The Arbolog |

I made Ross a T-shirt this past weekend with some lovely bamboo jersey I bought. I actually thought I ruined it when I accidentally cut something I shouldn’t have, so I did some quick window-style appliqueing and think I managed to save it. 

From Crafts

It was the first time I used ribbing, and I have to admit that there is a long calculated formula you are supposed to useto calculate the length of ribbing you should use based on the angle of the neckline blah blah, but I had no time for fractional math because I really have to admit that fractions? I don’t remember then AT ALL. So I winged it and it turned out okay, but probably could have turned out better. I used a pattern I got free from Burdastyle and I have a few things to note about the pattern I used:

1. it suggests that you cut two of the back piece. Don’t do that. You only need one, cut on the fold.
2. the neckline is freakin’ tiny and if this T shirt is for a guy, you will want to cut it larger (although be careful as this is where I screwed it up and cut something I shouldn’t have. Remember, measure twice, cut once and all that.)

I suppose such is the chance you take with free patterns. Nonetheless, it was a simple piece, but would have been so much more finished looking on the inside seams if I had a serger. If I only had a serger! I feel like the Tin Man when I say that. I don’t really have room for a serger, but man, I would really really like one when we move into a place where I can have an office / crafty room because holy cow does it make light work of so many things. A friend generously loaned me hers when I made the diapers for Kale (that he so nicely grew out of in three weeks) and seriously, man, that was awesome. 

Anyway, so I had another metre of this lovely bamboo, in a really amazing sage colour, and so for once I decided to sew something for ME instead of my son or my husband or my friends and I made myself some boycut undies. I actually paid for this pattern – the one on Burda Style wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. Although, truth be told – I should have just used it because the one I paid for needed some amending anyway. None the less, I managed to use some scraps instead of cutting into that lovely metre of green bamboo jersey I have left, and so Ross’ T-shirt and my undies match. Which is kinda creepy in that matching-jogging-suit sort of spousal way, but its likely that no one will ever know because other than me posting a picture of my new undies NOT being worn on this here blog, the world won’t ever see me wearing them.

From Miscellaneous

You see that elastic up there? That’s actually elastic in a fabric casing I made – the pattern actually calls for the elastic to be applied “naked” and I didn’t like that. Also, next time? I’ll make the elastic longer around – the pattern calls for a measurement, and while it fits, it does ensure a muffin top that I don’t really appreciate.

I really enjoy sewing, which is funny considering Mom sent me to a sewing class when I was about 13 in which I made a blue apron for Rick and it was horrid, truly horrid. I remember very clearly watching the instructor lady put pins into fabric and create gathers with so much ease it looked staged and I remember thinking that there is no freakin’ way I will ever want to do that. When I was sewing the undies I learned a new stitch on my machine – an overcast stitch. Learning how to use and do a new stitch was totally exciting. How things have changed.

When Ross bought me this sewing machine – a Kenmore Model 1560 from like, 1901 or something (okay, its probably more like the 80s), it didn’t come with a manual. Funny how a sewing machine has been one of the best gifts he has ever given me.  

Kenmore V1560 exploded view

The knob to select the stitches couldn’t be a nice simple button with STRAIGHT or ZIGZAG or SCALLOPED written on it – oh no. This one has three different knobs with cryptic symbols and colours and crap that you have to know how to turn to  get one of the 20 or so stitches the machine is capable of. So a manual is very, very helpful.

Fortunately, I found a website that sells sewing machine manuals that you can download and then print at home, or they can mail you the CD if you’d rather. I actually paid for something I downloaded from the internet (!) and MAN am I ever glad I did. I have consulted that thing numerous times and it has come in handy and paid for itself in time and frustration saved many times over. 

I like being able to sew things – whether its to mend something or to sew something from scratch. There is no fabric store in New West (woe!) and its something I have honestly considered doing. I actually wonder if its possible to run an online fabric store and make money. No building to pay rent to (although a storage space for the bolts of fabric seems somewhat important) and if you have an EXCELLENT website, I could see it working. Shipping is the issue I think. Fabric can get really, really heavy. But I can envision it in my mind – a garage with bolts of fabric and a gorgeous, slick website and fast shipping. Would it work? I don’t know. 

Part of the problem is that I find that there is no reason for people to sew unless they enjoy it. Hardly anyone repairs clothes if they rip and most people use a tailor for alterations. Fabric, patterns, notions- they are ridiculously expensive even if you buy fabric on sale or used and swap patterns with friends. It costs say, $40 for the fabric alone for an outfit that some child in China is making and is being sold for $12 at your local Super Mart. So its frustrating. 

Anyway, this wasn’t meant to be a rant on the dying breed of fabric stores. I leave you with “Baby Enamoured With Self in Mirror”:

From Kale 6 to 9 months

Is there some sort of law that says “if you are a manufacturer of kids clothes, just make up a size because its not important?”

Kale is currently fitting into clothes marked newborn all the way up to 18 months. Not to get all Seinfeld-y on you, but what the hell is with that? There is no regulated sizing in infant’s clothing, just like there is none is women’s clothing (which is why I fit into an 8 and a 18) and the only way I can tell if Kale will fit into something is to a) put it on him or b) guess. Nothing like putting on clothes on a squirmy 4 month old with busy hands only to find out that this sleeper? Yeah, good luck doing THAT up. Pfft. 

