{"id":12501,"date":"2011-04-23T00:30:53","date_gmt":"2011-04-23T04:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/?p=12501"},"modified":"2015-01-14T03:05:35","modified_gmt":"2015-01-14T08:05:35","slug":"driven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/23\/driven\/","title":{"rendered":"Driven"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"R<\/a>

5 year-old Robert’s Easter suit<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

NEWS FLASH!!!!<\/em><\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I beat the clock!\u00c2\u00a0 Robert’s shirt was finished by 1 p.m.\u00c2\u00a0 Saturday!\u00c2\u00a0I sewed on buttons at the hairdresser’s, I hemmed while\u00c2\u00a0waiting \u00c2\u00a0at the airport\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0for my brother, I whipped neck bias\u00c2\u00a0while watching \u00c2\u00a0for Uncle Richard to arrive.\u00c2\u00a0I am done!\u00c2\u00a0 Bring on the bunny!<\/em><\/p>\n

**********************************<\/p>\n

\"2<\/a>

2 year-old Alastair’s Easter suit<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Blue<\/a>

Blue pearl buttons from Farmhouse Fabrics add color to the back.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

I’m driven, determined to beat the countdown to Easter morning.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Alastair’s suit, shown here, and Laurel’s dress are finished, but one thing\u00c2\u00a0or another has roadblocked my efforts to finish Robert’s outfit.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0I\u00c2\u00a0have been\u00c2\u00a0way behind schedule with\u00c2\u00a0unexpected and\u00c2\u00a0time consuming life complications, but thought I could catch up.<\/p>\n

Two days ago, we had Robert and Laurel overnight.\u00c2\u00a0 Their mother has been sick all week and our son has been out of town on business.\u00c2\u00a0 So Shelly has been struggling at home alone.\u00c2\u00a0 Her mother has helped out a great deal and we had them Wednesday\u00c2\u00a0 overnight.\u00c2\u00a0 It may not take a village to raise a child, but two sets of nearby grandparents surely makes the task a lot easier.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Robert<\/a>

Robert in the ER after his breathing was stabilized<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

About midnight, Robert awoke with severe croup and after following the standard protocol–tenting him with a cold air\u00c2\u00a0humidifier– he was no better.\u00c2\u00a0 In fact, after an hour, \u00c2\u00a0he was\u00c2\u00a0 gasping for air,\u00c2\u00a0so I rushed\u00c2\u00a0 him to the emergency room.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We were there until the sun came up.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Yawn…..\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0I slept most of that day and sewed only a little.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Robert\u00c2\u00a0is home recuperating with his sick mama. Laurel is back with us and is tucked in upstairs.<\/p>\n

I\u00c2\u00a0MUST finish Robert’s outfit.\u00c2\u00a0 I am positively driven.\u00c2\u00a0 My dear husband has\u00c2\u00a0advised me\u00c2\u00a0that the celebration of Easter will come on Sunday whether or not this little guy is wearing one of my creations.\u00c2\u00a0 Why can’t\u00c2\u00a0we just buy Robert a new shirt?\u00c2\u00a0 I know his only intention is to relieve my stress and get at least one thing off my overflowing plate.\u00c2\u00a0 But he cannot understand why this is so important to me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The side vent makes the untucked shirt acceptable. It wouldn’t stay tucked in anyway.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you understand my drive?\u00c2\u00a0 Do you ever find yourself ready, willing and able to meet unexpected family needs, but unwilling to give up your own personal goals?\u00c2\u00a0 This sweet five year-old would have no hard feelings and he would get over it.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0But I wouldn’t.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I had waited somewhat patiently until our son was 31 years old for the blessing of grandchildren.\u00c2\u00a0 Now that they have arrived, I cannot bear to miss an opportunity to sew for them.\u00c2\u00a0 So I must finish this outfit.<\/p>\n

Since the two boys’ outfits are alike, the second is going quickly.\u00c2\u00a0 The shorts pattern, Jackson <\/em>by Children’s Corner, is unlined.\u00c2\u00a0 I lined them using the directions for the shortall in Martha’s Favorite Applique<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0 book.<\/p>\n

If you’ve never used this technique, you would find the price of the book worth this tidbit.\u00c2\u00a0 This is sooo slick!\u00c2\u00a0 Though I’ve made up several of the shortalls and A-line jumpers, I experience a sense of awe and wonder every time.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t know who engineered this miracle, but I suspect it was Louise Baird.\u00c2\u00a0And I appreciate it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"obert's<\/a>

