Category: sewing

sewing

Ring-a-Ling Pocket

 

Ian recently upgraded his phone, so I’ve inherited the old iPhone. Look out world, I have a smart phone now, which mostly means I won’t be calling Ian to ask “where is that park/business/restaurant that I’m sure I’m close to but can’t quite find” anymore. The new phone is much larger than my old phone, which generally fit in my pocket. Not this one, which could lead me to rant about women’s fashion and the abominably small pockets therein. I mean, really, if you want to make it look like there are pockets but make them unusable so the presence …

Caitlyn, sewing

Rainbow Skirt

This was Caitlyn’s Christmas present from me this year. I guess sometimes I don’t know how to make a decision. I had picked up a spectrum of 8 fat quarters with the idea that I’d make a skirt for Caitlyn out of maybe four of them. But when the time came, I couldn’t decide which four to use. And what was supposed to be a “throw it together in an afternoon” kind of thing turned into a full-blown design project. Because once you know you are going to use all eight pieces of fabric, you have to decide how much …

sewing

Stuffing Without Stuffing

 

I am a contradiction. I like things organized, everything in it’s place, with minimal clutter. I don’t generally have things just to have things; each thing should fill a purpose, the more the better. But I also have my grandmother’s pack-rat gene. If it might be useful someday, it’s really hard to let go of it. I force myself to recycle cardboard boxes instead of keeping every single one we acquire; otherwise we’d never be able to put the car in the garage. Caitlyn’s baby things have gone into a box, although I’m not always sure who I might be …

homesteading, sewing

On Not Reinventing the Wheel

About a year ago, I was reading a handful of blogs on sustainability and coming environmental apocalypse, specifically Crunchy Chicken during the annual “Freeze Yer Buns” Challenge and Casaubon’s Book when the author was discussing how her family dealt with low interior temperatures. These are people who, when it gets cold, don’t turn the heat up – they add layers. Casaubon’s Book, which, in general, looks toward history to find solutions to such problems, mentioned the petticoat. It’s weird that I’d more or less forgotten about petticoats, given my general tendency toward antique fashion. I appreciate that I can wear …

Caitlyn, Seasons, sewing
 

It can rain now. The trick or treating is over, Caitlyn has an enormous haul of sugar (yay for our neighborhood and Columbia City businesses – no gum or jaw breakers this year and lots of Reese’s, Milky Ways, and Whoppers!), and we had gorgeous weather despite previous forecasts that had us trying to adjust Caitlyn’s expectations into last year’s costume. But while the clouds did move in this afternoon, the rain held off. And so Caitlyn wore the new costume. It’s a little too big in the top, and the hemline will probably start marching toward her knees next …

sewing

I like feather pillows. But they never seem to stay sufficiently lofty, ending up all flat and rather pointless to sleep on. So, we buy more pillows, and put the old, unlofty ones away (since I appear to have inherited my grandmother’s inability to throw things away, something that conflicts with my desire to simplify and tidy, which I think comes from my mother). So, what does one do with old, flat pillows you can’t bring yourself to throw away? Consolidate, of course! It’s an easy-peasy sewing project, all rectangles and straight seams. One I probably should have used stash …