Happy Spring Holidays!

It's a holiday week here in Hyderabad. I'm more of a spring equinox person than an Easter person, but, you know, if someone invites us to a good party, we'll show up.

Last weekend, Muffin went to an Easter Egg Hunt party.

She's so sweet, she still thinks the fun is simply in finding the eggs. She never realized they were full of candy. After the hunt was finished, the kids got a bag of jelly beans and some chocolate ice cream, and she was satisfied with that. It never occurred to her to open the eggs. I emptied all the chocolate out later when she was sleeping. Since the party her favorite game around the house has been Easter Egg Hunt. I can't count how many times we've played now.

I made her dress from a 1960s-era vintage pattern.

From the clean and angelic to the devilishly cute and messy...

Yesterday was Holi. Muffin's first little friend ever is moving away from Hyderabad this week. Her mom invited Muffin over for the neighborhood Holi party so the girls could have a memorable last play date.

Happy Holidays, whatever you're celebrating this week!

I'm Losing the Battle Against Long Pants

Muffin and I are in a battle of who could care less (to quote Ben Folds).

 Her school has a dress code policy of girls wearing leggings or shorts under dresses and skirts. I’m fine with this; Muffin spends a lot of time in the sandbox and leggings provide extra protection from sand getting into places it shouldn’t. With the Hyderabadi style of khurtas worn over pants or leggings, Muffin has embraced the the local fashion and wears dresses with leggings and sometimes even wears jeans under her dresses. I’m okay with all that. I want her to have confidence in choosing her clothes and expressing herself.

Here’s my problem. Summer is upon us. It’s near 90 degrees (32 C) when I drop her off at school in the mornings and pushing 95 degrees (35 C) by the time I pick her up. Each day seems warmer than the previous day. Muffin is insisting on wearing ankle-length leggings or pants every day and she is a little sweatball by the time school is over. She won’t wear shorts. She won’t even consider knee-length or calf-length capri pants. Long pants, Mommy, long pants.

Last week I told her that it was the last week for wearing long pants. Starting on Monday, she would need to wear short pants to school. I have lost that battle every single morning this week. On Monday, once she was at school, I reduced her collection of leggings from about ten pairs to three. I showed her! Then I felt a bad about feeling vengeful toward a preschooler, so I took out a bunch of fabric and patterns to plan a new summer wardrobe for her; this week I've cut out a few items for her already. At Mike’s suggestion, I’m also going to trim several inches off the leggings and sneak them back onto her shelves to see if she notices they are shorter.

She’s rotated through those three pairs of leggings every day this week and today I’d had it again. We hadn’t even left the house yet and we were sweating already. I told her if she wanted to wear long pants she had to put them on herself. If she wanted my help, I was going to put shorts on her. And what do you know? She battled with a pair of leggings for a few minutes, threw them aside, picked up a pair of jeans, and put them on. I lost again. (And damn, is she smart!)

Today I’m going to hold off work on her Easter dress in order to chop and hem all of her pants into shorter lengths. It’s not as if they’re going to fit her next winter and we’re moving from Hyderabad summer to U.S. summer so other than a couple pairs of jeans and sweatpants (for chilly beach evenings in Rhode Island), she doesn’t need anything but summer clothes.

Should I be more flexible and just let her wear the damn leggings and be sweaty? Is she wearing them because she knows it annoys me so much?

The Smallest One Was Madeline

I started thinking about Halloween costumes months ago. You need to start planning early so you can figure out what you can buy locally and what needs to be ordered from the United States. I can buy a lot of fabrics here but not a lot of other craft supplies. Some ideas were heavy on things that needed to be ordered or purchased whole rather than made. After a while I gave up the idea of a family costume and decided just to concentrate on Muffin, because my October activities calendar was filling up. Eventually I decided I could easily make one really great dress, so I gave Muffin the choice of Olivia or Madeline, two of her favorite characters.

She chose Madeline. I turned to the books for inspiration. I decided on a yellow hat and cape with a blue dress and found a vintage pattern -- 1970's Simplicity 7410 from Lanetz Living -- that was perfect for the cape and dress. I opted for the sleeveless dress because it's 80 degrees outside and it would make my life easier.

