sewing inside the thinnest strips (those made from Pattern D).

(zoom in by clicking the picture to see where I have sewn the basting lines)

Remove the whole line of pins after you finish each line of basting. By the time you are finished basting, your quilt will be pin-free.

Here is what your quilt looks like when all basted:

Already you can see the "dimple" quilt effect! Flip it over to ensure the back is nice and smooth as well:

Step 4: Time to machine sew the quilting lines! You should sew your first seam along the center-most line and work one seam at a time towards the outer edge of the quilt. Flip the quilt around and starting at the center (again), work your way towards the other side.

Like me, you probably don't have a fancy quilting arm machine. To make sure the quilt will pass through a standard sewing machine smoothly, cleanly, and without accidentally sewing through the wrong layers, roll up the right side....

.... and let the roll pass through the "hole" under the machine's arm as you sew. You can easily unroll it as you go along.

You will be starting your stitches at the spot where the side border meets the strips.

Make a knot by sewing a few stitches forward, a few backward, and start going forward again. If you want to ensure this is done with precision and your foot control isn't the best, try making this knot by turning the machine wheel with your hand instead of using the foot pedal. It "manually" makes your machine sew. Sew, using both the edge of the sewing foot and the strip-seam as your guide. This will give you a straight line and a uniform seam allowance for the entire quilt.

When you get to the other side, stop just a smidgen before you reach the border.

Repeat the forward/back/forward for a few stitches to knot the seam. Carefully remove from the quilt from your machine and trim all threads as close as possible. Repeat this step until every seam on the quilt front is quilted on both sides.

IMPORTANT EXCEPTION!!! Do NOT quilt any of the outside borders nor within the thinnest strips!! Basically, ignore sewing in any section made out of Pattern D.

The back will have "uneven" seam distances. This is intentional. It adds to the modern feel of the blanket and allows you the ease of quilting without measuring perfectly spaced lines.

Step 5: Remove all basting stitches. Be sure to admire your handiwork!

Step 6: You need to now pin the border in place. It won't matter if you start with the top, bottom, or left or right side of the quilt- just pick any side that is handy. Follow the same procedure of smoothing with your hand and pinning from the center towards the edge, then center towards the other edge, as you did in step 2.

(don't forget you can click on the picture to zoom in on it!)

Be careful when you get to the corners. Tugging or pulling too tightly as well as not smoothing the fabric can also make them misshapen. I found it easiest to remove the last pin on the adjacent border and smooth the corner in place with my hand moving from the center of the quilt diagonally to the point of the corner, then pinning both borders right at the corner. Crisp and neat!

Step 7: Baste all around the border, removing the pins as you go along. You want to baste very close to the edge. This basting will be hidden by the blanket binding and will not have to be removed.

Step 8: Once the entire edge is basted, carefully trim off any excess batting and quilt backing using the quilt top as your guide.

Step 9: Your quilt is now ready for the final step- binding the edge!

Head over to Part Three: Binding the edge.

Modern Baby Quilt Tutorial

2010-08-20T11:39:00.026+02:00

I love quilts: the color and pattern combinations, the bold visual impact of the blocks blending with the subtle undertones of the quilting, the love of the maker stitched into every inch. They are some of the few things in our hectic, disposable world that only get better as they rest quietly and slowly age.

For our nursery quilt, it is more than just the design and love to be created out of fabric. It has to be durable enough to stand up to daily use, potential accidents, and numerous washings. It has to be able to handle being drug around, sat on, stepped on, bitten and drooled on, squished under the couch, used as an impromptu tent, folded into a toy satchel, draped like a super hero cape, and survive any other creative play use that our future daughter can think of.

That's a tall order for a small quilt.

I decided to make four quilts instead of just one to be on the safe side- one for the crib, two for the floor to be used as play mats, and one extra just in case for 3 am leaky diapers, accidentally being left at Grandma's house, or any other mini-disasters that befall infant bedding. While the fronts would be identical, the backs would be unique. Just for fun.

Because I am but one woman- one very pregnant and very tired woman- I wanted something that would be fairly quick and easy to make. Using long strips of fabric instead of the traditional squares not only saved a tremendous amount of time, but it made the design contemporary and modern in feel.

This tutorial is broken down into three parts:

Cutting and piecing the three layers (this blog post)
Quilting
Binding the edge

The time to make the quilt is anywhere between 6 and 10 hours, depending on your hand sewing speed and your overall skill level. For some this means it can be sewn in a day. For most it is probably best to work over a weekend, which gives you plenty of "walk-away time" in order to put it down and work on other things.

I pre-wash my fabrics before I quilt/sew them, so of course I recommend that you do as well. I wash them in the water temperature and machine setting that I would normally choose for the final product. This reduces future shrinkage, helps prevent future dye transfer, and removes any manufacturing chemicals. Chemical removal is especially important to consider when making anything that will touch a baby's skin. I also recommend washing your batting before use.

Modern Baby Quilt Tutorial
Part One: The Three Layers

What you will need to make this quilt:

1/2 yard (1/2 meter) each of four different fabrics, for quilt front
1 and 1/8 yard (1 meter) of fabric, for quilt back
batting: you need a piece that is cut to 40 x 40 inches (102 x 102 cm). I used 1/2" (1.5 cm) thick, but you can vary the thickness slightly as preferred.
scissors
fabric measuring tape or long ruler (such as a yard stick)
needle and thread for hand sewing
sewing machine threaded with contrasting color to fabrics
pins- standard sewing pins will be fine, there is no need to specially purchase quilt pins
3 and 1/2 yards (3 meters) of 1/4" (6 mm) finished side blanket binding. You can either purchase this, or make your own.

Optional Step: I found it easier to follow a printed mock-up of the finished quilt to use as a reference while making the quilt front. To make the mock-up, I copied my pattern block images and pasted them into long lines on a standard image editor (I used Microsoft Paint) and printed out the lines. I then cut to roughly scale and taped together with scotch tape. You could also hand-sketch the mock-up.

Step 1: Identify and "label" your four 1/2 yard pieces of fabric patterns A, B, C, and D. Pattern D will be used for the thinnest lines and around the edge. I recommend using the fabrics with the smallest print for Pattern D, and the largest print for Pattern A.

For my quilts, I used the following fabrics (all purchased on-line from Hawthorne Threads):

Pattern A:
Studio E, Black and White Essentials, "Posies" in black
Pattern B:
Studio E, Black and White essentials, "Queen lace" in white
Pattern C:
Robert Kaufman, Night and Day, "Trees" in white
Pattern D:
My Mind's Eye, Bloom and Grow, "Tone on tone birds" in pink

Step 2: Ensure your fabric is folded in half (on a flat surface), so that the selvage edges are perfectly aligned and the fabric is folded down the middle. You most likely will find the rough edges are frayed, out of alignment, and/or cut unevenly. The purchase-measurements for the material have taken this into account and are on the generous side, so you can easily trim the rough edges into nice, tidy, straight edges and ensure the sides are perfectly square to the selvage edge and the folded-down-the-middle edge.