Robert’s collar features a sailboat design from Southern Stitches. The sun and birds were added to the design.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Embroidery machine shadow work\u00c2\u00a0 is featured on the collars of the boys’ shirts.\u00c2\u00a0Alastair’s train (currently, his consuming interest) design is from Suzanne Hinshaw’s Teddies and Toys<\/em> collection.\u00c2\u00a0 After washing out the water soluble stabilizer, several of the underlay stitches had not been caught in the top stitching, so I ironed on no-show stabilizer.\u00c2\u00a0 Aside from securing the stitches, the stabilizer actually made the collar construction much easier.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0The shirt pattern is from Martha Pullen’s Heirloom Sewing for Jack and Jill\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>collection.\u00c2\u00a0 The side vent is a modification made by\u00c2\u00a0following Nancy Coburn’s excellent directions in her Gingersnaps Hudson’s Sunday Suit<\/em> for the side vent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"All<\/a>

All boats have a registration number. This one reflects the date.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Robert’s shadow embroidered\u00c2\u00a0 sailboat design\u00c2\u00a0with waves\u00c2\u00a0is from Southern Stitches’\u00c2\u00a0Shadow Work Baby Collection<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 To coordinate with Laurel and Alastair’s outfits, I felt it needed more yellow.\u00c2\u00a0 After adding the sun, it was out of balance so I\u00c2\u00a0included some birds.\u00c2\u00a0 There was no mast, so I added that in BuzzEdit2.<\/p>\n

I had hoped to avoid the problem of loose underlay stitches but\u00c2\u00a0it was a disappointing repeat performance.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Must be operator error.\u00c2\u00a0 In fact,\u00c2\u00a0the Southern\u00c2\u00a0Stitches\u00c2\u00a0instructions direct you to\u00c2\u00a0stitch the underlay on “non-removable extra sheer stabilizer.\u00c2\u00a0“\u00c2\u00a0 Instead, I\u00c2\u00a0used UltraSolvy so that may explain the failure. At any rate, the after-the-fact iron-on stabilizer fixed the problem.\u00c2\u00a0 Next time, I’ll start with that.<\/p>\n

Saturday starts early with Laurel Cade’s usual 0:dark-thirty wake up.\u00c2\u00a0 Then in rapid succession comes\u00c2\u00a0my early hair appointment, the arrival of my charming 91 year-old Uncle Richard who is spending a few days with us, picking up my brother, his wife and\u00c2\u00a0dog at the airport, and finally greeting\u00c2\u00a0our daughter Rebecca, Harvey and 2 year old Alastair.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I’ll have to fit in a run to the nursing home to take clean laundry to Aunt Aileen and bring her an Easter treat.<\/p>\n

Uncle Richard will be set to work stuffing peeps and jelly beans in the plastic eggs.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0The others can load the Easter baskets and stuff more eggs.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I’ll be cooking, decorating and enjoying my family.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Our son Ryan and hopefully healthy Shelly will be here with Laurel Cade and Robert Charles for the egg hunt and dinner.\u00c2\u00a0And I can revel in the glory of my 3 beautiful, well dressed grandchildren on\u00c2\u00a0this\u00c2\u00a0glorious Easter day.<\/p>\n

Whew!\u00c2\u00a0 After\u00c2\u00a0detailing the schedule, I realize that I really\u00c2\u00a0must\u00c2\u00a0 finish tonight because there is no other time left.\u00c2\u00a0 This is the only chance I will ever have to sew\u00c2\u00a0coordinated Easter 2011\u00c2\u00a0clothes for my grandchildren.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I am driven.<\/p>\n

Still, harried as I am, I have had time to savor the joy and meaning of the holiday.\u00c2\u00a0 I wish you all a happy, meaningful\u00c2\u00a0Easter with your family and friends.<\/p>\n

P.S.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m not even taking time to review or edit this post–it’s a single draft with nothing but spellcheck.\u00c2\u00a0 I hope you will excuse me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  NEWS FLASH!!!!\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I beat the clock!\u00c2\u00a0 Robert’s shirt was finished by 1 p.m.\u00c2\u00a0 Saturday!\u00c2\u00a0I sewed on buttons at the hairdresser’s, I hemmed while\u00c2\u00a0waiting \u00c2\u00a0at the airport\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0for my brother, I whipped neck bias\u00c2\u00a0while watching \u00c2\u00a0for Uncle Richard to arrive.\u00c2\u00a0I am … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,28,18,72],"tags":[720,364,237,1069,1070,721],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12501"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12501"}],"version-history":[{"count":55,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33166,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12501\/revisions\/33166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}