The Train To Crazy

SKIRTS! Ruffle Edition

***Please note this tutorial was written in 2008 when tutorials were just being birthed and I was unaware of how to take good photos!***

As I promised, here ruffle skirt tutorial. This DIY skirt is perfect for beginners and experienced sewists alike. Your daughter might even have fun sewing this for herself! 
1. Cut ruffle piece of fabric about 44" (the width of your fabric) by 5 inches.

2. Body of skirt piece can be any width as long as it is at least 2 inches wider than the child's hips and shorter than the ruffle. I'd recommend somewhere between 3 and 5 inches wider than the hips.

3. Cut 1 piece of 3/4 inch elastic 1 inch longer than child's waist. To determine the length to cut, take the length you want the skirt to be and subtract 1 1/2 inches. For example, if you want the skirt to be a total of 12 inches long, cut the body of the fabric 10 1/2 inches long by the width you've chosen.

Putting it together:

1. Sew the body of skirt together by folding fabric, right sides together, and sewing a 1/2" seem allowance.

2. Use pinking sheers to trim the edge of the new seem and iron seem open.

3. Sew ruffle together in the same manor, iron seem open.

4. Lengthen your straight stitch (to about 5 or 6 on most machines) then "baste" the top of the ruffle 1/2" away from the edge. For more info on how to make a ruffle check here.

5. Pin the ruffle to the body, right sides together, matching seems. The ruffle piece is larger than the body piece so try to pin it evenly all the way around.

6. Gently pull on the bobbin strings of your basted stitches and carefully pull the ruffle evenly around.

7. Sew the ruffle onto the body of the skirt. Remember to return your stitch to a regular length!

8. At top of skirt, iron seem at 1/4". Then fold over again at 1". Stitch close to the edge leaving a "casing" for the elastic. Leave a 2" opening to insert elastic.

9. Measure elastic to fit child's waste comfortably, add 1" and cut.

10. Insert elastic into casing. It is easiest to do this by attaching a safety pin to one end of the elastic and inserting that end. You can then work it around the casing, making sure not to lose the other end in the casing.

11. Sew elastic together securly.

12. Finish sewing casing closed. Be careful not to sew on the elastic.

13. Iron hem by folding 1/4", press, then folding 1/4" again.

14. Sew hem. You're done! I'll post the tutorials for the banded skirt next and then following that will be the little elastic waist A-line skirt. Stay tuned.

Two Weeks!

Wow, Maggie is 2 weeks old! So, what is it like having a newborn, a two year old and a three year old? Busy, tiring, stinky! Thankfully Maggie is a sleepy baby and rarely cries if she is awake. Naomi and Daphne are great big sisters. Naomi likes seeing Maggie and rubbing her hair. She has no interest in holding her still though. Daphne is much more enthusiastic about showing her affection toward Maggie. She cries if Maggie is sleeping and she can't go visit her. She wants to be looking at her and touching her every moment that Maggie is awake. Don't call her a big sister though because for some reason she doesn't think Maggie is her sister, no matter how much we talk about it.

I realized today that since Maggie sleeps or eats most of the time she's only been laying down on a blanket a couple moments in her life. We took the opportunity to let her do a little tummy time tonight and the girls enjoyed being able to lay next to her. Much to our surprise, Maggie rolled over! I'm sure it is a fluke but we have to laugh because Daphne didn't roll over once until she was EIGHT months old! Naomi started rolling all over the place at 10 weeks but 13 days seems a bit early. We had noticed the past few days on the changing table that she rolls onto her side so I'm wondering if she'll be able to figure out how to roll over again anytime soon. We'll see. It just shows that every kid is so different! It is impossible to compare these milestones because all of our kids are totally "normal", they just accomplished different things at different times.

Here is some of the fun we've been having with Maggie.

