Off the deep end...

Today I did something a little drastic and now you get the bear the burden of my blog post...

I went and had all my hair cut off. My poor husband ADORES long hair, but I gave him advance warning and explained to him that every day it makes me a little nuttier. I don't think he'll ever understand the complicated completely irrational relationship I have with my hair but I think he felt bad for me.

After having two babies in less than two years, my hair took a real beating. I know everyone has different experiences with pregnancy, and I am truly blessed to have easy & healthy pregnancies. But after I have a baby, I lose ungodly amounts of hair. So now it's all growing back in, which is great. But it does not make for an easy coif to manage.

Before...it's not terrible, but it takes way too much effort to get this so-so hair

This morning, I took my sister (who, along with me and our mom, also has an irrational relationship with her hair...maybe it's genetic?) and did the deed. 

My model cut and my latte.

If I actually get to leave the house without my kids and get pampered with a haircut, you can put money on the fact that I'm treating myself to a latte.

Playing with my new hair after the cut...and LOVING it!!!

(and how cute is my sister taking pictures in the background?)

 My sister and I basking in the glow of a new haircut

And one more gratuitous self portrait at home...

did I already mention how much I love it?

Here's to a new start

and hopefully not looking like a boy...
(and, as my 3 1/2 year old said when I walked in the door, 
"It's just hair, Mommy, it will keep growing.")

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The Wonder of This Place

My husband is on the left with our 3 1/2 year old on his shoulders &

I'm on the right with the baby on my hip.

Love the long shadows of dusk...

My husband's birthday wish list was short and to the point: a family camping trip. Easy enough. So we packed up the kids in Daddy's off-road pick-up and headed out to the California desert for a 2 day/1 night camping trip (break 'em in slowly when they're little). In fact, this was, officially, our first Family Camping Trip. My husband grew up camping in the desert and introduced it to me when we started dating about 10 years ago. While I will always (and unabashedly) choose a king size bed and whirlpool tub over a tent, I really do enjoy being outdoors, especially since having kids.

I have lived here in Southern California almost my entire life and sometimes take it for granted. But this weekend was a good reminder of how amazing this state really is. So many different climates packed into short driving distances and such great opportunities for frolicking outdoors. Here are a couple pictures from the trip because they just make me happy.

We've had a lot of rain this year (by Southern California standards)

and the desert was covered with wildflowers

My baby (who's almost 2 and hardly a baby anymore) showing me the moon...

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Gone Fishin'

If you use this tutorial I'd love to see your creation! 

Feel free to post it to the Handmade Mommy Tutorials Flickr Pool.

My husband will celebrate his 32nd birthday this week. Happy Birthday, Babe! He said all he wanted was a family camping trip. But I still wanted to make him something. Sadly, my own husband and kids often get the fewest handmade goodies because I'm always working on some other project. However, this is something that he specifically asked for awhile back and I was thrilled to be able to give him a handmade gift that he'll actually use.

(Oh, and I made him swear not to check the little blog and ruin the surprise. I just couldn't resist posting these.)

Update: my husband was thrilled with these! I also gave him the Avatar DVD...which was quickly set aside and he just kept talking about the bags, how much he had wanted them, how great they looked, how curious he was about the stencils...possibly the best gift I've given him in a long time. Ahh...sigh of contentment.

Without further ado, I give you...fishing reel drawstring bags! Huh? Yah, it's a little different. But we do lots of odd things for the ones we love, don't we? :) He will hopefully get years of protection for his prized reels and think of his loving wife (Hi, Honey!) every time time he makes a deep sea fishing trip with his dad.

If you feel so inspired to whip up some manly drawstring bags to hold fishing reels (might make a good handmade Father's Day gift...), here is the tutorial for you!

Disclaimer: I'm sure there's a better/easier/faster/more efficient way to to do these bags, 
but this seemed a good way to keep the seams put and make sure he never saw a raw edge.

You'll need...
your denim needles (this is important),

a canvas or duck cloth fabric,

and elastic cord with coordinating cord-stop.

First, you'll cut 4 pieces of fabric: 2 outer & 2 lining. 

They're all the same size and the size is determined by your reel. 

I just laid the reel on the fabric and then took a good guess.

 My outer pieces (khaki) and lining pieces (green striped)

Next, I freezer paper stenciled a fish on one of the outer pieces of fabric.

Why didn't someone ever mention how great freezer paper stencils were?? 

Oh, I guess a couple people have covered that already...like here and here and here . 

