Feast Your Eyes

Nothing to say, really, except they tasted as good as they looked!

Not Quite

The concept: Start with a typical men's t-shirt and turn it into something more flattering and feminine.

The reality: It's sort of a toss up.

The process: First I cut the sleeves off. Using a well-fitting tee as a pattern, I took in the sides and chopped off some of the length. I also followed the shape of the other tee to reshape the arm holes and make the shoulders fit better.

Next was the sleeves. What to do, what to do. Hmm. I was liking the idea of a slightly puffed sleeve, so I cut a tiny hole in the hem of a sleeve and fed elastic through it. I tried on the sleeve, pulled the rest of the shirt over it, and thought it looked pretty good. At that point, I figured I could shorten the sleeves by taking length off the TOP instead of around the hem. In this picture, you can just about see the pin marking where to cut.

I trimmed the sleeves, pinned them in place, and sewed them back in. Next question was what to do with the neckline. I knew I didn't want to leave it as is, and I knew I didn't want to cut it and leave it raw. What I ended up doing was taking the fabric I cut from the bottom of the shirt and sewing it around a reshaped neckline like a makeshift bias tape.

So...it's okay. It's a navy blue tee I can wear with a skirt, as opposed to a tee some guy used to wear to the gym. But...I don't know. There's something bothering me about it.

It Fits!

Many thanks to my friend for waiting so patiently (three years, I think) for the kitty pi bed. And thanks to Buttercup for obliging us with a photo session.

Been Tagged

Jo, from Jojo Designs, tagged me! The rules: I answer 6 questions about myself. At the end of the post, I tag 6 people and post their names. I then go to their blogs and leave them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read my blog. Finally, I let the person who tagged me know when I’ve posted my answers.

Sounds easy, but I was so confused! Does everyone answer the same six questions? Then, as I'm reading Jo's answers, I realize she's only answered FIVE questions! I tracked back to the person who tagged HER to get the sixth one!

Anyway, this shouldn't be so complicated, so here goes:

What was I doing ten years ago?

In 1998, we had just moved back to Pennsylvania. I think at this point, I was working at Pier 1 and settling into our new (rented) house.

Five things on my to-do list for today? (Am I allowed to write down things I already did?)

1. laundry
2. write a post about mizuna for the other blog
3. go to the gym
4. buy napkins for work (it's my month on kitchen duty)
5. decide on my next Wardrobe Refashion

Snacks I like?

mmmm Anything salty.

Things I would do if I was a billionaire?

So much would change. Not that I'm unhappy with the way things are now, but I can see room for improvement! I better not go into too much detail, or we'll be here all day.

Places I have lived?

Eastern PA
Santa Barbara, CA
Wellesley, MA

Six people I want to know more about? (How do I know they haven't already been tagged? Do I worry too much?)

Made by Petchy

Cheetah Velour

High Fiber Content

A Handful of Ravens

Crystal's Musings

Christy Michelle (Love Me or Hate Me)

Why Couldn't MY Name Be Fuchsia?

Was it because I'm eating new things? Or was it due to our recent Anthony Bourdain No Reservations dvd marathon? Whatever the reason, Shark's Fins and Sichuan pepper was the latest book to come home with me. First off, I think food people would love this book. Fuchsia Dunlop does a great job describing the various flavors, textures, and nuances of the foods she encounters--and she encounters some strange stuff. But it isn't just about the food, and you'll learn things about China and Chinese culture and history you didn't even realize you wanted to know. My only criticism is it's maybe a bit long. Towards the end I felt like I do when I've been away on vacation for a little too long. Too much of a good thing?

Not Quite Silk...

Notice a pattern developing here? Large-scale floral prints? I can't help myself! There was never any question of my fitting into this skirt--it was purchased solely for its fabric. I liked the flowers, loved that it's a pique, and found the color scheme appealing. And, hey, it was only a buck or two--how can you beat that? Once I got it home, I spread it out on my sewing table to think it over, and immediately saw a purse in it.




First I cut away some of the length. See where this is heading?



