As Requested...

After posting about our advent calender, I got a few comments and emails asking for details.  Let me point out that I was probably in the nursery when my mom made hers at whatever preschool group she belonged to.  I have not researched the meanings behind any of this, I'm merely copying what my mom had.  I don't have any knowledge who came up with all of this.  I DO know that you can do your advent calender however you like.  I've seen this calender with glitter, with sequences, with different colors.  My mom's tree is stuffed with polyfill, and I decided to leave mine flat.  There are no hard and fast rules here, but if you want to see what we do...even though I'm unsure of the origin, I'd be happy to share.  I'm also unsure if our descriptions are from memory, or if my sister actually got a hold of our original readings when she typed them out for me.  I add all of this ahead of time before the emails start flooding in saying "Actually, the real origin of the candy cane is..." or "Wreaths actually come from the pagan practice of..."  I honestly have not researched it.  It's just a little fun activity to keep our minds on Christ during this season that has been in my family for years.  Since you asked, here are the details of what we use:

Day 1: Trumpet
The trumpet is used to gather the people to proclaim a very important announcement from the King.  The trumpet reminds us of the great announcement God our King made when He announced the birth of His Son.

Day 2: Candy Cane
The candy cane is red and white to remind us of Christ's blood shed for us.  His purity, and His gift of redemption so that our hearts may be pure as well.

Day 3: Candle
A candle is used to light the way.  Jesus is the Light of the world, and when He comes into our hearts, His light shines in us.

Day 4: Cross
The cross represents the very reason Christ came to earth as a baby.  He was born to die for us.  This should cuase us to be very grateful.

Day 5: Circle
The circle represents something with no beginning and no end.  God has no beginning and no end.  He is truly sovereign.

Day 6: Blue Diamond
A diamond is a very precious gem.  Even more precious is the baby in the manger who came that we might have life.

Day 7: Apple
The apple reminds us of Adam and Eve and their sin, which we are all born with.  Thankfully, Christ came at Christmas to take away this sin.

Day 8: Snowman
The snowman reminds us of the purity of fresh new-fallen snow.  Isaiah tells us that God promises to make our hearts as clean as snow if we just come to Him and reason together with Him.

Day 9: Blue Stocking
The stocking reminds us of gifts we receive at Christmas.  The color blue reminds us of the vastness of the sky.  God's grace is vast and is greater than all our sin.  This is the greatest gift of all.

Day 10: Wreath
The wreath reminds us of the crown of thorns that Jesus wore for us while He was nailed to the cross.  It also reminds us of the crown of righteousness He will be wearing when we go to be with Him in heaven.

Day 11: Toy Soldier
The toy soldier reminds us that we are soldiers in God's army.  We need to make sure we are wearing the whole armor of God, so we can be prepared when Satan attacks us.

Day 12: Train
The train reminds us of the little engine that could.  If we submit our will to God's and persevere, we will have success.

Day 13: Red Stocking
The red stocking reminds us of the blood of Christ shed for us to give us everlasting life, the greatest gift of all.

Day 14: Bell
It is said that in England, bells are rung every time a King is born.  This bell reminds us of the birth of Jesus, the King of Kings.

Day 15: Drum
The little drummer boy had nothing to offer the Christ-child except his gift of playing drums.  This Christmas, our gift to Jesus should be ourselves, our talents, and our will.

Day 16: Teddy Bear
The teddy bear is a soft, cuddly, huggable toy.  It represents the giving of love.  Let us share the gift of love to those around us this Christmas.

Day 17: Gingerbread Man
The gingerbread man reminds us of the special goodies prepared at Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  Let us not forget why we are celebrating this Christmas.  Let us focus on His birth.

Day 18: Dove
The dove represents peace.  Christ came to this world to bring peace on earth and good will toward men.

Day 19: Star
The star reminds us of the star of Bethlehem, shining over the stable, pointing the way for the shepherds to our Savior.

Day 20: Angel
The angel reminds us of the special messenger sent from God to announce the birth of our Lord.  We need to be messengers of God as well to let the world know why Jesus was born.

Day 21: Heart
The heart reminds us that we need to search our own hearts and make sure they are yielded completely to Christ.  It also reminds us of the great love flowing from God's Heart to us.

Day 22: Lamb
The lamb reminds us of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God so that our sins could be washed away.

Day 23: Lion
The lion reminds us of the King of the Jungle.  In The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Aslan symbolized Christ, who was all-powerful, yet gentle and kind, willing to give up his life for his people.

Day 24: Church
The church represents God's body of believers, His family, who will someday be gathered up with Him to live in heaven.

Day 25: Merry Christmas, Baby Jesus! (The little baby is put in the manger on this day.  We use a miniature plastic doll.)

I hope this is somewhat inspiring for you to make your own advent calender for next year!  Remember it doesn't have to be just like this one...put your own mark on yours!  (And yes, you did see the candy cane on top of our tree!)

Christmas Peek

I thought I'd show you a little bit of Christmas, although not the gifts. ;) I was thinking about what this little girl on the way would wear for Christmas, and whether or not the girls should be wearing matching dresses, etc. Well, Silje has about 3 Christmas dresses that people gave her for her birthday to choose from, so it seems kinda wasteful to make her another one.

Projects like this make me miss when Walmart used to have their $1/yard bin fabric, and I'm glad I stocked up when I did, although I'm really trying to be good about using up all of the fabric I have on hand before I allow myself any more.

So I didn't have a pattern for a little 0-3 month dress. All of my patterns started at 6-12 months. However, I did have a pattern for a 0-3 month shirt, that I had used to make Elias a cute shirt to go with my first pair of knit longies (which I found the other day. Wow, that's bad knitting! I suppose everyone has to start somewhere!) Anyway, I remembered that I really liked that pattern and it fit him so well. Although I had made the shirt in the preemie size, and it did not fit him for very long at all.

So in under 2 hours, this is what came out of my sewing room, using 1/2 yard of one of my $1/yd Walmart bin stash fabric:


I just used the shirt pattern that I loved, shortened it a bit and added a huge ruffle to the bottom. Voila, a dress. It's red stretchy velvet, but not a fine velvet. More like sweatshirt fabric. It's so soft and will be nice and warm I hope. I was guessing on the length of the skirt, so I hope it's long enough to cover her tush.

Here it is washed out by a flash:


The original pattern also had cuffs on the sleeves, but I remember with Elias hating how the pattern had it with a chunky seam facing his wrists, so I thought I'd try to modify the pattern to have the seam facing a different direction and have a nicer finished look, but alas after fiddling around with it for awhile I realized these sleeves are so tiny that my idea wouldn't work unless I sewed on the cuffs by hand. Since that didn't sound appealing to me, I just folded over and sewed the sleeves and left the cuff off all together.

