The Muse of The Day

Breaking My Back And Breaking The Rules

Hi there. Did you think I have been having difficulty with the shade and that is why you haven't heard from me? Although I have encountered a few hiccups that made me do and undo parts of the shade, I finished the shade several days ago.

 

It took less time to finish the actual shade than it took to get the ladder out to put it up there. Do you ever get caught with a project whereby you have done the hardest part and yet one more little hiccup, like bringing the ladder up from the basement, stops the entire event from reaching it's culmination? You would think I would be so excited, once I finished it, to see it up and hanging, illuminated in all it's glory. Not so. It happens that way sometimes. I finish the bulk of a project and I am on to the next.

This time, the next project has been my garden ... well, "g-a-r-d-e-n" is kind of a big word for what I have so far. Two days ago I had this:

Pathetic as my planting bed may seem, this is the photo AFTER I spent several days on it.  I have been walking around like an old lady with severe hunchback because of it. The soil that is there is an amalgam of construction debris and poor quality fill. I have dug up all kinds of things that were probably tossed off the house from different vantage points, flung from scaffolding or the roof, during the construction process and now lay in this house-parts graveyard that I am calling my garden. I remember there were lots of delays around the time we installed the five toilets - most of them went in, but without seats so they would stay pristine until the build-out was complete. When, nearing the end of the project, we finally turned our attention to putting actual toilet seats on the toilets, only four of them could be located. One had gone MIA. I personally searched everywhere for the missing toilet seat. Now, as I dug up this bed with my maddock, I wondered every time I flung it into the soil and it was met by a hard surface, if I had actual finally made contact with toilet seat #5. No such luck.

One day ago, my husband and I went poking about Mary's Greenhouse. It is a very dangerous place to go when back home your planting bed is as sparse as mine. How dangerous, you may ask? Fifty greenhouses, yes 50 greenhouses dangerous. That kind of danger sparks double, and even triple, trips up and down the mountain with the back of the pick up truck totally maxed out.

Now, this garden bed has become my ball and chain. I have a long way to go to reach completion.

It exhausts me just to think about it, but I have been chipping away at it. When it is closer to looking like a real garden, I will rephotograph it and show you what madness 50 greenhouses can do to a person.

The meals around here have been ... mmm, lets say "sufficient". We had a Memorial Day weekend full of get-togethers with friends, and even had unexpected, but very welcomed, out of town guests come for dinner and stay last night. All this has made the progress on the second lampshade quite a bit less feverish than the first, but I have been working on it.

I had this beautiful blue batik in my stash that I could resist no longer.

But if I paired it with another batik, which would have looked cool, it would not have gone well next to the other lampshade in the dining room. The three shades are all in a line so they have to look good together. I have heard  a rule at the quilting store that I know makes sense - put batiks with other batiks, otherwise something about it looks "off". Granted I can see when that rule applies - and for good reason. It just wasn't enough reason for me not to do it in this next lampshade. Florals and batiks are a no-no according to some fantastic quilters I have met.

These are the fabrics in the next shade:

We are just going to have to pretend I never heard them. I can take breaking a rule once I fully understand the rule. My friend, Reed Arvin, says that "Expertise means that we know the rules of a domain so well they've become unconscious. Once we reach this point, we're free; the rules serve us." I fully agree, and I am continuously working towards this in all aspects of my life, and although I am not claiming that I have a full command of anything, especially what fabrics go with what other fabrics, I do know the MOST IMPORTANT rule. That one is simply stated like this:

 

FOLLOW YOUR GUT INSTINCT

 

That is what I am doing with this shade because when it comes to projects like this - ones loaded with twists and turns and a myriad of different options, one can get bogged down in the rules and you can end up quagmired without any F'n lampshade at all - and that is not my goal. I might fail. Sure. But that is the risk I am willing to take. The only real risk is TIME, you know, and I have coddled that long enough. I could sit here, in my studio picking this fabric and that fabric, changing my mind a million times over, believing that in just pinballing myself from one fabric to another and spending time in the studio I am actually being creative when in fact I am not actually creating anything, I could do that in hopes of ending up with the ultimate combination of fabrics for the world's most awesome shade, but I am not there yet. I am not at that point. I am at the point whereby I need to stay focused on more doing (not doing more, there is a distinct difference if you think about it). You can look at it another way: the NEXT shade, combination of fabrics, painting, etc. (insert your "next" here) is the best one because it still exists only as a possibility. In that frame of thinking, well, sweet cheeks, the world is your oyster ... obviously those things that sit in our imagination, only, are engulfed in absolute perfection. The ones that attempt an escape from imagination into our reality are the ones you really have to look up to - those are the ones you had the guts enough to bring to life. Those are the ones that are trying to out-run failure, those are the ones that are knee deep in problem solving shit (excuse my language), but those that are "THIS one" and not "the NEXT one", are the ones I am charging after. Those are the ones that are the steed, I am the knight, if you will, and the rule to follow my gut instinct is my jousting lance. Are you creating the right mental image? If I fail, my armour has to be tough enough to protect me so that I may live to try again.

For heaven's sake, you might be saying to your self, all this from a choice of fabric for a simple little lampshade? Well, it is what is in my head and this is where it chose to come out. Do with it what you will. Break the rules, follow the rules. Those are choices for all of us. The only thing I don't think we really have any choice in, if we are to have any chance of succeeding in our goals, is to follow your gut instinct. Are you with me on this?

 

Carolina

My Mistakes Are All Mine

Each of the members of our family had things to do today so I had the luxury of the house to myself for a bit. I spent it all in the studio. I can't remember the last time that happened, so I shoved my to-do list aside and made a sincere attempt at some progress on the shade I talked about yesterday.

Cutting the doily was scary ... all those loose threads... open and exposed. Yikes! Like my pouring my guts out on the blog; there is serious concern that the whole darn thing will become unraveled and one will permanently reside in the Land of No Return.

My mind was still happily full, from all the creativity that rushed in yesterday, as I tackled the knitty gritty of the project and got down to business. Getting down to business is always the difficult part. While I worked, I enjoyed hearing the "Ping!" of my computer with all of your emails coming in. I tried to answer most of them (I still owe you one Susan, a long one), it was good to have them coming in - they gave me food for thought while I worked on the project. Melissa had also posted about "process" and she and I volleyed the emails a bit this morning.

I had left her a comment regarding the process and how Charles Eames (of Ray & Charles Eames) viewed it. I am paraphrasing but essentially he said "that he spends 1% of his time coming up with a new, creative idea, and the other 99% of the time making sure the product stays true to that original idea. I think that is how it went, perhaps he said it more like he "spent the other 99% of the time chasing the idea and not letting it get away." He was talking about the non creative part of everything Ray and him made as being mostly responsible for the object coming before our eyes." Coming up with the idea is always the fun part.

I thought about this while I pinned my doily to the fabrics so I could sew it into place.

Things didn't go so well. The doily must not have been that "antique" because it had some give to it, almost like as if there was lycra in it. After a couple of hours work, I had a nice wobbly mess.

The mess was an obvious mistake. I had no intention of spending the better part of the day with my least favorite tool in my arsenal: the  bloody seam ripper.

As I worked, I remembered something I had read in the book Art & Fear. It said: "... vision is always ahead of execution, knowledge of materials is your contact with reality, and uncertainty is a virtue." I think I have got the "vision" part and the "uncertainty" part figured out (although the uncertainty part always fools me, perhaps I'll talk about this next time we meet here). What is for sure, and written in stone, is that I have a ways to go on the "knowledge of materials" part, no matter the medium. The mistakes are all mine, if I had found the answers as to what to do and what not to do in this situation, well of course I would have attempted to avoid my blunders. But where do you look for answers to solve mistakes when you haven't even an inkling that you are going to make them in the first place? Mistakes are a given when your knowledge of your materials is flimsy, at best.

I worked through the problem, trying out several options to find one that worked.

So I made mistakes. Big ones. Lots of them. But had I not made them I wouldn't have what I have today. I worked on the process and now I have progress. Or rather, Progress, with a capital "P".

I will continue on this quest for knowledge and realize that my path to succeeding in the realization of my visions is paved with mistakes. My mistakes. For that is where my growth will come from.

Carolina

From Warped To Right

Life has been so warped lately, it is time to get back to normal. School is FINALLY done with and so is my wacko driving schedule. Did you hear me hootin' & hollerin'?

Today I set about making things right again. I want to get back to being me again and doing my creative stuff. It was either that or have a total meltdown. Last night, just before falling asleep, I promised myself that today I would get back to my art. I started off, today, like the good little procrastinator that I am, and cleaned the house top to bottom. Just to vacuum and wash the floor takes me about 4 hours. Mental note to self : "next house, make it small, really small." ... "and make the studio big, REALLY BIG." By the time I was done with the cleaning, the Ellis family needed a feeding, of course. I "threw" down a meal and made a bee line to the studio. If there was even the slightest delay, something might have gotten in my way and I would never be here, in the studio. Let me show you what I have been doing:

I walked around and around the studio in circles. Not quite sure where to begin. I figure I may as well begin by fixing problems.

Remember this?

As I tested different bulbs, going up in wattage, it started to warp.

At first it wasn't too bad, but when I got to 100 watts, the shape of the shade seemed to have a life of it's own. When the light was off it would harden nicely, but as soon as you turned on the heat, well sugar, it was a sad sight indeed. I thought my eyes were tricking me - I would turn around for just a minute or so and when I looked back up at it I could swear it was a different shape.

The entire history of this shade seems to mirror my own life. Well ... all of it needs attention. This amount of warpage, whether in my shade or in my life, simply won't do.

