Cute Baby Post

Guess who came to visit last night? The beautiful and talented Nealla Rose! Isn't she the cutest ever?I adore her faces and smiles. I'm now super-motivated to try making some pint-size clothes!

Happy Friday!

Rachel S.

The Guts of the Matter

I'm skipping the ongoing wonky saga this time so I can bring you...the guts of my sewing machine. This morning I sat down to practice some buttonholes prior to sewing up a pillow for the couch. I haven't really done too many buttonholes on this machine in the year I've had it. Well, let me tell you how NOT to machine stitch a buttonhole.

It all comes down to this: play it safe. If, when practicing, you decide to use a different bobbin and thread be sure to set the bobbin with your "fashion" thread far, far away from your sewing machine. Ugh. I don't know quite how it happened but I began a second buttonhole and the wheel became very difficult to turn. Closer inspection showed that the thread from the bobbin I wasn't using (and had set behind the machine on the table) had somehow became entangled in the hand-wheel. Oh boy. The Offending Bobbin had been previously sitting on top of the machine. I guess the end stayed behind when I moved it. Gobs of thread were wound around the wheel. Everything had to come apart. The photo on the left is after most all but a few bits were removed. You can see thread wound around the inner part of the wheel in the one below.

The thread managed to burn into the belt where it got lodged between the belt and the cogs. There are some burned and shredded bits on the belt now. I cleaned them off as best I could and have decided to keep with this belt for now. Here's another shot topless.

It all turned out surprisingly well in the end but I was a little anxious there for a half-hour or so. All that was needed was a screwdriver and a cool head. An interesting afternoon but not something I'd like to repeat anytime soon. From now on, I'll be keeping any thread not in use far from my machine! : )

Now, back to buttonholes...

Rachel S.

A Month of Wonky

It's been about a month and it has ALL been WONKY. Oh I've been doing some sewing. Quite a bit actually. Nothing fancy. Almost nothing has gone right. Don't get me wrong I'm not paddling down the river singing a sad song yet. I keep trying. Of course the misses have not inclined me to create a blog entry but I finally decided that it's all just laughable so I might as well post.

First, Wonky Curtains.

This is how we roll in tight living spaces in (parts of) San Francisco. I give you: the view from living room window.Aren't those pipes on the neighbor's house cool? Almost like really grotesque wall art of some sort right in my living room. I realize that this is going to repulse most anyone who comes across this while sitting in their roomy, reasonably-priced duplex or apartment with backyard and garage or (better yet) their HOUSE. Natch. I am, regrettably, (sorta) used to it.

So, I (desperately) needed some curtains and had the opportunity to purchase some medium-weight linen for a nice price. Ready-to-dye was available and I've been wanting to try fabric dyeing so I went through a few tests and decided to dye a batch to match the new color DB painted the living room walls. [Formally, they were a terrible baby-poop brown - sooo glad that's gone.]

I'm getting to the wonky part, I promise.

The new walls are a celery / avocado green. Originally, I purchased the dye used for my test online. At the time, I had thought we would be going with a really light purple so I purchased that one and a few others - no green. Thinking I would save time I went local and purchased a different brand. Now I should have known something was up when I noticed that the first tub I took was a very different looking color from the one behind it. Figuring the ones in the back would be more fresh (the color was similar among those in the back) and on target, I selected one of those. Went home, dyed my fabric and guess what? The color was perfect. I mean SPOT ON. I felt deadly! It turns out I even had a color of thread in the stash to match exactly. I carefully folded the fabric and set it aside as I couldn't get around to actually sewing the curtains until the following week.

Fast forward...I had placed the fabric near the window in the bedroom (the one that gets a lot of light) and guess what?! It FADED where exposed to the sun! Now I used soda ash to set the dye, a dye fixative, AND a professional cleaning agent that is also supposed to help fix the dye - just to avoid this very thing (I mean they are going to be curtains after all). I believe I purchased old stock. ...And that's all I have to say about that. That, and grrrrrrr!

