Rewind: The Nursery

Now that we're turning our crib into a toddler bed and getting rid of the changing table and its drawers full of cloth diapers, I thought it would be nice to post some pictures of the nursery. I put them on flickr ages ago and Ohdeedoh did a nursery tour but I never actually wrote a post about my design. I start at the crib and then move clockwise around the room. I will miss this layout but am also excited to change things up a bit.

The crib is the discontinued Tassa from Ikea. Somehow it will become a toddler bed using the same mattress. I got the sheet on ebay. I framed a beautiful handmade card that my sister in law gave to us at the baby shower but took it down once Zadie got mobile as Mr. Lemon was afraid she would reach it and impale herself. The rugs are from Ikea and Flor. I hadn't seen anything like this but there was a nice spread in Parents magazine a couple of months ago using this same idea.

We constructed the changing table from Ikea's trofast system. There is more information on Ikea Hacker and this earlier post. I've written about the alphabet before as it's been a real work in progress. We'll be moving the dresser to where the changing table is so I'm not sure how it's going to look. And what a sweetie there! About 4 weeks I think. Who can remember?

This dresser is the Anes from Ikea. I think it's been discontinued as well but I like that it's made of actual wood and not a composite. It's very sturdy and well crafted. The bed will be placed under these frames so I'll have to add some more art to fill up the space. All of the frames except for the one are black so it ties all the images together. This little scene has actually changed a good bit these last 2 years.

Although you can see it much better in the first post, I wanted to mention that the molding we used at the edges of our beadboard ceiling is braided metal cable from Lowe's. Wood molding was not working and I wanted an industrial look to tame down the cottageyness of our 100-year-old house with sloping ceilings (it's called a half story). Basically, if I have an idea of something I want to do but I'm not sure what, I'll just walk up and down the aisles of Lowe's until I find it and then I ask Mr. Lemon if it will work. We often call each other from different parts of the massive store. It's tacked up with things that hold down metal conduit.

I love that there is a lot natural light coming in the room. We just have vinyl blinds instead of curtains to keep it airy. There are little cord cleats on the side of each window frame to keep the cords out of the way and we are diligent about using them.

The rocking chair is Ikea's Lillberg. It looks good and is incredibly comfortable but it doesn't really rock. I wish I would have splurged for a nice glider or just bought an ugly one that I could get rid of without guilt. But all three of us can fit in this chair and that makes it really nice. I might recover the cushions. We'll see.

We took the door off the closet when this was my studio and intend to keep it that way. I like how it opens up the space a bit.

And finally, the closet. This has changed the most. I love the little striped socks and black shoes of that doll sitting on the shelf. Most of the stuff is from Ikea too (really?). We got the metal shelf things in their Summer sale tent and even the metal bins on the left are flower pots from there. They work really well in the space which is deep but not very wide. On the right and out of the shot are clothes hanging up. Stuff we use is on the top and the bottom rod holds stuff she'll grow into. I shop ahead to save money.

The pictures in the flickr set have been heavily tagged and commented on but if you have questions or want to know something (or make an offer on the rocker, ha ha), just let me know and I will answer it. I love this space and we spend a lot of time up there.

New curtains on the way

I'm hoping to take advantage of this 3 - 4 day weekend by sewing up some new curtains for the bedroom. I got these off-white curtains with the grommets at Gabe's a couple of weeks ago for $7.99 each. They are the right shade for the room. The fabric is almost like a cotton duck so it should be thick enough to keep out the light. Mr. Lemon and I like our sleeping room like a cave. In fact, I keep my alarm clock in a drawer next to the bed because the light keeps me up.

This blue stuff is a set of two panels that I will use to sew at the bottom of the curtains to cover up that unsightly 1988 forest green (see above). I'm also going to fold over the grommet section at the top of the curtain because large curtain rods are like a million dollars and I really don't think the look works with our mid-century melange of styles. This color is perfect. It's my favorite shade of teal/dark robin's egg blue. It's almost variegated so that the lighter color is the same as what's in the bedroom and the darker shade calms it down in a much needed way.

As for the bed: We want this Mandal bed from Ikea because it is made of actual wood and not a composite but I don't like the unfinished birch look for our room. I think it will completely clash with the Broyhill Brasilia hutch that I'm stuck on. I'm all about mixing styles but that's a bit much. I'd paint it but I don't really want to spend $350 on something that I have to refinish. I'd have to do the drawers too. The drawers are actually the best part about the bed. Since our house is about 900 sq. ft. we need all the storage we can get. Does anyone know of a good bed that will meet our needs?

