Category Archives: boys

Knight Alastair

Names are funny.  From generation to generation, they wax and wane in popularity.  When we named our son Ryan, I knew of only one other child by that name;  my sorority sister’s son was 6 years old on the other side of the country.  Now, “Ryan”  is as common as John used to be.  Alastair, however, seems never to have achieved a high ranking in the past 100 years.

Which is why my daughter and her husband, Harvey, chose it.  Every name that they considered was first checked against a list of the 100 most popular names in the past 100 years.  “Alastair” was clearly absent from each.  So that’s the name they chose.

Shortly after my grandson’s birth, a friend of Harvey’s commented, “With a name like Alastair, it’s knighthood or failure.” Thus, the choice of this embroidery design for his Valentine’s Day shirt.

 

 

After choosing the knight from Planet Applique www.planetapplique.com , I decided on the text, “Soon I’ll be your knight in shining armor.”  But a senior moment denied me access to the proper spelling and I typed in “amor.”  Continue reading

The Boy King

RTutCostume

NEWS FLASH: IT’S HERE!!!!  SEE THE MUSIC VIDEO FEATURING PHARAOH ROBERT, HIS PYRAMID AND HIS EGYPTIAN WALKING SISTER, LAUREL CADE, AT THE END OF THIS POST.  BE PATIENT WITH THE BEGINNING.  ROBERT INTENDED THIS TO BE ABOUT HIS PYRAMID BUT HIS FATHER TRIED TO MAKE IT ABOUT ROBERT THE RELUCTANT.
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What a bargain grandchildren are! I give them my loose change, and they give me a million dollars’ worth of pleasure. ~Gene Perret  
I get at least that much pleasure from mine.  Lately, 5 year-old Robert has been generating pleasure and entertainment at an alarming rate.
His fascination with Egypt seems endless.  He got over Max and Ruby, The Wiggles, Transformers and even Spiderman in less time than he has spent pursuing his interest in this ancient country and its culture.

Last week, he wrote a short story as part of a school assignment.  Of course, his chose for his subjects Egypt and a pharaoh.

Later, he enlarged this (very brief) story into a play (one act) whose star role was played, of course,  by none other than Robert Charles, Himself.

He and his mother made his costume, a tunic ( read: pillowcase) with a wide circular paper collar, tie sash belt and wristlets .

Pharaoh Robert chose to pose for this playbill in front of the stairs that go to his homeschool classroom.  The staircase is reminiscent of the pyramids he saw last week at Epcot, though, he was quick to point out,  this sort of pyramid with stairs would be Aztec, not Egyptian. Continue reading

Part II Goodbye SATB2011

I hope you are not yet tired of the details of Sewing at the Beach 2011 because I am still enjoying the fresh memories of a great school.

The young man in the handsome blazer was a doll and a great escort for the cutie pie in the smocked dress. She had been well-coached to smile at people. But the minute her eyes turned away from a member of the audience, her dazzling smile warped into bored fatigue. It was late for little ones.

As a wrap up, I would like to share with you a few photos of the students projects, fashion show and banquet table party favors.

Then I want to introduce you to living proof that sewing is, indeed, a bona fide Elixir of Youth.   Continue reading

Christmas 2010

Our Nutcracker Sweets. Robert’s black pants got left behind at home when they packed to come to our house. He doesn’t match, but he still looks handsome.

What a fabulous Christmas celebration we had!  Both of our children and their families were here Christmas Eve day, as well as another special young family who joined us with their 3-month old baby and 3 year old. With 8 adults and 5 children, it was glorious mayhem.

I bought this leather strap of 4 antique sleigh bells (2 hang on the back of the wreath) at our church bazaar in 1972, when Bob and I were newly weds. They had been donated by a family who removed them from the old family barn before they moved to Glenwood 25 years before that. At the time, I never dreamed that hanging them on our front door every Christmas would be a family tradition. Nor could I have known that they would become a family treasure.

Our son-in-law, Super Chef Harvey, brought two enormous to-die-for lasagnas for dinner.  Even Robert, the pickiest eater in the world, ate two servings.  With hot-from-the-oven gingerbread and whipped cream for dessert, everyone dined in holiday style.

After the children were “nestled, all snug in their beds,”  we plucked the antique sleigh bells from the greens at the front door and rang them loud and long, passing  below all the children’s windows.  Laurel rushed down the stairs declaring that she had HEARD them!!!!!  Santa was coming!  It was just magical.

The greenery, however, looked a little bedraggled after the bells were put back in place so hurriedly.

At 6:45 Christmas morning, Alastair wailed “Hi!”   “Mama!” again and again until everyone was awake.  This was an early reveille for the adults who had been up until 1 a.m. stuffing 5 stockings all “hung by the chimney with care” and assembling Robert’s pyramid and Egyptian army soldiers.  Continue reading

Alastair, the Mouse King

AltheMouseKing

 

Alastair’s Christmas suit is finished and ready to wear.  The pants pattern is from the book Sewing for Jack and Jill, by Martha Pullen.  It begins with the basic button-on pants pattern and simply adds a template for the V front.  It would be easy enough to draft if the book were not available.

