Made by Amanda

Why Kids Crack Me Up

2009-06-13T10:33:00.001-05:00

Brandon yawns.

Amanda(to Miss M): Look, Daddy needs a nap.

Miss M. says solemnly: Daddy needs a nap?

Amanda: No, that was a joke. Do you know what a joke is?

Miss M.: Yes. (she points) Daddy.

The whole Daddy/Mommy thing was a source of some inner debate for us. I introduced myself to Miss M. as Amanda, and my husband as Brandon, but she started referring to him as Daddy by day two, and after a week or so, decided that I was Mommy. I think it made her feel better to have a Mommy and Daddy, as opposed to a Daddy and some lady that lived in the house and bossed her around. As for Little D., any grownup lady is Mama if he has boo-boo that needs kissed. I think in general (and other foster parents have told me) that kids this age see "Mommy" and "Daddy" more as job titles than as descriptive of a relationship.

So my sewing has been confined to short bursts during nap times or when Brandon can watch the kids for a few minutes, and I've been doing a lot of kid sewing, mostly things I've done before as gifts for baby showers: the patchwork ball, the baby bib.

I also made a bucket hat for Miss M. to wear outside. I had bought a couple, but the one intended for Little D. was too small for him, so he wears the one intended for Miss M., which was too small for her.
While I was in a hat-making mood, I made one for my nephew, complete with chin straps, though I have no idea if it fit right or not, since he ripped it off of his head the second we put it on him. I didn't get a pic of that one before it left home. It was pretty plain, just the blue fabric of the bib with an orange lining (that orange is an awful polyester fabric someone gave me that somewhat resembles an outdoor upholstery fabric, but lighter and not waterproof, and I thought I would never find a use for it)

The hat pattern was free from McCall's. I think I had to sign up for their e-mail list to get access to the free projects.

My review of the pattern is this: it's super easy and quick. Great for a quick gift or in the middle of summer when anyone going out really needs a hat and you don't have any that fit.

Changes I made: It is a lot quicker if you pin the crown lining in place with the seam allowance turned up and then topstitch it from the other side instead of slipstitching by hand. I did not interface the crown and top of the hat as instructed, only the brim, and it worked fine. I think interfacing the whole thing would make for a very stiff hat.

My one complaint: The picture shows the chin strap coming right up below the little boy's chin, and it is way, way longer than that. You'd have to cut off six or more inches of the strap as given to get it that length.

Getting Caught Up

2009-06-10T11:33:00.004-05:00

I finished this quilt and gave it to my mom a week ago, but since two foster children arrived the day after our birthday, I haven't blogged about it, or anything else. I love the way it turned out, though. The quilting took longer than expected, though. After trying to use the quilting bar on my machine, and then using a white marking pencil, I found the best way to mark the lines for this design was masking tape.

Whew, life in our household has changed a lot. There is a little girl, three, and her little brother, 20 months. I haven't been so concerned with "going potty" since I was toilet trained myself (and I don't remember that).

They are really sweet and well-behaved children, though. Most of the issues we are having are normal toddler/preschooler things, and things that are only to be expected when you have two little kids learning a new set of house rules and boundries.

I have only manged to get sewing done during nap times, and it's been all kid stuff - another stuffed ball and two bucket hats (one for my nephew, and one for the little girl). I will post them later.

Works in Progress

2009-05-11T11:01:00.005-05:00

My car fabric shirtdress is still unfinished. I was going to finish it to wear to my brother's graduation from college this weekend, but came to a grinding halt when it came to putting the facing onto the front. Such a grinding halt that for a little while, I thought I wouldn't be able to finish the dress. But now I think that if I hand-sew the facing to the dress front, it may work. I hate to hand sew. But it's that or chuck the whole thing in the trash. Okay, I would salvage the skirt part to make a skirt, and use the rest for quilts. But I don't have the heart to mess with it right now, so I'll wait a couple of days before attempting the hand-sewing.

The other thing I'm working on is a quilt for my mom, for a Mother's Day/birthday present. Obviously, I missed the boat for having it ready for Mother's Day, but I should have it finished easily by her birthday, which is a couple of weeks away. The top is done, all I have to do is quilt it. I followed the tutorial here to make this quilt, and it worked wonderfully. It is about 45" by 45", but the great thing about the tutorial is that it gives a chart to figure out the measurements for any size of star.

I liked this quilt because it used all scraps, long skinny "string" scraps that were mostly hard to use anyway. I gathered up all my string scraps in a basket, gleefully anticipating how depleted it would be after I was done.I was a little disappointed, but it proves my theory that scraps multiply when left in mixed company in the dark.

I like using scraps, but it seems like I never run out, I just end up with a larger and larger supply of smaller and smaller pieces. Some of these, I would definitely like to run out of, so I can buy more fabric that I like better.

Sampler Blocks

2009-04-29T11:27:00.005-05:00

Here are a few more blocks I've finished lately. I am just learning to do set-in seams, which are used a lot in the block with the orange and black (The name of the block is Her Sparkling Jewels, and I found it in 500 Full Size Patchwork Patterns by Maggie Malone, which I borrowed from the library). The miniature cake plate block (an adaptation of a block I found in a book that belongs to my mother-in-law) and the "Amish" Trip Around the World block are nearly miniature quilts in and of themselves. I am surprised to find I like doing blocks with lots of little details, but they sure do take a long time. :) The other block with the curves is four 6" snake trail blocks. I found that pattern in a book I own, Encyclopedia of Classic Quilt Patterns. I have in mind to make a slight variation on that in different colors, eventually.
This is Brandon's block. not that he made it, it's just one that represents him, since he likes to play guitar, and as a farmer, he likes the colors green and brown (the colors of growing things). It is an Ohio Star.

Finally, some pictures

2009-04-27T21:47:00.004-05:00

I would flaggelate myself for how I haven't posted in a month, but really, this blog is an entirely optional part of my life. If I have to make myself post, it isn't fun anymore and there's really no point to it.Long ago, when my sewing machine was on it's trip around the world, I started some bibs for Brandon's cousin Holly, who was expecting a baby. I figured I could do the handwork while my sewing machine was in the shop, and finish them on the machine when it came back. So I hand-appliqued the little Sunbonnet Sue and embroidered the elephant (cutest. elephant. ever.), and lost them somewhere in my sewing shack. If you have seen my sewing shack, you know how that could happen.

When the baby was born, I realized I really needed to finish the bibs, so I turned the sewing shack upside down until I found them. I backed them with polar fleece, and lo, there was cuteness.

We finally got to see the baby a couple of weeks ago, and she is so adorable, with her little scrunched up face and crazy hair.

I've been working on some other stuff, too, some cool blocks for my quilt and a small quilt for my mom, but the pictures are in the camera, and there are no charged AA batteries in this house, so that will have to wait for another day.

Unfortunately Amanda

2009-04-24T11:31:00.002-05:00

I found a funny meme - you google your name after the word "unfortunately" and see what comes up. Here's (some of) what I found:

Unfortunately, Amanda is not Elizabeth and it all goes horribly wrong.

Unfortunately, Amanda's wild ways are just too much for the Headmistress

Unfortunately Amanda's life isn't as glamorous as it used to be.

Unfortunately, Amanda walks in during this tender moment and comes to the wrong conclusion.

Unfortunately, Amanda catches them and storms out. (It seems Amanda is a common name in soap-opera type plots)

Unfortunately, Amanda's brain doesn't always behave like she would want to behave (I second that!)

Unfortunately Amanda's book is not available in France yet

Mad Hatter

2009-03-28T18:19:00.002-05:00

I have been wanting to make a hat for awhile. There aren't many patterns online, but after perusing what there was (I downloaded the Wild Things software from Wild Ginger, but decided that none of the hats I could find made from it online looked like what I wanted at all, so I uninstalled it) I chose this one from Curiously Crafty.

It was quite simple and went quickly, but it's HUGE on me. It fits Brandon well, since his head is very large, but it doesn't fit me. The only way it even halfway fits is if I pile all my hair up under it, as in the picture. So I don't foresee using this hat often. I thought about shrinking the pattern and trying again, but I'm not sure the style is really for me, after all. It looked so cute on the girl on the tutorial page!

Sampler Quilt Block # 8 (I think)

2009-03-27T20:30:00.003-05:00

Today I finished this Dresden Plate block, and I think it turned out well. Of course, the ones that don't turn out well, I don't post on the internet. Like the one that resulted from an exercise out of a scrap quilting book that involved pulling random scraps out of your scrap bag without looking and making a block out of them. I'll put it on the foot end of the quilt, where it will be between the mattress and the sleigh-style footboard, and no one will see it.

This particular Dresden Plate came out of the Georgia Bonesteel book. I believe it also could be called a Wagon Wheel.

I turned the seam allowances under and topstitched the plate to the backing, instead of doing hand applique or using a machine zig-zag. I don't like the look of zig-zag appliques so much, and I don't like hand work, so the topstitching seemed like a good idea. I've never seen it listed as an applique technique, but surely I'm not the only one who has thought of this.

I thought I'd add a link here to a site that's been useful to me in my quilt designing:
Free Printable Graph Paper generator. Choose your paper size and block size, line thickness, etc.

Quilting Again

2009-03-25T18:20:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Sherry and I went to the quilt shop in Clovis for a quilt-as-you-go class. We quilted a lot, but never got to the as-you-go part. Just too much to cram in one day. We'll have to go back later and learn how to put the sections together. This is what I've got done on the first half.

Also I bought a "new" (second-hand) sewing machine, sort of. Sherry and I went halves on it, so it will be a spare for both of us. It is a cute little 3/4 size Kenmore. I've been messing with it today, and it works great. I think whoever had it didn't use it much.

To test it out, I made this potholder, for a potholder swap I'm part of. The block I used is "yankee puzzle" with two different darks to emphasize the pinwheels.

Sisterhood Award

2009-03-16T18:09:00.004-05:00

Elle at SewDucky gave me this Sisterhood Award. I am very flattered, and now I am going to pass it on. The rules say to 10 people, but as usual, I am not going to actually pass it on to that many, because it would tax my little brain too much. If I give you the award, and you choose to participate, here are the rules to pass it on:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received your award

So here we go, in no particular order:

1. Holly at Surviving the Metroplex, because I admire the ease with which she discusses spiritual things and the wonderful trust she has in God, even through the difficulties in her life.

2. Rachel at Being the Change, because she works so hard for the things she believes in.

3, 4, and 5. DJ at Musings , Robin at Robin @ 40, and Solard at green Solard because they are my writing peeps who keep my muse fired up.

Yup, five is about my limit here. And if I have nominated you for this award and you don't feel like trying to think of ten, or even five people to pass it on to, don't sweat it.

5 minute Chocolate Cake

2009-03-12T10:39:00.003-05:00

I am still not sewing on my dress any. I have got all of a sudden motivated and am working a lot on my novel and my writing in general. Usually it's easier to be inspired to sew than to write, so this is fine with me.

The other evening I was very adventurous and tried two new things. One, Brandon and I were in the grocery store and saw that they had goat meat (chevon if you want to sound more refined) for sale, so we got a sirloin chop, and I cooked it. We've been thinking that we might get one of this year's kids butchered, so it was a good chance to make sure we actually like goat.

It doesn't taste like beef, that's for sure. Has more of a smokey taste (and the piece we got was pretty tough). I don't know that I'd like it every day, but I wouldn't mind trying out a lot of new recipes I found for goat.

Then I made the five minute chocolate cake, which I got from an e-mail that someone forwarded to my mom. I don't generally consider e-mail forwards to be reliable sources of information, so I had put off trying this recipe, even though the idea of chocolate cake in five minutes is an intriguing one.

The thing is, you make it in the microwave in a mug, and it is one or two servings (I cut it up and the picture shows the top half). I was afraid it was someone's idea of a joke to make chocoholics everywhere try this and then have it explode in the microwave or something, but it does work. I've had better cake, sure, but not in five minutes, with only one dirty dish.

So here's the recipe. I'm sure someone worked very hard to perfect this.

4 tablespoons cake flour (not self-rising) That would be 1/4 cup, for the lazy.
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
small splash vanilla extract
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
1 coffee mug

Add first three ingredients to mug and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and mix again. I did not use chocolate chips, but next time I will. I think it would be good.

Put in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. My microwave is something like 1100 watts, so I think 3 minutes was a little too much. The middle was hard.

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed. I used a tall mug for just this reason. Mine didn't rise over the top.

Allow to cool a little and tip out onto a plate if desired. It sticks to the mug a bit. Although it would add one more dirty dish, I think it might help to mix all ingredients in a bowl and pour them into a greased mug. I plan on trying it that way.

2009-03-05T10:47:00.004-06:00

I have had a cold the past few days, which I caught from Brandon (just about the time I thought I was going to squeak by without catching it) and he caught from my nephew, who we now affectionately refer to as "The Little Petri Dish". We're always catching something from him.

But in between bouts of feeling rotten, I had bouts of feeling okay, during which I did stuff. I haven't worked on my dress any, but I finished this tote bag.It's the first "Moon Over the Mountain" square I did, and didn't post about. Yes, I posted one here, and it will go in my quilt, but this was the semi-failed one. It looks okay now (due to quilting it down and using cotton batting when then shrunk for the wrinkly effect), but what you can't tell is that it didn't lay flat, and I had to do some creative ironing and stitching to get it do look even passable. Because see, I cut out the pieces and then got sidetracked with some other scraps, which needed pre-washed. I grabbed those scraps up in a pile and put them in the washer, and started it, before going back to my moon-mountain square. Then I noticed some pieces were missing. I searched everywhere, and found them in the washer, which stretched the bias edges and made it not lay flat, etc.

I'm sure there's a lesson here, but I'm not sure what it is. It's not "Don't bother prewashing", because those flannel scraps needed it, for sure.

I do like the tote bag, though. It's just the right size for carrying a notebook and other assorted things to my writer's group meeting, which is it's purpose from now on.

Doing the happy dance!

2009-03-02T21:20:00.004-06:00

I have been waiting in suspense for the last two months or so to receive this in the mail:

Why is that you may ask? Because I have an article in it! I have been published, and not just in some 'zine that was photocopied at Kinko's, but an actual glossy mag, for which I will receive actual money (the sum of which will remain undisclosed, as it doesn't sound nearly so impressive then). It also means a lot to me that this is a magazine that I subscribe to and read.

I didn't chose or take the picture, but believe me, it's perfect.

I've been published before, but always in webzines or very small press magazines that I had never heard of until I decided to submit to them, and they never paid over $5.

Work in Progres and Fabric Shopping

2009-02-24T14:32:00.006-06:00

I am not going to actually show you the partially completed bodice of the dress I'm working on, but I will show you the pattern and fabric I'm using.

It's a high-quality quilting cotton that spoke to me in the fabric store and said "Make me into a shirtdress". And who am I to argue with the talking fabric in my head? While I am excited about the finished dress, I am not so excited about the actual things I have to do to finish it, like setting in sleeves, so it is progressing slowly.

