{"id":5928,"date":"2010-03-09T22:46:31","date_gmt":"2010-03-10T03:46:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/?p=5928"},"modified":"2014-12-20T03:01:22","modified_gmt":"2014-12-20T08:01:22","slug":"everything-wrong-birthday-suit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/09\/everything-wrong-birthday-suit\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything-Wrong Birthday Suit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
\"Alastair,<\/a>

Alastair, hanging out with the girls<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Everything Right Birthday Party<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Family and friends just celebrated Alastair\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first birthday at a party in his back yard. His parents did a fabulous job of making everyone welcome with good food, good company and\u00c2\u00a0thoughtful\u00c2\u00a0accommodations for all. From the 86 year old great grandmother to Alastair\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s friends and cousins, ages 9 months to 5 years,\u00c2\u00a0 there were fun treats and comfortable seating. Yet Alastair\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s parents made the event look effortless.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Everythingwrongcupcaketreewhole\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The menu consisted of really excellent pizzas, a flat of fresh strawberries, coolers of cold drinks and a cupcake tree laden with darling bug and caterpillar cupcakes made by his mama my Rebecca.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Everythingwrongbirthdaycupcakesclose\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s goody bags kept them busy and happy. The only flaw in this everything- right\u00c2\u00a0event was Alastair\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s everything-wrong birthday suit. Fortunately, he is a comely child and his guests were able to look beyond his clothes to his precious,\u00c2\u00a0sweet face.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"1sr<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Everything Wrong Birthday Suit<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Occasionally, upon completion of a garment, I sit back and sigh with satisfaction. A few times I have actually thought that if I were to make it over, I would make no changes whatsoever.\u00c2\u00a0 More frequently, but not too often, I sit back and sigh with total dissatisfaction.<\/p>\n

And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how I feel about Alastair\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first birthday suit. I had to weigh the consequences of having him wear this\u00c2\u00a0comedy of errors\u00c2\u00a0outfit with running to the department store to\u00c2\u00a0buy him\u00c2\u00a0an acceptable ensemble.\u00c2\u00a0But I imagined that\u00c2\u00a0if I did so, years from now\u00c2\u00a0he would\u00c2\u00a0wonder why\u00c2\u00a0I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make something special for the occasion. I decided I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d rather be his loving Nana who made an ugly outfit than\u00c2\u00a0his sewmaniac\u00c2\u00a0 grandmother who didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make him any outfit.<\/p>\n

I began with a ready-to-smock button-on suit. Maybe it’s because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a bit cranky about my part of the suit that\u00c2\u00a0I have some criticism for the garment with which I began. Generally speaking, they are well made.\u00c2\u00a0 But my issues revolve around the collar and the buttons.<\/p>\n

On these\u00c2\u00a0smockable garments, every collar kicks up. They will not lie down. And yet, when I made an outfit for him from scratch, I drafted a collar pattern using Elizabeth Travis Johnson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s directions and that collar lay perfectly flat. So I know it is not just his absent neck causing the flip up.\u00c2\u00a0 On this shirt, I\u00c2\u00a0 tacked down the front of each collar, but the back still kicked up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"EverythingwrongbirthdaysuitA1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The buttons are another problem. I always replace what I generously call “utility” plastic with mother of pearl. But because the buttons, and thus, the buttonholes, are a nonstandard size, you have to go to a lot of trouble to replace them.\u00c2\u00a0With my huge stash of antique pearl buttons, I have always been able to find three matching buttons of the right size after lengthy sorting. This suit has 9 buttons and I could not find that many,\u00c2\u00a0and I thought the smocking design made the suit a little too casual for pearl buttons.<\/p>\n

My next thought was\u00c2\u00a0to\u00c2\u00a0buy\u00c2\u00a0primary colored plastic buttons\u00c2\u00a0to match the balloons. Surely I could\u00c2\u00a0purchase some\u00c2\u00a0in this odd size.\u00c2\u00a0 NOT!\u00c2\u00a0 I could not buy any buttons\u00c2\u00a0of a size to fit the buttonholes.\u00c2\u00a0Smaller standard size buttons would have looked\u00c2\u00a0disproportional, slipped through the buttonhole\u00c2\u00a0and likely let his pants fall down. So it was necessary to restitch the buttonholes to accommodate the slightly larger standard size buttons.\u00c2\u00a0 All nine<\/strong> of them, on the pants and shirt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Alastair<\/a>

Alastair with his beloved Auntie Jeannette, aka “NanNan”<\/p><\/div>\n

Analyzing what\u00c2\u00a0went wrong somehow makes me feel a little better. Ignorance may be bliss, but I prefer to think I can learn from my mistakes.\u00c2\u00a0 First, the design is just as cluttered as our garage. My daughter suggested a cupcake with one candle and I began with that. I used seed beads thinking they would look like sprinkles.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead, they look like seed beads.\u00c2\u00a0 I should have used French knots.<\/p>\n

Second, the addition of a whole flock of balloons was too much. That many helium balloons would have lifted a lowland gorilla off the ground, let alone a scrawny monkey or two. The ostensible purpose of the balloons was to give me a place to write out Alastair\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s name—-his very long name. But they were so small that an observer needed reading glasses to\u00c2\u00a0read the letters.<\/p>\n

Third, the mix of pastels on the cupcake paper and frosting\u00c2\u00a0and primary colors in the remaining portions of the design\u00c2\u00a0is all wrong. Fourth, the border on the smocking and the whipped stitch on the collar and sleeves should have been the same color, primary blue, to match the pants.<\/p>\n

With much thought, I can see how it might, I repeat might<\/em>, have worked.<\/p>\n