analog me

Eight questions

Jessica tagged me with eight questions, which is good because it's summer and I'm feeling random.  

Here goes:

1) What is your favorite "me time" activity?

Well, it depends. My horoscope once said I should; "Refill your well by frequenting unlikely places," advice I have taken to heart. I happily forget that time exists while:  thrifting  vintage dishes, sewing supplies, and other oddities; walking around the wilder (more natural that is) places in my city; looking at vintage sewing machine online auctions ( I just love those Bernina 530s); or messing round in my community garden plot.

Oh yeah, I like to do crafty-crap while in the vicinity of the family (or dog).

 

2) Favorite made-by-you item? 

My hands are cold all winter so a few years ago I knit, hand felted and embroidered these mittens to wear over an alpaca liner. I used to lose at least three pairs of mittens every winter, but I love these so much that I have now had them a record three years ! The palms are so worn that the stitches are starting to show and they are getting thin and less windproof so I guess I need to make a new pair.

 

3) What is your "crap I have no time but must make something to eat" go-to meal? 

This happens to me a lot. My standby is eggs. If it is my eldest son who needs something high protein and high energy to eat, I cut up a potato, cook it in a good bit of oil and butter then mix in 1-2 eggs, a good spoonful of salsa and some grated cheese and serve it in doubled-up microwaved corn tortillas. The secret of this dish is to stir as little as possible in all steps. For myself, I like a well-cooked egg with leftover vegetables and some cheese.

My husband makes a fast pizza with Lavosh bread topped with sauce, mozzarella and whatever else on hand. He cooks it in hot oven right on the oven rack for a crispy crust.

 

4) One way you've changed that would seem most surprising to the other people attending your high school reunion?

High School? People would be most surprised if I actually attended a reunion, as I dropped out, finished by correspondence and didn't go to my graduation. 

5) When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I really wanted to be a ballerina, failing that I was willing to settle for a career as a spelunker. I grew up way out in the country where there weren't any ballet classes but I did spend a lot of time outside exploring (but not caves). As a teen I took up dance and then studied archaeology--so I guess my earliest fantasies weren't too off target. 

6) The next craft you want to learn?

I would really like to learn Adobe Illustrator. Is that a craft?  My house is threatening to become a fiber death trap, but I have promised my husband a quilt, so I guess quilting is on my list too.  

 7) Do you like having your photo taken? Why/not?

I hate having my photo taken--especially by my camera timer. The shutter always seems to snap when I have a strange expression on my face.  

 8) Current favorite color combination?

Hmmm. . . I like triads like Brown, Pink and Orange, or Purple, Pink and Brown. Lately I have been wanting to wear red and white.

Okay, eight questions for some others:

1) Does your mom or a mother-figure read your blog? (Discuss.)

2) If you could choose outstanding talent in any area (and you didn't have to sacrifice your soul) what would it be?

3) Desert Island book/movie: what is it?

4) What is your favorite made-by-you item?

5) Do you have any tips for laundry efficiency? I am desperate.

6) What junk food do you adore?

7) The style/fashion of what decade (or century or eon) do you think would or did or does most flatter you?

8) What is your current favorite piece of clothing or footwear?

And I'm tagging:

Andreae

Becky

Janey

Melynda

Terrariums

It's summer vacation, and we have had lots of rain. Older son is off to work at camp, the younger one was following me around saying he was bored, really b-o-r-e-d.  I like to make up the day's agenda as I go, so the first week with an out-of-school schedule is unsettling for my kids. And rain complicates many activities--except moss collection.

My younger son has been wanting to make a terrarium for months, so we walked around our city block and collected three kinds of moss, some lichen and pine cones. (Note: the pine cones and wood started to rot.) For a base layer, we used poultry grit left from sprinkling on icy sidewalks. Found some activated charcoal and laid down a thin layer of that, and topped it off with potting soil. My son did the "gardening" and the landscape design. The deer was part of a small herd given to me by a my French friend, Valerie one Christmas so that we could have an authentic French Buche de Noel. 

We were pretty excited by the results so went to the thrift store and got more jars. Then hit a garden center and found some sweet ferns. Valerie also gave me the little ceramic king in the jar on the far right below-- for a special cake served on Jan. 7th to celebrate the Three Kings. So now he has a place to stay in the off season. (I think a French pastry supply store must be an amazing place.)