I like it, but am thinking it needs something. A sash around the waist, a knit poinsettia pin, or some cute Christmas-y tights. I'd love to make a sewn bonnet to go with it using the same fabric, but I don't have a pattern that allows for knit fabrics like this and am a bit nervous about winging it. We'll see how ambitious I get. If I had an embroidery machine, I'd make some bloomers underneath with some cute design on the butt. Oooo, you know what would be cool? One of those crocheted headbands with those obnoxiously large flowers that are so in vogue right now. I could get a large silk poinsettia and attach it to a crocheted headband. Perfect. I'll add that to my list.

Mai Tai

I've been so good about working through my "almost finished" pile in my sewing room. My goal has been to finish one thing a day, or at least put a significant amount of work into a longer project. I've been doing better than expected, and have actually finished 5 or six things some days. The day before yesterday I finished a whole pile of Knut work clothes that needed mending, and even some ski things of his. I hate that kind of work and I'm so glad to have it out of my creative space!

Speaking of my creative space, my sewing room has been going through a mini-makeover. Clutter was starting to take over, and pieces of projects were just strewn everywhere. I used to have a policy of only having enough fabric on hand that fit in the cupboards in my sewing room. Well, when things get messy, things start to pile up. Part of my problem is that not everything was fitting in the cupboards anymore. So some of my top projects have their supplies stacked in my "almost finished" pile as well. I'm on a fabric spending freeze until I get myself back on track here.



Then there's the other storage issue. Up until now my patterns have been organized in a plastic tub/filing cabinet. Then there's the yarn issue. There's the tub of cheap yarn, and the tub of scrap wool yarn that I use to embroider some of the wool items in my store. Then there's my slowly growing reference book library of some amazing crafting books that I use a lot while I'm sewing. Some of my favorites are a cute applique book, a quilting encyclopedia, a pattern alteration guide, a guide for sewing clothes especially for children. All of these have amazing information that I pull out often and I wanted to add a bookshelf to my space. Then there's the scrap problem, although I wouldn't define it exactly as a "problem." When I work on projects, more specifically projects involving cotton woven fabrics, like quilting fabrics, I like to keep as many scraps as I can for future quilts. I keep them fairly organized, per instructions of www.quiltville.com

Anyway, I got this little cubicle unit with a little opening for a bookshelf, a fabric bin which is now full of "almost finished" things. I have no problem having this bin, except there's this bin and the entire top of my washing machine that has almost finished things. I'd like to cover this bin with coordinating fabric leftover from the bulletin board I covered that's hanging right above this unit. However, I can't find all my leftovers. To me that's a red flag that my fabric problem is really in need of containment! I'm sure I'll find it one of these days. I just don't have time to look for something when there are plenty of projects looking for me.

If I can just work my way down to just this bin, I'll be happy. Then I got some shelves in another cubicle which has a drawer for my various elastics, one is full of buttons, another with trims and bias edging, still another one with all of my double pointed knitting needles. It really organized all the things that were shoved in the one drawer in my sewing desk. Target didn't have 2 deep drawers, so I had to get a rain check for one, and for the time being my ribbons will just have to sit there. Then I ordered the bottom left bin which is actually a filing cabinet to hold all of my patterns, and replaces the other tub. It's a bit smaller than my other tub, but it fits the space so much better, and fits with the other cubicles I got.

The next 2 things I want to do is to paint the cupboards in the room white, (I'm thinking this will get done after this baby is born) and to make a fabric cover for my serger, to protect dust from getting in the gears. Plus it will look cool. I'm still undecided if I want some sort of valance in the room, or if I just like as much sunlight to flood in as I can.

So last night, I needed to get something off of my "almost finished pile" and the project I picked wasn't even started, but wouldn't fit in my cupboards. My "almost finished pile" also contains my "get done before baby" projects, and since this one was relatively simple I decided to make something from scratch because I'd been so disciplined to finished all of these tedious little projects. I had just finished mending Knut's work clothes and my machine was all hooked up with the denim weight needle and color thread, and this project included denim as well, so it saved me some set up time.


It's an Asian Mai Tai. Since Elias was born, I've learned so much about the parenting technique of baby-wearing and let me tell you I love it! I don't wear Elias anymore, but in his first year, having him always there and always close made it so easy to teach him things and soothe him while I was doing dishes, gardening, or helping one of the other kids. It was great as we needed extra bonding to catch up from all of his hospital issues, and we sure got it. I used a ring sling with him mostly. My problem with that is that it only pulled on one shoulder which wasn't an issue for a long time, but as he got heavier it became more and more difficult.

I also have a Baby Bjorn which I like, and find comfortable, but I don't think my kids find it quite as comfortable as I do. When they're not as comfortable, it kinda defeats the purpose of holding them to soothe them. Plus, I can only wear the baby on the front with the Bjorn, and I prefer to wear a baby on my back. On the front, the weight pulls on my back, and the heavier the baby gets, the more I hunch over. On the back, the weight pulls on my abs and I feel like I'm getting a good ab workout...something that any new mom is eager to squeeze in.

So this is the kind of carrier they use in Asia, and can be worn on the front, back, or hip.



Mine is reversible and I used a pattern that I've been holding onto for way too long. So I can either have the designer Amy Butler fabric facing out, or the lightweight denim. This was a great "stash buster" project as I let go of some fabric I've held onto for way too long, and it came together so fast. Really there's the waist strap, 2 shoulder straps, the front panel, and the pocket. That's it. There's some hidden "X" supports on the inside, but it's not too complicated.

I also whipped together a Moby wrap out of some $1 Walmart knit fabric I've had for I don't know how long. Really, you don't have to "make" a faux-Moby. There was no sewing involved. I took 5 yards of fabric (I think a real Moby is 5-6 yards, but I'm small so I thought I could get away with only 5...plus that's all I had) and cut it in half "hot dog style" as my kindergarten teacher used to say (length-wise). Viola, 2 faux-Mobys for $5. This fabric does not unravel, so I didn't have to serge the edges, although I wanted to. I didn't, though, because I only have white serger thread, and the fabric I used is chocolate brown and I didn't want that much contrast. Buying brown thread would have added about $20 to the cost of my project, and I liked the sound of just $5 from a few years ago better.

I'm happy to say that with my daily work on this goal of finishing all of these projects my pile is down by half, and I even have one Christmas present almost finished! My goal was New Years to get it all done, and I'm surprised how fast these "5 minutes to finish" projects are just flying out of my sewing room. O, it feels so good!

