SMS Softie Contest Entry

Above is my submission to the SMS Softie contest.  The Raggedy Ann & Andy are each approximately 7" long.  I used all scrap fabric, yarn, and notions, and hand embroidered the face on each of them.  The "hair" was added like you would hook a rug.

I made the dolls using a Simplicity pattern from long ago.

Harvest Monday 06/30/14

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I am particpating in Harvest Monday located on Daphne's Dandelions.  Please visit her site to see more gardener's who are participating.   I have actually harvested a lot more than this, but forgot to take the camera.  This was harvested on Sunday, so I am showing Sunday's harvest on Monday :)  Yellow Straightneck and Ronde de Nice squash.  Very good!

 Kennebec and Purple Majesty potatoes. 

 

Purple Queen, standard green, and Italian green beans.  I love the Italian beans the best.  They are "meatier" and most tasty than the others.  So far, I have canned 40 pints of green beans!  My goal is 75 pints.  We will see if I reach that goal.

Take care and God Bless!

Everything is just ducky, and clucky, and mooey, and veggie...

Things are going pretty good on the homestead.

Quack and Smack (Smack is the Drake.)

Everything is just clucky.  There is a baby duck, named Baby Huey that hangs with the chickens because a momma hen raised it.  LOL  It has not clue it is a duck :)

Miss Molly - The Matriarch

Miss Minnie Moo - Molly's first calf.  Minne gave birth this Spring to a bull calf, which has been made a steer. His name is Sir Loin The Beefcake.  No pictures of him.  He will be butchered the first of next year, so I try not to spend a whole lot of time with him.  I get way too attached to our animals.  It is good to be a heifer at our homestead :)

Maggie Einette - Molly's second daughter.

Molly, Minnie, and Maggie - The three amigas!  Our cows are pure Jersey milk cows.  Sweet, gentle, and great milk producers.  We love our raw milk.  All three ladies are bred and due to calf in late February.

Curious Molly hamming it up for the camera.

Back garden - Right outside my doorstep.  It is lush w/ tomatoes, squashes, green beans, onions carrots, corn, cucumbers, and corn..  Oh, I have an artichoke, and two egg plants out there.  Neither of them are doing very good though.  This garden is approximately 12 or 13 feet x 42'.

Front Garden - See all the bushy stuff?  That is all potatoes.  You cannot see all the other squashes, watermelon, cantaloupe, peppers, sweet potatoes and corn growing because of the potatoes!  Awesome!!! This garden is approximately 23' x 60'.

Grapes are graping :)  They are twice as big as last year.  I cannot wait.

 I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer, and getting out and enjoying the weather! 

I have been sewing some.  Sewing will be more heavy during the winter!  There are just too many other things to do around here this time of year.

2014 gardening lessons

Only plant cold weather veggies in late March through April.  Wait to plant hot weather plants until mid-May.

2014 Veggie/herb garden:

Tomatoes - Several varieties
Potatoes - Three different varieties
Onions - Red, white, and yellow
Carrots - Three different varieties
Broccoli Romanesco
Cauliflower - This is my last year to see if I can get this to grow
Corn - Three different varieites
Beans - Bush type "green" beans - Three different varieties
Salad greens - Mesculan
Raddichio
Pak choi
Radishes - Two different varieties
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Yellow squash
Scallop squash
Veggie Spaghetti
Peppers - Several different varieties
Sweet meat squash
Red Kuri squash
Speckled hound squash
Okra
Cucumbers -Two different varieties
Artichoke - First year trying to grow
Asparagus
Garlic
Lavender
Rosemary
Oregano
Basil
Sage
Cilantro
Dill

This was my first year to plant everything (w/ the exception of potatoes and onions) from seed.  It was quite the success.  I am going to try growing all my onions in 2015 from seed.  We will see how that goes. 

My goals for 2014 gardening is to grow enough tomatoes, peppers, and onions to not have to purchase any from the store.  I do not think I will get there on the tomatoes because I put them out too early, and several of them died.  When I say I put them out too early, I mean I put them out the last week of April and first week of May.  Lesson learned.  From here on out, they will not be placed in the garden until mid-May and on.  I still have several tomatoes, but I do not believe I have enough provide all my sauces, etc. that I would normally purchase.  Dangit!  Oh well, there is always next year.

