Thompson Family-Life

brokenhearted

I had a post scheduled for today about collections, but after reading about the tragedy and suffering happening in Oklahoma, it feels enormously trivial to talk about material things, when all I can think about are those that are suffering. I'm heartbroken for these families and worried for new storms coming (with family and friends of our own in possible harm's way). When huge natural disasters happen like these, it really makes you feel small, and thankful that we're able to enjoy every day that we're given. Because we really are, very, very, small in this big, big world. Human life is so, so fragile. I know, like many of you, I'll be holding onto my children with more fierceness than I already do.

beachy portraits & what they wore

It's always a challenge getting photos of your kids... together... am I right? There's always a short window to get the goods. This little "shoot" was about 10-15 minutes. If that. There was indeed bribary involved. Luckily they are 9 and almost-6, so it's definitely much easier than the toddler days! I think these capture their personalities very well, stinkers that they are! I will say that as they get older, the better they play together.

A couple years ago Campbell was still too much of a baby to be on the same playing-level with Cooper. Gosh, they bickered 75% of the time! The bickering has diminished drastically, although they do have their moments, like all siblings do. Now, I find that when they are apart, they really do miss each other. Campbell can definitely hold his own with Cooper and his third grade friends! He's kind of had to grow up fast since he has a big brother. Which makes me a little sad at times. But that's okay, I'm just glad they love each other so much and genuinely enjoy each other's company. Having two is the best.

I call the above look from Campbell "the-double-chin-look-of-exasperation". Not quite sure what Cooper is doing... meditating?

Pure evidence that they are indeed little wiseguys, this is the progression of what they did when I asked them to put their hands in their pockets. 

They think they're such funny guys, these two! And I would agree. : )

What They Wore:

On Cooper: Shirt: Vintage // Cardigan: H&M Kids // Shorts: Target last year // Shoes: Target // Hat: Target (Men's section)

On Campbell: Shirt, Pants, Shoes: H&M Kids

Location: St. George Island, Florida

my first dress

One of the girls I follow on Instagram (Debsasassykins if you'd like to follow, she has fantastic taste!) posted some photos of an amazing clothing line for kids based out of Denmark (of course!) called Albababy many months ago and that was really the inspiration for making this dress. My first dress! Big moment for me. The girl that has always been skeered of her sewing machine. And you know what I realized? It was the pattern part that scared me the most, not the sewing (although finicky sewing machines make me insane and edgy, but I'm getting more comfortable with using my machine). 

Here's the Albababy line...

OHMAHGAH amazing, right?! What really knocked me over was the bias tape trim on the overalls and jumpers. A perfect blend of nostalgia with modern Scandinavian color - with that perfect contrasty white trim. LOVE.

But yikes, the price tag! I just couldn't justify getting something for Campbell (the overalls!), much less anything girly for my little pal Lenore. So I decided I would (attempt) to make something inspired by the designs. I wanted the basic shape to be vintage-inspired, a classic pinafore shape, and I wanted to add bias tape trimming. I found a modern pattern online, but I ended going with a vintage pattern.

I asked my wonderful Mother-in-Law (who's been sewing most of her life) if she could help me out with it one weekend and once she explained how to read the pattern and how to cut out the pieces, I felt so much more at ease. This is a pattern that she actually used for her own daughter in the seventies! (see photo of pattern at bottom of post) It's only one piece, so it was a good beginner project. Of course, I had to go and make it more complicated by adding bias tape around the entire piece, but it was worth it! Now, this dress is not perfect by any means, being the newb that I am, but I'll take it.

I used a vintage sheet remnant I've had for years for the body of the dress and picked a solid purple fabric for the front double pocket (such a cute element of this pattern!) and the lining. I then picked out a bias tape color. I wanted something bold and contrasty. I ended up using two colors of bias tape by accident. I ran out of the orange, and went to pick up more, and picked up the wrong color. So there's pink and orange together.. which I actually ended up loving more! The buttons are vintage and the little daisy patch is from Joann's.

