turkey feathers

Polka-Dots This Time

Another apron-smock finished!  It's a reverse of this one, same pattern.  From same re-purposed duvet cover.  Only I seamed up the back this time, and left an opening big enough so I can just slip this on over my head.  Didn't put elastic in the sleeves either, just left them loose.  I like how breezy and comfortable this is.  I'm imagining how perfect it will be for summer days spent in the garden or in the kitchen making jam.  It definitely has that casual, carefree summer vibe.  Click on the image for a larger view, and take a gander over here to see the back. 

I can't convey enough, how much I love this type of facing.  Love it.  It's a facing and a bodice all in one.  All so neat and tidy on the inside too.  What's more, trim, lace, or rick-rack can be added as you top-stitch it into place just by sliding it underneath as you go along. 

More rick-rack across the pocket.  And that chick there?  Well, it's the LAST of the wool blanket projects.  Can you believe it?  That magic blanket has finally been reduced to a pile of scraps.  I was beginning to wonder if it would ever happen, weren't you?  Now it's time to get started on that pattern booklet, eh? 

Coming Back Around

Poor Ginger has been down with the stomach flu for the last couple of days.  I've been tip-toeing around the fringes of it myself, but feeling much better today.  I think part of that has to do with being up all hours, with one eye open, one ear cocked, and one leg hanging off the edge of the bed ready to spring into action at the first hint of trouble: that horrible gag in the middle of the night.  The gag heard round the world; from a mother's point of view anyway.   If you're a mama, you know.  You know that sound.  (We'd already changed the bedding and cleaned up the floor once.)  Mostly, I was only needed to hold one's hair up and lend calm support through the worst of it.  Sometimes the ordinary events in a child's life can be difficult for us all.  Still, we are nurtured by the small gifts of compassion and very happy to be feeling well again. 

Meet Pumpkin. Ginger's pride and joy.  Her gentleman hamster companion.  He seems happy to be back in the thick of things too. 

Some of you asked about the little bird sitting on the bench in my last post.  Why, this is a 'Rufous-Sided Towhee', to be exact.  The males sport black and white polka-dot "suits".  I actually see more of them than the females who must be off tending their grass nests in the tangle of trees here and about.  I'm quoting now, from a small pocket booklet by Miller and Nelson, all wonderfully handwritten with beautiful illustrations and general bits of information:  "A timid ground feeder; prefers dense, unkempt gardens..." (yes, that would certainly explain their presence here!); they scratch with both feet together looking for insects...the "Towhee Shuffle".  They really do look like they're dancing when they do this!  Very cute.  They have incredibly bright rusty-red colored eyes too, hence their latin name meaning, "red-eyed chirper".  And a song worth noting, described as, "drink-your-teeeeee".   They're primarily located coast to coast.  Keep your eyes peeled to see one, they will surely delight.

oh, and I've got another apron-smock nearly finished, pictures soon!

Garden Rhythm

Spring came bearing gifts this weekend.  Sunshine and warmer temperatures being one of them, which was a wonderful surprise as we'd been expecting more rain.  Naturally, we dropped everything and bounced out the door.  The moment had finally arrived to spruce up the the garden and plant a few things. 

Birds like to plant things too.  So lovely to find little surprises like this.

To see the fresh glow of  little morning faces.

Buds on the crabapple trees ready to burst. 

The next sunny day may bring an explosion of fireworks. 

L O S T & Found

So tonight we pick up the story threads of our ill-fated crash survivors and manically endure their miserable suffering, strange mind games, sordid pasts, and gross medical procedures (what IS the fascination with that anyway---ewwww!), all in the relative comfort of our living rooms, while anticipating answers to questions that only lead to more.  Will we ever find out what's really going on?  Is the Island monster a supernatural figment of Ben's imagination?  Will Jack ever pull himself together now that he's back in the "real" world?  Or is he stuck in a parallel universe?  Why does Kate have Claire's baby?  And who's side is Sayed on anyway?  My head is spinning.  Oh, how we love a good yarn!  Soap operas, certainly, have never been more dramatic and complex than L O S T.  Though I can still remember rushing home from junior high every afternoon and switching on Dark Shadows, that creepy, campy saga with Barnabas Collins as its central figure who was secretly a vampire, with a shrink no less---that was endlessly wandering in search of lost love!  As a young girl, the irony and satire never seemed to enter my mind, however I was absolutely rivoted by the characters and their apparent daily peril.  Some things never change I guess.  Anyway, picking up another lost thread, (sorry for the bad pun) is this bag that I made last month and never got around to sharing here. Some of you might find it interesting because it's made from eight pre-cut charm squares.  They've been sewn together 2 x 8 to form a rectangle, and fortified with iron-on woven interfacing on the back.  Once you've made this foundation you can just fold it in half and sew up the sides.  I added box corners and lining to mine, and a few embroidered and appliqued elements for fun.  And fancy handles.  Sometimes you need fancy handles.  All in all, makes a nice little gifty-type bag, the finished size being about 7 x 7-inches.  (In this case, it was filled with Easter candy for Ginger.) Full view here.