We have been independent on the following for the past 1 - 3 years:
Potatoes
Carrots
Green beans
Corn
All herbs
Squash
Okra
Asparagus
Salad greens - I only eat salads during the Spring/early summer.  When my greens are gone, salads go the way of the dinosaur until next year. 

We also planted more blackberry bushes and two blueberry bushes.  I did also plant another peony bush.  I try to add one every couple of years, because I love them so much :)  Next year, I plan on purchasing two more peony bushes and three rose bushes to round out the west side of my house.

Our fruit trees are doing well, along with our grapes.

I am working on smothering out an area by our back garden to place strawberries next year.

We have two veggie garden plots, and one herb garden plot:

Veggie:  One is 13 x 48 feet, and the other is 25 x 62 feet.  Weeding is a challenge, and one I do not enjoy; however, I have pledged to do a better job than in the past at keeping the garden as weed free as possible.

Herb garden:  4 x 13 feet - It needs to be amended this winter.  This is where I plant my asparagus as well. 

All in all, a very productive gardening season so far.

Between the gardening and milking the cow, we have been busy.  That doesn't count the chickens and ducks, but really, they are pretty self-sufficient this time of year.

Take care and God Bless!

February MAGAM - Simplicity 2285 and a simple turtleneck - McCalls 6796

Well, February's MAGAM didn't take no time at all, and it looks pretty good.  I cut out and sewed it together on February 1st.

I made a black tie belt out of an old pair of black pants.  The fabric was still good, but the pants no longer fit.  I lined it with a brown poly lining, which was slick as can be.  I got through it, but I need more practice with slippery fabrics.   I cut a size 14, and didn't change anything, except I added a black button at the top with an black elastic loop.  I think it looks better that way.  It should be pretty warm, and should add a bit of snap to my normal conservative wardrobe.

And I just finished a simple turtleneck today using McCalls 6796.  I used this pattern before when making my January MAGAM.  The knit fabric is thin, so it was a bit tricky to sew.  I used the knit stitch on my machine, and things went pretty well.  I cut a 14, and the only thing I did on the sleeves was remove about 3/4" from the sleeve cap; otherwise, there was not way to insert the sleeve without there being puckers.  Other than that, it went together good.  I love this McCalls pattern, and will use it a lot.  The next time I make the turtleneck, I will double the neck collar width so, it can fold over like a true turtleneck.  This will go good w/ my brown wool skirt, and khaki pants.  I also have two cardigans that will go great w/ the top.  I want to make a short sleeve version of this pattern pretty soon.  I think I will use some white t-shirt knit fabric.  I need a decent white t-shirt for spring and summer.

Well, I have at least one more garment I want to sew in February, and that is a pair of Thurlow pants out of khaki twill fabric.  I should have enough of the fabric left over to make a khaki skirt.  I am sewing the pants as part of the Monthly Stitch Challenge.  I am still working out waistband issues on the Thurlows.  I think I am going to use the waistband from my favorite skirt pattern.  I believe it will work well.  I can make some adjustments if needed.  If I can get the pants made by mid-February, then I have one last winter top I want to make before I start in on my Spring/Summer outfits. 

I know I should model these items, but I am getting the same crud everyone in my office has gotten.  I was hoping I would get by this winter w/o getting sick, but w/ all the hacking and sneezing, I guess it was inevitable. :(

I am starting out as a busy bee on sewing, and hope I do not loose steam before the month is done :)

In other news, I would like to introduce you to Sir Loin - The Beef Cake.  He was born on 01/31/13 @ 3:30 a.m.  He is a sweet little man, and his momma is doing an excellent job taking care of her little guy.   Jerseys look like little deer when they are born.  It will be interesting to see what color he ends up being.  The sire is black, and I really hope he looks like his daddy.

Take care and God bless!

Knitting and Simplicity 2285

 A basket weave scarf was finished a couple of weeks ago.  I knitted it out of some unmarked wool that was in my stash.  It was intended to be a gift, but didn't get finished in time.  It will eventually be a gift for someone now LOL

 I have also started a pair of simple stockinette stitch socks.  My goal this year is to knit three pairs of sock, each increasing in difficulty.  Sock knitting has never been my favorite, but I want to keep the skills I do possess.  I am knitting these with unmarked ball of Superwash Wool on size 2 needles using the Magic Loop method.  To me, Magic Loop is the way to go for socks.   Double-pointed needles are a pain to maneuver.

