Red Cabbage and Apples

It’s been over two years since I wrote in this blog. Since that time, my siblings and I lost our mother, who was a great supporter and cheerleader for all of us and her grandchildren. It’s impossible to express what her death meant to all of us, and how inadequate to the task of honoring our parents’ legacy we all feel, but we soldier on. There have been other changes as well: our oldest is now living in Pittsburgh, and our youngest only recently moved a little farther away, to Indianapolis. My husband and I survived the COVID-19 pandemic so far, and have come to really appreciate our spacious, comfortable home after months of spending so much time in it.

And now that I’ve caught you up, as the weather turns cold and we are back inside once more, I’ve turned to the random collection of cookbooks in our kitchen and challenged myself to make a recipe from each one. The first cookbook is an unlikely choice; it’s a fundraiser cookbook for alumni of the now-closed Huron High School, where my mother taught over sixty years ago. (That’s her on the cover, third row, left.) One of the alumni presented the cookbook to my mother, who never liked to cook, and she gave it to me. 

Many of the recipes involve canned Campbell’s soup or frozen hash browns, but this recipe by Ella “Wilson” Inman for red cabbage and apples caught my eye, both because it called for no processed ingredients and because I can’t remember ever having eaten red cabbage (which I call purple cabbage).

We didn’t follow the recipe to the letter; my darling husband never does, but no new ingredients were added. We just changed the proportions a little. I’m happy to pronounce the results delicious. Seriously, we ate half a head of cabbage in fifteen minutes. I’m sure it’s also packed with nutrients. I had intended to serve it with roast chicken, but we had already stuffed ourselves with its purple goodness before the chicken was completely cooked. 

I highly recommend you try this, but be aware that purple cabbage is hard to find. I finally found it on my third trip to Walmart, where it was shelved not with the green cabbage, but with the cilantro. Whatever. Also do not hesitate to add more of any of the ingredients. We used four apples and a whole head of purple cabbage, plus dumped more brown sugar in as it cooked. I’m pretty sure this will be tasty no matter what you do to it. Enjoy.

An easy crocheted scrubbie pattern

We've enjoyed lots of family over the holidays, and I'm still not quite ready to let Christmas go. One of the small gifts I made several of this year is this crocheted scrubbie, enormously practical, free to make if you have any kind of acrylic yarn stash at all, and universally appreciated. My niece actually plans to use hers as a cat toy, so there's another idea. She also thought about hanging it on her tree. It takes about an hour to make. The only tricky thing is that when you crochet the back side, you will notice it starts to fold back in and at the end of the back you will be working with a very small number of stitches to form a tiny hole in the center.

Crochet scrubbie pattern

This scrubbie is so much better than a sponge—it resists getting that moldy smell, and you can throw it into your washer and dryer with your laundry and it comes out fresh. You can personalize it any way you want by using variegated yarn, making stripes of different yarns, or embroidering the front before you crochet the back. I chose to keep mine plain because I made a bunch of them from leftover yarn from my mom’s stash and gave them to family members as little Christmas gifts. Plus, it's a scrubbie--I didn't see much point in making it too pretty!

Materials: Use worsted weight or heavier acrylic yarn and a hook sized to give you a fairly tight crocheted fabric.

Front side of scrubbie:

Ch 4, join to form a ring.

Round 1: ch 1, 12 sc in ring, join.

Round 2 and all following rounds should be worked in the back loop to make a ridge on the front of the scrubbie that will help create friction to remove stuck-on food and stains.

Round 2: ch 1, (1 sc, 3 sc in next st) 6 times, join.

Round 3: ch 1, 2 sc, 3 sc in next st, (3 sc, 3 sc in next st) 5 times, 1 sc, join.

Round 4: ch 1, 3 sc, 3 sc in next st, (5 sc, 3 sc in next st) 5 times, 2 sc, join.

Round 5: ch 1, 4 sc, 3 sc in next st, (7 sc, 3 sc in next st) 5 times, 3 sc, join.

Round 6: ch 1, 5 sc, 3 sc in next st, (9 sc, 3 sc in next st) 5 times, 4 sc, join.

