Creative Space

This post could also be titled "How Felt Food Saved My Sanity."

It was 9 AM - just 9 AM - on Saturday. And already I couldn't take any more noise. Dassah was being her usual full of energy self, getting ready to go out with Ryan, and Ellie was slightly protesting her morning nap from her bed and I just had to cover my ears. It felt so weird to be so affected, but I so needed quiet! I'd felt the urge for a few weeks, the urge to have some time alone to create, but each weekend had been full. But finally, there was space and quiet. Twenty minutes later, all I could hear was the hum of the sewing machine and the praise music of Chris Tomlin, and I felt at rest. It had been too long since I had time to work on a fun project in the morning hours before my brain felt totally fried. After an hour and a half of such glorious, creative quiet, I was ready to be Mommy again. Sometimes moms just need time off...

This week has been an "off" week for the country of China. As most everyone celebrates the nation's birthday, and a ton of people travel to see family or sites, we've been having a quiet vacation at home. But it's been far from boring! While we've gotten out to a few parks, spent quality time as a family, and had dinners with friends, I've also gotten wonderful creative space.

I always have things I want to make. Always. About 10-projects-in-mind always. Sometimes it's discouraging, because there is so little time with small children to work on projects! But overall I am thankful, because I am definitely never bored! So with Ryan home during the week, he took Hadassah out three different mornings during Ellie's nap, so that I would have glorious time to craft. Getting a project going also gave me motivation to work on it in random other moments, such as while playing a game or watching a show with Ryan. I also gave myself a slight break with cooking and other chores... I figure if we had traveled we'd be eating out anyway, so I "let" myself take the excuse and go out for one meal each day, saving on cooking and cleanup, and thus giving me more creative time! And while the pile to iron has become a mountain and I really don't want to look at our bathroom sink, my brain is happy and all 'a buzz. I've done things that won't be undone in a day - or an hour or a few minutes! ;)

 First I cut up ingredients for a felt pizza. And while Dassah had fun making it a few times, I quickly saw she was a bit more interested in putting little pieces in her mouth. And I could see little pieces going everywhere, or Ellie eating them...

 So I glued and sewed, and now we have four slices of different kinds, so everyone can have their favorite! :)

For the following food, I found free patterns online, and tweaked some for my own preferences. Links to most of the patterns (and more ideas!) can be found here.

 Cookies were the easiest to make and seem to be Dassah's favorite. I can see myself making these for gifts for children of friends, as they're easy and a hit! Dassah seemed to be on a high the first few days to have so many cookies for her to pretend to eat, since we only ever give her one (or even just half!) cookie at a time. :)

 These ice cream cones (pattern here) took a while to make, but it was fun seeing how all of the lines make a cool weave. I have cut out four different flavors of ice cream to make as well, but they'll require a lot of hand sewing, so will happen in moments over the next weeks. ;) But Dassah woke up from her nap before I was done, saw all of my cotton filling and the cones, and started filling them with "ice cream" herself to gives us. ;) A fun idea, though not a lasting one, as I could see cotton going everywhere!

 These donuts also took a while, with all the hand sewn sprinkles. But they're pretty and fun!

 We have a complete breakfast set... The eggs make me smile every time. :)

 And Dassah enjoys making us sandwiches!

 It's amazing how simple felt can really look like food and provide for so much fun imagination!

A set of chocolate cupcakes is just right for playing birthday! I thought about making a cake, but directions seemed pretty complicated. These were time consuming enough since they were almost completely hand sewn, but I did them in moments watching Downton Abbey while Ryan stretched before bed, and now that they're made, they'll provide years of fun! :)

 We set up a restaurant the afternoon I finished it all and Dassah had great fun serving us. :) She's proceeded to even serve guests that come over - I love that these toys are great for imagination and will last!

Once I finish the ice cream scoops, I plan to make a menu for Dassah to give us, complete with pictures of what she can make. Playing with this food will hopefully provide many hours of happy play for her and Ellie and children to come (should the Lord so bless!).

 And then there were skirts to make!! Cute and pink and polka dots and ruffles, I mean, what could be better?

 An adorable little girl laughing as she walks to you, that's what! :)

 Oh how I love our not-so-little baby Ellie! She is taller and rounder than Dassah was at her age, so I didn't have enough skirts that fit her well in the size she needed. Sounds like a good excuse to make cute skirts to me! ;) I patterned it after a skirt I liked of Dassah's, and used materials I already had on hand. I think little skirts may be my new favorite thing!

Especially ones like these - so easy! I took a shirt of mine I'd retired due to the neckline being annoying, and cut off the bottom - instant fabric with a hem already in place and a great width for a baby skirt! I angled it slightly, sewed the edges, added trim (bought cheap on Taobao!) and elastic at the waist. So easy and so cute!

 Especially when I hadn't even remembered that Ellie already had the perfect outfit to match for a happy fall outfit!

Ryan goes back to work tomorrow - he's working on Friday, which is technically still a holiday, so that he can take off on Sunday (because, yes, both weekend days are work days now to "make up" for the holiday!). My goal was to finish these skirts and, thanks to him taking Dassah on another Father-daughter date, I did it! I've decided sister skirts are likely to be worn more than sister dresses, since nice dresses tend to be mostly just worn for church. I accidentally cut things wrong, so ended up having to piece together the bottom of Ellie's skirt. But nothing an extra row of trim couldn't fix!

I think they like them. :) So far Dassah is always excited to match! When she put hers on this morning and I told her Ellie was wearing a matching one, she ran out to her, gave her a hug and said, "We are sisters, so we love to snuggle!"