This is were we are at now:

I just gave the shade a major bath. I am cleaning up my act as well. I want to get back to my projects, and I figure that the worst lampshade I can make is the one that never gets done and sits there in a pathetic heap of fabrics. The ugliest painting I can paint is the blank canvas. The worst sketchbook I can work out my drawings on is the one that never gets cracked open. Right? I will discuss this topic, of doing vs. not doing art work, as I putter along on my projects in the upcoming weeks.

Back to fixing problems.

Enter Meliisa P., I won a giveaway on her blog. She has a new website to go with all the fame that is coming her way now that she is hanging with the big dogs of the fabric and quilting world. A note to you - she has loads of free patterns and project how-to's on her website.

This is what I won:

Crazy awesomeness or what? Thank you Melissa!!!

So what am I waiting for I thought? Lets fix that lighting problem. While the old one was drying I pulled out a few of my fabrics that always seem too precious to cut into.

I found a beautiful antique crocheted doily that I can't bare to get rid of just because it has a hole in it.

Added it to a few fabrics I thought might go with Melissa's gifted ones:

And while the old shade is drip drying in the sink, I have started to work on an all new shade.

That is as far as I got today. I figured I would spend the rest of my studio time, while I still had the energy, writing this quick post. Let me add here, that even the simplest of little posts, like this one, takes a long time to do. It is no small feat and I am high fiving myself for still HAVING a blog and still hanging in there, writing to you. I hope you liked what I shared with you today. I will be back sooner rather than later because I am going to try a new blogging tactic. I have had this feeling that I needed to show you only my finished projects. Ridiculous. I had to go back to the beginning, when I wrote my "ABOUT page" and see what my "mission statement" was. If I wait to show you only the finished products, then it is like Kindergarten "Show & Tell" time. This makes it longer between posts. Since I don't make money from my blog, I need to be clear what I use it for. I am here to share my process of how I go about progressing as a creative person and get closer to that mission statement. I need to focus on process, not the products I make, for the "product" is me, the creative me. Staying focused on showing you the process will take me "from warped to right."

I want to be a "Creative". EVERYDAY. That is all. This, this blog, is where you can see the steps I take along that never ending path.

See you soon. Real soon.

Carolina

 

PS. my husband, who can screen share our computers, just called me from the other room saying his "stomach is warping and it needs to go from "warped to right" and he is wondering if my mission statement has any mention of what is for dinner." That is my life, ladies!

Taking A Cue From Mother Nature

I finally finished all of the stitches on the Blue Skies top. It is the rosebud stitch, but reminds me more of leaves on a vine. I am glad I have finished it.

I have been out hiking around my mountain ... "getting my feet wet" and thinking about going back to tackle what I started on the other blog. My ankle is not perfect, but with Spring here, I am chomping at the bit to get out and do some long hikes. I have been having breakfast out on my local, shorter hikes, here on the mountain.

You can't imagine how absolutely content I am to stop for a bite of breakfast out on a hike and peel my oranges listening to and looking at this:

  

Lately, Mother Nature seems to be on a roll. It is hard to walk more than ten feet at a time without having to pull out my camera and attempt to capture the beauty she has placed before my eyes.

If you enlarge that picture you will see all the bees that were collecting nectar while I was there. It gave me immense pleasure to stick my head in amongst the blossoms to shoot this picture and have all the bees buzzing around my head but way too busy to take notice of me.

There was even a butterfly.

Looking up at the sky filled my heart with hope. How can this be sooo beautiful?

I made it back to the house, inspired, and attempted to make a collar for a jacket that reflected what I had just seen.

OK, so it needs some work. Both the embroidery of the flowers and the free-motion quilting could use more practice. The point is that I got inspired by Mother Nature, took her cue, and went home and did something about it. It felt good to not think and just do.

On one of my hikes I also saw this, future leaves I believe:

The colors inspired me to try this:

I goofed on the flower pattern - it is supposed to have a total of six petals. At the point of taking the picture, I realized I was going on my seventh petal. I wanted this project to be well on it's way for next week, but it is simply not going to happen.

Mother Nature has been making an appearance all over the state. I love it.

I haven't photographed even a tiny fraction of the trees in bloom, but seeing them has been enough to propel me to work on inventing my own flowers.

I was accused, the other day, of not living in reality - of living a fantasy existence. I didn't respond to them as they were cloaked in bitterness. I have sadness and stress in my life too - EVERY day, but I push with all my might against it and choose to focus on the beauty this life is offering me. Let me reword that - it is not so much that I focus on the beauty around me and dismiss the intensity of the stress and sadness, but rather I put myself forth as a vehicle for the beauty that mother nature provides me. I guess the best way to explain it is that I try my hardest to re-express it, all of it: the color, the peace, the awe in it all.

If you are going to take a cue from something outside yourself ... don't you think that Mother Nature is like the top-dog of all cue providers?

?

I will remain in someone else's fantasy existence because it is my reality.

I have made it so.

Carolina

 

Blue Skies Are A Work In Progress

Not everything in life is perfect - nothing new in that statement, you already know that ultimate truth of life. Last night we had a ridiculous amount of tornadoes in our part of Tennessee. Thank goodness for the safety of our all-cement storage room, we spent more time in it last night than ever before. While we were in there, I got to thinking that I need to stock up on important tornado stuff and keep it in there- like m&m's. Many towns this morning are waking up to the horror and destruction that mother nature created last night. Our town is one of the lucky ones. I find it odd just how beautiful things look after a  vicious storm has passed. The air is so calm and peaceful, your senses have a heightened sense of perception, and there is the morning-after blue sky that almost tricks you into believing that the storm you just went through, is a figment of your imagination.

Blue skies, like everything else in life, are a work in progress. I made it home from my family reunion, in Chile, and had to deal with a plethora of dark grey sky issues- the black sheep of the family kind of issues. Seeing my 150 closest relatives was awesome. Seeing my brother and sister whom I have a highly dysfunctional relationship with, was not. I came home and it took me about three whole days for the grey sky issues to finally break. I have, thankfully, extreme clarity now that my own viscious storm has passed. I also have a fully enveloping sense of calmness and peace. Enough said. Regardless, nothing in life is better than waking up in your own bed.

Or coming home to find out that Natalie Chanin had sent me a copy of her brand new book, Alabama Studio + Design (if you click on this link, you will also see her other books there.)

I had seen on my computer, before I left that she had sent it out, but it had not arrived before I needed to leave for the airport. I was so desperate for the book, I even looked into the UPS driver's drop off schedule - my top-of-the-mountain location was slated for the end of the day. I had to leave for Chile without it. I new that the directions and pattern for making this top was in it:

I did the next best thing right before I left; I cut the blue jersey fabric that I had tie-dyed a few months ago, and threw it into my carry on with a needle and thread.

The top, obviously is not the same, the neckline and seams are different. I did my best aboard my delta flight to attach the bottom of the top in a gathered way with the stretch rose-bud stitch that Natalie shows in all of her books. To try and sew on an airplane, without bothering the rest of the paying customers, is a trick. At first, you feel like you don't know, on your fabric pieces, just like when you are in the midst of a storm, family or weather realted, which way is up or down, right or wrong. It takes a lot longer to get the project going when you don't have the space you need.

You just have to persevere. I am not done with it. I have yet to finish the arm holes or the bottom hem. Every little handmade stitch takes a long time, but that is OK, the end is in sight, I can see clearly now what I have left to do.

Traveling, in real life or through life, is never as easy as you imagined it was going to be, but if you keep at it you will find yourself above the clouds, no storms in sight, with an absolutely glorious view stretching out before you without end.

I am really excited about what lies ahead. Hope you join me for it.

Carolina

Three Dresses To Say Hello And Goodbye With

To say that I am more than a bit embarrassed to have to do a mini "fashion shoot" for you is an understatement. I really want to share with you some of what I have been doing, but when I see the pictures of myself on the screen, "yuck!" is the only thing that comes to mind. Having said that, I have been making clothing for myself for an upcoming family reunion to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary.

Here is a pic of the first dress:

I didn't have a pattern for the dress, but it is pretty straight forward. I just drew the outfit I had in mind on an index card, made the pattern pieces out on the only drawing paper I was willing to waste, cut the fabric out, and turned the sewing machine on. I was so disappointed in the blue & grey outfit from the last post, that I figured I had nothing to lose by just winging it instead of following a professional pattern.

I actually did go through the trouble of making a muslin before cutting into Anna Maria Horner's beautiful fabric. I made an adjustment in length to the distance between my underarm and the neckline, and omitted the band above the knees, otherwise it stayed pretty true to the sketch. When I have more time, I may fine tune this.

My favorite detail of the dress is the beads I put at the end of the ties that gather the neckline closed.

Since I had everything out on the ping pong table, already, I threw down this Liberty of London fabric that has been lurking in my stash for what seems like FOREVER and I made my self a shorter version of the same dress.

I think I should of kept the "cut line" several inches above the knee (as I did in the pink & yellow dress) instead of right at the knee. I have made a note on the pattern that I need to keep the cut farther up next time I use this pattern. BTW, does anyone know where, online, I can actually purchase long lengths of paper for pattern drafting that is thick and durable. Elizabeth, what do you use? Can you ask your fashion designer daughter what she uses? Or at least what she used to use here, in the U.S., before she became a big shot and moved to London?

My favorite detail of this dress is the actual back of the fabric; I made the dress with the fabric inside out as the right side, although gorgeous, seemed too sharp for what I wanted. The reverse side of it seemed a little softer, perhaps a little more time worn.

