Rockin' Chair: Part 2

It is at this point in the process that I am ashamed to admit the rocking chair will require three separate blog entries.  That's half of my posts thus far!

I cleaned up a bit for you guys. I didn't want 18 mid-progress Christmas ornaments to distract you. Plus, spoilers. I started by measuring the base of the seat.  This is where my handy-dandy cutting mat really..uh...comes in handy.  My sewing soulmate (Aunt K) gave it to me for my birthday two years ago and it is used non-stop! I added four inches all around and made my cuts to the turquoise colored corduroy.  I knooow I just got RID of the cord, but I couldn't think of anything else that would wear so well!  And all my utility weight fabric would show ALL the dirt. We got the cord today at JoAnn. Speaking of...

This is NOT the way to cut fabric for a customer. Holy heck. If I had the time, I'd have a Tumblr dedicated to bad JoAnn cuts. The worst ever was when I got such a severe parallelogram that I didn't have enough yardage for my project. Clarice never would have stood for this nonsense! (Clarice worked at the old JoAnn location on Gravois. The charming one with all the leaks in the roof. You know the one. Infinitely better than Super Joann locations.) (Also, I just had to go back and switch all the "Joann's" to "JoAnn".  Who knew JoAnn was the Aldi of craft stores?)

At this point I started wishing I had kept the old cover to use as a pattern.  Send in the freezer paper! I just had to trim the edge a bit, then I marked it with where I needed to make my cuts. This picture looked a lot sharper on my little lcd screen. Hrmm. I made cuts where the seat met the seat back and did a very narrow 1/8 hem around them.

Then outside with all my tools to staple it to the bottom. BH was napping, and I didn't think a staple gun and hammer would help with that.  I hate upholstering things. I can never get the corners to look great, and it's always puckered. What's funny is the one upholstering expert I know is the nicest person ever and would probably give me the side eye for not asking for help. To which I would respond, "I can do it mySELF!" Following the trend of use-what-you-find, I used a tiny crochet hook like an awl to poke through the fabric while putting the screws back. 1. Blue tape kept them totally organized. Win. 2. I'm glad I took pictures of the chair before I took it apart because on one side there were seven holes and only five screws. Whew.

Boom! Next up: cushions. PX looked at it and said, "Uhh...I wanted the whole thing to be that blue." Wait for it, son. Wait for it!

Hiking: New Mexico Edition

You didn't think a blog named "Stitchsmith" would be ALL about sewing, did you?  Heavens, no.

We've had it on our mind to get to Santa Fe for about 9.5 years now.  That is, we've been plotting our return ever since our first trip back in 2006.  Our colleges happened to have the same spring break, we borrowed a CRX and Mike drove 18 hrs. in one day. Note to self: learn to drive a stick already, would you?  A few things have changed in the past 9.5 years, and we've been awfully consumed by weddings, babies, and work, but we finally made it happen.  Little girl needs to see her godfather, after all. This time, we broke up the drive into two days, and we were pleased to notice Texas no longer has different speed limits after dark. Winning!

It probably came as no surprise that all I *really* wanted to do was hike.  We popped into the Plaza of the Governors, but shopping and little kids just isn't my jam.  PX asked for a garden, and we happened to find a Stations of the Cross garden next to the Basilica.  BH and I went into the Basilica, since I couldn't remember if I went in last time (quickly realized I had not--in '06 saw the Loretto Chapel with its miraculous stairs). And then I ate green chile. 

 Our first adventure was to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. (No, sis, I didn't get our passports stamped. Dang! This is managed by the BLM, not NPS) It's about 40 miles outside of Santa Fe--a beautiful, scenic drive. $5 admission got us in.  No visitors center or amenities, but the bathrooms were a step up from port-a-potties, so that was good.  We should have brought more water!

Here are the rocks for which the area is named. See, they look like TENTS. Get it??  At this point I should mention I was carrying our new Olympus T-4, which is waterproof and shockproof and babyproof...but has plastic over its lens, and the plastic is often subjected to fingerprints and smudging.  I never think to wipe it before taking a picture. Blast. We did the Cave Loop Trail. BH started in the woven in a FWCC, PX was on back in the Ergo.  Then PX wanted down and BH wanted dad, so she ended up on his back in the Ergo. PX drew pictures in the sand explaining how the great volcanoes of long ago (the 1980s) created the tent rocks. Ha! The tail was well-marked, with signage explaining the cave (couldn't go near/in, it's on the side of the cliff) and the tent rocks.  Next time I'd like to do the Slot Canyon Trail, which goes high above the trail we were on. The guide book specifically said it wasn't for people carrying babies on their back. Haters. Kidding--there are narrow passages.  And taking babies to the top of a cliff doesn't sound like the safest idea unless they're both securely wrapped, which PX was not. Next time!

