Thursday - This and That

Just thought I'd do a post about this and that....a few different things going on lately.

It's been a very hot summer here.  So, I've been staying in a lot to avoid the heat.  I haven't accomplished as much as I'd planned due to lack of motivation in this heat and being stuck inside.  But, I have done a few things...

I knitted up a washcloth and scrubbie with some pretty, tan, Sugar N Cream yarn I had.  I love the results of this washcloth pattern.  It's simple but so nice.  It lays very nicely with great edges and corners.  It's the "Copycat Dishcloth" pattern from Ravelry and it's free.  The scrubbie pattern is also free and it's called, "Tribble".  I have a big, glass jar on our master bathroom counter that I have several shades of off-white and beige, hand knit washcloths in along with cotton balls and q-tips.  It's handy and the washcloths look so good in there.  They're very nice to use too.  Soft and pretty!

We bought a long dining room table a while back and I collected some chairs to go with it.  I just finished up some custom cushions for four of them.  I used fabric I got years ago for almost nothing...a whole bolt of it!  I still have lots left.   There are two antique chairs that I need to create cushions for too.  All the chairs will be sanded down and painted black.  I think it's going to look great when it's all done.  We just need cooler weather so we can go out in the garage to work on them.

My dad had a couple doctor appointments yesterday.  One was a bit stressful because he was going to get the results on tests to see if he has lung cancer.  I wanted to be with him for something this big...just in case.  Although, we felt it probably wasn't and we were hoping for the best.  My mom was being her usual, difficult self (Alzheimer's) and wouldn't allow me into the room but we got her to go for letting my daughter in.  I hated for my daughter to be in that position, just in case it was bad news.  But, she wanted to do it to support grandpa and to hear what was going on for my brother and I.  She even recorded it for us.  She's awesome!  Anyway...it was good news...he doesn't have cancer.  He has fluid in his lungs but it's probably due to his heart condition and some of the meds he's on.  Whew!  Afterward, we went out to lunch.  We've been trying to do that about once a week or so.  It's been very nice.

When we got home in the early afternoon, the temp in my car said 113 degrees!  Ugh!  We had a nice surprise shortly after that when it started pouring rain.  It dumped hard and rained for at least half an hour.  It cooled things off and gave the plants nice cool shower that I bet they loved.  My daughter's kitty, Sonora, was a little scared by the rain because it was so loud.  When it calmed down a bit, she enjoyed looking out the window and watching it.  So cute!

I've been meaning to put together a picture-full post to introduce a new (last December) member of our family but I just haven't gotten around to it.  I wanted to put a lot of photos on the post and all my photos are all backed up and I literally have thousands and thousands of photos (not just her) that I'd have to go through to find the greatest ones of her, download them back to my laptop, and then upload to the blog.  A big job!  So, I'll just go ahead and introduce her now.  That way I can continue to post pics and not get further behind on what the intro post would have.  

Here she is...our adorable Siamese named, "Sky".  She's my hubby's kitty and she is awesome!  She's so sweet, loving, fun, funny, playful, and she loves being with us almost constantly.  She's adorable!  We love her so much!  Here she is laying next to me while I crocheted one time this week...

It's been a long and difficult adjustment for Penelope to have another cat but she's finally becoming herself again...almost.  Here she is rolling on a rug this morning.  She's actually playing, roaming around the house more, and being loving again.  It's been tough for her and for me to see her not being her wonderful self.  So, it's wonderful to be getting her back.

Sky came over to see what Penelope was up to.  She's not used to seeing Penelope play and be the cat she was.

Our cats are still separated from my daughter's cat as they get to know one another.  Although, my daughter's cat is a very confident cat who's not afraid of much of anything and can be aggressive. So, we're not sure when or if we'll ever let them be together.  For now, they're just getting to know one another through a screen door we put at the hall near my daughter's room.  We don't love having a door there but it keeps the cats safe.  We switch back and forth with who gets to run around the house.  We either let Sonora out for a while while our cats hang out together in our large master bedroom and bathroom.  Or, our cats come out while Sonora gets to stay in her part of the house where my daughter's room, bathroom, hall, and craft room are.  They're very happy wherever they are.  They're all wonderful cats in their own ways.  We love them all so much!