Animal "Hotcakes"

My grandmother and grandfather lived in the same town I did growing up. We got to see them often, which was great. The strange thing is though, I don't have a ton of memories of my grandmother when I was really young. The stranger thing is that she lived with us in the summers to take care of me while my mother worked long hours on the farm. I don't remember a lot of the interactions I had with her, but I do remember her presence. DO remember her watching General Hospital though.

One thing I will never forget are her animal hotcakes. This is what she made for breakfast when you spent the night at her house. The fun part was guessing what animal it was that she put on your plate. I'm not entirely sure she knew but we had fun imagining which they were. That was one of the best parts of spending the night at her house.

I should make some animal hotcakes.

Trust the FDA?

The FDA declared a while back that bisphenal A (BPA) is safe. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel just published an article that investigates the possible corruption behind it all. Definitely an interesting read.

SKIRTS! Simple Version

I love making little skirts! They are so easy and with a cute pair of tights and a t-shirt they look adorable on any little girl. I have no pattern for most of the skirts I make. Here is my effort to share my little amounts of knowledge with you. Keep in mind that I am not a perfectionist and I take that with me into my sewing! You may notice I don't often tell you to pin things together... do it if you need to. I usually just "wing it."

The Simple Skirt

Gather Materials
Cut piece of fabric about 44" (the width of your fabric) by the length you want the skirt plus 2 inches. For example, if you want the skirt to be 12 inches long, cut the fabric 44" by 14".

Cut 1 piece of 3/4" elastic for waistband. Cut elastic the length of child's waist plus 1 inch.

Cut ribbon the length of the skirt- 44". Use as many ribbons as you would like or none, its up to you.

Putting it together:
1. Sew the ribbon on the skirt fabric. There are several ways to do this. You can pin the ribbon on the skirt where you want it to be sewn. OR, if you are lazy like me, you can use a fabric ruler and washable fabric marker to draw a straight line where you want the ribbon to be. Then sew the ribbon carefully on each edge. Make sure the ribbon is even on both ends of the fabric so when you sew the fabric together the ribbon will line up.

2. Sew the side hem of skirt body together by folding fabric, right sides together, and sewing a 5/8" seem.

3. Use pinking sheers to trim the edge of the new seem and iron seem open.

4. At top of skirt, fold and iron seem twice. Make the first fold to wrong side of fabric at 1/2". Then fold over again at 7/8". Stitch close to the edge leaving a "casing" for the elastic. Leave a 2" opening unsewn to insert elastic.

5. Pin a safety pin to the end of the elastic and feed it through the casing, making sure not to lose the other end!

6. Overlap elastic ends by 1/2" and pin together. Sew elastic ends together securely and tuck under the casing.

7. Sew the 2" opening in casing closed.

8. At bottom of skirt fold and iron seem toward the wrong side 1/4" and then again 1/4". Pin in place if this makes it easier for you. Then stitch hem closed.

9. You're done!

More Maggie Firsts

First swing

First bath, it was short.

First time being held by a sister. Naomi doesn't want to hold her.

First bottle

Being Mobile

We enjoyed our mellow Maggie yesterday. It was a beautiful day so after nap we took all the girls to the soccer field for Naomi's soccer practice. She cried through the whole thing. Naomi cried. She was "scared of the kids." We aren't really sure what to do with her extreme shyness. We are hoping she grows out of it some. She is already showing signs of stress about having to go to school in two years. She loves her dance class and her gymnastics class. She likes going to her class during my Bible study but there are just some situations that terrify her.

ANYWAY, after soccer we headed to the playground. Naomi and Daphne played on the slides while Maggie just hung out in her sling. We were then able to run some errands and pick up dinner and she slept away in her little car seat. After eating our dinner at home we all headed back out for some bike riding in the street. Maggie continued to hang out happily. She got to meet some neighbors and take a bit of a walk down the street. We are loving how laid back she is! After having Daphne, who was a super fussy baby, anything seems better but Maggie really is quite a champ.

Here is some of the fun we had...

Like a chicken with it's head cut off...

