The Layette: Baby Washcloths

Isn't a layette a quaint, charming concept?  A layette is simply a complete baby wardrobe for a new baby.  Our new baby doesn't need very much because I saved pretty much everything from the first two babies.  My dad very generously allows us to store things in his garage a few blocks away, so over the past two months, I have inched through the sorting of baby paraphernalia one box at a time.

I found three changing pad covers for a contoured changing pad (which was totally worn out and discarded years ago - I'm definitely buying a new one as I don't see any homemade options that work as well).  One of the covers let out that telltale ripple of pops when I tested the elastic - yes, the elastic had expired.  However, the yellow cotton terrycloth was still reasonably plush and soft, so I decided to cut it into baby washcloths.

Now, strictly speaking, a baby can be washed with any washcloth around, but since baby washcloths are adorable and I had the materials in front of me, I indulged my desire for cuteness.

I cut squares with rounded corners so I wouldn't have to miter any 90-degree corners which would create pokey corners that could irritate baby's delicate skin (if we're making baby washcloths, we might as well fall in with the whole "delicate skin" approach).

I made bias tape from cute flowered calico and used a zig-zag stitch to catch both sides as I sewed it on.  Now I have five cute baby washcloths for essentially free because all these materials came from my stash.

And yes, all those flowers mean that we are having a little girl.  Certain children in this family have needed some time to get used to the idea that this baby is a sister, not a brother. Someone has even suggested that maybe the ultrasound was wrong or that the baby might miraculously change into a boy. . . .but I think those wishes are in the past now, and we are all eager to meet our little girl.

Dressing Up a Young Lady

Genevieve is 9, and this is an awkward stage to dress because girl clothes don't come in size 9.  Size 8 goes straight to size 10, and often it is not just size 10, but size 10-12.  Clearly someone made a mistake, yes?  Because I have a beautiful tall string-bean and commercial clothes either fit her shoulders while her wrists and knees stick out (size 8), or come down decently over her wrists and knees, but bag and sag off her shoulders and slender torso (size 10).  And this is just for school uniforms and play clothes - try finding something that can be called dressy!

Plus, I think it's a tricky balance to strike a sweet, yet not babyish or too adult, look for a girl this age (I cannot bring myself to call her a tween - sorry). I think we might be entering the era of be-resigned-to-a-time-investment-and-take-G-shopping-so-she-can-try-on-clothes. My current method is to run errands alone during the school day, doing my research and thinking ahead of time so I can be in and out of a familiar clothing store in 10 minutes if there are no lines.  I rarely browse in a store because I don't always make good decisions on the fly (thus frustrating the marketing and design of all retail stores - oh darn).

So here are my latest solutions for Genevieve's dressy clothes.

This is a gored skirt I made for her using a vintage pattern borrowed from Rebecca.

Although I measured the girl and read the pattern carefully, the skirt ended up being inches too large at the waist (another rant: trying to fit skirts that stay up on girls whose waist and hips are the same - yes, there is elastic, but I was trying for a slightly dressier, more grown-up look here).

I did not remove the waistband and reduce the waistband and seams; I simply sewed the side seam smaller, including the waistband as well, and then I cut off the excess inside. This is considered sloppy sewing, but I thought the repair would be hidden enough.  I added belt loops.

Now Genevieve can adjust the waist to fit and hide the seamed waistband behind the belt as well.  Braided belts are fabulous for children because they are full of holes, so you can buckle the belt however tight or loose it needs to be.  I found this belt at a thrift store for $2.

Showing a tiny flash of the yellow bias tape I used to finish the hem.

Genevieve is also wearing her brown boots, bought from Kohl's in the fall with a coupon, and a red shirt that was passed down to her by a friend.  I used fabric from my stash for this skirt, but I chose carefully so that the skirt goes with several sweaters and shirts that she already has.  And given the length and waistband of this skirt, I hope it lasts for several years.

Then Rebecca's Clara passed down a vintage linen shift to Genevieve.  We are using it like a jumper in the winter, and hoping it will be a sleeveless shift in the spring and fall (it's lined with polyester, so I'm not sure she will want to wear it in summer). I had so much fun going through my scarves and things to see how we could style this dress; I didn't buy anything new to go with it.

This peasant blouse.  I added a tiny vintage velvet collar  - it's just buttoned around the neck and is much too small for me, but so exquisite I had it tucked in with my scarves. She could wear brown boots and tights with this.  Or black flats and black tights.

Long-sleeved cream tee with another of those exquisite collars, this one beaded with seed pearls.  Crazy tights, plus black flats or brown boots.  But of course, she could wear cream tights with black flats.

The long-sleeved tee again, this time with this infinity scarf at the neck.

Genevieve herself, wearing the shift with a white button-down, crazy tights, and black flats.

She is nine years old, so beautiful and funny, and definitely a strawberry blonde in the sunlight.

