Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Projects projects everywhere....

We have a "Sewing Hour" after lunch where the girls and I work on our projects. Today I was working on the baby's wool winter bonnet, Tabitha was stitching on her tea towels, and Rebekah was practicing her techniques on some designs that I drew (the little girls went to town with Dad). Katie whipped up this adorable little cap for her project. It is a double layered flannel newborn cap, isn't it too cute for words? It has a 3 piece body like some from the Wisconsin Historical Society collection. She finished it with twill tape ties, I can't wait to see how it looks on the baby!

In our family the girls are required to be competent with hand sewing before they are allowed to use the machine, I'm a big fan of samplers! I like the quiet time spent with just the girls and I while they work on such important skills. The boys work on some project with Dad or Aleks while we sew, today it was building movable turkey roosts.

We picked this bed up about 8 years ago from somebodies garbage, Aleks has been using it but because it's a 3/4 bed no standard mattress fits it. I needed to get Abby out of our bed and used to sleeping with Elisabethe so we decided to make a straw tick to fit the frame. The bed is square nailed and dates from the 1860-1880 range, I think. It was originally red, then black, then yellow and most recently green. ;-) Anyhow, Katie sewed most of the tick together and then we filled it and made it up so you could see it (yes, it's outside in the picture but it's too dim in the bedroom to see). I thought it would be a hard adjustment for Abby but she loves it! Elisabethe took it much harder, she is used to sleeping with Katie and she was a little tearful about leaving Katie to sleep alone. Isn't that sweet? ;-)


This white gown is the latest completed baby article. I'm sorry that it's so hard to see details but white on white is tricky. There are 4 vertical rows of 100% cotton lace on the bodice as well as some lace on the sleeves.


I received my milk paint order yesterday but before tackling the cradle we decided to paint this shelf first. It wasn't a priceless antique so if we really messed it up it wouldn't matter. We painted it 2 coats of Federal Blue and I really like how it turned out. Milk paint is supposed to look faintly streaky, that's the nature of it and it feels very chalky to the touch. There were zero fumes and I helped to paint it even. I love milk paint!




8 comments :

  1. Oooh!! I love the little bonnet and gown! How adorable. I still haven't finished Victoria's layette...things happened so fast!

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  2. I really love the bed color. It's adoreable. I'm excited to see what you do with the cradle :-)

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  3. What a sweet bonnet! Do you have a pattern..I'd be interested in making one like this:-)
    I plan on making a more focused time for my girls with sewing this year. My middle girlie really likes to sew. I also like to have them proficient in hand sewing :-) Any suggestions?

    That bed is lovely too...like the color and style.

    Have a lovely day:-)
    Sommer

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  4. Sommer, if you'll email me your address I will send you a copy of the pattern. My email is yankeeingenuity1860@yahoo.com

    I am having Rebekah who is 9 just practice her basic stitches on scrap cloth: running stitch, back stitch, cross stitch etc after that she will do a real sampler and *then* start to baste things together and do hems and buttonholes. She works on her own projects a lot though so she does get extra practice.

    Lauren, I want to do the cradle this week but rain is headed our way so I might have to put it off. I'm nervous about painting it still, I really hope that I don't ruin it. ;-)

    Amy, I know what you mean about time slipping away from you, it happens to me too!

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  5. How fun to have a sewing hour all together! I'm hoping to get Noah started on some woodworking projects this year. The baby gown is just adorable!

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  6. Oh, Mrs. G, how I would love to come live with you for a week! Your way of life is my heart's dream. I relate with you in so many ways and would love to come and learn your herbology, sewing skills, honey comb processing and more. I have never done the full gammet but have homeschooled, canned, frozen, gardened, hand-sewn, crocheted, etc. You would be a wonderful example to learn from. If you decide that you would ever like to take in a tutee (is that even a word), pick me!

    I love the way you are raising your children.

    Blessings to you, my dear.

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  7. Thanks everyone.

    Zebu, I'm flattered that you would think me anything unusual, I certainly don't see myself that way. I'm just a person trying to live the life that I want. :-)

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  8. Well, I must say that you're doing a marvelous job of it my dear Mrs. G. And, those children will someday realize how fortunate they were to be born into such a family. :)

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