And a purple pair too

These pants are so easy to make I made her a purple pair too.

New Pants for Bridget

Bridget has outgrown most of her 'newborn baby gift' clothes and others have been put away because they were for summer.  She still has enough clothes but now she doesn't have so many that it would feel silly to sew for her.  So she got some new mommy-made pants today.  Just super simple knit pants made using this old method.  I even kept the hem of the T-shirt they were made from so they were super quick to make.  

I'm getting her to practice her sitting too (looking forward to being able to just plop her on the floor).  At 4 1/2 months she can sit on her own for a couple seconds at a time and for much longer with just a few cushions for support.  

Pictures

Nothing to report.  Here are some of my favourite pictures from the weekend.

 

A Dress

I think I may have done it - made myself the perfect dress.  If there's one thing I don't like about nursing, it's that I can't wear dresses (and if I'm honest, as much as I love it, there are really several things I don't like about nursing but this one sticks out).  I love wearing dresses in the summer.  And of course it's really no big deal to not be able to wear dresses but it can sometimes feel like a big deal, just a nasty restriction, just not being able to do it makes me want to do it so badly.

So my perfect dress has buttons of course.  Yes I sewed all those buttons and buttonholes!  I learned how to use my machine's automatic buttonhole maker of course.  Undoing buttons is still more annoying than lifting a top but she's nursing less and less often so I am happy to undo a few buttons each time.

It's got lots of gathering around the shoulders/arms so lots of freedom of movement.  And with the belt I don't feel too frumpy (a little frumpy is ok in my books).

I had to change the sleeves because they were much too poofy at first which of course pushed the frumpiness past my limit and also meant I couldn't roll them up.  

I added some patch pockets because I hate not having pockets and I think it adds to the casual look as well.

And I used some fabric I got a while ago from the fabric store that has a nice drape - so hard to find fabric with a nice drape and I am learning more and more how important it is! 

It took me about 6 weeks on and off to make it (yes I think I am a slow sewer).  It was nice to work on something slowly for a change, not expecting to get it done by the end of the day leant a different atmosphere to my sewing.  

I have only worn it once but I really think it is a keeper.  And really even when I say that on the blog I often end up not wearing it.  But I think this time it's true.  

Sewing clothes is really a bit insane, at least in this day and age.  Not only are you putting money and time and effort into a garment without trying it on first but without even seeing it!!  So really I shouldn't be surprised that I so often end up not liking what I sew.  I guess the only surprise is that I keep doing it.    But for now I do, it's still fun.  I definitely still love the anticipation of seeing how it ends up.  And I love the 'coming up with ideas' part, can't give that up.  And sitting down at the sewing machine or crouching on the floor with the scissors with Coronation Street on the computer is just nice, I just like it for some reason.  

Tibetan Momos

 

Henry and I made Tibetan momos yesterday.  Just little steamed buns with potato filling from the recipe here.  It was really fun.  Henry got to dump the flour and water together and then play with the dough like play dough.  And he did great playing all by himself while I got onto other things in the kitchen.  Even made himself a car and a snake.  That big thing he is holding up below is also apparently a car but some of his other cars were much more car-like.  

And then later we got the dough out again to roll it out and put in the filling.  And Henry really helped.  He put the filling in and then with a little help from me he squeezed it together.  Baking together just got even more fun!  I am trying to think of other similar things we can make.  

So then we steamed the momos (Henry LOVED saying momo).  And we ate them with a curried cauliflower soup.  And they were really good.  I thought Henry would be more into trying them since he made them himself but no.  He held it up to the camera but that was about all he wanted to do with it.  

a Mommy-made Dress

Here's Bridget in her first Mommy-made dress.  I have enjoyed making little boy clothes for Henry over the past few years but there is something extra special about a little girl's dress.  

I just copied the general shape of a dress she already owns.  I like how it turned out even if it is a bit sack-like.  I didn't think a little baby dress needed any shape but I think next time I will try adding some sort of shape.  And of course I made it a bit big like you do when you're sewing for a 3 month old.  So that adds to the sack look.  But I think she is cute enough to pull off the sack look anyway.

I'm sure there are many more Mommy-made dresses in her future.  

Garden Bounty

Just enjoying the garden bounty over here.  And the face below that Henry pulls when I ask him to smile these days.  Last night's dinner featured tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, carrots, and red pepper all from the garden.  

Busy Weekend

Here are some pictures of our busy weekend. 

Waterloo Buskerfest

Morning at the Beach

Time with my family including a walk by the lake

 

A BBQ with friends at which Bridget was too fussy for me to get out my camera

Home in time for beer brewing

And playing in the kitchen with Henry while Kevin takes care of the beer

The Garden

Lots of exciting stuff going on in the late summer garden.  We are eating loads of tomatoes and cucumbers from back there and we are scrounging for just enough lettuce to go with them.  I'm not sure if I'll have quite enough tomatoes at any point to turn on the dehydrator.  Especially now that we have really got the hang of eating loads of little tomatoes - lots of salads and falafels.  

It has been really fun picking with Henry this year.  He's always happy to go picking when I suggest it.  And he's very good at only picking the red and orange tomatoes.  Only once did he wander into the house with 2 hot peppers that were not ready to be picked.  

We are getting a few peppers.  The greenhouse seems to have helped but still the yield from each plant is very low.  And my hot peppers never turn out hot!  Just can't seem to figure out peppers.

We are also currently enjoying a second crop of wild raspberries.  Henry is especially pleased.

And we're enjoying just being in the backyard.  We've been having really nice weather and spending lots of time back there.  

With the cooler temperatures and the dry crinkly weeds it is really feeling like the end of summer.  But we thoroughly enjoyed our summer this year, got out and did lots of summer activities so we are ready for the transition to fall to begin.  Putting on jeans and a sweater feels pretty nice right now actually.