Round 7: ch 1, 6 sc, 3 sc in next st, (11 sc, 3 sc in next st) 5 times, 5 sc, join.

Back side of scrubbie:

Round 8: ch1, 6 sc, pull up a loop in each of next 3 sts, yo, pull through all 4 loops on hook, (11 sc, pull up a loop in each of next 3 sts, yo, pull through all 4 loops on hook) 5 times, 5 sc, join.

Round 9: ch1, 5 sc, pull up a loop in each of next 3 sts, yo, pull through all 4 loops on hook, (9 sc, pull up a loop in each of next 3 sts, yo, pull through all 4 loops on hook) 5 times, 4 sc, join.

Round 10: ch1, 4 sc, pull up a loop in each of next 3 sts, yo, pull through all 4 loops on hook, (7 sc, pull up a loop in each of next 3 sts, yo, pull through all 4 loops on hook) 5 times, 3 sc, join.

Round 11: ch1, 3 sc, pull up a loop in each of next 3 sts, yo, pull through all 4 loops on hook, (5 sc, pull up a loop in each of next 3 sts, yo, pull through all 4 loops on hook) 5 times, 2 sc, join.

Round 12: ch1, 2 sc, pull up a loop in each of next 3 sts, yo, pull through all 4 loops on hook, (3 sc, pull up a loop in each of next 3 sts, yo, pull through all 4 loops on hook) 5 times, 1 sc, join.

Round 13: ch1, 1 sc, pull up a loop in each of next 3 sts, yo, pull through all 4 loops on hook, (1 sc, pull up a loop in each of next 3 sts, yo, pull through all 4 loops on hook) 5 times, join.

Round 14: ch 1, (pull up a loop in each of next 3 sts, yo, pull through all 4 loops on hook), 4 times, join.

Cut thread and tie off. Use your hook to pull the thread end inside the scrubbie.

Hanging loop (optional):

Attach thread to one of the six corners of the hexagon, ch 8, attach both ends of the chain together and to the corner of the hexagon. Use your hook to pull the thread ends inside the scrubbie.

More Cat Mats

Since my last post, DD has moved twice. First she came home with her two kitties, Cleo and Gemini. Anticipating a long stay, DH and I cleared my two-room studio on the side of the jail and created an adorable apartment for her. Alas, it was not to be--within two weeks she had been hired by a mining company in Montana and she and I spent a fun weekend driving 24 hours to her new work location. DH and I are looking after Cleo and Gemini, and I'm happy to report that Mr. Fuzz and Gemini are thick as thieves. Mr. Fuzz has rediscovered cat toys and any number of energetic pursuits, thanks to his daily interaction with his younger cousin, or nephew, or whatever.

What lasted for me from our darling daughter's eight-month adventure in Wisconsin was an abiding interest in working up my mom's yarn stash into cat mats for the Angel's Wish Foundation (http://angelswish.org/about/). The first photo above is the last batch of cat mats turned over the day she left Wisconsin. The top one is kind of embarrassing; I was gleefully crocheting up a pattern, then discovered I didn't have enough yarn to finish it, and had to add completely different colors to finish it. DD calls this one "broken television." The pink one is made of a very soft chenille yarn that I should have stabilized before donating, but what can I say, I was in a hurry and distracted by the upheaval in our house.

The lower photograph is of a batch of mats that I hope to pack up and walk over to the post office today to send out. The top one is actually made from a sport weight yarn; my mom crocheted it in the hospital, just a couple of days after suffering a stroke a few years ago. I stitched a piece of leftover fleece to the bottom to stabilize it and added the fringe to help it lie flat. It really represents a triumph over adversity and I hope its future owner loves it.

I'm about to run out of rug yarn soon, so future mats will probably be made of double strands of worsted or sport weight yarn. There is a seemingly never-ending supply in my mom's house, so I'm looking forward to trying out some new stitch designs on those unsuspecting kitties. This project would be a real triumph if I could get my mom, the master crocheter, to start making them, too. (Are you reading this, Thelma?)

Cat mats for kitty rescue

DD lives near Madison,  Wisconsin,  where she works for a big software company and volunteers for Angel's Wish Foundation,  an organization that rescues cats and finds new homes for them. When a cat is adopted, the new owner can choose from a variety of handmade cat mats to take with the kitty to its forever home.

