Back to Nature Dresses

I remember the excitement of going back to school and picking out a few new outfits and the smell of brand new pencils and crayons. I was completely inspired by the sudden shift in the weather to make the girls some new dresses on a bit of a whim yesterday. Since they aren't going to school anytime soon, I decided to name them "back to nature dresses" because after weeks of unending, severe heat I plan to enjoy the crisper weather outside this fall. Meanwhile, all the other kids will be sitting in the classroom. I find photographing clothes on kids, and just my children in general to be rather difficult as they are often busy little girls not always wanting to humor their mother. But I did get enough to give you an idea of how cute these dresses are.

The dresses turned out a bit big, and a little funny in spots because I did them without instruction or complete pattern. I combined the Portabello Pixie "Claire" apron dress bottom, with a modified version of the Feliz Party dress top from a book I have, "Sewing Clothes Kids Love". (It is a very, very inspiring book by the way!!) I made a lace-up back to make sure there was room for getting on and off, and growing. And they twirl, which is a must for any princess.

I have had these dresses brewing in my mind for months now, and was originally planning a spring version. Summer went by so fast, and we were blessed with so many summer hand-me-downs and dresses that I didn't really NEED any more summer clothes. Then the jumper idea came to mind as they work on their own for these last hot days and over a shirt for the cooler days of the coming seasons.

The girls were so happy to wear them today, which of course makes my heart swell! Now on the agenda is Anastasia's doll, and coordinating dolly dresses.

I made them for playing, and getting dirty, and being girls all at the same time. That is why everything is lined and I used a nice thick layer of corduroy for the skirt. Sadly, there are no pockets, but treasure pouches are on the sewing list as well.

I hope time allows for a few more moments of fall-inspired sewing. Because autumn is almost here and I can feel it! :)

Confessions of a long lost blogger...

My camera was missing. I finally found it. Its not an excuse... just an influence on my lack of posting. We have been busy. Nick has been working late a lot. I have been SO TIRED in those in-between moments where I usually write or read blogs. I can't remember ever being so tired. I am sure I have been more tired and less sick with this little boy than with my girls. Of course, I am also taking care of 2 little, crazy, girls while growing a little boy, and that my friends is hard work. Its hard for me to just be happy growing a baby when I am too tired for everything else and there is SO MUCH else to do.

Isabel's finger was looking so good except for her black nail. Anastasia accidentally took care of the black nail by practically RIPPING IT OFF about an hour ago. Screaming followed. I did surgery with some clippers. There were two dolls in need of surgery too. I gave the dolls a few stitches and they are as good as new.

Anastasia currently wants to be Belle for Halloween because she "has perfect hair to be Belle". She still wants a red bow like Snow White. Oh, and she wants a doll like Isabel's doll. Except with bright red hair. Halloween and dolls and princesses are a hot topic around these parts.

The dog has fleas and is quarantined. She is not happy about it. And our floors get so gross with out her cleaning them up. Our chickens are cooped up... literally. Our neighbors that our chickens adopted just put new concrete down in their beautiful, new porch. Our chickens generally leave "presents" wherever they go, and that wouldn't look so nice in the new concrete. PLUS they tore up my entire fall garden a few days ago. (What little I felt like planting!) So they are getting a nice "aviary" type cage. Goodbye free range. The goats are eating up our forest and its great. We have a nice path to the creek bed. Maybe if we get lots of rain we can play in the creek this fall.

Well its just about bedtime and I hope to finish some dresses for my sweet little ones when they sleep... so I will actually have something interesting to post! Tata for now! :)

Imagine Childhood Giveaway

I just figured I would let everyone know that Imagine Childhood is having a giveaway for $100 on their blog HERE! To enter you just have to leave a comment by 3pm on Monday! I have not ordered from them... YET! But they have so many lovely art supplies I want to try out, and wooden toys I want to put in my house like the mushrooms above. SO CUTE! And this castle makes my heart go pitter pat:

Nick and I are currently working on our own wooden castle ideas for the girls for Christmas and to put in my shop... that will hopefully be "our shop" soon! Nick went to a wood mill today, and I imagine it was very much for him like being in a nice fabric or yarn shop for me. Surrounded by inspiration and new mediums for imagination and ideas. I can't wait to see what he comes up with! In the mean time, I will be entering little giveaways for pretty, imaginitive things.

Fall bug.

I have a really cool and crafty friend now who lives down the street from us. They moved in last year and we just met them a few weeks ago. She asked me if I want to share a booth with her at the Festival of Leaves, and a Waldorf school bizarre this fall. I said yes! And now, I am crafting like crazy (um, as usual) to get some little things made!!!

