A Hat

This time I made a hat for me. I followed this pattern from Lorenna Buck which was a great pattern, easy to put together and a good fit and all. But then I gave it to my sister. It just turned out a bit more glamourous than I had imagined and I don't think I will wear it. I might try making myself another one.


And here's Henry looking cute in his hat this weekend.

The Dining Room Chairs

I finally finished recovering our dining room chairs. I had the idea way back in February. And then I did one and I thought it was kind of a hack that may be a bit lacking in the durability department (it involved a glue gun) so I wanted to see how it held up. Well months later that first one is holding up and the rest are done. Recovering the seat of chairs is easy peasy but doing those backs was tricky. I didn't want to remove the old wood plugs and in the end I didn't have to. I love having crazy fun chairs instead of grubby white-ish ones.


And here are a few pictures of Henry from today. Actually a bunch of pictures, he seems to be extra cute today.

Henry's current favourite

Henry loves to point at cars (or anything with wheels) and say "caw" or "caw caw" or sometimes "ga ga" but they all mean car. I never thought that little baby of mine would be grown up enough to talk but the talking is slowly coming. Here are some pictures of him yelling "caw" at the screen while Kevin played a Thomas the Tank engine cartoon for him.


Some other things that he likes to say are 'nana (banana), mama (I want to nurse), a daw (a dog), and if you ask him what does a cow say, he says mmmmm and looks very pleased with himself. That mooing is thanks to the book 'Does a Cow Say Boo?' which has been a favourite for months.


And he is constantly surprising us right now with how much he understands. I'll tell him to do something and he'll do it! We asked him where his mouth was yesterday and he pointed to his mouth! No one's taught him that. He has been pointing to his head, feet, and sometimes tummy on demand since Grandma taught him that a few weeks ago.

Pottery

The pottery class that Kevin and I took as part of our 'ten years together' celebration is now over. It was a lot of fun to get out of the house once a week and do something new and interesting together. The course taught us hand building and how to use the wheel. It lasted 6 weeks and then last Thursday we picked up all our finished pieces. Now all that's left is finding places in our home to display and use all our new pottery.

Here are some pictures for my records.

a little pitcher

some bowls

some plates
dinosaur plates

Kevin's cabbage inspired nesting bowls, they are actually a light green

name plates, wish the glaze had turned out better on these

2 hand built vases, not sure what we'll do with these

a little box by Amy
a little box by Kevin
some tiny cups and bowls

A Party Outfit for a Prince

Last week I made Henry this beautiful party outfit that he got to wear this Sunday for his great grandparents' anniversary party. Everyone agreed that he looked like a little prince in his outfit.


I used this 1978 pattern that I picked up at a thrift shop recently and some old thrift store fabric that I had. Kevin helped me draw the shape for the elephant appliqué.

And here are some highlights from the rest of the weekend, spent mostly in the backyard.

playing with a big stick
getting sprayed in his wading poolplaying with his new play structure that our lovely neighbours gave us for the backyard
saying "more more more" because he wanted me to help him walk up the slide again
so I helped him up the slideenjoying his swing with mommy

Another Sun Hat

Finally we have some sun so Henry can get out and wear his new sun hat that I made him. It is the same pattern I used here from Little Things to Sew. I always planned on making 2 because I know sometimes the other one will be lost or dirty or left at Nana's. So now we have a backup. And this time I used a light coloured cotton from some khaki pants and some navy blue with a cool fish pattern for the lining. Nice and light to keep him cool this summer, of course it is already dirty with soil and curry from our lunch outside.


We spent all morning outdoors today enjoying the lack of rain. We were in the backyard, then did some shopping, played at 2 different playgrounds, and wandered through dandelions. With all this rain the dandelions have been growing like crazy and the city hasn't had a chance to mow them down yet. We are hoping to get out and pick some for making dandelion wine before they get mowed.

Another pair of pants

I made another pair of pants for Henry yesterday. This time from a lightweight cotton taken from a men's shirt so they'll be great for summer. I used the same pattern that I had drafted earlier this week. And I copied the pockets and the whole idea really from these pants from Dana of Made. I had also meant to do a flat front but just completely forgot about that plan when it came time to execute it, oh well.

I think they turned out great, perfect fit. I hope they will get lots of wear this summer. It's always easier to throw on some jeans or khakis than to try to co-ordinate with blue and yellow striped pants but I do enjoy making up unique outfits for Henry and seeing him in them.

A shirt

More sewing for Henry this week. This is Kai's shirt from Weekend Sewing (my favourite sewing book). I followed the pattern exactly except I was making it from an old shirt so I got to reuse the buttons and buttonholes and placket. I did the 1 year size but I think it turned out a little big. Makes him look like a big fat guy.

I also sewed up some shorts from a thrift store pattern. These turned out much too big though so they will be put away till next summer.