From this point on, I pretty much followed the Simple Tote construction, sewing up the sides, boxing the corners, sandwiching the handles between a lining (made from stash fabric) and the outside, etc. The handles are just strips cut from the bottom of the skirt.

Et voila! My new bag! So, not quite a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but close!

Sunny Day

Click the picture for more pictures of Isabella enjoying her patch of sun.

Want a good laugh?

Have you seen those cute, knitted apple cozies? It seemed like a good idea to try one, now that the gargantuan cat bed is finished. I found this pattern at what was I Think I'm Gonna Purl and is now ThinkingMama. I latched onto the line in the instructions that says "Gauge doesn't really matter," and ignored the part where it says, "you just want it to fit an apple." That's an orange in there. A rather large, navel orange. Stay tuned for take two.

Cutest Book Cover Ever

Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos. This is a tough one for me. Hmm.

Well, there are lines in the book that are like poetry--lines that blow me away with how perfect they are. As a whole, though, the book seemed...uneven? I wasn't completely convinced by the characters. There seemed to be something missing in how their stories converged. It was one of those books where I kept waiting for something to happen, and it never did--at least not in a satisfying way.

But the writing! The writing makes it worth reading. And, who knows, maybe I missed something crucial to understanding the book. Maybe it's just me. Try it and see what you think.

Poppy Skirt

On Monday I posted about the problem dress. Too long, too stiff, etc. I'd intended to make it into a skirt, but I wasn't 100% sure that was the right thing to do. It felt wrong to cut it up for some reason. After several comments urging me to do just that, however, let me introduce my new skirt!

My first step in making this was to slice off the skirt of the dress about four inches from the waist. At that point, I tried it on to look at the length and to decide how much it would need to be taken in. The plan was to insert a zipper in the side seam, so I would have had to take it in about four inches on either side. That gave me pause, because I was still reluctant to cut the fabric. Hmm. I stood there, looking in the mirror for a bit, fiddling with the fabric, until I got the idea of making it into a wrap skirt. Out came the seam ripper, and out went the left-hand seam.

As it was, if I'd kept the right-hand seam on the side, I would have ended up with the overlap ending at an awkward spot. My husband suggested I put the seam up the back instead, which worked out perfectly once I added some darts for shaping. I used a piece from a commercial pattern to plan out the size and placement of the darts. (It never works when I try to wing it.)

To finish off the edges, I picked out a tiny bit of the hem, folded over the newly-exposed raw edges, and just sewed everything back up. For the waistband, I used quilt binding I had in my stash. The skirt closes with a snap and a ... what do you call those things? The ones that are like a hook and a bar?

Someday I may change that to a couple of buttons, but I'm still reluctant to do anything irreversible to the fabric if I don't have to. And, yes, I still have the fabric from the top of the dress to use for a bag!

My Pampered Clothespins

Although there's no shortage of clothespin bags around here, my favorite one was looking sort of dingy and sad. Well, very dingy and sad. I liked the shape of it and how it hooked over the line, though, so I decided to redo it. This is a vintage Waverly fabric I've had forever. I didn't want to use it on just anything, you know, but it seemed perfectly suited to this. As I was cutting out the pieces, I was thinking what a shame it was that the cool selvedge was going to disappear into a seam. Aha! Make that part of the design! Selvedge as binding!

Wooly Goodness

It's finished! The cat bed I promised to someone YEARS ago is finally done! The kitty pi beds aren't difficult to make, and they don't take that long, but after making four of them in a row, I was burned out. Sorry I don't have a picture of this one with a cat nestled inside, but I'm keeping it away from Isabella. Once its intended owner receives it, I'll post a picture. In the meantime, here are the others I've made! (From top: Isabella, Toby, Spook, Stella)

An Offshoot

The rain paid off. We picked up our first share at the CSA yesterday! So as not to overwhelm this blog with vegetables, I started a blogette dedicated solely to our CSA experience and my personal quest to eat more vegetables...well, ANY vegetables. The link is right there over on the sidebar, but be warned...it's still under construction. Give it a click!

Improvising

This is what happens when your pattern calls for nine rows of straight knitting and you don't have a pen handy.

The project is the Kitty Pi Bed, and I'm finally in the homestretch!

