Bad kitty. Lazing about. Doing nothing.

And then teaching Isabelle to do flips on the bed.

Yes. FLIPS. ON. THE. BED. Isabelle was flipping her new kitty about telling me how he likes to flip and jump. Then she proceeded to show me by tossing him in the air and doing flips on the bed at the same time. In her glasses! Tempting fate to have them break again. Ok, she wasn’t doing back flips like in the drawing. Forward flips, but still.

Bad, bad kitty!

Hee, heee. Seriously though, how cute is the amigurumi kitty?! I have the Japanese Craft book ISBN-10: 4391130122, ISBN-13: 9784391130126. But I didn’t think I would ever make him because I couldn’t figure out how to crochet. And, plus, trying to figure out how to follow the Japanese directions?! Get outta here.

Well luckily for me, the author made an English translation so I didn’t have to try to figure out the Japanese directions. One day, though, I’d like to figure it out.

You know, at one point, I didn’t know if he was going to get finished. Remember how Isabelle was running off with alien parts? Well, she did that with the kitty too. So, I couldn’t find one of his arms for quite a while. Also, Isabelle ran off with him when I connected his head to his body. She started playing with him and didn’t want to give him up.

But everything worked out fine in the end. I found his arm and Isabelle gave him up for little bits of time so I could add his limbs little by little. He’s not perfect but he is done! Yay! Yay! Yay!

And maybe one of those side car thingies will work. I can just tuck the baby in there so we have more room. Or we’ll get Isabelle a proper bed and put it in our bedroom and see how she likes it. Who knows, she might surprise us and want to sleep in her own little bed.

Now a different question, is it totally silly that I want to make a mobile for the crib knowing that the baby is NEVER ever going to sleep in it?

This is Japanese craft book ISBN-10 4262152707 or ISBN-13 9784262152707. I got it when I found out I was pregnant.

I really like this one:

And this one:

Well actually I quite like all of them. Well, who says I need to hang it just above the crib, right? I can hang it any old place that makes me happy.

And onto real delusional stuff. I keep thinking about doing a daily comic again.

I was going to draw Isabelle hanging off my arm but…well she distracted me. So yep. Totally delusional to do a daily comic again. Well a girl can dream.

So I had to fix it. But it’s been so long since I’ve sewn anything that I had the hardest time finding my needles! How pathetic is that? My sewing table is a mess with left over bits from my last project sitting there. Piled on top of that is newer fabric I’ve pulled out meaning to make Isabelle some skirts. But I haven’t been up to it.

I was digging through that horrendous mess (that’s been sitting there since January and is just getting bigger) and came across the blue fabric from my last project. And then I realized I never shared the pictures (actually, there are a couple of projects I never got around to writing about). So here are some oh so not fresh photos from MANY months ago:

Isabelle loves it. In fact, seeing these pictures she’s demanding that I find it right now so she can wear it.

I really like the contrasting detail on the dress.

I was planning on making a miniature version for the Isabelle doll. That never happened. Poor naked Isabelle doll.

Maybe when I’m up to it I’ll make Isabelle doll a little blue dress with red pants and pink boots to match Isabelle’s outfit here:

How cute would that be? And I think Isabelle chose this outfit herself. Or Alan did.

Oh when, oh when will I sew again?

Project Notes
Pattern: t from ISBN-10: 4529044378, ISBN-13: 9784529044370
Fabric: cotton
Size: I can’t remember, it was freaking 4 months ago!

I was so eager to make him, while Isabelle was still interested, that I didn’t even bother with seam allowances. That would probably explain why he didn’t match up properly, his bottom was a little too big and he ended up bunchy.

And that also explains why his flippers seem tiny and pointy.

But ain’t he cute? And big too. Bigger than I expected. From the picture in the book I thought for some reason he would sit in the palm of my hand. But I was wrong.

I asked Isabelle to hold him so I could get a picture of his size.

She thought throwing him up and down was a better idea.

Project Notes
Pattern: 23 from isbn-10: 452904114x (isbn-13: 978-4529041140)
Fabric: linen

Me and Isabelle made a softie. TOGETHER!! How awesome is that?

She was flipping through a book and saw a drawing of a shark. She said, “mama! Shark!” then “make me a whale.” So I showed her this whale:

And she said, “yay!” Which was perfect because I’ve always wanted to make this whale.

It’s from this Japanese craft book that I got over two years ago, isbn-10: 452904114x (isbn-13: 978-4529041140).

Guess what she wants to make next? This:

She said, “I want make cowboy!!” Ah….she keeps me on my toes.

And HERE are the rest of the projects from the book. There are 59 projects. Scanning them all in was torture. We don’t have a dedicated desk for our scanner and printer. They’re on a shelf. The scanner is at knee level and I have to prop my computer up high and then go down low to scan stuff. Yikes, I think it was easier making the whale.

Pictures of the whale to come another day because hello did you just read what I wrote?? I scanned in freaking how many pages of that book!! I’m pooped.

The only thing I’m not sure about is the belt. You can barely see it because of the pattern on the fabric but I widened it from 2″ to 4″.

