Braver Homes and Gardens

Tempted by the Mailman

2012-02-07T18:11:00.000-08:00

Aaacck!! What is my mailman trying to do to me???

Three times now he has delivered dirt-y magazines to my house and the images I'm seeing have me climbing the walls!

Oh get your mind out of the gutter! I said "dirt-y" -

like the stuff you grow plants in - not dirty like something else!

That's right. For some reason, I've been besieged with seed catalogs.

Just look at the color in this layout of the Jung Seed catalog:

This picture of squash is upside down, but I, too, flipped when I saw them in the Baker Creek book.

Why am I stuck eating the white tasteless faux-matos of winter instead of these beauties?

I hate eggplant. And this kid was really getting on my nerves. She's on every other page playing with potatoes, cavorting with carrots, and munching on melons. Why does she get to have the fun and not me??

Look at her eyes. It's like she's mocking me, the little twerp.

All these lovely images nd I can't do a darn thing with them. It's only February in Wisconsin. Too early to even start seeds indoors.

To add insult to injury, we've had unseasonably warm weather here and next to no snow. It's totally messing up my internal clock. I've had the feeling for days like I should be throwing windows open for fresh air and spring cleaning.

But we've got a good three months of winter before I can do any of that.

And I've got wedding to worry about which means I won't be able to get hardcore in the garden even if I wsanted to.

So, to satisfy my cravings for dirt, I did my traditional mid-winter project of starting my indoor compost bin.

Take one garbage can with a lid and holes drilled in the bottom. Set it inside a drain pan. Add one layer of shredded paper, a dozens of these guys

and a layer of this

and tape on a note for unsuspecting houseguests....

And after filling it with my produce scraps and eggshells for the next three months, I'll have a nice big bucket full of compost. Which, of course, I will use to grow my own pretties....like this

Isn't that the most gorgeous cabbage you've ever seen? Curses on you Mr. Mailman for bringing those catalogs in February!!!

Winner, Winner Buy Me Dinner!

2012-02-03T16:12:00.000-08:00

I won, I won, I won!!

I never win anything!!

I posted my "I Can Do That - Fleece Hood" on a sewing link up at WhiteWolf Summit Farmgirl blog.

A few days later, Heidi emailed me to let me know I won the giveaway for link up.

I didn't even know there was a giveaway!

Happy dance, happy dance! I'll be sitting by the mailbox awaiting my treat.

Check out Heidi's blog. She does a weekly farmgirl link up where readers can share the latest happenings on their farms (or pseudo-farms if you're a city gal like me).

Braver Than Storebought: Chai Latte

2012-01-27T17:17:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to start a new segment called Braver Than Storebought.

Ever see a food item that's insanely priced and wonder if you could reproduce it cheaper?
Ever taste a food product that looks good, but tastes like barf, and wonder if you could make it better?
Ever make a meal that is marketed as a convenience product and wonder if it's really all that convenient...or even healthy?

These are the questions I'm going to answer in this segment. I have a whole pile of food items that I've been asking these same questions about. I'm going to make the storebought version and a homemade version and judge them against a set of criteria and see which one is really "better", "cheaper", or more "convenient".

First up - - Chai Lattes.

First, a funny story. I was a typical four year old once. Did dumb things just to see what would happen when I did them. I was alone in the kitchen and poured some milk without asking Mom. I thought it might be interesting to see what would happen if I added a little water. I added some and drank. It still tasted fine. So I went back to the sink and added more. Tasted weird. Went back to the sink (I'm four - so I'm up on a chair which was not allowed in our house, mind you). This time I had about half the milk gone and filled the glass halfway with water. Just as I was becoming mesmerized by how milk goes from pure white to tan the more water you add...in walks Daddy. And of course he sees me at the sink, standing on a chair, filling up my milk with water, with my Mom nowhere in sight and knows in an instant that I'm monkeying around. And of course, in our house, there was no such thing as wasting food. Do you know he stood there and made me drink that whole dang glass of watered down milk. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted.

It was 30 years later before I could bring myself to try a latte - knowing that they are a half milk/half water mix. I don't care how good a parent you are - - you will totally mess you kids up somehow.

DESCRIPTION: A chai latte is a half-n-half combination of steamed milk and chai tea. Chai tea is made up of several stiff tasting herbs including cardamom, cloves, and pepper. The mix is sweetened, thank goodness!

The storebought version is a pre-made chai flavored syrup. Oregon Chai is the brand sold in my area.
Most coffee shops also use a boxed chai concentrate when they make your lattes. "Tea flavoring" is an ingredient. Not actual tea leaves. Hmm...

THE RECIPE: Making your own chai lattes couldn't be easier. Unless you have a home espresso machine, you do have to settle for warmed milk rather than steamed. But if you're not a total coffee snob, you know this makes no difference in taste.

1/2 cup chai tea blend of your choice (I used Rishi Tea's chai mix. You could also assemble your own mix of the tea leaves & spices but I didn't want to have to guess at the right ratios of so many variables).

3/4 c sugar (more or less to taste - 3/4 c was sweet but not sickeningly sweet to me)
3 cups water

Put this in a saucepan and bring to just under a boil.

Turn the heat back down to a simmer for about a minute and stir it to make sure the sugar dissolves.  Turn the heat off and cover it. Go do a load of laundry or something while the leaves steep. Pour the tea through a strainer into your storage jug.

(One note. Tea drinkers know that you can re-brew the same tea leaves at least once and still get a good brew. I reused my leaves again, as above, but this time adding only 1/2 c sugar and 1-1/2 c water).

The tea in your storage jug is now your chai concentrate. Don't drink it straight up - - it is hefty. To make your latte, warm or steam some milk with the chai concentrate in a 50/50 ratio.

This concentrate keeps incredibly well in the fridge for a looong time. I made some over a month ago and it's still good.

EASE FACTOR:

This recipe couldn't be easier. It takes only minutes to brew the tea. And it's a great make-ahead /cooks while you do something else kind of recipe. It took no more time and energy than opening up a box of the pre-made mix.

UNDER AGE 10 FACTOR:

I don't know many kids under 10 that might like to drink chai lattes. And since this is a stovetop recipe, I don't recommend it for doing it with the kids.

TASTE FACTOR:
I thought this recipe was better than the storebought version. Every coffee or tea drinker has their own preference levels of sugar & cream. Making your chai lattes from scratch allows you to make it as sweet or as stiff as you prefer. I thought the box mix tasted like syrup-milk. With my version, I could taste the spices. I could also SMELL them. The smell of real chai is fan-tastic. The box concentrate just smells like sugar with a faint "tea" smell.

Plus you can use REAL sugar, sucant, agave or stevia. With the box mix you get corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. Ew!

COST COMPARISON:

A 32 oz. box of chai concentrate is $5.49 in my area.
Assuming I use 4 oz. of it per serving I'd get 8 servings.
       That's $0.69/serving

A quart of milk is 1.99 and yields about 16 (4 oz) servings.
       That's $0.12/serving.

Rishi dried chai mix is $39.99 per pound. But a half a cup of tea mix is .16 pounds, or 6.39.
Brewing it twice yields 9 (4 oz) servings.
      That's $0.71.

CONCLUSION
With the boxed concentrate, one 8 oz. serving costs $0.81.
With the homemade concentrate, one 8 oz serving costs $ 0.83.
Starbucks charges, what? About $4.00 for the same size!!!! THAT IS NUTSO!

Costwise, the homemade version is pennies more and you are getting REAL milk, REAL tea, and REAL spices with the sugar level of YOUR choosing. That's worth two cents more, right??

Plus, I am not kidding when I tell you I've kept my concentrate around for over a montha and it's still good. You can brew up a huge batch and have it whenever you want.

Pshaw! I Can Do That - Fleece Hood

2012-01-24T18:11:00.000-08:00

Ever see something in a catalog or in the stores and think, "Pfft! I can make that myself!!" I think that all the time. For me to copy something, though, one of two criteria need to be met: I either have to be able to make it cheaper or make it better.

Today's shameless copy job is the 4-In-1 Fleece Hood originally spotted at http://www.lakeside.com/. Here's the catalog clipping:

There's no way to make these any cheaper. At an average of $9/yard for fleece, you need about 5/8 of a yard. When I add in the elastic & lock for the hood, I'd actually spend more than the catalog charges.

But I can definately make one better! I have mixed feelings about fleece, which I will save for ~~a future rant~~ another post. One of the downsides is that it is NOT WINDPROOF which does me no good here in wintery Wisconsin. My plan to make a better hood is to line it with another layer of fleece. Wanna make one? Here's how:

SUPPLIES: * About 5/8 yard of two pieces of fleece (I used yellow for the lining and a paw print for the outside). *About 30" of cord elastic. *One cord stop for looped cords.

In the center circle of the catalog picture, they basically show you the shape of the hood. I cut two pieces, freehand style, of yellow and two pieces of the paw prints. I HATE HATE HATE getting drafts down my neck so I made mine long, at 27 inches. You could make yours shorter if you don't like as much bulk around your neck.

The lower width is 15 inches and the lip for the hood sticks out 1-1/2 inches.

1. On the long edge (the one without the lip) of the outer pieces, sew from the bottom all the way around the curve. Do the same on the lining fabric.

2. Trim your seams close to the stitching like this:

3. Put the outer and lining pieces together, right sides together and match up the seam at the top. Pin it in place and sew the lips together, with no more than a 1/2" seam. Again, trim the seam close to the stitching.

4. This is where it gets weird. Open it up and lay it like how I've got it in this next picture, right sides together. Now, if we think of this as a "U", the entire underside of the U should be sew together and the outer fabric & lining fabric should be connected like they're kissing.

5a. Now, if we think of this as a pair of pants, you want to pin the inner legs and crotch together but....

5b. Mark the very inner curve in such a way that you'll remember to leave a half-inch on either side of the point where the outside and lining meet up. I use two pins close together to remind myself to stop stitching.

6. Sew the "legs" of the "pants" together, remembering to leave that half inch free on either side of the lip seam. Trim the seams as before. Flip the whole thing right side out. Here's the little opening that I left. This is where the casing opens for your elastic.

And this is what it should look like at this point. Couldn't flip it right side out? Perhaps you sewed the bottom shut. You weren't supposed to do that yet!

7. Now make the casing. To do that, you sew around the hood opening in about a 1" seam allowance. Finger press the seam as you sew to keep the edges tidy. You can see in this picture that I've allowed enough on the right edge so my needle overshoots that little hole. And I'm finger pressing the edge in such a way that the white won't curl to the inside and look yucky.

8. You're in the home stretch! Position your bottom neatly and sew the two bottom hems together. I trimmed an inch off the lining so that it wouldn't poke out from the bottom (like a slip showing). One of the upsides to fleece is that it doesn't ravel so, no need for a formal hem. :)

Here's how my bottom edge looked:

9. Now we're going to run the elastic through the casing. The elastic will needs to form a loop and I know that my elastic is not going to stay put in a knot as is. Corded elastic will also unravel. So I took a match and burnt each edge to seal the nylon.....

like so:

10. Pin one edge of the elastic onto the hood. Use a second safety pin (closed, of course) to run the other end all the way through the casing.

11. Take the safety pin off (leave the other end pinned onto th hood for now). Run your cord stop as in the picture below and shift it to the cording's center point.

12. Now go ahead and knot the edges...and then run a match around the knot which will melt the knot into place and keep it from undoing itself.

13. Shimmy the cording so that the knot goes up about midway into the casing to hid it. My finger is pointing to where I've shifted my knot.

The cord stop should be front and center. And boom, you're done.

So, according to the catalog, I can get four looks outta this thing. Let's double check:

Neck warmer: Check

SIDENOTE: I wish to clarify that I went out of my way to iron this shirt just for the photo shoot. That line across my chest is from water that dripped out of my iron - it is NOT a stain.

Partial face mask: Check

Open faced hood: Check

Full head & face mask: Check.

I already know that this is BETTER than the catalog. I got superwarm just taking the pictures. ~~I almost wish it would snow so I could try it out while I shovel.~~

I'm linking this to Heidi's UFO Roll Call party found HERE.

Post-Christmas Discovery

2012-01-16T15:52:00.000-08:00

I just finished cleaning up the last of the Christmas stuff. I got a late gift from The Conductor's mom, which he brought home from his post-holiday visit.

Yum!! A bag full of homemade goodies. Two kinds of chocolate covered pretzels and a tin chock full of these:

I liked the ones in the upper right with the chocolate drizzle the best!

The Conductor also got a set plus a few bags more of other treats. We're working on the second tin and they're still just as fresh as when he brought it all home.

Some wedding fun was also in the bag. The Conductor's mom has a tradition of making treats for table favors for all of the family weddings and she made me some samples:

A white chocolate, a dark chocolate and a minty white. Mmm!

We tend to eat dessert in front of the TV so I had left the whole gift bag right on the coffee table. Of course, I save "good" bags to reuse again! As we finished up the contents of my bag, I was just about to fold it up and stash it away.

But then what did I spy.....with my little eye?

Ho-lee-cow!!! There are BEADS inside the handles of the bag!!! They were loose inside the plastic handles, just waiting to be repurposed.

Of course I ripped them right off.

Then I felt bad for destroying a "good" bag - so I used my punching tool to punch out a ton of gift tags for next year.

The Conductor was next to me on the couch and he was urtterly fascinated by the fact that there's a tool out there to make gift tags. He said to me, with total seriousness, "Wow. You are *really* going to keep us in line when we're married."

Damn straight!

Anyway, in the post-holiday clearance sales, I picked up this earring set for $2. I set the studs aside for my sisters since I don't wear earings.

What I really wanted were these earrings. After removing the hooks, I had two matching charms which I ran jump rings through than strung up with the beads from the bag...

...to make this cute little necklace/bracelet combo:

I only had half-enough beads from the bag to make the bracelet. Fortunately I had some loose red ones in my stash that gave me enough length.

Too cute, hey? I'm almost sorry Christmas is over because I'll have to wait a whole year to wear these.

And now a fun wedding update: We're gearing up to send out save the date cards. I went to the post office and asked for wedding themed stamps. The guy said they had a ton in the back. After a while, he came back in and said he's not allowed to sell those. Um. Ok... So I said, "Well do you have anything pretty - flowers, hearts, anything like that?"

He says, "We're doing our stamp audit now so the only stamps I'm allowed to sell are these with the pretty American flag on them"

Seriously? A stamp audit? And isn't that ironic - that an AUDIT would hold up me - an accountant - from having pretty stamps on my first wedding mailing? Ugh!

Dear Margaret

2012-01-03T16:27:00.000-08:00

Who visited you this past holiday season? My Gramma Helen passed away about three years ago but she visited me on and off over the holidays.

