Daphne had a great time last weekend at her friend Jonathan’s birthday party. Slightly bittersweet, since now that he’s 3 and in a different Sunday school class, Daphne won’t see him as much. But she still sees him at our Wednesday morning moms group.

This afternoon I was asking Daphne who she played with and she mentioned Jonathan. No big surprise. So I asked her what they played. Daphne’s response- “We ran and I hugged him and kissed him. Mwah!” Er, what?! Really? Running after boys and kissing them starts at age 2? I really don’t know, since I never did that. Ever. Ever. Evah. And that’s nothing that we’ve ever discussed or encouraged, obviously. Not that it’s a big deal, more funny than anything. But now I have to think of a way to explain to Daphne that we don’t kiss on our little boyfriends. At least not until she’s much, much older. Like 16. Right Hubs?

Yesterday, my husband won tickets to a Tweet Up at the IMAX inside the Houston Museum of Natural Science. They were showing a preview of the new Hubble 3D movie. I suggested he take Daphne, since she’s been obsessed with space lately. In fact, just the day before she wouldn’t leave the house without her “space monkey”- a monkey in a space suit that we bought her at NASA a few years ago. And she watches Space Buddies every. single. day. Childless people, if you want to annoy your friends and relatives with children, buy them any of the Buddies movies. Daphne calls Space Buddies, “Puppy Paws in SPACE!” Emphasis on the space. And Puppy Paws is from the Santa Buddies movie she watched at Christmas.

Daphne was thrilled with the IMAX experience. She got a Hubble patch and pin and settled down in her huge seat with her 3D glasses. My husband said there was a scene in the movie where the shuttle takes off and Daphne couldn’t stop saying things like “Wow!” “Yay” and “Blast off!”, as loud as she could, all while clapping. She also had to point out the moon, stars, and space planes (what Daphne calls the shuttle) and probably bugged all the adults sitting near them. And I think they even met an astronaut who had worked on the Hubble.

What a fun evening!

Besides sewing up a storm, I’ve also started a project for Daphne’s room.  I’ve had this table and chairs set for nearly three years now, with the intention of painting and reupholstering when it came time for her big girl room makeover.   It’s a cute set, mostly metal, very sturdy.  And only $20 at a garage sale.  Woot!  But I’ve struggled with how to blend the style with my style.  Right now it looks like an old-timey ice cream parlor set.  And the seat fabric, even if it wasn’t stained from the previous owners, just won’t work.

So, I’m spray painting the set a robin’s egg blue color and will reupholster the seat with a laminated cotton fabric.

Before and after:

Here’s my dilemma, fabric lovin’ friends… what should I choose to cover the seat cushion??  Her bedding will be a hodgepodge of various colors, a polka dot sheet set, all pulled together with a quilt (that I haven’t made yet) from Sandi Henderson’s Ginger Blossom fabric.

I know I can find a few laminated cotton Ginger Blossom prints that coordinate with the blue on the chairs, but I don’t want to be too matchy-matchy.  So, maybe a Nicey Jane laminated print?  I like Cherry Hop Dot, especially since Daphne has a retro, red play kitchen.  And turquoise/red is one of my favorite color combos.

Any other suggestions?  Do you think the laminated cotton will work for this project?  I’ve heard it drapes better than oilcloth.

Or does anyone want to come over and spray paint this set for me?  I hate spray painting.  Hopefully before she turns 3 I’ll get this set (and the quilt) finished.

Daphne has a new friend.  His name is Jonathan.  As my friend Sudie would say, he’s a little doll baby.  Almost 3, brown hair, brown eyes.  Totally adorable.  I mention him because Daphne’s reaction to Jonathan has been pretty funny.

A week ago at our Wednesday morning mom’s group at church, I went to pick Daphne up from the preschool class and noticed Daphne and Jonathan chasing each other around the room.  When I finally got her attention to leave, Daphne said to me, “Jonathan is fast!”  First off, I didn’t realize she knew his name.  There are many kids that she’s around at church and I’ve never heard her talk about anyone but her cousin Sydney and her friend Torah.  Oh, and she pronounced Jonathan perfectly!  Then she talked about nothing but Jonathan while we stopped for a Daphne potty break.  Guess he made an impression on her.

Luckily for Daphne, we just happened to be going over to Jonathan’s house that afternoon so his mommy could cut Daphne’s hair.  When we got home and I showed her the pictures of her haircut she asked, “Where are the Jonathan pics?”  Um, well, I didn’t take any.  Hehe.  And then she talked about Jonathan for the rest of the week.  Whenever I’d mention going to church Daphne would immediately say, “To see Jonathan?”

So when we left mom’s group yesterday, I peeked my head into the preschool room to get Daphne.  Daphne turns to the group and says, “Bye Jonathan!”  to which Jonathan replies, “Bye, see you tomorrow!”

Too cute!  I think it’s fun to see how Daphne has started to make friends.

I’ve had MADE’s market skirt tutorial in my list of things to sew for quite some time.  Why did I wait?  What an easy, cute and cheap project!!! Doesn’t the seersucker just scream SPRING!?