My previous post about butchering chickens was probably alarming to you. If you've never lived on a farm, or butchered your own chickens, it is probably a pretty repulsive thought. But, if you eat chicken, someone had to kill it.

We had chickens while I was growing up. I loved gathering the eggs. We butchered them every now and then too. I only have a couple memories of this. I do remember finding it very amusing, until you had to actually pluck the chicken. Not so fun. I never had to do any of the cleaning though, yuck.

Legend has it that before I was old enough to participate, my dad and my brothers were out butchering a chicken one day and dad returned to mom to let her know he'd butchered ALL the chickens. My brothers had been too amused by the sight of seeing the chickens still moving around after the head was "removed." It might sound a bit strange, if you've never seen a chicken with it's head cut off.

I kinda wish I could have some chickens.

Little Voices

We've decided that one of our favorite things in life right now is listening to the girls talk with one another. We especially love the conversations they have with each other in the car. I can't imagine how different it would be if we had a TV in the car. As it is they are so observant to what is going on around us in the car. The best thing is when they sing. They love singing and sing pretty much constantly all day but in the car they make a great effort to sing songs together. Now that Daphne is pretty good at singing it is just a precious experience to sit in the front of the car and listen to the girls sing, sing, sing. Yesterday they sang their first song to their sister- Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. I wish we had caught it on camera. Next time we'll be ready.

Cute, easy corduroy pants

These pants were very easy. I'd never used a Burda pattern but it wasn't bad. These pants only have 2 pieces of pattern and no zipper, which is great for me. Just a bit of elastic in the waist band and a bit of fabric and you'll have some great pants. I'd never made pants before so chose a pattern that would take minimal effort. I was right, this was quick and easy. The only alteration I'd make is to shorten the rise in the front. The great thing about the pattern is that it has sizes 2 to 7 so should last us a while.

UPDATE: I made another pair of these pants. You can see them here.

Check out my Flat Front Pants Tutorial!

You can find all my skirt tutorials here. Enjoy!

Our Girls

We're home! We spent a bit over 24 hours at the hospital and now we are in the comfort of our own home. I have to say that our stay at the hospital was pretty pleasant. The nursing staff was fabulous and I didn't feel like someone was waking me and bugging me constantly like I have in the past. It helped that Maggie has been a fairly relaxed baby and has done a lot of eating and sleeping, just like babies should.

Here is when Maggie met her sisters. They are very excited about her and seem to be very adjusted to the idea of having a baby in the house.

We've been trying to decide who Maggie looks like. I broke out the day old pictures of each of the girls and I have to say that Maggie is a mix of both sisters! Aren't they all precious?
Here is Naomi

Daphne

Maggie

Thanks for all the messages and well wishes we've received! We appreciate them all!

She's Here!

Maggie Kay arrived this morning at 8:57a.m. She is 7 lbs. 7.5 oz. 19.5" and beautiful! More later...

Debtor Nation

This article on the Time magazine blog says it all.

Living on a single income

My little surveys have left me feeling a bit conflicted. It appears that EVERYONE wants to stay at home with their kids, at least most of the time, and yet it seems to cost too much for people to do that. I have no personal experience about sacrificing in order to stay home with my kids but I've found some other people to be inspirational.

Here are some things I've heard from people...

"you can take out student loans for college so you should be able to sacrifice for a few years to stay at home with your kids."

"we sold our house so I could stay at home."

"we eat a lot more grilled cheese sandwiches and less meat."

"we sacrifice a lot and I'm tired of people acting like I'm so lucky we have enough money so I can stay home."

Some links on this topic this week.

Frugal Dad: Being a Full Time Parent Has Nothing To Do With Luck

Rachel at Small Notebook talks about Trading Down to a Smaller Home

The issue is that these people live in a way that is considerably "less desirable" than most people would want. Could you rent or live in a small apartment instead of owning your own home? I'm sure if you've read anything I've written on this subject you'll know that I don't think all moms should stay at home with their kids. I was just saddened by the discrepancy between the number of moms who WANT to stay at home with their kids and the amount of money their family needs to bring home in order to pay the bills.