Isn't Lenore a doll? Oh man, do I ever love hanging out with her. She is a joy!

The ends of the shoulder straps can really go either way, under the "bib" area or over, where they button. I really wanted them to go on top to mimic the Albababy designs more, but the width of the straps towards the ends were very different and it looked very obvious (newbie mistake), so we had them go underneath which looked much better.

I have to say, I'm so in love with how this came out, and it was really relatively easy (attaching the binding was the only tricky part, but once I got the hang of it, it's actually very fun to sew on. I used a tutorial I found online.) I can't wait to make more of these for Lenore. The vintage bloomers were a lucky find at a thrift store a few weeks ago and I immediately thought they'd go perfectly with the dress. You can never have too much pattern, right? The design on these bloomers is a m a z i n g. They are a little big, and on one side the elastic has come out I think, so they're droopy drawers for now. haha.

Now that I've gotten my feet wet with this simple dress, I'd like to try and make some shirts for the boys. Something simple, like this. I love a lot of the Lillestoff knit fabrics, but yikes they're expensive! 25 bucks for a meter? Sigh. Although sewing with knits can be a bit tricky from what I hear? Do you have any experience sewing with knits? I would love to hear any tips. Also, if you can share any good, simple sewing patterns that you like for kids, I'd love to hear! 

I feel like I have this new love affair with bias tape. I kind of want to add it to everything. Something about it feels so retro. And you can't beat the store bought stuff, already folded for you, in so many pretty colors. I go to the fabric store and it's like looking at candy when I hit the bias tape aisle (ha). I know you seasoned sewers out there are shaking your heads.

Here are some phone pics I took of the sewing pattern, etc.

More posts coming this week! It feels good to be blogging more.

Hope you all had a nice weekend.

missing this

It's been less than a week since we returned from St. George Island & Apalachicola, Florida and gosh I miss it. I miss this! The gorgeous weather (with no dusty pollen covering everything like here), the sunshine, the breeze, the all-day cocktails (ahem), bare feet and little boys in hats. I feel awfully sentimental these days about my boys. Especially this one, as he's "the baby".

He turns six (6!) in May and while he still has small but fading hallmarks of babyness (the "wristlets" as I like to call them, those pudgy wrists, are still there! But barely), I see every day how much he's growing up. Maybe it's because I spent some time with Lenore today and I realize how much I miss the baby in this one.

Honestly, I'm very lucky, because Campbell is such a Mama's boy. GOSH, is he ever. I savor it with all my being. He still finds that comfort from me, that physical thing, that Mama's touch or snuggle. He still has that baby-thing inside of him, that he knows the comfort that Mama brings. He is *incredibly* affectionate, I know I've mentioned this before. He's like his Daddy that way. He always has to be touching your skin in some way, holding on to an ear, or touching your face. I really feel like I hit the jackpot with this one, because I often see so many kids that aren't affectionate and how bummed out their parents are because of it! Gosh, I couldn't imagine it. I would die! 

I'm still the whole world to him in so many ways. That kind of love, a child's love, is just so incredible in that way. Mama is EVERYTHING. Sometimes I'm like, "what on Earth does this kid see in me?!" Ha.

I savor every waking moment of it.

If you are aware of the kids clothing brand, Småfolk, you will notice that we are big fans! I buy mostly from Ittikid, a distributor out of the States (Smafolk is based out of Denmark). I'm such a huge, huge fan of anything Scandinavian, especially these days. The quality of their clothing is really fantastic, so they are a good investment if you have multiple children. They aren't cheap, but worth the cost in my opinion.

I don't actually buy that many clothes for the boys. 90% of what they wear is usually from Target or bought by their grandmother (thanks Madeline!). They have mostly the typical boy wardrobe, lots of (crappy) t-shirts with stupid things printed on the front (ha!), but that's all they really need, am I right? That is why I don't feel bad buying a few pieces like these to splurge on (and for pictures, right?!)

