Citrus Chenille Blanket

Remember the blue butterfly chenille blanket I made for Grace back in the fall?  Well here is one that I just finished for baby.  I always intended to make one after Grace's blanket turned out so well but because we've received several adorable baby blankets recently (including the quilt from Kelly and a crocheted blanky from Gran Joan) I was a bit reluctant.  Then this week I figured, what the heck?  Can you really have too many cute blankets?

I bought this fabric from Ikea for $5.99 per meter which was a good deal because it is a very heavy cotton. And yes, that means I abandoned the pretty Peekaboo Partridge cotton fabric that I blogged about at the end of October.  It turned out that the seller on Etsy had run out of the Happy Scrolls fabric from the set and the replacement fabric was a bit too busy when paired with the other two.  That's ok, I still intend on using those fabrics for other upcoming sewing projects - perhaps some bibs or burp cloths?

This time around I decided to use chalk to pencil in the diagonal lines before sewing. It was quite tedious but it made the sewing process go much more smoothly because I wasn't constantly stopping and trying to judge by eye whether the lines were still parallel.  In the above photo these lines are spaced twice the intended distance apart (1.5 inches).  I later went back and sewed additional lines half-way between these ones and that was easy enough to do just by eye once these guide lines were in place.

Alternating beige and gold thread (beige looks blue here because of chalk)

Also this time around instead of just doing parallel diagonal lines throughout the entire blanket I created an 'X' pattern made up of parallel chevrons that met in the centre.  It made the cutting job a bit more complicated but not by much.

Progress after about half an hour of cutting with scissors + chenille cutter

Once the cutting was complete I sewed on the yellow binding along the edge and then tossed the whole thing into the wash. This time I wasn't as nervous seeing it disappear into the washing machine!

Chenille side after coming out of the dryer

And voila - another chenille blanket completed!  I think I like the vibrant colours of the blue butterfly blanket more but this one is interesting because of the chevrons.  Plus the citrus-y colour combination should go well with the reupholstered glider chair in the nursery.  I hope baby likes green!

Baby Shower Quilt from Kelly

Our friend Kelly sewed an absolutely gorgeous baby quilt for us that I have been meaning to take photos of these past 3 weeks and I finally got around to doing so this weekend.  Check out the adorable cows on one side of the quilt!  I am always impressed with the top-stitching that she does herself.  I've never tried anything like that and I imagine it would be a real challenge to keep the squiggles well-spaced throughout the blanket. I'm sure if I gave it a try, it would start off detailed and clustered in one corner and then get more and more sparse further out as I became progressively more lazy!

I've always liked the colour combination of tea green and soft pink, and what do you know? Those are the colours Kelly happened to have on the reverse side of this quilt!    

Anyway I just thought this was an amazing gift and wanted to thank Kelly once again for all the effort she must have put into it.  This baby is so lucky!

A Well-Oiled Machine

Instructions on oiling Singer Featherweight

Today instead of leaving the house to fight crowds on Boxing Day I stayed home with Mike and started the chenille blanket for baby.  I've been wanting to make it since I finished the blue butterfly chenille blanket for Grace and now that I'm done reupholstering the nursing chair I have time for a new project! 

However after about two or three hours of constant sewing I really started to notice how the Singer was rattling.  I knew that it was in desperate need of oiling but it's not something I enjoy doing since it involves a taking apart sections of the machine and trying to squeeze oil or grease into various tight spaces.  Fortunately Mike offered to oil it for me so I happily hovered around and snapped photos.

My little sewing station

The whole process took about 30 minutes and involved touching up over twenty spots on the machine and it really made a difference. It hummed much more smoothly once Mike was finished with it and now I can carry on with my sewing marathon without the guilty conscience! 

