Dear Niecelet

I'm sorry, but your birthday present will be late this year.

I am on idea number three for your birthday.  Idea number one was a book on animal searching that Liam likes, in fact, he likes it so much that he found the extra copy I had set aside for you and somehow managed to tear pages in both copies.  (That searching is hard work, and they're not big tears, just little ones, but still.)  Idea number two had to do with science and the outdoors, I was thinking of a little house for bugs, a magnifying glass, an explorer hat. . .but that started to feel too much like it might be an assignment for your mother, who does not need extra assignments.  So, idea number three will be, I think, the winner, but it will be late.

You see, this is the prototype.  This suffers from all the faults in my sewing.  Somehow I didn't completely read the directions all the way through the first time, so it has taken two trips to the sewing store to get this far.  Somehow I didn't just settle down and work through the measurements completely either, so it is, I think, not full enough and the edges are uneven.  Darn that 54" tulle.  I'm always eager to get going, and I get impatient with laying out and cutting, which is really where all the action is on this.  The ribbon is too short.  None of this is the fault of the instructions (from here, my favorite sewing book for children), which are totally clear and easy to follow -- lovely really, if you only read them.

I have learned that tulle must be a shade darker on the bolt than what you want in your garment.   And that pink and purple are just grand to have as favorite colors but they probably should not be combined in one tutu.  Another trip to the store tomorrow and I think we'll be done and have two in the mail for you soon.  I hope your ballerina / pirate party goes great this weekend, and that you don't outgrow ballet in the next week.  Once finished, I am going to really try to get your present in the mail right away instead of driving around with it in my car for a week and a half, like I did with you Auntie Chris' extra clothes and stuff.  (I promise Chris -- they are on the way now!)

Enjoy year four small one -- we hope to see you soon.