I considered several vintage shirtdress patterns before choosing a current one from McCall's, not only because it was on sale, but also because the ones I've seen on Pattern Review look a lot better than the one in the envelope illustration. Also, the vintage pattern I most favored would have required some modifications and a muslin, and I was just too lazy for that, though considering the cost of this fabric, I should have probably done one anyway. I am making view E, with the 3/4 sleeves.

Today I stopped (made my husband stop, actually) at Alco in Muleshoe. We hardly ever go to Muleshoe, and so I always stop in to see if their tiny fabric department has anything interesting. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't; if they do, it's a whole 'nother headache to get someone to actually come and cut your fabric. But this time I was in luck. They had some nice quality cottons on sale for 50 cents a yard. Luckily I only had about $3.00 (most of it in change) or no telling what I would have come out with.

I have been trying to sew more from my stash, and thus reduce it, but if I keep running across stuff like this, it isn't going to happen.

My Secret Revealed

2009-02-20T15:38:00.006-06:00

I found this thing online called the Gender Genie that purports to be able to tell by the words used in a piece of writing what gender the author is. I entered in a piece of my novel and then a piece of my blog (the entry about the tie). Both times the Genie read me as male, which I find interesting. It bases its assessment on words that you wouldn't think would be gender indicators, such as should, we, with, not (female) and the, below, at, and it (male).

I'm going to be cutting and pasting random things in there for the ten minutes or so, trying to figure out if it's just a bunch of hooey or if I really have a "masculine" style.

I have no pictures today. I'm working on a dress, but Brandon took the digital camera with him in the truck.

*** AN UPDATE ***

After fiddling with the Gender Genie awhile, I think it more or less consistently identifies certain blog authors as male or female, but it has very little do do with the actual gender of the author. Some females are consistently predicted as male, and some male authors are consistently predicted as female, and a slight majority of people's gender is predicted correctly and consistently.

It's a Tie!

2009-02-17T13:08:00.004-06:00

I was in a very nice quilt shop in Amarillo and I came across a great acoustic guitar fabric. Since Brandon plays bluegrass guitar, I knew it would be perfect for him, so I bought a fat quarter, thinking I would make him...something. He saw it, and loved it, and immediately said he wanted a tie. Being as it was only a fat quarter, and ties are cut on the bias, there was no way that was going to happen, so I had him take me back and I bought a whole yard (Of which I still have quite a large amount left over. Bias cut things are so wasteful to lay out.). I am glad that I did it, though, because it looks a lot better on the bias than it would have straight up and down, much more like a real tie.

So the day before Valentines I was messing around with an old tie I had taken apart, using it as a pattern. The construction is not as simple as I had assumed, and I still didn't get the mitering at the tips right, but it doesn't show, so I say, it doesn't matter.

On Valentines Day I was at the card store, getting a card (their stock was severely depleted) and it was just me and two men searching frantically for the right card. Which goes to show that (a) I am not good at planning ahead and (b) the stereotype really is true about men always buying Valentines gifts at the last minute.

A Scientific Experiment

2009-02-13T19:54:00.005-06:00

I have always prewashed my fabric for quilting, because I learned to sew clothing first, and you always prewash the fabric for clothing to avoid any unwanted surprises the first time you wash a garment, like the sleeves shrinking up and exposing your wrist bones, or the rear becoming suddenly too tight.

Some quilting books say to prewash, some say to pretest (make sure the different fabrics shrink at the same rate and don't bleed), and some say it isn't necessary at all. So I've been sticking with what I know and prewashing all my fabric as soon as I bring it home.

Recently I was saying something about the difficulty of keeping pre-washed and non-prewashed scraps straight (when some are given by people who do not prewash) and our preacher's wife, who knows a lot about quilting, told me it really wasn't necessary. That mixing the two wouldn't matter. Even though she knows a lot about quilting, I was wary of trusting that advice to the extent of a whole quilt, so I made little miniature test quilts that mixed prewashed and non-prewashed scraps, and washed them on warm then machine dried them. The one on the left is before, the one on the right is after.

It really doesn't seem to make much difference, with quilting cottons. Mixing flannels that aren't prewashed with cottons (prewashed or not) would be a whole different story, I think, as flannel can shrink a lot the first time you wash it.

Also today I made another "Moon Over the Mountain" quilt block, although I prefer to call this one "Hippy sun". I used my little tie-dye swatch to make the sun, and then for the sky I traced the template onto tissue paper and used it as a foundation for the string piecing, then tore the paper off. It's similar to an example from Georgia Bonesteel's book, but a lot brighter colors (and wider "strings").

Today's Breakfast Special: White Chocolate and Apricot Scones

2009-02-10T12:12:00.006-06:00

I don't know if it looks like much in the photo, but these scones that we had for breakfast were delicious. They are very bad for you (stick margarine, heavy cream, and white chocolate are all pretty high fat) but the taste totally makes up for it. And I figure next time around I will tweak the recipe to make them healthier. I did go ahead and replace some of the white flour with wheat flour.

The recipe came out of the magazine that the Texas electric co-op association puts out every month. They tend to have good recipes in there, I think because they are the winners of a monthly contest. It can be found here (scroll down, they're called "Coffee Dog Apricot-White Chocolate Scones").

Because I am not running at full capacity first thing in the morning (True story: once I left the baking powder out of the biscuits. They were hard and flat, but Brandon ate them anyway. That's why I love him.) I chopped up the butter and apricots (and the cubes of almond bark, the little store in Farwell doesn't have white chocolate chips) the night before and mixed all my dry ingredients in the bowl so there would be that much less to do before I had my coffee.

The recipe says make a big ball out of the dough, flatten it slightly, and cut into eighths. These were huge, and I couldn't even finish one for breakfast, so next time I will make two balls of dough and cut them into eighths.

Yes, I know I said I didn't like white chocolate. But for some things I make an exception. Like these scones. And white chocolate-macadamia nut cookies. As long as the chunks of white "chocolate" aren't too big. I just don't want to eat a bar of the stuff.

Refashioned Skirt

2009-02-09T21:19:00.006-06:00

Months and months ago, when it was barely fall, I bought this skirt for ten cents. Sure, it was a color I hardly ever wear (if that unbleached muslin oatmeal-y color is actually considered a color) and it was a size 1x, and stained, but I thought I would dye it brown and have a nice ankle length skirt for the winter.

Then it sat in a box for a long time, and I changed my mind. First, brown seemed very boring. And then the length turned out to be a not very flattering one on me.

So today I dyed it red, and monkeyed around with length and width, and here it is:

You know, I dyed a jean jacket bright purple in junior high (I thought it was cool and wore it to shreds, but I only remember getting one compliment on it), and I remember the process being more involved and taking more time than this did. It must have been because of my age that it seemed so arduous.

While I was dyeing things, I made a little tie dye too, to use in my quilt:
It's only about 9 inches square. Since I like the way it turned out, I wish I'd done more, but it was a sort of a spur of the moment experiment.

Quick Sale Announcement

2009-02-09T09:10:00.005-06:00

Isn't this an awesome pattern? I so wish it was my size, but my wishes lack the power to change reality, so it's for sale in my Etsy shop.

I am having a Buy One, Get One Free (of equal or less value, must still pay shipping on the free pattern) sale on vintage patterns all this month. The patterns have gone from taking up space in the spare bedroom (that we are clearing out to have ready for foster children) to taking up space in my sewing shack, which doesn't have a lot of extra space.

I am posting multiple new patterns daily, so the selection will be changing throughout the month!

2009-01-30T17:39:00.005-06:00

I have been named a Kreativ Blogger by Donna at Donna's Den. I feel so special now. :)

The rules of the award are: 1. Copy the award to your site - 2. Link to the person from whom you received the award - 3. Nominate 7 other bloggers - 4. Link to those on your blog - 5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

Well, I don't follow a lot of blogs really regularly, I'm pretty sporadic about it, so I will not be giving this award to seven other bloggers. So, here are my nominations:

1. Elle at SewDucky, because I like her style (crazy fabrics and vintage patterns, yay!)

2. Lisa at Made By Lisah, because she makes pretty things and has a blog that is (partly) about books

That's all for nominations!

In other news, I made the first block for my bed quilt today. It's called Moon Over the Mountains, and I got it out of Georgia Bonesteel's Lap Quilting (Which I got off of Bookmooch, along with New Ideas for Lap Quilting.)

The curved seams were not as difficult as I had feared, and I really like the spare, graphic look of this block. There are some other fabrics I want to experiment with for this block, too.

My baby is back!

2009-01-29T11:06:00.009-06:00

I got my sewing machine back, finally. It hadn't actually been serviced, after all that time, but Brandon, my handy husband, oiled and cleaned it thoroughly for me, so it's purring like a kitten. I won't go into the whole story here; I'll just say the Sears employee that we dropped the machine off with did not inspire confidence, and most of the foreboding that I felt was justified. Except it didn't get dropped in the highway somewhere between Clovis and Albuquerque and come back to me a mangled wreck, which was my worst-case scenario.

The Sunday before I got it back I borrowed my mother-in-law's machine again (A vintage Pfaff, and wow, you can tell it is well-made. So nice to run.) and doodled around with some batik swatch bits I had and made a cake stand block.

For some reason lately I have been obsessed with this block, sketching different ideas and such, just waiting to get my machine back. It is strange, because the first cake stand quilt I saw in a quilting book scared me. It was in ugly colors, for one, and those strange spiky things on top don't look like any cake I want to eat. But now I like it.

After I made the batik cake stand (or cake plate) block, I was on the internet looking up some other quilt thing, and found the same block but named Cactus Pot. Now that explains the spiky things. Here is my most literal rendition of a Cactus Pot.

I have been planning to make myself a queen size bed quilt, and mentally auditioning different patterns. I've decided now: I will do a sampler. Just all different kinds of blocks, out of scraps, whatever blocks catch my fancy. Some of the blocks that I've made in the past and never found a use for will find a home in this quilt. I'll just do blocks in between my other projects. I'll get to try all kinds of new techniques out.

The big thing that I decided I had to do when I got my machine back was bedroom curtains. I purchased five yards of home dec. fabric about a year ago for this, but I hate sewing curtains (such an expanse of fabric to keep straight and square, so many long, long straight seams), so I've been putting it off. Yesterday I finally buckled down and just did it, and here they are:

I love the fabric, and they turned out just like I wanted them to. Did I mention that the fabric was on sale for $2 a yard? Sometimes sewing your own really can save money.

Sewing!

2009-01-21T07:43:00.003-06:00

I sneaked off to my mother-in-law's house yesterday morning and used her sewing machine. I checked a book out form the library, Patchwork, Quilting, and Applique by Linda Steward. An older book, copyright 1987, but I recommend it for variety of techniques covered and step-by-step instructions. Anyway, it has a section on Seminole Patchwork, and I've been wanting to try it, and I have a friend who just got married, and I wanted to make her something.

Since I've been rechecking the book, and am now out of renewals, I knew I needed to get this done pretty soon.

Seminole patchwork is a lot like the common quilting technique of strip piecing, except it gets a lot more intricate and the sections are offset to get diagonal designs. It was developed by the Seminole tribes in Florida during the early part of the 20th century, and traditionally is used on clothing more than in bedding or quilts. The history is interesting, but too lengthy to go into here. See the link above.

There is a tutorial for a simple Seminole patchwork project here.

2009-01-19T20:11:00.006-06:00

Holiday backlog, sewing machine still in the shop...sigh. There are some things I'd really like to get started on, here.

When I got married, my aunt gave me a quilt made by my great-grandmother. She had saved one for each of the female cousins. My sister got a grandmother's flower garden, and I got this:I had stored it in a chest until the beginning of this month, when I figured I might as well quit being afraid of messing it up and enjoy it a little bit. I will take it off again and put it back up in a few weeks. It is pretty old, but I'm not sure exactly how old. The quilting is all by hand, and much of the piecing appears to be, as well. I love the color scheme, the egg yolk yellow and the bright red. The fabric of the top seems to have been purchased just for this quilt, but the backing looks like it might be partly of bleached feed or flour sacks.

I looked on the Internet to find out what that pattern is called. I looked and looked, but it is hard to google something you don't know the name of. I looked for round quilt blocks, starburst blocks, sunburst blocks, and just paged endlessly through online lists of quilt block templates, and got nowhere.

Then I went to the library (have I mentioned how I LOVE THE LIBRARY?!) and paged through random quilt books until I found a picture of a quilt in the same pattern. It is called a Sunflower, or Russian Sunflower. Knowing the name, I found a few examples online, and a template, which I will try someday when I learn how to do curves and set-in seams. It's a little beyond my ability right now.

Tagged: 25 Random Things

2009-01-12T09:16:00.007-06:00

I have been tagged by SewDucky for 25 Random things about me.

1. My favorite color is blue. But I also like green, red, yellow, brown, and basically all other colors, even pink. Sometimes.

2. When I was 12 or 13, I wanted to be a bush pilot (in Alaska) when I grew up.

3. When I was 14, I decided I was going to be a writer, and I sent my first short story to Analog Science Fiction. It was promptly rejected.

4. My first car was named Sparky. My second car was named Alex.

5. I have totalled three cars (one of which was Alex), plus one that was "totalled" by the insurance company, but I drove it for months afterwards (and I was rear-ended for that one). I really, really hope that that is my lifetime quota of car wrecks.

6. My resume includes approx. 2.5 months spent as a goat-herder in New Mexico.

7. Last month I finished the first draft of my first novel. No one gets to read it yet, it still needs a lot of work (And all those post-its? That's me trying to organize it.)

8. I've started at least four other "novels" since I turned 18, which were never finished. I can't even remember my lifetime count of novel attempts. I always wanted to write books. Well, since I learned to read, anyway.

9. Actually, in first grade, I didn't care for reading at all.

10. Then I got good at it, and read books while walking to school, during class, and pretty much any other time I could manage it. My parents would try to ground me from books. Word to the wise: it's easy to ground kids from TV, but books are much smaller, quieter, and easier to hide.

11. I love dark chocolate, but have never cared for white chocolate (I don't even think it is really chocolate.)

12. I love animated movies. My favorite is probably Lilo and Stitch, but I also like Mulan a lot. And Ice Age. That squirrel is pretty funny.

13. It's a good thing I've got spell check, because I had no idea how to spell squirrel.

14. I have at least seven UFO (unfinished objects) laying around my sewing room, and one on my knitting needles. One of them, at least, will never make it to the status of finished object, but I can't make myself throw it away.

15. My favorite food is a good hamburger, OR breaded fried shrimp, if it's done right.

16. My nickname the second year of college was Pixiestick.

17. In the Peace Corps, several of my friends occasionally referred to me as the Carne Queen, because I was always on the lookout for a good burger or a good steak (both rare in Ecuador).

18. I love bacon.

19. Milk and eggs, however, top the list of "Perfectly Good, Nutritious Foods that Amanda Doesn't Like".

20. Clubs/Organizations I have belonged to: (in elementary, junior high, & high school) 4-H, FFA (Future Farmers of America), National Honor Society; (In college) Renaissance Club, Table Gaming Club; (Currently) Panhandle Professional Writers, Pens and Pages Writer's Guild

21. For a short time right before I got married, I was certified as an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician).