The last of the outfits I am showing you today I got off an existing outfit that I already own and have worn out. I put the outfit out on the ping pong tablle, measured the skirt part all out a million times over, and did nothing more than trace the top on the centerline fold. As it is a simply designed outfit, I could get away with doing this easily.

Although, originally the outfit is in a linen that is a dark mushroom tone, you can see part of it in this post, I made it in this acidic yellow colored fabric that I could not get enough of when I saw it at the fabric store the other day.

When measuring out the fabric for the skirt, in case you try it, you have to remember to make the front panel longer than the back panel to accomodate for the pockets (the pockets fold up at the casing for the elastic at the bottom edge of the skirt)). You can see the actual measurements on my index card, above. I really like leaving the ties dangling rather than tying them up into little bows.

Why did I make the dresses? The stores I can drive to have only just begun to have their summer clothing trickle in. I have little time to spend the day searching endlessly for the outfits that can handle the extreme hot weather I will be facing as the reunion is in Chile. I am going by myself, leaving my husband and children behind, and am more than a little bit anxious as to how it will all play out - I am the black sheep of my immediate family. I have lived a VERY independent life. The older relatives are people that I haven't seen in many years, and as they are getting much older, I realize that I will be saying hello to them and a permanent goodbye almost in the same breath. Living in different continents makes it have to be that way. I almost feel like I will be witnessing the mass end of my family. I don't want to get into the details of it all, as it depresses me greatly.

Well, I am off. I will see you on the other end of it, having had three new dresses to say hello and goodbye with.

Carolina

Do Not Reinvent The Wheel When Pressed For Time

With Thanksgiving behind me, I can breath a little easier. We had different guests stay with us for a total of 15 days. I was really happy with the way Thanksgiving turned out. My favorite moment of the meal was when I knew I had accomplished the feat:

My time for spending in the studio has been practically non-existent, as you know. With age, comes wisdom and the rule for the day is "Don't reinvent the wheel unless you absolutely have to."

Way back when I followed the Sew Serendipity Book to make this dress. Do you remember that?

As you know, recently I decided to make it longer.

Well ... all this cold weather has had me wanting a warm, long-sleeved flannel dress. In the midst of all the Thanksgiving hullabaloo, I decided to make myself that dress, but the last thing I had was time to start figuring out something new so I just used the very same pattern and made this:

Although I had to use every measuring tool I had,

I was able to cut the patterns for the skirt out flat so I could get the diagonals right. I wanted the top plaid to go straight up and down, and the bottom plaids to go on the diagonal.

I used the same sleeve pattern, just made it longer. In fact I was running a bit shy on fabric so I positioned the sleeves to end up at the selvedge - a serendipitous, pardon the pun, event that reduced the tedious time of hemming the cuffs. I also made changes to the bottom "ruffle". I made it longer in the back to give it more of an oldfashioned feel. I had to work quick as I was in no mood to reinvent the wheel because I already had my shoes picked out for the outfit.

Using the "old" pattern made the whole project fly along. The most time consuming part, the cutting out of the fabric, probably took me two hours - being that the bottom had to go on the diagonal, used up a few more brain cells than I would have liked. I am happy with the effect.

Sewing it up took less time than it takes to list all that we ate on that Thanksgiving feast thanks to the fact that I knew exactly what to do from the previous time. Pay no mind to the expression on my face. The wind is blowing something fierce outside and my husband and I had little desire to have a full on modeling shoot in the cold. If I didn't get it photographed today, I wouldn't ever get it posted and out to you. 

I really have been thinking hard on all your lovely comments from the last post, and I think I have come up with a plan. I will finalize that and share it with you next time.

Carolina

Granny Boots & Granny Grey

FINALLY - I finished the whole outfit. You guys have been sooo patient. I appreciate your patience and also the comments on my hair from the last post. I am very proud of this outfit because for once, I thought of the WHOLE outfit, not just the skirt, which was originally what got me going on this project. I now have a version for when the days are chilly and another for when the days are still warm. Here is the skirt:

I altered a Vogue pattern ( #2958) to make it work with the jersey knit fabric. I changed the waistline by removing the zipper, that the pattern called for, and using an encased elastic. I used Maggie and pinned all the muslin pieces right on her so I new it would work. I didn't line it and I stitched the seems down by hand a-la-Alabama-Chanin.

This is the winter top I made for it. I made the pattern by using another top I already own and guesstimating the whole thing on muslin. I pinned and cut on Maggie to get it exact. I obviously recognize that I am not trained in pattern making, but I had no patience to go through that long book on draping. They didn't get to shirts until much later in the book and I am still on the first chapter. I figured ... it is only fabric and I will learn from the mistakes on the muslin instead of the expensive jersey ($18 per yard thru Alabama Chanin)

Although I used a straight stitch decoration and edge detailing on the skirt, for this top I tried my best to make little x's so it would have some stretch.

 

The little sweater top, called a shrug, is my saving grace to deal with the ugly grey color. It was made using pattern #1662,  by Plymouth Yarn Company, as a guideline. It knits up using only 4 skeins of wool and is perfect for those of us whose brains shut off immediately after dinner is done with. If you want to know how it is made let me know. I'll give a quick how to if there is interest.

As you saw on the last post, I made two tops for this skirt. Here is the one for warmer days:

It all looks like a different color, I know, but it is actually the setting sun which alters the color. I have to tell you getting my picture taken is not high on my list of fun things to do, but worse is having to plaster them all over the internet big enough for you to be able to see what is going on with the outfit. As I write this I am truly regretting scarfing down that Kit Kat bar I took from my girls (OK - I have 2 girls, to be fair and not feed into sibling issues, I had to eat a Kit Kat from each one of them. Fair is fair. No?)

We have been enjoying awesome Fall days were it oscillates from feeling like summer to needing to get the fire going in the chimneys. This top took me longer to finish. I didn't use any pattern - just Maggie and muslin. What took so long, though, was the hand stitch detailing all along the edges of the top. There is quite a bit of fabric covering my ... mmm ... bottom. I realized just how much with every little stitch. 

This stitch also has give to it. The neckline and the armholes are big enough to easily slip on so I didn't have to zig-zag the stitch heavily. This meant my little "petals" could be more elongated and" viney" looking. Had the zig-zag really needed to come in to play, for stretch purposes, the ups and downs of the stitch would have had to be more pronounced and the leaves would have to have been made smaller and more rounded to not look odd. Because I hand finished the skirt seams, the edges on the long-sleeved top, AND all the edges on this summer top by hand, my glasses really came in handy.

 

Phew!

The beauty of this outfit, is that because it is made to my exact measurements and is made of easy-to-care for knit jersey, it gets thrown in the washer and dryer. When I put it on, it is really no more constricting than a T shirt and sweats. It certainly feels good to put on something that fits me to a T (especially after a life time of Kit Kat runs.)

I believe I have earned my granny grey. And the Granny boots? Well, you know me. Boots - I can't ever have enough of them.

I am glad to get this posted. I hope it gets you going to make something for yourself.

See you soon,

Carolina

Longer or Shorter? Isn't That Always The Question?

Every spare moment of time I have had has been spent on my current project with Maggie. My problem is with the "spare" part. I haven't had much spare time lately since most of it is spent driving 5 hours a day, back and forth to my girl's new school. On with the "important" things: I was able to drape, pin, and cut the muslin directly on Maggie to get the look I was after. I really am in awe of the process of having a real figure to work with. Right away you can just go directly to cutting it the way you envision it in your head. No wacky drawings, no funky patterns that don't turn out right. It is all there in front of me - kind of like sculpting an outfit.

In the midst of things, the temperatures started to drop and I realized a longer sleeved option was going to be needed if I was going to get plenty of use out of it between now and spring time. I put the fabric on Maggie without any seam lines down the center, this would mean I would have to place the muslin "pattern" on a fold so that both sides of the shirts would look symmetrical. My jersey fabric from Alabama Chanin comes in a 60 inch width, and I only had so much length of it left after making the skirt, so I had to not fold the fabric in half, but rather fold both sides towards the center in order to get two shirts out of the deal.

During my 5 hours in the car I would debate ... long or short ... long or short. By folding the fabric this way I didn't have to pick.

The knitting is coming along as well. I had to have Haus of Yarn, in Nashville, send me another skein as I had to alter the pattern a bit for it to fit me. Having them send me the extra skein was a major savings in driving time.

Speaking of long vs. short, do you remember when I made this dress? Yesterday, I made it LONGER.

Just in case you were mesmerized by what got LONGER, and didn't notice what got SHORTER, here is a hint:

Yes, Diane, I did it, just like you. It is really quite an intense feeling of freedom to get rid of one's long hair. I think I had been having that debate in the back of my mind forever. I don't think it looks better or worse, I just feel free.

Hope you all have a peaceful, relaxing weekend ( all except for Melissa who has a million projects due for the upcoming Quilt Market in Houston. My only message to her is : You go girl! I am very proud of you.)

I will be finishing up my project.

Until then,

Carolina

 

Maggie Is Sick of Waiting

Poor Maggie. She came here around Christmas time and has been patiently waiting for me to get in shape. You should see how she longingly stares out the window as if contemplating moving on to someone else's home - perhaps a place were she might feel a bit more useful. I have visions of her stealing away and hopping through the woods as if propelled on a pogo stick.

I decided to make her wait no more and bought some fabric from Natalie Chanin. Those long time readers, here, who are quite sharp, are actually snickering whilst they remember some stupid remark I made regarding NOT buying any more supplies. That was a typo, wasn't it?

