curtain accomplished

i have mentioned in past blog entries, my quirky sewing room. it is a narrow room that houses the washer, drier, utility sink and door to the garage. so really it is a mud room. but also, i think it is a breakfast nook. it is connected to the kitchen, has the same awful linoleum flooring and there is an interior window between it and the living room. why anyone ever wanted a window between that room and the living room is beyond me. also puzzling is the huge mirror on one wall. i covered it with a sheet. it's an odd room, but i am ever so grateful for it.

i have used various curtains in the window, as the sewing room can be pretty cluttery and i'd rather there wasn't a clear view into it from our living room. i also work on secret surprises in there sometimes! it's been a long time goal to make a curtain for that window, preferably a somewhat sheer patchwork curtain. sheer is important, so that i don't feel totally separated when i'm in there, and so that i can peek into the living room and see what my family is up to.

that goal has finally been accomplished.



the above photo is a view of the curtain from the living room. i moved my desk into the living room recently as i wanted a place for our computers and tashi's homework, which always end up covering the dining room table.

here is the curtain with the sewing room light shining through it.





it's pleasing to have something handmade there. and it was a satisfying project, though troubling at times. the lace was tricky as it overlaps the seams. i probably should have sewn all the panels together first, and then sewn the lace on top of the fabric. but i wanted to be able to peek through the lace. it worked out fine, though if you examine it really closely, you might realize that the construction is a bit haphazard.

i also tried french seams for the first time so that the backside doesn't look totally ragged. the backside is what i have to look at when in the sewing room after all. here is a peek at the french seams from the sewing room.



i feel like our living room has found it's missing piece.

into the golden sun

we've spent another week+ dealing with illness, this time a flu virus that took tashi, tristan and i down. tristan was not as badly hit as he was a month ago, and he bounced back pretty quickly from this round. but tashi has had a couple of alarming relapses into the fevered state, and i don't think i have ever before suffered such severe body aches.

it seems we have finally emerged from the worst of it, all three of us toting a lingering cough. it was not enough to keep tristan and i inside today as the outdoor temps soared to the mid seventies. we spent a refreshing couple of hours at a playground, and got to see some friends who we've missed for months.







there is so much to be grateful for, and so much to hope for as the season begins to shift. it is time to work the soil, and time to consider which seeds, symbolic and actual, will be planted and nurtured into fruition.

half way there

we did not do much on imbolg this year as dan had a gig wednesday evening, and, after my day at work, i was left with little energy to pull together a celebration. we did spend some time outside appreciating the slant of sunlight falling across our yard. tristan climbed into his sand box for the first time in months. our yule tree and other greenery sit in the fire pit waiting to be burned; hopefully we will do that within the week. i took some photos to mark the day and feel that even this small time out of doors was a great commemoration of the half way mark between winter solstice and spring equinox.

pants for the yogi

one can only imagine how much my heart glowed when i heard tristan singing this song from his car seat this morning, sun saltutation dance for the sun!



it seems to confirm that my timing was just right for making him some crescent moon yoga pants, a hand drawn pattern from little comet tails. this was my first time using an actual garment pattern and i'm hoping that it will lead to the disintegration of my fear of working with patterns and making clothing. it's a very user friendly hand drawn pattern with basic instructions.



one can make plain yoga pants, or pants with a crescent booty. i chose the latter as the crescent booty is so nice and roomy for the cloth diapers. my friend & doula, stasi york, who passed on the pattern to me also left me a couple of colors of nice fleece. i chose the grey.




i think they turned out quite well, and he wanted to put them on right away, before the hem had been sewn. there is nothing more rewarding than a wiggly toddler who actually asks to put something on.






he put up a little fuss when i asked to remove them so i could add a hem, but all was well when i could put them back on him. they are super soft, cozy, warm and seem to fit quite well.



perfect for a little yogi!