My mom has a lifetime supply of acrylic yarn, so when I heard there was a shortage of cat mats, I got right to work creating some from my mom's yarn. Some of the color combinations are a little bizarre, but I had a lot of fun making them and the cats won't mind.

Another freebie summer top

You may remember the summer I made seven tops without spending any money on fabric. Unfortunately,  most of those tops are now uncomfortably tight. While I work on my weight, I am enjoying wearing big tops that cover everything. 

Yesterday I discovered an old sarong that a dear friend sent me from India. I wore it as a swimsuit cover-up in Africa more than twenty years ago. It was a great big tube in the softest cotton with a cute elephant border. Check out the before and afters below.

I showed the finished project to DD, who loves elephants,  and she wants the top, so I think I'll send it to her and look for another promising garment to refashion.

Sheriff's House B&B Update

You may remember a post from about a year and a half ago in which I announced that I had finally convinced my darling husband to let me try opening a bed and breakfast. http://oldjailarts.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-princess-has-left-building.html He thought "Old Jail B&B" had a negative ring, so we ultimately decided to call it the "Sheriff's House." I had many poignant (weepy) moments going through our daughter's room and boxing up items that she had left behind. We called it the "Tower Room" and the room across the hall the "World Traveler Room." The third bedroom on the second floor, which houses our son's high school trophies and memorabilia, became the "Servants' Quarters," not a B&B room but a space where  I could keep cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and other things needed for the B&B rooms. Visiting relatives joke about being forced to sleep in the "Servants' Quarters."

I set up a simple snack station in the hall with DS's old dorm fridge and an end table. I contemplated buying a Keurig, but ultimately decided on a water kettle and various packets of instant beverages instead, having read scary things about difficult-to-clean disease-harboring tubes in the Keurig. I was also concerned about all the waste involved in the little K-cups, but having used a Keurig recently at the Howarth House B&B in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, I may be revisiting that decision. The coffee was delicious.

DH and I scoured the countryside for antique furniture and other pieces to make the rooms interesting, and I did a lot of "shopping" among the treasures we had collected from overseas as well. I spent a small fortune on bedding and towels, all white 100% cotton so they can be bleached (something I learned from watching "Hotel Impossible"). I created a "Management Handbook" with breakfast recipes, tax information, etc., cleaned the kitchen as it had never been cleaned before, got a food handler's certificate from the local health department, and we were ready.

I wanted to dip my toe in the business, so I started in November 2014 with two listings on the website airbnb.com: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/4033247?checkin=07%2F11%2F2016&checkout=07%2F12%2F2016&guests=1&s=_ZxOOA7v and https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/4235270?checkin=07%2F11%2F2016&checkout=07%2F12%2F2016&guests=1&s=z6_qY5O_

Within a couple of weeks we had our first guests, a very nice couple who were coming to the area for Parents' Weekend at IU. Since then we have welcomed many IU parents, as well as students, business travelers, wedding parties and an amiable fellow with a vintage Porsche he was taking to a car show at French Lick. All of our guests have been wonderful, and I feel very fortunate that things have gone so well. Thanks to airbnb, I never have to handle money, which makes things easy.

Some months we have no guests; other months we may be quite busy. I think in our busiest month we had 11 room nights, which for a B&B with no staff means that I am constantly washing sheets and towels. I have learned to "x" out the rooms on airbnb.com if I know I'm going to be busy or out of town.

I changed my website from oldjailarts.com to sheriffshouse.com, but immediately ran into an issue when I couldn't upload the photographs I had taken with my phone. I paid for that website to remain dormant for more than a year, thinking I would get someone to redo the photographs for me, before finally deciding to give it up last month. I'm still contemplating the benefits of having a website. 

All in all, though, the B&B experiment has been a success. Although I do all the cleaning and laundry involved, making the breakfast is a job for the two of us, and it's fun to get up early and go through the many steps to preparing healthful, delicious food and setting a pretty table.