Above is my February MAGAM project.  I will make View C.  It is fairly simple, and I have wanted to make it for quite some time out of the animal print fabric I have had in my stash.  My quandary is the tie belt.  I have black fabric that will work for the tie belt, but I really would like to have a genuine leather tie belt.  Will the skin flint in me win out?  We must wait and see!

In other news, I bought myself a Kindle Fire HD, and love it.  I use it mainly to read, but do piddle around on the web with it as well.

Take care and God Bless!

January MAGAM - McCalls Twinset - M6803 & M6796

Blurry photo - sorry

 The jacket is M6803, and while is extremely easy to make, it has quite a few of fitting issues - mainly due to the pattern being sized way too big.  Below are the changes/alterations I made to the pattern to make it fit:
1.  I started with a size small and graded it out to a medium at the jacket hip.
2.  I used a size small on the sleeves and they were mega long and wide, so to fix this, I took 1-1/2" off of the length of the sleeve, and 2-1/2" total from the width.  You will have seriously ridiculous sleeves if you do not do this.
3.  The shoulder/sleeve cap is meant to fall over the shoulder a bit, but as the pattern is made, the shoulder falls at least 3" over your shoulder, so I took out 3/4" from the shoulder, and took out about 3/4" from the sleeve cap.

With the above changes, it fits like a gem, and I will use this pattern all the time for my go to simple cardi pattern.  Your fabric choices will make the cardi not look like something from the 70's and 80's.  Looking at the pattern envelope, it quite frankly looks boring and ugly, and for some reason, I was able to see past the ugly...Fabric, fabric, fabric, just sayin' LOL

Okay, I wanted a top that matches it, and I had enough of the fabric left over to make the above.  I made the sleeveless version w/ the draped collar.

I cut a straight 14, and it fits like a gem right out of the envelope.  No changes were necessary.  Praise the Lord!  I love this pattern much better than the Sewaholic Renfrew top pattern, because no changes are necessary to get a good fit.  I will use this pattern over and over. 

I say no changes were necessary, but the pattern calls for just turning up the sleeve holes and stitching them down.  I didn't do that.  I cut fabric bands from the brown that I used on the collar to give it a more finished look.

BTW, the brown fabric was once a thrift store ponte knit skirt.  I go to thrift stores all the time to find good deals, and/or items that I know I could never wear in it's current condition.  I refashion the unwearable ones, or cut them up and use them to sew articles of clothing.  

Below are a couple of tips:

For those who have trouble making neck and/or sleeve bands lie flat, cut the bands 1-1/2" to 2" shorter than what the neck or sleeve measurement is.  You will then fit the band to the neck or sleeve, and when you sew it down, it gives a wonderful flat look.  Works for me every time.

Also, if you do not use a serger to sew knits, and I do not, use your walking foot, as it will pull both fabrics through at the same time, which will aide in the fabric not slipping out of place.  Also, I learned a good trick to add a bit of knit interfacing to the bottoms of hems, etc., and then turn the hem up and sew.  The fabric will be more stable and will not shift.

Take care and God bless!

Simplicity 3961

The above skirt was made from approximately 2 yards of fabric I have had in my stash for at least 2 years.   I used piping to break up the front and back skirt panels since the fabric is so busy.   I inserted a lapped zipper and used snaps at the waistband in lieu of buttons.

The skirt is a little big on me since I have lost some weight and did not take that into consideration.  It can still be worn though so that is all that matters to me.

Take care and God Bless

Francis revisited my way

I swear, both sleeves are the same length :)

Hello.  I've been away for a while due to a very strange mystery illness that had me down pretty good.  After several thousand dollars worth of tests, the doctors could not come up with a diagnosis, and slowly on my own, I started getting better.  Thank you God!  He is the great healer.

Thankfully, I did still manage to work during the 4 months of being ill, and when I was feeling okay, I did a bit of sewing and some knitting.  The above sweater is proof :)

The pattern is Francis Revisited that I found for free on Ravelry.  I did change the pattern a bit.  I knitted it longer, did rib knit on the sleeve edges and bottom, and added a turtle neck to it.  I knit it on size 10 needles and used a wool/mix blend from Berroco.  I bought the yarn a long time ago, and I cannot remember the "name" of it.  I knitted a medium size, and it fits great.  It is a long, tunic length that will look good w/ skinny jeans, straight skirts, and other slacks. 