Cut the fabric into the following:

Pattern A:

Cut on the fold: 2 rectangles of 7.5" wide and 17.25" high (19 cm wide x 44 cm high).

Once unfolded, you will have 2 rectangles at 7.5" wide x 32.5" high (19 cm wide x 88 cm high).

Pattern B:
Cut on the fold:

1 rectangle of 5.5" wide and 17.25" high (14 cm wide x 44 cm high)
1 rectangle of 3.5" wide and 17.25" high (9 cm wide x 44 cm high).

Once unfolded, you will have 1 rectangle at 5.5" wide x 32.5" high (14 cm wide x 88 cm high) and 1 rectangle at 3.5" wide x 32.5" high (9 cm wide x 88 cm high).

Pattern C:
Cut on the fold:

1 rectangle of 5.5" wide and 17.25" high (14 cm wide x 44 cm high)
1 rectangle of 6" wide and 17.25" high (15 cm wide x 44 cm high).

Once unfolded, you will have 1 rectangle at 5.5" wide x 32.5" high (14 cm wide x 88 cm high) and 1 rectangle at 6" wide x 32.5" high (15 cm wide x 88 cm high).

Pattern D:
Cut on the fold:

4 rectangles of 2.5" wide and 17.25" high (6.5 cm wide x 44 cm high)
2 rectangles of 2.5" wide and 20.75" high (6.5 cm wide x 53 cm high).

Once unfolded, you will have 4 rectangles at 2.5" wide x 32.5" high (6.5 cm wide x 88 cm high) and 2 rectangles at 2.5" wide x 41.5" high (6.5 cm wide x 106 cm high).

Step 3: On a large flat surface (a table top is better than the floor), layout the fabric strips in the following order, from top to bottom (use your guide to help you- if you have made one in the optional step):

Pattern D (2.5" / 6.5 cm wide piece)
Pattern C (5.5" /14 cm wide piece)
Pattern D (2.5" / 6.5 cm wide piece)
Pattern B (3.5" / 9 cm wide piece)
Pattern A (7.5" / 19 cm wide piece)
Pattern B (5.5" / 14 cm wide piece)
Pattern D (2.5"/ 6.5 cm wide piece)
Pattern C (6"/ 15 cm wide piece)
Pattern A (7.5"/ 19 cm wide piece)
Pattern D (2.5"/ 6.5 cm wide piece)

Put the two longest strips (Pattern D, the 14.5" high / 106 cm high ones) aside for now. You won't need them until step 9.

Step back and take a quick look at what your finished quilt front will look like. Be sure all the pieces are facing the "correct" direction (for instance, my pattern C has a tree motif. I needed to be sure the trees looked as though they were standing on their roots and not their tops!).

Step 4: Now that the cutting and layout are done, it is time to start sewing the quilt front together. I found it quicker to pin and sew the first several pieces at one time rather than do each strip one at a time. Because Pattern D is the thinnest, I chose to sew those first.

First, flip the bottom strip up and over so the right sides of the fabrics are together. Think of flipping an omelet if that helps you.

Next, fold all the other strips down and over onto the strip directly below each one. (If you click on the image below, you can see a zoomed in view with arrows showing you which pieces I flipped, and which direction I flipped them.)

Step 5: Pin along the edge where the two strips meet. Be sure the short sides line up evenly or your quilt will end up with a wobbly edge! Sew along this line at a 3/8" (10 cm) seam allowance.

Step 6: Press the seam to ensure it lies crisp and flat. Normally in fashion sewing you press the seam open (the "flaps" going in opposite directions). Here, you leave the seam shut (both "flaps" going the same direction). While it doesn't matter if you press the seam to the left or the right, I recommend pressing it in the direction of the darkest fabric. This help prevents any "shadow lines" appearing on your lighter fabrics.

Step 7: Place the strips back onto the hard surface in the original layout.

Step 8: Start "flipping and turning" your choice of the other strips in the same manner as you just did in step 4. You may want to work with one seam at a time at this point.

Pin, sew, and press each seam as you did in steps 5 and 6. Repeat until all strips are sewn together.

Step 9: Lay one of the two longest strips (you have earlier set aside) down one side of the quilt front, top to bottom (vertically). You have a bit of overhang at the top and/or bottom. You should use the overhang to minimally adjust the up/down position of the longest strip to ensure your fabric pattern lines up in a pleasing way at the corners. However, be sure this longer strip still extends beyond the quilt front at both the top and bottom when you are done adjusting.

Step 10: Flip this strip onto the quilt front, right sides of the fabric together. Pin along the edge, sew, and press just as you did for the horizontal strips of fabric.

Step 11: Trim all four overhangs to align with the horizontal (left to right) strips. Your quilt front is finished!

On to Part Two: Quilting

Modern Baby Quilt Tutorial. Making the Binding.

2010-08-18T20:49:00.009+02:00

Sometimes it is easier to get certain steps out of the way, before you get down to the nitty gritty. Making blanket binding is one of these steps. Even though you won't use the binding until the very end (the final step in making a quilt involves binding the edge), it is great to have it ready to go. The momentum really builds as you start working on the quilt. You don't want to stop to do a side project just as you are about to cross the finish line!

For the record, I am not opposed to buying pre-made blanket binding. It saves you time, but time isn't everything. You may not be able to find any in the correct color or correct material. It is usually sold in solid color, and if you are anything like me you would rather have a cute pattern to either match or contrast with your quilt. For the Modern Baby Quilt, I made my own. It was a cinch- really! Before you decide to add pre-made to your shopping list, you may want to give it a try. The process is very similar to making bias tape, but due to both how it is going to be used and the size of the baby quilt, you don't need to actually cut the strips on a bias. It is easy enough even for the new sewist to accomplish with success and ease.

To answer the age old question: yes, I do pre-wash my fabrics before I quilt/sew them and yes, I do recommend that you do as well. I wash them in the water temperature and machine setting that I would normally choose for the final product. This reduces future shrinkage, helps prevent future dye transfer, and removes any manufacturing chemicals. The latter is especially important to consider when making anything that will touch a baby, or someone with sensitive skin. I also recommend washing your batting first, as well.

Make Your Own Baby Quilt Blanket Binding

What you will need:

1/3 yard (.3 m) of 45" wide fabric
Something to use for measurement, such as a ruler or cloth measuring tape
Something to make straight lines, such as a ruler or builder's straight edge
Something to identify square corners, such as a book or cereal box
Something to with which to write, such as a sharpened pencil or fabric chalk
Something to cut with, such as scissors or a rotary cutter and mat
Iron and ironing board
Optional item: bias tape making gadget

Step 1: Lay the fabric a flat surface, folded down the middle, with the two selvage edges touching each other. If you are using a rotary cutter, be sure the cutting mat is on the flat surface first, with the fabric on top. Have the folded edge closest to you, the selvage edge farthest away from you, and the "cut edges" on your left and right.

