Showers of Love: Dr Kiang Edition

So, as promised, here are a few photo's from Sunday's Bridal Shower for Dr Kiang. I am sure that Magenta and Dr K will post more soon.

Me, Dr K and Magenta

In all seriousness, so many of my favorite people were at this shower - Dr K and Magenta, the Muses, and Mar-Mar... it was such a relaxed and fun day. And Magenta was a magnificent hostess. Everything really fell into place - the decorations were beautiful, the menu was delicious, all of the craft projects were so thoughtful and fun... Magenta, you can no longer claim that you don't throw parties, don't cook, etc. You did and do!

Look at this gorgeous table!

Now on to the crafting; I had 2 assignments for this shower. The first was making jewelry bags for the favors, which were necklaces that Magenta made. You can see the necklaces hanging from the branch that is serving as a centerpiece on the table in the picture above. Everyone got to pick their favorite necklace and take it home in a jewelry bag. Here is mine:

So, as I was finishing up the diaper bag, I was simultaneously working on 20 small jewelry bags. Recognize the fabrics? Black and red satin from my stash? I didn't use a pattern. The final bag is about 2.5 x 3.5, cinched closed with a silk cord. Each bag was easy and quick to make, but the whole project took a while because I was making 20 bags. It was... um... tedious. 'Nuf said.

I will post about my other project - cupcakes! - tomorrow.

Showers of Love Part Deux: Baby Crafting

I promised a post about the diaper bag that I made for Polyhymnia, and here it is. I always forget how long it takes for the finishing touches - hand sewing a few places, trimming thread ends, removing any visible basting stitches, edgestitching and giving it a good coating of ScotchGuard. But I finished in time for her shower!

Look how well I lined up that front pocket!

Here's the bag from the side. Note the little end tab on
the zipper: my own addition to the pattern.

Here is the inside view of the bag, fully loaded and ready to go.
Oh, do you recognize those onesies on the left?

Another view of the inside.

I really have to say again how much I like Butterick's construction techniques for their bags. It all went so smoothly and IMHO the end result is a nice looking bag. The features that I particularly liked are:

• Ample size and pockets: This is a nice sized bag! I loaded it with diapers, travel feeding dishes, 3 sets of burp cloths (under the onesies), 3 onesies, wipes, baby powder, diaper cream, and all sorts of things. Plus 3 outside and 4 inside pockets provide lots of options for keeping things easy to find.
• Sturdy construction - Now that I have used hair canvas to interface the bag, I can't imagine using anything else in the future. It is lightweight and doesn't add a lot of bulk, but it is very stable and strong. Even fully loaded, I didn't feel like the fabric was pulling or straining.
  
• Zipper top construction - Zipper installation was a breeze and I love the styling of the zipper's housing.
  
• Contrast lining - you could make this bag in one pattern or in a solid color, but I loved Butterick's pattern for it's fun use of contrasting fabric. For example, if you look in all of the outside pockets, they are also lined in the striped fabric. I also like how the inside of the zipper housing is in the floral fabric. It really makes for a fun bag that has some nice style.
• Again, as with my last diaper bag, this one does not scream "here's baby!". It is a really fun and functional bag that, really, could be used as a weekender or a large tote bag. There really isn't any feature that makes it a "diaper" bag.
  

I will be making this bag again, for my sister-in-law and I expect it will go a bit quicker the second time around. However, I am not planning on any alterations to the pattern, unless Poly has suggestions. It really is a great bag, and I hope it will do the job well for her!

Showers of Love

What can I say? I am exhausted, but happy. The showers for Polyhymnia and Dr Kiang this weekend were each a huge success. Here are a few photos from Polyhymnia's Rubber Duckie Themed Baby Shower.

Duckies in a bubble bath centerpieces (compliments of your's truly).
They looked even better in person, I think.

The most awesome of all diaper cakes, made by Erato.

Terp and Erato decorated this chair, and in the background you can see the longest clothesline of baby clothing ever made (by Poly's sisters-in-law, Jenny and Holly). That big blow-up duck on the table in the background is holding the favors - rubber duckie soaps.

The Muses (LtoR: Erato, me, Mom Muse, Polyhymnia, Calliope, Terpischore and Orpheus)

Poly, opening my gift!

