To say that the last few days have been trying is like saying San Antonio summers are a little warm. Eva is firmly entrenched in her terrible twos and the holidays have me scrambling. I almost reached my tipping point a couple of days ago when Z walked into the living room, gasped and said, “MAMA! look what sister diiiid!” This usually is a terrible precursor to something that will either be covered in marker, leaves a wet mess, or her with all her clothes off in a combination of the first two. But let me backtrack.

I had been sewing, and had the iron on which was nearby on the iron board for easy reach. The last month has been an ongoing love affair of Merchant and Mills patterns, and that day was reserved for The Dress Shirt pattern. In a lovely single gauze purchased at, you guessed it, Miss Matatabi on Etsy.

So there I was enjoying the whir of the sewing machine, the puff, hiss of my iron as it waited patiently to be used to press a seam. The faint scent of starch was a pleasant aroma. As so often it happens, time got away from me and I lost sight of how quiet E had become for the last 20 minutes..never a good thing for a two year old. Z comes clomping down the stairs and goes into the living room and starts screeching.

Turns out, that pleasant aroma of starch was drifting from the living room, not my ironing board like I’d thought. She had decided to try and completely cover the TV stand and TV with starch. She was quite proud that she had figured out how to work the spray nozzle, and had the area completely saturated. Much drama ensued as this was our only big TV and it was quite important to the kids and hubby. (I couldn’t care less if we had a TV at all in the house, but that is neither here nor there)

We thought it was a goner, lights blinked crazily and the screen was fuzzy. Of course, hubby tinkered and got the back casing off and managed to soak up most of the starch and the next morning it was working again. Just another catastrophe averted in the Vaz household. That’s just one day that has blended into many days of the same these past few months. Some days I think I’m crazy to say yes to more teaching gigs, since there is so much coordinating to be done, etc. But the time will pass anyway, and I’d rather avoid that loathsome feeling of, ‘what if?’ There have been special orders for customers that have been delayed for lack of torch time and class supply lists that needed to be updated before getting sent out for a future class in the Seattle area. These crazy days of kids running around underfoot will be short and soon missed once they get old enough to be embarrassed by their parents.

Lots of little things that have added up to a big headache before the end of the year. But this is nothing new for most of us, by the time the end of the year is on the horizon, I usually start reflecting. Of course, I’d like it to be deep and profound- but let’s face it; with a two year old and a first grader in the house it’s mostly been about messes that had to be cleaned, dirty diapers you hoped didn’t leak before they were changed and trying to maintain some sort of balance for sanity’s sake.

My hubs has coined this make ‘the Reverse Penguin’ since he said the bib is black instead of white. Men. Fit for me and details on the make:

Size 12 and the fit in the shoulders is quite nice. The waist and hips are quite spacious, perhaps a bit too much- maybe go down a size in that area? I’m thinking I may do an inverted pleat and sew it down a couple of inches below the bib to control some of the billowing. Again, I’m really wishing the pattern had a finished garment measurement  on it somewhere. This fabric is quite thin and semi-sheer in the light, not sure how it will withstand the inevitable tugging and grasping of a two and 6 year old. The fold back sleeve is a nice touch, you can leave it rolled down if you looking for a little bit more length. I’d love to make this again in a yarn dye linen. Maybe next time add some in seam pockets since my hands had nowhere to hide. There is still much love for all things Merchant and Mills (ack! Entomology pins) and look forward to trying this one again.

Here’s to a merry and bright holiday season!