It started in the two days leading up to my vacation from work. I'd get in my car - once at work, once in a store lot, and I would smell cigarette smoke. I'm not a smoker. I don't allow smoking in my car. And it's winter time in Wisconsin so it's not like I had my windows down and was catching a whiff from a smoker in another car.

One of the last times my Gramma and I did anything together was when I drove her in my car to go visit my Grampa in the hospital.

Photo credit

Three days into my vacation, I was working on a project where I needed to trace something petal shaped to make a pattern. I couldn't think of a thing in my house to trace. Then I turned around and looked up and there they were.

My gramma's black patent leather old lady shoes! I used to put these on all the time whenI was a little kid. I couldn't wait for the day when my feet would be big enough to wear them. They were the one thing of hers I absolutely had to have after she passed away. And the front was perfect for the petal shape I needed to trace.

About five days later, I told the Conductor about the smoke in the car and the shoes as we drove to dinner. After dinner, as we were geetting up to leave, I looked down at the orangey carpeting and found a penny.

Photo Credit

And you know what they say about finding a penny on the ground - it's a penny from someone in Heaven who's thinking of you.

The next day, I set about sorting out a huge box of papers of my grandfather's. Inside it, I found a notebook opened to a page that simply said:

I flipped to the next page and found that my Gram had made carbon copies of several letters that she wrote to my Aunt Margaret from 2001-2002. It was so fun reading them over the next few days. Some parts sounded exactly like how she talked - I could amost hear her laughing and see her facial expressions. Other parts were surprising - like when she'd close a letter with "consider yourself hugged" or "hugs and kisses". My Gram never talked like that in real life.

One thing she prided herself on was her beautiful handwriting. She even named her kids -Michael, Margaret, Louis, and Laura because she said "L" and "M" were the two prettiest letters to write.

Her last visit to me was on New Year's Eve. The Conductor and I ate at a French restaurant. Each time we've been there, they have a guitarist who plays background music. He mixes it up everytime. Sometimes some jazz, sometimes some standards. Once two ladies were there with a baby and he came and played "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Braham's Lullaby" for the baby.

The guitarist was there again for New Year's. He was playing quietly as background music and he was in a different room. The place was packed and noisy with conversation. Yet I heard the music. At first I thought I was hearing things. It was New Years...a French restaurant...everyone dolled up...and absoluately no one in uniform was in the place. But sure enough. the tune came out..."from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli...".

He was playing the Marine's song! The first song I ever learned how to sing. Gramma used to sit me on her kitchen table when I was a toddler and sing it to me over and over until I could sing it back. She must've whispered in his ear and requested it just for me.

Who visited you this holiday season? Did you let them in or did you think it was your imagination? We miss those who have passed on the holidays...I think sometimes they miss us, too.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T17:16:00.000-08:00

I am so jazzed! Not because it's 2012...but because my New Year's Eve dress turned out to be a smashing success!

I used my newly padded dress model, Grace, for the first time and, let me just say, "Wow, wow, wow!" What a huge difference a proper dress model makes!

No more winging it. No more "I'll just make one size bigger and hope for the best." No more "It was cheap fabric anyway so it's OK if it fails." No more "maybe no one will notice that it doesn't fit right." Check this out:

This is Grace trying on the bodice. It's supposed to be a sleeveless halter top look. So I can see, in an instant, that I needed to add some bust darts on the side with he way it's poking out. And that was just the start of how instrumental Grace was, now that she's all padded out.

When all was said and done, my dress turned out perfectly. I was practically dancing when I realized it was going to be a success. I can't tell you how long it's been since I had a party dress turn out perfectly.

I used Butterick 4919 shown here. It's a vintage reprint of a 1953 pattern and is a mock halter top. The top is actually fastened to the skirt and a hidden band goes around your back then the wraps swing around the front. I used royal blue fabric with tiny gold dots all over it. I've had the piece in my stash for about 15 years.

It was super easy to do - I finished it in a weekend. I also wanted to use this dress to try out two techniques that I've never done before that I'm expecting to incorporate into the wedding dress I'm making. I'd rather screw up on a party dress than on the real deal.

The first technique was to add a waist stay. You basically sew a sturdy ribbon on the seam of the waist. It adds stability which is great because full skirts, like the kind in vintage dresses, can be HEAVY and the waist stay keeps the skirt from pulling on the seam and also lessens wear on the zipper.

I used a very well writen tutorial by the Sewaholic found here. A waist stay can be tied, but she suggested sewing a bra hook to one end and and a loop on the other, which I chose to do, like so:

The second technique was to use horsehair to make the hem. Horsehair hems always intimidated me but this was incredibly easy. I used Gertie's directions, found here and it took all of 10 minutes, if that. Holy man! What a difference the horsehair makes. Three years I worked in a fabric store - I knew every notion, every piece of fabric, every button. I've been sewing for 18 years. And I never discovered horsehair until now.

Let me tell you - for full circle skirts, you will never get the smooth hem that you get with horsehair. I think I've found my new drug.

You can take the waist stay and the horsehair hem and file them both under "what the heck took me so long!".

I also decided it would be wise to add a lingerie stay on each sleeve - these are another brilliant discovery and it should insult every woman out there that clothing manufacturers skip these so often:

I tried it on one last time and I almost cried at how perfect a fit it was. It totally gave me the guts to wear shoes that do NOT match - my Dorthy Wizard of Oz shoes, also vintage. (I'm an accountant, it's hard for me to not be matchy-matchy, as Michael Kors always says).
Anyway, the end result was this:

And of course I had to do the "double check your deoderant" pose, like the model on the pattern envelope.

The Conductor was kind enough to delay dinner so I could take pictures before the dress got wrinkled. Here's how the conversation went:

Me.: Can you get a shot of the lingerie stay?

Him: Ok. What's a lingerie stay?

Me: Get the horsehair hem

Him: Ok. What's horsehair hem?

Me: Oh, and also get the crinoline in the shot. And my shoes.

Him: Ok. What's a crinoline.

He's awesome in his boy-ness, isn't he? He reminds me of the man that walked into the fabric store I worked at and came up to me and said, "Uh...yea....uh...do you guys have any, um...cloth...here?"

And he was totally serious....

Horsehair hem, my first self-made crinoline, and my Dorothy shoes.

After taking pictures of things he knew nothing about, The Conductor took me to Chez Jacques for French food and lousy service. Despite the fact that they were booked for New Year's they had their B-Team working. The hostess was obvsiously new and seated us right by the kitchen door.

And I thought, "Little girl, when a lady sails in on a cloud after making a beautiful frock like the kind *I* am wearing that fits perfectly, that got high praise from her finace, and that looks totally awesome with her vintage pantent leather red shoes, you do NOT seat her by the kitchen".

I asked to be moved. Ugh. Later, a charming looking lesbian couple walked in and got stuck with that table since it was the only one open. They both eyed me and my dress as I went to the ladies room. I briefly wondered if they'd each get mad at the other for staring at me and my dress. And then I realized I didn't care - - they were STARING AT MY DRESS.

When I walked into the restroom, two girls were jabbering in the ladies room and one of them said "....and then I told her that Estelle wasn't going to - - oh my gosh I just love your dress it's so cute where did you get it oh wow Tracy look at her dress it's so pretty..." Wow!!!

And then I got to stare at this handsome fellow during dinner (which was cold and which I had to send back and which the waitress barely apologized for).

After, we went to the movies to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and ended up missing midnight because the movie didn't end until 12:30. But that's ok because all over the theater people were looking at my dress. Granted, they may have been thinking, "wow, that girl sure is overdressed for the movies". But I didn't care. I felt like a million bucks.

So here's one last shot of the Conductor and I, doing our cheesy 1953 couple pose to go with my 1953 party frock. Look how nice it poufs out with the crinoline underneath!

Happy New Year!

Making Friends Fat

2011-12-31T15:29:00.000-08:00

Everyone has that one friend that has the ideal figure...the friend that's always skinny, always looks good, with the perfectly proportioned body. We love that friend for who she is, of course. And we get a lot of good out of being friends with her.

But secretly we hate her, don't we? I have a skinny friend. Her name is Grace. Doesn't her perfect figure make you sick?

Yea, Grace is my dressmaker model. I always wanted one but they are pri-cee! By dumb luck, I was just bumming around one day and stumbled upon a thrift store and she just happened to be in the window at $40. She's not too shabby....but she is definately way too skinny.

I use her a lot for sewing and of course, things look great on her skinny self. All the items on the floor behind her are HER clothes, 'cuz Lord knows they wouldn't fit me. Some friend, hey?

Well, I can't get too mad at her. The thing about sewing is, it forces you to admit your natural shape. It is absolutely frustrating to spend all day sewing something only to put it on and have it fit poorly.

It's madness to try and use a model that's skinnier than you...or doesn't have your shape issues (swayback, dowager's hump, saddlebags, whatever). So, to make clothes that fit, you need a model that's shaped like you. I decided it's high time to fatten up my friend. I used this awesome and easy tutorial from Threads magazine. And my equally awesome sister, Caroline, helped me out.

You basically put on an old shirt then have your helper wrap you up in duct tape all around your curves and other issues. Honestly is required - no sucking in your tummy, padding your bra, or standing funny to hide your true shape.

After spending about an hour getting high on duct tape fumes in my bathroom, this is what we ended up with:

See what I mean - no lying about your true shape.

But the form is cool. The shirt and tape combo gives it stability, yet is flexible. I'm scuking in my tummy below, and you can see that I can poke into it. This is great because you can push into a real person....therefore, I need to be able to push into Grace's new shape.

Once you're all taped up, your partner slices you out of it with a cut down the back, leaving the form ready to slip out of.

And there's the new Grace. Laying on my sewing table like a dead slug, which is identical to how I look after The Conductor and I eat dinner. Sadly, this is the body shape that comes when the one you love loves to eat as much as you do. ~Sigh~

I was so pleased with how this turned out that I asked my sister to tape my upper arm which, next to my bust and belly, is probably the third toughest part of my body to fit properly. If you make a model of your arm or thighs, you should either squeeze your arm muscles as you're taped or sit down for your leg - you want the model to reflect your shape at it's widest so your clothes have enough ease in the fit.

Once you're sliced out of it, drape the new form over your model. Make sure you tape over all of gaps in the original model. Shove batting or fiberfill inside to pad any areas that don't lay exactly on the old model.

Because you sliced out of the back, it's easy to line up the original cut and tape it closed. And there's your new friend.

I am SO SO SO thrilled with Grace's new look. So thanks to my sister for inhaling duct tape fumes with me. Can you even tell which one's Grace and which one is me?

Where Did it Go?

2011-12-29T11:08:00.000-08:00

Wow. How did a whole year manage to get by me? I had only about 22 posts - this whole year!

It's not that I haven't had anything to blog about...it's just that I'm so busy getting things DONE that I don't have time to write about them!

I'm off for a Christmas break and I thought I'd share all the goodies I got this year. I was really blessed this year which gives me a lot of hope. We're in a crappy economy. Several people I know are dealing with being un- or under employed. So it was really encouraging to see that no one around me let that stop them from sharing a nice holiday season. Here's my haul:

First was a goodie basket from the Conductor's mom. I got it when I visited her with him for Thanksgiving. She always puts together fun baskets. This one included some candies, hot chocolate a dip mix, a holiday plate, some pretty soap, a pin, socks, a bun warming cloth, napkins, Michigan made salad dressing and a cookbook magazine.

The best part of all was the basket itself though.

She gave me..drumroll please: ^V^V^V^V^V^V^V:

A real....honest to goodness....Longaberger basket!!

I didn't think I could ever own one of them but there it is. She also sent me home with an oblong shaped one that has a lid for the plastic liner. Happy dance, happy dance! (Dana and his brother looked bored when we were discussing baskets. Boys just don't understand these things).

It even has a removable liner. So guess what this seamstress will be doing? Yuh-huh. Taking it out and making a pattern to make changeable liners. Happy dance!

I also got a pretty good assortment from my coworkers:

It includes a mug of chocolate treats, a sugar scented candle, an angel note holder, an ornanmental J, and my boss...who has been described by the press as "a fastidious follower of the rules" gave us each a wine glass and a set of cocktail mixers. No booze, but still, not like her at all.

My favorite from this group is the set of towels and coasters that Gene's wife, Marie made. She cross-stitched them. Aren't they cute?

I admire stitchers. I know how to do it but I don't like to. My free time is rare and in the amount of time it took her to do this, I could have made a skirt and a top. It's like you do so much work for such a small amount of "doneness". Which is why I admire people that have the tenacity to do work like this. Sr. Nancy taught me to cross stitch in high school and told us that the mark of a good stitcher is when the back looks just as good as the front. Let's check Marie's work:

Yep. Girl's got it goin' on!

Also at work, I got a political gift. We've had some government issues here in Wisconsin. Namely, our arsehole governor and some of our state representatives have turned teachers into a political football. One local company, Penzy's Spices, didn't like that and wanted to say thank you teachers for their hard work. They gave out these gift boxes to teachers at the start of school - - but sent a box to ALL of us public school employees for Christmas. How awesome is that?

The box includes a bumper sticker and pin. Since I'm not a teacher, I'll give these my brother who teaches. It also had a bottle of their salt-free seasoning mix, a cookbook, and a little jar of cinnamon.

I got a kick out of the cinnamon. Here's MY jar of cinnamon.

Look how cute the Penzy's jar is next to my jar. :)

I also met up with my friend, The Gardener, for dinner and we exchanged gifts. She gave me a talking pedometer which I'm looking forward to using at the gym. I sure hope it says something other than, "Boy Jill, are you getting fat!" She also gave me a jar of honey. Coincidentally, I included a chocolate bar with honeycombs in her gift. (We both daydream about beekeeping someday).

She also gave me a spoonrest. As if through ESP, The Gardener, who hasn't been in my house since I first moved in, chose for me a spoonrest that perfectly matches the color of my walls.

She actually gets hummingbirds in her yard, the lucky duck!

Gifts from family included;

A Carraba's gift card from sister Betsy, a mini sewing machine and purse holder from sister Sarah...

This handmade apron from step-mom Kathy, compate with a criss-cross back, a towel loop and

a little bit 'o' bling on the pockets (the buttons shimmer like the snowflakes - which you can't really see in this crummy picture)

And a pajama set from sister Betsy.

And of course I got some presents from The Conductor:

A new CD burner to replace the one that konked out, a set of flashlights, some scented oil (in lavender, he was watching me experiment and make my sister some homemade eucaluptus scented oil that turned out awesome!), and a Shiva Rea yoga DVD because I mentioned I was looking for some good morning workout ideas.

See what else is in the array? Not one, but two kinds of candy. The Conductor is forever teasing me about my sweet tooth yet he goes and buys me TWO kinds of candy - chocolate covered cherries and a fun dark chocolate with citrus and ginger.

The cutest part of the array?

