While I wait... I sew.

I posted a while back that I was sewing a crib for a boat. Unfortunately I encountered a huge snag when the brass grommets that had been ordered to finish the job didn't quite arrive.


What did arrive was a total of 6 grommets, when what I needed was 6 packages of 12!



And that just won't work.



Anyway, the company has been very nice and finally realized that a new employee made a bit of a mistake and the remaining grommets are now on their way.



But in the mean time I feel bad about the wait (even though it's not my fault) and thought maybe I'd send a little condolence gift along with the crib (that is if it ever gets finished!!).






When I saw this 'pirate' fabric I just couldn't resist. I can't think of a more appropriate print for a little one living aboard a boat.


And since her parents' sailed around the world without a bit of experience and succeeded? Why not!



The pattern is McCall's 5416.



Very simple and I made a size 1.

I used heart shaped buttons at the shoulders and red ric rac along the bottom.
















The back view.

A close up of the fabric.























I'm a sucker for ric rac!

I also finally bought a 24" X 24" pillow form and covered it with some Steeler fleece for our Wilbur.

He loves it!!!

Look at that face!!! Is it any wonder he found a girlfriend during his first day at Doggy Day Care?

Doggy Day Care and a Sewing Project on Hold.

When we deliver our boat to Florida next month we plan on leaving Wilbur behind.


For anyone who reads this blog and knows how much we love our dog, I'm sure this is a bit of a shock. However, we're going to fly right back home and I refuse to stick my baby into the belly of a plane. Hans thinks I'm nuts and stated that Wilbur would be just fine, and then actually dared to roll his eyes when I said Wilbur was far too sensitive to survive such a trip.


However he changed his mind when I told him that the crate we'd need to buy, along with the cost of Wilbur's flight, would be right around the same amount as boarding him at Doggy Day Care.


So off we went to Doggy Day Care to see if our boy 'plays well with others', and would therefore be accepted as a boarder.


Wilbur passed, and believe me that experience will have its own post.


As for my stalled project.

The crib I was sewing for The Bumfuzzles has hit the skids. In the middle of the sewing of this crib I called our local West Marine to ask them if they had six packages of 12 sets of brass grommets I would need to complete this job.


They didn't.


And they said it might take them as long as two weeks to get them. So the Bumfuzzles found a site that said not only did they have them, they'd send them to me right away.
The package arrived on Friday and contained a grand total of six grommets!!! Not six packages of twelve, but six grommets!!!


I kid you not.


So until the grommets arrive there's not much I can do but I feel so bad because I know the Bumfuzzles would have liked to have their crib 'yesterday'!! Not next week.














Look at this face! Of course he plays well with others!

Sewing a Crib. For a Boat?

I spend a lot of time these days cruising (such an apt expression!) live aboard boat blogs.

During the short two months Hans and I lived on our boat this summer, I found that we were very inadequately prepared for such a life. Luckily we have a bit more time and a lot more experience under our belts before we head out again this January for the Bahamas.

I found the Bumfuzzles on Cheryl's blog. Cheryl and her husband have been working like mad on their 1987 Catalina 30 in hopes of someday moving aboard. I'm impressed and amazed at the amount of work they've done on their own, especially during this summer's heat (they live in Louisiana!).

Anyway, they mentioned the Bumfuzzles on their blog and Shazzam!!!! before you know it, I'm sewing a crib for a Bumfuzzle Baby!

So a little background on these Bumfuzzle people. In their late 20's, Pat and Ali made a decision to forsake moving to and living out their lives in suburbia. Instead, they sold everything they owned, bought a sailboat (with absolutely no boating experience of any kind), proceeded to sail around the world, and managed to become the absolute bane of even the most hard core sailors.

Why?

Because they dared to dream, acted upon that dream, and seven years later are still living the dream. You really should check out their blog.

When I grow up, I hope to be just like the Bumfuzzles!

In addition to adding baby Quest to their family in January, they purchased a monohull sail boat; their previous boat having been a catamaran (and I can just hear the cruising forums rubbing their hands in glee over this).


But with this new home, the Bumbuzzles needed a secure place for their daughter Quest to reside. So they turned to their friends on the Internet and sent a shout out for help. The 'canvas' guy they hired neglected to inform the Bumfuzzles that he was more interested in retiring than sewing, and left them high and dry.

