Twirling, Sheet Digs and Barbie Hurling

So today I found myself with a bit of free time, a pile of fabrics and this big bunch of inspiration.
Ooooh yeah.

I made Mia a skirt and Bram a pair of pants today. Mia's skirt needs a little back story though...

Once upon a time, Mia fell in love with a dress once that was so expensive, I'd had to have taken out a second mortgage on the house to afford it. She screamed and hollered so expressively about not getting this dress, I was sure people thought I was abducting her. Or, if they knew she was mine, any doubts about having kids of their own were immediately confirmed, making me directly responsible for their eternal childlessness... Either way, it was a ginormous everyday diva melt-down and I cursed the day that dress would ever cross our path again.

Then, we saw the very same dress at my favorite consignment shop, Cherry T's! Only, it was about 5 sizes too small for her. Obviously, we had to get it (thank the Lord for store credit). Mia tried to wear it, even though it cut off the circulation to her arms. It hung in her closet for about two months until today...
I took the prettiest part off the dress, which was this tulle petticoat with 'actual' flower petals and leaves in it. I then attached it to the top of a pair of pink jogging pants that had a irremovable stain on them. Snip, snip, snip - off went the legs and stitch, stitch, stitch, on went the skirt with a nice soft pink lining.

Mia topped it off with an awesome princess t-shirt and ruby-red Dorothy shoes and proceeded to demonstrate its awesome twirl-factor.

She was very satisfied; in fact, Mia is my number one customer. I admit, it's easy to make stuff for girls - gathers, glitter and ruffles are my forté! Bram deserved something too, but boys' stuff is a challenge and most times, this Eco mama is just too tired for a challenge...

Not today, though.

I scored a bunch of great 'pre-loved' material the other day, including a green-striped sheet. I thought Bram would look pretty cool in a pair of mega-baggy green-striped cotton trousers, but to be honest, I wasn't sure I even remembered how to make a pair of pants form scratch.

The last time I did was when I was in art school (I refuse to disclose exactly how long ago that was, but suffice it to say, it was when Kurt Cobain was still alive), so when I sat down to make them, I discovered I still knew how!

Fancy that.

Bram happened to be having a melt-down when I introduced the pants - lo and behold, they were just the thing to bring him out of it! And, he put them on all by himself! Elastic waistbands, I love ya.

Then we played Barbie Hurling.

Yes, you read right: Barbie Hurling.

If you're not familiar with the game, I would suggest you get yourself some washing line and a couple of Barbies and get on the bandwagon, 'cuz it's big fun.

Mia and Bram invented this game, I am proud to say. They discovered how incredible it is to let a bit of rope down from someplace high, then they experienced the overwhelming sensation of tying something to the rope and hoisting it back up. Barbies were just destined to come into the formula sooner or later, let's face it.

You need someplace high to stand in order to hurl properly, and a few branches to hurl the Barbie over is preferable, but not mandatory. It does provide a challenge... Don't forget how sturdy Barbie is, though, and just keep reminding yourself she really can't feel a thing, and you'll enjoy the game even more. Hurl and hoist, that's about all there is to it.

If you can get some really sweet person (like visiting Uncle Chris) to stand below and hurl the Barbies back up, consider yourself very blessed.

Barbie Hurling is educational too, you know. It teaches kids about stuff like aim and velocity and heck, even physics, probably!

Happy kids, today.
Happy Mama.