Sew Little Thyme

Pattern Rescue

2008-02-27T09:57:00.002-05:00

I got my patterns from Pattern Rescue!

This circa one is circa 1975 & looks like a newar copy of this spring top from The Gap! Change the sleeves a little & add some buttons down the from seam & some pin tucks, Ta Da!

This one is one is also circa 1975, but it looks a lot like this current top from the Gap spring line. The gap top is knit but I think that with just a little tweeking it could be pretty darn close.

This Vogue I have no idea what year it is from, but I just thought that it was cute! It didn't come with the envelope, but did have the page from the pattern book. I have no plans at the moment for this one but I think that it would be super cute for fall? I can't get my head around what to make it up in for spring or summer for some reason.

Anyway I thought that I would share the fab finds I received from Pattern Rescue & urge more vintage pattern lovers to check them out. I think that they are doing a great job & hope that with our support that they can continue on!

A new addition!

2008-02-22T08:58:00.002-05:00

Of the four legged kind! One of the mares that we take care of had her baby last Sat. between 1:30 am & 10:00 am. She is so cute & sweet!

There was some complications with Mama. She was able to pass all of the after birth. The vet has had to come out everyday to work on her to keep the infection down & help her pass it. We think that she finally has & today should be the last vet visit for a while. Let me tell you that this has been quite the learning experience for us! I have never been that up close & personal with the business end of a horse before! But I now know how to take a horses temperature! Eeeek!

I need to take some more picture as she is almost a week old already! The first day it was so fun to watch her try to figure out how to lay down & then how to get back up on those long legs. Now she has started running around in the small paddock area. She can even jump & buck some! Also she might be a baby but don't let that fool you. She is strong!!!!When the vet is treating Mama you have to take baby with her or she will go nuts. Well baby has of course never had a halter on her & isn't too thrilled with the feeling, but we havemanaged fairly well. Other than bashing me in the right elbrow with her hard little head we haven't had any major accidents. Oh other than the water trough incedent. On Tues. morning John was out cleaning the paddocks & baby was running around. She jump right into the tough & all that was sticking out was her little head! These troughs are big & probably weigh 200 lb or better not including the 105 lb baby in it! He was able to dump the tough over & baby washed out like a goldfish! Other than being wet & a little scared she is fine. Needless to say the have a much smaller water bucket now! It coudl have been really bad if JOhn hadn't been there to get her out.

So if you would like to see some more baby pictures you can see them here.

More New Patterns

2008-02-14T10:36:00.002-05:00

Yup more new patterns.

This seems to be the only thing that I have time to post about as of late. So without further delay......

Hot patterns:

Deco Vibe Delano Twinset
We love a slick Twinset-so comfy, so versatile, so stylish! Try this groovy 2-piece, designed for sweater knits, or 2-way stretch knits with rib trim.
Slim-fit Twinset features a neat, sleeveless tank with racer back, and neckline, armhole and hem rib finish. Cardigan has a neatly curved front, a center back pleat and slim 3/4 length sleeves with turn-back cuffs. Deep rib trim finishes the cuffs, neckline & hem. Fasten this chic Cardigan with a button if you wish, but we prefer it worn with this super-stylin’ hand-beaded brooch (which is outrageously easy to make!).
Wear this flattering 2-piece over our Plain & Simple 24/7 A-Line & Pencil Skirts or Everyday Pants for a fabulous office-casual look, or use it to dress up your Weekender Jean Jeanius Trouser Jeans or Bootcut Chinos, Capris & Shorts for a great casual outfit.

Plain & Simple Boy-Short Body
Yes, the 80’s are back, back back! Celebrate the Design Decade with our version of the iconic Body, brought right up to date and designed for 2-way stretch knits, with optional rib trim.
Fitted body has a wide back neckline and either a scoop-neck or cross-over V-neck front. Short or long 2-piece raglan sleeves give a superior fit and the boy-short leg-line gives a smooth line and a pert & perky derriere! Neckline & cuffs are trimmed with rib or self fabric; Body simply pulls on over the head and closes with snaps.
Wear this fabulously sleek piece for a trim, uncluttered look. Avoid the dreaded ‘muffin top’ with a sleek, smooth line when you wear your favorite jeans, pants or skirts. Or use this versatile style as an indispensable layering piece under a cardigan, vest, shirt, dress or jacket.

Plain & Simple 24/7 A-Line & Pencil Skirts
Loving these groovy, stylish skirts, designed for any and all skirt fabrics, from denim to broderie anglais, from suede to cotton, from tweed to crepe.
Fitted Skirts finish *just* below the knee and have front & back darts, a center back invisible zipper, optional lining and a contoured waistband that sits right at the natural waist. A-Line skirt has a gentle, controlled flare and a bias-faced hem; Pencil skirt is ever-so-slightly tapered with a deep hem and a concealed back slit.
Try these hard-working pieces with a matching jacket as part of a chic suit and as indispensable co-ordinates for your everyday wardrobe. These great skirt styles will showcase a gorgeous fabric, or act as an inspirational blank canvas for all your favorite trim and embellishment ideas and techniques.

Plain & Simple Iconic Shirtdress
How hot is this fantastic dress style? Smokin’ hot! We love this modern-classic Shirtdress, designed for luxe knits like silk, cashmere or merino wool jersey, or even rayon or viscose knits.
Slim-fit Shirtdress has a gentle A-line flare, long sleeves with plackets & cuffs, and a classic shirt collar with stand. Shirtdress has a shoulder yoke, center back seam and front placket closure, and an optional tie belt.
The ultimate in understated luxury, this classic Halston-inspired Shirtdress makes for an elegant daywear staple in any solid hue. The self-tie can be worn belted at the waist or fastened cravat-style at the neck. Try this fashionista favorite as your perfect LBD, or dress it down for daytime over a polo neck with boots and a messenger bag.

Pattern Rescue

2008-01-25T10:03:00.000-05:00

Sharon posted the other day about this pattern website that I hadn’t heard of before, Pattern Rescue.

What a fabulous idea!!!! Pattern Rescue is dedicated to restoring and preserving vintage sewing patterns. You can order patterns from them for free with a donation for the shipping (very reasonable I think). I requested three from them & gave them a shipping donation the other day. I quickly received a friendly e-mail telling that all my patterns were available, would be shipped this weekend & thanking me for my donation.

I LOVE vintage patterns & often rescue them from thrift stores. I have ended up with a grab bags of patterns when I was really only interested in a couple of them. How can you pass up a bag of patterns for only a couple bucks???? When I get the chance I plan to send Pattern Rescue some of my rescues that I will probably never find a use for. Share the love you know. Also now I won’t feel so bad about picking up those little gems that I just couldn’t to pass up for .49 but then realize I will never use. I can just donate them to be recycled to someone who will. Great!!!

New patterns for 2008

2008-01-25T09:28:00.000-05:00

Well so far the new year is starting off with some eh pattern offerings. Nothing earth shaking, gotta have it from what I have seen so far.

Hot Patterns has two new ones that are probably 2 of the best that I have seen so far.

First up is the Wong-Singh-Jones Kimono Wrap Dress:

An exotic twist on the classic wrap dress, this deliciously flattering style is designed for drapey, fluid knits like silk(y) jersey, rayon or lightweight cotton knits.
Fitted wrap Dress has a shoulder-princess seamed bodice with V-neck front wrap and an optional button fastening, neatly hidden by the waist ties. Dress has 3/4 length sleeves and a below-knee length quarter-circle wrap skirt, and features contrast neckband and wide, extra-long waist ties. This great Dress is sure to become a staple of your HotPatterns wardrobe-it’s your go-to style for dressy daywear, or a low-key evening outfit. Try it with knee-high boots, a slouchy bag and a pashmina for a daytime diva look, or add your favorite heels and an exotic clutch for an easy after-5 ensemble.

This I really like, but I am not ready to spend $15.95 to buy the pattern yet. I would like to see it made up first.

The other Hot Patterns offering is the Classix Nouveau Fit To Be Tied Shirt:

You’re going to adore this stunningly stylish Shirt, designed for classic shirting fabrics like crisp linen, cotton poplin, lawn or silk twill, but just as glorious in crisp taffeta, single-ply Thai silk, silk dupioni or chambray denim.
Fitted Shirt has a shaped hem, slightly cut-in armholes, shoulder yoke, front button band and shirt collar with stand. Shirt back is pleated onto the yoke, and features shoulder princess seams. Shirt front is gathered onto the button band and has an optional tie. Long sleeves have an inverted pleat at the sleeve head, finishing with French cuffs-perfect for cufflinks!
How many ways to wear this fabulous shirt ? Team it with a sober Jacket and Pants or Skirt for a beautiful office look; wear it with your favorite evening Pants; or try it to dress up some artfully distressed vintage jeans

Another nice looking pattern but this looks very much like a blouse that was in a Burda WOF issue last fall. So I don't think that I will be buying this one either.

Now on to the Big 4. First up McCalls:

These are not really my favorite pants, but they reflect the rising waitline that seems to be the trend for Spring. I personally have a short waist & rise so they do nothing for me, but someone taller might like them.
McCall’s 5592 - MISSES’ PANTS IN TWO LENGTHS: Slightly flared pants in two lengths has contour waistband with carriers, button and buttonhole closure or hook and eye closure, fly closure, side front pockets and back patch pockets, yoke back and stitched hems; pants A, B have right inside patch pocket.

McCall’s 5588 - MISSES’ TOPS AND TUNIC: Pullover, loose fitting top or tunic has contrast yoke, gathered front and back with sleeve variations; tops A, C, D have stitched hems; tunic B has contrast hem band.

I like the neckline on view C. I think that it would be a really cute work top made from knit & by adding some ¾ sleeves with a gathered cuff. I am not sure how “Crafty” this pattern is but I would pick it put at a $.99 sale.

McCall’s 5586 - MISSES’ TOPS: Loose fitting tops have self-faced yoke, gathered front and purchased bias tape finished armhole; tops A, B have gathered back; purchased metallic, plastic or acrylic jewel stones, flat sequins or beads to creatively embellish yokes

This jacket reminds me a little of this Gap jacket that I saw in the store the other day.

Now I could buy the Gap jacket at 1/2 off as I work in the Corp office but I have the perfect striped fabric to make it.....So I might have to make it instead of taking the easy way.
McCall’s 5593 - MISSES’ LINED JACKETS: Jackets A, B, C have raglan sleeve, gathered front and back into self-faced yoke, topstitching detail, optional covered buttons, collar and sleeve variations; jacket A has two-piece gathered sleeves; jacket B has two-piece gathered sleeves with self-cuffs and concealed pockets; jacket C has wide sleeves.

McCall’s 5594 - MISSES’ LINED JACKETS: Jackets A, B, C have front and back darts, gathered lower section, collar and sleeve variations; jacket A has gathered sleeve with sleeveband; jacket B has three-quarter length sleeve with gathered ruffle; jacket C has long sleeves.

First off I am not a fan of leggings for me. I got to experience them in all their glory the first time around, along with peg rolled jeans & layers of slouch sock. Second off um this is a little low cut don’t cha think, Miss Duff????

McCall’s 5575 - MISSES’ TUNIC AND DRESS: Fitted across bust, raised waistline bodice with band at neck edge and sleeves, pleated skirt front; tunic A has hem band; dress B is above mid-knee length.

On to Vogue. First let me say that there are many Vogue patterns that I will look at & say "Oh I like that" but me life style doesn't require gowns or dress suites, so I don't often include them in my picks.

I really like the details of these pants, like the bound back pockets. I can totally seeing making these for work. Maybe in linen for summer?
Vogue #8479: MISSES’/MISSES’ PETITE PANTS: Unlined, semi-fitted, slightly flared pants have fly zipper, front darts, yoke back, bound pockets and waistline, carriers and cuffed hem.

Another wrap/crossover top but a little differnt with the gathers. Nothing earth shattering but it seems you can't have too many wrap top patterns.
Vogue #8477: MISSES’ TOP: Semi-fitted, pullover tops have mock wrap fronts and banded neckline. A, B: short, banded sleeves. B: contrast neck and sleeve bands. C: three-quarter length sleeves.

Up & running!

2007-12-29T13:26:00.000-05:00

Oh geez! Well here are the last couple weeks in a nut shell. First off our internet has been down for a while & there was all of this…..

We went to the SASS Convention in Las Vegas, it was fabulous, John got terribly sick Fri-Sat. I had to go to the Ball all by my lonesome. Poor man he was horribly sick, but it seemed to be going around. Then on the way home on Mon. I started getting a head cold. Which is still kind of hanging around weeks later. I have some fabulous pictures here on flickr.

I have to tell you the story about this dress.

Isn’t it gorgeous????? My wonderful friend Gina, gave me this dress!!! Did you hear that people G-A-V-E it to me???? I cried! I was in shock!!!! It is so beautiful & I am soooooo made that I did not get a picture if her & I that day!!!! I hope that someone out there got one! Also the back is fabulous! I will have to try to find a picture of that too.
Here's Gina & I at the Ball.

Then the next weekend we went to the Rio Grande Renegade Christmas Party. John was finally able to wear the vest that I had made him to match my reception dress.

Let see we went to Sue & Fred’s for Christmas day. What a great time we had & oh the food!!!!!
Here is Fred & Sue at the Renegade's party.

I have been working extra hours, oh & John got laid off the day after we got back from Vegas! Another great Merry Christmas employment problem for the Muras. Sigh…. What can you do? He got a couple of things in the works so we are just plugging along.

To leave things on a positive note here are some Thrifty finds. Thrift Town was having a sale on everything the other day & I got some groovy 1975 Stretch & Sew patterns.

I was really excited about this one:

Because I really like the looks of this Garnet Hill skirt.
I think that I should be able to modify it pretty easily to be a non-wrap for a very similar look.

Stay tuned for some Christmas gift picture to come soon.

Some soldering Iron help? Please!!!!

2007-12-02T11:46:00.000-05:00

Ok so I have been trying in vain to find out what kind of soldering iron is good for making the soldered glass pendants. There are several sites out there on how to make them but hardly any of them tells you what kind of soldering iron is a good one for this kind of work!!! I have read that you want one that keeps a constant temp but I am used to using a torch for soldering jewelry not a soldering iron.

SO I am totally clueless as to what I am looking for!!!! UGH!!!! I did read on one lady's site that she recommends the Temptrol by Inland, but I was hoping to see what kinds others like. I have seen LOTS of bad reviews but very few good. If there is anyone that can point me in the right direction I would be sooooo grateful!

How cool is this??!!!!!!

2007-11-30T09:16:00.000-05:00

I was quickly going through my feed this morning (I am going to work early this am & really need to get a move on but.....) & on Funky Find I say this!!!!

Chara Michele is as sweet & kind as she is talented. And that's saying a lot! I found Chara's blog through another blogger's post about the fall swap she recently hosted. I have been a loyal reader of her blog since (and I had a ball participating in her swap!). Chara's Etsy shop has a problem all designers dream of...she continually updates her stock, but her items sell quickly before anyone can report on them! Her beautiful scarves sell like hot cakes, and it's no wonder. She also creates fun tags that can be used in a variety of ways. Check back often for updates you surely do not want to miss!

That's my friend Chara!!!! Yeah!!! To be totally un-hip, You go Girl!!!!!! Just had to give you some blog love!

To Ottobre, Or not??? & needing some gift advice???

2007-11-28T09:43:00.000-05:00

After seeing Lori's really cute jeans she made from Ottobre 5/2007 I am wondering if I "need" to jump on the Ottobre band wagon?

They kind of remind me of these cute jeans from Old Navy.

There have been some really cute items reviewed on PR from various Ottobre issues. Their kids patterns are really cute, but as we are kid-less at this point I know that I don't need any of the kid's issues but what about the women's issues?

I thought I would see what you all think. Have any of you made anything from an Ottobre issue? What did you think of their patterns? Were the magazines worth the price? Or would I be better off getting a couple of the new Hot Patterns & some More Onion patterns?

I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say.

Oh let me leave you with a progress picture of the convention sewing......

And one of our Thanksgiving, well Black Friday really, snow. Yup New Mexico gets snow, but it is almost all gone already!

One last thing one a totally unrelated note, has anyone ever tried making soldered glass pendants?
I was trying to decide what to do for our mom's & John's aunt for Christmas & because there is no way I am making their gifts as I usually do this year, I was checking out the pendants on Etsy. My thinking was that I would buy the charms & string them into a beaded necklace. Then because I wasn't find exactly the images that I wanted I thought, you dummy! Surely you can makes these! I started looking into how they are made. Pretty straight forward & John must have a soldering iron right. Tool man that he is. Ha! Nope, he does not. Sooooo now I would need to get a soldering iron, lead free silver solder, microscope slides, copper tape etc...... Where I have no idea. Any suggestions? Or should I settle (not that they all aren't really really beautiful, but not what I was wanting) for the ones on Etsy?

Happy Turkey Day!

2007-11-22T09:49:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving all!!!!

I hope that everyone has a fabulous turkey, carb, pie filled day! We are going to some friend’s house this afternoon. Then it is 3 days of sewing craziness here at SLT. I have 12 days before we leave for Vegas & the SASS Convention.

So here is what is on the sewing list before then…..

A couple of these shirts for John, and a vest to match my reception dress(See below).

Finishing up this dress…..

Working on getting a better fit with some other dresses that I have (now that I have a corset).

Then this is the big one! I am making my version of this dress:

From this fabric & solid brown "satin" with wide pink ribbon....

Then if there is time finishing up this:

That will become one of these:

from the Laughing Moon Split Skirt pattern.

Then I have to share one last thing. I get to wear this fabulous dress thanks to my too sweet friend Gina. Isn't it gorgeous!??

Hope that everyone has a great day & if you are crazy enough to go shopping tomorrow, be safe & may the deal Gods bless you!

And even more new pattern!

2007-11-21T10:33:00.000-05:00

Well I guess that Hot Patterns has a new pattern line. I usually get their e-mails but I didn’t get anything on these. pout pout....

So I am not exactly sure when they released them. I just happened to get sale e-mail from Gorgeous Fabrics this morning & she mentioned one of the new patterns.

Anyhoo, they look pretty great!

The is called Metropolitan & here is what HP has to say about it:

“We adore dressing up for work! But please nothing to strict, nothing too formal, just chic pieces that make those dreary Monday mornings a little more bearable. Try these gorgeous styles, designed to deal with the vexing & dreaded “Business Casual” dress code, but just as fabulous made up in more casual fabrics for weekend loveliness….”

Well let’s have a look see……

Sleek & Chic Skirt

Urbanista! Coat-Dress

These are my favorites!

Superfly Skirt

Get your baaad self into these Superfly Skirts, designed for firm but drapey fabrics like denim, corduroy and cotton velvet-but also pretty darn fabulous in heavy crepe, linen or tropical wool.
Unlined, narrow A-line skirt has darts front & back, and a contrast faced waist and hemline. Skirt sits on the natural waist and features center front & back seams, front fly zipper fastening, belt carriers & optional (but oh-so-very highly recommended!) top stitching. Short skirt finishes at the knee; longer version finishes at mid-calf.
Wear this great Skirt with our Metropolitan Tie Me Down Top and Seriously Stylin’ Jacket for a groovy workday outfit, or team it with our Weekender Sunshine Tops and a yummy cardigan for a casual look.

This skirt would look so cute with my new "yeah for my new job shoes!"

Criterion Blouse

Totally gorgeous blouse, designed for fluid, drapey fabrics like crepe de chine, charmeuse, rayon, georgette, washed silk and lightweight crepe-but also stunning in a stable single knit or a silk(y) jersey.
Semi-fitted Blouse has shaped side seams and front rouleaux loop & button fastening. Blouse has front yoke with gathers and cutaway front neckline with collar band and collar, finished with a tie. Back has a yoke and a center back released pleat. Gently gathered, buttoned cuffed sleeves finish above the elbow or at the wrist.
Wear this glamorous Blouse with our Weekender Jean Jeanius Trouser Jeans and top with a cosy cropped cardigan, or team it with our Metropolitan Seriously Stylin’ Jacket and Sleek & Chic Skirt for a super-stylish, dressy/casual outfit.

Seriously Stylin’ Jacket

Want a feminine but sharp jacket to wear with jeans, with pants, with skirts? Try this seriously stylin’ little number, designed for firm but soft fabrics like denim, corduroy and cotton velvet-but also divine in a wool boucle, tweed or silk brocade.
Lined, semi-fitted Jacket has rounded collar & rever, and shaped waistband with half-belt and buttons at the back. Jacket features panel seams, gathers above & below the waistband and oversized button front closure. Gathered, slightly flared wrist length sleeves have mock button vent.
Wear this yummy Jacket with your favorite tailored pants or skirt for a fabulous soft suit, or team it with our Weekender Jean Jeanius Trouser Jeans for a really funky, fabulous business-casual look.

Tie Me Down Tops

All tied up in these sweetly pretty and ultra-wearable knit tops, designed for soft, fluid knits with a little stretch-try silk(y) jersey or a drapey t-shirting.
Semi-fitted Top has center front seam and a tie neck. Top features shaped hemline, with shirring at the shoulders and center back for a fabulous fit. Choose from short gathered flutter sleeves, or full length gathered sleeves with a shirred cuff. Top pulls on over the head for super-easy dressing.
You just know you’ll wear these lovely tops day in, day out...wear them to soften up a slick Pants or Skirt Suit to the office, try them with a neatly fitted cardigan-and-skirt combo for a go-anywhere outfit, or channel your inner vintage Diva and team them with our Weekender Jean Jeanius Trouser Jeans for a pretty retro-chic look

I really like this blouse because it is for knits but I can't decide if it is different enough from the Criterion Blouse, wich can also be made from knits. I LOVE the sleeves on the the Criterion Blouse blouse, but the shirring at the shoulders of the Tie Me Down shirt is a super cute detail too! Oh what to do........

On other Hot Patterns news Sew Simple mag used the HP Weekender Chilled-Out Sweat Suit latest issue & is offering a 20% off coupon.

If you have been contemplating getting this one you might want to check that out.

More New Patterns

2007-11-19T10:39:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post about some new patterns that have come out. I got some sewing related stuff done over the weekend, but mostly it consisted of cutting out dress for the SASS Convention. I am preparing for the 4 day sewing marathon I hve planned for over the Thanksgiving weekend.

So here goes:

Jalie has some new patterns out.

From Jalie's new ones I really like these patterns.

#2794 ~ Sweetheart Top
Sweetheart top with banded neckline and front yokes, gathers at the bust and a choice of cap or three-quarter sleeve.

#2793 ~ Empire-waist Tunic, This one has been done many times over but there is something about Jalie's version that I really like.
Trendy tunic with back tie, upper bodice gathered into empire waist insert and choice of cap or banded 3/4 sleeve. View A has added ease and gathers at lower front. View B has a flat lower front.

On to Simplicity. Apparently they have teamed up with Project Runway to put out a line of patterns. Hmmmm I can't say that I am overly impressed so far. I haven't seen them in person to know if they have all kind of fabulous sewing secrets included in their envelopes or not, but I can say that that I am pretty sure that most of what I have seen so far has been done, several times over already. I would have expected a little more from them. Oh well.

Here are a couple examples:
Simp 3529

Simp 3530

Now this little jacket really do like:
Simp 3538

Simp 3536 I love crowl neck tops!

Simp 3539 Cute wardrobe pattern.

Here are some Buttericks that I missed a couple weeks ago.
B5136 Retro 1948

B5145

That's about it.

