the problem with supper

It never fails, it is supper time, things are about half way through, and my mind starts wandering to all of the projects that I have put on the back burner today.  Whether it be a sewing project or an herbal concoction, it's hard for me to put it off any longer.  So the way it always goes is when there are vegetables to be chopped and salads to be made, I find myself at my sewing machine, or digging through our home apothecary, trying to squeeze one more project into the day.  The kids are engaged with daddy, the space in my brain has opened up just enough for the ability to multi-task.  And I can't resist.

a birthday crown for the baby bird

I find myself saying, "just one more stitch, I can get one more stitch in before supper is to be served".  Wouldn't you know that usually, I can't seem to step away from it, and all of those stitches come together and holler "done!".  Supper may be a tad late getting on the table, but no one seems to mind.  That's the problem with supper isn't it?  It always seems to fall at the most inopportune times!

rainy day sewing

It's another overcast, chilly day here.  The oldest is working on her Amelia Earhart report, the youngest is sleeping, and the middle is building with his Legos.

Middle.

I still get fluttery in my stomach when I think about the fact that I have three children now.  That's enough to have one in the middle.  I am the middle child in my family- it's a special spot.  One of distinction, even!

With everyone quietly at work and at rest, I have found myself cutting out another peasant blouse for my baby girl.  This is the fourth one I have made for her, but only the third wearable one.  The first was riddled with "learning", and passed over to the doll chest.

I have had this fabric forever in my stash.  Never touched.  Just waiting.  It's funny to think that I bought this before there ever was a baby Birdy, and now it is just the thing to wrap her up in.  It never grows old- the wonderful way this world works.

Here is a blurry Instagram shot of Miss Birdy in one of her shirts.  Another buttery, soft Anna Maria Horner voile.  If you want to join me on Instagram I'm @herbanhomestead.  Hope to see you there!

calling all sewists! {edited}

So here's the thing- waiting for a baby is hard.  Waiting for a baby that is not in your own tummy is really hard.  Waiting for a baby that may not end up coming into your home at all is terribly hard.   In the mean time, why don't we get our sew on in honor of this precious baby boy?

I am teaming up with our adoption agency/ homeless ministry to make softies for the children that they are rescuing out of traumatic situations and placing in loving homes.  There are around 10,000 homeless people in Houston, and 25% of those are children.  The majority of these children are living in survival mode.  They are not thriving, they are surviving.  Wouldn't you just love to bring some hope into their lives?

Little Footprints in Houston is doing that.  They are on the streets offering love and meeting the spiritual and physical needs of these children.  In some instances, the best thing for the child is to be removed from their current living situation and placed into a foster home (LF calls their families Rescue Families or Rescue Homes).  We learned in our training that some of the children that are being rescued are living in motel rooms with their prostitute moms.  Mom turns tricks in one bed while the kids are in the other.  Some of the children being rescued are being tortured.  Actually tortured.  Tied to chairs, burned with cigarettes, sexually abused in unimaginable ways.  I met a baby girl that was 10 weeks old.  She was rescued at 8 weeks.  She was living on the floor of an abandoned house.  The adults living in this house were on meth and using survival sex.  She was on the floor in the corner.  A newborn, on the floor.

You can imagine how hard it was to sit in training and hear story after story.  Some had happy endings, they were placed in homes that could offer them the family they needed for the time that they needed them.  Some did not have happy endings.  Some ended with children remaining in homes where they were being raped daily.  Some ended with children dying at the hands of a mom's jealous boyfriend.  Sitting in training, my mind was working.  How can I help Lord?  What can I do?  And then I was reading an account in the book Quilting for Peace that jogged a memory.  I remembered hearing about police officers and fire fighters collecting teddy bears to give to children that they were rescuing from trauma situations.  I thought "why not for the little feet of Houston's streets?  Why not offer them something to hug and love to help ease anxiety?".

That brings me to this, to you!

Would you please consider sewing up a lovey?  A little softie friend for one of these sweet children?   Would you maybe even consider getting a group of friends together for a sewing night?  Sew a little, chat a little, eat a little?