Babushka nail files - a nod to our Polish roots.

The best part of the array, though, was the card:

Now everybody, together say: Awwwww!

Happy Holidays - now I'm going back to the sewing room to finish my New Year's dress and I am SO SO SO pleased with it so far!

More About My Kitty

2011-11-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

Winter is fast approaching here in Wisconsin. In my last post, I introduced you to Mitzy, my kitty cat. (She's really an alley cat that keeps coming into my yard).

I just adore this cat and I don't know why. I was feeling awful at the thought of her trying to survive in winter. So I borrowed a huge racoon cage from my friend, The Gardener. I put inside of it a can of tuna hoping the smell would lure her in.

TEN MINUTES after I put the trap in my yard, I heard it snap shut. So apparently Chicken of the Sea is the brand of choice for tuna, huh?

I'm glad my friend has a racoon trap. I knew I couldnt' take her in right away in the morning and I didn't want hre to be overly traumatized so, with the 'coon trap she had plenty of room to move about.

Cute or not, I wasn't about to take her all the way into my home. So she spent the night on my enclosed back porch. Which was a good thing because the temperatures took a nose dive last night.

I took her to work with me the next day planning to drop her off at our domestic control center on the way home. Not wanting her to freak out from strange noises or sights, I kept her covered with a lot of blankets. She talked to me the whole way to work. Her meow is so cute - "Noooooo!" she says over and over, in a woe-is-me kind of voice.

I checked on her during the workday and she was doing fine. (A few summers ago I had a squirrel in the roof problem and trapped quite a few. Some of them got so anxious to get free that they'd chew their own jaws off or rip their hands to shreds. I was really worried she'd hurt herself. Thankfully, she just seemed confused about the cage more than anything).

We got to the domestic control center - the same place I took my poochka when I had to put her down. Our domestic control, by law, holds a stray for seven days in case an owner claims it. After that, if the animal is healthy and of good temperament, they turn it over for adoption. When I was there dropping of Mitzy, a mom and son were coming in to adopt a stray.

That was my whole goal of trapping her - I just know she's an adoptable cat and I'm hoing she'll have a good home before winter.

Cue the Sarah McLaughlin music:

The worker took her in the trap to the back room and brought the cage back to me. He said, "Thanks a lot for bringing him in."

What???

Yea. Turns out my Mitzy is actually a Mitzter.

"My" Kitty Kat

2011-11-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

For some time now I've had a cat.

Sort of.

This is Mitzi.

There's an alley cat in my neighborhood that I named Marly. After Marlboro cigarettes since she's the color of an ashtray. Marly likes to sleep on my porch furniture which is really annoying when I want to lay on my bench and take a nap only to find cat hair all over.

I think Marly must've had a litter because I saw Mitzi following her for a little while when she was a new kitten. She's a teenaged cat now and she LOVES my yard.

I don't put out any food or water. And I haven't been growing catmint or any other food substance a cat might like. But I find her in my yard all the time.

I came home this past weekend to find her hunting around my yard again. I do have a lot of tall plants which would provide the perfect hiding spot for field mice or even chipmunks. I bet that's what she was after. We have a pretty clean alley so I'm sure it's hard for her to find good garbage to eat off of.

I walked up to her slowly expecting her to skitter away but she didn't. So I sat on my chair and she nestled into the grass only four feet away from me to await the next hunt.

I was talking to her the whole time and she didn't even flinch. Weird, for a feral cat. Then she spotted it. A mouse? A frog? I couldn't tell. But she walked right up to me (my legs were blocking her path). She debated for a brief second about whether to chance it passing me or give up the hunt.

She went for it, leaping over my legs over to the strawberry patch. Quietly she strategized her battle plan:

She began to stalk the unsuspecting prey:

It caught on and tried to run, but she was right on its tail:

And, whatever creature it was, she followed it into the neighbor's yard.

I love this kitty and I don't know why. I won't put food out for her (I don't want to encourage more alley animals). And I won't let her into my house. The Conductor and I are both allergic, I really don't like cats, and I have no desire to rehab a feral animal.

But I just adore her. She's the prettiest thing. (She's got the most beautiful gold colored eyes!) It's amazing to me how, even though I live in the city and have a yard the size of a postage stamp, Mother Natue still sends amazing creatures my way.

In my next post, I'll share some more of the visitors to my yard.

Apron Challenge

2011-10-31T17:41:00.000-07:00

I'm back. I've been busy - too busy to stop to post. But I was inspired by a recent blog post I stumbled upon by BoPeep who blogs at Willow Homestead. She's a Wisconsin gal like me. I raise dandelions on my city lot. She raises sheep in the country. How cool is that?!?!

She recently found a clipping from a 1959 article of the Milwaukee Journal (now the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Or, if you live in Milwaukee, but disagree with the Journal's slant on stories, you might refer to it as the Milwaukee Urinal.

We're a classy bunch in this town, aren't we?

Anyway, the article issued a challenge to ladies of 1959, which BoPeep has passed on to us: to make a differnt apron for every month. With today being the VERY last day of October, I'm squeaking in my entry:

I used McCall's 6132, which was super easy to do and, the way it's set up, you actually line it which I love since I USE aprons when I wear them. Thin cotton just won't cut it for this messy cook. Here's some detail:

I used candy corn printed black for the base with a witchy orange for the pocket. The trim is another shade of orange with little spiders on it.

Here's a closup of the pocket. It's such a whimsical print~ I asked The Conductor to zoom the camera in on the pocket and rick-rack. And he said, "Ok, sure!! But what's rick rack?" Boys.....

Here's the kitty's face. Isn't he cute? More of the spider print for the ears and nose, ribbon for the whiskers, and green buttons for the eyes - because every Halloween cat needs green eyes.

I worked on this while the neighborhood kids were out trick or treating. I followed my Grampa's annual tradition of closing all the curtains and turning the lights off to keep the trick or treaters away. (I don't have kids so I don't hand out candy. But my Grampa sent his kids out. I think that's awful not to give out treats when your own kids are getting them!)

I finished this right when Trick or Treating was over - just in time to pack it up in a box for next year. ~Sigh~

One final shot:

Happy Halloween! This apron wasn't the only cat I got recently....In my next post, I'll tell you all about my new kitty cat!

Gratituesday: Laboring

2011-09-06T16:14:00.000-07:00

Someone at work asked me how my Labor Day weekend was. I said I spent all three days remodeling and painting my sewing room. She commented, "So you labored on Labor Day".

Yes I did. And labor is something to be grateful for. First, the choice to labor. In some countries the goverment tells you what your job will be. In America, we can follow our own path when it comes to labor.

Second, the ability to labor. Some people have bona fide disabilities or illnesses that prevent them from working. I'm grateful that I have a working body that does what I need it to do.

I'm grateful that my parents bestowed a good work ethic in me. There are people that prefer to cheat the system so they can live on welfare, disability, or drug dependency just to avoid doing for themselves. I have no respect for people who game the system to avoid earning their living.

My heart goes out to folks who despertely WANT to be laboring now - but can't find work because of the economy.

I'm grateful, too, that I'm marrying a man that values labor too. The Conductor always pitches in when he's at my house

and it's important to him to be a good provider for us when we're married. I'm grateful for a partner willing to do his share of labor.

I'm also grateful for all the laborers who came before me.

There's the manual laborers who unionized to fight for fair wages, safe working conditions, the 40 hour work week, and other things we all take for granted.

And for the workers who fought to end sexual discrimination and sexual harassment in the work place and who fought for the right for working moms to have family leave and keep their jobs after having babies.

So, yes, I labored long and hard this past Labor Day weekend. But I'm grateful for every backbreaking, muscle aching, calloused hand moment of it.

I'm linking up to Gratitutuesday at Heavenly Homemakers. Join us here!

Tex Mex Party

2011-08-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my mom threw her Second Annual Summer Theme Party. Last year's was Polish everything which included a visit from my uncle from Texas and his family.

This year, my Texas uncle did NOT come. Naturally, my mom's theme was, Tex-Mex. There were a lot of little buckaroos that showed up including:

Bran Muffin and

My Dear-O

We, of course had a pinata

and my Grampa had a little fun with one of the pieces

My aunt Mardet from Las Vegas made it into town for a fun visit. She's on the right, my sister Carrie is on the left.

They are eyeing each other as if to say, "This town ain't big enough for the both of us!"

Here's the star of the show, my mom, with her Mexican peasant blouse and skirt on complete with south of the border jewelry and hair. Way to go mom!!

As for me, I used Simplicity 5595, a favorite go-to pattern of mine, to make a gingham top. I whipped it up in less than two hours:

And here I am with my favorite ranch hand, The Conductor. (I tried to get him to wear a cowboy hat but he was a little too bashful).

Nobody throws a theme party like my mom. !Ole! !Ole!

Wednesday Walk

2011-08-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

Would you like to go for a walk in my garden?

Here's a view of my side yard which I intended to be a serenity garden. (Odd because the brick house next door belongs to my VERY LOUD Puerto Rican neighbors. Good people. JUST REALLLLLY LOUD).

The serenity garden isn't very serene. Not because of my neighbors - but because it's overgrown with weeds.

It's downright embarassing. But in my defense, we had nearly two weeks of intense heat and humidity and I just couldn't get outside.

My poor cherub is being swallowed by a volunteer trumpet vine. I better dig it up or it'll be taller than my house in no time!

My ~~pricker weed~~ thistle plant is starting to brown up. If you let those hard, crusty pricker weeds grow, they get about 5-6 feet tall and get lovely thistle purple flowers on them. I always get one in this patch and, since it's on the side of the yard, I let it grow. The flowers attract yellow finches.

Unfortunately, I didn't see a single finch this season. But the bees love it as you can see here. My yard was FULL of bees tonight which is so encouraging considering the colony collapse issues out there.

(Mr. Bee is atop the flower mooning me and my camera in case you can't spot him).

My rose of Sharon are doing wonderfully, bursting with lovely lavendar color. They're the first thing I see when I pull my car in back - a very lovely "welcome home".

And there's BIG things happening in the yard. Check out the size of thes squash leaves!! My foot is next to one to give you some perspective. Yes, I wear old lady gardening shoes.

And my hibiscus have popped. They are the size of saucers - or, my hand. They're happy faces smile at me as I round the corner to head to my car for work each morning.

And that's our walk today!

GratiTuesday

2011-08-09T17:47:00.000-07:00

This Tuesday I am grateful for:

Squash blossoms and little baby squashes starting to form.

Five varieties of tomatoes starting to color up.

Raspberries coming in faster than I can pick them.

Add it up: Spinach with e-coli, salmonella in eggs, Wisconsin's recent tainted turkey recalls, pesticide laden apples...and so on... It is truly a blessing to have a plot of land that I can grow my own food on.

My yard is chemical free and prospers well enough for me to gorge on all the fresh veggies I want - with plenty left to share.

I joke that my yard is the size of a postage stamp. But it's amazing the amount of nutritious, healthy, un-fooled-around with food you can grow on a postage stamp. And for that, I am grateful.

I'm linking this post to the Gratituesday link party. Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Domestic Goddess?

2011-08-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

Wow. Blogs can really go neglected when you're not looking! What happened? My main computer monitor died and I don't like the way my laptop sorts pictures. It was just too much of a project to learn the new photo sorting system. Ugh. But I finally got a new monitor and I'm back in business!

So what's been going on while I've been out? Well, I got engaged!

Actually I got engaged on May 14, 2011. But we didn't say anything to anyone because I really wanted my dad to be the first to know. He always says he's the last to know anytime anything happens to me or my siblings.

The Conductor did a marvelous job picking the ring. I didn't go with him because I think an engagement ring is a gift - and a gal doens't dictate what kind of gift she wants. But he did ask for guidelines. I told him I wanted a thin band (so my short fingers don't look fat) and that I'd like a band with some curvy lines (as opposed to a boring, straight line). I also said I'd like gemstones of varying sizes, not just one big honking one. And I said no pointy gemstone cuts since I didn't want to freak about the stone catching on fabric.

And he nailed it.

So, we went out to eat not too long ago. And the Conductor spilled some food on his shirt. We're engaged - but not married. I don't do his laundry.

Yet some part of me stupidly felt the need to show him what a great Domestic Goddess I am by getting that food splotch out. I told him to leave his shirt and I'd clean it.

He protested. It's silk, he said.

So what, I replied. I sew. I know fabric.

But it's dry clean only, he said.

Don't spend money on dry cleaning, I said.

Really, it's no big deal. I'll clean it myself, he said.

Nonsense, I said. It'll take me mere minutes.

So he reluctantly left it. And, while cleaning, I found another bowling-style shirt that he left at my house that also had food splotches on it. Perfect! I can clean him two shirts at once and dazzle him twice with my mad laundry skills.

I put both shirts in Oxy Clean, soaked them, and hung them to dry.

And that's when I went from being a Domestic Goddess to being a Domestic Dumbass.

He's only ever dry cleaned these shirts. I macihine was dry clean only garments all the time - but that's because I get them from thrift stores.

Bowling style shirts alternate colored panels with ighter colored panels. So as soon as the water hit them, the colors ran. And after they dried, they were not soft as silk. They were stiff as cardboard.

Add to that, the blue one is a Bobby Chan shirt that retails for about $50; the black shirt is a Nat Nast that retails for closer to $100.

Even better, these are two of his absolute favorite shirts. You can totally see how good he feels when he's wearing them.

And the topper - the blue one reminds him of his late grandmother who told him he looked as handsome as Charlie Sheen in it (before Sheen went psycho, of course).

Moral of the story: If you have a guy that knows HOW to do laundry and doesn't MIND doing laundry: DON'T BE A HERO!

Measuring Tape

2011-05-26T14:39:00.000-07:00

I love Menard's hardware store. I willingly fall for their get-you-in-the-door gimmicks. One that I particularly love are these measuring tapes. They are FREE after a mail in rebate so I always pick up a few when I go in.

There's nothing more annoying than needing a tape measure and not being able to find one, right? I figured I could label each one and keep them around in each place that I typically need one. Smart thinking, no?

I was so touched that The Conductor seemed to be on the same wavelength as me as he spied them and commented, "Wow. You have a lot of tape measures!" His tone implied that he was impressed by the forsight I showed by having so many on hand. I was about to proudly imform him that I got them all FREE, when he enthusiastically continued, "You could put one in each room of your house!!"

I wanted to jump up and scream, "Yes! Exactly!" But before I could jump up with excitement, he sarcastically added, "Orrrrrrrr you could just pile them all around the toaster oven." His back was to me but I'm pretty sure his eyes were rolling.

Sigh. So much for being on the same wavelength. I finally got around to labeling them in such a way that I'll know just where to put them away when I'm done. (As opposed to storing them in a pile by the toaster oven).

The one on top is for the utility closet, which is painted lite green.

