Relaxing Weekend and Making My Kids Clothes

I had a great weekend. One of probably the most self-fulfilling weekends I’ve had in a while. Friday night I was so tired so Chip cooked steaks and we lounged around the house watching the Olympics. What is your opinion on my son taking gymnastics? Personally I think it’s awesome. Chip thinks he will get beat up. My rebuttal is that he could totally whip their butt because have you seen how buff gymnasts are? Oh how the stigma of what’s popular and unpopular gets on my nerve. I think I will sign him up anyway. Let Hill decide if he likes it or not. Whatever.

Saturday morning Chip and Hill rode around with me while I went to a few garage sales looking for a small chest of drawers that could be used as a changing table for Reid’s room. No such luck. So if you have one, I want it.
After that Chip had some errands to run and Hill wanted to go play at Nana’s house so I went over to Whitney’s house to work on the project I’d mentioned earlier last week. I am super duper pleased with the outcome.

Growing up my grandmother made a lot of my clothes, I loved it. I just found a picture of what I liked and she made it happen...right down to the fabric that was in the picture. She even made my formal Derby Doll banquet dress in high school. She taught me how to sew at a very young age. She'd let me help, always. I use to love spending hours watching her pin and cut and sew - watching a bunch of nothing turn into something fabulous. Maybe that's where my need for visual productivity stems from? I use to like to cut out fabric to make it look like a folded dress shirt. She'd let me make the collar and sew buttons and most of the time no one would realize that it wasn't a real shirt until they tried to unfold it and it was just a square with a collar and buttons. I'd go put them in the dresser in the guest bedroom like should guests come spend the night at her house and need a shirt, they'd be fooled by my faux shirt. Don't make fun I was like 7 and it was funny. Spending time with Mamaw was probably some of my fondest childhood memories. Life always seemed so simple with her.

When she passed away I inherited all of her sewing stuff. The machine stopped working after the second time I tried to use it and Chip so generously offered to have it fixed even though the guy said it would be cheaper to buy a new one. It was antiquated, not worth it monetarily to fix. I guess you could say my inspiration died with that machine. Mamaw wasn't around to guide me and time just never gives itself to me anyway. Plus, I always have good intentions of doing crafty things but usually they never pan out because I don’t have the proper materials and things to make it happen right then and there…as I am from the instant gratification generation. Yet, Whitney on the other hand has taken crafts and sewing to a totally new level. Maybe it sounds cheesy but it's like she has breathed life back into my sewing spirit. The one that has been stagnant for the past 20 years.

Whit has gotten into sewing over the last year (as you’ve seen some of her handy work on my blog) and done an awesome job at everything she’s tried her hand at. I have to admit, I’m jealous. So while we were in Oxford I decided “we” should try to take on the cutest shirt ever, the Colonel Reb patchwork looking shirt. Whit didn’t hesitate to want to help me; by the following week she had all the materials and know how to make it happen. Why spend $36 on a t-shirt when you can make it yourself? I have to say…ours turned out WAY cute, dare I say cuter than the one we saw in the store.

Admittingly at first when Whitney was showing me I was like hmm blah - trace, cut, then retrace then cut then iron then cut then iron then sew. Stick me in the eye with a fork but whatever I can make this one cute shirt and spend time with my girl, no prob. Then by the time I was cutting the 8 millionth piece for the 3 billionth time I could see the project come to fruition. I felt the spark and before I knew it we had spent all day making fun things! I also made Hill a shirt with his name on it and then I made Reid her first non-hand me down outfit with her initials on it. I am quite proud. Chip was very much impressed and even suggested Whit and I get together more often and do this. Couldn’t agree more babe, let’s make this happen!

Here is a picture of the Colonel Reb below, but Hill's name shirt and Reid’s gown aren’t quite finished yet but soon. I’ll post pictures as soon as they are done, but in the mean time…here is the most adorable Colonel Reb ever. Yay for some grown up time with my friend and sparking that old sewing flame! Love you, Whit!