Oiling the base

"Retro Fit" Nursing Chair

HOORAY - my sewing moratorium has ended!  Today I feel a huge sense of accomplishment because I finished a very ambitious project of reupholstering a nursing chair that a friend handed down to us about six weeks ago.  It has been sitting in the nursery begging for some lovin' but I've been much too preoccupied to give it any attention until very recently.  Unfortunately it was always there in the back of my mind, and as I continued to progress closer to my due date I became increasingly worried about not being able to tackle this project.  As you can see from my recent posts my belly has taken on a life of it's own (well, I guess it really has!) and my growing physical discomforts made me doubtful about my ability to crawl around on the floor to measure and fit this chair.  I started off slowly, spending only 30 min or an hour here and there last week when I had the time (or energy)...but then this weekend I was completely motivated to go all-out.  A lot of that probably has to do with knowing I don't have to work tomorrow because Friday was my last day of work for a whole year - crazy!

First let me show you photos of the original nursing chair. It's a pretty comfortable glider that rocks back and forth as well as swivels a full 360 degrees.  There was nothing actually wrong with the original microfiber cover but I wanted to make it a bit more updated and cheerful for the nursery.  Then I started to wonder whether I was really being too picky but after this weekend I'm very happy I stuck with my original idea.

The hardest part was trying to figure out how I wanted to sew the pieces and whether or not to reuse the existing pockets, straps, cushioning, etc.  Having to take on such a huge project with no pattern or guidance was pretty daunting.  I decided to make something fitted that would completely encase the existing microfiber fabric but could be easily removable to throw in the wash.  That of course was easier said than done.  I found that several times last week while trying to fall asleep my mind was actually doing mental gymnastics to figure out how to cut the fabric for the slip cover.  In the end I actually made six separate pieces, all easily removable, to completely encase the chair and existing padding.

Zipper for quick removal

I first took on the seat cushion and chair backing, which are actually attached to each other in the original glider chair. This made it really awkward to measure and handle because the two halves kept flopping around and became trip hazards.  Still, I was reluctant to cut them into two pieces because I figured the attachment was a good way of preventing the cushion from sliding forward in the chair when you were seated in it. I decided to make two separate slip covers for this part of the chair.  The first fits snugly around the seat cushion and has a Velcro flap that helps secure it to the metal frame beneath it.  The second wraps all around the back of the chair with a zipper down the middle to make it easier for putting on or taking off.  There were a few extra complexities due to the structure of the metal frame which required the addition of slits, straps, and snap buttons to the back cover (ugh) but it worked out in the end.

Securing the main slip covers to the chair

To be honest once these two pieces were done I was already quite relieved.  The arm rests are much smaller pieces to handle and I figured there would be a lot less sitting on the floor and wrestling with falling foam.  As I show here each arm rest is also made up of two slip covers (which is how I get to six separate pieces in total).  

Two slip covers for each arm rest

One of the slip covers (on the left) wraps around the main arm rest and is secured with an elastic seam.  The second slip cover (on the right) is more cosmetic and helps to hide most of the metal frame under the chair.  The original flaps each have a huge pocket so I decided to add one on each side flap as well.

Pocket for magazines or burp cloths

Putting the side flap onto the arm rest

Finally Mike helped me screw in the arm rests to the frame of the chair.  I was SO pleased at how well everything fit together!  And I am doubly pleased that each of the six slip covers can be removed for washing without ever disassembling the chair again.  Very convenient for the many spit-ups I anticipate will be happening in this chair.

Yay for sewing!

Just lounging in my new retro chair!

All My Bags Are Packed...I'm Ready To Go??

36 weeks

The answer to that question is No.  Today I received my weekly BabyCentre email with the following greeting:

"Congratulations! By the end of this week, your pregnancy will have come full term - meaning your baby can be born any day now!"

Now wait just a minute, that wasn't the deal.  The deal was a January baby. I'm even including a two-week buffer around our January 15th due date which makes any time in January fair game but then let's be reasonable, folks.

I've been looking forward to finishing work this Friday and having a solid 10 days of rest before the baby *might* arrive.  Our company gets a Christmas shutdown so everyone is already in holiday mode.  The only difference is my holiday will extend into my maternity leave - how awesome is that?  I know many women work right up to their due date but I just have no intention of being caught on my regular 45-60min commute along the 401 when the baby decides he wants to make an appearance.  And besides, this is the time for sewing!