Making some of the things I've been wanting to make for months also cleared creative space in my brain to plan more of the girls' birthday party. As in my-brain-won't-turn-off so it kept me up 'til 1 AM one night, but I got the details planned of the human "candyland" game we'll do at the party, with fun crafts along the way. Paid for it with a headache the next day, but it feels good to have a head start. Hard to believe we'll be celebrating them turning 1 and 3 at the end of this month!

Easter Dresses for my Girls

My girls. It still hits me how wonderful it is to be able to say it. :) While I have nothing against boys and really hope God gives us some one day, I am so enjoying our girls.

On a side note, here in China, it's interesting how everyone - EVERYONE - who sees me out with my girls assumes that Ellie is a boy. "Xiao Didi" they say - "small younger brother." Even though she's almost always dressed completely in pink with a pink blanket, they assume she's a boy, because they see that I already have a girl. They also aren't as picky about what they dress babies in, often using hand-me-downs regardless of color, so I understand that they could be confused there. But I happily reply "Je shi Meme" (this is younger sister) and they smile. But I know what they're thinking. Boys are often valued and desired more here. Especially because they were only allowed one child (or two, as the current policy has changed). But I am so happy to have two girls! I was telling a taxi driver that I had two girls one day, and he could tell... He said (in Chinese) "you really like girls." Yes, I do. :) Childhood dreams are being fulfilled...

Like sewing Easter dresses. I knew I wanted to this since before I was married. But the first year we had a daughter, we were packing to move to China. I had no time to sew. The second year we were in China, and I had no sewing machine. But dreams of making something with white eyelet still persisted.

 But how practical is white eyelet for little girls that always spill? So while out shopping for fabric with friends before Ellie was born, the idea for white eyelet pinafores was born. Then I can put them on for brief cute times and take them off in times of eating. Or if spills do happen, they'll be easier to bleach because they're all white!

And besides, what is cuter than a tiny baby pinafore??

 And with them being for little girls, I get to put cute touches just because... Because you can never be too cute or girly when they're small!

 When we knew for sure we'd be staying here more than a year, and especially when we found out we'd be having a second girl, I made the investment for a sewing machine to have here. And I'm so glad I did. There's just something about working with fabric on a quiet afternoon.

 The machine doesn't come out often, and I'm learning I have to just take it out sometimes even if all I have is 30 minutes at a time. Because those few minutes do make progress that turns into dresses. But God was really good today. Despite Ellie's current pattern of short naps being the norm, today BOTH girls had naps that overlapped for 2 hours!! I was able to enjoy blessed silence except for the whirr of the machine, and create.

And I'm pretty excited about the end result. :) I showed Hadassah the dresses and she immediately wanted to put them on. :) It will be fun to see them all dressed up to celebrate our Lord's resurrection on Sunday!

Sewing for My Girls

Nothing quite so cute as trim for little girls!

 Knowing that life in the states would be easier - less chores (especially due to staying with family), easy access to fabric stores, both with a car to drive there and being able to understand how things are set up (not to mention everyone speaks English!) - I made plans to make matching dresses for my daughters. I was always a little sad that I've done hardly any sewing for Hadassah, after finally having a daughter of my own, so I hope to make it up now that I'll have two girls who can match!

So a few weeks ago, two friends (and former dance students, sisters of a girl I taught to sew who then taught them!) met me at Hobby Lobby. We spent over an hour deciding on patterns and fabric and trim, but had a wonderful time. I could definitely get lost in that store happily... And it was so nice to have people to brainstorm with and get excited about the cuteness together!

And I spent way too much on one trip to Hobby Lobby, but I  found a gift card in my wallet which helped, and knowing I just had limited time I didn't have time to wait for a lot of sales. Plus, I've been saving so much money on clothes for next year from thrift stores, I figured it was okay. ;)

 After picking up lunch, we headed back to start the long process of cutting the dresses out! Very very ambitiously I thought we'd get everything cut out and a good dent of sewing done, but cutting out took most of the afternoon while Hadassah napped. But hey, it's always the part I enjoy the least, so it was really nice having company to talk with while doing it and to knock it all out at once.

 Last week I finished sewing the first set. A friend in Indiana gave me this fabric, which may fit soon after Ellie is born, and will hopefully last through Valentine's Day. :)

 Then I ran into issues with the pinafore (to go with gingham dresses for Easter), and the only time I had to work on sewing I was too tired to think much. So, I kinda procrastinated... But finally today my mom watched Hadassah for an hour in the morning and I was able to figure it out with a clear mind, and get excited about sewing again! I only finished Hadassah's, but made some headway on Eliana's.

This fabric + lace combination may be my favorite. :) Sized bigger, intended for summer, one of the girls started this dress, then my sister-in-law Megan worked on more of it when she joined me for an afternoon of sewing, and finally I finished it today. Again, I need to make little Ellie's matching dress, but it's smaller so should hopefully go faster!

Last week a mom and two daughters came over to help make these felt paper dolls + clothes. I'd seen the idea here and thought it would be fun for Hadassah and to give as some Christmas gifts. But I knew I'd probably never get around to it unless I made plans to do it with someone, and I was right. Plus, busy hands help aid conversation, and we got way more done than I'd ever have made myself (these plus 2 more outfits per doll!). 

It has been so nice to have time for more crafts and sewing, and it gives me something to distract myself from wanting to just have this baby already! ;) Plus I have more incentive to sew this week and hopefully finish more dresses, knowing time is quite limited until a baby will fill my arms!