gratification

It is always gratifying to see the children happy with something that I made for them. It's one of the reasons why I like to sew. Josh is generally blase about clothes and won't bat an eyelid at whatever he's given to wear, so he'll cheerfully wear whatever I make for him. Noah is usually thrilled to have homemade clothes because it's something that belongs to him and him alone - no sharing necessary! (One of the perils of growing up in a big family!) Lucy is starting to show some vanity and wants to wear whatever is new in her section of the wardrobe. And Emma... well, so long as it's something pink and twirly, she'll heap praises on me. ("Good mummy! You're a good mummy!" or "I love it, mummy, so beautiful!")

Cooking for the children, on the other hand, is sometimes a little trickier. My kids have clearly defined ideas of what they like and don't like. Josh is by far the best eater (and it shows too - every time his pediatrician sees him, she asks if he exercises outside of school. Luckily he has taekwondo and swimming.). Two of his loves are eggs and ham. I made quiche lorraine for Saturday morning breakfast, figuring that it'd be a hit with him at least. And it was. He polished off the leftovers the next day and was sorely disappointed when there was none left. Emma is the pastry queen and will happily peel off the pastry from the whole quiche if I let her, not that I did.

Noah and Lucy weren't all that keen, but that could be because they couldn't wait for the quiche to be done and had eaten already. Oh well, two out of four isn't too bad! I used the recipe from here, but added some romano cheese that I already had in the fridge.

kaya

One of my favourite breakfasts: kaya toast and soft-boiled eggs, washed down with kopi-c. I can't replicate the kopi-c at home, but I make really good soft-boiled eggs, and now I have my own kaya for toast! Two out of three isn't too bad.

I cooked the kaya in a slow cooker, and then whizzed everything up in the blender. The recipe I used recommended using a hand-held immersion blender. I plugged ours in, only to discover that it was kaput. Ah well, it served us well - I did all the kids' baby food with it.

Homemade kaya is going to be somewhere on my list of Christmas gifts to give away this year.

kcwc day 6 and 7

This is my final outfit for KCWC 2011.

I based this dress for Emma on this spring dress. My modifications were doing away with the front tie because I didn't feel up to tackling the buttonholes; and adding a bottom contrasting hem because erm, it turned out a little too short when Emma tried it on. I do like how it turned out though. The print of Japanese cherry blossoms, while pretty, is very busy, so I thought that the solid lavender hem was a nice grounding touch.

I think I need to lengthen the elastic around the waist because right now, it fits a little snug, but I am putting that off for a bit. Daunted by having to lengthen three elastic lengths! I am not sure why it is, but I seem to make elastic bands that are either too loose or too tight, can't get them just right!

I am taking a self-declared holiday from kids clothes now. I am either going to do something totally different, like bake, or do some selfish sewing for myself.

kcwc day 5

Emma is quintessentially girly.

As in she loves pink, princesses, twirly skirts, new shoes, ballet and glitter. If she could, she would be in dresses all day, everyday.

She vehemently rejects t-shirts and shorts every single time I suggest them.

Then I discovered that what I needed for her to change her mind was peer pressure! She came back home from school one day actually asking for me to make her shorts because one of her friends in school thought it'd be a good idea for them to coordinate their outfits! *shockers*

Digression: While I am happy that she deigns to wear shorts and pants now, I worry about how easily swayed she is!

So this is her shorts, which aren't shorts because she decided that she wanted them to be mid-calf length. I let her pick out the fabric from what I had in my stash.


Edited to add: The girl has changed her mind! She says she likes the pants but won't wear them, because "shorts are not comfortable". Haiyah.

kcwc day 3 and 4

3 pairs of 2T boys underwear.

Some random notes:
1. The final product looks so small, but there are a lot of seams on boys underwear. And topstitching practically doubles the number of seams.
2. I've tried it a couple of times now, and I think sewing with knits isn't very gratifying. There are so many puckers that I have to iron out, but by the time I actually finish up a pair, I'm too tired to pull out the iron again to make everything look nice. I think I am going to take a break from sewing knits for a while.
3. I actually considered just cutting out this underwear from the girls' pattern because I figured, the boy isn't actually going to use the fly opening. I didn't in the end. And I regretted it when I was sewing on the fly binding - it's another two seams; four if you count the topstitching!

kcwc day 2

Completed 2 pair of undies late last night!