Check out that belly!

That's not to say we're aren't both very excited for the big day, especially after so much baby talk at our marathon prenatal classes this past weekend.  It's just that I'm still very much enjoying pregnancy - all the kicking and hiccupping - even as the belly continues to grow out of control and things have become pretty uncomfortable.  Besides, the baby deserves to have some separation between the holidays and his birthday.  Boo to combination Christmas-Birthday gifts!

Anyway at the very least I packed a hospital bag last night with things for Baby and me.  And yes, looking at the teenie tiny onesie and newborn diaper did put a big smile on my face.

Christmas is Around the Corner

It's definitely feeling like Christmas despite the warmish weather and lack of snow.  Another bonus to owning a house is that we can decorate our front yard with Christmas lights!  I haven't had Christmas lights since I was still living with my parents in Scarborough.  In fact, we used up all of our new lights lining the branches of the tree in the front yard so they gave us their old ones to hang along the porch. Now we fit in with the rest of our neighbours who are definitely into the Christmas spirit.

The other great thing about the holidays is the feasting that goes on for weeks. My company Christmas lunch was the same day as Mike's company Christmas dinner and oh boy...I was stuffed.  It doesn't help that my stomach is floating somewhere up in my rib cage but at least my taste buds are back in check. I gotta say, the baby seems to be enjoying all these desserts every bit as much as I am :)  We will be getting along just fine.

Oliver Bonacini dinner event at the Toronto Board of Trade

O Deer!

Yesterday I finally wrote my Professional Practice Exam down by UofT and it was pleasantly straightforward.  Being down by campus reminded me of my EngSci years (shiver) which was....oh....let's just say a number of years ago.  The allotted time for the exam was 3 hours with one short washroom break if necessary.  My plan to go just before the exam worked out well so that I didn't need to play the sympathy card during the exam for a second break.  I did get lots of looks and stares while milling about in the lobby outside the exam room waiting to for it to start.  I bet they were all jealous of my nifty expansion panel :)  

I stood by a group of people who were mentioning that their friend's water broke the night before and she had gone into labour, even though her official due date wasn't until January 1st.  One of them commented "Can you imagine if someone's water broke in the middle of writing this exam??". I'm pretty sure they hadn't noticed me standing right beside them...and no, I don't want to imagine that.

I walked out of the exam around 4:30pm and then headed over to the Eaton Centre to meet up with Mike. I was delighted with all the beautiful decorations in there.  The gi-normous deer were fabulous!  We decided to go out for dinner and a movie to celebrate the end of my studying and the return to more sewing projects - yay!  Here are some photos that someone snapped of us at the mall.  I love Christmas!

Amazing Grace

No no, I didn't have my baby 6 weeks early!  This is my new niece born on Monday, December 3rd weighing a healthy 7lbs 14 ounces.  Grace Langelo Tchao.  She looks very peaceful here, doesn't she?  We haven't had a chance to see her yet but hope to very shortly. We're just giving the new parents a few nights to adjust and recover before we come a knockin'.  

My sister-in-law was 10 days overdue whereas my other friend was at least two weeks early for both of her babies.  With our due date smack in the middle of January I figure any time in that month is fair game.  Oh boy!

Deep in Thought

32 week ultrasound - baby's face

Wow, has it really been a month since my last post?  Time is flying by!  This past week I had my 32-week ultrasound and the baby is still head down which is a good sign.  He seems to have been head down since 26 weeks or so - eager little fella, I'd say.

This is the fourth ultrasound I've had and everything is checking out just fine.  The reason why I'm having additional ultrasounds past the 20-week mark is because there are only two vessel cords in the umbilical cord instead of the usual three.  Typically there are 2 arteries and 1 vein through the umbilical cord but we've only got one of each.  Apparently it happens in about 1% of pregnancies and of course, we're part of that 1%.  Go figure.  