There are some issues: Keeping the lawn respectable is difficult. DH is busy and really too tired after a long hard day fixing icemakers to run the lawn mower. This summer I finally started hiring someone to mow and weed-whack, but at $50 a visit, lawn care costs seriously cut into the very modest profits I make on what is still a part-time business. Another issue: the cotton comforter covers I bought are a real pain to put on and take off after every guest. While I agree with Anthony Melchiorri in principle that everyone should have a fresh, clean bed to sit on and not a spread that was last cleaned when George Bush was President, there has to be a better way. The 100% cotton bedding also wrinkles like nobody's business, which I hate, but there's no way I'm going to try to iron these huge sheets.

We've never put up a sign to indicate that we have a B&B; all our guests so far have found us through airbnb.com. We talk often about marketing a little more widely and hiring someone to help if needed, but I'm reluctant to go from B&B "Lite" to a full-time operation. We also talk about turning the third-floor tower room into another B&B room, but that is a subject for another post. There is still a ton of work to be done on the house, and now that we have so many more guests, and a little more money, hopefully we will be inspired to tackle more of it.

  

On the trail of writing women

My sister Dee and I recently spent five days traveling from Bedford, Indiana through southern New York and Massachusetts. The theme of our trip was "American Women Writers."

We visited Edith Wharton's beloved estate "The Mount" near Lenox, Massachusetts (www.edithwharton.org). I had wanted to visit the Mount for years, having closely studied Wharton's fiction in graduate school. The house and grounds are beautiful, and I confess to being inspired to copy the draperies and the leopard spotted stair runners for my own "castle." We had a nice lunch on the veranda, and at one point I could feel Edith right there next to me, dressed in rustling silks, looking out over her formal gardens and worrying about her husband Teddy, who became more and more mentally unstable during the couple's ten years at the Mount.  

Our next woman writer of interest was Emily Dickinson, and we were lucky to secure a wonderful tour of both her family home and the home of her brother Austin Dickinson in Amherst, Massachusetts (emilydickinsonmuseum.org). Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable, and, as there were no children in our group of five, she treated us to some shocking details from the diary of Austin Dickinson's mistress Mabel Todd, as well as recent scholarly speculation on whether or not Emily Dickinson had an affair when she claimed to be seeing an eye doctor in Boston. It was all quite delicious and completely at odds with the popular image of Emily Dickinson, virginal recluse. 

The last of the three women authors' houses was Orchard House, Louisa May Alcott's home in Concord, Massachusetts (www.louisamayalcott.org).  We had to race a bit by this time, as our rental car was due back that afternoon in Queens, New York, but once more we had a fantastically knowledgeable tour guide who made us feel that we knew the Alcott girls intimately. Our tour group this time included a family of children, which meant we spent more time thinking about the Alcott girls as children and no time at all speculating about their sex lives, which was just fine. One takeaway from this quick stop is that May Alcott, whom we all know as Amy March in Little Women, was an extremely talented classically-trained artist. Her works decorate every room of Orchard House, and it's hard not to feel that the world lost a great talent when she died at age 39, seven weeks after giving birth to her daughter Lulu.

We had only the vaguest of plans when we set out from Bedford. There were many spontaneous stops along the way (several of them involving food, most notably ice cream). We lodged in three equally wonderful, although very different locations: the Old Library B&B in Olean, New York (www.oldlibraryrestaurant.com), Polacce's Family Resort in Catskill, New York (funinthecatskills.com), and the Howarth House B&B in Fitchburg, Massachusetts (www.howarthhouse.com). We booked each one of these from our cell phones--whichever of us wasn't driving was seeking our night's lodging, and I think we both did a wonderful job of finding memorable locations to stay. We took long walks in the morning to explore each place and cement them into our memory. In Amherst we crashed at my niece's group house, which was empty except for a young man from Chicago and his dog. There we got to switch gears a little and fix up the bathroom for my niece's impending senior year at UMass Amherst.

Other noteworthy and serendipitous finds included the Golden Lamb Inn in Lebanon, Ohio (www.goldenlamb.com), where we had a scrumptious lunch and toured the old hotel, the Smuggler's Wharf in Erie, Pennsylvania (smugglerswharfinc.com), which offered a lovely view of Lake Erie and a chance for Dee to recharge her cell phone, and the colonial-era Benjamin Patterson Inn in Corning, New York (http://www.heritagevillagesfl.org/). We enjoyed the view at the Afton Golf Club (www.aftongolf.com), even though neither of us is a golfer. The food was predictable, but the portions were generous; my chicken Caesar salad served as both lunch and dinner. 