I haven't managed to iron out all the puckers, but I am counting them as done.

kcwc day 1

Yes, I have OCD tendencies.

Because sometimes, once I get an idea in my head, I just can't let go of it until I actually do it. It's like an itch that needs to be scratched. And this is how I ended sewing the children's underwear.

Yup, underwear. Now, I can see how this would seem a tad ridiculous. After all, children undies aren't that expensive. And sewing their underwear means I have to take on sewing knits, which I thought I'd never do just because it is harder than sewing woven cottons. But like I said, it became an itch that wouldn't go away.

I decided to make Noah a couple of new pairs when I noticed that he had been wearing the same few pairs of Thomas the train undies. (I also have to add here that Noah was pretty easy to toilet train - I guess it helps to wait until they are really quite big. I only started with him just before his third birthday.) Since I had signed up for Elsie Marley's Kids Clothes Week Challenge, I decided that this would fit the bill. And since I'm making up some for Noah, might as well go ahead and sew up some for Josh and Emma too. Production line sewing makes more sense, right?

Except that I underestimated how long it would take to cut up the pattern pieces. I started at 11pm, thinking that I'd take probably just a little more than an hour (an hour of sewing a day was the requirement).

Umm, wrong. I am clearly not as good as wielding a pair of scissors and a rotary cutter as I though. And those leg band and waistband pieces got my head all muddled up. I only finished at 1.45am.

But here they are, ready to be sewn up. 3 pairs for Noah, 2 pairs each for Emma and Josh.

Children undies pattern from here

Day 1 done!

back in the day

Penpals don't exist anymore.

Because nobody writes letters with a pen anymore.

Back when I was in secondary school, writing to penpals was one of those things that lots of people did. I think teenage magazines used to have lists of people who wanted penpals, complete with their list of hobbies so that you could pick someone who had the same interests as you. I had a couple. I wrote to penpals in Hong Kong, Greece and France. I have obviously lost touch with them. although I did meet up with my penpal from Paris when I backpacked in Europe. I stayed over at her apartment for a night and she showed me the Eiffel Tower. I remember that she was very into all things Asian - which was a little funny because I was very interested in all things French.

Anyway, all this to lead up to this: 2011 International Postcard Swap for Families. I've signed us up and am already thinking of what sort of postcards to send off. Maybe with a little gift too?

pao de queijo

I have been reading The Little Teochew over the past week or so, going through posts made over the past two years whenever I have time to surf. It's reminded me of how long it's been since I've baked anything! For a while, I was baking something every week or so. Then I must have hit a rut because I stopped. And then I started sewing, so no more time to bake!

But I have been inspired! I am itching to bake again. I started with this recipe because it is extremely easy, and the end result was super yummy. I read elsewhere that you can do up the batter and store in the fridge for up to a week, which was even better since I could then blend everything up the night before, and then just bake in the morning for breakfast. This is the only Brazilian anything I've ever made.


So now the question is: should I make Nigella's old-fashioned chocolate cake, Tan Hsueh Yun's lemon yoghurt cake or my own carrot cake with Jamie Oliver's lime marscapone frosting next?

outgrown

Of all the kids, Josh is the one who enjoys his food the most. The other kids all went through phases of either being extremely picky with their food, or being simply uninterested in eating. There are, after all, a whole lot of other things to do; eating sometimes can seem like such a waste of time.

Not for Josh though. Even when he was a baby, he ate easily. He used to watch Thomas the train videos during meal times (yes, not the best form). He'd be so glued to the TV that he'd just unquestioningly open his mouth every time a spoonful of porridge appeared in front of it.

All this to say, he loves to eat and so has outgrown quite a few pairs of his shorts. I have been on a mini-mission to sew up some new ones for him. When I was sewing up Noah's pair for his birthday, it was easy enough to do up a pair for Josh. I loved how they turned out.

And I love this picture of Josh. I can't get over how grown up he looks. Most of the photos I have of him are shots of him doing something goofy; this shot below is what he gave me when I said, "Do a handsome face."

Easy Fit lounge shorts in chambray, with front patch pockets that I added

to jump in or not to jump in

I came across this yesterday and have been wondering if I should do it or not. It's the fear of commitment that is holding me back. But I think I will try it out. I have four children and five boxes of fabric waiting to used. Why not?