Back to School Bateaux Tour

 

So Avery has started Kindergarten. To be honest I thought I'd be more emotional about it, but after two years of pre-school it felt like no big deal. She was so excited about it, and I am happy to have some more focused time to spend with just Ollie in the mornings.

Avery is pretty big for her age, but still really built like more of a toddler, which can make shopping for cute age-appropriate clothes kind of a challenge. So when Anneliese of Aesthetic Nest gave me the chance to be part of her Back to School Bateaux Pattern Tour. I happily accepted. I don't actually sew as often as I'd like, but I knew that I wanted to make Avery a few tops for school that would be really comfortable and functional and this pattern totally fit the bill. Plus, everything Anneliese makes is really detailed and perfect, so I knew her patterns would be no exception.

I can happily report that to be the case! It is a great, well thought out, easy to follow pattern with no mistakes. The Bateau pattern comes with many variations, all pretty simple to sew. I chose the pleated, button-backed version, because-- well buttons. I love them. And I found this amazing vintage knit trim (and stripe buttons) at Harmony Shop in Provo and knew I had to incorporate it somehow. Doesn't it remind you of like an old-school ski sweater. My hands got shaky when I spotted it I was so excited!

This pattern really lends itself to using trim because the hems are straight across. Other than that, I kept things pretty simple and followed the pattern straight-up, and it came together like a dream.

Anneliese suggests that you size up if using a less-stretchy knit, and I wish I had followed that advice. I made just a basic version of the plain t-shirt using a jersey knit to check the size, and it fit well so I thought I'd be OK, but I really should have followed her advice and sized up--especially because I wanted this to wear like more of a tunic. Ah well, next time.

Still, Avery is obviously very comfortable-- so much so that she won't hold still for a photo, so Success!

Anneliese has been kind enough to give away a copy of her pattern. Leave a comment to enter, and I'll pick a winner on Friday. 

Be sure to check out all the other versions of the pattern too!

Avery's 5th Birthday

The main event in celebration of Avery's birthday this year, was a trip to Disneyland the following week.  So, we kept the fanfare pretty low key on the actual day, but I never like to let a birthday pass without a little fuss.

 

So I decorated with this hair-bow bunting featuring her cute little face, placed a giant balloon on the table, and had a strawberry shortcake family-breakfast-party before school. 

Then, I tried to get a portrait of her before she headed off so we could remember what she looked like on the exact day she turned five.

I got exactly zero photos of her smiling and looking at the camera. She was in too big a hurry to get to school and get her birthday badge, and was annoyed by the whole thing. But, these are actually a pretty accurate representation of her personality these days. Spunk and zoom. And she cares nothing for getting her picture taken or clothes. Except she loves purple, so this polka dot birthday dress sent by Aunt Nessie was perfect. 

  

A few days before her birthday, Avery's friend cut all her hair off during a play date. When the girl's mother brought her home I was really sad about the haircut, and sad for Avery who was really devastated.  I could write quite a bit about my unhealthy attachment to my kids' hair, but I'll save it for another day. 

At any rate, I thought some new hair bows would be a fun gift and a fun way to celebrate change and her cute new bob (which I love, but would never had done so... silver lining) , so I made half a dozen, and then clipped them onto black and white photos of her that I'd printed out on cardstock.



I got the idea from Stephanie Ford, who blogs at Simply Radiant. She did a similar bunting but with paper party hats. I was pretty proud of how mine turned out. Functional and festive.  And Avery loved it, so-- win.

And just in case you're worried that she did not get enough party in on her birthday, we finished the day at Chuck E. Cheese with a few friends and family, horrible pizza, a Costco birthday cake, and  some thoughtful gifts from all who love her. And we told her about Disneyland and then had the longest week of anticipation in history.

I love this girl. My little Avery. Five years old. I remember vividly the day she turned five days old. I was really sad about it. I wrote a whole hormone-induced letter to her about how she would never be five days old again. I am not someone who is in a hurry for my kids to grow up. I really enjoy the little people that they are-- exactly as they are, and so the thought of anything about them changing is hard for me. But if the new bob has taught us anything, it's that change can be good. So I'm trying to let it come. But I wouldn't mind if it slowed down a tad.


*Dress from Boden
*(Some of the) Ribbon and Balloon from Darlybird

Winter White Deco Dress

I made this little dress for Avery,  for Delia's Winter Whites series. Though the series is called "Winter Whites", it includes soft colors and neutrals, so I think this fit the bill. This dress was inspired by a square on a quilt I found at an antique store and fell in love with. I'm not sure how old it is, but a lot of the fabric looks sort of 1930's or 40's.

