Eyelet Baby Gown

Many months ago I found a very pretty eyelet valance at the thrift store. It was wide and very, very long and only two dollars. I bought it, intending to make the baby a gown with it at some point. We had just found out we were having a girl and I had very few girl clothes for a baby. I envisioned sewing her up a dainty wardrobe of pretty frocks.

However, I did not count on the generosity of friends and family. Little Anne is now very amply supplied with clothes for at least the duration of her first year; little dresses and jumpers and frilly skirts and sleepers and nightgowns and hats, socks, headbands, shoes, sweaters and snowsuits, and onesies beyond necessity. (I counted twenty-six newborn size onesies when I last took stock of the drawers I am keeping her newborn clothes in). Making a lot of baby dresses then seemed to be a waste of time since she really does not need anything extra at all.

I still did want to make a White Dress. There just seems to be something so old fashioned and holy about a baby all in white. . .something pure and sacred and beautiful and fleeting. I decided to hold off on making the gown until closer to my due date. So, this past Saturday, as we did *not* go to the Civil War event (the heat index was 102), I made the little white gown and baby cap. It went together very quickly.

For the pattern I just traced the bodice from one of the dresses she already has. I added little loose gathered sleeves and a little ruffle at the neckline. It was fun playing around with the eyelet design. The skirt is just a tube gathered to the bodice and another strip of eyelet, topstitched to the waist, makes the waistband. I'm hoping it will be big enough for her to wear for a while. When she is little the gown will be quite long, of course, but as she grows the skirt will come to above her feet and the waistline will become more empire than natural. I made sure to make the armholes and the neck opening plenty big for this reason. The baby cap pattern is an 1860's one I used for the boys.

I have so much of this curtain left over. I wonder if I should save it to make something else for her when she gets bigger or if I should make something for myself. ;) It's an awesome feeling knowing you are repurposing fabric and that you got it for such a good price! Even cheap eyelet from Jo Anns is $10/yard and is a poly/cotton blend. (In passing, I totally have been disappointed and disgusted with the offerings Jo Anns has had lately. Their prices are just SO HIGH and the fabric feels SO LOUSY to the touch.)

Now that the dress is done I think I am really all ready for the baby to get here. Except for diaper pins. I still need to get some of those. I passed the 34 week mark (always a nervous time for me since little David was born at 34 weeks) so am feeling pretty good about that. Now she can come whenever she is ready. I feel like I'm lugging around a ripe watermelon!

Love,
Sarah

In the Spring of the Year You Were Born. . .

Dear Little Anne,

The spring of the year you were born was a beautiful spring. In March, the winter winds faded and green mists draped the branches of the trees and crept into the brown earth, whispering words of life to it. Soon, millions of tiny flowers and baby grass stems pushed their way up through the dirt to see the sunshine, which smiled on them.

In the spring of the year you were born your brothers were little boys and every day they would stop their rough boy-play to press their ear against my belly, where you were growing into a beautiful woman-child. Sometimes you would move and they would feel you move and they would ask me how much longer it would be until you were born. Your influence on your brothers was gentling and tender, even though you were not here yet.

In the spring of that year your brothers loved to look for flowery things; in the clipped green yard, in the herb garden, in the pastures where the grasses were allowed to grow tall and wild. They would bring me their findings with smiles and quiet words of wonder at each delicate stalk, or thin-veined petal. They asked if you, too, would like flowers. And I felt you move in my belly, and I said yes.

So they spent one morning in that spring looking for perfect flowers for you. From the ones they brought to me we chose the prettiest and pressed them between books; books that your brothers love and that maybe you will love too, someday, when you read them.

For weeks we let the flowers press until one day in early summer we took the books down and opened them to find the little blossoms ready for you. Your brothers carefully arranged them and glued them to paper and we put them into frames to hang on the wall in your room.

Now they ask me, how much longer will it be, Mommy, until our little Anne is here?

Not much longer, I say. Before the summer ends.

They tell me they miss the spring, and are sad you were not here to see it. But for you, they have preserved a little piece of it; these flowers from the spring of the year you were born. Because every princess needs flowers to pave the way for her arrival. These are yours.

