Oddwise

Something old, something new, something thrifted, something blue

2012-01-29T09:47:00.005+01:00

I made this sweater merging a hoodie pattern and the sweater pattern from Ottobre 4/2007, # 26.
I bought the soft green fabric two weeks ago and mixed it with blues from my stash. The red-pinkish fabric for the hood and binding is from a T-shirt I bought second-hand.
On the front, I added Kikker (Frog), a character from a Dutch children’s book. I printed an image of him from the internet on transfer paper and ironed it on an old off-white T-shirt. I’m very curious how it will hold in the laundry. Usually, I use a stabilizer with glue for my appliqués, but this time I only used it on the white part, not on the border. If the frog will faint, I can easily remove it without leaving traces.

The construction was a bit of a puzzle, because I barely had enough blue fabric.
But I really liked the challenge.

I loved to play around with the fabrics and I love the result. I hope Pelle can wear this often. If he grows out of it, I might enlarge it by removing the binding and adding some sweater fabric in that zesty pinkish-red color (because I have just about the same color in a sweater fabric in my stash, which is purely coincidence, because it was a gift). But that’s for the future. For now, I’m definitely going to use this pattern again, because it gives me so much possibilities to mix and match. And for me, that’s one of the great delights of sewing.

Clothes to be.

2012-01-26T11:32:00.008+01:00

Every now and then I indulge in buying some expensive fabric. Because it gives me so much pleasure to sew with and because I can compensate by also buying second-hand clothes, inexpensive fabric and by recycling.
So there I was, ordering on the internet in this huge German store. When I looked carefully at the receipt a day later I saw I made a mistake. In stead of brown owls I accidentally ordered pink ones. The fabric was already on it’s way.

When it arrived, I told Pelle I had other intentions, color wise. But he said it was no problem at all. “I like pink, mum”. And that’s true. Here’s a boy who has no awareness of social conventions and easily wears a button with Cinderella and Snow-white on them just because he likes it. I don’t think he even knows the meaning of words like ‘childish’, 'girly' and 'boring' which establish your position when you’re 6 years old. I think that’s the pearl of being mildly autistic. He does things his own way and his authenticity shines through it. I have always seen that. His soul is very visible. So to celebrate that, I am going to sew him a nice shirt. Pink owls. But he has to wait though, because first, I want to wrap him with up in warmth. A sweater and a pant to suit the weather. In the meantime, I can hardly wait to delve into those 2 knits, too.

Reassurance.

2012-01-19T21:37:00.007+01:00

I don’t watch television that much. I’d rather sew, or do something else at night. But on Tuesday, there was a film I’d liked to see and it didn’t disappoint me. The title was simply Adam and it was a gentle story about a young man with Asperger’s syndrome who falls in love with his new neighbor. They get a relationship, but in the end he moves to California and she doesn’t.
I’m no expert in Asperger’s (I think Pelle has a different kind of autism) but I had the impression it was a rather realistic portrait. More sentimental and romantic than in the real world, but that’s where movies are for. It wasn’t over the top.

I don’t know what the future will hold for Pelle. Will he ever get a relationship? Have friends? I honestly don’t know. Am I worried? No. Not at all. Because the future is so very far away and because there are so many people here right now who love him and care for him. He is a sweet and charming boy and people like him. And I guess that will always be the case. There will always be people who care, like they do for the character in the movie. And that is a comforting thought.

It's not crab at all.

2012-01-15T12:08:00.010+01:00

Last night I finished the sweater. I am so pleased with the result.

Pattern is from Roos, no. 3000A, which was a gift from her, but you can easily adjust an Ottobre or other pattern.
I liked this one because of the square pocket.

I used a honeycomb stitch for the seams.

I had a lot of trials on the appliqué. Made a tower, made a second one by stitching strait on the fabric (with stitch-and-tear in between), looked on the internet for iron-ons. Thought about making a lighthouse and a rescue band (too obvious). Decided to not add anything at all. And than suddenly, a light bulb went on in my mind and shone on the creatures of the sea. I used them before. Pelle has this lovely book about a tiny little white fish who is searching for his mum. He meets all those animals and the each have a different color. “Is this the mother of little fish?”, “No, this is a crab, and he is red”. So there was my inspiration.

The red crabfish.

I tweaked it a little (both scales up, otherwise the appliqué would be to big), stitched it with a dark thread to make it look a bit sketchy, added a little yellow for the contrast and there it was. The tool to give the sweater it’s personality.

The sweater is very comfy, and I hope he will wear it very much.

(I might change the end of the sleeves, though. Give them a real cuff. I'll see).

Nothing finished, yet.

2012-01-12T14:22:00.006+01:00

I didn’t have much time to sew, this past week. So I can only show you the sweater as a work in progress. The sweater fabric is soft and will be so comfortable to wear, but is also a bit too dark to my liking. It was intended to be for a sweater for Mark, and he loves dark colours. We bought it more than a year ago in our local fabric store, which unfortunately closed after more than 30 years in December. The sweater never became reality, because I have to confess that I don’t like to sew that much for my lovely man. Since he likes things to be plain, I miss the playing around with matching fabrics, colours, pockets.

As I do want to use the things I have and because of the good quality of the fabric, it’s now for Pelle – once again. I do feel I need to spruce it up with stripes, an appliqué and contrasting stitches to countermatch the darkness. So I’m on the go.

For the back, I tried something new. A kind of piping, but without the thread inside. I just folded a piece of T-shirt knit and sewed it between the seam and stichtched it again. I think in will look nice once the hood is falling over it. I want to use this method again.

I did something similar some time ago, with an unfinished sweatpants, but with a different technique. I just sewed one end of the fabric in-between the seams, folded the other end beneath the stripe and stitched it.
If you look carefully, you can see the difference.

The result is a bit wobbly.
As I am always on the lookout for a polished look, I will use the folding method again.

I should finish the sweatpants. Why didn’t I already? The applique turned out so nice.

A little trick.

2012-01-05T22:30:00.006+01:00

Pelle wore his red pants today and oh my, do they look good on him. I will post some picks when the matching sweater is ready by the end of next week. But as I had anticipated, the waistband was a bit too wide. I did not want to sew belt loops, because he has a strange habit of lowering all his pants below his bellybutton and insisting on wearing a belt whenever it is possible. The combination of those two preferences makes him complain about a light pain on his hips. No wonder, but I can’t talk these habits out of his head. They only alternative is no loops at all and hence no belt. He doesn’t have a problem with that.
So to adjust the waistband, I though of something else. Before folding it over, I sewed two large buttonholes on the inner side. And this evening I put an elastic band through it. Then I fixated the band, cut the spare ends off and voilà, a little invisible stretch in the back. No need to use buttonhole elastic. If he gets a little thicker (if ever), I can undo it easily.

A very smart solution, if I say so myself.

Start.

End.

Fixating the band.

Cutting of the spares.

Nothing to see anymore, except the holes.

The result. A flat front.

A wrinkled back.

Doesn't it look professional?

I proudly present ….

2012-01-03T14:36:00.005+01:00

….. my first pant with home-made fly.

The camera can't picture the true colour. It's a plain red.

This is a winter pant made of double coated cotton. I thought it would be nice to make Pelle another warm pant, as it’s supposed to be winter here. Right now, it’s more like a Novemberstorm coming over, but I want to be prepared.
I used the same pattern as for the brown pants, because of the great fit. (Ottobre 5/2006, # 19, size 122), with a few minor modifications. As the cotton is not stretchy I had to sew a zipper into it. The last time I made a fly was a few years ago, during sewing lessons. (I always have to thing about Marty McFly, when I read the word. He was the character in the Back to the Future movies). Since I don’t attend lessons anymore, I was out on my own. I carefully followed the instructions in the magazine and it worked out so fine, I could hardly believe it. No puckering needed.

For the waistband I followed instructions from an old book I have

and now the pant is done. I so hope Pelle will like wearing it.
The next project is a matching sweater. I'll keep you posted.

Frustrating.

2011-12-29T14:41:00.003+01:00

I love to sew, but it isn’t always easy. Technically, I’ve learned bit by bit these past years, but I still have mishaps. Appliqués that don’t work out, combinations that are over the top, finished garments that are too plain for my liking. They usually do not find their way to Flickr or this blog. And although I have many fabrics, I am now encountering another problem: the leftovers I have from former projects are too small for yet another round. I had this idea about an orange sweater to match the brown pants I sewed. I traced a pattern and had it all worked out in my mind. I envisioned a hood with a striped knit lining. And pockets with a small binding on the edges made from the same stripy fabric. Green stitches and a green cord.

The plan.

And then I discovered I simply did not have enough orange sweater fabric. So I ordered another piece online. It arrived yesterday, but it simply doesn’t match. (It doesn’t have to be exactly the same, because I can easily split up the front and back, but the two colors really don’t go together, although it’s hard to see on the photo).

The mismatch, although hard to see.

It’s so frustrating. I looked forward to making this and now I have to put in on hold and wait till I can go into town on a Tuesday when there’s a fabric market.

I guess the only thing I can do now is turn my head around and choose between two other options: using the pattern and make the sweater from different fabrics or start with another winter pant.

Alternative 1: the original pattern, different fabrics.

Alternative 2: Warm red fabric (2 coats) for a pant.

Well, compared to all the problems in the world I won’t complain and make a start with either one. You'll find out soon.

My guy.

2011-12-24T17:05:00.003+01:00

My guy turned 50 yesterday. Hooray! I love to live with him as he's a great husband and father. We had a wonderful day and celebrated this landmark with friends and family.
Up for another 30 or so years.

Sweater.

2011-12-24T15:25:00.005+01:00

Sweater., a photo by oddwise on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
This sweater is made using a Dutch pattern (Roos 3000 A). I had my doubts about using a zipper so close to his face, but I am glad I persisted since the neckline is wide enough and the edges don't bother him. The instructions told me to cut of the corners of the zipper, but next time I will fold them back, since now I was left with two pointy pieces. Fortunatly I was able to Icover them with the wooly fabric so it still feels soft.
The elbowpieces are not in line with his elbows, although I used the pattern : - ( . Maybe I will replace them, but I'm not sure, because it's so much work.

I like the way the sweater turned out. Because it's a dark pink colourscheme , I used some denim accents to make it look more boyish. The fabric is a gift from a friend and funny enough I used a yellow variety of it a few years ago when it was on sale in a German webshop.

School.

2011-12-22T11:43:00.011+01:00

After the summer holidays, the serious work has begun: Pelle is learning to read, write and calculate. He's still in the school he started out when he was a toddler, but has a different teacher. And although she has more than 40 years of experience, she told us that Pelle is the first autistic kid she has in her class. In former years, he would have gone to a special education institution, but now policies are changed here in the Netherlands and the aim is to let kids with special needs stay in school in there own community, for as long as it’s possible.
She told me she seriously had her doubts, those first weeks. Pelle was so overactive, she didn’t now how to handle him. She quickly called in aid and a woman of the special education organization came and observed him a few times in the classroom. She gave his teacher advice, like working with a time-timer to help him concentrate and letting him go if things become to overwhelming, like raking leaves in courtyard. (I myself had my doubts, especcialy on the time-timer, because it's not focussing on his intrinsic motivation. But as it seems to be off real support for him I changed my mind). And now his teacher is very enthusiastic. “It’s a difference between night and day”, she told us a few weeks ago. She feels empowered now and her efforts are effective: Pelle's concentration is improving and he is more able to do an assignment now. And as he likes to learn, she feels she can let go if he needs time on his own. I’m so glad she dared to ask for help and respect her a lot for that. And besides that, she’s very nice and warm to the children and loves to hug them and give them affection.

Pelle's really enjoying school. Every day, he tells me if they have learned a new word, and if so, what it is. Of course he’s a strange duck in the class, but his classmates don’t make a problem out of that. They are used to him and tell new classmates that he’s a bit different. The teacher told me that last week it was his turn to read the words on the digital board and he was so fast, the other children spontaniously applauded for him. He has a ‘personal assistant’, a girl who is doing this third grade for the second year and she’s so very lovely and supportive. She helps him to organize his table and pick up the stuff he needs. He started out with special booklets for processing the language, where the pictures and instructions are very clear. But as he is doing so well, he’s now entering the mainstream method.

Easier and early version for processing: connecting the picture to the word. Looking for the right spelling of the word icecream.

