Cookbooks Etc

Buying used or vintage stuff doesn't count as materialism or consumerism because it isn't contributing to the supply for new goods. At least that's what I tell myself. So without further apology here is the stuff I've found recently:

First the cookbooks, this one was too gorgeous and for a couple bucks way too good a deal to pass up:


I also love unusual cookbooks and this one seemed fairly unusual:


That is of course until I got home and my dad informed me he already owned a Burmese cookbook. My thunder was sufficiently stolen.

I also just found my own copy of this for only a couple bucks:


I think I'm the only one who likes it but I couldn't resist this teapot:


Here's the back:


And here's the mark on the bottom:


And this mug, the owls!:


Finally I got this box:


I think it probably came with some wine in it or something so it might be silly that I paid for it but I like it and it seemed super useful...now I just have to think of something to put in it.

And now I present a photo essay that illustrates what it is like to try to photograph something with a cat around:


Fin.

Dress Shirt Refashion (Finally)

First I will give you the dramatic before and after of this refashion and then you'll get the back story.

Before:


After:


The back story: while sifting through my closet for something to refashion I came upon an old dress shirt. It had been well loved in its day but now it was far too dingy to be used for formal occasions. My first thought was that it needed to be dyed but I also realized that once dyed the cut would be too formal to be useful so it also needed some refashioning.

The first thing I tackled was the collar. It was too pointy and extreme so I opened up where the two pieces were attached. I have no idea what they are actually called so let's refer to them as the collar and the base of the collar.

And here is the obligatory help from a cat, they like to hold down fabric for you:


You can see where I seam ripped between the two pieces:


Once I had separated the top piece I was left with a nice little stand up collar. All I had to do was sew the piece that remained back together which I did by hand.


Next I tackled the sleeves. After about 50 false starts I decided just to chop them off (with a lot of experimentation to figure out the angle at which this should be done). I used leftovers from the sleeves to make a cuff (is that what it's called if it doesn't have a button?) for the sleeve. I actually had to piece it out of two different lengths but you can't really tell because the much smaller piece is on the inside of the arm. To gather in the extra material I went with one large tuck. (I only have pictures from after it was dyed.)


Although I liked the shirt a lot better with short sleeves it was still a little boxy so rather than attempt to reshape the entire thing I just added two ties at the sides:


I left them really long so they can actually be tied in several ways; as shown above or tied in front at the waist or as an empire waist.

Finally the shirt needed dying. (Pretend it wasn't already dyed in previous pictures). I did some research and decided after finding much praise for it that Dylon dye was good and widely available. (The "colour" page [I love British spelling] on their homepage has a cool color wheel of all the dyes.) After much mental anguish I went with "ocean blue:"


I was happy with the saturation of the color but disappointed that it came out a little streaky, although that is fading with every wash (and also could have been my fault).

I also had no idea how dying over pin stripes would turn out, whether they'd still be visible or disappear completely. I like that they are subtly still there.

It ended up being way more work then I expected but it was worth it because I really like it now:


P.S.: Total cost: About $3 for some cotton fabric to make the ties out of (I had plenty of white fabric but I wasn't positive any of it was 100% cotton so I had to buy some) and the packet of dye.

Seasonal Denial: Make Your Own Seed Starter Pots (With an Attempt at a Tutorial)

There's lots of snow on the ground. But I'm still in denial, convinced that spring is right around the corner.

In the spirit of this we already ordered seeds and they have arrived. We also went through our old seeds and pulled out all the ones we'll try this year:


Not a great picture but it was the last decent one I got. Why you might wonder? Well did you notice a shadow looming in the upper left hand corner of the picture? It foreshadows what happened next:


And then this gesture which was just unnecessary:


You might think I stage this stuff but I swear, I was trying to grab a few quick pics and he interjected himself into the photo shoot totally uninvited.

But back to gardening. Feeling a little overwhelmed this year by all the different seeds that need to be started and the new beds that need to be dug in time for those seeds to be transplanted I printed my own calendar to keep track of it all. It's super boring, I could have made it much fancier.


But what would have been the point of a nice calendar when my horrendous handwriting is going to inevitably ruin it?

If you have denial like me and you want to start preparing you can make your own seed starter pots out of newspaper. Here is my kind of tutorial (this is as close to one as you'll get from me):

Newspaper Seed Starter Pots:

1. Start with some newspaper (discard the sheets that are just a single page, they aren't wide enough.) You will also need a glass bottle (although I suppose any material would work, as long as it's open at one end). Mine was 2 inches across at the bottom and 4.5 inches tall. Another size might work but I haven't experiment enough to be sure. I told you this wouldn't be much of a tutorial!

