Last year, I didn’t do as much sewing as previous years (I never even made myself a dress last year, altered, yes, but nothing from scratch), but I’m rectifying that this year. And this year, I’m focusing on getting the girls to sew more. The two older ones know how to do some basic things, but this is the year for them to get a little fancy, and start making and altering their own clothes. So guess who was up today? Glow! And this is her first time sewing!

She’s not a fan of regular jeans (I think she finds them confining), there’s only one pair she has that she likes, so it was time to make her more pants. I used my shorts pattern in my book as the base, but widened the leg a bit (and made it longer because it’s pants). I had Glow study a pair of pants I made before, and I had her identify the shape, then draw it out. Her drawing totally nailed the shape! Next, I cut out the pieces from a large denim dress we picked up at the thrift store. Then, I showed her how the front and back pant pieces are similar, but slightly different. She had to identify how they were different. When I look at clothes, I see shapes, so I want to train my girls to be able to identify shapes and patterns in clothing too. If you can recognize the shapes, making clothes becomes a simple task of connecting shapes and lines together. Anyway, once all the “shapes” (fabric pieces) were cut out, it was time to “connect” (sew) them together. Breaking sewing down into shapes and connecting lines really helped her understand what it was we were doing.

Now, came the time to connect the pieces together. I had her look at some pants she had and tell me what lines needed to connect. First, she said the top lines, but then I showed her if we closed it, she wouldn’t be able to put it on. I saw the “aha!” light come on and she understood what I was talking about. She knew we had 4 shapes to connect and we started with the middle of the front and back shapes, so we played connect the lines.

I had the machine set at the slowest speed, placed the fabric together, pinned along the edge, showed her the lines and how the edges of the fabric need to follow the lines, hand placement, and how to step on the presser foot. Then, she was off (with me right next to her guiding her). She was really good at guiding the fabric, and keeping her hands away from the needle, but still keeping the fabric in place. She sewed all the side and middle seams. Then, I came in to do the top casing with the elastic (she pulled the elastic through) and hem the length. She probably could have sewn the top and bottom if I had folded and pressed it, but we were running out of time (and she really wanted to wear them to go do errands), so I just did it, but she was the one pressing the presser foot. Lastly, she cut off all the excess thread and I ironed it! She was very excited about her first sewing project and proudly wore her pants the rest of the day. I have a feeling she’ll be wearing it every day for a week.

We still have plenty fabric leftover from the dress, so maybe we will make a top, and she can have a Canadian tuxedo. Though, one of the girls are probably wanting to claim the leftover for themselves.

Here’s a pair of sailor-inspired pants we’ve made in the past, or check out these sailor shorts from a really old posts.

on glow: top, thrifted. pants, handmade. shoes, keen footwear. beret, christmas gift from here (she wanted her own after Soul got a yellow one).

These are the newest baskets available on WOVENFOLK. We’ve got the maximalist and minimalist covered as there are basket bags in all shapes and sizes!

We go quite simple in our holiday decorating, and since we got everything up so late, we went really simple this year. I know the holidays are over and done, and we only had our decor up for 2 weeks, but here’s a little peek on how we got festive for this special season (I meant to share it during the holidays, but we all got hit with the flu right after Christmas). Our faux tree is decorated with wooden and straw ornaments, elf stockings are hung the chimney with care,  there’s a dowel tree in our dining room, our felt pom pom garland tree in the stairwell, and a collection of large bottle brush trees on our piano. I love and appreciate homes that are super decked out for the holidays, but the minimalist in me loves keeping it restrained in our own home.

I feel like my decor doesn’t have a strong cohesive theme or color scheme, so that’s something I’d like to improve upon, but I never figure it out early enough, so year after year, we end up putting the same things out. Maybe Christmas 2018 will be when I have that figured out, as I’m a little ahead on the game, and already bought one of those light projections that light up the front of your home (bought on super sale from Michaels). I love classic white lights outlining roofs, but I know we won’t ever get that up, so I think a light projection will do for a little outdoor Christmas cheer, especially since the girls are requesting some decor outside. Do you have a theme for your Christmas decorating and do you decorate outside too?

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

When we were all sick, I made this Cantonese wonton noodle soup and it was delicious. It hit the right spot. I really want to make this beef noodle soup next.

I’m an auntie and my kids have a cousin! Everyone is excited that my sister had a baby and that he shares a birthday with my dad.

We loved that Ben had Thursday-Friday off this week with his new schedule. It allows for family adventures to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi on a Thursday morning. And the my little Stars Wars geek loved the movie!

I love the simplicity in this home tour.

Tried this hand cream and it’s magic (even for dry, cracked heels).

If you need a wedding planner, I highly recommend Planning Cloud Nine. My friend Nina is top notch in making things run smoothly. She was also my maid of honor, so I know personally how she can help make everything as stress free as possible for the bride. Fill out the contact form and mention “CAKIES” and get $200 off services.

Gorgeous tortoise shell hoop earrings; I may have picked up a pair.

WOVENFOLK had a small update this week.

It’s been a busy week getting back into the swing of things and helping Brave prepare for her first audition for a local theater show. She had part 1 last night, and part 2 of the audition is today. We’ve prepped her that you have to get a lot of NOs before you actually get a yes, so each step is for sure a learning experience for all of us.

Happy first official weekend of 2018!

I love rope baskets and made a couple for Christmas presents. I got a little jealous and decided to make myself a small circular pouch/clutch. I was in need of a new make-up bag, so this little circle pouch was exactly what I needed. I think I’m going to make a few more to go with some WOVENFOLK orders.

Wanna see past rope basket projects? Check out this large tassel rope basket, this small fringe basket, as well as these pom pom ones.

One of my goals for the new year is to make art everyday with the girls (at least 4 times a week). We’re lumping in as part of our homeschooling and art study and will change up the mediums each day. Art is the language my girls speak well, so I know this is something that will be fun and challenging for them.

To start, we did self portraits with oil pastel. We started by drawing our face shape first, and I gave them a rule… you weren’t allowed to pick up the “pencil” to draw your face. Thus, each face was created by one single line. Then, we color blocked our face with various colors. Each girl was definitely in the zone working away and we all loved our colorful results.