Since I used so much fabric and we still had need of curtains, I decided to move forward with making them. I'm pleased with their construction. I'm hoping that the strips of faded color will grow larger and then I can re-dye. I think that's probably not going to happen as little direct sunlight gets to these particular windows but I can't think about messing with them further at the moment. August is a new month. Here's a photo of 'em hanging (I know, you can't see the fade patches - my camera isn't that great anymore but they're there, trust me). You can see some of those awful pipes peeping through the right window. At the moment, they're hanging on a cafe rod because we mistakenly grabbed the wrong setup. I'll move them when I get the kitchen curtains made. They're simple. They work. They are a knock-off attempt of some I saw in Romantic Home Sewing, Cottage Style Projects by Christina Strutt. [On a side note, I'm really happy I purchased this book. It focuses on simple decorating using linens and printed muslins. The library copy was becoming a pain so I decided to buy it. ]

I'll save the Wonky Shirts for the next post (or maybe the one after that - it's soo depressing). (Also on the menu are Wonky Mug Mats and Wonky Pillows.)

Happy Saturday! (And goodbye Wonky July!)

Rachel S.

BWOF 06-2006-124 - Test Muslin #1

Among other things I've been wanting a tank pattern for jersey knits (with elastene) that is figure-fitting but appropriate for work. I have this RTW that I purchased at Ross. One of those cost-$8-and-it's-one-of-the-coolest-things-you've-ever-worn items. I pretty much only have BWOF patterns and few Vogue patterns I purchased on sale. Since I feel very much overspent in the sewing department, I wanted to find something from what my current inventory. The closest I could find to what I was looking for is from the June 2006 BWOF, #124. The front (featured to the right) is cute, huh? What you don't see is that it's been slashed into three pieces. That's the part I like best.

Here's the part I like least. I mean it is ok, don't get me wrong. It just is not something I could wear with a skirt and a jacket to work. So, I've been trying to modify it so that I have the three pieces but the back goes all the way across.

I've also been having issues with my BWOF blouses and tops. They just always seem to need a lot of extra taken in at the sides. On things with a lot of ease, I really feel shapeless unless I take in an inch or so!! So I thought with this one I would go down two sizes according to my bust (from a 38 to a 36). I think it was a crazy moment. Two sizes seems like a lot to me now but an inch is GInormous so I guess that was what I was thinking... I did a very non-precision test run where I traced out the pattern and then eyeballed the adjustments I thought were needed. Today I was able to quickly sew up a muslin out of some poly-lycra stuff that had big stains on it. I think I got 3 yards of it for $2 or something like and it's come in handy BIG time. Here is the first attempt.

As you can see, two sizes was a bit much. In retrospect, this pattern does not look to have a lot of ease so I really should have stuck with my bust measurement.

In sewing it up, I also noticed that I had cut the lower back piece too short (by about 1.75" overall). The back neck turned out well and I like where the sections all hit - just above the bust apex and just above the belly button. From the photo, I wonder about the shoulder length but I'll leave that and just cut the 38 and see what happens. The armscyes may be a little too small as well. (Or possibly my arms aren't as toned as they used to be!) I like where the hem currently hits (unsewn) so I'm going to extend that about another 1.25".

Currently, I have BWOF 11-2008-125 cut and ready to sew up in a wonderful bamboo interlock. Now I'm concerned because I cut it the same day as the muslin above and it's (of course) a 36. Pretty sure this isn't going to fit. I'm going to sew it with 1/4" seam allowances and try to keep in mind that it will likely get passed to a friend's sister if that isn't enough. I need to just keep patting myself on the back for playing with the knits at all right now. Here's a 3/4 mock-up I did earlier of a t-shirt. It really makes me want to try a few ones for Nealla now that I see it. So tiny and cute.

Ok, well I better go try to sew the raglan shirt up. Hope the weekend was great!

- Rachel S.

Little Treasures

How cute is this? When I found it DB declared "You love junk!" It was said with a grin but maybe he thinks the stuff I like is junk...OH well! How could this stuff be considered junk?! Maybe he thinks "junk" is a synonym for antique (and also rather charming)? This my new darling antique thread sorter (found on Etsy). I love it, love it. In the background is one of my other favorite items - my butterfly, milkglass lamp.