Love,
Your Mommy

The Necessary Nappy

And so it came to pass that Sarah, who had borne David three sons, found herself again with child. Being weary of the country she had sojourned in the past six years, a land flowing with urine and feces known as The Disposable Diaper, she lifted up her voice and cried unto her husband,

"My lord, the day draweth nigh for me to deliver thy child. I beg of thee to give unto thy maidservant a goodly sum, with which I may purchase goods of linen and woolen cloth to wrap the bum of the child that I will bear unto thee. The customs of the people of this land are loath to me and the thing they call The Disposable Diaper hast irritated the bums of thy sons and would you have it irritate the bum of thy daughter also?"

And her husband pitied the woman and said unto her;

"Let not thy countenance fall, woman, for the request you have asked of me has found favor in my sight and I give unto thee this sum to purchase cloths of linen and wool. Go with a cheerful heart and do this thing which you have asked. Only do not burden thy husband with intricate sayings of the construction and designs of these garments you will make, for such words burn in my ears and befuddle my mind and is like the talk of foolish men unto me for I understand it not."


And so Sarah went and took the sum and purchased the cloths of linen and wool and made diapers for her child.

Okay, seriously, I am *completely* sick of disposable diapers! I have no idea why I did not try using cloth diapers with the boys but I think it is because I was so young, and everyone I had ever known used disposable diapers. My mom had hinted in the past of a Dark and Terrible experience she had once had using cloth diapers on me and I had become terrified of the dim unknown world of cloth diapering. I envisioned a pee soaked mass of fabric and baby every time I changed a diaper.

One by one the boys came in quick succession. I didn't really have time or the resources on hand to look into cloth diapering more. We were on a tight budget and the few cloth diapering sites I did look up boasted what seemed to me to be very high prices - definitely out of our price range since we could not afford all that up front. But after Malachi, we had a three year break. In that time, I had educated myself. And so when I found out I was pregnant last winter I knew for sure I would try cloth diapering this time.

It took me forever, however, to decide on what style of diaper and cover and what materials to use. There is so much information out there it is literally overwhelming! I came to rely most heavily on the personal experiences and recommendations of friends who have used or are currently using cloth diapers and balanced that against my personal preference for simplicity and historic significance.

In the end, I decided to make prefold diapers and use wool covers. I decided to use linen for the prefolds since in my experience, linen is highly absorbant and incredibly soft once it is washed enough. I liked the idea of wool covers since wool is my go-to "miracle fabric" and has natural properties that make it exactly suited to cover a diaper. And wool and linen happen to be two of my favorite fabrics, ever!

I used the prefold diaper sewing instructions from this site: DIY Prefold Daiapers and made them with linen from Fabric-store.com. For the soaker pad, I ended up going with hemp fleece (which is really a blend of hemp and organic cotton) and used only 4 layers of fleece instead of the 6 layers called for in the pattern.

For the soakers, I used the sewing pattern and instructions here: Katrina's Quick Sew Soaker Pattern. I purchased a gorgeous 100% lambswool sweater from the thrift store and washed it several times in hot water to shrink it up a bit. I also dyed it with a packet of green dye to get a more deep blue-green color instead of the light blue and gray it originally was (it was a mans sweater). The finished soakers are not girly at all, but they are nicely gender neutral which is fine with me since I really do hope to have one or two more babies before I am done for good. (who wants to be done with having darling sweet little babies at age 26? Not me!) I really loved this soaker pattern. It was so quick and easy to make. The only part I didn't like was sewing the tiny leg cuffs into the leg openings but beyond that, a piece of cake!

In the end, the linen diapers ended up costing me around $3.50 each to make. The soakers, since I was able to get four of them from the one sweater, cost about 50 cents apiece. Not bad! I detest math but I did some calculations and assuming 10 diaper changes per day and use of these diapers and soakers for approximately 8 weeks, it is actually much less expensive to use the cloth diapers instead of the cheapest-of-the-cheap Wal-Mart Parent's Choice brand of disposables (which is what we mainly used for the boys). I presented my findings to my husband and I think he was happy. He is not at all sure about using cloth diapers but he tolerates the idea and indulges me, which is all I ask. I guess we'll see how these work once Anne gets here.

