Falling

I do it every year: totally fall for fall.  August gets so hot, and I'm so sick of watering the plants that look dead anyway and the canvas shoes have gone from cute to "can I leave the house in this?" embarrassing.

And then a few chilly days come along and I let myself fall for everything fall.  I love foliage and sweaters-but-no-jackets and drinking my afternoon coffee HOT.  Speaking of which, have you seen this? Hits so close to home, I almost spit out my pumpkin spice latte all over my yoga pants:

I know y'all do it too, get excited about this season that only lasts for about three weeks and treat it like it's the new forever.  But this year I'm not going to get seduced into buying those cute boots that won't do me any good on the December ice. Why is a "fall boot" a thing?

from: http://www.thebudgetbabe.com/

Suddenly you NEED, not just want, a gauzy scarf that your'e going to "layer" even though you're not, because when it gets cold, the layers you'll need better be a lot thicker than that.  I think I'm going to coin a new phrase: anything that is impractical but feels, on a gut-level, necessary, I'm going to call September.  You want two pairs of new glasses because you can't decide between the formal and for-fun frames? Don't do it.  It's so September.  Another reusable grocery bag, because you left the other twenty in the car and this one was super cute? You'll regret it! Totally September. Beats by Dre headphones, a new colander because it's red, IPhone 5S = Septemberish - I can resist.

But sometimes I can't help myself.  Without thinking it through, I pictured the cider doughnuts and the pretty leaves and the windy days and I let myself indulge in a little September this week.

I have this lovely, and I mean loverly, pinkish wool that I got at Sew Low Discount Fabrics.  It can be pink or almost lavender depending on the light.  I only got a yard of it, with no specific project in mind.

This is where I'm supposed to show you the the drapey pile of luxurious wool, but my rotary cutter wouldn't wait, so here are the scraps to give you a sense of what little pieces of heaven would look like.

So what better way to use my $30 a yard, good-enough-for-the-queen, dry-clean-only, 100% wool suiting than on a between-seasons jacket for a 1.75-year-old who still drools, draws on herself, and rolls around on the ground for fun?  No really, here she is with her friend Alex on the playground this week:

I knew the perfect jacket - this Heidi & Finn pattern, which you can get here:

It takes a certain sense of humor to name a child's pattern "The Cocktail Swing Coat"

It came out OK from the back:

And it matches her little knit-by-Kate bunny perfectly:

The ties seem a little awkward and thick on my version, though.

I made a 3T since J has always been a bit big for her age - but she absolutely swims in this.  It's way too big for now.  I know girl, I'm disappointed too.

I have a feeling come April I'm going to shove her into this every day for a week before adding it to the bin of things that she's grown out of, but that I'm not ready to part with.

I'm not going to beat myself up over this one though.  Sometimes I think you've got to just do what the fabric tells you to do, and this was meant to be my daughter's coat.  The lining is a cotton voile called "Josephine's Bouquet" and I think it looks like Dianthus, one of my favorite early summer flowers:

So yeah, it was expensive and impractical and doesn't fit her, but sometimes September gets to me too.