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Getting it done, part 29: bits and pieces

Currently on the embroidery machine: a swimsuit for my 2 year old niece, getting a precious little monogram, so she and my girls can all "match" at the pool and the beach this summer.


I don't know why it sometimes takes me so incredibly long to get things monogrammed -- for my own kids, I've got so many of their monograms pre-set and it really doesn't take that long or that much effort to hoop the items.  I bought the bathing suits on clearance at the end of last summer, and while there is really no reason to be monogramming them *today,* today it is. 

I'm avoiding cutting in to the red and white bird knit, making myself another Jade tee.  I need to just go ahead and do it -- but for some reason the monogramming came first today.

Another "just get it done already" project that did actually get done: finishing these little dresses that my mom started for me and my sister, when we were small.  Do they even still sell dresses in this form?  I'm not sure why my mom didn't finish them, way back when, but it might have something to do with losing a little bit of the shoulder seams on the first dress, which made the neckline too tight, which meant that when I tried it on my girls, they couldn't pull it over their heads.  Or perhaps she just got busy with some other project (or with the three of us kids!) and it sat for too long and then wouldn't have fit even if she had completed it. I hacked together a little fix for the too-tight neckline on the blue dress (my mom had started the blue dress -- it needed the neckline fix and a hem but was otherwise complete) by adding a couple of (nearly matched) buttons with an elastic loop closure; if the elastic doesn't stretch enough to go over their heads, it can actually be used as buttons. 




I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the sweet little illustration of the finished dress -- I have one in red and one in blue.

I also spent a little bit of time honing my glue-gun skills to make a head-piece for Peanut.  She dressed up as Raven Wilkinson for her class African American History Wax Museum.  She wore a white leotard we already had with a long white "romantic" tutu that was at my mom's house (I mended the elastic), her ballet tights, and some Sunday shoes that look like ballet slippers (pink and all!). 

And the other project I've been working on lately: New underwear, for me. I bought the elastic in a grab bag from Amazon, but the knits were all scraps leftover from other (long ago!) projects. The pattern is the "Stevie Knickers."  I had a hard time figuring out which size to start with, but it worked out fine in the end.




A little life update: Sweet hubby is still going to physical therapy, working on strengthening his back/general physical fitness.  He started anxiety medication, which is beginning to help his sleeping.  He is talking with a counselor.  Steps are being pursued to make sure that he stays as healthy and safe as possible while also returning to more normal routines and activities.  Panic attacks are no joke -- I'm on board for pretty much whatever is necessary to avoid them.


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