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...

favorite book friday

for the mama:

Weekend Sewing: More Than 40 Projects and Ideas for Inspired Stitching Heather Ross

this book has been receiving lots of praise on various blogs so i was eager to check it out for myself. picture with me if you will one hour alone with your husband, climbing the steps of the largest independent bookstore in texas, a stack of books tucked under your arm. weekend sewing was just one amongst many in that stack. but truly, it was the only one that had enough interesting projects in it to make me want to buy it. i am notoriously cheap and therefore have never bought a sewing pattern book. but this one is worth it! it is the next step i needed in my sewing. i am for sure at a point where i need some instruction and this book has it. everything from knowing how to choose the right fabrics for a project to how to 'true' the fabric once you go to use it. the small tips on each project are hugely helpful to me.

i am eager to start my first project- a shirt for my little buddy. and then on to something for myself- a dress? perhaps a shirt? let's be honest- it's gonna be those pajama pants!

for the kids:

we checked this little book out from the library based on the cover alone. i am always on the search for good books with a boy as the lead character. and this one is great. the focus is really on the boat and its adventures, but you learn on the first page of the cleverness of the boy- he has built the boat himself out of found materials (a favorite theme around here!) and loves his little creation. after the boat is accidently set free the boy waits for him on the shore until his eventual return. sweet book- or as buddy says 'petty tool' (that's 'pretty cool' for those of you that don't speak buddy).