Petunia in Poppies

I don't even remember where I got this dress, but it's been in my basket for a long while. I do know it was $2.50, but the price tag doesn't look familiar. My original plan was to use the fabric to make a tote bag, but I always kind of liked it as is. I love the retro poppy print and the colors, but, aside from that, it always seemed a little TOO retro and almost costumey. Besides that...

1: The colors are doing me no favors.

2: The elastic waist is too high.

3: I don't like how those three orange poppies converge on my midsection.

4: It is the worst possible length.

It's also really stiff and made of an upholstery weight fabric, so it isn't exactly an easy breezy summer dress.

I'm thinking it's time to rework this.

Don't Judge a Book By Its Title

James Herriot. I knew he wrote about being a veterinarian, but I always got the impression his books (with their All Things Bright and Beautiful titles) had a religious bent as well. They just didn't sound like much fun. Then a few weeks ago, a "Best Of" compilation crossed my desk. I paged through it and decided to give it a try. Well, who'd've guessed--it wasn't religious at all, and it was pretty funny! Now, that said, I'm not in a rush to proceed to the other six or so James Herriot books on the shelf at my library, but it was a pleasant diversion.

Bonus Isabella Picture

I was just clearing out some files on my computer and found this picture of Isabella keeping me company while I worked on this shirt. My husband must have taken it, and I never realized!

Before. During. After.

I bought this top at Salvation Army, knowing it would need help. I didn't like the sleeves, and I really, really didn't like the fit. Pinching in the back and folding up the sleeves in the dressing room helped me envision it after a few modifications.

To resize the shirt, I used a tutorial I found online (and which I can't find right now, but when I do, I'll provide a link). This tutorial has you remove the sleeves and open the size seams to begin. I liked this method, because it really takes it down to basics. Once you have the shirt carved up, you use a shirt that fits well as a template. Darn, I really need to find that tutorial. Looking... looking...OH! Here it is! Anyway, the body of the shirt was resized, the sleeves were resized (and shortened), and then the sleeves were sewn back on.

Finally, I thought it needed a little something to give it some zing and to put a little color near my face. Using the Boden kids' t-shirts as inspiration (and as a pattern for the whale), I added an applique.

Funny thing is, I am scared to death to sew anything from scratch using a knit, but I have no fears at all when I'm "just changing a few things" on an existing garment!

Three Cheers for Rain

Today when I woke up, I heard rain on the roof, and cars splashing as they drove by. After a bit of a wallow, wishing I could stay cozy in bed instead of going out into the grey gloom, I realized I was happy about the rain. You see, this year we bought a share in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). A few weeks ago, we heard from the farmer who runs the CSA, and he mentioned that some rain would be welcome. Ever since then, I've been watching the weather almost as if I'm a farmer myself. It sounds really sappy, but I guess that's the point: We're shareholders in the farm now, so it matters to us. Already, even before picking up our first share, we feel an involvement with where our food is coming from. I kind of like that.

My Dirty Little Secret

Over the past few weeks, anyone who knows me in real life has heard about (and even tasted in some instances) the bread Gerry and I have been making. Loaf after loaf of lovely, tasty, and very photogenic bread has issued forth from our kitchen. Now it's time for me to confess: It's no-knead bread and even someone with no cooking ability (that's me) can make it.

No knead bread apparently had its internet heyday a while ago, but I somehow managed to miss it. There are Flickr groups dedicated to it, long discussions about it on blogs, and even a plethora of videos on You Tube. With all the bread I eat, how did I miss this?

If you missed it too, and if you're a bread lover like I am, feast your eyes on these (too bad I can't take a picture of how good it smells while it's baking):




So that's it. No bread machine, no weird ingredients, no kneading, and almost no way to screw it up.

Reading Project

All books are on hold! I need to work on going through my piles of magazines. You can't see it in the picture, but that's about 7.5 inches of magazines. That's just one pile I had around the house. I promised myself I would have it reduced by 50% by TODAY, Thursday. So far I'm at 4 inches, so I have a little more to go. I know I can't be the only one who is so OCD about magazines. If you're like me, please share and help me feel a bit more normal. If you've conquered a magazine addiction, tell me how you did it!

