Friday, July 28, 2006

Pau!!!

Finally! The Hawaiian shirts are done!! If one person could make a bigger mess, I want to meet them. This small project started with a trip to JoAnn's last Friday to buy some fabric for matching shirts for Hannah and myself. I bought the last bit of fabric, just enough for 2 shirts. When Jason got home Friday night, he pouted, "Where's mine?" Feeling guilty, I decided to make another trip to JoAnn's to buy a pattern for him. I changed the version of the girls' shirts, trimmed, cut, thought, pinned, thought, cut, decided to make the facings out of white broadcloth and had it figured out by the end of last weekend. Only to discover that I cut the wrong version of Hannah's shirt. What?? There's no more fabric. So, I improvised. After much stress, I'm done. Pau!! That's THE END in Hawaiian. Now I must pack!!



Saturday, July 22, 2006

A sewing god??

If there's a god of sewing, please pray. I've worked all day on my Hawaii project and I've done nothing but created a great BIG mess. Since Jason wanted a shirt to match ours, I decided to change things a big. I decided to go with the sleeveless patterns for Hannah and myself, hoping that I would have enough fabric to get a shirt for Jason. So, off to JoAnn's in search of a pattern knowing that there wasn't anymore of the fabric I bought yesterday. The pattern called for 2 yds for the man's shirt. hhhmm....I only have 1 yd and 6 in, plus some scraps. Back home, I work and work and work and think I've figured out a way to piece things together. To the machine I go to work on Hannah's shirt first, only to discover that I've cut the WRONG version of the pattern out. Yep, no extra material and I'm stuck. I trim here, trim there, and decide to do the facing out of white broadcloth left over from the bereavement gowns. Why? Why? Why didn't I just pick out some different fabric? Why? I had a 40% off coupon even.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Just Finished

Just finished are the boy and girl bereavement gowns in the less than 1 lb size. I photographed them with a bill for comparison. I see so many photos of teeny tiny babies just wrapped in a hospital blanket. I hope this gives the parents a little bit of comfort. Oh, the little bonnet I used this time was new for me. It's from the June newsletter on the Care Wear site. It's not as pretty as Nancy Coburn's (Ginger Snaps Designs), but easier.

And the moon..... I've sewn them on the inside of the back of the tail of the dress. I'd really like some just a tad bit smaller.


That's about all the charity sewing I'm going to get done for now. Next up are shirts for Hawaii. Here are the ones that Hannah and I will wear. Hannah's is McCall's pattern M4497 and mine is Simplicity 4589. When I showed them to Jason, he wanted one, too. LOL! Problem.....I got all of this fabric at JoAnn's. UGH! I'm not sure what to do. Either buy more fabric or not make him one or see if a friend somewhere else could overnight it to me????????

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Just In

Thanks so much, Amy!!! Just received are a girl gown, 2 sets of caps and booties, an isolette shirt. Amy's been hard at work.She even included a heartshaped memory stone and a card in each bag. The cards are great! On one side they say that they are made in memory of her beautiful sons, Alexander and Chase, and on the opposite said they say that they are donated to the Remembering Emma Grace NICU project. Oh, I almost forgot. Amy made the booties and caps with the Knifty Knitter. She's pressuring me to try it out. LOL! I have some coupons. I just may have to go for it.


And, Amy didn't forget Hannah. Check out this precious puppy dog. Amy, thanks so much for your generosity!


Also in the mailbox were the moons I ordered off of ebay. Getting the idea from the Lucybug project, I'm going to attach these moons to the bereavement gowns. Hannah nicknamed Emma "Baby Moon." Because of my 3 earlier miscarriages, I got to have ultrasounds weekly until 12 weeks. Hannah knew that we were going to see the baby and I think she thought the u/s screen looked like a moon. Emma's headstone has a crescent moon and angel on it. Here's to our "Baby Moon."

Currently...

I've had my mind on the teeny tiny babies lately. I'm not sure why, maybe because Em was so tiny. I've made 2 little bereavement gowns, one pink and one blue.

It's a neat little pattern. Everything that appears to be a seam (except for the side seams) are actually reverse pin tucks. My only issue is with the neckline. I can't quite understand the instructions. So, I did the little blue one like I think the instructions are telling me with interfacing. I'm afraid the neckline is going to be too small.

With the girl one I did it with some bias binding. I think I like this one better.

I'm going to tie a little bow at the center neckline and use either a cross charm or a "made for an angel" charm. I'll also do little blankets and a bonnet to go with each.

And, I'm working on some smocking ones. Here's how the first one is going. I'm using the raglan sleeve pattern by Ginger Snaps Designs and the smocking design off of SAGA's Wee-Care Program.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Happy Halloween!


Just a few months early. I made these today except that I haven't sewn the velcro on yet. Kristine said that she found some iron-on velcro dots that she used. I want to look for those first. Maybe we can help bring a little Halloween happiness to the NICU.

Next up....teeny tiny bereavement gowns, I think. I have some cut out for babies less than 1 lb. I have these little ones on my mind for some reason and want to do a few of them provided my lovely assistant doesn't spend a lot of time un-assisting. :-)

On a side note, today Hannah and I spent some time making cards for kids will illnesses. Check out www.hugsandhope.org and send some Happy Mail. Hannah loves to draw and color and I thought it would be a good way for her to learn altruism.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Danielle's Donations

The following was supposed to be in the below post, but it wouldn't work. I wonder if there's a limit on the amount of space for each post...anyway.....

And, Danielle sent some journals, pens, and memory stones in memory of her beautiful Kayla, another precious angel taken too soon. I have to spend a few seconds telling you about the memory stones. Danielle said that after Kayla became an angel, her Mom's friend came to her with a bag of stones saying that she wanted to write something creative about keeping these in memory of Kayla. Danielle wrote the poem and handed them out at Kayla's twin brother's baptism. Danielle sent me 12 "Emma's Stones". I was moved to tears last night when I saw these for the first time. The poem goes...
"Keep this stone close by
As a remembrance of
Emma Grace
Beautiful and sweet
An angel dancing among the stars
In the hearts of many
Forever missed
Loved for eternity"

Back from Vacation!

Hannah and I have been on vacation for 2 weeks and we're glad to be home. And, as always, we have lots to talk about especially in the way of the Remembering Emma Grace NICU project.

I was able to meet up with a friend of mine, Kristine, and her twins. We had a great time, but Chuck E' Cheeses (or ever how you spell that) was sooo crowded. Anyway, she worked the night before we met to get these isolette shirts made. As usual, she goes above and beyond. She said she was thinking "I've got to get these finished." Thanks Kristine for working so hard to make a difference!



I also was able to talk via the phone to Sue, the sweet lady back home that crochetted all the caps. She's really taking this project under her wing and is going to volunteer through www.carewear.org. I wish her and her circle of friends Happy Crochetting!!!!

When we returned home last night, I had 2 packages waiting. The first is from an internet friend Kadie. She sent 5 disposable cameras and 4 journals. We kept a disposable camera at Emma's isolette so that the NICU nurses could get some "surprise" photos for us. The journals are a great idea, too. I wish we had done that. I always got back to the Ronald McDonald House trying to remember stats and things to scratch down. If I had kept a journal by Emma's isolette I could have spent time with her and recording our thoughts. Thanks again, Kadie!!!