Anyways, I ordered grey jersey from Alabama Chanin.

There was a problem, though. Yes it was grey, but it was ugly. It has sort of a greenish tinge to it. Perhaps my "phone photo" doesn't quite portray just how green it is, but trust me ... it is ugly. Since the above purchase I have become considerably more intelligent and am now the proud owner of all of Alabama Chanin's color cards.

Had I had those color cards from the beginning I would have realized that there are lots of greys to choose from.

The grey I ended up with is nothing like the lovely Pewter or the soft colored Dove. The green grey that I have makes me look like I am much closer to the last stage of life (in fact, I look like death is only moments away). I had to liven it up. This meant an immediate one and a half our drive to Nashville to remedy the situation through the purchase of more yarn.

Hopefully this color yarn will liven things up a bit near my face. Halloween is more than a month away, I don't want to start scaring people too early.

With Maggie's "firm" assistance I have been draping and pinning, and redrapping. I don't think I could have gotten as far as I have without her help. I will post when I am closer to "Runway Status" ... hopefully in another week.

Here is a sneak peak of Maggie's best feature sporting the beginnings of the outfit:

So far I am really pleased with the bottom half - I am feeling quite proud. Together, Maggie and are feeling like we could conquer the world. We are going to start out, though, just getting this one outfit completed.

Hopefully this outfit will help her see that she really is loved and needed here.

See you next time.

Carolina

 

I Love Her, But She Doesn't Love It

I finished the T shirt. It fits. I like it. She doesn't. Plain and simple.

I used a grey, organic cotton jersey from Natalie Chanin that has a thick, wonderful feel to it. I added little mat, grey, faceted beads on neck area. The knots for each of the beads are hidden between the layers of fabric because the bodice is lined.

I also added beads at the edge of the sleeves and on the bottom hem by using a simple chain stitch with black button thread . 

Despite my attention to the little details, she doesn't like it. She said she would wear it because she knows I put effort into it. I want her to wear it because she loves it, not just because her mom made it. There is not much I can do about it. There is no two ways around it - I love her, but she doesn't love IT.

Life goes on.

My Leica situation is still not fixed. I will see you on my next project.

Yes ... life goes on. Plain and simple.

Carolina

I Am Not In New Jersey

I am not in New Jersey, but my Leica is. In an attempt to do something akin to exercise with my slow healing ankle I thought getting in the kayak was worth a try. It was supposed to be a simple little jaunt out on the lake so I took my Leica with me. The kayak hadn't seen any action in years so it was more than a bit filthy from sitting outdoors on the rack. After my wonderful, relaxing spin around the lake (and copious photographs later) I came closer to shore and decided to wash the kayak. A miscalculation in the ins and outs of gracefully exiting a kayak and I flipped over. As a big fat spider came running out of the kayak, I occupied myself with sloshing water all over the kayak to reveal the kayak's beautiful orange/red color. PANIC. I realized my camera was in my life jacket, and I & my life jacket had been fully submerged. My Leica is now in the hands of the Leica wizards in New Jersey. Fingers crossed.

So here I am, working in the studio on a sewing project that I want to share with you and all I have is my phone to take pictures with. It will have to do. It doesn't help that it is pouring rain and grey as can be.

Below you see that I have copied the pattern on to that polka dotted interfacing that has no glue on it. I like to use it to copy patterns, that way the paper one gets folded and goes neatly back into the packet it came in and I can still use the other sizes on the pattern paper.

 

On Vanessa's advice, I am using the book, below, Chic & Simple Sewing. I will add it to My Favorite Books link if more than one of the patterns turns out well.

 

My girls are attending a private school that, although they don't use uniforms, requires that the students follow certain guidelines. This means that a lot of the T-shirts my girls normally wear, are out. I am attempting this little Baby Doll top.

 

The pattern comes in a size just small enough to fit their "tween" sized frames. My frame has to still shrink (quite a bit more) to use the larger size on offer in the pattern packet that comes with the book. I made a dry run with a muslin top as I had learned on the project I had done with Alicia. I must say that getting those little sleeves on felt like I was working with doll clothing. I don't know how Elizabeth does it on all those darling outfits she makes for little ones. I would kill to have finishing skills like hers.

 

Above you see the muslin. I had originally bought a Liberty of London print, but have decided against using it because I fear my girls might not think it is "cool" enough for them. Although the phone makes the final fabric look black, it is actually a grey jersey. I figure if it is T-shirt material, my kids will wear it, and if it has a more proper "cut" no one will say anything about it at school.

I will post again when I am done with it - if it feels like it is forever between my posts, forgive me. Until Nica gets her license in December I have five hours of driving back & forth to their school every day. Things are going well, though. Some days I only have enough time to drive, cook, and clean the house. Today, happily, I actually get to be in the studio ... even if it is without my Leica.

A Messenger Bag for Nica May

 

 

This is Nica May's new school bag. No time at all to write, sorry - I am literally going to press publish and run out the door.

Miss you all.

Carolina

She's ALIVE

I have been getting a few emails wondering where I am or what on earth I have been doing - I am ALIVE. I have been over-the-top busy getting my girls ready for school. I have home-schooled them F-O-R--E-V-E-R and this year they will actually be going to school. Hoot, Hoot, yahoo!!! Do you hear me hootin' and hollerin'?

Here is a picture of the "ingredients" for my latest project.

I spent the better part of the day doing this project. I am almost done with it. I will photograph it tomorrow so that you can see what I did with Daddy's jeans.

I love you all,

Carolina

The Gifts of Motherhood and Time

The watercolors you see in this post are of one of my favorite books, Peter Rabbit. They are so representative of what motherhood entails, that I am including them here to better illustrate what I am trying to say.

With the arrival of a little one, the entire house seems to know it. Your wonderful routine is turned upside down. Whether it is your first, or your first of many, being a good little mother to that little one is all consuming.

There will be trying days, for sure, when your little angel is getting older and does not behave as well as you would like.

There will be many, many nights where you will be up taking care of your precious one.

You, all of a sudden, will become "the responsible one" and warn them of all the dangers lurking around the corner in this world.

Despite all the "work" involved in raising your little one, there are moments of balance. My favorites of these were the times, when my precious ones were tiny, and it was me who got to groom them and dress them in perfect little outfits. Finding the "perfect little outfits" has become more and more difficult with mass production.

Worry no more, mothers to be ... we are in good hands for now we can rest assured that the person at the head of the company, Gossamer Wings, has our best interest in hand.

Just in the nick of time, I received this package yesterday. It is a gift I will be sending on to my niece, who will be having her first child. As you can see in the photo, the gift came packaged with the utmost care. The baby blue colored tag held the washing instructions on the back. A delicate ribbon held it in place. 

I have become good friends with Elizabeth, the woman behind each delicate stitch through her blog, of the same name, Gossamer Wings, which in french translates to Ailes Diaphanes (the name of the Etsy shop). If you would like to spend a few moments dreaming about little ones and the perfect outfits for them, visit her shop. The clothing on offer is of the utmost quality and are designed and created to become heirlooms. Elizabeth spent part of her life living in France. I am sure that all the wonderful french couture that she was exposed to there has crossed the Atlantic back with her and is now present in each of her creations. The designs, all of them, keep the child in mind, but never forget the mother. Every detail has been thought out. My nieces baby will be wearing this fluffy little concoction on the days when the breeze is a little chilly, or perhaps on warm days once the sun starts to go down. The soft, brown flannel lining will feel good against his baby soft skin.

I can imagine his little hand slipping into the little embroidered  puppy pocket, perhaps he will also store a found treasure there.

I can see my niece now, all grown up, helping her baby with each of the little wooden buttons. Perhaps, giving him a kiss on the cheek when she is all done. 

The time that we have with our children when they are little is a gift. As mothers, we are the recipients of that gift day in and day out. When in her arms, his jacket will feel cuddly to her and she will realize that she is a gift to him as well.

Maggie For Me & Something For You

I present to you: Miss Maggie

She is finally out of the box. Now I believe West Coast Elizabeth probably has guessed all the details about Maggie because West Coast Elizabeth does quite a bit of fantastic sewing. Then there is East Coast Elizabeth who cheated and just HAD to find out and couldn't wait for the post. East Coast Elizabeth happens to be married to a dear friend of my husbands. She actually had her husband ask my husband. Can you believe it? Tsk , Tsk, East Coast Elizabeth, it is a good thing I adore you.

So let me tell you about Maggie and why I had considered stuffing her into the closet until May. Shall we begin with the obvious? Maggie is a dress form. She is not just any dress form, mind you, she is made by the company Fabulous Fit. Maggie has collapsible shoulders so that she can get in and out of outfits more easily. I had considered making my own dress form , but realized it had a few drawbacks, like pinning was out. Maggie is completely into the idea of being tortured with the equivalent of full body acupuncture. Her linen body is willing to take pins anywhere.

She stands on her own and is the same height as me after a minor adjustment. She is a Misses size 14. Now a 14 might sound like a big number to many of you, but she looks like a bean pole to me. Some people will buy a smaller pair of jeans than they normally wear to encourage themselves to lose the weight that they keep saying they are going to get rid of but never do. I bought Maggie. I thought about stuffing her in the closet until I had reached my goal, after all it is kind of embarrassing to share with the world just how far I have to go before Maggie and I can see eye to eye on things. The Fed Ex guy and my husband threw a wrench into my plans; it all just unravelled from there.

Now on top of the big box was a smaller box - good things come in small packages, as the saying goes. There was a bag full of forgiveness. In the bag were all these extra pads. Each one of these pads is a little breathing room, if I may. Maggie comes with an "over suit" that will hold all these wonderful little pads of forgiveness if I don't quite make the cut. There are more pads than these (thank the Lord), but you get the picture.