22. I was voted "Most Bashful" two years running in High School.

23. I only take my watch off for showers, and yet somehow, I still tend to be late.

24. Approximately six months before I met my husband, I actually said the words "I will never marry a farmer".

25. I volunteer at a food pantry/clothing closet (Bread of Life Ministries) and it's one of the most rewarding things I've done.

Whew! It's hard to come up with 25 things and still keep it kind of interesting. Hope nobody dozed off.

Murphy's Law: A Textbook Example

2009-01-08T08:40:00.003-06:00

Brandon and I have been trying to get everything lined up to become foster parents. It is complicated by the fact that we live in the middle of nowhere (the first place we applied to didn't do foster care outside of a 60 mile radius, which they didn't bother to tell us until AFTER we had filled out a ten page application and sent it in.) So now we are going with DFPS (also to be referred to as the State). We have PRIDE classes three hours a week for the next two months. The first class was this Tuesday. PRIDE is an acronym for Parents' Resource for Information, Development and Education.

Tuesday was also my writer's group meeting. That was at 10:00 a.m. and the PRIDE training started at 6:30. No problem.

As the meeting ended, one of the other ladies noticed that my right front tire was extremely low, and so one of the other women showed me to the tire repair place, where they were very nice and had it fixed within twenty minutes. It had three nails in it (ah, the joys of living on a dirt road). I went to the fabric store and to the grocery store, and when I came out of the grocery store, the same tire was COMPLETELY flat. Way too flat to drive on. So I called the tire shop, and on the second try (everyone was gone for lunch) got someone, who told me it would be a few minutes before they would be able to send a guy to help me.

It was only about five minutes, actually. He aired it up so I could limp on over to the shop, where in another twenty minutes it was fixed, really this time. And of course they didn't charge me for the second go-round, so that was fine.

I got home and had barely forty-five minutes to eat and get everything straightened up and put together before we had to leave for Amarillo (we were allowing some extra time for a quick trip to Joann Fabric and to eat at the Country Barn Steakhouse). Before I left, I gave a brief thought to double-checking the address and meeting time of the class, but I DIDN'T DO IT for some reason.

As we finished up supper, Brandon and I realized we didn't remember the exact address of the DFPS office, or how to get there, and so we called various relatives until we got some directions. My sister knows a social worker, and his mom has the internet, so between the two of them, we got the info we needed.

Then we got to the DFPS office and there was NO ONE THERE (except a lady who was crying and obviously in the middle of something). The class was not at that office, and we had no cell phone numbers of the class leaders, or anyone at DFPS.

Brandon said "I bet it's at Amarillo College." And that sounded vaguely familiar, so we drove over to the main campus. It was dark, at this point, and we were already half an hour late, but it is a three hour class. There wasn't much going on at the college. By wandering through buildings with concentrations of cars near them, we found an evening lab class and chorus practice, but no PRIDE. I called my sister, who found out from her friend that PRIDE training is not held in any one place - sometimes it is at the college, and sometimes at a church building or a private home. We were getting desperate, and the only option that wouldn't result in us turning around, having made the 1.5 hour drive for nothing was to call Brandon's wonderful mother again, and ask her to do us a big, big favor.

We asked her to drive 20 minutes to our house, let herself in, find our folder with the address we needed, and call us on the cell phone to let us know where we were supposed to go. She agreed! We were saved!

This is where Murphy's Law kicked in. She would have called us on the cell phone to let us know the address, but Plateau cellular network picked that time to go kablooey. I think that's the technical term.

Flashback to us in the car, waiting, and waiting. It's dark and slightly chilly. After 25 minutes, Brandon couldn't stand it anymore and called Sherry's cell phone. Immediate busy signal. He tries again, same thing. I try to text her, and my phone won't send the text, even though I have full signal.

Brandon calls my phone, just to test. Busy. I'm not using my phone. We call the house phone, hoping that Sherry is there and will pick it up. The house phone rings. For ten minutes, we repeat dial the house, before coming to the conclusion that Sherry isn't going to answer it, and she must have turned around and gone home. Hopefully after finding the file, but who knows?

So we wait another twenty minutes. Brandon calls his dad, just to see if Sherry has called. The phones will call out, luckily. After a few minutes, he calls his dad again, and Sherry is just walking in the door. She gives us the address.

One and a half hours after we were supposed to be at the class, we got there. It was at the southwest campus of Amarillo college. We banged on a door until the janitor let us in.

Christmas Presents, Round 3: More quilty things

2009-01-02T15:53:00.004-06:00

This wallhanging was made for my mother-in-law, because I wanted to make her something, and she has recently redecorated her living room with a loose theme of "old barns and houses". I learned a lot doing this, as it was the first larger-than-a-potholder freehand quilting project I've done. I also used a quilting design out of a book from the library to do the rope quilting on the borders. It turned out well, but would have been INCREDIBLY time consuming to do on anything larger.

Today, after making this wallhanging and a quilt that used a lot of flannel scraps, I checked out a book from the library that would have helped a lot. One tip - if your flannel is floppy and hard to work with because of loose weave, spray it with starch to make it easier to cut and piece. That would have helped me a lot. But at least I know now.

This next thing doesn't look like a quilt at all, but I found the instructions in a quilting book. It was another present for Connor, who as the first grandchild in my family, was spoiled entirely. It is made of twelve pentagons hand-sewn together using the English paper-piecing method. One little ball wasn't that bad, but I can tell you: I ain't gonna be doing a whole quilt that way. Unless, you know, we need to stay warm after the nuclear holocaust, when there are no sewing machines.

I got my instructions partly out of a quilting book from the library (I love the library) and when they were too vague, off of this blog. Brandon got to use his new drill to drill holes in an asprin bottle to put a bell inside. I tied the bell to the inside of the bottle with a twisty tie from a bread bag (so it would only make a "jingle, jingle" noise, instead of "thump, jingle, jingle, thump". Worked like a charm. And Connor liked it. Eight month old babies are a pretty uncritical audience, though. He was pretty thrilled with the wrapping paper, too.

Christmas Presents, Round 2: the wearables

2009-01-02T15:25:00.005-06:00

Well, I took a sort of break from blogging (went to visit my dad's side of the family in Ohio for a week) without getting around to showing the rest of my Christmas goodies.

This vest I made for my dad. I was quite pleased with both the notched collar and the welt pockets, which were both new techniques for me.

For my brother-in-law and nephew, I made matching shirts in a motocross fabric. My sister told me that Jonathan likes for them to match sometimes. The adult shirt is modeled here by the ever-patient Brandon, who is not only the model, but also the stand-in fitting dummy, for all male garments made in the house.

In other news, I am giving my sewing machine a well-deserved break and sending it to the sewing machine spa (i.e. the Sears repair center). Knowing I have nothing to sew with gives me this awful urge to sew things now.

More Christmas Projects

2008-12-20T11:55:00.003-06:00

I'm going to split the Christmas sewing I've been doing up into a couple of different posts, because it would make one REALLY long post. I haven't had time to blog lately.

I am happy to say that I am DONE with Christmas presents. I finished what I needed to make, I bought what needed bought -- they're even almost all wrapped now.

Big Christmas Project #2 was this quilt, which is for my grandmother Crum. My sister and my mom and I split up the blocks and each did 4, then I sewed the top together and quilted it. The pattern is called ribbon star, or ribbon friendship star. The blocks are huge, 15" x 15", which helped it go fast. It came out of a book called 24 Hour Quilts, by Rita Weiss, although the ribbon star block is of course older.

I actually prefer making scrap quilts, but they are more time consuming, and it would have been a lot harder to ensure a decent looking quilt, between the three of us. Plus, my grandma likes a more pastel range of colors than I do, and we wanted to put some peach in there for her. I don't have any peach, and very few pastels. The Joann Fabric in Amarillo didn't have much peach, either. Apparently it is out of fashion at the moment. There is plenty of bubblegum pink, though.

I also finished these potholders at the same time I did the quilt. The one is from scraps of the quilt and was actually a test square for the quilting.

On the use of "Inappropriate" fabrics

2008-12-15T09:01:00.009-06:00

And no, by "inappropriate fabrics" I do not mean those with risque prints of pinup girls. What I am referring to are those fabrics not listed in the "recommended fabrics" section of the envelope back. I follow the Dressaday blog, and in the last couple of months there have been several commenters objecting to her use of "inappropriate" fabric in her dresses. Now, the reason that these commenters have had reason to comment is that Erin has produced a couple of what are less than stellar dresses, which happen to use fabric *gasp* not recommended on the back of the envelope.

First, I applaud Erin for showing these dresses, which she knew hadn't turned out ideally, and in one case, asking for opinions of what to do. It takes self-confidence to put things out for public review and comment that you know are going to get some negative comments. But that has nothing to do with this post.

Every pattern envelope has a list of fabrics that someone at the pattern company recommends for making up the garment. I'm not sure who that someone is - whether it is the designer, or someone else. This list is a tool to help potential consumers of the pattern pick out a fabric that will work with the pattern and produce a garment like the one shown on the envelope illustrations. It can really be a help to beginning sewers (seamstresses, sewists? I'm never sure what term to use).

This list of recommended fabrics does not come from on high. It isn't written by someone who has tried every possible fabric/pattern combination known to man, or who is infallible and omnipotent. In other words, lightning will not strike you if you fail to follow this list of fabrics, and pick out something entirely different. Vogue patterns, especially, seem to have a particularly narrow view of what the patterns should be made up in.

There are great variations in weight and drape of fabrics within the same fabric type (denim, cotton, etc.) Figuring out which fabrics work with which design types takes experience. And experience, as they say, is something you don't get until just after you need it. In other words, you learn by doing.

I disregard the recommended fabrics on patterns quite often. In fact, that's just part of the envelope back that I pretty much skip, except to check if a pattern is for knits or not. In doing so, I have produced at least one dress that never made it out of the sewing room. It's still there, nearly three years later, in bits and pieces, partly assembled. This is partly because the pattern was written badly and unclearly, but also because I realized that the fabric choice was not going to work with the pattern, and it wasn't worth trying to decipher the instructions to finish it.

BUT at least two of my favorite dresses and skirts are made with fabrics not recommended by the pattern company, including the one shown above. It's made from a cotton flannel, though I think a wool flannel or other wool would have worked, as well. The list of recommended fabrics, if you are curious, reads "Laundered Cottons, Damask, Pique, Poplin, Seersucker, Sateen, Shantung, Soft Lightweight Linen and Linen Blends, Sueded Silks/Rayons, Jacquards, Crepe De Chine". I'm pretty sure "laundered cottons" doesn't refer to flannel, because flannel usually gets its own listing. All of the dresses shown on the pattern envelope were spring and summer type dresses.

To sum up: I think it's good to think outside the pattern envelope, and that sewing with non-recommended fabrics can produce surprising and beautiful results, but when you do it, you do take the risk of making something that won't ever see the light of day. And that's okay, because as long as you learn something from the experience that will help make your future work better, it hasn't been a total loss.

If you want to be safe, there is nothing wrong with adhering to the recommended fabrics. It will probably save you some time and money. But it can also keep you from having those learning experiences that help expand your sewing knowledge and abilities. If you ever aspire to making your own patterns (skirts can be quite simple to draft) a good knowledge of how different fabrics act in different designs can be quite handy, as there is no "recommended fabric" list for self-drafted patterns. There is also the fact that when using vintage patterns, we have fabrics now (for example, polar fleece) that were not available years ago, and thus won't show up on their lists.

Little Quilty Things

2008-12-06T10:45:00.011-06:00

I have been working at a lot of little quilty things lately, test blocks and whatnot. Some of the test blocks I have turned into potholders, and some of them will become gifts at Christmas (Except the insanely bright bird potholder. That I like so much I am keeping it.). Others I am filing away in a box labeled "quilt blocks" and maybe someday I'll find something to do with them. There are more than are shown here.

I've been finding a lot of free nifty quilt patterns online. The brown birdy came from online, as well as the house block and the crow (although it was labeled as a bluebird and shown in bright spring colors). Many of the free patterns available aren't very "google-able", however. I looked for days for an applique bird block, and stumbled across this one quite by accident.

Christmas Project #1

2008-11-26T11:43:00.007-06:00

You would think, since it is the day before Thanksgiving, my mom is coming this afternoon, and my house is still somewhat of a mess, that I would have better things to do than post a blog. You would be right, but I just finished this quilt, and want to show it off.

I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out, but I wish I had done a little more planning during its construction. I just sort of made it up as I went, making the center blocks first and proceeding outwards from the center, and it was kind of a pain to quilt because of the different sizes of blocks.

I originally started with the idea of a star theme, but then I thought airplanes would be nice, so I put some of those in, too.

I tried to use only scraps, and not purchase any more fabric for this (my stash is getting out of control) and I did manage to do that. I purchased the bias tape for the binding, but even the backing is pieced out of fabric that I had in my stash, which had already been used for other projects.

There are some wierd puckers in the quilting, but in the welter of plaid I hope they don't stand out. I really like the quilting on the center rectangle. It's the first time I've done anything other than outlining blocks by stitching in the ditch.

I keep thinking I will post pics of my sewing shack, but I haven't got the curtains done, and right now it really needs cleaned. It looks like a plaid factory explosion.

2008-10-28T17:23:00.002-05:00

I made this bib and burp cloth set for an upcoming shower - the bib is backed in the same polka dot fabric as the burp cloth. They were extremely easy to make, and took very little fabric.

Like the slippers, I also found the patterns for these free online. The bib came from Chickpea Studios, and the burp cloth is from New Conceptions.

Slippers!

2008-10-22T17:30:00.006-05:00

This morning I realized that my old slippers, which really aren't that old, since I've only had them about a year and a half, have mooshed down in the heel so much that it turns my ankles in. This is not a desirable position for my ankles. So I thought, "I need some new slippers." I wrote it on my shopping list.

If I didn't live in the country, instant gratification would mean that I dropped by a store and bought some that day. Since I only go to Clovis once a week, though, and there are no stores in Farwell besides Family Dollar that would have slippers (and I try to avoid Family Dollar for a number of reasons), instant gratification meant that I looked online for a free slipper pattern and made them myself (in my new sewing shack, more on that some other time). Finding the pattern was surprisingly difficult; I bet it took half an hour using Yahoo, and then it turned out that the pattern I chose was on Burdastyle, where I should have looked first.

The pattern calls for 2mm thick felt. I don't have any of that, so I used some felted wool (turquoise) that I had in my stash. For the sole I used three layers: one of denim for the bottom, a middle layer of batting, and a top layer of soft fuzzy yellow flannel. To give it a bit more stiffness I quilted the three layers by machine.

This was a very very easy project, except for applying the bias binding that keeps it all together. That was only difficult because of the many thick layers. I poked myself with the pins A LOT. But I am thinking of making a couple of pairs of these as Christmas gifts. It only took about an hour, and if I hadn't quilted the soles, would have taken a good bit less than that.

I must say, I am particularly pleased with the color scheme. Very cheerful, and since I'm not a morning person, I need that when I first get up. There's a lot of talk on Burdastyle about how to attain non-slip soles, but I didn't bother with that, since I won't be moving fast enough in the morning for that to be a problem. :)

All Together Now

2008-08-29T15:30:00.003-05:00

I'm forming a clone army to take over the world. Or, the finished mini-wardobe in all combinations. Take your pick, whichever makes you feel better.

