A Swim Shirt for Suz and Guest Post

We are all a little toasted here in FL.  Before I left I experimented with sewing a woman's rash guard for my sister Suz to try out.  Should have made one for myself because my back is fried! Suz looks great in it  but still wish I could take it in on the sides and lengthen it.  But this was just a prototype - send it back Suz and I'll make it, or better yet pull out the old Bernina and give it a go.  And thanks for your advice on children's swimwear.  

Today I was the happy recipient of an "Alison's original" shirt.  I have been on the hunt for the perfect rashguard for summer.  We purchased season passes to a local water park to help us get through the hot summer.  When temperatures reach 120 nothing feels better than swimming.  The problem is I can't stand the feeling of the sun cooking my skin.  I've noticed once the temperatures pass 110 the landscapers continue to wear long-sleeves.  I'm sure they have realized you can feel cooler with out the sun hitting your skin directly.  Sun-block rubs off, and feels really greasy.  There are some long-sleeved rashguards for women on the market, but they are not very flattering.  I don't look all that great in the high-neck rashguards made by surf companies.  I have worn white cotton hoodies at the pool but I am unable to get in the water wearing these.
 
Al solved this problem by sewing a custom swim-shirt for me with 3/4 sleeves and a scoop-neck.  This shirt is both flattering and functional.  I think it even holds in my arm fat a bit.  I can keep my self covered up at the water park and not look like a super-freak.  All I need now is huge hat, a swim-skirt or board shorts to go with the shirt and I will be ready for summer 2011.  
 
Thanks so much Al - I love it!!
 
Also, for those searching for kids rashguards I have spent hours online looking. It is really hard to find long-sleeved shirts for kids.  My kids need these for the summer because they burn easily, and sunblock rubs off.  The best options are at www.tugasunwear.com or the o'neill skins at www.zappos.com - the o'neill skins are really tight so we went up a few sizes.  My complaint with the o'neill shirts is that they have screen printed writing on them.  I tried to avoid this whenever possible - by the end of the summer the words start to rub off and the shirt looks old and worn.  Lands end has good options for boys, but the girls shirts are kind of awkward.  I also avoid white because it turns yellow over time.  I ended up buying the $30- o'neill skins at zappos (even thought i like the tuga 3 piece sets) and we'll see how they hold up.  The bright pinks will go with suits we already have.  The o'neill shirts have spf rating 50+ and do look flattering because of the white stripes on the side.  We'll try not to get sunblock all over them.  The other thing I try to do is rinse the chlorine out of them (sometimes by having the kids shower after a swim) after each use and then line drying them.  Swimsuits take a beating, especially in Arizona where it is all my kids wear during the summer.  I'm usually happy if they don't dissolve before October.
 
The best solution would be to sew your own.  You could choose the sleeve length, color and avoid screen printed designs altogether.  Al - are you going to make some for your kids?  I'd love to see what you can come up with.  
 
Thanks again!
Suz

Road Trip Prep

We are now enjoying a very warm and very sunny vacation in Florida.  It took several days prep to pull off this road trip.  But after 24 hours traveling in the car I realized no matter the amount of prep, family travel is really more work than leisure.  In fact, the past couple of days in our van would have made for a highly rated reality show. But I suppose it is the unscripted and unplanned events on family road trips that make them so memorable.

Anyways here is how I prepped and here is how it has worked so far.

A few days before ETD I had all the clothing bags packed.  I usually do two to a bag filling them with enough outfit rolls for the trip.  The outfit rolls include socks and underwear so there is no unnessasary digging and jumbling of clothes.  I usually work individually with each child on this process.  Afterthoughts:  it looks neat upon the first opening but the fact is there really is no avoiding the digging and jumbling of clothes no matter how neatly they were packed.

Next up:  packing individual backpacks for entertainment. Each was assigned to do this on their own.  This has to pass my inspection.  Here is Maryanna in the inspection process, can you guess what passed my inspection and what had to be left behind?

She ended up with two coloring books, two picture books, a baggie of crayons, a plush horse purse and one blankie.  In the other's backpacks you may also find a journal, sketchpad, Madlibs, books, pencils, a few small toys, pocket knives, sunglasses, binoculars, compass and playing cards.  

In the end I find they spend most their time coloring or drawing, and only playing with a few small toys.  In addition to a backpack each child brings something soft and cozy like a blanket, pillow or stuffed animal.  Here it is all lined up and ready to be loaded. Afterthoughts:  whatever is packed, just imagine it all dumped out on the sticky floor of the van mixed with stinky shoes and crumbs.  This really was too much stuff.  Sometimes keeping track of treasures on long road trips causes more stress than the comfort. 