Love,
Sarah

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Cherokees

I can, alas, boast no claim to any Native heritage beyond the fact that I am married to a man who has Cherokee and Blackfoot blood running through his veins. If matrimonial ties are deeper than blood, then good. I can claim Native-ness. But if they are just some sort of spiritual bond instead, well, I'm outta luck. But the fact I am married to David automatically makes our offspring partakers of that fascinating heritage.

And so, this past weekend we took the boys to a pow-wow and they were beyond delighted with discovering so many amazing things about their ancestors. The colors, the rituals, the honor, the music that seemed to swell out of the very earth itself, the dancing in the dusk beneath a sky clearing of storm clouds.

We have taken the boys to this pow wow before, but as they were all babies at the time they had no recollection of past visits. We have not gone for the past three years. I joked with David that every time we go to the pow wow, I am pregnant. It just seems to work out that way.

We met up with some friends there and had a pleasant time enjoying their company. Steward Blake offered to buy all the children a face painting session but the only one who took him up on the offer was David, who had his hand painted with a dragon. In this picture, you can see how very cautious he was of the painted hand. He held that hand out in perfect proper flatness so he would not damage the paint job.

Blake and Becky share a kiss before the storm.

With the inevitable rain, we left the grounds for a little while to take shelter in the pavilion of a nearby park.

The torrential downpour did not last long, however, and when the rain lightened and finally ceased we ventured out and the boys ran and played and laughed, having their own adventures.

We headed back to the pow wow in the evening and were just in time for the Grand Entrance. As we stood and watched the dancers, carrying flags, solemn and quiet, I could not help but blink back tears that started furiously to my eyes.

Add caption

It amazes me how these people can be so kind, so welcoming, so willing to share with outsiders their stories. The way the American government has treated the Natives over the last several hundred years is appalling. These people lived their own quiet lives in their own ways. They worshipped God in their own way; they had their own culture, their own language.

Bit by bit they were eliminated and forced into tiny reservations. Their children were taken and forced from an early age to adopt "Christian" names and were educated according to government standards. Those that did not comply were killed, or assimilated into white culture (like many of the Cherokee) and lived as white people. These circumstances were not random or contained - it was the systematic killing of a culture by our government. Even today, this still goes on. Just a few months ago I read about a native girl who was suspended from school after talking in her own language to a friend instead of using English. And yet! The remnant still carries on. They survive. They share with us. 

I am proud my boys can claim ties to this culture. I want them to grow up to understand the truth about what happened. It is not all "cowboys and Indians". There is so much more to it than that, and a deeper truth beneath the perverted Hollywoodization of the Native culture.

David was also very proud when David and Malachi, unable to sit still any longer, jumped up and danced their way into the circle.

Judah, always shy, hung back. But maybe next year! ;)

Love,
Sarah

A Tractor Shirt

This week, it looks like my sewing plans are going to consist entirely of shirts. We are taking the boys to the inter-tribal Pow-Wow at Grand Village of the Kickapoo this weekend and I am having a lot of fun making tiny ribbon shirts for them to wear. Before starting on the shirts, however, Judah had one request for me - he wanted me to make him a "tractor shirt".

This past weekend was my 26th birthday and Judah and I browsed the fabric section of one of the local stores, birthday money from my parents in hand, while David took the other boys to look at fishing poles. Of all the children, Judah is the one who most shares my interest in fibers and fabrics and pattern and design. I found some pretty striped cotton seersucker to make another peasant dress and while I was rummaging, Judah was, too. He found some cotton printed with John Deere tractors and combines and when he asked if he could get some, well, I just couldn't say no!

We used Simplicity 4760 for the shirt pattern. It went together very quickly (the entire shirt was made yesterday between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.) and Judah immediately put it on to wear for the rest of the day. His only disappointment was that I used a tractor for the pocket instead of a combine. Otherwise, he is very happy with it and declares it his "favorite shirt".

The only change I made to the pattern was to omit the facing piece (seriously, I hate facings and none of Judah's current button up shirts have nasty facings!) on the front opening and just finished the front edges with topstitched strips instead. The seam between the collar and shirt was finished with self fabric bias tape. I didn't follow the pattern directions at all, but I think directions are sometimes much more work than the garment is worth.

