Lots of thoughts, no pictures

Well, once again I've gone longer than planned without posting.

The thing is: busy. Of course, everyone is busy, so that's not really much of an excuse, is it? So let me try again ... The thing is: I'm in one of those phases where my head is buzzing with plans and ideas, but I'm a bit short on results so far. I have so many things spinning through my brain at a million miles an hour lately that I feel like I'm insanely busy and rushed, but in reality I'm mostly just busy in my head right now (and on Pinterest, of course). Very, very busy in my head.

On the docket:

SEWING
I've actually been doing much more than usual sewing-wise, but nothing is at the show-and-tell stage yet. I'm working on a top for Made By Rae's Spring Top Sew-Along, though I don't think I'm going to finish it up in time. And then it'll be Kids Clothes Week, and I definitely have some plans for that (though, as usual, it'll be a miracle if I finish more than one piece in that time span).

(Psssst: You should totally join in on the sew-along and KCW.)

GARDENING
Oh the plans! I have been heavily mentally invested in gardening projects since January, but it's been so chilly and wet here so far this spring that, other than starting a few seeds, nothing's happening yet. Aside from just salivating over all the things I want to grow this year, there are plans for improved rabbit protection (the little stinkers ate so many baby plants last year) and hopes for a nicer, less mud-pit-esque layout.

ASSORTED
We've also got some hopes for house-related improvements in the nearish future. And I've got more homemade body product ideas swirling around. And Adelaide is going to need some big-kid-bedroom adjustments this summer (because my baby is going to turn 2! who is allowing her to grow up so fast?). And, and, and...

Is there a point in here somewhere? Maybe just that I'm still here and plan to have actual things to talk about and show you in the nearish future. Yes, let's go with that, shall we? We shall.

Curtains: A cautionary tale*

You may remember a time long, long ago when I was sewing curtains. No? Huh? You mean you don't file away all of my very mundane important activities for future reference? For shame.

Well, once upon a time, more than two years ago, I bought fabric for curtains. We needed window coverings for the open living room/dining room area and, because I am me, I had to sew them. The front window is huge, though, so it took months to find appropriately-sized curtain rods. Then it took more months to get Pottery Barn to send us all the rods in a matching and undamaged state. Oh, and they were a giant pain to install. It was rough.



So, finally, at the beginning of 2011, I started sewing curtains. I sewed up curtains for the little window in the living room. Then the huge window in the living room. Then I got distracted by having a baby. Then, when I was ready to get back into curtain sewing, I pulled out the remaining fabric and realized I had made a grave miscalculation somewhere along the line. I had a little window and a medium window left to sew for (both in the dining room)...and not enough fabric. Not nearly enough fabric. The cursing was intense, folks. There were tears.

We went back to the place we bought the fabric (Vogue in Evanston) but, being over a year later and all, they didn't have any left. I looked around at all the other area fabric stores and couldn't find it. Internet searching was useless because I knew nothing about the fabric (seriously, nothing: who made it? is that tan? taupe? what? is it linen? cotton? a blend?). So we gave up. We said we'd find another non-matching but sort-of-coordinating fabric for the dining area, but we kept not finding any. So we've had bare curtain rods over those windows for, uh, a while.

But! Yes, there is a "but"! A couple weekends ago I was at JoAnn Fabrics buying interfacing. Of course, any trip to the fabric store involves me aimlessly wandering through the aisles petting the fabric. As one does.

And! Suddenly! There it was! Our fabric! More than two years after the initial fabric purchase, and at a completely different store! I placed an emergency run-to-the-sewing-room-and-find-that-scrap-of-paper-I-scribbled-on call to Adam, who, amazingly enough, did find that scrap of paper. He told me how much fabric I needed, and I bought some fabric. And I am making some curtains.



Here's the new set for the small dining room window. Only the medium dining room window left to go!


*In case it's not clear, the moral to the story is to be careful with your measurements and purchase extra fabric. Or maybe it's to never give up? Although, reading back through this post, I'm thinking the cautionary tale should really be about not writing overly wordy posts about fairly tedious things. Hmmm.

In the nursery

I've been meaning to show you Adelaide's room, but I was waiting until it was finished. Then it finally occurred to me that it will literally never be finished, and that's a good thing. She's a baby. She's going to grow and change and find her own interests, and her room and what's in it will reflect that. What's on the wall now might not be on the wall in a year, and additional stuff will most certainly be added as part of an ongoing process. I'll make stuff. Adam will make stuff. And eventually Adelaide might make stuff. Out of the blue, we'll happen upon something that is just perfect for the space. It will evolve, just as it's been evolving for the past eight months. There is no "finished" here.