Nesting

There was something about the ultrasound that clicked something on in me. I woke up the next morning with a to-do list all ready to go, but got tossed out the window. You see, I felt the supreme urgency that the boys' closet (containing all of my baby things) MUST be cleaned out. As in, right now. All the itty bitty baby things, as well as girl things left over from Silje were moved into Silje's closet. Well, you see where this is going. Silje's closet, therefore, had to be cleaned out as well, and organized for another set of clothing. There are great shelves in the closet, and I have no intention of buying another dresser, so everything needed to be cleaned out.

All of the baby clothes were already sorted, so I have not opened up the big bags of clothes to go through and check for stains and freshly wash and fold yet. I think it's still far to early to do that. However, today I got the desperate inclination to go through all of my baby patterns, and organize (well my patterns are already organized into a file, but I needed to narrow down the ones for this baby) and decide what to make for this baby.

I have more than enough things left over from Silje. As my firstborn, I think we got over 8 handmade blankets for her. Some we let her have, some we've kept for future kids. She had so so many clothes, but the thing I'm worried about is that she was born in June. This baby will (hopefully) come in December. I don't think whispy little sundresses will cut it for the winters up here.


It was loads of fun! My favorite patterns are Debbie Bliss or Erika Knight patterns, as well as the Sidar pattern company, although they're usually only available in England. O, the beauty of being able to order off the internet and get the cool patterns! I think if I add a few little sweaters to the wardrobe, I could make use of some of the summer dresses of Silje's. When I was pregnant with Elias we didn't find out if he was a boy or girl ahead of time, and I made a little girl mantinee sweater/bonnet/booties set just in case, and will have that ready too. I'll have to show pictures of it someday. I used a pretty burgundy yarn.


You may remember I made the sort sleeve version of this sweater for Silje before, to go with a summer dress, and I thought it knit up quickly and beautifully. (Actually, looking back I don't think I ever posted the sweater, just the dress.) Anyway, I think an infant size in the long sleeve would be easy to make.


I've been holding onto this pattern for awhile, although I don't think I'd make it in white. It's a little knit dress, kimono style. It might be nice to have a warm cozy dress on hand.


This is the pattern for the bonnet I made in the previous set mentioned for if Elias was a girl. Isn't it darling? It knit up so nicely, and was much easier than it loos, although I haven't gotten a ribbon on it yet. Elias surprised me a month early and after he came, it didn't make it to the top of my list to put the finishing touches on the girl clothes after he was born. I think I might make at least one more of these. At least. However, I think I must buy one of those hats with the obnoxiously large flowers on them, though. Those are awesome.

I'm planning on doing things for my store through October, and then stopping for my "maternity leave." I'll pick it back up...when I feel like it. That will leave me my biggest and most uncomfortable months to just sit and knit for my own little girl while I watch the older kids. Maybe work on some Christmas presents too. I don't think I'll get all the things done that I hope to, but I don't have to. Planning/dreaming is half the fun, anyway! It's a treat to work off of these different patterns. I'm only licensed to sell from "Little Turtle Knits" patterns, and all of these patterns are "for personal use only" and often my personal sewing/knitting gets to the bottom of my list. (I didn't even show you the sewing patterns I went through in my stash today!)

I haven't even begun to sort through my favorite free online patterns on ravelry.com. O, this is going to be fun!

New Things

Back to the crafting...

Today is the first of the month, and I'm sure you all know by now that is store stocking day at Nerdy Gerdy. So far, only 7 new items have made it in, and maybe up to 5 more will make it in there by the end of the day. You see, I've had trouble getting pictures of everything with the storms the last few days, and I have a few things sooooo close to being done in my sewing room. I've been, however, happily busy with some special orders this month, and haven't had as much time as I have in the past to put new items in the store.

My custom spots won't reopen for another 2 weeks or so, as I'm still booked up there. Yeah for that! The custom wool order I was working on just went out yesterday. Want a peek?


Here's 4 items just sent out. They were blocked, so that's why they were sitting on a towel in this picture. She ordered the salmon shorties that were already in the store, and then 2 wraps custom ordered in the size needed, and then she sent me a picture of the cute silly face on the butt shorties, with some slight modification requests, such as the added ruffle on the bottom.

The other order I'm working on is for a bunch of one-sized pocket diapers, which seems to be what everyone is ordering when it comes to diapers! I haven't had a chance until now to put individual one-sized diapers in the store, so I made 7 for this month's stocking. However, at the mall event I went to, someone bought one of them, so I only have 6 added to the store. A bit more expensive than prefolds and covers, the one-sized diapers are popular because they are the cheapest choice for "modern" diapers since a stash of diapers in each size becomes unnecessary. They're a bit big for newborns, though. I think it might fit on a 10 lber, though, so it depends how big the newborn is!

It was so frustrating, though, because they are so curvy to fit baby that I can't make them look straight and flat for pictures. I was rushed this time around and didn't fiddle with them as much for the pictures, so I might go back in a few days and redo the pictures to look a bit better because they are actually not wonky in real life!

I was hoping to get 2 hot mama bags done, but alas, only one of them made it out of the sewing room. The other one is just waiting for the lining, and may show up next month. However, the one that is in there is just gorgeous. Seriously, when it comes to the bags, I honestly don't want to get rid of one of them. I make each one to be "Wow! This is my favorite bag!" If I actually say that out loud, then I know it's ready to go in the store. (That way, if it sells, awesome! If it doesn't, than I've got a really cute new bag that I love! Call it an insurance policy to only sell diapers that I myself would buy!) They are all my favorite. This one is just my new favorite. I had to hunt down the fabric for it, but it's sooooo worth it.

It's called "poppy" and when I got it in the mail after I specially ordered it Knut liked it so much I think he would have liked to frame it and put it on our wall because it looked like a cool painting. I could not get the interior to come out right in the picture no matter how I tried, but it looks light brown, and it's actually really dark, as shown a little in the other pictures. It's just freakin' awesome. I mean, seriously, where have you seen a diaper bag like that before?

The items that are done but don't have pictures yet: 3 more wool items, some cotton knit dishcloths that have been requested by a few people. The hot mama bag that was supposed to join the poppy one was very vintage in feel and had some polka dots that I've really been drawn to. I don't know why I've been drawn to polka dot fabrics lately. What can I say? Anyway, the fabric totally inspired me, and I am a bit sad it didn't make it into the store. 3 buttercup bags were also supposed to make it in, and 2 of them were so close to completion. (Well, one of them is completely put together but needs something. I think it needs some coordinating fabric flower or something.) If by some miracle I get them done before next month, I may add them mid month. But...probably not. I have so much going on this month that I don't think I'll have a lot of sewing time, and it will be nice to have a few projects near completion to wrap up and add to the store next month.

