Us

We took this in a random bookstore photobooth yesterday after our last company picnic.

I kinda can’t wait to be funemployed with this guy.

Summery

I am totally obsessed with sewing. I made this (rather ill fitting) little dress last weekend (which knew I had to make immediately after seeing Carrieoke’s version on Flickr), and despite its flaws, I love it so. It’s just so… summery!

First, the good points:

- The fabric was cheap! I got it for $6.50/yd on Etsy (it’s Tina Givens). I know I shouldn’t love something because of its price (a lesson I have learned the hard way after my years of shopping at thrift stores) but it was nice to be able to experiment with cheap fabric that is still kind of cute.

- The length is perfect. At first I wasn’t so sure about having a tea-length dress, but now I love it.

- It has poooooooockets!!! I was so! intimidated! by the pockets when I first saw the pattern and had considered omitting them completely, but I decided to face the challenge head on and – once again, they were way easier than I had thought they’d be. But! The pockets also weigh down the dress a bit, which brings me to the bad points….

- It keeps slipping! I’ve been told I can fix this by adding some spaghetti straps, and while I was originally against that, I’m starting to think those are the only things that will make this thing wearable!

- And also? It’s HUGE (which is admittedly the style of the dress) but the back is sooooooo unflattering. I have some ideas on how to bring this in, and again, the fabric was pretty cheap so I can afford to mess around with it, but I was really hoping this wouldn’t look like a mumu on me. And it kind of does.

But like I said, despite all this flaws, I’m still wearing it! And I even plan to make another one, which will hopefully fit a bit better next time.

Oh, and regarding the pattern, I totally forgot to mention it’s Heather Ross’s Mendocino Summer Dress, which is available for free on her web site. If you’re a newbie sewer, I definitely suggest you watch the video of Heather Ross making the little-girl version of this dress on the Martha Stewart show, AND check out Carolyn’s comments on this pattern on her Flickr page. I completely agree w/ her assessment!

FO: Lace Ribbon Scarf

I have a knitting FO to show off! I finished the Lace Ribbon scarf last week! Things were touch-and-go there for a while with this scarf, because it was knitting up way too thick the first time around. I ended up frogging it once I was several inches in, and I was able to knit back up to where I was within a weekend. Turns out it was way faster to knit with fewer repeats! : )

I just love how it turned out.

It’s so light and drapey.

Soft and shimmery.

Perfect for a Texas winter.

BOATING!!!!

(Not really.)

We took our little boat out on the (big!) lake yesterday with hilariously disastrous results. It was the first time we’d taken it out (T has been fixing on it for years now) so this was more of a water test, to see if it would even float. We get it in the water and T starts the motor (which takes 2-cycle (!!! like a lawnmower!)) and it immediately starts coughing blue smoke. “Um, is that normal?” “Yah, it’s fine, don’t worry about it.” Then we’re out on the water for like 20 minutes and it starts tooootally smoking. So we turn back to the boat ramp and there are all these people unloading their boats into the water. So we circle and circle and circle and I’m starting to pester T about being more AGGRESSIVE and then finally the motor just totally dies. So T has to ROW US TO LAND using some oars he thankfully (!!!) put in the boat before we left. Then some homeless guy runs out on the dock and yells “Throw me your bow line!” and tows us in. Then when T was lifting the motor up onto the boat, the strap totally broke! So, again, the homeless guy (his words, btw, not mine!) totally saved us by helping T to heft the thing up so we could tow it up the boat ramp. Yowza. We are cursed with boats, I tell you.

I have perfected hummus

After 5 batches of hummus in the past few weeks, I think I finally have it down. I use this recipe, but with less tahini, more olive oil, and I add paprika, roasted red peppers, roasted garlic, and Penzey’s garlic powder. NOM.

Stacy’s® Original Hummus:

Ingredients:

* 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
* 1 garlic clove
* juice of 1 lemon
* 1 tablespoon tahini
* Extra Virgin olive oil
* salt to taste

Instructions:

In a food processor, blend chick peas and garlic. Add lemon juice and tahini. Thin mixture by slowly adding olive oil until the hummus reaches desired consistency. Add salt to taste. Serve with Stacy’s® Simply Naked Pita Chips and booze.

Camping at Cedar Springs, Part II

As promised, here are photos of our spelunking adventures! (Granted the whole trek only took about 5 minutes, but it was still fun to check out and the hike out to the cave was lovely.)

OK so here we are at the entrance. This part was actually impressive. It was HUGE!

Now we're in the cave, looking out.

Here's a shot of the river rushing through the cave, which I think helped form it? (I included the trash on the left for scale.)

Right about now I decide it's a good time to turn on my head lamp. It's about to get DARK.

REALLY DARK!!!

But after a mild panic attack, we were finally at the exit.

Just outside the cave - no worse for the wear. (Will someone please schedule a haircut for me? Please?!)

One last look at the end of the cave.

Aaaaaaaand there you have it! That’s Boulder Cave!

