26 months and lovely in linen

I could not, for the life of me, remember how many months my little girl is and had to check the last monthly update. October snuck up, and here we are at 26 months. I have been slacking on the blog front, I know, but no one warned me that pre-school would take over my life. To make up for it, I am including lots and lots of pictures.

Yes, it's true. The Koom Koom started pre-school last month. But it's a cooperative pre-school which means she only goes twice a week for a couple of hours each. And of those two days, she goes alone only one day. What makes it a cooperative is the heavy parental involvement, including attending pre-school with your child on the other day. And when I say heavy, I mean HEAVY. There are meetings, jobs (mine is health, safety and nutrition), stations (i.e. playdough, art table, dramatic play), snacks (for 18 kids), and on and on and on. It's a doozy and I'm a bit overwhelmed.

What makes it all worthwhile is that the Koom LOVES it. Absolutely adores it. She didn't even mind being dropped off that first time, and has barely looked at me as I leave on drop-off days.

And because there needs to be a picture at this point, here's one of the linen lovelies I made.

I am venturing into designing from scratch, rather than using the many patterns from my beloved Japanese craft books. That crooked hemline? Not your imagination. This is what happens when I make up the patterns.

Fortunately, you can't tell at all once the dress is on. You might also recognize the fabric from the Colette doll.

It's getting challenging coming up with new props.

I love these buttons on the back. They're super thin and organic looking and I like brown with orange. Then again, I like brown with every color.

Here's a botched attempt at designing from scratch. Please tell me the buttons don't look like blue nipples. I would really appreciate that.

It's way too big, way too wide. The striped long-sleeved tee underneath is actually a onesie -- I snipped off the snap portion and made it into a t-shirt. The ensemble is kind of cute, no?

Another development is that she refuses to sleep in her crib. For the past month she's been sleeping on the futon in the living room, calling it her bed. The good news is that she's sleeping mostly on her own. Then I discovered that the crib (which we got for free from a friend) converts into a toddler bed, and so gave it a shot today. Voila! Koom was super excited that the crib is now a bed and she is sleeping in it as I type this. She's already fallen out of it once, but fear not, the bed is surrounded by big, comfortable cushions.

So when I haven't been involved with pre-school or DIY bed conversions, I've been sewing. So far, this skirt has been my favorite. It's from one of my trusty Japanese craft books ISBN978-4-529-04526-1. It's a linen/rayon blend with the cutest box pleats on the back.

Don't those braids kill you? And here's the awesome back.

More soon!! Maybe even tomorrow -- I'm a sewing fiend!