I'm 38 + weeks pregnant and I'm tired. And huge. I'm excited to meet this baby girl, and I feel ready, but of course she is going to come when she is ready. I have such a hard time waiting for things. I am really very impatient. I'm patient with people, but totally impatient about everything else. And I'm always in a rush. Knowing that this is our last child, I have been trying VERY hard to take it slow, to enjoy being pregnant, to not always have my mind on the next thing. This is a huge struggle at times, though.
In crafting news…I have been making fabric buckets, mainly as gifts. Hanukkah begins December 1st this year, the day after the baby's due date, so I've been making and mailing everything in advance. I made my twin neices sewing kits, much like Darla's, but in fabric buckets. I finally cut into Lisa's amazing bird house fabric that I've been hording for (two?) years. I included two books on learning to sew, a pack of fat quarters and a rainbow pack of wool felt from Purl. My sister-in-law doesn't know how to sew, but I think she is about to learn! Nothing like to fully equipped six-year-olds begging you to do a project with them to push you over the edge. I mailed these off before taking pictures. See? I'm perpetually in a hurry.
While I had Lisa's fabric out, I made this tote bag lined with natural linen for myself. It is loosely based on a pattern in Amy's first book. I think I made the shorter linen handle a bit too long. I may unpick it a bit and shorten it still.
I made a fabric bucket for the baby's room to hold all her hair accessories. Because we already have two girls we have a plethora of hair clips and because our babies historically have had full mops of hair at birth, I think she will probably use them all. The nursery is yellow and brown. I used a yellow feedsack for this, with cream canvas as the lining.
And this morning Stella and I were reading Corduroy. She has always loved this book (it's a classic) and begged me to help her make her bear a pair of overalls like Corduroy's. These are made from felt, not corduroy, because I didn't have any. We made them together in about 20 minutes and she is so thrilled with them. The buttons are decorative. Each strap has a little piece of velcro under it so that she can easily dress and undress the bear. I love being able to make her ideas come to life with her.
And finally, a little piece of patchwork is waiting on my ironing board. It will become a patchwork horse.
Brooke says
Love the hair clip bucket–been meaning to make these for my craft room for the scrap fabric–I have a dream of color coding all the scraps together, blue, green, yellow, etc. Love the feedsack texture–too cool.
Good luck with the baby! Try to slow down, life is too precious!
Cheers!
Brooke
sulu-design says
I’ve got two friends in Portland who are about ready to burst if they don’t give birth in the next couple days… I can imagine what you’re looking and feeling like right now. Just had to pop in and say that after catching up on a few weeks of blog posts today, I can say without reservation that you had the coolest Halloween pumpkins I’ve ever seen, and that you guys rock the presidential costumes at your place.
Thinking of you in the final countdown…
Jill says
i love being able to make my girls’ ideas come to life also. especially at their young age when their imagination is so vivid and full of excitement.
Linda says
You are VERY generous. I too am gathering for the sewing baskets with projects for sewing and crochet. It must be in the air. I was wondering how important the wool felt is…such a luxury and am eager for you to invent a modern sampler for children age 7 :*)
Mama Urchin says
Will you remind what pattern you use or the fabric buckets? Thanks.
abbyjane says
I didn't actually use a pattern. I just drew a 5" x 5" square on freezer paper (this is the bottom of the bucket) and then four more 5" x 5" squares coming off of it so that it looks like a cross (or a plus sign, I guess). Iron this to the outer fabric, the lining fabric, and a layer of batting and cut around each leaving a 1/2" seam allowance. Pin wrong side of lining to batting. Sew up the sides, right sides together. Sew up the sides of the outer fabric, right sides together. Turn the outer fabric right side out and stick it into the lining, right sides together. Sew around the top leaving a 2" gap. Turn. Edge stitch around the top. Voila! Takes 20 minutes! I'm addicted.
Audra says
I’m so impressed with you! I can’t believe that someone could be so crazy productive so close to having a baby! You’re my inspiration this holiday season. If you can do all of this with two children on the outside and one two weeks away from making her debut, then I don’t have any excuses. All of my whining about school and cleaning and blah, blah blah needs to stop.
abbyjane says
That is so nice of you to say, Audra. I feel better when I am being productive all the time!