Now Maggie isn't just any dress form, she is a bride. You can tell the difference because she has a little "booty" versus being flat like a pancake on her back side. Just in case you want to ask - there is plenty of "booty - forgiveness" in the bag of extra paddings. Thank the Lord again for that!

So here are the specs (in inches) that I am up against. The circled numbers are what has to go.

I have hemmed and hawed about how I should go about this. Go totally crazy and get up at 5 a.m. to exercise and eat like a bird for the rest of the day, do something radical like give up carbs., or just plain wacko-ness and buy a pedal powered TV. I have decided to go the route of accountability by blogging about it. As my finger tips pause on the keyboard I wonder just how insane this is. Scrapping the whole thing, falling off the edge of the blogosphere, and never being in touch with all of you again seems quite logical right about now. I know, though, that it is fear talking. Fear of failing - failing in PUBLIC. So ... so that I am not alone I am asking you to join me. I will be following The Ultra-Metabolism Diet. You can get the main book or just get the The Ultra-Metabolism Cookbook like you see below. In a nutshell the diet goes like this - you eat only healthy, whole foods in a way that combines the foods so that you never end up eating complex carbs on their own. My plan is to eat 5 meals a day with the first three having complex carbs in them. The last two meals of the day are just protein and fiber. Just as a heads up - I have skimmed all the recipes. They are easy to do, but difficult to do consistently if you have a sweet tooth. I think the cookbook is better because it deals with the nuts and bolts of what you really need to do to end up not needing the "pads-of-forgiveness". If you notice, I bought 2 cookbooks. One is for me and the other is for you. I want some good samaritan out there to help me out. If you want to join me, I will send you the cookbook. I promise not to post your details if privacy is a sticky point for you. Leave me a comment letting me know that you want to go for it and I will send it to you. If by chance I get more than one good soul who wants to help me out, I will have to draw names out of a hat. If you are out there, needing the accountability like I do, perhaps it is worth a shot. What do we have to lose?

Now it is not all just about weight loss that I did so much hemming and hawing for. There is more. I have been thinking about starting a new blog about Maggie. Maggie would be sort of an alter ego, if you will. ... are you thinking "she is nuts"? Hold on a bit and hear me out. Lately, in any spare minute that I have had, I have been thinking about a whole bunch of "what-if" type scenarios. The other blog would be called Maggie on Marmalade Row. You see, I thought it would be cool to be somebody else. If I was somebody else then I could be or do whatever I wanted. As you know, I have a great life and a great family. There are times, though when I wish I didn't have the responsibilities that I do have. Have you ever thought your own what-if scenarios, but realized that now is not the time to act on them? That is where I am at. Let me back up a bit and give you a bit more info on Maggie on Marmalade Row. I want your opinion on it.

Maggie is a seamstress working her way up in a bridal boutique. The bridal boutique is located in a small shop next to some other boutiques in a converted factory in a small city about an hour's drive from the local port. The factory buildings used to house a canning factory that made delicious jams and marmalades before going belly up when a severe drought hit the town several years back. The town was once just rows of housing for the folks that used to work at the marmalade factory. Now the once defunct factory and row houses are entering a renaissance and new artists and craftsmen have taken up shop in the street levels of the old housing for the factory workers. They used to call it Marmalade Row and the name has stuck. Maggie shares a flat with the birds outside her little deck. The town now has galleries, gift shops, and restaurants, and there seems to be a buzzing in the air that Maggie thrives on.  Now, you should be wondering where do I come in. I come in whenever Maggie goes somewhere. If she stops by a little café for a bite - you might get one of my recipes. If she goes into a children's shop, she might find an adorable little sweater for a nephew or the perfect dress for a niece of hers - obviously they would be made by me. The same at an art gallery, you get the picture. She might discuss what she needs for her flat, or perhaps what she is working on at the bridal boutique. Perhaps when she has saved her paychecks, she might splurge on something for herself - these, too, would be made by me. Each item would have a tag that said "Marmalade Row" or "Made on Marmalade Row". If you wanted to shop in the same shops, all you would have to do is click and it would direct you to my etsy shop. I have been thinking about starting an etsy shop for some time now, but I am not sure what to put in it. I thought " ... wouldn't it be great to have a whole ROW of shops? Furniture, quilts, art, restaurant, ice cream parlor ..." can you see Marmalade Row in your mind too?

I need to know if I have gone off the deep end. I need your help to clarify which way I should go. As far as time goes, there is never enough time even when one does nothing, so why not fill it to the max with Maggie and her life on Marmalade Row?

Enough. It is all out there as soon as I click on the "publish now" button. Help me out. Let me know if the cookbook diet is the way you want to go, or let me know if I have lost my marbles by coming up with Maggie on Marmalade Row. Either way, just let me know.   Carolina

Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun Part 1

I know the saying quite well, "secrets, secrets are no fun unless you share with everyone".

As you can see the elves had been busy working, working. Many gifts arrived and were put under the tree.

I had made a last minute mad dash down the mountain to the hardware store. In my absence the FedEx man had popped by. The only one home to accept the delivery of my precious Maggie was my husband who was to know NOTHING about her until May. I had full intentions of stuffing Maggie in a closet while I hatched my plan, or rather whittled it to perfection. My husband assumed (incorrectly) that the delivery was a gift to go under the tree so he placed it in the bedroom to be wrapped. Maggie wasn't supposed to arrive until AFTER Christmas, but the person sending her must have thought it would be a great surprise if she arrived in time for the whole Christmas event. So I had a dilemma on my hands. What do do with her now that he had put her in the bedroom. I will tell you what I did. NOTHING. I didn't say a word. I didn't even acknowledge that there was such a huge box in the bedroom at all. I fretted over what do do with her every moment. He was going to have to know sometime. I thought about wrapping her and putting her under the tree.

Now, I ask  you, what kind of mother would I be if I had put these two boxes under the tree? I put my boots on top for scale for the photo so you can see just how big the big box was. Now if I had added that humongous box under the tree, wouldn't it have made me look me look a wee bit ... I don't know ... selfish? Or like I was hogging the show? No. I had to come up with a better plan. I thought and thought but my brain came up short every time. Normally I am a fairly clever person, but this time, with the holidays and all, I was a total blank. Every time my husband walked by Maggie he would look straight at me like he was looking for an explanation or a hint in my expression. I remained poker faced and nonchalantly would bring up another topic. Somehow or another this led him to believe the gift was for him. The whole thing was spiraling out of control. I could hear voices in my head telling me to fess-up to just what was inside that huge box. On Christmas, when the last present had finally been opened, my youngest announced that there were no more gifts left. My husband shot me a look from across the room. I pretended like I didn't catch it. He then made that expression - you know - the one where the husband bulges his eyes out expecting a reaction from his wife. Do you know what happened next? What I did? NOTHING - NADA . I sat there frozen. My lame brain never did come up with a plan. The best I could do was bulge my eyes back at him. I am actually chuckling now as I recall the whole thing.

It wasn't until much later in the evening when I finally divulged the WHOLE Maggie thing to him. Phew, I'm exhausted. I had full intentions of writing all about the well whittled plan today, but you will have to wait until tomorrow. We had to make an unexpected road trip that involved ten and a half hours of driving in each direction and I am spent beyond belief. I had every intention of sitting down and writing the whole thing out and finishing this today, but I am too pooped to pop. I PROMISE I will continue this tomorrow. I hope your Christmas was merry.   Carolina

Throwing Caution To The Wind

"throwing caution to the wind" means "when people throw caution to the wind, they take great risk." Key words being GREAT & RISK. I am the proud owner of a new sewing machine, the Janome Horizon 7700. There was not much risk there - it is a great machine, I just have to learn to use it.

The terms GREAT & RISK are hinted at in the pictures of my studio as it stands right now at 7:50 P.M. Yesterday, I happened to to find a fun new craft blog created by a super creative woman up in Canada. Her blog, Michele Made Me, is full of crafty ideas. I was shocked to see just how much she could do with plastic bottles and used up toilet tissue rolls. One of the projects she did with her son was a place-mat project. I thought why not - IT IS CHRISTMAS after all. I let my girls have at it.

 

As long as there was no silk involved I told them they could have their pick of ANY fabric in my stash. Their eyes, asian as they are, actually became rounded and I swear I saw them bulge outwards in amazement. Mom's stash? Really? "Really," I replied to the expression on their faces, "and my new machine too. We can figure it out together." I must of had a lack of Oxygen to the brain for an extended period of time because I told them they could put whatever music on they so desired. I told them that we were going to have some place-mat fun. Here is a photo of their desks in the middle of it.

Laela lasted close to 3 hours before she had to run to her part time job dog sitting.  Nica, who has the magic touch, is still working on hers.

It was a bit tricky trying to read the manual with the music blasting, but no one heard me complain. It was our first attempt at free motion quilting. I think the three of us are hooked.

Sure, as soon as I have had my coffee tomorrow I will be in my studio doing a head count on all my cutting and measuring tools, and I will be coaxing fabric that has had odd shapes cut out of it back into fold-able form. I know I have opened Pandora's box. With great risk, though, comes great reward - my Christmas memory was made today.

Watch Your Words

Did I say "Bring It On" ? I didn't realize mother nature was listening so closely.

It was only 7° F here last night, and let us not even mention the wind chill factor. Last night I slept with a double duvet. I felt like the Princess and the Pea in reverse. I really should watch what I say more closely. I am sure it doesn't only happen to me - you say things you wish you could just swallow back too ... don't you?

