Our Hungry Kitchen Beast

As it turns out, it's not the sock monster in the dryer I need to worry about, so much as the fact that our kitchen tries to eat breakables.

Mind you, it fails miserably at the actually eating part. It is, however, quite skilled at breaking things into little pieces in preparation for consumption. I almost wish it would consume the pieces. Quite frankly, I am getting quite tired of sweeping up (and cutting myself on) shards of glass and slivers of bowls, plates and whatever else is on it's menu for the day. We have had so many plates, bowls, glasses, mugs and even a special Pyrex glass pie dish, fall victim to it's hunger pangs.

For example: It sucked a glass right out of my son's hands tonight as he was emptying the dishwasher! And a couple days ago it attempted to devour my slow cooker. My beloved, huge, super dependable, slow cooker. Sadly it only managed to stop me from ever being able to use it again:

One can only hope we subdue the hidden beast in the kitchen before we run out of crockery, or destroy the tiles in our (rented) home!

And now I am off to pick out a new slow cooker and put it into the next budget...I have my eye on one of the fancy ones that can be used on top of the stove as well, so that browning the meat, cooking the meal, and thickening the liquid into a sauce / gravy, can all be done in one pot. Wouldn't that be grand?!
;)

Handmade 52 - Item #6: Miss Molly dress

First, let me apologize for my absence. This move and my husband's job change has been difficult for us...and we're still not completely settled in all these months later!

I have been sewing and making the odd thing, but not nearly as much as I had planned. However, I am making sure I get more "me time" these days, so I'll slowly be able to add more items as time and kids allow. :)

Back to business!
I've quietly been working on the Handmade 52 goal, and while I have been finishing a few items, I haven't been posting them. Yes, bad me. ;) I'm going to start posting one at a time to catch up but the next 10 or so will NOT be in order of completion. I'm simply choosing one I have the picture of ready, and putting it up first. I have some items that I have sewn, built, and canned coming up!

Item #6 : Miss Molly dress for Missy - The Handmade Dress pattern.

This was an "oops" dress. I cut it out a few months ago as a nightie for Missy, in a sz 4 (she wore a 4T at the time, and wears mostly 5T now)...and then it sat, cut out, waiting to get sewn - until this past week, woohoo!  At which time I pulled it out and realized I had cut out the front and back main panels wrong, AND I hadn't cut out enough bodice pieces! *this is where the palm hits the forehead and I realize I have to sneak into the baby's room - aka my sewing area - to find more fabric to fix my mistake.* Oops.

Thankfully - sort of - baby boy chose that moment to wake up and screech, alerting me that it was time for the first nighttime nursing session. *light bulb!* I scrambled and grabbed the cutting mat, rotary cutter and both fabrics I had already cut from for this dress, slipped them out the door, and managed to nurse him back to sleep. Then sleepy me went back to working on this dress.

It took me a few days but it is done! I've been sewing from one designer's patterns so much, that I found it quite difficult to switch gears and fully comprehend, and anticipate, what had to be done / was coming next in this pattern. However, now that I am done, I can say that it really is an easy pattern if you're not in a complete tizzy while you're trying to sew.

It is most definitely a loose fitting pattern. This size 4 will fit for a long time to come on Missy. She is a rather slim and tall almost 4-yr old, just in case you're trying to judge how it'll fit your child / gift recipient.

I'm so thankfully that Missy loves her dress despite the mistakes that I know are there. She actually squealed, yes a real squeal, when I gave it to her! And then she proclaimed it to be the best dress ever!

Mission accomplished  :)