The screen door we used is one we finished up that we'd started when we lived at our old house and had llamas.  All it needed was some color, stain, varnish, assembly, and screen.  Hubby made a frame for it to fit in the arch and ta-da!...a solution for our cat conundrum.

I finished spinning up a ball of roving this week.  I'm letting it sit for a bit before I Navajo ply it.

I've wanted to play a musical instrument for a very long time.  I tried piano lessons a couple times but didn't stick with it.  It was difficult to memorize all the notes and play different things with each hand from the two different lines on the music.  I've been thinking that something with just one line of music would be more practical to start with.  In my search, the ukulele has been suggested several times.  I finally decided to go for it when I found this great ukulele that not only is cute but has a wonderful sound...not so shoe-box-like as so many are.  It even came with an adorable bag!  So far, it's going well and I'm even enjoying practicing.  There are challenges with learning the many chords and the different rhythms but I'm enjoying it.  I find myself wanting to practice.  Wow!  Maybe, hopefully, I'll have a different answer someday to a question I'm often asked when people see my daughter masterfully play the harp...  "where does she get her talent?...do you or your husband play anything?"  My answer is usually...."um...I play the radio".  My daughter and I have a goal to eventually play "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" together (harp and ukulele).  We found a beautiful rendition of it on YouTube that gave me the last push I needed to buy my uke and go for it.

Maybe I should have made this post yesterday and called it "Wordy Wednesday".  lol  Now that it's all put together, I realize I could have made several posts.  Oh well.  It's done now.  I hope you enjoy it.  And, if you stuck it out to the end...thank you! :-)

Have a wonderful day!

Re-fashioned Denim, Fun Fashion Finds, and Confidence

My mother-in-law went through her closet recently and pulled out a lot of stuff she wanted to get rid of.  She asked my daughter if she'd like to come over to see if there was anything she wanted.  My daughter and I both found several things that we brought home.  We've been busy re-making them into different, more current, fashionable clothing.

The first one I worked on was a long denim skirt.  It went almost down to my ankles.  I think it must have been from the 80's or 90's.  It's a high quality skirt and the top of it fit great.  So, I shortened it for a more current and stylish look.  It has nice deep pockets on the sides too.  I love that!  I even had thread that was the perfect color to match the faded yellow on the other parts.  Cool!

I wasn't quite sure about this dress.  It was a little funny.  But, I love denim so much!  And, I have a memory of a super cool denim dress I bought in the 90's that I ended up returning because I wasn't sure I'd be brave enough to wear the very fitted style that it was.  This dress is different but there was something about it that reminded me of that one.  So, I had to go for it.  Oh, and a cool side note...not only is it great to be up-cycling old clothing but this dress was made in the USA!

Oh that ruffle!  And, the raw, frayed edge!  Oy!  lol

I removed the ruffle.  It turned out that the edge that was left was already surged.  That was nice.  All I had to do was fold it over and stitch it down.  I wasn't quite sure if the tapered look would work or if a hem on the thick denim would even hang right.  But, I think it works.  As far as the top goes, I opted to just cover it up.  It fits funny at the top and there's a tiny hole in the middle that looks like it might have had a flower or something attached at one time.  I have plenty of scarves and shawls and several of them looked great.  I went with a more summery one for the pics.

Oh, and pics!  Yikes!  I've been working at being braver to post pics of myself.  I've gotten better.  It's still weird though and uncomfortable even having my daughter take pics of me.  But, I went for it and got a few I'm fairly happy with it.  I'm not going to let myself wimp out on posting these!  So, here it is....my new, up-cycled, re-fashioned dress...

I've been working on being braver with fashion.  There are looks that I love but I tend to go safe.  My usual way of dressing is jeans and casual shirts.  I'm doing better.  So, now, I'm trying to be even braver and trying not to worry about parts of my body showing....like my legs.  I've been wearing shorts all summer and even some skirts!