Step 2: Especially after washing, the cut edge can be frayed, a bit rough, and/or cut unevenly. You want to make this edge perfectly straight and square. Choose a side (left or right) to work with. Using your item for checking square corners, place it so it is an inch or two (2-4 cm) in from the cut edge (you can use the tutorial on square corners if you need a refresher). You should use both the selvage edge and the folded edge as a guide to make sure the line is straight and square. Draw a line using the ruler, from top to bottom. Cut along this line.

It is important that your line is straight up and down, and makes a perfect box shape with the top and bottom of the fabric. Remember you are getting rid of the rough, uneven cut edge, so it doesn't matter if the spacing between your line and the cut edge varies.

You should now have a perfectly straight side edge without any frayed bits, a perfectly straight folded edge, and a perfectly straight selvage edge. In this picture, the selvage edge (at the top) is a bit skewed so you get a clearer idea which end is selvage and which end is folded. I have chosen to cut the right edge- you can see my piece of uneven waste on the upper left of the picture. Notice my fabric now has a straight top, a straight right side, and a straight bottom. The left side remains uneven- it will be discarded later.

Step 3: Starting on the side you just cut, measure 2 inches (5 cm) in from the edge and mark in several places from top to bottom. Connect your marks with the ruler. Cut along this line. You should now have a strip of fabric 2" wide and 45" long (5 cm x 114 cm).

Step 4: Repeat step 3 an additional three times. You will now have 4 strips, each 2" wide and 45" long (5 cm x 114 cm). Trim just the selvage edges off each end of each strip of fabric.

Step 5: Pick any two of the four strips. With right sides together, sew along one of the short sides. The seam allowance is your choice of 1/2"or 5/8" (10 mm or 15 mm). You now have a double-long strip.

Step 6: Sew one of the two remaining strips to the edge of the double-long strip you just made, in the same manner as in step 5. Sew the final strip onto the triple-long strip in the same manner. All four pieces are now sewn together to make a very long strip. Press seams open.

Step 7: If you have the optional bias tape tool, you can use it now by running the whole length of the very long strip through it, pressing with a steam iron as you go.

If you don't have the optional bias tape maker, you will have to create the double fold manually. First, press the strip in half down the middle, with the wrong sides together. Use steam when you press the fabric to set the crease, but be careful you don't burn your fingers!

Gently open the fold with your fingers. Using the center crease as a guide, fold the top edge down towards the middle crease and the bottom edge up towards the middle crease. Both the top and bottom rough edges should almost touch, right down the middle. Press again with steam to set these two creases in place.

Step 8: Take the double-creased strip and fold it in half down the middle. The top crease and the bottom crease should touch. Press with steam to set.

Here is view to show you what the binding will look like from the side. You can see how the long strip is folded into quarter-inch sections, with the frayed edges tucked neatly into the middle.

Because I like to keep things neat and clean, I took my long strip of blanket binding.....

... and wrapped it around my fingers to make a tidy little coil.

All ready to go!

Modern Baby Quilt Tutorial Starts Here!

Baby Steps.

2010-08-14T23:09:00.004+02:00

We woke up this morning fresh and ready to tackle the nursery. We started with this:

First and foremost, the Husband wanted to get the paint on the walls. While he painted, we tried to figure out the best description for the color: Princess pink? Bubble-gum pink? Strawberry ice cream pink? Cotton-candy pink?

Once he pulled back the masking tape he realized the section around the carpet and in the corners just wasn't perfect. He plopped down on the floor with a tiny art brush and a small dish of paint and slowly, carefully touched up the edge.

Once the paint was dry, we began to dress the room with the large pieces. Here are a few sneak-peeks at what we accomplished:

Now to get busy with the final touches!

Nearing the finish line!

2010-08-11T10:04:00.005+02:00

The eldest daughter's bedroom is coming along swimmingly now. She has declared it 80% complete and is so very anxious to move into her new space. I can see why- it's exciting moving out of a child's room into a pre-teen pad.

We can literally see the finish line on this project. I was worried it wouldn't be done on time, but two friends, Tanja and Erik, popped over Saturday and thanks to their help we not only caught up but pulled ahead.

Tanja manned the vacuum and perpetually cleaned the entire area to keep the dust from spreading. She saved me hours of tidying up. Erik helped the Husband with the final layer of insulation and they both finished boxing-in under the stairs. We had a bit of fun running up and down the stairs to "test" the sound proofing. It works!

Later that day, our friend Ruben popped over and helped dismantle several storage units and closets, move them up/down two flights of stairs, and re-assemble them. Here you can see the main carcass of the Eldest's closet already in place.

Sunday was painting day. The husband taped everything off, and he and the Eldest tackled the wall with enthusiasm. They both had a blast painting, while I had mini-panic attacks over paint drips. They deliberately tormented me by saying "Oops" on a regular basis, and then giggling to my several "What? What? WHAT?!?!?" over-reactions. I really just don't stand a chance when those two gang up on me.

However, I was pleased as punch that they both acted on my advice to cut-in first, and then make "X's" with the rollers instead of going up and down. A decade of watching home improvement shows pays off.....

They finished with the aqua paint in record time, and it didn't even need a second coat. It was left to dry overnight as the day was a bit cool and rainy.

Monday came and the closet assembly was finished, the desk and bed were moved into place (thanks to Ruben popping over again), and some of the decor items were put in place. By Friday, all but the wall decal will be completed (the paint has to cure for 2 weeks before we can put it up on the wall). Coming soon are the "done" photographs!

Progress Report

2010-08-03T15:49:00.004+02:00

The dust is still flying, the machines are still whirring, and everything is still topsy-turvy in our household. Not one of our 32 items on the "must do before school starts" list has been completed. Yet.

We still have until the 23rd of August. A lot can happen in 20 days. Things are in progress and really moving along now. Pretty much the entire list has been started: when one task hit a resting or stopping point, another task was picked up. Any day now those check-boxes in the "done" column are going to start filling up!

So, just what have we done?

The 4 baby quilts are fully pieced. One has been finished clear up to the final step (adding the blanket edge binding). The tutorial pictures are 70% completed, and I can't wait to get that online for you.

The black curtains with pink lining (the same fabric used in the quilts) for the nursery are hung. Of course, taking a picture of solid black curtains in a darkened room is about as easy as taking pictures of polar bears during blizzard. I cheated and used a stool to hold back the curtains just a bit. They are in place waiting for the final hem and trim work to be done. I was always told to hang heavy curtains or drapes for at least a week for the fabric to settle and stretch before you attempt a straight hem. Only 3 more days to go....

The blue, black, and purple curtains for the older daughter's room are next up for me to sew. The first of two wall decals came in today. This one is for the older daughter's room- can you guess what it is going to be once applied to the wall?