Oprah had a show last week about being "thrifty." (yes, I watch Oprah, but I have to say it is the first one in months that I have seen). Some of the people amazed me. She featured Coupon Mom. I've never been a fan of the extra time coupons take but if you try this out, let me know how it works.

Little Caesars

There are some things in life that just bring back good memories from childhood. Food is often one of them. There are several foods that do this for me. It isn't that they are necessarily really good foods (though some are), but just that I have good memories associated with them.

My family was extremely busy when I was in my early teen years. My older brothers had lots of after school activities, as did I. My mom and dad both worked running their company. One year we were also busy building our house in our "free time." This lent itself to having a lot of take out food. It was around this time that our town got its first Little Caesars. At that point you could get a couple pizzas for next to nothing so we'd get 4 and usually devour them. We ate a LOT of Little Caesars. I mean a LOT. For some reason though, when I see a Little Caesars now it reminds me of those good times.

A new Little Caesars is going in down the street from our house now. That makes me happy.

What foods bring back fond memories for you?

The BEST Fall Day

Yesterday was a fantastic day in the PNW. Cool, crisp air. Cloudless, sunny skies. Awesome. Arthur took the day off and we headed to the pumpkin patch. We really like the one at the Plant Farm. It is free and there is a little train ride, hay rides, a couple bounce houses, some animals to look at, and it is small. The girls enjoyed the bounce house. Naomi spent most of her time falling down and laughing.

Then came the search for the perfect pumpkin. This one is "too heavy."

"ahhhh!!!"

Just right.

Yuck, these are dirty!

This one is just right.

Off to the train!

Aren't these pants cute?

We headed for a walk around Greenlake after that. It was a really great day for the walk. Of course we couldn't head home before getting in some swings, slides and merry go round action. The baby didn't understand that me walking 3 miles was to entice her to come now. No contractions, just wishful thinking.

We topped the day off with some hot chocolate. A great day.

Done with pounds

I've come to the conclusion that I am done weighing myself in pounds. I'm turning to stones. Gaining 3 stone during this pregnancy doesn't sound so bad. I had better have the baby soon though so I don't have to switch to boulders.

Saying you have 4 stone to lose is much less daunting than the actual poundage. Goodbye pounds. I won't miss you.

A dress in under 3 hours and a yard of fabric

This dress was super easy to make.
It is from Simplicity pattern 5695.

If you've never made clothing from a pattern this is a pretty easy one to start with. Joann Fabrics has their Simplicity patterns on sale this coming weekend for $.99!

I used the pattern for the top of the dress to make a shirt for Daphne as well. I just shortened it a bit and didn't add the ruffle at the bottom. That probably took around an hour and a half to make. The pattern is worth the $.99 I think.

UPDATE: The arm holes are a bit tight under Daphne's arm so instead of the 5/8" seem allowance the pattern calls for I'd make it a bit less.

I'm going to try out pattern 3512 latter. I'll let you know how good it is.

Ever Need to Butcher a Chicken?

I came across this blog post today about how to butcher a chicken and just had to share it with you. Enjoy.

Have you ever butchered a chicken?

My free time

I am finishing day two without the girls. They left yesterday morning and since I've been to the fabric store to experience their ridiculously horrible computer system, bought lots more fabric, came home and made a little dress for Naomi. Then we went out to dinner (the house is clean, why would we want to ruin that?). We were going to go to a movie but decided against it since there really isn't anything out we want to see. Plus, the house is so quiet and we get to do whatever we want!! I went to bed way too late...

Today I woke up ridiculously early and couldn't get back to sleep. Headed off to my first day of my MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group and was excited to see I know a few people in my group this year. After that I had a doctor appointment, only to learn I've gained more weight and still haven't had a baby. I think most of my weight gain in the past few weeks is in my cankles. You should see them! Maybe I'll snap a picture tomorrow just to freak you out by how big they are.