I have been away from the world of sewing blogs in a big way the past few months - work was seriously draining me. This weekend left me feeling rejuvenated and motivated though. It's not like I haven't been working on a few things. Just haven't had much opportunity to be online. Without further delay, here's the catch-up.

Completed BWOF top 113 from the November 2008 edition. I haven't had time to post a pattern review yet. Lots of others have made this as well. It's simple, easy and not a bad look (for a bag shirt). I used French seams throughout (a first for me) and am pretty happy with it overall. At the end, I had a bad moment and decided to bind the hem with bias tape that was way too heavy. Now it waves out too stiff for my tastes but I intend to rip and re-hem without the tape. What was I thinking?! Hair disclaimer: apologies, DB told me it looked fine and I was too tired to double check. It's not usually so lopsided.

Remember our lovely new, blue kitchen? Well, it needed a little something to shock the senses out of the world of a Dutch plate. We had some natural-colored, linen chair covers from Crate & Barrel that I had purchased off a friend who was moving back to Germany (he threw in so much stuff these were probably a whole dollar) and I had a new batch of procion dyes from DharmaTrading I was anxious to play with so I made them "Fire Red". What do you think? I love them! The red has blue undertones and is super cheery. Think I see a little Fire Red linen jacket in my future...

Here's one with a bookbag I have just completed. The pattern came from Sew Simple vol. 10. It was super easy and I learned a lot from it as I had never attempted one of these before. Some features: It is lined, has a box bottom, and a zipper attached to flanges so it creates an almost-complete closure on top. Here's one of the top. Things I'd change for next time: add a small pocket for my phone onto the lining, flat fell the seams on the bottom (wondering if I can do the sides this way too) and bind all of the seam edges that I show. *shrug* There's quite a bit I'd change but I was determined to sew from stash and see what I came up with. I keep finding that every project holds mucho sewing lessons so nothing is a waste!

I had wanted to include a photo or two from the Maker Faire earlier this month but I'm running out of time so I'll add another short post on that later.

Happy summer! Happy sewing!
Rachel S.

My Camera is Having More Fun Than Me Right Now

Haven't had much of a head to post lately. My mood has been leaning towards grumpy andwork has been knocking the stuffing out of me, leaving me exhausted and creativeless. I've still been doing a few things here and there. Here's an update. No photos on this one, though, as I lent my camera to a traveling friend. (The camera needed to take a trip even if I can't right now!)

• Tried another test dye - this time using "Olive Green." While it's a lovely color dye, it came out like 500 times darker than the little fabric sample at the store. Maybe it's becausemy tap water comes out very, VERY hot and the higher temperature yields a brighter dye? What I'm going for now is a very light, hint o' green - I'm thinking celery. Anyway, I'm done testing. Tonight (or maybe tomorrow) I'm just going to dye the batch for the curtains and put a quarter of the dye I used in the test. I think this will be light enough...maybe I'll use an 1/8. I'd rather go lighter.


• DB helped with prepping the linen last night and commented that he'd like a shirt out of it. Wonder if I could get that good by Christmas..maybe I should start thinking about that now and even take a classto prep for it..hmm.


• Still have to add an eye to the turtle and finish the last couple of inches on the blanket *big sigh*.


• Had a wardrobe meltdown the other day and decided to suspend all sewing activity on anything other than quick tops and skirts for a bit. (Of course, the curtains are an exception..as are the throw pillows that go with them.) So, I have two tops cut and hope to get them sewed up this weekend. Nothing special but they are much needed.


• Did I mention that my job is stinky right now? *big sigh*

Hope to have results and more fun things to write about and show soon!
Take care!
Rachel S.

A Look To Dye For!

Love this, love this. Saturday I got to fabric dye for the first time in over 20 years (egads!). Then it was tie-dye for school spirit. This weekend it was the serious dye for things that you want to stand the test of time. This is me in my Serious Dye Gear. Yep, those are my swim goggles. DB said, "watch out for fumes" and, generally speaking, this gal listens to safety tips. (I really love those swim goggles, btw.)