I got a little stuck on the hat. I couldn't find a suitable hat locally and I was afraid ordering one would result in a crushed hat. None of the patterns I had in my stash seemed appropriate. I turned to the internet to find hat tutorials. I couldn't find a good hat tutorial, but I did see a lot of Madeline costumes -- all of which looked like the modern cartoon rather than the classic book, which made me a little worried about my cape and my color choices. (And I'm sorry, but grown women wearing Madeline costumes rather than Madeline-inspired outfits is a little sad looking.)

Still full of indecision about the hat and having a little bit of self-doubt about the costume in general, I went fabric shopping for my blue and yellow fabrics. I knew exactly which store I wanted to go to, but my driver suggested an expo instead. Against my gut instinct I agreed to stop in at the expo. And after fifteen minutes I'd assessed the whole place as having many lovely fabrics but nothing that was anywhere near what I was looking for. It felt kind of good to continue on to the shop I'd originally asked my driver to take me to, walk in, and find the exact fabrics I wanted right away. I bought cheap "matching fabric," the material used to make the blouses worn under saris. It comes in all shades of solid colors and it was at least a cotton/poly blend if not 100% cotton (I could live with a  blend for this project.). I brought it home, washed it, realized it was a little too see-through and decided to line the dress, and gave my driver a swatch to take back to the store to buy another meters' worth for the lining. With my blue and yellow fabric and some black ribbon from the grocery store I was ready to sew a Madeline costume.

I made the cape first. Muffin was thrilled with it. As I started working on the dress she became anxious about my progress and started "working" in the sewing room with me so she could monitor how things were going. She has a Madeline doll and I keep some craft supplies especially for keeping Muffin entertained in the sewing room. While I worked on her Madeline dress she worked on clothes for her Madeline doll. It was kind of sweet and it was the first time she did independent projects while allowing me to sew, so it was a nice milestone for us.

With a Halloween party bearing down on us I still had to figure out a hat. I went back to my patterns and decided to use the sunhat from Butterick 3846 with the brim turned up. I made the brim slightly wider to give me a little more to play with. I was prepared to "starch the hell out of it," as I'd read in one of the many hat-making tutorials I'd poured over in the last few weeks, but it actually worked out quite nicely with just some interfacing. The hat and cape were so cute together that I didn't care anymore that it didn't look exactly like the book or exactly like the cartoon. Muffin looked like a little French boarding school girl and the vintage pattern added a bit of style.

Her new black Mary Janes arrived in the mail just in time to finish off the look.

Super Mommy

I'm pretty proud of myself this week. I prioritized my time, I delegated tasks, and I made this:

and I finished making this:

all for Muffin's birthday party on Saturday afternoon.

How to Make a Very Hungry Caterpillar Party in India
I have to thank Pinterest for the cake idea. I pinned it months ago and kept the idea tucked away in my head, thinking about how to make this in India.

First, when the Consulate placed an order with the commissary in Delhi, I ordered "one" food coloring box. Due to the confusing nature of the order form, I ended up with "one case" of food coloring boxes. I also bought one case of real vanilla extract (intentionally -- I use it a lot for baking) because you can't buy real vanilla in Hyderabad and the fake stuff sold here tastes awful.

Next, when we where on vacation in the United States in May, I tried the King Arthur flour gluten-free cake mix and I liked it a lot better than the Betty Crocker gluten-free cake mixes I'd been using. I bought several boxes of chocolate and yellow -- which actually comes out more like angel food cake -- and did a couple test batches once we were back in Hyderabad to see how the cupcakes would work in my oven. I also tested frosting recipes. I'd been using the Pamela's frosting mixes, and while I love the chocolate, the vanilla always tasted funny to me. I ended up using a butter frosting recipe from a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

I used Heritage unsalted cooking butter for the cake and the frostings. I've found it in HyperCity and at the Heritage markets. It freezes well, so I buy several boxes whenever I see it.

I did a little bit of work each day. On Tuesday I made a batch of green frosting. On Wednesday I made a batch of red and kept both in the freezer. On Thursday I took a break. On Friday, with our housekeeper helping to keep Muffin entertained, I made one box of chocolate cupcakes (one box yields 24 cupcakes), one box of yellow cupcakes, and another box of chocolate into 12 cupcakes and one nine-inch round cake. I also made another batch of frosting, dividing it into half blue and half yellow. I moved all the frostings into the refrigerator to defrost for Saturday morning. I sealed up all the cupcakes into Tupperware, blasted the air conditioner and kept my fingers crossed for the electricity, and left them on the kitchen counter overnight because there wasn't enough room in the refrigerator for them.