I flew back home from New York on Friday, feeling as if I had been gone for much longer than five days. Dee and I had so much fun on this trip we have already begun planning our next escape.  

Trashion/Refashion 2016

Another April,  another wonderful Trashion/Refashion show in Bloomington. Thanks to John Streiff-Fraser for the two professional photos, and to my beautiful model, Kara Ratcliff,  for making the clothes look so good! You can see more of this show at http://bloomingtontrashion.org/.

I submitted only one outfit this year, "Stellar City Girl, " a rather obvious reference to our little city of Bedford and all the positive changes taking place here since our designation as a "Stellar City."

The outfit consists of four pieces: The first, a skirt made of vinyl banners promoting the Stellar program and an old shower curtain,  was draped with a gunslinger-style belt made of choice words cut from the same banners to deliver a positive message about our community.  The crop top was fashioned from old jeans salvaged from my mom's house, and fastened in the back with four gold star buttons from the same source. For the hat I cut down a damaged cowboy hat of my dad's (you can see the original in the picture), then edged it with gold Thai silk from my stash and added a starburst medallion cut from an old necklace and a shooting star "tail" of the same silk.

Obviously not just anyone could wear this outfit, but Kara  looked fantastic in it. Every time I think about getting rid of all the fabrics, old clothes, old jewelry,  etc., that I hold onto, I remember how much fun it is to pull together an outfit without spending a dime.

I'm already collecting plastic mesh produce bags for next year. Stay tuned!

Farewell, Downton Abbey!

For a "Farewell to Downton Abbey" tea party at the museum,  I dug deep into my fabric stash and came up with a  sheer sparkly piece that I bought at least 17 years ago in Djibouti.  Inspired by a kimono jacket worn by Essie Davis on "Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries," I bought Butterick B6176, which promised to be "Fast & Easy," and voila, a couple of hours later I had a sparkly jacket.

The tea party was at 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon,  so after thinking hard about how to dress my head, I hurried home from church and whipped up a turban  from an old skirt  (bought in the Tbilisi bazroba in 2003 for a Halloween costume for DD). I sewed a piece of broken jewelry to the front, added a peacock feather rescued from the mannequin tree at Christmas,  and I felt pretty fabulous as I left the house! 

If I make this pattern again, I will make it a size smaller than indicated by the pattern measurements. I love the freedom of movement of the kimono shape, but honestly,  two of me would fit inside that jacket. I pinned it closed in the front with an antique button, but I could have wrapped it to the side seams. 

Christmas Open House at the Sheriff's House

Every year, Lawrence County Cancer Patient Services has a holiday home tour to raise money for their charitable work. I had been asked a few times to open our home for this, but never felt I had the time or resources to clean and decorate the house to a level I felt appropriate for  this event. I mean, close to 250 people were paying money to walk through our house--there should be something to surprise and delight in every room, right?

Well, this year I said yes, and my sister Dee flew out from New York to help with the preparations. My friend Emily also worked with us every day the week before the tour, and other friends pitched in as well. I borrowed decorations from a lot of people, particularly my mom and sister-in-law Roxie, and bought a very few new things for my permanent collection. Here are a few highlights:

Bloomington Trashion Refashion Show

I'm so pleased I can finally show off my designs for the Bloomington  (Indiana ) Trashion Refashion Show. I had two designs in the show. One was a simple swimsuit cover-up made by folding a crocheted tablecloth, attaching ties from burlap string retrieved from a coffee bag, then stringing ceramic beads from the Congo on the string to add a little subtle color. I didn't have to cut or sew anything for this design, just wrapped and tied it. This design was modeled by our Croatian exchange student Iva.

The second design took a lot more time. A local coffee shop donated several burlap coffee bags, which I cut and sewed into a long Jane Austen-y coat. I lined the coat with colorful silk from a pair of old Indian saris.