Next is the one with the dress, for the hallway outside the sewing room. The tape with the cars obviously goes in the car.

The back porch which always has a bug or two on it gets one. My last name is Thomas, and like the train, I'm also a really useful engine so that one goes in my errand runing purse. The last one goes in my step stool/tool carrier painted the same shade of Oriental blue.

But watch. Now that I finally got them labeled and put away, I bet that smartypants Conductor won't even notice they aren't clustered around the toaster oven anymore.....

Me Time

2011-05-04T20:10:00.000-07:00

Happiness is

a sweetheart

that totally gets it

when you tell him

"Yes, I have the night free

but I really need some me-time."

Little Orange Dog

2011-05-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

Today I had to put my poochka to sleep.

I rescued her from the Humane Society who picked her up as a stray in Tennesee. She lived about 14 years, about 7 of them with me.

She was known for two things. One was her ever-wagging tail. My friend's elderly father couldn't get over her waggely tail and remarked that you could tape a fan to it and she'd cool the whole room down.

Her tail was wagging right up until I had to leave her.

The other thing she was known for was being a dope. Chakra was a good dog, and a sweet dog. But she was also a dumb dog. Her most famous move was getting her cord wrapped around the silliest things.

Like the planter box:

And the walkway railings:

She also got her cord stuck around a small flag holder I have in the yard. It's about a month too early for planting in Wisconsin. But in her honor I planted two orange primroses by the flag holder. They're perrenials so they'll be a pretty reminder of my pup every spring.

Little orange flowers for my little orange dog.

So Much for Lent

2011-04-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

It's just about the third Sunday in Lent. What I hate about Lent is all the people that treat it as the time for taking a second stab at the diet they abandoned three weeks after New Year's. The thing you give up, or, alternatively, try to do more of, is supposed to be something that is a SACRIFICE. Something that pains you so that when you're tempted you pause for some reflection and inner growth instead.

I gave up thrift store shopping. And, boy, has it been hard. I wear thrift store clothes, I furnish my home with thrift store decor, I use old sheets as muslins for sewing, and I find lots of raw materials to re-do, reupholster, and re-paint. To stay away from the thrift stores is a Sacrifice, indeed.

We're a whole month from Easter and already I've failed. I went to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore today. And I came home with this:

But let me ~~rationalize~~ explain.

First, The bagged stuff is actually on it's way TO Goodwill. (See - I can purge every now and then!)

Second, spring is coming fast and it's time to plan the garden. I've always wanted raised beds but new wood is Ex-Pen-Sive. So I wanted to find some scraps. And I did!! I found enough pieces of NEW wood, already cut in equal measures for THREE raised beds.

The drawers are for a future project that will help me eliminate clutter. And the picket pieces are for a quickie craft project.

The particle board is for a spring cleaning project that I'm already halfway done with.

And the last piece only took me 10 minutes to put into place. Watch:

Here's my current pull-out cutting board.

Nasty. The wood has been pulling off in chunks which, of course, has nearly gotten in my food many times. I flipped it over to use the underside.

But you can see that, in the divet used for pulling it out, food scraps collect and are impossible to get out. I especially like when pie crusts get caked in there. Yick! I've been hoping to find a suitable replacement and I finally did, today!

It was a little wider than the original so I just laid the old one on top centering it over the pullout divet, and drew some cutting lines. Two quick passes over the cutting table was all it took.

Back in the kitchen I cleaned both sides with a mix of baking soda and vinegar. If you remember 4th grade science, vinegar makes baking soda get all bubbly. It's about the best, albeit stinkiest, all-natural cleaner for surfaces like wood that are porous.

And there you have it. My brand "new", Lousy Catholic cutting board. So....

Still No Spring

2011-03-29T16:39:00.000-07:00

Well, spring still hasn't come to Wisconsin.

In my Magical Garden, Veronica here is looking over dirt and mud as if to say, "For the love of God, grow!!"

Gabriella has simply given in to despair and collapsed in grief.

But there's some hope that Spring is on the way. Some tulips poking out:

Some crocus emerging amid the snow:

The irises my friend The Gardener gave me last year look like they were a successful transplant. They're out by the curbside so, hopefully, my sloppy neighbors don't squash them:

And finally, I left these nurserty pots of sorrel on the side, too ~~lazy~~ tired at the end of the season to dig a hole and throw them in anywhere. Sorrel is a perennial and it looks like one of the two survived. Hopefully they'll last enough so I can plant them for real:

Since spring clearly doesn't want to come to Wisconsin, I continue to try and cure my cabin fever indoors. This past weekend, I tried a new pattern, Simplicity 2615.

I've been in search of a blouse with either kimono or raglan sleeves because I am sick of setting in sleeves. I also wanted one that had no buttons down the front, since my bustiness makes positioning buttons a real chore.

I'm not sure I completely love it becuase the tie, combined with the gathered fabric might, I worry, create a maternity top effect over my potbelly.

But the fabric I used is a bit stiff. I'm going to try it again with a more drapey fabric and see how the effect is. I really like the pattern since it was incredibly easy to work with.

Curing Cabin Fever: Compst Bin

2011-03-06T09:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm still stick of winter. After another 1/2 inch of snow yesterday, I am really missing my garden.

The Sunday paper today featured a recipe for soup with root vegetables. I am SICK of soup. I am SICK of stews. And I am SICK of root vegetables. Root veggies are what you eat in the dead of winter when there's no vegetation in sight.

I am SICK of not seeing any vegetation.

So, to help cure my cabin fever, I started my compost bin. I usually start one about this time every year. Right in my kitchen.

I just take a regular houshold garbage can. Make sure to use one with a lid. Things happen inside a compost bin that you won't want to see when you walk past it.

Flip it upside down and drill several small - and I mean small - holes. The holes allow the air to circulate. I also put a disposable tray underneath (just 'cuz I don't have anything prettier) since compost sometimes makes juice.

On the bottom you spread a layer of shredded newspaper and a little bit of dirt or potting soil.

Then you go visit Joe at the bait shop and buy a package of these:

Worms! I keep my compost bin inside, so I use red wigglers. They are tiny - whch is why you need to drill very small drain holes. I came home my first year doing this to find the worms tried to make a run for it. They failed. But sweeping them up was kind of ick.

SIDENOTE: Which meant I had to go back to see Joe and explain that the worms made a run for it. Now, Joe already thinks I'm weird because the first time I walked in I was eating ice cream and wearing my business suit. In a bait shop. He probably thought I lost my way to the mall or something. When I told him I was composting, he looked at me like I was even weirder. Only hippies compost. Not girls in business suits, you see.

So having to go back and explain about the runawayt worms to Joe and have him harumph under his breath that I should have drilled smaller holes was kind of annoying.

Anyways, red wigglers work better for compost but they cost more. The timid soul that can't stomach the idea of compost inside and who would rather keep their bin outside can use regular earth (fishing) worms because they can tolerate cold.

Plop them on top of the dirt/paper and shut the lid. They'll burrow down to the bottom. After that, you can start tossing your plant-based scraps into the bin. Coffee grounds are also an excellent addition.

Some rules to remember:

NO ANIMAL PRODUCTS - That means no oils, no meat, no bones or skins. Eggshells (but not eggs themselves) are the only exception.

NO GARBAGE - Compost is plant matter that is broken down so the remaining nutrients can fertilize your garden. Garbage does not break down like plant based materials do. Would you bury cans and bottles all over your garden? No? Then don't toss them in the compost.

I also don't put in FUNGUS material. It probably has to do with the biology of mushrooms or something but I threw in some old 'shrooms one year and had fruit flies for ages.

So, as you add your plant matter, the worms will break it down and turn it into lovely fertilizer like this:

Yup. You will see fuzz. You will see mold. You will see rot. And you might think, "why on earth would anyone want this in the same room that they cook and eat in?"

Well, I assure you, you will not SMELL anything. The picture above is from two weeks of composting and I have yet to smell an odor. As long as your worms are alive, they do their thing which keeps the smell down just about nothing. Periodically spreading another layer of shredded newspaper or a thin layer of potting soil also keeps odor down. I find that dumping my coffee grounds in on a daily basis does wonders.

You might smell a slight grassy smell. I LOVE that smell. It reminds me of the scent of being outside with my hands in the dirt. It's the same smell I get when I twist a squash off the vine, or snap a pea off the bush, or rip a weed out of the ground.

In other words, it smells like LIFE happening. Right there in your kitchen. By the time spring comes around, I will have a full bin of this stuff ready to pour into my garden for the first spring planting. Can't come soon enough!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

2011-03-05T06:10:00.000-08:00

Oh my gosh! I never win anything. Until now!!

I stumbled upon a great health blog called Living Healthy in the Real World written by a Canadian gal named Sagan. She writes on a wide variety of health topics - everything from nutrition methods, ingredients, fitness, healthy recipes, you name it. She recently had a giveaway for a sample of Tropical Traditions Household Traditions Dish Liquid.

Times are pretty tense at work right now. I work in local government and,thanks to our dictator of a governor, thousands of dedicated public servants like me are on edge wondering if they'll be put out of work soon. Things are really gloomy. So I was just elated to open my mailbox and read that I WON THE GIVEAWAY!!!

Sagan's message was the silver lining of an otherwise cloudy day!

I'm thrilled because I really want to transition away from using harsher chemical based cleaning products in my home toward using more all-natural products. According to Sagan's review, this stuff only has deionized water, coconut and sugar based sudsing agents, surfactants, and emulsifiers. There's no fragrances or dyes which is great, since I wash dishes without gloves.

I'm eagerly awaiting delivery in the mail. In the meantime, check out Sagan's blog by clicking the link above.She writes in plain English - you don't need to be a health expert to understand what she's saying and I'm sure you'll learn some new things and get some great inspiration for how to live healthfully in the real world.

Thanks Sagan!!

Curing Cabin Fever: Tomato Soup

2011-02-28T16:13:00.000-08:00

At some point, it happens every winter. I'm going along just fine and then the day finally comes.

Last Thursday was the day.

I opened my door in the morning to let the dog back in and saw, for the 1,436th time this winter, this:

And that was officially It. I am SICK OF WINTER.

I am sick of having to bundle up and step out into the cold to untangle my dog's leash.
I'm sick of shoveling. I'm sick of sloshing through slush and slipping on ice. I am REALLY sick of water leaking into my boots.
I'm sick of walking into work in my nice clothes only to find I've kicked up dirty snow water on the backs of my legs.
I'm sick of eating stews and roasts and squash while I shiver under a blanket on my couch.
I'm sick of looking out into my backyard and seeing this:

I've got Cabin Fever and I've got it bad.

But there's March, April, and most of May to get through before it's officially spring in Wisconsin. So, in the meantime, I've got some projects planned to get me through.

First, is tomato soup. Which doesn't sound like much. Unless you have REAL tomatos.

And I don't mean the pink, hard, tasteless Faux-matos that are in the grocery stores now.

I mean these:

Those are REAL tomatoes picked from my garden last summer. I grow more than I can eat while they're fresh. So I toss the ones that are ripe into the freezer for later. Thursday was officially "later".

I took them out to defrost over night in a pan.

Aren't they beautiful in their Real Red goodness? I love homemade tomato soup but peeling tomatoes is a pain. I like freezing them because they get gooshy when they defrost and I can just squeeze the meat right out of the peel. Here's what they looked like in the morning.

You can really just rip into them wih your fingers a bit and let the meat plop out into a bowl. I was left with this in skins:

But more importantly, I had a beautiful bowlful of this:

{Steps onto soapbox}: People open my freezer in the winter and see the big pile of tomatoes and exlaim, "You just throw tomatoes in your freezer?!?" Yup. Let me tell you, even after these babies sit in the freezer for months, with no plastic wrap or anything to keep them sealed, the minute I start squeezing out the meat, it smells like I just stepped outside into the hot summer sun to pick them right then.

Does a storebought faux-mato do that?

THAT is the difference between real, homegrown produce and the plastic crap they sell at the grocery store.
Any food that can maintain it's natural scent - even after months of unprotected freezing - is REAL FOOD. Why would you settle for plastic? {Steps off soapbox}.

Back to the soup. To the bowlful of meat, I added about 2 Tbsp sugar, 2 tsp salt, 2 Tbsp basil, 2 tsp oregano. I stirred it, covered it, and let it sit while I went to work.

After I came home, I sauteed a bit of spring in some olive oil:

Mmm! Leeks are pricey now, at $2.49/pound (and you only use the bottom part!). But I didn't care. I'm sick with cabin fever and food is my medicine.

When those were sauteed, I poured in the tomato mix and also added:
a tsp minced garlic, a cup of canned broth, 3 Tbsp blue cheese, 2 Tbsp srirachi sauce. (The srirachi adds a wonderful kick and the blue cheese smooths out the heat - fabulous!!) Once that all cooked, I used my immersion blender to smooth it all out then stirred in 1/2 cup of cream.

To help bring more summer in, I used my indoor Lodge grill to fry up some lamb burgers:

I put out a simple sauce of Greek yogurt mixed with lime juice and dill.

And, while I was defrosting summer, I also took out the last of my bucket of frozen raspberries. After defrosting I was left with this:

Enough raspberries to mix with apples for a pie and just over a quart of pure raspberry juice which, I gotta say, is like ecstasy in a glass when you drink it straight up.

A Greek salad, some oven roasted potatoe "fries", and some rolls rounded out a delicious REAL summer meal in the dead of winter:

Stay tuned for more Cabin Fever relief!
As a sidenote, I'm drinking Pepsi with my dinner there...my mom never, ever allowed soda water with dinner. Even though I'm a grown-up and I can do what I darn well please, I still feel like I'm doing something bad when I'm having a soda with supper.

Bowl Full of Lemons - House Binder

2011-02-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

You can see by the button on my sidebar that I'm participating in A Bowl Full of Lemon's newest challenge. (Click on the button to get to Toni's write up).

Our first task was for me to take all of this:

and turn it into a useful house binder. I've been meaning to do this for years and Toni's challenge was the kick in the pants I needed.

I used a small 6 x 8 binder so that it fits in my errand-running purse

Because I take this binder shopping, I put a funny reminder on the inside cover to keep myself in check

The caption reads "Remember: Today's must haves often become tomorrow's what was I thinkings!"

Toni has a linky party set up so we can see the work of other participants. Lots of others are moms so their binders include pages for keeping track of doctor appointments, extracurriculars, and weekly meal plans.

But I'm single with no kids so I don't need to track those things. My binder will look a little different but I hope the tabs I use inspire moms and non-moms alike:

ROOM TABS - I have a separate tab for each room. Whenever I'm shopping I inevitably find a cute knick-knack, picture, pillow, etc. that catches my eye but I"m never quite sure if it will fit or match. These tabs will help me out. Each has a similar page that works like this:

First, I designed the page layout and printed it on 8x11 paper. I cut an inch off the right side, and hole punched the left:

Then I folded the right side towards the back. Cutting off the the far right edge allows each page to be folding back in such a way that the hole punches are exposed.

