Mice love reading

I've been wanting to make this bag from Sew, Mama, Sew for ages and ages. 

Who doesn't need a library bag?!

Starboy is crazy for these mice. He really wants me to make PJ tops that match his pants...but I don't know how to make buttonholes, and I'm not ready to learn yet. Time. So a lined bag it is. The original pattern didn't have a lining, so I merged the pattern with this great one from Sew Grown (I've made that  bag too and it's awesome). If I were to make another, I think I would do squared sides like that scavenger bag, but extend them all the way up as a strap, to support the weight of the books. We'll see how long this strap lasts with only about 1/4" reinforcement, and lots of bag width to fit a whole stack of books.

Both projects come together really quickly. The library bag can easily be completed in an evening, even with the distraction of really bad television I was able to do the whole thing in a couple of hours. The scavenger bag took a little longer, especially with the hangup of trying to turn a stiff denim strap inside out.

The library card is a photocopy of our library card with his photo and signature added. He loves that his face pops out of the pocket!

As you can see, the bag is a little long since it was designed for, like, a third-grader, so I did this high-class modification with diaper pins. 

This would be a great application for a couple of buttons, and buttonholes....

He loves the bag. We took it straight to the library—which was closed.

The liner fabric is sweet Heather Ross' Nursery Versery Country Mice (Kokka Fabrics/Japan). It really outshines the crap denim from Joann that makes up the rest of the bag. It's flimsy and really affects the profile and shape of the bag—makes it slouchy. Ah, well.

Bags like this are a fun project, and would make a great gift for a little one!

Pancake men

We've been reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This morning, Starboy heard about how Laura and Mary celebrated Christmas with their cousins. Ma made "pancake men" for each of the children. The book described how deftly she created them, and how crispy delicious they were. 

He insisted on having some. Mostly because, when I looked at the two remaining eggs yesterday, I thought, "We won't be needing two eggs tomorrow," and I hard-boiled one of them, along with his fresh egg from school, so we had one egg for a two-egg recipe, and all the neighbors asleep. Isn't that always the way? So I made only half a recipe of mix, which added up to five pancakes.

 Well....I'm not so sure about deft, in the re-creation.....

 But crispy and tasty: we have that covered.

Starboy is enthralled with the "Laura and Mary books." They have wonderful picture books based on the series, with text mostly from the original, and illustrations in Garth Williams' style. Interestingly, we got two books based on Farmer Boy, about Laura's husband Alamanzo as a boy, and Starboy isn't interested. He knows they are supposed to be "Laura and Mary books," and he doesn't know who that boy is.

We've borrowed everything from the library, which also has been great.

Shooting for a lower bar, with smaller arms and legs (and two spatulas) offered greater success. He's like a starbaby pancake man.

Pancake doggie! Techman woke up just in time to eat this one while it was hot.

Pancake doggie that went wrong that was turned in to a flower that....went wrong. Then it went right—into mommy's belly. Yum! After this, I gave up on shapes, and split the last, oval sad pancake with Techman.