An Apple Pie a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

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We've slowly been recovering, and my poor boys are almost all better! Some of them have lingering coughs, and two of them never got sick at all; and I'm hoping our luck will hold. I'm trying to think of all the last-minute things I need to do before our vacation, and one of them is to use up the half-bushel of apples I bought optimistically a few weeks ago. Although I'm storing them in the garage, I don't want them to go bad while we're gone, so I've decided to go on an apple pie baking blitz. I figure that if I make an apple pie every day, or two every other day, I should use up all the apples before we leave. Yesterday, I baked pie #1; it seems like forever since I've made a home-baked dessert and it made the house smell awesome! My boys were all thrilled, they love apple pie, and I felt like I had accomplished a lot that day, even though I didn't.

I think I've been pushing myself too much lately, I've been unusually tired, and the joy I used to have creating and selling my soaps has seemed to be replaced by feeling that I've fallen short, not just at that, but that I've let it take over my life a little too much. I have a tendency to be a perfectionist, and although I told myself when I started that I would be happy if I only made one sale, soon I found myself glued to the activity feed! I think I'm going to concentrate on the joy of it again, and if it's true that a "watch pot never boils"; well, maybe it's true that a "watch etsy-shop never sells"! And I am looking forward to my first Farmer's Market, I love Farmer's Market's and it will be so scary and exciting to have my own (shared) booth! I'm already planning my display and decor, with my snazzy new apron that Rita, a fellow etsian at Lazy Mondays made me. I've made "Idaho Dirt" soap, "Clean Air" soap, and have a lot more planned that I hope people in an open-air market will like!

For now, I need to concentrate on my sewing, which is my one true love; and getting ready for our vacation, that is so close now I can taste it. I almost can't believe we're actually getting to go to Disneyland, I think I've avoided thinking too much about it, because it seems almost too good to be true!

Since it's a Friday night, I can stay up as late as I want, watching old movies and sewing old patterns, my favorite! I may work it some new soap "flavors" I have planned. I have more consignment goodies, can you believe it? I also have to buy Andrew new dress shoes for his school performance; which will be the day we leave for San Diego! He's been preparing all year for this, and is really nervous, I'm hoping to have everything packed in the car and meet him at school with the whole family, including Daddy; so that right after the performance, we can leave for San Diego! So much going on this coming week, it's scary and exciting! I will post pictures of my now-mythical vintage attire once it's done, I swear!

Have a great weekend, everybody! 

Can I?

Wow, what a week! A week in which all my plans have gone awry in some way or another, a week in which I had all sorts of plans to stay up as late as necessary...and instead ended up crashing immediately after the boys went to bed! I now have the daunting prospect of a huge vacation to plan for, and I'm in the horrible stage where it's too soon to do some serious packing, but I have terrible packing anxiety because I'm afraid that once it comes time to pack; I'll suddenly realize it can't be done. Yes, that's my fear; that is actually can't be done; I mean; whoever said it was possible to take five children several states away, in a car that seats the amount of people we have, for a week. A week. I'm now wondering how few things I can get away with bringing. They have clothes and baby food and diapers and shoes and toys in California, right? I can just imagine myself, though; in some seedy laundromat in Southern California, frantically doing laundry before I get mugged. However, I believe they do have laundry facility at both hotels we're staying at; including the rather posh Disneyland hotel. My other fear involves the rash plans I made to make my clothes for the trip. Will I ever learn? Probably not. I have my bathing suit about halfway done; and I've made the decision to only do the "must have" items, like the bathing suit and a wrap skirt, which should be quick (no, I'll never learn). The rest will just have to go into the ether until later in the year. I have lots of soap projects that I'm behind in; which leads me to my other concern: putting my shop in vacation mode or not? It's not as though I'm getting daily orders, so I think I'll just take my laptop and do such work as I can in the evenings; (here I go again!); and just tell any customers that I may (or may not) have that all shipping will be done once I get back.

I'm hoping (as always) to get plenty of work done tonight, and to really buckle down; including going through the dreaded bins of boys' clothing, and consigning all the items I have saved up to consign. I probably will need to buy quite a few summery items for all the boys and for James; and most likely will need to fill in deficiencies in my wardrobe as well.