The nitty gritty:

Buddy holding "clementine" made from the speedy quick OWL pattern

• There are so many great, free patterns online.  In my short perusal I found this bunny, this monkey, this owl, and for the littlest feet, this sunshine.  So thankful for the women that took the time to put such greatness online for free!  (those different color words are links- please click on them!)  If you already have a softie pattern that you love, please use that one!

The adorable Molly Monkey Doll from mmmcrafts-
just a sample of one of the MANY patterns you can choose from!

• While you sew, would you please pray over the child that will be receiving this gift?  Pray for their safety, for their healing?

• Most children that are being rescued are between newborn- four years.

• I'm shooting to have a box full by the end of July.  Can you help with that?

If you are interested in taking part in this, THANK YOU!  Please email me for an address to send your softie to.  Please write "softie" in the subject box so I won't delete!  My email is:

mandiandjohn (at) sbcglobal (dot) net

feeling inspired

Last week I was feeling a bit uninspired in my crafting, in my menu planning, in my schooling, in my home keeping, all around - uninspired (except in the garden-where I spent most of my time!).  I felt like I was going through the motions just to get jobs done.  My desire is to be joyful in all that I do, and not begrudge the work set before me.  But it doesn't alway work out that way!  Well, just around the time that I started getting sick of myself, something wonderful happened...babies were born!  There is nothing like new life to get the creative juices flowing!

appliqued onesie and headband - for Mia

for Madison

for soon to arrive, Liam

I love newborns!  Their squishy little faces, their creamy skin, their feather soft hair.  I just want to breathe them in.  And then get to the sewing machine!

while we're talking reveals...

I'm not sure why these "reveal" subjects have taken me so long to get to.  I have to admit to you that my husband is super fast at getting things done.  He doesn't sit around with an unfinished project for long.  Turns out I, on the other hand, don't mind letting things hang.  At least in this space!

Remember this picture...from December?  Me all sequestered up in the front seat of the car, unawares of all my people on the other side?  

The contents were intended to make something better out of this mess below:

This is the back room of my house.  It is connected to our kitchen.  When we bought the house this room was actually a back porch.  John built me some walls and it became our laundry room/ office/ pantry/ mud room/ sewing room.  It is a busy place and stuff tends to pile up and get dirty.  As seen above.  Yikes.  That makes me cringe!

So one fine day in December John said "let's go to IKEA today and take care of this hot mess".  Ok, not really.  He would never use the phrase "hot mess".  He's probably offended right now that I would even pretend like he does.  But he said something to that affect, and we were off.  We bought what we needed and the very next day I was sitting here:

It's like one of those Maury Povich episodes where the "guests" go from "Freak to Chic", wouldn't you agree?  I love this space now!  My sewing machine and computer can now live in perfect harmony with one another (just like ebony and ivory).  No one's vying for the coveted front and center space!

That floor to ceiling shelf is completely customizable.  We opted for 3 shelves and these wonderful pull out baskets that store all of my fabric (that I am totally going to use... one day).

The shelves above the sewing machine house my herbal studies books, gardening guides and craft books.  Before, all of my books were stacked on top of my dryer.  I spared you that "before" shot.  You're welcome.

It also stores my Tom's peanut jar that my great-grandmother once used as a paint can.  Most of the buttons inside came from John's grandmother.  They have since been added to by thrift store and estate sale purchases.  And of course- there is my love flamingo that Moonpie made me.  That girl is so sweet to me.

Here is a gratuitous close up of my machine.  If this were the movie "Australia" she'd be in the backyard pouring a bucket of water over her head, a la Hugh Jackman.  It is just that gratuitous.  

And a close up of the "country garden" reader I picked up at a local antique store.