It wasn't all sewing and fabric work. The husband, who has been working incredibly long hours (poor thing!), has also been busy. He installed the first of two layers of insulation/sound proofing under the staircase in bedroom #3. As the older daughter's bed will be placed under these stairs, we want to make it as quiet as possible for her. His biggest problem with this project has been gravity (who knew it always pulls things down?!?) and not having an additional set of arms (2 are not enough. He said we need at least 4). After much sweat, swearing, and measuring multiple times, he has managed to do the worst of it.

What I am most proud of is the family room. Do you remember it before?

Here it is as of now....

Nearly done!

Sigh.

2010-07-26T13:38:00.003+02:00

In case you were wondering why it has been so quiet on my end lately, let me share the reason with you. This is the state of my "craft room" as of this afternoon:

Thanks to the "hinden-belly" plus a few restrictions on how much I am allowed to lift, the husband has to do all the work all by himself. I can't do anything but stand around frustrated, because all I can do is stand around not doing anything. To make matters worse- last week and for the next two weeks he will be covering not one, not two, but five other colleagues' desks while they are on vacation. On top of his own work of course.

I hope he doesn't mind I completely took over the living room and dining room in the meantime. Do you think he will notice the 58 yards of fabric strewn over every available surface?

On a positive note..... I am well under way with the 4 matching baby quilts (and of course the tutorial to go with them). My new craft room storage is built and I have nearly finished moving all my materials in place, and those 58 yards of fabric is for a massive curtain project that is now well underway. Baby steps, right? All we can take are baby steps and keep on inching our way towards the finish line.....

Save your money.

2010-07-23T10:08:00.003+02:00

I had a custom request for a wallet in a specific print come in from Etsy recently, and wanted to share with you. I just fell in love with this fabric pattern!

I really miss making wallets. I miss making them so much, I bought 20 meters of interfacing and 25 new fabric prints to start a new set. Now, I just need to get my new craft area finished this weekend and I will be ready to make a start!

How about this design?

2010-07-20T15:03:00.008+02:00

I am working on the design for the baby quilt. I opted for the more modern design of long stripes instead of the traditional quilt squares.

The dimensions are 40 inches high by 30 inches wide, before I add the solid black binding. Through the magic of Microsoft Paint, this is image is pretty darn close to scale. You can click on the picture to enlarge it.

The quilt will be used in the crib during colder weather. I will be also making two extra, identical quilts to dot around the house so the future daughter can lie on something other than the floor while she plays, and "one more for good measure" for those 3 am accidents that are bound to happen. I learned from the first daughter that when it comes to babies, you must always, always, always have a spare set of bedding!

What do you think? I would love to hear your feedback/comments/opinions/criticisms!

I will be sure to turn this into a tutorial very soon.

Garment a Month Project: July completed!

2010-07-09T13:51:00.005+02:00

Well, that was a lot of fun! This Burda pattern "Retro Redo Dress" zipped right together quick as anything!

I made my version suitable for autumn/winter by using a jean-weight denim. Inside I used standard cotton to line the dress, with my daughter selecting the cute "squiggles" pattern from my stash. She has good taste in fabric selection. The dress is intended to be worn as a jumper over a long-sleeve shirt and leggings.

A note on buttons: Buttons can be a choke hazard for infants and toddlers. I took this into consideration before I made the decision to use them as fasteners and decoration. Firstly, I used extra-strong quilting thread to sew them in place. Secondly, I sewed them down with extra stitches. Thirdly, this is for a newborn when cutting and biting teeth aren't present, which significantly lessens the risk. Lastly, I plan to check the buttons for fastness after every wash and before each wearing. Just some things to consider if you are also considering buttons.

Garment a Month Project: July

2010-07-07T09:50:00.005+02:00

Last month was pajamas for the first born, so for July I thought I would make a jumper for our upcoming baby. She's due in the autumn so it has to be a bit warm. I thought a little jumper style dress, to be worn over a long sleeve shirt and tights, would fit the bill. Layers are always good in times of unpredictable weather.

I chose this pattern from Burda: Retro Redo Dress. The only modification I will be making is to actually make button holes instead of using velcro.

It looks fairly simple and straightforward, and probably something I could easily knock out in a couple of hours. Not to mention super cute. The hard part is going to be choosing the fabric. Decisions, decisions.....

The trouble with changing tables.

2010-07-03T15:30:00.011+02:00

We are opting for the baby to sleep with us for the first year. We really only need a place to change her diapers. It isn't so simple as just putting up a diaper station, though. Oh, no. Nothing is ever that easy or straightforward in this family!

In order to have the changing table near us (for those half-awake-middle-of-the-night changings) but not actually in our bedroom (so we don't have to smell it), we must:

move the random-stuff-we-all-seem-to-have out of the family room space and into some kind of storage structure
move my sewing area out of the third bedroom and into the freed-up space in the family room
move the daughter out of the second bedroom and into the vacant third bedroom
set up the changing table (and other nursery items) in the vacant second bedroom

No time being like the present, we piled into the car this unseasonably hot Saturday morning and braved the Amsterdam Ikea crowds. We literally filled two pallet-carts so high with boxes I couldn't see over one, and the other one was as high as my shoulders. Somehow the husband managed to jenga every last one into the car all by himself. My big baby-belly prevented me from doing anything other than making several trips to the beverage counter to keep him hydrated while he stood out in the scorching sun lifting and stacking. He is now taking a well deserved nap (ok, ok, so he actually fell asleep on the couch watching tv) before he has to drag them all in, one by one, down a flight of stairs to the family room.

Then the fun begins. We can assemble and bolt in place two large storage units- one for our stuff and one for my sewing.

And when I say stuff, I don't mean a tiny bit of items. Again, this is our family and we never seem to be able to do things by halves. Here are the "before" shots of the family room (as taken this afternoon):

These two shots were taken "side by side" as I simply cannot figure out how to do a proper panorama shot.

See? I wasn't kidding when I said we have a lot of stuff. Yes, that is a full sized side-by-side fridge there, all the way on the left. You can use it to imagine just how much is really there. Most people have a junk drawer in their kitchen. We have a junk wall in our basement. There really is that much stuff.

I am also not a fan of the piles everywhere: piles of games, piles of encyclopedias, piles of toys that get left behind (today is a good day, the daughter recently cleaned up her last pile of toys). Mrs. Beeton said, "A place for everything, and everything in its place." Mrs. Beeton was a genius. When I grow up, I want to be Mrs. Beeton. We seem to have everything, so now all we need is the place to keep it!

With a little luck the nap will be over soon and the husband can start lugging boxes in the house. I can't wait to get started on finally organizing everything and putting it all away. Perhaps I may need to drop a pan or two on the kitchen floor, accidentally of course, to help wake him up?

Cell phone sleeve.

