The Miniature Maxi-Dress

The funniest thing happened to me last Saturday:  after I posted the story of the sewing elves' visit, they magically re-appeared!  I think they like the publicity.

This time, we constructed a maxi-dress for Butterfly.  I had a couple of really pretty cotton scraps from my grandmother's house.  It looked like someone had re-purposed an old table cloth or sheet, and I had the leftover pieces.   

Together with the elves, I came up with this:

Don't you LOVE that fabric?  It is so soft and so groovy!  You can't tell in this picture, but it goes all the way down to her ankles.     

I still didn't use a pattern, and if she grows very much, I will have to re-construct it.  The bodice is held together with a hook & eye and only opens down to the gathers (the back of the skirt is just one piece).  So there's not much room for her actually squeeze into it -- it's a tight enterprise, especially with little wiggly arms.  Once it is on, though, it is quite roomy, and she just loves it.  If only she would stay little forever... 

I am even more envious of this dress than I am of the tutu because I have wanted a maxi dress (a long sun dress) for several months now.  They were all the rage in the 70s, and now they are wonderfully back!  I love how they are so flow-y and breezy and all those fabulous things.  

And here's the exciting thing:  I won't have to wait long because I am about to start making my own!  I will be using the fabric I got for my birthday and a new pattern I got last week.  I meant to make The Walk Away dress with it, but I am a little nervous about that pattern and decided I wanted a maxi-dress more anyway.  I'll try the other dress with some not-quite-so-expensive fabric, I think.

I'll keep you posted on that project.  Hopefully, one day I'll show you a picture of Butterfly and mommy in their respective maxi-dresses.  If the sewing elves will just come back!

(This post is part of the Water Cooler Wednesday blog carnival at Ethos.)

I Want A Tutu, Too

This week we made a tutu for the butterfly.  She thinks it is too puffy, unfortunately.   So maybe next time we'll go for less poof.

I would really like to make one for myself...maybe in silver.  But I wonder, would I just be embarrassing other people to wear it at my age?  Shouldn't I care about the feelings of others, maybe just as a public service?

But when one doesn't think of doing something at the appropriate age (say, in one's twenties....), does one have to miss it entirely?  Do I have to wait till I get to heaven to wear my tutu?   (Because, you know, there will be tutus GALORE in heaven.)

I don't think so.  I've never been known for my patience.   So maybe one of these days you'll see me, here on earth, walking around in a silver tutu with extra poof.  You never know.

The Sewing Elves

Last month, I posted a picture of Butterfly in my brother's wedding wearing her flower-girl dress made in my very own home by sewing elves.  Here is the rest of the story:

My brother asked us last year if Butterfly could be a flower-girl in his beach wedding in May.  At the time, I thought to myself, "Maybe I could make her a flow-y little dress.  That would be fun!"

Fast-forward to the week before our trip:  I had not made a dress nor did I have had any plans whatsoever for her attire.  Then I got sick with some kind of feverish cold that lasted days and days.  It is not pleasant to have a fever for six days straight.  

We had plans to leave on a Sunday, and when Thursday rolled around, I suddenly remembered the dress, or rather the lack thereof.  I couldn't just go out and buy one for a variety of reasons, most involving the lack of disposable income for beach flower-girl dresses and the desire to not inflict those feverish germs onto the unsuspecting public.

I remembered my plan to make a dress and then remembered that I didn't have anything like a pattern or fabric.  So I looked around at what I did have.

I had the leftovers from a fabulous vintage chenille pillow sham I got at my grandmother's house (and had previously used for the skirt at the bottom of this post).  I had an old linen slip that was unwearable due to a huge rip across the back.  I had several white cotton sheets just begging to be turned into something.  And finally, I had a little package of various shell buttons I got for about 25 cents when a fabric store was going out of business last year.

A while ago, I saw this top online and thought it looked easy to reproduce, so I looked at it again.  I measured Butterfly and got to work.  The pillow sham became a bodice and straps, the linen slip became the skirt, and the sheet became the lining.  (Yes, I said lining.  Aren't you impressed?)

Now, lest you think I am some kind of amazing seamstress, I want you to know that I have not followed a pattern since I was in fifth grade and my mother made me enter the 4-H apron contest.  It was such a trying experience that I refused to get near a sewing machine until my daughter was born 27 years later!  Since then, I had basically only sewn straight lines to put blankets and burp cloths together.

This is what the elves taught me to do:  I used the existing hems on everything.  I also used the zig-zag stitch on my machine (that I had never noticed before) to make the button holes.  I could not figure out how to put the button hole maker onto my machine, much less how to work it.  If you look carefully at this picture, you can tell these are my first buttonholes! 

Here's a full length view of the finished dress in the wedding:

Necessity really IS the mother of invention.  And inspiration, I guess!

Because I Said So

I promised myself I would not employ that phrase in my maternal vocabulary.   I told my naivety it is only fair to a child to give her a good reason for whatever you were wanting her to do.  I assumed it would only take a little imagination and creativity to come up with sufficient answers to the inevitable challenges to my authority.

And then somehow, somewhere, someone (obviously inspired by the devil himself) said the phrase, "But, whyyyyyyyy?" around my verbal little copy-cat sponge.  With a little pause and a slight breath after the 'but' and a long and drawn out 'why' with a falling tone, it was the worst possible combination of two words for her to overhear.

