I have had a lot of fun sewing for my two happy little kiddos this past year. Especially my older daughter, who loves fancy things and has begun to spew ideas of things I can sew for her much faster than I can put them all together.

  Her name is Fern, and she is my original little fiddlehead. When we were on our way home from the hospital with her, I was sitting in the backseat and staring at her and talking about her to my husband. I was commenting on how she was fighting the straps of the car seat in order to stay as tightly wound as she could: thighs pushed up against her tummy, feet wrapped around eachother, shoulders bunched and arms crossed across her chest in the true fetal position that newborns can't help but embody. She would start to stretch a leg or arm here and there, slightly uncoiling like a little....fiddlehead. As I was saying it I cut myself off in order to gush about how I hadn't realized we had such a perfect nickname built into the name we chose for our daughter until just then. It is such a joy to watch her unravel into the beautiful, smart, caring and creative girl she is becoming.

  Now she has a baby sister that is about to turn two! Unraveling into a little powerhouse. Althea is full of energy and has been an adrenaline junky from birth. She was walking at 8 months and now spends her time climbing everything in site, jumping off whatever she can climb, and basically running around in circles. If she had a tail, she would chase it all day. She has some explosive emotions to match. I have been enjoying having one child that doesn't prefer "a BEA-U!-ti ful dress" when getting dressed every morning. She actually still lets me dress her, we will see how long that lasts!

  We have been blessed with hand me downs galore from my uncle's three daughters, so I get to sew things that will be fun and different: we have most of the basics covered. I took a required home ec sewing class in 7th grade which is the extent of my formal training as a sewist. My mom let me play around on her machine a lot while I was in high school. She also brought me to the fabric store for the first time and showed me around. I tended to sew patchwork hippy clothes and flowy skirts. I have been really loving reading some of the helpful tutorials that are out there and refining my technique and picking up new tools of the trade over this past year. Thanks everyone, I promise to give credit whenever I can to those that are teaching and inspiring me!