On where I get my mad sewing skills from, and why I take them for granted

My mom is an amazingly talented, meticulous, patient, detailed, precise and incredible seamstress.  This is the gorgeous quilt she made for me.  And because growing up, it was my Mom, I thought that all mom's came built in with that skill and precision. Yeah, they don't.  This is hand quilted people.  Hand appliquéd where the triangles go over the border.  Every corner matches.  All the stitches are even.  She is amazing.  And this is not her first.  Its her fourth big one, with two more in the works.  That is actually not counting all of the little ones she's made for grandkids in between all of the full size quilted works of art she makes for her daughters.  Not a single quilt for herself, not even a simple tied one.  (I will contest that my mother is the most unselfish person alive). 

My mother is the one who taught me to sew.  First by hand (at a pretty young age.. maybe I was 5 or so?  6?)  And then when I was old enough to be entrusted with her sewing machine (10 or 11?) she patiently taught me, and together we worked through the tears and frustration that sewing can sometimes bring.  I only thought it was hard because I was a kid, and she made it look so easy.  I didn't know that everybody goes through that.  (Right? the wanting to pull your hair out when it just. doesn't. make. any. sense! and the unpicking, and the broken needles, and on and on..) 

So, even though I learned from the best I am still trying to achieve the level of perfection in sewing that she has.  That is why I don't ever think my sewing as being very remarkable.  Because look at THAT!  Wow.

my briliant anti-cold-cereal solution

You may have noticed previously my stark and vehement dislike of cold cereal.    But I seem to have come up with a quasi solution to my problem of too expensive, too soggy, too processed, too boring and not lasting until lunch; cereal complex.  One that I will even consent to consume, nay even enjoy.  (pause for actual cereal eating break... seriously, I just realized that this is JUST exactly what I want.  right now).  Now to continue with out spilling milk on the keyboard..  ahem.

Make your own.

No, not another sort of breakfast (though you know, that is good too, but tends to always dirty more dishes... so, you know, kind of evil... but we're not talking about dishes now, are we?)  But make your own cold cereal.  I've made granola before, and its fun for a bit, but really quite sweet and pretty heavy on the stomach.  By itself.  BUT of the few cereals that I eat voluntarily at all... they seem to have the 'bunches of oats' or 'oat clusters' in them, which duh, is granola.  Then they just add flakes and dried fruit or nuts.  Pretty simple.  I've been meaning to do it for a while to see how my homemade version worked out.  Then I finally did.  And it does.  So I'm breaking my blog silence by deciding not to be selfish with my self proclaimed profound discovery.

The instructions are actually pretty simple.

-make granola.  (easier than it sounds)  You do not need to be Crunchy to do so.  From my brief stint of habitation in Portland, I learned thus: apparently I'm only a wannabe hippie.  I had only deluded myself that I knew anything about true earth love.  And footprints of carbon.  They are professionals.  However, for this you do not need to be.

combine in saucepan and bring to a boil:

1/2 c. water,
1 1/2 c. brown sugar,
4 tsp. vanilla,
1 tsp. almond extract (optional) and
1 tsp. salt.

pour the hot syrupy stuff you just made over this in a big bowl:

8 c. oats,
1-2 c. coconut,
1-2 c. slivered almonds, or other nuts of your choice (cashews are heavenly).

Mix it all thoroughly and spread out onto a large cookie sheet.  Bake at 250 for a couple of hours, or 200 or lower all night.

Break up into small chunks and add dried fruit.  I prefer cranberries, though raisins are good as well.  I haven't tried dried bananas, but they might be tasty (especially the non freeze dried ones) or cherries.. anyway, that is what truly makes it taste good, so don't skimp on the dried fruit.  Then mix in a whole box of corn flakes.  (you could go all authentic and mix in different kinds of flakes, like bran flakes and some frosted flakes... but I just used corn flakes... I'm lazy like that.

It actually makes quite a bit of cereal.  So it lasts a while, and my cereal reserves (that I don't even eat!) don't get depleted quite so fast.  We've been going through cereal like its going out of style! 

Liam does his part with the rampant cereal consumption.

Disclaimer: It does get soggy rather fast.. (which I truly despise) so I have taken to eating very small quantities at a time, repeatedly until satisfied.  Example, pour half a cup of my granola/flakes into a wide mouthed vintage tea cup.  (note to self, good excuse to go thrift some more beauties).  Add milk.  Inhale.  Repeat 2-3 times.  We can pretend that I actually stop at 3.

A brief history of the many and varied Bendio sister hamsters

Ted illustrations are done.  Yay!  I have few digital tweaks/kinks to work out and then figure out just who is going to print and bind it.  Yes, I (as it turns out) wisely decided it would be a really stupid, time-consuming, and anti-cost effective idea to print and bind the books myself.  Even though I have the ability to.  It would look cool, and handmade and bohemian and artsy.  But just not worth it.  Besides, it would look so much more legit if they're printed professionally.  And then I can market them farther.  And so with the Ted book nearly complete, I thought I'd give some Bendio sister hamster background.  So, here you are... the real story of the hamsters.