For me, with teenagers in the house, it seems like I can NEVER say anything "right enough". If I tell them to take a scarf, they look at me like I am smothering them. If I ask them to go downstairs to get something for me out of the storage area where we keep an extra refrigerator and a freezer, they let out a small groan - just loud enough for me to hear. I always wonder when they groan if they think I might change my mind and say something like " Oh, honey, don't worry. I'll go get it. You just do your thing on your laptop while I wash my hands of all this wonderful gourmet meal I am preparing for you and run downstairs ... after all, dear, we both know I need the exercise." N-O-T

I have to be very careful with my youngest when it comes to what she is wearing. Her Dad, the original "Mr. Clean Jeans" and I are pretty much on her to always be clean. Now, she is a clean kid, but not when it comes to her jeans. She could literally wear the same thing every single day (total opposite of my oldest who I am sure is related to Imelda Marcos of the multitudes of shoe fame). She only has one style of jeans that fit her well. In order for her to always have a clean pair we bought her several of the same ones so that she could rotate them through the laundry. I SWEAR I never see more than one pair. In an effort to not enter into a battle with her over whether or not the jeans she is clad in are clean or not, I offer you my solution:

Now I will be able to tell which jeans are which that are going through the laundry ...

and I won't have to say any words that might not come out "right enough".

Even if she is walking away from me ... at a glance I will be able to tell if those are the jeans I just washed or not.

I would like to tell you that I was going for a homey, handmade look. Then you might be a bit impressed with my results. Unfortunately I was trying my best, but homey and handmade is what I got. Until next time.   Carolina

Now, Where Was I?

It is a major brain squeeze, I know, but some of you may remember way back when I decided to cut up my girls' childhood dresses to make a quilt. Well, here is the top so far. You can see a part of one of the dresses below that I couldn't bring myself to cut completely.

Throughout the quilt there are not only pieces of the fabric from the outfits, but also entire sections that I thought "played out" better as they were like this piece that had embroidery on it and was layered over a yellow under dress. I cut the rectangle out of both pieces making sure to let the yellow piece peek out from underneath and then I stitched them both into place.

Another two layer piece I left pinned into place, hopefully I will get that right when I baste it.

To my surprise, I really enjoyed cutting their dresses up. It flooded me with memories of when they were small.

If you look closely, below, you can actually see in the red piece one of the pockets to the red pants. I can't believe that their hands actually once were little enough to fit into that tiny pocket.

I had to get inventive with the pant cuffs, as well, for they looked better "whole" too.

I have made the quilt back TWICE. I made it once, then I sewed the front of one dress and the front of the pants in their entirety on the quilt back. I even went so far as putting "tabs" on the outfits to make them look like paper doll clothes. It all looked great, that is until I got to the basting. That is when I began to envision the quilting stitches coming through the back into the "paper doll" outfits in random patterns. That wasn't going to work for me, so off it all came - every single little hope-some-day-I-will-be-an-heirloom stitch. 

The project has since not seen the light of day, until yesterday afternoon when I decided to photograph it. I don't know why this happens to me ... one hiccup and the whole project gets put on to the back burner. Since then my brain has played this game - kind of goes like this:

Right Side- "I never really liked quilts on a bed anyways"

Left Side- " I really do like seeing all those colors together though"

Right side-" But we use down comforters in the winter and those special summer fiberfill blankets that they don't sell anymore at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Those are the best in the summer, the new ones don't wash up the same."

Left Side-"Maybe you should stop thinking 'quilt' and make something else with it"

Right side- "My girls would never forgive me. I am supposed to be making an heirloom here!"

Left Side-"So what? Big deal."

Pause

Left Side-" You know that coat pattern that has been kicking around the studio? Why don't you turn this thing into a coat?"

Right Side-" Wouldn't that be grounds for receiving the Worst-Mother-of-The-Year award? Besides, the seams would be too bulky if the whole thing is quilted."

Left Side-" Why don't you crochet the pieces together and omit the 'seams' entirely, you could use that new yellow bamboo yarn that you paid an arm an a leg for but have yet to use,"

Right Side-"Shhh. Enough"

And it goes on like this. Not all day, mind you, but long enough to question issues of sanity. So that is where I am with it. Until next time, Carolina. 

 

 

 

While Nobody Is Looking

Here is a quick run down ... I am supposed to be homeschooling the girls. I was waiting on one of them to finish their math work so that I could correct it and I saw that my computer had a few more emails to check. I couldn't resist seeing what they said. Emily of Ravenhill had sent me a quick note. While no one was looking I had to, HAD to, get a quick glimpse of her blog. My parents have been visiting for a week and I have been completely blog deficient. If Emily's blog wasn't so darn PERFECT, I probably would have been able to wait. She had this post about making paper dolls with her kids while they were home from school for a quick vacation. It brought back memories of projects unfinished. I immediately started to dig for that project to share with Emily.  The girls are busy, busy homeschooling so shhh. I figure I may as well show you that unfinished project while the girls take a test. I took it out to the wood pile we have been working on expanding in preparation for winter with my husband's new toy, a log splitter.

It is kind of a yucky day for shooting blog photos ... but the girls are busy and I am scurrying around like a little mouse trying to get this post in for you.

So, anyways, a LONG time ago when my nephew was a little boy he drew a drawing of his "new" cousin, my daughter Nica.

Like all kids' drawings, it was precious. Here I am fourteen years later and I still have that drawing kicking around together with copious others my own kids made. I am getting off track. The point is I copied the drawing and colored it in.

And then I cut each "piece" out of fabric and appliquéd them on to the backing fabric.

That is it. That is as far as I got.

But I actually have a point here. My point is that "while nobody is looking", our children, the world's children, are making beautiful art all around us and it is our responsibility to "be looking". I love it how Emily shares how much she loves her children, and I absolutely admire her for the fact that she always IS looking.

Lots of love and hugs to you, Emily.

You Missed The Big Party

Yup ... you missed the big party. What? You didn't get an invitation? Don't feel bad, the music kind of bit the dust, the food was tasteless, and I actually was the only one that showed up. You see it was my party, my very own pity party. I throw myself this pity party every year at the end of the summer. It is standard procedure for the first few weeks of homeschooling. It was what has kept me away from sharing with you, here, on the blog.

It all started when I was zooming along on my quilt project and hit a couple of stumbling blocks. One of them required a purchase of this

 

They are feet - feet for my sewing machine. How was I supposed to know that whatever came with my inherited sewing machine couldn't do the job? The whole thing got me kind of deflated. I procrastinated in a couple of different directions, but everything pointed to one word - RESPONSIBILITY.

No matter which way I turned, I faced that nagging feeling of wanting to escape the major task I have taken on, that of educating my children.

 

I would love to spend my days ONLY working on my creative projects and blogging. You see, if I don't put the information into their heads - it isn't going in there by way of any another teacher. There is no other teacher. My studio has terms like "negative numbers", "Circumference = 2 π r" "Photosynthesis", "the nitrogen cycle" "Multiplicative something or other", "the 10 Amendments to the Constitution" and so on being bounced around on a daily basis now ... all very uncreative. Their experiments take over my kitchen counter too.

By now, a few weeks into it, we are once again finding our groove. I have finally jerked my priorities back into place. Priorities? In this blogging world, which I am so enthralled by, I have to keep reminding myself exactly just what my priorities are - they are my girls. I have to keep reminding myself that my priorities are just that - MINE.  

Like a teenager, I would love to focus on me, Me, ME, but it is their turn right now.

 
The BIGGEST creative project I have going right now IS my girls. I get jerked around a bit by listening to what others say. It all just gets me into an emotional quagmire. What others, you ask? It is THEY ... the ones you hear yourself quoting ... "THEY say mothers need their own time". "THEY say it is best if the children go to school", "THEY say a woman should make her career stand on equal footing with the other demands of life". The only problem is that THEY don't know me. THEY don't know that when I am on my death bed I want to be there without any regrets about how I raised my two girls that I went halfway around the world to get. THEY, the ones who say the thoughts that linger in my mind, say the things they do because it works for THEM. I don't know them, and they don't know me. The hardest thing I have ever done in my life is stayed true to myself. I have always been an independent sort, not a loner, just very self assured. Some who know me would say I am an out-of-the-box type of thinker. At 46, I know myself, and yet it is still a difficult thing to do to follow my own path. Sure, I would love to have my creative thoughts turned into something that got more than monetary reward - the biggest payoff would be acknowledgment. But the stars are aligned differently right now. Soooo, in a nutshell, the pity party is over with. 

I folded up my quilt, ordered the new "feet", dove head first into our new homeschooling year, and picked a different project. I picked a project that required less of everything - brain cells, cussing, and table surface area. I made my oldest, the musician in the family, a new dress, a red one. I worked on it at night while the rest of the United States kept up on the episodes of Big Brother. 

 

It is an Amy Butler pattern. I guess a part of me felt like making replacements for the dresses that I had cut up for the quilt. Dad wanted it longer. She wanted it shorter. I ended up making it the way way I felt it looked best. She must have approved because she actually wore it to church on Sunday. She is a teenager, and as she takes these last few steps while she is still under my wing ...

 

 I don't want to miss any of it.

  
  
 
 
 
 

A Photo Says A Thousand Words.

Does that photo not say it all? As you know I have decided to attempt quilting - with the most cherished fabrics I have : my children's clothing.

 

I did a million and one things this week as homeschooling starts TOMORROW. Aside from tending to my to-do list, I managed to cut up the fabrics.

