Baby sunhat attempt number 1

I was chatting with my friend Jenn and told her about the sunhat I was making for Lily. She was amazed. I was flattered. My sewing time is limited and I was determined to be a good parent and shield Lily's sensitive skin from the harsh rays of the sun.

Precious hours later, I tested out the almost-complete hat on Lily.

Too small. I panicked. Far too small. No! Precious hours wasted!

While watching some fabulous figure skating this afternoon (yay Scott and Tessa!*) I practiced the art of seam ripping and at least salvaged the ruffled brim of the sunhat. I am determined to make this work (and earn Jenn's praise)!!! I'll let you know if/when I figure this out...


* My apologies for the spoiler, but honestly, none of you watch figure skating. I know it. I bet you want to tell me all about how your grandparents love it, though.

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Post pregnancy Marilyn Monroe dress

They call it the 4th trimester: the first three months after giving birth. I'm not sure why I didn't think it through, but for some reason I thought that after the baby was out, my belly would disappear. I had brought my favourite comfy clothes to the hospital only to find out that it was still incredibly tight at the waist as it takes several days for the uterus to shrink and for the belly to disappear. Silly me.

For the first month after Lily was born, I was still wearing my maternity pants, maternity jackets, and cardigans that didn't need to be buttoned up. Slowly, I was able to start zipping up my sweatshirts and wearing my old sweatpants. Slowly, I pulled out my old jackets for this springy weather. Slowly, I started to shed the baby weight.

Although this gradual reunion with my old wardrobe was exciting, I was not confident that I would be able to fit into a dress in time for my cousin's wedding. (Congrats Tiff and John!!!) The wedding was this past weekend, a little over a month after Lily's birth.

I took advantage of Lily's more sleepy days in the first couple weeks (and the extra adrenaline I had pumping through me) and sewed a dress from the book Famous Frocks that my (soon-to-be) sister in law bought me for Christmas. The book is a collection of iconic silhouettes from famous 20th century stars. From Audrey Hepburn to Twiggy. Jackie Kennedy to Madonna.

I decided to make the famous Marilyn Monroe dress, but with criss-cross straps rather than an open back.

The pattern was simple, and I was able to easily tailor to my odd post-pregnancy shape (medium chest, large waist, still no hips or butt...) I also had the perfect fabric in my fabric stash: a shimmery stretch jersey in a rich merlot-wine colour.



I worked on the dress for maybe an hour every day for two weeks: whenever Lily was down for a nap and I just didn't have it in me to nap while she napped. After about two weeks, Lily decided her crib was not nearly as comfy as napping in our arms so the sewing came to an abrupt stop. I had finished everything except the hem, and the straps on the back. Since I had used a jersey fabric (which doesn't fray) I just left the hem as-is and pinned the straps on with safety pins!

The dress turned out great. It ended up being just a bit loose; I probably lost a bit of weight in my chest/back since my initial fitting, but I just pinned the straps a little tighter. (Photo cred to my cousin Kev.)


Lily also had her own custom made dress. No, I'm not crazy and didn't also try to sew Lily a dress at the same time. My friend Danielle, from beadmarket.ca, sewed Lily a dress intended for this summer, but it was just too cute that I wanted her to wear it for the wedding. I sewed a quick belt to tighten the dress a bit and added some red tights to complete her look. Unfortunately (or fortunately) she was asleep in her carseat for most of the wedding and didn't get to show off the dress until the end of the night. I didn't get a great picture of her wearing the dress, but you can still tell she was cuuuute in that outfit!

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Roasted Fennel and Tomato: two ways

Before Lily was born, I had bought a bulb of fennel from the grocery store hoping to whip up a delicious fennel salad. It's honestly one of my favourite salads. Thinly sliced fennel with olive oil, salt and pepper. Simple. Delicious.

But Lily was born early. And my mom came to visit shortly after. And Mom doesn't approve of eating too many raw veggies. It sounds ridiculous, but it's a very common practice in traditional Chinese medicine. I actually googled this to be sure, and found this article that supports all the craziness my mom has been teaching us all these years. It's all about energy, and finding a balance between the cold and the hot energies.  The optimal state is different from person to person, but my mother likes to err on the side of keeping oneself on the 'warm' side. Raw vegetables contribute to the cold energies, and while we're in the middle of winter, and I've just gone through a gruelling childbirth, 'cold energy' is the last thing I need.

And so, with my mother's kind reminders to stay away from raw vegetables and icy cold water, I decided to forgo the raw fennel salad.

My next favourite fennel recipe comes from another fantastic Avoca cookbook: Avoca Soups (again, courtesy of my friend Rebecca!)

There is a roasted fennel and tomato soup recipe that is so easy, and so delicious. Roasted fennel + sauteed onions + 1 can of diced tomatoes + chicken or vegetable stock. Simmered together and blended until smooth. I love making it early in the day so we can have the soup for lunch, and then use it as a delicious sauce for dinner.




I've used it as a quick pasta sauce, but this time, I used it for my cabbage rolls. Cabbage rolls freeze really well, so I always make extra rolls that are fully cooked and store them in the freezer. I slightly defrosted a serving and then added the rest of the leftover roasted fennel and tomato soup. I also added about an extra cup of chicken stock so the sauce wouldn't thicken or dry up too much.



After 40 minutes of simmering on the stove, the cabbage rolls were deliciously soft and absorbed some of the fantastic fennel and tomato flavour. I love when one recipe does double duty! And I bet my mom is proud that I didn't just chop up the fennel and eat it raw.

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