Job Update & Wrap Dress Knock-off help

2007-11-08T09:38:00.001-05:00

So the update on the job at The Gap corp offices is……That I got it!!!! Yeah!!!!! I start on Monday! So now I am hunting through totes of clothes trying to find some work clothes. Now even The Gap corp is very casual, but I don’t think that I should be showing up in jeans the first day. Besides I am going to take this job as an opportunity to sew up some of this crazy huge mountain of a stash I have. I think that when you have twice as many totes of fabric as you do clothes that might be a problem!
One of the cool perks of work for The Gap is that I will get a discount at Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic & PiperLime.com! Yeah! But I still need to use up some of this crazy stash.
So I am looking for some inspiration for a fun casual comfy work wardrobe. I got the latest Garnet Hill catalog the other day & I really like this dress:

This true wrap style offers classic sophistication in lightweight stretch viscose jersey. Secured with an inside button closure and a self-fabric tie belt, it has long, slim sleeves finished with split cuffs, a flattering A-line skirt and a close, conforming fit. Looks great over leggings. Imported. $148.00
Um yeah but I am way to cheap to pay $148 bucks for it. So what pattern??? I was thinking maybe Burda WOF 4/2007 #108

Or Maybe the Onion Vintage Dress 2012, made in a knit (I have this one)

Or maybe Onion 2014 Knit Wrap Dress (that I don’t have, darn I’d have to order more patterns!!!!)

Or if anyone has any suggestions for this I would love to hear them.
Also suggestions for some fun creative casual wardrobe inspiration I would LOVE to hear that too!
Sorry no pictures of the new apartment yet. It’s still a huge mess. I think that is why I am having a creative block on coming up with some ideas for a new work wardrobe. I can’t concentrate with too much mess. We are going to work on getting some things squared away today. I am hoping that might help clear my creative road block.

New Look Winter 2007

2007-10-31T09:18:00.000-05:00

We are still moving in & there are piles of “stuff” everywhere so I no pictures of our new digs just yet.

So instead I have my picks from the new New Look patterns.

Nothing earth shatteringly trendy or fabulous but quite a few “basics”.

First up.....

#6749 ~ Dresses: I really like view A, the purple one on the model. I think that this would make a fabulous Holiday party dress or a wonderful "Little Black Dress". If you made it in black you could make the sash from a wonderful jewel tone satin that is so "in" this season. With all the different options in this pattern there is something for every one's tastes.

#6750 ~ Dresses: Another good dress pattern for the Holiday season & beyond. I really like the black & white one on the model for work & the black one with the jewel tone sash.

If you look at the line drawing, this pattern has a ton of different options. It appears that it would be very easy to lengthen the sleeves to make it a little more cold weather friendly.

#6753 ~ Knit Tops: A slightly different take on an empire waist knit top.

#6756 ~ Misses Capes and Bag: A different take on the winter coat. Capes seem to be big this season & they are starting to grow on me.

#6756 ~ Trousers & Skirts: I was trying to decide how I feel about this pattern. I don't think that I care for the skirts at all. The trousers however I am torn on. I like the grey pair shown on the model, but I am am not sure about the tan pair. I think that the sash makes the gray ones for me. I think that I might like the tan pair better if I could see them with an untucked close fitting knit top. Maybe it is just that I remember when pleated front pants were the thing & it haunts me! Or maybe it's the wide yoke then the pleats that look odd to me without some kind of top covering some of the yoke. I'm not sure......

#6762 ~ Knit wardrobe: A good basic knit wardrobe pattern. I think that this would make a great base for a travel, comfy weekend or even casual work wardrobe. It would be very easy to lengthen the sleeves or body of the top for many different looks. Depending on the knit you use (wool, cotton, rayon, etc) this pattern could take you through all four seasons.

Also I think that the top would be so cute if you lengthen the raglan sleeves to end in a gathered cuff like these:

Unisex patterns are usually blah, but I think that I might pick these two up.

#6765 ~ Miss, Men & Teen Pajama Pants /Short, Knit Top and Misses Knit Nightshirt - PJ's always seem to be popular as gifts & I thought that this one had some good possibilities for themed jammies. You can do the bottoms in a print, maybe a favorite sports team, then do the top in the team colors.

#6766 ~ Miss, Men & Teen Pullover Top and Pants and Misses Knit Pants and Tank Top: Another good lounging around watching fall football pattern. I think that the pockets on the pants are cute, but I am not sure how I feel about the tank top. The waist tie is cute & maybe if you add a built in bra to it I might feel differently. hmmmmm.......

Now for my "what were they thinking" pick:

#6763 ~ Misses Pants and Knit Cardigan and Tops: Is it just me or does this just look odd? Is it maternity wear or what? I don't think so because there isn't a panel in the pants & the tank doesn't look like it would accommodate a bump, what is up with that cardigan???? It makes here look like she's five!

Here I'll leave you with one picture from own new place. This is looking to the west from our deck.

Thrifty Thursday

2007-10-25T11:39:00.000-05:00

Ok I have tried to post this a few times but my pictures would not load, but now that we have hi-speed internet at the apartment I finally can! Haaaaaa!!!! So here is my Thrifty Thurs a week late!

I was going to post this along with my “News” post but it got way to long & out of hand. It had to get it’s own post.

So on to the Thrifty Thursday….if my pictures would ever finish uploading. So I have discovered another thing to LOVE about New Mexico, aside from the fact that nearly everyone here is sooo nice. There must be something in the water because people are just really friendly. Not like the polite friendly in the Mid-West but the help you move heavy gun safes after only knowing you a couple months, talk your arm off in the check-out line friendly. Really nice but hard to know how to deal with having grown up in South Florida where you are more likely to get flipped off or cursed out than anything else. So anyway back to what I LOVE. In Abq there is a road named San Mateo, this is turning into my most favorite street so far. (Reasha if you are reading this, have you guessed why?). There is a Joann’s fabrics, Hancocks Fabrics, Savers Thrift store & a huge Goodwill at with in like 3 miles of each other! The first two next to each other & the third across the street! Crazy! So I haven’t done much thrifting since moving here, what with not working & all, but I have gotten to Savers a couple times.

So I have babbled enough, Here are some pictures of my New Mexico thrifty finds. I guess that because I haven’t been able to blog in so long that I am just rattling on & on.

Black chunky work heels - Nine West $12.00
Black mary janes - $4.99 for Can Can outfit yet to be made.
Blue heels - $4.99 great shape on the heel. I am going to replace the ties with gold ribbon to go with my "Blue Mum" Victorian Dress.

Blue Ridge plate - 69 cents

Couple of new blouses for my new job(fingers crossed that I get it).

These are for my Mom for Christmas.

McCall's 9635 ~ Front wrap dress with or without short set-in sleeves and scarf.
McCalls 4631 ~ Dresses or top and pants with transfer for embroidery.
I got these & 2 others for 99 cents at Savers.

Vogue 7226 ~ Very loose fitting evening dresses.

McCall's 4313 ~ Unlined jacket & pants. Circa 1974

These were in the same pack as the other two McCall's patterns. The Vogue one dosen't have have the direction & I don't plan to keep it anyway. The McCall's one felt the same way about that one at first but once I took a closerr look I think the jacket might be kind of fun to make up.

The jacket description is this "Buttoned, back yoked jacket has collar, sleeves pleated into buttoned cuffs and waistband extension tied in front. Jacket B has pleated patch pockets with button trimmed flaps."

I was thinking that made up in the right fabric it might be pretty cute for work. But what kind of fabric.........?

McCalls 4631 - circa 1975. Groovy baby! I actually bought the pack of patterns from Savers just for this pattern & the wrap dress pattern. I really like the blue satin top for some reason. I also think that this would be nice made up in a knit. The pattern description " Pullover dress or top gathered into neckbands, has raglan sleeves gathered into buttoned or snapped cuffs and cummerbund. Pants have hooked waistband and zipper in front opening." This pattern is as old as me!

Let me add to that the Goodwill here has a clearence center. I got 2 blouses, the napkins & the scarf that is under the shoes, all for $1.25! Crazy huh!????

Some News

2007-10-25T11:25:00.000-05:00

Ok let me start by saying that I have been trying to post this since Thurs. am. So now some of the news has come & gone.......Like my interview on Fri. seeing as today is Sat.

Yes I am still alive. Still dealing with spotty internet connection but that should change soon.

So with the news, well several things really.

First I have my second round of interviews with The Gap Inc, corp. offices on Fri. They have part of their headquarters here in Abq (that’s short for Albuquerque incase your not up on the New Mexican lingo). They handle all the real estate, payroll, inventory & other financial stuff here. For those that don’t my degree when I was in college was Fashion design & merchandising until they canceled the program. Leaving me with a bunch of non-transferable credits & a bad tasted for higher education. Thus my unfinished degree. So I am rather excited about the prospect of working at The Gap, be it not at all in a creative aspect. But if you know away to make Payroll creative endeavor by all means please let me know. Anyhoo they have a tons of employee benefits & sound like a great company to work for. They remind me a little of when I worked for State Farm in MI. We shall see. It’s only part-time for now but from the sounds of things there will be tons of opportunity to move in all kinds of directions with them once I actually get the job.

PS ~ The interview went well or maybe ok. I don't know I hate interviews. I always think of what I want to say or ask an hour after it's over. Ugh! All four of the people that I interviewed with were very nice & personable. I think that I would really like working at there if I get the job. So fingers crossed. I shoudl hear something Mon.

There is a reason that I am only looking for a part-time job right now…….No not that reason. Although is probably will including taking care of babies next spring but of the four legged type. John & I have been offered a caretakers position at a Thoroughbred horse ranch! They currently have 3 mares in foal! Yeah! That will be fun to see babies born. Here is what we get an apartment & 1 car garage on the 40 acre ranch, including high speed internet, direct TV, all utilities & local phone calls. So as glamorous as all that sounds we in exchange need to feed & clean 7 horse stalls & paddocks every morning, feed again at night, feed 2 dogs & clean their kennels out weekly as well. But David & Laurie are very nice, we will have more room than in our “home on wheels” & they have a gorgeous view of the Sandia Mountains! We are moving in this weekend so I will try to get some pics then.

Also John & I are going to the SASS Convention in Las Vegas in Dec!!!!! Yeah! We will be working, volunteering really, but it gets us a room & tickets to the convention so who cares! This is billed as the social event of the year for SASS people. There are tons of vendors, a ball & lots of people from all over the country come. My friend Gina from Idaho will be there & a bunch of other ladies that I know from the internet that I haven’t met face to face yet. Pretty exciting for us. Once we move in to out apt at Rising Star Ranch (great name huh?). I will be sewing like a crazy person trying to get stuff made for us to wear in Vegas. It’s pretty fancy because everything is inside, so no dirt & wind! Yeah! I know one dress that I will defiantly be taking is this one. We finally got our pics back from the photographer that we had taken at Outlaw Trail. This is the one that we are going to use for our Christmas card this year.

On a totally different note I am really enjoying Twilight.

I saw the author on the Today Show a couple weeks ago & picked up the book to see what the fuss was about. It’s supposed to be the next Harry Potter type craze. I think that it is gear toward an older audience though. I have always like Vampires, not sure what that is about but I really got into the whole Interview with a Vampire thing. It’s an easy read & good for getting lost in. I like a little romance with my mystery/adventure, but not all that heaving chests & what not like the Harlequin romances. So this fits the bill. Also I have 2 more after this one to look forward to. I like my books like I like my movies, easy to get into & Calgon-take-me-away- esque. I don’t want to be depressed when I am done.

That is about it for now. We have my aunt & uncle stopping in for a couple days on their way to AZ (they are full time RV-ers), taking care of the horses where our RV is, cat sitting for some friends (at another place), job interview Friday afternoon & moving this weekend. Yeah I think that should be enough to keep me busy a couple days. ~ Again 2 days late on the posting thanks to a crappy connection, so they came & are leaving today. Had a great time with them.

Oh one last thing to share. I am loving this new jewelry set I made a couple weeks ago. The grey/black/cream stones are some kind of opal that I bought in a bead store in Old Town. They are really pretty in real life the pics don’t show them off that well. ~ Wore this with my bubble gum pink skirt & balck pants to my interview. It looked really nice with the pink actually. Maybe they brought me some luck?!

Wish me luck at my interview & I hope to post some pics of our new digs soon!

To SWAP or not to SWAP?

2007-10-13T10:25:00.000-05:00

I LOVE checking out all the entries to the Timmel SWAP every year, but have never entered the contest myself. For one thing I never knew when it started so I was pretty excited when I stumbled on to a blog post saying that the rules for the 2008 SWAP contest where up! You can read them here: SWAP 2008 Rules.

For anyone that is not familar with what a SWAP (Sewing With A Plan) is here, is a brief description or you can read more here:

"Here is the formula: Stage One - make 11 garments. These are: 2 pairs of pants; 2 skirts, one in a solid colour, one in a print or check; 2 simple tops, one solid, one in the above print; 4 tops, in colours which coordinate with the solids; 1 simple cardigan jacket in a solid color."

Julie at Timmel has used this concept of a SWAP & made a contest out of it. You have to put together a wardrobe of atleast 11 garments. You can use one piece that you purchased and or one that you knitted, crocheted or wove. You must also use a print, plaid, check or stripe for one of your items.

Here are the basic 11 garments as they apply to the Timmel contest:

"This consists of 11 garments, 4 bottoms (skirts and/or pants), 6 tops (2 should be more like blouses than just tees), and 1 jacket that will work with all the tops and bottoms. This gives you a total of 48 possible combinations. However, you can substitute a dress or dresses for two of the tops if you wish. Therefore, your SWAP can be 1 jacket, 4 bottoms, 4 tops, 2 dresses or it can be 1 jacket, 4 bottoms, 5 tops and 1 dress. The jacket must work with all combinations.
In the case of a jumper, this would count as a "bottom" item, in that it must work with all the tops and it must also be able to be worn with the jacket. A vest is counted as a jacket since it is usually worn over a top. If it can be worn solo, count it as a top."

Every year Timmel also throughs in a twist to make each years contest different from the previous years. The 2008 twist is that you must use a combination/wardrobe pattern. Here is how Julie explains it:

"2008 Twist – Three garments must be made from one "wardrobe" pattern.
You must make three uniquely different garments from that pattern; making one type of garment three times will not qualify.
These patterns are available from all the major pattern companies and they usually include a jacket, dress and/or skirt, pants, blouse or top. For our purposes, any pattern with at least three different garments that work together will be counted as a "wardrobe" pattern.

The patterns labelled "wardrobe patterns" often have 4 or 5 garments in them; but as long as the pattern has three different garments, it will qualify. The purpose of this year's rule is to encourage making the best use of a pattern; in other words, work it for what it is worth. The other 8 garments can come from any other pattern or patterns or be self-drafted."

Now with all that said I have been reading about the posts about the SWAP on Stitcher's Guild There is a thread just for the 2008 SWAP & getting more inspired & excited. Now I am thinking that I want to join!

When I first read about having to use a wardrobe pattern Simplicity 4097 popped into my mind.

Here is the line drawing for the pattern.

The problem that I am running into is figuring out what fabrics in my stash to use that meet all the reqquirements & would allow all the tops to match all the bottom fabrics. I am torn at the moment between using brown or grey as my base color. I have a bunch of each.

Then I got a crazy idea this morning as I was laying awake at 5:30 am thinking about my SWAP. I could do a Victorian wardrobe instead of a modern on!!!! Hmmmmmm!!!! The problem with that would be coming up with the wardrobe pattern & having enough fabric for all the pieces that would need to match but it would be totally different.......

Victorian Sewing - June 1879 Dress

2007-10-01T12:52:00.000-05:00

I have actually been able to do some sewing since we have been in NM. Not as much as I would like but with such limited space it’s a challenge.

This first dress has been on the drawing board for a couple years now. Then on the Carolina Belles site they started a “Dress of the Month” sew along for 1879. I have been eagerly awaiting the post of each new dress. Then one day as I was flipping though my Fashions of the Gilded Age, Vol 1 I realized that this dress is from Harper’s Bazar June 1879! Auhhhhhh! I already had the fabric so I decided to jump in!

Here is the inspiration fashion plate:

This is how far I have gotten so far…..

Front:

Back:

I drafted the overskirt (yellow print) from Fashions of the Gilded Age & used Truly Victorian Tie Back Underskirt (solid yellow & pink). I am going to add 2 more pleated ruffles to the underskirt but I wanted to see where the hem of the overskirt would hit before adding these ruffles.

For the bodice I am going to use the Truly Victorian French Vested Bodice as a base. I will alter the back to make it more appropriate for the Natural Form Era. Then I need to figure out how to modify the front to get the crossed effect above the printed “vest” part in the fashion plate. Hmmmmmm. I haven’t fully worked that part out in my head yet but I hope once I start on the pattern that things will fall into place.

McCall’s Winter 2007

2007-09-12T09:16:00.001-05:00

I know, I know! I am soooooo far behind! Ugh! It's terrible. I feel out of touch with the blog world & the sewing world too. I am trying to get some blogs written when I can & post them when I have a connection.

Here is my way over due review of the new McCall's Winter 2007 patterns. Now I usually really like Fall & Winter patterns more than Spring or Summer, but this year the Big 4 are leaving much to be desired. It looks like they are just rehashing the last couple seasons. Blah!

Cute Jacket! I am not sure that I will be making it but I think that it is very cute, different & flattering!
Coat M
5513 ~ Fitted, contrast inside collar and facing with double-breasted front closing, wide standing collar and waistline front bodice, back bodice with appliques and V-shaped waistline, skirt with side seam pockets, soft pleats at waist and center back with balloon shape at lower edge, topstitch trim.

I think that this blouse has a nice shape to it. I personally like empire waist tops & blouses. I have a nagging feeling that I have seen this blouse in years past with different sleeves or maybe sleeveless but I could be wrong. Still a nice looking blouse.
Blouses M5522 ~ Shirts A, B, C and D have front gathers, princess seams with topstitching, front bands, collar and sleeve variations; shirt A has stand-up collar, elbow length and gathered bubble sleeve; shirt B has self ruffles, collar with collar band and gathered sleeve with cuffs; shirts C, D have collar with collar band and pleated sleeve with cuffs; shirt C has self ruffles; includes separate pieces for A/B, C, D cup sizes.

I think that this would make a good basic skirt pattern that also gives nice options for the back detail.
Skirts M5523 ~ Straight skirt, mid-knee length, has side zipper and faced waistline; skirt A has shaped lower back flounce; skirt B has pleated lower back; skirt C has gathered lower back with self-fabric ruffle; skirt D has two lower back flounces.

No, I am not hinting at anything but look at those cheeks!!!!! That baby was so cute that I had to post this pattern!

Baby hats etc M5539 ~ INFANTS’ AND TODDLERS’ HATS, MITTENS AND BOOTIES: Package includes patterns and instructions for hat, mittens and booties in size X-Small (181/2"), Small (19"), Medium (191/2"), Large (20"); hat, mittens and booties A have contrast hat band, tassel, booties back and sides; hat, mittens and booties B have contrast hat band, crown, booties back and sides; hat, mittens and booties C, D.

Pretty In Pink flash back! Eeeekkkkk! I am a big 80's teen flick fan but come on! Really McCalls? Do you honestly think that anyone is going to be sewing this?

M5542 ~ MISSES’ SKIRT AND APPLIQUE TEMPLATE FOR PURCHASED SWEATSHIRT: Straight skirt, mid-calf has back zipper and gathered lower back panel with lace trim and pearl embellishment; purchased sweatshirt converted into loose fitting, above waist length jacket has dropped shoulders, decorative front clasp closure, three-quarter length sleeves and embellished with assorted purchased lace trim, buttons, pearls and beads; instructions for “cut-by-suggestion” jacket facings and yo-yo’s are included.

Fall ’07 Simplicity & New Look Patterns – Part #2 New Look Fall ‘07

2007-08-08T16:00:00.000-05:00

It looks like New Look is into knits this Fall. They are offering several patterns for knits & seeing as I have a PILE of knits in ye o’l stash I am looking forward to checking them out!

#6729 – Knit tops

Another wrap top, but with a twist!!! I am really excited about this one. There is this whole cross over wrap thing going on that I am totally intrigued by! It appears that the sleeves have a kimono kind of shape to them & there is a center back seam that is great for adjusting the fit. This is one my must buy list. Finally something totally new!

#6735 – Knit coordinates – Cardigan, tops, pants & skirt

I think that this might have been done already, in fact I think that I have this pattern, sans the cardigan, (ok maybe not that exact one but items that look pretty close in different patterns)but look at the fabric that they used!!! I have both the black & white floral in the skirt & the aqua, black & white chain link from the top! (Thank you Gorgeous Fabrics!) So not that I would need this pattern but I will probably pick it up anyway. I like the simple look of the black & white skirt outfit & the pants. Also can you have too many patterns?

#6731 – Knit dress & tops

At first glance I thought, "oh this has already been done!". Now that I take a closer look at view A & B it looks like it has a twisted treatment that seems so popular right now. Another one that might be worth checking out.

#6736 – Coat, Jacket, Dress and Pants
I think that the pink coat that they show on the envelope is super cute but I am not sure that I would bother buying the pattern just for that one item.

#6737 – Tunic or Top and Pants

I am on the fence with this last one. I think that the tops have an Anthropology look to them & probably if you used the right fabrics they would be super cute. I think that might be part of the problem is that I am not too crazy about the fabrics that they used.

# 6723 - Dresses

I like the black sleeveless version. I think that it would look so nice in a dark chocolate brown, deep red, or even like they have it, black. Everyone needs a little black dress & I think that this style would be very flattering. The shape looks like it would hide a multitude of sins.

Fall '07 Simplicity & New Look Patterns - Part 1 Simplicity

2007-08-08T14:48:00.000-05:00

Hmmmm...

It doesn't look like I have missed too much in the pattern area while on my unintentional blog hiatus.

Let's start with the Simplicity patterns shall we?

#3691 - 80th Anniversary Vintage Evening Gown

I really dislike the taupe version with the the strange collar thing, but the blue one saved it for me. I love the way the skirt has an inverted pleat in the back(check out the line drawing). I think that this would be really lovely made in black or dark read satin, if you had an event to wear it to.

#3631 - Sew Stylish Collection: Coat, Jacket, Dress, Jumper, Slim Pants and Skirt

I am not sure how I would have felt about this collection if I had not just today picked up the Fall issue of Sew Stylish mag & seen the 11 different outfits that they made from this pattern! I haven't gotten to read the article yet but I love the red version of the jacket that they show on the cover. Oh and of course the magazine is getting canceled. Their last issue will be Dec '07. Figures! Anyway If you get the chance give it a look. I am not all that crazy about the pants in this pattern, but I like my straight or wider leg pants. I did the peg-rolled, skinny leg jeans & pants the first time around. Thank you anyway!

Last of the Simplicity's is:

#3640 - Misses Pants, Hooded Sweatshirt and Knit Top

I think that this has a nice look to if for sweatsuit/workout wear. The pants have a nice shape to them. The jacket looks fitted & not all baggy & blah. Maybe with this you could run to the store in your sweats without looking a frumpy!

That is about it. Most everything just looked like a version of other patterns that are already out. I might change my mind after I see some made up out there in sewing Blogland but for now I say, Blah!

Next up: New, New Looks, I feel like they did a little better job,a little that is.

Until then! Sew on y'al!

I'm Still Alive!

2007-08-07T17:57:00.000-05:00

Ok let me first start off by saying that I hate computers as much as I love them!

I finally got my new Dell Inpiron 1521 nearly a month after I ordered it with grand hopes of in stalling a router on the DSL connect in the house to that I could have access in the 5th (yup we still are living in the RV because the house in MI hasn't sold yet). Well 2 1/2 weeks & 3 routers later I still can't get a signal in the RV. After spending 45 mins on the phone with Dell last night for the guy to tell me that I would need to pay Dell $130 for him to tell me what to do because I hadn't sighed for Dell on Call (at $250 for 4 calls that are only good for a year you got that right!!!) I had had it. Then like a blessing from God I found the problem! Only for my hopes to be smashed again when the the 3rd router also would not reach (we are only talking 175 feet & the router should have gone 600!!! What!!!??). So I reconnected the first & cheapest router that at least lets me connect in the house. I guess we are in some kind of Internet black hole or something. Sigh. Just my luck.

So I will be able to use my computer to surf the net again although not as often or how I had envisioned, but I guess that it is better than nothing, right? Maybe?