Mostly in my free time I've sewn. I've made 1 dress, 1 pair of pants, 3 skirts and a shirt in the past day. At some point I'll post some pictures and patterns.

Plan for tomorrow: Do some more reading, a bit of sewing if I feel like it, maybe watch a movie and mostly relax.

Here is the dress I made Naomi. Daphne and baby have matching skirts in this fabric. Sorry for the poor photo quality. I was too lazy to plug my camera into the computer so I just took a picture with my phone...

A day without the kids (and a night too)

My mom just picked up the girls. She'll bring them back tomorrow when I go into labor (this is wishful thinking). I have the rest of the day and a whole night kid free. The last one in a long time...

What would you do with a day and night without kids? Seriously, I know a lot of you that read this NEVER post a comment so now is your chance! What would you do?

Nightmares

How do you explain to a 3 year old that what seems very real and very scary is just a dream? Naomi has bad dreams frequently. She's been doing a little more sleep walking lately as well. The problem is, even the next day she won't believe us that what happened was a dream. For example, there was apparently a very large, scary dog on her bed last night. Even today she says he was real. I try to empathize with her and her fear but I'd really like her to begin understanding the difference between reality and dream world. I'd also like her to believe me in the middle of the night when I check her room and tell her there is no dog on her bed. Unfortunately she won't go look for herself. Once she ran out screaming she absolutely refused to go back in there with me. The poor child had terror in her eyes when I tried to get her back into her room. I love the girls, but really don't like sleeping with the wiggly, snugly octopuses.

So you want to stay at home...

The final poll results show that 86% of my female readers would like to stay at home with their kids before they enter school. NO ONE wanted to work full time. This actually surprises me and makes me wonder if some of the people I know answered the poll because I would have guessed that at least a few of them would say they'd prefer to work full time, for career reasons.

Do these results surprise you? For those of you who are working now but would prefer to stay at home, what stops you?

P.S. There is a new poll up.

Still Waiting

Just in case you haven't heard, I'm still pregnant. Waiting and waiting and now it seems I have a cold, which just sucks.

The girls and I have been having a laid back week. Daphne has been sick so we've mostly stayed home. Tonight the three of us went out to dinner. It was rocky getting there with one throwing a fit for 15 minutes and then the other took up where she left off but after 30 minutes of screaming everyone decided that a chance to wear rubber boots was a good enough reason to stop crying and get in the car. Dinner was especially pleasant and I'm glad we did it. I'm sure the three of us won't be out to dinner together again for a long while, if ever.

I'm hoping Daphne sleeps all night tonight. It has been a week since that has happened. Poor kid (poor me).

4 days to go, but really it could be a couple weeks. Let's hope not.

Kitchen Organization?

Rocks in My Dryer has a meme called "Works for me Wednesday" and this week's theme was kitchen organization. It amazes me how many people participate in this. There were hundreds of responses. I looked at a few handfuls of them and came up with a few interesting ones I thought I'd share.

A Simple Walk shared about her master menu plan, and other things. It was the master menu plan that interested me. She has a spreadsheet with all of the food she makes, from breakfast foods, breads, lunches, dinners, sides, etc. so it makes meal planning easy. Ah, good idea. Not so much "hmm... what else do we eat?" type thoughts going on.

Shouting For Ha has a great idea to store that giant bag of Costco onions, or all those onions from your garden.

In My Blonde Life gives the homemade baby food treatment to marinara sauce in order to make that jar last.

View from the Glen has a 3 minute plan to clean the kitchen and de-stress her life. Makes me wonder why it takes me so much longer than 3 minutes. At any rate, she is SO right about how a messy or cluttery kitchen just raises your stress level.

And this one, well, you just have to read it. It is about how to feed a family of FIVE on $150 a month. Yes, you read correctly. Not only does that include their food, but their toiletries and paper supplies! Yikes! Talk about frugal. All you moms out there who answered my poll saying that if money wasn't a problem you'd prefer to stay at home with your kids should read this!