 

Then I played musical chairs with all the little bits and pieces. After rearranging them for the one hundredth time, I would leave the room for a bit then come back to the ping pong table where I have them all spread out ... you know what I did next - I rearranged them- AGAIN. Then I had to start sewing them together. Somewhere I read that quilters use 1/4" seams. Can that be? That is sooo itty bitty.

 

Sooo teeny tiny that I had to pull out ALL of these

 

Near the end of it all I finally got smart and bought this

 

I am obviously a slow-as-molasses learner. Wish I had had it in the beginning. I could have saved all that Excedrin Migraine medicine for a lampshade I am currently wrestling into shape. Wish me luck for tomorrow. I will be in ninth grade for the second time in my life and seventh grade for the third.

The First Cut Is The Deepest

Some of you will be able to relate to this post, others might have to come back in another twelve years or so. I am talking about that point in motherhood when you realize your children are never going back to being little again. The first time my oldest daughter rejected a hug, I thought there was something really wrong with her. Now that I am on my second child that is going through that phase, I realize all of this was and is inevitable. I had two girls, and when they were little they wore what I chose. Some of their dresses were like confections, others were just charming in their simplicity.

 

I know the next statement might tip you off as to the condition of my mental state, but ... I have kept their outfits, I have kept them ALL. I couldn't pass that store in every mall in the United States called Gymboree without going in. Their clothing was wonderful. Every season I could not resist getting another little outfit. The fabrics they were made of were wonderful to the touch.

 

I didn't shop exclusively at one store, though. What I did do was buy clothing according to the fabric because I knew I would be keeping these clothes and making something out of them ... someday.

 

Today is that someday. I have spent the better part of the week rummaging through all these articles of clothing ...

 

and also my memories of when they were little. I remember how they walked in them.

 

I remember going to the Oilily store , after drooling on the regular racks I headed to where I felt more at home - the sale rack. If I could recreate myself into one thing, I would be Oilily - the fabric, the clothes, the stores, the pictures - all of it.

 

Down to every last detail ... Oilily ... was the best. I knew as I was paying that those clothes would never get to see the inside of a Goodwill store. 

 

So now I am going to take a deep breath and cut ... yes I said CUT these beautiful clothes and turn them into a quilt. Below are some other fabrics I have picked up to combine with the first outfits I will be saying goodbye to.

 

Here is a tip to all the young moms out there - savor it all. When your child finally grows up it is like a paper cut that never heals. I enjoyed every smile, every kiss, every scraped knee, every cry, every hug, every time they placed their little hand in mine.
 

 

Could I Have Gone To The Mall?

 

Ah... the dress is done. I can sit back and admire it. I will wear it tomorrow to the farmer's market. It's the kind of dress I could wear wherever and whenever I wanted to. It fits me perfectly, and making the dress, instead of buying it, suits me just fine. Sure I had to work hard at making every detail perfect, and perfectly finished, so that no matter what I choose to do when I am wearing the dress, if it gets dirty, I can just toss it in the washer and dryer and know that it is going to hold up. This is the kind of dress that I can multitask in, literally. While wearing it, I can simultaneously breath, sit, and eat. It doesn't pinch or pull me anywhere. These are inherent bonuses in sewing your own clothing, but I could have just as well gone to the mall and bought myself a dress. So why didn't I? 

 

As you already know, I followed Kay Whitt's advice and made the muslin first. By doing that, I was able to make the necessary adjustments to the pattern before cutting my nice, colorful fabric. I increased the length of the arm bands at the edge of the sleeves and I also lengthened the dress by an entire 6" (that is almost 15 cm., for my foreign readers). Making the muslin first was like driving into the downtown area of a city I had never before been to; I was a bit unsure of myself. When I finally got to the fun fabrics, though, I felt like I knew the roads and the signs already. I had "been there before". I did encounter the equivalent of road construction detours with one of the sleeves, I had to make a U-turn and do a redo. If I happen to grow that third arm I have been praying for, I am ready with an extra third sleeve.

 So why didn't I just go to the mall and buy myself a dress? It was a tough week, and as a mother of kids on summer vacation, the week was a busy one. I felt torn between what I had to do and what I wanted to do.  I really wanted to spend the entire week sewing, but life has it's demands that can't be pushed aside. So I did the best I could. When I wasn't working on the project, I was thinking about the project. I thought about it while I was weed whacking the yard, while I was making toasted ground cumin seed butter to drizzle on the fresh squash & potato buttermilk soup, while I was driving to pick up the frozen equivalent of half a cow that had spent it's life grazing on the beautiful green pastures of the Tennessee countryside. I thought about the project while hiking around the lake, while I was on my way driving to a homeschooling conference; I thought about it a lot. I wondered what you thought too. I imagine you have thought about making yourself something and decided against it because it would just be easier to drive to the nearest mall, buy it, and be done with it. I could have done the same, but I would have missed out on so many things that have occurred in these past two weeks that have serendipitously made my life richer, let alone having the dress fit me to a "T". Before I share with you those things let me begin with the word, serendipity, since after all it is in the title of the book, Sew Serendipity, that I followed for the past couple of weeks. I got this off the internet:

Serendipity

1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.
2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.
3. An instance of making such a discovery. 

Once upon a time there was a fairy tale named The Three Princes of Serendip. Serendip was the old Arab name for Sri Lanka. As their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity of things which they were not in quest of.

Horace Walpole coined the word serendipity, and I am grateful to him for it. Examples of inventions made because of serendipity include cornflakes, Post-it notes, the Slinky, the microwave oven, and one of my favorites - the chocolate chip cookie. To find out how they came about look under "inventions" here. In the past couple of weeks I have been living the word. Here are a few serendipitous things that happened to me while I was trying to learn how to sew a dress:

1. Margaret became a new follower of my blog at my last post, by visiting her blog I learned about the beautiful Watts Towers by Simon Rodia in L.A., California. His work is worth exploring in depth. If you click on the highlighted words (above) you can see a short movie about him and his project.
   
2. I went to buy fabric at a quilt shop that had lots of fabric by Kaffe Fassett. I was so impressed with his fabrics, they seem to ooze color out of every weft and warp, that I went home and researched him. On his website I found a short movie about him and his thoughts about living with lots of color. After seeing it, I can tell you with a certain degree of certainty, that I can feel a learning-how-to-quilt project coming on. His explanations of why he is happy living with lots of riotous colors, vs. decorating with a more monochromatic, minimalistic decorating scheme, is a part of an ongoing internal dialog I have been having with myself for years. I was shocked when typing back and forth with Alicia, on an unrelated subject, she brought it up to me on her own. It is a subject I plan to explore in depth and you will be reading about, I hope, on your subsequent visits to my space, here on my blog.
3. I practically wore out my keyboard typing back and forth to my new friend, Alicia. The constant messaging back and forth with her has resulted in a deepening of our friendship beyond what I could have hoped for. I received, via snail mail, a beautiful watercolor painted by Alicia (see below). She has been sewing the same project and blogging about it on her blog, Possibilities. It wasn't until my dress was all done, and I was composing this post, that I realized my dress has the same colors that are in her painting. If the vast expanse of land between her home and mine were fabric, I would sew a running stitch through it and pull on the thread as hard as I could until, like the fabric in the dress, we were gathered together.

But that is not all that happened this week. Louis Pasteur, the French scientist who invented pasteurization and the vaccine for rabies, said "In the fields of observation, chance favors only the well prepared mind". This week I realized why I sewed the dress myself instead of going to the store to buy one. It is not because it is cheaper to sew it myself. It is because when I go through the process of making, I grow. I grow in a way that cannot be forgotten tomorrow, and in a weak moment the dress will remind me of that growth. I need that inner growth because it sustains me through all my busy, multitasking days.

Update From The Trenches

Well here I am in the trenches - that is where you do the dirty work or rather the work no one wants to do. If this is your first time to my blog you can find out what came before the trenches work by reading here . Oh sure I had heaps of fun buying the fabrics and the book, Sew Serendipity . I felt like I was in the midst of a romantic whirlwind, yes, me and my newly purchased fabrics. I trimmed them up ... 

 

In the wash they went ...

 
And now I am in full combat mode. Let me explain. In my last post, in the comment section, I actually was lucky to get many lovely comments, one comment was from Kay Whitt. Yes siree Bob, Kay Whitt, the author of the book I am following here. In reference to my skipping the skirt, Kay, said "... you better be making a muslin!" For those of you who are not familiar with sewing clothing, a muslin is a mock up of the final outfit made with inexpensive fabric. It is also the one step many impatient people skip, including, in the past, yours truly. There was an exclamation point at the end of her comment. With Kay watching me I wasn't about to take any chances. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks.  I may be old, but I am always willing to learn any new tricks out there - so I bought muslin and pattern tracing cloth, lots of both.

I set out to do it right.  You know all the sayings ... "don't put the cart before the horse ... measure twice, cut once ... if you are going to do it at all do it right ..." well that is what I wanted to do. I didn't want someone looking at my blog saying "tsk tsk ..advice most needed is least headed." So I dove in to do it right. I started by copying the patterns so I could leave the tissue patterns intact for future projects ( I have full intentions of loosing all my "baby" fat and using the other sizes that were included).

 

It wasn't long before I was feeling a little like this lady, below

 

I was beginning to feel like it would be forever before I got back to my glorious colors. I was in a sea of off-white fabric veiled in ochre tissue. I just stared off into the sea with the same look on my face as she has on hers - a look of "I can't believe I still have to do all this - BLAH "

I kept going, I could feel Kay's presence in the room. The muslin got cut.