Quaint Flannel Pajamas in Two Plaids

One of my favorite projects - private clothes that don't need to match anything else!  I needed pajamas because one of my pairs was literally falling apart (I wear my pajamas more than I will admit to), and I also needed to squeeze my stash into a smaller space, so I decided to make do with the flannel already in my stash.  Hence, I didn't have enough yardage for top and bottom to be the same.

However, I do like how these two plaids go together, and I am especially fond of the discreet lace trim on the collar and pockets and the mismatched milky-turquoise buttons (what is that color?  I adore that soft blue-turquoise color and it seems retro, like that jadeite green).

I used vintage 1960s Simplicity 4006 again.  I can still, surprisingly, wear these pajamas over my baby belly.

How We Got the Middle of the Tree

Here's the first Christmas-y post of the season for me - all about decorations in this post because I didn't take pictures of the Christmas cookies.

I bought a plain pine wreath from the church youth group fundraiser, and pulled out my stash of picks to decorate it.  A pick is a little posy of things on a single wire and you poke it into a floral arrangement or wreath or whatever.  I have a weakness for fake fruit and bright colors, but I rarely use my picks.  I love how this wreath turned out!

The children set up the two manger scenes; this is a new spot for this bookcase because we are also shifting rooms around upstairs.  That's a topic for another post!

Now, the tree story.  My husband's best friend came along to the hilarious tree farm that our family  usually goes to.  The two of them, out in the muddy tree field in a cold misty rain, suddenly got grandiose visions and selected "the twins."

The twins were two enormous, unshapely trees that the tree lot was selling for $25 (thrifty, sure, but just read on).  See those 9-foot poles that Genevieve and the best friend are holding?  Yeah, the twin trees were feet taller than those poles.  In vain, I tried to coax the men out of their Napoleonic complex.  In vain.  They stretched out in the mud (no one had warned the best friend to wear old clothes and bring work gloves - he was wearing his nice black concert clothes and dress shoes) and sawed the trees down.

The netted tree laid in our dining room while my husband finally understood that it was two feet taller than our dining room ceiling (shocker), so he sawed off the bottom of the tree.  Finally upright in the tree stand, its top branches still bent against the ceiling.  He was rigging up a special brace for it when it fell over while we screamed and grabbed and fled.  So my husband sawed off the top and now we had nothing but the middle six feet of a Christmas tree.  It looked so. . . .strange.

For the first time, my husband looked at me in apology and embarrassment, and offered to chuck this tree and get a new one. I couldn't bear more money and more mud, so I suggested we just make the best of it.  He fetched the tippy-top of the tree back from the trash, plunked it a cup of water, and wired it back on top of the tree.

It looks much better decorated (nothing breakable - just in case) and next year, I am choosing the tree.

My husband tells me that next time, he wants to put such a magnificently tall tree in our living room which has actual 11-foot ceilings.  I pointed out that we'll have to get rid of some furniture in that room first.  Makes the Christmas tree seem not worth the bother. . .

Old Cell Phones for Kids

My children are digital natives.  They speak the language of computers and accept their presence as unquestioningly as I accepted telephones and record players when I was a child.  I have deep worries about the way screens seem to absorb us and distract us while real life unspools in front of us.  I want to shield my children from screens for a while as I teach them (hopefully by example!) how to use computers and technology for good purposes in disciplined ways.

One of the teaching things that my husband and I stumbled into began when he cleaned out a drawer of stuff.  Ben asked if he could have the old cell phone.  There was no sim card in it, so my husband handed it over with the charger.  It still plays a few ring tones, takes pictures, and has a few simple games.  Ben adores this little dose of adult screen time.  Then Genevieve got the next old cell phone, which can also make short videos. She adores making little films of her life, filled with kid jokes, inappropriate noises, and strange blurry angles.

Any time they use the phones inappropriately (usually when specifically told to put the phone away, bringing it to the table, or playing on it instead of doing chores), my husband and I confiscate the phones.  One child had a phone removed for three weeks.  That child is a much better listener after that loss of privilege!

No need to buy DS systems or other electronics for kids like their friends and cousins have!  The children love controlling their own little cell phones.  It's a very thrifty way to let kids interact with screens!

What access do your children have to screens and their own personal electronics?  I'm sure this only gets complicated as they get older. Thoughts and advice, please.

Building Things and Selling Flowers

Ben keeps building boats.  He sometimes goes directly from his morning bed to the yard, where I'm sure the neighbors hear the hammering and think a contractor has begun work at the usual hour of 7am.

First the boats were flat, and they did not float well in our friends' pond.  Now they "have sides."  I tried to tell him about how Noah coated the Ark with pitch, but I'm not sure he heard me; what's the modern-day, average- family equivalent of pitch, anyway?

The children also work on their Calico Critter houses. I save lids (which can't be reycled) for the creative reuse store, but more often than not, Ben raids the stash to make things for his Critters.  I also flatten cardboard and chipboard to be recycled, and that stash is constantly raided and the scissors constantly dulled for the Critter houses.

