Home Again Home Again

 Had a beautiful trip home to Northern California about a month ago. I do love a stormy day...



Pretty. Easy. Macaroons.

I've not been around here a lot. But I've meant to be. A lot is going on, I swear it. So much I've been reluctant to try and put any words to it because I'd surely forget important parts. I'll be back. Well, I am back. I'm not going to get deep though. We'll save that for after the holidays.

To stay in practice, I wanted to post something. I made these great cookies today. They are photogenic, so I deemed them blog material. Ina Garten macaroons, to the second batch of which I added few chocolate chips. A little crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Super quick and easy and delicious. DANGEROUS.

The Lazy Mama's Tank Top From a Vintage Pillowcase...

...or any pillowcase really, I just felt compelled to use the word vintage in one more title.

Hi! It's me of the dirty mirrors and messy house in the background! Back with more pictures showing that no, I never did clean those mirrors! The house, I promise, has been cleaned many times over, but you'd never know it. Oh, and I still can't rotate my pictures in blogger as far as I can tell. I try to remember to not take vertical pictures, but sometimes certain parts of my mess have to be cut out. Onward and upward...

This is a tutorial for ladies like me who like to sew stuff, but lack the patience needed to learn and or follow the rules of sewing. Like the measuring part. That pesky ironing part. I have a vague understanding that if I took the time to learn the tricks of the trade I would start producing much more beautiful things, and I'd probably be floored at how much easier life would be if I knew ways to address sewing conundrums I run into every once in a while (all. the. time.) But I'm stubborn like that.

I've got a love affair with vintage sheets, along with half the internet blog world, I realize I'm no trend setter. And there are some CA-UTE tank top tutorials. But they involve ironing and measuring. Not gonna do it. Also I've been looking for one without shirring, please. Looks amazing, but I went into Joann's to ask about elastic thread and they looked at me like I had ten heads. Special trips to stores for no reason scar me and it'll be a while before I try again at the other fabric store. 

Looking at a pillowcase, one notices that it's basically a tank top with the arm and neck holes yet to be cut out, am I right? But I was unable to find a tutorial to hold my hand and tell me "Yes, dear, you are right. Just cut out the arm and neck holes, hem her up, and you'll have yourself a tank top" So Dears, here is that tutorial. My lack of discipline in the ways of sewing leave you with a product that is clearly homemade. Were anybody to look closely, they would have no doubt. In my world, totally acceptable. In yours? I have no idea. But I think you could take this tutorial and complicate it if you really wanted something professional. My biggest regret is probably that I used straight stitches and didn't serge my edges. I'm gonna have fraying. I didn't want to start up my serger because it draws the kids' attention to it. Seriously. That is my honest to goodness excuse. I made this thing in a whirlwind of little person mania and it shows - literally - you'll see photographic evidence. 

You'll need:

-A template tank top - you won't cut it up so don't worry about ruining it.

-A pillowcase that your template tank top fits on.

-Scissors

-Pins

-Sewing machine with zig zag stitch 

Step 1: Turn your pillowcase and your template tank top inside out and lay the tank top on top of the pillowcase. I put the straps of my tank top at the top (closed) part of the pillowcase and smoothed everything out with my hands (no ironing, remember?):

Step 2: Pin along the contour of the tank top on each side:

Step 3: Cut the arm holes and neck hole. For the arm holes I left about a 1/2 inchish (remember,  no measuring - you're welcome to if this makes you twitchy) since I'm going to hem it later. Also the template tank top is on the snug side for me, so I figured a little wiggle room wouldn't hurt. The neck on this tank top is pretty high cut though, so I cut right down til the fabric was even on the neck. I left extra room on the straps since I didn't want such skinny straps on my new tank top:

Step 4: Turn it inside out and try that puppy on. At this point you're making sure the thing still fits on your body. I got lucky and it just fit....sort of...see, my hips were too wide for the full length of the pillowcase to hang, but I really liked the way the wide band sat and how it gave some fullness (ahem gut room) to the body of the tank top. If yours doesn't fit I'd re-position the pins a quarter inch or so further out and try again. Be careful not to impale yourself on pins during this step! p.s the pic below was actually taken after the whole thing was done, but I wanted to give a visual to what I'm talking about with the band on the hips...just ignore the neck and arm holes, yours won't be done at this point. Please note spray bottle-ageddon which is brewing to my left in this shot:

 Step 5: The sewing begins. First I re-sew the seams at the top of the shoulders - we have cut through the original seam so it is probably starting to unravel and that makes it tough to hem up:

Step 6: Sew up both sides. I cut the curve on one side, giving myself a little room for sewing - I probably should have given myself more, then I could have serged it later. Be careful at the bottom here, on a practice pillowcase I veered off too abruptly and it ended up putting this weird bulge in the sides. The pic below I went much more gradually with how I sewed down into the existing seam. Does that even make sense? Hopefully the picture helps. Those of you who sew are probably taking note of how my edges are going to fray right into my straight stitch seam. Sucks. Oh well. I knew the price of not following rules.

Step 7: I took and folded the tank top in half lengthwise to match up the sides just to make sure the the contuors matched more or less. They did, so I went ahead and cut the curve on the second side and sewed that up:

 Step 8: Next I hemmed the arm and neck holes. I totally winged it here, folding the fabric over maybe an eighth to a quarter of an inch and just sewing....I opened up seams and folded them over as in the picture below, and just sort of made things work. I write this thinking that I would probably scream if I read a tutorial telling me to wing it...all I can say is that I am not an especially naturally talented or intuitive seamstress. If I can do it, I REALLY think you can do it too.

This is how it was looking as I worked on the neck hole, after finishing the arm holes:

And that was pretty much it, yo! There was a lot of screaming and yelling and asking kids to stop spraying each other THROUGH ME, and to quit turning my machine on and off AS I AM SEWING, so probably this tutorial comes off as chaotic as it was. For that I'm sorry, but it's just how I roll. I'm really  not sure what to do about it. I would be happy to answer any questions though, and if you make one of these, OMG link me!!! I would be in blogger Nirvana! 

Here is my post-finishing photo shoot. Credits to Willie, my budding Ansel Adams:

Totally cartwheel friendly!

Off to feed the goats:

And smell the roses:

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! More vintage goodness!

I can't wait til it gets here, I have to sing it from the mountaintops right. NOW.

This dress is on its way to  me right  now. Somewhere between Australia and me. Right now.

I die. More pictures when it gets here.

If you're super jealous or just curious, friend Naughty Shorts on Facebook here, and check out her blog here, because Bec, the incredibly talented maker of this dress is a busy lady what with dress making and daughter raising and a little vacation thrown in for good measure and I believe she is on a small hiatus. She's coming back shortly though and from the sounds of her facebook wall, folks are lining up to score some custom spots and buy ready-to-ship stuff, so you'll want to get on that!

My Vintage Kitchen...

Has yet to materialize. But someday...someday....

Well, someday it will.

For now I collect the dishes I will display when that day comes.

When your thrifting and you turn over a bowl and see something like this:

Does your heart skip a beat? If so, read on. If not, you might think me a nutcase, but let me tell you, there are a lot of us out there! I barely register on the vintage cookware collector nutcase richter scale. I took a quick glimpse at Pyrex and Fire King groups on flickr the other day and WOW the beauty that is out there! My collection is very mundane and run of the mill. Nothing very notable, but OH so beautiful.

I had it out the other day, trying to organize my cabinets before my husband got home so the clutter might not alert him to the fact I bought more dishes that I'm not ENTIRELY sure how I will use. I just can't walk by $1.99 for one of these puppies. One of these days I'll have a nice place to display them and he will see the light.....or maybe not. 

Anyway, I had them out, so I had to take pictures and share:

The blue and white Fire King dishes below are probably the oldest ones I have, from the mid 40s (white one) through the mid 50s (blue one) The rest seem to be from the 70s.