Awhile back I had the opportunity to purchase some nice linen - like a lot of nice linen. I thought I could use it for around the house - pillows, embroidery, window coverings and such - and maybe a dress or blouse. Since I'm dyeing linen for curtains and clothes, I wanted to use something that had staying power against washings and sunlight. Did some reading on the web and decided on Dharma Fiber Reactive Procion Dyes from Dharma Trading (but of course). Everything I needed was there (plus more) and shipping was minimal and fast. Since we don't own a washing machine, I had to tub dye. A friend lent me an old washtub she had and it turned out to be perfect for a half-pound load or so (DB purchased a Rubbermaid trash can for the bigger jobs). For the test, I used Orchid. I was hoping it would work in the living room but no such luck. Such a beautiful color though! I also have some Azure Blue and Carmine Red. This is going to be fun! Below is a photo of the finished product. I think it turned out beautiful. No streaking or freckling with a consistent overall color. Poifect! Couldn't have been more pleased. I used soda ash to set the dye as well as a detergent that's supposed to assist. In addition to that, I used a dye fixative in the final rinse. I am happy to say that this fabric no longer bleeds. I'm really comfortable washing it with other items now. How cool is that?! This was a really fun project and I'm anxious to find the right color for the curtains. These will have to be dyed after they're made but I think it will work fine all the same.

I'm told the bamboo interlock I ordered (and that's dyeable) is shipping this week! Whoo hoo! I'm thinking I want to try some of that red..

Rachel S.

Quick Update

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! We had a fairly quiet and restful one - just hung out at the house. Pretty lazy actually.

Except for the (almost) completion of a little Turtle Buddy for Nealla Rose. She ended up being quite a little learning project. Everything was sewn up twice, I think, due to my own thickness. Next time, it should go twice as fast and be a little stronger. This one is entirely hand-sewn. I'm happy to sew one up once in a while just as practice for the hand-stitching. At this point in my life I'm finally able to find some peace in a needle. Course my fingers are still filled with little scratches from jamming the needle into them. I had to laugh. With everything I did this weekend, I have tons of little scratches, burns, and cuts on my poor hands and fingers. The things we go through! Anyway, I'm anxious to sew on the little turtle eyes and mark this one as completed. In my usual impatience, I am posting a photo now of the little turtle. I'll re-post with eyes later. : )

In other news, here's the update on the list I posted Friday.

• need to get some non-iodized salt for dyeing


• scrub tub for test dyeing


• cut linen for curtains


• test dye!!!


• attempt Irish Brown Bread to accompany DB's batch of Irish Beef Stew


• finish baby blanket (um, yeah it's just a little bit that's left)


• sew up turtle buddy!!


• iron skirt linen, cut and mark for skirt

Overall, I'm fairly happy. I also made some pretty fantastic cupcakes (anything with 3 cups of sugar, 2 sticks of butter, and 16 oz. of cream cheese is pretty much guaranteed to be friggin good). If you're interested, the recipe can be found at Epicurious. I know the ingredients are deadly (deadly good) but these are simply awesome!

Have a fabulous Monday!
Rachel S.

Lots of Good Things

Pretty excited about today. I have a lot planned and want to get to as much as possible. First off, the baby has arrived! Hoo-ray! It's a girl and her name is Nealla Rose. So pretty. Haven't been able to see her or "mam" yet. Of course, DB got to see a picture and his words were, "She looks like a baby." *big sigh* I didn't even respond. Anyway, I'm on a mission to make her a Turtle Buddy today. I have some cute girly corduroy and dotted poplin from Bunte Fabrics and I'm thinking they'd be cute for the parts. Right now the poplin is washing. I thought I'd type a quick post before hitting the dryer and then it's off for a swim.

I have found heaven and it's in a little three lane, heated pool in San Francisco. The pool I'd been shlepping to previously took 30 minutes to get to (I'm a public tranport gal), was inside, and recently stalked by an annoying woman who seemingly waited in the hot tub for me to come swim in a free lane. Seriously, the same woman every time bogarts the only available lane! And every time I went - no matter the schedule. You'd think she'd have prunes for appendages. La-la-la-la she's no longer my problem now! The new club might have a smaller pool but you have to RESERVE the lanes. :-P~~~~~~~~~~~ So that was a long way of saying I'm off swim and then it's any one of a number of things.