Anyway this condition is sometimes indicative of much more serious problems but they've already ruled out all of the scary stuff so now it's just a matter of birth weight.  These extra ultrasounds are meant to check his growth and make sure he's getting enough nutrients from mama since a low birth weight can be common.  I think from the chubby cheeks in the ultrasound pic he's doing just fine :)

I included the same pic below where I've pointed out the features of the baby's face since I know it can be hard to figure out what the heck you're looking at.  Mike saw it right away but I was sure confused when I first saw the photo.  Some people said he kinda looks like this dude here.

The Thinker

My next ultrasound is at 36 weeks so it will be exciting to see how much he'll have grown over the next  month.  His bum is already constantly pushing out into my rib cage or into my stomach and I have to give it a pat so he tucks it back in.  Still getting used to the weirdness of it all.  

In the meantime my brother and his wife are anxiously awaiting their turn, as Freda's official due date has now come and gone.  I'm going to be an aunt in just a matter of days - can't wait!

32 weeks 3 days

Frankenstorm Pumpkin

Mike started it off while I cooked dinner

Hooray for owning a house  and having an excuse to carve a pumpkin!  We lived in a condo for years and kids were never allowed to go trick-or-treating around the units. They had candy in the party room I think.  There was never any point to carving a pumpkin since there was nowhere to display one.  I haven't carved a pumpkin in so many years - that's why I was really looking forward to doing it tonight.  We actually bought our pumpkin weeks ago (that's how excited we were) but had it sitting out on the porch uncarved until today.

On the weekend we chose a stencil that we liked - not too complicated for rusty pumpkin-carvers like ourselves.  I know I know, it's cheating to use a stencil but hey, we wanted it to look nice!

Tonight we were late getting home from work, and luckily the Frankenstorm wasn't upon us yet or else traffic could have been much worse.

I took over while Mike baked muffins!

Mike started on hollowing out the pumpkin while I made dinner.  Then afterwards we swapped - I transferred the stencil onto the pumpkin while he made good use of our over-ripe bananas and made his famous banana-walnut muffins.

Then we both got serious, each taking on half of the pumpkin face.  I got some use out of the wax carving tools from my jewellery classes last year, digging into the small corners of the face.

This is what Mike looks like when he concentrates

Success!

Sometimes intensity can look like confusion

My eyebrows look wild here - kind of like the pumpkin

The muffins were so distracting...

Trick or Treat!

Maternity Tunic

For my birthday this past summer, when I was just coming out with the news of my pregnancy, I received a maternity blouse from one of my good friends.  Lately as the weather is getting much cooler I'm finding it a challenge to get by on the few articles of maternity clothing I own.  I really don't enjoy the maternity jeans I bought (maybe because they were a relatively cheap pair from Old Navy) or the skinnier jeggings type that my cousin lent me because they both seem to keep riding down on the hips rather than stay snugly in place.  I've decided to try and get by for the remainder of my pregnancy mostly with tights, leggings, and skirts.  The problem with tights is that I need longer tops to make the outfit decent for the office (even though our dress code is pretty relaxed and I'm sure they'd make exceptions for my situation).

Anyway one of the things I've been doing is looking at which of my tops could be lengthened to wear as a tunic with tights.  One that came to mind was the blouse I got for my birthday. I forgot to take photos of the blouse before making modifications but it's pretty easy to imagine - everything grey was part of the original blouse and everything blue is new!

When I was at Fabricland last week looking (unsuccessfully) for a nice cotton out of which to make our baby's chenille blanket I did come across this light faux-denim trim which was on sale - 4m for the price of 1m!  I didn't know what I wanted to make with it but I thought it would come in handy.  That was exactly the case in transforming this blouse into a tunic.

Ideally I would have had four rows of trim along the bottom of the shirt just to get a bit more length but I didn't have quite enough so I stuck with three, then used the remainder to add some details around the front collar.

  

Ta-dah!  Pretty cute tunic right? And now I can wear it with tights and boots.  Ok, back to my sewing-on-hold rule.  This will be tough since my Peekaboo Partridge fabric just arrived in the mail yesterday, and today at Ikea I bought really pretty matching fabric to make curtains out of in the baby's room!