Mother Teacher Scatterbrain

So, there is this braid bread that some girls I grew up with used to make during the holidays.  When I got grown, one of the girls lived not to far from me in Atlanta and would have me over for holiday celebrations.  Now, growing up, we called this braid bread: as young adults, one of her friends dubbed it sex bread, saying that it was better than sex. Now, we were supposed to do a recipe swap where I got this recipe, but we fell out right after I took my turn on the swap. 

Now, if you actually read my blog, you may notice that I make resolutions and plans all times of year: New Years resolutions, birthday resolutions, Monday resolutions, tomorrow resolutions, soon-as-I-get-*insert necessary object here* resolutions! and on and on... So why not now, when most people are doing them.  

I came across this poem on social media this morning.  It is written in the rhythm of one of my favorite Biblical passages: 1 Corinthians 13, a poem about love (or charity depending on your Bible).  Keep this in mind as you make your preparations.

So today, I sewed my son's vest together.  It is working up to be quite cute.  I followed the Professor Pincushion tutorial, but it was just so difficult closing the vest.  It is a nightmare sewing such a small garment.  I thought to just finish the vest up by hand instead of trying to use the machine, but against my better judgement, I used the machine.  It turned out ok though.  I also used my 4 step buttonhole stitches on my machine.  I don't understand how exactly the foot works, but the buttonholes turned out pretty nicely as well. (Although, I did put them on the wrong side.  I get so confused. Smh!)

I also sewed my skirt together.  I put on a waistband and installed a zipper!  My first zipper!  It is not perfect, but it will hold my skirt up.  I think I will be adding a hook and eye at the top though.  It needs something.  (I wonder if I can take it off an old bra.)

All that I have left to do is sew the buttons on the baby's vest and hem my skirt.  Because parts of a circle skirt are on the bias, the skirt has to settle or fall or whatever it does.  In short, it needs to hang for about a week before it cut it even and hem it.  So it is hanging.

I plan to add the buttons on the vest tomorrow. I also plan to put the hook and eye in tomorrow.  Next week I will cut and hem the skirt.  I think I will look into making a tulle petticoat and just wear a slip under it so it doesn't cut my stockings up.

How to Create Curved Tucks - Threads or fluting

Here is a collection of posts all about sewing for that pregnant belly!

Maternity Sewing Tutorial Roundup 2012!!!!!
Maternity Sewing Tutorials Roundup 2011
maternity sewing tutorial rounduphttp://sewlikemymom.com/diy-maternity-clothes/

http://gotosew.com/2013/12/to-press-or-not-to-press/

When I was a child, my grandmother cooked chicken so many ways and she taught me all of them, but today we are making fried chicken.  The first way I learned to make chicken was in a pressure cooker.  It was simple-- put the chicken in the basket, lower the basket, turn the knob, and wait for the bell to ding.  Perfectly crispy and juicy chicken every time.  

J

My two year old son found his knife in the silverware drawer today.  Them he asked to have a peanut butter sandwich. I asked him if he wanted to make it himself, he said yes. So I got out his Mickey Mouse plate, cut a slice of bread in half (because is knife is only good for spreading), and put the food on the plate.  I got the peanut butter from the jar and put it in one of Mickey's ears and put the bread in the big part of the plate.  I gave him his knife.

In a previous post, I said that I would be making mother/son coordinated Christmas outfits for my som and me.  I will be using Simplicity 4762 View D for his vest and makjng a 27 or 28 inch circle skirt for myself.

First of all, shopping for little boys' clothes is generally the pits!  Their section is small; there is no variety; and it is just plain boring!  Whenever I am looking at catalogs, sewing patterns, etc. there is always gobs of stuff in the children's section, but the majority of it is for girls.

Now, I have done several posts on how to make Montessori materials. I love to figure things out. This has been like a brain teaser or puzzle for me. I have enjoyed figuring how to make these materials and sharing it. I have more coming. Don't worry. I know the title of this post may make you think that I am quitting, but I am not. There are just a few materials that are not worth the trouble.

The first material that is not worth the trouble is the Knobbed Cylinders. Now I am sure this can be done with a scroll saw and a lot of patience. In fact, if you are willing to cut the base into two pieces and then cut the cylinders, it is perfectly doable, but this is just not worth it to me. It is too much work and if you don't get it perfect, the pieces won't fit together for the extension activities. I would just buy the Knobbed cylinders.

If I decide to use the bead materials, I would just buy them because to even calculate the necessary bead would be quite the daunting task and by the time I finish, my child would be grown. When you add in the time spent, the cost is just too high. Even so, buying the materials is quite expensive. As a teacher, I have yet to see much that can be done with the beads that couldn't be done with base ten blocks or some cuisenaire rods. If it really bothers you, you can paint the rods the Montessori colors and add lines every centimeter to simulate units. You could even go so far as to carve the lines into the plastic. If you insist on natural materials, wooden base ten tens rods, cut to the appropriate lengths and painted are another alternative to the expensive beads.

However, if you want to attempt to make them, be my guest.

I used salt and pepper shakers with spices wrapped in cloth inside. I got the shakers as a set at Dollar Tree. I bought small scraps of fabric from Joanne's. I took the cloth and cut it into small squares. I bought two different colors to distinguish the sets. I put the spice in the square, sewed it shut, and put it into the shaker. One of each spice into each color scrap cloth.

For this you will need 5 rectangular balsa boards, two different grades of sandpaper, and some cardstock.

Cut the first board in half and cover one piece with the roughest sandpaper and the other with the cardstock.

Cover the second board with roughest sandpaper on the right and cardstock on the left.

For the third board, you will cover the board with four strips, two of each as described: roughest sandpaper, cardstock, roughest sandpaper, cardstock.

For the fourth board, you will cover the board in thirds: cardstock, medium sandpaper, roughest sandpaper.

For the last board, you will cut it into thirds and cover each third with a different piece of material: cardstock, medium sandpaper, and roughest sandpaper.

Old film canisters or cardboard boxes from a craft store work well. They can be filled with beans, rocks, rice, pasta, marbles, etc.  Be sure to glue them shut with--like--superglue!  I am sure I don't want them bursting on the carpet!