2. Cut the newspaper into strips across the width. I made mine as wide as the bottle I was using. (And they'll be as long as the newspaper when it's folded open. You need this much length for it to work.)

3. One strip at a time wrap them around your bottle.


4. With the opening of the bottle on top pull the roll about halfway off the bottle.


5. Starting with the seam where your strip ended fold the top part into the opening of the jar.


Do this all the way around.


6. Pull the pot off and flip the jar over and stick the bottom of the jar into the pot to squish down the bottom.



7. Your pot is done!


The bottom may look a little funky but as long as all your dirt doesn't fall out it should be fine.



Now repeat as many times as necessary. Here is what we got done so far:



The advantage of these is that you can put the whole thing right in the ground. But it's probably a good idea to rip off some of the extra paper if possible and make sure the bottom is open for the roots to escape. Despite this it's still better than having to totally uproot the poor little seedling. Much less traumatizing.

And in case you were wondering; those were NOT my hands making the pots. My finger nails are much nicer.

P.S. I'm sure there are other variations of this out there and maybe even this exact same version. My mom has been doing it for years so she doesn't remember where she first learned.

P.P.S. Feel free to tell me anything that isn't clear. I'm still working on the whole tutorial thing.

Another T-Shirt Refashion: Tank Top

After my success with my first t-shirt to tank top refashion I decided to try another one. This time I based it on a favorite halter top I already owned. I started with a kind of yucky XL men's t-shirt (I didn't' want to start with a really nice shirt since this was an experiment). Here is the before:


And after:


How I did it: I used my old shirt to design a pattern piece for the front and the back. Here are the pattern pieces:


As you can see I had a little difficulty getting a good picture.


Actually a lot of difficulty. Finally I got a good one:


Now for my boring attempt at technical instructions: both these pattern pieces are for only half, the right side of each piece is where the fold would go. The one on the left is half the front piece and the one on the right is the same half of the back piece. Tip for knits: last time I tried folding the fabric in half before cutting and it stretched all wonky. This time I cut out one side and then flipped the pattern and used it to cut the other side and this worked much better. The back piece of the shirt is pretty basic with the exception of a little flare at the bottom. The front is the same but taller. It is also not a perfect rectangle: it curves in a little at the top but not too much because I wanted to have enough fabric to scrunch up at the top of the halter. There are seam allowances on the sides of the front and back and a hem allowance on the top of the back piece. There is also a hem allowance on the top of the front but this is larger because it will also form the channel for the straps. Finally: I didn't add a hem allowance to the bottom because I used the bottom of the old t-shirt for the bottom of my new shirt because that hem is always so nice and professional looking. The strap is one long tube which I sewed and then flipping inside out, threaded through the channel at the top and sewed down in the back. Here is the back so you can see the detail:


So I had some more photography issues. And if you think that is the same cat it's not. Don't believe me? Here's proof:


Finally got a good shot:


Here is a closer one. You can see how the strap works and why it's important to make your top hem large so you can get the strap through it:


Another tip: to avoid the little logo on the shirt I cut the back piece out of the front of my old shirt (since the back is shorter) and the front piece out of the back (since the back had nothing on it).

I'm very happy with the result especially considering it was an experimental version. I'm definitely going to play around with the pattern and fabric and try other versions. If this was made a little looser there is no reason it would have to be made from a knit.

The Final Homemade Holiday Gift

I know I already said this but I swear this is the final post this season about homemade holiday gifts. This one is a little belated because I didn't even see the recipient until after New Year's.

Here it is:


Although Toaster wasn't part of the gift...isn't that belly just irresistible? It looks so soft and white and downy, I always succumb and rub it, only to be reminded that it is just a trap waiting to be sprung. No matter how asleep he looks he is just waiting for you to get close enough so he can bite your hand. But he is only there so provide a size reference for what was supposed to be the subject of this post: the owl.

I made the wall hanging for a collector of owl related items. Here is a close up:


I started by having my boyfriend (who is more artistically inclined then me) draw a simplified version of a Great Gray Owl from a book on owls. I then used this as a pattern to cut out a piece of hound's tooth fabric which I appliqued to the white background. I then used mostly chain stitch to add in the detail. The eyes came out a little googly, I definitely need more practice with my embroidery.


In order to make the embroidery into a hanging I added a border of dark paisley around the white rectangle. I then lined it with a white layer and added some pretty green fabric for a backing. I sewed in three tabs to put a dowel through and tied green cord to that.

Although I wasn't totally satisfied with my embroidery skills adding the border and backing made it much more appealing. I just think I need to design myself a sampler or something so I can practice a few more stitches. Maybe I should do a sampler made entirely of eyes! That would be both creepy and very helpful.