Ted was an actual honest to goodness real hamster.  My sister Meg at the tender age of oh, 14 ish (?) or so acquired a golden hamster by the name of Theodore.  I honestly don't remember many real details other than his love of chocolate, taffy and peanuts.  He was definitely Meg's pet.  But he was adored, and his many imagined adventures chronicled literarily by my thrice elder sister.  There are many.  I first illustrated one in which he pilots a bi-plane and finds dragon guarded treasure when I was in the 5th grade.  After his demise at a contented ripe old hamster age, he was replaced with Gloria, another golden hamster.  Apparently Gloria was a dull and boring replacement after the brass and adventuresome Ted, and Meg grew bored of her stench and bequeathed her and Ted's old cage to me.  I re-tamed her being the animal-phile that I was and she was replaced with many more hamsters that followed.  Gloria was followed by Flossie, a long haired, peach colored Teddy-bear hamster who was much more amusing.  Flossie would do tricks by hanging off of one side my hand and then climbing back up the opposite side.  She was cool like that.  She was then followed by Clyde, who became, hands down my very favorite.  He looked like a triple stack chocolate ice cream cone with vanilla in the middle and a chocolate drip running down his back.  Clyde was intelligent and so very tame.  He knew me, preferred me, and missed me when I was gone.  He loved me as much as his furry little heart could.  I would block escape routes out of my bedroom and let him run free as I would do my homework.  Sometimes he would fall asleep in my hands.  He would often be carted around in my tucked in tee-shirt (come on, of course my shirts were grossly tucked in, it was the 80's) or running up and down my long sleeved shirts.  He was far too polite to dream of biting or peeing on me.  When alas he too passed out of this world and was laid to rest under the cherry tree, I was heart broken.  He was meant to, but could not be replaced by a similar looking Poki, who cared not a whit for me, but was a well meaning if slightly daft and aloof hamster.  After Poki I moved onto frogs and snakes and newts and turtles.  But that is another story for another time that has more to do with the animals and story in my next book, in which I am both the author and illustrator of.  Or, you know, rather will be, eventually.  I'm going to go and get on that.

What Has It Got In Its Pocketses? (Finger Hugs Tutorial)

Max recently started all day kindergarten and has been lonely for his mommy.  He can't have a picture, because it is distracting to others in his class.  But he needed something.  The idea developed after my oldest sister suggested something he could leave in his pocket.  Max and I brainstormed and came up with this:

original idea doodle

Then it ended up as this:

pocket hug

I like when an idea goes from concept to finished product fast and actually turns out better than I envisioned on the first try.


I don't want to make tons for everyone (though I'm sure now Max has one, I'll have to make ones for Sohvi and Lucy).  Soooo, I'll post the pattern and instructions so you can make your own.  Just don't be a turd and sell them en masse or anything.  That would be lousy of you.  Give them away as gifts all you want though.  Share the love!

Print out this:

print out full size (sorry I don't know how to attach the PDF file...)

Supplies: 
pins
scissors
fabric scraps (I used two different minky fabrics)
sewing machine (although he's small enough, you could stitch him by hand)
stuffing 
black embroidery floss (or thread)
embroidery needle
 
Use 1/4" seam allowance 

Cut pattern.

embroider eyes and mouth as shown on pattern.  Make sure to stay inside the seam allowance.  If using thread instead of embroidery floss, use four strands of thread (it will look exactly the same, I promise).

sew with 1/4" seam allowance all the way around, leave opening along bottom of one of the arms to turn.

clip curves in corners and trim off seam allowance around hands and thumb.

turn inside out.  I use the end of a paintbrush (skinny and smooth and not sharp..) to help turn it inside out.

stuff.  (do small amounts at a time).  don't make it super tight because the arms still have to bend, and you have to fit a finger in there to hug.


stitch the opening closed with a blind stitch (or slip stitch).

stitch the ends of the hands together with a blind stitch  (or slip stitch).

You're done!  At school put in pocket and when you put your hands inside, slip your finger through the arms and get a pocket hug!  At home you can wear it on your finger (or thumb) like a fat ring.  Feel the love.

You're welcome!