To wear under the coat, I originally intended to knit a long Regency - style dress out of string my brother salvaged years ago from the dumpster of a furniture factory where he worked. I ran out of time, and quickly decided a short dress would make a nice modern contrast to the coat, so I kept the dress short and sleek with a high Regency waist set off by an old piece of ribbon. This design was modeled by Kara, a yoga-instructor-in-training and experienced runway model.

A few days before the show, I made a skirt for myself out of another coffee bag, lined in old muslin. The muslin was so soft I felt like I had thrown the skirt on over my nightgown. The skirt went together so quickly and fit so well that I want to make this pattern again soon. Even DH liked it.

Easy table runner!

I whipped up this table runner yesterday in about an hour from fabric I bought a few years ago (you may remember my obsession with blue and white china). I sandwiched a piece of leftover quilt batting between two pieces of fabric, edged it with wide bias tape, and sewed along the edge of the bias tape to secure everything. I love the way the runner adds color to the table and pulls the dining room together. I have a small piece of this fabric left. Hmm, what to make? A matching runner for the buffet, maybe?

Seventh and last summer top finished (finally)

My friend Lisa and I made the last top using the Burda pattern from top #5 and the leftover sparkly knit fabric from top #6. I think it looks fantastic and didn't cost anything to make.

Yay, Seven Summer Top challenge completed! What to do next?

A new twist on mother/daughter outfits

My daughter sent me this image this morning, of herself in the African dress (Togolese, actually) that matches a tunic I made a few weeks ago. I think the two together are a cute throwback to mother/daughter outfits we have had in the past.  See how the embroidery around my hem matches the embroidery around her sleeves?

Summer top #6 nearly done

This yummy little number, in a sparkly black knit of unknown fiber content, cost me exactly $0.00 to make. The fabric had been in my stash for a long time. DD bought it off of a G Street Fabrics sale table long ago.

I was originally going to use the same cowl neck sleeveless top pattern from Burda magazine that I wrote about last time, but there was a lot of fabric, so when I saw a long, bat-wing, cowl neck tunic advertised on television, I decided I'd make something similar for myself. Here's the result, still missing the hems, but you get the idea. The bat wings need to be cut a few inches closer to the armpit, but no major surgery is required on this one.

While not exactly a hot weather top, this tunic will look pretty fetching with skinny pants when the temperature drops.

Porch railings at last!

You may have noticed, if you are particularly observant, that the porch steps in the photo of Summer Top #5 have a new handrail. Just yesterday DH and I (well, DH mostly) finished installing railings on three sides of the porch as well.

You may wonder why, after seven years of occupying this old building,we suddenly decided to spend $700 to put railings on the porch. And therein lies the story. A few weeks ago, an old friend came to visit. She  said that her husband had been ill for several months.

My friend and her husband own a beautiful old house in a fashionable neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky. As she told it, for years they had thought about raising a low-hanging chandelier, but instead put a table under it. For some reason, one day her husband leaned across the table and straightened up suddenly, cracking his head on the chandelier. My friend said her husband had suffered horrible headaches for months as a result of the accident.

We were sitting on the porch at the time she told this story. I had just warned her to be careful not to fall over the edge. Hearing of the pain and misery resulting from a preventable accident made my husband and I determined to put up railings before someone fell off the porch. And voila, there they are. I think they look great! Now if I can just get the sidewalk re-poured...

The Princess Has Left the Building

I should be happy, really I should. After seven years of talking about it, my DH has finally agreed to opening a bed and breakfast. We have three empty bedrooms on the second floor, after all, a cool historic location, and lots of energy for a couple of fifty-somethings. We like to wake up early, and we know something about preparing food for a crowd. The city is planning to build a walking trail right past our house.

Next step: get the rooms ready. Remove personal items belonging to our children. Start with DD's beautiful tower bedroom, dubbed the "Princess Room" by her little cousins, who love to stay there.

Forgive me if I have told this story before. When I was expecting our first child, I fixed up a lovely nursery in yellow, turquoise and pink. This was in our little house in College Park, Maryland. When our darling daughter was born, she slept in said sweet nursery for five months before we moved to the Comoro Islands. Nothing fit in our new home in the tropics and despite all my best efforts, the little nest I had made for our firstborn was gone.