I hope to start posting again soon. I noticed today that both Simplicity & New Look have some of their Fall patterns up. I think that will be my first post & with any luck soon.

I am still trying to get through the 2 month backlog of e-mails so bare with me. I hope that all is well & Blogland & hope that I will be posting & catching up on what all you have been up to soon!

Burda WOF June 2007

2007-07-03T11:49:00.000-05:00

I am finally sort of getting caught up on my back log of magazines since moving.

Which is great but now I am totally in LOVE with this top:

And that necklace for that matter. It's kind of big but it just calls to me....but I digress....

So in true Burda WOF style, the top is not one of the patterns in this issue. So I have been searching for a good knock off pattern. I think that the Hot Patterns Sunshine Tops is the best I have been able to find.

Well of course it is! I don't own that one!!!! Blah!

Simplicity has 4076:

But it really doesn't have same look or drape when you see it made up. Sigh. I of course own this one.

So now what to do. I really don't want to buy the HP one (not that I don't want but really shouldn't is more like), but I don't think that I will get the same look from the Simp.

Any suggestions? Maybe if I offer up my first born someone will loan me their Hot Patterns Sunshine Top pattern. Hmmmm probably not once they hear all the stores about how bad (but in a Dennis the Menace kind of way) John was as a kid. Darn..... Maybe a pattern trade of something that I have instead. Less mess I would think & waiting. Seeing as we only have Puggy Dog & no first born it would at least be 9 months at the very least & I don't see that has an option at the moment. Ha!

By the way I am not ignoring y'all who have commented. I just don't have much Internet time at the moment, but we are going to look & get (I hope!) a laptop tonight. Then I should have some more time to e-mail & post. Fingers crossed!

Ok I am off to clean up after the bad dog that we are watching (no Puppy Dog, she is always a good girl). Oh joy!

Welcome to The Land of Enchantment!

2007-06-27T12:42:00.000-05:00

We have made it to New Mexico!

It is very lovely, very different, but very beautiful in it's own way. John unfortunately will have to make one more to trip to MI for another small load of "stuff" that we just could not fit in.

Other than that here is how we arrived in NM.

Now if you look closely at my car that we towed you will see that we had a special passenger......

Fred, The Deer Head, Greeted all passers by on our trip from MI to NM. We aim to entertain, what can I say?

Our new accommodations are a bit smaller (I know is it possible that out MI house? Yup it is), but very nice & without the legal problems with a corrupt local government.

Our new home!

It was like 1/4 the price to buy a brand new '08 5th wheel than for us to rent a house (pets add a lot to rent too). It is a little small, but it's very nice & we'll be able to camp in style once the MI house sells. Also it will be perfect to take to the bigger SASS shoots to stay in (once we aren't living in it full time).

Here is a little peek at the inside:
Dinning "room" & our "walk in" closet to the left. This a bunkhouse model & we just turned the bunkhouse into a closet area.

"Living" room:

"Master bed" room:

View from the "closet" of the dinning/living/kitchen:

Let me tell you it is about nothing to clean this baby! Yup we have lost our minds, but hopefully our MI house will sell soon & we can buy a "real" house.

I am on a borrowed computer so my Internet access is spotty. I miss being able to e-mail with everyone & I hope to have access in the "abode on wheels" soon!

I hope everyone is well & that I can post my report from End of Trail soon!

PS I had to add that Puppy Dog likes New Mexico too!

Virtual Sewing & Actual Packing

2007-05-29T14:15:00.000-05:00

Well the count down is on & the packing has begun.

All of my sewing “stuff” has been packed up thanks to my lovely Mom, who came up from FL for 5 days to help me. She's where I get my passion for sewing (& collecting, fabric, patterns etc) from. So she totally gets that I will NEED to be able to be able to sew once we get to New Mexico even though most of our possessions are going into storage. We spent most of the time that she was here organizing the projects that I think I will want to work on first for easy access & packing up the rest of the fabric in a way that I should be able to locate anything that I need easily enough. It's doesn't seem like this should take 5 days but you haven't seen my "stash" either. It is really quite embarrassing.

Now my MIL, Joyce is up till Sun helping to pack up the rest of the house. My last day of work is this Fri & we pick the moving truck that same day. So Thank God for my Mom’s or it would never get done!

So because I can’t actually sew anything right now I am “virtually” sewing & planning out projects in my head for the time when I will be able to sew again. The first projects when we get to NM will be to finish anything that I need for my Victorian outfits to attend End of Trail, but once that is over besides looking for a job I want to use this fabric from Ann at Gorgeous Fabrics.

I was a little surprised how large the print was when I received my order & was totally stumped as to what I should make from it. Then my Mom & I were in Target & saw this dress!

Ah Ha!!! The light went off & I knew that I needed to make a dress from my Big Daisy knit.

Now what pattern……? Then I remembered the McCall’s 5379 dress that Stacy made & how much I liked view C.

While Joyce & I sat waiting for people to show up for our garage sale yesterday I cut out the pattern. At least that part is out of the way & once we are more settled in NM I will be able to get the fabric cut.

Speaking of New Mexico I am finally starting to get excited about getting out there. I have been so completely over whelmed by everything that needs to be done that I haven't fully grasped that I am moving 1400 miles in less than a week to state that I have never been to before! Oh wait, I take that back we drove through NM when I was 5 when we went to the Grand Canyon, but I would hardly count that!

During my lunch break today I did a little net surfing to see what kind of "dates" I can get John to take me on once we get out there. There looks to be a lot of cool places out there!

There is of course Santa Fe & Old Town in Albuquerque.

We will be living right by the Sandia Peak Tramway, which is the world’s longest passenger aerial tramway. John has already ridden (by horse not tram) to the peak & he says that it is incredible! A side note on that, John & Scott (his friend) rode to the peak on horse back & then they got to the top a tram full of tourists had just arrived. They heard "Oh look cowboys!!!" & got bombarded with photo requests. So if you were on the the Sandia Peak Tram a few weeks ago & took a picture of a couple cowboys at the peak chances are one of them was my John. Auh yes, one more thing the lady park ranger that was hitting on him in the parking lot better step back, he's already taken, but I can hardly blame you. There is something about cowboys.....

Anyhoo I digress, It appears that New Mexico has several wineries, ghost towns, caverns & even scuba diving!

Also I will be totally crushed if John won't take me Llama treking in the wilds of New Mexico!!!!

Doesn’t that guy they show on their home page just crack you up??? Oh just me, huh? Oh well what can I say? I am easily entertained.

It should be an adventure to say the least! I doubt that I will be able to post before we leave but I hope to have lots to share once we in our new digs in NM.

Until then I hope you all take care!

More new patterns….

2007-05-15T08:31:00.000-05:00

Ok Kids McCalls just released their Summer 2007 patterns. Let take a peek & see if they have managed to come out with anything new or if it’s the same old tired offerings in different colors……

Ok is it me or are a lot of this years styles very baggie maternity looking??? I mostly like lose clothes (except jeans, bootcut yes please but I like a good fit in the rear, Y’all wanted to know that right? Incidentally 2 of the best fitting that I have found in a long time are Levis 525 & 515. Both are slightly low rise & bootcut with a little stretch. Yeah baby!)

So anyhooooo on with the patterns……

The Good:

McCalls 5428: Plunge neck shrug has yoke and tie closure variations, front and back gathers and below elbow length sleeve; shrugs B, D have yoke contrasts; sleeveless pullover top has front darts.

I think that this is a cute & different option for a summer jacket or sweater. I am always cold when I am in a/c. In restaurants, the office, movies etc, but in getting into these meat lockers I roast in the summer heat. When we lived in FL I always carried a sweater in my car just incase I forgot to grab one because I knew that I would be freezing by the time the food came. I would imagine that New Mexico will be the same for me so I might pick this one up. Also I think that it would be really cute over a sheath or tank dress.

McCalls 5430: MISSES’ WRAP SKIRTS- Skirts A, B, C have waistband with self-ties and inside buttonholes; skirt A has front pleats creating a cascade; skirt B has optional trim; skirt C has self-faced pockets; length is 2" below mid-knee.

I like View C because it looks exactly like a vintage 1960’s wrap skirt that I have. I am not sure how I feel about the one with the cascading trim thingy but this looks to be a true a-line wrap skirt & would be a great summer staple made up in light weight denim, cotton or linen. Also you could embelish the pockets with biase trim, embroidery, patches, etc. Lots of possibilities!

McCalls 5431: Flared skirt has yoke and back zipper closure; skirts A, B have lower edge band contrasts; skirts B, C, D have pocket and pocket band variations; skirt C has belt carriers; skirts C, D have machine-stitched narrow hems.

I have a skirt thing this summer for some reason. I would like to see this one made up to see if the pockets add to the design or add 10 pounds to my hips. I like pockets but sometimes they aren’t a good choice. I like the shorter views & the contrasting bands.

McCalls 5434: MISSES’ TOPS, DRESS, SKIRT AND PANTS IN TWO LENGTHS: Tops A, B and dress C have wrapped fronts with self-ties; top B has three-quarter sleeves; dress C is lower calf length; top D is strapless and has elastic casing; skirt E has mock wrapped front, elastic waist casing, length is 2" below mid-knee; pull-on pants F, G have elastic waist casing; pants F is lower calf length.

This just screams comfy, stylish summertime office to beach resort vacation to me. I don’t usually like the whole asymmetrical thing but this I like. I think that this would make a great travel wardrobe because it wouldn’t wrinkle. I am not too crazy about the tube top because my girls just don’t have the umph for that kind of thing but I think that I could easily add straps & use Stacy’s article from Feb 2007 Sew News to add a shelf bra. Or you know I could just wear one of the dozen cami’s with the built in bras that I have. I just LOVE those things!

McCalls 5441 - ORGANIZER ITEMS: Package includes patterns and instructions for pocket pillow A, 16" square; square wall organizer B, 20" square; closet organizer C, 17" square; long pocket wall caddy D, 7" W × 34" L, purchased handle; apron E, one size, 19" W × 16" L, excluding ties; all items have contrast pockets and binding.

I just love things that claim they will get me organized! Now I am not sure why you would want a “pocket pillow” but it is hard to see in the picture so it might be the best thing since sliced bread in real life. The other things I can totally see being handy for organizing from the sewing room to the bathroom. As we are going to be very limit on space in our New Mexico abode these might come in super handy. Also I just saw on U-Handbag where they used a purse handle for something similar. Great idea!

The Bad:

McCalls 5423:
That huge bow just bugs the bageezums out of me. This might be very cute made up in a different way but it’s kind of old lady muumuu looking to me here.

The very Ugly:

McCalls 5432 – I couldn’t even get past the color combo that they picked for this one to tell what the style is like. Then once I was able to pull my eyes away much like you can’t look away from a train wreck I realized that the style is really bad also. The jacket & vest look shapeless & the pants look high granny waisted & what’s up with the tube top. Ugh on the whole thing. I just think that this woudl look frumpy on anyone & there are much better wardrobe style patterns out there than wasting good pattern money on this. It doesn't even look nice on the model for goodness sake!

Victorian Sewing

2007-05-12T09:34:00.000-05:00

Wow I actually do sew costumes still! It has been so long since I have done it I was beginning to wonder myself. This isn’t one of the fanciest dresses (well skirts now but will be a dress soon) that you would see at a large SASS event by any means but it is a big deal for me. I am not usually that good at going off on my own. If I have directions I tend to stick to them. I am fine if I start something on my own but if there are directions I am lazy & just following along like a lemming off a cliff. So for this one I really kind of took a picture of an outfit & made my own version from this & that, making it my own.

Let me give you a little crash course on Victorian Era Fashions. There are basically 5 periods; Pre-hoop & Hoop 1830-1869, Early Bustle 1869-1876, Natural Form 1877-1882, Late Bustle 1883-1889 & Belle Epoch 1890-1901. There are very distinct characteristics that set these periods apart & I do not claim to be an expert by any means. I just know the basics & just try to research the rest as I go along.

I like wanted to make a Natural Form dress. The big thing about the Natural Form period is that as the name suggested they primarily did not wear styles that required a hoop or bustle to hold the shape of the dress or at least nothing as elaborate as the earlier or later periods. When hoops & bustles could be huge! Also I should add that sewing patterns where nothing like what we have today they came in magazines all the pieces printed on one large page all over lapping in black ink, the lines of each piece in different combinations of dots or dashes. I will have try to find an example to show you all some time.

I drafted the overskirt from Fashions of the Gilded Age Vol #1 & the underskirt was made from Truly Victorian’s Fan Tail skirt, the trained version.

This was my inspiration from Fashions of the Gilded Age:

Here are my fabrics:

I used the diagrams in the book as best I could to get the general shape for the over skirt. Then I just pined & repined until I got the look I liked.

Here is the nearly finished product:

I still need to add a pleated ruffle to the underskirt & make a bodice, but I am so happy with the way that this turned out I had to share! I am still trying to decide what to do for the back. Here is a picture before I added the ribbon trim:

I will be sure to post some pictures of me wearing the finished dress hopefully at The SASS World Championships in June.

Playing catch up

2007-05-08T16:15:00.000-05:00

Goodness that was such a long time with no posting! Now I have to try to catch up.

First up Chara & I are hosting a sew-along on flickr for the Sew What! Skirts book.* We have been talking about this book for like a month. Chara set up the flickr group & we already have like 3 or 4 skirts up in the photo album! I actually got mine cut out last weekend, except the facing which I totally forgot about. Maybe I will get that sewed up this week.

Next up Butterick has their Summer 2007 patterns out.

I can’t say that I am over thrilled by any of them but there are a couple that are kind of cute & I might pick up if I am near Joann’s during a $1.99 sale.

Flared, wrapped dress, below mid-knee has semi-fitted bodice, front band or collar, sleeve variations – There are a ton of wrap dresses out this season, but this one looks pretty nice with all the different options & it says it’s easy.

Front wrap top or dress has inset at waist. A, B, C: sleeveless. C: scalloped edge of fabric at hem. D: contrasting flare sleeve and inset. – For some reason I love the look of the pattern drawings of this. I am sure that it would look completely like maternity wear on me but I am just drawn to it. It looks cool, comfy & cute. I love the brown outfit on the left. This is on the maybe list.

It might seem odd that I would include a bag pattern but I keep seeing those triangle shaped bags in magazines. I think that they are supposed to be better for your back or something. I thought that it might be a good vacation type bag, not that we are planning one, but maybe one day.

Butterick appears to be jumping on the Indy pattern band wagon as well. They now have several patterns by CONNIE CRAWFORD. Judi & I saw her patterns at the Sewing Expo last Sept. I looked at them but wasn’t impressed enough to buy any. I don’t remember if we actually saw any made up or not. Maybe in the Indy Pattern company show that they did? I don’t remember. I will keep an eye on Pattern Review I think to see what people say. None of her Butterick offering are crying out to me as of yet. The neat thing though is that the Big 4 pattern companies must be realizing that their normal offerings are seriously lacking & are trying to make amends by offering the Indy patterns too. Good for them! I hope they keep it up.

On last thing I thought I would let you all know that my Mom has just listed some of Heather Bailey’s Fresh Cut fabric in her Ebay store & has it on sale. Look under the fabric section. I am super excited that she was able to get some. She says that it is beautiful in both look & feel. I can’t wait to get some. I have a birthday coming up in July & I can guess what I will be getting. I want to make a couple skirts from Sew What! Skirts but I haven’t worked out the fabric combo yet……hmmmmm…….

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*I should say that Chara is hosting & I am just tagging along because she set up the flickr group & got everything going! Thanks Chara!

And the winners are............

2007-05-07T11:49:00.000-05:00

Where did the weekend go????? My goodness it was Fri & then the next thing I knew it was Sun night. Yuck!

Ok so on with the contest……drummmmmmrollllllll…….

And the winners are:

#1 Springtime Pond Fiona Purse: Capello!

#2 Poppy Fields Amber Joy Messenger Bag: Bekka!

& last but not least

#3 Hippie Summer Fiona Purse: Finnyknits!

But wait there is more!!!!!

I had some (ha some that is the understatement of the year) fabric leftover so I whipped up a couple little zipper bags too. One from each of the color combos & drew names for those to from the comments as well.

The winners of those are:

#1 Springtime Pond zipper bag – Melanie of Taylor Design
#2 Poppy Fields zipper bag – Julie
#3 Hippie Summer zipper bag – Chara Michele

Yeah to all of you! If you all could pop me an e-mail with your address I will try to get those mailed out to you this week. I hope that you will enjoy them & thanks for everyone for your sweet comments.

Now we can get back to our regularly scheduled posting!

100th Post!!!!!!(finally) & Big News!

2007-05-03T15:20:00.000-05:00

Ok kids lets get to it. I know, I know this has been a long time in coming but I think that once you hear the “Big News” you will understand. If not well that is just too bad, right?

So here is what I have cooked up for my 100th post give away: 3 of my purses.

I took inspiration from several places & have been working on getting these just right. So who ever wins will have to let me know what they think & give me some feedback & suggestions for any changes.

#1) I have the Springtime Pond Fiona Purse, named after my wonderful friend Fiona that received the first one I ever made! I have made a couple changes since then but the over all shape is the same. She made is made from vintage lily pad fabric for the pockets with vintage buttons. The lining is of chartreuse green variegated cotton with printed white polka dots & the exterior is of tan cotton. There is also an interior pocket.

#2) Next up the Poppy Fields Amber Joy Messenger Bag, named for my baby sister. She is a fun & practical bag that is made from vintage re purposed yellow poppy print fabric for the strap & lining with a vintage button on the front. The exterior is of green re purposed linen fabric. There is also an exterior pocket on the back & an interior pocket.

#3) Last but now least the Hippie Summer Fiona Purse. She is a hip purse made from vintage retro Daisy & Daffodil print fabric for the front pockets with vintage buttons. The lining is made sunny yellow & white gingham. The exterior is of navy re purposed linen fabric. There is also an interior pocket.

I will draw 3 winners on Sunday night (May 6th) from all those that comment. When you comment just let me know if there is a particular purse that you would like to be entered for or if you want to be entered for each of them, but you can only win one. Gotta share the love. So there you go Dears, I hope that it was worth the wait & best of luck to everyone!

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So now the reason that this has been so long in coming. We are moving to The Land of Enchantment, New Mexico!!!!! John was offered a job with the company that he worked for in FL & it is a God sent for sure. Many of you know that MI has not been kind to us. We are still dealing with our “house problem” that has no definite end in sight, but we have decided to forge forward & start our new life come Hell or high water.

As we can’t even begin to list our house here much less actually sell it at this point we are looking at some unconventional living arrangements in NM. We feel however that this is much better than the alternative, which is being apart for who knows how long.

So we are working out all the details but our hope is to be in NM no later than June 18th so that we can attend this which is all of 15 min from where we are going to be living! How exciting is that???!!! (Well if you are a SASS member it’s exciting, everyone else maybe not so much, but pretend with me ok?) I am so excited that I will finally get to me my friend Gina who makes this kind of beautiful stuff!

So in preparing for our move I have been trying to get as many projects done as possible & organize some so that I can still be creative when everything else is in storage. Also I have been looking at a lot of sites like this. Seeing as the first time I will be in NM is the day that I drive the moving truck across the state line. I really enjoyed reading about Finny & Kelli's Santa Fe adventure (high on the list of must sees in NM) & would love to hear anyone else's NM stories.

Let the adventure begin! I will try to post as often as I can to let you all know how it’s going.

Wish us luck & good luck to everyone on for the drawings!

April Fools!

2007-04-05T08:11:00.000-05:00

Mother Nature, who apparently is not bound by the constraints of conventional holiday observation, played an April Fools joke on us 4 days late as this is what I was greeted with when I let Puppy Dog out at 6 am this morning.

Lovely!

You can see my poor daffodils & hyacinths that are probably now ruined just peeking out from under that snow.

This is the view from the driveway…..

And at the end of our road on my way to work (because you know nothing says safety like taking pictures while you are driving. I was at a stop sign for this one though.) If you would like to see more you can check them out here.

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Next up on a kind of related note. I have not posted in a while because one I have been sewing like mad on several orders that I have to finish for mid April & two because I thought that I was at my 100th post. I wanted to have a giveaway but haven’t had the time to make anything so I was stalling. Then yesterday I noticed that I had two posts still saved as drafts that apparently count toward you post count on Blogger. So this is really only my 98th post. Duh! I am such a spaz!!!!! April Fools on me. But the good thing is that I hope to be able to get my projects finished up & some goodies made for my 100th post next week!

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So that you don’t think that I have really been sitting around eating bon bons I finished up my Coloriffic Swap-o-rama for March & its on its way.

This will be my last Coloriffic Swap for a while I think. I have the Spring Fling Swap with my partner Renee & a personal swap with Fiona this month that I am really looking forward to & am such having fun putting together.

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Now on a sad note Robert Clark the director of A Christmas Story was killed in a car accident yesterday. I just love that movie! I make John suffer through it every year. I used to put on the 24 hours of A Christmas Story & just let er play. Which by the way the Chistmas Story house complete with Leg Lamp has a website & is a Museum!! How cool is that???!!!!

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So kiddies that is all for now. I now have one more post & then with any luck I will have my 100th post (for real this time, sigh) next week!

New Hot Patterns!

2007-03-21T15:33:00.000-05:00

Ok I wasn’t going to post about this just yet but I just could not be quiet! See this is my 99th post on SLT! Can you believe it? I can’t honestly I wasn’t sure that I would stick with it this long & I am even more surprised that anyone wants to read 100 post of my babbling! Amazing, no?

Anyhoo I had hoped that my 99th post would something special to tell you about the 100th post & I plan to do something special for that milestone post. So there you go I hope to do something special for my 100th post.

Now what could be more special than new Hot Patterns patterns? Maybe new Hot Patterns patterns that are in collaboration with McCalls pattern company!

That is right finally one of the bit 4 has taken notice that most of what they delve out is crap & have collaborated with a fabulous fashion forward indy pattern company. The big draw back to the Hot Patterns patterns in the past is that they seem to require a lot of tweaking for most body types. According to the HP newsletter, they did the designing & tested the garment then turned it over to McCalls for the multi sized drafting, instruction writing (including pictures!) & more testing. So they should be a pretty decent pattern. But honestly how often to you make up a pattern right out of the envelope and it fits perfectly without having to adjust it? I am not sure what all the complaining about the HP’s were in the first place, but then to be fair I have only made one pair of the pants from them & they are more of a wearable muslin because I need to adjust a couple things for the next pair but there will eventually be a nest pair. I digress.. these patterns are also tagged as easy, printed on tissue, come in a regular sized pattern envelope & are priced at $11.95, as apposed to the higher prices of their other lines.

Alright so without any more rambling here are my 3 favs from the new HP line. Which by the way I hear is already in Hancock stores, can be purchased from McCalls site, Butterick’s site & Hot Pattern's site.

Sugar Babe Jacket, Pants & Tube Top – I think that I would probably add some kind of wide straps to the top to make a little more work wearable.

Butterfly Tops & Wrap Skirt – I have really been attracted to skirts lately I am not sure what has gotten into me. Also I think that these would look really cute with the trouser jeans from HP that I have already.

Cha-Cha-Cha Dresses – I really like the empire waist style on me & these dresses really call to me. It might be the “fabric” that they used in the drawing or what but they are cute!

Those are the three that I would buy today if I had a Hancock’s anywhere near me. The rest I am on the fence about but let me assure you if Joann’s were to get them in & they are included with the $1.99 McCalls sale I would buy the whole lot! Then again I may still, over time because the think that there are some great pieces in there that seem to be hanging a round from season to season & might be worth the investment.

The rest of the line includes:

Triple T-Shirt Dresses – Cute cute cute, but I am not sure how cute on me. Stacy is looking at these I think so I would probably wait to see what she has to say on them.

Bubblelicious Top & Skirts – Also very cute, but I am not sure about the bubble at the bottom of the skirt & if the top would look too maternity on me. Another one to see what it looks like made up. Also I am curious about to see the top made up because it appears that the elastic is not on the shoulders? Why that matters I am not sure but it caught my attention.