Genetic Narcissism: or the post in which I shamelessly tout my parental vanity

My kids are the most adorable mini humans ever. Seriously. (I am also fully aware of just what an incredibly original concept that is) What parent doesn't think that? Really though, MINE are!  (and so, begrudgingly are yours) I have a sneaking suspicion that it stems from one's own Freudianally suppressed vanity. Apparently you can't stuff things away in the closets of your mind without it eeking out somewhere else. The scientific data are as follows:
 
1- Obviously I think my husband is one sweet piece of man candy (as one can hopefully assume does everyone else at some point, so as to have agreed to marry them) The glint in his green eyes, his dimples when he grins, overshadowed by his mass of chocolate curls and all brought home with his fit bum and sweet, sweet calves.

fit bum and sweet, sweet calves not shown for your own protection

2- I also think everybody is vain to some extent or another, myself included. How can you escape it in our culture's appearance driven obsession. But seriously people, everybody at one point or another looks in the mirror and thinks "hey, I'm sexy." Sure its not everyday, or even once a year, but you always have the one or two pictures of yourself where you know you had it going on. (probably taken by Tracy) What could exhibit more of your faded youthful charm than your own personal mini me?

only infinitely cuter

3- My children are the equivalent respectively to:  Sohvi - Helen of Troy with her perfect hair and crystal blue eyes. 

Max - Adonis with a sly, ever so slightly mischievous sweetness.  

Lucy - a Reubenesque be-dimpled charm-your-pants-off Botticelli Cherub.  

And my darling Liam, well he's the baby version of Brad Pitt.  Only cuter.  I take the boy in public and teenagers swoon.  Its like anti birth control.  Dusty ovary cocaine.  

A couple of genetically-predisposed-to-be-your-own-brand-of-dusty-ovary-cocaine zygotes (and 9 months) later, you have cuteness (repeated four times and aged to perfection) that reasonably argues to be the very zenith of human evolution.   Makes you get all mushy inside and want to stuff them with goodies and lay down in front of trucks to ensure their safety and smother them with kisses and cuddles.  As you should.  It doesn't take too much wit to discern that this trifecta of scientific fact might not be such a bad idea to ensure the survival of the species.   The Powers That Be are pretty tricky like that.
 

kid project: growing sugar crystals

My kids are on a crystal kick such as the world hasn't seen since the early 90's.  Theirs runs more towards the cheaper plastic sort, but nonetheless just as crazed.  I thought I'd show them some real crystals.  They aren't too impressed by small ones we found in rocks, so I thought perhaps we could make some bigger ones.

Fortunately a while ago I scored a sweet Goodwill find of "How Science Works" and bequeathed it to my oldest filled with fantasies of doing science projects together and being that cool sort of Mom.  Then I got all nerdy and explained it all before we did it.

this is how:

1- we heated up water and slowly dissolved sugar into it until it wouldn't dissolve any more, and then we should have added a tiny bit more water so that all of the sugar would have dissolved and not acted as seed crystals all over the bottom of the jar.   ..and added blue food coloring

...BTW, this is AFTER the solution has sat and been poured out.

2- we poured the super saturated hot sugar water/syrup into a jar and hung a rough string (we used hemp because it was laying around, you could use yarn) into the jar (not touching the sides or bottom) 

3- waited.  Patience isn't a strong point in children, but they held off for two whole days while we were growing a seed crystal. 

3- we took the largest seed crystal (that Lucy didn't eat) from off of the rough string and tied it to a nylon string (fishing line works) and hung it from newly resaturated sugar solution. 

And then whilst on vacation, we grew bigger ones.

Saved the biggest ones in cool origami-sticker boxes, and happily ate the rest. 

They taste like little naked nerds. 

On patched jeans and other atrocities

I can't decide if this makes me a nice, loving and clever Mom, or a total dork Mom (or probably both).  But I am really bored with jeans being rendered useless after a month because my kids are.. well, kids.  Their knees are constantly hitting pavement, trees, carpet, furniture, gravel, you name it and surrendering their thread count.  I hate waste, and not so much in the trendy, crunchy, reduce your carbon footprint kind of way, but a deep mental aneurysm sort of way.  Call me cheap, or a tight wad, whatever you want, because its true.  But just don't throw something salvageable away in front of me.  I'm probably only saved from serious hoarding by the fact that I'm not a big shopper.  All mental issues aside though, I've officially declared war on the pesky lower appendage ventilation duct.  In honor of the weather starting to cool off I pulled out last years leg wear in all its tattered glory.  And then got busy.

Trying out new ideas all in the name of erring on the clever-mom I-did-this-on-purpose side as opposed to the point-and-laugh-at-the-dork-kid look.

now there are

Since discovering HeatNBond *cough, stupid name I am now re-in-love with appliqué.  And no, I am not being paid for giving them a blog shout out.  And since I was in a blog stupor at the time of the frantic baby-sewing, there are no pictures of said appliqué-love.

all two of them

I also recently started working as a sewing assistant for the incredibly talented fabric/pattern designer/artist  Sandi Henderson.  So I've matriculated back to some sewing projects, having sewing on the brain, but my Ted book illustrations are still forthcoming.