More complicated (mainstream and later on in the curriculum): encircling the word 'huis' (= home) ánd connecting sentences to drawings 'een huis met een hek ervoor' means 'a home with a fence in front'.

Calculating (math). It says: 'draw the balls'. You can see he has a hard time drawing and his fine motorskills need some more practice.
The remedial teacher found out a great way to motivate him: he's allowed to draw on the digital board in front of the classroom and he loves it!

Now a new goal in our Dutch Son-Rise program is arising, and that’s to learn Pelle how to interact with other children, because he hardly does that. In January we are going to work out a plan for that, like inviting playmates. I’m very optimistic. It will be another step and I’m looking forward to a new dimension in our program. But for now, the holidays are on our doorstep and we are up for a special birthday and Christmastime. I look forward to that.

Chrismas decorations.

2011-12-18T15:43:00.009+01:00

Come on in, I'll show you some things.

Yesterday, we put up the tree and decorated the house. Every year I do it differently, according to my mood and energy. Some years I make green decorations, and I might do that this week, but until now the only thing I did myself was putting thing together.
Here are some pics.

The quilt is made by my mother. I bought the hyacint, because Pelle wanted to watch how an onion grows :-)

On top of our desk.

The small pine was made by a local craftsman, the hedgehog is made by Pelle at school, some years ago. The angel on the right is from felt and made in a former Russian Republic. I bought it through a charity foundation.

Next to our fireplace is a plastic tree from the bookstore for Pelle and an angle ornament from Germany. It used to have petals but they were to attractive for an inquisitive toddler. It stands on an embroided table runner from Poland.

Small detail of the runner I bought through a Dutch second-hand website..

And finally a simple tablepiece of candles, regular and South American balls (charity, again, a zilion years ago).

So that's it for now. I hope you're enjoying your home, too.

In between.

2011-12-15T23:15:00.002+01:00

Not much to tell at the moment. We’re in between Sinterklaas en Christmas. Already bought a tree, but it’s still standing outside. We’ll probably be decorating on Sunday and then the tree will stay till the 6th of January (three kings’ day).
My eagerness to sew comes in waves and when it’s wintertime I often rather read at night. But the boy really needs some warm clothes and once I start again, I love to continue. It’s the swinging on the momentum, if you know what I mean, that’s the hardest. So here are some pictures of this afternoon, while Pelle was at school. Will show the result soon.

About presents and playing

2011-12-08T12:22:00.003+01:00

Pelle dressed as little black Pete with gran.

Last Monday we celebrated Sinterklaas and it was cozy. My mother came, my mother-in-law and an aunt of Mark. So here we were: 4 woman, 1 man and a child sitting together, unwrapping presents and reading rhymes. Afterwards we had diner together, to top it of. It was an old-fashion family experience and it felt good.

It used to be hard to select presents for Pelle, because he hardly played with toys, except for cars, trains and busses. I think the biggest challenge for him and us is not communication. We always had good eye-contact and although he learned to speak a little late, it came reasonably fluently. I even think Pelle has a natural feeling for language. Since he learned to speak he asked a lot of questions and was very repetitious. He could ask “Is the door of the mill open or closed?” twenty or even forty times a day. As I, thanks to Son-Rise, though he needed this in some way I could deal with it and take his questions seriously. And it has faded away; we now really, truly have interactive communication. He has opened up.
He’s now at school learning to read and he loves it. I’m glad. Finally, there’s an aria in which he can come along with his classmates and I think that’s very good for his self-esteem.
But playing with his classmates is still something he’s not able to do, yet.
This last year, in our Dutch equivalent of the SonRise-program the players and I focused on enticing him to do pretend-play. We played roles, introduced puppets, imitated animals and did all kinds of other things. I also read a lot of books to him. And now our efforts are paying of. He’s starting to fantasize! In a small way, like a Sinterklaaspuppet he placed in a hoop and saying: “Sinterklaas is imprisoned now” and in a larger way: last week he was pretending there was a lion in the bookstore who wanted to eat us. We escaped on our bike and the lion was hit by a car. But then someone kissed him alive again (the echo of the tale of Snow-white I read him) and we had to escape again by climbing up the largest tower in the land. I was elated and think this growing ability will help him to interact with children more easily.
I also recon next year will be fun to give him toys, because they will speak to him much more.
For now, he had some books, a puzzle to make into a highway, a game with cards where he has to imitate actions and animals and this bag I made him. The fabric says: "Be A Hero" and I ordered it long ago at Spoonflower, I think. As you can see he already used it, because it's stained and will go in the laundry now.

When he’s older, I enlarge the straps. Now the corners curl up, but otherwise the bag would hang on his bum, and I don’t like that. So there’s room to grow for my hero!

He's in town again!

2011-12-01T16:14:00.005+01:00

Coming Monday we celebrate the birthday of Saint Nicolaas and hopefully he will bring some presents to our home.
The Saint already arrived in Holland some weeks ago and of course we were there to watch him step ashore. Pelle placed his shoe by the chimney, with a carrot for the horse of Nicolaas and the following morning the little Black Pete had placed a small present there.
Now we anxiously await his arrival at school on Monday. Last year he came by in his camper and wasn’t even dressed because he overslept! And two years ago he arrived steering a tractor. Who knows what he will do this year? Well, as long as he doesn’t forget us, I’m in for a surprise. (Sshh, I already know that his assistant made a nice bag for the little boy to host his sportswear, but don’t tell anyone).

About a boy in the States.

2011-11-21T11:55:00.001+01:00

When I started blogging, I had no idea what a wonderful spin-off it would bring me. At the time I was so worried about Pelle and I felt so sad. And than Maria, whom I met because of the wonderful T-shirts she made sent me an e-mail. She found out that her son was autistic and in the same dark weekend upon realizing this, she found a wonderful treatment. I might be interested. And I sure was. It was the turning point for me. There was a way I could encourage Pelle to grow. No limitations, but opportunities. No gloom, but hope. Oh, how I needed hope at that moment. So I started by playing in Pelle’s bedroom and now we have a program running at our home and my boy is thriving.
I will always be thankful for Maria’s e-mail. She made a fabulous video about her son, Joaquin, and their journey with Son-Rise. Look, listen to the wonderful music and enjoy.

Joaquin's Adventure Part 2 from mafemaria on Vimeo.

Dear baker, thank you very much.

2011-11-17T09:18:00.007+01:00

Almost two weeks ago, the children of Pelle’s school had breakfast in their classroom. Sponsored by the trade organization of bakers, the children ate krentenbollen (raisinrolls, picture at the end of this post), bread rolls and regular bread with cheese, sprinkles and applesyrup together with a glass of milk and an egg.
It was very cozy in the classrooms and the children ate a lot!
Since our local baker delivered all the bread the children thanked him by making a nice drawing. As I volunteer a lot at school and participated in the organization of the event the small drawings ended up in our home and Mark and I assembled a bunting line. Yesterday I went to the baker with two toddlers from school and we gave him this present. He said he would hang it in the store and invited us to take a look behind the scenes. There we saw one off the employers busy making chocolateletters (a tradition this time of the year) and further along there were the ovens, still warm from the making of eggcakes. As our own house is not that far away we can often smell the scent of bread being baked, very early in the morning. Delicious.

The drawings below are made by children from 4 till 12 years old.

Warm brown pants

2011-11-15T10:09:00.008+01:00

Since the weather is getting colder rapidly, I had to make my boy some warm pants. Until now, I used the regular Ottobre patterns and since they are usually a bit baggy I sized them down a bit. (He is now 122 cm. long and I would have sewn a 116 pattern without the seam allowances). But this time I wanted a straighter fit. Not too tight, as in the latest issue, but nevertheless a bit smaller. And I found it! This one is from the winter issue of 2006 ( # 19) and I like it very, very much. I am definitely going to use this pattern for a long time.
For this probe, I used a thicker stretchy corduroy from my stash. I traced the legs in one piece and cut in into diagonals, based on an Farbenmix pattern I like. I played around with the grain of the fabric. Since Pelle never uses his fly (he just pushes his trousers and underwear down in one move, not even undoing his belt and than wrangles it up again) I made a mock one. Probably my last, because he will not be able to get the pants over his bottom and hips when the fabric is not stretchy.
First thing to do now is make a sweater to go along with this dark brown color. I already have some things in mind (orange, and red, and pinkish. Oh where to begin first?)

Saint Martin

2011-11-12T21:40:00.011+01:00

Yesterday it was Saint Martin. Every year at the 11th of November the children go from door to door with the lantern they made. They sing songs about Saint Martin and in return get some candy or fruit.
So every year, Pelle makes a lantern in school, like I used to do when I was a kid. I can recall my brother carving out a sugar beet when he was little, but that tradition is fading. It is always a joy to watch all those kids with there beautiful glowing lanterns and to hear songs about the Saint, who offered half of his coat to a poor, cold beggar.
Last year it rained cats and dogs, and the wind swept those fragile carton light bulbs away, but yesterday it was clear and crisp in the air. Perfect to go along with dad as I opened our own door for the little singers.

Picking up the thread again

2011-11-10T10:47:00.002+01:00

Hello everyone,

Since I’ve started writing in Dutch so much I’ve neglected this blog way to much. The Duch blog is all about Pelle and the program we’ve set up for him. My aim is to make SonRise more familiar in Holland.
Now the intensity of creating the program is wearing of there’s more place here for my sewing and the world outside me being the parent of a special boy. I’m intending to post one blogmessage here every Thursday, in line with the way I started. Talking about my everyday life and the things I create.
But I feel I have to start with an update about my boy. He is learning to read and starting to do sums. Here in Holland, you start school when you’re 4 years old, in group 1. Now Pelle’s attending group 3 already. Academically, he’s doing fine, but he has a hard time concentrating and writing, since his attention span and fine motor skills are still not that advanced, yet. He also does not engage much with the other children in his class. But I’m optimistic, very optimistic. Because he is responding to the SonRise program so well. I play twice a week with him upstairs and every Tuesday there’s a wonderful woman called Lila who comes over. She has lots of experience with autistic children and was drawn to the philosophy of unconditional love when she read the book about Raun Kaufman. She’s also a Buddhist, like Mark, my husband. I think the Buddhist lifestyle and the concept of loving your child no matter what go very well together. Every Friday Tamara is coming over. She helped out with the toddlers at school last year and has finished her education. They do a lot of crafting together and unlike last year, Pelle is enjoying it very much. We’re now enticing him to draw and after a lot of scribbles and spirals there are forms arising on paper. You can see them on the pictures I made. I love, love, love it. Our other goals at the moment are to stimulate him to do pretend play and to play a simple board game. And he’s really growing it those arias.

plane

train (Since he also likes automobiles I guess he will love the movie when he's older).

But the biggest changes since we started are his communication skills. I can talk with him just like a boy his age. I can reason with him. We understand each other. And we have so much fun.

This was recorded during the hollidays, 2 weeks ago. He's doing silly walks. At the end he's saying "And now the small film has ended. Can I have a look?".

I’m so proud of him. About the way he stretches his world. It is so apparent when I see him in the pool. Every week he has swimming lessons and every week he dares just a bit more. He jumps in and puts his face in the water now. He can float on his back without support. Every week he does just a bit more of the things he that scared him in the beginning.
I see him grow before my eyes. And what happens physically also happens mentally. He takes his own steps and every time he is going a bit further. I love him so much for this bravery. And for his sweetness and innocence. For the way he is. And I am so thankful of finding a way to stimulate and motivate him to explore his world. Which has become our world. There’s no autistic separation there, anymore. And that is a great, great gift.

Playing with my boy

2011-06-07T10:31:00.004+02:00

Sorry for not writing so long. I’m busy playing with Pelle, organizing the program and doing promotion work for the Dutch foundation who introduced Son-Rise here in Holland. And I’m still volunteering for the Rent-a-Toy organization in our village and doing a lot for Pelle’s school (organizing a fund-raise for children in Africa, serving drinks tomorrow when they have their sports day etc.). I’m busy and happy.
If you want to see me play with Pelle, take a look at my Dutch blog, here. Mark recorded the start of our session, last Friday. Of course there’s a lot of talking going on in Dutch, but maybe you’d like to see our dynamics. Pelle starts by singing songs from a little booklet and asks me several times what the next song is. As I’m not allowed to sing, I show it to him (the song about a paper hat). You can also see me very briefly talking to Mark, who discovers that we only have 5 minutes of tape left in our Handycam. I tell him that that’s probably enough.