Geisha Girl Jacket, Pants & Short-y Shorts – I really like this jacket but I am unsure of the back zip pants for some reason I have an aversion to them. I would not wear the shorts at all but they are cute.

Good Karma Camisoles – I really like the looks of these but am unsure of how I would like them on me. Again I think that Stacy has her eye on this so I will have to see how hers turn out. We are fairly close in size, well height for sure but I think that Miz Stacy might be smaller in the bum area.

Poetry In Motion Tops – Again cute but I may have something very similar in the stash & might be too blousey on me, but they remind me a lot of Anthropologie tops. I really like the one in the middle.

So there you go! I know of one lady that has already rushed to Hancocks & bought the same 3 that I want. As soon as she sews one of them up I will be calling yous attention to Melody's Blog. (lucky girl to have Hancocks that close!!!)

New Amy Butler Patterns.

2007-03-17T08:30:00.000-05:00

I have signed up for her e-mail newsletters I don't know how many times but I never seem to get them! Oh well.

Monkey Foot Designs as 4 of the 6 new patterns that Amy will have out this Spring & Summer on her Blog.

I really like the two bag patterns, Stash & Dash & the Frenchy Bags.

The Barcelona Skirt & the Blue Sky Hats are also very cute, but I mostly likely will not be buying them. But they are pretty eye candy to look at!

Holy Detail Batman!

2007-03-17T07:48:00.000-05:00

I just had to share this!

As I was perusing my feeds I saw Shannon's Ralph Rucci-inspired jacket & I am just speechless!!!!

Really I am blown away!

It is amazing! Even if it’s not your style the amount of work (20 HOURS!) that she put into it & the attention to detail!!!! Oh my GOSH! The appliqué is even on the front facings people!

It’s is an incredible masterpiece & should not be missed for sure!

Go check it out.

Now! Don’t wait GO!

Or you know when you have the time, I don't want to be too pushy, but really you should.

Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. ~Josh Billings

2007-03-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground. ~Author Unknown

You maybe be wondering what became of my pile O’WIP's from last Fridays post. Weeeeellllll I got some things done that I wanted to but as always not as much as I would have liked.

Saturday I had hoped would be super productive because John was working, but the project I was working on too much longer than I had anticipated.

After this post about recycling plastic bags into crocheted shopping totes I have really had the whole plastic bag issue on my mind. I have my plastic bags all laid out ready to be turned into “yarn” but that is as far as I have gotten on that project. I did however have another idea. Creating reusable shopping bags from re purposed materials thus eliminated plastic shopping bags by using cute & stylish shopping bags made from materials that may have otherwise ended up in a landfill! Talk about killing two birds with one stone! (not that I regularly throw stones & certainly not at birds mind you, but you get the idea.)

That is the project that was giving me fits on Sat. The bag design that I was using as my inspiration was lined & I was trying to make my bag unlined but with just as neat & tidy of a finish. I had to try & try again to get the finished product to where I was satisfied. After many a seam being ripped I am pretty happy with the way it turned out.

All the seams as stitched & then encased in bias tape for a clean finish & added strength. The sides have gussets for added roominess. I added a pocket to the front for coupons, shopping list, pen, whatever.

So here is my WIP pile for this Fri.

Back left: cut out & ready to sew – 4 Western Heritage shirts, split skirt, AB Covington Bag
Back Middle: traced patterns – Onion 5036 blouse & vest pattern for the 3 vest I have an order for. I had to add 3” in the length for this guy!
Back & Front Right: More WIP’s to be cut out, another purse (haven’t decided on a pattern yet), more shopping bags & a plain split skirt (I think, I hate making just a plain one with the other fancy soutache trimmed ones, I have my reputation to up hold after all! Bawahahahah!I crack myself up!), some more purse fabric & other assorted WIPs.
Front Left: Cut & ready to sew - Reusable Shopping bags

So I didn't do too terrible, not as much as I would have liked but I think that even if I had an entire week to work non stop I still wouldn't make a dent in all the projects I would like to get done!

Here is a close up of the pocket for another shopping bag. I had stitched the rick rack on & I really like how it turned out.

How serendipitous is this? I started this post yesterday & was starting to finish it up this morning. As usual I was checking out my new feeds on Bloglines (is it just me or are the feeds like crack? I get so excited when I see new post pop up on someone’s blog! I would have to say that the Big Dance has nothing on Feeds when it comes to squashing productivity!). Anyway I am really enjoying the Adorn Mag blog as I mentioned yesterday (almost as much as the mag it's self I might add) so anyway what would the post for the day be about? Green crafters! (Hi Linda!) I just stumbled onto Sew Green the other day & have to admit that I haven't had a chance to delve into it as much as I want to but I was intrigued. Also LP mentions that she uses a tote bag to do her grocery shopping (See great minds do think alike!)along with how several other eco-conscious craft vendors are working to do their part.

Definitely worth checking out!

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. ~Doug Larson

2007-03-15T12:40:00.000-05:00

I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden. ~Ruth Stout

I know that many of you wanted to know where I find the swaps I participate in when I posted about the Pink & Brown Swap. Well the lovely Rebecca & Lucy are organizing another swap!

The Spring Fling Swap!

I might add that seeing as they have started a joint blog I would guess that they plan more swaps in the future!

The deadline to sign up is March 26th if anyone is interested. I highly recommend these types of swaps. My favorite packages have come from blog organized swaps. Not that I haven't got great packages from Swap Bot swaps but it is just a little different. Also even though I have been fortunate enough to always receive a package from the swaps that I have joined I know that not everyone does. Poor Fiona got skunked on like 3 swaps last fall/winter. How stinky is that??

I hope to maybe see some of your names on the Spring Fling Swap list or maybe on future Sweet Goodness Swaps!

McCall’s Early Summer 2007

2007-03-14T12:34:00.000-05:00

McCall's has posted their Early Summer 2007 patterns on their website.

I didn't see anything terribly exciting. There are a couple that I might pick up if I catch a sale.

Here is my very humble opinion on the latest offerings.

Dress 5379: I would completely passed this one by except that Stacy mentioned it. I passes it by initially because I am not much for handkerchief hems for me personally. I do however like View C very much. Also it is made for knits which seem to be jumping out at me lately.

Top 5388: Another pattern for knits. This looks very Anthroplogie –ish to me. I like View C minus the ruffles or D is cute too.

Pants/Capris 5393: Oh sure now that ordered the Onion fly front pants with a draw string no one of the Big 4 comes out with one! I have been looking for this style for years! Oh well for $1.99 will still pick it up. Can a girl have too many pants patterns? John, you just never mind!

Skirt 5390: For some reason I like View B, it's kind of cute. I am not sure how I feel about those massive pockets though. Hmmmm....

Knit yoga/lounge wear 5398: I might not actually buy it or make it but for some reason I like the look of it. It's cute lounge wear that I could totally see my shelf wearing to sit on the porch drinking coffee on a Sat morning. To bad we don't have a porch. It's cute anyway, although I am not sure how I feel about the little shrug deally bob yet.

Most everything else I found either already done to death or just not worth mentioning.

However I did find this & just had to ask.....
Really? We are going to revisit the legging? Even in sewing patterns????

Yeah I don't think that this girl will be. Too I didn't save all my clothes from Jr high because it appears that it's all back in. Well & too bad that I couldn't actually fit into it if I had. Oh well......

A house that does not have one worn, comfy chair in it is soulless. ~May Sarton

2007-03-14T08:20:00.000-05:00

I don’t know how many of you are aware that Adorn Magazine also has a blog? It’s a pretty good read. I really enjoyed Babette Blanket post from yesterday. I have always wanted to do a granny square afghan & this one is so unique & cool I might have to give it a try, because surely I need another project, right?

Sorry I digress. So anyhooo today the post is about a blog, Casapika, about two ladies that are making over a house in a year. Sounds interesting right? Well the really wild thing is that the ladies are over 9000 miles apart! There is Pink that bought a fixer up with her husband in England & Anna who is in Australian & is an interior designer. So over the net together they are redoing Pink’s house! How cool is that?

It’s like Trading Spaces without the ugly shirts & shoddy workman ship! Love it!

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. ~Jack London

2007-03-09T10:57:00.000-05:00

WIP’s

Well we learned yesterday that John had has to work this Sat. Bummer! He has to work one Sat a month & it is supposed to be the 3rd Sat of the month but something with the # of Sat in March makes it work out that he has to work tomorrow. Poor thing. He was so looking forward to 2 days of rest as he is not over his sinus infection yet.

The good thing is that I should be able to get some sewing done! Lemonaid from lemons my dears!

Now I have a ton of sewing orders that I should be working on. A fellow shooter dropped off fabric for 3 additional vest to me last night. I need to draw up a pattern to fit his tall thin frame first. I might try to do that & get the vest cut out. Also I have another vest & 2 other shirts that still need cutting out for some other guys. I would like to get those cut out as well.

Then there is this WIP that I have been working on quite a bit lately.

It goes with these pockets.

When I was home sick it was the only thing that I could bare to work on because I didn’t have to leave the couch! It is the front panel of the split skirt. I need to get the rest of the skirt cut out. Maybe I will have a cutting fest & add it to the pile of cutting listed above.

I also have these WIP’s:

The 3 fabrics in the back row, left & center, are thrifted sheets & on the right pillowcases. I have an idea that I have been working out in my mind for something for my Etsy shop. You didn’t know that I had an Etsy shop? That’s because I have never put anything in it! I’ll keep you posted as to how that goes.

The purple fabric in the front right is going to eventually become the Onion 5036 Blouse. The other fabric is a slinky knit that I am not sure what I will make out if it yet. It matches a skirt that I already own & some fabric that has yet to become a skirt, but I haven’t decided on a top pattern yet.

One last item, a completed WIP! I know that you will remember how I was going on & on about my bosses’ daughter’s wedding and what to wear. I actually did finish the dress, but didn’t get to wear it. There was a wardrobe malfunction with the velvet duster jacket that I was going to wear with it. As it was in the teens the day of the wedding I did feel that I would be any where near warm enough in a sleeveless dress & no cover up. I opted for wearing something else. It was more business like than I would have liked but warm.

However when the next event that requires a dress arises I am ready! I like the way the dress turned out except for the zipper in the back. I don’t think that it was my doing but the zipper at the bottom wants to bow out. It could be because the skirt is cut on the bias I am not sure. I might be able to iron it into submission or maybe by wearing the dress it will work it’s self out? I am not sure & seeing as it is still in the 20’s I won’t worry about it right now. Here is the close up of the bodice detail.

I would love to hear what is on everyone else’s weekend to do list!

I hope that everyone has a great & productive weekend!

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?" ~William A. Ward

2007-03-09T08:38:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness it is Friday! What a week. Way too much drama for my liking! Drama at home, drama at work, drama with out of state family. Oy! The good thing is I won’t bore you all with it & it appears that everything is working it’s self out. Well there will always be the drama at work, I mean come on I work with the DQ (Drama Queen). How could there not be?!

So even though the rest of my world was in upheaval this week the mail was kind to me.

I received my March Coloriffic Swap-o-rama package, blues & greens, from Lyn of Florspace. Thank you!!!

What a package it is!

She made me a monogrammed bag & some adorable cloth coasters! (I have had these on the to do list for months, yeah I can check them off!).

There is candy, bittersweet chocolate (yum!), beads(love love love em), a mechanical pencil (I can never have enough of these!), a bandana, a teddy bears, wooden box, crocheted flower, cell phone leash (great idea!), fabric & a really pretty zipper pouch. Can you ever have too many bags of assorted sizes? I don’t think so!

I love the fabric My favorite is the one on the far right, but they are all so pretty!:

Also I might add that she has an Etsy Shop with some really cute pouches & bags, incase you are looking for a little something or a great little gift. Thanks Lyn!

Then I the other night I get home & John asks me who I know in New Mexico (other than the people that he knows too that is). Of course I told him my Sugar Daddy (don't I wish!!!) I look at the fat little envelope & realize that it’s from Raesha! I opened it up to find this:

I was so surprised to be on the receiving end of Raesha’s CAOK! I am so touched that she thought to include me. I love the papers that she sent & the card is adorable! It has my favorite Black Capped Chickadee on it! I am supposed to send him on to someone else. Hmmmm……..
I know that she off on vaca with little Miss S but Thank You Thank You, Sweet lady!

If you aren’t familiar with the term check out African Kelli who started, CAOK ~ Calculated Acts Of Kindness. I know that this has been said a lot lately but Bloggers are the nicest most generous people! My only regret is that we all don’t live in the same neighborhood!

I hope that everyone else had as sweet a spot in there week!

The sewing machine joins what the scissors have cut asunder, plus whatever else comes in its path. ~Mason Cooley*

2007-03-05T10:57:00.000-05:00

In Seattle you haven't had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it's running. ~Jeff Bezos*

What a fun filled weekend!

Saturday was a waste between the Dr office & the over 1 hour & 15 minutes that I had to stand & wait for the prescriptions to be filled(Rite Aid you suck with trying to cut costs & only having 2 people on staff during cold & flu season!!!!). John has a sinus infection & a pretty bad one at that. Then it was home to load him up on a drug stores worth of meds. I made chicken noodle soup for dinner (with homemade noodles! Yum!) along with a loaf my favorite Sour Cream Banana Bread. Sorry no pictures & seeing as the bread is ½ gone & the lid to the Tupperware stuck to the top of the bread you wouldn’t really want to see it anyway, but it still tastes yummy!

So Sunday I actually got to sew! Yeah! The only really stinky thing is that my serger is a big o’l piece of ……Well you know! My mom took it back to FL to have “our sewing machine guy” work on it because here in SW MI even though you are a Pfaff dealer you apparently don’t have a clue about them but will still charge a girl $30 to tell her that the God awful clunking that her serger is making is just because it is a noisy serger! I didn’t realize that it still made the noisy till I got it home. FL Sewing Machine Guy sent mine back & it was ok, as ok as it gets when I first started sewing my Onion 5038 T-shirt. I went over the shoulder seam when I was attaching the neck binding (not at a breakneck pace either I might add) & Hello God Awful Clunking! GRRRRRR!!! John was able to get an allen wrench & readjust the thread guide right above the needles (which is hitting the underside of the case causing the clunking) but there must be something else that is happening to make this happen because the piece that holds the needle that the thread guide screws too can’t move. Once we get that fixed. Now my stitch is all crap. So it was back to sewing & then zig zagging the edges on the regular machine. Fine serger, have it your way. You will just be used for finishing.

Ok sorry about my serger rant & on with what I have to show for all my serger aggravation:

Ta Da!

It is the same pattern that Stacy recently reviewed , only I opted for the long sleeve version with the curved hem & haven’t add buttons yet. I made the small, as my fabric is only a cotton jersey (maybe some poly) but no lycra. I was afraid that there wouldn’t be enough stretch for the x-small. When I make it again from a stretchier fabric I will make the x-small.

I made it to go with my favorite lounge pants from the Jan 2006 - Burda WOF.

Not the best picture but you get the idea. The pant color & T trim are much closer in color in real life.

I love both of these & will definitely be making more. I have a stretch terry in the same pink as the T-shirt knit to make another pair of the lounge pants & more than enough of the aqua knit from the T trim to make another T. That one will have pink trim!

Then I would like to make this T in a stretchier knit. Also I would like to see how it would look in a print with a solid trim. Also I want to make a couple in more solid color combos to showcase some really fab vintage buttons. After all the wonderful Pink & Brown Goodness Heidi bestowed on me I am so tempted to get some nice cotton lycra in pink & brown to make one of each with contrasting trim & awesome buttons!!!!

Ohhhhh the ideas abound!!!!!!!

I can see this being a wardrobe staple for years to come! I am so glad that Stacy talked me into ordering it! (I totally blame her!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Quote Garden After all the wonderful Pink & Brown Goodness Hiedi bestowed on me

Do vegetarians eat animal crackers? ~Author Unknown *

2007-03-01T10:44:00.000-05:00

Oil and potatoes both grow underground so french fries may have eventually produced themselves, had they not been invented. ~J. Esther*

I have been really inspired & made hungry by a lot of blogs & post lately. Like here & here**.

So seeing as I have nothing sewing, crafting, thrifting or in general fun to share I thought that I would show ya what I made for dinner last night after seeing LLA’s cute little square burgers, that she was inspired to make after seeing them at Never Trust a Skinny Chef.

Mine aren't square, nor are they on the all too yummy Hawaiian buns (do you think that the $%#@ store had them, Nooooooooo!). But they were very good jus the same.

I had to make a couple little changes. I haven't bought ground beef since fall of '04 when John started hunting, so I had to sub venison for that. Which is fine except because it is so lean it doesn't stick together without some help. I added ab egg & some bread crumbs along with my Montreal Seasoning. That is why mine aren't square.

I served some very excellent-if-I-do-say-so-myself homemade applesauce that Mom & I made this past fall.

Along with these little tasty gems: Alexia Olive Oil, Rosemary & Garlic Oven Fries

I hadn't seen these before but they are very good & have 0 grams of trans fats! Rock on!***

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*Quotes courtesy of Quote Garden
**Laura I can't wait till you get pictures! Hint Hint!
*** I might add that if you check out their site they have a bunch of other products & you can register to get coupons! Could it get any better??!!! Well sure, but you know the whole glass 1/2 full thing & looking on the bright side stuff. (psst LLA, coupons! ;)

Women usually love what they buy, yet hate two-thirds of what is in their closets. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

2007-02-28T16:15:00.000-05:00

Hmmmph!

Isn't that the truth.

Well there has been no shopping, sewing or craftying going on around here. I am sick again & now John thinks that he sis getting it as well. Lovely! I have been sick more this winter than in my entire life! My mom & out mail lady both think that it is because of the stress.....Hmmmmmm they are probably right.

So with that I only have a little bit of babbling for you today.

First I got a great package from my partner

Look how cute this little mailbox is that she made for me!

Other than that there hasn't been much going on around here. I almost got a dust cover that JOhn needed sewn up on Sun but I put the zipper in wrong. After I ripped it back out I felt so bad that I couldn't bare the thought of working on it any more. Maybe tonight seeing as I went home yesterday & totally crashed after dinner.

On the subject of sewing I have a problem. I need to know if there is any possible way that I might be able to fix this:

Sorry about the crappy picture, but what you are looking at is a cut into the fabric on the one of the front pieces for a pair of pants. It is right at the bottom of the crotch curve. My sweet mom bless her heart was serging the edges for me when she was up & caught that piece when she came down the center front. She felt so bad that she cried! Poor thing! I felt really bad because it took me 2 1/2 hours to lay these out matching the plaid. I folded them up & haven't looked at them till I took this picture. I really want to be able to save them, but I don't have any more if the fabric & this was the last that the store had last year. If anyone as any suggestions I would LOVE to hear them.

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. ~Native American Proverb

2007-02-23T12:04:00.000-05:00

Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth. ~Henry David Thoreau

John made a comment the other night after I got home from the store. Which by the way am I the only one that find grocery shopping a total pain!? I don’t so much mind the going to the store or 1 ½ hours that it takes out of my evening, but dang if it doesn’t cost an arm & a leg. I also might even owe my first born to them, but I’m not sure! Goodness! Our grocery bill has gotten even worse now that I am trying really hard to pay more attention to what is in what we are eating & make healthier choices. Can someone please explain to me why if they are leaving out stuff it costs more??!

So on with my original thought. I had this pile of plastic shopping bags after putting all the groceries away. I hate them, but this store doesn’t seem to have paper available. So John says why don’t you make shopping bags then. Well duh! I even have one that I used when we in FL that Publix was selling for a time. Just a canvas tote really with Publix emblazoned on it. Then I remembered that I have seen directions for crocheting shopping bags from plastic shopping bags. I haven’t ever gotten around to actually trying this, but have wanted to.

So incase you are interested here are some links on this very topic:

Plastic bag usage statistics
Ideas for reusable bags
Crocheted plastic bag examples
Crochet directions & Instructions for cutting the bags and making a ball of "yarn"

There are probably manyof you that already do this but this is something that I would like to try to be better at. I will probably get some strange looks as I don't think that there are too many people in this area that bring there own reusable bags to the store with them but I think that after reading some of those stats that more of us better start! Eeeek!

Happy Fat Tuesday!

2007-02-20T09:29:00.000-05:00

So today is Fat Tuesday. Growing up I never really paid much attention but John’s dad was born in raised just outside New Orleans, in Metairie, LA. So as you can imagine John grew up with all kind of Fat Tuesday & Mardi Gras traditions. In the 8 years that we have been together we have been to LA several times to visit family & just love it! The history, the food, the fun little sayings that you will never hear any place else! For example what would you call the grassy section that divides the lanes of a road? Me, I call it a median, Cathy John’s cousin in LA calls it the “neutral ground” It has something to do with during war time not being able to shoot someone when they were in a certain area. Beki do you know? Any way I love that kind of stuff!

Now you probably know that Carnival is not just a New Orleans thing it is celebrated all over the world, but there is something that I had never heard of until moving back to Michigan, Paczki Day. It is the "feast of plenty,” celebrated by Polish Americans. The Paczki is a Fat Tuesday tradition. Just as Louisiana has the King Cake, the Polish in Detroit the go nuts for Paczkis! Well as do the rest of the nuts all over the state. Basically they are a huge jelly or custard filled donut that they charge an arm & a leg for. They are yummy but darn if I am going to stand in line for an hour for em. Now if you are in Britain, Ireland, or Australia you’ll be celebrating “Shove Tuesday” or “Pancake Day”. Looks like Fat Tuesday is just one big carb fest!

In cause you are looking for some yumminess to celebrate you can check out some Mardi Gras recipes, Pancake Day recipes or Paczkis!

Enjoy!

Lots of love!

2007-02-16T08:48:00.000-05:00

I have blessed with some great mail this week, but not with a cooperative internet to post about it. Maybe it’s the cold. I know internet I feel all slow & wish that I could hibernate till spring too. Seeing as we can’t on with the love!

I got the bestest package from Heidi my partner for the Pink & Brown Swap! It was like Christmas! She is such a sweet & generous lady. She really tailored a box to my likes. Thank you thank you!

Here is a whole shot:
She picked such great stuff! I realized that I don’t have any Valentine’s Day décor but thanks to Heidi now I do. Starting on the upper left with a pink candy dish filled with Reeses hearts (John says thank you!) & a pink candle stick that say ‘Forget me not” on it. There is a roll of pink ribbon with brown dots & next to that the little bag has the buttons in it. The sweetest tea cup candle that Heidi made, on top of a Blue Ridge Pottery saucer. In the middle is the portfolio with the greeting cards. On the bottom a pink tea towel with very intricate hand embroidery, crocheted lace collar, sucker in an adorable handmade cover & some yummy biscuit sticks dipped in strawberry cream! Everything was labeled & packaged so nicely!

Thank you again Heidi!

Check out these beautiful buttons! She said that she thought that they were made from Conch shells & I would have to agree. Now I’ll have to find an outfit to make around them!

I am so impressed with this. Heidi made me this little portfolio of assorted handmade cards! It is so pretty & the work she put into it is amazing! I just love it!

She also sent this really neat crocheted collar she thought I could use for my costuming. I have some fabric that this matches perfectly! I am going to have to see about designing a costume around this collar & put it to good use!

Then for Valentine’s Day my sweetie brought me a box of handmade dark chocolates. There were two dark chocolate strawberries(especially sweet because we had these on our wedding night), dark choco covered toffee, orange peels (can’t say that I would get these again, but I appreciate the thought), & peanuts! Yum!

Then to top off the week I had the sweetest little handmade felted heart card waiting for me when I got home last night from Miz LLA!

I hope that everyone else had a good mail week too!

More “Oh Hum” on the pattern front.

2007-02-11T07:47:00.000-05:00

Well Butterick has posted their Spring offerings, & I am quiet under whelmed. They didn’t even have a good costume offering this time around. Butterick often has a nice Victorian Era pattern that I can use as a base for a more period correct outfit. Not in this group.

