The start of the week was definitely exciting!  We got little man his big boy bed! Hubby and the kids had a great time putting it together.  They even signed their names on the slats! He even enthusiastically made his bed with his new shark sheets.  I wonder how long that’s going to last. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so excited to go to bed.  That first night, all four of us piled on top of his bed for book time.  I think little princess may have enjoyed that part more than the rest of us and seemed to be a bit put out when I laid her down in her crib.

The next day when we took little princess for her first day of preschool.  June is a strange time to start since the school year is just wrapping up, but we wanted her and little man to have a little bit of overlap there before he started kindergarten.  She’ll have summer camp there to get her acclimated before the school year officially begins in September.  We thought that maybe it would help them both transition…or maybe help us as parents.  She walked in like she’d been doing it forever, sat down, and started playing with the toys.  She didn’t even look back to say goodbye.  The teachers all said she did really well until the end of the day when she saw us and was reminded that we had left her.  She sometimes acts so grown up that I forget she’s not even 2 yet.  Day 2 of school was less seamless as she started crying as soon as we let go of her hand to leave.  Hopefully the transition period will be short, and she’ll get used to going to school soon!

It’s now also time for me to transition and be officially done with school!  The rest of my week was spent in DC for my final MHA immersion and presentation of my capstone project.  It’ll be nice to see my classmates again, and for some for the very first time in person.  It’s crazy how quickly the last 2 years have flown by.  I think I’m definitely ready for a little break before I think up the next degree for me to try out…maybe a DNP?

I definitely see many more possibilities for my career now.  I’m actually thinking of eventually ending up in the C-Suite, which is not something that had really crossed my mind a couple of years ago.  It’s amazing how much I’ve learned and grown throughout this program.  Though it wasn’t all exactly as I had hoped, I do appreciate the knowledge and skills that I have gained.  It will all help me become a better leader in my field.  I think the biggest take away for me has been the network of fabulous professionals I met along the way.  I’m really excited in knowing that we are the future of healthcare and know that we can transform the field and take it in a more positive direction.

In preparation for this moment, I decided to make myself a couple of tops for my trip out to celebrate.

For the top to wear for my presentation, I made myself a Macy top from Sinclair Patterns out of a fun blue abstract ITY from So Sew English that I had gotten especially for this. It just screamed that it wanted to be made into a cowl necked top! This is quickly becoming one of my favorite patterns for selfish sews. It’s quick and flattering! It was my first time sewing with ITY, and I was surprised by how slippery it was to work with. I really like the drape and airiness it has!

I had recently gotten the Hallå Madeline, which is another cowl necked top. I’m always curious how similar patterns from different companies compare. How do I know I chose the right one? I made this one out of an eggplant floral DBP from So Sew English that I had gotten during a bundle sale. I was glad that this pattern was just as easy to sew! The two have some similarities, like the fact that they have similar cowl necklines and have various sleeve length options, but they also have a few differences. The cowl on the Madeline is definitely deeper than the Macy, and the body is more fitted. When I asked hubby which he preferred, he said that he really liked them both! He said that the Macy was very flattering, but the Madeline showed me off. He knows just what to say!  I think they’re both going to be staples in my wardrobe from now on. I think my next project is going to be a raglan comparison.

I also had the opportunity to test the new 10K Tank pattern by Pickle Toes Patterns.  I decided to make the color blocked tank in tunic length, but there are a total of 2 back options and 7 length options!  It’s another quick and easy top to add to my repertoire.  I made this one out of some striped performance fabric I had gotten in a bundle from So Sew English a while back.  It was perfect for this!

The challenge for this week was to sew something with a collar, but I decided to make myself one more top instead. I had seen one of the admins for the So Sew English FB group sew up a Hallå Agnes tank (which is free with a code from their FB group) with a lace overlay. It had such an elegant and classy feel to it that I decided to recreate it. I used white MVC and stretch lace from So Sew English for this project. After cutting mine out, I saw that I had enough fabric for a Sweet Agnes too, so I decided to make little princess one too.

So I learned a few lessons doing this. First, I really have to start changing out the thread on my serger. I don’t know why I dislike rethreading it so much, especially when I know that I can just tie the new thread to the old thread and feed it through the machine. I had ivory on the machine, so it’s not absolutely noticeable, but enough that you can see it on the shoulder seams.

Second, not everything that works in large sizes works in small sizes. I used the burrito method (where you roll up one side of the top in between the lining and main fabric layer – or in this case the lace – so that you can sew the two together without exposed seams) for the armsycle instead of using bands. Unfortunately, the shoulder straps on the Sweet Agnes are so narrow that I had a really hard time pulling the fabric through to turn the top right side out and damaged the lace. I’m going to try and repair it when I get back from my trip.

There are definitely things that I would do differently next time, but I’m fairly happy with how they came out overall.  I’m looking forward to a mommy and me date so that we can wear them!

Funny thing about writing on the plane is that it seems my posts definitely get longer.  I think it’s because I don’t have any competing demands and my mind is just allowed to wander, especially now that the stress of pending homework is done!