The grid is where I colored in the floor layout for each room. I'll show my kitchen as a sample:

I wrote in the measurements. The diagram also shows the way each door opens, and where counters and windows are. Lastly, there are symbols showing where each electrical, phone, and cable outlets are.

Second, I measured each physical feature of the room - door and window sizes, shelf height and depth, and closet floor space and wrote them next to the appropriate symbol.

This page is also where I'd note measurements of things I always forget. For example, my Basement tab would have the measurements of the furnace filters I need.

Third, You can see how this page looks like it flips open. Indeed! On the inside I put the paint chips and fabric swatches for each room. Now I'll know for sure if what I want to buy will match or not:

Other tabs are:

PRICE LIST

Those familiar with The Tightwad Gazette books will know how much the author stressed taking a price book with you to the store to ensure that you're truly getting the best prices. Living in a big city, my shopping choices are overwhelming so I wanted to add this tab so I at least have a point of reference in the stores.

INVENTORIES
When I do find a good price, I buy a lifetime supply. That's food, hobby supplies, hardware, anything. Here's PART of my pantry

(um...yea...and I'm single with no kids). I added a tab for a running inventory of these types of things so I can shop at home before I run out to the stores and use up what I've got first.

COLLECTIONS - I added a tab for lists of various items I collect, such as old Nancy Drew books, so when I'm out thrifting, rummaging, or antiquing I have a ready list of which parts of my collection I have and which I still need.

DIRECTIONS - This tab is for when I'm out and about and can't remember how to get where I want to go

KNOW-HOW - This tab is a catchall tab for such things as measurement conversions, and other shopping helps. The picture below is a picture list of various nuts, bolts, and screws. The directions for a project may say "five cartirdge bolts" but heck if I know what they look like. This tab will show me the way.

And if we ever geet rid of this:

I want to add a tab for my yard and garage as well.

And while I don't have a typical "mom binder", I did notice that a lot of moms in the party have a section for phone numbers. I need to add one of those - I'm too reliant on my cell phone for storing numbers. So thanks to the many moms in the party for that good reminder.

I'm ready to see what the next week's challenge is. But there's another challenge I have to deal with today. I live in Wisconsin. We have a little town here called Green Bay. And they have a football team playing a game today. Here's my contribution of Oreos baked inside brownies with green and gold sprinkles on top.
Go Packers!

Snow Day!

2011-02-02T13:21:00.000-08:00

No time to work on the home binder for the Bowl Full of Lemons Challenge today. We had a Snow Day of epic proportions here in Milwaukee. The Interstate was even shut down!

There's the Conductor getting his shovel from his car that was buried in the snow on the street. We woke up to snow drifts as high as five feet in some places.

Here's me in the backyard. Look how tall the drifts are! (Don't look at how goofy I look in my un-matching winter garb). It took us almost an hour just to clean the back yard walks out.

Here's the Conductor, waist-deep in the backyard drifts before we got it cleaned out.

In a bit of irony, the sunshine I had hung on the side of my garage was blown down and fell in a snowdrift.

And here's my hero again. I absolutely couldn't have tunneled my way out of the avalanche without his help.

Ugh. But we're still not done. Half the alley to go, and it's already 3:30!

A Lemony Challenge

2011-01-31T18:12:00.000-08:00

With a kitchen that looks like this:

And a closet that looks like this:

And a hobby room that looks like this:

What do you do?

Join a Challenge, of course!

Toni at A Bowl Full of Lemons started a Weekly Challenge to get her readers organized. Lord knows I could use the motivation.

Click on the button on my sidebar to start the challenge. Or Click on the link in this post to get to Toni's blog.

This week's challenge is to make a home management binder. I've kind of started one. Um....a few years ago...so I know what I want it to do, I just need to get it done. Stay tuned!

Clogged Sink

2011-01-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been building for some time now. My bathroom sink drain was sloooowly starting to get plugged up.

Then I came home from working all day and found this:

Yep.It was no longer a clog. It was a back up. Which is kind of weird. Because for some reason at work I got to thinking about how my Dad of All Trades helped me gut and remodel my bathroom. Plumbing is one of THE most expensive home repair things to do. I was contemplating the fact that I could have picked up all kinds of useful skills by watching him and I would have come out of the project fully equipped to do all kinds of home plumbing jobs.
But did I pay attention? Nooooo. His part of the project took over seven months. Seven months of knowlege I could have soaked up. But I didn't.

And then...a clog.

I'm not afraid of clogs. My sisters and I all have long hair. I've always been the one to pop open the shower drain from time to time to clean out massive hairballs. It's gross. But that's the price you pay for long hair.

Here's my mop, taken down after my sister Carrie's wedding.

I'm careful in my own house with the shower drain and only have to clean it once every six months or so. But I'm SUPER careful over the bathroom sink. And yet, a clog. And I can't call Dad because then I'll get the Dad Lecture (probably something along the lines of "weren't you paying attention?") ~Sigh~

Some would be tempted to just pour Drain-o down the sink. But I don't like that idea. One, you're dumping chemicals. Two, Drain-o works by pushing the clog out. I worry it will push the clog to a point in the plumbing that I can't get at...then leave it stuck there forcing me to pay for a repairman. Either, way, I'd rather go au naturale.

Normally I could just pop out the stopper, clean around it and be done with it. But the kind of stopper my sink has is fixed with a loop on the bottom. A metal piece holds it into the rest of the plumbing from underneath.

See the horizontal pin in between the pipe and the vertical metal piece behind it?

(I guess that's there in case someone were to break in my house and try to steal the sink stopper?)

In short, there's no way to unclog the sink without undoing the plumbing. At this point, my dad's voice popped in my head (remember my dad?). His famous advice is, "Ya gotta ask yourself: 'Am I about to do something stupid?' And if the answer is yes...DON'T DO IT!"

But sometimes doing potentially stupid things - like undoing your plumbing when you don't know the first damn thing about plumbing - is how you learn.

First, I emptied out as much of the backed up water as I could:

Then I put my dishpan under the sink to catch any possible deluge of water. (I at least remember Dad doing that). From there, it was just ~~dumb luck~~ pure genius on my part.

My awesome Dad-of-All-Trades used PVC which is not your grampa's plumbing. I figured I'd have to hammer away with a wrench and a hammer. Turns out, all I had to do was unscrew the U-shaped piece:

- with a mere flick of the wrist, no less - and take it off. Once I did, I saw a few dangly threads from something:

you can see them dangling from the vertical pipe. And I thought, "you mean to tell me this whole clog is from a few stupid threads?" So I stuck my finger up inside there. Uck. Big mistake. I don't know what on earth was decaying inside there but whatever it was, I stuck my whole finger inside it.

Suffice it to say, I definately needed to get the stopper out.

That, too, just took one bit of unscrewing near the horizontal pin to loosen it right up. I futzed with the pin on top that raises and lowers the stopper until I loosened it up enough to pull the pin out of the loop that held the stopper in place and I was finally able to see the clog:

Ew! You can't even see through the pipe at all! What on earth died in there?

After pushing the dead elephant...or whatever it was through the drain and down to the dishpan below, the sink was clear.

All I had to do then was repeat my steps- that is, flick my wrist a few more times, just in reverse- and the job was done.

Into the trash went this:

I don't even have any explaination for this at all.

I didn't break a single nail. I didn't get dirty. I didn't make a mess. Best part of all, the whole job, from start to finish, took less than 10 MINUTES and I was off to toot my horn.

Happy New Year

2011-01-04T16:41:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I saw an aol "you've got" feature with Richard Simmons where he said the key phrase for the New Year is - "find heaven in twenty eleven". I don't typically take advice from Richard Simmons, but my New Year's was heavenly.

In my last post I ranted about my lousy experience shopping for a dress and what to do for a wrap.

I ended up choosing this fabric:

It's way to slippery for a wrap, so I actually used a pattern for a poncho, seen here and it worked out quite well:

It's a SUPER easy pattern and I made the whole thing in 15 minutes. Even on this slippery organza.

The whole purpose of the wrap wasn't so much to keep me warm, as it was to mask my ucky arms. But I felt so pretty in the dress, with my hair, and the shoes with the necklace that I made to match, and the Conductor, and the bracelet....

Oh! The bracelet! One of two things that the Conductor gave me for Christmas, it made its debut for New Year's. (The other was a humongous box of Godiva chocolates because he knows I know better than to squander them).

It's hard to tell in the pciture but every other link in the chain, and the heart on the clasp, have little diamonds encrusted around them. For me, the best feature was actually the clasp so when I wore it on New Year's, I swung the clasp on top of my wrist.

The Conductor took me to the Fireside Dinner Theater in Fort Atkinson, a town of about 11,000. We had an amazing dinner of steak and lobster. I especially loved the salad which had a papaya chutney dressing and delicious sesame seed crouton thingies, both of which I want to try and duplicate at home.

The show was a feature of different show tunes, older songs, etc. (They cater to a mostly senior crowd). The costumes, especially on the ladies, were spectacular but unfortunately you can't take pictures of live shows...

...which one very young, sexy looking, gal.....who was clearly the (oh....how can I put this nicely....) companion of an older gentleman didn't quite understand. Suffice it to say, we had some good people watching, too.

We had champagne at midnight. I am so not used to staying up that late! But before that, we had to make it out of the theater to the car -- in FREEZING COLD weather. And, that's the other reason I was so mad at the mall. I wanted a formal so my legs would be warmer but all they had were goofy cocktail dresses. In winter. In Wisconsin.

I was thankful, though, when returning to our seat during intermission, one old lady remarked to her friend as I passed (in that voice that old people have that they think is a whisper but is actually really loud), "That dress really compliments her figure!"

Thank you ma'am - and Happy New Year to you, too.

Off the Rack

2010-12-27T20:06:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I blogged. And I'm afraid my return post will be in the form of a rant. I just returned from a three hour trip to the mall.

I HATE the mall. Moreso, I absolutely ABHOR buying clothing off the rack. It just makes me puke. But I'm getting a head of myself...Let me back up.

The Conductor and I have plans to go to a dinner and theater show for New Year's Eve. I believe one is supposed to dress for dinner and the theater. Neither one of us has cable but we've been catching up on the popular Mad Men cable series on DVD. I thought it would be fun to make a vintage inspired dress for the occassion so I picked this one:

It's Voge 1043, a reprint of a 1953 pattern. (Yes, I know Mad Men takes place in the 60's but that's not the point. Vintage is the point).

Considering that my final fabric selection was a very nice oriental blue satin, I decided to make a muslin before sewing the final dress. And of course, I got stuck.

This gusset piece is supposed to fit into

this underside of the arm. But for the life of me I could not figure out how it went. Onto the pile of Valient Attempts it went. With New Year's less than a week away, I needed a Plan B. Off to the mall I went.

So here's why I hate the mall and why I abhor off the rack clothing. I tried on 9 dresses all which claimed to be the same size. They all fit differently. I almost drowned in some. And trying to pull others off almost resulted in my arm being pulled from its socket, they were so tight. But inconsistent sizing is only aggravation number one.

Here's the dress I settled on (and I do mean settled):

Many (who don't sew) might be thinking, "Why Jill that's a perfectly fine dress for a nice night out". But let's take a closer look, shall we? We'll start with the sleeves.

But wait! There are none. In fact, NONE of the nine dresses I tried on had sleeves. Why is this an aggravation?

Because it's wintertime! In Wisconsin!!

We have freezing temperatures, subzero windchills, and SNOW. Yet this is what the fashion industry deems an appropriate winter evening gown. (And do you think the stores featured matching shawls or wraps. Of course not!!).

Aggravation three is up next. The stipes are actually strips of fabric sewn around the dress. I couldn't really get the fine details right with my camera, but if I could have, you'd see that the fabric is a knit. And the stripes...are NOT...hemmed.

As a seamstress that just aggravates the tar out of me. I"m sure non-sewists ae thinking, well Jill, what's the prob? It's a knit that doesn't unravel so who cares about the lack of a hem?   Well, I do. You should . Every American consumer should! Why?

Because the price of this dress is $100!!! ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS for a dress that, without proper hemming, is not finished being made.    It's like driving a car that has wheels that haven't been bolted on. It looks good. You might be pursuaded to pay full price for it. And you could drive it, sure. But you won't get far without it coming undone and ticking you off. Still not getting it?

Aggravtion #4 - the ethics: The manufacturer buys a cheapy knit fabric like the one on my dress because it doesn't require hemming. This means less manual labor. Which means each factory worker in Mexico..Singapore...Bangladesh, etc. can churn out even more dresses per hour. And at the $1 or so an hour the laborer gets paid, in raw terms, they get more bang for their buck...but the savings are not passed on to us, nor do I suspect they pay the laborer more for churning out more product.

Aggravation #5 - the consumerism: We as the consumer have little choice but to buy crap quality like this but we are lead to believe that $100 for a poorly made dress is a reasonable price. We're too apathetic about quality in this country with our "cheaper is better" mindset that we don't even realize we should be complaining.

Aggravtion #6 - the math:    Say you make $12 an hour (what the Government considers a wage you can support a family on). This means, to buy this crap quality dress, you need to work about nine and half hours (factoring taxes in). That means more than one full day of your life toiling away, for an inferior product. Now imagine if you only make minimum wage. You'd be giving up a good 15 hours - two whole work days - for a dress that probably won't last more than a year or two, assuming you only wear it on fancy occassions.  INSANITY!

"But Jill," you're no doubt thinking, "You certainly aren't nuts!"

No. I'm not. That's why I only paid $35 for this dress which is about all I'm willing to pay for off the rack clothing. But don't congratulate me. The bargain I got came with a price:

There it is! A broken zipper. That's right. They marked this $100 dress down because - before anyone even took it home - the zipper broke. This is what passes for quality products? Come on!

Boy am I glad I sew!

Anyways, as I mentioned, the dresses are sleeveless and the strore didn have any matching wraps. So I"m going to need to make one. (Thank goodness that *some* part of my ensemble will be of quality workmanship).

But what to make it out of? After dealing with the garbage at the mall, the fabric store was like an oasis in the dessert. But I was too tired and aggravated to make a decision there so I bought three pieces and figured I'd decide which one later. The shoes will be silver to match the lovely bracelet that the Concuctor gave me for Christmas, making its debut on New Year's. (Ahh - more quality!) So these are my choices:

The first is this maroon fabric. The upside is that it's a nice metallic whcih I think will look fun on New Year's. The downside is that it's too thin to keep my shoulders warm

This one is also maroon, but a nice medium weight knit which will keep my arms warm. But the dress is also knit and I worry that, although warm, knit on top of knit will take my dress from fancy to dowdy.