But Adelaide's room is "finished" enough these days for me to give you the tour, so here we go!

 

 

 

 




A few of my favorite on-the-wall things: The sailing swan was a lovely gift from Annette over at Waxy Pin (blog and her adorable shop). The paisley seas just kill me! The books print is from the Black Apple Etsy shop. And the alphabet letterpress print is from the One Canoe Two Etsy shop.



And, of course, there's my very favorite thing of all in the nursery, looking like such a big kid these days!

Other notes: The paint is Benjamin Moore Natura in Denim Wash. The braided rug, the hamper, and the big toy bin are from the Land of Nod. The crib and changing table are from Babies R Us. The rocking chair is an old one from Adam's family. And the barn bookshelf was built by Adam and his dad based on my design/request and is painted with Benjamin Moore Natura in Smoldering Red.

Corralling the stuff.

I'm pretty sure our house shrank when the baby was born. And again when she started day care. And again when she started eating "real" food.

That is the only explanation for how, over the course of a few months, we went from "Wow! This kitchen has so much cabinet space!" to "Is there anywhere to stash this? No? Just leaving it all in a plastic tub on a dining room chair then, are we?"

Apparently, babies are like magnets. The stuff they attract generally falls into one of two categories: well intentioned but completely unnecessary and useless gifts, and well intentioned but completely unnecessary and useless items purchased by us. The third category is a much rarer specimen: the necessary and useful item.

Bibs definitely fall into that third category. And we have loads of them for our drooly, teething, new-to-food kiddo. But where to keep them?



Solution: a hanging hoop bag!



I saw these at Always a Project and thought it was a pretty nifty idea. I didn't follow the tutorial, opting for something a little more simple and slap-dash. Though the tutorial definitely has a better, prettier finish, I'm pretty happy with my results anyway.



And now the bibs are corralled. Huzzah!

Dressing up the table

I am not really a tablecloth person. I like the gleaming expanse of wood that is an unadorned table. Maybe a little something in the center, a branch or a flower in a little vase or bottle. But covering up the table with a whole tablecloth always seemed like a waste of a perfectly nice tabletop to me.



That said, I made a tablecloth. Because sometimes the table just needs a little protection, and making one tablecloth seemed a whole lot easier than making several placemats. And it was! This could not have been easier. One piece of fabric (a lovely home dec print from The Needle Shop), two hems, the end. Yeah, that's right, only two hems (one at each short end), because I left the selvedge alone, with it's pretty little frayed-but-not-fraying edges.



It's a project that's been on the list for months. The fabric has been sitting on a shelf guilt-tripping me since the spring. So hooray for small victories, however untimely!

A pillow

We're still working on decorating Adelaide's room. We had it painted and furnished before she was born, but we didn't have blinds or anything up on the walls. Then we got the blinds up and gathered some stuff to put on the walls, but a storm put a chunk of tree through the ceiling. Now that the ceiling is fixed, we're finally putting stuff up on the walls, and I'm working on sewing a few things for the room. Not that she cares. She doesn't even sleep in there yet. At this point, it's pretty much just the room in which we change her diapers.

First up, a pillow for the rocking chair.



I was feeling extra thrifty, so I started with an old, gross throw pillow that matched a chair we no longer own. I cut the stuffing out and used it and some old muslin to make a new pillow form. The pillow form kind of looks like a mess, but who cares, because it's going to be covered up anyway. At least it is mostly square.

So I sewed up a little envelope-backed pillowcase (like this one! my very first blog post!) and ta da! Decor!



And let me just confess here my utter love of ticking stripe fabric. I adore it. I wish I could use it for everything - clothes, bags, furniture, bedding - but that would look weird. But I bought a ton of this red ticking stripe to use in Adelaide's room, so I'm sure you'll be seeing more of it soon.

Harvest!

Radishes always grow. That's why I like them.



And our new chairs finally came today! Hooray! Now the dining room is pretty much complete! Well, except for the curtains I still need to sew. But that's quite a way down the to-do list these days.

Whoops

Today I was home alone with the kid again. Only day two for that. And, despite a serious lack of sleep last night, it was a rather nice day. A shower was taken, laundry was folded and put away, thank-you notes were written, and during one of Adelaide's naps I even contemplated starting up a sewing project. I say "contemplated" because upon walking into my sewing room, I was hit in the face with this:






Oh, yeah. Right. Well. That's no good.

