belle epoque

Don’t have anything new of a crafty nature to show you, but to all the amazing moms out there:

I love the blog A Dress a Day, so much so that when Erin posted about this fabric, and said that someone should make a shirt dress out of it, I said, “Yes ma’am!”


and an action shot, so you can see the neat chevrons the pattern makes on the sides
I got my fabric on sale from The Fat Quarter Shop, but they don’t have it anymore (actually, looks like almost no one has it anymore– what the heck with discontinuing super-cool fabric?). I think of all the things I’ve made post-baby, I am happiest/most excited about this (sad, it has taken a year!). Instead of going my usual cut-corners and craft quick route, I took it slow- traced all of the pattern markings carefully, basted pieces together before stitching, and hand-stitched where the pattern indicated. My bernina’s automatic buttonholer was also a HUGE help. It took up the majority of two whole babysitter days to make and was totally worth it. I think I could probably make more clothes if I did the cutting, marking and ironing when HMB sleeps, and then the stitching when she is busy with the babysitter! I have to go through my patterns and fabric for another likely candidate.

Anyway, I used McCall’s 5378 with some modifications for fit and pattern weirdness (those odd slouchy pushed-up sleeves had to go). I used some cream satin-covered buttons I had lying around. I’ll be writing up a review on Pattern Review right after I hit publish on this baby, if you’re interested in making a dress using this pattern yourself! Despite some issues, I really liked it and I’d like to have one in a soft, fine-wale corderoy too…

She’s here!

The best craft project ever! Finished two weeks ahead of schedule

She was born on the 24th at 5:18am, weighs in at 6lbs7oz and is 18 inches long. As predicted, she got here before I finished her quilted wall hanging! Hopefully I’ll get it done before she goes to college.

It may be quiet around here for a bit as we all get used to each other, but I’ll be checking blogs when I can, posting endless baby pics to flickr, and planning post baby crafts between
naps!

I think this child may come out quoting Monty Python, because for weeks I’ve had the compulsion to do something very strange and anglophilic– make mince pies, from scratch (no bottled mince for us! nope!). I’ve never been a big fan of mince pies or spicy fruit desserts in general (I only like plum pudding with nearly a whole jar of hard sauce on it), but this year the idea of mince pies would *not* leave me alone. Which culminated in literally HOURS in the kitchen, muttering and stirring and making a mess. I used this recipe for the mince, and this recipe for the pastry crust. If I did it again (which is unlikely) I would halve the mince recipe, or be prepared to can some of it, because it made WAY more than necessary.

But look! They turned out so pretty:

Instead of stars or lattice-work, I used my wee autumn leaf cookie cutters to make the tart tops. I think they tasted the way mince pies are meant to– spicy and tart with a buttery crust. Now mince is OUT of my system and I can move on to other things!