I found these awesome boots a few weeks ago at a thrift shop.  I love them!  So, I got them and I'm determined to be brave enough to wear them.  And, now I have an outfit that goes with them.  So, no excuses, right?!  Gulp!

I hit the shoe jackpot the day I found these!  They were only $5!  They're leather and in great shape.  I looked up the brand online and found out that these boots were over $100 when they were brand new!  These look like they've barely been worn.  And, for heels, they're actually pretty comfortable.

I found two other pairs of shoes that day for just $4 for each pair.  They're in great shape and look like they've barely been worn too.  Those who've seen them think they're high dollar too.  I'm still working on finding outfits for them.  

They're definitely beyond what I normally wear but I love them.  So, that's a perfect reason to be braver and bolder to get to a place where I can wear things like this that I love!

How do you all feel about fashion?  Do you stay in a safe zone with what you normally wear?  Do you see things you love but aren't sure you could do it?  Do you worry about an imperfect body like I do?  Are you nervous about trying to be more stylish or letting parts of you show?   I'd love to hear how others feel about this.

I've always been SO self conscious about my skinny bird legs.  As I've been working lately on being OK with me, I've noticed that there are beautiful people out there with skinny legs.  The difference seems to be confidence.  That's what I'm attempting to have!  I'm trying to love what I've been given and make the best of it.  And, besides, I'll never be as young as I am today!  So, why keep waiting?!  Watch out world, here I come!  Gulp!

Latest WIPs and FOs OR Creating with Deals and Stash

Since I'm behind on posting, I'm behind on showing you what I've been up to with my Create 52 challenge.  So, here are some photos of some things I've been working on over the past few weeks...

I love thrift shopping and found a little package of tiny, unused bottles with cork lids and loops to hang them.  I think the cost was twenty five cents for both of them.  I recently filled one with lavender buds and made a necklace out of it.  I thought it would be fun to fill the other one with teenie, tiny sea shells.  I went through a jar of shells I have and found just enough tiny ones that were small enough to fit.  I crocheted a triple cord to hang it by and I have a beachy necklace.  :-)

I also like going to rummage sales and found this huge table cloth for a couple dollars.  It's in perfect condition and I thought it would be fun to crochet a fancy edge on it.  That's when I realized how HUGE it really is.  It took quite a while to stitch around it!  I made it around twice with crochet thread I had in my stash.  I had to buy a new ball of thread to keep going to make the fancy edge I had in mind.  Even though the new ball seemed to match when I bought it, the colors were really different when I started crocheting.  The new red really didn't go with the fabric at all.  It was a cooler, more blue red.  So, I ripped out the start of that third row and decided that this was enough trim.  It did fancy it up a bit.

You may already know how much I'm in love with cotton yarn and that I have a weakness for Sugar N Cream.  Especially when it goes on sale!  I've had some ideas in mind for the ever growing stash of colors I have but when it went on sale a few weeks ago I just had to buy a few more colors and get started on one of my ideas.  I'm making a bunch of the "African Flower" motifs to sew into something.  I figure I'll keep making them until I'm tired of them.  I'll make a blanket if I end up making a lot.  If I get tired quickly of making them, I'll use them to make a bag.  There are so many great ideas on line for this versatile little motif.  It's fun playing with all these colors!

I often long to knit or crochet just for the sheer pleasure of it.  It gets frustrating when I want to stitch but just can't find a pattern I love.  I end up spending a lot of time pattern searching.  I thought I'd found one last weekend and got started.  It was SO nice to just work on a simple pattern of double crochets.  It was like meditation and was SO relaxing.  Ahhhh!

However, I soon realized that I wasn't going to be very happy with the result as it was so bulky that the shawl I was making wouldn't hang nicely.  So, I ripped it out!  After searching for so long for a pattern to use this leftover yarn in my stash (another yarn I've fallen in love with and it comes in SO many pretty color combos!), I decided to just make up something...a scarf.  So far, I think it's working up nicely.  And, I still have something relaxing to work on in between other projects that take more concentration and brain power.