2010-06-29T11:47:00.004+02:00

The daughter got a new cell phone for her birthday. I got a new cell phone nervous breakdown thinking about it being lost, stolen, or scratched.

The first two can't be helped. She can do her best to be careful and diligent, but that's about all anyone can do. Seeing as how she is not willing to have it padlocked to her elbow or anything totally reasonable as that.

As for scratches? Well, mom can surely address that. A simple felt sleeve will keep the touch screen from rubbing the wrong way against the random rocks, pens, chapstick tubes, keys, and loose change found lurking in the bottom of her backpack.

Please note: this is not her phone. Ours are about the same size so I used mine for demo purposes.
We may have bought her a nice phone, but we are not that crazy!

I went with her favorite colors and a peacock for a scheme. My favorite part is the seed bead eye and small sequins on the head feathers. Her favorite part is the "little star stitching" on the eye of the tail feathers.

Peacock Party Results

2010-06-27T18:11:00.007+02:00

The peacock birthday party started out on the wrong foot. Literally. Just 2 days before I dropped a jar of peanut butter directly on the end of my toe (how I managed to get just the one toe I will never know), leaving a huge bruise, shooting pains, and an inability to walk or even bend it. The slightest pressure made my toe throb in searing pain. This included even the light pressure needed to work the pedal on my sewing machine. I would never be able to finish the projects I had planned for the party!

Super husband came to the rescue! While I was plopped on the couch with my foot elevated, he ran all over town getting everything on my two-page grocery shopping list and finding store-bought decor items to replace the ones I couldn't finish. Disaster? What disaster? He had it covered.

We started the birthday party morning with opening presents from the parents. This was done first because she was just dying to open the packages.

After, we set up the main decor. My daughter had the camera and took some pics while my husband and I set up. I always wear my apron while in the kitchen. Yes, you can see the baby bump!

Outside fabric bunting was on all the balcony railings and from tree tops. We flew the Dutch flag all day in honor of the festive occasion. Inside, paper curling ribbon slingers were hung from the lights.

Besides our regular table, the husband and a very nice neighbor (we literally pulled him in from the street as he was walking by) brought my craft table up a flight of stairs along with a few chairs to ensure we had enough seating. The tables were laid end to end, even though one was an oval and one was a rectangle. For continuity, the decor items ran the length of both.

I used regular glass drinking glasses to hold everything, but popped in paper cups to add some color. The tables were lined with jumbo-sized paper parasols, colored drinking straws, cutlery, and a few nibbles.

The marshmallow pop bouquets were super easy to make. Each one was a regular marshmallow jabbed with a wooden skewer. The top of the marshmallow was dipped into warm water, tapped a couple of times to knock off any excess water droplets, then gently pressed into a small dish filled with rainbow sprinkles to coat.

Our cake was purchased from our favorite bakery: Sweet Things in Utrecht. She does all our birthday and special occasion cakes (including our wedding cake). I hope she never retires because she is now such a family tradition! I shot over an email asking for a two-tiered cake with a peacock theme. We didn't give any further instructions, just let her do her thing. This is the delightful cake she created especially for us.

After a rousing birthday song...

... the daughter gleefully severed the peacock's head....

....and promptly ate it. She said it was very sweet and loved how it turned her tongue blue! I cut generous slices of the chocolate cake layered with caramel sauce and fresh whipped cream for everyone to enjoy.

When cake was over, I started to tidy up and prepare dinner. My father-in-law thought it was funny how I put on an apron every time I went in the kitchen. He borrowed one to follow suit. Such a ham!

Once the family left, the girls sat down to a spaghetti-with-homemade-sauce and garlic bread dinner. An "almost midnight" midnight snack of sausages in soft buns was served along with popcorn while they watched a movie. At midnight the lights may have gone out, but not the giggles.

Sometime around 2:30 am the husband got grumpy enough to lay down the law, and paced the doorway deliberately creaking the floor and/or a door so they were well aware of his presence. Within 15 minutes there was nothing but the regular breathing of sleeping girls.

In the morning, they were served plain granola cereal with their choice of milk or yogurt. I had 14 little dishes of miscellaneous nuts and dried fruit scattered around the table for them so they could "make their own special muesli combination." Each drank a tall glass of orange juice or milk and by 9:30 am the house was once again filled with the giggles of 12 girls.

Peacock Birthday Table Centerpiece

2010-06-21T08:56:00.005+02:00

Guess what I just found? A paper peacock sculpture! How perfect is this for the table centerpiece?

.... and it is for free! I already printed it and will be working on it starting tomorrow. I hope it comes out as cute as the picture! It's amazing what a bit of sheer panic (Oh my oh my oh my her party is in 6 days and I haven't done a thing!!!) and the internet can help you accomplish!

I have an announcement to make.

2010-06-18T17:12:00.002+02:00

I ordered 20-and-a-half yards of this fabric from Hawthorne Threads:

And every bit of it is already accounted for.

You see, my husband and I have been struggling with fertility. After four mysterious second-trimester miscarriages, my body decided it wasn't even going to let me get pregnant anymore. Two-and-a-half very frustrating, very exasperating years had crawled past before we were given the green light to embark on the journey through IVF. We paid visits to the geneticist, the OB/Gyn, and the specialists. Blood tests, compatibility tests, and some rather embarrassing "down there" tests were all taken and the results came back: clear. Fertility speaking, we were fine. IVF wasn't suitable for us. Nothing was wrong. There really was nothing they could do but let nature take its course. And hope for the best.

I refused to believe something wasn't wrong.

Another hospital, another round of specialists, and the new doctor said, "I have a hunch. Would you mind another battery of tests?" More blood was given, but this time I had heart ultrasounds, circulation investigations, and long term blood pressure readings. I thought it was odd but, hey, anything to find out what is wrong. Right? Sure enough his hunch was correct. 12 weeks later I had to repeat the exact same tests to confirm the results before they diagnosed me with "Antiphosopholipid Syndrome" or Hughes Syndrome. A blood clotting disorder.

Suddenly absolutely everything was explained. Even issues outside our fertility ones. It was no longer dumb luck. It was no longer a mystery. And most of all, it was treatable. A low-dose aspirin taken every day could literally erase the problem.

But it was too late.

Somehow, some way, through all the stress, through all the testing, and through all the anxiety, I managed to become pregnant. On my own (well, with husband's help of course). Without drugs, without IVF, without aspirin treatment, and frankly without a snowball's chance you know where. At first there was a great relief. It quickly melted into a sort of fear. Would this one even make it?

At 8 weeks the heart was beating strong and my blood pressure and circulation were normal. So far, so good. At 12 weeks the signs of a healthy baby were there and for most women this is the moment they could all relax. For me, this is the moment when all my problems start. Week 13, 14, 15 go by. I worked hard to keep my stress levels down and to eat healthy. Come on body, don't hurt this one. Week 16 and we had an amniocentesis to check for chromosomal abnormalities (something we have a history of, plus my age makes it more likely). Week 17, 18, 19, so far my body was responding normally and the baby was growing just fine and the amnio came back clear. Week 20 rolls around. The "do or die" week. The week when Hughes Syndrome, at least for me, usually reared its ugly head and changed lives forever. It was literally the longest week of my life. The quiet before the storm.

