fancy pants

a few weeks ago i mentioned that i was thinking about making some wrap pants.  i’m not sure that’s the “technical” name for them, but it pretty much covers what they are.  this week i decided to take a break from making samples (that i still can’t show you!) and have an afternoon of selfish sewing.  i needed wanted something fresh to wear to our wednesday evening outdoor concerts.  turns out i didn’t need an afternoon, it really only took me about 90 minutes from decision to runway!

i used this pattern (because it was on sale), view d because I liked the curve, but you don’t even need a pattern for these…there are plenty of tutorials out there.  i took the lazy lady route and went with the pattern!!

and i used this rayon (also on sale….aren’t i the frugal gal??)  it’s not quite as black and white as it appears.  the white is a bit more creamy making it less stark. there are only two seams…the inseam and the crotch.  then you just hem the edges and stitch on a waistband/tie.  this particular pattern included darts in both front and back, which i wasn’t sure was necessary, but i’m pleased with them.  i serged the entire thing including the hemming….just serged all the edges, turned them under and topstitched.  the only thing i would change was the waistband/tie.  it just seemed a bit overdone for such a simple garment.  i think i’ll streamline it a bit next time.

i was just a tad bit concerned about a breeze….and it was breezy wednesday evening.  but not to worry, there was plenty of coverage, even sitting in those horrid “bag chairs”!!  i felt all fluttery walking around in those silky slacks…very feminine, almost royalty…but a lot like wearing pajamas to town!

now i’m daydreaming about what other fabrics to use…linen? seersucker? another rayon challis?  there WILL be another pair soon.

kim

note: there WAS one downside to these wonderful pants…using the “facilities” required partial disrobing as you need to untie the front, leaving you (only half) undressed!!  sort of a “drop seat”, but not nearly as convenient!  i’m sure there’s a better way!!  i’ll “practice” and let you know the secret!

i fat fingered it

my first born son wears work boots…every day.  back when he was in high school he was a sandals sort of guy, but he and my second born now own their own excavating company and work boots have replaced the sandals.  due to some upcoming obligations he needs to purchase a suit, and all that goes with it, including dress shoes.  yep, my 32 year old son doesn’t own a pair of dress shoes….oh my!  how does he survive!!!

why am i telling you this instead of posting about sewing and creative endeavors?  because i had such an interesting phone conversation today about foot size(?)

my husband and i happened to be in a store and saw a great pair of dress shoes on clearance….fantastic price, but only size 9.5.  so i did “the mom thing” and picked up my phone to notify said son of such a amazing bargain.  i dialed….and had a lovely talk.

me: hey!!  just wondered what size your feet are.

him: oh, about an 8

me:  really?  i thought they were much bigger than that.

him: maybe an 8.5, why?

me: we were just at the store and saw a great deal on these dress shoes and thought i’d let you know just in case you wanted to check them out and save some money.

him: oh, well, they’re 8-8.5, but thanks

me: you sound strange….are you okay?

him: i’m just sort of stuffed up.

this is when i started feeling a little strange vibe going on.  i said ‘just wanted to let you know…talk to you later, we’re on our way to the grocery’, leaving off the usual “i love you” and hung up.

then i looked at my phone and realized I HAD FAT FINGERED THE NUMBER!!!!  i have no idea who i was speaking with!!  i called my “real” son, laughing while trying to tell him about my conversation and he asked “why did it take so long to realize you weren’t actually talking to me?”

i think the real question is….who did this strange young man think HE was talking to?  he didn’t hesitate when asked his foot size and even seemed interested in the sale….THAT alone was suspicious, my son ranks clothes shopping right up there with invasive medical procedures.

so….if you’re out there sir….i apologize, and hope you got a chuckle out of it…and i hope you feel better soon.  (and thanks for being cool to an old lady with fat fingers!)

kim

An abundance of cucumbers

It’s cucumber season! I only grew 2 plants this year (plus some Mexican sour gherkins that are taking their sweet time), but nonetheless I am up to my eyeballs in cucumbers.

I have finally learned my lesson about pickling (we never eat as many as I can), so this year we are doing our level best to eat them all fresh, so I thought I would share some of my favorite ways to get that goodness in us.

Paul made this salad a few days ago and we’ve made it every day since. It’s just chunked cukes, a whiff of white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and the magic ingredient: garam marsala spice blend. It’s a little bit exotic – just the thing to make cucumbers every night taste like a treat.

Cucumber sandwiches are a classic. I have been enjoying them on a sesame bagel with herbed cream cheese (I did chive and sage this time, but you can’t go wrong- mint is especially great). I am serving them for lunch today with pan roasted fennel and onions and a pretty (and edible!) nasturtium on the side.

Speaking of cucumbers and onions, my grandma and great aunts  always did the classic cukes and onions in vinegar and sugar water salad and that just straight up tastes like summer to me.

What do you do with your abundance of cucumbers?