Freezer Paper Print-Outs

It's our turn to jump on the bandwagon with a few freezer-paper projects.  Ginger made these t-shirts in preparation for her new little niece who is due to arrive in a few more weeks.  I guess we have bunnies on the brain with so many of them romping around the yard right now.  Plus the tags on these say, Rabbit Skins (from Dharma Trading Co.), so I guess that did influence our decision.   (If you haven't seen this technique before, Craftster has tutorials.) I prefer using the C. Jenkins 8.5 x 11 freezer paper sheets rather than the paper rolls from the grocery store though, mainly because you can feed these sheets into your inkjet and print any line design directly onto the paper.  This is great if you want to adjust the size as I did, but it can also save time if you're making many.  (Of course, you can trace designs right onto the paper too.)  Just a few more nifty uses and applications for the freezer sheets here; including printing directly onto cloth as I've done here. 

I'm probably the last one on the block to try this, though I've often admired quilts with old photographs printed onto the fabric and always wondered how difficult that might be.  It made me a bit nervous to tell the truth, but it worked fine.  I did have some ink smudges in places, so make sure your cloth is securely stuck to the paper before you proceed.  I used vintage pictures and photographs printed onto light-weight muslin that was trimmed to fit the sheet.  (After printing, let it dry completely before peeling off the freezer-paper backing.)  I imagine you could make all sorts of labels too.

I used a few as appliques on the newborn onesies I've been working on for baby grand-daughter #2.  She'll have lots of hand-me-downs from Sister, but it's always nice to have a few new things too.  Love how sweet these look with just a touch of blanket-stitching around the neck and a rosebud or bow, or in this case, the printed appliques.  (Used a tight zig-zag machine-stitch all around the raw edges.  Close-up view.)  TIP:: For cotton knits use a peel-away iron-on stabilizer on the inside of the garment in the area you're working on.  It's also a little tricky keeping these onesies flat under the sewing-machine needle, requiring a bit of adjustment as you go along, however, not too difficult.  My daughter-in-law will have to let me know how they hold up in the wash.  Since newborn clothing is outgrown in a flash, I doubt it will be much of a problem; though it's probably wise to use permanent or archival ink cartridges for making things that you don't want to fade.  I'm thinking about what to do with the other images I still have here.  Oh, the possibilities are endless.

Updated 4/29 to add:: I didn't use Bubble Jet Set, but did do a wash test on these printed images and had no fading at all.  I used an Epson printer, and their inks are made from permanent pigments, rather than dye-based types, such as the ones used by InkJet printers, which do fade and wash out more readily.  So in that case, you would need the BJS to preserve the ink longer.

Rainbows

Apparently old man winter's not giving up without a fight.  As a result, the weekend has been a crazy mix of wild weather so far.  This morning we woke up to snow.  Not earth shattering amounts, but uncommon for April. 

Yesterday, we all went into town for lunch, and on the way back to the car we got caught in a hail storm the likes of which we'd never seen.  Hence lots flailing of arms and high stepping as ice pellets the size of frozen peas shot down the backs of our shirts.  The noise inside the car was unbelievable.  Both from our giggly-wiggly screams and from the hail pummeling the roof.  I squirmed around in the backseat with my eyes closed and somehow we managed to get back home without hitting a tree. 

There has also been a little birthday celebrating going on for a certain, much adored Mister man around here.  Some covert activities happening in the kitchen (resulting in a beautiful and delicious chocolate-chip cake courtesy of Grace).  Complete with lovely (purchased) hand-dipped rainbow candles.  There have been rainbows appearing between the April showers and storms here too.                   What a gift that is. 

Speaking of gifts, there were a few, and here's another one.  Miss Lily puddin' here.  Who simply loves being in the middle of things.  Especially if there's wrapping paper involved.  She's going on eight, but her kitten-side comes out whenever there's a rustle of paper around.  It makes her so happy!  See that smile?  And that makes me happy.

Give & Take

Despite the dubious thoughts expressed in that last post, I'm really not singing any swan song yet.  Goodness no, I'm having too much fun.  Thanks though, for reminding me why I blog.  This path has lead to some amazing friendships as well as endless creative inspiration along the way, and I never take any of it for granted.  I've been sitting here for nearly an hour reading comments, and am so touched by your heartfelt thoughts;  all of which, sent me happily sobbing into my hankie. Oh, how I wish I could offer you all a cupcake and a cup of tea, but since that's not possible, let me just say, thank you for being there, thank you for listening, and thank you for caring! 