I have two boxes in the closet, one marked “Next Size” and the other marked “Future Sizes” and a third Rubbermaid tote under Kale’s laundry basket that is marked “Clothing That No Longer Fits” and…

Sidenote: is anyone else as obsessed with Rubbermaid totes as I am? I *heart* them. I *heart* them so much, here is a haiku:

Full Rubbermaid tote

Clothes for the future contained

Strong and silent you are

….anyway…. So as items fall into the “no longer fits” category, we just chuck them in there, and when that box gets full, I sell it on craigslist for $50. Its a good system. Now that Kale is getting a bit older, the incredible surplus of clothes is subsiding (he had clothes he grew out of before he wore) and now we are down to items in constant rotation. Because part of the fun of having a baby is dressing the little dude up, I’m feeling like I want some new clothes to add into the supply, but can’t justify just going and buying some. 

So I’m currently making some onesies and sleepers with some lovely bamboo jersey I picked up. The cost of the bamboo is likely considerably more than the cost of any clothes I would have bought but this way I’m making them so its also entertainment for me. The first one (although still unsewn and just pinned together at this point) is friggin’ huge. As a result, Kale’s little friend Caden, a week younger and yet mysteriously a number of pounds heavier (“Stringbean, meet brick shithouse, Brick shithouse, meet stringbean”) is getting a snazzy little orange number, and I’m back to the drawing board. 

The pattern I followed (hindsight says “why did I waste the money on buying this pattern, duh?”) is a McCall’s pattern orignally produced in the early 60s from the looks of it and not changed since then other than a new baby on the package, and apparently babies were bigger in the 60s. Like, a LOT. I guess they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.

So I have to tweak the pattern and I honestly might as well just make my own. I use really light tracing paper for pattern making, and I recently read about using felt for pattern making as that way when you use your rotary cutter, you are less likely to trim pieces of paper off. I am kind of getting into pattern making these days. In fact, I am getting back into sewing in general and well, let’s just say I am knee deep in crafts these days:

From Miscellaneous

And since so many projects tend to get put down and picked up at the whims of a 4 month old boy, the picture above is sadly about what it normally looks like during the day. In fact, today I actually had to extend the table because the stored crap no longer allows for room to actually craft things. The table we bought is a little square table that actually doubles in size when you slide the top and pop out a hidden equal-size bottom layer. See that blue Rubbermaid tote? That’s my sewing machine, waiting for me to finish cutting out that satin so that I can sew: the orange onesie, three ties I’ll likely sell on Etsy, a green sleeper, and a black dimpled Minkee car seat/carrier fleecey cover thingie with a hood and zipper that I am also patterning and working on. I have one last project too – which the ingredients are not out for because I need one more part – PUL bibs made from the PUL that Melanie sent me to fiddle with. 

In addition to the crafty things I am making with fabrics, I am also in the middle of making a bunch of food-related things for Christmas gift baskets for the family. I’m not going to post what they are, since there are family readers here, but let’s just say I had to make extra to ensure I have some all for myself because Hello? Friggin’ yummy much?

Enough blogging, its time to get on with some of those crafts.

I’m a fan of “re-purposing” things.

Before I actually had Kale, we had decorated his room using a variety of things acquired from both used sources and new. One of the “used” things I bought was a Lillberg rocking chair from Ikea. I like its design, but in practise this chair is kind of useless as the seat part is sooooo long that my little short legs stick straight out and can’t bend at the knee if I sit all the way back in the chair, and as a result, I can’t make the chair rock. Its footprint is also ridiculous, and it takes up more room than it really should in a little boy’s room. So I sold it on Craigslist this weekend, and went and picked up a new to us chair that is a small 24X22 recliner that converts to an ottoman. It is covered in mocha coloured microsuede and is in near perfect shape.

Also, earlier this summer, Ross and I rescued a ficus tree that someone had abruptly abandoned in front of our place and after bringing it inside, it promptly dropped all its leaves. We nurtured it all summer long outside on the patio and now it sports fresh green happy growth. We have to make sure it survives the winter, so we brought it inside again, only this time we’ve added it to Kale’s room for some colour. I firmly believe that all rooms should have at least one plant, and so now the only room without a plant in our house is the bathroom.

I also was digging around in my closet for something else, and came across a rag rug I had previously had in the kitchen, in shades of green, rust, and brown, and so I have added that to Kale’s little space as well. I’m really happy with the results of these little changes and I am now thinking about the curtains I need to sew for his room! It never ends.

Speaking of sewing, my friend Melanie sent me some PUL to experiment with, and I think I have come up with a few ideas and need to get my sewing machine out of Kale’s closet. I have three projects on the go right now that require my sewing machine, and every time I find myself with a few minutes to do some sewing, Kale is asleep in his bassinet in his room and I sit and get anxious to get the machine out. Oh how I long for a room all my own to keep my crafting and sewing goodies out on tables and ready to use at the drop of a hat!

Anyway, I have a million other things I can do (like laundry! Yay!) so I had better go take care of that. I’ll leave you with this picture of Mooki doing whatever it takes to sleep in the sun.

From Mooki