The children have been helpful and understanding through this. I’m thankful the older two can do basic food prep, though, as I was not up to being in the kitchen.

I was, though, blog reading. I came across ikatbag which has some tutorials and was taken by a cute skirt shown as an example in a pocket tutorial. So, combining the round-top pocket, instead of the triangle she has on the cute skirt, and the instructions for adding a hem band, I came up with this:

I had bought the floral fabric, maybe as a remnant (?), a couple years ago. But it is SO busy! I couldn’t find a coordinating fabric that might tame it.. Until yesterday.

On Wed, the girls inherited a dresser that now is their craft cabinet and they were to sort through the scraps and put them away. Moving almost everything in the sewing area, I came across the brown and set it aside. Then when I felt up to sitting up long enough to sew, it was just waiting for me!

MissA loves it! MissB took it and upset MissA last night. So, it looks like I’m going to have to come up with another shortly.

The 3 school-aged children have done their math, now are prepping for the outing and can finish their reading assignments when we get back.

How’d it go?

I’ve been seriously grouchy today. Cleanup took longer than expected, my stomach was off, and then math took twice the allotted time..

We rode our bikes to the local park (big grassy field with a couple varieties of trees and a small toddler playground). The littles ran off to the playground and I sent the big three to walk the other half of the loop (figure 8 walking path) with instructions to listen and look. I sat by the bikes and took a few breaths and let the quiet start working on my temper.

These little daisy-like flowers are often in bloom when we go to the park. TJ picked some for me.
I also found the lichen-covered stick by where we parked the bikes.

This little bird seemed to be hoping we’d brought a snack.

And these wild static beasts seemed to be every where!

To make a fancy looking lined stocking, I cut out the 2 stocking (sock) shapes from the pretty material and the lining fabric – I only needed a fat quarter of each fabric (1/2 yard length) for the size stocking I made. I also had a pretty tassel to hang it with and matching decorator fabric for the cuff at top – about twice the width of the stocking body (the cuff has only one seam, the exact measurement will be twice the stocking width including only one seam allowance, but if it’s a thick fabric having a little wiggle room may be helpful). Also, I used a bit of decorator trim around the cuff.

My seams are sewn at 1/4″ and the basting or underlining at 1/8″

If the cuff fabric is thin making it hard to work with, line it with a scrap of fabric (the one I used here is thin and moves around easily, so I used a scrap of fabric that lined the top of it).

If using a dangly trim:
1. Fold cuff in half and mark the center. Unfold:

2. Pin the trim so it rests on this line, then baste/sew in place.

For lace or other trims that will be continuous, skip those first 2 steps and start here:
3. Fold cuff in half so the side seam meets (right sides together) and sew the side seam.

4. Fold cuff to enclose the raw seam, matching top edges, baste together. (If using a continuous trim, like lace, match the pattern to the folded bottom edge of the cuff now and see in place) Turn outside in, so trim is inside.

5. For the body of the stocking, pin the front and back of the stocking pieces right sides together and sew around, leaving the top open. Repeat with the lining pieces. (note: if you make a fancy-toe, trim the lining so it won’t end up wadded up in the toe)


6. Turn the lining right side out and insert the outer stocking piece inside it so the toes are on the same side, match seams, baste top together.

7. Place the hanging tassel or ribbon and pin or baste in place. (this photo isn’t the best way to pin the hanging ribbon: pin the knot at the basting line, then open the ribbon and pin, so when you sew the cuff to the stocking, the hanging ribbon is slightly open and is easier to hang, especially for children)

8. Slide stocking into cuff (right side of cuff to lining, with the main fabric to inside), baste/sew in place. Finish edge, if desired: I used a 3-step zigzag to reduce the fraying of the brocade.

9. If a line of stitching will show on the cuff: Turn cuff up, with the seam allowance toward the lining, sew through the lining and seam allowance (1/8″ from seam)

For a cuff that a line of stitching won’t be obvious, turn the cuff right side out and turn the stocking right side out inside it. Then sew about 1/4″ from top edge with a medium length stitch (on my machine: 2 is normal stitch length, 4 or 5 is basting length, so I used a 3 length stitch on this other stocking)

10. Turn the stocking right side out (if you haven’t yet) and admire! Hang it up for Christmas.

Another example, my daughter’s stocking:

We stopped by Target today and picked up some battery powered LED Christmas lights. I still need another strand or two to light up the back of the Bakfiets so I’m more visible. We have the Bak-end lit and it looked pretty good.

I handed a strand to the three oldest children and helped the littles put lights on their bikes.

Then we rode into the night to go look at the Christmas lights in our neighborhood!

I’m experimenting with taking the two littles’ bikes along to the park. I’d originally thought that I could rig a system in which I can attach the 7yo’s bike on the box and let her ride for short spurts on longer trips.. But it didn’t work with these hooks!

This bike is about 1-2″ off the ground and making turns like this is a no-go! If I can find some clamps with hooks raised 6-7″, then she may be able to get the occasional ride. For now, I’m starting on a mission to upgrade the children’s bikes for ease of riding and comfort (Copenhaganize, baby!).

Yum! I’m having so much good eats with these persimmons! For this dessert:

1 pie crust (I made a slightly sweetened one for this)

Mix together:
3/4 cup pecans, ground (I used the blender)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 egg yolk

Spread that mixture in the pie crust. Then slice 2-3 Fuyu Persimmons and fan them out to grace the pie, leaving about 1&1/2 inch border

Mix 1/2-1 tsp cinnamon with 3 Tbsp sugar and sprinkle onto the persimmons.

Fold up the edges of the pie crust and pinch together. Pop in the refrigerator to allow the crust to harden and the persimmons to release their juices while you heat the oven to 375F.

Bake for 45-50 minutes – the crust should be browning. Allow to sit 15-20 minutes, then enjoy while still warm!

We’re back online again! Yay! The techy let me see what to do if it stops working again, so maybe I’ll be able to post semi-regularly!

It’s been persimmon month here. Two of our neighbors have Fuyu persimmon trees (the fruit are ripe & edible when still firm) and we have made several yummy treats.

What of the first ones we didn’t eat out of hand were made into jam. The next ones made it into a pie. And of the last batch, a couple made this yummy tart:

I’ve also put some pulp in the freezer for a more traditional persimmon pie for Christmas, at MissA’s request. I kept a couple back to either eat or make the tart again – it was fantastic!

This has been a major sewing week for me. Before they left for Thanksgiving vacation, I made 3 sets of pajamas from Simplicity 5382 & 3 jumpers from Simplicity 2156. By the time they returned, I had the other 6 jumpers and a nightgown sewn. The weekend ended with pillow cases, one for each child.

By the end of the week, I did not have a quilt top for my step-MIL. I did, however, have one pony square. I set that headache aside and moved on to other projects.

This week I picked it up and used some leftover fabric from my green Crepe dress for the backing.

One horse-themed doll quilt:

Beyond the tight rib, the dress still fits pretty well at 19 weeks pregnant. I may just have to make a couple maternity versions..

If I remember correctly, I had less than 2 yards of fabric, maybe 1 3/4 yards. It was the end of a bolt and I just loved the pattern! I was just able to cut out the dress in bodice size 4, rest of it size 6. Looks like I’ll need to check if the waistband was a 4 or 6 and go up a size!