Nichola skirt finished!

2008-08-29T14:46:00.007-05:00

I actually finished the skirt Wednesday, but Brandon hasn't been home while it was light enough outside to take pictures until today.

I am very pleased with the way it turned out. I should get a lot of use out of this.

I expected the skirt version of Burdastyle's Nichola pattern to go faster than the pants, since I'd already done the fly once and was more familiar with the construction of skirts than pants.

I did not count on the fact that altering the pants pattern into a skirt pattern was a little more complex than I first imagined (I'll post more completely on that soon, for those who might want to do the same type of thing), and also that I added jeans-style front pockets, which I had never made before. I got the instructions out of Vogue Sewing, my trusty first resort in such matters.

Figuring out those details of this project took up a lot of my head time. Also, I had to figure out the best layout to maximize skirt length and flare, given my very limited yardage (One 60" yard). I used a contrasting striped cotton for the underside of the pocket flaps, front pockets, and waistline facing so that I would have more khaki yardage for the skirt. This is the same fabric used for the pocket flaps and waistline facing of the Nichola pants, only on the pants it was a purely aesthetic decision.

I omitted the buttons on the waist tabs of the skirt, because when I put all those big buttons on, it was too much bling for me. I love the buttons (they've got little sunburst shapes in the center), but on the pants I had two different sizes of the same grey vintage buttons with smaller ones on the tabs, and the overall effect wasn't as overwhelming.

Twin Shirts

2008-08-26T17:45:00.006-05:00

I finished the two shirts for the mini-wardrobe. The grey one I finished Saturday afternoon, and the green one yesterday.

I like the green tee better, especially with the grey pants. The grey shirt and the grey pants together is very...monochromatic. I feel like I need an orange cardigan or a big red necklace to go with that outfit. The green knit is also a little more substantial.

This pattern is actually a pajama top pattern. I love the raglan sleeves. They're super comfortable, even for a tee shirt.

Still working on the skirt, sort of.

2008-08-23T20:04:00.005-05:00

I haven't finished the skirt from the Nichola pants pattern yet. I altered the pattern pieces of the pants to make a skirt, and cut the skirt out, and basted it together to make sure it worked, and then I laid the skirt aside and started work on the two tee shirts.

There is a method to this madness. I have black thread in the serger now from the pants, and the skirt will need white thread, but both tees would be better with black than white. Rethreading the serger and getting the tension right is a pain, so I decided to get the shirts done now, while the black thread is on there.

I thought I'd post a blog about a technique I used to make the pocket pattern for the skirt, and to help me determine how to alter the pants pattern, though. It's called making a ruboff pattern, and you can use it to copy entire garments without unpicking the seams. I haven't been that ambitious, but I have found it useful in the limited ways I've used it.

It's similar to what you did as a kid, with paper and a crayon, to make rubbings of tombstones and stuff (Don't tell me I was the only kid wandering around making rubbings of tombstones. And less morbidly, the brass plaques on buildings.) It's also similar to how Indy made a tracing of the inscription on a tomb in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusades.

For the skirt, I wanted to add jeans-style hip pockets. My favorite khaki skirt has nice deep pockets that I wanted to copy. I turned the skirt inside out and laid it flat, then pinned an old flour-sack dish towel over the pocket and rubbed it with a black crayon over the pocket seams.

Then I cut out the rubbing and traced around it and added seam allowances to make a pattern piece. That's really all there is to it, although of course copying something that doesn't lay flat, like the crotch curve of a pair of jeans, is a little more finicky.

The Nichola Pants (cue choir of angels)

2008-08-19T20:15:00.010-05:00

I worked all day on my pants, and I got them finished. The fly was the hardest part for me to figure out - not only the Burdastyle instructions, but all of them just didn't make sense to me. I checked out Sandra Betzina's Power Sewing book from the library, since everyone says her fly instructions are great, and I couldn't get it to make sense. I think it was because I wasn't already familiar with the construction of a fly. Sometimes I'm dense about things like that, though. I can read and read and read instructions, but until I actually start to follow them and am in the middle of things, they don't make sense. My mom visited yesterday and today, and going over the instructions with her also helped.

I ended up using the Burdastyle instructions to make it (referring often to the fly of the jeans I was wearing), and the fly turned out fine, but I still think the instructions could use some work. Occasionally it was obvious a word had been left out. Luckily, aside from the fly, I didn't need the instructions very badly.

This pattern was drafted for someone a lot taller than me. I took off 5" from the legs, and they are still a little long (though it depends on the shoes I wear).
I'm very happy with the look of the pants, and the fit. I orginally shaved 1/2" off of the sides all the way down, a total of 2" off of the waist and hips. I sewed them with a 5/8" seam, and tried the pants on before I put in the waistband. They were a little tight across the hips, so I went back and sewed the hips with a 3/8" seam, tapering back to 5/8" at the waist. It worked great. I'm glad I took a lot of time to try them on during construction (6 or 7 times, at least).

I am very pleased with how these turned out. I want to make another pair sometime, in a dark denim, with front, jeans-style pockets added. And maybe without buttons on the waistband tabs.

I love the buttons, but I have a secret: they're all faux button fastenings. There isn't one buttonhole on there. Normally I am a function over form person, and I don't care for faux garment details like faux welt pockets that don't open. But in this case, I thought the buttons were better in a purely decorative capacity.

Buttons at the waist often pull a lot and the buttonhole gaps and looks unattractive, so I put a flat hook and eye fastener under there, and Velcro fastenings on the pockets. I have some pants with buttoned flaps on the pockets, and it is annoying when I want to get things in and out of them. There's no earthly reason I would want to button and unbutton the belt loop tabs, and I don't think the instructions even call for a buttonhole on them.

Now that I have a handle on how the fly works, I am ready to start adapting this pattern into a skirt. Tomorrow I hope to start that.

2008-08-15T19:36:00.002-05:00

Most people who know Brandon would vote this the least likely vintage pattern that he would want made for him. I was totally joking when I asked him if he wanted me to make it for him. But when you look past the belts, pants tucked into boots, and the icky bare chest and chain (or turtle-neck, they're equally bad), what this is is a pair of coveralls. And he had been needing a new set of coveralls, it turned out.

So I made a few minor modifications to make it look less like an outfit from Saturday Night Fever and to make it more suitable for mechanic work: left the flaps off of the pockets, reduced the length of the collar tips and the flare of the legs, and left slits in the side seams so that my husband can reach into his pants pockets when he's wearing the coveralls. Also left the cuffs off of the sleeves, just finished them with a narrow hem.

It was a beast to make, actually. The denim was really stiff and there was lots of it, and I had quite a time getting the zipper in/front facing attached. The long straight seams and the sleeves were easy, of course. I used heavy duty thread, and was really impressed with my sewing machine, which handled the denim well.

Here is the finished product, put to use immediately:

The pattern was a size or two large, which I figured was a plus, since it doesn't look like it was originally meant to be worn over a full set of clothes. The only problem is that the torso still could use a few inches of length to allow the kind of reach that might be necessary in mechanic work. I'm foreseeing a ripped-out armpit in the future. He also wants me to retroactively put in a set of back pockets.

I worked on the pants for my mini-wardrobe today. It's going pretty good, although I had a few duh moments when reading the instructions. I think the Burdastyle instructions were translated out of another language (I think Burda is a German company) and some of the terms aren't translated exactly as I'm used to them. The back pocket pleats had me totally confused, and mine don't look like the ones on the model on the Burdastyle site. After I finished them, I looked at the instructions and their diagram made perfect sense. If I'd followed the instructions instead of trying to figure it out from the pleat arrows and lines on the pattern piece, I would have had no problem.

Sewing With a Plan. A Small Plan.

2008-08-14T14:05:00.004-05:00

I have been thinking lately that I would like to do a little SWAP-ing. I've been seeing a lot of really cool wardrobes on other people's blogs. The only thing is, I know that I would never finish such a large undertaking. But I like the idea of sewing things that go together, so that you don't end up with a skirt that matches only one or two items in your closet. I have a couple of those.

I had been idly toying around with the idea in my head for a week or so anyway, but also with the idea that really, I have way too much fabric in my stash and need to quit buying fabric. But as most of my fabric was purchased without a plan, it doesn't really go together. I'm not big on neutrals, really. When I saw that patternreview.com is running a mini-wardrobe contest, I thought, perfect. The deadline will also insure that I get to work and get the items done in a somewhat timely manner.

The rules for the contest stipulate that you sew 4 items, with a total of at least three different garment-types (In mine, pants, skirt, and tee shirt), and three different colors (In mine, grey, green, and khaki), to make a total of four separate outfits. (In my case, green shirt/grey pants, grey shirt/grey pants, green shirt/khaki skirt, grey shirt/khaki skirt.)

The two grays and the turquoise stripe are all from my stash (grey is probably my favorite neutral). I bought the khaki to make the skirt out of specially for this. Because khaki is very dull, but it does go with everything. I have a khaki skirt that is one of my most-worn skirts. I've had it for 6 or 7 years, since college, and it's starting to get stains and stuff.

I've never sewn real pants with a fly before, so this should be a learning experience. I thought about checking out Wendy Mullin's SEW U from the library and using the pants pattern out of it, but the reviews on that are less than stellar, so I went ahead and downloaded the Nichola pants from Burdastyle for free, mostly because it was more instant-gratification and I only have three weeks. About half of the pants made using that pattern have looked really good, and half look oversized and ill-fitting. Knowing the pattern runs large, I compared it to a pair of pants that fit like I want them to, and cut the pattern down a little. (about 2" off the waist, all told)

Hopefully I can get the pants to fit well. I'm very picky about pants fit. Well, if I'm buying them new, I am. If I'm taking hand-me-downs or buying cheap at a garage sale, I'm not so much, and that's why two of the pairs of pants I wear most often annoy me every time I wear them.

The shirts will go together fast.

Knit Top - It's So Easy!

2008-08-13T12:05:00.007-05:00

This is Simplicity 3548. It was the test project for the pattern, which I bought on a whim, because I'd noticed my sister had several tops of this type (with the gathered neckline) and they were really cute. It makes a prettier change from plain tee-shirts, which I have a lot of, while still being comfortable and casual.

A very quick sew. The fabric is very soft and drapey, too.

Unfortunately, $2 a yard knit fabric from Wal-Mart isn't really high quality, no matter how attractively cheap it is (When will I learn this lesson? When?), so the first time I washed it, three holes developed on the front (which was after I took the picture). So I sewed on a little fabric embroidered applique. Like so:

Garden Vegetable Tacos

2008-07-24T13:25:00.004-05:00

My vegetable garden this year is pretty sparse. I planted two rows of carrots that didn't come up, I've got one cantalope vine and two squash plants, plus about five okra plants and some potatoes (We'll see how that one turns out. I just planted some little potatoes I had that were sprouting.).

Today some of my okra and squash were ready. Here's a recipe I made up for lunch. Not only does it give you a new way to use up all those yellow squash (and probably could be done with zucchini) and add vegetables to your diet, it's frugal (using less meat than regular tacos).

Ingredients:
1 package taco seasoning mix
1/2 pound ground beef (or 1/2 the amount of beef called for on the seasoning package)
2-4 yellow squash, chopped
6-10 okra
chopped onion to taste
crispy taco shells

Toppings:
avocado, sliced or chopped
sour cream
grated cheese
tomato, etc, etc.

Brown ground beef and stir-fry vegetables until barely tender. Add water and seasoning mix according to package directions and simmer 5 to 10 minutes. Serve in crispy taco shells with sour cream, grated cheese, and avocado.

This recipe is very flexible. There are lots of vegetables that could be substituted for squash and okra. Bell peppers would be good, for one. Potatoes would work. I generally view recipes as just general guidelines, anyway.

Brandon really liked these, and I was sort of surprised, because he's not as fond of most vegetable-heavy recipes as I am.

How does my garden grow?

2008-07-23T09:25:00.003-05:00

Not very well, it turns out. It's been very dry and hot during the times it needed not to be.

But after I got back from camp, I found that some of my flowers had bloomed, and were very pretty!

The pictures don't do justice to the tiny blue flowers (anyone know what they are?), but sadly, they do justice to the rest of the flowerbed, which is basically bare dirt.

Lots of Embroidery Floss

2008-07-22T21:03:00.003-05:00

I bought a ton of embroidery floss (a multi-pack of 36 little skeins, which, it turns out, would make somewhere in the neighborhood of eleventy-billion friendship bracelets) to take to camp. We made lots of friendship bracelets (with varying degrees of success) in my cabin, but there is still a lot left over, and having all that embroidery floss is making me want to embroider things. I like embroidery, but too much of it hurts my wrists, so I only do it sporadically.

These little cuties are going to be quilt squares:

I found them on Floresita's Vintage Transfer Finds blog. There's a lot of cool stuff on there, and on the Hoop Love photo pool on Flickr.

Bad blogger

2008-07-12T22:12:00.002-05:00

I'm about to go to Black Mesa Bible Camp for a week as a camp counselor, so you won't be hearing anything out of me for a few days.

It should be fun, but hot. It's always hot.

I went to Black Mesa from the time I was nine until I graduated high school, and I love going back and seeing kids enjoying the same things I did.

I'm all prepared with supplies to make friendship bracelets in the not-unlikely event of a rainstorm that confines me to a small cabin with 15 hyper little girls for an hour or two.

In my absence...

2008-07-11T12:57:00.005-05:00

I have been a bad blogger for the past couple of weeks. But this week I actually have an excuse. I was staying with my sister, watching Connor because his regular babysitter (the one who actually gets paid for it) had the week off. "Fun" is not the word I would use to describe it, exactly, because there were a lot of dirty diapers involved, and a fair amount of screaming and crying (not me, Connor), but I really enjoyed spending so much time with him. He has such a cute button nose, such cute blue eyes, etc.

I made my sister a baby sling, but I didn't get a pic taken. It wasn't really exciting to look at, anyway, just a bunch of navy blue cloth.

Stop here if you really don't want to know anything about my husband's underwear.

The other project I've been working on is boxers for Brandon (that's a nice bit of alliteration for you). There are actual boxer patterns out there, and I thought about buying one of them, but ordering a pattern over the internet would cost me $12 or $15, and wouldn't be nearly as instant-gratification as taking apart a pair of his old ones and using them for a pattern. Well, if by "instant gratification" you mean "an hour hunched over with a seam ripper, taking notes as you go". I love ordering things over the Internet, but I hate waiting for it to get here.

It worked. I had been wanting to try making a pattern from an existing garment for awhile, anyway. And this was a project of manageable size. I actually made the pattern and the muslin before I went to watch Connor, and while he was napping this week I managed to make two pairs.

The seams are flat-felled, which doesn't take long as there are only four seams, one of which is very short. I did make a casing for the elastic instead of sewing through it, because I am just not confident that I can do that without messing something up. Brandon said he couldn't tell the difference (wearing them) from store-bought, though.