Fast forward sixteen years or so, to our move to our current castle. We built another nest for our baby girl, now a junior in high school, with sparkly lace curtains and the period-inappropriate bamboo floors she wanted. Her dad bought an ugly black metal bunk bed while I was away in Washington, but I dressed it in lavender, mint green and pink. The ceiling fan was ultra-modern, the fixtures brushed aluminum.

You can guess what happened. DD lived in that room all of six months before heading out to spend her senior year in France. I stood in the princess's empty tower, on those bamboo floors, under that ceiling fan, and mourned.

Still, during her four years at the state university thirty miles up the road, our daughter came home frequently to recharge her batteries within the round green walls of her tower. For five years, she brought the love of her life, in whom I invested emotionally, too, and then suddenly he wasn't the love of her life anymore, and we both mourned the loss.

Every time DD came and went, more and more stuff got left behind. Journals. Sketchbooks. Jewelry. Posters. Class notes. Guitar chords. Lots of rocks. A Dremel drill, unused, that her dad bought her for making jewelry with the rocks. Photographs of her former love.

And now it is my job to sort through all that stuff and leave only the things that a stranger might understand and appreciate. I worked valiantly for several hours, traveling randomly through various episodes in the life of our little girl, now an independent young woman whom we are fiercely proud of, and now it is all too much, and I can't bear to put one more thing in a plastic tub today.

The princess has left the building.

Freestyle sewing with the nieces

I've had a houseful of family guests this week, including my two nieces. Last year when they were here we talked about sewing, but this year we actually did some. The younger one wanted "genie pants" for which no pattern exists anywhere. I designed the pants and another sewing sister came up with top. I turned the two little girls loose with my old $25 Brother machine, and it was great to see the lights go on in their heads as they took turns sewing the long seams. Finally one of them showed me the seam in her t-shirt and asked, "Was this made with a sewing machine, too?" Their eyes brightened with the recognition of sewing possibilities.

The older girl wanted a t-shirt with a hood. She already had one, so I copied it for the pattern. While we sewed it up, she decided a front pocket and sew-on patches would make it even better, so the project grew.

Both girls love their new clothes. I spent about $11, once coupons were deducted, on the fabric, but watching them discover the fun of sewing was priceless.

Summer top #5

Back in April I had a free evening in Terre Haute, Indiana and walked over from our hotel to a bookstore. With me were the two young beauties who modeled for me in the Trashion/Refashion show, and one of them talked me into buying the Spring 2014 issue of Burda Style magazine.

For a while I really didn't see anything in the magazine that I thought was worth all the tracing. Then I pulled out a piece of deep purplish navy cotton/lycra, left over from leggings I made my third grade daughter (now 22). My pattern stash yielded nothing interesting, so I flipped through the magazine and a picture of a simple sleeveless cowl neck top caught my eye.

The top turned out cute and flattering. My friend Lisa liked it so much, she's out shopping for fabric to make her own as we speak. Should you be inclined to make this pattern for yourself, however, be advised that it is sized very large. I had the thing finished before trying it on. Bad planning; every seam had to be taken out so I could cut a full inch off both side seams and resew them. A two-hour project ended up taking twice that. The armholes are also too deep to cover a normal bra. The instructions for the cowl neck are unclear; when sewing the shoulder seams, you need to sandwich the back between the front and the cowl and sew through all three layers.

Summer top #4

Summer top #4 started out life as a skirt, part of an embroidered cotton jacquard dress and skirt set made for me in Africa, circa 1995. I never liked the way the outfit looked together, but DD wanted the dress, so I was free to do something else with the skirt.

I used Butterick 3928, a jumper pattern from the 1990's, cut shorter to make a top. You can see from the photos how I cut to take full advantage of the embroidery, eliminating the side seams from the hip down. I used a mint green cotton from my stash for the facings and repeated the color in the two buttons, which I bought at JoAnn's for about $2.00.

I like the way this top hides a multitude of sins, although the colors don't go with much besides jeans, so it may not get as much wear as some of the others. I also had an uh-oh moment with the seam ripper, resulting in a tiny hole near the base of the zipper, but it's practically invisible to the naked eye.