Can you tell I'm worried and stressed? I feel rather ramble-y tonight; I'll just keep repeating to myself, "I think I can, I think I can, I think...."

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes...and Jane Russell

I heard yesterday that Jane Russell, brunette foil to Marilyn Monroe in 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes', passed away at age 89. This is a bit of a departure for my blog, but 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' is one of my favorite movies, and I just had to comment. I grew up hearing that term, and saw the movie poster many times, but I didn't actually see the movie until I was an adult. It is one of those movies that "they" just don't make anymore, a truly funny comedy with a great plot, and Jane Russell made the whole movie work! As much as I loved Marilyn Monroe, she was not the greatest actress and needed someone like Jane, with her sarcastic quips and impeccable timing to act as the "straight man" for her character, which was the usual ditsy blond. As a lover of vintage fashion, I also love this movie for the clothes; and since it is in Technicolor, the fifties' odd color combos are on full display, including a rather obnoxiously purple dress on Marilyn's character, which somehow manages to work; as well as my favorite outfit; a chic black bathing ensemble which Jane's character wears during a musical number. I only wish they made bathing suits like that still; this black number acts as it's own girdle, and flattered Jane's famous figure perfectly. I also loved, loved, loved the character played by a fantastic young actor, who dryly delivers some of the best lines in the movie. Whenever I see the movie, I always wish I could adopt this boy; nevermind that he must be in his sixties by now! I have this movie on DVD, and I think I will watch it again in honor of Jane Russell.

Enough of playing at movie critic, what is really on my mind today is how much I have to do before leaving on our vacation on the 24th! It is rather alarming; including minor details like sewing several pieces of clothing, going through all the summer clothes for the boys, buying any deficiencies, buying clothes for James, figuring out how to fit enough luggage into our limited cargo space, car tune-up.....and on, and on, and on. I will just have to triage, do what I can do and not worry about the rest!

I am also thrilled that it is March; winter feels over, although March is a notoriously blustery month in Idaho, it is still much better, because it holds the promise of Spring!

Happy Wednesday!

Mr. Sandman.....

So remember my pledge not to stay up past midnight? We'll that's all gone out the window now that I realized I only have barely over a month until our vacation, and several pieces that are a must sew. The bathing suit pattern I cut out the other night is on the top of my list; I would hate to wait seven years for a vacation only to end up at the beach in a threadbare, stretched-out, five year old,  I've-worn-it-through-two-pregnancies-and-never-liked-it-anyway bathing suit!

So last night I buckled down (at 11pm) and got to work; movie on the laptop; boys and husband in bed. After all my enlarging/reducing/reducing I found that I had made the shorts gigantic! I mean, really big! I stitched them together as cut because I didn't want to lose the lines of the pattern; tonight (if I survive that long), I'll try them on and reduce by taking in the side seams. I have to adjust to the fact that they are meant to be rather flowy, drapey shorts, as was the style, and I don't want to lose that. However, I also don't want to be drowning in fabric. I think it will all work out; I did have to change the pattern size significantly, and it's natural for there to be differences in fit with a vintage pattern compared to modern expectations.

I hope, hope, hope to be back on track; sleep-wise soon, as soon as I catch up a little (promises, promises). For tonight, I feel rather exhausted, and may or may not pass out completely as soon as a finish this post!
I do have a great weekend coming up, and I'm excited about tomorrow being Friday!

Have a great night, everyone!

I Write with a Goose Quill Dipped in Venom

Isn't that a great line? It's from one of my favorite Film Noir movies; Laura. I watched it last night while working on my sewing since I just figured out how to watch movies from Netflix on my laptop. I know, people have been watching movies on their computer for centuries; but since I had no computer until last December, this is all new to me! I'm no movie expert, but I've been a fan of classic films since I was a little girl watching old movies with my mother. I'm like a kid in a candy store! So many movies I've never seen, or some of my favorites that are hard to track down. Since I have a laptop, it's easy to have it set up on my worktable, start one of the classics and get to work!

