Boys' room Redesign coming soon

In need of a project and feeling very tired of the vintage lemons, I re-did the boys' room with various scraps of things in aqua and navy. I made quilts, bed skirts, pillow shams and curtains with more exposed aqua serger seams and various t-shirt scraps and a queen sized sheet, then built the oldest a bed with a door and some spare bits of lumber, painted an old dresser regal blue (a brighter bluer navy) and made a ceiling installment meant to look like train tracks (they do, sort of but my housemate thought they were ladders). The only thing I purchased was a quart can of the navy paint to the tune of 12.99$ and a few scraps of 1x2 from Home Depot's 50cent bin. It looks good but not quite good enough to take pictures of yet. I need to make a trim to top the head and foot boards of the bed and find an old doorknob to put in the hole where a doorknob should be and cut a few stray threads and you know--just spruce it all up and stage it first. But pictures are coming.

Calvin's Bag Part 3

Hideous mens turtleneck turned sporty zip-up for the oldest represents my first time cutting up a thick sweater knit. It worked so great I'm on the hunt for hideous turtlenecks (a statement I never thought I'd say). I found the double zipper from SCRAP for 25 cents so it zips from both the top and the bottom, which I guess could be helpful in any number of two-year old situations. I used the serger on a tightened setting (differential? I can't remember what it's called) to gather the knit a little tighter and not have that ripply edge. I liked the aqua thread against the gray so I ended up doing all the seams on the outside for a bit more crafty, modern effect.

It's probably one of the most versatile pieces I've made yet. He really does wear it, all the time--especially in this brisk springy weather--which gives me such an enormous thrill of accomplishment that I'm almost embarrassed.

Calvin's bag-part 2

The next installment in thank you Calvin-a re-purposed house dress for this week's lovely spring weather. The original dress had sort of tent like dimensions. You can probably picture any number of female relatives from older generations wearing it with slippers and foam rollers in her hair. I kept the zipper and the big front pockets but chopped the sleeves for a more cap sleeve effect and took in all of the seams in the waist, one at a time until it fit me like a glove. I used the serger, which proved not the best idea because I cut out a little too much fabric from the shoulder blade section and could not move my arms. I had to sew in an extra section across the back and fixed the problem quite nicely.

This picture is funny to me because I was focusing so intently on getting a picture in the mirror, I paid no attention to my facial expression. So I look crabby--what else is new. And seriously how many chins do I have? I swear, I'm giving up baked goods...and candy...after easter...

museum tour-first stop

I find the show Jon and Kate Plus 8 has the uncanny ability of making me feel both much better and much worse about my life. They have eight small children and have been known to yell at their kids and each other, have colossal messes overpower their house and show quite a few neurosis to the greater TLC watching world. But they also bring all eight of those potential tantrum throwing children to museums and painting workshops and skiing and to see Oprah and all sorts of things that I still cringe at (well not the Oprah part; I have yet to be invited to appear on Oprah) for the very effort it all takes to manage. And I have two children.

We also don't have cable though, so I don't often have these bouts of inferiority when compared to the Goslins. I just pretend that their productivity does not exist in the same world as mine. Maybe it's something about Pennsylvania. I've never lived there.

But fresh off a weekend at my in-laws' house (which does have cable) I was feeling quite bad about the lacking number of museums and cultural destinations my boys have been to of late. So yesterday, on the rainiest, coldest day April has ever seen, we set off for Portland's Museum of Contemporary Craft, which sounded promising because a) it was free, b) it had something to do with my own interests and c) it was located three short blocks from Anthropologie, which I had been wanting to peruse since being back in Portland. So we went and we got drenched and we had to walk very carefully through the museum which is not, I might warn, for children. The oldest found the little statues of children with prominently displayed genitalia very interesting, which was fine (that's not the part I meant about not child-friendly) but he also wanted to sit on the artisan crafted rocking chairs and swing from the breathtaking yarn, felt and sequin vines hanging on one whole side of the gallery. I don't blame him; it was like a magical, much cooler version of Rain forest cafe inspired by Swan Lake. I would like to go back by myself with an ipod and listen to something very epic while I wandered in and around the feathery, viney beauty of it all.

So we didn't stay long because it was lunch time after all and I had a semi-flat tire on the stroller and I could keep the curiosity of the two-year old contained for only so long. Then we went to Whole Foods for a little snack and had the most delicious French Canadian Greek style yogurt that has ever passed any of our three lips. I had moments scooping bites from the container where I seriously thought about eating the whole dang thing myself and feeding the boys graham crackers from my purse instead. But I shared and we went home soggy but full of culture and phenomenal yogurt.

Next stop-- the Kidd toy museum and I'll remember to bring the camera...

Tie Dye for! (sorry) or Calvin's Bag Part 1

New jammies for the youngest--who was in a very happy mood during this photo shoot--made from an enormous tie-dyed t-shirt I bought as a part of the 5$ bag at Tio Calvinos in Clatskanie, OR. The t-shirt was so large, in fact, that I had enough to make pajamas for both boys not even using the sleeves. And the amount of clothing and raw materials I have waiting for me from the 5$ bag makes my head spin a little. If you're ever on your way to the coast from Portland, it would be a shame to miss Calvin's. Daunting when you walk in and realize that the entire building is stacked full of stuff, if you have the time you can wander for hours. In fact I bought a dresser this Saturday along with the previously mentioned bag and when I came back to pick it up on Sunday, I had this urge to walk around some more. You get that with Calvin's, like you probably missed a whole room and a zillion deals (which you probably actually have by the way) so it's easy to come back often. I joked with Calvin on this most recent visit that I should never be allowed into his store without my kids because I get sucked in for hours without the accountability of a near melt down child. From an anthropological standpoint, it's always a fun trip too; Calvin is a gem in a very old fashioned town full of the sort of people that make up the rest of Oregon (besides Portland) and gives us all the reputation for being bi-polar--the most conservative and the most liberal at the same time. We had the good fortune to live in Clatskanie for a couple of months when we first moved to Oregon and have always found a great conversation with Calvin. This trip, it had something to do with the way everything becomes outdated and replaced itself (records became tapes became cd's became ipods) and yet books remain. I posited that it could be said that modern movies replace the place of prose and music replaced poetry when compared to the previous century. And we were off, talking about all sorts of mediums in culture. Unexpected repartee to have with the owner of the local thrift store/flea market.