I've also recently purchased several things from H&M (we have a kids section at our local shop). Really cute stuff! I bought both pairs of pants in these photos from there. Their prices are great. (The hat above is from Target.. I think it's Men's size.)

Although Ittikid carries a lot of Smafolk designs, they often don't carry the designs I really love. I found this lion shirt on ebay (the European companies seem to carry the best Smafolk patterns!) This print is my favorite!

This was the porch of the beach house we rented. We spent a lot of time there. A LOT.

I've got more photos coming from our trip and some new photos of Lenore in a dress that I made! My first dress. Pretty monumental experience for me. I'm itching to dive more into sewing now that I seem to have gotten past my fears a little bit!

"Georges" the French Sailor Bear

I knew I wanted to bring along a craft on our beach trip and I remembered this amazing Japanese craft book I bought on Etsy a while back (you can find it here) called "Cute Felt Craft" by Naomi Tabatha. I had high goals of making three (yes THREE) of these dolls for the boys, but was only able to manage one. They are time consuming! But in the best, best way. : ) This little guy was so much fun to make!! I was so happy to see some boy dolls in the book, so I knew I had to make them for my boys. We're in the early stages of redecorating their room (bunk beds!), so Mr. Georges here is going to be hanging out on a floating shelf I bought at IKEA, along with two more dolls that I hope to make from the same book. We named him "Georges" since he was made on St. George Island and we thought he looked like a Sailor.. a very French sailor (the beret being a dead giveaway).

These photos were taken in Apalachicola, about a 20 minute drive from St. George Island. We spent a lot of time there. Such a cute, cozy little town! Definitely recommend. And really fantastic restaurants (such.good.food.) This part of Florida is becoming our favorite beach destination. Both Apalachicola and St. George are still small and quaint and they've evaded the yucky-touristy-Florida-thing that you see elsewhere. That is one thing that is really unrivaled in the States (in my opinion), and that's Florida beaches. There are just gorgeous.

One slight challenge to overcome is that the book is in Japanese! Yes. Japanese. Since I've made a handful of felt dolls, I knew I could figure out the basic construction and there are pretty thorough illustrations in the book. The hardest part was figuring out what pattern parts go where and with what doll. I decided that there MUST be some sort of app out there that could translate the Japanese text. So I downloaded the Google Translate app and it worked great. It's a bit tricky, but if you stick with it, it works. You take a photo of the text and then highlight the text with your finger in the photo, and it translates! Pretty amazing.

He is made entirely out of felt and completely hand-stitched. Since felt can be a bit fragile, especially at the seams, he won't be a doll for playing, but more for display. The boys really like him, especially Campbell. They actually both still sleep with favorite stuffed animals, so they aren't averse to dolls. I think these dolls could be played with gently by older kiddos, more specifically girls (ha), as boys can be a bit rough with things. I remember when I played with my toys and dolls, it was in a very gingerly sort of way. ; ) Setting them up in cute little vignettes and admiring them.

Here are some phone pics of all four dolls (I might skip the monkey, but I'm going to do Piggy next and then the Puppy) and also some work-in-progress shots. And yes you might think me crazy for stitching on the beach, but I kept everything in zip lock bags because I'm paranoid of my wild and crazy beach boys that spray water guns and throw sand. I love having a project to work on while lounging at the beach. Some people read, I craft. I know you crafty folks out there know what I mean! I also did a lot of crafting on the porch at the beach house that we rented. Pure heaven! Needless to say, it was hard to come home to a messy house and a reality check. But that's what makes vacations awesome, right?

You can find more of Naomi Tabatha's amazing felt doll craft books here.

Edited to add: Upon further observation of the photo I took of the book up there, I just now realized that A) I forgot to stitch his eyebrows on and B) it seems that I cut out the wrong pattern for his head. It seems to be the shape of the pig's head and not the bear's. O_O 

Oh the trials and tribulations of using a craft book that is written entirely in Japanese. Sigh.

We'll just keep this bit of info to ourselves, mkay? ; )