lunch date - school edition

It's back to packing lunches around here.

Over the past few years we've elimated as much of the disposable stuff as we can. I've got some cheap flatware that doesn't matter if it disappears. (I learned this lesson after the second good spoon got thrown in the lunchroom trash.) We have all manner of containers for food. It never occurred to me that if we use cloth napkins a lot at home, they could go in lunchboxes as well.

I made a set of these for Ellie out of an 8" long piece of fabric. The width was cut into 5 equal pieces and the all the sides hemmed up. They're small, but how much more does a first grader need?

I'm happy to report that they didn't go in the trash at school either.

the kids - update

Per Jan's suggestion - a picture of mom's smiling face on the first day of school.



No one was around for photographic evidence of when I did my happy dance.

the kids

Our official first day of school poses on the front porch.

Off to middle school.

Headed to her first full day of school in first grade.

Preschool!

lunch date

Everytime I see small luncheon or bridge napkins in a thrift store I can't stop myself from grabbing them. Usually they're priced at a quarter each. We use them at lunch - they're the perfect size for the kids. When I find a plain set like this, I'm especially thrilled. Monograms and little motifs look great embroidered in the corner.

The 'H' on these is from the little booklet I thrifted.

Embroidering something so small is also the perfect little take along project - tiny enough to fit in a purse or tote.

thrifty thursday

Best thrifted book ever - found by the Queen of thrifting, Carol.

This is just how Ellie and I look when we sew!

And I let Trixie paint furniture all the time.

You know, Chris often has rainy day activities in his toolbox too. And our kids never reach into a pan of water or grab at the stuff on the table. They always wait patiently for a demonstration to be over before asking permission to help.

And look, just like here, each rainy day ends with glorious sunshine so we can go on a family picnic and splash in the lake!

The only bummer is that the page of decals was long gone. Now what are we going to do the next time it rains?

just ducky

Another pillow for the girls' room.

I can't remember if Carol thrifted the embroidered piece or if I did. One more item that's been waiting patiently for me to get to it - at least 4 years. It's not like I didn't know what I would do with it - the motif goes perfectly with the ducks fabric in their room.

It was appliqued onto the gingham fabric with a simple straight stitch hidden in the crochet detailing around the edges of the duck piece. After that was done the pillow cover was sewn together. This was another one of those things that went together so quickly I'm kicking myself for putting it off so long.

Quack.

hand-me-downs

Ellie gets a lot of great hand-me-downs from neighbors and friends. As she (and the children they're coming from) get older, some of the items have seen better days. This pair of overalls had a few holes and some wear on the knees, but fit her great.

The holes were covered with the flowers on the right leg above. Worn knees got some polka dot reinforcement.

Because I can't leave well enough alone, I threw some patches on the back as well.

Wonder under was used to iron the fabric onto the denim before stitching. Any other fusible web will do. Because these are so small, I opened up the seam on the inner leg from about an inch above the hem on one leg all the way around to the other hem. If they had been very baggy on her, I'd have just cut that seam allowance off, but since the fit was more on target, I had to use my seam ripper. With that opened up, it was easy to do the zig zag around the patches. I set my zig zag at its widest and much longer than normal. You may have to use the handwheel to stitch through areas that are very thick and uneven under the presser foot, like the pocket edges. When I didn't, I had a few skipped stitches, but this only happened a couple of times when the foot didn't seem balanced. I didn't want to use that plastic dohickey that you slip under one side of the foot. Once the leg appliques are done, you can sew the inner seam again and serge the edges. If you don't have a serger, just zig zag them.

I had trouble figuring out the bib pocket at first. I wanted it covered in fabric, but didn't want to sew it shut at the top. Cutting the fabric at the top about an inch longer than the pocket so it could be folded over the top and fused into place seems to have worked. We'll see how it holds up in the wash. If I have to hand tack it into place later, the stitches will be hidden on the inside.

One more back to school outfit finished.