 
And then it all got stitched up, but not without a hiccup or two. The sleeves went on the dress inside out. It wasn't all bad, I had moments of discovery - I finally know what a seam ripper looks like and what it is used for - and believe me, I now know it well. Mental note to self - next time remember to pin a note to muslin fabric saying which is side is the "wrong" side of the fabric. Since I am working on the final dress with batiks I will need to figure out a way to tell which side is which on the final dress as well. I thought of Post-it notes but with all the turning of the fabric this way and that, I can just imagine all the little Post-it notes I would later find on the floor under my desk.I need a better solution. I had quiet, pensive moments as well. Like when I stopped the whole process and went into the kitchen. There is nothing like homemade waffles to quell the doubts that enter my brain in moments of procrastination. I wondered how Alicia, from Possibilities was doing. Maybe there was the "possibility" she had gotten to make a personal connection with the seam ripper as well. I quickly typed her a note on Facebook

Honestly, Alicia, what WAS I thinking?
I am on the sleeves - need I say more?
There are some very talented people in this world- I am not one of them.
I just ate a waffle- in my deranged world I thought it would make me feel better about the sleeves.
I'll keep at it. Carolina

I gulped the last of my fresh-from-the-Mennonite-farm milk down, sighed and returned to the trenches. The word for the day was perseverance.

Somewhere in Delaware

My new friend, Alicia, lives there. If I get in my car and drive without stopping I can get to my new friend's house in just about 13 hours. If I do it, though, I would have a mighty problem finding her once I got there. You see, I don't know her. You read correctly, I don't know her. In fact, I don't even know what she looks like. I met her in Blogland a few days ago and the typing has been fast and furious between us since. To celebrate our new found friendship we have decided to do a project together. We both will be blogging about it simultaneously. Alicia will post her progress on her blog, Possibilities. You can click on the highlighted word to get to her blog to check it out. When you are there scroll down and see the terrific bag that she made.

And now to the business at hand: We have chosen the book Sew Serendipity by Kay Whitt. If you click on the highlighted book title it will take you to the Amazon page, look for her book under Sewing, she should be the first book in that category.

 

Now I have to tell you, Kay Whitt , is a God send. She has produced a book for the rest of us... yup... the newbies to sewing that still want style and flair.

 

Alicia and I have chosen the dress (below) as a first project. I looked at the instructions, I probably should start with the skirt but typical me, we have decided to go with a little harder project. Now Kay, if you are reading this, I PROMISE to do the skirt if I flunk the Romantic Floral Tunic Dress. You see, Kay says, in black & white (actually black & pink) for everyone to see, start off with the skirt if you are new to sewing. Alas, neither my new found friend, Alicia, nor I have listened. So the Romantic Floral Tunic Dress it is.

 

Early this morning I set out to photograph the fabric for the project. There wasn't a soul down at the lake.

 

I could shoot anywhere I wanted.

 

Since there was nobody around I took a quick dip. It is an odd, delicious pleasure to be able to swim in nature with no other human beings around.

Do you see the little bag on the dock?

 
Take a peek inside it. I don't want to leave you with the mistaken impression that I can go to a fabric store looking for fabric for a project and ONLY come out with the amount called for in the pattern. At all times my addiction must be fed.  
 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 

More Than A Stone's Throw Away

Stonington, Maine is more than a stone's throw away from my mountain, but that is where I stayed when I went to the wedding - The Brady Bunch wedding. I have been away from my computer and the internet for almost 2 weeks ... for a blogger that is a near death experience. I will blog about that road trip in the future. For now, a quick post on what happened to all those T-shirts. For 2000 miles (3219 KM) I sat in the front seat stitching my little heart out. By the time I got there it was finished, and a quick pop, pop and my eyeballs were back in their sockets. We were tired when we got there but the next morning I went out with my project to get it photographed for the blog before the wedding. The sunrise was, as my very Chilean Papi would say, ES-SPEC-TA-COOLERR.

 As was the house we had rented. It is called The Lobster Trap. Shhh, can you tell everybody is still asleep in the house?

 

The only people awake at that hour (5 AM) besides me were the lobstermen. All that was left of the lobster boats were the dinghies put in their place.

After a day out in the cold, northern Atlantic waters they tie up their lobster boats to these moorings and leave their dinghies closer to land at the dinghy dock which you see here below is empty. They are all out there in the Atlantic getting lobsters for all of us tourists that descend on this part of the world in the summer ( we are too wimpy to handle their frigid, bone breaking winters).

 

As the light got better my chances for finding a good location to shoot my project seemed elusive. To all you quilters out there - How in the _ _ _ _ do you all shoot your quilts? Everything I tried looked awful.

Tried as I might I couldn't get it right

 

I finally had to enlist the help of two very accommodating young ladies.

 

I cut up all the t-shirts and I stitched them on to dark grey cotton jersey, I backed the coverlet with a lighter grey cotton jersey. The whole thing is kid proof, I stitched it with double threaded button craft thread. It should hold up when the dog comes in all muddy and wet and one of the Brady Bunch needs to wipe him dry.  Into the washer and the dryer - on ANY setting. Would you like a closer look? I hope they like it. 

 

 

Meet The Brady Bunch

Our friends are getting married - Brady Bunch Style. Yup, She and her three kids are marrying Him and his three kids. I have been all for it until this:

I wanted to make a wedding gift for them that was a little more personal so I asked her to send me one old t-shirt from each family member. She sent them to me next-day-air so I could get working on it ASAP ( as always I am running late on a project and flying by the seat of my pants). When I opened the box it felt like all those T-shirts sprung out at me like those silly fake snakes that are meant to shock you when you open the can. Well, I must admit ... I WAS shocked.

Let me begin by introducing the happy couple:

 Just looking at their shirts don't you imagine them spending the rest of their lives outdoors, biking, hiking, sleeping out under the stars? Woo-hoo how romantic ... that is unless all the T-shirts below are "filled" and tagging along on the was-supposed-to-be-romantic experience.

Shall we begin with Sam? His shirt is below; "the Wrangler". When I googled that word it came up that it means to quarrel noisily or angrily, to bicker. The British, ever so polite that they are, say it is a person who excels at debate. The last definition I found is the one I am settling on for Sam: to herd ... I have a feeling he will grow up having to corral all the girls that will be after him.

 

Next comes Quinn, if his & his mom's shirt tell me anything ... the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. When girls grow up they all want the kind of guy that is foot loose and fancy free yet with a heart of solid gold.

 

Little Miss Mollie, I understand , is not so little anymore yet she remains light as a feather on her feet. After years and years of grueling ballet lessons she deserves every accolade that comes her way.

 

Next up is Allie, although the tiniest in the lot, I am sure she shines like a traveler's star every night of the year.

 

Tucker, yes Tucker ... the photo of his shirt took absolutely forever to load into this post. Perhaps it is a sign ... a sign that he will grow up to be a great protector and forever dependable once you have won his heart.

 

Last, but most certainly not least is Nate. Don't you just love him already? Just look at his shirt! I once was a teacher and I can tell you with out a doubt that this kid, had he been one of my students, would have had a special place in my heart.

 I don't know what else to say except that when I look at these pictures of all 8 T-shirts, I think three things :

1. Their washing machine is going to shake right out of their laundry room and move into another house - one with less kids.
2. I better hurry up and make something out of all these T-shirts because the wedding is almost here & I am running out of time.
3. I actually CAN imagine them camping with all of them in tow ... and I think nothing could be more romantic.

 

Workshop T

As you know, due to the most horrific, flood inducing rain Nashville has had in it's history, I missed having a workshop with Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin at Textile Fabrics. Natalie, bless her, agreed to drive back up from Alabama, a second time, and give us our workshop.  My post from May/6/2010 shows the results I got from trying out her process on my own. Below you will see how I fared after taking her workshop.

After I got past the initial starry-eyed emotions, I was able to focus and begin work on a previously stenciled T-shirt she had for each participant. In a nutshell, I placed pink cotton jersey underneath the stenciled T-shirt and basted it in place, then I did my decorative stitches around the stenciled shapes. When I was all done, and more than a little bit cross-eyed, I carefully >read with sweating palms<, cut to within an 1/8 of an inch of the stitching WITHOUT cutting the pink jersey that lay underneath. Here is a close-up photo of my work with the reverse appliqué technique that Natalie's outfits are so well known for.  

I am not a fan of T-shirts, somehow wearing one makes me feel like I just got dressed in the men's department at Walmart. At home, as soon as I finished the "pretty stuff" on the T, I did a snip, snip, here and a snip, snip there. Gone was the standard T-shirt trim type of collar, and the sleeves were a tad more feminine. The cap shape for sleeves on a T always makes me feel dressier than the standard T sleeves.   

 

On the day of the workshop.Textile Fabrics graciously extended their half-off sale to Natalie Chanin's fabrics. It was a good thing, too, because otherwise I would have been out of luck trying Natalie's latest Summer Denim Collection . The clothing designs she is coming out with are "sick" (for all those who use google translator to read my blog,  "sick" means awesome, to die for), I want it ALL. The cotton jersey fabric can be purchased on her site, although I must say the "denim" jersey price is hiccup inducing. It is actually downright stones-in-the-bottom-of-your-tummy-feeling, but you just can't get that stuff, as beautiful as it is, anywhere else that I know of. I had visions of me up to my elbows in vats of indigo on the driveway while my children's homeschooling was pushed even further into summer. I really love all of the Summer Denim collection, though, so I just may have to have indigo dying on my projects-to-do list. Hope you enjoyed this as much as I have.   Carolina