A fading Fire King pattern:

Pyrex:

Oh oops, I think that blue cornflower pattern is actually Corningware:

Cutest little bitty Pyrex bread loaf dish:

They sure don't print dishes like they used to!

Velcro Blocks

I had never heard of velcro blocks, but apparently the mommy over at Chasing Cheerios had, b/c I found a link on Pinterest which lead me HERE to her brilliant post about them. I take no credit for this post, therefore, it was all her. However I think she glued her velcro on, where I found some adhesive stuff on sale at Walmart and it worked a treat, so maybe that's an easier option for you. 

My materials:

The blocks were some we got at Target for Christmas last year. Maybe made by Circo or something like that? Cheapies, they were $10 and came in a little pull wagon.

 I just guessed at the best places for velcro and where to put soft or rough sides. I usually put a soft and rough on each block opposite each other.

Super easy. And then they get to sculpt with them! 

Different Yolks For Different Folks.

This post brought to you by the color orange.

I was reveling in domestic bliss this morning. Woke up early and sat out in the hammock to watch the sun rise over the garden. I watched the chickens warbling about and digging up everything in their paths, foraging leftover goat grain and gobbling up bugs. 

After a while I went inside and read up on harvesting calendula and echinacea (great links on my linkapalooza page...tab is at the top). So I went out and pinched the two beautiful blossoms I have going on my one calendula plant (harvesting of echinacea seems to be best left until after a couple of frosts). The author of the article I read assures me that they will be quickly replaced by new blossoms. They are now set to dry in my bedroom windowsill:

Had a quick cuppa while I gathered up calendula seeds to save (i.e. the mess there in the background). Yummy with whipped cream and the coffee/sugar/chocolate grinder from Trader Joes:

Then I commenced to making breakfast. Fresh squeezed orange juice (by this time the boys were awake and ready to help):

Cream biscuits, turkey bacon, and eggs. Our chickens are molting, so they aren't laying a lot of eggs lately and I've had to supplement with grocery store eggs. Today was a mixture and boy, the difference is striking.

Eggs from our chickens, who roam freely, get lots of sun, and eat grains/greens/bugs:

Compared to a commercial, USDA organic egg from hens the carton claims have access to the outdoors:

This article from Mother Earth News discusses the results of their studies on the nutritional content of real free range eggs vs. confined eggs. They've found that the real free range eggs contained:

1/3 less cholesterol

1/4 less saturated fat

2/3 more vitamin A

2 times more omega-3 fatty acids

3 times more vitamin E

and 7 times more beta carotene

So those are the facts, ma'am. But if you ask me, the proof is in the orange. Keep digging chickens!

My $3 Thrifted Vintage House Coat Makeover?

Stay with me here, I have no real sense of fashion beyond a sense of what I like. But I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that I had a lightening strike at the Salvation Army today.

It all began when a cute blue and white floral pattern jumped off the rack at me. "Cute" I thought. So I checked it out. Granny house coat. OK. Cool though, with it's vintage-y quilted neckline, cute pattern, and I love those snaps. And if I don't wear it, I can cut it up and use it as fabric. And for $1.50 why the heck not?

I was also in the market for a wide leather belt to go with a dress I just ordered which is to be gushed about at a later date, and I found a pretty nice one, also for $1.50. In the dressing room, yeah, the house coat was a house coat:

Before you look at the rest of this post, please know I'm duly mortified by the dirty mirror. While it quite accurately represents the state of EVERYTHING in my household that lives at little person level, I realize that if I plan to blog self portraits in the future I'm going to need to find a dedicated "clean mirror". I apologize in advance.

ANYWAY. Next thing to do was try on the belt, so I did...over the house coat! And maybe I'm nutso, but I think the result is pretty darn cute! So how 'bout it ladies? Housecoat dresses? Raid your Grandma's closet and let me know how it turns out!

Pretty quilted neckline:

Super bonus sweet: POCKETS!

Also scored this cute little quilt and a Juice-O-Mat! These old kitchen things remind me of the cars of their time, I love it.