This was the view from my kitchen last night; I got to work resizing my vintage swimsuit pattern, a process I started the night before. Although when giving the resized pieces a second look last night, I realized that I had made them far, far, too big! It must have been because of the late hour, after taking a few measurements, I realized I made the swimsuit front several inches too big, the top picture shows the front piece, in a Junior size, and the white material is the pattern material, which is printed in one inch grids. You can see I had to add quite a bit, including adding length from top to bottom, for coverage and modesty. After I took this picture of the piece which I had just reduced in size, I still needed to remove a few more inches in width. I felt like Alice in Wonderland, trying desperately to achieve the correct size! The lower picture shows my workspace; the kitchen table, covered in sewing stuff; which is the worst part about sewing, at least for me; because I don't have a dedicated space, and have to carefully put away everything despite the late hour; otherwise my boys will have a field day in the morning! For some reason, my littler boys are fascinated by my sewing machine and equipment, and when I leave my sewing machine out, I always have to check it carefully; since they usually have changed all the settings!

A few weeks ago, a fellow etsian on my team did an interview with me about my shop; she published it today; check out her blog; By the Book Paper

It's a great Monday; since my boys are out of school for President's Day; I'm hoping to have a very laid-back day today; Happy Monday!

Buttonholes and Buttermilk....

I've had such little time to work on my sewing lately, but finally on Sunday afternoon, I was able to at last sit down at my machine. I did have one little boy sitting beside me tracing the revolutions of the needle carriage wheel with his finger, and another little boy underneath the table pushing my foot down on the pedal, but it was still great to get going on my little trusty Singer! I'm still laboriously working on a dress that would be a simple project, if I were able to work on it for more than 20 minutes at a time, but; alas! The life of a mama! This pattern (the one I have pictured in an earlier post atop the vintage black and white check fabric) has a hidden button placket, which is perfect for me; since I have a rather embarrassing secret....I am the worst buttonhole maker in the world! It is silly, I know, for a person who has done as much sewing as I have, to produce such terrible, shaky, crooked buttonholes, and the fact that my machine has a semi-auto buttonhole setting makes it even more embarrassing. I don't know what it is about the thought of making presentable buttonholes that makes me go all to pieces; but there it is! I have also given up on marking dark fabrics with the typical white or silver dressmaking pencil, and so my other embarrassing secret is that I use Crayola colored pencils....not professional, I know, although the markings are either covered or they are fairly easily removed. After my usual trial buttonholes, my first was still fairly shaky, although I was able to cover up the deficiencies by reinforcing it; then just when I was about to succumb to buttonhole despair; I produced a quite presentable, straight buttonhole! I'm so proud of it, I may post a picture! I hope I am able to finish this particular dress in the next few days, since I'm so excited to begin my swimsuit pattern, and I've promised myself I will do all my projects in order, start to finish, for once! You may be wondering where my buttermilk reference comes from; I had a rather strange soap making experience involving adding buttermilk to lye; it changed to the strangest reddish-brown; I had heard of a similar reaction, but never had I seen it before, normally when I use buttermilk for soap it turns a orange-y color, but never this! And when the search box in your google search has the words "buttermilk in lye; reddish brown color", you know it's going to be an interesting day!

Peppermint Mocha and Patterns Galore!