I love knitting sweaters.  They take me a while, but the end result is worth the time and effort.  I want to knit a pretty lace-weight shawl out of some Kid Silk Haze that I have had for quite some time.  I just need to find a free pattern on Ravelry to utilize.  I am also knitting a basket weave scarf for the guy who does my hair.  It will be a late Christmas present, because I know I will not have it done in time.

Next on the blog docket is a pretty skirt that just needs the snaps placed on it, and the hem done.  I also have two refashions that I did in September that I never got to blog about.

I pray everyone is doing well!

Take care and God Bless.

Merry Christmas!

God's Blessings to Everyone!

My Fabric Fairy Find

Two weeks ago, I entered my name in to win one of several gift certificates to online fabric stores on the Sew Mama Sew website.  Lo and behold, I was one of the winners.  I won a $30.00 certificate to the The Fabric Fairy.  It didn't take me long to place my order.

I got two yards of this lovely bamboo linen.








And, two yards of this pretty gauze knit


I am so excited that I won, and very appreciative of The Fabric Fairy.

Thank you!!

New Simplicity Jacket

This is a cute little jacket that I made about 3 weeks ago.  I used a Simplicity pattern.  The jacket was meant to be unlined, but I added an interlining.  I finished all the inside seams with lace.

I added piping along the front of the jacket and end of the sleeves to make it a bit more professional looking.  I also added a frog closure.  I pondered a moment about adding a black frog closure, but in the end, I thought I would keep the colors matching.  About the piping, this is not only the first time I have used piping with sewing, but I made my own!  Whoop for me!

Top stitching was done around the front, shoulder seams, and the princess seams.  I top stitched this using the triple stitch on my sewing machine.  It looks awesome if I do say so for myself.

The pattern is an easy sew, and by adding a few minor, but professional details, it gives the jacket a WOW factor.

Pictures were taken after I worn it all day, so it is a bit wrinkled.

All fabric was stash, along with the thread and lace.  The only thing I bought for this jacket was the frog closure.

 I have a skirt to post about in the next week or so.  It goes with this jacket nicely :)

Take care and God bless.

Hot Patterns Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company Shirt

This shirt was a long time in the making due to machine issues, the heavy jean fabric, and all the top stitching that I did.  The pattern itself is not difficult one, and the pieces matched together perfectly.  This shirt is made out of my husband's old Levi denim jeans, and I sewed/top stitched all seams with heavy duty thread.  The under collar, cuff and placket lining is made out of  scrap flannel fabric I have had in my stash a long, long time.

The shirt/jacket has actually been done for about a month, and my husband had his first opportunity to wear it this week while going on the ATV to bring our girls in for milking.  He really likes it, and that always makes me happy.

The pictures are not that good because I used my phone camera, but you can get the idea.

I made a size XL, and could have went down a size.  The shirt is roomy on my husband, but again, he likes that since he will be wearing it more for a jacket.  If I was to make a shirt out of normal fabric, I would go down a size.

It is nice to refashion something old into something new.  All these years of saving up jeans has finally paid off :)

Take care and God bless.

Simple Envelope Style Pillow

Long time, no posting.

I had trouble w/ my sewing machine, which finally got resolved at the end of July.  Cause of problem:  An incorrect bobbin case was in the machine...Go figure, but it is fixed, and I am happy with it now.

There has been sewing, but have been lazy about taking pictures, etc. 

Finally, I got the gumption up to snap a shot of a pillow I have made for my mom's birthday in September.

It has yellow and brown ribbon roses all over it.  I made a simple envelope style pillow case and used a ready-made pillow form.  My mom loves pillows, so this will be perfect for her birthday. 

I used about 1/4 yard of fabric for this.

Take care and God Bless!

I won! Woo Hoo!

Stepalica  had a give-a-way, and I was one of the winners!

It is a very awesome skirt.   I am thinking of what stash fabric I have that I can use.  I really love how this skirt looks.

If you haven't seen Stepalica's blog, take a look.  She is such a beautiful seamstress.