I had to cut the recordings in 3 pieces, because I’m not able to upload more than 100 MB on Blogger, but it’s all from one take. The next two pieces are here and here and you can see us while Pelle takes an attention in his mill and I tease him a bit while blowing and touching the ‘wieken’ (don’t know the English word). Next we play with his wooden blocks until he starts talking about swimming lessons and not daring to jump into the water. I contradict him by telling him he did just fine, the other day and showing him the jump he made.
We then start pretending we’re in the swimming pool, but unfortunately, that’s not on film.

I try to make as many eye-contact as I can, inviting him to look at me verbal (by asking) and non-verbal. I also try to express myself in a fun way. You can see how he reacts.
Our goals for the moment are to learn him how to do pretend-play and role-play and to invite him to draw (no example there). And to stimulate him to physically cross his arms, because he needs that to learn to write, next year.

If you like to see how he has progressed, I’d invite you to look at this film, which was shut in August last year. There’s so much more contact, flexibility and sharing now. And there still is so much fun. I love doing this and being with him.

Pelle is doing just fine

2011-03-19T23:16:00.003+01:00

In front of the mirror.

Finally, I am writing this post about Pelle and his progress. Sorry it took so long. There are a couple of reasons for that, one of which is that I started to write in Dutch about the SonRise program. And I love doing that. I have a mission, being to popularize the Dutch version of SonRise. But I also feel like a true writer, who loves making little stories of each post. But it takes time. And as the program itself is growing it also takes more time to organize. We now have two people coming over every week, Christa and Lila. Christa is a student doing part of her apprenticeship here at our home and Lila I’ve hired myself. I give them feedback, raise funds to pay for Lila, talk to school about SonRise and what we do at home (they are very interested, because Pelle’s progressing so much) and next week we have our first meeting with everyone who is involved. Sometimes it feels like I have another career, similar to what I’ve done as a teacher and trainer, but also as a manager. And it’s benefiting Pelle so well.
Our goals for this moment are to learn him how to play. And it’s paying of very well. He is now able to do some pretend play, role-playing and a little game. We played a bit of memory the other day (16 cards), and that was a first. He’s stretching his imagination. He has a new pet, a tiger, which I once bought years ago and was totally neglected until a few weeks ago. They now sleep together and Pelle’s starting to fantasize about Tiger being ill and having a fever. He’s starting to interact with his classmates. He’s starting to read and taking up his interest in books again. He’s not asking the same questions over and over again anymore but in stead is being more active with his trains, Loco (a game used at school to stimulate cognitive development), puzzles and skeelers. He’s not a normal 5-years old, and maybe he never will be normal. I really don’t mind. He’s my very special kid. And he’s able to learn so much. I’m so proud of him.

Robot T

2011-03-09T10:45:00.004+01:00

Dear people,
If only I had more time, I would write more often. For now, I just leave you with some pictures of a T-shirt I sewed this week. I loved making it and intend to upgrade the pattern one size and also make a velours sweater, since Pelle loves wearing those in spring.

Robot T a photo by oddwise on Flickr.

I love the way this turned out. When I saw the pattern in the Ottobre magazine, I knew I had just the right fabric for it.
I was a bit worried that the sleeves would be too wide under the armpits, but the fit is just fine for my 5-years old boy.

Sleeve

2011-03-09T10:43:00.001+01:00

Sleeve a photo by oddwise on Flickr.

For my little wizard

2011-02-26T19:52:00.003+01:00

For my little wizard
Originally uploaded by oddwise

To stimulate pretend-play for Pelle, I sewed him a wizard's cloak. I used pattern # 30 of the 4/2004 issue of Ottobre and added a collar with velcro (the original pattern calls for a satin biasbinding to use for closing, but my boy can't do laces yet, so I though this would be a better solution).
It's made from a cheap black kind of velour and a golden lining. I appliqued the stars with the fabric of the lining and added a fancy trim on the collar.

For my little wizard
Originally uploaded by oddwise

Cozy Jacket and pants.

2011-02-21T16:23:00.008+01:00

I’ve been neglecting this blog a bit, since I have been so busy with my new Dutch one (about the Dutch version of SonRise) but I haven’t stopped sewing. Those of you who know me from the Ottobre Flickr group are in for a repeat, since I copy the lines I wrote there for this blog. A girl can only write so much.
Here's a jacket I made for Pelle, in size 110.

Close-up of the fabric.

I made a few minor alterations to the pattern (Ottobre, # 28, 1/2006), changed the pockets and adjusted the lining, with help of my sewing teacher. As I thought a kind of cuff would be nice, I lengthened the arms and curled them up. I also wanted buttons, so I made the front a little broader to accommodate for them (the original calls for snaps). It’s made from a kind of light patchwork wool blend. The lining is also light and soft, from a large stash donated to me by a colleague from the rent-a-toy organization where I volunteer. I used a babyrib for the trims.
I’m very pleased with the result and with the ease I sewed it.

I also sewed Pelle a snowpant. It's very basic. He loved the idea that it can get wet, and muddy and spoiled. And that it's warm.

I made it using the most basic trouserpattern I could find, the Taku of spring 2009. I did not add any pockets. The outside is from blue taslan, the inside from fleece. The waist is made from a strip of corduroy.

I'm planning to slim down this blog, if you know what I mean. I keep on posting about my sewing, and show you my stuff whenever it's finished. And am planning to post an update on Pelle's development every month. But that's it, for some time at least.
More on my boy and how he's doing (GREAT!), very soon.

Being a kind of toad-stool

2011-01-12T20:58:00.002+01:00

We had a wonderful playroom session today. I bought some face paint, a couple of weeks ago, after Pelle saw one of his teachers dressed up like a toadstool, her face red with white spots.
Pelle was deeply impressed and wanted to look like her, too. Being busy painting each others face looked a great way to me to start studying our faces more carefully. Important for Pelle, who has a rather flat expression and might have trouble reading what other people say nonverbally.
Today we were going to visit gran, who has a broken ankle and needed some groceries. Before that, I wanted to play with Pelle in his playroom. Where he said he would like to use the facepaint again. As you can see, he did a great job turning me into ….. something red. It felt so good watching him carefully stroking my face with a brush, and being concentrated for so long. He even talked to my nose. But then the best part had yet to come. After taken pictures he said to me: “Mum, do you know why I painted you? Because I think gran would find it funny”. So here you saw me, later in the day, biking to gran with my red mask on, happy as can be. Because my boy contributed a feeling to my mum. A spark of empathy. He lit a fire of joy in me.

One more sweater

2011-01-11T16:32:00.007+01:00

Just a short post to show another sweater I made. It's based on the same Ottobre pattern I used before, but I had some really hard times with the hood (again!). I ended up trying 3 times, but none of my alterations worked. So finally I made a kind of collar, and I'm pleased with that. Because I made a mistake while cutting the fabric, I made the sweater a little bit longer by using a sweatshirtfabric.

I used this fabric several times before, but I keeps it's appeal. I still have some for next year. And hope that it will come together a lot easier then.

Picking up the thread again

2011-01-02T19:37:00.005+01:00

I haven’t been sewing for a long time. It seems like my desire to make clothes comes in waves, and wintertime is not a good time for me. I often feel like I’m in hibernation for a few months, rather wanting to crawl up on the couch with a book and a blanket. But Pelle really needs some clothes, since the ones I made him this fall are already a bit to small.
To start up again, I made something really simple. Just a plain sweater, made out of a cotton knit blanket I bought at a supermarket. I still have to sew on some twill tape to mask the seems in the cuffs, as he has to wear them curled up for some time. Since the shop where I buy all this stuff was closed, that has to wait till tomorow (I have my sewinglessons there, too).
On newyears eve I made a fleece sweater with a hood. (No fancy party this year. Just a simple but fine evening spent with Mark).

I have ideas for 2 more sweaters, and then will go on for some pants. Will keep you posted on that.

Wishing you a happy newyear

2010-12-31T17:06:00.001+01:00

We're going to toast, tonight and wish you all a merry newyear!

Stary, Stary Night

2010-12-24T18:06:00.002+01:00

This quilt is made by my mom.

Dear readers,

Thank you all so much for reading this blog.
I wish you a very happy Christmas.

Heartfelt greetings,

Ria

Little Zwarte Piet

2010-12-04T13:33:00.007+01:00

The first time Pelle is dressed up! He is ready to help Sinterklaas and gave me 'pepernoten'.
I'm so pleased! Doesn't he look adorable (the picture is a bit yellow because it was evening in our kitchen and he doesn't want me to use a flash) and this is a first step for him to take on a role.
Yesterday, when Sinterklaas came to school, I saw him imitating the real professional Zwarte Pieten, dancing and jumping around. Go boy, go!

As Pelle sees it

2010-12-01T14:13:00.003+01:00

A weekly picture, made by my boy. (Often without me noticing him doing it).

His aim was to photograph the spider he made at school (that is: the brown paperbody with the round eyes and coloured legs). But you can also see one of the magazines from Dad.

Climing up and down

2010-11-24T10:55:00.007+01:00

My mother made these little zwarte pietjes (black Petes) a few years ago, at the same place where I made the ones I showed on Sunday. They have magnets in their hands and feet, so they are able to climb. In our livingroom I attached them to our lamppost. Ready to perform their tricks.

As Pelle sees it

2010-11-23T10:42:00.003+01:00

A weekly picture, made by my boy. (Often without me noticing him doing it).

Daddy doing his laces.

Hmm. Maybe we need a carpet to hide those scratches.

A new blog

2010-11-22T15:10:00.003+01:00

If you're Dutch, and interested in me playing with Pelle I invite you to come over to my new blog, Spelen met Pelle. I'm starting it because I want to eleborate more on our activities and share my enthousiasm for raising Pelle this special way. I hope I can inspire other parents.

I will stay active on this blog, with my creations and also about Pelle's development, village life and everything I love to share.

And I want to thank you for reading my posts. It really means a lot to me.

It's the time of the season

2010-11-21T10:59:00.005+01:00

It's time to take them out of the closet again.

I made them 2 years ago, during a couple of evenings at Atelier Het Zonlicht, in Haren (sorry, couldn't find a link).

As Pelle sees it

2010-11-17T13:20:00.004+01:00

A weekly picture, made by my boy. (Often without me noticing him doing it).

Dancing into the world.

2010-11-14T23:26:00.005+01:00

I am so optimistic about Pelle’s development. I really think he can outgrow his difficulties. Two amazing things happened last week.
Friday, we had a classmate coming over to play. Pelle wanted to show him his favorite film on YouTube, which is about a mill. At first I was a bit hesitant. Because I have this conviction that watching television or sitting behind the computer screen is not good for the development of a child. Children should play, not watch.
But in this whole process of raising my special boy, I have to learn some things. Like letting go off some rigid aspects of my belief system. Because watching this film was not at all about being passive and just absorbing what’s presented to you. For Pelle, it proved to be an excellent way to start communicating with the other boy, asking questions and responding to answers. As I was in the kitchen doing the dishes I overheard them, and was very pleased, because this was really a first, talking so long to another boy. So he has this motivation to talk and share, and when there’s already a common ground (the movie) it’s easier for him to interact.
Yesterday, there was another prove that I need to revise my convictions about watching telly. In stead of killing his imagination, it helps him to elevate it.
Pelle set up a little tent in our living room. Until now, just clicking the poles together and raising the fabric was the fun he had. He could not do anything else with it. But yesterday, he pretended to be a miller, and acted out what he saw in the film. He even stretched his imagination by wanting to close the door to read a newspaper inside. “What does it say in the paper?’, I asked. After some time he replied “It’s about Sinterklaas”. And on he went, opening and closing the door, being busy in the mill and wanting Mark to look at a pretend window. I was thrilled.
It looks like every new skill or development pairs with a relapse into more repetitive behavior. Like he needs to hang on more to familiar grounds while exploring others. I see it as his way to dance in this world. I’m learning to read his performance.

Coming to town

2010-11-13T15:18:00.006+01:00

Today Sinterklaas already came to our town.

We still have to wait for 3 weeks to finally open the presents, but Pelle's shoe will stand next to our chimney this evening and we hope that tomorowmorning it will hold a small suprise for him.

As Pelle sees it

2010-11-12T17:54:00.001+01:00

A weekly picture, made by my boy. (Often without me noticing him doing it).

A year ago he used to say about each book: "this is about letters".

