Habitual

I thought I would start a new tradition here: Top 10 Friday. MP and I are always coming up with top 10 lists for our own entertainment, and we get a real kick out of it. Feel free to join in and leave your top 10 here. It’s a great way to kick off the weekend, and fun conversation around a summer campfire.

Today’s theme is movies, specifically comedies. These are my top 10 favorite comedies of all time, ranked. The top 5 were easy and untouchable, the bottom 5 I could argue.

10. A Fish Called Wanda, “Assssshoooole”

9. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, “Good Morning….I’m Heeeere”

8. Christmas Vacation, “25,000 Italian twinkle lights. Joy to the world!”

7. Royal Tennenbaums, “Well, I wanna die”

6. Funny Farm, “That’s not a bridge. It’s termites holding hands”

5. Rushmore, “I like your nurse’s uniform”

4. Bottle Rocket, “You’re out. And you’re out too. And I don’t think I’m in either. No gang!”

3. Best in Show, “When mommy and daddy make love it’s a beautiful thing…..sometimes”

2. Flirting with Disaster, “Entomologist sounds like science to me”

1. I Heart Huckabees, “You can’t deal with my infinite nature, can you?”

I’m making kimonos for the boys….in sizes 6Y and 8Y. I think they will be a bit large, as the boys are currently in between regular sizes, but the style of the kimono should accommodate the extra room.

I also made them pajama / lounging pants in a very, very soft cotton batiste. Light blue for Milo and green for Fin.

So hard returning home, missing my sister and the kids. But I know it’s even harder for her….left behind. Wishing things were different. I can’t help but wonder if our life is on the right track, if we’re not supposed to be somewhere else. So much about Boston is conducive to our lifestyle: proximity, scale, impatience, efficiency, nerdiness…..but my heart strings pull me back to Chicago.

The best way for me to deal with it is immediately work on some projects for the kids. Pajamas and kimonos for the boys, and I have promised to make them a set of freestyled S, M, L Totoros……..

When I go to Chicago, I have a terrible habit of haunting all of my favorite shops and spending way too much money. I get caught up on a ‘Chicago High’ and next month when my visa bill arrives I am full of regret. So, I told Julie that I was not spending any money this time, hoping that would keep it to a minimum.

Well, we ran up to her local fabric shop to purchase a few essentials (for instance, a cutting device….as her scissors would not cut fabric and I had 2 little boys begging for kimonos) and I came away with all of this. But listen - It is all Robert Kaufman voile & lawn and it was on sale for $1.99 a yard! Can you blame me? I mean, I actually am feeling like I need to go back and purchase more. I am not sure I really gave this fabric store a chance, because it is very large and organized very differently than most shops. I feel like there might be buried treasure in there. And I know that this time, when I return to Boston and my meager fabric options, I will be wracked with regret over not purchasing more, more, more.

We arrived at 7am Chicago time on Monday. I am only now able to really reflect on what that meant for us- getting up and leaving Boston. Of course, MP went to sleep directly on the flight, and I wrestled a baby alligator on my lap in the form of an 8 pound Chihuahua.

The kids have been a blast, though they never stop moving or talking…..we have been having all sorts of adventures and time is flying way too fast. Floria has worn all her kimonos and is wearing her sundress today, and each of the boys now want kimonos of their own, so I will patterns for sizes 6 and 8 before I leave.

I think my favorite thing of all is hearing Floria in the morning when Julie goes in to get her and instead of saying ‘good morning’, I hear “where Amy?”……and next thing I know I have the boys jumping on my bed.

Although Biscuit needs a kimono for every single day, I took a little break to make her this sundress. I saw an article in MS Living a couple of years ago where you make a little sundress out of a pillow case. It was so cute and I know I saved the article, but I tore the house apart looking for it and came up empty. I’ve seen this style of the gathered neck in all the shops and figured it couldn’t be too hard. So, I basically made my own pillow case, in a sense, and went from there.

The fabric is a chestnut print from IKEA, and the tie is from Amy Butler’s Midwest Modern collection.

Thank you for all the encouragement and kind words on the kimonos. I’m so addicted to making them and hope that others find the pattern as simple and fun as I do. I keep tweaking it and changing little things about it and for me it is already leading to lots of other projects!

Here are some additional photos of the ties.

The binding around the neck is a continuous piece with about 10″ to 12″ extra at each end. Those ends for the ties. The other ties are under each armpit.

More photos here.

The tutorial is up! I rushed a bit, but I gave it my best shot. Please note, that it’s written in such a way as to assume knowledge of basic pattern terminology as well as things like how to make your own binding. Feel free to download it, take a look at it and leave me a comment if anything is unclear or if you need a little more help (I have no problem revising it and uploading revisions over time). I’ve never written tutorials before, and it’s harder than I thought!

Enjoy this fun little project, it’s really quick and easy. And be sure to post or email me photos if you make one of your own! And I warn you, they are addictive…..

Edit: I recommend making a fabric pattern out of scrap or muslin. Then you can reuse it in the future. Also, it will help you to practice/visualize the kimono and how it wraps/ties.