Mother-Daughter Aprons from a Shirt Jacket

I found this jacket at the dig store in Corinth:

It seemed like something a sweet old lady would wear to church. But I loved the fabric, and my friend Gabi encouraged my to make an apron out of it. Gabi is very bad about encouraging me to make aprons out of things. We went thrift shopping this weekend, and she set me up with an 80's dress and a muumuu. For aprons, I mean.

Anyway, back to this jacket. I cut it up, and played around with the pieces to see how it'd all fit together.

At this point I felt very guilty, thinking of the sweet silver-haired old lady that could have proudly worn this to a Wednesday night Bible study but for my butchery. I didn't know what I was going to do with it. And I must have sneezed or something while cutting the right sleeve, because I took out a huge chunk out of it. Then I remembered an old tablecloth that I thought would coordinate with the fabric. I got it out and chopped it up too. I found using it I could make one apron for me and a little bitty one for Suzy. I felt much less guilty and got to work.



She's feeling a little camera-shy in that last one!
I used the body of the jacket for the skirt of my apron, and a sleeve for the bodice. The sleeve had a notched cuff that I turned up to get a little extra length. I used the edging of the table cloth to make the ties.
For Suzy's apron, I made the skirt out of the other sleeve. I folded the cuff down for a cute waist detail. I made the bodice out of a piece of the table cloth. I used the last of the table cloth edging to make her ties and edge the skirt. Then I used the collar to make the neck tie for Suzy. It opens and closes with the collar button, and I added a button on the other side for symmetry.
I love how they turned out. Suzy is thrilled to have a big girl apron to match mine when she helps me in the kitchen. I'm so inspired, I think the muumuu and '80's dress will be turned into mother-daughter aprons as well!

The Sounds of Silence...

I am musically unskilled in every way. I can't play an instrument. I can't even clap in rhythm. I most certainly cannot sing.
But I love it. So I do it anyway, when no one is around to suffer. No one except my daughter, that is. And she does suffer.
She went through a phase of wanting to take her Hello Kitty "earmuffins" with her whenever I drove anywhere. In the summer. I just thought she liked them, until the day she asked from the back seat, "Are you done singing now?" When I said I was, she said, "Good, now I can take off these ear muffins."
Yesterday I was belting out "I Need Thee Every Hour" (or the house-cleaning song) as we cleaned up her room. Suzy said she thought it was too loud. So I sang a verse more softly. She said that was still too loud. I sang a line very softly, and asked her if that was better. She said, "It is, but how about you sing like this?" at which point she began to silently mouth the words.
I burst out laughing, and then I was moved to pity. I passed the rest of the time listening to podcasts, and Suzy's audial suffering came to an end.

Chore Chart Day 37..or Whatever

Yeah, my whole challenge week went down the tubes didn't it? I did actually finish the week, but then things happened that pushed it aside.
Thank you all for your prayers for my mother-in-law. She is precious to us and we are glad know she's getting stronger everyday. She starts radiation on July 2nd. She has six weeks of daily radiation, during which the little dynamo plans to go back to whipping her hooligans into line at Delgado Community College.
We enjoyed spending last week with her, but I think maybe she over-tired herself on Suzy's account. Not quite enough napping for either of them!
On the way back we stopped in Biloxi for a day. Suzy got to play on the beach. It was pretty sand, no oil, but jelly fish. Suzy got stung on her knee. I think the whole jellyfish ran into her right knee, and tentacles went around to her left. She screamed and when I picked her up she said, "It bit me, it bit me!" As I picked her up, I think the jelly fish slid off and onto my ankle. It burned, but it had gotten her much worse, so I can only imagine how bad Suzy was hurting. She had red welts for hours afterwards.
That night we took her to see Toy Story 3 in 3D, her first time in a theater. Thanks, Toy Story, for insuring that if I ever throw out a toy, my daughter will be utterly traumatized. Was I the only mom depressed by this movie? My little brother was about Suzy's age when the first one came out, and now he's a teenager. I got teary-eyed tucking Suzy in that night. She's growing up so fast!
We made it home the next night, after a 3 hour delay in Macon, Mississippi. In the Taco Bell parking lot. Weee! So much fun. We have a new starter now, so hopefully that part won't happen again.
So anyway, we're back home, and I'm looking forward to seeing people tomorrow!
p.s. Toy Story did make me get Clyde, my precious rag doll that I have had since I was 11 months old, off of the closet shelf. I sewed on a new button, and cleaned him up a little. I gave him to Suzy, and she has been loving on him all afternoon.