Finally, a navy blue organza. The shade isn't an exact match to the navy of the dress and it won't keep my arms warm. I'm leaning toward this one though. I'm worried that the maroons will stand out for not being the same color and, while I like to dress up for the theater, I prefer to be more conservative about it.

The organza will stand out but for a good reason.

It's got teeny sequiny things on it, which will pair nicely with the sequiny things on my shoes and the diamonds on my bracelet. I'm willing to have cold arms in exchange for a little New Year's bling on my shoulders.

So...thank you for making it through to the end of my Shopping off the Rack Rant. As a thank you, please feel free to give me your opinion on which wrap fabric I should go with.

Coffee

2010-11-30T17:39:00.000-08:00

I was seduced. I admit it. For as much as I prefer to eat foods in their natural state, and stay away from fake foods, sometimes I fall for them anyway. Especially if they’re cheap. This time it was tins of the red lidded International flavored coffee mixes. These normally sell for about $3.49 but I found them at my discount store for $1.50.

I read the back where I found I could enjoy “the delicious paring of luscious caramel (yum!) and sweet vanilla (heavenly!) and how it would be “sinfully superb”. What Catholic girl doesn’t want a way to be sinfully superb? I took the tin to work and heated up a mug of full-fat milk. You know, for extra sinfulness. I dumped a spoonful of the “coffee” mix on top.

And for a second I thought I had mistakenly made a bowl of Rice Krispies. As in snap-crackle-pop. My mug of coffee was crackling as the mix dissolved.

Since when does coffee crackle??? And what the hell is in this stuff? That’s when I did what I should have done in the store - read the ingredient list. My $1.50 “coffee” is made with sugar as its first ingredient, partially hydrongenated oil (um, yum??) and other such “foods” as cellulose gum and silicon dioxide.

I took a sip. Naturally it tastes nothing like caramel. Or vanilla. It just tastes like really sugary milk. The tin told me it would be “your own coffeehouse indulgence right at home”. I guess. If drinking melted plastic is considered an indulgence.

Gross. Turning to my cupboards I found the yellow lidded and the brown lidded hot chocolate mixes. But a scan of the "ingredient" list proved equally as disgusting. Did you know if you let the brown lidded stuff sit out and spoil, it turns.....green!

Then I remembered that I have two mokka pots which are coffee percolators made in Italy designed for steam coffee at home. The coffee comes out a cross between espresso and Turkish coffee. I have a 2 oz. and a 9 oz. pot by the original brand, Bialetti. The two-ouncer goes for $20 and the nine-ouncer (which makes about one mug of coffee) goes for $40. Thrifty gal that I am, I found both at Goodwill only about a week after I made a mental note to try and find one. I paid $9 total for them both.

The pots separate into three parts - the bottom where you put water, the cup that holds the coffee grounds, and the top. As the water heats, it's pushed up through the grounds and into the top.

While the coffee perked on the stovetop, I happened to notice a third container of "coffee" mix that I had left unopened overnight. It dried out to the point where the entire top looked like a sheet of plastic:

What kind of "coffee" turns to a sheet of plastic just from exposure to the air?? What IS this stuff?

For fun, I got out my drill:

Now that is just wrong. Ok...enough fooling around. I took the coffee off th stove and heated a mug of milk. I poured in the espresso, added a spoonful of cocoa and a spoonful of powdered sugar.

Whisk to dissolve and nowwww I have a sinfully superb cup of coffee:

Snap, crackle, pop, and silicon dioxide not included.

Marigolds & Old Tables

2010-11-09T16:21:00.000-08:00

Today is my Gramma Helen's birthday. She died two years ago. For some reason I've been feeling her spirit for about two weeks. So has one of my sisters. Marigolds were her favorite flower. They're one of the last ones to survive here before winter kicks in.

It's crazy that marigolds were her favorite. Every spring she and my grampa would get into the same argument. He'd start planting his red geraniums around the yard. My Grampa was a Marine drill sargent. He plants flowers like he marched soldiers. Two-by-two those geraniums marched in perfect military precision all around the perimeter.

Every year my Gramma would pitch a fit because geraniums are annuals which means they die every year. "Why don't you just plant perennials so they come back every year and then you don't waste time and money." (Gramma didn't really understand us gardeners).

Yet, marigolds, her favorite flower, are also annuals. Go figure.

But I didn't want to write about marigolds today. I wanted to write about my kitchen table.

I got it from my Gramma.
It used to be my Great-Gramma's. The top is crooked. The leaves don't fit into each other properly. But Gramma fixed it before she gave it to me. Well, she slapped a coat of varnish on it anyway. She insisted.

Tonite it's doubling as my workbench, as it often does. I need to shorten some boards to fix my front porch with. My dad may have taught me *how* to use power tools....but my Gramma was the one that actually made me want to learn.

When my Grampa would leave for meetings at the American Legion, she went down in the basement and taught herself how to use a power sander and a table saw in secret. Using only scrap wood, she then built herself two floor-to-ceiling shelving units.

She was 65 at the time.

I have the money to buy a better table.

But I rather like my Gramma's crooked, ill fitting old table. My paint splotches and sawblade scratches only enhance it.

Happy Birthday Gramma.

Bathrobe for Winter

2010-11-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

My late Gramma Helen's birthday is only about a week away. Her presensce must be around or something because at the fabric store this weekend, it occurred to me that I have no winter bathrobe and I really need one. But what to make it out of? Fleece? Warm, but sometimes too warm. Flannel? Hmm. It wears well, but it wouldn't be warm enough. A heavy cotton? No. Not warm at all and too stiff.

Then I suddenly remembered the comfiest bathrobes I know are the ones my Gramma Helen always wore. And they were made out of fake fur. Incredibly warm, but not overpoweringly so. And fake fur is very durable. Her first one was a pretty turquoise blue. She wore that one to shreds and then started wearing an identical one in red.

By dumb luck (or maybe it was Gramma working with the Forces of the universe) they happened to have cuddle fur on sale at half-off. And of the 20 or so prints, the only cute one I found happened to have a blue background with some red ladybugs on it - the two colors of my Gramma's bathrobes. Coincidence? Hmm.... Maybe not, since it also had green frogs.

I bought this unnumbered pattern at a thrift store (which my Gramma totally got me into - Whoa!). I think it was a freebie given out by a fabric store, although it was uncut.

I love buying used patterns (when all the pieces are included) because you sometimes see the notes of the person that had the pattern before you. The previous owner of this pattern included a clipping for a bathrobe idea using velour with a lace overlay.

I don't know about the lace. But the velour is, indeed, regal ooking.

Anyway, the fleece was a dream to sew on but a pain when I had to rip out mistakes. Nevertheless, I'm pleased with it. I did it in a day. So here's my tribute to my Gramma Helen.

By the way, my Gramma Helen was madder than heck when she found out I bought a sewing machine. "Why would you want the drudgery of sewing your own clothes?" she'd say.

And then she'd repeat her story about how her mother, my Great Gramma Jennie, who sewed everything, would always stop her when she came home with a storebought dress and inspect it up and down.

And then she'd toss it back to my Gramma with a loud "pfft!" of disgust, throw up her hands, and walk away. Which, funny enough, is the reaction I have to a lot of storebought clothes. Cheap fabric, poor sewing, no durability - and top dollar prices for stuff I could make so much better at home.

Like my new Gramma Helen bathrobe.

Vogue 2787

2010-09-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

I made this dress back in February, intending to wear it to the symphony. I tweaked it over the weekend and I finally got to wear it out on the town.

I used Vogue 2787 which is a reprint of a vintage pattern from 1948.

The pattern is labeled "advanced". But fortunately I checked Pattern Review. All reviewers said to mark pieces carefully and make good use of all markings. Because of the design, there's really no way to do much altering either. Thankfully I used markings - even notches which I tend to not bother with. And it turned out to be a perfect fit.

Here's my version

I actually didn't think it was all that advanced. You just really have to pay attention to your cutting and use the markings just like the reviewers said. I asked the Conductor's opinion and he said the skirt would look better a little shorter on me. My sister Carrie always tells me to wear my skirts shorter, too. I briefly thought of shortening it...but it's supposed to be a vintage design and this version falls just to the length of women's skirts from the mid-40's. So I'll have to think about whether I want to stay true to the era - or go for a cut that's more flattering.

The fabric has small, white polka dots on it so I got the idea to use piping to make the dots pop out more. In retrospect, I shouldn't have done this. The top portion, where the S-shaped seam is, involves the top of the left side being under the right....up until the bottom tucks. Then it flips to being on the top.

So, because of the switch in the middle, it was impossible to get the two ends of piping to meet up in one flow.

A noticeable flaw. My only recorse was to cover it with a button. This, naturally, will draw the eyes right to one of my problem spots - my potbelly. Ugh!

Pattern Review posters all said they wouldn't make another version of this dress, but I would. Next time I'll be smart and not use piping!

So! The show! First we started out with dinner at Mader's - a German restaurant. I'm German. I've lived in Milwaukee more than half my life. But I've never been to Mader's. Boy, what a treat! Milwaukee has a ton of really good restaurants. But Mader's is one of only two or three that draw out of towners and celebrities. So you know it's awesome.

We started out with (what I thought would be) a before dinner cocktail of brandy old-fashioneds, a southside Milwaukee tradition. This is what we got:

Holy Horseradish! They were huge!! Like three cocktails in one. I was drinking mine all through dinner and finished the last of it after my meal. And it was well made too - considering the size, it was mixed right and didn't have any overly boozey taste. Plus, they put a TON of cherries and oranges in it so by the time I got to the bottom, there was a crazy-delicious sludge that I ate as my dessert.

I got the German sampler which came with five favorites - wiener schnitzel, sauerbraten, sauerkraut, a smoked pork cutlet (that totally reminded me of my Gramma Nancy's smoked pork butt) , and red cabbage that tasted like candy. Man! If cabbage didn't make you do what it makes you do, I'd've eaten a plateful of just that.

But the most exciting part of the meal was I got to have a food adventure. I always keep my eye out for flavors or dishes I've never tried before and at Mader's I found one. Take a guess what it is:

It looks like an unassuming bowl of beef or veggie soup, no? It's really: Oxtail soup!! Contrary to Saturday morning cartoons, it does not come with two cut off, hairy ox tails draped across the top of the bowl. (That was a childhood vision totally shattered). This soup was amazing. Very deep, loaded with barley, the ox-y meat was yummy (tasted like really great beef). And the broth!! The broth was like liquid silk. If I can find a way to duplicate that, I'll be as close to nirvana as a person can get.

After dinner we went to the symphony which featured a crazy mix of wonderful music - a fanfare by John Adams, a ballet suite by Aaron Copeland, and Beethovan's 9th which ended with the famous Ode to Joy. Which they sang in German. I don't speak German, so I found myself making up words to the music in my head. It was pretty much a song about all the good German food I just ate.

And for as much as people talk like Milwaukee is so uncouth, and as though we're all just a bunch of working class slobs that don't have any class or appreciation for the arts....this was the second symphony in a row the Conductor and I have been to where the seats were sold out. So take that, all you snoots!

Lady Grey part 2

2010-09-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

Back with the Lady Grey sew along. Last time, I stopped short of putting the sleeves in. I prefer one piece sleeves because I find them easier to set in. But this pattern features a two part sleeve. I started by sewing together the top and bottom of the sleeve. Because I only paper pieced the sleeves before cutting the fabric, I wanted to try on the sleeve first before I connect it to the body just to double check the fit in the bicep - my problem area.

As you can see, I'm wearing the same shirt I wore last time. I'm doing that because this shirt has a typical weight of clothing I wear in spring/fall and I want to to ensure a consistent fit as I go along. Hmm....there's (thankfully!) enough room in the bicep area. But I'm a bit concerned that my sleeve pokes out of the bottom. The pattern is described as having a 3/4 sleeve...but I just had getting a draft up the arm. Hopefully it will fit better once it's attached - otherwise, I may need to consider modifying the length.

My biggest challenge with sleeves is getting a nice, smooth shoulder. When the sleeve isn't set in right, there tend to be puckers up at the shoulder. The result is either an amateurish looking piece or the poufy little girl shouldered look. Neither of which I want.

Taking advantage of this jacket's current status as a muslin, I decided to experiment with two different sleeve methods. I used blue thread on one sleeve, maroon on the other so I could remember which method I used on each.

For the first method, I started by basting in only the top three inches or so of the shoulder seam. This will guarantee that the top is pucker free. (Once I was done setting in the sleeve, I noticed a pucker at my high bust. Now I know I need to sew from my high bust and *then* over the shoulder by about two inches so there's no puckers at the bust).

Once I did this, I then sewed the side seam of the body.

Then I went and pinned the rest of the sleeve into the armscye.

Drat! The area in between the yellow headed pins reveals extra fabric.

Fortunately, this twill has a slight stretch and all I had to do was ease it in by stretching slightly. Smooth as ice! I forgot to take a picture of the finished sleeve. It resulted in a nice, smooth seam all the way around except for the slight pucker at the high bust. Which will be no big deal to deal with, should I go with this method.

At this point, I had to take a break because my airheaded dog (ONCE AGAIN) got her leash wrapped around a planter and was barking for help. I put the planter there because she used to wrap her cord around the mailbox. You can see how well that strategy worked.

Egad! I really need to fix my porch steps.

Back to the second sleeve. For this method, I first pinned the sleeve in, stopping where the side seam would go. You can see in this

picture that I'm short. Galdarnitall!

But I sewed the side seam. Then I sewed the sleeve in. I left a two inch-ish opening so I could set the sleeve in.

This time, there was NO stretch to simply ease it in. That meant I had to "pin the heck out of it", as my home ec teacher used to say, so that all the extra gets flattened by the pins.

Except that no matter how much I pin in situations like this, I never eliminate all the tucks. Fortunately I sewed the sleeve in from top to bottom again. So:

by this method, I also achieved a nice, smooth shoulder. (The puckers were from me yanking on that piece of basting thread like an idiot). But....

Horrors! Look at all the puckers under the arm!! Some good all that pinning did!

Yea, yea. It's the armpit. Who's going to notice, right? Well, I'LL know they're there. And I'll feel like an amateur wearing something I can't be proud of. Now that I know that my first method allows the sleeve to set in super easy, and that it gives me a smoother seam all around, I know which method to use on the final version.

BING!! This is the point at which the lightbulb went off and I finally understood the value in doing a muslin.

I'm so glad I took advantage of the chance to try different techniques to find the best one.

So, now it's time for a first fitting. Here's the front:

Clap! Clap! Clap! By the looks of it, the "too short" sleeves actually aren't too short. Yippee!