So here are the very few that I might pick up when Joann’s has their next $1.99 sale if I happen to be there for something else, but I am not sure that I would go out of my way for them. There are a lot of dresses & most reports say that the dress is the “it” item for spring. I am not a big dress girl. I like them but don't seem to wear them, so I might not be the best judge for all of those.

4976 Wrap dress with sash: there are a lot of these out this year, what I think makes this one different is it’s for knits.

4986 Top & Camisole: New twist on the twist top. It’s almost like a twist cardigan. A little different & might be worth picking up.

4995 Pants & Sash: Yeah I know gauchos again, but look close, the one design has a side closure of buttons. Cute! The almost have that sailor pant feel to them. Don’t right I think that you could get an Anthopologie feel from this pattern. I also like the sash & cuffed pair as well.

5006 Sewing & Knitting Accessories: Oh the knitting bag & needle holders has been done to death, but I don’t remember ever seeing one with a pattern for around knitting needle case. Great idea! That might be worth getting the pattern is you’re a knitter or know a knitter.

That’s it. Very blah collection if you ask me, but sometimes a pattern done in the right fabric could look like a totally different garment. As to how these were presented, very blah or very be there done that by other of the Big 4.

Oh well maybe summer will be better. A girl can hope can’t she?

I won I won!!!!

2007-02-09T12:51:00.000-05:00

Ok I know that a lot of people say I never win anything, but really I don’t. I enter all kind of little contests, buy the occasional lotto ticket etc & I never win anything. Really I mean it. In jr high I played soft ball & bought 10 tickets to win a bat at a fund raiser raffle, my friend bought 1 ticket. Ours were the only tickets in there. Who do you think won? One hint, not me.

Then I read over at Stacy’s blog that Adorn was running a survey & the first 50 people won a year subscription. I have only been able to find it once & loved it! So I rushed over took the survey & was rewarded with an e-mail telling that my subscription would start with the Spring 2007 issue! Yeah! So rush over there & take the survey!

A sad passing.

2007-02-08T16:28:00.000-05:00

It might seem odd that I would be saddened by the passing of Anna Nichol Smith after my harsh (& apparently not popular) opinions on Tom & Katie, but I just always felt like she was such a lost soul. Like there was never anyone there to guide her on her rise to fame.

I remember when she was the face of Guess, back when Guess was the “IT”. She was so pretty & glamorous. Like the Marilyn Monroe for my generation.

It’s a shame, as she was a real Cinderella story. But she just kind of lost “it” & never seemed to be able to regain it. I really feel for her baby girl that she had a few months ago, then her son dying. I am sure that it will come out that she O.D.ed on something too, or at least the “Smut News” will imply it.

Funny how all the money in the world doesn’t seem to buy enough help for some people.

What a waste.

Career testing at it’s best, er dirtiest?

2007-02-08T16:06:00.000-05:00

Finally a career test that is worth a darn!

Your Career Personality: Original, Devoted, and Service Oriented

Your Ideal Careers:

Art director
Book editor
College professor
Composer
Film director
Graphic designer
Novelist
Stage actor
Psychiatrist
Writer

The Quick and Dirty Career Test

A little of this & a little of that……

2007-02-06T13:47:00.000-05:00

Ok so we got snow, wind & sub zero temps over the weekend. Poor Puppy Dog’s little feets freeze every time she has to go out to potty! The snow sticks to them because they are warm & it is so cold. John thought he might have to carry her back into the house last night because she wouldn’t move & he thought her feet were stuck to the ground! Now he is suggesting that I make her some kind of booties. If you knew John you would find this very funny. He is not the kind of man to dress up a dog, normally.

The roads are horrid! All of schools were closed Mon. & again today. Of course I am at work, don’t ask.

So let me share some pics with ya*!
The front yard:

Looking out a livingroom window:

So you would think that I got a lot of sewing done over the weekend with not leaving the house. My sewing area is on the North side of the house & freezing on Sat. I started working on my dress on Sun after bringing a space heater. I could only get so far because I realized that I did not have a 22” zipper or the 1” bias tape that I needed. Now you would think that with all of this I wouldn’t you?

So that was the weekend. John started his new job yesterday. Poor thing was fried** by the time he got home, it’s a lot to take in. That has me thinking of lunch stuff for him. I don’t know about everyone else but it is a constant battle at our house as to what to buy at the grocery store.

Me: “Is there anything you need or want from the store?”

John: “not that I can think of”

Puppy Dog: pleading eye & wagging nub ~ translation bacon, lots of bacon & cookies……

Me: “Are you sure, nothing? Nothing to take for lunch?”

John: “Really, I can’t think of anything”

Puppy Dog: more nub wagging ~ did you hear me? Bacon, cookies, maybe some raw-hide bones….helloo?

Me: “oooookay”

So of course after the store I hear hey did you get “x” at the store, there is nothing to eat/take in my lunch.

GRRRRRRRRR!

So I have been trying to figure out what I can make ahead of time that is healthy, lower in fat, tastes good & can we heated up at work. I have had limited luck finding good ideas on the net. Any suggests?

Since is it is a balmy 10ºF out I have been thinking a lot about planning a spring wardrobe. Stacy & I have both broken down & ordered patterns from Onion. I am pretty excited to try them & hope they come this week. We have also been talking about the lack of anything good in any of the Spring 2007 designer collections to knock off. We have however both discovered several items from Anthropologie that would be worth the effort to duplicate.

Now the question is where else to look for some good inspiration? It appears that there is a lot of black & white for spring. Blah. Boring. I like some color of winter. Also am I wrong or am I seeing animal prints again? I still have some animal print fabric in the stash from when that was in a few years ago. Hmmmm it might be a good thing if it is making a come back cause I can use up some more stash fabric. The other trend I am seeing is skinny legged high waisted pants. Um yeah I will stick to my low rise boot cut, thank you. I got enough of skinny leg pants back when I was 13 & peg rolling my jeans, only to wear 3 pairs of layered slouch socks with them. Not a look I care to revisit.

Well my lunch break is nearly over so I will leave you with this fabulous view from the window behind my desk*. Those are ice cycles covered in snow. They look like ones you see on little Christmas villages with glitter stuck on them. Rather pretty actually.

The one is from our breakroom window. That is a sheet of snow that is frozen mid slide off the roof. Pretty neat huh? Until we get an ice dam, that is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*To see more pictures of the Blizzard of 2007 & the views from my office windows you can check them out here.

** **It has come to my attention that some readers mistook this for f-i-r-e-d & not f-r-i-e-d as in his brain fried, like an egg on a hot griddle after being over loaded by corporate mumbo jumbo on the first day. You would think being nerd bait & all she would have gotten the difference. Geez!

Good Gravy, Ya’ll! It's COLD!

2007-02-02T13:36:00.000-05:00

It’s snowing like the Dickens out!*

Our weather dude informed us this morning that this weekend will be the coldest weather we have had in a decade & that we should expect another 6-12” of lake effect snow. There was even talk of blizzard like conditions & having emergency provisions on hand. Really? Good lord did we move into Little House on the Prairie* or something? I am used to having hurricane supplies after spending 23 years growing up in south Florida but I guess it never really occurred to me that I would need to do the same here in MI. Huh. Guess I will be hitting the store on the way home for some more water & stuffs.

So with that lovely forecast for the weekend my plan is to stay home & sew. I will be working on that dress for the wedding to get the darn thing finished already so I can move on to something else.

So with that “something else” still undefined I would like to share what the pattern companies are serving up for their Spring 2007 collections. I have to say on a whole I was very unimpressed. I was just asking to my mom last night why can’t these US pattern companies get on the ball & offer styles that are not a) completely out of date or b) just another variation of the 10 other variations of the same thing, again! Geez!

With that said my favorite so far are the new Simplicity & New Look patterns. Not that they haven’t offered up some serious Fug as well.

I just thought that a few of theirs were either different or close enough to a RTW ** item that I saw.

Here are my observations ***.

I liked this New Look dress & this one too, especially the halter top style.

These other New Look patterns might be worth a closer look:
Tunic Top – 6677 & Blouses – 6678

Now on to the new Simplicity patterns.

I think that this top is probably my favorite out of all the new patterns.

That is because it is very similar to these Anthropology tops.

There are two new Built By Wedny patterns, One for a dress/mini dress/top & one for pants/capris/shorts. I am not sure how I feel about the dress/top yet, but I will probably get the pants patteern.
There is a Sew Stylish Collection (#3867) which I think must be linked to the new magazine that Threads is putting out, Sew Stylish. (go figure). That top is pretty cute.

Another Tunic pattern, but this one I think is a little different & could be changed up to copy some RTW styles, but I could be wrong.

I mostly likely will not buy these dresses but I thought they were kind of fun.
Retro 60's & this one.

Butterick hasn't put out anything new yet.

McCalls spring collection is pretty much hideous. The only one that I even looked at twice was this for the sewing/craft room, but I think that I could make those without buying the pattern.

So lets love on to Vogue. Vogue is usually too stuffy or fluffy for my tastes or life style. I like to look at them but rarely buy any. I did like these two & might think about buying them if I happen to catch them on sale.

It's a shame that the jacket & pants pattern doesn't also include the pattern for the top they show with tht outfit. It's pretty cute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* I am a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s work. If you all you know about her is from the TV show I highly recommend reading her books based on her real life.

**Come on don’t you just love old time expressions like that? Ever wondered who these Dickens were & what they did to have such a saying? Hmmmmmm.

** *RTW - Ready to wear

*** *to be taken with a grain of salt for sure.

Cosmo Bag: aka “Biker Chick Purse”

2007-01-30T12:25:00.000-05:00

John has decided that because of the lining this is my “Biker Chick Purse”. Funny Hon, really, funny.

So here you go:

Outside:

Button Detail:

Inside w/ pocket closed

Inside w/ pocket unzipped

It’s a pretty neat little pattern. I am not sure that I will be making a ton more as it is a pretty distinctive style, but it makes up pretty quickly. The interior instructions seem really strange on how they have you assemble the zipper pocket, but it works out really nice. In fact I am going to keep this in mind for using in other future purses.
On other sewing related items.

I got the lace overlay all pinned onto the bodice of my wedding outfit last night. That was interesting as the crepe wants to shift around a lot. I am going to have to baste it all together before beginning any real sewing. I just was not up to the task last night so pinning was as far as I got.

Burda’s US website Burda Style seems to be getting up & going. I haven’t gotten a chance to check everything out yet, but it looks like it’s going to be a “must frequent site”. I see that my pal Stacy already has one of her Burda creations posted (good for you Stacy!).

Then back to the Onion patterns I am still contemplating an order…… I’ll let you know what I come up with.

Would you believe……

2007-01-29T16:26:00.000-05:00

That it is snowing here again. We are under a “lake effect snow” warning again & they are predicting another 6-10” on top of what we got yesterday.

I realized after my post yesterday that I should have prefaced it with the fact that it was nearly 40ºF here on Sat. Then only 20ºF & over 12” of snow yesterday. Not that I am complaining, it's jsut a big change. It is beautiful & my drive to work this am wasn’t really bad at all, just a little slow. Now if I could get a snow day out of it I would be in heaven!

So let’s talk some sewing.

I have my wedding outfit all cut out. I was going to start sewing on it but I still hadn’t finished my Cosmo bag & the machine was all set up for that. So I went ahead & finished that up yesterday. I don’t have pictures as I was done about 10pm last night & wasn’t interested in getting my lazy butt off the couch to do it. I really like the way it turned out. John wanted to know if I was going to be wanting a Harley next based on the lining fabric. Smarty pants.

Now on to some patterns that I am contemplating……I need something to use that stash with right?

Stacy & I were talking about the new Onion patterns* that we got an e-mail about the other day.

We are both digging #5038 – Knit tops with waist seam. I am so in love with the “Perfect T’s” at Old Navy & this looks to be those only fancier to me.

That skirt is really cute too.

Also I really like the look of the #4021 – Pants with details. (Fly front pant. Narrow waistband with casing with strings (the pant is meant to be slightly gathered at waist). 3 darts on each side of front knee. Darts at back.) I have a pair of linen pants like this from Express that just love for the summer time, only those have inset pockets but that should be easy to change or just us these.(Judi these remind me of those Loes Hinds ones we almsot bought at Fabric Gallery).

#5036 – Blouse - Shirt/blouse with puffy or long sleeves (Blouse with standing collar and curved yoke on front and back. Button closure.)

#2012 - Vintage dress - Vintage styled dress with horizontal seams on front and back. (Super feminine vintage inspired empire style mock wrap dress in two lengths with option of wing sleeves or long sleeves. Gathers under the bust. Darts on back. Zipper at left side seam)

I also really like the 5032 - Knit wrap tops but I wonder if it is different enough for the Jalie crossover top pattern that I already have to make it worth getting.

Darn I wish that I would just win the lottery already & not have to be concerned about such trivial things like how much $ I spend on patterns, fabric, trims, shoes, etc..... Oh well…..

Also there aren’t many reviews of the Onion patterns on the Pattern Review site (except that on coat seems like everyone made that thing). So if anyone has tried them I would love to hear about it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* sorry I couldn’t get a direct link to each pattern or copy the pictures. So if you are really interested in seeing them you will have to look them up. They are pretty cute patterns.

Snow Snow Snow!

2007-01-28T09:40:00.000-05:00

Well winter has finally come to SW MI. We have gotten about 12” of snow in the last 24 hours & it is still coming down. Although it is not coming down in the huge fluffy flakes that it was last night so I don’t think that we will be getting a ton more today. Then again our weather tends to change on a dime.

To give you some idea of what we are dealing with here are some pictures. It is very pretty.

Puppy Dog loves the snow. For her it’s like a huge pop cycle I have to be careful that she doesn’t eat too much of it, but she is so funny to watch.

See here in the country we don’t bother with snow shovels, we just plow the front walk with the four-wheeler. Are we Hill Jacks or what?

I have a feeling that we will not be making church this week. We have an 800-foot long driveway that needs to be plowed. Also our friends that live next door are just as far off the road & John usually plows for them as well. For the drive he gets out the tractor.

Here is the a view of the yard from the front door:

This one if from my kitchen window looking toward the driveway:

On an un-snow related topic, yesterday was a good thrifting day! The Goddess of Thrift (because of course if there was such an entity watching over thrifting it would have to be a woman right?) must have been smiling on me. I had great luck finding items for Heidi for the Brown & Pink swap. Unfortunately as I know she pops in here I can’t share any pictures just yet, but I think that I did pretty good if I do say so myself!

I think that today will be spent at home, doing laundry & baking banana bread. Also I have my dress for the wedding nest month partially cut out & I hope that I will get that finished up as well. I didn’t get as much done on that yesterday as I had hoped because after the thrifting I had to finish cleaning up the sewing area that I had started on Fri. Now I feel much more like spending time in there without the fear of being buried alive by an avalanche of fabric patterns & trims. It feels good to have a tiddy area to work in again.

What's everyone else working on this winter weekend?

Thrifting & WIP's

2007-01-26T13:45:00.000-05:00

Wow this cold has really been kicking my butt this week. I have basically done nothing but go home & crash every night this week.
On Wed. I mustered the energy to stop at Goodwill on the way home to see if I might find something for my partner Heidi in for the Pink & Brown swap. I did not. I did however find this fun stuff.

Seeing as I have been working on my shawl for nearly 2 years that spending .99 for this one was very justifiable. Not exactly period correct for the Victorian Era, but it will do.

Back of the shawl.

I thought these were pretty cool & for $1.99 for both the valance & the curtain a steal! The fabric reminds me of barkcloth but the original packaging calls it sailcloth. They need a good soaking in some Oxy Clean but I think that they will come out great. I haven't decided to keep them as is, sell then on Ebay or use them to make some purses to sell in my sad empty Etsy shop. I am leaning toward the purses. Any suggestions?

Some fun trims that will end up either on purses or costumes.

Never fear Heidi I am heading out tomorrow to one of my favorite antique stores to try my luck there.

So I have a couple WIP’s this week.

First up is the “wedding outfit”. Nothing but deciding on fabric & cutting out the pattern was accomplished this week. So I must get working on it this weekend. I decided on the sleeveless crossover. I am going to use a crepe backed satin for the skirt, because I don’t have enough of the pinstripe to cut it on the bias. After talking with Judi & Mom they both felt that it was probably important to the design for it to be cut on the bias in order to lay right. So be it. I am toying with the idea of using the velvet ribbon on the crossover edges as well as the velvet ribbon with a beaded sating ribbon on it at the empire waist. I don’t have enough of the beaded ribbon to use it on the crossover as well as the waist. Also I am not sure it might be too ribbon if used on both places. I’ll have to see as I go along I think.

My next WIP is my half finished Indygo Junctions Cosmo bag. I have fabric left over from the “Amber Joy” bag & I was trying to decide what to do with it. I need a new “winter” bag & hadn’t decided on what to make yet. I think that it is going to be really cute once it is finished. The skull fabric will be the lining. So the bottom piece is the flap & you are looking at the inside of it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

I am sick of being sick......

2007-01-19T12:57:00.000-05:00

So as I spent most of yesterday on the couch. It was kind of nice to just rest & I was able to spend sometime contemplating the outfit I need to make for my bosses’ daughter’s wedding next month. I am now thinking that instead of that top & pants that I should go with a dress. I have a feeling that it is going to be pretty fancy & even though I would rather war pants I might feel underdressed. I’ll just have to pray that we don’t get a blizzard that week.

So my new idea is this: I really like the idea of the lace top on the top with the black bottom & the purple ribbon at the empire waist. I was looking through the ribbon stash other day & came across some purple beaded ribbon that would be perfect on top of the velvet ribbon. It is smaller & the velvet would peak out from the sides.

As I was flipping though the pattern stash yesterday in my sickness fog I found New Look 6040. I was thinking either D or B. I think that I have enough of the black pin stripe for the skirt & then solid black for the top with the lace over top. My concern is that they have you cut the skirt on the bias unless you are making D with a boarder print. Then you cut it across the grain. I don’t have enough of the pin stripe to do it on the bias. I could use a solid black for the skirt that I already have. Here is the pattern that I am thinking of for the dress:

I was trying to decide what kind of wrap/jacket I could make. Then I remembered that I have a stretch velvet duster coat thing. I bought it for a Christmas party years ago. it’s kind of like this to give an idea:

Well only I think mine has a collar, 3-4 buttons at the top & is more fitted, but other than all that exactly like that one. Geez!

My concern is that would the skirt be ok if I cut it on the straight grain instead of the bias? Seeing as they don’t cut view D that way when using the boarder print I am not sure.

I can’t decide on sleeveless or ¾ sleeves either. I was thinking that if I did the sleeves I might not line them, but that might look funny. Any thoughts?

Maybe lings will be clearer once my head empties out from this cold.

Also I might add that our power outage earlier in the week apparently fried our modem at home. So I do not get back to any one who e-mailed until next week you know why.

Have a great weekend all!

Let there be LIGHT!

2007-01-17T12:31:00.000-05:00

So we got our power back yesterday. Thank goodness! I was able to shower & I am sure that John was rejoicing over that! Of course I am now on the verge of getting sick & felt really icky by the time I got home. I did however manage to finish my quilt block for Penelope Kim’s quilt.

Now I think that I have mentioned that I am no quilter before right. I am fairly happy with the way it came out. I would have liked the appliqué to be a little bit more centered, but oh well. It looks kind of cute & once it is hidden in with all the good looking blacks from the other ladies I think that you won’t be able to notice its wonkiness.

I have to say a big thank you to the ladies that organized this. It is so sweet of them & generous. Kudos Patricia & Shanna. Thank you for letting me be part of your fabulous gift.

So who wants to see my new blouse? Yup I managed to get some pictures of it on “Francesca” last night. I also realized after looking at them that I need to get her a different T-shirt so that the neckline isn’t so distracting. A little history on “Francesca”, I worked in the display department at Sears when I was in High School. We set up all the windows, mannequins signage, etc….. They were actually going to throw “Francesca” away! She was like brand new! Now she is much tinier in the waist than me (I think she is a 34” 23” 34”, Lucky girl!) but I padded her up to closer to my measurements & Ta Da! Instant cheap dress form. That is why she has the white t-shirt, to keep her padding in place. I think that I might have to see if I can’t finder her one that is higher on the neck, or maybe just recover her all together. Either way she works great.

So on with the top. I still haven’t worn it yet (it was 22ºF when I left for work this am!) but I think that I will really like it when I am finally able to.

I strung a necklace to go with this top last night but couldn’t bring myself to get up off the couch to get the crimps to finish it off. In fact I would have stayed home today but there were a couple things that I needed to get done for today that I didn’t trust feel right having anyone else do.

Here is a close up of the buttons. I actually picked the fabric & buttons out specifically for this top. I usually don’t plan that well. I see fabric I like buy it then try to figure what in the work I will make out of it. This was so much easier! Once I have finished my self imposed fabric buying hiatus I will try to stick to that line of purchasing. Of course as I have about 2 tons of fabric that might be a while.

So maybe I need to call this my “LLA” blouse seeing as she was the one that ordered me to make something for myself last weekend. She is rather bossy I dare say. ;)

And then everything thing went black!

2007-01-15T16:33:00.000-05:00

Bummer!

John just called me & our power just went out! Where was that at 6 am this morning when I was dreading my drive to work! Noooooooo you couldn’t have gone out then power could you! You just had to wait until I am almost leaving work! Damn power!

I actually took LLA’s advice & worked on something for ME over the weekend! I finished my Simp 4111 – Built By Wendy Blouse.

I made the one with no ties but longer sleeves. I had intended on wearing it today but then the temps were below 30ºF this am so I opted for warmer clothes thinking that I would be able to get a picture of it when I get home. HA!

Oh well there is something to be said for heating with wood & having a gas stove. We might be in the dark, but we will be warm & can eat!

TGIF, a couple WIPs & Gratitude

2007-01-12T13:26:00.000-05:00

First off Thank you for being Friday! Honestly it felt that this week would never end. I think that after you have 2 – 3day weeks in a row that they should be followed up with 2 – 4day weeks so that you can ease back into things. Goodness!

WIPs

I actually have something that I am working on & have been for quite sometime. The first are the pockets of a split skirt that have been finished for months & months. They just want for the rest of their skirt to be cut out & sewed up. Well that & the front panel to be finished trimming & embroidered. See I have to tack the tan soutache on by hand then sew it down by machine. The little red dots are hand embroidered, so this maybe a WIP a while longer, but I thought if I posted it I might be more motivated to finish her up.

Here is what it will be like when finished. I haven’t even considered the vest yet, or maybe I should make a jacket instead…… hmmmm…

The second is a crocheted shawl that I have been working on for oh…..lets see …. 1 ½ - 2 years. It is also for me to wear for SASS events. I can get about a row or two down & then my hand gets worn out! The wider it gets the longer it seems to be taking, but I have been trying to work on it a bit each night at least. It’s a good in front of the boob tube project.

On with the gratitude….

I am always in awe when I read blogs that post a list every Friday, and then I am shamed that I don’t do the same. So for once I am actually on the ball. Shhh don’t tell anyone, cause then they will expect it all the time.

1) My husband ~ my little couch riding K-Fed wanna be that he is. Bless his little heart he actually did some work this week(at our house & other places to be unnamed), applied for the like 2 job listings in our entire tri county area that didn’t require a hair net & paper hat as part of the uniform (no offense, as these are good job for certain people, John is not one of them), he did some more leg work on “The House Problem” that might actually produce some results (but lets not get too carried away yet) & he has a job interview on Wed. Gotta love that man! Go Honey!

Just had to include a picture of my little studded muffin, also from out honeymoon. I forgot that I had so many good ones.

2) My Puppy Dog ~ There is nothing like the unconditional love of your dog. Even though she now thinks that John is the best thing since chopped liver since he is home all the time now. Hmph!

3) My mom ~ there has never been a woman that has more eternal optimism. God love her, she drives me up the wall when all I want to do is wallow in my own misery but she is my rock of radiant sunshine & glass half full.