-Elizabeth

coming up short

twice in the past week i’ve come up short on fabric for a project.  i hate when that happens!!  i found what  thought was some great fabric for a photo sample of one of our new patterns and while i KNEW there wasn’t enough on the bolt, i thought i would be able to do some “creative” cutting and make it work….wrong!  and so i went in search of one more yard, which of course was not to be found.  plan b comes into play.  (note to self….come up with a plan b)

the second time was for a personal project and this time i purchased exactly what the pattern called for…no more, no less.  but when i went to cut into it i realized that it had been cut crooked, leaving me needing 1/4 yard more.  it’s a slinky fabric and they had lined it up from the edge, which wasn’t even by a long shot, leaving me short on both ends!  this time i lucked out and found the exact fabric again, but had to drive 30 miles to get it!

i rarely get frustrated with sewing.  i’m pretty laid back about making things work….maybe not textbook approach, but it’s a creative process and i allow myself plenty of room for ‘creative expression’.  i can usually make it work, one way or another.  but this week has been frustrating.  I know i’m going to love the new choice i’ve made for the sample….i just need to let go of the vision i’ve created using the old fabric.  AND find something amazing to do with that too short piece!

how do you handle the frustrating moments?  move on to something new?  continue  struggle with original plans?  today i’m moving on…and it feels right.

kim

Costumes

I was looking through some old photos last week and came across these gems from back when “photography” meant “buy a disposable camera (remember those?), point and click and get it developed” to me.

I got into sewing via “historical” costuming, and one of the highlights of the year for me and my friends was to dress up and attend the Ohio Renaissance Festival every fall.

By high school my stash of costume bits and pieces was big enough to supply most of my friends, and I continued the tradition into college, which is when these pictures were taken. Be jealous of how utterly cool we were. 🙂

I made my tartan costume, Lexy made her own medieval garb.

Yep.

And, bonus: I also found this shot from a program Amy (yep, photographer Amy- we’ve been friends for a looong  time) and I did for the historical society where I worked in college to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

All of those costumes have been sitting in totes in my garage for years now and it’s probably time to let them go, but oh, the nostalgia.  I sewed the tartan costume on my great grandmother’s treadle Singer sewing machine. I totally confused the guys at the local milling company by busting in and asking for the metal bands that boards are wrapped with for shipping (perfect boning for that flat renaissance look as long as you don’t cut your fingers off with it). For that matter, my grandfather gave me a pair of his sheet metal shears (he was a sheet metal worker and roofer by trade) to cut the banding with. Memories.

What were your first projects? How cool were you in high school and college? 🙂 Any nostalgic sewing tools you still use and love? I won’t be getting rid of those sheet metal shears anytime soon, even if they don’t quite go with the rest of my sewing kit.

-Elizabeth

baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and chevrolet!

who among you is old enough to remember that chevrolet jingle?  aside from rain, it can pretty much describe my summer thus far.  early summer brought tee-ball….one of my favorites.  i love watching the wee ones out there on the diamond, some intent on the game…others playing in the dust or picking dandelions in the outfield.  this year my “bug” began her journey into baseball.  “bug” is my 5 year old great niece and for the past almost 4 years we have spent one day a week together.

she’s fierce!!  not afraid of anything and she’s going to be a tough competitor!

then there’s hot dogs….no one needs a picture of hot dogs, but my summer has already seen a few of them on the grill.  the 4th of july picnic was no exception.  my brother-in-law, tony, manned the grill and he always makes a few “special ones” just the way i like them…almost crispy!!

the apple pie hasn’t exactly happened yet…lots of raspberry swirl cheesecake, cheesecake stuffed strawberries and recently zucchini bread…but you never know, that apple pie may just make an appearance!!

as for the Chevrolet?  last night’s nascar race was under a rain delay for hours, and they finally started the race just about the time i was headed to bed.  i thought briefly about calling in sick today in order to say up and watch, but that’s never a good idea.   awoke to the news that dale jr. had won!!!!  we’re a chevy family (at least when it comes to American made) so his win was the icing to a great summer holiday weekend!

Dale Earnhardt Jr., center, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Monday, July 6, 2015, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

i hope your summer has been relaxing so far, and filled with all the good things from an advertising jingle!!

kim

under a full buck moon

tonght is a full moon, known as a “full buck moon” and sometimes (and very appropriate for us right now) called a full thunder moon.  elizabeth was right when she said we were experiencing monsoon season here….it’s been raining, and raining, and raining!  the ground is muck!  but the moon is beautiful.

we managed to mow sunday during the one extended period of dryness and i was also able to finally pick a few black raspberries.  one of the first things we found when we purchased our land some 30 years ago was that we were blessed with lots of wild black raspberries and blackberries.  with all the rain and very little sun, the berry bounty wasn’t huge this year, but i was able to pick a nice bowl full.  jeff decided that instead of berries and whipped cream he would like something baked, so today i made him a cobbler.   i ventured out onto the web and tried a new recipe, which resulted in more of a cake than a cobbler…but seeing that he ate 2 helpings at dinner, it must have been edible!!  i used raw sugar to top it, making a nice crispy top.

a food photographer i’m not!!

wildlife abounds….the night is filled with bird sounds from the woods.  and this evening we were visited by a beautiful hawk who sat on the edge of the woods for quite a while….perhaps spying for mice?

he looks so small here, but this was taken with a 42x zoom. he was actually pretty big!  i noticed that the plethora of bunnies who have been frolicking on the property were absent while the hawk was around….clever bunnies!!

on the sewing front patterns are nearing completion (!!)  two of them should be ready to share very, very soon.  personal sewing has taken a back seat (all the way to the back of the bus!) while final pattern samples are made and edits are placed to instructions.  i do have plans to make some wrap pants.  has anyone made these??  so simple to make and they look like they’re going to be super comfy….like wearing pajama’s but in a stylish sort of way, not a walmart shopper sort of way!

and so, july is upon us.  looking forward to our local parade, street fair and of course the family cookout.  my parents have hosted a cookout on the 4th for something like 60+ years…here’s hoping for a dry day!  wishing you all a happy 4th of july!

go take a look at that moon!

kim