SANT SWEATSHOP UP AND RUNNING

It's starting to be crunch time for hula sewing. No matter what I do or say, every year it is March before I have fabric and costume/pattern ideas cemented and I can get started. (The luau is the last Saturday in June.)

This year I have a lot of sewing to do. I have to make 9 (or 10 if "Uncle Gene" persuades Kuulei to count Molokini as an island) holokus to make. (Formal fitted mu'umu'us.) These are going into Kuulei's collection and are partial "payment" for my daughters taking hula. Kuueli is making her Luau this year a Lei Day celebration and so she will have a queen and princess representing each island (different colors) and one for the Queen in white. The king will need a large cape and the standard bearers will need smaller capes.

For the ladies who hire me to sew for them, I am making new awana (modern hula dances) dresses for them. We are roughly using this pattern:

If you look closely at the back you can see that it will be a bit tricky to add the sleeves that the ladies so desperately want. I think that I will be making 10 to 15 of these.

The ones who still need their ancient costumes will get peasant tops, pau skirts, pantaloons, and large sashes that drape across the body. I just will have 3 to 5 of those to do.

The keikis will wear kekepas that are painted like the tapa cloth that the ladies wear. I am NOT painting anyone else's tapa cloth. It takes ALL day to paint one. In any case, I think I will be making about 12 of those.

I may also sew for her Couer d'Alene students. Kuulei has about 40 or 45 dancers this year.

I will also be gone for more than two weeks in April and I was recently suckered into teaching a class at the Stake Family History Seminar in April.

In the meantime:

I sewed Sari a new pau practice skirt. She outgrew hers from 4 years ago. Go figure.

TAPA CLOTH

Kuulei asked me to teach her hula women how to make faux tapa cloth the way I did hers and Rachel (for their ancient dances pau skirts). Tuesday night we had a bunch of ladies over to learn from the biggest faker of "I know what I am doing". Kuulei brought her daughter, Tearzah and all my boys were in bed and three oldest were at mutual so I turned Tearzah loose with my camera. Here are just a few of her shots:

The women drew some really amazing designs. This leaf is perfect, in my opinion, as it will be simple to outline the negative space.

These geometric shapes are super cool, but I have to say I would tear off my own arm and beat myself with it before I would attempt to paint that.

Even this is a little complex for me, but it sure will be beautiful.

Just a few center details and this one is perfect, too.

A few of the women in my home.

And a few more. This mom and daughter team had me in stitches all night. They are perfectionists too. I will need divine intervention when I sew their dresses. Or my mom. I'll for sure have to get my machine tuned up so all my stitches are exactly the same size EVERY time.

A couple more ladies. And we aren't done yet!

Rachel's friend Erica wanted to add some pizzaz to her skirt from last year.

I had a great time! There was a lot of loud, fun, positive energy flowing.

BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TO DO

Every year I try to make Valentine's Day t-shirts for my kids to wear. Here's what I just made tonight, at 11 p.m. . I had to miss E.R. to do them and so I am a little growly. And tired. Enough whine, on with the show:

Matthew's is the same as last year, but I made a new one. Really, do you think a WHITE shirt would last a year in this house? I should take a picture of last year's. It's bad. This is him with his preschool loot and Valentine's bag that he made.

(Disclaimer - the rest of the pictures are pretty bad because it is night and it is bad lighting and the flash makes everything just look white. The shirts are all bright white.)

I adore Rachel's. I've had the song "Hopelessly Devoted To You" by Olivia Newton John (Grease) in my head all day because of it. Maybe you will now, too. You are welcome.

And Miss Sari's. It has the double meaning because we sometimes call her "B" for Rebekah, her middle name, which she told me the other day that she hates. Try not having a middle name, then we can talk hating it. Plus Rebekah is a GREAT middle name. It goes PERFECTLY with the name Sari. She was 11 days late being born, believe me, Larry and I discussed IN GREAT DETAIL what her name should be. It's perfect. The end.

Daniel's. Because this is what 5th grade boys SHOULD think about love.

For the first time in 5 years, Ben participated! He selected this burning heart and it runs across the back of a vintage fit T-shirt shoulders, so it is nice and tight.

And now the piece de resistance! Folks, seriously, this picture does not do it justice. How cute is this white tiger cub growling with it's little toofers just growing in? Too cute. It is perfect for Joseph, the 1st grader, who also has his big teeth just growing in. Ben was instrumental in the design of Joseph's shirt and I think he did a really good job. Daniel just sat on the floor and laughed at Ben saying, "hugs and kisses" over and over again in his funny voice. I wish that I could upload a sound clip of that here. You would laugh too.

I made another shirt for Matthew, in a fit of insanity, because I felt bad that his shirt said the same thing as last year. Unfortunately, we were running low on ink in the printer at this point (and no new cartridges in sight) so the colors look pink instead of orange and red. Looks like he gets last year's model after all.

Why are the pictures just the shirts and not the kids? They are in bed. Where I should be. Where Larry is, after I told him to quit picking at me like a crow picks at roadkill with hot topics like, what are we doing with the tax return and when are we getting tickets and what if we have to change our Spring Break plans.

Sorry, Sweetie.

But really, I was at my limit. Still. He is a good man and I feel bad.

Anyway, I wanted to post this tonight because tomorrow I have a choir concert to post about AND Montana hair to write about too. Oh, and some stuff from the 80's and you know, my brain just gets too full and it has to go somewhere.

A PURSE and a mouse

I finally found a bag that I can live with, love even, that doesn't match my shirt (yellow and gray bag) so I don't have to change my bag if I am wearing the shirt.

I adore the colors:

I made up my own pattern, more or less, and I think it turned out okay. I should start writing notes to myself so I can do it again and not make the same mistakes, twice.

I love seeing polkadots when I open my bag and I love my pen slots.

Now that I know how to make a zippered pocket, I am completely addicted.

IN OTHER NEWS -

Sari had friends over to make cupcakes for some cupcake choir contest. The girls did EVERYTHING themselves. I didn't help with even one thing. They did a good job. The cupcakes are decorated like mice. Alyssa, Sari, and Iris.

Here's the presentation cupcake - the rest are to share with the class.

GALLETS - waffle cookie recipe

I got this recipe from a nice couple in our ward, the DuPapes. She said that it came from Belgium with her husband's family in the late 1890's. I didn't think they had waffle irons back then, but maybe they had panini makers or plain old grills. I don't know. In any case, here's the recipe:

12 eggs
3 cups of sugar
1 POUND of butter, softened
2 oz. vanilla
1/3 tsp. cream of tartar
7 - 9 cups of flour

Cream everything except the flour, then add the flour one cup at a time until you get a sticky, thick dough.

Drop by spoonfuls (I use my small Pampered Chef icecream scooper-thingy) on the hot waffle iron, in the middle of the squares. Set the done to medium but check to see how your waffle iron does.

Eat 'em warm, eat 'em cold, but eat 'em you will! Also, be sure to store them air-tight, they dry out really fast.

I asked Rachel and Ben to please take a picture of the gallets in the waffle iron and when I went to download the picture this was the only one on the camera:

Sorry you missed it folks! Ben asked me to remove the picture. Suffice it to say, it was NOT a picture of waffles.

And people wonder why I have a tic in my left eye.