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Another day, another dress. I was browsing through eBay the other night and saw a really, really cute peasant dress made from bandannas (scroll down to see the bandanna version). I kept thinking about it, wondering if it was something I could work out myself, so I bought three bandannas yesterday while we were out so I could give it a shot (they were only $.97 each–it’s not like I would be devastated if it didn’t work quite right). But once I found some time to sew, I decided it would be worth $4.88 to follow a pattern and get it right the first time to save time.
It turned out well! It’s a little bit full for a small two-year old, and the pattern leaves raw edges in places (which I don’t normally do–I always use French seams if I can). But it was easy to follow, and this ended up being a $7 play dress for AJ. I guess that’s a bargain. Plus, the pattern also came with patterns for a skirt and bloomers, which I will likely use at some point (and patterns for scrunchies, ruffled socks and Kool-Aid purses, which I will likely not). I hemmed the bottom, because I didn’t want to keep the bottom with the rolled handkerchief hem that bandannas come with. I would have preferred a deep blind hem, but hey–I used bandannas. Can’t be too picky!
I really like the elastic neckline and puffy sleeves.
When my husband saw her wearing it, he kind of rolled his eyes. With a few strands of plastic beads (and maybe a poodle perm), we decided she could look quite a lot like Mrs. Roper.
Finally, a day where I have nowhere to be except home. Right now I’m sitting in the driveway while D & A play “football”, and it isn’t too hot…it’s a great day! While last week was crazy, it was fun. And even in the midst of my exhausting activities last week, I did manage to crank out a few little things for AJ to wear. One night I stayed up until midnight working on this, because I was too keyed up after the last night of VBS to go straight to bed.
This is McCall’s 2213, View D, size XL. I did make some changes, though. (Surprised? Not if you know me. I think I’m incapable of following a pattern exactly.) The dress is supposed to be open at the sides with ties to keep it closed under the arms, which is adorable. I wanted a more classic A-line style, though, so I just sewed it together in such a way to make that happen*. The fabric is Michael Miller, amazingly found at Hobby Lobby. (See the lining, with the horseshoes? So! Cute!)
I also made her a pillowcase dress, which has been on my list for a long, long time. (I didn’t use an actual pillowcase, but you can do that if you have a pretty pillowcase at hand. I really love the vintage ones with pretty embroidery on them.) My plan was to make a Clemson dress for her to wear, because you just aren’t a true fan if your kids don’t wear the orange and purple. I used some micro-check orange and white pima cotton that I found at Mary Jo’s, and kinda-sorta followed the instructions here. But after it was finished, I decided the armholes weren’t quite deep enough, so I went back and altered the armhole template so it matched a few tank tops that she has. I’m much happier with the fit of the armholes now.
I machine-embroidered two tiger paws and her monogram on the front. The dress matches a hairbow that I made for her a few weeks ago, so now she’s ready for football season!
*I would never have known how to do that if I hadn’t made all of those Frannies. A lined jumper with no visible outer stitching is a real trick, and this one, with buttons at the shoulders, tested my brains. But after some head-scratching and perusal of the forums at Martha Pullen’s site, I figured it out.
Because I am at my MIL’s today helping her put up a ton of corn, more Friday Flowers. This is one of the volunteers in our tomato planters. We thought it was a sunflower, but it doesn’t actually have sunflower-like seeds. So, it’s a mystery, but it sure brightens up the tomato planters!
VBS is kicking our tails this week. I feel like I haven’t seen my husband since Sunday afternoon, because as soon as he gets home at night, DJ and I run out the door. I haven’t even cooked dinner since Saturday! And we’ve been getting home after 9 PM every night, and let me tell you, that is no picnic with a 4 year old. He is so excited and keyed up by then that it’s nearly impossible to get him into PJs and into the bed. Sigh. Only two more nights. I keep telling myself it’s good for him, and I know it’s good that I’m helping teach a class, too. It’s just hard! (And yes, I realize I’m a big old wuss. There are plenty of working moms doing the same thing I’m doing this week. They have waaay more room to whine. But for the record, I haven’t taken a nap even once. So I don’t want any working moms saying “at least you can take a nap if you want to”, because I can’t. DJ won’t let me.)
Not much else is happening here until we get done with that. We did have a friend over yesterday to spend the day, which was fun. It was my friend’s 6 year old son, and boy, he’s High Energy! We played outside almost all day (in 90+ degree heat), either batting baseballs from the pitching machine, throwing the football, shooting hoops, or having a car (bike) wash. We also ate “decorate your own” homemade pizza and made (and ate) some Heath Bar ice cream. Fun times. I might need a spa day at the end of this week to recover. All that time outside did give us plenty of time to explore, and we discovered a golf-ball sized melon on our volunteer watermelon plant,
two finch eggs in a nest in one of our ferns,
and a blue-striped lizard living in the mondo grass (too fast to take a photo). Again, fun times.
Where is the couch? Think I’ll lie down for a minute.
Thursday morning started off on the warm side, no surprise there, so I thought I’d set up the kid pool in the driveway for D & A and let them play while I shelled some butter beans. My MIL picked them from her garden on Wednesday and sent them home with my husband. (In writing this post, I was going to say the following: “Butter beans, for those who don’t know, are kind of like limas, except they’re not gross. I only say that because I think limas are gross, but I like butter beans. They look like the same thing, though, but butter beans are a lot better.” Then I thought I would go a-googling to see what the difference actually was between lima beans and butter beans, and lo and behold, they are the same thing. Apparently calling a lima a butter bean is a regional thing. So my question is, are butter beans like “dried plums”? Because as far as I can tell, a prune is still a prune, no matter what you call it. But butter beans are way better than limas. And I’m sticking to it.)
Anyway, I got off subject there. So we get the bathing suits on and head out with the towel. I put the hose in the pool and find all of the fun sand toys that double as water toys, and then sit down to start shelling beans. And wouldn’t you know it, D & A want nothing to do with that pool! They both asked for a chair, sat down, and shelled beans with me almost until they were done.
They thought it was a ton of fun, whereas I merely tolerated it so I could have a big plate o’ butter beans with dinner. Or limas. Whatever. At any rate, it was fun shelling beans with my little helpers!