Project Notes
Pattern: dress 7 from Japanese craft book ISBN-10: 4579111494 (ISBN-13: 978-4579111497)
Fabric: 100% cotton
Size: enlarged a size 13

On Thursday night my friend, Olinda, noticed my website was down. It happens sometimes. It’s the second time, that I know of, this year. It happened a handful of times last year. And a handful of times before that. It’s sort of frustrating. So I changed web hosts. Everything moved over without a glitch (I think).

Then on the weekends we’re usually out and about so posting is rare.

But the big monkey wrench in posting came when I was reading Mary at Confessions of a Craft Addict. She was saying her site had issues on Internet Explorer. So I opened up IE to take a look. And then being curious, I checked my site. CRAP. I knew my site wasn’t “up to code”. I just never fixed it before . But for some reason, now, I was determined to get it right. So that’s what I’ve been doing for days. DAYS! I’ve been looking at code so much, my head hurts. But I was determined to have it fixed. I couldn’t stop. Not even for a silly old thing like my head exploding.

But now it’s all fixed and it even validates! Well everything except the galleries. But I’ll fix that some other time.

So what’s that have to do with the picture of the shirt? That shirt is a prime example of how stubborn I can get when I’m determined to do something.

It was supposed to be a gift for my nephew. I bought organic fabric specifically for him. And I bought fabric paint. I had grand ideas for trying out freezer paper stenciling. But right away I knew I was on the wrong track and I should have stopped. But I didn’t, even with the obstacles in my way, I just barreled on through.

First of all the fabric is too stiff. I should have used a knit because the pattern is basically a t-shirt, except for where the snaps at the shoulder should be. But knowing this, I didn’t stop. I just kept going along.

And then I noticed I cut two fronts out instead of a front and a back. But…I kept going.

Then I thought the size seemed awfully small. But march, march, march. Must not stop now. I just figured, it was all screwed up, so why not just see how it comes out.

But I stopped at the snaps. I didn’t want to waste snaps on a hopeless shirt.

I then washed it a couple of times hoping that would soften it up and I don’t know…magically make the front piece into a back piece? I don’t know what I was thinking.

Project Notes
Pattern: shirt 5 from Japanese craft book ISBN 4418051244
Fabric: stiff as a board organic cotton
Size: 100cm

Oh and let me end with a random video of Isabelle because I know Olinda is missing Isabelle.

The video is from a couple of weekends ago. My friend, Lorraine, came down from Oregon and we went out to dinner. A whole bunch of us girls and Alan. There was live music and Isabelle was dancing and clapping. I couldn’t get any of the clapping on video but I did get a little dancing.

Which reminds me. I want to get a small teeny camera that does video as well (for when I always forget my big heavy camera). I’ve been looking at some super inexpensive ones that are 6 and 7 MP. Does anyone have any experience on how good the quality of the video looks like on those things?

It’s pattern #12 from ISBN 4579110439 again (or 9784579110438, I never know what number to put anymore).

I automatically enlarged it knowing that size was an issue. And I also left the bow off. As usual, I started with a muslin. I got as far as finishing the neckline and one armhole. That’s when I decided I liked it enough to use real fabric. But when I finished it, I didn’t like it! I actually stood there, looking in the mirror, wondering if I was very tired when I had decided to make it.

But then after wearing it a bit, I changed my mind. So, yes, I think it’s almost perfect. The only problem: the neckline is a bit low. Or maybe it’s too wide. You can’t tell that from the picture though.

On the weekend I wore it out and found myself tugging it up because you could see a little bit of my bra cup near the straps. Maybe I enlarged the neckline too much? I’ll have to figure that out and then I see this in a more summery color.

Why? Because I’ve become a little obsessed with making the perfect top. And this top isn’t perfect. At my nephew’s 4th birthday party I realized it didn’t stay put. The gathering isn’t sewn down. It’s bunched around the tie. So as I was playing I realized it was moving around. It needed some fussing with to keep it looking the way I liked. I don’t like fussing. I just want to wear it and forget about it.

And yes, I want to make a top versus buying it. I don’t like it when I’m standing next to someone who’s wearing the same shirt as I am. Is that weird? And that won’t happen if I’m wearing something handmade. If it did, that would be sooooo twilight zone.

I have some criteria. I want something that looks good on me, is comfortable, and something I can wear a normal bra with. Though I do like these halter tops I can’t really wear a normal bra with it. I’ve tried a sticky bra with no straps on it but it’s just too strange. I wear it and it does work. But every time I wear it I wonder if my skin is absorbing some icky chemicals and who knows what. So yes, I’m on a mission to make the perfect top.

And that’s how I come to have this pink candy top in linen. (It’s pattern 2 again from ISBN 9784579110438. I just added a band at the bottom.) Well the color isn’t really called pink candy. That’s what it reminds me of. I think the color is actually coral. I wouldn’t regularly choose this color. But it was on sale…

And it makes me look HOT! And not in the “I’m so fine, I blow your mind” way. More like hot as in hot to the touch. I think the blinding brightness of the top is reflected in my face. Ha ha ha! I’m just joking…a little. I do think it is a tad bright. Just a bit.

And now I leave you with a picture that includes Isabelle.

Doesn’t her pose look familiar?