I had shoes and hoodies lined up a few hours before ETD.  There is nothing like one missing shoe that can hold you back.  Afterthoughts: that is only a good idea if you are likely to meet your ETD but in our case we were several hours off so the lined up coats and shoes just got in the way.  Also, it is way to hot down here to even look at so many layers but I'm sure somewhere along northbound I-75 we'll be happy to pull them out again.

A lot of the road trip prep actually revolves around food.  I made a triple batch of pumpkin muffins to eat on the road but since we were 7 hours off our ETD we ate them around the table.  Hard boiled eggs are another favorite road trip food.  Just be sure to peel the shells at home otherwise the floor of your van will really start looking like a compost pile.

The rest of the prep work is done on the idea of a few different "mother ships" and smaller "satellites".  Our mother ship cooler gets packed way in the back of the van.  It is only accessible when stopped.  In it there are several frozen water bottles to keep food cold and a gallon of fresh milk and a gallon of frozen milk.  There may also be bags of deli meat and cheeses, yogurt, and cut up fruits and veggies.  The satellite cooler is accessible while on the road and will hold whatever cold drinks the driver may need, whatever meal will be passed around until the next stop and a few sippy cups of milk.

Here is my mother ship "pantry", it is stored in a large plastic bin in the way back.  I always keep at least two satellite pantry bags accessible for whatever snacks are needed to help keep the driver and all the passengers happy.  The satellite pantry bags are then restocked at the pit stops.

My mother ship diaper bag (actually bin) is also just below.  In it there are packages of pull-ups, cloth diapers, homeopathics and baby wraps.  This is also stored in the way back and has occasional exchanges with my small satellite diaper bag.  Afterthoughts:  This system really worked great!

Here are some children patiently waiting through hours of delay.  In the back you may see a 5 gallon water jug - that is our mother ship.  Then below are 9 little water containers that act as our satellites.  Afterthoughts:  you have to be really careful with a 5 gallon water jug because it can easily leak!

Now a place and system for the fun stuff like oversized running shoes and beach towels.  These three bins are serving as my back hall or mud room.  One for shoes and hats, one for towels and bathing suits and another for sporting equipment.  This also worked well with the execption of storing wet towels and bathing suits.  Perhaps I could figure out a clothesline for the van?

It is kind of funny how I look back on all the family vacations and road trips from my youth with only pleasant memories, never realizing how much work it actually was for my parents to pull it off.  So we do it now (all the work) for our children all out of the fun of it.  Just posting this up here for moral support to myself the next time we off on a road trip adventure.

Please share your secrets to family adventures and road trips - would love to hear what  works and what doesn't for other families.

Quick Skirt Makeover

This skirt was picked up months ago at a thrift store with the intention of making something for one of the girls.  I was visioning a high yoke pinafore with 2" straps.  But if I sewed up all the things I in vision for them their room would be impossibly messy and in the end I'd only be creating more work for myself.  So the skirt was cut up for me because I actually could use a few new items.

I simply shortened the skirt and added some over sized patch pockets so it could become official "mom wear".

Here is the back.  I'd like to note an error that was made here.  I got lazy and just chopped even along the  stripe without considering the amount of length a big "bump" takes up.  In other words the back looks shorter than the front when being worn even though it was cut evenly across.  It is always best to have someone else mark your hems.  The best way to do it is with shoes on and a wooden yard stick measuring up from the floor.

It is not worth unpicking the hem.  I'm sure this skirt will see plenty of wear despite the error.......and if it doesn't I'll just pick off the pockets and make the pinafore I originally planned.

Nary's Spring Rolls

Nary is my good friend from Philadelphia.  She is originally from Cambodia and was generous in sharing with me both incredible food and inspiring stories from her childhood.  Before I moved from Philadelphia she taught me the secrets of making spring rolls.  She also attempted to teach me how to make Pho but I was too busy eating to focus and now every time I get the Pho craving I regret my lack of attention to the process. 

This weekend we aren't doing much besides listening to General Conference.  When we lived in Philadelphia our small Church branch would gather for a Conference pot luck and since most of the members were Southeast Asian, there were always piles of spring rolls to gorge on.  So in the memory we made them today.

Springs rolls are not at all difficult to make, it just takes the right ingredients and time.  I stopped by the Asian market last night and picked up just what I needed, spring roll wrappers, oyster sauce, bean threads and sweet chili dipping sauce.

I already had ground turkey and ground pork in the freezer and the rest was picked up at a regular grocery store, cabbage, carrots, celery, jicama, onion and garlic.

You start the process by shredding the cabbage and carrots.  I just ran mine through a food processor but before I was lucky enough to own such a great tool I shredded it by hand with a vegetable peeler.  Like this:

The jicama and celery should be finely minced and added to the shredded cabbage and carrots.  Reserve the garlic and onions for the meat mixture.  Dump a few spoonfuls of salt over the minced and shredded veggies to extract excess liquid.