I'm really happy with how the diaper bag came. I think it really looks good! As for the shower, the muses really worked hard and in the end, it all fell into place beautifully. I'm sad to say that I don't have a picture of a few other cute touches like the place cards which were decorated with storks by Calliope and the table with favors. It was a fun day! I can't wait until my new nephew arrives!

Crunch time

Hi, folks. Sorry for the lack of posts this week. With Poly's and Dr Kiang's showers this weekend, I am in full-on sewing mode. I also have a number of other projects going on related to the showers - both crafty and culinary. So, this is not leaving much time for blogging.

Oh, and I owe you yet another post about Erato and our pj project. Oy, vay! The backlog continues to grow.

Outed at Blogher!

Well, now I've really done it. Moments after posting about all the projects I am doing this month I received a comment from a mysterious Debra. All I can say is uh-oh.

I've been outed, people! Outed! And on the internet, no less! Wait. What's that? Oh. You mean I already outed myself by having a blog? Hmmmph. Fair enough. Did you know that Debra is going to check back to see if I complete my projects?? What do you mean that only attention-seeking egoists have blogs and that I am secretly delighted to be mentioned on the blogher website!?!? Sigh. I can see that I will get no sympathy from you.

Anyway, while I am busy sewing (after all, someone will be checking up on me), I hope you will check out the Blogher website. Debra authors the Crafts column and was kind enough to mention this humble blog in her post on Sewing Month. Who knew that I was part of a community of women who blog? Well, I am. Except, of course, for the times when I am a man who blogs because his wife is either too drunk and stuffed with jamon or has been exhausted by her nephews. At those times, I'm Phineas. Or, rather, he is. Phineas, that is... he's the him... who blogs... Oh stop it, you know what I mean.

September is for Sewing!

September is National Sewing Month, and boy-oh-boy do I have my work cut out for me!! The weather also suddenly turned colder and it definitely feels like back to school time of year. So, here is the short list of my September back to school projects:

• finish the diaper bag I am making for my sister
• finish a project (which I have not yet blogged about) for an upcoming shower which is still top secret
• start and complete diaper bag number 2, which is for my sister-in-law
• work on my own and Erato's pj bottoms. I have not forgotten that I owe you pictures of the fabrics we bought
• embroider many cute baby bibs and onesies if I could figure out a good way to transfer the embroidery patterns (I gotta tell you, the chaco paper isn't cutting it!)

I think that is it, but I could be wrong. Wish me luck!

*** Updated on 9/3**** I knew I forgot something: pants for Magenta. I now have the pants we are recreating, so I can get to work on creating a new pattern for them. I took a very detailed look at them and am feeling very confident about the project.

Back from Vacation

There are some vacations that are so relaxing that you never want to come home.

Orpheus, in a rare moment out of the water.
Or at least part way out. I swear that the boy is part fish.

This was not one of them. It turned out that 3 adults are no match for 2 little boys. By the time that they were fed, showered and in bed each night, all that Phineas, Calliope and I were up for was cracking open a bottle of wine and parking ourselves on the couch. I am ashamed to say that no crafting took place, I didn't go for a single run and I barely cracked open the novel that was supposed to be my beach read. However, we did some very fun things, including:

• taking a plunge off of the jumping bridge between OB and Edgartown (sorry, no picture of me actually jumping off the bridge, but I do have witnesses)
  
• feeding purple clover flowers to McGee, the goat, with Linus at the FARM Institute. We also got to pet a baby chick, meet two sheep named Lemon and Lime, and get lost in a giant corn maze
  
• An enormous ice cream treat at Mad Martha's Ice Cream
  
• trying to catch little fishes in a beach bucket with Orpheus at State Beach
• finding all kinds of crabs, shrimp and sea critters Down at the Shore at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary
  
• jumping waves with Orpheus, who has no fear of water and was very proud to show me how he could float on his back
• burying Linus' feet in the sand so that he could break them out again.... and again... and again...

Linus preferred digging to swimming.

Oh, and we did eat rather well. Phineas has a way of chitchatting with local fishermen and shop keepers that makes them offer him things like "the freshest scallops you've ever had" or "the beautiful stripped bass that I was about to clean if you can wait a few minutes". Things suddenly emerge from the back of the store that no other customers seem to be offered. It is a talent that can not be over-valued.

Anyway, a fun and exhausting time was had by all. Sadly, my one souvenir is a cold. So, even though I'm home and ready to get back to my crafts and running, I am feeling sidelined. But stay tuned as I get over this vacation and back into the swing of things, including posts.