Making Progress Slowly

I absolutely hate housework, but sometimes it just can't be avoided.  At those times, we can all appreciate some helpful advice, and lately I am interested in teh "no effort" kind.  Here is a tip found on a blog a few days ago, that works really well.  I brought some stove pans home from a rental house and they were nasty, let me tell you.  Or rather, I can show you....  

Now, all you need to do is get a ziplock baggie for each pan.  I used gallon size bags.  Add maybe a tablespoon of household ammonia, and zip up.  Let them sit overnight, and voila!  The next day, it only takes a little rub off and they are nearly new looking, and I can't ask for more than that.  Here is the result...

I have also done a few crafty things, but neglected to do the photo documentation because I was running about the house trying to be clever.  It isn't always easy to be creative on a shoestring, and I was determined not to spend a penny on staging accessories for this little house for sale.  The idea was to create a spa feeling in the bathroom.  Candles, French milled soaps, flowers, and bubble bath all seemed to suggest that to me.  This is what I came up with...

Oooh, not the shabby old pitcher, but the wine bottle which now has a label for bubble bath, and the back yard branch transformed with some old paper rose buds.  This may have to grow out of the bottle, and that remains to be seen.  The fine soaps are fraudulent, merely empty boxes made form a template that I found here.  Using colored and patterned paper and a few vintage soap labels, I created a nice assortment of "soaps."  That little basket can sit at the sink.  The box, that is bare discernible, is a small box bottom that was recovered with two pages I printed off the net that had a floral design.  I altered the color and saturation to make them pale, and then dabbed them all over with a used tea bag.  This stained the paper and gave it an aged look.  When the paper was nearly dry, I pasted them to the box with tacky glue.  I had another label that I glued on the side front edge.  Next, I stole some river rocks from the back yard, and filled the box bottom.  I found an old votive holder with a new candle in it, and added that to complete the look.  It will sit on the back edge of the bathtub.  Not bad work for "0" dollars!

Lastly, I had the idea to complete eh kitchen look by making a valance for the window  over the sink.  I got some burlap and some fabric that matched kitchen colors.  I cut 3 rectangles of the burlap and fringed three sides.  I made a stencil of a heart shape and cut the fabric appliques using this.  I quickly zig-zagged the hearts onto the burlap with my sewing machine.  Next, I turned the top edges over a length of twine, leaving the length long enough to swag the top of the window.  That is already hanging...

 

 ...And thank goodness we are nearly done!

Twiddling Thumbs Gets Nothing Done

This week has been a time of resting up a little.  The DH has been on a mini-vacation since Wednesday, and both of us needed R&R.  We have been so busy taking care of things that have to be done that just staying home and having a movie marathon sounded good to both of us.  Unlike our past "stay-cations" in which we did a little bit of local traveling and sight seeing, we thought it would be easier on both of us if we did not try to take my mother out every day.  Now 97, and deeper into Alzheimer's Disease, we never know what to expect from her health-wise or in terms of attitude.   Also, I just don't feel like pushing a wheel chair even 5 feet in the 100* heat we are having.

So, you should know by now that I do not just sit twiddling my thumbs.  I have been busy working on the chair swing, patching the other pocket of The Jacket, and sewing up a tunic which is up-cycled from an old tank top, matching shorts, and similar color knit capris.  I have had these three items for years, but have not worn them in forever because they "got little."  I could have worn them, but I hate seeing a of any age woman stuffed into her clothing.  As far as I am concerned, it is seriously deeming to her dignity and speaks volumes on her self worth.  Clothing should add grace, mystery and beauty, and there ain't no way that defining every bulge and cellulite dimple does that.

Because the tunic took too much thinking as I designed it, I didn't take photos of the stages it went through, but it is easy enough to describe the process.  The first thing I did was to remove a label that was sewn to the front of the tank top.  I am not at all big on wearing someones labels on my clothing.  I knew I would slip up with this and made a few tiny holes in the knit.  Yes, this could be a disaster, but there is a great product called Fray Check that will stop unraveling in T-short knits.  I used to use it often on my son's T's because they always got holes where they were tucked into their pants at the front waistline.Then, I picked out a stitched on logo from the shorts.  No holes this time!  Next, I cut the waistband from the shorts, and cut the two front and two back pieces apart along the seam-lines.  I was careful to preserve the pockets.  The waistband is a folded ribbing with a drawstring, and I decided to use it along the waistline seam when joining the "skirt."  I actually cut it in half the long way, and extended it by sewing the two halves together, and then cutting it to fit the hem of the top.

