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!

I Should Stand Up Straight

So this is my first official refashion as a member of Wardrobe Refashion! The other day I was looking at the Anthropologie website, seeking inspiration for a new skirt, and saw this t-shirt. (Lucky for me, a $98 t-shirt isn't even tempthing.) After zooming in closer and realizing it was just a bunch of little, gathered heart-shaped cut outs, I figured I'd give it a go.

Off to the refashioning basket, where I had a plain black t-shirt just begging to be made into something else. CHOP-the neckline was changed. CHOP CHOP-the sleeves were shortened. Most of the hearts were cut out of the chopped off pieces. It looked like it needed a few more, so I sacrificed the bottom few inches of an XL tee which was also in the basket. I figure whatever I end up doing with that XL t-shirt, it probably won't need to be that long. It isn't an exact replica of the $98 tee, but I tried to exercise restraint--theirs had just a bit TOO much vegetation on it for my liking.

Bend It Like Amy

My mom's disdain for rules in sewing is legendary. "Oh, tsk, why would they have you do it that way? That's ridiculous." She has nothing but scorn for home ec teachers and their rules.


So if I learned anything about sewing from my mom, it's to do it the easy way! When I saw the title of Amy Karol's book, Bend-the-Rules Sewing, I knew I had to get my hands on it!


And check out Amy's blog, angry chicken, for more rule-bending goodness and a very entertaining bias tape tutorial.

Now, who wants to make a bag? This is the Simple Tote from Amy's book, fully photographed, step by step. Well, except I left out the pocket. That's just me--I never use the pockets in my bags. This is the finished product:

I love this pattern because it's easy to modify if you want a different size or shape. The method of construction is great because the results are very finished and professional. The bag itself appeals to me because it's not too structured, but not too sloppy, and the handles make it a little unusual and do a wonderful job of holding the bag closed. So, on we go...

Start with: 2 pc. outer fabric (10.5 by 9) 2 pc. lining (10.5 by 9) 2 pc. cotton flannel for interfacing (10.5 by 9) one strip 2.5 by 16 one strip 2.5 by 8 OR whatever sizes you want, whatever handle sizes you want, etc. And you can put pockets in it, obviously!

Put outer fabric right sides together and stitch around three sides, leaving top open.


Stick your hand in the bag and kind of open everything up, so you can pinch the corner to square off the bottom. You will sew across the corner to make the bag boxy--it's up to you how far up to sew it; it just changes the shape a little.


If it helps, you can draw a line to follow. The only thing you should be careful of here is to make the corners even.

Ta da! It has corners! I forgot to take a picture, but you can now trim off those corners.


I can never resist turning it right side out to take a look.



For the lining it should go: flannel piece lining piece lining piece flannel piece And the lining pieces should be RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER. (I should have used fabric with an obvious right side in the demo.)

Amy is anti-pin, but all these layers do tend to shift, so I put in a few pins.



Again, sew three sides, leaving top open. Don't sew over your pins! (Thank you to Rosemary's niece for the Darling Petunia pincushion.)


You do the boxy corner thing again. It helps me to iron the seams open and iron the whole corner flat.


ARGH! Bobbin ran out! Hate. That.

Up and running again. Yes, sew and then clip the corners.



The directions say to turn the strips under 1/8 inch on the edge and press, fold in half lengthwise and press again. Truthfully? Fold over whatever you're comfortable with and don't worry about being too precise. No one will ever know.


Then you sew along the open edge. I like using contrasting thread. :)

So now you have an outer bag and an inner bag.


Stuff the inner bag into the outer bag so that the right sides are together. Get it in there nice and snug.


This is how the handle will go...get it set up the way you want...


...and then slip it in between the outer and inner layers (between the RIGHT sides).




Make sure it's kind of centered, then pin through the whole works: outer layer, handles, lining, and flannel.

Again, with the other handle, get it situated...


...position and pin.



This is the exciting part. Now you can sew through all the layers around the top of the bag. Leave a hole for turning. I leave three inches. You don't have to be stingy with the hole, thinking you're going to end up hand sewing--it's all done on the machine!


This picture is awful, but that's the hole.


You now turn the whole thing through that hole.

To everything...turn turn turn...there is a season...turn turn turn.



Once it's all through, it's sort of like the bag threw up its lining. Ewww!


There now. Shove that lining inside where it belongs. Oh my, look at that untidy hole!


Tuck those raggedy edges in and get back to your machine...

...where you'll topstitch all around the top of the bag and...guess what? YOU'RE DONE!



It will probably need a little touch up after being squished through that hole, so hit it with an iron. (Thanks to Wendy for the lovely lavender water.)
















Just a glamour shot of the bag lying in the sun. Ah, so tropical! So warm!

So unlike the weather we're having so far this spring.

--pout--

See This Basket?

Everything in here awaits refashioning. Everything. Things need to be shortened. Buttons need to be changed. Appliques need to be applied. Those cute Lilly Pulitzer pants need to be made into something that will actually fit me. My other laundry basket is falling apart bit by bit, so I need to empty this one out. Help me, O Goddesses of Refashioning.

Not for Moi

--sigh-- I so wanted to love this book. It's set in France! The cover is red! It's not too thick and therefore not intimidating if I recommend it to someone! But, no, I struggled with it.

Myriam is opening Chez Moi with almost no resources. She fabricated her background to secure a loan, filled the place with secondhand furniture, and plans to do everything herself. She even lives there, takes baths in the sink, and sleeps on a banquette at night. Notice I haven't used the word restaurant. Myriam hesitates to call it a restaurant--she just wants to feed people for a reasonable price and struggles with any kind of indentifier. These are the aspects of the book I really liked.

But there's more to it. There's a background story, explaining how she came to be here. Something about it just wasn't satisfying to me--maybe something was lost in translation.?

Overall, it was okay. Not my favorite; kind of an uneven read. But if I had the chance, I'd love to have a meal at Chez Moi someday.

The Year of Fog

I work at the library, and I've never had a book nag me as much as this one. For about a year now, it's been crossing my path. "Oh, that looks interesting," I'd think. Then I'd read the flap and decide, no, that looks too depressing. Finally I gave in and took it home to read.

The Year of Fog is about what happens when a child and her father's fiance go for a walk on the beach and the child disappears. It's about what this disappearance does to the relationship between the child's father and his fiance. And, to a large extent, it's about the concept of memory.

So was it depressing? Nah. But, be warned, it's the kind of book that can keep you up all night as you read about how memories unfold and the search progresses. The chapters are short, and propel you along. I confess, I gave up at about 1 am and skipped ahead to find out what was going to happen, so you might want to save this one for a rainy day or a night you can stay up!

I Won't Send You My Cat

Yay! My first blogtastic swappy thing! I read about this on a fellow Wardrobe Refashioner's blog yesterday and signed up as quickly as I could--what fun! I really enjoy making things for people "just because," so this is right up my alley.

The Pay It Forward Pledge:

"I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

I promise I won't send anyone my cat, but she will almost certainly be in on the fun.



So, if you'd like to join in, just be one of the first three people to leave a comment on this post--as things stand right now, you have a pretty good chance of being one of the first three people to post on my BLOG, period! Then post the same pledge on your blog and Pay It Forward!

A Solemn Vow

I pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, and recycle pre-loved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings!

Signed, Darling Petunia.

For those of you unfamiliar with Wardrobe Refashion, you can see what everyone is up to here and read the rules here.