4) For my friends ~ here, there & in blog land. They cook ya dinner, uplift, inspire, encourage, allow me to vent & help me to want to strive to better myself. For that I thank you.

5) And finally for the new minute glimmer of hope that has come to light with our house problem, could it be possible that there are politicians that actually give a damn about the people that got them to where they are. Could it be that there are still state officials that are out for the little guy & not just themselves? Can there possibly be a better ending than me going postal at the township hall? Well I wont’ get too carried away but a girl can hope. I’ll keep ya posted.

And now just cause it is so pretty & Bekka & I have been "talking" about it so much lately. Here is a picture that I took on our honeymoon at Elk Mountain Ranch in CO. Now you can see why I want that ranch in the mountains. After seeing it for real there is nothing like it!

Have a wonderful weekend all!

Twosies

2007-01-11T13:44:00.000-05:00

I got from Bekka:

Two names you go by:
MéLisa
Me

Two parts of your heritage:
Hungarian
Irish

Two things that scare you:Fanaticism – be it religious, animal rights or political, people get crazy!
My co-worker’s butt crack

Two everyday essentials:
Lotion – Hello it’s dry up here
Wedding band & engagement rings

Two things you are wearing right now:
Diamond stud earrings – Christmas gift from John in 2000
Tan uncut cord jeans

Two of your favorite current bands/artists:
Gary Allen
Crash Test Dummies

Two things you want in a relationship (other than love):
Understanding
Fun, because that is the most important thing *

Two truths:
I am a good shot
I have been in a nudy bar

Two favorite hobbies:
making jewelry
sewing

Two things you have to do this week:
Mail Christmas gifts
work on some clothing orders

Two stores you shop at:
Goodwill
Brush Creek Antiques

Two shows you like to watch:
Criminal Minds
The Office – I swear that I have worked with all those people

Two things you'd buy if money were no object:
A herd of Alpaca & a spotty butt horse or two
A ranch with hundreds of acres, a gorgeous view of the mountains, a nice size house with a rock’n kitchen, sewing/jewelry making studio & huge front porch to sit & drink my coffee on admiring the view.

Two wishes for 2007:
Have the house situation resolved
Have an option of what to do next with our lives, instead of being “stuck”

*An inside joke between John & I.

I might be an academic loser but…….

2007-01-10T15:47:00.000-05:00

Look what I can make!

This is the purse that I made for my mom for Christmas. It’s kind of funny really because Mom is the quilter not me. She gave me several “Charm packs” when she was here this past fall (she sells them in her store) I love looking at them cause they are so pretty but thought oh man what am I going to make with these.

Well TaDa!

Here is a look inside:

A close up of the closure:

I used a vintage button & vintage lace my the o'l stash.

Now if that weren't cute enough I also made her this:

And the Back:

Close up of the print:

And the matching mini pot holders:

I found this way too cute vintage fabric at Goodwill of all places & jsut had to get it to make Mom something. It is so her. She loves vintage Christmas decor. I used the pleated apron pattern from Amy Butler's Stitches book for the basic pattern. I shortened it (Mom's only 4'10") & oliminated the bottom trim. I think that it turned out so cute. I can't wait for her to see it.

Now I only have MIL Joyce's bage to finish up, a little zipper bag that matches Mom's patchwork purse and I should be able to mail them out this week!

Yippy!

What do I want to be when I grow up…..

2007-01-09T16:36:00.000-05:00

That is a very good question. I have no idea. Poor John has been out looking for a job & as we are the #1 or #2 state in the country with the highest unemployment you can imagine how well this has gone.

So that has gotten me to thinking what do I want to do really. Not what I am doing I can assure you, but seeing as it is paying the bills I can’t complain too much. When I first started college out of high school my major was Fashion Design & Merchandising. I wanted to be a buyer for a line of clothing stores then maybe someday design my own lines of cloths. Then the college canceled my program & I got discouraged. So I flipped around trying to figure out what to do seeing as my 75% credits didn’t transfer to another program & there wasn’t another college in the area offering it to transfer to. I ended up getting burned out as I was working full time already & have yet to finish.

I have always wanted to finish my degree, but wasn’t sure what direction to go in. I thought maybe I would see if there wasn’t one of those career test things on line just to see what it might have to say. First off most of them I found you have to pay for. I did find a couple free ones, but the first one was free to see a teaser of the results. To see what it really said you had to pay. Uh I don’t think so.

Then I found this one: www.projectcareer.com

I am not totally sold that it isn’t there just to promote the programs of it’s sponsors but here is what it had to say based on my answers.

These are the top four career matches for me:

Communications:
Journalist
TV Broadcaster
Sports Correspondent
Public Relations Manager
Multimedia Video Editor

Agriculture and forestry industry *:Agricultural worker
Farmworker
Forest and conservation worker
Forester
Forest and conservation technician

Visual Arts**:
Artist
Sculptor
Graphic Designer
Art Director
Illustrator
Sketch artist

Natural scientific research and development services industry***:
Chemist
Medical Scientist
Microbiologist
Nanotechnologist
Aerospace Research Scientist

Ok so based on these results I am totally screwed. It is suggesting I should either work in a cut throat industry, a dying industry, a starving industry or one that I have no interest in. Fabulous! That was so helpful! Pretty much now I just feel like a bigger loser than I did before I took the damn test.

Thanks a big heaping pile of poo there Project Career!

*Employment in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry is projected to decline 11 percent over the 2004-2014 period.

** (Have I mentioned that I went to an arts high school? Give you one guess what department I was in.)
Employment of artists and related workers is expected to grow about as fast as average (14%) for all occupations through the year 2014. However, the competition for jobs is expected to be keen for both salaried and freelance jobs in all specialties, because the number of qualified workers exceeds the number of available openings. Also, because the arts attract many talented people with creative ability, the number of aspiring artists continues to grow.

*** What the frig? I don’t know where this came from at all, but I have no desire to work as a lab tech. I am glad that people do but I would not be good at it.

On with the sewing…..

2007-01-04T15:36:00.000-05:00

I have pictures of one more finished Christmas that I made. This bag is for my 21 year old youngest sister Amber in Florida (Unlike the step sister here in MI, this sister actually likes me).
Front View

I am really happy with the way this bag came out. I started out with the pattern from Sew Simple Magazine & tweeked it. I like my version much better. So I now have the “Amber Joy” Messenger Bag. In case you haven’t noticed the trend in the bag patterns that I have been coming up with over the last couple months they are getting their names from various family members. I kind of like it. Maybe one day I will have one printed for sale. I can dream right?
Back View
Ok so what I did was totally change how I constructed it, added pockets, and changed the dimensions.
Inside Pocket

I love the fabric. Which usually isn’t my thing but with the solid black & white trim I think that is has a “neat” look to it. Then you notice that the pattern is of skulls & cross bones. By the way the fabric came from Joann’s in case anyone is interested. I also made a little zipper bag to go with it. I filled that with little goodies. Check out the skull & bead zipper pull! I have had that little skull in the o’bead stash forever & didn’t know what to do with him. Perfect!

I have also finished my mom’s gifts & just need to photograph them. I love the way her’s turned out as well. More to come……

Starting Fresh in the New Year!

2006-12-31T09:32:00.000-05:00

Hmmm so it is that time of year when thoughts turn to making a fresh start for the new year. As we are still dealing with all the left over house crap from 2005 it’s not a complete fresh start, but for some reason I feel ok with that. We have come to terms with the fact that we must get through this & then we can move on. We still are unsure of where exactly “moving on” will take us, but I think that we are both ok with that, which is new for me. I like a bit more direction normally, but as I don’t have much, sorry any control in this situation. I am letting the cards fall where they may.

So I thought that I would actually make a list this year of if not resolutions at least things that I want to accomplish for 2007.

Sewing & Crafting:

~ Do more sewing for $. I already have a couple orders for the Spring shooting season but will work on getting more & finally get some thing in my Etsy shop.

~ Use up as much of my stash as possible & quit being afraid to use it. Come Jan 1 2007 I will not buy any more fabric unless I must have it to finish a project that I already have all the other stuff in the stash to make.(or unless it is for a customer)

~ Make purge the stash of fabric, patterns, magazines, books, papers, stamps, etc sewing & craft supplies.

~ Sew more shooting clothes for John. I have a couple things I have on the mental list already, 2 vests (one cotton & one faux leather), flannel shield shirt, a couple cotton shirts & at least one pair of saddle pants.

~ Sew more shooting clothes for me. On my mental list: embroidered carriage coat, purple & navy 1890’s dress. Olive split skirt outfit, faux leather split skirt outfit, multiple shirts, Mardi Gras inspired Can Can outfit. Finish: navy split skirt, burgundy flannel dress & the shawl I have been crocheting for 1 ½ years.

~ Make all the gifts possible for family & friends birthdays.

~ Keep track of any $ spent on sewing & crafting. I am stealing this from Beki’s list for 2006. I am just curious & it might help keep in me in check.

~ Cut back on swapping. I love it but need to keep it to a manageable level. I would also like to do some personal swap. Fiona & I have talked about it but time got away from us.

~ Make more jewelry & use my kiln for PMC creations.

House:

~Make a menu & stick to it. I hate the grocery store. I want to limit my trips & stop buying all those little impulse items.

~ Throw out less from my fridge. We end up with soooo many fuzzy little UFOs in there.

~ Try one new recipe a week from my collection of cookbooks.

~ Purge the house “stuff”

~ Work harder to keep the kitchen table from being the dumping ground for mail, paperwork, stuff, stuff, stuff…..

~ Try to get my house work done during the week to leave my weekends free for more fun stuff.

Personal:

~ Keep in touch better with my friends & extended family.

~ Take more walks with Puppy Dog.

~ Eat better.

~ Get less up set by my co-workers & MI family. My MIL is always saying I need a thicker skin. I am going to work on this.

~ Improve my shooting & shoot more.

~Save more.

Yahoo! One down!

2006-12-20T14:56:00.000-05:00

And about a bazillion more to go on yea old Christmas gifts to make list!

I am, however, really excited about how this turned out. This is a gift for John’s aunt & Godmother, Betty. Possibly the most giving woman I have even met. She is constantly sending us things. But I digress.

I bought this fabric last year with her in mind because it is so her but the perfect pattern/project never came to me. Then in Nov. Indygo Junction came out with their Nouveau Hobo Bag pattern. Perfect I thought, but darn I don’t want to spend the $ on that pattern. After talking with Judi, I was emboldened to draft my own pattern. Thank you Judi! Here is what I can up with…….

I changed a couple things. Like the strap I made my ends rounded instead of pointed. I like the look better. The buttons are purely decorative. I am not sure about on the original.

I added a zipper pocket(not shown)& a patch pocket to the interior.

Also check out my label! Thank to that Artsy Crafty Babe, Beki. I was able to print off my own at home. I am very excited about this. I am not so sure that I am totally thrilled with this design for the label, but the idea is really cool!

Of course you need to have matching accessories for such a fab bag right? Here we have a tissue holder & change purse. Fun stuff!

Now I need to make one for my MIL. I have a really cute patchwork bag planned for my mom & all the other things one my list. Ugh! I will start earlier next year. Yeah I know I say that every year!

Quilts for the Kim’s

2006-12-17T09:21:00.000-05:00

I popped on to one of my favorite Blogs this morning, Artsy Crafty Babe & found a post that I felt I must pass on. Beki was passing on information about a quilt that a couple of ladies Patricia & Shanna are putting together for the Kim’s daughters. Check out the Dec 12th post to sign up.

We like the rest of the country prayed that the family would be found alive & safe. Then when Kati & the girls were found, prayed they James would also be found alive even with the odds so against it. I honestly wept when we watched the news report. All I could think was the picture of those sweet little girls that would now have to grow up without their father. It just broke my heart!

Then I read more about the Kim’s on different blog & learned that Kati is a crafty lady too & I believe that she owns a shop. So to me, she could be any one of the crafty ladies that I have met here in Blog land. In fact it could have been completely possible that at some point Kati & I could have been reading the same blogs. It would even be conceivable that we may have “met” one day just the way I have met the other ladies that I now would consider my friends.

So for all those reason I pass along the information about the quilts in the hopes that maybe one of your will want to participate or pass it along to someone else who will. It sounds like the sign up has been slow & I would hate for this idea to hit a wall before it is even able to get going.

Now with any luck I might be able to post the button for the link.

Wedding outfit Part 1

2006-12-14T08:05:00.000-05:00

Ok I think that I have the wedding outfit kind of worked out! (Thank you LLA, Beki & Stacy).

I am going to make the top first & then see how that looks with some different style of pants & go from there. I actually dug out the fabric that I had in mind last night to see how it would look together. I think that I like it, in theory anyway. You have to kind of use your imagination of the picture of the fabric on the dress form* but you can get the idea. At first I was thinking of the lace on the bottom, but then if I have a black jacket the white on the top will stand out more.

So this morning I was trying to think of what to wear tomorrow for our work Christmas lunch. I remembered that I had made a pair of pants to test the pattern for the wedding outfit from Hell. (I will have to get a picture of it so you can see). I really liked the pants, but never got around to hemming the test pair so that I can actually wear them. I was thinking maybe I could hem them for tomorrow. Then I I had my “Ah HA!” moment! I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before, but I could use that pants pattern for my “new” wedding outfit. I know that I already like the pants, the pattern is already traced & is a good fit! The other cool thing is that I will be able to try the top on with the already made pants first to get a feel for how they will look together! Bonus!

So here are the pants that I am thinking of. They are from the 11/2005 Burda WOF the Marlene Dietrich Trousers. There is even a review of them on Pattern Review!

So now I am thinking that I will need to go with a jacket with a lower front opening to show off the pretty front of the tank. I am sure that I must have something in the pattern stash. If only the sewing came as quick & easy as coming up with what to sew does!

Also ignore the mess, after all it is 1 ½ weeks before Christmas & my sewing area is a hazard area!

What to or not to wear?

2006-12-13T11:33:00.000-05:00

Ok so to add to the madness that is our life of late, we got an invitation over the weekend to my boss’s daughters wedding on Feb 17th! I totally did not expect this & of course have nothing to wear. So because I am so easily distracted instead of working on my huge Christmas to do list I spent about a ½ hour contemplating what I might be able to whip up for the event. I am guessing that when the invitation says “Black Tie Optional” that it is going to be fairly fancy, right? I didn’t have a fancy wedding so I am kind of clueless as to what to wear, at least when it comes to the freezing north in Feb! My cousin got married last Feb (not this fancy) I made my outfit & HATED it. The actual outfit did not end up any where near the picture in my mind. I wore it but was not happy with it. John said it looked like those matchy matchy jogging suits that old ladies wear to mall walk. Thanks dear!

Anyhooo I am trying to figure out what I can A) make from the stash or B) only maybe have to purchase fabric for a top of some kind. The reception is being held at the Kalamazoo Art Institute.

So I was thinking oh cool it’s at an arty place so I can go with something a little artsy, a little different? But not this different mind you. A little more elegant a little less fiber.

In my quick search of the available patterns from the stash I found not much.
At first glance these couple caught my eye, but I don’t know……

Than I thought I would check out the pattern sites to see what they have, thinking that maybe I would get inspired.

I found this : Simplicity 4885

I really like the black & white checked skirt suit with the ribbon on the jacket or the same jacket with the satin pants. I, of course do not own this pattern. I do however own the following ones:

Simp 4698 - Jacket

Simp 4273 – Top (I don’t care for the skinny straps on the other one) & the pants if I go with that.

Or maybe a top like this, minus the beads I think, I like the lace but no those skinny straps again.

Simp 4882 or 5914 – Skirts

I was thinking that I could do the pants in a black satin backed crepe, satin side out, that I already have. Then what to do about the jacket & top……
Although that is not very differnt or artsy I guess.

Is black ok to wear to a wedding?

Should I go with something else completely? I don’t know!

I hate weddings in Feb in Michigan! Warmer weather is so much better to dress for as far as weddings go!

Help!

Ok I had to add this. I love this outfit! It's from the upcoming Burda WOF Jan '07. I don't think that it is wedding appropriate, but maybe those pants? They are different & with the right fabric might be pretty elegant, but kind of top?

Yes I still sew!

2006-12-13T09:02:00.000-05:00

Ok I finally have something sewing related to show. It has been finished for weeks but I have been having home computer problems. Then I had to figure out how to use my work computer to up load the pictures. I got all that worked out now, I think anyway. You know me the big techie I am.

You may remember these fab buttons that my mom & I found when she was up visiting.

I put them to good use on my wearable muslin for my Garbo Cardigan. I didn’t think that the fabric would do well with that large of button holes. So I took a page out of the Oct Burda WOF magazine & used extra large snaps on the inside & the buttons on the outside just for eye candy. I think that the next time make it I will use larger seam allowances because it could be just a tad slimmer on the sides, but for the most part I am pretty happy with it.

So now without further ado my new cardigan!*

* ALso if you look closely you can see the new do, not looking too spiffy as it was raining that day & my collection of Cowboy Snowmen. Yes our Old West obsession knows no bounds.

Nothing says Merry Christmas like…….

2006-12-08T08:48:00.000-05:00

13” of snow!

Well yes that would do it too but how about tomorrow is your last day of work 16 days before Christmas! Yeah! No not me but John was told yesterday that they have no more work & that today will be his last day of work. OK. Um could you maybe have said a month ago, Um John you know things are really slow & I don’t have any worked lined up beyond the next three weeks, so maybe you might want to be looking for something else. Oh well such is life in the #1 in the country for unemployment state. Where’s Capello? I believe that only she can fully express my feelings for the state of MI at this moment, as she spent the weekend from hell here earlier this fall. Words cannot fully express my feelings for this Godforsaken state at this time. Nothing good has come from moving here. (Other than meeting you Judi). Seeing as on Dec. 21, 2005 was when all our house problems started, I don’t think that I want to have to spend Christmas 2007 here! That is my goal for 2007 to get the hell out of here! (pssst Gina you are not allowed to go away again, see what happens when you are gone?)

Also to add to our ridiculous situation, we have taken in a stray dog that showed up at our house last weekend. I have nicknamed her Noel & am looking for her owners or a new home. She is incredibly sweet & so good, but now that I am soon to be married to a K-Fed* wanna be I think it best that she go to someone who can properly afford her.

The good thing about John’s recent loss of employment is that all those little jobs around the house can now get done. Well all the ones that done require spending any more mullah that is. So the utility closet should be put back together by the end of the weekend.

So I guess that my dreams of a Christmas iPod are out the window. Oh well I wasn’t meant to be that hip anyway. Ok so now I am on my way over to Capello’s for my daily does of freaky Lego Advent Calendar, then to LLA’s to look at her cute bead tree again, then I think that I will see what pretty things Stacy, Beki, Fiona, Heather & Bekka have been up to. Thank God for the internet & all it's prettiness to distract us!

* by the way when I told John that, I then had to explain who K-Fed was. The joke kind of lost something after that.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

2006-11-30T14:52:00.000-05:00

You all are the bestest! I got some really great ideas from you all & I think that I have a little bit better plan now.

Here is what I am thinking so far. Let me know what you think. By the way I am completely barrowing/stealing ideas from all over the place. I have tried to give credit where credit was do.

For ladies:
Matching Kitchen Set (apron, mini oven/fingertip mitt set, & kitchen towel), food mix (like cookies in a jar, brownies, etc), bath salt/tea/bomb(from here, here or here), and/or favored coffee mix & chocolate coffee spoons.

For Guys: Grill apron & grill mitt, rub mix, Peach Jalapeno Jam/grilling sauce, grilling/marinade recipes?

For younger kids:
Crayon holder, coloring book, Snowman Soup or maybe Snowman Poop,

For Tweens: ?

Why are tweens so hard?

That's what I have so far. I have other more personal things for my mom, MIL & Aunt in law, but I think that I will get working on getting some of these "set" made up for everyone else.

I just had to point out some of these bath salt/tea/bombs recipes. They sound sooooo wonderful! Makes me wish I had a bath tub, instead of just a shower.

Chocolate Ice Cream Bath Fizzies Recipe
Bath Cookies
Fruity Bath Salts recipe
Healing Lemon & Green Tea Bath
Effervesce Fizzing Bath
Faerie Herbal Bath
Lavender Milk Bath Sachet
Citrus & Herb Bath – minus the fresh orange & maybe add lemon peel in it’s place?
Bath Bombs
Coconut Bath Soak Pouches recipe

My blank Christmas list

2006-11-29T15:25:00.000-05:00

Oh my gosh! I can’t believe that Friday is December 1st already! I am so not ready. I mean I have my house decorated & all, but that is it! I have no idea what to do for gifts this year & no $ to just buy ones with. I had hoped that I would have some moment of clarity & wonderful gift ideas would seep into my brain via osmosis from the net, but no such luck so far. Darn!

I really need to make most of the gifts this year for sake of the budget with most of our funds having gone for “the house problem” this year. Which by the way is not over, we got another nasty gram from the township yesterday. Oh joy!

So I spent my lunch ½ hour searching the net for great little gifties that I can craft up. I must not be looking in the right places because I came up with almost nothing. I did find this that I thought was a rather cute idea & might be able to use.

Mouse Pad Cover

So my super crafty Diva, blogging friends, what fabulous hand crafted gift wisdom can you share with me?

Giving Thanks.

2006-11-22T10:17:00.000-05:00

As we start into the Holiday rush I just wanted to share a little something that John & I have been doing for the last couple years. We both hold those who serve in our military close to our hearts. John served in the Air Force & his dad (WWII) my dad & my step dad (Vietnam) served along with many more uncles cousins & friends. If you agree with the mission or not I urge everyone to remember that it is because of the sacrifices of our brave brothers and sisters throughout the history of our great nation is the reason we are able celebrate Thanksgiving & whatever chosen December Holiday that we observe or for that matter have the opportunity to chose not to celebrate. We must remember that these people that are severing during this holiday season are sons/daughters, husbands/wives, fathers/mothers, & friends of someone and will be away from their families so that we can celebrate with ours.

So a couple years ago I found this organization that found away to give a little something back to our troops for all that they do. Any Soldier.com is a little bit different & that is what drew us to it. I am a hands on kind of Gal & prefer to not just give money. Because the concerns of terrorists you are not permitted to just send a care package addressed to “any soldier” as you could in the past & this box would just have been randomly handed to a service man/woman who might not otherwise receive any mail. As we all love to receive mail (hello Swap Bot? Don’t tell me you don’t like to get mail! Ok not the bill kind, sure.)

What any soldier has done is allow the soldiers to sign up on their site to receive care packages. Usually this person is the unit leader or just a member that has taken notice that other soldiers might not receive any mail or care packages. They sign up & tell a little bit about the unit or themselves. Here is where you can search for a soldier to send to.You can read though the listings & select who you might like to send a care package or write. You send it to the attention of the person that registered & they will share with the unit or maybe distribute to the members that are not receiving anything at all.

We feel that this is a great program & love that we are able to pick who we are sending to. It makes it seem more personal. We haven’t ever heard back from any of the people that we have sent packages to personally but they often post on Any Soldier that they are so grateful for what they have received & for us that is just fine. It just feels good that we are bale to brighten someone’s day that is sacrificing so much just so that we can live our lives.

We are going to pick a couple of soldiers to send to & probably get our packages off this weekend in the hopes of them arriving in time for the holidays. So I wanted to share this with my blogging friends so that maybe in the rush of the season you might find a spare few minutes to send a box or even letters to thank those who won’t be fortunate enough to be with their loved ones this holiday in order for the rest of us to enjoy ours.

Happy Thanksgiving & God Bless!

On the sewing frontier.

2006-11-22T08:30:00.000-05:00

My very talented friend Gina, recipient of the brown corduroy purse, just got an article, Dressed to Shoot, published in Shoot! Magazine. It’s all about costuming for Cowboy Action Shooting & it is very good! Congratulations Lady! I am looking forward to many more!

So that got me to thinking that I really dropped the sewing ball this year in regards to costuming. I had some commissioned items & then there has been the whole house thing (that will be going on for a year come Dec. 23rd), so I guess that I have an excuse. I miss it though. So I was looking for some inspiration last week & came across this beauty!