But no storm came.

Week 21 we had another scan. My blood pressure was normal, the baby was normal, the blood flow between us was normal. Never had the word normal sounded so amazing. We made it to the other side. And most of all, the baby made it through alive.

Today is officially the first day of week 22. We know I will have to take injections for my blood for 6 weeks after the birth. We know I run higher risks of Pre-eclampsia. But mixed in with the reality of now is the possibility of the future. We know our baby will be a girl. We already have a name picked out. We already are working on a plan to reshuffle rooms to make way for a nursery. But, still, I haven't done anything tangible, anything real yet.

So I bought 20-and-a-half yards of baby pink material because, for "reals," I can make curtains and quilts and sheets and diaper bags and storage bins for a nursery for a baby.

A healthy, normal baby.

Yellow Gingham.

2010-06-16T09:29:00.005+02:00

Finally I can share!

I made these for a friend, who was giving them as a gift to one of her friends. I promised not to mention them on the off chance that the friend-at-the-end might hear about it. No ruining of surprises from me!

Her brief was: it had to have yellow gingham, a big bow, super full skirt, and a wide hem. The two girls dresses should be matching. The matching part gave me difficulty. The youngest is a newborn and the oldest is 2. One is flat on her back, while the other is every position but. One lays still, while the other runs and explores. I decided to make them as close as possible, but still suitable for the age of the wearer.

For the newborn I chose a dress pattern with shoulder ties so the back was smooth and flat. The bow was made of two parts sewn together- it laid flatter than a regular bow and wouldn't be uncomfortable. And of course I remembered the bloomers!

For the older girl, I got to splurge and make gingham covered buttons that ran all the way down the back. And figuring she would end up topsy-turvy at some point, I made sure to make a pair of pantaloons with a matching ruffled edge. They stay hidden until the skirt gets lifted just a touch.

Both are made of all cotton so completely washable. The bodices are fully lined and all the seams are sealed. This will really help them last through wearing and washing. Both bows are sewn down so they stay big and full and mom doesn't have to spend ages tying and retying them!

Peacock Birthday Invites

2010-06-14T12:01:00.006+02:00

I don't know who enjoys my daughter's birthday more. Of course she gets the party in her honor, picks the theme, and gets the presents, but I get to decorate, coordinate, and come up with all the fun creative elements. This year she wanted to continue her passion for all things turquoise and purple and have a peacock themed party. Today I am putting together the invitations as they must, must, must be handed out tomorrow at school (her words exactly).

I first made a fully-functioning fan invite that pulled open by string to reveal a peacock. Great in theory but which came out looking horrible. Really horrible. Back to the drawing board, and the completely redesigned invite was made simpler, with no moving parts, and more in keeping with what a birthday invite should be. And it still meets her criteria:

has a peacock on it
mostly turquoise
a ton of crafty bits
obviously homemade

For the peacock at the bottom, I used two pieces of felt layered to make the body and loops of satin ribbon for the feathers. All are sewn down roughly on the machine to hold in place. I glued down a crystal eye in aqua for a bit of "bling."

For the backing, I used a piece of flocked cardstock cut to 10x5 inch size. The text was created in my office package and printed in eggplant purple ink, cut out and stitched down on either side. Once the stitching was done to the face of the card, I added another 10x5 piece to the back (flocked sides facing out) and zig-zagged around the edge to hold the two together. Now all my cut threads were carefully sandwiched in between out of sight, and the invite has a lovely texture when you hold it. I love soft and fuzzy on the fingers- don't you?

One down, 15 more to go. Yes, that's right. We are inviting 15 girls to her slumber party (one invite is extra for her scrapbook). Am I being a bad mother by admitting I hope they don't all RSVP yes?

Bling bling follow up....

2010-06-10T12:51:00.007+02:00

Remember the bling bling pajamas needed for the pajama disco? If success can be measured in smiles, then I am pleased to announce they were a huge success!

I got the full front coverage and loose bottoms to satisfy me, the mom. She got the (barely) peeking out belly button and "open back" to satisfy her, the pre-teen diva.

On the way to the disco (she reported as soon as she got back from camp) she slipped and fell in the mud- completely covering her bottoms and soaking her right to the skin. "I even got mud on my underwear mom! It was soooooo gross!" were her exact words. Thinking fast, she popped back into her tent and put the black pants on from her other pair of pajamas, rolled up the hem to hide the mis-matched trim, and went on to the disco. I am so proud of her ingenuity and quick thinking!

They were rated "really comfy" for sleeping. I have a feeling they will be pulled out again for slumber parties- after all she says she feels rather sophisticated and very grown up when she wears them. She asked if at least one more of the remaining 5 pairs of pajamas yet to be sewn can be in this diva style. Asking for more, to me, is proof positive I gave her something she really likes.

Sunday Market Wrap-Up

2010-06-09T09:58:00.003+02:00

The Sunday Market was so much fun! The coordinators put all of us (who sell on Etsy) into one area, one booth after another. We took up an entire section, both sides of the walk. It was great to put faces with the shop names, meet some of the staff who work at Etsy, and have a great laugh and good conversation throughout the day. And thanks to Matt from Etsy, I got myself one awesome official "donkicorn" Etsy tote bag.

I was still pretty tired so I mainly hung around the booth, sitting when I could (oh my feet!) so I didn't get a chance to do as much "window shopping" as I wanted. My daughter had more than made up for it though, and managed to expand her "must have" Etsy wish list by at least 100 more products.

Here you can see the Momfetti staff (aka my awesome family) at our booth!

In case you are in Amsterdam....

2010-06-04T11:26:00.005+02:00

Just imagine: Etsy in real life! Roughly 20 craft stalls have been reserved for over 25 Etsy sellers at this weekend's Sunday Market at the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam (12-6, free admission!). Contests, giveaways, and of course some amazing hand-crafted items will be there. The whole Momfetti gang will be there. Will you?

Finding my inner diva.

2010-06-02T16:50:00.004+02:00

The daughter brought a note home from school regarding school camp. It has all the info: time, date, cell phone numbers, and the complete list of "needed items." The usual suspects were there: sleeping bag, pillow, toothbrush, etc. But also lurking on the list was "bling bling pajamas for the pajama disco."

Bling whaties for the what what?

I got a rather large eye-roll from the daughter when I asked what the heck bling bling pajamas were. I have a sneaky suspicion she doesn't know either, since she never really gave me a straight answer. And of course camp starts Monday- just after our busy craft fair weekend. Gulp. I basically have until Thursday to finish the pajamas if they have any hope of making it to camp with her, and no time to buy any materials.

