Dreaming and Planning…

I went for a walk with souricette 2.  I did not forget my camera.  Mr. White Heron was being uncooperative and I still don’t have a good shot of him.  Will try again.  Souricette 2 was feeling under the weather and was being very whiny. You’re sick kid.  You do not actually want to walk.  What I noticed the most on this walk is the one thing I couldn’t take any pictures of.  The birds.  Their signing to be specific.  I managed to get souricette 2 to calm down for a bit and the birds were making so much noise.  Pretty noise.  They sang beautifully and I wish I could have recorded it.  I thought of using my iPhone but didn’t.  Holding while standing still would have resulted in a souricette 2 tantrum.  Not good for hearing the birds.  Holding it while pushing the stroller would have resulted in it picking up more noise from the stroller than the birds.  You will be content with this instead.  Just imagine the birds.

We’re on week what? 3? Of me not being able to show what I’m working on.  It’s torturous for me!  I’m so proud of this item I’m creating for my swap partner and I want nothing more than to talk about it and show it off.  The deadline for the swap is May 15.  4 more weeks of not showing anything.  Maybe 5.  I have to wait until my partner has actually received the package!

But that’s not the only creative torture!  This top secret project is really time consuming.  Each module requires lots of cutting and sewing.  Little fiddly pieces that each take no more than 5 minutes to sew but that add up.  And I only have until May 15 to finish it.  I’m trying to get more than 1 module done each week but it never seems to happen.  I only have 2 modules for now.  Working on a third and I want to make at least 2 or 3 more.  I can’t afford to take a break and work on something else.

But I want to!  I’ve just heard about Kid’s Clothes Week, April 22 to 29.  And I so want to join in!  It’s just committing to sewing clothing for children for one hour per day for a week.  It’s totally something I could swing normally.  Besides, there’s this really cute pattern I want to sew up for souricette 1.  And souricette 2 for that matter but I don’t have it in her size (must fix that).

class picnic blouse + shorts

Isn’t it the cutest thing?  Perfect for Summer, no?  I just ordered some light blue chambray to use as the main fabric for the shorts.  And I’ll use the main fabric for the blouse as the accent fabric for the shorts.  And I have just the right fabric for it.  Well, 3 of them…

Any opinions out there?  I’ve already run all 3 by souricette 1 and she approves.  How perfect would this have been for Kids’ Clothes Week?  And for a second there, I thought I could swing it.  No, really.  Every second that I have, I’m spending on my top secret project.  And I thought I could throw in an hour per day for seven days.  And I know myself.  If committed to this, I would do it.  It’s a point of pride with me.  I do what I say.  And I would have been a wreck before the end of the week.  So I’m being reasonable.  I will wait for Summer’s Kids’ Clothes Week.  But I so want to make this set for both girls!

Also a relatively urgent project is a tooth mouse cushion thingie for souricette 1.  Back in March, her dentist said one tooth was starting to wobble and that it would get serious in about a couple months.  Being partly French, I grew up with a mouse coming for my tooth rather than a fairy.  Souricette 1 wants a fairy to come and I have decided that fine, she can have a fairy but it will be a mouse fairy.  So there.  And I want her to have one of those little cushions with a pocket for the tooth.  But I want to make it.  And I want it to be mouse shaped.  Remember this guy?  I’m going to use the same basic pattern but make him smaller and with woven cotton.  I don’t think I have the time for more.  He may not even have paws.  But he’ll be very cute, just you wait.

And you know what?  I really want to make myself something too.  I tend to make so much for the girls because they grow so fast.  If I don’t use that pattern today, maybe I never will, you know?  But I need to work for me too…  I just bought some books : The Colette Sewing Handbook, Sew Serendipity, and Sewing in a Straight Line.  Calling to be made right now are the scalloped skirt in the Colette book, the tunic/skirt in Sew Serendipity, and the buttoned skirt and sheer top in Sewing in a Straight Line.  And a couple patterns that have been waiting for me to have a spare minute or two…

And that’s only if I don’t go looking through all those unused patterns.  If I do that, I’ll suddenly be drowning in projects.

And the house.  It wants me to work for her.  When we were in Belgium last Summer, I bought these lacy things.  Not very precise, I know.  It’s an oval piece of cotton with a big lace border around it.  I got several of them with the idea of using the small ones on a skirt or dress and two big ones on a table runner.  I want to keep it on the contemporary side though.  I’m thinking of using a charcoal linen as the table runner and then sewing the two lace pieces onto it.  I’d like a more textured linen to create contrast between the fussiness of lace and the rusticity of the main fabric.  I thought I may have found the right thing on fabric.com but I can’t be sure the color is just right and I don’t want to mess around with swatches.  I’m thinking a trip to Mood will be required…

But until May 15, all I can do is dream and plan, and dream, and plan.  Maybe prewash material.  And then dream and plan some more, listening to the birds and watching the magnolias and cherry blossoms fall to the ground…

About deuxsouriceaux

Creative mommy at home to two wonderful little girls, trying to juggle family, sewing, exercise, family, knitting, photography, and did I mention family?