This is my space where I connect with all of you.  Where I wipe down muddy children.  Where I wash more clothes than I knew we had.  Where I get to create.  A spot of my very own (that I gladly share with the other three members of my family).

sweet little m

I have a new niece.  My very first niece!  She was born on Monday after putting my brave, rock star of a woman sister-in-law in labor for 27 hours.  About 21 of those were experienced at home with no medication.  Is she incredible or what?  The birth was a planned home birth, but as with most 'plans' things changed and she ended up being delivered in the hospital.

Here's Moonpie meeting her first girl cousin.  I wish you could hear what Moonpie was whispering to her. So precious.

Me and my perfect, new 9lb 8oz niece!

On Sunday morning after my SIL's water broke I began working on a little gift for the sweet one.  I sewed up Lucy's Kimono out of Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross.  My most used sewing pattern book of all time!  I didn't get any good pictures of it at home, but snapped some in the car on the way to the hospital.  This is made out of Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks voile.  So buttery soft!

Buddy saying "don't get my face, ok?"  Umm... ok.

I wish I had a picture of the taggy blanket Moonpie sewed up on her machine.  She did a really great job on it.  She also found a huge rock and polished it up.  When we got to the hospital she pulled it out and handed it to her aunt.  She explained that babies are the greatest treasure ever, so she wanted to give her a treasure (the rock) to remember that by.  That girl...

tough guys wear pink

buddy has a new favorite color...betcha can't guess what it is.

i have been fine with his new found love of pink. honestly, it hasn't even caused me to pause and think. a color is a color. no big deal. but then, when we went fabric shopping yesterday to choose fabric for some new soft pants** for him, he wanted pink. i'm a cool mom, i'm down with the idea of boys liking pink. i mean, pink ice cream? sure! a new pink hot wheel? fantastic! but, pink pants?!? i am ashamed to say that i tried to talk him out of it. the conversation went back and forth like this:

"how about green!"

"no mama, pink."

"ooh- what about gold!"

"no mama, pink."

so we left. with a yard of raspberry hued fabric. and one shameful mama. i would never have tried to talk moonpie out of a color, no matter how 'boyish' it seemed. i whole-heartedly supported her thomas the tank engine phase when she wanted to only wear blue and red thomas t-shirts and underwear. i even thought it was cute. so why the discrimination? why can't my buddy love pink? he tells me "pink is the most perfect color in the world, mama". who am i to say he's wrong? i'm just glad i came to my senses. because look how cute he is in his pink pants (with the requested giant pockets for lizard catching).

***soft pants are buddy's newest quirk. i can't get him into a pair of pants that are not

(a) of a soft material

(b) button-less
(c) zipper-less

it's been easy with the cooler weather to just have him throw on a pair of sweat pants, but with the days warming up i wanted a cooler material- hence the linen.

monkey britches tutorial

when i started sewing, i sat down with my sewing machine manual, some fabric, and a whole lot of courage! i didn't know what i was doing. and man, did it show! because of my ineptness with the machine, the thought of adding a pattern to the mix was too overwhelming. so i taught myself to sew by tracing around existing clothes and studying the seams in them. i would then try to re-create what i already had. this really worked for me. i was no good, but my husband was so encouraging. i would come to him with my wonky shirt, feeling pretty discouraged, and he would tell me "you are one project closer to being the seamstress you want to be". that kept me going. it really did... so this tutorial is basically how i learned to sew. i hope it is easy to follow. it's pretty picture heavy, because that always helps me, so i figure one or two of you out there may find it useful! here goes...

materials:

(based on size 3T)

1/2 yard of fabric

flat elastic (not rolled)

thread

safety pins

iron

pajama pants

grab a pair of pajama pants that fit a little loosely. if they are a snugger fit, you will need to adjust to allow a larger seam allowance.

fold the pants in half and place on top of your fabric. you could also do this step onto a sheet of newspaper and make your very own pattern. trace around the pants. be sure not to taper in at the waste. you want to go ahead and make that line straight all the way to the extra inch at the top of the fabric. i have placed the selvage on top to make the waste band easier to create.

add an inch to the bottom of the legs (around the ankles) to allow for turning and hemming later on.

i do this step on top of a folded piece of fabric so i end up with two pieces when i'm done. do this a second time and you should end up with 4 pieces in total.