I thought some gnomes in little leaf bed pouches would be sweet! And I just put some in the shop too! I think I will wear one all fall. It is always nice to have a little friend around. Honestly, I have a love-hate relationship with fall. Summer this year was TOO HOT and too short. We couldn't play outside much because it was 100 degrees everyday practically. I am ready for the coolness of fall. I am not ready for what follows fall. Holidays. Cold. Winter. JANUARY. ugh. I am not ready for another baby... who cries, and has needs (other than kicking me in the bladder), I have too much to do to pause life and soak up a newborn and fall in love all over again. I mean really.... how much can I cram into these next 3 months before my life kind of stops and I enjoy the things that matter most. All I know, is its going to be a busy few months... but the payoff, and the cute little bundle that follows will be absolutely worth it! :)

Now if only I could get a little sleep....

And PS- if you are looking for something from my shop, or have a custom order, or want to do a trade before the holidays, please let me know soon. I don't know what I will have time for as it Christmas gets closer and I spend most of my hours snuggling a newborn!

A Tale of Blood and Ice Cream

Thursday was supposed to be a fun day with Monie (my mom). I was going to drop the girls off with my mom at the park, go to my OB appointment, and then head to the waterpark for the rest of the day. As I was getting dressed though, Isabel was jumping head-first off of my bed while Anastasia opened and shut my dresser drawers and pulled clothes off the hangers in the closet. I was worried someone was going to get hurt so I kicked them out of my room. I shut the door and Isabel started screaming! I opened the door, realizing she must have caught her finger in the hinge-side of the bedroom door. Then there was blood. And lots of it. So I ran her to the kitchen, grabbed a towel and held it on her finger as she wailed. After a few minutes I took a look at the wound and found her fingertip had mostly been cut off and I could see inside her finger.... NOT GOOD AT ALL. The bleeding had slowed, I bandaged it up with some guaze and tape and got her changed and dressed, finished dressing myself, grabbed some food (A MUST HAVE!) and a jar of iced coffee and loaded the kids in the van. I called Nick and my mom, and cancelled my appointment. and headed to the ER.

A couple hours later we found that she had a fractured finger, and didn't (thankfully) need stitches because of the fracture right at the tip. She just got a nice bandage, and some drugs. The doctor recommended I give her codine to help with the pain and get her to sleep. Instead of making her sleep, she went crazy! It made her hyper and druggy. It was the WORST combo for our already clumsy girl. So we loaded her in the van and got some ice cream. She finally took a nap after we got home, 3 hours later! I also gave her the doll I made for her birthday because she definately needed a friend.

All seems to be healing well, and with some ibuprophen she seems to be doing okay with the pain. At her re-check she got a pretty pink bandage with purple hearts. If only she were 6 it would be really cool to show off to her friends. Right now it is cute in a pathetic sort of way. Poor baby. I am thinking with all these injuries she will be a pro with this medical stuff by the time she is 18, and become a very successful doctor. All I know is that she is one tough little girl and will be successful at whatever she does. It takes her no time at all to get back into trouble!

Meet Autumn...

I finally finished Isabel's Waldorf-style doll. I am overall very happy with how she turned out! And, I finished it a month and a half before her birthday! Woohoo! I just need to make her some clothes. In the picture she is wearing one of Isabel's nice baby dresses (that she wore twice and it is stained with spit up!) and a little leaf hat that I made for our baby boy.

My very best resource is this flickr set. I also made the crochet cap (and learned to crochet as I made it! lol) and attached the hair to the cap. It was not too difficult, but was fairly time consuming. It feels good to have a big project off of my plate. Now I plan to make one for Anastasia for Christmas... but definately a princess doll! And then I will make a couple to sell before Christmas... hopefully! :) So much to do.....

A Walk in the Woods

Yesterday we took a small trip to Cacapon State Park in West Virginia. It was only an hour's drive and the beauty of the forest was just what we were searching for on our little adventure. We took a small hike and enjoyed the playground a bit. Had we been prepared, there was a very pretty (and crowded) lake for swimming or paddle boating. Definitely worth the trip!

Isabel chose her own outfit from a box of sweet clothes our neighbor gave her, and it was absolutely perfect for a little woodland walk. She looks like a little Child of the Forest. :) Of course, half-way down the half-mile trail, she decided she needed a "bopbop" and refused to move until she got it. We had no clue what she wanted, and Nick asked Anastasia who explained her sister wanted a juice box... which we did not have. So we stuffed her in the Beco and walked on with screaming toddler in tow. We let her out again later and she was a little happier. She was the last to get hit with the cold, and she wasn't feeling the greatest so I think that was part of it.

The path was loaded with luscious patches of green moss and acorns which my little forest sprites happily gathered. We definitely need some nature pouches for all. Half of our walk was picking up dropped acorns.