On our last day in town, we did the Dorothy Stewart Trail. It's 1.6 mi, and the trailhead is very close to St. John's College. We did get a little lost getting there.  Finding it again might be a trick. The trailhead was on Camino de Cruz Blanca, and the trail connected with the Dale Ball trail system, and maybe even with the Atalaya trail system (which I THINK starts at St. John's).  Typing Dorothy Stewart Trail into the GPS took us to a coffee shop in SF, so that was...not helpful. The internet descriptions of the trail were unclear (often combining it with the other trail systems), so we weren't sure what we were getting into.  We knew the hike was going to be somewhere between 1 and 6 miles. I thought I found a map of the trails, which would have been infinitely useful, but the link on the Santa Fe government's website didn't work.  Thanks for nothin'!  Once again, BH started in the woven in FWCC, and PX was on my back in the Ergo. At some point through the hike we switched.  PX ended up in a ruck carry on Mike's back, and BH was in the Ergo on my back.  She is currently on a back-carry strike, and she made it VERY clear she was unhappy.  The Daniel Tiger soundtrack saved the day, and I felt like a doofus for streaming music while hiking. At this point, I realized I had paused my hiking app, so I don't have very accurate stats about our journey. Dang!  I do know we changed elevation more than 200ft over the course of the hike.  It's probably more like double that because the part that got skipped was pretty steep.

Here we are, gazing over Santa Fe. PX was in the Ergo, on cactus watch. Every time he saw one, he scared me half to death alerting me of its location. I'm afraid it is time to size-up carriers. His legs are barely supported by the back panel. I'm torn. He's at a point where he often wants to be more independent, so would a toddler or pre-k sized carrier be worth the money?  Everyone raves about Tulas, but they also treat them like glass, and I need something that can get dragged through the mud.  Side note: at the SF farmer's market, there were tons of people baby-wearing. One mom had her kid on her back in a carrier I didn't recognize and the child had chewed 3/4 of the way through the strap. Egads! And then I ate green chile.

We're at a funny stage in our hiking life.  The kids are big enough to constantly voice opinions, but not actually big enough to hike for any significant amount of time or distance.

Rockin' Chair

This rocking chair has seen better days.

Where do we begin? With a bullet-pointed list.

• The corduroy is at LEAST thirty years old and has never been cleaned.
• Staples are coming undone.
• The cushion on the back of the chair was mysteriously attached permanently to the chair (look at the second knob doo-hickey from the left). 
• Bottom left corner is peeling off.
• It wobbles a LOT. 

But! It's a family heirloom, and kids just destroy nice stuff anyway, so I've let it sit as-is since we brought it to our home.  When we were packing up my parents' house a very wise aunt suggested I NEEDED to keep it.  It didn't take much convincing to agree, though I wish mom and dad had kept the all-wooden one.

Because cleaning wood is a heck of a lot easier than upholstering. 

Here's the bottom of the chair. Yes, I thought it said "ass toys" when I first glanced at it.  Eek. The only thing holding on the skirt was a line of staples which I easily removed with the wrong tool. Note to self: organize the tools. I snipped off the one loop connecting the removable pad to the chair. I still don't understand how mom accidentally sewed it on. It looks like it would have been a LOT more effort. Maybe she was sick of us taking it off and playing with it. That's a pretty likely scenario, actually...

 Bottom of the chair! Complete with particle board (guess it HAS to be upholstered after all), a few screw holes, dripping poly, some splitting wood (uh, what was that about....wobbling?) and a few extra screws.  Not sure what those are all about.

I saved this picture on my computer as "naked chair", which might cause a few double-takes in the future. Here's the progress as of the end of nap time today. I need to clean it really well and think about what comes next. I *think* that unless I do a skirt again, I'll need to remove the legs. All those extra screw holes and splitting wood makes me think I should leave that alone and just make a dang skirt. Decisions, decisions!

Christmas is coming

The goose is getting fat.
Please to put a penny in the old man's hat.

