I finished something!

I finished a blouse for H. It’s the same pattern I made 11 times before. That’s right – one pattern, three different sizes, 12 different garments. Ottobre 1/2005 #15

I didn’t take a picture of it because it’s exactly the same as O’s. Hokey Nellie. 12 times. I wonder if that qualifies for a rut. One thing’s for sure – I don’t need to read the directions any more.

And, I’ve earned myself over $50 by paying myself yard sale prices ($1 - $3) for the things I’ve sewn. And the good news is that Hubby thinks that that money should be used to buy sewing supplies, not servicing the machine.  Now maybe my allowance (when I get some from going back to teaching piano lessons) will go further! *L*

I must add that it’s due to my mother’s generosity that that’s possible. She not only gave me the Bernina Record 930 (20-odd years old, still in great shape, and with a lot of extra feet), but she regularly culls her stash and gives me the little bits that are too small for her to do anything with – but will work great for my girls. AND, she is the one who very wisely told me to start putting $1 or so aside for every garment I make – and look where it got me! Now I need to sew MORE!!!

So, from now on: no baths for the girls, no cleaning, no cooking, no laundry – only sewing-related activities. I wonder how long Hubby let me get away with that! I guess I can dream about it…

Lest you think I've been idle:

I finished H’s version of the jumper I made for O. I had trouble with the second one. I’m not sure why. But the man on the galloping horse will never notice and I’m nearly desperate for church clothes for this girl.

I keep finding gaps in my supply of girls’ clothing. I am always surprised. I shouldn’t be – there’s a good reason. One of my sisters-in-law and I share clothing (she has two girls, one 10 months older than O, one 11 months younger than H) and I borrow a lot of things for O, forget that what I’m borrowing and never buy those items for H. Then, I borrow some things for H and just buy lots of things for C. I just can’t keep track of it all, but I do desperately try.

I try to take pictures of the girls every time they wear a new outfit and then I can go back and look in the photo album and guess by how old they all are and what they’re wearing what they all should be wearing and what I should have in my handy-dandy totes in the attic (all labeled by the ages they were when they wearin the clothes – for example, 0-2 months; 4 yrs. 2 mos. – 4 yrs. 6 mos.; etc.). This would work fine except that we have been using a digital camera for the past few years and I get behind in uploading my pics to Walmart.com and therefore my photo albums are about 6 months behind!

Oh well.

In the way of blessings lately, I got my dishes done on Monday. Don’t laugh. I was seriously worried about it – we were all out of clean bowls (large and small), all out of spoons and forks (poor C was eating with the spoons I reserve for Hubby – you know, not the serving size, not the teaspoon size, those other ones), all out of clean cups, and nearly out of coffee cups, all out of mugs. It was a serious pile of dishes. Anyway, Sunday night I was all concerned about this because my Monday was going to be busy. So, I prayed (seriously) that I would be able to somehow find time to get my dishes done. And somehow, I did. I think God gave me 25 hours’ worth of a Monday.

Then, today, my other sister-in-law offered me the help of her two daughters! So, while they played with the girls, gave 2 of them baths, and washed dishes, I was able to nurse the baby three times, make dinner, take a ½ hour nap, and sew for one hour! That was such a nice surprise!!

G is sleeping through the night – yay!!! But I still spend about 6 hours a day nursing and burping her. She’s a very nice baby – mostly normal, but very nice because she’s mine! And she’s starting to do that talking, coo-ing thing that just melts your heart. I keep forgetting to take pictures of her, so you’ll just have to wait to see a picture of her. She still has all her hair, in case you’re wondering.

I’m not done it yet, but I’m making a blouse for H – the same blouse that I’ve made 10 times. The one I made several times as a nightgown. I sort of know how to make that one in my sleep!

Update

It is so hard to find computer time!!! I feel like I never stop moving and there's always more I could / should do!!   well, I do stop moving every day around 3.  Sometimes earlier, sometimes later.  I have learned that I can skip a nap one day per week.  :) That's an improvement!! *L*  Otherwise, I'm fussy and grumpy - just like the girls.

So, anyway, here are some of the pictures I've taken in the past two weeks.

This is for Bev (! Hi!!!) - you do know these girls from somewhere!! *L*
This picture was taken several Sundays ago.

This is not a good picture, but this is G before church last Sunday.  We were actually all ready nearly on time! Of course, I had been up since 5:30 am!! 