These are a perfect project for those who have rather short crafting patience, and those who might get a little OCD and enjoy gardening with chopsticks. (That would be me.)

Either way, the results are exactly the same.

We will see how well the moss and plants survive, but now they are quite gorgeous and we had a lot of fun.

There are a lot of directions for terrariums out there, but the basics are crazy easy. In a nice jar, put down a drainage layer: pebbles, grit, gravel. Then put down a thin layer of charcoal to keep down mold. (Not charcoal briquets that have chemicals in them.)  The final layer is moist potting soil. (This should take up no more than 1/3 of your jar.)

If you have little plants put them in next. Cover bare soil with moss and arrange your treasured trinkets, rocks, fossils etc on top.  Spray with water.

Laundry Challenged

Looking back on May, I sadly--but not surprisingly--recognize that the hardest part of wearing self-made clothes for a month ended up being my old nemesis: THE LAUNDRY. 

During much of May, I had tooth problems, and became unable to deal with more than trying to remember how many hours before I could take my next dose of pain pills, wearing something clean I made myself, and reading the complete ouvre of James Herriot Dog Stories. (Just in case you ever need tranquilizing reading, I do recommend the "Warm and Wonderful Stories about the Animals Herriot Loves Best.") 

During this time, the Mr. went to work, did most of the housework and washed those unceasing bushels of laundry. 

Laundry beefcake courtesy of Minnesota HIstorical Society photos

The weather became warm and humid and we were often too distracted to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer--or from the dryer upstairs and out of our dank basement-- so our "clean" clothes would sit in the laundry dungeon and mildew. I would then innocently drag the giant baskets of laundry upstairs, fold a couple shirts, realize they stank, do my impersonation of the cursing mommy , dump the clean-yet-fetid washed clothes into the dirty laundry stream and then repeat the whole process again.  What is it about laundry and obscene language anyway?

A Minnesota Mildew-free (obscenity free?) Post-tornado al fresco laundry party  

By the time we finally got the laundry clean, I had lost weight (the tooth) so my jeans were too big, and my 10-year old had outgrown his pants.

Anyway, I realized the hardest part of wearing the clothes I had so carefully stitched up was washing them. 

So, I think I'm up for a REAL challenge. It's going to be the month when I finally get every bit of laundry clean. All the down jackets I dumped in the basement in May, all the heavy comforters, all the socks under the couch. . . crap,  just writing that made me depressed. I was going to ask if anyone wanted to join me, but damn let's not do that.

Those tornado victims above have inspired me. I'm going to go for this: Al Fresco Laundry Month. After doing all that other stuff that needs doing, let's get outside and do the laundry! 

Here are some awesome products to think about.

I want this hand-operated washing machine. And that Butane Iron. . . smoking hot!

Might will settle for a Washboard.

But it's raining today, so I guess I will get started making some pants that fit.

Vintage sewing project

When my husband makes bad art he knifes the canvas and tosses it in the trash can. I tend to shove my mistakes in a hidden place for a few weeks (or months) and then wad it up and stuff it in the trash. From the evidence I recently found at an estate sale, some people apparently hang onto botched projects for about a half century.

Unfinished vintage sewing project.

I grabbed this fabric because I liked the print, but it turned out to be an unfinished dress.  At the same sale, in the attic, there was a seized up Singer  "Spartan." With this information, and the physical evidence of the wonky seams on the bodice, my overactive imagination pictures a scene where the poor instructions for a collar insertion, bad skirt cutting, and some issues with stitch regulation forever destroy a woman's dream of becoming a seamstress. 

The fabric print is so strong it's hard to see the style, but I'm guessing it dates to the early 1950s. Something like this but without the center front seam and skirt details:

 Pattern image from mom's patterns. 

Which means that it has been sitting unfinished for at least 50 years. But,  I thought I could deal with another person's mistakes and make an interesting  blouse and skirt out of this. (I don't think I could carry off an entire dress with that amazing print.) 

The bodice was too short for a top so I added vintage fabric as a sort of peplum, but I didn't flare it out enough for my hips so I had to add side slits. It was still too big through the bust so I then slit the whole front, added front facings and overlapped the front with a button closure.

 I added bias trim around the sleeve opening and a bit of trim and bright red buttons to add to the general bricolage effect.

 Crazy, but I love it. The collar still need some severe pressing every time I wear it, but I find I can live with someone else's mistakes much more easily than my own.