Took A Walk in My Neighbourhood..

"This city is a ribcage: you are the heart"

    Sometimes we are so in this thing called life we forget to stop and look around. Coming to this space, thinking about what is worth putting here, and then the follow through - holds me accountable for being present, looking around and catching bits I may have other wise missed. Take today for example- a completely ordinary day- except for the colour of the bricks against a blue jacket, the brilliant yellow leaves on a rain slick street, the vrooming of a car speeding along an imaginary race track. 

    When you consider what is this crazy ride called life all about- it's these little things that matter most. More than a better apartment, more than better shoes, more than a clean house- in my opinion that is anyways. I realize we can't all live off of warm fuzzy feelings and someone has got to pay the bills- but man I would not miss these days of doing nothing for all the days of doing something! 

   
 I know my time with our Littles is short- as my sister is fond of saying " they are only this young right now". Tomorrow they will know something different, tomorrow they will be older- maybe they will tell you to stop being silly, maybe they will start colouring in the lines, maybe they will ask to borrow the car keys. It's all going too fast- I say put on the breaks I want to stop and look around a bit- I want this time right now to be forever.

    I didn't start off this post aiming to be all melancholy about how fast life is going and how big my kids are getting- I wanted to write about this really great roast beef sandwich I had from Big Lou's! Needless to say we had a fantastic walk today- complete with a mini photo shoot- trying to get a shot for the Holiday cards being mailed out soon. Apparently as you can see we are raising a couple of comedians- I think the photo below is the winner-  Grandma will be so proud!

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it"

Ferris Bueller

These kids- they are growing like weeds!

     My babies are growing up- figuratively and literally. I know this is what everyone one wants is for growing healthy kids, but all this growing does come with a modicum of sadness for me as I see my little ones growing out of wee little baby clothing into massive big kid clothing. I pack away their cute little clothes, I remember when I bought them and sigh, I give them a final sniff and put them into the box of things I can not bear to part with.

   These babes of mine are no longer babies hey are full on kids, something my 2 year old has been telling me since she started talking; " I no baby, I big kid" was and still is Lo's favourite saying. This one in particular is growing like a weed, clothes that I bought too big last year in anticipation of getting more than one season out of have gone into that box. That brings me to my decision to garb these babes of mine(for really they will always be wee babes to me) in as many home sewn garments as I possibly can.

   






















    It just makes sense economically, at this size a pair of shorts is half a meter of fabric and an hours worth of time. At this age is makes sense to take advantage of dressing them in home sewn goodness as they are not remotely aware of the mega giant retail industry who is out there lurking waiting to convince some hormonal mother to spend $78 on baby jeans- yes I briefly considered them, they were very cute!

    I love Oliver + S patterns, once figured out they are very straight forward and easy, plus insanely cute! I have made the Puppet Show Tunic only once but am planning a few more for the fall. There are a heck of a lot of steps and tailors tacks but it all comes together beautifully. Plus the length is perfect for a gal on the go!

   The bottoms that go with the Puppet Show Tunic are the easiest shorts I have ever made! They have cute little gathered pockets and are really more bloomer than short. Lo paired them here with a vintage chemise that I found at Community Thrift and Vintage. Her hat was found on sale at the Gap- some things are necessarily a justified purchase!

ps- the benefits of home sewing are enormous and political, I could go into depth all my reasons behind home sewing but I chose to focus for the moment on the pretty details like my Grandmother's vintage buttons that grace the back of the Puppet Show Tunic