Would you just please observe a moment of silence for me?  

While I have not yet broken my promise, I am running out of anything else to say.  I mean, who can come up with 7 answers to 'butwhy' in 120 seconds?  I am NOT exaggerating.

I have tried the following:

"What are you talking about?"

"That doesn't make any sense at all?"

"What did you say? Is that English?"

"Blah, blah, blah, blah"

"Because the sky will fall down on you if you don't"

"Because the monster in the disposal will come out and eat you"

"Because you will turn into a frog"

"Because, because, because, because, because.....because of the wonderful things he does"

(OK, I've only used first half, but I have thought the rest.)

What would you say?  But, why?

(This post is part of Watercooler Wednesday at Ethos.)

A Beach Butterfly

Butterfly was the flower girl in my brother's recent beach wedding. Here's a picture to tide you over until I write about the sewing elves who came to my house and created a little dress for her to wear. 

I will post that story, really. I will do it at least before she grows up.

Thank You, Encyclopedia Brown

I have been pondering The Case Of The Vanishing Breakfast for sometime. Each day, as I prepare my morning meal, I serve myself generous portions - surely more than I will need. After the tasty repast has been consumed, however, I find that my tummy is not full, and I can usually only remember taking a couple of bites.  What happened to all that food if it did not reach its planned destination?  I began to suspect that mine was not the only tummy being filled, but I had no real proof.  A mystery, indeed.

I decided to look to a few experts for a solution.  What would Sherlock Holmes, Guy Noir, Nancy Drew, Jupiter Jones, Trixie Belden and Encyclopedia Brown do in a case like this? Follow the clues, of course.   

Like any good private eye, I set my trap and staked out the scene.  Voila!  I procured photographic evidence of a little-known creature rumored to be completely imaginary:  The Breakfast Elf.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you irrefutable proof that she exists:

Don't be surprised if you hear about this ground-breaking discovery on NPR.  If I don't return your calls in the next few days, it's probably because I am busy with interviews.  Or because my phone reception at my house is non-existent.  One of those.

Butterfly Elbows

These little dimpled elbows were much yummier than the bread we made that day.

Dreamy Laughter

This morning Rob and I were awakened around 6-ish by the giggly laughter of the Butterfly.  It was a lovely sound to hear first thing in the morning. 

It became even lovelier when we realized she was still asleep and was laughing in her dreams.  So we smiled sleepy smiles at each other and dove back into our own dreams.

Then this afternoon, she fell asleep in the car.  While stopped at a stop sign, I looked back and saw her looking around, awake (or so I thought).  She smiled, mumbled something, closed her eyes and went right back to sleep.  

Broaching The Subject

Butterfly and I had our first conversation about death this morning. 

B:  What is that, Mommy?

M:  It is a dead bug.

B:  A dead bug?

M:  Yes.

B:  I want to look at it.

M:  You can go look at it, but don't touch it.  It is dirty.  I need to throw it away.

B:  You want to hold it?

M:  No, it's dirty!

B:  It can move around?

M:  No, it can't move around.  It's dead.

B:  You get some batteries?

M:  (unable to speak due to laughter)

After I took the picture, she looked at it on the camera and said, "That bug is really hard to see!"

Very Bright Indeed

"I'm a sunshine.  I'm very bright," said the Butterfly to the Mommy.

How Does She Know That?

Recently, Butterfly (or should I say Bunny...), who is not-yet-two-and-a-half, has amused and astounded me with what comes out of her mouth.

Yesterday evening, we were walking to the car and were about to go home for dinner.  She said, "I am so hungry.  It's hard to think."

Then this morning, I came downstairs after my shower to find her eating with Daddy, and she said, "Your outfit.  I like it mommy.  You look very pretty.  You look very great!"  (Melt, melt, melt, says my heart.)

And a few minutes ago, she was running (and running and running and running).  As she sailed by each time she yelled, "I'm running so fast you can't even see me!"

And then this evening, while she was eating her scrambled eggs:  "Thank you, chickens!"

Who needs television when you have a toddler?

Ghosty-Ghosty All Alone

Hiding behind the sheers, she shows us those chocolate eyes.

The Happy Red Meadow

The other day in my dining room, there was a flock of farm animals grazing upon a lovely red meadow.

 They were lovingly tended by a happy little farmer.  No candy on earth is as sweet.

Enough Pink To Last A While

I think she got excited about everything matching.

A Perfect Day

After so much despondency in the last blaaaahg, I had to tell you about Sunday's perfect day.  It included the following wonderful elements:

1. My husband got up with Butterfly and I slept an extra hour
   
2. I got to see fun friends at church
3. Our brand new pastor encouraged us that it is never too late to invest in those old dreams 
4. I had lunch with my husband, my angelic child & a marvelous friend OUTSIDE under a blue sky with white clouds
5. We shopped for yummy, healthy food at food heaven, a.k.a. Whole Foods
6. We went window shopping under the sunshine and had yummy raspberry gelato
7. We ran into another friend and had a nice catch-up chat
8. We were all happy, healthy and well-rested

I love those days, especially when they turn into a week.  I guess one nice thing about being sick and having a boring week is that the next week is marvelous just by default!  

Here's to wonderful days and weeks and months and years!