Squeeze out the excess liquid with your hands or ring it out in some cheese cloth.  You do not want the mix watery.

Now in a separate bowl you can mix the meat.  On this occasion I used 1lb. of ground turkey and 1 lb. of ground pork.  It's been a few years since we've made these and we determined today that was too much meat.  Also, I did not realize one of the meats was pre seasoned and that had an affect on the over all taste.  They were still good, just not as authentic.

To the meat mixture add minced garlic ( I think we used 4 or 5), a few tablespoons of oyster sauce, a few small spoonfuls of sugar and fresh ground pepper.  At this point Nary use to mix a little, cook it in the microwave and test for flavor, hers always tasted good.

Now drop the bean threads in very hot water for about 3 minutes.  When they are soft strain them then drop in cold water.  Shake out excess water and cut them up a bit before tossing them into the veggie mix.

Mix it all together in a very large bowl.  I sometimes find it is easiest to use my hands for this.  

We had 100 wrappers to roll today.  It is a group effort and after careful training I was discriminating in which rolls would pass my inspection.  I explained that these were not over stuffed burritos or even traditional fat egg rolls but light barely filled spring rolls.  They had to be rolled carefully and tight enough to avoid spilling out during the frying process.  Everyone participated in the training but only Paul and James graduated to the actual rolling process.  Maryanna was assigned to carefully peel the wrappers apart and make sure they were covered with a damp cloth and Clara got to dip her finger in an egg mixture then help seal the wrapper. 

Paul manned the deep fryer (the same one Nary gave to me as a going away gift several years ago) and I kept the rolling production in motion.

The kids couldn't resist eating them hot out of the oil.

They kept reaching for them and it was impossible to keep up with the demand.

Here's a close up

And here they are almost gone.

Everyone loved them!  Not something we'd make every day but definitely fun for Conference weekend.

It's fun to wear Ikea fabric

Clara does not look too happy but I assure you she loves the new apron dress I sewed for her.  I know she loves it because it's been three days now that she's been wearing it.  She just does not love taking pictures.

I'm using great discipline this year in only sewing out of my existing fabric stash.  Luckily there was something there that interested Clara - she is normally very picky but was excited to have a dress that matched her stroller.  The fabric is from Ikea's line a few years ago.  It was not my first choice for this dress because of the heavy hand but it works.

I wish I had more information the adorable sewing pattern that was used.  It is from Iroha, a Japanese designer who is no longer producing patterns. 

 I have to admit sifting through the Japanese instructions weighed heavy on my heart as I thought about those affected in the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  My heart and prayers were with them as I sewed.

Japanese patterns never disappoint me. The jumper is paired with the Swiss dot blouse I made for Maryanna three years ago.  I love that this blouse has seen so much wear!  Reminds me that sewing really is worth it, especially when you have a great pattern and use quality fabric.  Still not sure the Ikea fabric will stand the test of time but it is fun for now.

The back of the dress is really girly.

Clara is a girly dress up kind of gal.  You're more likely to find her in costume so I'm trying to add more "costume" to the everyday clothes I sew for her - that way I don't have to beg her to wear them.  You can see below I added a ruffle lining similar to the ruffle I added to my thrifted wool dress.    

Here's the "costume" in twirl action:

Here's the "costume" ready to go:

And for all her patience in taking pictures I put on her favorite Japanese video - a gift from Marie' so many years ago.   

No one in our family understands Japanese - we are just huge fans of all things Japanese despite the language barrier.

High's and Low's of the Pinewood Derby

William was our lone participant in this year's Pinewood Derby. You can see his car below, #11, the silver one with the shark teeth and thick blue stripe.  Designing the car is half the fun, the other half is racing it.

This was a fast car!  Daddy worked hard on the engineering and it raced well.  

The series of photos below tell the story of the highs and lows.  Most of them are blurry, maybe because I forgot to turn on my flash but probably more because I was wearing George on my hip and he kept grabbing the camera from my face.  But sometimes blurry photos capture both the action and emotion more clearly than a still shot could. 

First race 

It's a winner

This guy is winning every race!

He makes it to the final race - tackles his brother in joy

Final race

He loses by less than an inch

William takes 2nd place - big brother offers a hug

Nanny knows just how to comfort

Peter shows off the Lego car he built

William and Peter race their cars

William's car won by several feet but Peter was just happy for a chance to race - he warns William, next year they'll be racing for real.

Not pictured:  A trip to Baskin Robbins with Nanny and Poppy and William's second place prize - a squirt bomb basketball.