This pattern has become a favorite of mine.  The V-front pants seem more elegant and suitable for special occasions.  The V also creates an ideal frame for embroidery on the shirt.

 

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MP pants

 

The black velveteen pants are lined with black Imperial broadcloth.  The abalone buttons were found at Farmhouse Fabrics and they are just lovely.   I wanted to use the same buttons on the shirt and pants, but black would not show up on the pants and white or ivory would not show up on the back of the shirt.  The pearly grey abalone buttons offer contrast to both fabrics and shimmer in the light. They are perfect. Continue reading

Is it too late to be good?

"Is it too late to be good?"

Tick-tock-tick-tock…..time is short.  But if I can squeeze out 30 minutes between now and the weekend, I am going to embroider two shirts like these, made by Judy Day for her grandchildren. They just make me smile and I’m certain they would have the same effect on others.

It may not be too late for any of my grandchildren to turn over a new leaf, but it certainly will be too late for Alastair to wear the shirt by the time I mail it to him.  So perhaps Laurel and Robert will get some cute duds like these.  Continue reading

Mouse King Shirt

Alastair’s Christmas outfit is almost finished.  The pattern is Ginger Snaps Hudson’s Sundy Suit,  with side vents. Few little guys can keep their shirts tucked in so this pattern offers a nice solution to that problem.

Paired with the shirt are black velveteen short pants with straps that should hold the ruthless Mouse King securely in place. But if the shirt still fits Alastair next year, it’s nice to give him the option of wearing it without tucking.  

Like Cousin Robert’s shirt  the fabric is Martha’s Favorite Linen.  This is not my favorite linen, but it is just right for the boys’ shirts.  Continue reading

Robert’s Christmas Shirt

RobertsChristmasShirtwhole

 

Finally, 5 year-old Robert’s Christmas shirt is done.  His long black pants are pressed and ready to wear as soon as I buy a belt to keep them up.  Then he will be ready for The Nutcracker.

After all the interruptions and delays, I am glad to have this project finished.  The fabric is Martha’s Favorite Linen from Martha Pullen and  shirt pattern Hudson’s Sunday Suit  is from Ginger Snaps.  Like all Nancy Coburn’s Ginger Snaps patterns, the directions are very clear with great photo illustrations and many design options.

 

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That crooked embroidery design drove me crazy. But it was too late to redo it.

 

The nutcracker design from A Bit of Stitch  is surrounded by a candy cane frame from Adorable Ideas, narrowed in my heavily used BuzzEdit2 program.

Black lace tape, run vertically on either side of the embroidery, is embellished with a decorative stitch from my Brother Duetta 6500D.  The same stitch is worked on the back , around the collar and on the mock sleeve cuffs. Continue reading

Gingerbread House Party 2010

Rebecca, Alastair and the house he wants to get his little hands on!

The day after Thanksgiving, my precious daughter hosted her annual family gingerbread house party and what a party it was!

Rebecca was especially excited about Cousin Robert’s hand-me-down John-John.  Smocked with gingerbread boys and candy canes, it  looked just as good on Alastair as it did two years ago on Robert.

Like so many of the brother-sister outfits I have made for them, these garments were both ready-to-smock.  It’s very rewarding to see this outfit have a second life with my second grandson. Of course, Robert and Laurel have been raised in our family’s gingerbread tradition and made their first  houses that year.

Laurel and Robert, wearing the gingerbread John-John now worn by his little cousin Alastair

Since my children were little, we’ve always made gingerbread houses for Christmas.  For several years, the PlayGroup Mamas gathered to make houses for the children, before they all left home. But that was before the handy kits with pre-baked walls and  roof panels, frosting mix and a generous supply of candies.  Continue reading

Thanksgiving ’10

Alastair at home after dinner

We had a beautiful Thanksgiving day with our daughter and her husband’s family.  In addition to the tenderest pork roast this side of the Mason-Dixie line,  standard Thanksgiving fare was offered, including turkey and all the trimmings.

89 year-old Ruby again delighted but did not surprise us with her dee-vine Florida pear cobbler, chocolate pecan pie and blackberry cobbler.  Everything was delicious beyond words, except for the pumpkin cheese cake I made.  The gingersnap pecan crust was burned and I don’t know why.

But with a few of my ordinary but satisfactory pumpkin pies and Ruby’s contributions, there was no shortage of desserts.

In his turkey suit, Alastair, of course, stole the show from the roasted bird.  With his good looks and sweet nature, this little boy does not need cute clothing to win everyone’s attention. But he was precious in his black and white houndstooth check suit, made up from the John-John pattern in Martha’s Favorite Applique’s book by Martha Pullen.

The turkey design from the Autumn Harvest collection by Designs by JuJu was added to the front, enabling the John-John to be worn beyond Thanksgiving day.  I hope to get another button-on embroidered for other occasions. Continue reading