these panels look like they are different sizes in the picture, but they aren't. they are all the same size (or close enough!).

take 2 panels and put right sides together. sew around the curve in the crotch area.

you can see in this shot that i serged the crotch first. i later went back and did a straight stitch to secure it even more. after all, they are for a 3 year old boy! when you're done with the crotch it should look like this. take a minute to congratulate yourself on making something that looks pants-like! after you're done high-fiving yourself, do this to the other 2 panels.

place the panels right side together and serge the legs on the outside and inside. it doesn't matter which you do first- mix it up! go nuts! go back and do a straight stitch to make them extra strong (sidenote- i generally do all my serging at once so i don't have to change my machine back and forth). if you don't have a serger, no worries. just straight stitch that puppy all around.

after your pants are sewn together, fold down the waste band wide enough to house your elastic. in this case, i folded mine down about an inch. if i hadn't used the selvage side of the fabric i would have folded 3/4 of an inch, ironed down, and then folded one inch- you know, to make it pretty.

top stitch all around, but leave a small opening to feed the elastic through. i usually leave my opening near the side seam, but it really doesn't matter where you do it. at this point the waste band will be too large for your child. measure the child's actual waste and cut your elastic this size (i tend to cut mine a smidge smaller). put a safety pin on each end of the elastic and feed through the hole you left.

once you get all the way around, you should have the 2 ends sticking out. remove the safety pins and sew these 2 ends together. do a couple of stitches to ensure it is extra strong (i usually make a square).

tuck the elastic securely in and top stitch the hole to close it.

now you are ready to finish up by hemming the ends of the pants. at this point you may want to try the pants on your child to see if they are the right length. or, if you're like me, you'll just forge ahead! your pants should still be inside out at this point, so just go ahead and fold 3/4 of an inch, iron it down, and the fold over 1/2 an inch. top stitch.

and you're done! that was pretty easy, right? turn those suckers outside in and you've got yourself a cozy little pair of monkey britches!

to up the cuteness, you may want to make an applique t-shirt to match!

finished product- a gift for our little friend, hunter!

i hope this was clear. if not, please let me know. ask any question and i'll try my best to answer!

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my friend brandi has started a new team blog called the family supper club. check out my newest post over there about shortcuts to a quick whole foods lunch!

oh my stars!

look at what i picked up today at an early morning garage sale! i have been looking for months for one of these beauties! yahoo!

here's buddy modeling all the compartments. he is going to be very disappointed when he realizes that this is my new toy, not his.

wanna know how much i paid for it?

of course you do!

$1.

now i get to go organize thread!!!

monkey britches

there is a true imbalance in this household when it comes to sewing - most are for the lovely moonpie. i mean, once you get those little skirts down, it's hard not to sit and just crank out a few at a time. poor buddy!

he has been really loving pajamas lately. i call him diane keaton because he has to be dressed from head to toe at all times. bed time is no different. he wants a shirt, pants and a fedora! this is a new thing. a few weeks ago he was sleeping in nothing but a pull-up, so the pj resources around here are limited. the perfect excuse to wrap my boy in some hand made love!

pay no attention to the toy abyss around his feet. hey- there are my flip-flops!!!

making these little pants were super easy. i took his one and only pair that are a little big on him and traced them right onto the fabric. if i were to do this with a pair that fit snugly, i would add an inch or so for a seam allowance.

for the pajama shirt i dug around in his shirt basket for some shirts that had stains on them. not too hard to find! then i cut out and sewed on some simple appliques from fabric scraps i had lying around.

i have another pair cut and ready to sew up.

buddy just loves his new pajamas. he has been wearing them non-stop since they came off of the machine!