Chore Chart Day 5 Failure

Ok, yesterday I didn't clean my living room. Instead I took a nap. Shame!
Actually, I had a headache (I'm not sure if it was a headache or if my brain just swelled to a size larger than my skull) and I couldn't do much except lay very still and hope the cerebral jiggling would stop.
I went grocery shopping in the early afternoon when the headache came on. I managed to come home, first stopping for sno-cones because I'm brilliant. Nothing cures a headache like brain freeze, right?
I get home and by sheer force of will get the child down for a nap and the perishables in the fridge before I collapse on the bed. Nate and I had an appointment at 6:30, which meant we had to get Suzy to the babysitter's at 6:15, which meant we had to eat dinner by at least 5:45, which meant I had to go pick up Nate by 5:30, and prepare the dinner before that. It was now 4:30. I could no longer mentally function enough to care. Somehow I managed to get up, get Suzy in the car, and go pick up Nate at 5:45. He drove home as I wept quietly from the pain and nausea the bright sunny day was causing my swelled brain.
Though I assure him they are only tears of intense pain and that I'll be fine once my bones harden again and the world stops flashing like a strobe light and maybe a pressure crack on my skill opens, which will surely happen in the next 15 minutes, he realizes he has to go it alone to the appointment. Once we get home, besides asking him to carry in the groceries in the back seat, I can't manage anything else but to lay on the couch and cover my eyes. So he goes, leaving Suzy.
I won't tell you what all she had for dinner, but it involved peaches and boiled eggs, and whatever else I could just hand her with minimal effort.
By that night it had reduced to just a regular headache and I became aware of my surroundings. And I notice a watermelon. In the living room armchair. I don't know why, but this cracks me up. I can imagine Nate coming in with the groceries, thinking, "Where to put the watermelon?...watermelon?...chair!" Though what really cracks me up is that he was probably thinking, "I'm late!" and wasn't even AWARE that he was carrying a watermelon, and just plopped it down with Suzy's flip-flops and jacket.
All this to justify why I haven't dusted my living room. Now I had better stop, or I'll be writing another justification tomorrow!

Chore Chart Day 3

I cleaned the office/guest room/family room. I switched out vaccuming with washing the bedding. That's an even trade, right?
The mulitple purposes of this room make it one of the worst to clean. There are little piles of papers and magazines everywhere, toys, books, and junky stuff we really don't have any other place for. Fortunately, Nate was out, so I was able to throw away about half of the papers. I found his Boris Yeltsein doll on top of the tv again, so I tossed that in the closet. I believe Suzy had gotten it out this time. She loves it, but Nate doesn't let her play with it. She coos over former Soviet leader Yeltsein like he's a precious baby. It's disturbing, I don't blame Nate for not letting her play with it. :o)
I know that this little challenge I've made to myself must make for pretty boring reading. I'm so sorry. If you want to go away and come back in four days, I'll understand!

Chore Chart, Day 2

Hmm, today wasn't that great. I wouldn't say fail, but barely passing. I cleaned Suzy's room at about 5 pm, and vaccuumed it at 9 pm while Nate was brushing her teeth for bedtime.
I spent two hours folding 2 loads of laundry - while attempting to play on the internet! Not a good strategy. But I did make myself finish. I hope I do better tomorrow.
This morning we went to the summer reading program at the local library. We left a little early because I hate tense situations. Yeah, it was. I may scoot out early next week too.

Confession and Challenge

Every woman who has ever had dinner at my house has noticed a schedule on my fridge that looks like this:
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LORI'S CLEANING SCHEDULE

Daily: Laundry, Clean Countertops, & Sink

Monday- Room: Living and Dining Room, Laundry: Sheets & Towels
Tuesday- Room: My Bedroom & Bathroom, Laundry: Darks
Wednesday- Room: Kitchen, Laundry: Whites
Thursday- Room: Main Bathroom, Laundry: Darks
Friday- Room: Suzy's Room, Laundry: Whites
Saturday- Room: My Bedroom & Bathroom, Laundry: Darks

Living Room/Dining Room - Fabreeze furniture, dust, polish table, take care of plants, tidy up, sweep & mop.

Bedroom/Bathroom- Wash sheets & towels, vaccum, dust, tidy up, clean tub & toiler, mirror and sink, sweep & mop.

Kitchen- Clean appliances (inside microwave, toaster oven, fridge) wipe down cabinets & backsplash, sweep & mop.

Bathroom - Clean tub & toilet, wipe down counter, clean mirror, wash towels, sweep & mop.

Suzy's Room- Empty laundry hamper, change bedding, dust, tidy up, vaccum.

1st of the Month- wash bath mats
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Isn't it impressive? All of you who've seen it comment on it, impressed by my organization and self-discipline. I usually answer with something about how I have to have it written down, or I won't do it. Isn't that self-deprecating?
Not really. Here's the truth: I'VE NEVER DONE IT. Ever. I mean, here and there, but I have NEVER followed it for an entire week.
So here's my challenge. This week, I will follow my schedule. I will post about it every day so you can see if I do. 93% chance you don't care, but I'm going to pretend that you do so I can encourage myself to keep it up!
Today is Thursday, and I've done the main bathroom and 2 loads of laundry (that still need to be put away.) So Day 1, doing good!

Air-head Moments...

Today I was at Butterflies and Bumblebees, a children's boutique in Selmer. Most of the clothes were wildly out of my price range, but as I was leaving, a small sign that said "$5" caught my eye. It was attatched to a small rack of clothes. The clerk told me that the price was actually three dollars, as they had been displayed on an outdoor rack, and were a little dusty. Woo-hoo! I started going through the clothes, looking for Suzy's size. Most of the things I found were tops that faded from a dark color at the bottom to a lighter color at the top. Not exactly my style, but for $3, I was willing to comprimise.
For a grand total $13.11, I left with over $200 worth of designer clothes - 3 tops and a skirt.
I was feeling super proud of myself. In the car, I took them out of the bag to show my haul to Suzy. That was when I noticed the fading seemed to be uniformly along the shoulders and sides, even on tops by different designers. They were sun-bleached! I could just picture the clothes hanging there forlornly, days on end. Because, who, really, with a brain, is going to spend $54 on a pink size 4T tshirt? So they began to fade away...
So now, instead of my little darling prancing around in a very trendy outfit, she's prancing around in aged, sun-bleached rags. Ha ha, I guess it's all in your perception? So don't tell her, she likes them!