I usually have several projects going on at the same time.  That way I can switch to something different if I need a break, want to work on something easier, or feel like tackling something more challenging.  Since I went through that finishing frenzy a few months ago and finished up so many projects, it's seemed a little weird to not have several projects to go to.  So, why not start another new one?!  I've been wanting to try to move beyond shawls, scarves, cowls, hats, and other simple stuff and learn to make garments.  I finally decided on a top pattern last week and got started using some stash yarn.  It's a bit challenging because the yokes require some lace knitting....something I'm a bit challenged at.  But, I'm figuring it out.  Yay!  I hope this project works out because I have several things in my wardrobe that would work great with this orange top.

This post seems to have developed a theme of budget shopping and de-stashing!  Here's another project that started with a deal.  Over the weekend I found a skirt at a thrift shop for just $2.  It was a gathered, mid shin length, size 18 skirt.  With a little cutting, stitching, and use of parts from a pattern I recently bought, I transformed it into a knee length (just below) wrap skirt.  I like the colors and pattern of the fabric and thought it would look so much cuter this way.  I think I'm happy with it.

I have so many things I want to create!  If only I had more time and I could finish them more quickly to move onto the next!  But, these projects and my small accomplishments are fun!

What have you been working on lately?

Almost Free

Thrift shopping and bargain hunting are things I love to do!  I like to stretch my dollars as far as I can.  That can sometimes involve a little creativity.  That's the case with this apron.

I found the start of it at a rummage sale.  It was a rolled bit of fabric that was wrapped with a piece of masking tape and marked twenty five cents.  All I could see was the bottom of the apron and I thought it would make a great dish towel.  When I got home and opened it up I found that it was an apron kit.  Directions were printed alongside the apron pieces.  It just needed to be cut out and sewn together.

I completed the project by only using supplies I had.  I liked the challenge of keeping it cheap and using what I had to de-stash my supplies a bit.  I used buttons from my button jar, white thread, and some left over cotton yarn to make the ties at the neck and waist.  Ta da!  A brand new and cute apron for just a quarter and some time!  :-)

Together Time in the Craft Room

My daughter just finished her first year of grad school.  Woot!  And, she came home to visit as soon as it was over.  Double woot!  :-D  We spent a wonderful week together...talking, shopping, cooking, walking, rock climbing, and crafting.  It was awesome!

I thought I'd share one of our craft projects with you.  We decided to make dream catchers.  So, we went through my doily collection, did a little doily shopping at an antique store, gathered supplies, and got started.

We crocheted the doilies to the metal rings.  Then, we hung them from the chandelier over the craft table to decorate the bottoms.  We had so much fun and they turned out so pretty.

The sun was streaming through the window and onto our pretty creations the next morning when we went to get them for photos...

I found a doily at the antique store that made me think of a starfish.  So, I made mine with a beach theme.

I added shells to the bottom with torn and twisty fabric, ribbons, lace, yarn, and thread.

My daughter made a larger one with a crisp white doily.  I love the openness around the edges.  She used white fabric, lace, ribbons, yarn, and beads on the bottom.  Then, she made some fabric flowers to finish it off.  So pretty!

My daughter loves to sew and hasn't had time to do so in a long time.  She made sure to get some sewing time in last week while she was home.  She made a top, re-made a dress, and started whipping up another dress.  She amazes me with her confidence and courage to just dive in and try things.  And, the results are impressive!

We did a little yard sale shopping on day before she left.  She got a couple yards of red, floral fabric for just 50 cents.  She wanted to make a certain dress with it but was several yards short of what she needed.  That didn't stop her!  She adjusted the pattern and made it work.  She still has some work to do on it....sew the top to the bottom, sew in a zipper, and hemming.  It's looking fantastic!

Yeah, I'm a proud mama!  :-)

Sewing Success!

I've been wanting a brand new chalk bag for climbing.  But, being the budget minded, crafty person I am, I decided there was no sense in spending money on one when I can make one for free!  So, that's just what I did.