I also wanted to check the back, since many sew alongers are having swayback issues:

Yippee! Turns out having a Polish dupa sometimes pays off. No swayback problem for me! I do need to press all my seams and try it on again. I see wrinkles in both views so I want to make sure, before I go on, that these are just due to lack of ironing - and not the fabric being pullled oddly. But I'm loving it so far!

Lady Grey Sew Along

2010-09-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

Don't think me being stuck on my Nina Garcia project means I haven't been sewing.

I am SUPER excited to be joining Gertie's Lady Grey Sew Along. I've always wanted to participate in a sew along but never caught one right at the beginning.

Plus, I desperately need a nice looking spring and/or fall weight jacket. The only ones I have are very casual sports jackets or jean jackets. Nothing I can wear with fancy clothes.

The first step was to choose your fabric and get ready for the muslin. I've always hated muslins because I feel like I'm sewing the same thing twice but I only get to wear one of the two things I made. It feels like a waste of time - and fabric! But I've read so many good blogs out there, like Gertie's, that show how much better the quality of your item becomes when you use a muslin. Plus there are all the projects I've had to scrap because I mistakenly thought I could sew things right off the pattern without making adjustments first. Muslins prevent wasted fabric. And if I'm gonna waste fabric, I'd rather waste muslin than fancy fashion fabric.

And yet...all that work on a muslin and you can't even wear it! That's why I'm in the camp of sewists who use "real" fabric - cheap fabric or old sheets and the like - as a muslin. That way, if it's screwed up immensely, it's affordable enough to rip apart or toss. But if the muslin works out, you can finish it appropriately and have an item you can wear.

So, for the sew along, I bought two fabrics from the same group - cotton twills. This green one will be my final product, made after I work the kinks out on my muslin.

Gertie recommends having fun with the lining since the jacket is wide in the hips and the inside will be visible when it's opened up.

The print is the lining I chose. It's an ugly fabric I've passed by on the "value" table many times. Too ugly to use as a blouse or dress, but a fun lining, indeed. I'm hoping I'll have this green jacket done in time to wear this fall, yet.

This pink one will be my muslin and hopefully I'll land up with a nice spring jacket.

Isn't the lining fabric insane? It's a bunch of fashionable girls in turquoise, lime, and pink against a black background. By itself, it's even uglier than the other one. It's been on the store shelves for EVER and they have the gall to charge $3.95 a yard for it! It hasn't moved in months. Until today. I thought it would be super fun to use as the lining. Something very unexpected. Added bonus, it was on sale for 60% off! Plus the store clerks gave each other that "oh my God I can't believe someone's actually buying this" look.

I'll show them!

With my fabric prepped, I started to cut. Because the pattern is a swing style in the hip and falls over the shoulders, I'm taking a leap and assuming I don't need to adjust for two of my problem fitting areas - the bust and belly.

But I thought I'd paper piece the sleeves and try them on over a medium weight sweater since my arms are another problem area to fit.

It looks like I'll have extra room which is good - I'm not so hot at adjusting arms

I cut out the muslin pieces:

Easy peasy.

Then I basted most of the shell. I didn't do the arms today because I was starting to get tired. And I tend to make dumb mistakes when I'm tired. So far, this is what I have:

This fabric is amazing to work with. I'm hoping to do the sleeves and sides in the next few days and then I'll have my first fitting.

Nina Garcia #5 - Ballet Flat

2010-09-19T18:30:00.000-07:00

My Nina Garcia project has come to a complete standstill. Only because I'm stumped.
Number 5 on her list of The One Hundred things every woman should have in her closet is.....ballet flats.

Brigitte Bardot and Audry Hepburn made them famous. Nina Garcia describes them as "the go-to shoe for those times when heels are out of the question". This is where I'm torn.

I thought about sewing a ballet skirt. But the last time I've taken dance classes (and worn one) was at least 12 years ago. And I don't WANT to make a ballet outfit. This is how I picture myself when I think of me doing ballet:

So then I figured I'd make an outfit similar to those worn my Audrey Hepburn or Brigitte Bardot.

Well, Bardot wore a lot of leggings. Which look nice with ballet flats. But which don't look so nice on my Polish dupa. And, in Milwaukee, most women seen in leggings also wear baggy shirts, don't do their hair, and generally look like they've given up.

Audrey Hepburn, with her small nose and her pixie looks is just unappealiong to me and I don't wish to duplicate her look at all. When you get right down to it, I don't like wearing ballet flats. My feet are too wide, for one. And I walk fast so I feel like they're going to fall off. Committed to my Nina Garcia project, I've been stuck on how to incorporate ballet flats into this project.

Then the Conductor and I went to a Wine and Harvest Festival in Cedarburg, WI and found a bead shop to poke around in. I was pretty tipsy but I managed to control myself around the beads (I'll show what else I bought in an upcoming post). Anyway, I stumbled upon the perfect solution:

Aren't they cute! Ballet flats as a jewelry charm!

I turned them into a bracelet.

So...technically....I now have ballet flats in my collection of The One Hundred pieces every stylish woman must own. I'm unstuck and moving on!

Plant Cabinet

2010-09-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

Here's a super quick project I did on vacation. I found this plant stand at a thrift store for $5 on sale for half off.

I just primed it then put two coats of my living room shade of white paint on it and Voila!

A pretty new plant stand.

You can see how the white paint matches the chair on the left that I renovated a few months back. I'm on my way to a matching "set" of living room furniture. It's awesome how you can transform a room with just a container of paint.

Pimp my Cabinet

2010-09-14T16:51:00.000-07:00

I know it's been over a month since I last posted. But really, there's been nothing to post. August in Wisconsin was unbearably humid. The kind of weather where you can't even breathe outside and everytime you set out to do something you just turn into a slug. I got a whole lot of nothing done.

It was too hot to be out in the garden. So this is what I ended up with:

This is supposed to be two tomato plots, a raspberry bush, two separate flower patches, and a squash patch with beautiful grass paths dividing each. The brown strip is my sidewalk that should be 24" wide, reduced to about 12 inches with all the overgrowth. An urban jungle if ever there was one. I was too hot to even go out and water. But despite no water and the heat, I've had pretty good luck with just about everything I planted.

And my sewing room is upstairs. I was infomred by my A/C man that my unit is too small to boost the cool air to the upstairs. Since heat rises, it was to dang hot to be up there sewing. Even though I wasn't up there working, my sewing room still turned into this:

Can you even spot the sewing machine in that whole mess?

But the heat finally subsided in time for my vacation and I managed to get some of the projects done that I've been putting off all through the heatwave. Here's my first one:

I got this cabient from my friends Amy and Shane who rehab houses as a side business. I had mentioned I was looking for a used cabinet to put on my enclosed back porch which is just off my kitchen. My plan was to use it to store dishes and appliances that don't fit in my kitchen cabinets. This was torn from a house they were working on.

Um, yea. For now, it's doubling as a workbench for my miter saw. My basement is a disaster. As you see in this picture, the doors don't even close because there's so much crap in there. Even worse...well...brace yourself for the inside view:

Yikes! Everytime I go inside this thing, I have to prepare for an avalanche of dishes and appliances. Time to pimp this cabinet!

I have a lot of different sized cake pans, bundt forms, jello molds, tupperware, and holiday shaped cake pans. The upper left is an attempt to stack all these but you can see how great that's worked. I managed to find two pullout drawers for a buck a piece at the Habitat for Humanit ReStore.

Mounting them was easy-peasy. After deciding to put one on each shelf, I just screwed the bases right into the main shelf.

The the drawers slid right on.

I also have a lot of cookie sheets and cookie racks. Those slide all over and are just a pain because they usually land up on the bottom of a huge pile of dishware. I've even broken finger nails trying to separate them to pull one out. A slash rack was the perfect solution for storing them upright - I can pull them out easier and I can spot each one easily.

I found some scrap wood and used L-brackets to attach one to the main shelf.

I initially thought I'd need to make two, but one did the trick and left enough room in between the slash rack and the pull out drawer for two big appliances to sit. The oblong pans nested nicely and also left room for two more bigger items.

In the process of organizing, I even found four items to pack up for Goodwill. I have two other casserole dishes I like already so I gave the peach one away. I tossed the square cakepan because I can fit the same amount of batter in one of the many circle pans I have. The cheesecake pan went because I have one that's almost similar that was a gift from Amy. Why I have two , I don't know, but it was clearly time to clean because I also found TWO angel food cake pans. I make angel food cake maybe twice a year so I hardly need two pans. Geez!

The whole project took about 20 minutes. Which is sad because I've been staring at this mess for two years!

When it was all finished this is what I ended up with this:

Isn't it beautiful? The stuff I use most is near the front. Less used stuff is in the back but easily accessible in the pullout drawers. No heaping piles of dishes. Here's an even better view:

Nothing like the look of no clutter! And now that I have organized my cabinet, I'm off to make a pie for the Conductor.

Nina Garcia #4

2010-07-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

It’s time for the next installment of my Nina Garcia project. I’m sewing all 100 of the things every woman should have in her closet, as outlined in her book The One Hundred.

Item #3 is Aviator shades. Aviator sunglasses were developed by Ray-Ban and modeled in 1936 after the fighter pilot goggles that Ray-Ban was making for the military at the time. Although Tom Cruise made them totally hot again in 1986’s Top Gun, technically Ray-Ban hadn’t been supplying the military with fighter goggles since 1982.

Ray-Ban’s typically start at about $99. But I found these beauties for $0.99 at the 99 Cent Store. This is another item on Nina Garcia’s list that can’t be sewn. But I made a cool top to wear them with.

This top is McCall's 3054 which appears to be out of print. I hear "Ray Ban's" and I think motorcycle ride. I thought this top looked like a cool get-up to go for a motorcycle ride. The bike's not actually mine. It belongs to my mom's husband.

The old man coming in through the door with his walker is mine though. That's my Grampa Clifford making his Internet debut. He asked me once, "Say! That innernet thing....does that have anything to do with computers." He's so cute.

By dumb luck, at a church rummage sale, I happened to find a cute little aviator shade pin too. You can see it on my left shoulder.

Aviator shades one last time:

Nina Garcia #3

2010-07-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

I've had so many projects to do that I didn't realize I was neglecting my Nina Garcia project. I'm attempting to sew all of the one hundred must have items Nina Garcia, of Project Runway fame, describes in her book The One Hundred. I just finished must have item #3 - Ankle Boots.

Um...but you can't actually sew a pair of boots. I realized after I started this project that Nina's book details quite a few wardrobe items that can't be sewn. So I'm going to have to fudge it a little with some of them and sew an item to wear WITH the must have item.

Nina talks about how ankle boots were first meant to hide under trousers until designers in the 80's started putting them on runway models. "Everyone wondered," she writes, "why we had been hiding these shoes under our pants for so long."

I can tell you why. Because that's the only way ankle boots look good. Look at this example:

This is one of the better examples I found. I HATE wearing completely exposed ankle boots. I hate (contrary to Nina's advice) mixing a masuline feeling shoe with a feminine looking out fit. I also disagree with her claim that they are a great alternative to the pump. Ankle boots with my business suits? I think not. You may as well just wear combat boots with a prom dress.

But I love the look of ankle boots under a nice pair of trousers.

I do not, however, love making pants. I have two fitting issues with pants that, until recently, I was unable to find a good fitting solution for. One, is my potbelly and the other is my Polish dupa. (That would be a bubble butt for all you non-Polaks).

But the project must continue so I set out to find a good alteration method. Stumbling on an article in Sew Stylish magazine (Fall 2009 issue), I finally had an easy to understand answer! I used a cheap grey linen look fabric as my muslin.

Basically you take your front and back trouser pieces and at least 2 inches to the top. I added seven inches. Sew the front to back as usual.

Then you try them on - - and custom fit the darts at your natural waistline. Wow!! It's one of those "I can't beleive I didn't think of that before" techniques. After the darts, you cut off the excess top and finish your top edge. (Precise directions vary depending whether pants have a facing, a casing, or a waistband).

Here's what I got:

Amazing! As you can see, this method allows the pants to rest up at my natural waist and it totally accomodated my toosh and my belly. Custom fitting the darts allowed the tucks to go where I need them and eliminates them where I don't. Finally! Pants that fit around my waist!

And don't they look cute atop those ankle boots?

But good thing these were only a muslin because look what else I got:

Say cheese! The wrinkles here are called "smiling crotch". It's a fit issue created when the hip width of your pants isn't wide enough. The pants want more room so they pull fabric up from your legs. The pulling effort creates the impression that your crotch is smiling.

The Sew Stylish article does say.....all the way in step 4.....to take in or let out the sides before final stitching. Putting this at step four isn't so helpful if your pieces are cut too small to begin with. Next time, when I'm adding my extra inches to the top, I will also add extra inches to the side seam area. Then I will also have room to custom ize the hips as well as the waist.

For now, I'm grateful I found a fitting technique that's easy to follow and makes sense!

And I have the ankle boots.

Next project: Aviator shades

Godiva

2010-07-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

My birthday was back in late May and this is one of the presents the Conductor got me:

He *so* gets me. He said he picked this box because he liked the ribbon. So, of course, the wheels in my head started turning and I came up with this:

That's an entire head-to-toe outfit made by me. Made from a light challis, the skirt is from New Look 6944 (C). It came together like a dream and has just the right amount of swoosh when I walk. I forgot to get a close up, but it features front and back godet panels for some extra flair.

The top is Butterick 5463 (A). I also used a challis for this top. I plan on writing a review for Pattern Review because I don't entirely care for it. The pattern pictures all feature models wearing belts around the shirts so I had no idea it would end up this boxy, lacking in shape. I don't like wearing belts because they emphasize my potbelly.

Don't be fooled. I'm not looking at the flowers. I'm looking at my bra strap sticking out all tacky. That's my other beef with this pattern. All the pictures make it look like the bra strap will be concealed, but the neckhole is quite wide. I should have tried it on before I sewed the facings in. I'll have to tweak that part.

But I love the headband. The directions for making it are all over the blososphere. But here's the basics.

Materials: a) 40 inches or so (depending on pleat width) of ribbon, preferably from a box of luxurious chocolates from the greatest guy in your world

b) one old plastic headband, thinner than the width of the ribbon

c) pins and glue gun

Find your centerpoint and start pinning pleats in. I made the pleats coming from the left face left and those from the right side face right. But you could make them all face the same way. Just try and keep the pleat width consistent. Or not. It's up to you.

I left about an inch on each end unpleated to make sure that the headband ends were covered.

Then stich a seam down the center. You could also stitch the side edges but I wanted my pleats to be more flexible. Remove the pins and hot glue it to your headband.

And there you go. A pink and green outfit to go with my pink and green Godiva ribbon.

I have half the box of Godiva left. Amazing restraint, I know. But that gold box is precious stuff, and not to be squandered. I'll be eating one tonite - white and chocolate swirled and molded into the shape of a starfish. Yum!

