Baby's first jewelery
Jun. 20th, 2010 12:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
norsegirlIn preparation for Pennsic I picked up a necklace for my daughter yesterday. Any good norse woman needs some amber and my baby will be no exception. I also finished her first apron dress today. Add that to the two eura dresses I have already done and she has 2 whole outfits. And I suddenly realize why parents either don't attend Pennsic or leave their children at home. It's not the parties, or the weird people their children might be exposed to, or the drums keeping them up all night, it's having to make a week's worth of clothing that will be worn once.
When I make something for myself, I have a reasonable assurance that it will be worn at least a few times. Even if I realize it is horrible and I've done it all wrong (oh come on, we've all been there right?), I probably will have worn it a few times before I realize that. And if I did it well it will last me for years and be worn and loved for many events. But it's a whole different game with children. Outside of Pennsic, even the most active SCA family will probably only want one or two outfits for their children, because normally you just need enough for a weekend and then you go home to normal clothes and your washing machine. And we're not even really that active now! I go to maybe 3 or 4 events a year. Even assuming the stuff I'm making will fit for a whole year and I make only enough for a new outfit every other day I'll still have one or two outfits that never get worn outside of that one time at Pennsic!
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rectangularcat suggested that I make the outfits but don't finish the seams. I don't really see the point in that. I have a serger, so finishing the seams takes no time at all. If I finish it, the garment can in theory last for years, even if I don't need it to. If I don't finish the seams it might fall apart while she's wearing it and it probably won't make it through the wash. Not finishing would essentially make it like a disposable item, and for the extra few minutes I might as well do it right.
While I had high hopes that I might be able to make her garments out of scraps I've encountered a problem... I now have a pattern so efficient for my dresses that I simply don't get scraps. I figured out a way to get an apron dress for me and one for her out of a yard and a half of fabric, but that's only going to work this year. By next year I'll have to re-think and re-design because the scraps resulting from my apron dress won't be enough to make anything for her.
It's annoying to think that this time next year, and every year thereafter, I'm going to be going through all the same pre-pennsic sewing crunch. And that I will probably have to buy fabric for it because I simply don't have any large enough scraps to work with and won't be coming up with any in the course of sewing my usual stuff.
I hope our second one (no I'm not pregnant, but I'm hoping that there will be a second one some time in the future) will be a girl because it will just kill me if I have to do this for two kids and can't pass any of it down.
The plan for this year is 9 days at Pennsic, so 4 dresses and 2 aprons and if everything gets dirty I'll do a bit of laundry for her in a wash basin. That makes me half-way done at this point, so that's good at least.
My stuff is coming along slowly but steadily. I also made myself an apron dress today, though I didn't finish mine. I'm hanging it for a few days before I hem it and I haven't applied the straps either. I might weave up some trim for it, but then again I might not. We'll see how motivated I get. Back to the machine to finish up the last dress I have cut out and then figure out where I'll go from here.
When I make something for myself, I have a reasonable assurance that it will be worn at least a few times. Even if I realize it is horrible and I've done it all wrong (oh come on, we've all been there right?), I probably will have worn it a few times before I realize that. And if I did it well it will last me for years and be worn and loved for many events. But it's a whole different game with children. Outside of Pennsic, even the most active SCA family will probably only want one or two outfits for their children, because normally you just need enough for a weekend and then you go home to normal clothes and your washing machine. And we're not even really that active now! I go to maybe 3 or 4 events a year. Even assuming the stuff I'm making will fit for a whole year and I make only enough for a new outfit every other day I'll still have one or two outfits that never get worn outside of that one time at Pennsic!
rectangularcat suggested that I make the outfits but don't finish the seams. I don't really see the point in that. I have a serger, so finishing the seams takes no time at all. If I finish it, the garment can in theory last for years, even if I don't need it to. If I don't finish the seams it might fall apart while she's wearing it and it probably won't make it through the wash. Not finishing would essentially make it like a disposable item, and for the extra few minutes I might as well do it right.While I had high hopes that I might be able to make her garments out of scraps I've encountered a problem... I now have a pattern so efficient for my dresses that I simply don't get scraps. I figured out a way to get an apron dress for me and one for her out of a yard and a half of fabric, but that's only going to work this year. By next year I'll have to re-think and re-design because the scraps resulting from my apron dress won't be enough to make anything for her.
It's annoying to think that this time next year, and every year thereafter, I'm going to be going through all the same pre-pennsic sewing crunch. And that I will probably have to buy fabric for it because I simply don't have any large enough scraps to work with and won't be coming up with any in the course of sewing my usual stuff.
I hope our second one (no I'm not pregnant, but I'm hoping that there will be a second one some time in the future) will be a girl because it will just kill me if I have to do this for two kids and can't pass any of it down.
The plan for this year is 9 days at Pennsic, so 4 dresses and 2 aprons and if everything gets dirty I'll do a bit of laundry for her in a wash basin. That makes me half-way done at this point, so that's good at least.
My stuff is coming along slowly but steadily. I also made myself an apron dress today, though I didn't finish mine. I'm hanging it for a few days before I hem it and I haven't applied the straps either. I might weave up some trim for it, but then again I might not. We'll see how motivated I get. Back to the machine to finish up the last dress I have cut out and then figure out where I'll go from here.
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Re: Hand-Me-Downs
Date: 2010-06-21 06:38 pm (UTC)As Marion pointed out, "what else are you going to do with *this much* trim?" (*this much* being her holding her hands about 18" apart). I had about that much left over from a tunic I made for Hector's Callum several years ago with heraldic shields on it. I used that one of the shirts. Also have have a TONNE of a red, black & white trim. I bought 25 yards for $5 from a woman going out of business my first Pennsic and I've been looking for ways to use it up - probably the way you feel about those "crappier cottons."
I don't think parents passing on kids' garb think of it as "charity" so much as "get this out of my house!" Kind of like the way Freecycle works :) Maybe the charity is that I took it off their hands.
Re: Hand-Me-Downs
Date: 2010-06-21 11:14 pm (UTC)However, if you've got issue with me using the term that way, let me put it another way; I have trouble asking for people to give me stuff for free. If people offer me stuff I'll gladly accept it, but I'm just not comfortable asking. And right now, no one here knows me well enough to know that I need stuff. If I was still in Edmonton I'd have lots of stuff being offered to me. Same if I was in Perth. And I might even get lucky up in Ontario (though that's where I've got the bulk of the friends with kids the same age or no kids at all). But down here I've been relatively inactive and have only made friends with people who happen to have kids the exact same age or no kids at all. People give hand-me-downs to people who come out regularly because they want to see it get used. I totally get that. And I'm just not one of those people right now.
Strangely I can think of all kinds of uses for "this much" trim. Dog collars, trim for wrists, bookmarks for largesse, samples to keep in my portfolio. Oddly I don't have any lengths like that because I do use it up, on the rare occasion that I use trim at all.
And yes, my hate is for the plasticy stuff. There are no words for how much I loathe that stuff. Ever since a piece tried to kill me via sewing machine explosion I've refused to even touch the stuff much less use it for anything. Anyway, I don't buy trim any more. It would be wrong. I'm primarily known for my weaving, and I so rarely take the time to actually use even the stuff I weave (I hate handsewing) so if I'm going to go to the effort I might as well make something custom for the project or use up some of the stash.