For the skirt portion, I cut the shorts pieces straight down from the center front and back seam-lines, removing the crotch areas.  The legs of the capris were cut into elongated diamonds and sewn in at center front and back as well as the side seams.  I only needed to hem the diamonds as the shorts already had the hems.  After sewing the waistline together, all that was left was to thread the drawstring through, and then patch some pieces onto the holes on the front of the top.

I have already worn this over black capri length leggings and tank top, but plan to wear it under my Aruba sweater when weather gets colder, with either tan leggins or pants.

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THE Jacket Again

Well, when you just keep wearing a garment, it does wear out.  This is one I keep resurrecting every spring now.  This time it was a blown out pocket that required patching.  Here you see the hole next to the last repair that resulted in a lace applique.  A little tricky because it was the bottom of the pocket and I wanted it to be solid enough to push my hands into another 20 years.  So, I am going to take y'all through the steps I used.

Other than my sewing machine, iron, and the hole, here is what I needed for the repair...

• iron-on woven interfacing
• an old left-over flower applique with Stitch Witchery fusible web already applied
• not shown: non-stick ironing sheet (keeps the glue away from the iron!)

1.  I cut the woven interfacing to fit the inside bottom of the pocket, all the way to the lace flower applique, which overlapped the pocket edge.



  2.  I cut the stitching along the bottom and side edge of the pocket so that I could insert the interfacing properly.  Then, I ironed the pocket (from the right side, following directions for fusing interfacing) to fuse the interfacing to the back side of the pocket.  Once cooled, placed the flower applique where I wanted it to be and pressed just the pocket (not the garment front) to fuse it to the pocket flap.  I lifted the pocket flap to sew on the flower applique.  This did require care so as not to be sewing through both the flap and the jacket front behind the flap.  Remember that it was already sewn down previously.  I did not want to  shorten or close off the pocket any further.  Luckily, I was able to sew it all in as planned.  The lines for the zig-zag design were drawn on to the flower piece with a white pencil.  I sewed some of them through both layers of fabric where the two appliques overlapped.  The flap was lifted away for the rest of the flower patch.

3.  Once that was done, I wanted to make sure that the interfacing would not separate from the fabric, even through years of pocket pushing and washings.  I assured this by stitching back and forth across the area where the interfacing backed the pocket.  All that was left after this was to replace the pocket in position and sew it on along the original pocket line.

Now my well-worn and loved jacket can keep on for another season, and hopefully years to come.  Every time I wear this jacket I am reminded of my beautiful granddaughter, who is now a grown woman.  In this jacket, she lives on as the tiny tot who was so enchanting and stole my heart.

For the story about this garment, read this blog:  THE Jacket story

Studio Re-Do #3

OK, so I have had many things going on and the studio is advancing at a snail's pace.  However, I managed a quick fix in very short time this morning that I want to share with you.  I have seen several photos on Pinterest that show off some clever use of homemade chalkboard paint.  Some are chalkboard walls, old silver trays, and some are just painted boards in a  frame.  I chose the latter for my project.  I had a nice gilded frame sitting around waiting for a picture to beautify, but no board to fit.  Taking myself off to the craft store, I found that the canvas boards were sold in packs and would cost me far more than necessary.  So, I grabbed up a white foam board for this project.  Now is where I get experimental.

All the Pins I was used un-sanded grout mixed with regular latex paint.  I had checked with the local Lowe's, and saw that a small bag of grout was about $13.  Not bad, but all the recipe called for was about a teaspoon of grout, and that just seemed ridiculous to me.  So, after a friend suggested that joint compound would probably work too, I mentioned I only had the already been mixed kind.  "No matter" said my friend, and I am glad I listened.  I had this big tub, and some deeply purple paint to play with.  I mixed about 1/2 cup paint with a generous amount of joint compound (perhaps 3 Tablespoons, I did not measure), and spread it on lightly with a small trim roller (though just about any way of application would do).  I smoothed it out afterwards with a very light brushing over the surface.  It dried very quickly, without much warping of the foam board.  I gave it another coat after an hour or so. 

 This is the result...