The starfish is the transition piece since it's two kinds of chocolate. I always eat the milk chocolate ones first, since I think that milk chocoalte is for peasants. (Although you can't really go wrong with Godiva). The multi-chocolate ones come next. But the dark chocolate is where the real luxury is. So I save the dark ones for the end with the very last one being the dark chcolate covered carmel. If you keep them cold, you can suck on it forever and really make the carmel ecstasy last.

How do you eat your box of chocolate?

I'm linking this post to a party at Today's Creative Blog, here:
http://todayscreativeblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/get-your-craft-on-tuesday_20.html

Nightgown Two Ways

2010-07-13T05:11:00.000-07:00

I've had this fabric sitting around for years. It's just a cotton print. I think my intention was to make a quilt of diamond shaped blocks and incorporate this diamond shaped fabric into it. (Like I have time for something putzy like diamond shaped quilt blocks....I don't know why I get dumb ideas like that).

Not too long ago I found out I have a bulging disc in my back. Yippee. I'd rather not live a drug-addicted life so if I want to avoid painkillers, I need to adjust my lifestyle to cope with the disc. One of the times it really bothers me is when I'm sleeping. Since the doctor told me looser clothing would help I decided to make some new nightgowns.

I actually used McCall's 5050 (View A) which is a shirt pattern. I hate it as a shirt since it falls like a maternity top over my potbelly. But I extended the bottom to my knees and made two nightgown variations.

This is the first one I made.

I sleep tested it and it's actually pretty comfy. On this one I used ribbon through the neckline casing. And the armbands and under bust area are held with elastic.

This is the second variation.

I took this right after my morning shower so, pardon the wet hair. For this version, I used elastic in the neck and arm casings but nothing under the bust. I also sleep tested it and it's equally as comfy. I've also had this fabric on hand for a good 10 years.

I don't think the neckline casing makes a difference. The opening is loose enough that you can get it on whether it's elastic or ribbon. Both versions are comfortable for sleeping and left planty of room for my back to not be compressed.

My favorite version is the first one with the diamond print. I thought it would feel weird with the elastic under the bust, but it was actually more comfortable. And I like that it gives the whole thing some shape. I'm only 33. Version two looks like something my gramma would wear. Here's another picture of my favorite:

Independence Day

2010-07-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

With The Conductor out of town and no cookout invites from family or friends (which was fine by me!) I truly was independent today. Most of my day was spent paintng (the results to be shown soon). But I did take some time to be crafty in honor of Independence Day.

This is the stump in my front yard. It used to be an evergreen that was taller than my house. My grampa told me to have the tree guy leave 4 feet of stump. He said he'd remove it for me and it would be easier if it was taller because you can rock it back and forth rather than breaking your back digging out a stump that's flush to the ground.

Well....then he had knee replacement surgury. And then was hospitalized for a blood problem and almost died. Then he had a stroke. And then he fell and broke his hip. So I don't think he'll be helping me get this stump out. But it makes for good crafting.

Stephanie here at Under the Porch and Dreaming made a fun flag ballister and I wanted one too. Instead of a ballister, I used my stump:

Don't let the wind fool you. It was muggy and humid as all get-out. And I have no A/C.

A special shout out to my brother who served in Iraq and is still in the reserves. And to my Grampa who was a Marine in WWII. We're the land of the free - because of the brave.

Bag Bag

2010-06-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

In my last post you got to see my utility closet re-do. One of the things I did was to make a bag for my bags. I've seen some versions of this before that have drawstrings on the bottom that you have to open and close every time you put in or remove a bag. That's too putzy for me so I like make these with elastic on the bottom. Here's what I did:

All you need are
a) two strips of calico or craft cotton (mine were were 10" x 20") (FYI - To clue you as to how bad a craft addiciton I have, this was a piece of cotton I bought 15 years ago back in high school. I never dreamed, at age 18, that this would turn into a storage bag holder. Funny where life takes you...).

b) a hanger - child size are great
c) about 10" of elastic, give or take

1. Place your pieces right side together. Working with the end you ant to have as the top (one of the short ends) use pins and mark a one-inch opening in the center. Sew this edge together, stopping at your pins so that, when you press your seam open, you have an opening like this:

2. AFter pressing, adjust so the right sides are back together again. Sew the long sides.

3. On the short end that is fully open still, turn your ends under. (I will assume you know how to finish your ends off properly, if you're a fanatic about that like I am). When I say "turn your ends under" look at what I'm doing in this picture - I'm turning them under so that I'll form a casing big enough for my elastic to slip through. You'll have to adjust your casing to suit the width of the elastic you use.

I find that 3/8" elastic works best.

4. Once you've sized your casing, pin it. Be sure to keep an opening big enough to slip your elastic in! Then sew the casing.

5. DECISION TIME: Where will you hang your bag? And how will you hang it?

This decision will help you determin how to shape your hanger. Here's a bag I made years ago for my basement:

You can see it hangs a) flush against the beam/wall and b) on a nail. That's why I shaped my hanger like this:

The flat bend will hold the bag against the wall and leaving the hook part will work fine for a hanger.

But for my utility closet, I was going to hang it a) suspended from the ceiling and b) on a cup hook. So for this bag, I shaped the hanger like this:

Forming the hook of the hanger into a loop will keep it on the cuphook and the swiveled design will allow the bag to move without falling while mounted to the ceiling.

So bend your hanger appripriately, then slip it into the bag and through the hole.

6. . Take two large safety pins. Stab one end of your elastic and pin that to your bag near your opening. Stab the other end with your second pin, close it shut, and use it to run the elastic through:

7. Adjust your elastic so that it's tight enough to hold bags in while allowing enough room for you to get your hand inside to either stuff a new bag in, or pull one out. Cut off any excess. Sew your elastic closed and close up the hole.

8. Stuff it with all your bags and hang it up!

In the Closet

2010-06-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

My birthday week vacation is but a distant memory. I woke up on Day One with a to-do list a mile long. Coffee cup in hand, I looked at my utility closet and decided that the obvious first choice for a project would be the quick and easy task of hanging a shelf. All I wanted to do was take this:

And give it a mere ten minutes of my time so I could enjoy the instant satisfaction of crossing something off that endless list. That was on May 24th. My closet has been teetering on the edge of utility ever since. . But today is June 18th and it’s finally done!

I love this closet. The previous owner (whom I refer to as The Old Man) had the lower half of the stairs rebuilt. An avid do-it-himselfer, he got the brilliant idea to use the space under the stairs as a broom closet. The longer I’ve lived here, the more I’ve realized, however, that his brilliant ideas rarely translated into brilliant craftsmanship.

I don’t have a Before picture, but his closet was basically an opening between the studs and the wall (about 10 inches wide) with an old cabinet door slapped over it.

True craftsman have a great rule of thumb: measure twice, cut once. The Old Man felt he was above all that. He’d cut first, then realize his opening was way too large or too small for standard sized doors. So he had to jerry rig his way out. In this case he took an old cabinet door and slapped a piece of scrap wood on the bottom to make it long enough.

All told, the closet door was too narrow to even get a vacuum through, to short for a person to walk through, and too dark to see into. A total waste of space. So when my awesome friend Amy’s equally awesome husband offered to transform the space into a usable closet I was ecstatic. It has walls! It has a real door! It has lighting and an outlet! So I pulled out all the mess to hang the shelf. And that’s when I remembered this:

The one part of the closet that didn’t get finished. So my little ten minute shelf hanging project turned into a full scale insulating, drywalling, painting, and re-organizing project that spanned well beyond my vacation week. I both love and hate the results.

I hate it because, frankly, I could have done better. The walls were down to stud in some spots but other spots had plaster & lath and some even had wood paneling over that. Most of it ran under the stairs from above & couldn’t be ripped completely off. Did you ever try using a reciprocating saw while crouching under a stairway? Not fun. Kinda dangerous.

So the drywalling was done in pieces using scraps. Which meant it’s not flush and the mud job was half-arsed. If you look close, there are still plenty of gaps. But then again, it’s the back of a closet. Not exactly a place I show off to house guests. While it’s not a job to be proud of, it’s good enough to be functional.

You would NEVER use drywall pieces this small or leave gaps that big or let your surface be that bumpy!

But I love how organized it is now! Not only did I hang one shelf, I hung a whole section. I used removable shelving so I could still have easy access to the plumbing for the bathroom (on the opposite side of the wall).

I hung hooks so my brooms & whatnot aren’t a tangled mess.

And I hung a door spring under one of the stairs to hold my spare bags.

The green thing hanging there is a bag for my…bags. (Tutorial to come!).

Not only can I can get the vacuum into the closet, but I can walk in with it. My storage boxes are easy to pull in and out. And all my spare utility supplies are easy to find. Best part of all, the whole project only cost me $6.25 – for the spring and a pack of clips to hold the shelves. The shelving, paint, and drywall supplies were all leftovers in my stash.

Now I just need another vacation to tackle the 436,987,214 other things on my list.

Bead and Button Show Projects

2010-06-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

Just to show off a bit, here are the first few things I made with my newly acquired stash of beads from the Bead and Button show:

We watched a demonstration of how to apply paper to glass to create a pendant. The lady at the booth let us each pick one for free and indicated we could attach a bale to it. She had bags of bales and other whatnots to sell but she didn't even mention her stuff or encourage us to experiement with it. Basically we got a freebie but weren't even encouraged to buy. Not a very good salesperson. But I appreciated the pendant. I found matching beads and wrapped wire around the freebie to make this:

I was hoping to find some teardrop beads which I've never used before. I found these in a pretty blue. Added bonus, they're crystal so they get nice and sparkly.

This one I think I might restring to put the bigger beads closer together but either way I like the black and white swirls and even had enough leftover for a bracelet:

This one was a more understated one I made of two shades of olive green with enough beads leftover for two bracelets.

For pure fun I bought a glass elephant and managed to find some bead to match. I'll have to be in the mood for something really wild to wear it but I couldn't resist that elephant.

Between beading and trying desperately to stay on top of the garden I haven't had much time for sewing. I sure do miss it. But now that I have a new stash of beads, it's time to whip up some matching outfits.

Bead and Button Show

2010-06-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

Hello, my name is Jillain and I'm a beadaholic. This weekend was the 2010 Bead and Button Show. My best girlfriend, Amy, and I have made it our annual girls' weekend every year for about the last six years. She comes down from Up North on Friday night, we get up early for breakfast at the bagel shop, and get there right in time for the opening.

Normally we leave in time for a late afternoon lunch of tuna sandwhiches at the Chocolate Factory but this year we had to skip lunch and go right to dinner since we were there so long. We pride ourselves on having our routine down to a science - we even take a bathroom break at the end of the same aisle every year. So we were a little confused why it took us so long to get out of there.

Then we went back to my house and I unpacked what I bought:

Don't you just want to jump on top of it and roll around in them? Accumulating all this was what took so long. This is only my pile. Amy's was equally as profound.

It looks like I went gangbusters, but most of what I bought was to match up and use up stuff I already have at home. I basically took all my pendants, strung them on a ring, and found beads to match. I'll supplement with other beads I have on hand. Here's some of what I found:

I love the gloss on that emerald pendant & the matte on the black set.

I want to EAT those orange circles. And I thought the pink pendant would be the easiest thing to match but it was actually the hardest. Go figure.

I've been walking around with that purple pendant for a few years. It reminds me of those HUGE sweet 'n' sour candies they used to sell what I was a kid.

I bought the green swan pendant at the show last year but didn't think to buy a match. The leaf one reminds me of my gramma -she used to have several leaf shaped old-lady necklaces.

Amy and I always build in time for beading. Because our meal timing was thrown off schedule, we were up until almost midnight beading. Wild I know. But then, we also closed the Olive Garden once, too, untamed girls that we are. I'll show some of the things I made soon!

Necklace Holder

2010-05-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

My vacation's just about over. BUMMER! Earlier in the week I took a trip up to visit my best friend. We live almost three hours apart so it's hard to be spontaneous. We usually meet roughly halfway at a coffee shop and sit and bead jewelry all day in between breaks for more coffee. After about six hours, I did all this:

Not too shabby!!

But when I went to put them away, I remebered this mess:

All my long necklaces have nowhere to go since I only made holders for my dresser top - and they're all too low to accomodate the long necklaces.

I found this neat little shelf at Goodwill, along with a plain old tie holder (not pictured):

I painted them both to match the colors of my wall and now I have this:

The upper handle actually opens a drawer. Pretty cool!

Way better than a messy chair!

Special Delivery

2010-05-23T17:26:00.000-07:00

It's my birthday week so I've taken off work through Memorial Day. Yippee! One of my favorite birthdays ever was my 8th birthday. My mom gave me the book Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. I must've read that book at least a dozen times.

I always thought Wilber was kind of selfish. Charlotte the spider works like heck weaving those amazing words into her web to save his bacon-y behind and then he gets mad when she goes off for a break. Her break was actually to have her spider babies which she had to die to do, as is often the case in nature. And Wilber never seems to regret that he didn't thank her for saving him. He doesn't even seem all that amazed that she had babies. It never even occurred to him that she might want to do something for herself for a change. That always bugged me.

Anyway, that's not the point of this post. The point is, I went to check my mail today and saw something odd on the side of my mailbox.

Weird, huh? I had to take a closer look. Only because I love my mailbox. I found it on the side of the road not long after I bought my house. It was red on a grey post so I repainted the box white and the post blue.

I even hand painted my last name in ants:

And my house number in ladybugs:.

So the fact that something was clinging to the side irked me. The ladybugs and ants were for pure whimsy. But it was kind of ironic that, upon closer inspection I found this:

Yep! That's a whole cluster of spider babies! I like spiders but not that many and not all at once. Time for a good wash down. Sorry, Charlotte.....

Lemon Apron

2010-05-11T18:55:00.000-07:00

Every time I go to the garden center, I tell myself I don't need a cart because I'm only stopping for ONE thing. Who stops at the garden center for just one thing? I end up clutching a whole handful of potted plants to my belly and by the time I amble up to the counter under my load, I peel them away to find I have a huge brown wet spot across my shirt. It's high time I made a smock to wear to the garden center.

Using the pattern on page 76 of the very fresh and flirty book, A is for Apron, I now have a new smock.

I'd consider it a beginner level apron - if you can make some gathers and sew on some bias binding that's about all there is to it. In fact, the most time consuming part for me was making my own bias binding. The background to the lemon print came in its own fabric which I happend to have in my stash.

Those are green on green triangles:

Digging through my stash of vintage findings, I also found some super cute green buttons:

Too cute! I think they're the best part of the apron.

And, for added flirtation, the back straps criss-cross:

Now if our Wisconsin weather would just make up its mind about what it wants to do, I could start some gardening.