I have had a crazy busy week year; and have been really stressed about getting all these gorgeous patterns resized and made into garments. I hate to be stressful about things I really love, but when you have a house, five children, an etsy shop, and mountains of laundry; it's hard to fit anything in, especially if it's "just for me". I went to my favorite fabric store these weekend, and in the bargain bin found some great quality, spring-y fabric on clearance plus 50% off! So I ended up paying $2 a yard for the great linen blend, and $1.50 a yard for the adorable rayon blend pink and white check. I also had to figure out what material to use for the pattern resizing, and since I'm cheap, I gulped and bought three yards of a product with one-inch grids printed on it for $1.99 a yard. I'm not totally sold, I wish I could have just bought a roll of butcher paper or something, although I'm finding the grids are very handy. I'm also finding that although I'm a fairly advanced sewer, the whole pattern concept does not come easy to me. I read an article about pattern resizing, but I must say I'm not totally convinced that method works. It's the whole "the-leg-bone-connected-to-the-thigh-bone" thing that I keep messing up on, it's hard for me to comprehend how when I adjust one piece, it affects several other pieces. I hope I erred on the side of largeness with the black and white I have cut out, or make it work somehow if I haven't. I also had plenty of fabric left over to cut out a 1956 sun suit for Elvis. In the pattern envelope was some notes someone had written to themselves on a piece of scrap paper which was the back a political donation request letter; so funny to find these original musings of a housewife somewhere who presumably made this very sun suit for her baby boy, who is by now a grandfather! That's why I love sewing vintage so much, it's a connection to the past like nothing else. My next project is my hard-won swimsuit pattern, the coral-y red in the center is the famous authentic vintage rayon, which I received this week from http://etsy.com/shops/vintagetreasurehuntn it's so gorgeous and lightweight, perfect for a vintage swimsuit! I had to laugh when I compared the pattern piece for the bra top, which is a girls (juniors) size to my ample bust line; there is going to be a whole lot of resizing going on there! The piece that is supposed to represent half the bra top is basically the size of a dinner napkin; by the time I'm done with it, it'll be unrecognizable! The rest of the patterns I bought will be fairly easy, most are close to my size and are things like skirts and shorts, which just need to be widened, and a house dress which is just four pieces plus sleeves, belted. I'm so excited to get going on all this...if I only had a spare day or two!

Why e-bay? Part Two; or Why not?....

I knew I shouldn't give up so easily! I always tell my children that anything is possible; little did I know that it was possible to find a darling vintage swimsuit pattern.....for $3.99!!!; further that it was possible to win a bid on e-bay without breaking the bank! I was perusing every website know to creation for that elusive vintage pattern, and decided to try e-bay again. Lo and behold! There was a pattern described as a "Mid-century 3-piece bathing suit", which piqued my interest; then I noticed that the auction was ending in less than an hour and there were no bids. I learned yesterday that being the first bidder does not put you in a strong position, so I just kept the window open and waited until it counted down to two minutes; still no bids, so I bid at the starting price, and boom! I am the proud owner of a vintage swimsuit pattern! Now in life, nothing perfect, so it's true that this pattern is uh..a few..sizes too small, but I read an article the other day about resizing, and I think I can handle it. It is also strangely considered a "girl's" pattern, although it is a misses size; but I can pull off "girl", right? Also, I have to decide if the world is ready to see approximately 3 inches of the upper portion of my midriff; since this is one of those extremely high-waisted two pieces, that has full shorts for a bottom. I have been going to the gym, and while the lower portion of my abdomen looks like a train wreck, the top portion is relatively unscathed, though I wouldn't call it particularly attractive. I think I may be able to handle it, and I hope the rest of the world isn't too upset by the sight! Pictures to come!

Why e-bay? Why?

I've been on the hunt for an adorable vintage swimsuit pattern since we made plans for our vacation in March. I knew that vintage swimwear patterns were rare, and many were expensive, but I really had no idea what I was getting into. I've scoured the Internet for patterns that will look good on my less than swimsuit-ready body, and found a few adorable ones on e-bay. I bid on one, reluctantly, since I've never used e-bay and am not thrilled with the concept...if I'm going to buy something, I'd like to know about it!...and was swiftly and terribly outbid. It seems it is impossible to spend less than $15 on a swimsuit pattern, and many go as high as $50; Yikes! If I have to buy the fabric and make the darn thing, I'm not spending that much on just the pattern! Not to mention the fact that my budget for this is between $0 and $5, so it appears it will be me, San Diego beaches, and my tired old tankini, which I've had for five years, and can and do wear through the ninth month of my pregnancies. Yawn. If only I knew how and where to obtain these same fabulous patterns that others sell for extraordinary sums of money on e-bay! If only I knew how to make my own pattern! If only I looked halfway decent in modern bathing suits! I still haven't given up; except on the last wish, so maybe I'll still get lucky! A girl can hope!