Simplicity 1878

Here it is! Last month I posted a dress project I was working on. I finished it a few weeks ago and got my mom to photograph it for me. Overall, I'm pleased with how it turned out. It fits loosely, but not too loose. I don't have a picture of it, but it has two darts in the back - one on either side of the zipper - which add some shaping.

I forgot to add inches when I was cutting it out, and so I just decided that it would have to be shortish. I plan to wear it with cardigans and tights or leggings in the winter, so it should be fine. I made the pattern sleeveless, as you can see, because I want to be able to layer sweaters over it, and when I tried it with one sleeve sewn on, the sweaters looked funny because of the bulkiness of the sleeve beneath. If I was only planning to have this as a warm weather dress, the sleeves would be nice. I liked the look of it either way. Another reason for not having sleeves is that my shoulders are on the larger side compared to the rest of my upper body measurements, and by not having sleeves, they are less confined,  and I didn't need to worry too much about fit. I did need to take in the sides under my arms when making it sleeveless, in order to make it fit a bit more snugly. No gaping armholes, please.

I had my mom take some pictures of clothing I've sewn over the past year, and it felt really strange to pose for pictures. It took a few tries until I felt comfortable-ish. I think this is why I haven't taken many pictures of my projects along the way. It just feels unnatural. Having some little ones posing with me was a fun way to make it feel a little more normal.

New Project

I found an old braided rug at The Main Street Closet in Willow Street this weekend. It doesn't lie flat, it has a hole and it was never finished. I debated whether or not to get it, but it's rewarding to breathe new life into old things. Why go buy a new rug when I can fix up an old one?  Besides, it has character, right?

We were at a family reunion this weekend with Dan's extended Hess family. This was a perfect project to begin working on while chatting with others. Unfortunately, chatting was a bit difficult for me since I seemed to have lost my voice - not a good thing when you are spending the 24 hours at a large gathering where talking is the main activity!

Anyway, I started taking it apart because I will need to re-lace most of it so it will lie flat, and 

then I can also fix the hole more easily too. I've repaired two braided rugs so far prior to this, and it's definitely rewarding.  I have a slew of other projects, and the challenge for me is to make sure I finish some before beginning others or I get stressed out by all the (literal) loose ends.  And the real 

Changes...Kind Of

Did you hear all the cheering and celebrating coming from northern Delaware at the end of last month? That was us celebrating that DAN IS FINISHED WITH RESIDENCY!!!!

Five years. We made it through. I knew we would, but there were times when "being done with residency" was only a very abstract idea, similar to before I was ever pregnant, and I would think "someday when I have children..."

So here we are. We've been asked a lot what's next. Not much is changing this year for us. We are living in the same house, and Dan will be working at the same place (as "chief resident" for one year and part-time in the ER), just in a different position. Up until residency really ended and his new job(s) began, it didn't feel like anything was changing. If I'd been packing up a household while all the end-of-residency parties were happening, I think I would have felt like we'd come to an end of an era.

I can tell life is a bit different now because Dan's main job has more regular hours. He basically leaves at the same time each weekday and returns around the same time. Amazing. Sounds normal, right?! That hasn't been our normal for most of our marriage and certainly not for the past 5 years. So it's pretty nice to have some regularity in our life. The kids know more what to expect as well.

Here's Dan with his fellow 5-year residents at the EM/IM graduation luncheon.

With the out-going chief and the chief for the year after this one.

You've worked really, really hard, Dan. I don't really know the half of it, but I'm really proud of you. Edwin and Elena talk about someone being hurt and going to the hospital and say: "Daddy will take care of them." 

I know your patients are well cared for. I'm honored to have been part of this journey with you.  (You know, washing your scrubs and making sure you have food to eat and all that good stuff! ;) )

And Speaking of Sewing...

Did you know there are so many sewing bloggers out there? And their blogs are so fun to read and see what others are sewing? I really enjoy seeing what others sew, and have stumbled across a fun sewing/fashion challenge called One Week, One Pattern. And since I have two dresses sewn from the same pattern, I decided to sign up and join.

You can find out more at Handmade Jane's blog here.