The Chair Swing

For months now, I have been coveting a wonderful chair swing I saw on Pinterest when I first joined.  It stole my heart!  After searching for a good hour, I came across the source as hamanica on Etsy, a company in Nicaragua.  Hand knit by locals, this lovely thing was ridiculously inexpensive, but after shipping costs would probably cost me an arm and a leg.  Anyway, with these being mostly one of a kind, I didn't think I could get the same gorgeous colors and workmanship.  I don't like buying and guessing what I will get.  So, I have finally gotten started on making one for myself.  If I get this one right, I will do it again in these gorgeous greens, purples and blues with the beautiful lacey front border, and even make some incredible pillows to match.

My own attempt is going to be made using some old macrame yarn which I am wrapping with fabric strips.  The yarn is a four-ply cotton, which is strong but soft.  In yet another lifetime, I did a lot of patchwork, so I have lots of small yardages of fabric to do something with.  I have chosen a few of those and have torn them into 1" wide strips.  Each strip gets wrapped around the yarn before I stitch it.  Using #35 gianormous needles, I get 2 stitches to the inch.  It's pretty slow work, but becasue of the size of the needles and lack of stretch, this is a bit hard on the hands.  However, because of the size of the stitches, the fabric builds rapidly.   Thank goodness!  I am just aiming for strong enough to hold and colorful, but I think it will be very cool when finished.  I will keep you posted on my progress! 

Studio Re-Do Step #2

Well, I cannot lie, there has been too much going on the past few weeks to move forward with the studio.  I had to renew my business license, and that required me to take another course.  I decided on Past Life Regression hypnotherapy.  It didn't take very long, but I took my time.  It was more enjoyable than I would have imagined, and a book that was momentous for me was The Journey of Souls by Michael Newton.  It was amazing for me because from my own background it felt like the real deal.  Now, I just happen to believe that we all keep coming back over and over, and I also believe in hypnosis.  If you believe in neither, then this book would be meaningless to you.  If you are a believer, I highly recommend reading it.

Now that I have certificate in hand, and there is an itching for creativity again, I want to share this quick project that must have taken only 30 minutes to make.  It seems to be my lot that I will bring Mother Nature into the house when possible, and here is what has become of a branch that came down this winter.  I just neatened up the ends a little with a hand saw.  Then I used packing twine to wrap close to the ends, making a loop at each end before tying knots.  Being careful to preserve the abundant lichen growing over the length of it, I screwed in several cup-hooks that I rummaged out of the kitchen junk drawer.  Then, I decided where I wanted to place the screws it would hang from.  I did one end first, and then a pencil through the other loop and marked the wall for the other side.  I used my trusty electric drill and toggles for this task.  It could be done other ways, especially if the wall you want to mount this on is solid.  I am not very good about finding studs without piercing the drywall with a myriad of tiny holes, so I use toggles.  The plan is to get more cup-hooks and hang more jewelry.  I can also hang other things as it is quite strong.  ...And by the way, the picture of dolphins playing in sunlight streaming through the ocean depths was done by artist Louisa Brown.  She is a good friend and I have many of her earlier works on display in my home. 

Knitting Again

Ages have gone by without a knitting project in the making.  I guess this is partly true because of the diversity of my interests, plus the stacks of already knit things, and the fact that the last project took me months to get through.  ...I just needed a break!  So, when I decided that I needed to go through my wardrobe and make some changes, I realized that I have a need for a  few lightweight cover-ups, and a very open knit top would be perfect.  Once again, my mentor and friend, Jane Thornley, tempted me with her new pattern, The Color Streams Wrap, which you can find on Ravelry or her blog.  The plan is to create this as a hem edge, and attach it to a mesh top-down sweater.  Ugh!  ...sweater immediately brings to mind something too warm and covered to wear for summer in the South.

Once again, I am indulging in shades of aqua, teal, turquoise and adding in a really intense electric blue.  The inspiration that juiced me up is an incredible Azurite geode I saw online.  Digging into really old stash this time, I am putting to use some yarn I  bought so many years ago, that I am surprised it is still good.  Forty!  That's how old the yarn is. Anyway, this wrap is made up of short rows, inserting wedges of color that break up the stripy-ness and give a sense of movement.  ...How cool is that?!!!  As I look at this, I think I will back up and remove some of that infinite grayness I am seeing.  I get the feeling that it is killing the spirit of lightness and brightness of this piece and going too dark for summer in the South.  ...I will keep y'all posted on my progress!

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