Notes of a Middle Child

"Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet..."

Does anyone else know that song? I think it's Peter, Paul and Mary.  When I was little I thought it was a cute little song about lemons, but then I listened to the lyrics one day and realized it was story about how love is like a lemon - sour.  Phoo!

Here's what I've been working on.  It is my first dress and was made for a little girl named Eliana.  Since I don't have a kid to measure, I used a Simplicity pattern (6576) just to get the length and width right.  I decided to make it reversible and I wasn't sure how that would work with buttons so I made ties at the top instead and also added a pocket.  I had a few missteps - cutting out the pattern upside down once and accidentally sewing up the neck.  But I like how it turned out and now that I've done it I'm sure the next ones will go more smoothly. 

In other sewing news, I just bought Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing book.  It's a beautiful book, but to be honest I wasn't wowed by any of the projects.  I feel like I've seen most of them before.  But mabye I'm only underwhelmed because of the wow factor of the second part of the Amazon order - the Furminator!  Have you seen this thing?  It's a deshedding tool for cats and dogs that I first read about over at Kitty Genius (where she raves about it).  It works crazy good!

Store-wide sale at Z&S

I have a WIP almost ready to show off, but in the meantime I wanted to alert you that Z&S Fabrics is having a 17% storewide sale which ends Tuesday the 31st at midnight.  Why 17%?  I have no idea.  I've ordered from Z&S before and there prices are really good, usually about $7.50/yd.  They carry Amy Butler (under Westminster Rowan), Alexander Henry, Kaffe Fasset (below), and Joel Dewberry among others.  So if you're already thinking of adding to your stash, you might want to check it out.

Jala Neti

I think I'm going to have to make one of these for my bad allergy days.  Allergies are the kind of thing you don't think about much until you have them.  I developed dust allergies about two years ago.  At first every day was bad, but now I only have a really bad day every few weeks.  I've been reluctant to get prescription-strength medication, but have tried all the over-the-counter drugs.  The second generation ones like Alavert and Claritin don't do the job for me and the old pseudoephedrine-based ones work, but zonk me out for the day.  This spring I saw Dr. Oz on Oprah recommend a neti pot (sometime spelled nettie) for allergy sufferers.  They are basically little pots with a spout used to pour salinated water up one nostril, through your nasal passages and out the other nostril - theoretically cleansing your nasal passages of dust and irritants (this is all based on an ancient yogic practice called Jala Neti).  This did not sound pleasant!  I'm one of those people who religiously plugs my nose when swimming and this seemed like the equivalent to diving into clorinated water sans the nose plugging.  But when you're desperate you'll try anything so last week I finally broke down and bought a neti pot at the drugstore.  I'll tell you the truth - the first few times were uncomfortable.  I think I was angling my head too severely.  I watched a few demonstration videos on YouTube (like this one) and now, after a week, it's getting easier and more comfortable.  Since I'm not due for another bad allergy day for another week or so I can't say for sure if this will help, but I'm going to stick with it.  I may also try saline mists.  Anyone else have allergy relief suggestions?

The toilet paper hat photo came from this site which has a bunch more crazy products - if you need a laugh, check it out.

Meet my new toothbrush

                                     

I've been meaning to get one of these Preserve toothbrushes.  They're one of those light green actions I've decided to take.  The handles are recycled polypropylene (mainly from Stonyfield Yogurt cups) and when you're done with it, you send it back and they keep recycling!  You can even buy a toothbrush subscription and get a replacement in the mail every 2, 3, 4, or 5 months.  And I like that the design is simple and sleek and one color.  The angle was strange the first few times, but now I really like it.  I'm pretty in love with my Gilette Venus razor, but I might have to try the Preserve one.  I found my toothbrush at our local organic market for about $3 and they're also sold at Whole Foods, Trader Joes and directly from Preserve.   They even make kids' versions.  Brusha, brusha, brusha!

Put the needle on the record

All the vacation books I had requested from the library conveniently came the day I got back.  I almost got hit by about three cars on the 2 block walk back home because I had my head in Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing book.  Since I am self-taught and consider myself still at the beginner sewer skill level, I was happy for all the descriptions of basic stuff that I could either pat myself on the back for already knowing or experience a little aha moment (um, who knew there were so many ways to attach bias tape?).  The most startling thing in the book was her pronouncement that she uses a new machine needle with each new project.  What???  Wow, I have never changed my needle and didn't intend to until my maiden needle broke.  With that thought in mind I sat down at my machine for the first time in weeks and promptly broke my first needle!  I was trying to attach webbing to a washcloth so I could hang it more easily, but it was too thick for my machine to handle.  Harrumph!  I'm way too frugal (which I often pretend to disguise as "green") to change my needle with every project, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do it now and again.   

