Summer Time!

I hate summer. A lot.
But, it does have its advantages, so I will focus on those:

Lots of time with family from near and far.

Lots of good sunshine for shooting photos of new stuff I'm sewing:

And lots of time at the pool (no photos).
Let's be friends, summer.

Vintage Fabric Zipper Pouches

My mom used to take care of an older man. They had quite an interesting relationship. His wife was 10 years younger than him, and was still working. He was diabetic and my mom was his caregiver: she helped him stay active, and monitored his diet. But mostly, she kept him on his toes mentally, constantly engaging with him on cross word puzzles, asking for his guidance in repairing something in our home, and reading to him. They loved to argue with each other, as Murray couldn't believe a woman could properly operate a car or a power tool. My mom was constantly impressing him, which was always entertaining with his terrible short-term memory. My favorite Murray quote:
(While my mom was driving them to an appointment or restaurant):
Murray: You drive like a pro!
Mom: Oh, thank you!
Murray: A prophylactic!!
That joke never got old for Murray.

Anyways, as a way of continuing to grieve for my mom, and the caregiver she was for everyone she loved, I have been trying to sew and meditate on her. One of the things that she learned from Murray was how to upholster. She re-upholstered many chairs, stools, and even a velvet couch! Murray's two sons didn't take any interest in his tools and knowledge, so my mom inherited many of his tools. One of the things I've been working with is a sample book of upholstery fabric, probably 40 years old. It is full of swatches of amazingly awesome vintage fabric that I've been sewing into little pouches. I hope to keep posting more to my Etsy as time goes on (and interest dictates).
I wish I had taken the time to have my mom teach me her upholstery skills, passed down from Murray. It is a lost art that I would have loved to learn from her.

Happy Father's Day to my dear husband and friend. Parenthood has certainly been a challenge, and I'm glad we're on this road together. Sage and Fern adore you, and I can't wait to have little boy as part of our clan. Thank you for your love, devotion, patience and care.

Shorties

I have made a couple of shorties/soakers from this pattern, free online! The pattern is great, it is very easy to cut and sew, and I am very happy with the results. I need to donate a few soakers, as Katrina asks anyone to do who wants to sell soakers made from the pattern.

These can be found for sale in my Etsy shop.

In home news, we have a flea infestation from our cats. Kind of frustrating, as we spend $100 a month on Frontline Plus to AVOID this problem. The girls have bites, Tray and I have bites, and we haven't let the cats in the house in over a week. We have tried cleaning, laundry, vacuuming religiously, steaming with eucalyptus oil, spraying with eucalyptus, pennyroyal, and citronella, and they are still around. Less than there were, but they are still living somehow. We are having someone come spray on Thursday while we're out, and I feel very conflicted about it, but I can't keep letting my little girls get bit and keeping my cats outdoors meowing at all our neighbors' doors all night.

Art Shop Garden Festival

If you are in the Philly area this Friday or Saturday, you should definitely come to the Art Shop Garden Festival!
I will be selling Rebourne goodies, everything from cloth diapering stuff to zipper pouches to hats. Please stop by and hang out!

Goodbye

Sage said goodbye to her favorite dancer shoes the other day. It was a tough transition, as she loved wearing her fancy white shoes everywhere and with everything. We bought them at the thrift store, and she loved the noise that the heels made on the tile floor. They were so small that they gave her a blister, so I finally insisted that she throw them away. They were too stinky and worn to give back to the thrift store, or to keep for Fern.
Somehow, in looking at the picture of her holding her shoes for the last time, I keep thinking about Sabina. Sabina was brutally murdered a block and a half from our house yesterday. She was 21 years old. She was on her bike, on her way home from a friends' house, sometime a little after midnight. My next-door-neighbor has known her for years, and spoke very highly of her, especially her vibrant personality and lust for life.
I don't know what to think. I am scared, angry, sad, and confused. My heart goes out to Sabina's family and friends.

Potty Training

After training Sage to use the potty, I was left with two conclusions: 1. I don't want to train subsequent children as early as we did with her (before she was 2), 2. I want to wait until the child is ready, and 3. if the experience isn't going well for either party, we would stop and wait for 2 months to try again.

I assumed Fern would be interested in copying Sage's behavior, and enlisted Sage's help in showing Fern the potty experience. Fern wasn't interested! She was freaked out by sitting on a tiny potty on the ground, let alone the big potty. We both knew before she was going #2 in her diaper, and I am pretty sure she was aware of going pee as well. She wasn't interested, plain and simple. I finally felt at peace with her, and the night before Mother's Day had a realization: I don't have to stress out about it. I don't have to control it. I CAN handle two kids in diapers, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

On Mother's Day, she decided she wanted to pee on her little potty! I was kind of in shock (we hadn't been talking at all about it), and didn't get too excited or expectant. However, 3+ weeks later, she's still plugging along great, very self-motivated and self-aware. There have been SO few accidents, and I feel much less stressed out or controlling than I did with Sage. I don't worry about when Fern wants to wear a diaper or needs to wear a diaper. I don't worry about accidents, and don't really get upset. I am proud of her when she uses the potty, but it's not the highlight of the day or a cause for bribing (like it was with Sage). Fern doesn't knowingly stand in the living room and pee all over herself, seemingly intentionally, like Sage did, just to get a rise out of us. What a difference between these two kids.
I am LOVING not changing poopy diapers anymore, and having a break before our poop machine arrives in the fall. Here's to continued success.