* need to get some non-iodized salt for dyeing
* scrub tub for test dyeing
* cut linen for curtains
* test dye!!!
* attempt Irish Brown Bread to accompany DB's batch of Irish Beef Stew
* finish baby blanket (um, yeah it's just a little bit that's left)
* sew up turtle buddy!!
* iron skirt linen, cut and mark for skirt

Updates later this weekend. Here's a few photos. On top (or left), DB and his childhood BFF who is visiting in the area. Below (or right), partial installation of the knobs in the kitchen (& a canine profile). Both make me grin. Underneath is a shot of my skirt alterations (2" through hips). More on that later.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Rachel S.

Petite All Over (not just in my lower legs, it turns out)

I wanted to post some learnings from that skirt fiasco...
Most important: Making petite adjustments to a skirt and cutting extra off the bottom of the hem are NOT the same thing, Rach! Ok so I knew this and had actually had a thought about it in the beginning. In fact, I did that (took up my fabric length above and below the knee) with my current pants muslin. Why, oh why I didn't think of it for this I don't know. This has definitely shown me (con-clusively) how important it is to shorten a pattern correctly. Lopping off the bottom doesn't really do it unless your short-legged.

Second most important: It goes a long way if I work to keep the momentum on my project going. I need to stab myself with a pin everytime I put down a project because I come to an intimidating part. Better for me to jump in and attempt it (if I'm not too tired) then to set it down and take a chance on leaving it for a length of time. If I'd got to the hem a couple of months ago I'd only have a two-month wadder instead of a 3 monther. I think I'd be less bothered somehow - and a little less bummed with myself.

Also learned to sew in a lining and not to underestimate how time consuming or tedious that can be - serenity now.

And I proved to myself that I can produce a decent invisible zip.

I'm trying to be positive about this - can you tell?

Tonight, I'm altering the pattern, retracing, and cutting into the brown. Have to wait for the lining I ordered to come in but I'm going to see if I can't have this puppy finished by next week!

Rachel S.

I am Thick

..as in really dense. At least sometimes. Here's why I am this time.. I sewed the lining into my skirt (who knew it would take that long to sew it to the zipper tape - geez) and then did the topstitching of the waistband. I was really pleased. It's too big through the hips by a size but it went together nicely and since I don't like tight things I was ok with it. Went to hem it and saw my big error. Big, dumb, thoughtless error. Grrr! I'm 5'1 and I should have taken the skirt up (turns out about 2 inches) all across the hips and thigh area. The cute things about this pencil skirt are the two pleats in the back _bottom_ and the slit in the front. If I want to keep the design features, the skirt will be too long to wear (somewhere around mid-calf - blech). If I hem it to mid-knee (my preference) then I'll have to lose the darts and deal with a freakishly short slit in front.

Oh! I am starting to giggle (very slightly) at this point but I'm irritated with my lack of forethought. (To be honest, I'm afraid that the only troublefree invisible zip I'll get in this sewing life and was hoping I could at least wear it out!! *grumble grumble* ) Since the fit adjustments are going to be easy to make, I'm downright busting to remake this correctly. The only fabrics I have in the stash for this is a brown linen-rayon-lycra. It's soo nice and I'm sure it would make a nice skirt. I had envisioned pants but I do already have something similar in RTW. In the magazine, they made it up in a printed poplin. I have some cute Hilco poplin in green-on-green polka dots. I think it would be cute but I can't wear it to work and maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it would be terrible because the dots wouldn't match in the center front seam and there would be a line of funny crescents down your center. I'm really hoping to sew some of the stash so I guess it's the nice brown linen. It should go fast, right?

Still working on my pants muslin. These are the pants from the November 2008 BWOF tutorial and feature those bias strips down the side of the legs (like tuxedo pants). So far I'm pleased with the fit but I'd like to go ahead and sew it all together to be sure. Probably just paranoia from the skirt flub. Ha!

