Kids Clothing Week recap and why it came to a halt

It all started off wonderful. Over the weekend I put thought into the needs of the kids for back to school wear. We held an evening shopping spree right in the studio! Each child was told to go to a specific section of the stash (the shelves are organized by fabric type) and pick their favored fabrics for a t shirt, for a dress..etc.

What I ended up with was a cutting table stacked with an eclectic mix of fabrics and a chicken scratch list of what each was selected for.

An interesting mix it was of boy, girl, wovens, knits, flannel.

Monday saw something come up... Honestly I forget now but, oh yes, it was the mad dash of cleaning, organizing, touch up painting for an appraisal that made sewing take a back seat and simply not happen. Tuesday the appraisal finally did happen and that evening I got down to business.

I started off on Ben's list. My 5 year old dynamo is heading off to kindergarten and was in need of school worthy gear. I figured to start with the basics... Undies that he will wear. I have spent the past several months working with him to wear this basic piece of clothing and explaining societal expectations in regards to going commando.... On the kids set that is ;) Bonnie's  Fishsticks Designs Undercover Boxer Briefs pattern is my go to for him. He picked the prints, I the coordinating solids and we were finally off to the races for Kids Clothing Week sewing!

8 pairs of boxers were made. The first ones off the serger went onto his tush as soon as they were done. A quick iPhone pic in the basement studio was taken and we were off again. 

Next up were some matching tanks. Great as a summer top, summer pj top or winter undershirt. I recalled seeing there was a free tutorial on the Fishsticks Designs blog so I headed there and printed off the PDF. I had to upsize the pattern but that was easy and an hour later he had three new tank tops to match the boxer patterns.

Wednesday saw menial chores, some running around to take kids to and from day camps and then finally some sewing in the evening. This time a Fishsticks Charlie Hoodie. I love how this one came out! The pattern is uber simple and turns out great results! The pattern is dual purpose as a regular T or the hoodie. BONUS!! It is also on sale right now and Bonnie is hosting a sew a long as well!!

Thursday after morning camp drop off for the oldest I decided to squeeze in another Charlie Hoodie since it was obviously going to be well loved before Ben went to his afternoon camp session.

I am not sure which one I like more!!

A short time after this photo was taken I was shaken to my very core. I sent Ben upstairs ahead of me as I folded the shirts up and I stopped along the way to go to the washroom. In that short of time the unthinkable happened.

I heard screams...guttural screams that I will never forget. I bounded up the stairs to see my boy doubled over lunging towards we with utter fear and horror in his eyes. I was trying to process what was happening and thought he had a knife or something in his belly. I grabbed him, laying him on the floor to quickly assess and saw no blood. Then I saw he was wet and red. All he had on was his undies as he had left the hoodie downstairs, and it suddenly all came together... Is it hot Ben? YES HELP ME MOMMY PLEASE HELP ME. 

Just typing this I am shaking, with tears streaming down my face. I have never, nor do I ever want to again, her such desperation in my child. I got him up to the shower and he began to calm down until he was at the shivering point. I had to make a decision to take him to the hospital or not and told him I had to turn him to look at him and in a glance that decision was made when I saw skin sloughing off of him. 

I wrapped him in a clean towel and out to the vehicle to go to the hospital. I knew we would be in the trauma room before the ambulance ever left the station. His screams and pleading grew rapidly as he no longer had the cooling of the shower.

We arrived and he was immediately on a stretcher and being tended to. They got him pain medications as fast as they could even if at the time it seemed an eternity. I had to call my hubby at work to come to the ER...he called as he was running to the truck and all I could get out is Ben was burned...Ben was screaming, writhing, and begging with his eyes in ways I had never seen nor heard.and hung up on the poor man leaving him to his fears for a 60 km drive.

Cooling, medication and support was all that could be done at first. The codeine did not have much effect on him so he was given morphine as well. The same dose my at the time teen son received and was snowed for a good 8 hours. This little mini boy however did not bat an eyelash. It did however eventually give him some relief and allow him to calm down a little.

Once the medications took effect, they began assessing him and dressing his burns. His belly was open in places, and was developing large blisters above the pubis. First degree burns from the navel down to the groin/hips. Second degree the size of my hand. His privates were almost entirely spared thankfully and for that alone, he did not have to be transferred to Children's 800 km away.

Both his legs had burns from upper thigh to below his knees. Again a mixture of first and second degree. He was able to be sent home a few hours later with instructions to return if we had any issues managing his pain and to be back first thing for reassessment and burn dressing changes.

It was almost like the feeling of bringing a new baby home... The relief and fear all rolled into one. What am I to do with this delicate creature?

You love on them of course and tend to their every whim and tell them a million times over that you are so glad they are going to be ok with hardly taking your eyes off of them.

It was not until I was home again that I was able to piece together what had happened fully. He had been on a hot chocolate kick that day. There was a small amount of water left in the kettle so it took literally seconds to boil. He had poured it in a kids thermos. I guess it was quite full so rather than grabbing it with his hands he decided to be "safe" and use my canning jar tongs to lift it. It spilled all over the front of him. This all happened in under two minutes. The time it took me to relieve myself.

His undies  that had been made a day earlier likely saved his privates as they were two layers of thick interlock and absorbed most of the boiling fluid so it did not directly contact his skin. As a result he had very minor burns on his penis and as I said that kept him from being transferred to Children's.

He slept right there in that chair the first night, well it was almost midnight when he finally slept even with all of that medication as well as scheduled Tylenol and Advil, with ice packs. Up at 3 and 4 then for good at 6.

I started looking at what to dress him in. Waistbands were out, dressings had to be considered, heat entrapment needed to be considered as well as protection from sun of all his delicate skin.

With some help from a great bunch of ladies in a Facebook group I am part of I was able to locate a pattern that would meet his needs and fit him too! 

The Cottage Mama (Lindsay) has the Run Around Romper pattern that goes up to a six. While hers utilizes wovens and is fully lined,  I knew I wanted to use knits and would have to have something lighter. With a few alterations I was able to make Ben a romper that covered everything, was easy for him and most importantly comfortable and gave him modesty. Let's face it, commando under one of daddy's t shirts as a dress was not cutting it for a boy his age.

These are his uniform and we have made a few so far trying out some different variations such as a ribbed neckline. After the burns are healed, they can be "hang out clothes" or even jammies.

He IS getting better. He is pretty mobile now, and is actually now able to walk and we have ditched the wheel chair.

It is amazing to see the progression of healing each day. Most of the bandages are getting smaller with the exception of his right leg. It turned out to be the worst and I admit I was surprised when I saw it the second day. But today almost a week later, we were told we can do dressing changes at home now rather than the hospital every day. This is where being a retired paramedic comes in handy! We will see the doc every few days. 

So, Kids Clothes Week Sewing happened, but not anything like I had planned. Poor Izzy was not gotten to. Ben got over half of what was on his list, but of course can wear none if it until he is healed again.

I ended up not "entering" any of my pieces as I had not gotten good shots of them and my model is now out of commission. But I participated...as best I could... And it really was a pleasure to sew for my child. Final count is 8 boxer briefs, 3 tank tops, 2 hoodies, 3 rompers. Hopefully the fall edition will go much better. 

There will be more sewing over the next couple weeks. He needs to be inside, not getting dirty, can not get wet, and needs to stay out of the sun all during a HOT summer! So... Sounds like the basement studio is the place to be! 

Watch our Facebook page for updates as we go along! I will do another post once I work through more of the goal list... 

Thank you to everyone who sent a thoughtful message, shared ideas, and just generally gave a little love and support. You are all loved back.