Scenes from the playroom

2010-11-09T23:12:00.006+01:00

I wanted to write about our Sonrise approach much earlier, because I want to share my experiences. But it had to wait until now, because only now I feel things are really shaping up.
Here’s a bit of our reality at this moment.
You can see us playing in Pelles bedroom almost every day, for half an hour or longer, until he wants to go downstairs (and after I tried to tease him into one more game).
I started low profile (after initially putting far too much pressure on the whole process), not every day, just as long as Pelle wanted it. But now we’re both much more accustomed to the new routine in our lives and we can delve in deeper. So the hours spend playing are longer and I’m planning to do it every day, except for Saturdays, because I now see so much benefits from this joyful way of being together.
Pelle is not a typical autistic kid in the sense that he lives in his own world. He will talk to you if you’re an adult and wants to connect with you by sharing his interests. He talks really well and sees you in the eye. People call him sweet, and he really is. He’s always joyful and smiling. But he does not play with other children or has many interactions with them. (He’s doing fine at school, his classmates just take him the way he is and I’m very grateful for that.).
My main goal is to learn him how to play and love it. To let him feel the fun and explore his possibilities. Learn him more skills, so he will be able to play with other children some day.
At the moment I’m practicing pretend play with him. Since he likes to be chased, I’m a policeman, wanting to lock him up, or a lion, wanting to eat him. Or I play with a puppet who wants to climb the towers he loves to build, or an old lady who opens the door when he comes to sing for SintMaarten (a Dutch feast on Thursday where the children walk with their lanterns and collect candy). Since I also would love to see him to play a game with cards (like memory) we do funny things with them. The apples, pears and other images on the game from the hungry caterpillar are devoured by us. Afterwards, we’re having a little belly ache.
So here we are, both learning. For me it's about setting goals and working with them while I tune into his world. I’m coming to grips with it more and more and it feels like I can now reap what I sowed the last couple of months. I can take our play one step further and introduce new elements.
I’m dreaming about dressing up and more elaborate role-play. Of him being really concentrated for a long time. Those days will come. Because one of the things I discovered is that my boy is a fast learner. I often have the feeling that I only have to touch his inner abilities and they are growing. Sometimes it feels like magic.
And I’m not the only wizard in our house. Every Friday, Christa comes to play with him. She’s an apprentice from a college nearby and is learning to become a player. It was lovely to see him curled up into her arms as they were reading a book, the other day. I’m so pleased she’s here to help us. I’m going to search for one more player, so Pelle has another different input. The fun has only just begun.

I leave you with two scenes from the diningtable. He's demonstating his foldingskills.

Pouches.

2010-11-05T20:21:00.006+01:00

Every Friday, Pelle goes to his music lessons. Together with other 5-years olds, he sings and plays. He has a lovely teacher, a lively, witty mom of two adorable boys who were born in China. I love their little paradise at the end of the village, where the boys have so much space to play and live a great life.
When she asked me if I could make her a pouch for the flute, I really liked her request, because it gave me the opportunity to make something different (than clothes).
I used an existing pouch as a template and here's the result.

In the making

Voor Angkan

(Fabic from Van Marieke)

For Rian

The fabric with the owls I bought online in the States (sorry, don't know where anymore).

I had a lot of fun making them. Even made photos along the way, so maybe I write a tutorial, someday.
Wishing you a lovely weekend,

Ria

As Pelle sees it

2010-11-02T10:30:00.003+01:00

A weekly picture, made by my boy. (Often without me noticing him doing it).

One For The Road

2010-11-01T11:43:00.003+01:00

Firetruck T
Originally uploaded by oddwise

One of the last T's I plannd to make for Pelle, this season. I wanted to use the velours applique (ready made) from this shop, before he outgrows this kind of images.

As Pelle sees it

2010-10-26T16:01:00.002+02:00

A weekly picture, made by my boy. (Often without me noticing him doing it).

Putting on my coat.

Hey hey we’re the monkeys.

2010-10-25T16:48:00.007+02:00

I made yet another T-shirt from the fabric I ordered in Denmark. As I was concerned that using all the fabric would make the T too busy, I decided to go for a raglan cut, and I also added some black knit along the front and back.
I also used a black trim at the yoke, because I wanted to avoid seeing stitches in the pattern of the fabric (and decapitating the monkeys, so to say). I am very pleased with the result. Despite the black, it’s fresh and despite all those rows of monkeys it’s not to childish.

I would love to make 2 more shirts and try the T-shirt pattern of the last issue of Ottobre, because I think I have an excellent fabric match for that one.
We'll see.

Drawing

2010-10-21T10:32:00.001+02:00

Pelle's drawing skills are emerging! I could hardly believe my eyes when he came home today with a drawing of a lion he made at school. It's a little hard to photograph, but I hope you can see the figure.

It also reminds me of the drawings in the cave of Lascaux.

head (with hard to see yellow manes).

tail.

Last week it was ‘kinderboekenweek’ (children’s book week)), which is a national week organized every year to promote these books. At school, the pupils of grade 8 came to read for the children in grades 1 and 2 (4-5 years old) and every child had to bring his favorite book along. Pelle choose “The hungry lion”, which tells the story of Singham, a lazy lion searching for food.

(here he is in the book)

Apparently, the children had to draw their favorite character and look what my boy did!
I was so pleased to see it.

A couple of weeks ago, when we had a party at school, all the children where invited to add their part to a large painting. And then he did his first figurative work: two small stripes forming a cross. “It’s a mill”, he said. (Your either Dutch, or you aren’t).
Last week, he came home with another drawing and for the first time I saw figures: a spiral, a rectangle, a triangle, some waves.
This already was so different from all the scratches he made before.

And now he’s taken another leap.
I’m going to frame Singham. And celebrate my little artist.

As Pelle sees it

2010-10-20T16:42:00.002+02:00

A weekly picture taken by my boy

Tea time again

2010-10-19T21:49:00.003+02:00

I recently bought some wonderful fabrics and am busy making T-shirts for Pelle.
I finished a stripy orange one, which unfortunately turned out a little tight. He can wear it as an undergarment, but that was not my intention. Luckily I still have a lot of fabric left, so I can make him a real nice summerversion in spring, because I so love those colourtones.

I made this patch on the back, from 2 different cottons.

This T is a little thicker and wider (still size 110, but with seamallowances this time) and will be comfy now and still wearable a few month from now, I hope.

Finally, I'm getting a bit faster in sewing these T's. They still take me 4-5 hours, but I really like playing around with shapes and colours. The black trim from the hedgehog T is from an old ribknit T from Mark and it gives me such a pleasure to combine it with other fabrics into a whole new look.

Next up is a longsleeve raglan from monkey fabric. I hope to show you that one at the end of this week.

As Pelle sees it

2010-10-11T21:25:00.003+02:00

A weekly picture, taken by my boy.

Green Sweater

2010-10-10T12:57:00.009+02:00

I made Pelle another sweater. This is from a lovely green soft terry knit I bought in Germany (through internet ), at Micha's Stoffecke (the fabriccorner of Micha, although 'corner' is an understatement, because they have a huge supply).
After I finished, I made an applique, but didn't like that one. So I removed it, but than there was some glue left on the shirt (I used Vlieso-fix, a European version of the paper-and-adhesive iron-on stuff). So I had to come up with another idea. Hence the robot on some cotton scraps . Next time, I just make a plain shirt. He doesn't have to wear embellishments all the time.

This little robot is an iron-on gadget I bought in Denmark (through the internet), at Stof og Stil (Fabric and Style). They have some really nice fabrics as well.

As Pelle sees it

2010-10-05T13:54:00.002+02:00

A weekly picture, made by my boy.

Another milestone

2010-10-03T12:19:00.008+02:00

This is what we did yesterday. Coloring. A first. Of course Pelle does a lot of painting and coloring at school, but until now, he didn’t do this at home. But recently, he likes to do a thing we call “prikken”. It’s something I don’t know the English word for, but you can see it on the picture, where he’s making holes in the carton, using a sharp pen.

He’s really good at it, pinching hole after hole and being focused.
Since the images are white, I suggested coloring them, yesterday. So there we were, on the bench, working together. It’s still a bit hard for him, because of his grip (using his fists more often than his fingers) but I was so glad, suggesting colours and doing the parts he didn’t want to do. A real co-production!

It’s just an example of the huge changes he is going through. Becoming far more active. Doing things in stead of talking all the time and asking the same questions over and over again. He almost lost that repetitious behavior. And if he does come up with his favorite topics I really concentrate and sincerely answer him, knowing he needs it to digest his imput.

Here you can see him backing bread,

Keen on wearing those mittens

He announced that from now on, he wants to help in the kitchen every day. It slows down my cooking, but oh boy, how I love to give him instructions and enjoy his company.
This morning he said: “Do you know why I want to make the croissants? Because I like to roll them”. So I suggested using clay (we can only eat that much, can we). Also something we didn’t do in a long, long time, because Pelle only wanted to eat it, last year (asking me to make him an icecream). I’m looking forward to do it more often.

In the meantime he has mastered a skill from a whole different kind. He can see the time on a clock. It doesn’t even have to have numbers on it. Now is this the boy with an IQ of 65, as they said last year? I really don’t believe those values anymore.

I'm wishing on a star

2010-09-30T11:26:00.006+02:00

I've been making a T-shirt again, using the basic Ottobre pattern and making some alterations inspired by some of the latest T's I saw in the mag. The stars are made of a rose-red cotton and I used the same colour for the honeycomb stitches. This is not a colour I would normaly use, but I think it turned out just fine. I would have loved to make the neckbinding in the same colour as the star, but couldn't find the right fabric for it. So I ended up using another striped jersey.
As the days are rapidly getting colder now, I hope Pelle can wear it often (it's a bit tight, so he can only wear it this season, have to size up for the next batch).

Like a flower

2010-09-22T21:57:00.008+02:00

I followed a Dutch course, this weekend. Based upon the principles of Son-Rise, but with a Dutch twist to it. And as it goes in courses, you have to introduce yourself to the group. What to say? And then it came all naturally to me, and with great intensity. Pelle has opened up my world. Literally and spiritually. I feel it so strong and with great passion.
Everything I once thought would be ‘normal’, lost it’s meaning. Everything is possible. I really don’t mind if he is developing in another way. Because there are so many possibilities. He freed me of the thought that the only meaningful way of living is going to school, going to college, marry and raise a family. The world is bigger than that. And being alive is more. It’s about having your own place in the world. He taught me that setting boundaries is not useful at all. And I felt so free, truly free upon realizing that. And so grateful.
Now I can look at him without fear of the future, without wanting him to be different. Finally I can meet him soul to soul. And feel enlightened and full of love.
And now as I’m letting go of all my expectations he is changing in a pace I can not believe. He is starting to make little jokes. Such a pure, innocent humor. My mother asked him “Do you need to be washed? “. He said “yes, put me in the washingmachine, gran”. He is telling more about how he feels. “No I don’t want to sleep under the bed, because that’s a bit scary”. Is this the boy who didn’t even say “I” only a year ago? It’s so hard to believe. He still is hyperactive sometimes, but has calmed down in other ways. Like when we are in the woods, he holds my hands almost all the time. He never did that, because he was always running, when we where there. And I so love the touch of his small hands. But you know what? I’m even missing seeing him run so much. Oh boy, I so loved to see him run on his little legs. He was so fast. A classmate of him said to me once "Pelle's always in a hurry". Not anymore.

Last week he said he wanted to glue. You have never seen a mum run and grab the stuff faster than I did. I joined him and we had such good, relaxing times. Another dream comes true.

He learns to do pretend play. And so much more. He is blossoming, really blossoming. Like his mom.

Another sweater

2010-09-19T18:50:00.003+02:00

Since fall is approaching I made another sweater for Pelle. I bought the stripy knit some time ago, and it’s light and loose, like knitted on 2 needles. I was afraid it would be hard to sew when cut, but I had no problems at all. I sewed the seams with a faint zigzag stitch and my serger and the honeycombstitch to finish it off. Since I was afraid a whole sweater of the same fabric would be to girly, I made the body of regular sweater knit, combining two colours. I added a hood later on, because I wanted more stripes. As the hood became very wavy when I finished the hem I unpicked it and added a T-shirt knit as a lining. Now the shape is good. I'm very pleased with the result.

As Pelle sees it

2010-09-16T00:00:00.007+02:00

Photos taken by my boy.

Once upon a time

2010-09-11T17:10:00.011+02:00

This is a little story about a sweater.
Part of me once lived in Denmark, being blue and stripy and knit.