Needle changed and ready to go, I made this simple baby boy's blanket for my 5 month old friend, Isadore.  It's hard finding cute prints for boys, but this is one of my favorites (Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy line).  I'd actually never used minky before and found it kind of annoying to work with.  It was stretchier than I expected so next time I'll cut it slightly smaller than the cotton piece to mitigate the bagginess factor that I ended up with.  Oh well, I'm the first to say that I'm not a perfectionist.  And neither is Isadore thank goodness.

   

Home on the Range

 

Hello again!  We're back from Nova Scotia and very much miss the fog and cool temperatures.  It was uneventful as far as vacations go - a lot of sleeping, reading and wine drinking.  We were in Shelburne, a small town on the South Shore where my father and his co-vivant own a 200 year old home which they've been slowly restoring since they purchased it in 2001.  Here's a photo of the outside with the newest batch of shingles on top.  They pretty quickly achieve the weathered look of the lower shingles.

They live on historic Dock Street where the film The Scarlett Letter was made.  It's a really quaint few blocks on the water with many old houses and a few things built or restored by the film crew and left behind.  Here's the Dory Shop which is also a small museum.

The Barrel Shop where they still make wooden barrels (mostly for fish) by hand.  The only woman Cooper working in North America works here.

The local stockade (leftover from the movie - not in use I promise!)

Shelburne was founded by English Loyalists who fled America after the Revolutionary War.  They are very proud of their Loyalist heritage and have reminders of it all over town.

I have lots more photos, but these should give you an idea.  It was so wonderful to comfortably wear jeans and sweaters again, if only for a few days.  We also ate tons of seafood.  Scallops are my favorite and I vowed to eat them every day (sadly I missed one day in lieu of salmon).  We made a few trips to Mr. Fish for scallop burgers which are breaded, fried scallops on a bun with melted cheese and tartar sauce.  A much elevated version of McDonald's Filet-O-Fish.  The best scallops I had were actually in Portland at a place called Street and Co.  They were served with a pernod cream sauce, couscous and snap peas - so, so good. 

So now it's time to head back to the sewing table.  I have a long sewing to-do list and I should have at least one new creation to show you tomorrow.

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to Nova Scotia I go...

My husband, his parents and I are off tomorrow to Nova Scotia via Portland, Maine.  My dad and his co-vivant have a house in Shelburne in the South Shore region.  I haven't been there in over five years.  In contrast to the 90+ degree heat we've had here, we're expecting temperatures in the high 60's, low 70's.  Doesn't that sound heavenly?  I'll report back next week with some photos.  Here's one I took on my last visit (with a seriously low pixel, 1st generation digital camera).

Me Want!

Shhhhh!  I'm supposed to be working, not blogging.  You won't tell, right?  Actually my real sin here is not blogging, but reading craft blogs.  I woke up early this morning to "work," but have been cruising the blogosphere instead.  Anyhow...I ran into this book again. 

I had seen the Japanese version last year over here and was smitten, but filed it under "Oh those adorable Japanese crafters - mine would never come out this cute."  Which still may be the case, but now I'm seeing more folks trying them and it's making me want to give it a go - especially now that an English language version of the book is available (and for only 10 buckaroos)!

Here are a few made-by-real-folks versions to check out:  Wise Craft, House on Hill Road, Simple Sparrow, and this Flickr group (my favorite's got to be this little burro).

Best of all we have a whole box of socks here in our apartment.  For reasons only known to him (but laziness is my guess), my husband has an entire box of socks he never opened or unpacked after our move last year.  He claims he doesn't like any of those socks and has instead been buying new ones.  So I can't just let these poor neglected socks sit there can I?  It's my crafty duty!  So I'll report back on this when I've tried one (probably in a few months if I'm being realistic).  If you try one, let me know so I can check it out and get tips!

Procrastination

Hello friends.  Sorry for tthe slow down of posts.  I am facing a big work deadline so I haven't been near the sewing pile in a few weeks.  The work project is big and boring and so hard to focus on for more than a few hours.  As I work I think of ten things I *must* look up online *right now* and the next thing I know I've frittered away an hour.  I saw this cartoon today and laughed because it so clearly described how I've been feeling.

Since I'm working from a manuscript and can put off the computer portion of the project until the end, I've decided to take myself to the library today - the big main branch with, hopefully, lots of seating and other serious workers - and am leaving the computer behind for the day.  Eeek!  No email!  Eeek!  No blog reading!