Camping at Cedar Springs, Part I

We took off last Friday and went camping last weekend. I realized once we got to the camp site that I hadn’t been camping in over a year. It seems like we used to go a half a dozen times each summer, but I don’t think I went at all last year! That probably explains why I was sooooooo happy to be outside! Breathing fresh air! In the sun!

I also went a little snap-happy with my iPhone (left my real cameras at home this time). I took so many photos I’m going to divide them into two posts – tomorrow I’ll post photos of our spelunking adventures!

Fog over Chinook Pass

Campsite - We ended up not needing that humongous tarp, but it was really nice to have in case it rained!

Camping still life (it's become a tradition).

I wanted to make sure we had all the letters - turned out we we're missing a "V."

Bumping Lake

Bumping River

Action shot! T MacGuyvering a beer bottle open w/ his pocket knife!

Highlight of the trip? Seeing the BIGGEST ANTHILL EVER.

 

 

 

Bicraftual

Oooh I’ve definitely got the sewing bug. I’ve really been trying to reign it in and minimize my spending, but when I found out that Etsy had good deals on stuff I wanted (needed!) I allowed myself to partake in a little shopping spree. After all, a girl needs a hobby. And a girl needs some raw materials if she’s going to have said hobby. (I may have also bought a new sewing machine. More details on that later!)

The reason I can't sleep at night.

I about died when I came home yesterday because all my goodies had come at once! (I got the Amy Butler Cabo Halter pattern (which I’ve been wanting to make for years! years!) from moderngirlsfabrics, the Amy Butler fabric is from fabricplace, and the zippers are from zipit.)

I haven’t chosen fabric for the halter yet, and I think I’m going to make this skirt with that fabric. One issue I’m already having is trying to picture what the final product will look like in a different fabric or pattern or color. (I also have this issue with knitting, but at least I can look up a million options on Ravelry.) I’m hoping it gets easier with practice, and I’ve also been spending a lot of time on Flickr lately, looking at what other people have done. If you know of any other good sewing resources, please leave them in the comments!

Repurposed

(Inspired by Twisted Knitter’s recent blog post.)

We have a running joke in our house that almost everything in the house has been repurposed for another use, and almost nothing is used as it was originally intended. We have portholes for windows, an old freezer door as a bathroom door, and Christmas lights hanging in our kitchen. (We also go back and forth as to whether our house is a “funhouse” or just a “fun house.”)

This has been mostly instigated by T, who has an uncanny pension for repurposing, but it’s finally started to catch on to me. I recently repurposed this lunch sack for a knitting bag.

And this cute knitting box bag has become my makeup bag.

I realize these uses don’t drastically differ from their intended uses, but I’m glad I was able to make room in my life for these special things. I’m not usually one for hoarding (my motto is usually If you don’t use it, toss it!) but these were too cute not to use.

I haz a skirt!

I just finished sewing my skirt and I kind of love it. It took waaaaaay longer than I expected (natch) but I’m glad I took things slowly and took the time to un-do what didn’t look like it was working. I won’t bore you with all the details… well, maybe I will.

The pattern: I used the skirt pattern from “Sew U” but it only goes up to size 12. I am a size 14. So I taped the pattern to a piece of freezer paper and taped it to the window and sketched a larger size (just extending the Large out about an inch). This mostly worked, except I did have to go back and undo the side seams because it was a smidge too tight. Also, it’s not as A-Line as I’d hoped (she tells you how to adjust for this in the book, and I forgot in the flurry of all the other math). Next time, I’ll just friggin’ BUY a pattern that is MY SIZE.

I’m really glad I used this pattern, though, instead of a basic elastic waist skirt. I learned about darts, facing, and I sewed my first zipper! I definitely appreciated the challenge. Here’s to learning new things!

Fabric: I love love love this fabric! It is probably too thin for a skirt, and I was going to line it, but um, I didn’t. I may still, but I think this fabric is so thin it will probably wrinkle easily, and I don’t think lining will help that. Not bad for $12, but next time I’ll go for fabric that’s actually meant for apparel (not quilting).

Zipper: I’d love to say this was easier than it seemed, but um, it took me over 2 hours to sew! I blame it all on the zipper foot though. Evvvvvvveryone said you needed a zipper foot, and I got one, but I don’t think it fits my machine. It doesn’t sit on the fabric, so it wasn’t really working. Eventually I ended up gluing the zipper to the fabric instead of basting it, and then sewing it with the regular foot. It worked okay, but I would like to go back and do it again with a zipper foot someday.

Facing: I think facing was probably the hardest part! So much sewing! So many curves! But I took it slowly and it actually turned out pretty well. I think it will help minimize some curling and wrinkling in the tummy area too. (Hopefully?)

Hem: This was pretty intimidating, and I’m still not sure I did it right. You have to sew from the inside so that you can see what you’re doing, but that means the ugly stitch is on the outside. I don’t think that’s right?

Now me and my skirt are going to go enjoy some lemonade on the deck!