Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate! (We do both Xmas and Hanukkah in our house, as we are multi-ethnic and have different religions. I want my daughter to grow up in a world of inclusivity, where all peoples and beliefs are respected)
Mommy bought herself a MINI Cooper S Convertible as a DIY project. I named him “Desmond” and he’s officially my new boyfriend. LOL. We play the Beatles “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” while we work on him. So far, he’s so much fun and I got a great deal on it. I’ve always wanted to restore a car/customize a car.
We whipped this adorable scotty dog Xmas skirt (with red and white polka dot lining) at the last minute before a holiday carnival we went to. I made a matching hair bow and a bow pin brooch to go with.
It took less than 1.5 hrs to do the entire ensemble.
I think this is my favorite fabric to date! It is adorable and has the requisite twirl factor that Maisie demands.
Honestly, I doubt I will ever buy her another skirt again, when I can churn these out daily.
The quality of my homesewn and designed skirts are far superior to the ones I can buy at the store. I don’t skimp on materials, everything is lined, it’s just amazingly easy for me to do this… and it teaches her how to sew, to boot!
We felt well enough to finish sewing her Aleph Bet Hebrew Alphabet skirt (with literal NAPS in between steps), just in case we’re well enough to attend family services tomorrow. She learned the Shema and Oseh Shalom with the other little ones and they’re kicking off a special Friday thing tomorrow.
She also loves (and I mean LOVES) this video of the kids Hebrew Alphabet song- at the rate she is going, we could possibly add Hebrew to her English and Persian and Filipino and smattering of French she knows already:
She also received a “Little Trixie”- a dressmaker’s dummy dressform, whatchamacallit. I call my big one Trixie, so now I guess it’s Trixie Sr.
The kiddie one is by Dritz and it is ADORABLE. Maisie keeps hugging it like it’s her best friend. The measurements are adjustable to about size 12-14 kids, so this thing should hold up for a long, long time.
Maisie is slim and tall, so the measurements are a bit bigger than her actual girth- but with elastic waistbands and twirly skirts, that doesn’t matter.
All Maisie requests in a skirt are that they twirl and they have cool fabric. I can do this.
Actually, R’s been doing the actual sewing, while I tell him what to do. I prefer draping and design and hand sewing to machine stuff and cutting. To him, using a sewing machine is no different than making things out of wood with tools. He just has to be told how to do it and he does it.
I’ve been really out of sorts because of the pulmonary embolisms, but here are some nice things that have happened this month- lots of birthdays!
First up, Maisie’s 4th birthday was on 10 September! We usually have huge parties, but my health hasn’t been the best, so we just did a family party, with grandparents from both sides and her first cousins from her dad’s side. She received My Little Pony, Spirit Horses, an Ant Farm (her fave, ours too), and the outhouse dollhouse built by my dad (with base and landscaping by us):
Later in the week, she received macarons from our dear friend and we had a blast doing mundane things- also, my friend brought us wild paw paw fruit, which tastes like mangoes squished with bananas and pineapple! I was able to ripen them by sticking the branch in water for a week.
Then we ended this week with silver and gold henna tattoos- plus I received 2 new Tiffany heart bead bracelets to commemorate surviving the last 2 months since my embolisms ❤
If you scroll the instagram, you can see a shot of her with me, not in a hospital gown for once lol.
She is such a lovely child and well behaved and soooo smart!!!!! She will be four on 10 Sept!
She does not stop talking, though. She is a font of information. I adore that. You can have an actual intellectual conversation with this tot and it’s ADORABLE.