Anastasia found a pine cone on a stick, and declared it her magic wand. She went skipping down the trail spreading magic to the forest creatures. The fairies bring her magic every night while she sleeps, so she says. :)

After our trip to the park and some milkshakes we went into the town of Berkley Springs to fill our jugs and large containers with spring water. We usually go to a local spring but because we were so close to Berkley Springs, we figured we would get our water there. It was great because the little State Park in the middle of town has little pools and canals of water perfect for little children who want to wade. One pool was the perfect size for cooling off in with some climbing rocks and a sandy bottom, perfect for little feet. This was possibly the highlight of the trip and Anastasia built sand "castles" and watched older boys catch minnows and crayfish. Isabel just splashed about in the cool water as the evening sun set in the sky. :)

Hooded Characters

I promise my blog will not be completely devoted to cute baby boy clothes from now until November.... well, I kind of promise. Last week I started and finished this super sweet "Baby In the Hood" jacket from Anna Maria's Handmade Beginnings. I hope you aren't sick of me talking about this book, but it is like therapy for crazy, nesty, pregnant me.

I used SEI Play Day fabric, available at Hawthorne Threads and lined it with cotton knit from the clearance isle at Joann's. So its soft and cute and a little bit warm! The pattern wasn't hard, but there were a few confusing parts even for me... but I figured it all out. It was quite time consuming, but seeing as it is sized 0-6 months, I hopefully won't need to make another until Spring. One can hope anyway. I also made these very cute, very uneven shoes:

I used Martha Stewart's pattern (available here) and modified it a bit so it looked less girlie. No one will notice the crookedness right? They will be too focused on his little yawns and coos and other baby cutenesses. Between flea market finds, yard sale scores, hand me-downs and handmade items, this little boy is going to have a stellar wardrobe! Its amazing how short of a time they stay in these little things. Yet my champion spit-uppers mean 8 outfits a day so its good to have a nice collection.

And meet Little Red and BB Wolf. They just made an appearance in my shop with their storybook box. Here at ClareCorner, cuteness abounds. I daresay. Happy Weekend everyone!

Fairy Box In the Shop!!!

I finally finished and listed a new fairy box in my SHOP!

Sadly it may be the only one I list because Michael's seems to have discontinued these darling flower boxes. So get it while its there, because when it is gone, it is gone! (Probably)

Anastasia plays with hers ALL the time. Possibly more than her dollhouse I slaved over. Go figure. Her Princesses that are too big for the beds live here most days.

You saw it here first!! Hopefully a forest box will be up next week! :) Stay tuned for other new things as well! :)

"On The Go-veralls"

Thanks to being sick, and watching some old classic movies with the girls, I finished up my first knitting project in over 2 years!!! I might have been the last person EVER to discover the greatness of Ravelry. I mean, I have known about Ravelry and what it was but I finally joined, downloaded the free "On The Go-veralls" pattern and now I am completely hooked!

I made it in the 0-6 month size with Patton's Classic Wool that has been sitting around unused for over 2 years. I ended up running out of what I had, so I had to go buy a second ball. It is probably the nicest yarn I have worked with because it is soft (for wool) and smooth to knit with. The evenness of the wool made it perfect since I still consider myself a beginner. It took me less than a week and was pretty easy even though I lost count a few times (oops) and one cuff is a tad longer than the other. I am not sure you will be able to tell when they are all bunched up on a tiny baby! I think little boys in knits are just about is darling as can be!

I love these so much, I am thinking of knitting up another pair in red or brown... and I have so many more projects I found to knit too... I think, and really hope, I am becoming addicted to knitting. I have to admit, I am usually afraid of knitting because it takes so. darn. long. But, I am trying to be more patient, and knitting seems to go right along with that.

Knitting little baby things is nice because everything is so tiny! :) We have also become addicted to Legend of the Seeker so it is nice to have something mindless and productive to do while watching my new favorite show on Netflix WI. Whats great is that Nick and I can actually agree on this show, and its awesomeness. And I really wish we could walk around dressed like Richard and Kahlan: Clothes are so boring these days. Maybe Anastasia has it right wearing dresses that twirl all the time.

Simple Sewing for Baby

Today was one of those Mondays. I started out sick with a mild, but draining (for preggo me) cold. Even though my goats escaped, again, I was able to drag them from the neighbors yard back to the barn. And then the dog who was on her lead, managed to snap the lead and run after the chickens. She killed one of our hens. It was very sad indeed. This is the second she has killed in the past couple weeks. We are definately going to need to enclose the chickens, or atleast only let them free-range while the husky is cooped up indoors. :( So, even though I began my day well, and began work on boxes for my shop (finally) I gave up and decided to take it easy the rest of the day. So, I made baby clothes! I actually just put little appliques on all the onesies I picked up at Target on clearance. I was surprised to find long sleeves on clearance at the end of summer, so I snagged them and today I made them cute.

This owl outfit turned out adorable, even though the pants still need elastic:

I made the pants by tracing a pair of baby pants I had bought, and made them a bit wider and longer. It took less than 1/2 yard of cotton knit fabric. And they are really soft.

So now my day is better, even after a serious meltdown by all... I have a stack of finished, cuddly cotton baby clothes sitting in the "finished" stack on my sewing table. And can I just say, boy clothes are so much fun! Its nice seeing so many blues, reds and greens and other non-pinks! And are you noticing a little nature-foresty theme yet? :)