Then one day a Dutch lady came into my store and bought me. She was very pleased with me, because our family is very, very small (I myself only know of two cousins who are of the stripy sweater family) and it appeared that this woman loves our breed very much.
At her home in Holland, I met two other fabrics.

Although they were blue, like me, I had a bit of a hard time getting used to them because they are real softies (you know … the whiny types).
And once we were paired it appeared that one of them died. How terrible!
Here you can see the dead hood.

So my lady buried the hood and attached a firm ribbon. That really felt much better.
I integrated my soft part, becoming more whole as a person.
Still, I felt that there was a small part of me missing. Was it a monster?
She tried it on, and loved the droopy eyes, but not the look of the thing.

So she chased it away, draw some sketches of other monsters,

but nothing worked.
And than I was laid down to rest, while my lady thought about me and waited for inspiration.
This afternoon, she finally fetched me up. A little owl flew into me and a piece of red cotton spiced me up.

Now I can serve that lovely little boy I’ve seen him running around the house. He will make me come truly alive.

And it feels like the summer is over

2010-09-10T09:48:00.012+02:00

The summer is almost over. We had some sunny days, but the air feels different. So fall is approaching.

I already started to sew a sweater for Pelle, but before I show you that one I want to close the season by showing you a blouse I made. It's a pattern from Farbenmix and I liked it very well. Because you use a full lining for the upper part, the blouse is easy to sew. I did the stripes (a cotton / linen mix) do the work, and did not add any appliqués or other embellishments. That's very uncharacteristic of the Farbenmix clothes people sew, but I like it that way.

I did not finish the hem and sleeves, yet. Will do that this spring, when Pelle gets to wear it and I can adjust the size to his length.

I leave you with some pictures I made Tuesday, when we were in the woods. I so love this change in the atmosphere. Still much sun, but the light is so much softer, and the world is losing it's sharpness.

Playing with Pelle

2010-09-06T11:32:00.005+02:00

(These photo’s are made by Pelle. I’m always so surprised to see his pictures appear because he often takes them without me noticing him. It’s so nice and interesting to see his perspective).

I had some trouble getting started to play with Pelle in his room. Looking back on it, I realized I was putting way to much pressure on the whole process. I stressed myself to much, because wasn’t this THE ONLY REAL OPTION for Pelle to lose his autistic tendencies? Wasn’t I supposed to come up with all these plays, ideas, energy, enthusiasm, fun, amusement, expressiveness and so on, and so on?
And then in a dream I was advised by Bears, one of the founders of the son-rise program, to step back. I was agitated about that. Who? Me? The quiet, sub-assertive person who usually plays her role in the background? But it must have been important. Because the message stuck with me. So I dropped my load. In the playroom, Pelle has the lead, and I follow. And it makes me feel so relaxed! Because in stead of making up things, and thinking very hard, and having the feeling I need to do all kinds of things I’d rather not, I just go with his flow. And now playing with him is easy. My imagination just wells up. Like my energy and joy. We are having such good times!
And one of the other things I realized is that I still can be me. I can act true to my feelings. Sometimes I’m annoyed or grumpy. I can express my irritation when I’m busy in the house, or tired, and he keeps repeating the same questions over and over again. I still accept him the way he is, in my heart. I know he feels that.

So where are we now? Miles away from the depression I had last fall, after they told us that Pelle had a low IQ (65) and was probably best of in special daycare. I don’t believe autism = lifelong disability = being locked in a ridged world anymore. I am convinced now that Pelle will outgrow all his autistic traits. Really convinced. And he might even manage on his own. But I’d really love to help him and grow with him, too.

So here are the plans: playing with him in his bedroom every day, after school, as long as we like it. My goal for now: elaborating his playskills. He can play with some toys, like trains and cars, and the marble run. And he is starting to use his imagination, pretending to be a lion, or a tower. So I’m building on that. For this month, I’m planning to introduce cards and a dice and some role-play. This afternoon, I will show him some simple cards we can lay out on the floor and see how he will react. I will keep you posted.

Dancing in the streets

2010-09-05T12:48:00.007+02:00

We had a big festival in our village, yesterday. I danced with Pelle and I felt so happy!

Changing

2010-09-03T10:26:00.004+02:00

There are all these small changes. Waving to Dad, when he sees him coming home. Answering questions like “What did you do at school today?” Saying things like “I’m sad because you go on a holiday, gran”. Talking to her on the phone, and not just telling her what he wants to tell, but reacting to the things she says. Like:
- "I can hear your clock, gran, why?”
- “It because you have such good ears, sweety”
- “But what if the lion eats my ears?”
It’s things like starting to smile while anwsering a question about our holiday:
“Did you sleep in the tent, Pelle?”
“Noooo, I slept in eh, eh …… a closet!”.
It’s things like holding my hand for a long, long time yesterday, when we walked in the woods.
It was this look in his eyes when I made a joke, the other week. That look that said: “mum, I understand you and it’s funny”.
My boy is connecting. And it feels SO GOOD.

The Earl of Spencer

2010-08-27T15:34:00.008+02:00

Here’s a spencer (slip-over) I sewed for Pelle a while ago, but never posted about. It’s made from an second-hand womans garment (a tank-top, or something like that), which I bought 2 years ago (I think), at a fair.

I loved the colour and the soft velour. The pattern (# 18 from Ottobre4-2009) barely fitted, but I was able to keep the bottom seam.
I added 2 pockets for a little zest and lined the arm-holes and V-neck with the same fabric. You can’t see it, fortunately, but the lining wrinkles a bit on the inside, and that bothers me. But since no-one else will notice, I let Pelle wear it. Strange, isn’t it, how such details keep you from being entirely pleased with the garment and wanting him to wear it all the time.
The plaid and the colour also work very well with the green pants I sewed.

The photos with the hat were taken while we played in his bedroom this afternoon. More about that soon, because I love to tell you how well he’s doing, right now, and how I enjoy being with him, there.

Back

2010-08-24T21:09:00.006+02:00

We had a wonderful holiday, full of bike rides, camping, sun, rain, and joy. When I looked through the kitchen window from the camping in Aalborg, where we started our trip, I realized it was a dream come true. Free as birds, exploring the world on our beloved bicycles, and sharing this with our little man. I think this is the start of a holiday tradition that will only stop if we’re not physically able to do it anymore (and I still feel so strong an healthy. I really think I have even more endurance as 20 years ago. What a bliss!).
The picture is taking on a campground in Attrup, where we had a tasty zucchini-rise dish I made from veggies we bought at a stall along the road. It felt so great to be self-sufficient. Having everything you need with you and it's enough, more than enough to have a wonderful time. Who needs to be rich?

Giraffe T

2010-08-06T17:34:00.007+02:00

Giraffe T
Originally uploaded by oddwise

Just a quick post to show the T I made.

I love the fabric with the little giraffes, but was afraid the print would be to busy to make a regular T. But it worked out just fine. The neckline looks a little crooked, but I think it will be fine when Pelle wears it.
It took me a long time to make a good neckline, but now I really think I found my way around it. I don’t use a pattern, but just stretch the fabric around the unfinished neckline to determine the length, fold it double and than sew it on with a little zigzagstitch. To finish it off, I use a twin needle. I prefer to use a ribknit, and I can buy plenty of those in Germany, but for this T I used a regular T-shirt knit, because of the matching brown colour. So it doesn’t take back all the shape when stretched, but still it’s good enough for me.

I made the T to go along with a brown trouser I made earlier. More pick of that one on Flickr.

Sailorpants, front
Originally uploaded by oddwise

Preparing for the holidays, part 2

2010-08-03T16:42:00.004+02:00

Mark bought himself an e-reader, the other day. It’s especially handy for our holiday. You don’t have to carry around heavy books. As it is being squeezed into our bikebags, I made him a cover, using this tutorial. I adjusted the measurements, as shown at the end. I’m pretty pleased with the result. I used a dark denim from my stash and a ribbon I bought at Farbenmix . The elastic band is a hairband, as suggested in the tutorial. As you can see on the pic, it runs a bit oblique (if that’s the right word), but otherwise, I’m pretty satisfied. The pocket is sewn in an interesting way I’ve never done before. I really hopes he likes it.

Preparing for the holidays

2010-08-01T16:55:00.011+02:00

Next week, we’re going to cycle in Denmark, for two weeks. Before Pelle was born, Mark and I always spent our summerholidays biking. We made wonderful trips to Ireland, England, France, Spain, Greece and even New Zealand, but the most wonderful of all were our rides in Utah and Canada. I was so deeply impressed by the landscape and filled with awe. Our planet is so beautiful. Can you imagine riding on the Icefields Parkway, surrounded by mountains and being part of it all? Because that’s the beauty of cycling. You’re part of it all. Far more so than when you’re in a car. You feel the land in your muscles, climbing and descending, or just peddling around on flat roads, the wind in your face. And it gives you such a taste of freedom.
Until now, Pelle was a bit too young to spend a long time on the saddle, but now we feel it’s time to pick up our old routine. We won’t be making long trips, 40 km. at the most, per day, and want to camp and stay a bit longer at one place if we like it there.

huge tent, but not too heavy

So we’re preparing. We bought a huge tent, borrowed a trolley, and did some test-drives. On the picture you can see Pelles bike attached to mine, so he won't have to ride that much himself.
Since we’re taking along the tent and stuff like sleepingbags, pots, a stove etc., there’s not much space left for clothes. I don’t mind. We’re not up for glamour, but for adventure. Still, a short would be nice to wear if the weather is warm and it’s practical to stuff into the bikebag. Since I didn’t have one anymore, I made one myself. I used a pattern from Ottobre 2/2008, the jogapants, using knit from my stash. (I also used it for PJ's for Pelle).

I shortened it too much, so I added a strip of fabric. I also had to do that to the sides, because although I traced size 40, my regular fit, it was a bit to tight. ( I gained some weight the last months. That hasn’t happened to me for the last 25 years).
I’m rather pleased with the outlook. The blue makes it look like a sportpant. So I might use it when I start running, too.
For more preparations this week, stay tuned.

Everyday life

2010-07-24T14:43:00.003+02:00

This photo is taken in Nienoord, a fabulous park where children can play and ride in trains. Pelle is going from the slides, all on his own!

Three times' right

2010-07-21T14:49:00.015+02:00

I’ve been sewing some T-shirts, lately, but they didn’t work out.
I tried to make a button-placket in a sleeveless one, but the directions in the Ottobre were too sparse, and I don't have sewinglessons at the moment. It didn’t work out.

It's hard to see on the photo, but the stripes of fabric are crooked and I had to make them longer, to make ends meet (I found out later).
I will try again, because I want to master the technique. I subscribe to a Dutch instruction-site on the web, where they have video-instructions, and that was very clear. The only thing is, that they combine the placket with a collar, and I don’t want to do that. A polo-shirt is to formal for my taste. So I still have to figure out how to make a neat finish where the placket and neckline meet. And of course I can always ask my sewing teacher, in September.

Laying the yellow one aside, I started making another sleeveless T, to combine with the short I made earlier. Wrong again. The neckline is way to wide.

And it needs another touch to it. Don’t know what, but I will cut things up and make something different. Or maybe add a hood.

So onto T-shirt # 3. There’s a Dutch saying, that three times' right. Used the basic pattern from Ottobre again, had to recut the neckline (unpicked that one twice) but now have a good fit I can use for one year, I hope.

Than the fun part began, because I had this green scrap of cotton from my mum, who quilts. A perfect match. Because of the colour, I thought a marsian would look nice. So I did some sketches, based on images from the web, and this little monster came out. I used buttons for eyes, as I had seen on Flickr. A few scraps of felt to finish it of, and I think this is becoming one of my favorites.

Onto the next project. A familiar one. The sailor-pant I made twice before. No need to try things out (refreshing sigh).