Not Too Crabby

Hi there! I'm Mr. Crab. I'm hiding a Polo logo. Yum, they sure are yummy when I eat them up!

So, yeah, this shirt had a Polo logo on it, and I wasn't thrilled with it, but I kept it around for one of those days when I wasn't feeling like putting a lot of effort into an outfit. But then I saw these shirts at Boden and I knew what had to be done.

Mr. Crab was just cut out of cotton and Heat 'n Bonded onto the shirt. I was a little worried that the Polo logo would make a bump under the crab, but it didn't at all. Then I stitched around the edges with a straight stitch, no zig zagging for me! I wasn't sure if the eyeballs were "too much" but my husband lobbied for them, so there they are. And now my boring old stripey shirt has some personality!

How Do They Know?

How do kitties know that a blanket or pillow or bed is meant for them? I wish I could ask Isabella. But she's busy. Shhhh.

Two Thumbs

People loved this book...other people. It's okay. It's a collection of essays about family, friends, work--wry observations about everyday things. And there are some funny bits, but sometimes it seemed like she was trying too hard. Or maybe I'm just getting old and can't identify with people in their twenties. Ack.

How 'bout we go green instead? Hey, what do you know! Ed Begley, Jr. isn't the giant weirdo I thought he was! His book makes a lot of sense, although it didn't tell me a whole lot I didn't already know. The best parts are the segments written by his wife, a less-enthusiastic participant in the eco-friendly lifestyle. Worth a try, but not worth a buy. Get it at the library.

Hurry, Summer

As I was folding the laundry the other day, a little stack of three t-shirts caught my eye: orange, green, and fuschia. It looked so cheerful and summery, and I found myself wishing I could wear all three of them at once! That would be a little tricky, but it reminded me of a piece of fabric I had in my stash--a very VERY bright piece of fabric that I always liked but would never wear as an article of clothing.

Next, I'm poking through my basket o' clothes I'm dissatisfied with, and I come across a plain, khaki skirt. I threw it in there thinking I might put an applique on there someday. I don't wear a whole lot of plain skirts, and this one was not only plain, but also just about the same color as my legs. Too weird.

Right away I thought AHA! I can trim the skirt with that fabric! Out came my trusty bias tape maker, and here are the results:
















If you've never made your own bias tape, TRY IT! It's not hard to do, and the results are pretty slick! And look how great my nicely-colored but stodgy-patterned fabric looks once it's been bias-ized.















And here's the stack of tees that started it all! I think the trim is just enough to set it off and make a basic skirt and tee look more polished.

P.S. If you don't want to buy a bias tape maker, check out this blog for another way to get the same results.

Mudbound

Just go read it. Seriously. If you don't believe me, see what they're saying at Amazon or Barnes and Noble or Hillary Jordan's website or NPR.

Might As Well Face It

This skirt needed refashioning because it had two strikes against it in its previous incarnation:
1. It fell to mid calf.
2. It's bias cut, and the waist and hip area looked horrible, encased as it was.

So, I decided to shorten it from the top down.

Cutting the top off was easy enough--I took off about eight inches--but eight inches is a lot, so I needed to take in the sides. My first try was a mistake, because I didn't line up the tiers. (What was I thinking?)

Once I had the tiers lined up and the sides taken in, I had to decide what to do about the waist. The original skirt had a side zipper, but I was kind of hoping I could put in elastic and leave juuuuust enough room to pull it over my hips. I wasn't sure how that would look, though, so I went with putting in a new zipper.

The zipper went in easily enough. I confess, I'm not all that particular about how it looks. If it goes up and down and holds the skirt closed, I'm good. But then came the fun part. What I intended to do was finish off the waist with double fold bias tape. What actually happened was...it was a disaster. The fabric went all stretchy on me. I bailed out of that method after making it about 1/4 of the way around. --sigh--

At this point I wanted to screw the whole thing into a ball and mash it into the trash can, but I knew what had to be done: I had to make a facing. So, there it is, all zippery and facingy and finally finished!