These houses are ugly by Pinterest standards, but I know the ingenuity and care that went into them, so I enjoy looking at them.  I get tired, sometimes, of the prettified images of life on Pinterest (and some blogs).  It's so easy to think my life is ugly when, in fact, I am living my life with all its attendant dirt, disorder, and unsightliness that doesn't photograph well.  Maybe I need a break from my Pinterest feed. . . 

Genevieve loves to set up shop, whether it's selling things she's gathered or made.  We are frequently invited to a store and commanded to buy something with real money.  Oh, that girl!  

I bought this sweet bouquet for a dollar.  (A real dollar that she lost in a broken vending machine at the pool with a shrug, until her daddy marched her up to the counter and made her ask for it back because "this is not a game!  This is money!")

I've been feeding these interests with targeted library books and some tools.  I've bought them nails and a hand drill.  I wonder what they will get into next. . . 

(linking up with Leila and Rosie's pretty/happy/funny/real)

The Multipurpose Doorstop

It's always tricky and time-consuming to manage airflow in an old house in the summer.  Our old house does not have air conditioning (nor do I want it - although other people in this family might) and many of its windows stick; in fact, I broke a pane of glass in a shower of dangerous shards this spring trying to force a window open.  So, keeping our laundry room door open to the cool morning and evening air coming in the back screen door is essential.  However, that dumb door (again, old house quirks) doesn't like to stay open.

I finally figured out, duh, I need a door stop.  I recalled a very charming one from my childhood, a brick covered with a knitted duck.  Our neighbor salvaged a brick from our chimney when it was taken down, and made the doorstop.

So I started with a brick.  I thought of making a little fabric bag for it, but then I had an even faster solution:  a basket I already had on hand.

Ta-da!  The basket keeps the brick enclosed and not crumbling anywhere or scraping toes or walls. The basket handle makes it easy to grab and move. When the doorstop is no longer needed this winter, the brick can go back to the garden and the basket can go back to the cupboard. Truly, this simple solution just makes me so pleased.

Appliqueing Over Stains

My approach to stains on kids' play clothes is to give the clothes a long soak in Oxyclean and hot water.  By "long," I mean one to three days.  If that doesn't take it out, I usually cut the clothes into rags.  For special clothes, I will hand-scrub with Octagon or another serious soap.

For this shirt, a school uniform polo with mysterious brown stains, I felt creative, so I sewed on some twigs, flowers, and leaves.  I cut the shapes I wanted from some scraps of polyester double-knit (well, the twig is brown satin ribbon) - it's generally advisable to applique knit onto knit and woven onto woven.  The fabrics wear and move the same way, helping the applique to last longer.

I kept my bobbin in white thread and then changed the top thread as I went along, choosing thread colors several shades lighter or darker than the fabric I was sewing on.  I couldn't cover every single stain, but the design really distracts the eye from the spots.  This is still a play shirt, but I got to have fun while I learned more about how to control fabric and color to my satisfaction.

These are the cut-offs with bias tape, turned up to improve their appearance.

I thought the results were pretty.  Just like my daughter.

Reusing an Old Children's Book

I have a lot of fun doing the Pinterest boards for A's creative reuse shop.  However, I am appalled at some of the projects people do with perfectly good antiques, clothes, and books.  I like to repurpose things that are otherwise junk, but I hate to see perfectly good books cut up for art, secret boxes, and planters.  Horrors!

Here, we have a vintage book that a couple at church passed on to us in a box of books.  It was coverless, and the pages were so browned and fragile that they almost crumbled to the touch.  The illustrations were so dear and droll that I couldn't bear to recycle it, however.  I finally knew what to do with it when I needed a new baby card.  I simple cut out the right picture with its fragile side and sewed it onto a blank card.  Charming, easy, and very appropriate reuse!

Mailboxes in the Garden

I found this idea on Pinterest:  keep small gardening tools and gloves in a mailbox next to your garden.  They're available and protected from the weather and bugs.

After a fruitless search for old mailboxes for sale, I emailed my church listserv to see if anyone could give some hints.  Instead, I got offers for 3 old mailboxes and a fourth offer to salvage a discarded one from roadside.  Wonderful!  I accepted 2 mailboxes.

The green one from Roger and Rosalyn, tucked in next to the raspberries and the overflow compost bin, holds my garden tools and gloves.

The adorable old house from Sheldon and Naomi keeps the miscellaneous bunny supplies together:  comb, clippers, leashes, and treats.

Our church listserv is an incredibly useful resource.  Offers, answers, questions, and events are posted frequently.  People find housing, vacations, tickets, and lost items, thanks to the listserv. Does someone need plants?  Just email the listserv - I'm dropping off hostas today to a church friend, with a promise for irises once they're done blooming.

Our neighbors' yard, with a carpet of violets and a blooming magnolia tree on the right.