Enter me, Laura, the Somewhat Sewist.

I know I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, I'll never discover the cure for cancer, and I'll never write a Pulitzer Prize Winning Novel, but I'd like to think I can do a bit of good for someone who needs it!


So I volunteered.

I only hope to be able to hold up my end of the bargain!!!!


This is a rough 'frame' of one of the long sections of the crib lying on our carpet.


Remember; a crib has two long sides and two shorter ends.


This long section will have a mesh insert and a roll up/down panel for warmth (and/or privacy).

















Here it is with the mesh insert.



I have it hanging off my ironing board (so please forgive that odd X formation in the background).

I'll post more pictures of it when I'm done.

Wilbur has been fascinated with this whole process.



Here he is when I told him it was for a baby.



"I thought I was the baby!!!!!" was his reaction.

The Grand Finale with Some Sewing Yet to Come!

Our sailing trip this summer started with problems, ended with problems, and for some reason, beautiful, peaceful, and lovely St. Michael's, Maryland played a starring role each time. Come to think of it, two years ago St. Michael's was the scene of a very nasty confrontation between our sturdy Knotty Cat and a slutty french catamaran who dared to anchor within smacking distance of us, and even though our girl was victorious, I don't want to think about that right now.

On our last day, after anchoring, we took Wilbur ashore and had a wonderful (since Wilbur was permitted on the restaurant's outside dock)(yet horribly expensive) dinner at The Crab Claw.

Hans is happy to have survived two months on a boat with me.

I'm happy that we finally found a restaurant that allowed dogs (even if it was outside).

I'm wearing my silk Burda dress yet once again (I make very few of my clothes but when I do, I wear the hell out of them!). I'm just thankful that the record setting heat broke long enough to allow me to wear it. I'm not kidding when I tell you that I didn't even wear my watch this summer. It was just too hot!

When we left the next morning we saw tons of these boats. They were preparing for a race and even though there was virtually no wind they were still moving along as they are so light and have tons of exposed sail.

I'd just put down my binoculars when Hans informed me that one of them had dumped! I would have liked to see it (just because) but I felt very sorry for the crew because even though it wasn't a dangerous situation, there were tons of jelly fish in the water, and there's no way a lot of stinging wasn't going on.

As I mentioned previously, there was very little wind that day so Hans thought our final sail should involve the gennaker.
Being the lazy soul that I am; I didn't. And maybe the day will come when Hans listens to me.

In the end, getting the gennaker up turned into a bigger job than it should have, and when Captain Hans yelled back to me where I stood at the helm, to rev up the engines, I did.
Maybe one (or both) of us should have given some thought to the fact that our Knotty Cat had been at a virtual standstill for quite some time and our dinghy might want to cozy up to us (thus allowing its painter to slide under our boat).

By the time we limped into Kent Narrows on one engine Hans had been in the jelly fish infested water twice. The first time was to free our dinghy's painter from The Knotty Cat's rudder (oops!), and very soon after that to rescue our dinghy when we realized the painter had been cut by the starboard propeller. From the sound of the awful thumping noises issuing from said propeller, a huge chunk of painter was obviously hanging on, and we made the rest of the trip with only our port engine.

Luckily for Hans, I believe the jelly fish were so astonished at seeing him jump into the water two times that they were too stunned to sting!

We just had to shake our heads and laugh that last day on board when we realized we'd pretty much gone full circle. Our water pump was giving us problems yet once again and believe me when I say that little stinker will be ripped out and replaced before we set foot aboard the Knotty Cat again.

For now our girl is on the hard and anxiously awaiting the installation of solar panels, and rumor has it her stuffing boxes will be - well - they'll be restuffed (she leaks on her port side and it makes her blush so please keep this just between us!).

Some time at the end of October we're going to sail her to Florida where she'll bask in the sun until we get back there in January in order to take her to the Bahamas.

But in the meantime I've taken on an interesting task. I'm going to attempt to sew a crib that will fit into the bunk/berth of a monohull sail boat. A young cruising couple (they've already sailed around the world) had a baby earlier this year and want to head out to sea again. They need to make sure their little one will be secure in her bed, and I've gotta say, I'm thrilled to death to be a part of this whole alternative lifestyle of living aboard a boat.

It sure beats suburbia!