Judah spent last evening in the pursuit of toad-catching and found three. This one was an especial favorite, as it was the smallest of the bunch and made a chirruping sound at times. After keeping it for an hour or so he let it go in the garden.

Now I can make ribbon shirts with a clear conscience and Judah is happy. :)

Love,
Sarah

Drawstring Peasant Dress for Baby and Beyond

I don't know about you but I heartily detest most maternity clothes I have found in the store. I am aware that there are indeed kind hearted clothing merchants who do actually sell maternity clothes that are cute and fun and flattering but usually their offered goods are out of my price range. I stick to my haunts at the local thrift stores, and, occasionally Wal Mart or K Mart or Target. I don't like spending a lot on clothes since at this point in my life a $40 blouse bought new or a $2 blouse bought at Goodwill are likely to experience the same fate. Life is rough on clothes when you have a houseful of boys.

I have made do so far this pregnancy with "normal" clothes, for the most part. (okay, I did buy ONE maternity top and wore it for Easter, did not find it flattering and it has never been worn again.) All my pre-pregnancy skirts and jeans fit if I wear them below the bump. Long, hip length tops, especially t shirts and camis, have been invaluable. I can pair them with one of my pre-pregnancy button up shirts and either wear the shirt open over the cami or tied up over the bump.

It's been harder to find dresses in my closet that will still work well for maternity, though. A lot of my dresses don't have room for bust expansion and the waistline is too low. And I hate the look and feeling of wearing a waistband right around the middle of The Bump. Above or below, totally fine, but right across the middle???? Nope can't do that.

With the little girl due in about ten weeks, more or less, I have reached the point where I think it is pointless to make something that is for "maternity only". I don't want to spend time on something that I can't wear after the baby gets here. I decided to pair two of my favorite styles, a peasant top and a peasant skirt, to make a peasant dress that will work for the remainder of the pregnancy as well as for breastfeeding. And then, when it has accomplished it's purpose (and if it is still wearable after all that), it can be worn as a "normal" dress, because the style isn't particularly maternity, or breastfeeding, or anything. It's just a simple dress that anyone could wear.

This was my first trial run with the concept. I used some rose printed cotton fabric I've had the past few years. I bought it before I started hennaing my hair so it's not something I would have chosen if I were buying new fabric, (the reds kind of clash) but since I already had it on hand I decided to use it. The bodice is just a raglan-sleeve style bodice with short sleeves. I traced a pattern off one of my favorite peasant tops in my closet and shortened the waistline so it hit a bit below bra-band level. The skirt is 3 tiered and the flat, ungathered edge of the bodice waistline is sewn to the flat, ungathered edge of the top tier. I made a casing in the seam and so the waist is drawn up with a drawstring. Another drawstring goes through the neckline binding so I can loosen the front bodice for nursing access.

Let us caress the haybale. Get your love on for the haybale. But this is probably the best picture of the overall look of the dress - it's hard to photograph a style when it's made up in such a large, busy print. 

It's a tad long, I think. . .of course, in these pictures I was in the tallish grass so on a flat surface the hem hits at the top of the foot. I may shorten it another inch or so. And the bodice does look. . . dumpy. . .but I think that is because I deliberately fitted the bodice over my "comfortable" (i.e. not "fashionable") favorite nursing bra, and added some ease since I know sizing flexibility in that area will be needed after baby arrives. But I totally love the style. It's me, it's comfortable to wear and I like being able to have a dress to choose from instead of always wearing the skirt/cami/shirt combo. I think one of these dresses in a comfy knit would be totally nice. This cotton is a bit heavy so is not the best choice for this style.

To keep the ribbon drawstrings from flying, a couple of wooden beads threaded onto the ends works wonderfully and adds to that peasanty look.

One other nice thing about having the due date creep closer and closer? It's the time of year we start sitting outside most evenings, looking at the gardens, walking down the road, talking, watching the kids (and cats!) play on the lawn, watching the sun set. It's the start of our Summer Evenings.

And one of these summer evenings, in the not-too-distant-future, we'll have a fat little baby bundle to sit outdoors with us, watching the world with wide, wondering eyes, while her brothers, learned in the lore of boyhood, will romp and scream and set up all sorts of imaginary worlds and kingdoms. And David and I will look at each other and smile and sigh, all at the same time, and say "these are the things we'll remember when we are old." It's a good time of year.

