This Strawberry Shortcake is the cutest ever!!

she's an official grown-up, now

Mirror, mirror on the wall, what have they done with my hair?

My baby-lamb turns 21. Lamby, Lamby-girl, Lambelina. When she was born, we lived across the street from dear friends who also had school-age kids and a new baby girl. Their Sophie was an unhappy, crying baby, and mom, S, would sigh, and laughingly exclaim, "Oh, there's my sweet, gentle lamb, calling to me." Somehow, the irony of her comments made me see my own easy baby as truly a sweet, gentle lamb. The description became a name, and evolved into many variations of the same. Before Kathryn introduced us to her boyfriend, she told him we'd call her Lamb, and they gave each other a sweet and noticeable glance when we did.

Hello, can we set up a play date?

Cali girl does Canada

We also call her Catalina, Katerina, Katwin. 

Junior High style!

High School hipster

Love you, Lovey. Happy Birthday, Kathryn.

What's in a costume?

When I was a kid, planning a Halloween costume and putting it together and going out in it was really the best part of the season. One year I was a frog, wearing green tights and turtleneck, and spats over my shoes and a 3D mask I made of cardboard and paint. Another year I wove skeins of green yarn into a wig for a witch costume, and I sewed a black dress with long, bell sleeves. I helped one of my sisters make a robot costume from cardboard boxes with moving buttons and levers, and we made countless hats with varieties of animal ears.

When I had my own kids, I didn't allow them to choose costumes that were gory or evil, and I didn't make outstanding costumes, but I encouraged them to have fun and to be creative. 

Often, their costumes were based on pajamas or sweats or something that could be used in everyday wear, or added to our permanent costume collection for ongoing play. Our costumes reflected who we were, and who we wanted to pretend to be.

1986

1995

End of sweet, creative, wholesome costumes!

Now for the costumes that are 

Not Appropriate for Fall, or anytime.

I really like costumes and dress-ups, but I've been distressed by all the gory, gruesome, truly scary costumes worn by younger and younger trick-or-treaters. Still, I was appalled at some of the skanky costumes I saw online for little kids!

No little girl should be dressed as a French maid.

Or a saloon girl.

Cowgirls are cute, and rodeo is big where I love.
 This little girl's outfit is sure to appeal to someone
with a rodeo fetish. 

"Mack Daddy Pimp" costume.
In sizes 4-6, 8-10.
That's disgusting.

"Major Flirt"
Women in the military deserve more respect.

Ew, ew, ew. Little Bo Peep
These "Bratz" Costumes are just right for parents
who want to turn their daughters into jailbait.

Why is Little Miss Muffect
wearing leopard print? Icky.

Adult costumes are getting more raunchy. There are many variations of this fella's: the petting zoo, the one-eyed monster, the "treats" dispenser. Funny? Kinda. But I wouldn't want to see it on anyone I know!! Tasteless and gross.

But there are some things that just shouldn't be sexualized.

A sexy cookie monster?

Big Bird? 

How could anyone think of Sponge Bob
and sexy costume?

Finding Nemo? Really?

Ahem...

And please...

How could they do this to Strawberry Shortcake?

Appropriate for Fall

I haven't been here for a while. That post about Emmy and Sadie was out of desperation, even though I tell myself this is an obligation-free zone. Still, I want to keep you coming back for more, and you might give up on me if I don't show up. This post might end up being a doozy, if I manage to fit in all I want to!

I've been busy making things. The creativity is rejuvenating to me, but the isolation of staying in my sewing space is a little depressing. Hmmm, I need to figure out how to exploit the former and diminish the latter... actually, I know I should stop watching old British detective shows on tv while I work. I am really enjoying Netflix streaming through John's wii! I've already gone through a lot of funny old British shows.

Last weekend, I had lunch with two of my sisters-in-law. Here we are at Big Sky Cafe in SLO, where R's paintings are on display!

And here we are at Gopher Glen in See Canyon, after buying apples:

The weather is rainy, very unusual for this time of year! But it makes for a very nice fall atmosphere. It was conducive to making a fall leaves quilt I've had in my head for some time. I had some complicated patterns in mind, but decided I wanted to finish it this season, not a year from now, so I went with a simple idea. I'd hoped to finish it in time to give as a gift during M's visit, but Ralph can take it to her later this month.

I've also been busy making Poppy a Strawberry Shortcake costume for Halloween. She and I looked at some online over the summer. We found this one:

Which is pretty cute, but the reviews said it runs small, and that it's poorly made. About what you'd expect for a costume.












The next size costume was this one:

Again, cheap manufacturing, and what's with the sassy pose in this picture? I couldn't see paying $40 for the dress and tights alone.

When I offered to make it, Bethany and I agreed it would be a dress Poppy could wear normally, not just as a costume. Bethany also asked me to model it after the original Strawberry Shortcake doll.

It's hard to sew for someone who isn't here to try it on, but I put a couple patterns together and made this sweet little dress out of cotton sweatshirt fleece. The eyelet pinafore is made from fabric that was once curtains in Bethany's room when she was an infant. *aww*

I modified the embellishments on the pinafore to take advantage of the eyelet, and made pockets and a massive hat, and this is what I'll be mailing to PA this week:

I already sent Poppy green-striped tights to wear with it, along with a sparkly pink pair. You can see here how much she loves them already!   *goofy girl*

I can't wait to see pictures of girl+dress+hat+ tights (on legs)! (Hint, hint, Bethany!)
I hope it all fits!

I titled this post "Appropriate for Fall," and I planned to segue into a bunch of costumes online that are Not Appropriate for Fall. I think I'll save them for a separate post. I don't want to pollute this one!

worshippers...

EmmyLou is visiting for the weekend. At first, Sadie was very bossy and insecure about sharing her space, and poor Emmy cried by the front door, missing her family. Sadie pooped on the carpet to let us know how she felt about having Emmy here. Now, they're getting along just fine. They'll never be best friends, though, they're just too different. Sadie is a cat in disguise; she is independent and usually can be found observing life from a cozy spot on the couch or in the sun. She has no inclination to play with toys or chase a ball. Emmy is the dog John wishes Sadie was; devoted to her people, untiring when at play, and she loves to play ball!