And that pair on the left? The print is of corn. Perfect for a farmer. Except he doesn't grow corn. But there aren't any prints of milo out there that I've run across. Definitely not in the sale section of Joanne fabric.

Not sewing

2008-06-30T09:37:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted anything lately because I haven't been doing any sewing since I finished the shirt dress. I wore it to the Frontiers in Writing Conference in Amarillo a couple of weeks ago, and since then I've been concentrating on my writing instead of sewing!

I found a local writer's group, which is the most exciting thing to come out of the conference. It will be so nice to be able to "talk writing" with someone again. I haven't had much of that in the last couple of years.

Brandon and I have also started putting a new roof on our house - there was a big hail storm that pretty much demolished the shingles, so we're going with a metal roof now. It's red. I'll have to repaint the shutters (the faux shutters) on the front of the house to match. Why is it that roofing and fencing always have to be done in the summer, when it is entirely too hot to be out doing things?

I did sew something yesterday. I hemmed a pair of pants, because they were about three inches too long. I used to not mind long pants, and just dragged my hems through the mud and wore them out, but now it bothers me.

Adding Side Seam Pockets to a Garment Without a Waistband

2008-06-12T09:23:00.004-05:00

I will try to explain as clearly as I can how I put the pockets into my McCall's 2016 shirt dress. I've included some quick illustrations I worked up in Paint. They are meant to be only rough approximations of the pattern shapes.

Adult pockets are pretty much one-size-fits-all. The easiest method of getting a pocket pattern piece for your pattern that does not have one is to take one from another pattern that incorporates side seam pockets. The pockets I added to one of my husband's jackets came from a woman's robe pattern. The pockets I put onto the shirt dress came from another dress.

The pattern piece should be shaped something like this :

If it looks like the piece below, with the flattened top portion, it is meant to go into a garment with a waistband. I think you could just trace it and eliminate the top flattened portion (as the blue dotted line illustrates) with no harm done.

To determine the correct placement of the pockets in my dress, I guestimated a little. I measured from the approximate point the underarm seam was going to hit on my body to where the a pocket would be comfortable for me. Then I folded in the bust dart in on the pattern piece and measured down the same distance, making a new notch to mark the pocket placement. To make a matching notch on the back pattern piece, I measured from the notch that the pattern company put under the armscye (for matching front and back when sewing the side seam) to the new notch I'd made, and made the new notch on the back pattern piece the same distance below the existing notch on the back pattern piece.

Cut FOUR pocket pieces. Pocket pieces are sewn to dress pieces BEFORE the side/underarm seams have been sewn.

Right sides together, match the top point of the pocket pieces with the notches you made for pocket placement. Sew at the seam line (represented by blue dots). You should end up with fabric pieces that have the general shape shown in the illustration below. Press the seams flat.

When it is time to sew the side seams (which in the case of the McCall's 2016 dress is after the side seams of the raglan sleeves have been sewn), put right sides together, matching notches and seams as usual, and matching pockets pieces, and sew the side seam AROUND the pockets, illustrated by blue dots below. Backstitch for reinforcement at the top and bottom where you pivot to go around the pockets.

Turn your dress inside out and press. You have pockets!

If you have a copy of the Vogue Sewing book, it also has instructions (a little more fiddly then mine), and a pocket pattern piece drawn on a grid that can be enlarged.

Another day, another dress

2008-06-11T09:23:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday I finished another dress. It's funny, I had very little desire to sew dresses from October on until the weather started warming up, and suddenly that's all I want to sew. It's just the weather. I don't like cold legs, so I don't like to wear dresses in the winter.

For some time, I've been searching for the mythical "instant gratification dress". I want a dress pattern that is both quick and easy to make, but which is flattering. I made a couple of dresses in high school that were "2 hour dresses" (although believe me, they took me longer than that), and the reason they were so fast is that there was NO SHAPING and no details (pockets, collars, belts, etc). So they weren't very flattering, and I didn't wear them often. Unfortunately, I've decided that I probably won't find the kind of instant gratification pattern that I am looking for, because I like details and shaping, which add time to both cutting out and sewing.

Another feature of this mythical dress is that it is something not too dressy, that I would feel comfortable wearing on everyday occasions. A day dress. Now, if you've seen the last two dresses I've made this spring, neither of them is what you'd call a day dress.

Though it falls short of my lofty ideals for an instant gratification dress, this pattern comes as close as anything I've seen (it's the only pattern I've liked enough to actually try). It went pretty fast, but I still spent between five and six hours on it, including cutting out, but not including the changes I made to the pattern itself before I actually cut the pieces out.

The changes I made were: adding side seam pockets, lengthening it by 6 inches (the previous user of the pattern had cut it to the mini-length view), and changing the collar shape. I also omitted the top button and loop, so that the collar would spread out and turn to expose the facing a little.

In the end, I only spent a total of $0.59 on this dress, since the tan fabric came from Goodwill, and the contrast collar fabric was given to me, as were the vintage buttons and the belt. Okay, and maybe a quarter's worth of interfacing on the collar and facings.

Although the dress looks okay without a belt (better on me than my dress form), the belt does improve it a bit.

Indiana Jones / Patsy Cline Dress

2008-06-05T11:48:00.000-05:00

While I was making this dress, I happened to do a google search for images of dresses that Patsy Cline wore (The Internet is great, instant whim-gratification!) and noticed that when she wore dresses they were often the slim-skirted style, instead of full. So I began thinking of it as the "Patsy Cline dress". I usually prefer full skirts, and so this dress was sort of an experiment for me. I prefer the look of full skirts, but then you have to buy four or five yards at a time, and so slim skirts are definitely less expensive. This dress took just under three yards, and if I'd been more careful with the layout, might have taken less.

The night before I finished the dress, when it was all starting to come together, I had Brandon pin it up the back so I could try it on (before hemming and the zipper, before the belt was made). I nearly quit right then, because it looked sort of like a potato sack. A bright blue potato sack, but still. Brandon said something about Mormon religious compound ladies. I figured since I'd come that far, though, and I loved the fabric so much, I'd at least try to finish it.

Actually hemming it (it called for a 3" deep hem) to a more flattering length helped a lot. Putting in a zipper helped some too. What really makes the dress, though, is the belt, which I modified from another pattern (from the 1970's).

I think of it as the Indiana Jones dress because I finished it right before we went to see the new Indiana Jones movie, and I decided to wear it. I always have an awful itch to wear something the moment it is finished, and I was literally cutting the last loose threads off as we got into the car. I was a little over-dressed for a matinee, but the movie was set in the 1950's, so I was decade-appropriate.

Then I wore it Brandon's cousin's wedding, which was actually the reason I was making the dress now and not later. Weddings are a great excuse to start a new dress.

Baby Chicken Grab Bag!

2008-05-27T15:28:00.001-05:00

Three weeks ago I ordered chickens. You have to order them ahead, and then basically wait for them to hatch. Then they overnight them to you, via USPS. Today the baby chicks came! They hatched Sunday. I am simply amazed that you can mail baby chickens. One did die in transit. I don't know why.

We got an assortment, basically odds and ends of whatever they had left over after filling other orders. They're cheaper that way, and I like variety. About half will be roosters, and my mom wanted some for eating. A couple may end up in our soup pot too. We will give a few of the hens to Brandon's parents, and keep a few ourselves for eggs.

There is nothing wrong with this chicken:
It is a breed characteristic. They're called Turkens, and there were some in Ecuador, or a breed that looks very similar. I have some sort of odd attachment to them because they are so ugly (the black ones look like vultures). I was very excited that there are four in our assortment. One yellow (will grow up to be white), one red, and two black.

There are also a couple that look like they will grow up to have fluffy topknots. I think those are cool, too. One has feathers on his/her feet, which means it is a Cochin. The others, who knows. I looked at the chicken catalog again, and I can narrow it down by the baby chick pictures they show with each breed, but there are several yellow chick breeds, several black, several splotchy black and white. Only time will tell.

Past Projects #3

2008-05-22T19:40:00.000-05:00

This is probably my favorite dress that I've made myself recently (recently as in a year ago, actually). It was my going away dress for my wedding. I love it, but it takes so much fabric, and so long to cut out, and hem, that I will probably not do another one.

And an action shot:

(Yes, our "getaway vehicle" was my a truck. We drove it to where the car was parked and went on from there.)It isn't a vintage pattern (it was McCalls, darn if I remember the number), but it has a very retro look, to me. It's a wrap dress, so at least it didn't have a zipper, but the circle skirt was a big pain to hem. It wraps very far over, and even on a windy day it doesn't come unwrapped, however, so I guess all that fabric and hemming was necessary.

We're Off to See the Wizard

2008-05-09T18:01:00.001-05:00

Both of these pattern envelopes seem to have been designed by someone who'd seen The Wizard of Oz one too many times. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Busy Like a Bee

2008-05-09T14:56:00.001-05:00

I have been busy the past three days getting two things ready: one, my mom's Mother's Day present, and two, Connor's baby quilt. I am going to Texline this weekend for Mother's Day, and Sam and the baby will be there (so I am told). There is nothing like a deadline to get me motivated.

The apron pattern is a sort of heirloom; my grandmother gave it to me after finding it amongst some of her stored things. You can see in the picture that a mouse has nibbled on the priceless heirloom. When she gave it to me, my mom strongly hinted that she would really like one, too.

It turns out to be a size large, a bit too big for me, but it will fit my mom better. I did take a few inches off of the shoulder straps in the hopes that it will help the fit. My mom isn't really a large, either. And given that she is just about five foot tall, the apron will be even longer on her than on me.

The quilt is finally done. It only took so long because I procrastinate. Once I got all of the pieced squares made, I sewed the top together and quilted it in about five hours split between last night and this morning/afternoon. I learned a lot doing this one (Like, had I known about strip piecing, it would have been way, way faster to strip piece the tiny border rectangles, instead of cutting out a bazillion tiny rectangles and sewing them all together individually), and since the pink baby quilt came before this one, I was able to apply a lot of what I learned with that one. The walking foot helped a lot, that's for sure, and the corners are mitered more neatly.

I hope Connor will enjoy it for several years. I'm glad that he turned out to be a boy, since I bought most of the material intending to make a sort of unisex quilt, but the orange seems to me to make it more of a boy quilt. (Lesson learned: just go ahead and wait until you know the sex of the baby. You'll have plenty of time. Unless you procrastinate. And even then, the baby won't care if it's a little late.)

What I've been up to lately

2008-05-08T14:59:00.000-05:00

Ever since we got back from Dallas, where we went for our anniversary, I haven't been doing much sewing. Until last Friday, when my best friend from high school called and said she was going to come visit.

I had been thinking I'd like to do some plus size clothing for my Etsy store, so I took the opportunity to get her measurements and make two skirts - one to sell, and one for her. Both were fairly simple patterns that I drafted from her measurements. The brown one has a paisley design, and is the one I made for her to keep. I'm not entirely displeased with the way it turned out, but I need more practice sewing from just measurements.

The red one is made from a tablecloth and the ruffle off of a vintage curtain, both of which I picked up secondhand. It has an elastic waist, to fit a broader range of size.

What goes around comes around (if you wait long enough).

2008-04-25T14:22:00.000-05:00

I've been seeing dresses with this same general neckline style lately (round yoke and gathered bodice) on patterns from different pattern companies (the one shown is from Kwik Sew). I've thought to myself, that's neat, maybe I should get one. But I just hate paying $10 for a pattern. And then while I was in Dallas a couple of weeks ago, I found the vintage pattern below for $1 and bought it instead.

And the nice thing is, if I make the narrow skirt instead of the full one, the pattern takes less than 3 yards. I have three yards of a great blue print just waiting for this kind of opportunity. Plus, the vintage pattern has the option for little sleeves, which is nice.

2008-04-22T15:42:00.000-05:00

I planted flowers today. Not these flowers, obviously. This is the only picture I have of last years flowers. I don't know why I chose this particular angle. You could see more of it from the front. There were also flowers from my wedding planted along the end of the house, but it turned out that those flowers were not well suited to our heat and they died off pretty fast.

All in all, to survive the heat, dryness, and my gardening skills, the flowers I plant need to be pretty tough. Last year I had a lot of nursery flowers, and they mostly died. So this year I just planted seeds. The ones you see in this picture were all from a "wildflower" mix. Lots and lots of petunias.

I like to look at flowers a lot, but I'm not a terribly good gardener. Plants just don't interest me the way animals do, and I don't feel nearly so bad when they die.

Word Geek Fun

2008-04-17T10:19:00.001-05:00

My mom emailed me a link to this site which not only helps you improve your vocabulary, but also helps alleviate world hunger.

Free Rice donates 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program for every word you correctly define on their word quiz.

The cool thing (to me, because I am a geek) about this word quiz thing is that it adjusts to your vocabulary level, giving you progressively harder and more obscure words. There are a total of 55 levels, and the highest I have gotten is to 51. And that mostly because it is multiple choice, and I made some good guesses.

Some of these words are hard to work into conversation, though. I might could work in "lagniappe" (small gift) for example "I have a butterfly pocket mirror to give as a lagniappe to the first person who buys a skirt from me", but then there are words like "catoptric" which is apparently, "mirror-related". I'm having a hard time coming up with a situation in which that would be useful. "I have a catoptric langiappe for the first person who buys a skirt from me"? Or words that could be used, but you would sound pretentious - "lanuginous" instead of "downy", "apiculate" instead of "pointy". I'm guessing a lot of them are actually words that would be used in a scientific context. My spell-checker, by the way, is highlighting all of these. But some are just fun - "katzenjammer", for example, which if I remember right, means "hangover", although it sounds to me like it should mean the night that led up to the hangover.

The Idea and the Execution

2008-04-07T09:37:00.000-05:00

I haven't done much fashion drawing since I was a kid, but now that I am trying to put more clothing in my Etsy store, I am dabbling at it again. This is the first one that I've actually made up. I drafted it to my measurements, from scratch. It is very simple, but its a start, anyway. You can see there are a couple of changes I made, no contrast waistband (I had second thoughts about the attractiveness of that), and the ruffle is shorter. I was using scraps of leftover from a previous project for the ruffle and pockets and such, and just didn't have enough for the wider ruffle.

The waist facings are polka dot too, just for fun.

If you are interested, I am selling this skirt in my shop. (And if you aren't my size, I do custom work!)

Baby Pictures

2008-04-03T08:27:00.000-05:00

The proud aunt (that would be me) holding Connor for the first time.

This is the only time Connor really opened his eyes for very long while I was there. Definitely the only time I could get a picture of it.

Past Projects - Number 2

2008-04-02T09:11:00.000-05:00

This is the dress that the blue floral dress was a muslin of. I loved the fabric, which has cats on it and has great colors, but didn't want a whole dress out of it.

Changes I made from the muslin:

1. I added pockets modeled off of an apron my great-grandmother made (turns out they are too shallow to be very useful, though).

2. I lengthened the bodice by 2 inches (though 1 inch might have done fine)

3. I shortened the hem by a few inches, I can't remember how many.

4. I brought the sides of the neckline in a little, since the neckline of the muslin almost constantly revealed my bra straps (I ended up sewing little loops and buttons on the inside neckline of the muslin to keep them pulled back out of site, a trick from the Vogue Sewing book.)

