At the county fair

At the county fair, Hubby moved like a special ops guy (he'd like that description) through the displays and straight to Madam Pig.  Before I knew it, he was back at my side. "Second," he said.

Yes, it seems our dear friend Humpty Dumpty trumped the piggies and ran off with First Place.  Doesn't he look pleased with himself!?  (You don't suppose it'll all go to his head, do you?)

And my Indoor Hopscotch got Fourth Place in the Toys category.

I entered some of the clothes I made over the past year (here, here and here) and received ribbons on two of them. I was delighted to see that there was a lot more competition in the Clothes category this year! Last year I won first, second, and third but there were only a few other entries and most of them were aprons.

But the best fun of all was getting the Committee's Choice Ribbon for Madam Pig and her piglets!  It turns out they did charm the judges after all!

Tomorrow I'll show you some other people's entries that caught my eye.

Fall 2010 SWAP

It's time for another SWAP, that is, Sewing With a Plan.  Miss M has grown an inch in height since March.  Her girth on the other hand hasn't changed a bit.  Which means store-bought clothes are not going to fit her well this fall, especially pants.  Which is a bit of a problem since it can get pretty cold in the fall and pants are a must.  Enter the ability to sew! (Not to mention it's just plain fun!)

I followed the basic guideline set forth by the lovely ladies in the Ottobre English group on Yahoo.  I already had some fabric and put in an order last night for the rest.  I always get fabric envy for the gorgeous designer prints I see out there, so I figured it's time to allow myself the pleasure of using some high-quality prints before Miss M's clothes require too much yardage for it to be feasible.  Among my choices are a Michael Miller corduroy and a Hilco velveteen. Yum!

You can click on the picture to see it full-sized.

I do have some fabric I'll use for the trenchcoat...I just didn't bother taking a picture of it for the storyboard.

Of course, some things will probably get changed, switched around once I have the fabric in hand, but this is the basic scheme.  Is it completely nuts that I'm delighted to begin sewing long sleeved shirts and jackets when it's nearly 100 degrees outside?

Roly poly PIG

Meet Madam Pig.

And her six wee piglets.

They are preparing themselves to go to the county fair.

Where they will charm the judges...

And delight the  masses...

With their roly poly antics.

I <heart> them!

The pattern is from LiEr at Ikatbag.

Tea Party in the Backyard

After "marrying her husband" this morning, Miss M thought it would be nice to "have a tea party with him."

Using the tea set she received for Christmas last year...

And a pink tupperware of freshly baked shortbread cookies*...

And real tea with real sugar and cream...

I think she made the little man quite pleased!  And hopefully these "special occasions" will be fondly remembered when she grows up.

*I usually add 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 tsp. almond extract to the recipe.  If you don't like shortbread cookies from a tin, try these! They are infinitely better!

Fourth of July Dress

We were rained out this Fourth of July.  A storm came through right at nightfall.  The local fireworks show was postponed until July 5th, but we weren't allowed to do our personal ones (at least, not in the city limits...we could probably take them up to the Farm and do them, but we aren't planning to).  Still, I think Miss M had a mighty fine day.  She's always begging me to let her play in the rain, but most of the time there's too much thunder and lightening to allow her that pleasure.  This time, however, the rain was warm, there was no thunder, and I let her stay out till lunchtime.  Unfortunately, she was wearing the Fourth of July Dress I made her and she had to change into dry clothes before I got a chance to snap her picture.  I finally got her to put it back on today for a quick photo session.

I used the "Polka dot blouse" pattern (#16 from Ottobre 1/2008) in a size 98.  I really like this pattern because it's cute and comfy and has no buttons, zippers, or elastic!  Size 98 is a it big for Miss M, but for this particular pattern it doesn't matter too much...plus, she'll be able to wear it next year!  The changes I made were to cut the sleeves short and lengthen the hem (at an A-line) about 14 inches.  I added a ruffle about 1.5 times as long as the lower edge circumference.

The headscarf is #40 from Ottobre 3/2010.

I have one more dress in the works for Miss M and then I'm planning to turn my thoughts to fall and winter.  Both kids have enough for the rest of the summer, but they'll both need things for cooler weather.  I need to figure out what sort of a SWAP to do.  Insanely ambitious with one for each kid?  A mini SWAP for each kid?  Just jackets?  What about a bit of sewing for me?  Hmm...decisions, decisions.