On Saturday morning, while Mike kept Muffin busy, I started frosting everything. I locked up the cat. I kept air conditioners blasting in the kitchen and the dining room. I ate a good breakfast and a good lunch and didn't drink too much coffee so I wouldn't have shaky hands and drop anything. I cut out little feet and antenna from black felt. I placed the cupcakes on a piece of white fabric (an old tablecloth that had a couple stains in it so can't be used for fancy dining anymore, but works well as a cupcake canvas) and the felt stuck to the fabric nicely. I kept the caterpillar's head in the refrigerator until the very last minute to keep his face from melting.

Several weeks ago I'd ordered official Hungry Caterpillar party supplies from the Eric Carle museum and some cheaper plain green supplies from Oriental Trading. I also found some party stuff at HyperCity and the party store next to Qmart.

Mike and I spent Friday night sealing up the goodie bags and I also finished Muffin's dress that night. Each day for the last two weeks I'd been working on the dress in about five-minute increments whenever I could. It's the Oliver + S Seashore Sundress in Michael Miller Lolli Dot from Fabric.com and red "matching fabric" from a sari shop.

All the work culminated in two hours of insanity. Nineteen kids and sixty cupcakes. We bought samosas from a kiosk around the corner for a savory snack and we had plenty of juice, water, soda, and beer for guests of all ages. We just let the kids go crazy with Muffin's toys until cupcake time, then they went crazy with cupcakes. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Muffin was a little subdued but she loved her birthday cake and she didn't cry when everyone sang "Happy Birthday." That's about all you can ask from a two-year-old.

And we had our housekeeper come in for the afternoon to help with cleaning up. That is a key element to throwing a party in India.

It was a pretty good party, but I'm glad birthdays are only once a year. I can't be Super Mommy every week.

Sewing Room Friday

Many people know that along with running and studying, I like to sew. It's often what takes a backseat when I'm too busy doing those other activities though. I've realized that if I don't watch as much television, cull my Google Reader to the blogs I actually enjoy reading, and spend more time doing rather than Pinning, I can actually get a lot of things done in a day. So, Sewing Room Friday. Friday afternoons are a good time because I strive to finish my weekly homework assignments on Friday morning and since I do my long runs on Saturday, I'm not running on Friday. Even if I'm only in there for an hour or two once a week, I can get some projects done.

Today while Muffin napped I dusted off my sewing table, threw some fabric in the washing machine, and traced out the Oliver + S Seashore Sundress pattern to make some party dresses for Muffin. She has her own birthday party coming up and a friend's party. I should be able to make two dresses in the next couple of weeks.

(Image from Fabric.com.)

I'll Be Attending Fancy Parties?

Mike has informed me that I may need a ball gown, or an evening dress, or two (because I wouldn't want to wear the same one to every gala) while we're in Burundi. While browsing patterns today I saw this at Lanetz Living. It's a vintage 1960s pattern. Isn't it adorable? Wouldn't it be great in silk? And I could get little gloves, just like the girl in the illustration!

In other sewing news, I've been working on a plethora of small projects. Before leaving Walnut Creek I cut out several garments and I also packed up some UFOs (UnFinished Objects). My sewing machine has been whirring away and fabric is transforming from a pile in a box to pieces of clothing hanging in the closet. I've also been stocking up on tropical weight wools whenever I see them for a good price. Jackets and skirts, jackets and skirts. I have a dozen suits planned in my head.

I love lists!

I wrote down my summer sewing plan this afternoon. I've gone stash diving, and I've also made some careful purchases. This is not a SWAP, since I won't wear every top with every bottom, but it's a good list of summer clothing that fills some classic, neutral needs in my wardrobe.

Tops.
McCall's 4922 in an embroidered cotton (right) that I bought from Textile Studios during their winter sale. I'm making a version with the longer shirttails and making it short-sleeved. It's almost done. Hemming and closures. Where I always lose momentum.

