This is normal. Right?

If I didn't know better, I'd be thinking that girl child, who drew this picture, might need a psychologist in her near future.

But, knowing girl child, I happen to think that a Harry Potter bunny medusa is completely reasonable thing to draw.  Really.

Harry Potter monster because Smootch was drawing while I was reading out loud the part in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets where the monster was about to be revealed (frankly, the basilisk is a bit of a disappointment once you've got the bunny medusa fixed in your mind).

Each of the heads represents a different professor (bonus points to anyone who can identify each character).  Harry and Ron heads form the body (though I'm a little bit stumped, I admit, as to why).  My favorite head is the one to the far right, which has a bit of Margaret Thatcher illusion going on.)

Bunny ears because medusa and Easter are unbreakably tangled together since we were studying Greek mythology at Easter time this past year and once an Easter Bunny Medusa has been established in one's psyche, it never goes away again.

This is my normal and makes perfect logical sense.

 Can't wait to see what she makes of the Prisoner of Azkaban.

strawberry slippers

Today I went through great aunt Adelaine's buttons, looking to finish off a pair of slippers for girl child, who seems to have entered her Harriet the Spy phase.

Aunt Adelaine's buttons come along with thirty to fifty years of grim and dust attached to them and always require a wash.

I wonder how I will clean the fibre ones, which are my favorites, when it comes time to press them into service? 

The slippers were made using a pattern from Lena's Patterns.  I have used this pattern before to make Birdie's Goodnight Moon slippers.

We actually have several surprise strawberry plants growing along the edge of our walkway and graveled driveway.  I'm trying to clear up the area a bit, move the gravel and children's feet away, to see if I can get them to survive long enough to bear fruit.  It would be brilliant to have even a couple of homegrown strawberries this year.

In the meantime, we are rich with dandelions, which the kids will never grow tired of picking and I will never figure out when the right time to pick the leaves for salad is.

shiny leopardly people

My life isn't all glitter and glitz.

Just today, really.

I will admit, my life is better in every way since my dress form came to live with me.  

I haven't fully bolted her into position (a few wing nuts are missing - story of my life, really) and I have no time to make her cover, but she's been pressed into immediate service anyway.  

She makes everything easier.

Girl child has nicknamed the dress form 'Other Mother'.  Coraline by Neil Gaiman fans will recognize that one.  Sometimes she hugs her Other Mother and tells on me to her.  

Don't tell girl child, but I sometimes tell on her to Other Mother too.  

Reconstructed bustle = skirt + shirt front

Both the bustle and the jacket below are costume pieces for the evil but fashionably trendy enchantress in girl child's children's theatre group.

This jacket has been changed so very many times.  It started its second life at the thrift store as a jacket with faux shirt and pencil skirt underneath.  The faux skirt and shirt came off.  Part of the shirt front became the front for the bustle.  The skirt front became the mount for the ruffles.  To give it some flash, I changed the sleeves out to gold, in addition to adding the ruffles, of course, and the collar piece.

I didn't do a super awesome job on the top of the ruffles because I was A, very tired and B, planning on covering the whole shebang with a bow.  Next time it'll be better.  Girl child will make sure there is a next time also - discovering that her mother can, indeed, make gold ruffles was somewhat life changing to her and her sense of style.

After fitting the dress on the actress I realized the gold sleeves weren't working for anybody and decided to instead repurpose a pair of leopard print tights I found on the sidewalk down the street, still in the packaging.  The cap sleeve is lined with some medium weight iron in interfacing and will be accented by a pair of arm warmers also made from the tights.  Because nothing says evil witch like arm warmers in gold and leopard print, right?

I am almost (hopefully) done my sewing for the enchantress character, which now includes the jacket, the bustle, a faux velvet knit dress, two under skirts with lace trim, a mega-sequined bolero and a cape.  There is a little matter of a fur lined caplet left to handle, but I'm going to give myself a couple more days to let that marinate while I figure out what exactly to do.  And then there will be the generous application of sequins to, well, everything.  Blinging is a theatre skill I am still acquiring but I am trying to do so good natured-ly by attempting to suspend of my disbelief.

All of this sewing is greatly facilitated by Other Mother.  I can't believe I've been sewing this long without her.  Ridiculous!

I have this vague notion that I should be doing some sort of sewing tutorial at some point in the near future.  If there is something here that catches your eye, let me know, and I'll see if I can supply some more details.

micro blocks

Have you seen these silly little things?

Today was a long day of short fuses. 

Micro building block puzzles designed for older children did not help.

Still we waddled through.  Turns out a seam ripper is really handy when you need to pull a tiny little misplaced block off of another.

I am about to enter a weekend long sewing marathon.  After these little creatures, I'm sure it'll seem easy peasy.

green dress : in two parts

Part One : The Dress

"Is that red velvet?  Real velvet?"

This is the first thing girl child said to me this morning, as I was working on the sash for her new dress.

"Can I touch it?!"

Yup, really real red velvet.  Girl child has a love for velvet for the way it feels.  It follows that she completely loathes more affordable velveteen.  Absolutely beyond my regular means, but I acquired two and a half meters of this vintage fabric as a trade for some chauffeur work.

Though they are but a few meters, I have some really lovely fabrics that I can't seem to bring myself to cut into.  I am either waiting for the perfect design or really don't want to ruin it in a sewing mishap.  The red velvet is one that I have been afraid to cut - it feels so divine - but really do want to make a hooded jacket for the girl.

I decided to make a little cut, just enough for a sash, to get over my hesitation.  

This cotton print was sent to me from a reader in Japan a few years ago.  I have been sitting on it, unsure how to use the pretty fabric.  I didn't want to botch it.  Having shifted it a hundred times to get at lesser fabric in my stash, I decided it was time to get over myself.

I'm happy I did.  I love this little number, twirly and flowery for the summer, and, if all goes well, we'll put a blouse under it and call it a winter holiday dress too. 

Girl child is also happy I did. 

The dress pattern used is a modified Chopin (28) from Ottobre, Summer 3/2010.  I'd like to take a moment to let you know that I completely nailed the zipper.  Really, it's a work of art. 

Part Two : The Photo Shoot

But I won't be able to show you any zipper close ups.  While taking photos, we fell victim to the little brother photo bomb. Behold.

Here is girl child.  Posing.

And here is the boy child.  Doing his best to mock us and our silly, girlie photo shoot.

Girl child tries to move boy child out of the frame.

But that doesn't work well. 

If first you don't succeed, try try again.

Boy child is thrilled with all the free rides.

This time she tries pushing him out with a booty block.

Which he counters by getting right in front of her and sticking his arse up at me.

But here's the classy bit.  Girl child figures out that she probably won't win this one, so she just accepts and works with it.

Girl child and boy child.  Posing.