Astronomy and toilet training

Welcome to Week One Million of toilet training Maia. And by Week One Million, I mean Week Four. It just feels like Week One Million, because of the amount of laundry we're doing. Or the number of plastic bags we're accruing filled with soiled clothes either destined for the laundry, or in some cases, the bin. We're trying everything: gentle encouragement, praise, not so gentle encouragement, rewards, pleading, voodoo. But the girl will just not poop where she's meant to to. I'm at the end of my tether, I'm willing to try anything. And by anything I mean astronomy.


Sheesh, astonomy is complicated. Every single day, all these planets are moving, into different alignments, different convergences, into houses, out of houses... What does it all mean? And what does it all mean about pooping? I've been charting everything. Charting all these variables and how they interact with each other. And I came up with this:


If you're not an astronomer like me, you might need a bit of guidance to read this chart. Every coloured line represents a scenario and where they intersect, an outcome. So 'Fully clothed' and 'In public' results in pooping at the soft play centre. If only I'd consulted my charts before that happened. This week we've at least moved into the 'Sheer Bloody Coincidence' meridian, and she's had three on the toilet. Whether or not we're temporarily or permanently in the House of Toilet-Trained is not clear though.

Party frock giveaway winner

Without further ado, the winner of the reversible party frock pattern is... Grace! Who wanted more time for Christmas. Ahem, sister.

Grace, can you send me an email because I couldn't find your contact details?

Retro guitar hoodie

I haven't made anything for Jamie for about a year and now that he's not treating my wares a kryptonite, I thought it was high time I did. He was so grateful and excited about it I really need to work on more boy stuff!


This is like version twelve of my hoodie pattern and I'm finally happy with it.


And seeing as I've finally managed to track down some reversible zippers that don't cost more than the fabric required, I made it reversible. The other side is soft flannel with big guitar pockets. I'm liking how it ties in the interior of the hood.


Today's task is to scale the final 3T / 4T pattern down to the 18m/2T size and write the tute up. So... anyone with a bit of spare time and a fabric stash want to test this? Maybe someone with a boy for a change? I can throw in a reversible zip!

Snow White: The Scottish version

Me: Who's that?
Jamie: Doc.
Me: Who's that?
Jamie: Sneezy.
Me: Who's that?
Jamie: Happy.
Me: Who's that?
Jamie: Bashful.
Me: Who's that?
Jamie: Dopey.
Me: Who's that?
Jamie: Sleepy.
Me: Who's that?
Jamie: Hamish.

Giveaway: Reversible party frock

I love my testers, I really do. Bron from Rhubarb Crumble just completed my reversible party frock pattern and knocked my socks of with her feedback. So a couple small changes to the tute and the pattern and they're off to the printers.


Bron made this beautiful butterfly print dress for her little girl, Miss Small, who was so enamoured with the butterfly side that she wore it all day.


The teal needcord side got a tiny look-in, just long enough for some modelling to demonstrate how full the skirt is.


The pattern also has the option for a big fat sash, kindly demonstrated by the delectable Erica.


It has a retro style (I was watching a lot of Mad Men when I designed it) with a high neck, generous shoulders, a slightly high waist and a very full skirt. There's a slit in the back with a single button closure. The pattern includes sizes 18m/2T and 3T/4T. The pattern should hit my shop in a couple of days, but before then... a giveaway! To enter just leave a comment on this post with the thing you want the most for Christmas (yeah, I know it's a bit early but hey). If you link to the giveaway on Twitter / Facebook / blog feel free to pop back and leave another comment. I'll randomly pick a winner on Thursday.

Interchangable mei tai

What a clever lot you are for guessing this was a mei tai!


Our friends that live in Paradise had a wee baby girl last week. I was going to make her some clothes but I remember when I had my first that you get so many clothes as gifts that some things are only worn once before outgrowing. So I was racking my brain for something that would last them a long time and was a bit special.


Just look. Four years old and still happy to be carried. I apologise for the quality of the pictures, Jamie took the one of the front carrying and Maia took the picture of back carrying. Yes, I did let my two year old use the camera. Yes, I will be paying the price for that decision. I read 6426 tutorials for making a mei tai before I started and mashed them all together for my version. The one feature that I really liked was a window so you could change the panels all the time. I've included some testosteroney ones so hopefully Dad will get in on the babywearing.


The inserts are double sided so you can just flip them around. I went a bit nuts so there's eight different inserts. But Mum is crafty too so she can make heaps more.


It took an surprisingly long time to make, mostly because of the straps which are a massive 75 inches long and needed ironed, stitched, padded, stitched, stitched, stitched. Also, I hadn't noticed that Steven had set the iron to Evil and it left some black residue after I had quadruple safety stitched the straps to the body. Rather than unpick a bajillion stitches I just cut another panel and sewed it on top so the body is even more sturdy. Anyone guess what I used for padding? Thinsulate. I'm gonna use it for everything. Jamie has started referring to the huge roll of Thinsulate as 'my friend'. So true.

Animal, vegetable, mineral

Here's a sneaky peak of what I've been working on for the last 187 days. Or the last three days, which just felt like 187 days because of the number of stitches sewn, ripped out and sewn again...


Anyone guess what it is?