Market Skirt

Ignore the Hair

Please ignore the crazy Princess Leia buns, they started off higher up on her head.  Crazy kid.

So, I made a few changes… I knew if the white was see-through that it would bug me, so I doubled up the hem and the pockets.  It doesn’t have the same bouncy quality as the original tutorial due to the extra weight, but that’s ok.  I also topstitched the hem.  Oh, and I didn’t make the white hem a few inches wider than the seersucker.  I didn’t want to gather it only 2 or 3 inches, so I made it the same width as the skirt pieces.  The pocket is a hybrid of MADE’s pocket pattern, with Made by Rae’s pleated pocket instructions.  Total finished length for my 2T girly- 10 inches from top of waistband to bottom of the hem.  I adjusted the length of the skirt, but not the width.  My elastic piece was only 16 or 17 inches, instead of 21, so our skirt is a little more full.

I think total cost for this skirt was around $4?  I only used about 1/4 yd seersucker, some white cotton scraps and 2 buttons.  Not bad!

She did really well!! (And why didn’t I have this done months ago?)

Last year I made Daphne a pair of ruffle capris and I loved the way they turned out. Instead of buying a ruffle pant pattern, I just added a ruffle to a basic toddler sized elastic waist pant pattern. Worked great! Fit well through the seat and legs. I was very pleased. Here’s little D last spring:

This year I decided to go ahead and buy a pants pattern from youcanmakethis.com. I like e-patterns, since I’m not very good with keeping up with my printed patterns. Plus, I liked the idea of drafting your own pattern based on your child’s measurements, since commercial patterns seem to run huge. I chose the Easy-Fit Pants. They were very, very easy. The only problem I had was determining the size. Based on Daphne’s hip and waist measurement, I should have made a size 6 months. I knew that would never work, so I went with the size 1. They are great through the hips and leg, but the rise is too short. Didn’t think about that. Well, crap. She’ll be able to wear them, but they are definitely low rise pants.

Sorry for the crappy pics. I’m calling these her dandelion pants, even though the flowers on the fabric are mums. Mums aren’t very springy.

Modeling her new pants after bath time.

So, I’ll try the pattern again with a size 2 and might make some adjustments based on this great article from Sew Mama Sew on modifying pants patterns for kids.

And guess who is getting a hair cut this week? I’m excited to see what it will look like after being shaped up by a professional (and not hacked on by mommy’s sewing scissors).

Next sewing project (besides another pair of pants, hehe)- the Market Skirt from MADE’s tutorial. Stay tuned.

A few months ago, I added Wardrobe Refashion to my Google Reader. Wow, what an interesting site!! I’m constantly amazed at the transformations, like the plus sized ankle length maternity dress refashioned into something that Twiggy could have worn in the 60’s. Such talented people! The site has definitely encouraged me to take a second look at pieces in my closet, or things I might see while thrifting.

Last week I did a mini-refashion of my own. Remember this simple sundress from last summer?

This dress was slightly too small from day one. That’s what happens when your toddler won’t stand still to be properly measured and you are sewing while she’s asleep. But she always got compliments on it. Strangers at the mall would come up to me and ask where I bought her dress.

I didn’t want to just pack it away, so I took the remaining yardage, cut the skirt off the old dress and turned it into a Matilda Jane style halter.

Not the greatest pictures, but you get the idea. I’m just thrilled that it turned out exactly as I’d hoped. I’m 50/50 with drafting my own patterns for Daphne’s clothes. It could work, or be a complete disaster. Luckily, this works and I saved my measurements and the bodice pattern I drafted to make another.

Next thing you know, I’ll be ripping down the drapes for play clothes, Von Trapp children style.

So you remember how I was DREADING the whole potty training thing? I kept putting it off, even though Daphne would occasionally ask to use the potty and go without any problems. I wasn’t sure she was ready. Or, more accurately, I wasn’t ready. Getting Daphne to sleep and eat has always been a fight, why would potty training be any different?

After a rocky first three days, mainly due to us both being really sick & crabby the week I started, Daphne has now been accident free for almost a week. She even wakes up dry from naps and overnight. This is just shocking to me. Shocking!! I do still feel like I live in the bathroom now, since I take her every 30 minutes. That’s all I do, sit in the bathroom with Daphne and clap for her bowel movements. They leave that info out for new moms. Someday you will have to stand next to the toilet, cheer and do the Dora “We Did It” dance more than a dozen times a day to encourage your little one to use the potty.

Daphne is in cloth training panties most of the day, with Pull-Ups for nap and nighttime. She hates the Pull-Ups and thinks her cotton panties are awesome. She also hates using public restrooms. In fact, she’s only used a public potty once when we were at the library. At our Wednesday morning mom’s group, I took her before we left the house, once we got to church and before we left. You’d have thought I was trying to torture her in the bathroom. So, she held it until we got home. I’m really surprised she didn’t have an accident.

Next week we are going to pick out a few big girl gifts, including Ni hao, Kai-Lan panties. Go Daphne! Woo hoo!