Blog Archives

Christmas Morning

1/23/2019

It was early Christmas morning, and Papa was up doing a little last minute cleaning, when he heard someone at the door. It was Ruben, his bear, who had brought a couple of Oma's ducks --- one who wasn't feeling well.

Papa was well known for being very good with animals, and able to heal most of their ailments.
"There, that should help with your sore throat. Now remember to follow my instructions"

Thinking he was done, Papa looked up to notice the ducks were not alone.....

Babysitting

1/22/2019

While Mama and Papa get some things ready for Christmas day, the Grandparents put the little ones to bed. This time, Oma, isn't going to leave Opa alone with them.

Third Try

1/22/2019

Well, I'm starting over again - for the third time. I don't think I've ever had to do that before - one redo, but never two - but if it's worth doing, then it's worth doing right. Right??

I'm back to the original very fine cotton which unravels so badly, but this time with the updated bodice pattern. I'm at the gathering point, which has to be my least favourite part of the entire process. It's the third time doing all the gathering, and I feel like I could do it in my sleep by now. However I've learned a few things the first two times, and am easing in the ruffles differently this time, with a lot more around the back of the neckline, and less down the fronts...

The sleeves actually have a double ruffle, and I had a piece of wide lace in a bowl of water with fabric softener to see if it would lose its stiffness, but it didn't, so it looks like I may have to make the outer ruffle out of this same thin fabric, but with a different cotton lace on the edge.

Yippee, more fussing with this flimsy fabric!! And so much for a 'quick' dressing gown!!

Lego Queen

1/22/2019

Nami was loving her new Lego set...especially since it was a real palace with a Queen...

So while the others were busy playing....

..she went and got dressed up in her own 'Princess' gown....

The others turned to stare...

"I thought it would be fun to dress up, and be a Queen too.."

The Royal couple...

Ringo continued to build, but wasn't sure if he had the right piece...

"Is this the piece you are looking for?"

Baby Rescue

1/21/2019

Papa climbs up the ladder to get the babies down...

"Careful! careful!"

"There, there, Mina. Oma's here now."

...and let's try it AGAIN...

1/21/2019

Well, the second try wasn't working either. This dressing gown is giving me nothing but trouble. The new bodice pattern was a lot better, but this time the problem was the choice of the nylon tricot. I thought it would work better since it didn't need hemming, but it turned out to be too stiff.

I toyed with the idea of finishing it anyways and selling it, but decided I didn't want to use up all my white tricot in exchange for a few bucks. So I cut apart what I'd done, in order to save the flat pieces, and picked off the lace edging again - so I can reuse it for the third time.

So now I'm back to square one. This time I'll use the new pattern, but with the original thin cotton again. I hope it works out how I want this time......

Sleeping Babies

1/20/2019

The women continue to give the men an ear full.

"Shhhh......you'll wake the babies..." Papa pointing upward.

To the women's surprise, the babies have somehow ended up in the Christmas stockings.
Mama: " Anika!!...... Hendrik!!.....Mina!!!......Get them down!!"

Let's Try that Again

1/20/2019

I'm working on a robe for Bianca to wear over her 'Christine' bodice. I drew up a pattern, and made the mistake of not sewing a test bodice first, so even though I put in several hours of basting and sewing, with some very flimsy fabric, I was not happy with the result. So I decided to start over, and picked off all the lace along the ruffles. No point in throwing that away....

I remembered that I had a JID jacket I could try, to see how that would fit over the bodice...

So dug out the jacket pattern and modified it, and made a test bodice this time....

That's much better! It still needs some minor adjustments, but then I can cut the fabric out again. I'm also thinking of switching to a white tricot instead of a thin cotton. It wouldn't unravel as badly, and it would also drape better.