What is going on, you ask? Well, Knut's brother and sister-in-law will be flying in from New Jersey with their sweet twin boys for Knut's other brother's high school graduation. They'll be staying for a week, and I can't wait to finally hold at least one set of twins born in our family this year! Seriously, my arms just started aching thinking about it.

After Lars' graduates, my mom will be flying in for her ** year high school reunion, and will spend a bit of time with us as well, though not too long, as her official yearly visit with my Papa won't be until later this summer.

And of course, the garden, my very active kids, and my absent-unless-it's-raining farming husband whose is not around to help, and actually needs more help from me this time of year. So it will be a busy month! I love it!

Retreat

This last weekend, I got a treat from Knut. After years and years of me wanting to go to one of the "crafting" weekends out at Inspiration Point, this year, he made it happen. In the spring they have "Quilt, Scrap, Stamp" retreats and in the fall they divide it into quilting weekends and scrapping/stamping weekends.

As you may have noticed, both of those times, both spring and fall, are about the worst time of year for leaving the farm for any reason. Field work has already begun on the farm, so I was just tickled when Knut told me I should just go this year.

I had a tough time figuring out what to bring to work on. I had a long list of projects! I really wanted to work on diapers there, but some fabric for the diaper inners that I was expecting to come on Thursday morning didn't actually arrive until Saturday morning, when I was already out at the camp. So I planned on working on a few "hot mama" diaper bags, and one of Silje's new summer dresses, and if there was still time, a few other bags or Silje's Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.

When I got there, I saw that they had a work table ready for me in the chapel, which was a little removed from the hustle and bustle of the work stations set up in the lakeview lodge, where the majority of women were. In the little chapel, there were 5 other women in there with me. Michelle, who is from my church and was kind enough to give me a ride way out to camp. She was the vendor for the stamping that weekend as well. Then there were 2 other quilters in there, and 2 other stampers.

I used to work out at this camp as a "camp aide" they called it back then. I think now the title is "support staff." Doing the math as to how long ago that was, I think it was 12 year ago. It's amazing though, it doesn't even feel half that long ago. As a whole, the weekend was not what I had expected.

I was expecting a big sewing weekend, where I got a bunch of things crossed off my to-do list, and kinda a slumber party atmosphere with fun with girlfriends. In the end, I saw I was put in a room alone, since I didn't request any roommates (since I didn't really know anyone besides Michelle and one other friend), and I didn't sign up for the camp very early.

There's something about the camp where God is so very present. I know God is omnipresent, but in this case, His presence seems to be extra thick. God's presence hits you over the head like a shovel when you cross onto the land there.

I'll have to admit, not knowing quite what to expect, I was a little pouty that I had no roommates, and I was out in the chapel, and away from the crowd in the lodge. After the service that night, I went back to my room, and God told me that all of that was part of His plan. You see, I thought this would be a girls' weekend, but God was planning a weekend with Him. Silly me. I don't know how I could expect a weekend out at camp and expect anything else.

The weekend was productive with a few hiccups. I forgot my elastic, which was required for the pockets in the liner of the hot mama bags. Since the pockets are about the first step of the liner, none of the liners of the bags got done, but just the outsides...pretty much. I got Silje's new dress done, and cut out some more fabric for her quilt. Here's Silje's dress, completed:

I totally butchered another bag, called a "Jenny Bag" and will have to completely redo the binding before I sell it, or I may just have made myself a new bag if I decide not to fix it.

I went to all the little chapel services, though they were not in the chapel, and was totally convicted on so many things. Janet, who is a fixture out at the camp, spoke and what stuck in my head the most, as she talked about God's love, which was the theme of the weekend, was her experience with coaching her summer councilors.

You see, it seems that every summer, there is at least one councilor who comes to Janet saying "Janet, there's this kid in my cabin that is completely driving me nuts. Please, please, pray that I have more patience." She always tells them no. She will not pray for patience for them. She will pray for more love. Because love is patient, and where there is love, there is patience. She tells them to love more, which requires, of course, that we tap into God's love more. It's practically impossible to muster that up ourselves.

Being a mom of 3 kids 5 and under, this message spoke volumes to me. There are so many times that I focus on trying to be patient, when what I need to be striving for is more love. Less selfishness, less me. More God. I think about every meaningful message to be gotten from any Bible study has been just that: less me, more God.

I have to admit, though, that there was a certain weariness that sunk into me at the mere thought. This was not something resolved during my weekend out there, and I wish I could have stayed longer so that it could have been explored more without interruption. I think that so many Christians, who have been Christians for a number of years could relate.

I am so so tired of failing in my Christian life. I'm so sick of wanting to have devotions, and never finding time or making it a priority. I'm sick of the 2 week bursts of spirituality sprinkled throughout the year. I love being a mom, and I know that is my calling for this time, but I miss so much waking up and having time alone with God for even 30 minutes without interruption. (If I even attempt this, one of my kids always wakes up, and too early, making them crabby all day long, and myself crabby all day long, and I almost always regret it.)

I miss being involved in ministries, like talking to people about Jesus even on the street, or at the crisis pregnancy center. I miss opening up my concordance and Bible dictionary and doing some serious Bible study. I have found it next to impossible to do these things as a mother, and while I would not trade my life for anything, I still miss that aspect of life.

With every attempt to any of this being foiled, and God continually pointing me to the ministry He has set before me: my children, I feel like I am on a path of daily failure. O if I could just be in a Bible study at church without my children interrupting 7 times, or volunteer for some charity without a babysitter calling last minute to cancel because she forgot she needed to do laundry that morning.

I get glimpses of things like that, but I don't live there. A good friend and mentor of mine who has several more children than I do suggested that I focus on Scripture memory, as she found that could be done throughout the day. She said I need to let go of the extra-biblical requirements that I have in my mind of what I "need" to do to be a good Christian. Although spending 30 minutes alone with God a day is beneficial, no where in the Bible does it say "good Christians set aside everything and spend 30 minutes a day in the Word." For some people, that is impossible. To say so, would be living like a Pharisee. To dwell on verses on your head over and over while doing dishes or making supper is a another way to bring God into the everyday. Still even in that, I fail.

I know this failure, has no baring on my relationship with Christ as far as Him approving of me. He approves of me because of what Christ did on the cross, and not because of any works of mine. My frustration is not in any lacking of Him, but the lacking in me. Perhaps I should just rely on Him more, rest in Him more. I find, though, that I don't know how to rest in Him while living in the valley, and I wish I could live on the mountaintop. Life is so much easier there.

It's a journey, and I don't know how God is going to teach me how to rest in Him while in the valley, but it's been so easy for me lately to become pessimistic about it. I feel like I'm never ever going to get it right, no matter how much I try, and it makes me crave even more, for just living at His feet in heaven.