Feature

My little polka dot dress was featured on the Fabric Loft blog as a source of inspiration for people using Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane collection. If you live in the UK, check them out. They have a great selection of fabrics. Read the full post here.

Tillbrook Romper

After seeing this post over at Mon Ami, I had to buy this pattern and make the romper myself. I found Mon Ami Journal through the Elsie Marley Kids Clothes Week challenge and both are excellent blogs for inspiration.

Luckily, I found the pattern on Etsy right away. It was a size 3. Perfect!

The pattern was super easy to follow. I didn't have any issues with the instructions or the fabric. I chose Alexander Henry's Tillbrook Sprites for the body of the romper and some of the coordinating print for the straps. There is a LOT of pink in the pattern so I went with a solid green for the top and I love how it pulled out the hints of different greens from the foliage around the fairies.

I used teeny tiny buttons for the top closure. They have a hint of pearl to them that's a welcome shimmer against the bold green. The ones in this photo are green. The original buttons are red so they pop out more against the solid.

The 3t is a bit roomy but I'm hoping we'll get some use out of this next year. In fact, it seems like there is a trend toward vanity sizing in kids clothes and that really pisses me off. Kids clothing should correspond as closely as possible to the age. Two-year olds should be able to wear a size 2, three-year olds should be able to wear a size 3, etc. Of course there will be bigger kids and smaller kids but you get the idea. Zadie grew out of most 2t big box store clothing right about the time she turned 2. But when I sew vintage clothing patterns in a size 3 they are massive. Ok, end rant.

Anyway, to solve the problem of the romper being enormous, I just sewed a second button about an inch above the original. I took the photo above (with gnome) after putting the romper on her for the first time. In most of the shots, it is just hanging off of her (and her hair is wild). The new button makes it fit much better and when she grows, we'll just start using the lower button. This is the garment I used for the snap tape tutorial so you're finally able to see it in action. I don't know why it took me almost 3 weeks to sew a couple of buttons on.

Soft Shenanigans

Zadie is heading off to daycare this week (sniff). At home she sleeps with an entourage (and calls it such): blankie made by Auntie Steph, Mila, Elph, sometimes Rat, and The Soft. The Soft is this oddly shaped blanket that I made out of the fabric that was left over from this awesome cape. Our packing list for daycare includes any special sleeping blankets the child may have (and practically half the house). I would love to send The Soft along to daycare but it is just going to get left there, grossed up, and who knows what else.

So after a discussion, Zadie agreed that a Special Soft would do for daycare. She requested blue and luckily they had some in stock. It's not as slippery as the crazy stuff I bought last year so it was easy to stitch up. Since I had some left over, I made Mila and Rat their own special softs. The pictures show the shenanigans that ensue when the three get together. On top she is pretending to sleep. I'm not quite sure what is going on in the second photo but that is usually the time out spot. As you can see, everyone loves their new softs (and you can see the alphabet version of the pretty pinafore in action, well, sort of).

Bounty (and then some)

Our garden has been prolific in new ways this Summer. For years we've grown zucchini, yellow squash and pattypan without doing much. We've never been able to grow an acorn squash or any other type of Winter squash despite a great deal of effort. This year, however, the tables were turned. We have had some lovely spaghetti squash, some tiny acorn squash, and lots and lots and lots of butternut squash but the yellow squash and the zuc in the picture were the only two we got. Crazy! We've also got several million delicious cherry tomatoes (and I'm not complaining).

In other news of bounty, I got Zadie this AMAZING wool coat at a yard sale for a couple of bucks. I love the patterned velvet collar and shoulder thingies.

Check out the hat. Cute. The pics are not quite true to color. The coat is not navy but it's not bright blue either. It's really quite perfect.

I bought a 2t coat for her last winter and rolled up the sleeves. The smaller size would not zip up so I went up a size and I'm really hoping it will fit this year as coats are wildly expensive. As it's been nothing but 95 and humid around here, I will not torture her with a trying on session. This yard sale find is a 3t so my bases are covered (what's with all my quippy little cliches this post?).

Vintage Pattern Overload

A local church had a rummage sale in their basement last weekend and I spotted a box of patterns as soon as I walked in the door. I asked, "How much for the patterns?" The lady at the card table replied, "Oh, 5 cents each."

There were 20 patterns total. As you can see, most are a size 34, just a little too big. Several were a 36. Two of them were from the '80s and so ugly that I couldn't bear to photograph them.

I've put the ones close to my size in my pattern bin and the rest have been stored for later.

Lucky, lucky me. I'm not ready to deal with any of these yet but they are nice to have and dream about.