A change in perspective

2010-07-19T11:27:00.003+02:00

The core of the son-rise philosophy is to embrace and love your child. Unconditionally. And it immediately spoke to me because I loved this vision. No labels. No judgments. It gives you such freedom. And I have to make clear that I’m no expert. I don’t know all the ins and outs of the method. Because I haven’t followed any courses, yet. In September, I will, but I just don’t want to wait playing and applying the principles.
So how can I embrace Pelle being hyperactive? I really liked what Jen suggested in her comment. Using the high-energy into a game of running.
Thinking it through, and writing about it with Maria, who’s becoming my sparing-partner in the son-rise process, I switched glasses. Because for Pelle, it’s a pure form of enjoying life. It’s all about excitement. And that’s a part in me that I don’t show very often. As a child, I was always rewarded for being calm. For not asking to much attention. For being quiet, especially if grown-ups were in the room. And of course, as an adult, you’re supposed to behave in a mature way. But I can feel excitement, and joy, and I can sing and mostly, when I’m really happy, I want to move. Be on the bike and sing. Pedaling as hard as I can. Letting this happiness flow through my body and express it. Dance.
And if I look through my happiness glasses, I see a boy who’s just doing that. Expressing it all. And from now on, I’m joining him. So we can share all those vibrations.

One step at the time

2010-07-17T14:48:00.001+02:00

The game didn’t work out. It is to hard for Pelle to do something that requires rules, although they are quite simple. So if I want him to imitate, I a) either have to find another way or b) can use the cards, but in a more free-flowing form.
For now, it is even hard for him to be in the room. Maybe because it’s all so new for him, maybe because he feels I want him to do more than he is comfortable with. Because my ideal is for him to be concentrating on toys. But yesterday for instance, he was far to hyperactive to do that. So we went outside, and he had a meltdown there. Wanting to go home, and I wanting to stay a little longer at the small field, playing with a kite. (I really enjoyed that myself).
He doesn’t have tantrums that often, and I can handle his cries and yells and tears, and console him, but apparently, it was just to much for him.
So there are some lessons learned.
I should not aim to high. Just adjust to what he’s capable doing at the moment.
And playing with toys is not important at all. Having fun is important.
So now the challenge is to go on being in his playroom, even though I notice Pelle rather won’t. (He says he’s afraid of the sirens (horns of policecars) inthere, but we managed to chase them away with a magic wand). I think he feels I want him to “perform” in a way he’s not able to do.
And another challenge for me is to accept him being hyperactive, because I really don’t like it if he acts that way. And maybe examine if it has anything to do with him eating something sweet.

Scenes from the playroom

2010-07-14T09:21:00.011+02:00

The playroom is Pelle's bedroom. Not that big, but sufficient.
Yesterday, we played with his mozaiek. Don't you love the pattern he laid out?
My ultimate goal is for Pelle to play with other children. He has never done that. Recently, he wants to go to his classmates, but when he's at their home, he plays with their toys, not with the children themselves. I know he has the potential to do it, and it might even evolve naturally, but I don’t want to wait for it. I’d rather help him, step by step.
The first step, and my goal for this month, is to let him get used to playing in his room. He asked about it this morning. “Why do we do this?” “Are we going to play in the livingroom, aswell?”. I answered that I loved playing with him. Maybe later on, I explain a bit more. For now he seemed satisfied with my answer. Since he was quickly bored this morning, and I don’t want to push him to stay in the room, we went downstairs. Granny came to eat the cake we baked yesterday and we also prepared the swimmingpool.

Until now, we played with his regular toys (marble slide, cars, buildingblocks), but tomorrow I want to try a game. As he loves me to imitate a lion (especially the roaring), I made some cards. He can pick one (yellow side up) and I will do my best to make an impression, so he can guess which animal it is. He can choose another card and I will make another performance as his likes it, on the condition that he does the imitation as well.

As I was making the cards and writing down some other ideas (like playing hide-and-seek), a familiar feeling came over me. It was like preparing my lessons and courses. Once you have your goal, you choose your means. And I always liked to have a few options prepared. So I have the freedom to choose the one that’s most appropriate, in the heat of the moment.
I’m wondering how Pelle will react, tomorrow.

Learning to play

2010-07-12T22:09:00.012+02:00

Today was a special day, because it was the first time I intentionally played with Pelle using the Son-rise principle. I’ve been reading about it a couple of weeks now and think it’s a great way to help Pelle in his development. Entice him to become more agile, mentally. I know he can do that, but he can’t do the gymnastics on his own. We both need to train, in a gym called the playroom. And as it is the beginning of his holidays, and he has no school during 6 weeks, I thought it would be a great way to fill in all the blank spaces of time. But where to begin? And there was another problem. Just as Pelle has his specific behavioral patterns, so has his mom. Because I like to think, and read, and think, and read. But as it comes to action, I’m sometimes stuck, too. Like Pelle, but on a different level. So I called in for help. Today I had my own supporters, who coached me and filmed the both of us. And I really think this is the way to go for me, because it is so close to the way I’ve always been raising Pelle and connecting with him. It’s quite easy for me. But I have to go one step further. I have to show him the child that’s hidden in his mom. The little girl that’s awaiting to play with him, with joy and laughter. Who loves to be funny and cheerful. It’s time to put her on the stage. And I know she will love it. I’ve neglected her far to long. So go, little girl, go. Show your sparks to Pelle. Don’t be afraid. I know he will love them.

A prince and his father

2010-07-11T12:58:00.006+02:00

A few weeks ago, we went to Portugal on holiday. Since I couldn’t sew in the evenings, I read a lot. This book was one of my favorites. It’s about our former Prince Bernhard, the husband of queen Juliana (the parents of our present queen, Beatrix).
I bought it, because of the author. She’s an historian and I’ve been reading an biography from her before. Frankly, I’m not that interested in our Royal family as such. But I’m interested in people. Annejet van de Zijl frankly states that Bernhard married Juliana because of the money. No romance, no love, but a desire to live the life of a playboy. And he succeeded, although there were many pitfalls along the way (Lockheed, alienating his wife who was spiritual inclined and had pacifistic ideas about the world). Instead of making a moral judgment, the author explores the past and family history of Bernhard. And that’s the most interesting part of the book. It’s a sketch of the German nobility at the beginning of the 20 the century. How they struggled to keep up their way of life and failed, after the first World War. How a way of living fell apart and status was lost. How hard it was, to survive after the Great War, especially in the Eastern part of Germany. How this all created the sentiments that led to another war and a fascist ideology. And the most interesting character in the book is not the Prince, but his father. Who marries a divorced woman, which was so not done at the time. Who’s family fortune fluctuates from very wealthy (financial aid to help exploit the Eastern part of German, revenues from American investments) to having hardly any money and being forced to seek a whole new way of earning money (after the Second World War). Up and down it went, and he had to adjust to every change in his live. The personalization of a generation and way of living that doesn’t exists anymore.

Compared to him, my life is very dull. But I can always read, to brighten it up. And get a bit more understanding about people as children of their time. Because that's the moto of the book.

A little orange.

2010-07-07T10:42:00.004+02:00

So yesterday was the semi-finale. And I'm not an excellent partner for Mark, because I didn't watch. But I was in the room, and heard him shouting 'Oooeeh", 'ziekenhuisbal! (a lousy pass), Shoot!, shoot!, and cheering, with each goal, one fist clasping in the other hand. "Ja!!!".
In the meantime, I sewed. Something a little orange. I sewed these shorts just a couple of day ago, in a denim version and envisioned another one for the holidays. I started out with the back in blue and a batik-like cotton. To match the front, I made a border on the pockets and then decided to make a border at the hem, to tie it all in. I finished it of with a string in the waist (made from the blue fabric). By the time I made the string, we were in the final. And maybe, just maybe, I will sew something a little orange again, on Sunday. It might bring luck. And this time I will watch, together with our dearest friends.

Summer in the city

2010-07-02T10:06:00.005+02:00

Summer in the city
Originally uploaded by oddwise

I made these shorts for Pelle because the weather reaches tropical degrees today (over 30). It's a bit big on him, his legs look so tiny!. But as it is a denim I expect him to wear these a few seasons, so they will grow on him.
The T I sewed last year.
So no orange today (he should wear that because our soccerteam is playing this afternoon) but I hope we will win from Brazil anyway.

Summer in the city
Originally uploaded by oddwise

Celebrating my boy

2010-06-27T23:42:00.005+02:00

Ever since I’ve been reading blogs (and I think that’s about 5 years now), I’ve been a fan of SouleMama. I’m not reading her tales everyday anymore, but every once and a while I hop over there for a doses of tender family life, love and care. I love the things she makes and the connections she makes with the world.
Her blog is also her way to cherish the good moments of life. To be mindful. And I think especially in her photo’s she makes these marks. Their like pearls in the continuing chain of everyday.
So, inspired by her, and to celebrate my boy, I’m going to publish more photos of him in action. So I won’t forget this precious time of his childhood.

green pants

2010-06-21T15:59:00.002+02:00

green pants
Originally uploaded by oddwise

I made these some weeks ago, but only recently changed them by adding 2 cuffs on the ankles, just like the blue ones I made before.
I didn't want to do that first, but changed my mind because with a regular hem they were to wide and flappy. The fabric is a thin strechy cotton, perfect for this not-to-summery-weather.

Throwing away the curtain

2010-06-17T13:19:00.009+02:00

You know how I’ve struggled with my special boy and him being different. When he was diagnosed as being autistic it felt like an incurable illness we just had to life with. I felt that the only option for me was to accept it and let go off my dreams. And although I tried to see things in a greater perspective, my feelings couldn’t. I felt lost. Deprived of a future where my boy could thrive and blossom. Where people would recognize his beautiful soul. And I also questioned the diagnose. Is Pelle really autistic? Is he on the spectrum somewhere? Sure he is not behaving like most of the children his age. But as I tried to pinpoint al those signs that are supposed to be typical indicators, I felt them slipping away. I tried so hard to search for ‘evidence’, that I lost my view on Pelle as the boy he is. So his diagnose really stood in the way. In the way of accepting him with all my heart, in the way of being unbiased and really open to everything he brings.

So that’s what a stigma does, even to a mother. It’s like a curtain. I was very busy trying to determine what the curtain looked like. I lost Pelle behind it.

But I am a lucky woman. Because of this blog, Maria contacted me. And told me about the Son-Rise program. Ironically, I have read this book about and autistic boy and the way his family embraced him and worked out a way to heal him many years ago, when I was a student. I have a very vivid memory of it. But I never made the connection with Raun, the boy in the book, and Pelle. Maria had to make it for me. Their message? Enter your child's world, and when he's ready, go play and show him the way out. You can help your child. Through real acceptance. By following and than leading.
And that’s another irony. Because in my profession, that’s also the key, if you want people to learn. First stand beside them and then show them alternative behavior. And always start with their own motivation, not with yours.

So I’ve thrown away the curtain. Because that was not helpful at all. Nor for me. And now I can see my kid again. And feel this joy arising in playing with Pelle and helping him coming into our world. And I really feel he’s growing so much, lately. Little by little, he is starting to interact with other kids. Holding hands with a girl on the playfield. Wanting to share his interest with gran, his biggest fan. Concentrating more and fantasizing more.
Maybe his brain is different from most kids. I now think that could be an advantage.
I heart what another father of an autistic boy, Rupert Isaacson, said. He and his wife also made an amazing journey to seek aid for their boy, Rowan. He wrote (in a more nuanced way that my summarization) that doesn’t even want to Rupert to be cured, as long as he has the ability to connect with our world.
And that’s my wish for Pelle, too. Being able to be himself, and have the social skills to interact with others. Because there’s so much love out there, for him. And I want to show him the way. Thanks to all the great instructions on the website of Sonrise, I now feel I have the tools in hand.

Flow and frustration

2010-04-22T17:54:00.008+02:00

This is a bag I made for the little son of Pelle’s teacher, juf Hester. Baby Owen was born in February and Hester and he visited her old class today. I used an old curtain I found at a second-hand shop. The pictures are from a boy and girl called Jip and Janneke, famous characters from a Dutch childrens book. The bag is from a pattern from a Burda (nr. 2 of 2010), which I leafed through at sewing lesson and liked very, very much. And I also thought I could easily enlarge the pattern, once I got the hang of making it. Well, I was a bit optimistic. Bagmaking is not that easy. At least, if you are stubborn and want to make alterations. (Why do I do that all of the time?? These people at Burda sure do a good job at designing don’t they? But then I find some gadgets I saved, like a red square ring and a buckle I want to incorporate and I have to rethink the construction and then it all goes awry, because rethinking constructions is too hard for me).
Well, I finished it anyway and am pleased with the result, although the finish is not up to my usual standard. I sure hope Hester will like it.
And it was not all bad, because at the beginning I felt a real flow. I sometimes am so concentrated at a sewingjob which is hard, but not too hard, that time and everything else seems to disappear. It’s just me and the fabric, moving like one.
I trust I will feel it again, someday, with another piece. It makes sewing so worthwhile.

