preschool | Sew Sassy Creations

As a family we started Saturday evening movie nights with Zac. For my husband and me it’s been a great chance to catch up on children’s movies we’ve missed over the past decade. A couple weeks ago, the move we watched was Up. Seriously- this movie needs to come with a warning to parents that it’s a tear jerker, and now in the typical Disney movie way. If you haven’t seen the movie, stop reading now- spoilers ahead! From watching previews I knew the old man’s wife wasn’t going to make it, but was not prepared for the topic of infertility/miscarriage. Before Zac was born, we suffered two losses so this part of the movie (while brief) hit close to home. Thankfully Zac didn’t ask questions about why the couple was decorating a nursery and then the wife was crying in the doctor’s office. My husband and I just glanced at each other and then he went and got me some tissues.

The next morning, I was going through my stash of knit fabrics, and Zac saw my Up fabric. He was pointing out the balloons and characters and he asked me to make him a shirt. How could I say no to that? Zac always gets excited when I make him outfits or pajamas out of character fabrics, but I think this is the first time he specifically asked for something. I got right to work.

I decided I wanted to make a hoodie. Previously, I have made the all ears hoodie by Max & Meena and knew I could do the hood easily (not sure why that was intimidating to me), but I wanted to add a pocket and this pattern doesn’t offer that option. I then remembered I had a hoodie pattern from Brindille & Twig (free btw) and decided to merge the two. The Up fabric is really colorful, so I wanted to use it strategically.

I decided on using grey fabric for the body of the shirt and the Up fabric for the pocket, but first I added an appliqué.

I decided to do the arms and the inside of the hood out of the Up fabric, and make the outer hood grey to match the front (and back) of the shirt. I went back and forth on what to do for the arm cuffs and the waist band, and decided on a dark grey and I’m glad I did. I absolutely love how this hoodie turned out, and Zac does too.

The following day was Columbus Day and there was no school. My friend and I decided to take the boys to the Yellow River Game Ranch. The weather was gorgeous and it was a great opportunity to take some pictures of Zac in his new hoodie. Earlier this year my husband and I purchased a Sony a6000 camera and a 50 mm lens. It was a splurge, but I absolutely love this camera and the pictures I’m able to capture with it.

My little guy started preschool this week. I had great intentions of writing this post when I got home from dropping him off on Tuesday, but I spent the first hour pacing the floors, and when I got over myself and decided to get some work done, I received a phone call that he never stopped crying and it may be best for me to come pick him up. Thankfully, he had a much better day on Thursday and, to everyone’s surprise, he made it the whole day. He woke up today asking to go back. Let’s hope he’s this excited next week!!

I’m not sure how it is in other parts of the country, but here preschool registration starts in January. Yep, I said January. School starts in September… As a first time mom, I completely missed the boat on that one, and the preschool across the street from our house was full. I had a moment of panic where I actually cried, thinking this would somehow affect where he went to college, before I put on my big girl panties and started talking with friends and calling other schools in the area. They say that everything happens for a reason, and I truly love the school where Zac ended up. They have 8 students with 2 teachers in their 2-year-old classes. I don’t know anywhere else that has that ratio. Additionally, he has music and spanish classes once a week. So, we signed him up, paid our registration, and then somebody pressed the fast-forward button on life, because in the blink of an eye, this week arrived.

Me being me, I made sure that Zac was ready with all the personalized school gear that one embroidery machine could create. I made him a shirt and matching shorts for his first day of school, I embroidered his name on the fire engine lunchbox he picked out, and then I embroidered an appliquéd patch and his name on his book bag. Let me talk a minute about this backpack- I posted a picture of this on Facebook and immediately had friends requesting them too. They’re now listed on Etsy and quickly became my top seller. They are so easy to do, so I need to remember this for next year. Last, but certainly not least, I need to introduce my newest baby- the Silhouette Cameo. This machine really needs her own post, but I’ll work on that for next week. It was a complete impulse buy, but I used it to slap Zac’s name on his water cup for school, as well as make a little welcome gift for his teachers too.

If you have questions about any of the items pictured below, please leave me a comment. I need additional practice with the Silhouette, but I hope to create some things to list on Etsy for the holidays. Till next time, friends!!