A Pastille for Easter
I completed my first dress (my second garment and the second project in the Colette Sewing Handbook), just in time for Easter dinner at Flower’s house! My inspiration for the fabric and the trim was from this post from the Nashville blog, Lladybird. The author, Lauren, makes the cutest clothes and always seems to find the perfect fabric for each…
It’s a Spring Plant-o-rama!
Remember the nice fluffy beds I got ready a couple of weeks back? All that hard work made for some very quick and easy planting. In my first bed, I planted three different varieties of beets; “Chiogga” (my favorite, cool stripey and delicious), “Early Wonder Tall Top” (they’re red, big and great for canning) and “Touchstone Gold” (yellow and small-…
Psanky Brunch
We have talked for years about making Psanky (otherwise known as Ukranian) eggs. This year we finally did it! If you have not heard of Psanky, it is the craft of layering wax onto eggs, often in intricate designs. After each layer of wax the egg is dipped into dye baths. Each layer of wax and color builds up to…
Pysanky Tutorial
I swear it’s not in the Rake and Make submission guidelines that you have to be a retired rollergirl to submit, because we don’t have submission guidelines (yet)! It just so happens that rollergirls tend to be multi-talented gals, who want to do it all. It also happens that I met some really amazing ladies during my roller derby years,…
Sew-along Tag-along: Pastille Muslin
There is currently a “sew-along” happening, where fans of the Colette Sewing Handbook, are “sewing along” with bloggers Rhinestones and Telephones and Miss Crayola Creepy as they sew all the projects from the book, in order. I had never even heard of a sew-along, but when I heard about it, I thought to myself, “I am a fan of the Colette Sewing Handbook…
Getting Ready to Garden- Part 2: Preparing Beds
Q: What’s the most important ingredient in your garden? A: Your soil! The folks at Seattle Tilth, in my training and in the Maritime NW Garden Guide, have always emphasized the importance of good soil. They refer to it as a “living bank”. What I took away from that (and I am oversimplifying once again) is that you have to…
Flower’s first post- Making a pattern, otherwise known as winging it!
Introducing… Flower! Yes, I have a very good friend named Flower, it’s no joke. Funny story: One time, at a bar, we were asked our names by a couple of guys. When we said “Flower and Lilly”, they thought we were giving them fake names. Anyway, I think it is very appropriate that Flower is now becoming a regular contributor…
My “Meringue” skirt- dance party tested, sewing nerd approved
For a long time, I have dreamed of making my own clothes, so this is kind of a milestone for me. Last weekend, I completed my first ever garment; the “Meringue” skirt from The Colette Sewing Handbook. First of all, this book is awesome. I read about it in a post on Seattle blog, Not Martha. It was perfect timing when I saw…
Starting Seeds Indoors and the Quest for Homemade Sauerkraut
I used to hate sauerkraut when I was a kid. I thought it smelled like boiling, smelly socks. Now I love it! When I started growing vegetables, I was so excited to plant cabbage, and tons of it, so I could make and can sauerkraut. The first year I planted cabbage, it grew really well and I successfully made and…
Getting the novelty prints out of my system…
I found these chicken and egg contrasting fabrics at Pacific Fabrics and since I have chickens, I had to get them! My first apron! The instructions came from the book, Sew and Stow. I found it on the clearance rack at Pacific Fabrics. I had a yard of each fabric and had to decide what pieces I wanted in each fabric.…