25 Years of Wedded Bliss

25 years ago, I put on a fancy white dress and my boyfriend put on a fancy white tux. By the end of the day, we were married and went off to live happily ever after.

That, we have done. And we have done it well!  In the past 25 years, we had four daughters and three grandsons. We moved several times and helped each other finish college. We went through a few jobs too.  We've seen each other through illnesses and injuries and through triumphs and successes.

One thing we've always done is remain a team. Whatever comes up, we are in it together and we support each other. Sure, we have disagreements, but not about anything big. We argue over what to pack for camping, not what to plan for our future. We work on the big picture together. I guess that's why we are still married. We made a promise to be a team and get through life together and we both meant it when we said we would. And we do.

Honestly, I think I just got lucky. I know a lot of people who didn't. My husband is an awesome guy! He's fun, responsible, hilarious, dependable and respected. And he's crazy enough to put up with me all of the time. Nobody can predict the future, but we have always stuck together and one day melted into the next and here we are: celebrating our 25th anniversary.

Seems weird to say it's been 25 years. Every time we go to a wedding, I think of our wedding day. It is fresh in my mind just as if it weren't so long ago. Saying it was a quarter of a century ago really sounds odd.

To celebrate, we both said "Happy Anniversary" on facebook and we each posted an old picture. That's it. We barely even saw each other! Our anniversary landed on a Tuesday. Eh, it was just another day of the week. Tuesdays aren't for celebrations. They are a work day. It was also the day after our daughter's 5th birthday, so it was easy to overlook.

We'll have a party for our 50th anniversary. Friday, October 1st, 2038. You're all invited. Bring presents!

Princess Mulan's Matchmaker Hanfu

Made It!!!

The girls have been wishing for Princess Mulan dresses for quite some time. I finally found time to get to the fabric store and while I was there, I actually remembered to grab up some pretty blue fabric for the waist band. Really, that's what the big wait was all about. I've had the pink satin and the red trim for quite some time.

I only made one dress because my older girl is growing out of the dress up stage and she would rather wear something normal but themed. I haven't figured out what to do for her yet, but I did buy some Star Wars fabric for when I figure something out. In the meantime, only one hanfu is in order. Which works because Libby's 5th birthday was quickly approaching so the dress could be a gift. 

It only took me a couple of days to make the dress, which would equate to a couple of hours in normal person time. It's been proven many times that I am not functioning in any level of normal, sewing or otherwise. But it should be noted that it was a quick project.

I used a normal looking dress pattern, mainly for the measurements of the shoulders and sleeves and bodice width. The hanfu does not at all resemble the pattern I used, but I am growing out of a need for much of a pattern; I just need the major cutting points and then I can wing the rest of it.

I made the hanfu just like a dress in that it has a top bodice section and a bottom skirt with a zipper up the back. I'm not so sure that is the proper way but I wanted it to have some flair at the bottom and I wasn't so sure a shift or A line cut would have the same effect. Besides, the gathered waistline would be covered by the waist band so it didn't really matter. I also made the skirt ankle length (or so I thought until my kid put it on and I discovered her legs are a lot longer than they used to be!)

I cut the sleeves the right length and then added "bat wings" to the wrist. I also made the tip of the wings longer than the top of the wrist so that it resembled Mulan's long sleeve tips without going overboard. Just a bit of effect for authenticity but not enough that it would be annoying to wear.

The bodice top gave me some pause. I had to think about how to make it overlap like a robe. I ended up cutting four bodice pieces and then folding them and ironing them down the way I wanted them, trimming off the unwanted half at the diagonal and stitching the two pieces of bodice together at the waist. It has a lining of the same satin, which is why I needed four pieces. Two outer and two for lining. There is probably a hundred easier and more conservative ways to cut the bodice out, but to keep it straight in my mind, that's how I did it. I will have to practice or draw up a little pattern piece.

I used some of the leftover cheap red stuff that I used for the Captain Hook Halloween costume last year to trim the bodice and make the red waist belt. The embroidered blue piece was easy to make into a waistband. I measure the child around the middle and made a rectangle to match. I sewed the red band to the middle of the blue rectangle and added apron ties.

Now I had the pink satin underdress with the red trim on the bodice and the separate blue and red waist band. Done!