I also have a couple of knit tops I'd like to make. One is already cut and marked but, of course, I'd like to make the super simple (and hopefully satisfying) BWOF boatneck tee from 01/09. :) Glutton for punishment with the unrealistic expectations! I'm hoping to step up my efforts and create some new habits though. It was disappointing (to say the least) to have dragged my butt so slowly through that last sewing project only to learn I was going to have to cut out a design element at the end. In the future, I'm going to try much harder to push through projects. I want my skirt!!!

Have a fantastic week!

Rachel S.

Hit by Spring

Oooh, it's gorgeous here. Well, it's mixed. We have a wonderfully, sunny gorgeous day and then a rainy, gloomy one. My moods have been riding the same wave so I've been hit and miss on my projects. I do just have the hem of the skirt (that just won't finish already!) but I am putting it off because I'm unhappy with the fit of the hips. It's just too big and I haven't the heart to rip everything out. It will get by and I know just how to make the next one work (I think). So I'm still dawdling on that one.

Not that I didn't move on (bad form, I know) to sewing something else. I sewed enough of the pants muslin that I'm pretty sure the fit is what I want. I cut for my hips (which meant the waist might be too small) and took quite a bit an inch or so (can't remember exactly now as it was a couple of weeks ago) both above and below the knee (to petite it). I was surprised to find that it seems to fit well and I won't need to let out the darts in the waist after all. Since I haven't done proper pants before (just jammy bottoms) I've decided to complete the rest of the pattern on the muslin before cutting into my nice pinstripe. I'll try to get a photo or two of the above up later.

Just got back from camping (to be read car camping) in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It was so beautiful. I tried to sprinkle some throughout the post but it probably just seems weird until this part. : )

Until next time!
Rachel S.

Palette for My Kitchen

Stitched this up on Saturday for something different to do. I've been waiting on a huge shipment of linen for the bazillion projects running around in my head. How cool is this monogram? Think it should be filled in? I found it in one of my japanese stitch books. No other letters were available. lol - guess DB is out of luck. It's just as well. While he did appreciate my uniform stitches the background did not impress. "Too busy." What do you think? It so happens that the two blues in the flannel are a great match for the two different blues in our kitchen and I was planning to accent with white and red so - voila!
There it is.

Avoid!! Resist!!

I will resist..

..buying a huge lot of zippers off of eBay to practice making zipper pouches. Best thing to do would be to wait until I use the last of the most recent bulk purchase. But those are so nice (such a fantastic deal that was!)...

..the urge to begin a quilt. I don't know how to do this and my garment sewing isn't yet where I want it to be. There are a gazillion items I want to (read NEED to) make. But Oh, Fransson! is just beginning a Quilt Along and I've been admiring her creations for awhile now. Her quilts are darling!

..the urge to avoid swimming so I can get in more craft time. This excuse is a topper, isn't it? Quite proud actually. ..Maybe I'll begin this one tomorrow...

..purchasing any more items from the Fabric Co-op for at least 2 months (I blame Dawn who blames Kristine and so on and so on). Unless they get some of that awesome looking striped wool jersey I saw earlier...


..most definitely avoid imbibing (alcohol) in the evening and going online fabric shopping. I simply cannot resist Bunte Fabrics after a glass of wine. I think it's because I love the quality of everything they sell over there but deem it to be more than I "should" spend. hehe I am in love with this new (to me) jersey from my last *ahem* purchase. I see some cute nighties coming my way! But to return to topic, no more inebriated online shopping!!!

Halfway to the weekend! Whoo hoo!
Rachel S.

Museum Visiting..

Happy Monday! The weekend went by very quickly over here. Friday night I drug DB to the DeYoung Museum. They have Friday events and I wanted to rip through the YSL exhibit before visiting it later this month with a girlfriend. I was so struck by the quality of the fabrics and their care. Really, the fabrics are all so stunning. It really impressed upon me what a difference quality fibers make and how rewarding caring for them can be!! Isn’t that funny that that’s my big takeaway? I loved seeing the designs and was especially taken with the Mondrian dresses but the fabrics are what stuck with me. I highly recommend visiting if you can. The exhibit runs through April 4.