In other news, my Janome Horizon has been on the blitz again.  The shop called me on Friday, and said it was ready.  They said they had to change out the bobbin case, and they have been sewing with it to test it out, and it is doing good.  Thank goodness.  They want to go over a few things w/ me as well, so I hope when I leave there tomorrow, I will not have to worry about the trouble again. 

I need to finish my husband's work shirt, so I can make the above skirt.  :)

Take care and God bless!

ITY Knit Skirt

Whoa diggity!  This fabric was very difficult to sew.  I almost threw it in the trash, but I am too much of a tightwad to do that, so I kept at it and perservered.  This isn't my best work, but it does look good on me, and I will get lots of wear out of it during the summer months.

I initially started out making a maxi dress, but I could not stand how it was turning out, so that idea got tossed in the trash can.  I took the skirt portion of the pattern and just sewed up a center seam.  Added elastic to the back, and put a couple of pleats in the front.  I made a waistband out of some black ponte knit (I love ponte knit) that I had left over, and attached it!  I hand sewed the hem because, again, the knit was a bear to sew. 

I have enough of this fabric left that I might try to make Renfrew long sleeve cowl shirt for winter, but first I have to get over my issues w/ the fabric first :/
 

Take care and God bless!

Peacock Feather Skirt - Stash Busting

I have a love of all things peacock, so when I found this fabric at Fabric Mart, I knew it had to be mine.

The picture isn't the greatest since I used my cell phone, but it is so pretty, and fits really well.  It is a simple Drindl skirt.  I estimate the size to be a medium.  The fabric is 100% cotton.  Actually, it is a nice quality quilting cotton.  This is probably my favorite skirt length as I try to dress as conservatively as possible.  I have a couple of shorter skirts, but would much rather keep them longer. 

The sweater is thrifted.  I paid a sweet 25 cents for it!  LOL  The tank that I am wearing underneath it is thrifted as well.  I am pretty sure I paid 25 cents for it too.  Oh, and the shoes are thrifted.  They are brand new Naturalizers that I paid $3.00.  Nothing like a deal!

Well this is my first Stash Busting Sew-Along project.  I have another skirt to tackle this month out of some stash knit.

Take care and God bless!

Refashioned Black Skirt

I took a very long black ponte knit skirt, cut it where it was way too short, and then added some lace to the bottom to make it acceptable to wear to work.  I couldn't believe I cut it so short.  Boy, I was ticked, but the lace came to the rescue.  I am made the blue top as well.  Nothing real exciting other than the skirt length.

I have finished my Thurlow capris, and will dye them this weekend.  I was going to color them to an olive drab, but after I priced how much it would cost to achieve that color, I just decided on a dark brown.  LOL  I am very cheap.

Next thing up for me to sew is a maxi dress. I hope it will look good on me.  I will try to get it cut out this weekend and possibly even sew some on it. 

Take care and God bless!

Maggie Mae Turns 2

Miss Maggie Mae is already 2 months old!  Time really does fly.  She is such a doll, and her coloring is quite a bit different from her momma and sister.  Now, Miss Maggie's color will start changing around 4 months or so, but I believe she will still maintain that classic fawn Jersey color.  When she makes noises now, it actually is starting to sound like a moo.  Up until just lately, any noise she made sound like "berrp".  LOL  Jerseys are a quiet cow by nature. 

When Maggie turns 4 months, we will put a weaning butterfly ring in her nose.  It doesn't hurt, but it will break her from nursing.  She will wear that for about 3 months.

Maggie continually learns all the big cow things from her momma.  It is just sweet to watch.

That is it on the bovine front.  I love our girls.  They are much more than income providers.  I consider them all blessings from God.

Take care and God bless!

Refrew Take 3

I made this in a size 12, which is perfect for me!

The material is a thrift store find.  See I have been poppin' tags before poppin' tags was cool! :)

There wasn't enough fabric for sleeves, and I really do not like all of my arm to show, so I have to wear this w/ a jacket.

The stripes all match, and I am happy!  Not much else to say, but yay!  I love this top.

I am working on my hopefully last "test" pair of Thurlows.  I can wear all the others I have made, but the pattern could still use some tweeking.  I *think* I may have it where it fits me just right this time.  Should know for certain next week.  I am making this pair capri length out of a cotton crinkle cloth that my mom had in her stash.  The fabric is off white, and I am going to get some Rit dye and color it hopefully as close to olive drab as possible.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Take care and God bless.