As part of the getting-ready-for-the-baby effort, we had to clear out the nursery-to-be. Which meant stashing all that junk elsewhere. Some of it went to the basement, but some of it was designated to rest in the sewing room. Which meant new shelves and a total reorganization of the sewing room. Or, rather, which meant new shelves and getting about halfway through a total reorganization of the sewing room. Oops.

So instead of sewing, I did some clean-up work. Not that anyone would be able to tell by looking. So that's my project now: making room for some actual projects.

Snow day!

Yesterday was the first time I've played in the snow since, well, I don't know, but it's been years. The blizzard came through as predicted, but we were lucky enough to be tucked away all safe and snug at home for all the worst of it (and to not lose power at any point!). Plus, we got Wednesday off work. Excellent.



There was baking and lounging and sewing and playing in the snow (and for Adam there was also clearing the massive amounts of snow from the walk and the driveway, but I was lucky enough to escape that task). All in all, a very satisfying day off, made all the sweeter because we were "trapped" at home with no plans and no errands - a license to take it easy and enjoy ourselves.

Because the neighbors are probably getting tired of seeing us all the time

Curtains. We finally have some. Only on one window so far (and the smallest size window at that), but that's something, right?



We bought the fabric for these this summer. But then there were issues finding curtain rods. Then there were issues (many, many, many issues) with the curtain rods we bought (thanks for nothing, Pottery Barn). Then it was busy holiday time. But finally, curtains have appeared.



These were pretty easy to sew. They were a pain to cut. I think it's tough to work with that much fabric (I forget how much the whole wad is, but it's more than 10 yards) while laying it out, smoothing it down, measuring, and such. But the sewing was fairly easy and painless. The fact that they are unlined makes it easier. The fact that I decided the tabs should have snaps for easy curtain removal made things harder, but not too much. And I'm happy with the snap decision. The curtains were really easy to put up this way and will be really easy to take down for washing or ironing or whatever.



There are more and bigger windows to go in the living/dining room. So this is what I'll be up to for a while.

There is rice all over my sewing room floor.

This draft snake was a super easy project.

Just patchwork up some fabric scraps until you have a 37-inch by 9-inch rectangle. Then fold the rectangle in half (making it 37-inch by 4 1/2-inch) with right sides together and sew along the long side and one short side using a 1/2-inch seam allowance. I used pinking shears to trim the seam allowance a wee bit at this point for extra not-unraveling power. Turn the draft snake right-side out.



Next fill it with rice. Turn the unfinished end in a 1/2-inch and sew the draft snake closed (you can hand stitch this, but I had Adam help me hold the snake up so I could run the end through the sewing machine). Ta da! Draft blockage!



Another plus: this gave me a chance to use some more of the hedgehog fabric I love but never seem to use.



I way overpurchased on rice, though. And I'm not a great pourer, even using a scoop and a funnel. So there is most of a 20-pound bag of rice leftover, and I need to vacuum.

Happiness is a freshly painted wall

We painted our walls! We have walls! That we are allowed to paint! And we painted them! I cannot get over it.

Adam and I are newbie painters, so my mom and sister came up for a weekend paint-a-thon, and I'm pretty sure I will have to rope them into doing so for all our future painting projects. (If you are reading this, you guys, I will resort to bribery or kidnapping if necessary.) It really went so, so smoothly.



So now the living and dining rooms are a lovely, peaceful shade of green, and I am very happy.

We used Benjamin Moore's no-VOCs Natura paint. So far, so good. The smell was minimal (like you only really smell it when it is fresh and wet and you are right next to it) and it went on very nicely. So, as long as it holds up reasonably well, I'll be a very happy camper.

Now I just need to sew some curtains and a fitted slipcover for the couch. Yikes.

Settling in...

We are getting settled in here at the new house.



Having fun with all the things that are so new and different about having a house after living in apartments for so long.

Things like our own yard! Complete with our very own outdoor spigots (that may not seem exciting, but I assure you that it is).



And our own bugs (non-city bugs are so much more enjoyable than city bugs).



And our own buried treasure.



It is so great, you guys. Really.

Reasons and excuses

So, I've not been much with the sewing or cooking or crafting or posting lately. Obviously. But there actually has been good reason: our first house! We've been looking for quite some time and have finally pulled the trigger. The process has been exhausting, but I'm quite excited, as you can imagine. .

So posting will continue to be light for a bit while we finish packing up, move, and get settled. But I will be back at full force eventually (and I hope rather soonish), I promise.