These are just a few of the tutorials I found.
You should try it someday. It took me way too long to do it myself.

Oh, and in case you were wondering what fish those are on the bags up top, one is a Yellowfin Tuna and the funny looking one is a Dorado. These are the fish my hubby most often brings home to fill our freezer and I knew he'd recognize them.

Place each outer piece right sides together with a corresponding lining piece. Pin and sew together using a 1/4" seam. Leave a 3 1/2" - 4" opening on the short side that will be at the bottom of your pouch.

Turn right side out, push out your corners, and press.

Put your pressed pairs of fabric outer sides together and stitch, using a 1/8" seam allowance, down one long side starting at the top, going across the bottom (one of the short sides) and back up the other long side stopping about 2 1/2" from the top.

You will also be closing up the openings you left for turning when you stitch across the bottom. 

To ensure that the bottom of your bag is strong, stitch back and forth over this opening a few extra times.

This will be the gap you didn't sew on the side, where your cording will come out for the drawstring.

Fold your top down about 1 1/2", toward the lining, and pin.

Sew 1/2" from the lower edge around the entire bag twice. I like doing it twice to make sure it stays put.

Go slow through the thick parts and hand turn your needle if necessary. 

(and if you screw this up and have to use your seam ripper and sew it again, 

you're in good company)

Then turn your bag right side out and push out your corners. You will not get crisp corners because of the thickness of fabric - this is OK.

Cut a length of cord that is twice the width of your bag plus ten inches. 

Feed cord through your casing and pull even.

Now work a minor miracle and get both ends of cord through your cord stop. 

This is pretty frustrating. I won't lie to you. 

Tie the ends together in a knot - pull it good and tight. 

Drop your reel in! 

OK, don't really drop it. 

No matter how great your bag is, it will never make it up to your man if you break his reel...

Admire your handiwork!

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Handmade Gifting Lesson #2

Over the weekend (while I was making a birthday gift for my girlfriend's son), I thought of another little tip for those of you creating handmade gifts. I used to feel that I had to create a completely unique gift for each and every loved one who was celebrating something. If I repeated a gift idea, didn't it lose something? Nah. It still got all my attention and love, along with just the right fabric and touches for that special someone. Eventually, I figured out that I really liked (and was better at) making certain things and could customize them depending on the recipient.

This brings me to Lesson #2, which is: Do not be afraid to use the same gift idea twice (or a dozen times even...). Say you're really good at making makeup pouches. No matter how many friends you make it for, each and every one of them will be thrilled. In fact, you might earn a reputation and then your girlfriends will secretly be hoping that you'll make a special pouch for them. See how that works out? :)

The best example I have is Amy Karol's Swing Swing Smock in her Bend the Rules Sewing book.

My first one was for my son...

and I have made it over and over again since then. 

It's a great birthday and Christmas gift.

Practical, useful, and super cute with lots of options for personalizing. 

And nobody is ever offended that they're not the first person on the planet to receive an art smock for their little one.
I promise.

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Fun Giveaway!

Who doesn't like giveaways? 

And who doesn't like beautiful cookware?

That's what I thought. :)

So, head on over to Bloom to enter a giveaway for these beautiful Le Creuset baking dishes. 

And have a great weekend!

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Trendy with a touch of Mommy

I'm working my way into my thirties and am generally pretty content in this decade. But fashion is getting tricky for me. On the one hand, I can be a fun, creative girl who wants to express myself (even if just a little) through my clothes. On the other hand, I am a grown woman with 2 small children (who are usually wiping some kind of nasty substance on me) and I want to convey mature and responsible.

This means that I want to fashionable and somewhat current without looking like I'm trying to be 15. Oh, and my clothes have to stand up to considerable wear and tear. I'm sure you understand what I mean. Last week, I made a small step into hip when my mom bought me a pair of jeans at the Gap (how ironic that my mom is helping me to be hip?). They are super cute, a great length for me, and they have a hole in them (you can see them on me here in the pictures I added). While part of me feels like buying clothes with holes in them is just plain silly, another part of me thinks they're pretty darn adorable on.

So I have found a way to reconcile the wanting-to-be-hip and having-to-be-a-Mommy factions. And I think you'll like it. In order to keep the hole from getting too big too fast (and relegating my jeans to the painting clothes pile), I put an iron-on denim patch on the inside of the hole! This is also a good trick when your very favorite jeans in the whole world start wearing thin in the knees. Put a couple patches on and you've bought yourself at least a couple more months of denim happiness. This was what I did with a once fabulous pair of jeans before turning them into shorts here.

