Sunday 26 June 2011

Stewart's Falls and a Few Staples


Yesterday, we hiked to Stewart Falls. It was lovely! The day was perfect for it. And with all the spring run off, the falls were huge. Stewart Falls are up American Fork canyon, right next to Sundance and Apsen Grove and where we'll be camping this summer during our family reunion.
There were several large trees on the trail, which were fun to navigate under and/or over.
Beautiful views.
Pretty flowers.
Like I said, it was lovely.

The trail was pretty heavily packed though, which was good and bad. At least we were able to get our picture together a couple of times.

Getting close to the falls. It's about a 3.6 mile round trip, but it isn't very hard.
Sebastian and me.

Up on a ledge.

Looking down on the remains of the snow pack.
Ana was trying to convince us to let her go in the snow tunnel, but we said no.
Down on the snow. We ate lunch here.


Heading back.
And this is Elena before her accident. Yes, this is the spot where the staples come in. Leo was carrying her and Sebastian, and he twisted his ankle on a rock and fell--we had been trying to walk quickly as the kids were tired by that time. Anyway, he managed to not fall on top of her, but her head hit a rock and it gouged out quite a bit. Luckily, we were almost back--I did have a first aid kit in our backpack, but nothing big enough to staunch that much blood.

So I held her head while I carried her the rest of the way down. My hands didn't look too bloody by the time this picture was taken. But still, it's macabre to have your hands covered in blood. I cleaned her wound when we got home (and Leo's scraped knee) and then took her to urgent care where she had three staples put in. She was very calm through the whole thing. I was impressed. It was kind of fun to clean it all up, I liked wound care a lot when I was nursing.
It was a beautiful day with gorgeous scenery, and a little excitement never hurts anyone--well not for long anyway.

Tuesday 21 June 2011

Carlina e Isabel



Don't you think Isabel and her great-grandmother look incredibly similar? How did that skip so many generations?

Sunday 19 June 2011

Projects 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9!!! DONE!!!!!!

YAHOOO!!!! I am DONE with projects 4, 5, 6,7, 8, an 9!!! That's right--I've been working on these off and on for 5 1/2 months. (That tells you how bad of a seamstress I am).
But here it is, my (semi) authentic late 1840's Round Dress, made for the pioneer trek my sister is going with the teenage girls in her church. I used the 114 Laughing Moon 1840's-1852 Round Dress pattern, View A. This dress actually came together fairly easily. I did redo the neckline, as I thought it was a bit high in the front and was choking me. Maybe that was period correct but I knew my sister Megan would care more about comfort than authenticity.

Also, the sleeves were huge on her when I made them the same size as the bodice. I ended up taking them off again, after they had been completely finished, and cutting them down 5 sizes smaller, and now they fit perfectly. Also with the mancherons (sleeve caps), the pattern said they could be unlined, and I had left them unlined the first time, but that was horrible--they were floppy and lacked the body necessary to keep their shape. When I made the sleeves the second time, I added the lining, and they look great. Oh, and I cut the armscyes a little larger, for mobility. Another small note, the bodice fit my sister perfectly when I first made a mock up of it, but by the time she tried it on today, she had lost oodles of weight and it's now a bit loose. Ruff. Okay, I know, I really am happy for my sister.
This was the corded bonnet I made. The bonnets were actually my favorite part of these costumes to make, and I think they turned out the best. I used the Timely Tresses Lucy Amelia Sunbonnet pattern. So fun, I'm definitely going to make some sunbonnets for my little girls. I used cooking twine for the cording. I think slat bonnets would have been more in keeping with the late 1840's as corded sunbonnets came out early 1850's, but really, slat bonnets are ugly, and corded bonnets are pretty. No contest. See why I say these are semi-authentic? Plus, there's no way under the sun that I was ever going to sew these by hands. I had no problems following the Timely Tresses pattern. Now for my niece's dress. I actually used the exact same pattern for this dress (the Laughing Moon 114) but I used View B--with the fan-fronted bodice. This bodice was a PAIN! It wasn't that it was that big of a deal making it, even the fan-front. That was easy. But the pattern itself seems to have some issues. There was about 3-4 inches of extra fabric in length on the bodice overlay--and yes, I realize it was supposed to have a little fullness and whatnot, but it looked ridiculous. I wish I had taken a picture. Plus, I found this lady, who also made this version who had many problems, and then this lady as well, (this one doesn't discuss those problems in her blog, that was in another forum). So I think, it was more of a pattern problem than a sewing problem; well, also I had to do a SBA or in actuality a no-bust-adjustment which didn't help matters. I ended up unpicking the seams along the fan-front, cutting open the entire overlay above the fan, taking off a couple of inches, sewing it back together, and then adding a few more lines of gathering to cover the seam, and then hand stitching the overlay pieces back together. It was not fun.
The sleeves were easy and lovely though. I used just the mancheron part with tucks. That took me quite a while and a few Youtube videos to figure out. But once I got it, it came together fast.
Did I mention that I love these bonnets?
Now, I read that to get the 1840's shape you needed at least two petticoats--most women wore 4-5 at that time, including a corded one. But even the poorest of the poor had two--cloth was cheap. I used some bed sheets from the DI (a local thrift store) to make up two petticoats each for Danica and Megan. I used Elizabeth Stewart Clark's free pattern linked here for the petticoat, and it was a breeze.

