Two Birthdays and a Snowman

I'll start with the snowman.

It snowed a bit the other day, and my eldest decided it was just enough snow to make a snowman when she returned from school yesterday. Just enough to make the cutest, smallest snowman I've ever seen:

The weather is meant to be a bit nicer on the weekend, but it's been chilly for awhile! Between the weather and the arrival of my youngest daughter's birthday, Fall is definitely here! She had her fourth birthday back on Monday. We celebrated back on Saturday with a lovely gathering of friends and family (gathering with some of them again for a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at my in-laws' the next night-it was a busy weekend, but a wonderful one).

Since June, my soon-to-be-4-year-old had been telling me that she would have a duck party. Easy, I thought, I have a duck cake somewhere in one of my books!


The day before the party, she changed her mind about the cake.

Luckily, this one wasn't quite as hard as it looks, though final assembly required a fair bit of focus, icing, and a chopstick running through the back tower to keep it from toppling.

Add one happy birthday girl, and we can declare it a success!


On the same weekend, a friend had a 1930s-themed party for his 30th birthday. I do like vintage dresses, and was pleased to find a 1935 dress that looked do-able (Vogue, v2859). I bought the pattern and fabric (I picked up some stretch 'satin' on sale). It was a lot of work, and I learned a lot making the dress. In fact, I learned enough that I keep thinking how I'd do it differently the next time without quite regretting the choices I made for this time.

 
If I were to sew it again, I'd use easier to press fabric, less shiny fabric, less slippery fabric, either install a zipper instead of snaps or use fabric with enough give to sew the side shut, get someone else to measure me and measure the pattern pieces themselves instead of assuming the chart on the package was the last word (instead of increasing the waist, I could have almost gone down a size-too loose in this case actually makes me look a bit larger than I would with different fabric and fit). I think I've finally reached the point where I'm enjoying learning to sew instead of just doing it for certain things because it seems like the thing to do.

I think I might just sew a dress again next time I want a new one! I've been browsing patterns, just in case...