Not-so-simple Simplicity Christening gown

On Monday, Kate and I decided we should attempt to make our own christening gown for her newborn, Isaac. We had searched a bunch of thrift stores and consignment shops with no luck, and most of the gowns were ridiculously frilly (not to mention overpriced).

Neither of us has ever made a christening gown, but we figured it couldn't be too complicated, right? Kate found a Simplicity pattern and we used the sleeveless "slip" part of the pattern to make a simple gown.

I was NOT a fan of the instructions in the pattern. Lots of ambiguity and confusion. I ended up doing my own thing about halfway because there was so much cursing about the directions.

We did find some cute lace and other trim in my ribbon stash so I hand-stitched those on as an accent. Overall, it came out pretty decent. If I had to do this again, I'd use a simpler cotton fabric for the gown though...the stuff we used was stretchy and somewhat annoying.

And here's baby Isaac, tired from all the crafting...

aww...

Meditations on moving

Yes, I have in fact noticed that I haven't posted anything in about a month. I have an excuse! I was moving! Haha...I know the move didn't take a full month (most of it was done in two days) but between the packing, unpacking, cleaning, perfectionist lining of my kitchen cabinets, organizing, and getting rid of stuff, it's been super busy.

My thoughts on moving:

1) It will always take you at least 50% longer than you think, and you have at least 50% more stuff than you think. Yeah, I had no idea I'd be packing 100 boxes. (And now unpacking them...)
2) Friends are awesome! I used movers for my furniture, but my friends helped by providing boxes, packing boxes, moving stuff, unpacking my shoes and clothes, and organizing my movie collection. (Jyoti did this last task and she made categories such as "movies I like" and "things with non-humans." haha). My friends also supplied me with so much bubble wrap and packing paper that I didn't need to buy any, even with my extensive dish collection.
3) Start early. Man, I was still packing boxes when the movers arrived. I should have started waaaayyy earlier.
4) Unpacking is at least more amusing than packing. I keep finding things I packed and thinking, "What IS that?" and "Why did I keep it?" and "What was I thinking when I purchased it?" Case in point--the wooden pirate ship wheel pictured above. Where the heck am I going to put that?
5) Make lists! I had a list of my boxes, which ended up being not that necessary...but I could see how with a larger home or several people it would be important. However, my moving list of all the places I needed to change my address was crucial!
6) Moving in the summer stinks. Almost all of my past moves have been in the summer and even if it's not awful outside, I always end up lying on the floor somewhere thinking "ughhhhhhhh I'm gonna pass out."
7) Remember to drink water and eat! I was way behind on the day of the move and forgot to eat lunch. Luckily there was a Chipwich in the fridge in my old place so I devoured that :)

Overall, I have to say the move went really smoothly though. And I love the new place! Even if it does still resemble Boxland a little bit.