 

 It's funny how everything old becomes new again. I love the black and white graphic print paired with peach. And it's so on trend right now isn't it? I really wanted to make something with that print so I did my best to recreate it in Illustrator and had it printed though Spoonflower. Mine isn't quite as wonderful as the original, but I think it captures the feeling. I called the dress, "Art Deco Inspired" because I think the geometric shapes and repeating lines on this print look sort of Art Deco, but I'm not sure that's a totally accurate description. But, "Vaguely 30's or 40's Print Inspired Dress" just didn't have the same ring. The style of the dress is definitely more 40's or 50's. I used a New Look (6309) pattern for most of the dress, and then drafted and added the turned up cuff to echo the collar.

I love when people ask me to guest post (although I sadly have to say no a lot because I just can't find time!) because its the only time I ever get any of the sewing projects in my head finished. But I'm a terrible guest-poster! I meant to do a little tutorial for the sleeve cuffs, but just didn't get it done in time. 

I have mad respect for all the folks who maintain sewing and craft blogs. They are super labor intensive, and I just don't know how they do it. I love making things, and I love sharing about it when I can get my act together, but I think we've established that that doesn't happen with any consistency right? Anyway, its fun to be included for time to time in some of those wonderful creative and consistent spaces. Thanks Delia.

Rain Dance

Sometimes...

The skies open up and rain such a good hard rain,

That you can't help but dance around in it,  not minding if your clothes get soaked,

Or better-- in no clothes at all,

And suddenly,

Everything that seemed hard about that day,

Is washed away,

And you can't help thinking--

 

That it was just for you. 

DIY Drawer Liner Tutorial

I'm a big fan of DIY projects that are economical, functional, and durable-- like past the life of the photo-shoot, if you know what I mean.  After purchasing and installing ready-made drawer liners in Oliver's dresser, I thought it would be fun to see if I could come up with a less expensive, more customized version for Avery's drawers too.

You guys-- this is a gratifying project. It took about ten minutes to complete, and came out looking neat, tidy, and pretty cute if I do say so. And the paper options are pretty endless. You could use scrapbook paper, wrapping paper, old maps,  or print your own!

I found this great heavy handmade wrapping paper at World Market. You could definitely just line your drawers with paper, but for kid's drawers, I want those suckers to be durable and stay in place. And these do!

Scroll all the way down for the full directions.

Avery's 4th Birthday Party

(I made this little e-invite using my rudimentary Illustrator skills)

Avery turned 4 in April and for the first year really wanted a proper party with friends. So we had one.  One of the things I was most excited about when we moved into the little town where we live, was this cute gazebo (gazeezob according to Avery) in the park at the center of town. It's totally reminiscent of Star's Hallow right?... and who doesn't want to live there. Plus there are swings and slides so it seemed like the perfect venue to entertain a bunch of 4 year-olds.

(All or most of the photos are by Jane Wilson...thanks Jane!)

The weather was beautiful (you never know in April...it snowed the day she was born) and was actually quite hot.



Trav's whole family happened to be in town for BYU graduation, which was lucky for us as they did most of the setting up, taking down work. Thanks guys. And sorry.





They also filled about 200 water balloons meant for a super organized and thrilling water balloon toss game, but instead (since they are 4) they just started chucking them at trees and uncle Alex, and had burned through them in minutes. Way more fun.





Avery really wanted a "My Little Pony" party, but I got away with just a pony pinata, which was really entertaining as it turns out. Do you see that death look on her face? 4 year olds swinging bats and beating a pony to death = good time had by all. Plus there was candy.





They also played pin the tail on the donkey which was frankly kind of a fail...but Avery really wanted to do it, and was happy that she got to. So... there's that.





I think maybe the biggest hit of the party was when we made ice cream in baggies. It's super easy, takes a few minutes, functions as a treat and activity, and its fun. Plus it was really hot out. Win.



Sort of becoming a tradition are these Sweet Tooth Fairy cupcakes, which remain the best I've ever had, but I opted for the mini's this year and was kind of disappointed. They are tiny and don't cost much less than the regular sized ones. So next time, big cupcakes it is!



Overall it was a fun time. If we do a party again next year, I think I'd make it one hour instead of two, and just have less structure and more free play. In the end I think they had the most fun playing on the playground anyway.

And maybe have it at home so we don't have to lug all the stuff to the park.



(with her friend Zoe... here they are at One... It's fun to see how they've changed)

Thanks to everyone who came and helped, and Thanks Jane for taking all the photos!