making and braking

the crafting continues, people. while i have you in this paragraph, let me just say that i am not a fan of the term, "crafting." it conjures images of those plastic-string woven lanyard key chains i made at camp in 3rd grade which swiftly became chew toys for our family dachshund and led to many a psychedelic vincey-poop as well as memories of mothers' day presents made in art class using primarily paper and boogers. "crafts" seem like something that most 6 year old's can make and 90% of which have no value except to make parents feel guilty for throwing them out. what i have taken up as a hobby is so much more than that. to quote jersey shore, "i, like, do great things. i'm a bartender." i am not a bartender but i do feel that using my hands to create things that clothe, entertain and sustain my family is kind of a big deal. i don't know what term would be better, but when i finish a project that actually gets use by our family i feel much more than crafty; i feel useful, integral, resourceful, creative and thrifty. i feel like a "home-maker" in a very literal sense of building or home with my hands and not in the trophy wife who just sits around making herself hotter while the kids are with a nanny kind of home maker.
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so in addition to that random soap box i just crafted, here's the latest batch to fly off the sewing machine and drying rack.

STENCILS! my awesome first ever sewing book included a section on stencils for decorating otherwise plain clothes and included a couple of really cute ones. the alligator was one of the ones that came with the book. i got fancy and made a stencil of my own too which is the smirky sunshine. these are supposedly 12 month onesies but they fit judah really tightly right now. i have found the gerber stuff runs really small so we are enjoying these ahead of schedule.

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i am in love with these. sometimes i just look at them

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my next project was a little book end creature-pal. this was a really fun and easy sewing task. he is filled with popcorn kernels in the bottom so he's heavy enough to support curious george and all his literary friends.

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shifty-eyed scalawag

since i was churning out pieces left and right i decided to tackle some all-day wear for judah. my previous high mark had been a hat for him, but since hats get taken off indoors the next step was something that he couldn't just rip off if it was so hideous or poorly-fitting. i made pants! and to raise the stakes i made a little promise to myself that no matter what he would wear them to school the next day. PRESSURE!

the pattern in the book was for a much bigger kid than judah so i took an existing pair of his pants that are almost too small and just added some inches all around. somehow we ended up with a lot of extra room in the butt and front pouch areas, but other than that they turned out decent. i even added little butt pockets and side cargo pockets with my hat scraps.

he wore them all day at school and didn't get beat up! you can see here that they are far too wide up top and give him baggy crotch syndrome. "who's wearing home-sewn garments? THIS guy!"

over the shoulder booty modeling. freaking nugget! i need to digest this child STAT

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while i am being super creative these days, the main reason there are so many posts about the crafting (whatev, i can't think of a better word) is because i am kind of blah about writing lately. the thought of sitting down and writing anything besides "we did this" or "look at judah's pictures" is daunting. i definitely don't want to this blog to become something i dread so i am kind of giving in to the blasé mood and not forcing it. so i guess this is me apologizing for boring you to tears lately, if you are even stopping by anymore...are you still there? hello? if you can hear me, please forgive the abundance of vanilla!

judah in his stenciled gator shirt (skin tight over the belly! 12 months?...doubt it) with crazy static hair from the plastic blinds in the hotel.