2008-04-02T09:08:00.001-05:00

Saturday night, my sister had her baby. His name is Connor Lewis Henley, and he weighed 7 lbs., 2 oz.

We went up the next day to visit, and he was adorable. Maybe pics will follow soon. I have a lot, just not on my computer yet.

It's very exciting, probably exciting enough to get me to actually finish his baby quilt now!

Score!

2008-03-29T14:04:00.000-05:00

I bought a big huge box of patterns at a garage sale today. I'm super excited because there are a whole range of decades represented, from the 1940's to the 1990's. Some really awesome dress patterns, some which I will be posting pics of here and there.

But the one that has me most excited is this one, for purely personal reasons. It's not even vintage:

I'm 90% positive that this is the first dress pattern I ever made (or one from a different company but the same general style), when I was around 13. It was a 4-H project, and I made it in a very dark blue tiny floral print. I loved that dress, and wore it until I outgrew it.

It was a pretty simple beginner project (although it wasn't my first sewing project ever, I think I'd done some kulottes and a wrap skirt before) except for the cord that laced up the back, which was self-fabric and HARD to turn inside out. I think the only reason I got through it was because my mom did most of that part.

If I am ever able to dig up a picture of that dress, I will post it here.

This second pattern I originally thought was a girl's pattern, not a misses pattern, because of the model's exceptionally youthful look, but no, it would fit me. Not that I plan to make it, unless I am suddenly in need of a maternity top.

Doesn't the model in the upper left look like she needs an exorcist, stat?

Fresh Today: Baby Goats

2008-03-28T19:17:00.000-05:00

We have been expecting the goats to start kidding any day now. Two weeks ago, we were expecting them to start kidding any day. Some of them are HUGE.

Today at least the weather was sunny, though not as warm as some days have been lately. The wind was blowing pretty good, though.

The first hour or so of a baby goat's life is pretty important. They have to learn to do two basic things: stand up and eat. They don't catch on as quick as you might think. The drama unfolds about like this:

Baby goat thrashes his legs around, trying to stand up. He makes it to his knees, then decides it's too much effort, and sinks back to the ground. After a few seconds of contemplation, he tries again, gets halfway up, and falls over sideways. Immediately he tries to surge to his feet, and makes it all the way for one glorious second, at which point north knee and west knee simultaneously fly out in opposite directions and it's back to the drawing board. Another attempt has him taking one wobbly step (and onlookers cheering), and then his front end slowly slides forward, knees stiff, resembling "downward facing dog". Maybe he's given up walking and gone for yoga.

This process repeats itself for awhile. Eventually he staggers over to mama, who licks him encouragingly, maybe even nudges him towards the milk bar with her head. He starts butting at her kneecap, attempting to nurse (Food: Ur doin' it wrong). When he finally does make it back to the appropriate location, he makes an enthusiastic lunge for the udder and falls on his face again.

With two kids, it's double the fun to watch. For awhile we watched them see-saw back and forth. One would get up, and the other would fall down. When that one got up, the other one fell down. Then both managed to get up, stand there all wobbly, and simultaneously fall down again. And eating took them a long time to master. It seems like such a basic instinct, but apparently is harder than learning to walk. However, they seem to have got the hang of things, finally.

Past Projects - Number 1

2008-03-26T17:33:00.000-05:00

I thought it would be nice to show some pics of the dresses I made before I had a blog. If I can, I'm going to dig up some of the REALLY old pictures from junior high and high school (4-H and home ec. projects). But we'll see. I'm not sure some of those should be seen by the general public.
This I made maybe two years? ago, when I first started dreaming about making dresses from vintage patterns. It is a muslin, made of the cheapest, lowest quality cotton I've seen. It was fifty cents a yard. The fabric is very thin. I had to make the bodice of a double layer, and a slip is absolutely necessary. I like blue, but the pattern, a sort of batik-looking violet floral, isn't really something I'm wild about.

It was a Frankenstein of these two patterns, plus sleeves I drafted from scratch:

I feel very much like a Mennonite when I wear it, although truthfully, they would never wear something with that neckline. Mostly, this is a wear-around-the-house dress, although it makes me look somewhat overdressed. Thus the sandals. I find in the summer when it is hot, a dress or skirt is more comfortable than pants, as long as I don't feel like I need to wear uncomfortable shoes, and the skirt is full enough for free movement.

Good Things in the Mail!

2008-03-22T16:18:00.000-05:00

Look what I got in the mail today!

There is a story behind these cute patterns. See, I bought this other pattern on Ebay.

It is an unprinted pattern, probably from the forties. As you can see, it has some very unique details, and is pretty uncommon. After the auction ended, the other bidder on the pattern contacted me through E-bay and asked if she could buy it from me after I was done with it. At first I thought it was a little bit of a strange request, but it is a unique style of dress, and not something that I've seen before, and vintage patterns are hard to find in the right size.

Well, I have a lot more planned projects than I do time to make things, so I wrote her back saying it could be a long time before I was done with it, so I proposed a trade. She traded me the two patterns at the top for a tracing of the Ebay pattern. I think it worked out great, and we both got something we wanted. Sometimes the Internet is so cool.

The Marian Martin dress is next on my list of things I want to sew, after I am done with the baby quilt for my sister. It's going to take around four yards, though. Brandon's grandmother gave me 4 yards of some pretty blue floral fabric the other day, so I will probably try the pattern out in that. It will be my first unprinted pattern.

The Girl Scouts of America are evil...

2008-03-19T09:06:00.000-05:00

...and I'll tell you why. I bought some Thin Mints, and half the package is gone. After that half of the package is gone, I'm going to want more Thin Mints, but they aren't selling them again until next year.

I looked in the ingredient list, and "crack" isn't listed as an ingredient, but I'm sure that it's in there. It's a good thing they don't sell them all year round, actually, because if they did I'd be knocking over convenience stores for my next fix.

see more crazy cat pics">

Easter Dress

2008-03-18T17:07:00.000-05:00

I'm calling this my Easter dress, because hey, that's as good an excuse as any to make a dress. Although I made less for wearing to church and more for wearing around casually. I finished it last night and pressed Brandon into service as my photographer.

I got three yards of the butterfly fabric on impulse. That was all there was left. The pattern, it turned out, called for more, because the skirt is meant to be on the bias. I laid it out and had just enough to cut it on the straight grain(and absolutely no margin for error. The pockets are in red because I didn't have enough of the butterfly print for pockets.) As you can see, it didn't noticeably affect much.

The dress went together well, and I used a new zipper technique (out of Sew What! Skirts). You baste the zipper seam together and then use fabric glue to tack the zipper down to the wrong side of the fabric, centered over the seam. Then you stitch neatly (in theory at least) 1/4" on each side of the zipper seam on the right side of the fabric to fasten the zipper down, and rip out the basting stitches. And voila! There you have it, the easiest zipper installation method I've tried, even if it doesn't look any better than any other zipper I've done.

I used the new rolled hem foot to hem it, and while it looks okay from a distance in the picture, in real life I need to go back and redo some parts. I have pretty much mastered the rolled hem foot for straight hems, but the slight curve of this hem kept throwing me off.

I really like how this dress turned out. The bodice isn't really my favorite, but the shape of the skirt is very nice. I can't wait for some actual warm weather to wear it in. Right now it is blustery and cold out, although the sun is shining, deceitfully making it look warm.

A Helpful Tutorial

2008-03-17T09:34:00.000-05:00

Using the rolled hem feet is not as easy to figure out as I had hoped. I messed around for an hour or so with them, trying to make a consistent, even hem, and came up with this (and this is the best). The piece of fabric had been cut perfectly square on my cutting mat.

The instructions that came with them are nearly useless. So this morning I went looking for an online tutorial. I found several, including a video tutorial, but the most useful one was here, at The Sewing Divas.

I looked at the pics, read through the instructions, looked at the pics again, and something clicked, and I realized what I'd been doing wrong all along (putting the pre-rolled hem at the start under the right side of the foot).

Happy Feet

2008-03-14T14:18:00.000-05:00

I confess, a year ago, I had no idea that sewing machines had all kinds of special feet. Zipper foot, buttonhole foot, normal zig-zag and straight-stitch feet, that was the limits of my experience. I had no idea that there were sewing machine feet that did fancy things like roll hems for you. If I had, believe me, I would have burned a lot less fingers trying to press those itty-bitty hems for sewing.

I just now got around to buying some rolled-hem feet, though, because while I had my old Kenmore, I was thinking I wouldn't waste any money on accessories for a machine that I was going to get rid of as soon as humanly possible, and then once I got my new one at Christmas (New Year's, actually) I didn't want to pay $6 shipping for a tiny $7 sewing machine foot.

But now that I am quilting a quilt for my sister, I desperately need a walking foot (yes, I can hear you true quilters gasps of dismay). The first baby quilt turned out not nearly as great as it should have because of my lack of said walking foot. So I bit the bullet and ponied up my accumulated Etsy money for the year (it's been a slow couple of months) for a bunch of fancy feet. And they arrived today!

I have got two rolled hem feet of different widths (they're cheaper in a set) and a walking foot, stitch in the ditch foot, a freehand quilting/darning foot, and something called an "open toe craft foot", which I wouldn't have bought but it was part of the set. Yay!

My Etsy shop money has mostly gone to upgrading my sewing equipment: I bought half of my new Kenmore with it, and the new feet. It seems almost counterproductive to sink everything back into sewing, but on the other hand, I like these equipment upgrades and enjoy them on a personal level, as well. I probably would have made do with what I had just for my own use, though.

Baby Shower Goodies

2008-03-10T11:04:00.000-05:00

These are the things I made my sister for her baby shower, to tide her over until I get the quilt done. She got a lot of nice things. One thing is for certain, her baby will never go naked.

This bag is what I decided to do with the star quilt square that didn't work out as well as I liked. I thought the little bag would be good for tossing a few small things in for short excursions if she didn't feel like lugging the whole diaper bag along. I put a shirt-style pocket on the back, because I am obsessed with putting pockets on things.

I have a similar bib (the sock monkey print) in my Etsy shop if anyone is interested. :)

Another Quilting Project

2008-03-07T09:25:00.000-06:00

To practice quilting BEFORE I did any on the baby quilt, I made this little table mat from a free pattern at Perkins Drygoods.

I love the way it turned out! It is strip pieced, so it went very quickly, but the scalloped borders make it look unique (and more complicated than it is). I am also in love with the fabric I used, although the pitfall of buying fabric at Alco (which is like Wal-Mart's country cousin) became apparent. The girl who cut it out for me was obviously annoyed to have to come cut the fabric, and she was muttering and jerking the scissors around (I don't think she was upset with me, just frustrated with the fabric, which wasn't on bolts but folded). The cuts of fabric I got weren't straight at all, and varied two to three inches between the low side and the high side. For one of the wide border sides, I had to piece two rectangles together because of the badly-cut material. You can hardly tell, though, because the print is so busy.

I also had to piece the batting together because I was using odds and ends leftover from my Christmas projects. There was a large piece that was big enough except a square was cut out of one corner, so I just cut a square to fill it in and zig-zagged the two pieces together.

I don't think I attached the bias binding in the approved quilter's way of attaching bias binding. I thought about it, but my only instructions were the "Quilting for Dummies" I borrowed from the library, and I couldn't make heads or tails the directions. So I made bias tape and put it on like I usually do, folding it in half across the raw edge and stitching through all layers. The top looks fine, but I had to go back and tack down some places on the back where the stitches didn't catch the back half of the bias tape.

The pattern was very clear and easy to follow, however there was one small error. I emailed the owner of the site/pattern designer, and she told me she'll get it fixed soon as she can, but just in case, be aware. The "outer border" instructions say to "Cut two strips 3.5" x 20.5" Those strips actually need to be about 22.5" long. Just to make sure, cut the first two (16") outer border strips, sew them on, and then measure to see exactly how long the last two outer border strips need to be. For this kind of project, especially if you are a beginner like me, it is probably better to measure all the border strips and do them as you go instead of trying to cut them all out beforehand. That way you don't waste any material cutting to the wrong measurements if your seam allowances are a little too wide or narrow.

I am getting addicted to this quilting thing. It allows me to buy small amounts of fabric, and in patterns that are cool, but that I would never use for a whole garment. Also, to make someone a quilt gift, you don't have to know their measurements.

Baby Quilt Numero Uno

2008-03-06T11:37:00.000-06:00

The last few days I have not been working on the squares for my sister's baby quilt, because I have been working on this one. I waffled back and forth over whether I would sew this one, for a friend at church, or give her something smaller, since I was already embroiled in one baby quilt. But the fabric was so cute, a soft cozy flannel, so I went ahead and bought some pieces. Then Sunday we were given the news that THIS SATURDAY is the shower, so I had to hurry up and get it done. This Sunday is my sister's shower, but I made her some smaller things and will get the quilt to her after the baby is born. He can't use it until then anyway.

It was good that I did this one, for the practice in machine quilting at least. I have a lot of kinks to work out in my quilting technique (maybe I need a walker foot?). At any rate, I now know to cut the backing fabric larger than the quilt top.

I wish the quilting and the border had turned out more perfectly, but I really love the quilt top, and for a quick and easy baby quilt the four-patch design can't be beat. I think cutting out and sewing the quilt top took only four or five hours (Can I mention here how I love, love, love my rotary cutter and mat?). Would have been less if I had planned better. I had to stop partway in and rethink my arrangement of the pieces. They are 5" squares with a 2" border (that is covered up by the satin binding.

The Pitfalls of Optimism

2008-03-03T09:31:00.000-06:00

Last week we had some lovely weather. Sunny, not so windy that you ended up with grit in your teeth walking to the car from the house (that "in like a lion" thing is really getting old). I knew parts of the country were having awful snowstorms, but here it was nice. So in a burst of optimism, I cut out this dress: (the middle one, shown in blue, but I nixed the sleeve ruffles)

Saturday the weather was beautiful, high 60's, and I wished I had worn a dress. Sunday, the weather turned bad again, and this morning I woke up to this (this is not terrible winter weather for this part of the country, we usually get a lot more snow than we have this year):
So I guess I will be waiting a bit before I actually get to wear that dress. I haven't sewn it together anyway. I have too many baby quilts to do. Of course, next week it could be in the 70's, you never know. That's about the only thing that you can count on about the weather here in the Texas Panhandle. It will change (and it will be windy).

A Tale of Two Breads

2008-02-28T09:01:00.000-06:00

Actually, one bread, done twice. I found a neat recipe in a Cooking For 2 magazine that I borrowed, for a mini challah loaf. The first time I made it I was a little rushed, and so I omitted the first rise time (the recipe called for letting it rise 1 hr, then shaping the bread, and letting it rise 45 min.). I just shaped it immediately and let it rise. It turned out pretty good, but I wanted to see if it would be any better (puffier) if I did it according to the directions, so I made it again, only I doubled the recipe so I could give a loaf to my mother-in-law (The problem with the Cooking for 2 magazine is that they are very serious about all the recipes being small batches. This bread is technically 8 servings, and Brandon and I will eat one in two meals. Most of the main dish recipes are 2 servings with NO LEFTOVERS.). The doubled recipe also turned out well. Maybe a little puffier, it is hard to tell.