So begins a few more weeks of really trying to seek after God, and dwell on His Word, but it's not even in the back of my mind, it's front in center: 'I guess we'll see how long it lasts this time.' I desire, so badly, for a "spurt" of spending time with God daily to last forever. I wish it were second nature, and easy. It is so not easy, and my plans to do it are so easily frustrated, leaving me frustrated.

So I ask that you pray for me in this journey to rely on God fully everyday, which is the journey I've been on since I was born. Any tips you have, like the Scripture memory, would be appreciated. However, I hesitate from relying on any formula or plan, because I don't want to rely on those. I just want to rely on Him. If I ever figure that out, I'll let you know.

Giveaway...no foolin'

It's the 300 post giveaway. Finally. You're all so pumped, right? I'll get to the point and then I'll post pictures of all the rest.


To enter: You must leave a comment to enter. Consider the comment your "entry form." If you do any of the extras, it must be stated what you did in the comments in order for them to be counted. Your comment can be anything, really. If you do not know how to leave a comment, ask the person to your left.

This is a straight drawing, so leaving a comment will give you one entry in the drawing. Want more entries? Well, if you become a fan of Nerdy Gerdy Boutique on facebook, you'll get another entry. (If you're already a fan, this counts too!) If you're not on facebook, well then you can't do this one. If you are really dedicated, you can post a link to this giveaway on facebook. That's an entry. You could post a link on facebook to your favorite item in my store. Boom, another entry. If you blog about this giveaway or my store, you'll get an entry for each of those. Again, if you don't have a blog, or you do have a blog and don't want to, you still have your other chances.

Breakdown:
comment (required) = 1 entry
fan of Nerdy Gerdy on FB (optional) = 1 entry
FB link to giveaway (optional) = 1 entry
FB link to favorite item in NGB (optional)= 1 entry
blog about giveaway (optional)= 1 entry
blog about Nerdy Gerdy (optional) = 1 entry

That's a total of 6 possible entries to win this bag!

Comments will close tonight, at midnight. At the stroke of twelve, the spell will be broken.

You need details? I'll give you details...
The outer and inner fabrics are out of print RARE Joel Dewberry designer fabric. The outer is almond color with brown sparrows. The lining is burnt orange with a circular print. The brown is a beautiful Kona cotton, and the outer fabric has fusible fleece attached to it to give it strength and body. It has a magnetic snap closure, and a little pocket inside that's perfect for a cell phone or some keys.

The body of the bag is 7.5" high, and 12" wide at it's widest point. It's the standard buttercup bag size from the blog: madebyrae.blogspot.com.

Don't forget to make sure I have your email address, or have some obvious way of contacting you if you win. This was actually a problem in the last giveaway, because the person who was going to win did not leave her email address, and her google profile was private, and I had no means to tell her she won. So I picked another winner. Don't let that happen to you!

One more bonus: if you win this bag, you will match me. I made myself a bag just like this one. If you've ever wanted to be a twin...there you go.

Good luck everyone!

Post 298

We're almost there. Do you see? Almost at post #300. The magic giveaway post. Since our last post there's been a few happenings to share:

My brother is visiting from California. He's awesome with the kids (having Dora the Explorer games on his iPhone doesn't hurt), and he makes me laugh all day long. He'll be here through Monday, and I'm not sure what we'll do. We're kinda a boring family.

I've been asked to do a presentation by our local mall at their "Ladies Night Out" event near the end of April. They want me to do a presentation on cloth diapers, explaining all the different kinds, etc. I feel honored that they've asked, and I'm pretty excited. They are giving me a booth in exchange for this, and if I do happen to sell stuff, the May 1st stocking of Nerdy Gerdy might be pretty tiny! I guess they found out about me through the sweet ladies at the local yarn store where I get most of my wool. The ladies there are so sweet, and asked me for a stack of my business cards that they could make available to their customers.

Knut finally agreed to let me go to my first ever crafting retreat in 2 weeks at my absolute favorite camp. He has a tough time committing to watching the kids this time of year, but he thinks it will work, and if not, he'll grab some help. I'm turning in my registration tomorrow before he changes his mind.

I can't decide if I should bring Silje's grandmother flower garden quilt to work on (this one is all by hand), or if I should bring a red and white quilt that I've been putting blocks together for here and there when I need a break from a difficult or tedious project. (That one is done all by machine. I'm making after this pattern.) Or I could bring "work" for Nerdy Gerdy that definitely could get done, and I'm trying to stockpile for the upcoming crazy summer months where sewing time might be scarce. Knut says I should bring all 3...and some knitting too. (Does he know me or what!) I just need to find a ride, as Knut will need the van for the weekend. I'm sure I'll find someone to pool with! I'm so stinkin' excited about this too!

A whole weekend of uninterrupted sewing time and someone preparing and cleaning up my meals too! I can only imagine what I can get done! I'm giddy just thinking about it!

The April 1st stocking is nearly ready. The wool is complete. The bags have one little addition left, and the new bamboo fitted diapers...well they're giving me problems. We'll see what happens with those!

I was going to give you a giveaway peek of the fabric used on the prize (which I think would make you all gasp in wonder) but alas, my camera is missing at the moment. I'm sure when Knut get's home, he'll know right where it is (I hope!) and you'll soon get some previews to drool over.

Post 292

For those of you counting until the 300 post giveaway, I thought I'd give you a heads up on where that was. I thought we were at 294, but when I looked back at my posts, there will a few drafts I needed to delete.

I think it's fair to say...the buttercup bag it is! I already have something special for that, and let me tell you, you will all LOVE IT! You'll have to wait and see what I'm talking about.

I haven't blogged much, because I've just been busy trying to get my house cleaned up, and trying to sew. I don't find posts about me cleaning too interesting, and although I love posting about my sewing, I hesitate in making this blog one big commercial for my store.

However, the store is doing as well as I'd hoped! I'm very excited about the sales I've made, and the interest I see. For the April 1st stocking, I've already finished 2 little girl aprons, and have a few perhaps mother/daughter sets to finish. I'm planning on making a bunch of buttercup bags for that as well, and my bamboo fleece should be in the mail any day now, and I'm going to sew up some more bamboo fitted diapers.

As for knitting, I've made 2 more wool shorties, and the 3rd is almost done. For the last one I'm making this month, I'm doing the shorties in a "linen stitch" which I'm told some people go gaga for in wool covers because of it's beauty, density, and utility. I had to buy a new set of needles for it, though, because I guess it's such a tight stitch that you need to go up 2 sizes. So I got an awesome pair of circular needles, and it has been taking forever (because of the different stitch) that I feel as though I could have finished 2 shorties by now! But last night I finished the body of it, and tried to split for the legs, and wouldn't you know, I couldn't do it with my 16" circular needles! I don't have double pointed needles in that size, so I guess it's back to the store. Although I've never seen double pointed needles in size 10, so I might have to search the internet. This pair seems to be never ending.

