Onsiefication

Peter Potamous has a lot of cute clothes.  But he only wears probably a third of them.  Part of this is because, like everyone, I have my favorites, and I tend to pick them out over and over.  But part of it is because some of his clothes, while adorable, are just functionally not as great.  Short sleeves?  Require me to put on two onesies—one for the sleeves, one for the cute.  I’ll do it, I just won’t do it all that often. 

And t-shirts?  Also require an underlayer, but still ride up and just loose some of their cuteness when they’re hanging up around the boy’s armpits.  So, armed with some of the cuter t-shirts, and a supply of onesies that I bought for 50 cents each at the thrift store, I went about turning the t-shirts into onesies.

I cut off the crotch of the onesies about three inches above the leg holes.  Then I turned it wrong-side out, and slipped it into the t-shirt.  I zig-zagged them together, wrong sides together, the cut edge of the onesie underneath the hem of the t-shirt.  Then I pulled it out and zig-zagged again so the hem would lay flat.

There are lots of different ways you could attach the two pieces, but this way the raw edge is hidden by the seam of the t-shirt, and if it gets warmer and he’s running around with no pants, it completely obvious that he’s wearing a cobbled together onesie.  It looks intentional, I think.  I did the zig-zag in the hem of the t-shirt so it looks like decorative stitching for the same reason.

Now I need to figure out two things—what to do with the new cropped t-shirts that I have left over, and what to do about shirts with no snaps or buttons or anything to help getting them on over giant baby heads…

Wordless Wednesday: chubby baby hands

Showering in Style

That’s our new shower curtain.  Did you know that charcoal shower curtains don’t seem to exist?  They don’t.  Or, at least not at prices that this girl can/chooses to afford.  But this cheap polyester is slightly sheer (the curtain on the window is the same stuff).  Which means that light from the bathroom filters in nicely, the better for dimly lit calming showers.  Yay for unintended consequences.

Oh, and the bigger rectangle?  Is a golden rectangle.  Just for that little touch of nerdiness.

As I said, finally finished!

I loved learning to knit.  But I am s.l.o.w.  Very slow.  I read these knitting blogs, and people have finished sweaters and socks just dropping from their needles every couple of days.  Not me.  Granted, I tend to knit in fits and starts, picking up and putting down projects for months at a time.  But still.

I just looked it up.  The Hemlock Ring Blanket pattern was published/shared in August, 2007.  And I loved it then.  It wasn’t too much later that I cast on one for myself.  Along the way I ripped it back most of the way twice, and as I said, put it down for periods of months.  But still, for a knitted project that everyone else seemed to churn out in a matter of days, a “quick knit,” it took me more than 3 years.

But I still love it.

Motherhood makes you stronger

And puts you in danger of becoming a pack mule.  Baby on the front, diaper bag and purse necessities plus books on the back.  Headed out to the library earlier this week for baby storytime.

Birthday-buddy in the Hood

When I hear that someone’s expecting and their due date is anywhere between Christmas and the middle of January, I always tell them that January 8th is a great day for a birthday.  Two weeks after Christmas, one week after New Year’s, and for a solid streak of four or five years when I was in elementary school, it was either on a weekend or it was a snow day. 

So imagine my delight when a friend and neighbor actually complied!  Her daughter (who recently agreed to be our son’s Valentine) turned one in January, so I just had to send something along.  Add to that the fact that I’ve loved the Baby in the Hood jacket from Anna Maria Horner’s Handmade Beginnings, and there you go.

The corduroy is from the JoAnn’s remnant bin (a really nice, cute, old fashioned JA).  The stripe and button bands are leftover fabric from a jacket Mom made for me.  I modified the sleeve lining to be in two pieces—the bottom matches the rest of the lining so the sleeves can be turned up, and the top is slippery nylon so the coat can actually go on over something.  Does anyone else remember in elementary school the cool iridescent windbreakers?  All the cool kids were wearing them with their Umbros.  Anyway, this fabric was intended for that, way back in the day.

Buttons were also from JoAnn’s.  And I kind of love them.  I have a set that are black and green that I tried on the jacket first, and I’m going to have to come up with a good place for them.  Grown-up clothes that only need four buttons—suggestions anyone?

And look what she picked out for me!  Didn’t she do an excellent job instructing her parents what to look for while they were in Mexico?

So pretty!  What about you?  Do you have a birthday buddy?  Do you tell your pregnant friends to hold out for your big day?

Wordless Wednesday: Finally done!

Wordless Wednesday: Baby helps with laundry

Wordless Wednesday: Game Time with Dad

And today it’s Treasure Mountain.