Making more presents

2010-04-02T21:59:00.004+02:00

I made this napkin holder for a woman who gave me lots of fabrics.
It’s a version of a tissue holder I made earlier, but enlarged. I bought the lovely birds appliqué at the Hema, who are selling more and more embellishments these days.

I’m building up a wonderful collection of fabrics, and am so pleased with gifts. A curtain from my sister-in-law becomes a lining for a bag, a skirt from my mum turns into a pant for Pelle

ringo pants
Originally uploaded by oddwise

and the fabric from a friend of us is waiting to be used as wallhanging in the attic room where we meditate. The fabrics given to me are not my own choice, and that even makes it more valuable, because it helps me to step outside the box. And the things I really don’t like I give away, for someone else to see the beauty and usability of it.

Yesterday I was so happy, because I’m making a small bag (more about that later) and I can so perfectly use the D-rings of an old babycarrier given to us when Pelle was born and which I never used. Boy, these red rings are so worth cutting up the carrier and saving them, till 4 ½ years later I can use them.

My bag has arrived!

2010-03-31T13:17:00.008+02:00

I had an e-mail from Ruth the other day. My bag has arrived!
I made her something "so nice, you would like to keep it yourself", as part of the Spring Suprise Swap.

I am pleased with the result, but initally, I liked to make a zippered pouch into the lining. Even with the aid of my sewing teacher, I had no luck and after spending two lessons in vain, I quit that option. So now there's just a simple pocket on the inside, although lined with a piece of blue silk.

To complete the outfit, I also made a keychain and a tissueholder. For the keychain, I used the fabric of the straps and some felt. The tulip matches the tulips on the bag. The bird on the tissueholder is an applique.

Since I had never made these items before, I had to experiment a bit with sizes and construction. I came up with my bankcard as an ideal size for the keychain.

For the holder, I used an example given by me a long time ago by Mirre from KissKus.

I added two fat quarters of fabric,

wrapped it all up, wrote a cart,

and off it went.

I'm told the bag is now a home for a new crochet project of Ruth. (She teaches at her collegues, too.) What a great match from the both of us.

007 ready for action

2010-03-24T15:06:00.003+01:00

007 ready for action
Originally uploaded by oddwise

Here's a copy of a post I made for Flickr.
I made this first spring pant for Pelle this year, using pattern nr. 26, 'the Sean C. pants', from the Ottobre magazine nr. 4, from 2009.
It was a bit of a gamble. I loved the old-fashioned look of this pattern, but it is not something the boys in his class will wear. He's not influenced by that, but I am - a bit.
Now I'm so glad I followed through. I love this look on him. In stead of using elastic I made him some cuffs around the ankles.
The fabric was donated to me, and is a kind of softish denim. Perfect for this spring weather: not to warm, not to cold.

I'm going to make another one for him, the green fabric is being washed right now.

Gifts

2010-03-18T21:39:00.009+01:00

This week I received my Spring Surprise. I swapped with Ruth, who lives all the way in South Carolina. And look what I got! 2 fat quarters of fabric and a hat she crocheted herself.

Can you see the butterflies?
I really like it. The fit is perfect and it gives me a real summery feeling.
My parcel is on it’s way to the States, I hope she will receive it soon.
It certainly was nice to do the swap, because I did something different than just sewing clothes from a pattern. (But it has to remain a secret for now.)

I also won a giveaway at VanMarieke, so the postwoman gave me this deco-tape.

Lovely to use, and experiment with. I found out that my wrapping skills can do with some more practice, so it’s a perfect gift. Dank je wel, Marieke!

Today was a wonderful warm day. Finally spring is arriving here. I yearn to sew some pants for my boy. A few weeks ago, a woman I’ve know from the Speel-o-theek
gave me many fabrics and I love to use them.

Thomas the train tote

2010-03-15T14:42:00.006+01:00

Just a small post to show you a tote I made last week. Because we have a Thomas addict in the house, I made him this bag to carry his fruit and drink, to school.
I ordered the fabric in England, and it took a month ! to get here.
But I love the bright colours.

This is Mark, showing it off. And as it fits Mark, you can tell that the tote became rather big and is not that practical. But Pelle wants to take it to school, so I'm glad he likes it. (And I can always make a pillowcase off it when he's borred with it).

I'm really busy with the spring suprise swap (see logo on the right).
Here's a sneekpeak.

I already spend 2 lessons at sewing class to finish it, but had bad luck. This week I will finish it and sent it to the States. Barely in time. I have more time to post after Friday.

And thank you so much for your kind comments on my first bloganniversary. I carry on.

A year of blogging

2010-03-09T15:55:00.005+01:00

Yesterday, this blog was one year old.
I started off with the idea to showcase my home sewn clothes for Pelle and to advocate sewing for boys. Because I love my own creations and wanted to show how nice it can be to make something for little men that is not the ordinary, ugly store bought. I hoped someone would share my taste. For colours, for appliqués, for images that, I think, will appeal to a child far more than the unimaginative clothes that little boys are supposed to wear if it depends on the industry. I wanted to provide some inspiration, by showing stuff made by others, too.
And I also wanted to write about my daily life in this village. Things I would love to read on other blogs. Share my love for the nature around us, for the beauty and happiness encountered everyday, here in this place on earth.
These where my plans, my ‘mission’. But after a year of blogging, I want to revise that.
Because honesty, I’m not very talented as it goes for sewing. I often struggle behind the machine, wanting things to go easier, faster, smoother. And there already are so many inspirational blogs. I don’t think I can add much to that. So I keep showing my stuff, but it would be the mean reason for blogging anymore.

And what about the accounts of the happy daily life? Well, I had a hard time feeling it, this last year. I expressed my worries about Pelle, my struggle with him being different and being labeled (autistic), because I simply had to. Writing it down made it tangible. Sending my grief out in the world, although nobody might read it, helped.
These are the posts that lie very dear to my heart, and I intend to write more from that source.
Telling you what really touches me, sharing my emotional journey.
And where am I now? Traveling the road of acceptance. Because I know that only there lies true happiness, for me. Accepting this lovely boy in everything he is. Seeing his soul shine. If I can do that, if I can open up to everything he brings, I feel a connection that goes beyond language and behavior. Then I experience a joy that, like a glass of soda, bubbles up and makes me feel alive.
So that’s where I stand right now. Feeling happiness returning to me.

I want to thank you so much for reading this blog, making comments, or sending me supportive e-mail. For making a connection. I stay in touch,

Love, Ria

Garment of February

2010-02-28T13:40:00.007+01:00

It is funny how this blog works for me. In Dutch we have a saying literary translated says: stick behind the door. I can’t come up with an English equivalent, but I mean this: it forces me to do things I otherwise would postpone or won’t do at all. Because I feel I have to show you things, to keep you interested. There are people in the webspace waiting for new posts. You, dear readers. I want to please you and make a versatile and interesting place, here in the corner of www.
So after the thrill of the skirt that fitted so good, I said to you that I would make a garment for myself each month. The aim: building up a pattern collection for clothes that fit me like a glove. Making simple adjustments each time, for sleeves, or necklines, or extra plaids, or wider legs to keep the fun, but relying on a good sound construction.
And now February comes to a close so I feel obliged to show you the dress I have been working on for this month. It’s from a knit with a flockprint I bought in Utrecht. Each Saturday there’s a great fabric market there with more than 50 stalls. You are in paradise, there. (I sometimes dream of fabrics, really!).

But the dress. I’m not satisfied. The fabric is so good, and the pattern (# 9 from Ottobre 2009/ 5) might be good for me, but something went wrong.
A: the elastic I used is to broad (couldn’t find the one the mag called for and bought this on advise of the shopkeeper. Not a good advise).

So it bulks on the sides and is annoying to wear, because it won’t stay flat.

B. The front is to wide. It makes my waist disappear. I think the elastic is too wide.

Otherwise I’m pleased, with the back and the sleeves (had to cut them in two pieces and slightly widened the lower sleeve).

I hope my sewing teacher will come up with a solution and I can finish it. (I keep the neckline as high as possible, because I think that’s more comfortable) and will make a hem below the knee so it's a bit more sassy.

And the garment of March? That will have to be something easy, because I want to work on my springsuprise swap. But I have to say, I’m very tempted, tempted by the Loveliness dress from the recent Ottobre. I think I found the perfect muslin for it, yesterday. (I’ve been reorganizing my stash).

Life is a coctail.

2010-02-23T22:15:00.004+01:00

Last week, I’ve been reading the biography of a famous Dutch woman, called Annie M.G. Schmidt. When you are from the States, of from Ireland, or Denmark, or any other country outside Holland, chances are that you never heard of her. That’s because her work never has been translated very much, being so very, very Dutch.
Annie M.G. was our queen of light verse. She wrote numerous songs, tales, and funny, naughty, rhythmical children prose. But she also is a part of our collective memory because of all the songs she composed for television series and musicals. Mark really likes to listen to her songs, because it brings back so many memories. (And that’s how I learned to appreciate her even more, through Marks enthusiasm).
When she was already in her 70’s she became a great television personality ass well, because she told so many funny stories about her life and sparkled with humor.
Because off her unique voice (and not have been reading her biography then) I assumed that her life would be unique, too. That of a great artist. I was very curious and anxious to watch the television series based of her life, broadcasted in January and February. For 7 weeks, I watched every episode. And was disappointed. The actress portraying her older years, only made her look grumpy and ironic, very one-dimensional. I missed the genuine fun she embodied for me. I really think that was a flaw in the script.
But what’s more, my expectations were not fulfilled. Because her live didn’t sparkle at all. She had her ups and downs, just like everybody else. It was her imagination and her work that fueled her vitality and lust for life, not her own history. And it was mirrored in the series: the scenes about her youth and marriage dragged on to long and were boring, but the fantastic parts, be it dancing people going to church, her library invaded by a German soldier (a story she made up), her songs performed in a circus tent, her deceased husband acting as a censor, 70-years old Annie dancing with the movers, these were fun to watch.
I would love to learn from Annie. Adding fantasy and humor in your life. Making it light and fun. Mixing it all together like a sumptuous cocktail. Annie, santé.

Tutorial: how to sew a beret.

2010-02-17T22:20:00.024+01:00

This is a tutorial intended to let you know how to make a fancy beret you can wear yourself.
This is an easy project, I think. I hope it inspires you to make a nice beret yourself.
Note: All the measurements are in centimeters.

What you need is fabric, a piece of paper, compasses and a sewingmachine with thread.

The fabric:

0,35 m of fabric for the outside
0,35 m fabric for the lining (optional).
A piece of 8 by 60 cm. knit fabric for the brim.

I used a fleece for the outside, a knit for the lining and ribknit for the brim. All more or less strechy fabrics, which make sewing easy. I used a small zigzag stitch to keep the stretch.
You could use wovens, but not for the brim. This tutorial only works for brims made of knit fabric.

Step 1. Draw the pattern. You need compasses to do this.

A. The lid. Draw a circle with a radiance of 15 cm.

B. The border. You need to draw 2 circles inside each other.

For the outer circle, draw a radiance of 15 cm. Then draw an inner circle of 9 cm. This leaves you with a border of 6 cm. Cut and use the piece of 6 cm. and fold it in half.

Note: if you have a big head, cut the fabric with 1 cm. seam allowances.
If you want to make the baret for a small child (2-3 years) use a radiance of 13 cm.
For older children, use a radiance of 14-15 cm. The border should always stay 6 cm.

Step 2: Cut the outer shell.

Pin the pattern to the fabric and cut the lid.

Cut the border. Place the pattern on a fold of the fabric and cut it out.

Step 3: Sew the beret.
Pin the lid and border right sides together.

Sew the pieces together.

Step 4: Make the brim .
Cut out a rectangle of 60 x 8 cm. This leaves you with a brim of 3 cm.
If you want a bigger brim, cut out a rectangle of 60 x 10 cm. This leaves you with a brim of 4 cm.

Fold it double and sew it with a larger zigzag stitch.

Make it fit: wrap it around your head and determine the actual width.

Each knit fabric has a different stretch, so just check in the mirror. It should fit like you want the real brim to fit. I like mine to cover my ears, so that’s how I measured mine.
The brim should fit snuggly around your head. Don’t leave any room.
Cut the brim with 2 cm. seam and sew together.

If you want a real nice seam, unpick a little piece and sew the edges together, like this.