I have to confess, my scientific method was a little flawed in this experiment (besides doubling the second batch), because yesterday as I waited for the 2 loaves to rise, I realized I was about to run out of time to get it finished before bible class at 7:30, which was when I was going to give the loaf to Brandon's mom, and I cut the second rise time short by 15 min. So I may have to do it again just to make sure. :) Not that I really need a lot of excuse to make homemade bread.

I could not find the recipe online (at the Cooking for 2 website, this particular recipe is restricted to subscribers only) but here is a similar one. If you halved it, it would make two mini loaves or one regular loaf.

Feeding my love affair with the written word

2008-02-26T10:40:00.000-06:00

I have been a member of BookMooch since May of 2007 (about 9 months now). BookMooch is just about the coolest thing since sliced bread (of course, I never thought sliced bread was that nifty, so it doesn't take much).

BookMooch.com is a book trading site that works on a points system. 1 point = 1 book you can ask someone else to send you. You put up your inventory of books that you are willing to send to others, and you recieve 1/10th of a point for each book listed. This gives you enough points to mooch one or two books before anyone sees your books and mooches from you. You also recieve 1/10th a point for letting the system know when you have recieved books that you mooched. There is a limit to the number of "free" points you can actually use, however, since to continue to be allowed to mooch from others, you must maintain a good ratio of books sent to others as compared to books recieved.

It's not really free books, since you have to earn points by sending out books to others, but it is very cheap books, since sending a paperback by media mail is usually around $2. I have had very good experiences with BookMooch. I get books that I want, I get rid of books I don't, and although some people are slow sending out books, or have rejected my mooch requests, I haven't felt that these infrequent happenings have tarnished my overall experience. If I want a particular book, I search BookMooch first, and then half.com (because a lot of the time I can find the books I want there for $4 or $5) and then amazon.com (last because the shipping on secondhand books from various vendors is higher than that on half.com, and I usually only buy new books as impulse purchases in brick-and-mortar stores or as a last resort when there are no good affordable secondhand copies to be found).

Looking at my stats, I see that I have recieved 15 books since joining, and sent out 14.

I love getting packages in the mail, which is probably part of why I love BookMooch so much. I like the anticipation of waiting for the mail when I know something good is coming.

Quilting and Novel-Writing

2008-02-22T10:43:00.000-06:00

This is the first quilt I did. I finished it almost three years ago. It's completely a scrap quilt. Many of the pieces are leftover fabric from dresses or other projects of mine over the years. Some were pieces my from my mom's stash, and some were pieces she received in a quilt block swap. As you can see, it's throw sized. I didn't give much thought to color and composition, I just sewed blocks together and tried not to get any two of the same design too close together. Like most first projects, I learned a lot.

Making a quilt (yes, even a baby quilt) seems to me the sewing equivalent of writing a novel. It takes a long time, and planning is required. As you go (or at least, as I go) your plans change and morph. You take the pieces and lay them out, shuffle them around, see how they look one way, and then another. Although I will say that "cut and paste" is much easier than "rip out and re-sew". You add some things and take some away. Maybe you let it set awhile and then come back to it much later and finish it in a burst of inspiration (that's how my first quilt went, anyway, and many of my short stories).

And when it is all over, you have something to be proud of, even if it is a little bit homely by other's standards. :) Although, it's much easier to go back and revise the rough draft of a novel than to revise a whole quilt. (Well, I say that, but ask me again later when I'm actually doing the revision of my novel and we'll see.)

Speaking of novel writing, I am not doing so well in that department. I've written maybe six whole pages this month. I have been doing a lot of research reading, however, which is good. It keeps the novel on top of my mind, so that I am thinking about it and planning and trying out different ideas. When I will really get worried is when I'm not thinking about it anymore. It's a short jump from not thinking about a story to not finishing it.

Starting the baby quilt

2008-02-18T16:19:00.000-06:00

Ever since my sister found out she was pregnant, I've been planning a baby quilt for her. I've had the main fabrics for months. Originally I was just going to make it with plain squares in a sort of checkerboard, but then the fancy-quilt bug bit me, and I wanted to do the star square (it is paper pieced). I've had the design picked out and all planned. It turns out I will not be using the star square. I just don't like how the monkeys in the star are going all different directions. It would take a lot of care to line them up on every square. For me, it might be impossible.

Realizing this, and realizing that I was running out of time, I had to pick a new pattern. Saturday I found a different pattern in a book from the library, that just uses squares and rectangles. Now I have all the pieces cut out. Her shower is March 9, and the baby is due around April 8. I doubt I will make it to the shower with a finished quilt, but we will see.

The sashing will be orange. For a baby quilt, it is very bright, but I like brights, and I figure that it will be something my nephew can keep in his room even when he's older and it won't look too babyish.

Nifty Craft Gadget

2008-02-14T11:31:00.000-06:00

I usually don't go in for super-specialized craft tools like this. I mean, it makes heart-shaped punches, and that's it. I only bought it because last year I needed it to make wedding invites and thank-you cards, and I figured it was worth the $10 or so to do that.

But I've found a couple of other surprising special-occasion uses for it. I used it to make little tags for the hostess gifts at my shower. Also it has been great at Valentines Day.

Last year I used it to cut lots of little hearts out of cardstock (actually, I think they were the ones left from cutting heart shapes out of the invites and thank-you cards). On each one I wrote something I admired about Brandon, and I put them all in a little tin box. Oh yeah, with a little vintage trunk key and a note that said "Keys to my heart". (It's funny, I am not usually so sappy romantic.)

This Valentines, I used it to make a card for Brandon (the photos are cut out from a leftover copy of our engagement photo), and then I made lots of little heart shapes from recycled greeting cards and on the back of each one wrote a coupon, for example "one chicken fried steak dinner". I saved three bucks on a Hallmark card, but I will definitely pay it out in sweat. :)

Another Pattern, Another Muslin

2008-02-06T21:13:00.000-06:00

So being as the vintage jeans jacket pattern isn't going to work for the corduroy and minky, I had to find another pattern that required only 1.5 yards of 60" fabric, which severely limits my options. This is the second candidate, and the one I will use, if I can get a couple of kinks worked out.

I made a muslin (out of black fleece and some scraps of houndstooth flannel from my jumper) up yesterday. There are reasons that I rarely cut out and finish sewing anything in one day. For one, the quality of my work suffers as I get frustrated and in a hurry. If I spread things out, and work at them at my leisure, I don't get nearly so upset about things like, oh, redoing the pockets three times before I get it right.

However, this did turn out wearable, and I like it except for a few imperfections that were totally caused by me doing a lined jacket as unlined, without a clear understanding of how that affected the construction and shaping of the pattern pieces. I had to make several "design decisions" like edging the front with bias tape made from the houndstooth. I also lengthened the sleeves, but not quite enough. They need another inch or two. I can eke another inch out by letting out the 1" hem and making some more bias tape to edge the sleeves.

I think it looks cute with the jumper that it matches, too, and the collar gives it a very retro look. The best part, though, is the buttons. They're like giant pound symbols.

McCall's 5007, by the way, appears to have just gone out of print, but Etsy seller backalleydesign has some new and uncut in her store, for very reasonable prices (they are listed in a batch with three other patterns, but when I asked she was willing to break the batch up and sell me only the ones I wanted).

About My Novel

2008-02-05T09:21:00.000-06:00

By request, I'm going to talk a little about the novel I'm working on. I'm about 3/4 done, and I have been working on it since, oh, June or something. It's going much slower than I originally intended, but I keep plugging along. After I finish the first draft, I'll have quite a bit of revision to do to really make it readable.

It's partly a murder mystery, but that is a secondary plot. I won't try to explain the whole thing here, but I will say the people at the library must think I have a sad life. I've been doing research for it, and I've checked out probably six books on domestic violence and four or five on alcoholism and children of alcoholics.

I don't know if I would call this a Christian novel, but it is written from my viewpoint as a Christian, and the one of the two main characters is a Christian. Nobody gets "saved" by the end, though.

I'm having a difficult time deciding how many of the details of the murder are really necessary. I find many forensic-type murder mysteries (and even worse, I think, shows like CSI) really have more detail than they need to to get the point across, and I wonder about a culture where that is considered "entertainment". But forensics is a real part of life, and is very valuable for catching and convicting criminals. For my research I've read several nonfiction books written by forensic anthropologists and other forensic scientists, and it is fascinating even as it is really kind of gross. I think just like doctors or morticians, it takes a special kind of personality to stand up to that kind of job.

Tagged!

2008-02-02T08:22:00.000-06:00

I have been tagged by Donna

These are the rules: (and I'm glad she posted them, because I didn't really know what it meant when she said she tagged me.)
*Link to the person who tagged you. (this means to make their name a clickable link, which I did.).
*Post the rules on your blog.
*Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
*Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
*Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Six facts about me:

1. My favorite novel, if I have to choose one, is The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck.

2. I have visited four foreign countries: Mexico, Canada, Peru, and Ecuador.

3. I am on page 220 of my first novel (Not my first novel attempt, however. None of the others made it past page 40.)

4. My current goals include reading through the New Testament in Spanish, and sewing a pair of jeans that fit well. Both may take awhile to accomplish.

5. I used to be a certified EMT (Emergency Medical Technician), but I'm pretty sure my certification has lapsed. I live too far out in the country now to make any kind of reasonable response time to calls.

6. I always thought it would be pretty cool to go hang-gliding.

Now to tag some random people (okay, not six, because then I would have to get really random): Retro Grace, TootsieGrace, Patternaholic

A New Apron For My Collection

2008-01-28T15:39:00.000-06:00

I was at Goodwill the day before yesterday, searching idly through the racks, as is my habit (I just can't pass that store. One just opened up in Clovis next to the Hobby Lobby, which makes that particular shopping center a Bermuda Triangle into which I regularly disappear.), and I found this nifty apron. For $1.29.

I like the petal shaped sections. It looks really cute on. And it has little green deer on it. What more could you ask? (Sometimes I wonder about the people who came up with all those wacky vintage prints. Exactly what possesses one to make purple Indians and green deer? Unless these are supposed to be the natives of Mars.)

In which I make a muslin of my "wearable muslin"

2008-01-25T10:41:00.000-06:00

So I bought some cotton duck and some cotton lining fabric at Wally World, and was all geared up to start my "wearable muslin" for the Kwik Sew jean jacket. In a stroke of luck (the kind that sometimes happens when one uses vintage patterns) the person who had the pattern before I did had traced the pattern onto tissue paper in my size. And she had lengthened the pattern, too, which saved me a lot of trouble. (This sort of luck is equally balanced by the chance that you will find instead that the vintage pattern is missing pieces, or instructions, or has pieces from other patterns mixed in.) I cut all the pieces out of the duck, and started sewing that night.

Immediately something that had nagged at me while I was cutting the pattern pieces out made itself clear: the pattern has some bust shaping that doesn't really show in the illustrations on the envelope. Not only that, but the shaping is for someone who is not shaped quite the way I am. I had to do a small-bust adjustment (SBA) on the pattern. I was quite proud of it, since I worked it out with only vague recollections of having read how to do an SBA once. I tend to be that way when I'm in the middle of something. I hate to have to go and look up instructions, so I just wing it.

I had to stop there and make another muslin (unwearable), to make sure that the SBA was going to work right. That's what the hideous flowered thing in the pic is. I also had to buy an extra 3/8 yard of black duck at Wal-Mart since the cutting layout was so tight I didn't have extra fabric for the new pieces.

The really bad new is, I don't think this pattern is going to work for the corduroy and minky that I had planned for it. It is very tight fitting, too close to the body to allow for the thick lining. So after I finish the wearable muslin (which should be quite cute, in black with red topstitching, lined with a cherry print fabric), it's back to the drawing board for me in terms of finding a jacket pattern for the yardage I bought.

Patternless Fleece Hat Tutorial

2008-01-18T17:01:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I went through several projects-worth of fleece scraps and used what I could to make winter hats. Through trial and error, I developed a nearly fool-proof way to make fleece hats using the head measurements of the person the hat is intended for. The hat is made from one rectangle of fleece. It is fairly simple, and so it is quite possible that I am not the only person who has discovered this style of hat. It would make a good gift, and can be very inexpensive depending on the fabric used. It would be a good donation to charities such as homeless shelters in the wintertime. The double layer of cloth over the ears makes it warmer and more wind-proof.

I estimate that one yard of inexpensive fleece ($3 to $10 at a discount store, or you could buy fleece blankets in good condition from a thrift store) would make up to 6 adult hats, and more than that if you were making hats for children. Once the basic style is mastered, it lends itself easily to variations such as color blocking and stripes.

If you are not confident marking the measurements directly onto your fleece and cutting, you can draw them onto newspaper and pin that paper pattern to your fabric, just as you would use a store-bought pattern.

Materials Needed: measuring tape, ruler, chalk, adequate amount of fleece for the project (a rectangle approx. 12" by 22" should be enough for most sizes), scissors, sewing machine, thread, and a hand sewing needle

Step 1: Measure around your head, or the head of the intended recipient of the hat. If you do not know their head measurement, I have found that a small adult's head is around 21 inches, and a large adult's head is around 23 inches. This measurement will henceforth be referred to as H.

Step 2: Subtract 1 from H and add 1/2 (H - 1 + 1/2). We will call this measurement W. This is the width of the fabric piece for the hat.

Step 3: Using chalk, mark out a rectangle on your fleece fabric, with a height of 12" (children's hats should have a height of 10", or the approximate distance from the center of the top of the head to the bottom of the ear, plus 2.75") and a width of W. Please ensure that W is laid across the stretchiest grain, whether crosswise or lengthwise, so that the most stretch goes around the head.

Step 4: Fold the rectangle in half right sides together. This should give you a rectangle measuring 12" by 1/2W". Using a 1/4" seam, sew along the open 12" side and one of the 1/2W sides with a straight stitch, leaving one side open. This is the head opening of the hat, the bottom hem.

Step 5: Fold up 2 and 3/4 inches along the bottom hem. Sew using a zig-zag or three-step zig-zag stitch.

Step 6: Turn the hat right side out. Now you have what is essentially a square hat. If nothing is done to shape it to the head, it will stick up like cat ears. Quit here if you like that look.

Step 7: Head shaping: Take each of the top corners and bring them together in the middle. Sew the corners together by hand with needle and thread.

The Long-Awaited Fabric

2008-01-15T14:29:00.000-06:00

If by long awaited you mean approximately one week. I'm very excited that it arrived, BUT as soon as I got it I realized that with such expensive fabric, and the design changes I am planning (lining it when the pattern is unlined, and changing the front facings) I should probably make a muslin out of some cheap fabric first.

So I will probably do a cheaper version first, but I hate to. Because my wearable muslin will be lined in cotton for a spring-weight jacket, and the good fabric will be for a heavier jacket, and it's cold NOW. It won't be warm enough for a thin jacket for a few months. I'll be doing it all backwards!

"My nose can go higher than yours."

2008-01-10T13:58:00.000-06:00

"No, mine can."

"No, mine."

"No, MINE!"