Tossing aside the second set of nearly-completed pajamas that I had already been working on earlier this week, I set out to create her this bling-bling pj thing. When I asked one of my favorite forums on the net "just what do Europeans mean when they say bling-bling pajamas?" the response was exactly what I was afraid of: lots of metallics, lamé, sequins, and of course tons of rhinestones. None of which are lurking in my rather sedate craft room.

I compromised with the daughter. Instead of "bling bling pajamas" I would go for "diva lounge wear". I can do diva. I watch enough episodes of Toddlers in Tiaras to know over-the-top glam when I see it. Using the funkiest fabrics still suitable for clothing in my stash, I set to work and today managed to nearly complete the top!

I made a simple halter top ending below the breast line, with a ruffled skirt bottom that ends right at the navel. This got a large smile and a thumbs up from the daughter.

The continuation of the ruffled skirt runs around the back. Other than that, and the straps that cross over the center, it is backless. Very grown up I was told. Very glam, very diva. Phew! Next up are the pants and the matching hair accessory.

I'll be sure to post the final product being modeled by Miss Diva herself. Wish me luck, and an evening free of pin pricks and sewing machine jams!

Garment a Month Project: May update

2010-05-29T16:32:00.007+02:00

One set of pj's is finished! Ta-Dah!!!!

I would have taken a few extra shots but the cat decided to interrupt the photo shoot with her attention seeking. How could any child resist so much cuteness?

I made the set a half-size too big. This way it is roomy without over-powering her frame, but most importantly she has room to grow. These will last her all summer long and well into autumn. Bring on the growth spurt! This time I am ready!

You can see my little stitches in the inside of the collar. I still hand finish collars, as it saves hours of fighting with and swearing at my machine. I went for double thick thread and larger stitching (instead of hidden ones) as it will need to stand up to washing, wearing, and some serious pillow fights.

On the inside I finished every seam to keep those pesky frayed edges at bay. For the curving bits (the arm-holes and crotch), I made and used my own bias tape. Each seam was visited twice or even three times before it was considered finished. It doubled my work load, but I think the cleaner finish- not to mention longer wear- was worth it.

The daughter is very happy with her first pair, and after her first night trial run declared them "comfy." Now I only have 6 more pairs to go!

Garment a Month Project: May

2010-05-17T10:26:00.005+02:00

School camp is the first week of June and her birthday sleep-over is the last week. That's a lot of public pj's time! Seeing as how her last growth spurt turned all her pj tops into belly shirts and the pants into shorts, it's time for new ones. I am making the daughter 7 pairs of pajamas. The garment of the month goal for May is complete two of them (one for each night of camp).

I plunked her down in front of Hawthorne Threads and told her to pick whatever caught her eye. Her final "favorites" list totaled 44! We whittled away the choices until 7 patterns remained. The fabric was then ordered, delivered and subsequently pre-washed. Ready to go!

Next came the pattern. I wanted to try my hand at pattern alteration so chose to modify one I found in Burda Style Magazine, March 2010 edition (pattern #137: girl's jacket). I am hoping something like this will be a good learning experience.

I modified the coat by:

rounding the collar edge to make it more of a Peter Pan shape. I used the pocket as a guide so the curves matched.
shortening the sleeves
lengthening the hem to make it fit mid-hip rather than at the waist
moving the pocket to the breast and decreasing the number of pockets from 2 to 1

After I carefully traced the pattern, I added 5/8" seam allowance. I want to self-seal the seams and this is a great allowance to do that. For the pants, I am using a pattern I already had for a pair of very easy, elasticated waist pants. The only modification is to crop them below the knee instead of at the ankle.

Today I am cutting the pattern out of muslin to do a test run and check the fit. See? I finally learned my lesson!

Vacation Recap: Edinburgh Castle

2010-05-15T10:44:00.011+02:00

After visiting Alnwick, we headed straight into Edinburgh and right to our hotel. It was great getting in later in the day: we could unpack and rest and be ready bright and early the next morning for all day exploring. I chose one just a short 4 minute walk away from the Royal Mile- which meant everything else was in walking distance as well. Walking is healthy and greener, which I never failed to mention when anyone complained their feet hurt. Of course, turn about is fair play and my family reminded me of this fact. Often. In all honesty I think I complained about feet the most.

I am a huge fan of pre-planning, and every trip I drag along a full-sized, several inches thick itinerary binder filled with everything from maps (from place to place in the order we will be seeing them) to e-ticket stubs to opening and closing hours to alternate things to do in case something is shut. Even a little calendar with times blocked off for attractions, meals, and estimated travel times.

Believe it or not, I am not crazed. Really. Every night we discussed the next day and made tweaks and changes depending on what we learned by actually being there- regardless of what the great red travel binder said. For instance, being there led to the quick discovery that the Royal Mile is on the side of a hill, and our hotel was somewhere in the middle. The easy solution was to chop our walk in half and split it over two days. You know, in respect of my feet and all.

I don't think we could have wedged any more activities into our 3 days, even if I had a vat of lard and shoe horn to help. Our jam-packed tour of the city played out like this:

Thrs: Visited Holyrood Palace, toured the Queen's Gallery, walked the lower half of the Royal Mile, took in a Broadway Musical
Fri: Walked the upper half of the Royal Mile, visited Edinburgh Castle, visited the Camera Obscura/Museum of Illusions, went on a night-time ghost tour
Sat: Visited Gladstone's Land, visited the Georgian House, walked Prince's Street and the park, took a nap and put off visiting Rosslyn Chapel until the next day
Sun: Attempted to see Rosslyn Chapel which would be closed (ooops), headed back to the airport in England, made a mystery detour, and flew home.

Except for my Rosslyn Chapel fiasco, everything went smoothly and hassle-free. Don't worry, you will hear more about that little adventure and the mystery detour later. All major attractions had been pre-booked and paid for online so we got to skip the long waits at the ticket counters and head straight for the front doors. No lines for us!

Because so many things were indoors where photography was not allowed, I am just going to pass on some exterior highlights of the things we did. First is our day at Edinburgh Castle.

The front of the castle was imposing, sure, but not as spectacular as I expected. In fact, it seemed a bit on the small side to me.

Once inside I began to realize why it looked so "small." The exterior walls were deceptive as they were much taller than at first glance and from the perspective on the esplanade, they acted almost as a gate house to the great castle beyond. Inside, it literally unfolded and extended both along the mountain top as well as into the rock itself. It was there, inside, when I became in awe of the dimensions and its sheer strength. Now I was very impressed and boy was it spectacular!

You can see it was rather crowded. Luckily, most of these were guided tour-groups and most stayed for only an hour or so.

Since we lingered for several hours, venturing in and out of the war museums within the castle walls, we easily caught the gaps in between groups and the crowds didn't bother us.

The National Shrine was quite breathtaking. Each branch- including civil reserve, women's core, and medical core- were represented. I found one section of men who died in the War of Independence with the American Colonies. It was a bit eerie to see this perspective from "the other side". Out of respect, people talked in whispers and hushed voices.

