Thursday, June 9, 2011

{off the charts}

A few weeks ago, I showed you Emily's beautiful growth chart, and ever since, I've been cutting, sewing and quilting my fabric scraps together to come up with something similar for Matilda.


For someone who doesn't really put initials on stuff, I've sure been embroidering my fair share of 'm's onto things this week. I guess I can't get enough of the American Typewriter font.


I made a couple of changes from Emily's design. Some by accident (such as getting carried away piecing the parts together and realising too late that I had one big strip instead of six neat little strips) and some on purpose (such as adding in embroidered lines to mark Tilly's exact height). 

Actually, not so on purpose -- the addition of lines was to cover up my inexact sewing. Each little square is supposed to be an inch high, so that you can simply count the squares to measure your child. My squares ranged from 0.8 inches to 1.2 inches. Not a big deal for one square, but when you put them together, it sort of throws the whole measuring thing off. Which is, you know, the point of a growth chart. Oops. Hence, embroidered lines.


I skipped out on adding the exact date we measured her, too, simply because I can't say for sure that I could find that information. Yes, I could find your 5000 photos of her first year for you in milliseconds, but dates and weights and numbers? Um, no. We're doing ball-park ages. Approximation never hurt anyone.


I think I'd mentioned the idea of having significant fabrics match up with special ages. Well, the piecing process made the fabric order completely random, so I gave up on that.

But how excited was I to find that at 21", her length at birth, their was a little scrap of an Alexander Henry tiger? Very! (Tilly was born  in the year of the tiger, and has absolutely lived up to all of the fiery, roaring expectations)


Other fabrics of significance include: the Russian Doll lining to Tilly's Moses basket, the red gingham of her first dress, the red wagon wheel print of the pajamas I lived in for the first three months of her life, and of course, her party dress fabric.


Rather than using a wooden dowel, our growth chart is supported by this handy little ruler, inserted between the pockets on the back. It's got a perfect hole in the middle for hanging, and it'll be handy for measuring up from the last mark to see how tall Tilly is. Rulers on the brain at the moment, it seems.


Still a long way to grow. And if she continues getting taller at this rate, as Justin says, she'll be 70 feet tall by the time she's sixteen. I'm going to need more scraps...

7 comments:

Emmy @ the student/teacher said...

Astrid, it looks so beautiful! I love all the red and your embroidery. So cute--great work! :-)

Loreal said...

Looks great!

And I have a request for a specific tutorial: how you manage your time in a way that allows you to be a full-time mum and also make all these amazing projects. I know you've explained it to me before, but I think we could all use some tips on your astronomically high productivity!

anika said...

this is so cute! my mom recently painted over the growing chart we kept going over the years on a little sliver of wall in the kitchen. It was during one of her mega-clean up sessions, and my brothers and I were all disappointed to hear about it (she didn't think anyone would even notice! haha). I love the idea of a fabric version that can be tucked away when needed, or taken with you if you move. wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Astrid!! This is adorable! You are so crafty.

frillsfluffandtrucks said...

I love this! I was intimidated by the one with the squares that exactly measured one inch because I know there is NO way I could ever sew that precisely. This, however, there is a glimmer of hope that I could (maybe) make.

~ Sarah

Jen Van Hut said...

Question - have any suggestions? I assume you used batting in between the layers? I was considering using interfacing and not quilting. Would love some more info. Thank you!!

Red Red Completely Red said...

Yes, Jen, there's batting in there! I don't use interfacing, usually, so I'm not sure how that would work. I'm about to have a go at making a new version for my youngest, so I'll keep you updated -- two years on, I might be able to do it a bit better!!!