I went through my fabric stash and found some leftovers that I loved.  I also went through my collection of webbing, belts, buckles and other doodads that I've saved from old worn out purses, bags, backpacks, etc. and found the other supplies I needed.  

I finally got started on it this morning after working on some ideas in my head for a couple of weeks.  I went with some of my original ideas but figured stuff out along the way.  Here's the result...

I love how it turned out and I'm so excited to use it!

The finished size is 5" across and 7 1/2" tall.

For anyone who doesn't rock climb and may be wondering....chalk is used to keep hands from being sweaty and slippery.  Chalk is carried in the bag and the bag is clipped to the harness so it's easily accessible whenever it's needed.

Instead of spending $25 or more on a chalk bag I now have one for free. And, it's unique...no one else in the world will have one exactly like it.  I'm so excited!  Yay for sewing success, recycling, and using stuff in the stash!  :-D

A Breath of Courage and a Finished Skirt

It's not FO Friday yet but I just have to share today's accomplishment.

It's an FO that's a year in the making!  I finally finished it!

It all started last year when my daughter was on one of her sewing sprees.  She's been diving in more and more and just going for it with making clothes.  It's paying off...she's getting really good!  It's inspiring although I'm so hesitant to sew clothes because I've never made any that I love.  But, this skirt was hard to resist.  She made several of them.  Here's one of my favorites...

It's a short skirt pattern (Simplicity 2226) that she made long.

In one of my moments of inspiration over the past couple of years, I bought some nice fabric and a pattern for a dress.  I was too chicken to cut out and make the dress.  However, I did feel confident enough about the skirt to go for it.  So, last summer, I made this skirt.  But....I was too chicken to hem it.  I guess I was worried about cutting off the bit of excess on the bottom and about the chance that I wouldn't like it once it was done.  I took a breath of courage today and went for it.

Here's my finished skirt...

(Please ignore the hair...this is my hang around the house look...lol)

I'm not quite sure if I'm in love with it yet.  I'm worried that it might look a little prairie-like.  But, I sure want to love it.  These skirts look great on my daughter, it's super comfy, the fabric is adorable and it has pockets!  I love pockets!  Here's a close up of the pocket and one of my dandy belt loops.

I think I did a pretty good job of sewing it.

These were my first belt loops and one of the only zippers I've ever sewn in.

I need a belt that's a tad bit wider but this worked to see how it will look.

I like how the skirt looks with a white top.  A red or navy one might look good too.  And, maybe even a denim jacket.  I'm hoping it'll work great in the cooler months with boots too.

Wow!  I can't believe it's actually finished!  It won't be on my to-do list anymore!  Yay!

De-stashing, Creating and Packing

In my on-going attempt to de-stash supplies from my craft studio I made a couple of drawstring bags.

I used an old shirt for the top one.  I loved the colors of it so much that I couldn't let the fabric go to waste.  I used ribbon in my trim stash for the drawstring.  The other bag is made from a fabric scrap. 

I made a crochet chain with some brown cotton yarn for the drawstring on that one.  

I think they could be useful for lots of things.  However, I'll soon be using them as shoe bags in my suitcase for a three week road trip I'm going on with my daughter.  They'll work great to keep pairs together, keep the shoes clean, and keep surrounding clothes clean as well.  I have some fabric bags I've saved from sheet sets I've bought too (the sheets often come in bags made from the same fabric and have a drawstring at the top).  All together, I think I have enough for all the shoes I plan to take.

I've been thinking a lot about the supplies I have, ideas of how to use them, and things we could use for our trip.  One night, it hit me.....I'd knitted a market bag years ago that would work great to hold dirty laundry in my suitcase to keep it separate from the clean clothes and help my suitcase stay organized.  I happened to have another large skein of Handicrafter Cotton yarn that would work perfect for another bag.  That way, my daughter would have one too.  I mentioned the idea to her and she loved it.  That's all I needed to get started.  One week later and here it is...

I knitted it with a circular, size nine needle.  I added a few extra rows of knitting below and above the section with holes and at the top, above the handles.  It's nice and stretchy and should work out great.