At that point, it devolves from a "Nose in the Air" Contest to a screaming catfight.

This is a lovely pattern envelope. Unfortunately, one of the MAJOR pattern pieces is missing (the whole front of the dress).

Look what I have!

2008-01-10T13:10:00.000-06:00

Last night Brandon and I had to go to Hereford to take my brother his pickup, which he'd left at our house while he drove the red Mack truck that Brandon had been driving. He brought this puppy with him. She is from a litter of pups one of my dad's friends was giving away. My dad called up a few weeks ago and asked if I'd be interested in one, and we worked out the final details of transporting her a day or two ago.

I love cowdog mutts. Hopefully when she gets a little older, I'll be able to train her to work the goats. You can tell she's got a lot of border collie, as well as blue heeler (also known as Australian cattle dog), and a sprinkling of mystery dog. I estimate she's somewhere around two to three months old, but I'm not real good at guessing those things.

Right now she's still pretty timid and freaked out by her new environment, which is probably in part due to the fact that as soon as we got in last night, literally as soon as I set her down on the ground, Spud, our big yellow tomcat, came flying out of the darkness and attacked her. She spent the night in the garden shed, and now that is safe territory, as is the kitchen, but she always looks ready to take cover from sneak attacks. She has a really good disposition, though, and is friendly.

We decided to name her Beulah, after the lady dog in the Hank the Cowdog books.

UFO! Now an FO!

2008-01-08T20:40:00.000-06:00

I went online and spent about $25 last night for material for a jacket I want to make. Making all those shirt jackets for Christmas made me want something similar for myself. While I wait for the fabric to arrive (and it is hard to wait!) I am going to work on some UFO's I have sitting around. UFO, for those that don't yet know, stands for Unfinished Object.

Today I finished this pair of capri pants, which I've had lying around, cut out, for around five years now. As best I remember, I bought the material around the time I graduated college, although it may have been before that, even. Then I cut out the pieces, and didn't start sewing because I wanted to add cargo pockets, and was trying to figure out how best to go about that. Somehow I never got around to figuring it out, and then I went into the Peace Corps.

When I came back from the Peace Corps, bermuda shorts were in, so I cut the capri pants down to a sort of bermuda length. Then they sat around some more, and moved from my parents house to Farwell when I got married.

They didn't take long to finish, although I found that either I have lost some weight since the day I chose what size to cut out, or when I cut the pattern out, I measured my size wrong (which happened another time, so I'm betting that was the problem). At any rate, I sewed the side seams, tried the pants on, and they were just falling off of me. So I sewed a new seam exactly 5/8" away from those stitches, taking out around 2" of circumference, and cut the old seam allowances off, and they are still a little baggy. Comfortable, but they don't fit like they were intended to by the pattern makers.

I imagine I'll wear these around the place when the weather gets warm, but don't foresee a lot of public exposure in their future. I really wish I still had the excess yardage on this. These shorts really need pockets.

The Gory Details

2008-01-08T11:58:00.001-06:00

Finally, as promised, the gory details of the changes I made from the Kwik Sew2728 pattern for Brandon's jacket. One small change that doesn't really bear detailing is that I used the curved shirt hem instead of the straight one, which is shown on the hooded view on the envelope. Just a minor change because I like the look of the curved hem. Also, I lengthened the sleeves about two inches, which I like to refer to as "monkey arm alteration"

1. Adding in-seam pockets. This was probably the largest change that I made. It was surprisingly easy. In-seam pockets, it turns out, are pretty much the same shape and size for anything. I borrowed the pattern piece from a vintage robe pattern I had. I measured how far up the from the shirt hem the pocket was on one of Brandon's store-bought lined shirts to determine placement. (For those who are curious, it was 3.75" up, but remember, I used the curved hem, so it would be different on the straight hem.) I followed the instructions for in-seam pockets from my Vogue Sewing book, plus I top stitched the pocket pieces to the seam allowances where the pocket pieces connected with the shirt-side pieces, to make the pockets lie flatter.

2. The shirt has a yoke in the back. To reduce bulk (the lining is a fleece that is already bulky enough), I traced a separate lining piece of the yoke and back piece together, minus the seam allowance between the two. So the back of the shirt that the world sees was done with the yoke, but the lining is a single piece. If you are looking to save time, it takes longer to trace the pieces than it does to sew the lining yoke to back piece, but for reducing bulk it works well.

3. I made a casing for a drawstring on the hood. I felt this was a necessary change so that the hood would be warmer and stay on his head better. I decided arbitrarily to put the buttonholes for the drawstring 3" up from the bottom of the flannel hood pieces, and a quarter-inch from the side. The buttonholes had to be made before the flannel and lining were sewn together. Two inches was too far up. It would have been better at around .75" or so. I wish I'd gotten some metal eyelets for the drawstring to run through, as I'm not sure the buttonholes will hold up. I used a black boot lace for the drawstring itself, which works well enough.

Instead of topstitching a quarter inch from the edge of the finished hood as suggested in the instructions, I top stitched a half inch away, to leave plenty of room for the drawstring. That distance worked very well.

4. The other minor change I made was to add a slot in the top of one of the chest pockets for a pen to slip through. This is a useful detail found on many store-bought shirts, but neither of the men's shirt patterns I've made have included it. Luckily, it's not hard. I won't explain it here, because if you want to do it, and are of sufficient skill to be sewing a man's shirt, you probably have sufficient skill to figure it out by looking at an existing shirt, or even my picture.

First Serger Project

2007-12-28T11:10:00.000-06:00

Christmas day, I was too tired to even think about messing with my serger, knowing that it was going to require intensive concentration and use of the manual. So I put it off, and didn't actually mess with the thinkg until Wednesday night. And I wasn't very sucessful then, either, but Brandon figured out the problem, and so yesterday, I was rarin' to go and MAKE SOMETHING with it. (You will have to excuse my photo. My lovely assistant is driving the truck today and so wasn't handy to take pictures)

A month or so ago I bought a size medium men's long sleeved polo shirt at a thrift store with the intention of cutting it up to use the fabric for a long-sleeved tee from the New Look 6160 pattern, with some adjustments, since I didn't like the fit of the first one. I hadn't gotten around to it, though, and figured it was a nice, low-risk first project for the serger, since it was a simple pattern and I wouldn't cry if I messed up the fabric. It's a strange houndstoothy sort of plaid, which I like, yet think is ugly. Kind of like troll dolls. Anyway, there are some challenges inherent in cutting out a pattern from fabric that you have an extremely limited amount of, which is why the sleeves are 3/4 length. I guess I should have bought a size large or extra-large. It is also why the neckband is black fleece leftover from Brandon's shirt jacket. But I actually like the effect.

The changes I made besides sleeve length were to add about an inch to the circumference of the garment, since the original was too narrow for me in the shoulders. Then I changed the neckline and made it lower and wider since the first one I made barely fits over my head. Because I wasn't sure what length to make the neckband for the new neckline, first I made one too short, and then one too long, which I didn't realize until after it was applied, and that's why the neckline has a slight cowl effect.

I serged all the major seams, and only used the sewing machine to top stitch the neckline and hem and baste in the sleeves (Another pitfall of creating from existing garments with no extra fabric, I cut two left sleeves out, and there was no fabric left to fix the mistake. Luckily, you can barely tell. The right and left sleeve of the pattern aren't that different.)

Overall I think it went pretty well, although I think this shirt will mostly be worn around the house. I like the looser fit, since I added about an inch to the circumference, and the serger makes narrower seam allowances, so that added a little room, as well.

Does a chocolate covered cherry count as a serving of fruit?

2007-12-26T12:33:00.000-06:00

Christmas is over, and it went very well for us. Brandon and i made a quick trip to Texline and celebrated Christmas on Christmas eve at my parents' house, with my brother and my sister and her husband. The insulated shirt jacket went over well, and my mom liked the Christmas table runner I made for her (pic at left). I'm so excited to finally get to post pictures of all the things I've been working on for the last month or so.

Christmas morning we had Brandon's parents, maternal grandparents, and his brother and sister over for brunch. His mom brought muffins, his grandmother brought spiced cider, and I made a breakfast casserole, fruit and yogurt parfaits, and pecan praline biscuits.

I got a serger! I've been wanting one for quite awhile. I will also have to be buying a new sewing machine sometime soon, since my old Kenmore barely made it though the Christmas projects. The stitch length randomly varies itself, and the tension is wacky.

Brandon loves the shirt jacket I made for him. Thanks to it being the second one, I think it turned out better. I had Brandon try Ty's on several times to assess fit and such, so I tweaked it a bit to suit Brandon, putting in side seam pockets (he thought Ty's should have had them, and the first thing Ty did when he put it on was stick his hands where the pockets would have been) and putting a drawstring on the hood (there are two views for the pattern, one with a collar, one with hood. Brandon got the hooded version, since he likes to have his ears covered.). Of course there was the inevitable "monkey arms" alteration. I am planning a post to detail these changes.

Brandon's grandmothers both liked the potholders I made for them. As you can see, the teacup pattern abounded this Christmas. I really like it, which isn't surprising since I collect teacups. I am toying with the idea of making a teacup quilt for myself, although it is a very big project, and would have to be some time down the road.

Is Wal-Mart Cheaper than Sewing Your Own? (Ty, Don't Read This)

2007-12-12T12:32:00.000-06:00

I figure there is about a .0001 % chance that my little brother reads my blog about sewing, so it is safe to post his Christmas present. But if I am wrong, Tyrel, don't read this! Or I will give it to Brandon, and you will get a lump of coal.

I have heard lots of women say that they don't sew (anymore) because it's just cheaper to buy clothes at Wal-Mart. Is it?

I'd say yes and no. Sometimes, if you get fabric and patterns on sale or at a thrift store, it's cheaper to sew your own. I've made dresses that cost $2. I bought four yards of fabric at a thrift store for fifty cents, and if you use vintage patterns found at a thrift store, patterns can be 10 cents apiece, as opposed to the $8 or so that they cost new and not on sale.

But sometimes you can't find these wonderful deals, or you are making something like the shirt jacket that I made my brother for Christmas. Which, being lined, required somewhere along the lines of six yards of fabric. Which I did buy on sale. I bought the pattern, which is out of print, off of E-bay, so it cost a more than ten cents. All in all, I'd say materials cost around $20. The cost of the pattern can be spread out among the many projects I hope to make from it. While I was slaving over this shirt jacket (and believe me, I got to be good friends with my seam ripper) I saw that similar items (insulated flannel shirt jackets) cost around $15 at Wal-Mart.

The thing about Wal-Mart, though, is that the quality of the clothing is low. My husband has one of those cheap shirt jackets, and it falls apart a little more each time it is washed. And the cloth that I made Ty's shirt out of is moleskin, not the flannel that they make the shirts at Wal-Mart out of. And moleskin shirts cost a bit more than $15. Also, gray and black is a color combination that I believe Ty is fond of. I just did a google search for men's moleskin shirt jackets, and they all cost more than I spent on materials (from $25 for an unlined one, to $90 and considerably higher), and only one came in that color combination. Oh yeah, and Ty has monkey arms, so off the rack shirts in "his size" don't usually have long enough sleeves to suit him.

So sometimes, what you have to take into consideration is not, "Is it cheaper than Wal-Mart?" but "Is it cheaper than items OF SIMILAR QUALITY and the same material?" and "Can I find it in the colors/size/style that I want?"

Okay, stepping off the soap box now.

Warm Winter Coats

2007-12-05T15:06:00.000-06:00

Being warm in the winter is something that I think a lot of people take for granted. There are a lot of people who have a hard time achieving that, though, partly because winter coats can be very expensive. If you know of a coat drive in your area, I encourage you to contribute to it. Go through your closets for gently used coats.

I volunteer once or twice a week at a clothing pantry (Is that the right word? Like a food pantry gives away food, we give away clothes) and we are always in need of children's coats (at least this time of year). There are a lot of thin jackets, but few heavy coats. Also men's coats. I assume this is because men buy fewer coats and wear them out before getting new ones.

If you don't have any gently used coats, it's a great idea to check out the Salvation Army or other thrift stores and buy some to donate. I've found a nice kid's parka for $1 once, and today I bought several coats for around $4 apiece.

Christmas Inspirations!

2007-12-04T15:37:00.000-06:00

Glory Gifts, a shop on Etsy, has some really cute Christmas things in her shop. My favorites are these mini stockings, which come in several colors. Obviously they are handmade with lots of love!

Tip Day

2007-11-30T12:12:00.001-06:00

On one of the blogs I regularly visit, The Happiness Project, "Every Wednesday is Tip Day". Well, it's not Wednesday, and I don't know if I'll make this a regular feature, but here is a tip I have found useful. I thought it up myself, although I'm sure others have come up with this too.

I hate trying to get patterns back into the pattern envelopes. They never go back right, and if you have to get them out later during the sewing process for reference (because oh, say, you forgot to mark some vital little dot or accidentally ripped your thread marker out thinking it was a stray piece of thread, not that I would ever do that, of course) it's a big pain, especially if it is one of those patterns that has six or seven different views and a host of little pieces to sort through.

So what I've started doing is putting the pieces for the particular view I'm working on into a ziploc bag, and labeling it with the pattern number and some personal identifier that will help me know which pattern it is (Brandon's shirt, for example). Especially on patterns that I plan to use often or have modified in some way, this simplifies my life and prevents frustration.

The Christmas Spirit

2007-11-29T09:12:00.000-06:00

I am definitely in the Christmas spirit now, which is a good thing, because I'm making a lot of my presents, and I was just terribly unmotivated for awhile. I haven't got my tree up, but that should happen pretty soon.

I can't show one of the things I made, because it is a gift and I don't want to spoil anyone's Christmas, but I finished this apron using some of the Christmas fabric I bought, and I think it is adorable. The pattern is this one that I got at Hobby Lobby in a 99 cents sale. Yay! It's very simple to make (especially since I omitted the piping that is called for). The ties are made from double-fold bias tape.

Not sure whether I will keep this or use it in a gift exchange. I think I have enough fabric to make another one, but would have to buy more bias tape.

I'm looking forward to trying out some of the other apron patterns, too.

During my absence...

2007-11-29T09:00:00.000-06:00

Last week was a busy week. We did a lot of driving. See, Brandon and I finally got to go to Ruidoso and Carlsbad Caverns, as we've been planning to for a couple of months now. Finally all the farm work was out of the way.

Then we had Thanksgiving at his grandparents, and the day after Thanksgiving we went to Texline for a meal with my family (my grandmother and aunt on my dad's side, my parents, and my brother and sister). I ate enough turkey and ham to last me for a month or two. The big news of the week was that my sister, who is expecting, had the sonogram to determine the sex of the baby, and it will be a little boy. So expect little overalls and things in the near future. We are all very excited. It will be the first grandchild for my parents, and my first nephew.

Shiny Object!

2007-11-17T19:12:00.000-06:00

This is probably my favorite thing that I've bought off of Etsy. It's from Keys and Memories, and is made from a vintage typewriter key.

Being a writer, I like that it is made from a piece of vintage writing equipment. And it goes well with tee-shirt and jeans, so I actually get to wear it.