Right of Passage

Like I said Monday, it is a right of passage to wear matching Easter outfits. My sisters and I look absolutely thrilled, and now I am doing this to my children. I am a mother with no shame. I am guessing this picture is circa 1982.

The love, the hate, and the testing

Sibling relationships are definitely different than any other relationship in your life. I have 2 sisters and a brother and we all have different relationships with each other; some healthy, some not so much.

Because of my own issues, I have always worried about what kind of relationships my children will build or destroy between each other. It was one of my main concerns having 2 girls since girls are truly more drama than boys. My sisters and I are in our thirties and drama is probably the best way to describe our relationships.

Sibling relationships was one of my main reasons for wanting children close in age. Calan will never remember a time when he was without Maisie. They are together for better or for worse.

My children have finally gotten to the age where they can love each other one second, hit each other the next, and then love each other again. The roller coaster has started.

Some times it is so amazing to watch them together and watch how Calan as the older, protective brother takes care of his sister. He always makes sure that she has what she needs (as long as it isn't something he wants.) He definitely sees her as a playmate.

Maisie adores Calan. She usually wakes up before he does from nap time and gets pretty upset when we can't go get him. She'll keep going to his bedroom door till it is time to wake him up too. She follows him every where.

However, they have also gotten to the age where fighting has started. Maisie is not the "give up whatever Calan wants" type of girl anymore. If she is playing with something and Calan tries to take it, she clearly yells no. If he gets it, she tries to grab it back. If that doesn't work, she cries and gets me. Calan on the same note won't give up a toy for Maisie and if she grabs it from him, he bops her on the head.

Oh, the fun we are having right now.

Two of our family rules are 1) Speak nicely to each other and 2) Never hurt one another. So the fighting, usually ends in time outs and apologies. Pretty sure as their mother, the time outs and apologies are basically useless since they fight 2 seconds later, but it is the best thing I have right now. After each time out, they have to apologize to the other and give a nice touch whether that is a hug or a kiss. Both of them have no problem apologizing and they both love hugging each other, so no big deal there either. I love how Calan always runs to Maisie saying "Sorry Maisie Daisy."

It is hard to stay on top of their fighting since they really are over it 2 seconds later. They really never seriously hurt each other, but if I am not addressing it now, I feel like it will only get worse as they get older. My thought is that their sibling is their first friend and should be treated better than other friendships. So, if they aren't speaking nicely or acting nicely toward each other, they need to be corrected by me.

I know that I will never be able to stop sibling rivalry, but I also want them to know how important it is to treat each other with respect and kindness. If I can instill that in them, I hope that they will build a healthy relationship well into the future.

They decided to lay down in the kitchen and pretend to sleep. Calan made the "beds"
with their blankets.

Night time quiet time. Calan sharing his blue blanket with Maisie since hers was in
their room. 

Matchy, Matchy Easter Outfits

The kids' 2013 Easter outfits. 

When I decided to start sewing at the beginning of the year, I had no idea how much I would love it and how much I would be able to do in such a short amount of time. I am pretty famous for doing things for 3 weeks and then giving up, well it is now March and my list of sewing projects I want to do just keeps growing.

As a sewing mommy, I believe that it is right of passage to make matching Easter outfits for your kids. With Calan and Maisie so close in age, it just had to happen. I am positive when they are older they will complain that I made them wear them, but I can't help but think they will be pretty adorable all dressed up.

I first decided to make Maisie's dress and at the time I had no intentions of making anything for Calan, but as my skills have improved and my idea in my head of what I wanted him to wear was not matching anything at the store in our price range, I decided sewing was the only option.

The front and back of Maisie's
dress. I used Peek-a-Boo Pattern
Shop's The Natalie Dress.
The skirt fabric is
KeepsakeCalico Circle Daisy Navy.

A few weeks back, my favorite sewing blog and pattern shop had an adorable dress on sale. I knew that would be Maisie's dress. She posts discounts every Thursday. Then last week, she had a 25%-off pattern sale that included her new spring line, which included a cardigan that would be perfect for Calan's Easter outfit.

For Maisie's dress, I wanted something that looked spring-ish, but wasn't too pastel or flowery. I fell in love with the skirt fabric. I just choose white interlock knit for the top, and got to work. It was my first time sewing knit, so there are a lot of mistakes on the top, but it looks fine on her. I have gotten a lot better since I've sewn this dress. A part of me would love to re-do it, but I want to do more projects, so the top stays as is. I made the dress more empire wasted than the pattern calls for. I think it looks better on a toddler that way.

The pleats were pretty easy to do. I had a few seam-ripping situations, but overall the project fit well within my beginner-sewer status.

I used Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop's
V-neck Cardigan and
Delia Creates' Lil' MisterBow-tie
for Calan's outfit. 

With Maisie looking adorable in her dress, I knew that I couldn't leave Calan out. I love how the cardigan and bow-tie turned out. I am matching it with a white dress shirt I bought at Kohl's and a pair of gray cordaroys he already had. I can tell by looking at the cardigan just how much better I have gotten at sewing knits. I am still not the best, but I can tell from my first time on Maisie's dress to my fourth knit project of Calan's cardigan, I have much better control. There are a lot of tips on sewing knits online. Using a walking foot and a double needle has made sewing them look like I have been doing it for years instead of just months.

The patterns I followed were The Natalie Dress and V-Neck Cardigan from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shops. The patterns are great because they go from 3 months to 8 and 12 years, repectively, so I can use them for years to come.  For the bow-tie, I followed an easy tutorial from Delia Creates. (The tutorial was easy, but it did take me a while to figure out how to tie a bow-tie; those things are adorable, but tricky.)

Now to figure out what I am going to wear. Decisions, Decisions.

And my not so willing models showing off their outfits. Toddlers and pictures do not mix.