***if you'd like a quick tutorial on these little pants, please let me know.

teaching a child to sew

this photo is of moonpie mending a night gown - age 5

one of my fondest memories from visiting my grandmother as a child is learning how to hand sew. i would sit on her little couch and she would hand me an old rag and a threaded needle. i don't remember any real instruction, but i'm sure it was there- just very gentle. i would sit and sew and sew and sew. i remember the shock i felt when i went to college and i was the only person i knew that could sew by hand and for that matter, sew on a button.

i didn't learn how to sew on a machine until about 4 years ago. my mom bought me a small machine for christmas and i just started reading the manual, trying different things out. i had no instruction, just lots of practice. and with that came lots of failure! reading a pattern was just one more step in the confusion for me, so for the first 3 years, i never used a pattern. just kind of did what felt right. i still rarely use patterns, but i have found online tutorials so helpful in learning small finishing skills and neater ways to do things.

i've always disliked the fact that i had to teach myself how to sew (and knit). i feel like hand crafts are something that should be passed down from someone that loves you! john and i think that it is important for both of our children learn how to sew. not only are you learning a skill, but there are character lessons there as well, like patience, perseverance, being quiet.

the first stitch i taught moonpie was the whipstitch. i think this is the easiest stitch for a child to learn first off because there is no real skill needed. to do a whipstitch you

• start (insert needle) from the back of the project so the knot is in the back
• instead of going back in on the front of the project, you 'whip' around the edge to the back of the project
• continue this pattern

once you are done the stitches go all around the outer edge of the project. i know youtube has plenty of instructional videos if you need to see it in action!

feeling important

i finally put together a sewing basket for my little moonpie this weekend. she has been sewing for a while now and it is one of her favorite activities to do. i put this basket together for her so she can sew at the drop of a hat, not having to wait on me to find her needle, etc. i stayed up pretty late making her pin cushion and finding all of the right 'ingredients' (like every pink, vintage button i own!).
the next morning when i reluctantly rolled out of bed i found that she had made me this little wallet! before this time she had never threaded a needle by herself, and had only watched me instruct her on sewing a button in place! i was so impressed!
she just loves her basket. she kept going back to it all day, making button cuffs, doll skirts and the starts of an apron for herself.

i can't tell you how excited it makes me to see her loving sewing. she told me once, a while back, that sewing 'makes me feel important'. giving her something of meaning, something of purpose, makes her feel big. important. what a gift it is to be able to offer that to her!

why d.i.y.?

my husband and i are definitely do-it-yourselfers. if we see something we want we first think about how we can create it ourselves. if it is out of the question we move on to how we can maybe get it used.


i love that we are raising up little d.i.y.ers too! the other day moonpie and i were admiring an item in a friends house and her response was 'let's make one just like it!'. you better believe that my heart jumped a just a little at those words!


sometimes (ok, most of the time) i can get introspective. i look at the things i do and enjoy and examine why i do them. what my motives are. and yesterday i was thinking on this, d.i.y. projects. what it comes down to for me is the idea of connection. grinding my own wheat to make my bread, knitting a little hat for a new baby in my life, making a dress for my moonpie...all about connecting with the people i love, people from my past, connecting with my present. doing things myself helps me stay focused on my present, and i like that. i need that. and of course there are other reasons we d.i.y. we really enjoy hard work. we enjoy learning. we enjoy working with our hands. we enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.



sometimes, when crafting for others, you have to really be comfortable in the accomplishment factor. because sometimes, the recipient isn't too impressed. enter- moonpie's blue bird dress:





moonpie: oh it's really pretty! thank you momma!

me: great! go put it on for church.

moonpie: umm...i was thinking of wearing something a little fancier for church.

me: but it IS fancy! look at the ribbon!

moonpie: i love it! but i was thinking of something a little fancier. you know, with puffy sleeves.

me: right, i don't know how to make sleeves. look at the knots! and the fabric! and look- i put a ruffle on the bottom and a little layer of rick-rack!

moonpie: oh yeah! it's really pretty! but, i was thinking of something fancier...

me: go put the dress on...now...

and she comes back 5 minutes later, dress on, accessorized with mardi-gras beads.

moonpie: now THIS is fancy!


if you'd like to make one like, you can find the very easy to use tutorial here. trust me- if i can do it, than you can too!