It is from a copy of a French magazine LA MODE ILLUSTREE dated October 3, 1897 that is for sale on Ebay. After some encouragement from Gina on morphing a pattern that I already have I set to work. No I don’t have a finished garment to show you, but I was able to redraft it into what I think will be a very close rendition. We lost power on Sat afternoon for about 4 hours so that gave me time to work on my pattern but no sewing or ironing. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. Once I get some other sewing out of the way I plan to work on it. Of course I won’t be wearing it until next spring at the earliest but it was good to get the creative juices flowing & earmark a tiny faction of my 2 tons of fabric for something, anything!

So look for future updates on the Purple & Navy Princess Dress in the coming months.

Meme? Never heard of it but I’ll give it a go…..

2006-11-16T11:44:00.000-05:00

I barrowed, ok will maybe stole because she probably won’t want it back once I’m done with it, this from Bekka. I liked reading hers, it’s a bit like therapy & I could use some of that today (yeah I know why is today different from any other day, it just is).

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
Ugh I look like I need another 8 hours of sleep!

2. Favorite planet?
Hmmmm, Uranus you know cause it’s the butt of so many jokes…

3. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
You mean peopel get that many phone calls!?

4. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone?
My phone is so low tech it just rings, but I would so have I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred. That is so funny!

5. Do you “label” yourself?
Yes but probably not in a good way. I used to think better of me but then we moved "here" & things have kind of gone to Hell in a hand basket.

6. What does your watch look like?
It’s a Wenger Swiss Army that is in desperate need of a new band.

7. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Sleeping, you mean people are wake at that hour? Oh wait that used to be me.

8. What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
Yeah right, see #4

9. What's a word that you say a lot?
Ass, as in you are an, he is an, they are, smells like, tastes like. I really need to watch my mouth…..

10. Last furry thing you touched?
My co-worker, DQ’s, cat. Yup we have reached new heights of DQ –ness. She has purchased a $500 cat that needs eye drops every 2 hours & therefore must come to the office. Amazing!

11. Favorite age you have been so far?
Can I pick 2? Sure I can it’s my list right? 23, because that was my wild child days & 27 because I married & we had yet to move to well, you know.

12. Your worst enemy?
My overly sensitive feelings. I tend to care why too much what everyone else thinks about me.

13. What is your current desktop picture?
None.

14. What was the last thing you said to someone?
Uhu… yup…. As if I was paying attention to the totally un work related babble.

15. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be?
Easy, The $, then I can buy a plane & fly any time I want.

16. Do you like someone?
That depends, who are we talking about? Like I tell John, I always love him, but I don’t always like him.

17. The last song you listened to?
A Showman's Life ~ Gary Allan

18. What time of day were you born?
1:40 p.m.

19. What's your favorite number?
7

20. Where did you live in 1987?
Lake Worth, FL

21. Are you jealous of anyone?
More envious I think, of ladies who are close to their sisters. I always wanted that but I guess it wasn’t in the cards for me.

22. Is anyone jealous of you?
Bawawawawaawa!!!! Yeah right!!! That’s a good one! Unless they are jealous of my “Tom Seleck” looking husband maybe but other than that they are out of their mind.

23. Where were you when 9/11 happened?
Working in Boca Raton, FL. Our sister company’s headquarters is in New Jersey & husband is from New Jersey. When we heard a about the first plane we turned on the TV in the conference room in time to see the second plan hit. It was the worst thing have ever witnessed.

24. Do you consider yourself kind?
I try to be & I hope that I am.

25. If you had to get a tattoo, where would it be?
hmmmm some place where it wouldn’t sage or stretch in time……

26. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be?
Hungarian

27. Would you move for the person you loved?
Absolutely, he did for me.

28. What's your life motto?
Life Motto? What the heck? People have these?

29. What's your favorite town/city?
New Orleans, for the food!

30. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
Last night. I wrote two.

31. Can you change the oil on a car?
I could if I had to.

32. Your first love: what is the last thing you heard about him/her?
If this means like your high school sweet heart first love, um that he got married but his parents didn’t care for her & they always hoped we would get back together. (my mom saw his parents a few months back). Isn’t that nice? Guess he shouldn’t have dumped me Jr. year for that bimbo cheerleader! Tramp! ;)

33. How far back do you know about your ancestry?
On my mom’s dad’s side to the early 1800’s, the Hungarian church lost many of the records before then. On mom’s mom’s side, it was farther back but I lost the web addy of the family tree some distant cousin set up. Bummer.

34. The last time you dressed fancy, what did you wear and why did you dress fancy?
My cousins wedding last Feb? I think.

35. Have you been burned by love?
Uh yah! See #32 & I can so top that many times over.

There ya go! 35 thing about me that you probably never wanted to know.

Holy Thanksgiving Batman!

2006-11-15T08:35:00.000-05:00

Oh my gosh! Am I the only one that just realized that next week is Thanksgiving???? UGH! I had hoped that we might be going to Louisiana, but it looks that that is not the case. John’s cousins live there & they just got moved into their new house a week before the 1 year anniversary of their old one being totally destroyed by hurricane Katrina. My MIL is going do for 10 days & it would be so great to see them & her, but maybe next year.

I haven’t heard a word from the family here in months (you would think that they might call to see if we were living on the streets because our house was condemned by the corrupt local government but I guess that doesn’t fit into the bubble that they live in). This might be a blessing in disguise to avoid having to eat raw turkey or being roped into having to cook it like last year. The whole “we want to barrow your deep fryer to cook the turkey” translated into you will end up buying the oil & cooking the entire thing yourselves because we don’t understand that gallons, as in 5 or more, of oil means GALLONS & not quarts. Also we will pawn it off on you as soon as you arrive. GREAT! So no great loss there.

So I guess maybe I shuold be thinking of what I am going to cook for Thanksgiving as it looks like we will be on our own. Hmmmm Any suggestions? Maybe we will just have these, my newest guilty pleasure!

On the house front we are not going to be prosecuted or evicted (at least not for the time being). The State told the township basically that they & the previous owners are the ones that screwed up & they can’t see how they are able to hold us responsible for that. Not that we are out of the woods or have received a penny of the money (we are into 5 digit figures now) that we have had to fork over to pay for all of this, but we are now working on that among other things.

Thank you for all the prayer, thoughts & Karma. Even though it's far from over, we can start to see a pin prick of light at the end of the tunnel.

Deer vs. Plastic Jack-o-lantern

2006-11-14T14:03:00.000-05:00

Did you see that SW Michigan made the national news? Yup we are the ones with the deer who had its head stuck in the plastic pumpkin bucket.

It even made the Today Show!

It was really funny to see except he wasn’t able to eat or drink with it on there. Good news he was able to break free of his plastic jack-o-lantern just in time for firearms deer season that starts tomorrow morning!

Now you might think it odd that I would be concerned about that deer not being able to eat when John took tomorrow off in the hopes of blasting Bambi, but hey we have to eat too, right? We do eat whatever he shoots too. I haven't bought any beef at the store in almost 2 years. Not bad for a city girl. Maybe I should write a cookbook. "101 ways for a City Girl to Cook Venison" What do you think?

We really are lousy with deer around here we have more car/deer accidents than any other area of the country. This I know for a fact as I used to work for a large national auto insurance company & I can assure you that a good size deer can do so serious damage to a vehicle.

On a completely seperate note, I wanted to point out a blog that I stumbled across recently. Bekka is very entertaining & talented & she is taking part in a post a day for Nov. I think she might have hit a stumbling block last week but I am impressed seeing as I am lucky if I get a post in every 2 weeks! Go Bekka GO!

How not to buy a TV.

2006-11-14T13:13:00.000-05:00

Our poor 14 year old TV finally bit the big one. First the color has been getting increasingly darker & redder for the last couple years. Then for the last couple months the picture would flip for the first ½ hour until it warmed up. It has just been getting worse & worse. So as an earlier Christmas gift to each other we went on Sat night to buy a new one. Thus begins the saga of how not to buy a TV……..

First off do not have your husband measure & not check what he is measuring. Because if you think that he is measuring the current TV when in actuality he is measuring the opening in the entertainment center, no good will come of using those measurements.

So we spent over an hour trying to decide which one to get. Seeing as the one that we really really wanted was nearly $4000 we had to a hard time deciding between the realistic ones that they had to offer in our price range. We finally decide & John measures it. 30 ¼” inches across.

John: what did I tell the width was?

Me: 30”, that was the TV, so we have at least 1 ½” room on each side of that.

John: Ok

Get said TV home & into the house (it weighed a ton!). I had convinced him on the drive home that I could have it hooked up in no time & even though it was nearly 9 pm it wouldn’t be that big a deal .

He opens the top of the box & uh ho. Look from TV to entertainment center, Is that going to fit?

Measures the width of the TV 30 ¼”. Measure the width of the entertainment center opening 30” exactly. Well of course it is!!!

So needless to say, we were back at the store the next day, picking a new TV because apparently when it comes to purchasing electronics we ride the short bus. We were able to get the same screen size, but a different brand. Let me just tell you that even this one just fits, but we did measure twice!

So when we go to pay for the new TV we find out that the only one that they have is an open box model. Meaning that someone else returned it (like we did the non fitting one) & we got money off of it! Yippy! The big difference between our open box returned TV & this one, ours never made it our of the box & this one didn’t even have a box! The remote & owners manual were taped to the top of it! They assured us that it was fine & had all the same guarantees that a regular one. Ok fine. Then of course on the drive home pulling away from a stop light the tv fall against the hatch back! Excellent!

We got her home, hooked up & all is well, so far. In fact for us it’s like having that $4000, HDTV, plasma, flat screen TV that we were drooling over compared to what we had! We are in love with our new TV!

Merry Christmas Pumpkin!

In addition to TV shopping we each got a new movie.

John’s pick: The War Wagon (love The Duke)

My pick: Emma

To go with my other Jane Austin Fav, Pride & Prejudice. Which I cannot wait to watch now that we have a TV that has real color.

Then I also picked up Some Kind of Wonderful & Pretty in Pink for John to give me for Christmas(am I the only one who ends up doing this?). I have been looking for these to add to my cheesy movie library.

Am I the only one that just loves those classic chees-a-riffic movies? Like The Breakfast Club(have), The Princess Bride(have), Sixteen Candles(need), A Christmas Story (will be buying as soon as Wally World restocks ‘em), etc…..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GINA!

2006-11-03T11:52:00.000-05:00

“A most beloved” friend (a little P&P quote for ya!) Gina’s birthday was on Friday.

I made her what I think turned out to be a pretty cute little purse & filled with some other goodies too! I hope that it was a good one! I didn't want to post any pictures until I was sure that she got the package I sent, because I was a little late getting it off to her.

But now that she has here they are:

I think that this is my favorite pattern so far from my Japanese craft books.

Close up of the wool felt flower that I made & embroidered with beads.

And just some of the goodies that are in the bag, lavender sachets I made.

Playing catch up.

2006-11-03T11:34:00.000-05:00

That is what I feel like I have been doing the last couple weeks. My mom & her husband Jerry were here for nearly 2 weeks (well for 5 days of that they went to Petoskey, MI, but they were with us the rest of the time). Mom & got to spend a couple of days just the two of use but it was too short. We are very close so it has been hard living 1500 mile away from each other these last 3 years.

So what did we do with our time you may ask…. Well we went thrifting, antiquing, sewed & canned. I will start with the antiquing. While the boys when pheasant hunting, we went to Schoolcraft MI. There are probably 6-9 antique shops on main street. There is one that is 2 store fronts wide on the first floor & 3-4 wide on the second floor. We heard that it used to be the old opera house, but I don’t know for sure.

So here is what my wonderful Mom bought me (she says that she hardly ever gets to buy me anything & growing up we hardly ever had extra $ so she is trying to make up for that now, a little).

I got this great Pyrex type bowl in that ever popular pattern.

These fabulous buttons that I am so excited about because they were .25 each instead of the $7.00 each I almost paid for very similar buttons at the Sewing Expo! Now I can make my Garbo Cardigan (along with the other dozen things on my “to do” list).

These three Blue Ridge China saucers. I don’t think that I have anything in these patterns yet & at $1 each how can you pass them up!? Then last but not least my sugar bowl collection grows. I got this mystery sugar bowl minus the lid for $2.50. I would love to find a lid for it, but I don’t know the maker or anything about it. At the moment it is housing my new big buttons & that is fine too. Not a bad haul if I do say so myself. Thanks again Mom!

So now I am off to catch up on my work (eeeeew!) e-mails & blogs.

Office visitors….

2006-11-03T10:52:00.001-05:00

We had some excitement at the office this week. No not more fleas (thank goodness). Instead we had discovered that we have a family of wee baby field mice that have apparently been living here for a little while. They are so used to people that they were running around in broad day light & one was so bold as to crawl on my desk with me sitting at it! I went to pick up my coffee cup & almost grabbed the little guys as well! I am not afraid of them by any means as I used to have pet mice growing up, but I also don’t want to get bit by a wild mouse.

Our boss bought traps & we have caught 3 so far. I feel bad because they are sooooo cute but they will get big (we think that they are babies because they are smaller than a ½ dollar!) & they can have 3-9 babies in a litter! They ate all my Ricola cough drops, several heresy kisses & a whole packet of crackers. They dragged all this behind my bookshelf, strong little buggers! I am sad that they must go but if they don't they might stage a rebellion & over throw use juse as Tim Bedore has been predicting, the animals are plotting to do!

Swaps & Contests….

2006-10-25T12:26:00.000-05:00

I got my Orange & Purple Coloriffic Swap package & it was another great one! I guess in light of all my other “issues” the swap Gods have taken pity on my & blessed me with fabulous swap partners of late!

All this yummy goodness came from Revital.

She made the earrings, bracelet & the little butterfly buttons! I have really been into purple lately so I have been wearing the bracelet & earrings a lot.

While we are on the swapping subject, I would like to point out that my lovely Aqua & Red Swap partner, Heather, is hosting a swap. Check out her A Little Bit of Everything Swap. I was swearing off Swap Bot swaps for for individual swaps for a while but I had to join this seeing as Heather was hosting it.

I have also entered a contest Stacy’s Stacy Sews Fabric Leftovers Contest. There are some great entries so I would ask you to go check them out. Not that you have to vote for mine, but I won’t be upset if you do. Just vote & show some support for the craftiness out there in blog land.

Speaking of contests, remember that great Peeps Bra from the Sewing Expo a couple posts back, well as it turns out one of my readers (how funny does that sound?) Sarah e-mailed me to ask if I had seen her entry at the Expo, because she hadn’t heard anything from them. Well as it turns out Miz Sarah took first place with her entry “Sports Bra: Supporting a Race for a Cure”. Isn’t that so great! Congrats Sarah!

You can check out the winners here.

I'm here, I'm here!

2006-10-17T13:21:00.000-05:00

I am so terribly behind! In my blogging, swapping, laundry*, etc etc! I only have a second before my lunch break is over but I have to share this fantabulous package that I got from Heather for the Aqua & Red Swap.

She was so thoughtful with her choices for my box. She had been reading Sew Little Thyme & picked the best stuff! My mom & I both at in love with the little bowls!** The chocolates were very yummy!

The bracelet is just so pretty! I have worn it like a dozen times already! I was telling Heather that because I make jewelry I hardly ever buy it for myself thinking or I can make myself that. Then of course reality takes hold, the “do to” list calls & I never get to it. So it was so nice to get
that.
Her little tissue & lip gloss holders are just too cute! The little sketch book is going in my purse for when I need to jot done a fabulous idea for a new project. I have actually been looking for one just like it for ever! That little tiny lady bug is the cutest magnet. She also knew about my hair issues & made me that beaded flower hairpin & red stain ribbon headband. Also check out the tiny little Canada pin!
Also she was so cute because she put little tags on everything explaining why she choice it! I love it! I do that too sometimes! Also it was all wrapped in that beautifully yummy brown & Aqua paper! I have kept it too. I am trying to figure out how I might be able to reuse it. It’s just too pretty not to! I am also planning on framing that handmade card that she did such a great job making. It is really pretty & I think that it will make a fabulous addition to my sewing/guest room décor. Let’s see did I miss anything….oh yeah the Mary Kay Satins hands little kit, lip gloss & then these soap leaves (not MK)! I haven’t tried them yet but they smell really good!

I also told her that it came at the perfect time, as we got more “house problem” news that same day. Seems that we have a new deadline of Nov 1 before they will seek to condemn the house. Oh and get this little gem, prosecute us too! Fabulous! We may get to spent Christmas in the big house! 3 hots & a cot! Oh joy!

But seriously our attorney feels that they will have a snowballs chance in He** of actually getting any judge to go along with that but it’s still in the back of our minds. So we keep trusting that there must be a bigger reason for all this & taking comfort in the fact that we have done nothing wrong. We spent the last week & ½ preparing our response to that response from the township that they sent to the state, in response to our complaint. ***

So that is where we are at & why I have been MIA. Thank to all who have sent good thoughts & e-mails. I really appreciate it. It is a comfort to know that that there are still good people out there when you are only dealing with the crawled out from under a rock kind. Thank you, again!

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* is anyone ever actually caught up on laundry? Come on really?

** I might have to check mom’s luggage before she leaves to make sure that she doesn’t sneak off with them! And the tissue holder for that matter. I saw her eyeballing that too!

*** Your keeping all this straight right? Because there will be a quiz at the end of the saga. So take notes!

Recap......

2006-10-04T15:09:00.000-05:00

Ok let’s see if I can manage to do this in less than 5000 words. (if you know me you know I can’t tell/type a short story).

I took Friday off from work to attend The American Sewing Expo in Novi. I left my house at 6:30 am to be at my friend Judi’s for shortly after 9 am. We were to the Expo by around 10 am & didn’t leave until 6-ish. It was a full day of shopping, looking, talking & feeling the fabric.

I am really proud of myself that I bought no fabric! The only items I did purchase are this, this, this & a couple of these tubular frames, to make a couple of these* .The Garden Jacket isn't normally my style but they had them in the booth made up in different types of fabrics & it gives it a whole new look. Really pretty nice.

I found some great buttons for my Garbo Jacket but we both agreed that $35.00 was a bit much for 5 buttons. I mean they were neat but not $7.00 each worth of neat. So am keeping my eye out for 4 large (1”-1 ½”) buttons to go with my purple/blue boucle. I will probably end up with mother of pearl or silver ones as I think that it will be hard to find a another set that close in color.

They had some fabulous exhibits at the Expo. One was of bras for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, antique clothing from Jane Austin to Titanic Rose & of this unbelievably realistic looking quits. I can’t remember the name of the exhibit.

One of my favorite bras, "Don't Touch My Peeps":

One of the Civil War Era Dresses:

One of the gorgeous quilts & because I love lillies:

We also got to attend two fashion shows. One was of independent pattern companies the other was all Simplicity patterns. This was extra cool because we got to talk to Debra Kneiling, director of design development. She was so nice & had the most fabulous jacket on! It is actually one of the new Built by Wendy ones but it was made out of a gorgeous brown wool with pink & green dot like designs woven into it. It looked totally different than the one shown on the pattern

I got home Sat am & worked like a mad woman to try & finish my dress for the Cowboy BBQ that night. No such luck. I did get the buttons on John’s vest but I had to wear something else. Oh well. I’ll get it finished sometime this winter.

I spent Sunday cleaning house & putting up Halloween décor. By the way Sunday was our deadline on the “house thing”. We haven’t heard anything yet but we do know that “they” were contacted by the State about the complaint that we filed. So fingers crossed that they are going to lay off of us while they try to figure out how to cover their butts.

Lets see what else…..Oh yes Fiona received her Aqua & Red Swap box from me! Yippy! She says she likes everything so that is fab-u-lous! I am still working at getting my Coloriffic Orange & Purple swap box all together. I have it partially finished. She is hard because she likes natural things, no bright colors, that makes it hard as it is a Orange & Purple swap! But I think I got it figured out. Pictures to come later…….

On the thrifting front I popped into Goodwill last night to see if I might find some thrifted goodies for my Orange & Purple swap. Yes & no. I did find one little thing for her, a little Halloween candle holder for me, a tea bag holder (this may or may not end up as a Christmas gift, but I really like it!), a jacket(will be nice for work) & sweater(has super cute buttons!) for me.

Work is still a zoo. “The Drama Queen” had yet another family emergency today. “The Flea Girl” is still baring her thong & doing her best to infest the office with her fleas. I had another one on my pant leg within 15 minutes of arriving at work on Monday & then TDQ* had one down her shirt when she was driving home that same night. Ah Ha! Now I am not sure a nut job because I keep complaining about them. Her husband told her that if they get fleas in their house he is going to give TFG* the bill to pay.

Other than that our leaves are changing fast. It is raining again & I am searching for new fall recipes. I found one for Courgette and Butternut Squash Pasta. Which in case you did not know a Courgette is a Britich Zucchini. Learn something new evreyday. So if you have any great fall/squash/apple/pumpkin recipes I would love to hear them! I hope to get a chance to try LLA’s “The Best Darn Chewy/Crunchy and Addictive Oatmeal Cookie. Ever”recipe before John eats all my Frosted Flakes. I’ll let you know how they are.

Until then, my fair bloging friends……

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* TDQ = The Drama Queen & TFG = The FLea Girl - because they are & this is faster to type.

* Sorry I checked my plink yesterday before posting but they were messed up anyway. They shoudl be correct now. Darn Blogger!

I’m prepared for battle & Aqua & Red Swap.

2006-09-26T13:51:00.000-05:00

Ok so I came armed today. I have a new autumn floral arrangement I made last night & into which I slipped several branches of eucalyptus leaves (Google says that it repels the little devils). I also bought some spray that I have sprayed around & under my desk twice so far today. I think it is really for spraying on pets, but it was the only thing I found other than foggers at Wally World for fleas.

So let’s move on from my disgusting flea ridden thong baring co-workers & look at something fun. I mailed off my Aqua & Red Swap package last week. According to the lady at the post office it should be there in 4-7 days but it has a long ways to go so I am leaning toward the 7 day mark.

I am really happy with the way the bag came out. I got the pattern from this Japanese craft book (ISBN: 4391620715). If you haven’t seen this one, check it out. I love it! There are many more crafty little projects that I plan to make from this one.

Here is a before picture of the thrifted scarf that I used for the lining of the bag.

I wish that I could have gotten a better picture of that but they all looked terrible. Maybe when my partner receives it she can get a better picture of the inside.

Out damn spots OUT!

2006-09-25T14:08:00.000-05:00

Or more appropriately fleas out damn fleas. Ok so that is bad enough because you are thinking goodness this girl has a flea infestation at her house. Oh but see you are wrong dear reader. I have not one flea at MY house. My co-worker on the other hand apparently has a serious flea problem at HER house, because I have had fleas jump onto my desk twice now when she has come to give me a phone message/fax/etc. Honestly don’t I endure enough by having to see the Thong Color of the Day when ever she is sitting/standing/bending over? Now I have to be infested by fleas because she can’t seem to get rid of them??? Really how bad is the flea problem your house that they are jumping from you onto my desk??? And why on God’s green Earth can’t you get ride of them? And why oh why won’t my boss do something about them, seeing as I have told her 4 times about this problem, along with the other person that this has also happened to? So help me if I get fleas in my house or on Puppy Dog someone is going to get an ass kicking!

Now who knows some hill jack, natural, sure fire, been used for 10 generations way of getting rid of/repelling the fleas from my desk area that doesn’t scream I am trying to rid my desk area of your filthily fleas you heathen???!!! UGH!!!!!

***** I should add that Puppy Dog is not lying in a pile of filth, but John was working in the attic that day & she spent the day lying at the foot of his ladder, in the middle of the blown in insulation that rains down every time he has to get in the attic. It’s the non fiberglass kind so I did make her move. I think she felt she could keep an eye on us both from there. Isn’t she a sweetie?

Send me your happy thoughts......Please.