Love,
Sarah

Making a Basic Baby Gown Pattern and A Linen Dress for Anne

I took a little break from Civil War sewing this afternoon, in between making lemon bars, putting dinner in the crock pot, doing school with the boys, cleaning the henna out of the tub (the vision of a shower and tub after rinsing a headful of henna out of the hair is not a pretty sight) and refereeing many friendly wrestling matches that ended up too boy-energy-violent, to draw out a quick pattern for an A-line baby gown. There are several vintage gowns that have inspired me and they look easy enough to make, but it does help to have a plain, basic pattern to start with. So, I made a plain, basic pattern and tested it out today. I think it will work nicely, and now I can move on to more intricate styles when I have another few spare moments!

Back when the boys were little I made their Civil War gown pattern based off a onesie. It always worked really well, so that's what I did for this pattern. So easy to do! So, if you want to make a dress like this too, here's how to do it:  (or at least how I do it - no doubt there are other/better ways to do this!)

Get a big sheet of paper or cut apart a paper grocery sack (if you want to be cheap and stingy like me) ;) and draw a long vertical straight line on it. Then, select the onesie.

I always use a onesie that errs on the side of a bit large. Onesies stretch, and most gowns I make are of fabrics that are not meant to be stretchy. So you have the onesie. Okay. Fold the onesie in half and lay it on the paper so the fold is against the straight vertical line:

Trace around the neckline, shoulder and armscye. I had to fold the sleeve out of the way to trace the armscye. It probably isn't exact, but it's good enough. :) Here is what you should have after that:

To make the skirt portion, simply measured down how long you want the dress to be along the fold line (in this case, I wanted it to be about ankle length so I made it about 16" long) and draw an angled seam from the armpit down to the hem. Draw a curved seam for the bottom edge of the dress and there ya go. Easy peasey.

To make the finished pattern, take the pattern piece you just finished making and lay it on fresh paper. Trace around it, adding a 3/8" seam allowance all around (or whatever seam allowance you like using - I personally like using 3/8" for little things) and a 3" seam allowance at the bottom for a nice large hem. Mark the piece as "Back".

To make the front, trace around the back piece but omit the 3/8" seam allowance at the center line. This is so the dress can have a seam at the center back, to allow for an opening for the head to slip through. I also cut the front neckline down a little more than the back neckline:

Here are the finished front and back pattern pieces:

To make the pattern for basic little sleeves, trace around the onesie sleeve: (again, this is probably not exact but it is good enough!)

Then trace that piece on fresh paper, adding seam allowance and 1" for a hem.

To make the dress, I cut two backs and one front and two sleeves. The fabric is from a thrifted linen gown. I loved the fabric so was happy to find a use for it!

First I sewed the center back seam, leaving a few inches unsewn at the neckline. I finished the seam with a zig zag stitch and stitched down the seam allowance on the placket to finish off the edges:

I was tempted to leave the front completely plain, but I thought this lovely cotton lace, a beautiful gift from Natalie at A Frolic Through Time, looked so well with the linen that I just had to use it!

After sewing the shoulder seams, I pinned and sewed the sleeves into the armscyes while the dress was still flat. Now, I usually try to avoid this method of setting sleeves in but on a garment so small I think this is the only method that will work well when using a machine.

I pressed up the hem on the sleeves and then pinned the side seams of the dress:

After sewing the side seams it was just a simple matter of hand stitching the hems in place and finishing the neckline. I finished the neckline on this dress with a piece of bias binding. It would be easy to add a little ruffle or tiny collar to the neckline, too,  but this time I opted for what was simplest. Besides, the baby-fat double chins most infants have would hide any collar or neck decoration anyway. And who wants to be distracted from looking at chubby baby chin adorableness?

I whipped up a little baby cap to go with the gown out of the scraps of linen that were left over. There was just enough lace to lightly gather and attach to the cap, too!  

I so can't wait to make a few more gowns with some style variations, like a yoked gown with a little ruffle at the hem, a gown with tucks at the shoulders and maybe some with smocking. My poor wardrobe is going to be ransacked for blouses and dresses that I no longer wear often so I can cut them up and use them for baby clothes!

Love,
Sarah