Who says you don't have to do "fitting"when sewing up home dec projects? I spent a day this week figuring out how to make a dust ruffle work for this trundle bed and do it all with fabric from my stash. It was a small engineering project to figure out the dust ruffle when there's no box spring to use as a foundation. And I didn't want to buy any new fabric so I was trying to figure out yardage to coordinate available fabrics.
No box spring so I had to figure how to secure it to this framework....blue blanket is on the bottom trundle that slides out
I used a home dec acetate blend from a local store that sells discounted fabrics for $6 or less per yard. This one was 4.5 yards for a total of $11. I have enough leftover to make some sort of frilly throw pillow for the bedding mix. Once I figured out the measurements and my fabric availability I didn't want to do a couture version so this skirt is not lined and uses a leftover cotton for the "base. To make it stay slightly more stable and not shift like so many inexpensive bedskirts do, I added back grosgrain ties for the back of the frame and front matching ties.
Grograin ties to hold it on the back of the frame
front corner fabric ties and top mattress in place
I didn't even bother to pull out my ruffler foot, just did the fast and easy zig zag over dental floss and pull to gather.
Next up is a duvet cover to cover up a quilt that I bought almost 30 years ago when Mr. Lucky and I moved in together in Petaluma, CA. It's full of the pastels that were so in vogue then.....and seem to be coming back in slightly different versions in spring 2013 colors. What goes around, comes around, just different enough to try to get us to buy new again. Off to sew up that big rectangle.... This home dec sewing is all about the staging, not all about long term wear. Years ago when we first moved here I did do a guest room decorating project with truly couture techniques and it looks just as great today as the day I made everything:
Guest rom with lined bedskirts, drapes, piped duvet covers
Different techniques for different purposes, just like we do for our clothing sewing. Some items we plan on wearing for years, some for a a few years and our sewing materials and techniques change to reflect that reality. Thank you too, sweet readers, for you broken iron sympathies. I thought my spray bottle and hot, but dry, iron would suffice but as most of us know, steaming and pressing is vital to a good finished result. On my bike ride yesterday I stopped in at Target and bought a Shark steam iron for $25. Not too much money, plenty of steam and I can get back to what I really love to do, sew. Hope you get to something that you love today.
I've not been having good steam iron karma in the past two months. The four year old Rowenta generator that I have here in Florida started leaking last month. (Actually it's only two years old if you consider that I only use it six months per year!) It's always been a "spitter" but the leaking was something new and not acceptable. I couldn't yet bear the idea of tossing it out so I packed it up with some other sewing items going into our storage unit and pulled out a Walmart iron that I first bought ten years ago. It didn't have as much steam but seemed to work well enough for the small sewing projects of November and December. Then yesterday, just as I was figuring out how to make the dust ruffle for the trundle bed, it totally died on me. It started "clicking" and then just burned out...no heat, no steam. I would sooooo like to not have to buy a temporary iron. Mr. Lucky drove to our storage unit on my behalf, rummaged amongst the boxes and brought home that mal-functioning steam generator. I was hoping that a rest and good cleaning might make it function nicely again.....sort of like re-booting a computer.
No steam
So far, all I can get is heat, no steam, but I'll settle for that and a spray bottle when I need better creases. Improvise, improvise, that's how it goes. But this set up is working well enough to keep me working on the dust ruffle for the trundle bed today. Pictures to follow....
It's a trifecta weekend at our house. Yesterday I scored several new patterns at the JoAnn's sale, baked a scrumptious new cookie recipe and am taking it to the small Downton Abbey season 3 premiere party at a friend's home tonight. Here's hoping your day is going as well. New patterns:
I'm going to work on 6709 for myself at the same time I help a friend fit this pattern when we get together next month. I think it has some real versatility but I sure wish they would put a lining in the pattern. The 6655 jacket is similar to others that I have and have sewn but for $.99 I get to use the pattern pieces for the collar in view D.
My growing collection of skinny jeans and pants means that I need some new style tops and I think these will fill the bill. Longer, looser and drapey and I have a good fabric stash that will sew up nicely.
I was especially taken with the lines of 6699, without those contrast side pockets....positioned just at my bulkiest body parts:-) But I like the bust cup sizing and the raised waist. The 6697 knit dress just looks like fun and may be the only way I'd do color blocking. I zoomed right past 6553 for the last few months and then a 70+ year old friend brought hers to our sewing get together in December. it looked fantastic on her and everyone there who tried on her version. Each of us noted that we would do some under bust seam shaping in the front seams and that the swingy back looked chic and not too much for any of us. What a surprise and another reason why it's good to sew with others and try new styles occasionally.
These last two are patterns I purchased for others. Mr. Lucky deserves some of my sewing time in exchange for all the home improvement time he's been putting in this season. And I have a local friend who mentioned wanting to try out a caftan and I think 6652 might be worth considering. New patterns are fun and so is a delicious and easy new recipe. I'm bringing two sweet treats to the Downton Abbey series 3 premiere evening tonight. The first is a package of my favorite British biscuit....
I'm lucky enough to live in a town where I can obtain these in a local grocery since so many visitors come from Great Britain on holiday. My more personal contribution is a plate of Cooks Illustrated Best Shortbread cookies:
Here's the recipe:
Published November 1, 2009. From Cook's Illustrated.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
To produce a worthwhile version of a shortbread recipe, we found that “reverse creaming” (mixing the flour and sugar together before adding the butter) contributed crumbly texture. Cutting back on the butter gave us good butter flavor without greasiness. Adding ground oats and cornstarch to the dough cut down on gluten development and gave us tender cookies. And baking the cookies briefly before turning off the heat and letting them dry in the still-warm oven made our shortbread recipe perfectly crisp. (less)
MAKES 16 WEDGES
Use the collar of a springform pan to form the shortbread into an even round. Mold the shortbread with the collar in the closed position, then open the collar, but leave it in place. This allows the shortbread to expand slightly but keeps it from spreading too far. Wrapped well and stored at room temperature, shortbread will keep for up to 7 days.
14tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks)unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Pulse oats in spice grinder or blender until reduced to fine powder, about ten 5-second pulses (you should have ¼ to 1/3 cup oat flour). In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix oat flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt on low speed until combined, about 5 seconds. Add butter to dry ingredients and continue to mix on low speed until dough just forms and pulls away from sides of bowl, 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Place upside-down (grooved edge should be at top) collar of 9- or 9 1/2-inch springform pan on parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet (do not use springform pan bottom). Press dough into collar in even 1/2-inch-thick layer, smoothing top of dough with back of spoon. Place 2-inch biscuit cutter in center of dough and cut out center. Place extracted round alongside springform collar on baking sheet and replace cutter in center of dough. Open springform collar, but leave it in place.
3. Bake shortbread 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees. Continue to bake until edges turn pale golden, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Remove baking sheet from oven; turn off oven. Remove springform pan collar; use chef’s knife to score surface of shortbread into 16 even wedges, cutting halfway through shortbread. Using wooden skewer, poke 8 to 10 holes in each wedge. Return shortbread to oven and prop door open with handle of wooden spoon, leaving 1-inch gap at top. Allow shortbread to dry in turned-off oven until pale golden in center (shortbread should be firm but giving to touch), about 1 hour.
4. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool shortbread to room temperature, at least 2 hours. Cut shortbread at scored marks to separate and serve.
I didn't have a biscuit cutter so I used the measuring cup for the first five minutes of baking.
We are also celebrating a special day today....the two year "re-birthday" of Lucky the rescue dog. Lucky's First day with us What a joy he has been to us. No shortbread or chocolate for him but plenty of love and some yummy treats and tummy rubs. I hope you have something in your life that makes you feel happy-go-lucky today.
In case you haven't heard, we are selling our condo in Florida this season. Hmmmm, where's the emoticom for sarcasm for that statement? Most of my friends and readers are already tired of this obsession so I won't be hurt if you move on to a more creative, fashionable blog post from someone not micro-managing every decision just to get my desired final result....a sale. But there is still some sewing going on here, albeit sewing that will benefit the new owner eventually. We are so lucky to have had a three bedroom place here for just short of ten years. One of those bedrooms has been my large sewing space and now we are busy turning it into a spare bedroom/office/sewing space. My big cutting table is gone and a trundle bed from craigslist has been installed. I can still cut out garments if I want to but I'll use my smaller sized cutting mat (we trimmed four inches off the width of the former one) and place it temporarily on the pub table in the kitchen/family room. The ironing board will no longer be kept in place but folded up and hung out of the way when I'm not sewing. My next sewing will be a duvet cover for the new bed, a dust ruffle for the bottom trundle area and then accent pillows. Projects like these make me glad that I collect fabric. Everything is very neutral so that the artwork I eventually find and the accent pillows will be the highlights. I also plan to make a coordinated sewing machine cover so that every day I tidy up and cover the machine but still have it available when I do want to sew.
Fabrics being auditioned for duvet, dust ruffle and pillows
Thanks for all your good wishes and sympathy pains. Mr. Lucky and I have not moved out of a place in 28 years so this is a new adventure for us. I'm taking it one day at a time and moving forward in tiny steps. Thank goodness I have a hobby to turn to for fun and distraction when I feel overwhelmed and especially for friends who support and cheer me on....and even help whenever they can. In the meantime, I'm cheered by stories that you or others online have made it through these types of transitions.
My fabric purchases drop dramatically when I'm in Florida for six months since I don't have a "local" Fabric Mart Fabrics store to visit for one of their remarkable store sales. (But there's 20% off the website now for those not near Sinking Spring, PA..Fabric Mart Fabrics) But somehow I seem to do some stashing at the once a year Dillard's Department Store clearance sale (every sale item in the store is another 50% off.) On January 1 there were dozens lined up and at 10am they rushed through the doors and ran to the purse section. I heard that a woman pushed her way to the Coach purse sale stand with the electronic cords and just hugged all ten or twelve cords and purses in her arms. I've bought wonderful purses there in the past....but I refuse be a traveling advertisement for your brand so acessories like Coach and Louis Vuitton merely make me smile and long for a royalty check. However, in addition to a weakness for fabric, I have a serious weakness for shoes. This year's sale was no exception. I scored big time at very little prices....I mean, hey, $6o for those brown Ralph Lauren boots with the cool straps and the rest were far less. Here's the haul:
No, I don't need boots in Florida but since we'll be moving back north later this year I think these will fit in very nicely with a fall and winter wardrobe back up in Maryland. I dislike being cold and I can enjoy warm toes in wool socks while wearing something mildly stylish. And a few more to enjoy here and now:
I'll close with a picture from our New Year's on the beach....last Gulf sunset of 2012 and an enjoyable evening with friends.
Last sunset of 2012
One of the special treats that I wasn't able to capture on film were the dozens of Japanese sky lanterns being lit and sailing upward on breezes out over the Gulf of Mexico. A quietly magical way to bid farewell to a year that I was glad to see end. Here's hoping that 2013 brings goodwill and good health for all of us.
