Birthday Dress

My little niece Michelle turned two in May, so for her present I made her a cute little dress.

The pattern is the toddler sized version of the Itty Bitty Baby Dress, which I got for free from Made by Rae.


The bodice if fully lined, and has no zippers or button holes, so it was lots of fun to sew. I wouldn't say my version was especially fast, because I had to make the piping and sew on some extra little bits like (the piping) and the bottom contrasting layer, which was my addition to the pattern.

Another great thing about this pattern is that it can fit a pretty wide range of sizes. I made it for my two year old niece, but it was almost big enough to fit my four year old daughter. Next time, I think I'll just add an inch or two to the toddler size and make a matching dress for Miss Boo, as she had difficulty understanding why in the world I would sew a dress for anyone else but her.

Happy Birthday, Baby Michelle!

My little niece Michelle turned one year old a few days ago, so I had to blog about her belated birthday gift. My sister requested some hand knit socks for Michelle's fat little tootsies, which is the perfect way to use up some leftover sock yarn.
Knitting socks for babies is always a bit stressful. No matter how hard you try, or how perfect you think the sock will be, they almost never want to stay on.
(If any of you knitters out there have the secret to perfect baby socks, PLEASE feel free to share!)

I have a baby booties pattern that is wonderful for staying on little chubby feet, but Angie wanted socks, so socks she shall get!

I know that these will get there a bit late, but hopefully she'll get lots of use out of them before Michelle grows out of this size!

Babies in the Bathwater

"Babies in the Bathwater", starring cousins Gabriel and Michelle.

Scene 1: Dirty, but charming nonetheless. The drama commences with much splashing, fanfare, and nudity. (This is a family-friendly blog, so no graphic pictures will be shown to illustrate the latter). Please ignore my son's boogers. He's a boy, and boys come with boogers. It's part of their genetic design.Scene 2: Washing and drying. Will it end in tears? Who will cry first, the mommies or the babies? The suspense is overwhelming!Scene 3: Conflict is resolved. Minimal tears were shed, sour baby smell was conquered, and all parties involved were dressed warmly, thanks to Grammy's gift of matching sleepers.After all, every diva and screen hotshot needs a wardrobe stylist.

Long-Distance Twins

I don't have much time to do a big blog post right now, so I just thought I'd post a few pictures of my son Gabriel and his cousin Michelle. Gabe and Michelle are only 5 days apart in age, and we often refer to them as being "long-distance twins".Just like most twins, they are polar opposites. Gabe is quite the haole (Hawaiian term for "white"), and Michelle has lovely olive skin and dark hair.Michelle is as quiet as a mouse, and even when she's severely ticked off, her cry is what I'd refer to as a 4 on the "rictus scale of torture". Gabe reaches a 9.5 when he's happy. His excited little shrieks could peel paint.That's okay, though. My bedroom is still covered in unfinished sheet rock, with no hint of being able to paint it in sight.I'll try to post more pictures of the two sweeties later!