First, grab your jeans with the chic hole.

Now grab some iron-on denim patches.

Turn your jeans inside out and line up the patch, fusible side down.

Now follow the packaging instructions for your denim patch.

Or...if you're like me and don't hang on to important things like that, 

just iron the heck out of it on high with steam.

Turn them inside out and notice that you can't even tell!

This section will feel a little stiff at first but after washing it will soften up.

You can now get the most mileage out of your hip jeans!

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Handmade Gifting Lesson #1

This is a random post about giving handmade gifts. A few of my girlfriends have gotten more into sewing in the last year or so and it is such fun to have partners in crime. This means we've all begun giving more handmade gifts. Yeah for handmade gifts!

But lately I've heard some of my girlfriends saying things I used to, things like: It's just handmade. Don't look too closely! It's really nothing. I remember saying these things and now wonder, "What was I thinking??" Even when my husband heard me say these things he would try and assure me but it took an embarrassingly long time for me to catch on.

I learned early on that recipients of handmade gifts are not critics (unless you have mean friends...). Instead they are touched by your thoughtfulness, impressed by your skills (no matter how remedial), and really appreciate the personal touches. They will almost certainly never notice a less than perfectly straight stitch. And, better yet, they are clueless as to what shortfalls you may see in the finished piece.

All this brings me to lesson #1: Do not apologize for your gift or your skills. Ever. Give confidently and joyfully because you poured your time, love, creativity and self into that little bundle in the gift bag/box/wrapping paper. And every time your loved one looks at that thoughtful, personal gift they will think of you and smile.

That's it. Now give confidently and know that your sister/friend/mom/neighbor/friend's kid will love it! Pin It

Pattern Challenge: Simplicity 8523

Added: 

I was finally able to get pictures of the top ON me...

scroll all the way down to the bottom of the post to see them.

I finished yet another top because I just can't seem to help myself. I used Simplicity 8523 (View B - sleeveless with rounded neckline) and this was by far my favorite top to make for the Pattern Challenge. The packaging illustrations aren't all that enticing (see the picture below) but it's a great shape with several variations. And the embellishment possibilities are just about endless. All that said, I heartily recommend this pattern. Want to make a top? Go out and get this pattern!

Hopefully, I'll get some shots of me actually wearing the top.
I haven't been able to coordinate good lighting with my husband being home...

detail of the button and loop at the neck

The Basics: Simple construction using facings for the neck and armholes (as opposed to bias binding to encase the raw edges). Facings are more time consuming but the result is always worth it. It was the first time I've done darts and they're easier than I thought.

The Good: It has a great finished look and the instructions are easy to follow.

The Bad: I don't have anything bad to say about this pattern...

Modifications: The only changes I made were adding the patterned fabric at the bottom and encasing the hem with ribbon rather than actually hemming it. I didn't want to lose the length by hemming it up and this was the solution I came up with.

detail of the slits at the sides

I love how these look!

 

detail of the hem and back center seam

 

why I love facings...

the inside has such a clean look 

The top actually being worn by me...
you can see how cute the darts are here

and you can see the very cute button closure here

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1-2-3

For the record, I want a house full of kids. I want our little house just bursting at the seams with bunk beds and sports equipment. For whatever reason, I have always pictured 4 boys. I know this sounds crazy to some people but I'm halfway there already and my kids bring us and each other so much joy. This isn't to say that my husband pictures 4 boys since he also pictures mass chaos, grocery bills, college tuition, and all the real-life things that come with kids.

But, all this brings me to my wonderful friend Jane. Jane just had her third boy and I'd put good money on a fourth in their future. As long as she continues to pull off this parenting gig with as much grace and joy as she always has there is hope for me yet ("See, Honey, Jane can do it! So can I!"). While she turned down all offers of a baby shower before the littlest man arrived, I did convince her to let me throw a "Meet the Baby & Congratulate Mama" shower today. And we had a great time! I was too busy enjoying mimosas with the girls to get great photos of the shower, but I did of course get photos of the gifts. Come on, I won't disappoint you.

Using fusible webbing, I appliqued the numbers 1, 2 & 3 on shirts in the corresponding sizes for each boy. 

I scaled the numbers in size too, biggest to smallest. 

The  fabrics are from the "Robots" line by David Walker for Free Spirit 

and I love how they coordinate without matching.

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