Just a snippet of sewing to share, to (hopefully) brighten your day.  As you do mine.  I finished my apron-smock and can't wait to make more.  The fabric looks familiar because it was salvaged from the same duvet I used to make the sewing chair slip-cover.  Now we're twins!  Can't tell where I start and the chair ends.  Scary.  And if the rain doesn't stop I'll be making a sewing-machine cozy to match!  Still have lots of fabric left, especially the polka-dot, so it's a good thing I really like it.  Perfect for making garden & kitchen smocks anyway.  The style may also look familiar because it's one I blogged about way back here.  But what's exciting is that Simplicity reprinted this pattern again as #2950 under 'Misses Retro Aprons'.  I was so happy when I found out (thanks again, Bethany), because the one I had was just one size:  very small.  Which no longer worked for me. (ahem)  Anyway.  I got this one online from the website, wasn't able to grab a link, the site has a search-box though.  It was interesting that they added the ties, which was how I always made this.  You can still seam up the back and leave an opening large enough to slip this over your head if you prefer to wear it as a top though.   I definitely need one of these in the polka-dots now.  And a hat to match.  No.  Just kidding.  About the hat.

Proceed With Caution

Pure poetry.  More of the ornamental fruit trees burst with bloom over the warm weekend.  The honeybees and hummingbirds were buzzing all around them.  If you're still waiting for Spring where you are, I hope these bring joy.

I went outside to take a picture of the trees and found a mama bunny sunning herself on the mossy road behind our house.  She sat perfectly still while I took her picture, and was probably on the look-out for Peter and Benjamin who are often seen sneaking around on this side of the fence. 

*Thank You* for the slipcover love.  I'm happy if I've inspired anyone to think about recycling and re-purposing old chairs and linens in a fun way.  I've covered up three so far, and what a difference it's made.  The rooms look so much nicer.  More furnished and pulled together.  The next chair I cover will probably be the one I'm sitting on.  Need to finish up my apron-smock first.  Can't wait to tell you all about that.  There's a fun twist to the story.

It does seem like my email box is bulging more than ever these days with requests for patterns and "quick" tutorials after sharing something on the blog that I've made.  (Sorry folks, I don't have one for slip-covers.  Since chairs come in all shapes and sizes,  I can only give general information and point in the direction of the many excellent books already written on the subject.)  Lately though, I can't help but wonder if readers are genuinely this needy, or if it's true that there's covert blog-mining happening for the purpose of commercial enterprise.  I've actually been observing subtle forms of this since I began blogging, but it really shocked and saddend me when I saw this.  Is there no shame?  (Hugs to you, Hillary.)  I'm actually beginning to consider that maybe, my crafty-blogging days are numbered.

Back on Earth

Finished my sewing-chair slip-cover yesterday!  The arm rests are gone, thanks to the Mister coming to my aid with a special tool that was needed to remove them.  I'm pretty happy with this.  It's simple but looks like an upholstered piece.  A little wiggle-room was necessary for this to slip on and off easily, so the extra fabric was pulled together with a drawstring and casing in the back.  A little elastic would've worked too.  Some of you sent me links (thank you!) to the beautiful chair covers you made, and it was helpful to see how you worked out this problem; mostly with sashes that wrapped around the sides and tied in the back.  I thought about doing that.  But this chair is not sleek.  And the thought of a big bow in the back just seemed wrong.  Like a hippo in a tutu.  Seriously, that's the image that came to mind.  I'm off to find more stuff to cover-up now.  Including myself.  Because I have a new/old smock pattern to stitch up!  More about that later...

At The Helm

This crazy-looking thing is next on my list of office-chair make-overs.  It's the one I use at my sewing machine.   I've had it for ages, and it's pretty comfy, but it reminds me of the one Captain Kirk navigated the Starship Enterprise from.  It's even got buttons on the sides.  These don't summon crew or launch rockets, they merely adjust the arm rests.  Still.  Those things really need to go.  No idea why I've left them so long.  As I was measuring the seat, I noticed it was about the same size as the back of the chair, only turned the other direction.  Saved myself a little time here with cutting one pattern instead of two, although I'll have to alter it slightly to cover the back-brace.   The pretty paisley fabric was formerly a king-size duvet cover (IKEA 1999), that I bought last year at a flea market.   I couldn't resist.  It was a lovely 82-inches wide with no middle seams and a bonus polka-dot backing.  The very fact that they were red polka-dots sealed the deal.  Basically, just two large sheets sewn together.  Very simple to turn inside-out and trim away the side seams, which is what I did yesterday.  I'm actually further along on this than the pictures show.  Hope to finish it up today.  Anyone else make one of these chair covers?