Monday, June 15, 2009

My life lately

I am now finished with the last of Abigail's dresses. This is the pink/red print that I bought recently from Zinck's. I wanted to do something a little different so I pleated the bodice and added 100% cotton ribbon on the stitch line. The skirt is pleated as well to keep the theme going. We tried to do sausage curls but that didn't work out very well, they were just too limp. ;-)
This is a better shot of the sleeve detail. I pleated the sleeves just like the skirt and added the same trim.
This is a close up of the pleated bodice. I really like the look and I think I'll make this style again!
The boys also got new homespun shirts which I have yet to put the buttons or buttonholes on. They prefer their homemade shirts to storebought as does Mr. G, they are more comfortable I guess!


I've also gone on a button buying binge as of late. I use china buttons on dresses and pinafores and metal on shirts with the very occasional mother-of-pearl thrown in when I don't have anything better. I buy mostly from E-Bay but that can be hit or miss especially with china calicoes as they tend to get snatched up by collectors. I purchased these below along with 118 plain white china buttons not pictured. I also have about 20-30 ringers coming by the end of this week. I'm pretty happy with my purchases especially in light of how expensive new buttons are, I had to buy new metal buttons for the shirts and they were $.66 a piece. That's more per button than the antique ones which are better quality too.


This is Katie and her new green dress. It's the first one that she has sewn entirely by herself. I'm very proud of her and the job she did!


She and I also hand washed the boys' wool winter coats. Dirty! Ugh, I could not believe the water, but they are all fresh and clean now and packed away. We also gave the girls' winter dresses a heavy scrubbing, mended them if needed and put them away until the weather cools. That's a job that I feel good about once it's accomplished.

Aleks, Levi and Micah got new overalls this past week. They are rather partial to overalls and really dislike the fit of modern jeans. I suppose if that's all they owned they would get used to it, but for work wear nothing beats pants that don't fall down! ;-)


In addition to all this we harvested over 1000 leeks and got a gallon of powder from them. The garden is doing well and we're eating sugar peas now. Mmm!
I had some blood work done and found out that I'm pretty anemic and I have a low platelet count. I have never been anemic before and was pretty surprised to hear this, although it sure explains why I'm so tired. I'm supposed to take it easy. ;-) Also, I have consistently been measuring big this time, which is again something that never happens to me (except for the twins of course). Anywhere from 3 to 8 cm bigger but we're pretty sure it's not twins so.... what is it? It seems odd to me that you could have 8 children and each pregnancy would be pretty much the same until your 9th and then boom! everything is different. Time will tell, I supose.
Things have been so crazy here that I hardly have any computer time. Blogs that I used to check frequently now don't get visited. I miss hearing about you all and hope to be back when things settle down.






10 comments :

  1. You have been busy! The pink dress is so incredible! It looks just like an original. And bravo to Katie for sewing her first dress. The boys look perfect too and I bet it feels so good to get all that cleaning and harvesting done!

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  2. Wow, that dress is lovely, especially the detailed bodice work. What a fortunate family to have a mommy and wife such as you!

    Will Katie be wearing her dress to an event or everyday?

    I hope that your pregnancy is ok and that you can rest a bit. And, as far as not getting to blogs, I think that that is pretty typical right now. We are all busy with gardens and yards and such, and it sometimes just gets put into the background.

    Thank you for the pictures of your wonderful sewing. :)

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  3. Love the dresses! Have you ever searched etsy for handmade buttons? If you found the right seller, you may be able to get some quality buttons for a great price. They also have vintage on there.

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  4. Hi Paris! Great to hear things are going pretty well in your neck o' the woods. Sounds like your garden is growing nicely (oh, how I wish I had a garden this year!) and the clothes for the kids look fantastic

    Sorry to hear about the pregnancy concerns. That low iron can really be a drag....literally! ;) Take good care of yourself; growing humans is hard work. ;) We'll be thinking of you down here in Texas.

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  5. Oh my...you are on your ninth? WOW! First of all, your kids are gorgeous! Second, I have no room to gripe about never having time for stuff....I have two kids and I don't know how I get anything done.

    To be on your ninth and do all you do for your kids is amazing, and you put us all to shame!

    I am in awe of you.

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  6. You have been very busy!!

    You did a great job on the pink dress. Your girls are so cute!

    I love Katies dress. She did a terrific job. I just got done making my first civil war dress. I was pretty excited other then it came our about an inch to long. :( Its wonderful to know there is other young girls sewing. It seems like I am the only one doing it around here. I've made most of my clothes since I was 5 or 6. Mom has taught quite well so now I can make things on my own for which I am very thankful.

    I'll be praying you get feeling better soon.

    Don't worry about not getting to everyones blogs I've got quite behind on also. Thus the reason I haven't commented for sometime.

    More later. God bless you!

    Love,
    Brooke

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  7. Oh my goodness, what a gorgeous dress and such a sweet little girl! She looks so ladylike with her hands folded in front of her like that. Absolutely adorable!

    Katies dress is also very lovely. She did a wonderful job and that color looks beautiful on her.

    And (so much to comment on!) the boys also look great!

    I'll be praying for your pregnancy. I had low iron the last part of my pregnancy with Malachi and was so tired all the time. Hopefully you will be able to get the rest you need!

    I too am WAY behind on blog reading. :( We're on our 4th event in a row this coming weekend so I've been hugely busy with sewing and with regular home life. It's nice to catch up on what you've been doing!

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  8. I love the bodice of that dress! All the girls' dresses are beautiful. I found it interesting reading about what you are currently harvesting. Here in AK, our peas are about 3 inches tall at this point. =) Spinach and rhubarb are the only thing ready to eat.

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  9. Oh Please... Please tell me... where do you get your clothing patterns? - Barbara

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  10. Barbara, the girls' dresses are Elizabeth Stewart Clark's patterns you can find them here:
    http://www.elizabethstewartclark.com/

    She also has some freebies!

    Paris

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