Mama's projects and Suzi's

Several weeks ago I made a little upcycled silk ballet skirt for Suzi, but the chore of hemming the thing outstripped my attention span by a mile. I still have about half of that hem to do! After making some singed-edge flowers I started to wonder what else you could singe the edge of. I thought it would be fun to do a little dance skirt and have the hemline resemble petals or leaves. So I made this for Suzi out of more of that prom dress, and it was fast. She wore it to dance yesterday and I think it was mostly a success, but also a learning experience. I might blog about the process later.

I frequently set up to craft at the dining room table and tell the girls this is my project, but I'll get them started on one of their own. Now whenever Suzi is working on anything she calls it her "project!" And it's very important that no one interrupt her or mess with it! The project from yesterday and on into this morning is cutting paper into tiny bits for her Grandma and Grandpa. I gave her a Charlie's Soap bag to put her finished confetti in. I love to see her working on things and getting excited about them.

Projects for today/this week/whenever I have time and energy include:

1) Organize all the girls' toys that have lots of little pieces and put them together in a closet where they can only take one out at a time, so Mama doesn't have to turn into a garbage-bag-wielding witch at clean-up time.

2) Get more comfortable with my new serger. Yes! We bought one Sunday! I got it threaded and can do regular serging and a rolled hem so far, but only in straight lines. I want to learn to do a lettuce leaf edge and make some little jersey knit tiered skirts for the girls. It might be a while before I'm there though, and I'm trying to be patient while I learn.

3) Make some little activity bags for the girls, inspired by these that look like so much fun. I've already made some, but I need to go shopping for a few things. I want to dye pasta!

4) Declutter the bottom of our coat closet to house the activity bags.

5) Organize the craft room (again) to fit in a portable clothes closet for all my thrift store finds which are waiting to be transformed. I can't figure out what to make if my inspiration is buried in a pile where I can never see it. Our futon is covered in sweaters and stuff right now, and I need to get to crafting and try to stay out of Goodwill for a few weeks!

This list doesn't even include birth-related stuff (that'll be another post), but it should keep me busy for a while.