We ventured to the top of the ramparts and saw such a stunning view of Edinburgh and beyond. From our vantage point, we could also look down on the dog cemetery- the resting place of those faithful friends who also served their country in times of war or as regimental mascots.

St. Margaret's Chapel was a lovely find. It is the oldest building in the entire city. It was used during the Napoleonic wars as an ammunition store, and only since the Victorian era was it rediscovered and restored.

We stopped in to see the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny, and explored some older buildings within the castle walls. We even saw the very spot where James the 6th and 1st was born.

The daughter had great fun hamming it up with Mons Meg, the massive cannon.

Before we left we decided to explore the underground areas of the castle. Once there, we found the American prisoner of war holding cells used during the War of Independence. It was dark, dank, and cramped. Very little remains of this former use except three doors chiseled with names, dates, and other graffiti left by prisoners held there.

Don't forget you can see larger views and additional pictures in my Scotland 2010 Flickr set.

Vacation Recap: The Harry Potter Castle

2010-05-12T16:00:00.011+02:00

Our second day in England took us to one of three castles they used when filming the first two Harry Potter movies. In all honesty, I haven't seen the films nor read the books- but the daughter is a huge fan. That meant I got to fulfill my castle obsession, she fulfilled her Harry Potter obsession, and the husband got to fulfill his cannon and implements of war obsession. It was a win-win-win day for all of us!

We first ventured into the gardens. They were simply amazing.

I don't think there was a rectangular junction of paths anywhere- they all meandered, looped, and whirled. Unfortunately the flowers hadn't popped yet so we had to settle for mainly greenery, but we managed to find a few tulips in bloom. They were imported from the Netherlands, and was our first taste of "home" we would be experiencing throughout our trip.

It was also the first time I have ever seen actual doves in a dove cot.

My daughter was just itching to go on the poison plant tour. It was a special, fenced garden filled with nothing but harmful or fatal trees and plants. Throughout history, each plant had been used before in accidental or even intentional poisonings- including one used a recent murder! Several spooky stories and plenty of warnings were included in our tour. I kept my hands jammed in my pockets the whole time, afraid to touch anything. Yes, I admit it. I am that much of a chicken.

Afterward we finished with a mad dash through the bamboo hedge maze. Well, the daughter dashed....

.... while I went mad and yelled after her "Hand on Wall! Hand on Wall!" We found the end of the maze which had a map. She so kindly volunteered to show us the "you are here" point.

We headed for lunch at the Treehouse Restaurant. I had seen it on the Hairy Biker's Christmas Special and ever since was determined to eat there if I ever got the chance. I mean, how could anyone resist eating in a giant, multi-storied tree house?

The food was delicious. And no, that isn't me getting caught stealing a piece of cheese from the daughter's ploughmen's lunch. Really. What kind of cheese stealing mother do you think I am? It was good by the way. Very tasty.

The interior was lit with thousands of Christmas lights and a few spot lights. Just about everything was made out of wood: menu covers, salt and pepper shakers, sugar dishes. Gnarly branches was used for decor and area dividers while planks and shingles lined the walls. I especially love the tall-backed chairs made out of reclaimed wood.

Afterward we took a quick walk around on the tree-to-tree platform system. It was made out of two large rope bridges and a few paths high above the ground.

Appetites satisfied, we headed back to the main attraction: Alnwick Castle.

It was certainly impressive, made up of an outer defense structure loaded with towers as well as a magnificent interior keep.

The husband had decided to conquer the castle, and this is his victory pose.

Most of the leaded windows were still the originals and hundreds of years old.

From the castle walls, a magnificent view could be seen. Now the only thing that frequents the field of battle are a few hikers and a few hundred sheep.

In the distance I spotted a bridge with a lion statue on it. Later, on our tour of the stately rooms we found out this was called the "Lion's Bridge." Oh those Alnwick Castle builders were a clever lot, weren't they?

And finally, the quickie "do you remember this from the movie?" photo tour. Remember: only the first two films were made here and only the exterior shots were filmed as other castles further south were used for the interior scenes. In the above you can see where the Quidditch matches were filmed, as they used the full grounds all around the keep. But for specific shots, there were two areas pointed out by our tour guide: the flying lessons spot.....

....and the light that Hermione lights with magic.

If you want to see additional shots or larger views of these pictures, you can catch them all on my flickr "England 2010" page.

Vacation Recap: First day in England

2010-05-10T22:05:00.005+02:00

Well, hello there!

We are back from our rather jam-packed vacation, and things are now just calming down and getting back to normal. The daughter declared she was rather excited to get back to school as it would be a welcome rest after vacationing. I consider that a compliment to my amazing itinerary making skills.

Our first day of vacation was rather easy on us all. My daughter spent the entire day visiting the British side of the family while my husband and I did some much-needed maternity clothes shopping. We then headed over for a tour at Wall's End to see what else but the end of the wall! Our only stop was Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths, and Museum.

We nearly missed the parking lot entrance because in all honesty it looked more like an airport than a Roman fort.

The first thing we did was head right to the top of that air-traffic control tower looking thing. It had a small amphitheater with interactive screens as well as a movie playing on continuous loop about the site. The movie had a time line and computer generated images showing the rise and fall of the various structures on the site over the past 2 thousand years. When we were done learning all we could, we took one last look at the spectacular view out the window at the remains of the Roman fort before heading off to walk amongst them in the flesh.

We walked the ruins and headed over to the piece of the wall itself. A brief explanation: the modern oak posts are stuck in the original post holes found on site, and are assumed to be part of the wall defense. The long, low path of rocks is the actual remains of Hadrian's Wall where it terminates (or where it starts, depending on which way you are walking!). The wall next to it is a replica of what they think it looked like when completed.

The wall is estimated to be 12 feet tall, based on written descriptions of it dating from 1000 CE. Just to give you an idea of how tall this is, my 5'10" husband decided to offer up his body as a point of reference.....

..... and didn't even flinch when I asked him to pretend to be the little Dutch boy who plugged up the hole in the dike with his finger. A gag which never ceases to put me into fits of giggles and never seems to get old. You can see how seriously he takes this responsibility.

We then headed to the replica baths. Two years ago we spent time in Bath, England so the differences between a large public bath and a simple, fort-based bath were staggering. The concepts were the same, but the size and embellishment were world's apart. In one room we found the stone toilet block. Again, the husband didn't flinch when I asked him to demonstrate the proper use of what you do after "a number 2". He did however flinch when I asked him to drop his pants for authenticity.

Chicken.

They didn't use paper but used a sponge on a stick. The little trough in front had clean flowing water in it. First you dipped the sponge in the clean water....

....then you popped the wet sponge through the hole at the bottom of the slot....

..... and you then used the sponge to clean your bum.

I think he is such a great sport.