I'll be using simplicity pattern 2147. I'm basically posting now so you all (all 8 of you) can keep me accountable, because I'd really like to do this. September 6 - 12 is when the wearing happens!

Late Night Sewing

Taking an afternoon nap often leads to me not being tired when bedtime rolls around. It's after midnight and I'm still awake, but I do plan to go to bed soon. After all, I'm supposed to be getting up to exercise early in the morning.

Dan was at a friend's house watching a world cup game, so I spent my evening sewing, and I finally tackled a project that's been on my list for a long time: a bow tie for Dan.

If we're friends on facebook, you may have seen some pictures of him wearing bow ties. He's one of a bunch of coworkers who wear them on a pretty regular basis, and it only makes sense that I should learn how to make them. For the longest time I thought I needed to be able to make them adjustable like the ones he's purchased. But today I realized that the point of custom clothing and accessories is that they are custom: they're made to fit the wearer! Sometimes the most obvious ideas escape me. So no more shirking for me - time to sew a bow tie.

I cut a pattern from one of Dan's other bow ties and also used it to determine the correct length. You can kind of tell in the picture, but my pattern is not quite symmetrical.

I used an old silk neck tie that I bought him at a thrift store years ago. Overall I'm pleased with how it turned out. And aside from sewing with slippery silk (not fun), it was quick and easy.

I also did some sewing for myself. I've been on a dress-sewing kick this past year, and it just keeps on going. I haven't blogged about most of them, because that requires me to take pictures of the dresses, and I just don't have a good camera for doing that on my own. It feels silly to put on a dress just to have someone take a picture so I can blog about it - feels like too much extra time to do that when I'd rather just begin a new project.  I guess I just need to have Dan snap a picture when I'm wearing the dresses.

Sewing has been fulfilling my need for a creative outlet this past year. And it feels good to make something useful and wearable and to know that some one didn't slave away over it in a dilapidated factory around the world.

My current project is Lisette Simplicity 1878. It's going to be more of a tunic because of the length since I'm going with View C, although mine isn't as short as the pattern jacket shows.

Using this fabric:

Here's what I have so far. 

Sleeves, zipper, sewing up the side seams and 

hemming are the only things remaining. 

We'll see if I ever get around to taking a picture of it after I'm finished!

Mama Tribe

A friend of mine recently named our group of mom friends her "mama tribe." I love it. I feel like it describes us. I have this great, close group of friends here in Wilmington. Many of us are transplants and don't have family close by, and a bunch of us met 4 years ago when we all joined a local moms' group. Most of us had recently moved to the area, we had small children, and we were desperate for friends.

Over the years, we've met other moms in various places, told them about our awesome group, they've joined in, and so here we are. We help each other with baby-sitting, we take meals to each other when we have babies, or are sick, or have crazy things happening in life. We throw "baby sprinkles" when some one is pregnant, we have play dates, we have moms' nights out - any reason to get together to laugh, or cry, or both. We know we have friends we can call on when we just need to talk to a some one who knows what we're going through. We don't all have the same parenting styles or childbirth stories, but we care about each other and ready to help out when needed, those other things just don't matter.

Before I had kids, when I was engaged, some one told me that I needed to make sure to foster my friendships with my girlfriends, because they would be vital to me. She was so, so right. Thank you for keeping me sane, Ladies. I love you all!

Snow Day

Maybe I should call it a rainy snow day. We got a lot of snow overnight, but it turned to icy rain during the morning. Now it's just all-out rain. (Yuck.) I'd much rather have inches more of snow than rain on top of snow and temperatures below freezing.

But really, who am I kidding? I'm just happy we had snow before the rain. I love snow, and I love snow days. I haven't had a job in years that required me to drive when there was too much snow, so I still like it. I'm sure if I had a job where I had to go to work regardless of snow accumulation, or if it really interfered with my schedule, I'd begin to feel differently. But that's one of the great things about having been a teacher and now being at home full-time. Here's how we stayed busy today. 

Uncovering the car

Jumping on the "trampoline"

Making applesauce

Taking sunflower seeds out of a dried flower head