The good news about G is that for the past three nights in a row, she really has slept through the night.  Not the skipping one feeding that the doctors call sleeping through the night, but the real, honest-to-goodness, skipping two feedings!!! So, I have had six hours of sleep in a row for the past few nights! It could have been more, but I opted to shower and put laundry away.          You're welcome! *L*

And this is the sewing that got accomplished.  It's an Ottobre, the Winter 2003 issue, pattern #25.  It's a very easy, straightforward jumper.  It's almost a little too straight for an activer girl who won't sit still in church - it tends to ride up.  But, the poor girl needed church clothes and given my lack of sewing time, this is what she got. 

I have an identical one cut out for H, but I ran short of fabric and decided to do the neckline and armhole binding with bias tape instead of fabric.  And it got messed up, so I ripped that out and tried using fabric, but since it was on the grain instead of bias, that got messed up.  So I ripped that out and tonight, after the girls are in bed (and hopefully that's before Hubby gets home from his meeting) I hope to re-cut the neckline and try the bias tape again.  I think that's my best option.  And the mess-up was undoubtedly an operator error !

Speaking of time, it's nursing time again!

some pictures

Just so you know that we are still alive and well!!! Life just gets in the way of life, you know??

We've been eating popcorn - from our garden! Talk about fun and delicious!

And we're waiting on the peanuts - a few more weeks yet, hubby thinks.

And my older girls are being good helpers, most of the time.  Right now we're all supposed to be napping.  ha ha.  O is not.  I am not.  But I will be shortly!

Some pictures!

I have been accomplishing much lately. Much nursing!!! I think G's going through a growth spurt - nursing every other hour! I'm sure it'll ease up soon, but last night was a short night. Or long, depending on how you look at it. :)

I've been reading in the middle of the night and looking at my Ottobre magazines, which definitely makes getting up easier. Of course, sometimes my eyes are just too sleepy and I just sit there and think up more things to do - not always a good thing. I make sure that I have paper and pen nearby and make lots of lists. That makes me feel like I'm at least organized.

This is G after a bath and hair wash. Her hair combs quite well! I ought to get some tiny barrettes - she could wear them!! She really is being a good baby - rather typical in sleep and crying patterns. Definitely no acid reflux or colic (as of yet, but she is 3 weeks old tomorrow, so that could start any time - let's hope it doesn't!!). I'm enjoying her much more now that she's born!! *L*

I did finish a nursing jumper for myself- Elizabeth Lee Designs - I modified it some, but I really like the jumpers as they hide the multitude of bad things about the post-partum body!! Namely, chest, belly, and hips!!! And I've found that a normal t-shirt or turtle neck work well underneath them - no need to make or cut holes in shirts.

I also finished the torquoise skirt that I had planned for O. I'm rather tickled with how quickly the skirt came together. Or would have come together if I had not been dealing with a newborn at the same time!! The tiered effect is done by sewing gathering stitches on the skirt panel - no extra cutting, no extra seams. You're supposed to cover the stitches with ribbon, but I didn't have any that looked right. so she'll wear it as is until I manage to get to a store and find some matching ribbon. The pattern is from 5/2006 - number 13 or 14 or 15 - I forget.

It's a Girl!!!!

Just checking in to say that after some awful labor pain, an epidural that didn't work, and 22 1/2 minutes of the hardest work of my life, Gwendolyn Grace was born on 09-09-09!! 7 pounds, 13.8 oz., 22 1/4 inches long and a full head of black hair.

I will say this more: God allows mankind to develop medicines and pain killers for a reason. We should definitely take full advantage of them!!!!

No sewing - G is a slow nurser - so that takes up a full 8 hours of my day and night!! And up until today, she's been really good in between feedings, too!

Still Waiting!!!

Today's my due date - and no baby yet! Maybe today (it's only noon here, there are still 12 hours left).

I finished O's skirt. and it's too big. Honestly. That girl is so slender. Looking back on it, I suppose I should have made a size 104, since it is meant to be a fitted skirt. Please ignore her belly. Those are her unders sticking out there, it's about an inch and a half too big. Maybe it should have been a size 98. By the way, it's #16 from the 4/2003 issue. The 4/2003 issue has a lot of nice patterns in it - skirts, blouses, and pj's. Quite worth the $13.

It is my first attempt at darts, at pleats, and at a lining. And all three of those things went very well. It also has an invisible zipper in the back yoke - that went in very well, too. Overall, I'm pleased with it, just disappointed that it doesn't fit.

Oh, well. Today, while I'm waiting for labor to start, I'm going to trace off some pajama patterns, as O will need pj's, and C might. I'll have to check the boxes in the attic to be sure. I think H will have plenty of pj's. Some day when I don't have such a huge belly to carry around I'll bring down their boxes and go through them and see just what I have.