The real reason I wanted to go Friday night, though, was to get my tickets to the upcoming King Tut exhibit! Got tickets for my birthday in August. Double-wootness! I was able to visit Egypt in 2006 for a really short week but, of course, King Tut’s things were not there; they were visiting some other country. Needless to say, I am excited.


I ended up doing a little more crochet work than sewing work this weekend but am happy with my progress. My BWOF skirt is still in the same state. I’m thinking that it will be done by the next post because I’m tired of making excuses for it! (I was right about the blogging holding me a little more accountable.) Managed to finish marking my muslin for BWOF 11/08 pants 105 with galloons and also was able to cut and mark BWOF 10/08 top 114. Both require different thread then the black needed for the skirt so I’m telling myself I have to sit at the machine and attach my skirt lining before moving on. lol The baby blanket is really coming along. I hope to have that finished by the end of this week. Baby is due in two – hooray!!

One little wrinkle to the weekend was that my computer decided to start acting up. It's been showing signs of difficulty but I kept putting off the final backup. Now I'm praying that I'll be able to bring it up for a last memory dump before it goes past the point of no return. I don't even want to think about what I haven't yet backed up...Wish me luck!

Rachel S.

Zipper-ific makes me giggle..

Rutroh! I'm a little behind again. I've been keeping busy. Just not with the things I thought I was going to be doing. Ok, so it's been just about 2.5 weeks since the last post. That makes me feel a little better as it felt like a month! Still don't have the skirt finished. It's oh-so-close and now I'm just procrastinating. It makes no sense since I'm only a couple of hours away but that's me sometimes. Here are a few of the random things I've been up to.

Planted some parsley and basil (my first time since kindergarten - oh geez, long time!) and I'm pleased to see sprouts! Here's a picture of the parsley.

Made another scarf for a friend whose birthday I missed last month. It's really sunny and warm today. LOL - now I'll have to wait to give it to her until the weekend when it rains and becomes chilly again. This one (top) is to go with the one I made for her a couple of years ago (bottom) but never quite finished. (Yep, I'm really that bad. Always try to use me in a procrastination comparison. You'll feel better.)

Attempted another zipper pouch (for the zipperific experience). I'm ok with it. I'm trying different tutorials. This time I tried the one from Twelve 22.org and I'm pretty happy with it. I definitely need practice though!

Side note: DB has had some extra time from work and has done a couple of interesting things so I thought I'd post a pic or two. Ta-DA!! We are just a quick trim (darker blue) away from our newly painted kitchen! It looks so fantastic already!! I could not be happier with the color.

It turns out that it looks great with my bright red tulips so I was inspired to purchase these knobs for the white cabinets and drawers from GoGoGail over at Etsy. (She has some pretty nifty holdbacks for drapes too that I might have to purchase when we get to the bedroom but that's for later).

One of the other projects is a...well, a Lego house. I'm not sure how that sounds. Probably ok if you have kids. We are kid-less but we love Legos nonetheless. lol AND they're a little more fun when you're big. Have you seen some of the hard-to-find ones? Well, DB received one from his mom for Christmas as a sort of nostalgic gift. It was really sweet. The best part was the genuine excitement and the big smile that DB had once he realized that it was a lego kit. He drew it out as long as he could but after a day or two it was together. Here's a few (stop-action) shots. Isn't it cute? It is modeled after a city market building with 3 floors. The market is on the bottom and living quarters are on floors 2 and 3. There's a grill on the roof and gardening tools out back. Oh, and a fire escape! Not sure how we're going to display more if the collection continues but we'll cross that bridge if it comes up. :)


That's all for today. On the list for the rest of the week is to finish the skirt, mark some pants, and cut a blouse. Let me ask (even though only one or two folks check in here - lol)...what do you think of this baby blanket? Too busy or should I just finish it and gift it? It's made with two strands - blue and white with color flecks). I think it's too busy and not pretty but DB thinks I should just complete it (he hates to see me rip).

Ok, have a great week all!
Rachel S.