I'm planning some yarn embroidery on all 3 shorties that I'm adding. The aqua colored ones will get 2 shades of goldfish on them. The salmon colored ones will have something, but I'm not sure yet. Perhaps daisies. The gorgeous orange that I'm working on in the never-ending-linen-stitch-pair will get some black-eyed susan flowers...and it's going to be stunning. I hope.

I promise to show pictures when I'm done for most of the things, and they're ready for the store.

On the kid front, Silje has the pleasure of having her Great Auntie Ruth as her sub in kindergarten this week. She's so thrilled with that! Each day I am more and more thankful for her as she is such a help, and her desire to listen.

David seems to have an ever increasing desire to read as he's constantly attempting to read everything around him, and identify letters. He's starting to spend a bit more time drawing than he used to, and I'm hoping that he'll finally have some sort of interest in those things. I'm glad he won't be starting kindergarten this fall, though! He just misses the cutoff with his birthday being when it is, and I think that of the kids who would benefit from being almost 6 going into kindergarten, he would be one of them. He's smart and energetic, but classrooms are not made for boys like him, (they're made for girls like Silje) and I think he'll learn more at home for a bit.

Elias...still not walking. BUT he's getting closer, and he's starting to "chat" all the time! He says the most serious things to us...if only we could understand. He waves and says "BaBa". He says a handful of other words, all sounding like "Ba". He signs pretty frantically when he wants something. He knows "all done" and "milk" mostly. So far, for "more" he's found that screaming works sufficiently. He says "Dada" or "Da-ee" pretty clearly, and usually with quite a bit of enthusiasm. Instead of "Mama" he usually says "Mimi", which I think is funny. He also says "Me!" when he's mad, though, so I'm not sure if he's wanting me, or just standing up for himself.

So that's an update on us. I'll try to think of something more cohesive to write about soon. I've got 8ish more posts to think up before I can give away the buttercup bag!

300 post giveaway

I'm about to reach a milestone! After this, I'm only 6 posts away from 300 post on this blog. I think that's pretty cool, and calls for a giveaway. However, I'm not sure what you all would like. So, I thought I would put the question to you! What do you think I should do for a giveaway? I could do another apron (though it would probably be a different pattern, as I'm not sure I have time for another emmaline apron), or I could do a little girl apron, or I could do a buttercup bag (which I'm dying to try!) If I'm ambitious enough, I think I could pull off even a hot mama bag (although it wouldn't be designer fabric like the one in my store...although it would be VERY cute. Probably more like this one.) It could be a diaper or two, or maybe a knitted item? As you can see, I'm swamped for ideas. Please clue me in on what you've been lusting after, and I will do my best to oblige!

A Good Day

Thank you to everyone for all your support for my grand opening yesterday. I made a few sales, and over 900 unique people stopped by the store according to my tracker. That's so awesome!

I did get several phone calls and emails too, and for that I'm grateful. There was one phrase that I heard over and over again, that I feel I should explain, because honestly, I have nothing else to blog about this morning. I've been working on a deep post for a few weeks but it's no where near ready for publishing.

I feel the need, since so many of you have privately questioned me on this, to explain some of my business. I will not now, nor probably ever hire someone to help me sew. If I had a nickel for every time someone said that to me yesterday, I would have made more money on that than actually selling diapers.

Why? First off, I'm not setting out to be big. In fact, I don't want to be big. I'm scared to get too big. I've tried to go big with other things in the past and no matter how I sliced it, it got in the way of family life. I'm determined that my family will be the priority.

Second, I didn't invent modern cloth diapers as some of you have flattered me to suggest. I didn't invent snaps, PUL outers, or even the shape. Those have been around for at least a decade. Several moms have come up with their own pattern, and since they can't keep up with all the sewing, they contract out other sewers to sew from their pattern. I am one of those sewers. I'm not a pattern designer, I merely have permission to sew from some other woman's design. I have permission. Not me and 10 other seamstresses who work for me. In fact, if I were to have other people sew for me, it would be a breach of contract with the woman who designed and owns the "La Di Da" pattern.

The same goes for the knitting license I have. I cannot have other people knit for my store...just me. That's part of the deal. I do not have license to mass produce. Nor do I want one. I only have permission to sell my own work. If I were to come up with my own pattern for each of these some day, then maybe I would hand out licenses. The fact is, though, that I much more enjoy drafting patterns for simple things like aprons, and I don't find drafting a diaper pattern very appealing at all! I could see myself designing knitting patterns in the future, but I just don't have time for that right now, and I'm not about to give into the dilution that designing knit patterns is where the big money lies. First, I don't care about the big money, and second, there is some money there, just like there's some money in selling diapers.

I hope I don't sound like a spoiled rotten brat for saying I don't care about the big money. It's not that I wouldn't like more money. I would like a new kitchen, and maybe some furniture in my house. I'd like some new clothes, some designer shoes, not to mention a spending spree on sewing tools.

However...
I refuse to believe that money will make me happy. I'm already happy, and we're not rich, and I know rich people, and they're not any more happy than us...in fact many times they're miserable. Again, don't misunderstand. I believe that having a profitable business is responsible, and don't intend on throwing money away, or selling things for less than they're worth. It is not fair to my family for me to work without compensation, or throw our money away. I just won't simply put all my hopes and dreams and passion into making money. Those things are reserved for God, and what he has in store for me and my family.

I don't think making money is evil. In fact, I think in many cases it's responsible. I just think that the lie that "if I could just get a little bigger" "if I could just have a little more" "if I could just have this..." I would be happy.

I'm really happy with the way things are here. I'm happy with my business being small, and I love sewing. I mean really...if I were to hire someone (which I'm not going to right now, or perhaps ever) it would be to handle the shipping, and the website, and the finances. Sewing is the fun part so I'm not sure what would possess me to hire that out first.

I think it's the American mentality that bigger is always better, and you must always have more. I'm standing up and saying bigger is not better in many cases, and I would love for the things I make to sell, but when they run out, then I guess they're out. I will not stress if there are not enough of my diapers to go around. I believe that I am meant to stay at home with my kids and my husband to work, because that works for us. I think selling my business for a million dollars would be the ruin of us, and the thought scares me to death.

Maybe I'm wacko, but that's just me. Thought I should clarify all that.