There were just a couple of problems. I forgot the red upper skirt and the waist band slid straight down that satin covered kid. It wouldn't stay up.

I added a piece of gathered red to the bottom of the blue waist band and that fixed that issue. Then I tacked the waist band to the dress in the back, front and under the arms to keep it from sliding down. We don't need to spend all day yanking the waist piece up over and over again. Now, it's done!

Princess Mulan's pink hanfu was an awesome birthday gift for my little birthday girl! We hauled it around all day at Disneyland on her big day, but it was too hot to wear satin. Also, Mulan wasn't "home" when we went to the Princess Fantasy Faire. In the evening when it cooled down, she put her hanfu on over her clothes in lieu of a jacket.  It was so cute!  We sure heard a lot of compliments in the couple of hours that she wore it and her little friend instructed me to make one for her and her sister.

Happy Birthday to my little princess!

*** UPDATE ***
11/8/2013

My little Mulan met the real Mulan at Disneyland. Mulan saw her and gasped with excitement! She was like a little princess on Christmas morning when she saw Libby in her Mulan hanfu! Very exciting! Here are the princess twins together:

The Redondo Twirly Skirt -or- Spin till you are Dangerously Dizzy

This skirt is dangerous!  Dangerous if you can't handle being dizzy, that is. I cannot; therefore, I will not wear one. I will not spin and twirl.  My daughter will. She's five; she can do that.

The first time I saw this skirt, an adorable little girl in my daughter's kindergarten class was wearing it. The next time I saw her, she had another one on. Then another. Her mom sews!  I got to know her mom a bit, but I forgot what she said her name was. That's ok, I just call her "The Redondo Mom" because of the skirt. Well, I don't call her that, I just refer to her silently in my mind as the Redondo Mom. Pretty sure she wouldn't answer me if I actually called her that out loud. Yeah, that might not be so cool.

That was 2 years ago. I've been thinking about that skirt ever since. It's that stinking cute! 

Recently, Redondo mom shared the pattern with me. I was so excited! Like, Christmas morning (after coffee) excited! I traced the pattern, all sizes, then traced another one for a friend of mine who has two little twirly girls, and returned the pattern unharmed by my crazy children.  They'd find it and spill something on it for sure.

The skirt consists of three pieces. One is a rectangle, I totally understand that one. It's the waistband. The other two pieces are completely confusing.

I've been sewing for 21 years now. I've seen so many patterns and could most of the time put them together. This one had me completely baffled. The two skirt pieces look like partial snail shells. I held them and tried to figure out how on earth they make a skirt, and how they fit together, which way is up, which end goes where... yeah, I don't know.

I followed the instructions very carefully. Rechecking every time I put things together. It never made sense. I put the curves together even thought it felt like I was making mistakes. They didn't look like they wanted to line up. But, that's what it said to do.

First, I made five swirls, then put those curly panels together and you'll never guess what! It totally made the cute little skirt! Perfect!!! I'm not sure how that happened when it felt so weird. I really need to practice sewing things that have no straight lines. This was a step out of my comfort zone. Which made it especially satisfying!

Then I tried out the pattern on the largest size pattern. It was so sweet! But it turned out too long for my little spinner. Hmmmm....  Let's try again.

I now knew which end was up, so I shortened that end. I also cut the pieces a wee bit skinnier and made one more for six panels. Then I cut two types of fabric for the panels so they could alternate. Of course, I cut a couple of pieces backwards and had to recut them. I'm learning.  I sewed them together and next thing you know, skirt #2 was done!  Score! It looked a lot better than the first. In fact, it looked good enough to wear.  We gave it to a little girl for her birthday.

Then, I made a third. This is fun!  Skirt #3 turned out just  as good as the second one and I love it! More than that, the girls love it!  The largest size fits my smallest girl, so I'm going to have to figure out how to expand the pattern for my bigger girl. She likes to twirl too.

The skirt doesn't take long to sew. Maybe an hour or two at the most. Of course, it takes me longer because I have to keep three kids from taking all my pins out of my pin cushions, cutting up my fabric scraps, running hotwheels under my sewing table (over the pedals) and keeping the Barbies from climbing all over my ironing board. Slows down the sewing a bit.

I cannot wait to make more Redondo skirts! Thank you, Redondo Mom! or whatever your name is.