And, best of all, my daughter loves it!  :-)  Oh, yeah...and I have a little less yarn in my stash.

Although, it didn't use the whole skein.  So, I still have enough left for something else.

My daughter finished up her Spring semester and is now home for the summer.  She's been busy sewing like crazy!  She loves to sew!  And, she's excited to make things to wear on the trip and over the summer.  In less than a week, she's already made two skirts and has a dress almost complete!

I'm planning to do a little sewing too.  I hope to have some stuff to post soon.

We usually camp in our RV when we travel.  However, we'll be taking the car on this trip and staying in hotels.  We don't like to drive for lots and lots of hours at a time.  So, on the way to our main destination and back, we've broken up the trip with lots of stops in fun places and to spend time with family in a couple different places.  We'll be traveling through nine states!  I'm excited and a little nervous at the same time.  I'm hoping it'll be awesome and that we'll make lots of great memories!

Cookin' Up Some Color

I sewed some window treatments for the kitchen a few weeks ago.

I bought the fabric a while back for $3 per yard.

So, this whole project was very inexpensive.  The rods were the most costly part.

It's hard to get good photos because there's a covered patio outside that keeps

a lot of light from coming in the kitchen window.  And, it's a cloudy day.  

I also sewed a panel almost 9' long to add a little softness and color over the sliding glass door.

It's wide enough to cover the vertical blind when it's all the way open.

The fabric is a woven plaid with orange, reds, brown, white and a bit of yellow.

The color is actually closer to the two photos above.  But, here's a close up to show the plaid.

It looks great with the tablecloth I'm using right now.  It has a lot of the same colors.

The colors in this photo are more accurate...

We have a cinnamon red KitchenAid stand mixer on our Island.

The floor tile is a terra cotta like color.  And, I've been adding some more things that tie in 

with the colors of the window fabric...like this antique metal tray with painted roses...

A pretty plate I saw at Macy's and just had to have.

It sits on a plate stand on the counter.

And, for a little contrast and fun, I have an antique typewriter sitting on the kitchen desk.

I grew up with an Underwood typewriter like this.  I've been keeping an eye out for one.

I was excited to find this one in a local antique shop this summer for a good price.

I guess you could say I've been cookin' up some color and fun in our kitchen.

These small touches sure did a lot to transform the space.  We love it!

I'll post more photos when I get it all put together the way I like.

And, if I can figure out how to get good photos in this not-so-bright space.

Dress Form Makeover

I did it!  I recovered my dress form!

I've been putting it off because I knew it would be a difficult.

It turned out to be one of the most challenging sewing projects I've ever done.

I found her at a thrift shop a few years ago.

I was so excited to find it but not so excited about the purple color.

I wanted to use it for photographing my hand knit and crochet items.

But, purple doesn't go with most of them.

The Acme label is fun...

But, the purple had to go!

I started creating a pattern with tissue paper, pins, tape and a pencil.

Next, I used used the tissue as a pattern for some white muslin.

I roughly cut it out and pinned it onto the dress form.

I made more adjustments, sewed sections together and tweaked until it worked.

Then, I trimmed the muslin pieces (with seam allowances) and un-stitched them to use as a pattern

for the fabric I wanted to use for recovering.  I still had to do a lot of tweaking to get it just right.

I did a LOT of sewing and seam ripping!  When I got all the pieces sewn together and just right

(with one side left open), I slipped it on the dress form, smoothed, stretched and pinned the final

seam together.  Luckily, I was tired that night and left it until the next day.  That created a crease where it was pinned and I was able to take it off the next day to fold it over and press it into place.

I put it back onto the dress form and that folded edge made it much easier to hand stitch together.  

Lastly, I made gathered fabric flowers to fill in the armholes.

Ta da!

I think the total cost to re-cover her was about $6!

 I imagined the flowers and ruffles from the beginning.

I absolutely love how it turned out.  So frilly and pretty!

 I'm excited to have a neutral dress form to use for photographing my future projects.

She's very pretty to look at too!   :-)