Not previously noted:  Mommy's mini freak out when she was called upon to "help finish the car" with little ones crying and we were due out the door in 30 minutes.

This was a fun and memorable event.  The boys are hoping to save all their Pinewood Derby cars and already planning the ultimate family reunion 25 years from now where they will race for all the glory.    

Six B's of Thrifting

Here is another treasure I brought home from the thrift store last Saturday. 

Kind of funny to find Gordon B. Hinckley's six B's at a thrift store in Michigan.  Maybe it is someone I know who donated it - now it is up on our wall as a great reminder to my family.  William used it for his family home evening lesson on Monday.

There is a funny story about this purchase.  Every hour Salvation Army takes 50% off certain items.  At the time of purchase the special item off was furniture.  The kind fellow working at check out could be described as a "rougher dude" covered in earrings and tattoos.  The sign was marked at $8.50 and I inquired if it could be "considered furniture".  He read over the sign, gave me a funny look and put me in my place saying, "sorry, I cannot honestly say that is furniture".  I responded, "yeah, you're right, Be Honest".  Then awkwardly added, "it doesn't say 'Be Cheap' doesn't"?  Calling for the next in line he sent me on my way with another funny look, half cracked smile, a lot to think about and a funny story to share with my sisters.

Now I share my six B's of thrifting (these go hand in hand with Cathy's recent list):

-Be quick

-Be prepared

-Be selective

-Be daring

-Be generous

-Be grateful

1.  Be Quick -  thrift stores can feel like a time warp at times, they can even be draining. Maybe it is the collective energy of all the previous wearers and owners.  Maybe there is just so much to look at - or maybe it is just the smell.  Give yourself a time limit because you literally could "hunt" for hours.  Be quick and decisive because though you do save money at a thrift store, it doesn't profit you much if you waste your precious time doing so.

2.  Be Prepared - know what you are looking for.  A few spring skirts, closed toed shoes and boy T-shirts were on my list last Saturday.  This preparation kept me focused and quick.  I was not tempted to sift through kid shoes, coats or women's pants because I already knew there was no need for them.  Do not even go to a thrift store without an idea of what you are looking for because most likely you'll bring home junk you don't need.  That said, if you come across something entirely off "your list" and it calls to you (just like the sign) go ahead and grab it.  Knowing your specific size (as if varies) for different designers and bringing along a measuring tape also helps in preparation.  Don't forget a few treats for the little ones who may accompany you.

3.  Be Selective - we live in an age of abundance.  Being grabby does not serve the soul, nor does hoarding.  Just because you "like" something doesn't mean you have to buy it.  I bought a pair of $1 cowboy boots size 1 for Maryanna 2 1/2 years ago.  It bothers me every time I see them because I've been storing them and moving them without the guarantee she'll even want to wear them.  What am I going to do - force her to wear them just because I've lugged them around all these years?  I'm sure they could have seen happy use from more than one child in the time I've kept them in dusty storage.  What I'm saying - don't buy something just because it is a $1.  Ask yourself - do I really need this?, does this lift me or deplete me?  

Inspect clothing carefully for stains, tears and functioning zippers.  When you find something that you like, feel it in your hands, smell it, try it on.  Last Saturday I tried on two spring skirts.  One was a vintage Liz Claiborne size 8 - it was too tight, the other, size 6 Lily - it was too big (thrift store sizing is funny like that).  Both were very cute on the hanger but not on me.  Skirts were 2 for $5 on Saturday and I suppose I could have bought both with the intention of "fixing" them.  Instead I stayed honest with myself and knowing they would sit for weeks and possibly never get fixed, left them for someone else to find and enjoy.

4.   Be Daring - thrift stores are a low risk way to experiment with clothing and fashion.  Go ahead, try the vintage dress, leather pants, or bright orange sweater.  Buy something, take it apart and refashion it - it is actually less expensive than buying new fabric.  

It's also daring to bring your kids along - they can get impatient. Don't forget to keep a good eye on them because thrift stores sometimes attract creepy people.

Don't be afraid to check out thrift stores on vacation.  Some of my favorites are in small Idaho towns and I've also heard of people having great experiences at thrift stores in other countries.

5.  Be Generous -  give back when you can.  Don't give garbage like stained or ripped clothing, but instead pass on items that still have good wear left in them.  

Go ahead and talk down to an honest price if you want - but don't make a game of it.  In most cases thrift stores and individual family yard sales are raising money for a good cause - keep that in mind and take joy in contributing to the cause.  

6.  Be Grateful - be grateful for the things that come our way just when you need (or want) them, at just the right price.  Say thank you to the seller and perhaps a prayer of gratitude.  

But most importantly be grateful for the things that aren't really things because that is where our greatest joy and blessings lie and often times it is all the "stuff" that makes us forget that.