Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Dog Days

Ok, finally -- something garden UN-related.

I SEWED!

=D

Yes, very exciting news.
I lead a very dull life, sorry.

It's been about a 7 month break from my sewing machine - there just wasn't any motivation.

I stopped by a yard sale on a whim about a month or so ago (even yard sales don't seem to strike up my fancy these days) and found a bag of vintage sewing notions -- I bought them with the hopes that it will help encourage me to take the time to sew again .
That, and I am somewhat of a hoarder (I wonder where I got that particular trait from...I'm looking at you, mom!)

vintage notions - ric rac, lace trim, double bias tape photo IMG-20130518-WA0003.jpg

All for a grand total of...a dollar. Gotta love yard sales.

The other part of the story is this:

I've been looking around for something that won't be an eyesore, and even those would cost me a good $30-$40 on the cheap end of the scale.

And I'm cheap.

So, with much encouragement from my daughter (yes, really), she sat at the sewing table, doing a workbook to practice her alphabets, and I cut out the fabric.

And voila!

A complete "how hard can it be" wing-it project, where I ventured into using an invisible zipper for the first time.

It is essentially a pillow cover, in which i stuffed Isabel's old crib bumpers into (we are all about recycling here), hence why it looks a tad lumpy.
But it works

All for a total of $2.10
(for the zipper. I hoard fabric as well)

Because Melly is slightly dumb hyper, Buddy worked as a better model
(which then resulted in her getting jealous - again - and tried to bully him off it. Fun times)

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The other side is made with cozy flannel , to suit the colder months. 
And it makes a nice contrast, in case I get sick of looking at the print.

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And also because I ran out of the cotton print fabric.

Here's the interesting bit (to me, at least)

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Because  I was working from my stash as much as I could, I used bias tapes that were produced about 30 years apart.

Do you notice a difference?

The bias tape for the top trim was made in 2008.
The one on the bottom, in 1980 (purchased from the yard sale)

I think...or perhaps it is the other way round...

Regardless, there is a slight color variation (Brite Pink vs Berry Sorbet - seems like the names got a tad fancier), but other than that, I don't notice much of a difference.

I think that is amazing.

Monday, July 01, 2013

A Little Evening Gathering..

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The blue hydrangea (Endless summer variety) bush is overflowing with blooms, so I decided to help lessen its burden again in the twilight hours one evening

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Buddy is visiting with Melly and I for a week while Isabel and her dad goes back to the Mid-West for a visit with family

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I am finding that I much prefer the white hydrangeas these days...I hope that the 4 bushes of whites (blushing bride and endless summer varieties) that I've planted will do as well as the blue (which at 3 years, is the most mature)

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Guess what else is also starting to bear fruit? 

Japanese eggplant tree from my little square foot gardening patch...the only one that is bearing fruit at the moment. I have decided that tomatoes plants are too much trouble for me -- I don't even particularly LIKE tomatoes. Next year, I shall have to reconsider the plan of attack. 

Vegetable gardening is a tad too time-consuming for me. I who generally like to do something once and be done with it.
 
My basil is doing great though...but again, much more than I know what to do with it...

I have been missing my darling dreadfully...
  
But it is nice to be able to actually have time in the nights to do WHATEVER I WANT. 

Catching up on movies is one - I don't remember the last time I've actually watched a grown up movie the whole way through. The dogs are good cuddlers for that.