Frosting

It's not a huge dream come true. It's not the hardest thing I've ever done. It's not what I've worked my whole life for. I am not the happiest I have ever been.

A dream come true would be being married to Knut. I know that sounds sappy, but I never dreamed I could be loved so much by a man who is so good. His wisdom and compassion and patience amazes me.

The hardest thing I've ever done would be giving birth...followed by 1,000 other mothering related things.

I've worked my whole life for such a time as this. My job, and my purpose lies first in honoring Christ, then honoring my spouse, and then being a mother to my children.

I'm not sure when the happiest I've ever been has been. Maybe it is now, but it wouldn't be because of this...although it is making me happy! As life fills with mouths to feed and endless questions to answer, and hugs and kisses multiplying, joy also abounds.

This....


is frosting on the cake. (Feel free to click on that image as much as you want.) It's so much fun. I'm so happy with it, and I'm so excited. I'm so thankful for my family for letting me do this. I've said it before, but sewing has become my therapy. It's my back rub, wind down, clear my head activity. To be able to do what I love is awesome. The chance to get paid instead of pay to do it is even better. So you are officially invited to go and enter my store. It's wide open.

There are a few wool items (about 5 or so) that I need to get pictures up for today, and will hopefully be done this morning. Other than that what's in there now, will be what there is until April 1st, when I'll add some new things to the boutique. Most likely it will be different items, colors, etc. I work on what gives me muse, and not necessarily replacing an exact item. I would hate for my therapy to turn into a repetitive chore, so that's the way it is.

To all my awesome blog readers, I'm offering a bit of frosting of your own. This will only be for the month of March, and I don't intend on doing discounts that often, as I'm hoping my prices are fair to begin with. You have all shown me such warm support though, that I just want to return the favor. If you enter GRAND15 at check out, you'll get 15% taken off your order. (This will not apply to the stash orders, as they are always discounted due to being bought in bulk.) Again, thank you all so much. I hope you have at least a fraction of the fun as I have had.

Please enjoy this frosting on the cake. You know I am.

Favorite Things

Today is picture taking day. All my work is going under the lens, and I'm busy typing things up. The internet has been spotty today. (Of course it has, on the day I've set aside to work on it.) That's been slowing me up, but I'm still getting things done.

I didn't get all of the wool finished yesterday, so some of it might have to be photographed when we get back, and I'll just finish it up while we're driving. I mean to only stock the store with items on the first of the month, but I might make an exception and stock on the 2nd with the wool. Maybe late on the 1st. We'll see.

As I'm going through pictures though, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite things.

Sock monkey longies. These is a diaper cover/pants combo. Seriously, sock monkey longies are "all the rage" in the cloth diapering world right now.

The back: monkey butt

The front:


Another "Hot Mama" diaper bag like Carolyn's. Except instead of an appliqued elephant, I used designer Alexander Henry fabric. I'm so in love with this, and I hope someone buys it before I change my mind and keep it.


Some embellished All-in-one diapers:





As always, I'm keeping busy with this. This is just a peek of the 30+ items that will start off my grand opening. Tonight we have parent/teacher conferences, and tomorrow we head into race country...and I guess I'll be sewing buttons on wool wraps along the way. Thank you all so much for all of everybody's encouragement. It has really been a lot of fun.

Finishing Up

Well, we're getting down to the wire here. Knut has his big race on Saturday, and I have my grand opening on Monday. If I were to have thought it through more, I would have not planned it that way. I know nothing is making me open the store on Monday, but that's the goal I set, and once I push something back once, it seems to have a tough time getting priority. So I'm sticking to it.

Yesterday was my last sewing/knitting day. Today I'm finishing the fussy work on all the wool knit items like sewing on buttons and weaving in loose ends. I hate this part of knitting, and I keep telling myself I'm going to finish the fussy work after I finish the item and BEFORE I start the next one, but here I am...sewing buttons on 6 wool wraps in a row.

So, I decided to take a break and blog. Because I'm a procrastinator.

I did one final wash of the diapers going up for sale yesterday, to insure that all of the holes put in the waterproof fabric from the sewing needle are sealed up, thus becoming waterproof again. This morning, as I was sorting through them, I noticed that several of them have bleed marks from my fabric marker (where I mark my snap placements.) It's supposed to just wash out, and I've used it several times before and it's always washed out just fine. I guess it knew I was selling these diapers, and therefore wanted to make it more difficult.

What's worse, is some of the diapers mentioned were made with all organic fabrics. Not only is it expensive fabric, but it's not like I can just bleach it out, you know? So today I'm working on using all natural stain removal methods to get the washable marker out of my brand new--been working on them for months diapers. I'll admit...I'm nervous. Could use a prayer or two.

So I'm hoping to have all the items finished and picture ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm planning on taking pictures of everything for the website, and then finishing up my descriptions of each item. I probably should not have packed all the tedious things into 2 days, but that's the way I planned it, and now it just has to get done.

Tomorrow night I'm packing bags, and Friday, we're headed to Knut's race. I'll be blogging from there, I hope, and promise many good pictures of Knut in his professional looking racing suit, with bibs and all. (Did I mention that he was skiing at a lodge an hour or two from here a few days ago, and some Bengali guy was there and asked if Knut was a professional? Totally made his day.)

So Knut is already talking about other races he wants to do both this year and next year, and I'm already thinking of what I want to stock the store with next month. I'm thinking more aprons (I have some awesome fabrics that I'm dying to cut into for this), and if my bamboo fleece gets in, several more fitted diapers. The bamboo fleece I had shrunk much more than I thought it would in the pre-wash and I didn't get nearly as many diapers from it then I had planned for.

It's been a struggle for Knut and I to put our hobbies aside and get work done, but it does happen from time to time. He's almost done with framing up the new window in the kitchen, and I'm still holding on to some of the housework. It's not all getting done, but at least some of it is. That's kinda good, right? Lena still gets her bath, the floor still gets swept. Bills are getting paid and dishes get done. I'm still making meals too, so that's good. My family is thankful for that.

OK...enough rambling and procrastinating. Time to finish the tedious work.

I Bet...

I bet you wish you were going to have a baby any day now.

I bet you wish that you were having a baby shower this weekend.



Because if you were...you'd be getting this diaper bag from this diva.


You would have gone fabric shopping with me, picked out this fun green polka dot fabric, and waited months for me to make this.


You would like little elephants.

(especially reverse applique green polka dot elephants.)

But...your name would have to be Carolyn. I hope she's not reading the blog this week, because this is her present! We can't wait for her little one to arrive!

One Apron Down

I finished my first little girl apron for the Nerdy Gerdy Boutique. It took me awhile because I drafted it from scratch, but it was so much fun figuring it out as I go.