Step 5: Attach the brim to the beret.
Mark the beret with 4 pins, on 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock.

Do the same with the brim.
Pin the pieces together, right sides together. Make the marking pins meet each other.

Sew the pieces together, while you stretch the fabric of the brim. Remove the pins and you’re
done!
Put on you beret and laugh in the mirror
(clean the mirror before you take a photo, otherwise you're nose might look strange)

or...
If you want the beret to be a bit warmer, or more finished add a lining.

Step 6: Add a lining.
Repeat step 2 and 3 for the lining.
Mark the lining.

Mark the brim

Pin together.
Pin the right side of the lining to the the brim. Watch the photo carefully, look at the seams, because you can get confused here with wrong and right sides.

Sew the lining onto the brim but leave a gap of 6 cm.
It should look like this.

Turn the beret inside out, through the gap.
Close the gap by hand.

Done!

Note: There is probably a better way to sew the brim to the border, doing it all in one turn (sewing border, outer shell and lining together in one run). Ask me again in 3 years time, when I'm more skilled, to explain. For now, I'm pleased with my own way of doing it.

Since this is my first tutorial, please feel free to comment on any flaws or unclear descriptions. I really would appreciate it very much.

A beret

2010-02-17T17:10:00.004+01:00

I've been busy making my own beret. This one's finished. I've been experimenting a bit and documented everything I've done, so there's also a tutorial coming up. But I need more time for that. So if you want to know how to make this and are not tired of yet another lesson in blogland, stay tuned.

Oh boy

2010-02-09T21:22:00.009+01:00

Last week, I lend a Burda from the library. Since it is almost Carnaval in Germany (Burda being German) they featured some nice dress-up clothes for children. I loved the mask and decided to make it for a 6-year old boy with a vivid imagination called Bas.
It was done in less than half an hour. I used a small piece of Moda quilting fabric which reminded me a bit of the characters in Venice and a thick interface I brought with me after workshop in bag-making. Sewed an elastic band inbetween and cut out the holes for the eyes, and presto, ready.

I finished it off with 3 fake mustaches, for Bas and his brothers. Browsing through the fabulous Celebrate the Boy photostream on Flickr I was so inspired by a picture of girls showing their fake mustaches I read the post of meisjesmamma (a crafty, inspiring Belgium mum of 2 girls) and following link after link came upon this template.
I bought some thicker felt, used for collars in jackets, cut out the shapes and sewed on a simple elastic string. With this result.

Pelle is modeling in all the pictures, because I don’t want Bas to be on the internet without permission. No mustache for Pelle though, he doesn’t like this weird thing under his nose.

If you have boys, check out the Celebrate the Boy month from Made and Made by Rea (click on the icon on the right ). Tons of inspiration, great tutorials and fun. I so support their initiative. Sewing for the boy, that’s my motto.

Tada!

2010-02-05T13:37:00.006+01:00

So here’s the skirt!

I used pattern nr. 4 from Ottobre nr 5/2007. It was meant as a muslin, but it turned out so good, I can wear it for real. It’s a little bit to wide in the waist, but I can easily correct that the next time I’m going to make one. And I definitely will! I am so very, very pleased something I made for myself turned out so good.
I didn’t do the ribbon on the seam of the hip pieces, as the magazine suggested, since this was a trial, but now I regret that. The ribbon would have given the skirt a bit more dimension.

Sewing it was surprisingly easy. I used a regular zipper in stead of the recommended invisible one, because I just though a regular zipper would be good enough.
Here's the lining.

I did not use any interface. My sewing teacher came up with another idea, namely using a twill band into the inner waist seam to prevent the fabric from stretching to much.

Here’s the overall picture. My face looks a bit funny because I’m talking to my friend, who made the shots. Normally I’m much prettier and wear shoes.

Dear followers and other unknown readers, this skirt is such an good incentive that I decided to make one garment for myself every month, this year. I already have plans for a knit dress.
So that’s my cliffhanger this time. Stay tuned!

Ready, steady, cook

2010-02-02T21:55:00.003+01:00

I am a volunteer at a club called Speel-o-theek. We lend toys to parents and grandparents, like a library lends books. I joined it when we moved to the village and it’s been such a grand way to learn a lot of mothers (like Mooimiek ) and become part of a social network.
Recently we bought a new kitchen for kids to play with and I offered to sew an apron and some other accessories.
It was so much fun! Although I saw beautiful examples on Flickr,
I used an Ottobre pattern, because I had that at hand.
I changed the apron a bit, making it a little narrower and longer. The latter wasn’t necessary, I think it’s a little bit too long now. Because the cotton I bough was a bit thin, I decided to make a lining, hence the apron is reversible. I also made the hat (chef's cap?). Next time, I’m going to make the upper part a litter bigger so it will have a bit more volume. There’s still a boy’s apron to make (a long one, from the waist down) combined with a classic white hat, and some oven mittens. But I just couldn’t wait to show you this.

And what’s with the skirt, some ardent followers will wonder.
Yes, almost finished. I had to wait for instructions from my sewingteacher, this morning. In my next post I will show you the stunning result.

A Day In The Life

2010-01-31T12:29:00.007+01:00

For me, the joy of reading is that I can experience a different world, a different time, new perspectives, emotions and thoughts. It expands my world so much and sometimes makes me feel like I am able to live more than one life. That’s why I enjoyed reading “Saturday”, from Ian McEwan. It gave me the chance to experience the word of a well-to-do, English male, living in London. He’s 48-years old, just like Mark. That gave it an extra dimension.

Ever since I saw the movie Atonement I’ve been interested to read something from McEwan. I picked up a book from him in the library, a few weeks ago, but since it handled about the kidnap of a young child I didn’t dare reading it. Last time they had ‘Saturday” on the shelf, and I took it with me. I liked it. It’s an account of a Saturday in 2003 in the life of brain surgeon Henry Perowne. I saw Henry perform his surgeries, as a skilled technician. I felt him being moved by his son’s music, but not by his daughter’s poets. I read about his worries of a terrorist attack and his thoughts about the war against Iraq. The war may free the oppressed people there. I felt Henry’s love for his wife, but couldn’t identify with his will to win a squash game. Henry’s a bit bland, being more of an analytic type of person, but likable. Especially in the way he deals with his mother, who has dementia, and in the compassion he has for a villain who enters his life and house.
I know McEwan is regarded as a great contemporary writer, but he hasn’t stricken me, yet. I couldn’t find multiple layers in this work, or feel the built up tension other readers describe. The account of the aggression he encounters didn’t frighten me. The way he wrote that part made me stay on the outside. But I will try another work of McEwan (in Dutch, because the English would be to complicated) and see if I can find the greatness there.
For now, reading this book was just very pleasant.

Things my mother made

2010-01-29T13:25:00.009+01:00

Look what my mother gave me, last Tuesday. It's a potholder (it may look huge, but it's a 20 cm square). After a live a sewing, making lace, origami, knitting (not that much), embroidery and making Waldorf dolls she now is into quilting. It all started when we went to a summerfair 3 years ago. There were beautiful pieces hanging there and after a chat with the women over there she joined the quiltclub. They come together ever Thursday and she has been making wonderful stuff since then.

Here's another example. it's been hanging on our chimney ever since Christmas and I just didn't like putting it away already. A little bit of starlight in our home.

New Challenge

2010-01-27T23:54:00.005+01:00

Have you seen the logo on the right? I signed up for a swap with the Dutch Sisters, Corry and Heleen. I've been following their blogs for quite some time now. They make wonderful things, and both do a lot of quilting. For the swap I'm not going to quilt, but I already have something in mind that suits the criteria: make something so nice you would love to keep yourself that can fit into a large envelop. Post it together with 2 of your best fabrics.
It's a chance for me to sew something different, that is, no clothes. Good for a change.
I notice also that this whole blogging thing of mine has something to do with it. I don't want to blog about sewing clothes for Pelle the whole time. Because I'm afraid that would be a bit boring. And of course there's more to tell, snippets of my life and thoughts. But a bit of sewing variety keeps your appitite alive, isn't it?

Struggling with bibs

2010-01-26T22:49:00.003+01:00

Inspired by this tutorial on the net about making bibs with sleeves, I decided it would be a nice gift to the mother of a boy and girl twin, who were born in September. Because our internet connection is failing during the day (have to look into that) I drafted a pattern myself, using an old bib of Pelle. But it turned out way to large.
So I borrowed a bib from a friend and drafted another pattern. After lining it I decided that was not a good idea, because the bib became way to bulky. My mother (who came to visit) removed the lining, and I bought bias bind yesterday. I borrowed a special biasbindfoot for the Pfaff, but struggled again. The fabric of the towel was too big for the instrument. So I screwed on my regular foot again and did my best. Biasbind and Oddwise don’t go together very well (hence the idea of lining the bib). But I came there in the end, had to do some extra stitching by hand to correct some mistakes and then that part was finished. I added a boyapplique and Velcro and was done in, what shall we say, 3 hours? And then there was another one to be made… But of course that one was easier. And now I know that the best way for me to use that bind is to stitch it twice. First onto the fabric, then folding it over, and then attaching it to the other side. Because then I know it’s secured well onto the fabric and not just to itself, leaving a gap at the border.

Now that they are finished I feel content and am really pleased with the result. I hope the mother is, too. I will sure make them again, as the occasion arises.

The appliqués are just pieces of fabric I once bought for the crib. Since I used something else I have way to much left (3 meters). So if you’re interested, just leave a remark and I can sent you a fat quarter or more for free. You only have to pay for the postage. It’s a pale yellow cotton from the Duimelot Cottage collection.

Time flies, even if your busy

2010-01-24T22:08:00.007+01:00

Remember the hat I made for Pelle? It’s a favorite of one of the teachers at school. And I wanted to make something else to go along with it.

So here the are: mittens.
And something more to go along.
So I present

A scarf.
The frills of the scarf match the tassels of the hat.

The colour of the lining is blue, but I have no better light at the moment.

But these mittens.

Oh my, these took me sooo long to make. I started yesterday with one.
This morning it appeared to be to large. And then I made an easier design, just drawing around Pelle's hand, but they didn’t fit either. The thumb was to small and high up. So I decided to adjust yesterday's mitten by taking out the lining and the elastic band, making it smaller and fitting in a new band again. Still to big around the wrist. Made the elastic band smaller.
But now they’re finished. The construction is a bit unusual, if I do say so myself. It’s a separate thumppiece, I drew according to the store bought mittens he has. So there’s no seam running across the thumb and he has a bit more room for movements.
The good thing is that after all the corrections, I now have a pattern I can use again and again - I hope- just adding some millimeters each time.

Tomorrow it’s on to making some bibs. Which again take me far more time than I anticipated. When will I ever become fast? Aren’t all the other woman fast? I envision them with their machines running mad and throwing garment after garment high up in the air, singing happily.

One step beyond

2010-01-20T21:37:00.006+01:00

Sewing for Pelle isn’t always easy, and sometimes it’s stretching my skills. But after all the effort and time I’m getting more and more relaxed and confident. And I took a major step. Being raised in a very old-fashioned way, I always traced the patterns with a double thread. That took a long time, not only the tracing itself, but also pulling out the tiny threads when I did my official sewing. They got stuck and I had to pull hard, sometimes, using a pincer. After reading so many blogs about people sewing I thought I was about the last person on earth still using this technique. So I just let it go, for Pelle’s clothes. I’m joining the forces and will cut with 1 cm seam allowance. Because frankly, I won’t make muslins for him or do any major adjustments during the process. If it doesn’t fit him, I just make something new.
And now it’s time to take another step. Sewing for myself. I tried it last year, and the result was disastrous. I threw the skirt and pants I made in the waist bin. The patterns, the fabric, the shape off the clothes, everything worked against me building my own wardrobe.

But I want to try again. It would be so good to have a few good patterns to rely upon. So I have another go at a simple skirt. Deciding for something that I think will fit my slightly peary shape. Yes, I admit, ladies, I am a pear. Small in the waist (size 38), bigger on the hips (size 40). No gatherings at the hips anymore (which make them stick out like a huge mountain slope), but a decent Eiffel tower. First impressions are good, very good. Encouraging.
So it’s onto the zipper now and the lining next. The final touches will be made with assistance of my sewing teacher. I already have visions of hunderds of skirts to follow. The fabrics I have! So appealing! And no being dependent upon stores! Ohh, that freedom.

To be continued.