Sew Fussy

You know, I started this post with a big, lengthy list of annoying things that have been happening lately but it was so boring I had to delete it. I really don’t need to be too wordy. In short, my good sewing machine and my only working serger broke over the weekend within an hour of one another, I’m currently sick but have to go on a looong field trip with a fiesty baby and an entire kindergarten class tomorrow, and I can’t stop eating entire pints of ice cream or at least double dipping on the Drumsticks every night. My bottom must be growing quite large…

But good things have happened at the same time! First, I won a pair of jeans through this contest at Fashion-Incubator. (I wonder if they’ll help with that whole expanding bottom problem I think I’m having.) I’m moving along in my diaper production research and am waiting on samples from two different places. And I got the most lovely package in the mail today from my friend Jesse at Luxe Baby. Isn’t the dress gorgeous? It fits Z perfectly, and Jesse even sent along a “Sparkle” boook for Anya. Smart mama, that Jesse.

(THANK YOU Fairest Wench Jesse, you shouldn’t have sent such unrequited beauty but you totally made our day!!!)
So yeah, I think it’s actually been a very nice week so far… ask me again tomorrow when I get home from Kindergarten Day at the zoo!

in pictures…

Our couch slipcovers are in the wash after having a mass of goldfish crumbs, more than two pounds of dried cranberries, and a full bag of white sugar dumped on them throughout the past week.
I guess Zella decided she didn’t want to EAT the biscuit she grabbed from the counter this morning, she just wanted to grind it into little bits and sprinkle it around (so that she could always find her path?)
Of course I cleaned the nastiness up immediately, I would never leave it like this even though I’m positive it’s going to look exactly the same at some point tomorrow.

Snap bombs are a big threat in this house, we all walk around on tip toes to avoid getting stabbed. This is what the snap area looks like after we’ve cleaned up much of the snappy mess that Zella made today.

This is the area right next to my snap press where I keep all of my tee shirt blanks in plastic bins with lids. With lids! She dumped five bins in the five minutes I was serging some doublers, less than six feet away. I have to keep telling myself that I needed to organize the sizes anyway…

And while there is still plenty of time left for her to wreak more havoc, and I know that she will, it’s impossible to stay upset with her when she says she’s sorry.

Check it out, while I was posting she stole two containers of cream cheese and rubbed them both all over her clothing-less body. Poor pup got some too, and it looks worse in real life, believe me.  She does all this while I’m right near her, too. I must be oblivious.

(One of the points of this post is so that I can have a running list of things that occur when I don’t have Zella directly in my eyesight at all times. Before Bill left I warned him that I wasn’t going to get any work done and he incredulous, asking me “Why not?” Now I have well-documented reasons, and this is just a fraction of the fun we’ve been having lately!)

ISBN 9784579111367

I bought this book a while ago because I am in love with the raw, unfinished look most of the items have. I would own most of these Japanese pattern books for the photography alone – such beautiful pictures and a very nice aesthetic within the pages. It’s very inspiring to flip through any one of the dozens on my bookshelves (erm, I have a bit of a book problem.)
But I only just got around to sewing something from this particular book while Bill has been gone. I figure I deserve a break from sewing diapers and pads every once in a while!

I don’t really have a lot to say about the pieces I made, except that I really love how they turned out and my girls do, too. They’re both for Anya – size 110 maybe? but Zella kept taking the cloth from me and trying to dress herself as I was sewing. She really likes the dress so I think (dork alert!) that I’ll have to make her one as well. Then they both can be matching-olive-linen-dress-wearing hellions; peeing on the floor, ripping keys off my keyboard, dumping full bags of sugar on the couches, and pouring bottles of honey all over the dog and house. I’ve had such an interesting couple of weeks here, can you tell?

As you can see from the pictures, the dress ruffles and hems are left unfinished and allowed to fray a bit. The pattern does call for a line of stitching to be sewn a small distance away from the edge so that it doesn’t completely fray.
I know the pants don’t look very exciting, and they’re not, but they were so easy to make and they are a perfect fit on Anya. Very cute in action!

And finally, though I don’t have a picture just yet, I made myself a long, full, asymmetric skirt from the same olive linen. Other than the really ugly silver-metal buttons I had to use because I’m impatient, I like the skirt a lot and I could see myself making more to wear. You know, in all of my free time…

Weird how everything I’ve made for my own family lately has been olive-colored.   That’s an accident!

As per my evil plan, I did sew for many, many hours in the weeks before Bill left. Want to see proof? Now I just have to find the time to stock (yeahriiight.)

And I’m so not excited about it, either. Bill is going to Mongolia again, but this time for a longer period. For the next two weeks I’m going to be a single mom in charge of the two girls and a big ol’ dog, which means I will get no sewing done unless it’s for personal items that don’t require much focus or finishing. I love to walk around with unhemmed tops and threads hanging off of my Christy-made-while-watching-two-crazy-little-girls clothing. Anyway, wish me luck because every time I’m here alone I gain new respect for moms (or dads) without partners… it’s like triple the work. lol, poor me, right?

In other news that somebody might actually care about, I’m researching business cards and think I’ve decided to use GreenerPrinter.com instead of vistaprint. It is definitely pricier but I feel like my first set of professionally printed business cards should represent the ideals of my company (which sounds lame when I say it, but I’m being sincere.) Greener Printer does it by printing on up to 100% recycled materials, utilizing wind power, and more. It’s also very easy to create the cards and order… if you go to their business card page you can play around with the different options and get a price quote right before your eyes (scroll down to the little box). My example below shows the price for 500 cards with full color front and black printed back on 100% recycled card stock.  Check out the “Eco Audit!”   So interesting.

As you can see, it’s not dirt cheap like vistaprint but it’s not overwhelmingly expensive, either. Now I just have to get my business card layout finalized, but that’s a whole ‘nother topic. Speaking of which, BabyJewels has done it again! I’ve had this idea in my head ever since my latest logo redesign (also by BabyJewels/Cat) but could never have drawn it myself. I went to Cat with my request and she had the drawing done within hours, at an extremely affordable price! She did such a great job, too – it’s just what I had visualized. For what it’s worth, I had been thinking of using this logo on mini-tags for my items, but especially the Moonbows.

In keeping with the eco-friendly business practices, I just received some recycled packaging materials in the mail yesterday from my Nashville Wraps order. I had ordered the recycled Kraft tissue paper for wrapping, and I love the natural look of it. I also ordered some recyclable polyethylene bags (that I could have sworn were made from 30% recycled material but now I can’t seem to find the info…) for my Moonbeam nursing pads, since those need to remain in pairs and it’s easy get them mismatched because I’m a spazz and all. Of course I have tried to get myself to forgo any packaging other than the envelopes I ship in, but it is possible (rare, but possible) for the envelopes to get small holes and it just seems that a cloth diaper wrapped in a single layer of tissue paper is a little more protected. Don’t you think?