For the drawers, I used the Simplicity 9769, which are historically accurate. Which means, they're split, as in not sewn together to aid in using the bathroom when you're wearing 6 petticoats. I didn't realize this when I started making them, and as I suspected, my sister was not a fan. So they became not-split drawers. Also, I added and elastic waist, per my sister's request. And as humiliating as it is to admit this, I started making these before my sewing class and before I understood how sizing on patterns work, so the pattern I made for my sister was a size 12, which in pattern terms is no where close to the size 12 clothing size I thought it was. So that was a mess. Oops. Danica's turned out all right though.Megan, in her completed outfit.
Danica, in her completed outfit. Danica's dress was a bit fancy for a trekking, but really, when I was 12 I would have wanted the prettiest dress--who cares about it being more a Sunday church dress rather than a work dress when you're only getting one, right??!?Megan, Danica, and Devaney. Megan bought the dress for Devaney off of Etsy, since I'm taking some classes now and already had way to many things to do to have time to sew another dress. It's really cute; Devaney looks darling.
Ahhh, cute. Overall, I am very happy with how they turned out. I wish I had choose a brighter pattern for Megan's fabric, but at the time, I was trying to get at least a semi-authentic looking pattern, and I didn't want to err on the side of being loud--so I erred on the side of being too bland instead. Sorry, Megs. That's the only major thing I would have changed. Anyway, I hope Megan and Danica like them, because that's most important, right? Myles liked them apparently, because he asked me to make him an outfit next. Sorry Myles, my schedule is full up, maybe next year. Megan was, I think, a bit overwhelmed by my overly ambitious costumes. I know she didn't expect all that, and she probably won't even wear all the petticoats and stuff. But I couldn't really help myself--it was fun! And I love the details. Like petticoats. Anyway, beware if you ever ask me to make costumes, I really can't help myself. There should be like AA type group for this.
Oh, I did make aprons for them too. I used Butterick 5509. They were simple, and again I used bed sheets from the thrift store for them.
And just in case you want to make your own Mormon Pioneer Trek clothes, or Dickens Faire, or Victorian clothes, here's a few links I found especially useful, or well, just fun to sit and wistfully dream about making dresses that look that good and then wearing them.
Eye Candy Dresses--seriously, check out her 1700's gowns. Gorgeous.

I can also safely say that I could pick out 1830's-1850's dresses fairly accurately now. Fun stuff. . And I have to say that I am NEVER going to sew a dress like that again when I don't have the person next door to try it on every five minutes or a dress form. I really want a dress form. And a serger. But you know, little by little. And now good night. Only 488 projects left to go.

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Oh my goodness! I love this boy! So much that he's starving. Just kidding. He just had a check up at the doctor's today though, and he's at 1.25% for weight. The doctor gave me a list of high calorie food to feed him. Whatever, the boy's fine.
Me. Sewing. NONSTOP FOR MONTHS!!!!
Ana's Daddy-Daughter Date for Activity Days.
They had dinner (each girl had to cook part of it) and then they learned about manners, and also the foxtrot.
At one of Ana's softball games. Her team is pretty terrible. I think Grandma should come down and take over coaching.
Ah, sweet.
Daddy and Sebas.
Elena directed this photo. And I quote, "I'm going to lay on the grass and kick my legs, and you take the photo, Mom."
What a little cutie. I never get tired of hugging that boy.
Ana's new hair cut. I let her do what she wanted. She wouldn't let me get a good picture. You should have seen the faces she was making in the other photos. Craziness.
Isabel is about the craziest girl out there. She has more attitude in her little finger than I have in my whole body. And she'd definitely Colombiana--you should see the way she swings her hips around when she's dressed like a princess.
Big brown eyes are irresistible.
And this is the cheesey face he makes whenever he notices the camera.
We finished off a watermelon today and Elena promptly told me, "Mom, you need to go to Macy's and buy another watermelon." Alrighty, then.
Yum.
Isabel.
Elena and Candace, best friends forever, except for when Elena's screaming, "I'm never going to play with you again!" And when Candace doesn't get her way and she goes off crying and sulking to her mom or me, "Elena's not being nice!" Sweet, eh?
Elena with a stick. That stick caused a lot of tears that day.
Ana showing off her smurf outfit, oh, I mean softball outfit.
Leo gave me an early Christmas present--new knives. I'm not quite used to sharp knives. My old favorite knife was from a ND garage sale that my mom bought me before I went to college. It was from the Berthold Co-op. Ummm, yeah. I had amazingly terrible knives, and then the block fell apart, so it was time to upgrade. Too bad my finger paid for it.


The end.