Ahum.

Kindergarten is great. My offspring love it there. However viral infections love it there as well. Especially the classrooms of the youngest attendants seem to be viral ridden at times. After some sick days last week, my little wee one has been at home again this week with spiking fevers and heaps of green snot and slime.

At the same time one of the tendons in my left hand is playing up and demanding a break. Too much knitting presumably.

So we'll take a bit of rest. Or at least we'll try to.

We'll sit in a chair -maybe this one- and do nothing. Or at least we'll try to.

I'll put on my new room shoes and put my feet up. I'm told it's quite heavenly.

I'll give it a try. May I suggest you do the same?

I've decided to venture into quilting of a more complicated nature. Nothing spectacular. Just going for blocks that present a bit more of a challenge cutting and sewing wise. I'm not exactly a novice but back in the day I was foolish enough to do it all by hand. With two girls roaming the premises time has become too precious to continue down that road. So now I do all that stitching by machine. And so far I've gone for the straight forward kind of quilt. Getting used to working with such bulk.

But no more. The pinwheel quilt was a success. The puzzle square quilt top is coming together nicely. And so it was time to introduce a new block to the equation. The crossroads block:

Every little square measures just over 5 cms. It's a time consuming process putting just one block together and it requires total focus. But it's fun. It really is. And it's a great way to use up small scraps. 

Besides I get the the feeling that this will turn out to have a rather vintage feel to it thanks to the many small shapes. And that is as good as it can possibly get. To me at least.

Now I need to figure out how to quilt it through once I've done enough blocks like this to make a full blown blanket. Straight lines... diagonals.... following the seams or not. Oh the endless possibilities....

Any suggestions?

Slowly but surely the ripple blanket is growing.

A bit of a messy site while work is on the way. But when stored it's looking mightily neat.

And when pretended to be in use already it's looking darn great.

But before I can drape it on the sunlounger and soak up some sunshine outside it does need a few more ripple rows. A whole lot more. But we're getting there...

Over the weekend I made a skirt destined to cover the bottom and legs of my youngest offspring. 

The colors are smashing and work well with the cardigans that already inhabit our local wardrobe.

And the ruffle on the bottom has a certain cute factor to it.

But. But, but, but. There's something not quite right.

I followed the pattern. To the letter. But still there is something not quite right. With the pattern indeed.

It's a simple enough pattern that works from a basis of rectangular skirt pieces. And that is exactly where it goes wrong. After all children aren't rectangular in shape, as far as I'm aware..

The rectangles make that the skirt gets too bulky at the waist where it's gathered with an elastic band. And when my girl is wearing it, it shows. To me at least it shows. It shows something is not quite right.

It's the curse of having a professional tailor for a mother. The kind that makes three piece suits and wedding gowns from scratch. The kind that draws up patterns and includes multiple fittings for each piece of clothing. The kind of mum who created clothes that fitted me like a second skin all through my life basically.

It's great! And it's awful. Because it has made me acutely aware of every little thing that is not cut quite right, that is not finished off quite right, that just doesn't fit quite like it should.

There are many books with patterns for children's clothes around these days. And while the designs on themselves are great, the patterns that are drawn up for them often leave quite a bit to be desired. Without taking into consideration that no two children have the same measurements, a lot of patterns have necklines which are too wide in general, shapes that are too straight and hence get too bulky in general and so on.

The solution is simple and labor intensive. We redraw every pattern according to the measurements of the girls. Some patterns need modest changes, others have to be drawn up all over again, almost from scratch. And the worse thing is that if you don't know how to make patterns yourself, it's far from obvious where to make the adjustments so that they will actually produce the effect you're after. Pattern making is a complicated skill that I don't master. Fortunately my mum is at hand to lend me her expertise!

In the case of this skirt the adjustments aren't too bad. I'll modify the rectangles at four points (at every third of the overall width and at both sides) so that it becomes a gentle A-line instead of a crude rectangle. It will allow the skirt to flow generously at the hemline but it will eliminate the bulk of fabric around the waist and hips so that it flatters the figure of my daughter.

So you see, making clothes is a laborous thing for me to do. The expectations and frustrations often clash and leave me with a uneasy feeling. I should think about taking a course in pattern making so that I can avoid the frustrations over patterns that produce bad fits. At some point in the future. That makes sense...

And what leaves you feeling frustrated when sewing?