Simplicity 3887 (left). One in a black linen from my stash. One from an off-white cotton eyelet that I recently purchased.

Hot Patterns Floribunda cami in a white silk from my stash. Maybe also from a champagne silk in my stash. And maybe in black, if I get around to buying some black silk.

Okay, so a couple not-so-neutral stash fabrics want to get sewn up into summer tops, too. Simplicity 4589 will be made at least twice: a black and mauve print and a black and light blue print, both rayons from the aforementioned Textile Studios winter sale.

Bottoms.
New Look 6565 (right) in a white on white print, recently ordered.

Hot Patterns Weekender Chino shorts in a beige twill, recently purchased. I finished the muslin on Friday, received the fabric on Saturday, and pre-washed it today. I had planned on working on the shorts right away, but I might work on some quicker and easier stuff first, like the Simplicity or Floribunda tops.

New Look 6160, shorts modified from the drawstring pants in a white and olive print crinkle cotton, recently purchased.

New Look 6177 (below), as many skirts as I can possibly piece together from my stash.

I wrote down my list in ink and pinned it to my bulletin board with some swatches. It has to all get sewn up now that it's written in ink, right?

I didn't do any sewing yesterday. But I made a deee-licious fresh pesto to have with dinner. Tonight I'm going to attempt my first salsa verde with roasted tomatillos.

To get some inspiration for sewing down the stash I've been browsing pattern sites. I know I have the fabric. What am I going to do with it all? For some reason I've been hit with an urge for super-casual skirts to wear in the heat of the summer instead of shorts. Like New Look 6177 (left) and New Look 6565 (right).


The way these skirts are pieced together, I can combine small bits of different fabrics, thus finding a job for some of those remnants that are too small to use but too big to get rid of. I tend to buy my fabrics in capsules, so I have lots of matching pieces. I also have leftover SWAP fabrics that can be used. The options are just about endless.

I'm sewing.

I realized I haven't updated my sewing projects in a while. The SWAP is nearly finished. I have about one afternoon's worth of work to do on one dress, and then it's done. The deadline is in a few weeks. I don't know why I'm procrastinating on this, except that I'm just kind of burnt out.

I've been doing some stash reduction sewing and trying some new patterns. I dug into my first Hot Patterns pattern, Artful Dodger Floribunda Tops. Once I got it to fit right I fell in love with it. I sewed 2 tops and have plans for a third.

I also tried the Hot Patterns Weekender Renaissance Top. I'm having trouble with the fit and I'm trying to decide if I keep going with it or use the fabric I had intended for it for a tried-and-true pattern. I think it's more important for me to have anything made in this particular fabric rather than have it sit in the stash until I get around to fitting this pattern. Other fabrics will come along. Or I'll give up on this pattern and move on.

And I made two clutch purses recently from some scraps. I also went through my knits stash and made 3 t-shirts.

I am sewing. I'm just spending more time doing it than posting about it. And once the good camera is back in my hands I'll get some good photos posted to flickr. I'm sick of my laptop cam.

Free Stuff!

I picked up this little tidbit from Swagger Design. Free patterns at Burda Style. The site is in beta, and they have a bunch of free pattern downloads available.

White Elephant Finds part deux

I've been living with my new fabrics from the White Elephant Preview Sale for a while now and I realized I've forgotten to share them.

Left: A brocade mystery content. I suspect polyester because it seems like silk, cotton, wool, etc. were always labeled, but a lot of stuff was left unlabeled, and I didn't see anything labeled polyester. So, my powers of deduction... This is a large piece, about 3 yards, for $5. I'm thinking this would be nice as the short-sleeved version of the Textile Studios Mandarin Jacket.

Right: A salt-and-pepper wool. I'm hoping there's enough for a pencil skirt. If not... then I don't know yet. I'll think of something. I'd really like it to be a bottom, even if it's just my simple A-line skirt that I can make from one yard.



Left: A silk off-white brocade with teal flowers. This feel so soft and smooth. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. I think it was my most expensive purchase of the day, at $10. I just had to treat myself to a nice piece of silk for no reason.


Right: Zebra print! It has a soft fuzziness to it, sort of like suede. Another unlabeled mystery content. This is a $2 remnant and there's just enough for a purse and a belt I think.

I tried to buy with my black-and-white wardrobe plan in mind...