Time to get to work! I didn't labor over finding exactly the right cross-stitch pattern for the kids this year.  I opened this book, found a pair of reindeer, and said, "THAT'S IT!" We'll pretend they're moose. Some day, they'll get gorgeously stitched elaborate ornaments on 22 ct linen with half-stitches and blending and on and on.  This year, they're getting reindeer.  And I'm starting early so there are no close calls.

But maybe I should make their Halloween costumes first...

School Bags and Moose Jammies

Most average human beings would roll their eyes at me for feeling like we've officially over-scheduled our kids.  PX has preschool 2x/wk for 2.5 hrs, and each kid takes one thirty-minute gymnastics class. You guys. That is FOUR DAYS IN A ROW I have to BE somewhere ON TIME with my ACT TOGETHER. And really, preschool days count doubly because I have to drop him off AND pick him up! ON TIME! Which, according to my observation, means fifteen minutes early.  Poor Bebe. If she naps after he gets home, she's up all night. If I toss her in her crib as soon as we get home at noon, I have to wake her up prematurely to go get bro. We'll figure it out. Or continue to suffer the sleep deprivation we've all felt the past ::double-checks math:: 42 months.

The boy's bag. It's the "Great Big Tote" from Virginia Lindsay's Sewing to Sell: How to Sell Locally & Online. Hm. More on the book another time. For now, let me just say I requested it from the local library BEFORE I found out about CPSC/local/state/fed requirements. So it is great, but the topics covered have taken a backseat to legal stuff for now.  Back to the bag: I completely redid all the measurements to make it more Finn-sized. It's about 14 x 16 x 2.5, with 18 inch straps. It's a bit large! The pockets are just right for storing contraband toys, like trains and dinosaurs. 

The front pocket is a squid, colored with heat-set crayon and gel pen. It is lined with a DS Quilts print, which I used again for the back pocket. The teal doesn't read quite right from far away, but up close I really dig it. The sperm whale fabric is from the "Don't be Crabby!" line for Robert Kaufman.

As soon as I presented the bag to PX, BH pointed to herself and said, "Ah-MAH!" Which means something along the lines of "Gimme!" and "Me, TOO!" She doesn't need a bag, but she sure could use another moose shirt. How many moms have had to say that? Every single day, we ask what she wants to wear and she signs moose. Every day. If she can see her moose shirt in the dirty laundry, she drags it out and tries to put it on. I guess it IS rather special--a four-times-handed down shirt from all her Conley cousins. Aunt Liz gave her moose jammies from Bar Harbor, but it's a wee hot for them yet. Mama to the rescue. A onesie and pants set.  These are upcycled from a pair of PJ pants my Aunt Mary Jo gave me (Christmas 2003) and were finally worn beyond repair.  The pants are loosely based on Georgia Leigh's Ankle Biter pattern. Mike said, "Hey! You have a pair that look just like this!" ::thud::

The onesie was leftover from the pile of blanks I bought for PX's monthly onesies. I had the Wonder-under (actually...not Wonder-under. Wonder-under is the "Kleenex" of fusible stabilizers. This was actually Heat and Bond Lite), thread, and elastics, so this little set cost me nothing but time. In other news, moose antlers are really REALLY hard to stitch around. The onesie stretched (knits! ahrg!) and the plaid stretched and it isn't perfect. Next time I'll try with an open-toe foot.

Not a bad week for sewing, really. Not the best week for photography (might need a spot besides the clothesline) or laundry (sweet lord, it is piling up!) but that's ok, too. 

Hello again.

Time to get back at this whole blogging thing. For now, I'll focus on documenting my sewing projects.  I'll probably share about our family's adventures--our travels, our wacky old home, our frequent invasions by neighborhood goats.

Our newest adventure started today as our first-born started school.  "Mama, I need a sperm whale shirt to go with my sperm whale backpack." OK, then. Not sure if he's spoiled or just has more-than-average amounts of autonomy when it comes to fashion design, but he got his shirt. He got his backpack, too, but that hasn't been photographed yet.  Not with the good camera, anyway!  It has been filled and dumped, and filled again, and dragged through the yard, and off to school.  But no photo (yet).

The shirt has a mommy whale, a daddy whale, and a baby whale. "But shouldn't there be a fourth whale? Maybe a baby sister whale?" "Nope." The child knows what he wants. Always. He chose exactly which whales, exactly where to put them, and exactly which color blue to use around their edges.