It has these cute heart pockets.


Silje was such a great model.


The back is solid gingham with a little stitching to reinforce the pockets. I love the scalloped edge!




I am getting so so excited!

Moving On...

There are some new things entering out home. Not only am I typing on a new computer, but we've got a bigger treat as well.

Some of you have been to our house, and when we first moved in, the living room was kinda a storage area, and the dining room was a big toy dumping play room. As the fireplace was installed, the living room was quickly transformed from a storage room to an actual living room. Although there's just a hodgepodge of furniture in there now, I'm hoping by next winter, we'll get some nice stuff in there.

The dining room is about to go through such a transformation, as some sweet friends of ours offered us there old dining room table that they don't use anymore. We've been offered some tables before, by some compassionate people who have had pity on our empty room, but Knut and I had a particular kind of table in mind, so we waited.

Matt and Katrina (our generous friends) got the table free from someone else, and felt that they should pass it along free. It's double pedestal, which was just what we were looking for. The top is laminate, which isn't exactly what I had in mind for the dining room as it's not as formal, but for the stage of life we're in, I think it will suit just fine. Plus, if I want formal, I'll just use a tablecloth. I mean, our kitchen table has a wood top, and let me tell you...David could be a professional table distress-er at Pottery Barn.

They passed along 6 chairs with it, which weren't was I was envisioning, but Katrina pointed out that even if I get around to replacing the chairs, you can never have too many dining room chairs hanging around, as they add seating to any room when you have a crowd. So true.

Want to see it?

The end chairs were already ours, but now they have a place to go.


Of course, if you give a mouse a cookie...she'll soon think about how great it would be to have a rug under her dining room table. This small transformation has got me even more anxious to get the other things done in this room that we've envisioned. For instance, re-do the wallpapered walls, change out the chandelier, add a rug, and put some things on the walls, for starters.

I have to remember though, that today Knut is finally putting the woodwork back on the window that we replaced before Christmas, and he still needs to finish the cosmetic portion of the fireplace probably this year, and we plan on painting the basement and fixing the ceiling down there first, before this room is addressed. Likely, the upstairs bathroom and the boys' room will probably be repainted before this room as well. Poor, poor Knut. That's the one problem of marrying someone who is so good and things like this. He only has so many hours in the day, and we can't even remotely justify hiring someone to get something done that he can do for free...in time.

The really fun part of taking a bunch of junk, ahem, I mean toys out of a room, is you start to fix everything around the house that you've previously lost the motivation to fix. All of a sudden, I notice that the Christmas decorations are still up, and they need to be put away, because it's February for goodness sake.


And, of course, as I take all of the junk, I mean toys, down to the playroom in the basement, I remember that I didn't have time to go through the toys before Christmas, which I normally try to do every year, and the toys have taken over.

So today, I'll be separating all the toys into a few piles: things we'll keep out, things we'll store for another baby or a different day, toys to give away, and junk to throw away. When your house is full of cheap toys, those cheap toys break, and I refuse to superglue McDonalds toys and cheap garage sale toys for $.10 multiple times. When they break, they're thrown.

Hopefully, I can get that done, and return to the project I started this morning of prewashing and ironing some fabric from my stash as I'm planning to whip up some non-diapering items for Nerdy Gerdy Boutique:

This is for two separate, but similar items that will be in the store. All fresh and ready for spring. Sadly, yes: I did just have this fabric lying around and I didn't buy it especially for my store. I'm thinking I'll be able to go most of a year pulling fabric from my stash and sewing up stuff for the "Things of Whimsy" category on the online store. I can't wait for this fall. I've got this gorgeous fall fabric that I got through a fabric co-op last year that I'm dying to cut into.

So I better sign off. As you can see, I have a lot to do today.

A Few Pictures

Here's a few pictures of what we've been up to.

These are David's new "race car pajamas" that I just finished. They were supposed to be done by Christmas, but as Sassy had some trouble before Christmas, some of the presents got delayed. As you can see, he LOVES mama made p.j.s.



Last Saturday, we left Elias with the grandparents, and took Silje and David out skiing. This time, it was David who was having trouble, and Silje who shone. Since David skis almost every morning in our yard, we weren't sure what his deal was. He normally doesn't have poles at home, though, so that could be part of it.


Silje took the lead, and loved the trail.

I think there might be skiing in our whole family's future!

A Little Peek

Sassy got home yesterday, and I, like many of you I'm sure, breathed a big sigh of relief. I got right to work sewing up at least one set of pajamas for the kids for Christmas. I have 2 sets for both Silje and David cut out, but as I have a few more diapers to finish before Christmas too, I might not get to the other set. We'll see. At least the kids will have one homemade gift from me, as is the intended tradition.

Elias isn't getting pajamas, but I'm working on a small knitted item for him. It's not done, though, so it's not making the post.

Here's Silje's nightgown. It's the same pattern as last year, and she loves her old one. (Although it's getting small on her...sniff sniff.)


It has little Hello Kitty's all over it, and she's really into Hello Kitty and purple right now, so I know it will be perfect! This flannel is just buttery soft.


This year I cheated on both the pajamas, and used my snap press instead of putting in buttonholes. I hate making buttonholes with a passion. Sassy does them well enough, but I never am satisfied with the end result. Last time I ordered snaps for diapers, I threw in the online cart some general colors that I could use with the kids' clothes that I make. Doesn't it look sharp?


I'm pretty sure you weren't noticing the white snaps, but looking at this lovely cupcake tag. These just came in the mail today. The diaper sewing diva group that I'm a part of does a co-op every once in awhile for "diva tags" and the price is super cheap. I ordered some this time around, in a variety of styles. When doing trades or sending a gift to another diva, it's very popular to add a "diva tag". Although, most of the ladies use the tags on things handmade that are for their kids, to remind them that mama made it.

See? "diva made" in very light pink on the bottom. I was thinking of putting it on the outside of the collar, so it wouldn't itch, but the tag is so soft and silky, and I sewed up all the ends, so it shouldn't bother her at all.


Here's David's pajamas. This is my first time using this pattern, and it looks a little funny hanging on the hanger because I pinned the pants to it. It really isn't that wonky in real life. I used off white snaps down the front of the shirt.


See the little tractor and hay print? Cute, huh? This is also in a flannel.


And no cupcake will do for this little farmer. Here's my diva made cow tag. Please don't mind the crooked stitching on this tag. I was trying to cover up a big seam in the back of the pants that I thought would bother him, and it ended up all crooked. I would have fixed it for the picture, but I have so much sewing to do right now and so little time!

I never ever want any sewing machine to break down right before Christmas again! It's put me too far behind. Not cool, Sassy. Not cool.