2006-09-19T12:33:00.000-05:00

Ok fellow bloggers I know this will be an odd post for most because I have not really blogged about our house “Problem”. It is a horrible horrible situation to be in, let me assure you. Without going into great detail because I just don’t think this is the place for it we have been given until Oct first to fix something that someone else did 16 years ago when the house we bought 2 ½ years ago was built or they are going to seek to have our home condemned. The biggest problem is that the Township we live in has been negligent for the last 16 years, allowed us to unknowingly purchase what apparently is an illegally built home (but permits were pulled so how is that?) using state licensed realtors on both sides of the transaction & are now coming after us for the problems that we didn't create. I might add that the home is perfectly safe, has been inspected 3 times, & has been lived in since 1990. Oh and the Township has been collecting residential taxes on it for as many years as well.

So anyway what I would like to ask is that you all send your prayers, good thoughts, Karma, and such our way for the next few weeks as we face this challenge. Today I acted on what we have been saving as our absolute last resort. We were advised by our attorney not to go down this road a couple months ago, but that was before we got this Oct 1st deadline & we are getting desperate for help. Our attorney I might add has not returned our phone calls in over a month, but was the only attorney out of the 9 that we have spoken to that was even willing to take our case. So send your positive waves our way, because I am afraid that we have a very long & challenging road ahead of us. Not that the last nine months haven’t been the worst I could have possibly imagined. So I put my faith in God that this was the right path to take & thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, etc as well.

So I leave you with a picture of me in another one of my costumes that was taken in our front yard in the Spring of 2005 when all was still right with the world & I didn’t hate our beautiful little piece of the country.

A “Kathy K” Mug sighting!

2006-09-18T14:49:00.000-05:00

Ok this is definitely by the same person that painted my thrifted mugs. I wish this seller would have put a little more info in their listing though. How am I supposed to get more info on my mugs if they are so vague!? The nerve of some people! So anyway there are more out there than just my 3 by the mysterious “Kathy K”. Apparently there are more “lines” or “series” or whatever you want to call them. And according to this seller they are “collectible”!

Great, but where they find out that they are collectible!?
Darn vague Ebay seller! Cute mug though!

Just a little update post:

2006-09-15T10:43:00.000-05:00

I haven’t gotten to work on my BBQ Dress at all this week. Pout pout. Instead I have to work on this.

Which I need to have finished for this Sat night. Nothing like waiting to the last second. Oh well what can, I say.

I do however have a sneak peek of my BBQ dress fabric & trims for you. It has been raining here since last Sat so my picture is a little dark, sorry.

Let’s see what else….Oh yes I received my Red & Orange swap box this week! I have pictures but they are still on the camera at home. I hope I can post them on Mon. along with the birthday gift pictures.

That sadly is about all I have for now. I am still trying to figure out to do for my tea towel designs, I have the Aqua & Red swap to finish up so I can mail it next week. Then I need to also be seriously thinking about my Coloriffic Oct Purple & Orange swap to be mailed between Sept 25th & Oct 5th. I have ideas, now to finds enough hours in the day to complete them.

The sun is actually out today so I have high hopes that will help push me out of my slump. That rain was getting to be a bit much, we already have the one huge figurative black cloud hanging over the house, 6 days of the really thing was pushing it!

So my plans for when I get off at 2pm this fine afternoon? Run in & out of the across town thrift store, in & out of Wally World, pick up two 50lb bags of laying mash, return the library books & pick up this gem: Pure Style living
I have been hearing a lot about it & as luck would have it my library actually has it! Maybe it will help me fix my life. What’s that you say, it’s not a miracle worker? Well a girl can dream, can't she?

Have a great weekend All!

Nebraska, Who knew?

2006-09-13T12:06:00.000-05:00

I joined Wren’s Nest’s Tea Towel swap a while ago. I got my partner info & really have been trying to figure out what I am going to do for her. She is from Nebraska & likes to decorate in reds & yellows. That is as far as we have gotten in the “getting to know each other” dept. so far. She’s going to college full time & it sounds like she has a full house as well.

So I said to myself, “Self let’s learn something about Nebraska & go from there”. This is what I have learned about Nebraska:

Kool-Aid was created there in 1927 by Edwin Perkins.

The National Arbor Day Foundation has its headquarters in Nebraska City & was founded by J. Sterling Morton.

Also there is a huge list of actors & actresses from Nebraska, Johnny Carson, Marlon Brando.

Also President Ford is originally from Nebraska, he also has ties to SW MI. He attended the U of M & played football. Pretty neat, huh?

State motto: Eqality Before the Law
State slogan: Nebraska, possibilities….endless
State bird: Western Meadowlark
State aminal: White-tailed Deer
State Fish: Channel Catfish
State insect: Honeybee (this I thought was pretty cool because my name means Honeybee in Greek, just like Melissa does)
State flower: Goldenrod
State tree: Cottonwood
State fossil: Mammoth
State song: Beautiful Nebraska
The estimated population for the entire state of Nebraska for 2005 was 1,758,787!!! Ok let me tell you that the county that I grew up in, in FL, Palm Beach County, had an estimated population of 1,268,548 for 2005!!! The state of FL for 2005, 17,789,864!

Oh my goodness I love Nebraska already! I have a dream that if I ever win the lotto that I will buy at least 300 acres somewhere that is really pretty with hills & trees. I would plunk a modest 3 bedroom, at least 3 ½ bathroom house (I HATE sharing a bathroom), with gourmet kitchen & a studio, right in the center of those 300 acres. That way I do not have to even hear my neighbors much less see them. We had an issue with our last house in FL that we had to put up with the neighbor’s music thumping into our bedroom at all hours of the night, then on the other side, they had a child that was a screamer. Screamed all the time, I understand that kids make noise, but to stand at the fence & scream bloody murder every time hubby made a pass with the mower, is a bit much. Here in MI we have had to deal with the neighbor’s son setting up a BMX track & sex tent on our property & their dogs killing at least 4 of our chickens. We don’t seem to have the best luck with neighbors.

Ok so that is about it for now. Anyone have any suggestions for my tea towels? I am starting to get some ideas, but would love to hear your thoughts……

PS can I tell you how fun I had researching that? I love doing searches for things, even in school I enjoyed researching papers & project, the writing of said paper/project, not so much. Now if I could just find a job that paid me to find facts about random subjects that would be something. Hmmm……

Remains of the day, indeed!

2006-09-12T16:01:00.000-05:00

Ok I just had to share this. It seems that there is a rash of people finding blog worthy notes post around as of late. This phenomenon even appears to have reached to our neighbors to the North! I would totally be on the floor if I saw this in the bathroom where I, or actually where I used to work. Now there are only 3 of us that use on bathroom on our side of the office, but when I worked with over 500 people now that would have been funny!

http://www.carolbrowne.com/

Have you seen these cups?

2006-09-12T12:28:00.000-05:00

I bought these cups last week while thrifting. I think that they are really funky retro-y cute, but I figured that I would sell them on Ebay. I like to be able to include some background info when I sell things but I am coming up empty handed on these little cuties. I think that this is one of the very few times when the internet has let me down & I haven’t been able to find what I have been looking for. So if anyone knows anything about them or can point me somewhere I might not have looked yet I would greatly appreciate it!

Cowboy Action Shooting - CAS

2006-09-10T09:16:00.000-05:00

After I mentioned that I am working on a new dress for a BBQ that a fellow CAS shooter puts on every year, I realized that I never really explained what that CAS is. Cowboy Action Shooting, which should probably be called Cowboy/Cowgirl because it is the fastest growing shooting sport amount both men & women was started back in the 1980’s. You can read all about the particulars here.

Basically it is a cross between re-enactment & a competitive shooting sport. Participants are required to dress appropriately for the years 1864-1900 & shoot original or reproduction firearms from that period that include 2 pistols, a rifle & shotgun. You don’t have to but most people join the international organization of SASS(Single Action Shooters Society).You pay a yearly due, get a monthly magazine & pick & register your alias. No two people can have the same alias & when you go to a shoot that is the name that you go by. For example my alias is “Lily Orleans Mason” & hubby is “Johnny Bayou”. I took forever to come up with my alias. John’s dad’s family is all from the New Orleans are so that was where his came from. I wanted this great meaning full name so I used my great aunt Lillian’s name. My mom says that I would have really liked her & that we are similar. Then my great great grandmother’s maiden name was Mason. I added the Orleans to go along with John’s, LA connection. Besides I like the whole southern belle idea. I grew up in South Florida which is a far cry from really being in the “south” but I liked the notion anyway.

So when you shoot you have to select the category you shoot in & each has different requirements. I am actually getting pretty good at mine. I shoot Ladies Duelist, which means that I have to shoot my pistols with only one hand. There are not as many women that shoot in this category locally so I usually place first at the local clubs, often because I am either the only one shooting it or one of two. Shhh don’t tell, hubby says I should tell that I was the only one shooting it. It sounds so nice that I came in first, even if it was out of a group of one!

So now on to the part that really attracted me to the sport. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy the shooting part, but I am really passionate about the costuming part. I am really like for my costumes to be period correct, meaning that I want them to look like some thing that a lady from the mid to late 1800’s would have really worn. That means no zippers or Velcro. I have a pretty good collection of books on dress & jewelry from the era. I have also gotten a couple original fashion magazines from the time off Ebay. It is amazing to hold a magazine that someone from over 120 years ago actually used to design her own dress. Pretty cool huh? There are a lot of people that are not that into the costuming & that is fine too. That is one of the great things about the sport is that there is a little bit of something for everyone. Most of my costumes are appropriate for the years from 1870-1900. For shooting I mostly wear a split riding skirt outfit. In the late 1890’s women on the western frontier started wearing these skirts that were really like our modern gaucho pants with a front panel that buttoned on & made them look like a skirt. Up till this point most ladies rode sidesaddle that can be very dangerous. It was absolutely scandalous for women to wear pants & ride astride. This was a compromise, but still a little daring, but much safer. I love the embellishment possibilities that I have with the split skirt out fit. I have at least 4-5 more ideas that I would like to make from this pattern.

I do have a few dresses as well but that adds a little bit more difficulty when shooting. I have to make sure that I don’t trip over my hems. Then because I am so into making my costumes PC (period correct) I wear several petticoats & that can get heavy. It would have been not unheard of back in the 1800’s for a lady to have on a chemise, bloomers/drawers, corset & from 5-7 petticoats. Everyday! Then depending on the period, also a hoop petticoat or a bustle. I have several designs for dresses that I would also like to make, but at our local shoots there isn’t an opportunity to wear them. At the state & regional shoots there is always a banquet to wear your fancy dresses to, but this year we weren’t able to go to any of those. So when one of the guys that we shoot with sent us an invitation to the BBQ that he has every year I decided that I “needed” a new dress. Charlie Ringo, who has the BBQ dresses up cowboy but not everyone that is invited is a CAS shooter but most of the ones that are dress up. So for me it’s a good chance to wear a great dress that I can’t wear to local shoots.

So I hope that explains a little what I am talking about when I talk about SASS, CAS or costuming. Some people are involved in Civil War, Renaissance Wars, Renn Faires, Victorian Teas, etc, this is a little like those only there is the competition of shooting thrown in, which some people take more seriously than others. The thing that we really enjoy about being involved in CAS is the people. When we when to our first shoot in Indian Town, Fl only as spectators in our sneakers, T-shirt & shorts we were overwhelmed by how friendly everyone was. Then after the match we had people handing us $1000’s of dollars of their own guns to try. If you have never been to another shooting sport you wouldn’t know but this never happens. People at most, but not all, shooting sports are very serious & not very friendly. This was unbelievable to be greeted like that. Just incase you are interested I would completely recommend checking out the pictures at The Carolina Belles & Truly Victorian sites. There are some gorgeous examples of costuming on both. Also if you ever get a chance to check out a shoot I say go. It’s not for everyone but if only to see a bunch of adults dressed up like it’s 1800 something, it’s a hoot. I would also add make sure that you take eye & ear protection because the most important rule for a CAS shoot is saftly. This is not a irresponsible gun toting hillbilly sport we all take safety very very seriously & it is priority number one with everyone. Priority number two? Having fun!

A little of this & a little of that…..

2006-09-08T11:44:00.000-05:00

I am just not as clever as Autum to come up with a food analogy for my post. So that’s as good as it gets. Although I am sure I will think of the perfect one about 10 minutes after I post this.

Speaking of food, my Friendship Bread post did not attract the reaction I expected! Goodness now I am concerned that I might poison anyone who eats it or at the very least give them a wicked case of gas (Thanks Beki , yeah tmi) Hey, on the other hand that might be a good thing, “Local pervert dies from poisoned coffee cake served at office. News at 11:00”. Hmmm Or even better yet “Local corrupt Building inspector dies from Friendship bread that was left at Township off, No great loss. News at 11:00” Ha! I can amuse myself so easily.

So I found about a ba-gillion (hey it’s a word, look it up) recipe variations for using the friendship bread starter on the internet. Which is good because if we don’t get sick from it, it might be fun to see how many I can get through before totally forgetting about it & having to pitch it. In case anyone is interested (based on the responses I am guessing not) here is the link to one of the sites that had the most recipe here. I am thinking that maybe I should write a cookbook on it. Surely if there are cookbooks for this & this the world needs a cookbook for 101 ways to use Friendship Bread starter, right?

So onto the hair front, I think that I have my new fall 2006 do picked out, thanks to the fabulous home renovation diva, LLA , who mentioned that Sandra Bullock had a new short do. Really? I love her! So after a trusty Google search I found this. Complete with instruction from cutting to styling. Yippy! I probably will not end up with this exact cut though. I take in a picture of something I like & my stylist (sounds fancy huh?) & I tweak it. I’ll have to let you know what we come up with. I am sure that John will be bummed as he is a long hair kind of guy, but like I tell that is because you don’t have to deal with it.

So next I had the brilliant idea of making a new Victorian dress for the annual BBQ that a fellow cowboy shooter puts on every year. I wore my red, navy & white dress last year & that was a big hit. Not everyone is a cowboy shooter or dresses up so you get a lot of oh’s & auh’s. Also this dress is much fancier than anything I wear to local shoots.

So here is what I am thinking, once I get Miz Gina’s approval that is, the skirt will be from this pattern, probably view B & the bodice from this one I haven’t completely decided on the neckline yet, but I am thinking ¾ sleeves with ruffles at the cuff. So on to the fabric I have four yards of this that I will use for the overskirt (apron looking part, for non costumers) & the front & back of the bodice. Then I have a tan/gold fabric the same color as the mums that I think I will use for the underskirt & the sleeves of the bodice. I also have a bluish purple the same as the darker background color on the mums that I am thinking I will use for alternating ruffles with the tan on the bottom of the skirt & on the sleeves. I know that I have more tan than blue so I think that will be the best use of those. Also I have a neat tassel fringe in that perfectly matches the bluish purple that I want to use on the over skirt. It will really show up against the tan of the underskirt. It’s similar to this only no bead. My only concern is that it will blend in with the overskirt. I will sew it to the hem like in the drawing but I would like for it to stand out. . I do have tan/gold ribbon that I might be able to do something with. Hmmmm….. Oh, did I mention that the BBQ is on at the end of the month. Yeah, nothing like coming up with a great idea at the second.

So I think that is about it. Hope everyone has a great weekend & with nay luck I might have something thrifted or sewn to share next week!

Friendship Bread – A blessing or a curse?

2006-09-07T12:45:00.000-05:00

We ate dinner at our adoptive parents/neighbor’s house about a week ago. Sha had this zip loc bag, of what can’t only be described as cream colored snot on her counter. So of course I had to ask, “What the heck is that?!”. “Starter for Friendship Bread”. She had made some for dessert & it is really good. Kind of tastes like a sour dough spice cake. Because I expressed an interest, my own little baggie of cream colored snot arrived last night.

If you are not familiar with this type of bread it is similar to sour dough starter. You get instructions for smooshing it around for the first few days, then you add to it, smoosh it a few more days, then you are supposed to give away baggies of the starter to 3 friends, keep some for you & then make bread out of what’s left. The problem is that I work in an office of 5 total people & I am the only one that cooks at all! So I have been searching the net for different recipes that use this starter. That way I will have enough different versions to make bread every 10 days. We will eat them, hubby can take it to work, I can bring a made bread to work but I will probably need to use all the extra starter myself instead of giving it away. So I need to find enough recipes to make it interesting enough to keep up with.

Here is basically the same recipe that I have.* There are a few variations here that I will be printing off but I would like to hear about others experiences with this type of thing.

*Oh sure now you post links, Blogger!

Hair, oh Hair, how should I cut thee?

2006-09-07T10:23:00.000-05:00

Ok so we are into September all already. How did that happen? Where in the world did the summer go? Fall is right around the corner.

For me that usually mean a hair cut. I am the worst about getting my hear cut, I put it off & forget until I can hardly stand it anymore because it is so frazzeled & knotty on the ends. I have board straight baby fine hair, but a lot of pieces of it hair, which is the only good thing it has going for it. Since moving to MI, I find that in the winter my hair is nothing but a huge ball of static & if I don’t get it cut shorter in the winter it will stay in a some form of a pony tail until spring. I have to blow dry it in the mornings or risk it freezing to my head on the way to the car so I figure that I might as well do something with it at the same time. I have a hair appointment on Monday & I have not even begun to think about what I will have her do.

So when I saw LLA’s comment on Autum’s blog about the “Hair Nazi” (I am still waiting to find out what that is all about) it hit me I need to figure out what fall cut will be this year before Monday! I always try to keep it at least long enough to pull most of it back for the days I run late or Sat mornings when I just am not going to do anything with it. As long as I can tuck it behind my ears for the most part I am happy. I can’t stand hair in my eyes. I wish I could! I say a blip about Jessica Simpson the other day on the smut news & she had the cutest bob cut, but I think that I would rip the hair from my head trying to deal with those bangs.

So I ask my blogging friends how in the world should I get my hair cut this year? I am open to pretty much anything & with any luck I will remember to schedule an appointment before I leave to have it cut in 4-6 weeks for maintenance instead of waiting until say Feb!

Here are a couple pictures to give you an idea of where it is at now. It’s sad that the only pictures I have access to at this moment we are dress up like a couple of loons! Oh well wait till Sat morning & we’ll look like this again!

Ok so Blogger is fighting with me & will not let me post pictures. Sooooo. My hair is about 1/3 of the way down my back at the moment & you can look at pictures here or here if you really want to see them. UGH!

More swaps & some cuteness…….

2006-09-06T15:40:00.000-05:00

Yippy Yippy! Lori received her box from me for the Coloriffic Swaporama US Red & Orange Sept Swap. From what she said she was thrill. Yeah! I was crossing my fingers that she would like it. I haven’t received mine yet (it won’t come from Lori) but I am sure that it will arrive soon. Tues was the last day to mail them out.

I am on to my next swaps. I kind of went swap crazy. I received my partners for the Coloriffic Swaporama (the original international one) Oct Swap, which will be Purple & Orange, but not necessarily Halloween colors, Red & Aqua Swap & the Tea Towel Swap that Wren’s Nest organized. I am peeking at my partner’s blogs to learn more about them. The Tea Towel swap isn’t secret I got her name & she got mine so that is kind of cool because it will give us a chance to learn about each other a little easier.

Other than that I have to share this picture for Selena. This was the only baby that our hens hatched out this past spring, but how cute is that.

Then one more cute thing. This just cracks me up! I hate to eat or smell mushrooms, but they are so cute!

Red & Orange Colorific Swaporama!

2006-08-31T13:50:00.000-05:00

I am pretty excited because I mailed my box out to my swap partner for the Coloriffic Swaporama – Sept Red & Orange Swap today. This is my first swap of this kind & I can’t wait to see what my partner thinks of her goodies. I am a little nervous though. I picked things that I think she will like & use. I a good reason for each item but sometimes my reasoning doesn’t jive with other peoples, so we shall see what she thinks when she gets it. I made sure to include a letter explaining the thought process behind the stuff I picked. That may or may not be a good thing! That might make her think that I am even more of a freak!

So here is what I sent:

She said that she was new to sewing, so I added to her stash & sent a pattern for the so I added to her stash & sent a pattern for the McCall’s hobby Portfolio. With the pattern I sent enough fabric, interfacing & some notions(thread & bias tape), but then I thought she might not want to use that fabric for that pattern so I didn’t get all the notions for it. Also there are several options to customize the portfolio so I thought it best to leave it to her on how she would like to do, if she wants to make it at all. I know that she likes to do collages & scrapbooking also so I thought it was a good fit for her. The fabric I chose is all either reproduction prints of 1930’s & 40’s fabric or polka dots. She said that she liked vintage fabric, vintage seems to span a few decades now so I wasn’t sure which decade of vintage she liked. I took a chance on these. I think that they are pretty cute. I also included some cute buttons that remind me of the 1920’s, some paper & other scrapbooking items.

I wanted to put in a couple things that represent Michigan, but not in the obvious chochy cheesey “ I heart MI” type of way. So I included a note card from Michigan block print artist Grew Frostic & some fruit themed items (Kool Aid, orange Tic Tacs & fruit leather) because SW MI is called the fruit bowl or belt or something like that. We have tons of orchards, farms & vineyards. Yes surprisingly SW MI has a lot of wineries. I live near one of the oldest wineries in MI, St Julian’s, sorry I didn’t include any wine in my box.If you ever get the chance to check it out the tour is really neat & they make great wine. Also they will do special occasion labels. We had them done up for our wedding.

So on with the rest of my swap stuff. You were required to make or include at least one handmade item. I made this little purse that I also hand embroidered.

I thought that my partner would really appreciate the purse because she listed revamping thrifted items as one of her favorite things to do.

The paisley fabric for the purse started out life as these pants.

I picked them up at a thrift store for the purpose of making something for this swap before I even knew who my partner was. I thought that was a pretty good twist of fate.

So there my Red & Orange swap package is on it’s way. I feel good about getting that off & I am very excited to see what will be in my box! I’ll post pictures when it arrives!

The price of being trendy.

2006-08-30T10:50:00.000-05:00

I read a couple of interesting things about the fashion front lately. Ann at Gorgeous Things, I thought had some excellent points about the absolutely asinine prices that designers charge. I could not agree more. Honestly who is paying for these things? We have people in this country who cannot afford to pay for health insurance, elderly who have to choice between eating & paying for medication, veterans who have fought for our freedom who are living on the street & people are charging more then a lot of people bring home in a year for a coat!!!!! Hello? Am I the only one that sees a problem with this?

Then this morning Stacy Sews wrote that Vera Wang is going to have a line at Kohl’s starting in the fall of 2007. I can see her point of Vera’s dresses being special by the average person not being able to ,wanting to or lost their mind enough to spend $12,000 for one dress, but on the other hand I can see why she would do it. Look at Isaac Mizrahi whose line at Target is doing incredible. Also have you seen the other designers that are jumping on the Target bandwagon? They now have Joe & Paul by Sophie Albou

Well let’s think about it….it’s an untapped goldmine for these designers. The % of people that can or will pay premium price for their clothes is very very small, but who wouldn’t spend less that $100 for a silk linen Mizrahi suit??? Ok I wouldn’t because if it’s not on sale I don’t buy it & it’s not really my style but come on!

Now this I would buy compared to the Paul & Joe $359.00 gauchos on Net A Porter.
Cute but for $359.00 I can get 3 complete outfits plus shoes at Target! Yes I know the quality is obviously not as good but how much longer are gauchos going to be in style anyway?

Most fashion is so trendy these days that come next fall half you wardrobe will be out dated so why spend huge bucks on it? Although I admit that I don’t keep up with the trends now like I did years ago before my dream of majoring in fashion design died when they canceled the program at the college I was attending, but I still try to check out what it going on. Part of this fall’s trends look like my 8th grade year is coming back to haunt me, but at least if I want to dress like I am thirteen again I don’t have take out a second mortgage to do it!

So I guess in short I am glad, like Ann that I sew too. Or at least don’t mind shopping the Target sale racks.