Most recent sewing projects

Before my project list is taken up with pants after pants after pants for Red, I decided to do some me projects.  Two are re-fashions (turning old clothes into new), and one is made entirely of fabric I got for free (go freecycle!).

The first project was turning a rather formal gown into a fun top and skirt!  I started out with the dress I wore for my college graduation- a gorgeous embroidered sparkley thing, far too formal for anything I would ever go to, ever... But that was just too fun to let go to waste in my closet.  Biting the bullet and cutting it in half took some courage, but I'm SO glad I did!  The top turned out great- I did a rolled hem along the bottom (love my serger!), replaced the super-thin spaghetti straps with wider ones, and made a new zipper pull (the old one was broken off).  The fabric is a very slinky acetate, which has a gorgeous drape, but is dry-clean only, so this will be a special occasion shirt.  I don't do dry cleaning ;)  The skirt, on the other hand, didn't turn out as great.  It was tricky, since the new waist where I cut it was far too wide (the dress originally was flowy, not fitted), so it took some finagling to get it narrow enough to not look weird but still big enough to do an elastic waistband (hadn't thought about needing a zipper until it was too late).  Also, I shortened it by several inches (I needed the fabric for the new shoulder straps), so that made figuring the waist a little funkier.  Meh, I was more excited to have the top than the skirt anyways ;)

The second project was turning an old skirt into a new halter top!  I had a cute organic cotton skirt from Patagonia, but it wasn't something I wore frequently at all (in fact, it was in the giveaway pile until I realized I could use the fabric for something else).  It's a thick, stretchy jersey, and perfect for a pattern I had in my stash for a halter top, so yesterday I just went for it and made it!  I hadn't sewed from a pattern in a few years (since my Dorothy costume, in fact) and I had forgotten how much I like sewing from a pattern!  It takes all the worry and guesswork out, which may seem like it takes the creativity out, but whatever, it was easy and quick and turned out perfectly, which I can't say would have happened had I made it up as I went!

And the third project was a nice lightweight nightgown, made of fabric and some lace trim that I got on freecycle last year.  I did use a pattern I had to cut the pieces, but constructed it my own way, and I like it!  Nice and light for summer!

Oops, I did it again...

Oops... I let another long span go by between posts... I had great intentions of keeping up much more closely with my blog this summer, keeping up with regular updates on the garden and whatnot, but that just hasn't happened.  Summertime is twice as busy for me as wintertime, since I have both the inside and the outside to take care of!

The garden is doing really well, things are finally starting to look like plants!  Our first crop of lettuce in the greenhouse is long gone, replaced by lots of tomato plants, the blackberries in the greenhouse are growing, and we've already tasted the first strawberries!  Outside the greenhouse, our outdoors crop of lettuce is getting gorgeous, the potato plants are shooting up and filling out with gorgeous foliage, beans and peas and greens are growing, and the cherry trees are laden with young fruits.  Our hens are doing wonderfully!  We now have 10 Buff Orpingtons (got two from Red's mom that are a couple weeks younger than the original 8), they're about 3 months old now and SO BIG!  They look full grown, but they aren't done yet!  They're probably only around 2-3lbs right now, if that, and Orpingtons can get to be around 8lbs!  They are a hoot to watch, fun to hang out with, though don't wear sandals (and especially not crocs!) cause they love to peck at toes!  The very best is letting them out of the coop in the morning.  They fly and flutter and run around, so glad to be out in the fresh air!

We've had quite a few run-ins with bears this year, far more than usual, and have had to stop composting for a while until we can get some electric fencing up.  We've never had problems with critters like this before.  We had a couple visits last year from bears, but there was a period of about two weeks where we had a bear almost every night, and several visits during the day, which is not so common around here.  We even had a bear rip the cam-strap off our trash can, which has never failed us as bear protection before, so now we keep the trash locked in the zircon up the hill.  We haven't had any trouble the past two weeks or so, but for a while it was getting pretty ridiculous, and we now have a rule that no one goes outside without the dog (at any time of day or night).  Whiskey has definitely earned his keep, chasing bears away!  I'm just thankful we don't have any grizzlies around here, that our bears are relatively smaller and less aggressive black bears.

I'm extremely excited, because a big order of all sorts of fabrics is due to arrive this afternoon!  I'm going to be rebuilding Red's work clothes wardrobe from scratch, and I'm actually really excited about it!  I've made pants before, but never anything with a true tailored waistband and fly.  It should be a really fun challenge, and I can't wait to take it on!

In the meantime, some pictures of the garden and hens, taken today!

 The lettuce and onion bed!

 Blackberries climbing in the center, tomatoes around the walls, strawberries everywhere else

 Pole beans

Some of the many potatoes!