Seasonal

There are a couple of books I like to read when the weather is really, really hot in summer - To Kill a Mockingbird and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - because the settings are so hot it makes me feel cool by comparison. But the other day when it was hot for the fifth day in a row I suddenly remembered strawberries.

In particular, the Jane Austen novel in which some officious female character is taken out for group strawberry-picking on a hot day and goes on and on and on about how lovely until she switches to how insupportable, and I thought: must reread those novels, again.

Isn't it amazing to think of a writer being timeless enough to appeal to readers hundreds of years hence, not just once per reader but repeatedly? Of course, she writes all those wicked asides, saying exactly what anybody of sense would think, about people the like of which still walk among us today - so there's that.


I started with Emma. I'm pretty sure it's not the strawberry-picking book but it does have a picnic that ends badly. And strawberries are in season so I can supply them.

Sewing lemonade

Last week I made a bag for a friend from more of the vintage bedspread:


but it turned out to be best suited for a woman over 6' who does serious carting around of bulky yet lightweight items such as bathing gear or small-child changes of clothing or perhaps knit sweaters in progress and who includes bright pink chenille-esque bedspreads on her list of fashion must-haves, or perhaps a less than statuesque girl who not only loves pink bedspread fashion but also likes having a giant bag on her hip as a just-in-case pocket and a place to stash the source of the knitting she's doing while walking.

(Should I really be sewing for myself, though?)

Anyway it wasn't going to suit the friend I intended it for so I tried again, this time with less than a meter of upholstery cotton found in a bargain bin, a lucky discovery because it takes ages to have anything cut in the only fabric store I can get to and the bargain bin - usually full of polar fleece or polyester georgette - is often my only recourse when hunting for stash supplements.

I have this 'thing' I do when making a tote bag of not pinning or using a pattern piece when I cut, and either eyeballing the seams as I stitch them or, more likely, taking the straightest route along a curving edge cut under the aforementioned conditions. And with this bag it came back to bite me.

Like, see this nice interior pocket I made for keys and a phone?


I sewed it on way too close to the top of the lining and had cut the lining way longer than the outer layer turned out to be. Also: I stitched the lining way narrower than the outer bag. Curses.

Enter lemonade:


Yep, I just made the lining a design feature by letting it peep over the top, and then put decorative tucks on either side of the center print. I also used faux-denim quilting cotton for the backs of the handles because I didn't have any long enough pieces of denim to make it really matchy. But I think that's lemonade too because the handles are a lot less bulky this way.


I like how it came out. Wonder if I can make lemonade the same way twice?

A narrow escape

This is a fashion/sewing story so, you know, I won't be offended if you run screaming right now.

Okay: the weather being what it is right now (summertime warm) I've been seeing all the little girls in the neighbourhood parading around in bright print cotton dresses that billow over their shorts or capri pants and their pretty T shirts and I'm thinking - smart! Then of course I see the not-so-little girls, the teen ones whose goals are rather different from sandbox-related playtime, and I think - whoa!

Here's the thing. Clinging garments with a wide belt wrapped tightly around the torso may achieve many things, but they will not keep you cool in summer. It's the little girls who've figured it out - comfy cotton next to your skin to absorb the inevitable glow resulting from racing around in 80+ degrees Fahrenheit, with a roomy tunic over top for colour and, with luck, pockets.

And yet the people responsible for putting clothes into stores haven't figured this out (any more than they've figured out larger-sized women are just as willing to pay for fun clothes as smaller-sized ones, but that's another story.) So I spent yesterday designing a little tunic in my head

one that I would sew, myself.

Danger! Danger!

Taking on a sewing project without a pattern that requires fitting and a lot of fabric... oh boy. I could forget writing for at least a month.

Fortunately I knew I would need some yoga-shaped capri pants to carry it all off, so I headed to the local discount department store to pick some up and you won't believe what I found there.

Little-girl tunic-type mini dresses sew in a bright linen/cotton blend in adult sizes! They look pretty much exactly like the base shape I was imagining, and everything - all I have to do is add some pockets, and some lining to the cream-coloured one, and fix the collar on the black one that already had pockets.

Yes, I cannot leave well enough alone. But it's still less time-stealing than making a whole jumper, right?

Reverse rainmaking

We'd best just establish right here that I am not much of a runner: at my best several years ago, I could run for 45 whole minutes without stopping, which felt award-worthy to me. At that point I didn't hate making every step, and I didn't get out of breath, and I didn't worry I looked like a red-faced idjit to everybody who passed.

But today, for a change from the usual Keep Mary Healthy schedule my long-suffering trainer holds me accountable to, Carol and I were going to run. If the weather was nice. Which is to say, not pouring rain like it has been every other day for a week.

Well, as turned on the computer this morning the rain was pouring down from an angry sky and I started thinking Oh please rain, go away. If it keeps raining not only will I have to do the horrible ab strengthening things Carol makes me do every time we stay in the gym, I will have to carry my running shoes and walk in my too-big rain boots, which when I am late and having to sprint always gives me shin splints (and as I'm sure you can guess, I am always late and having to sprint. Seriously, my neighbours stand with their jaws down on the rare occasions they see me at a stroll, which is pretty embarrassing.)

Rain rain go away, I thought, and as I got ready to write this post I could see some bright rays breaking over the patio umbrella that shuddered under the weight of the pounding water. And as I typed, the rain was pouring down through pure sunlight.

And now at the end of this post the sun is shining and the trees are dripping and I am feeling very happy even if it wasn't just the power of Rain rain go away that did the trick (or is it?)

Either way: take that, too-big rain boots!

I have been sewing

This morning when I was about to pour a glass of milk I stopped myself from reaching for the glass shelf because I really only wanted a little, and went for a teacup instead. And that got me thinking - why? I can pour the exact same small amount of milk into a big glass as into a teacup, plus the glass shelf is a whole lot easier to reach than the teacup one I have to stand on my toes to reach, not to mention that I'm not likely to run out of either kind before I wash dishes again.

Am I that wedded to my spatial sense or am I just obsessive? Don't answer that.

In other news, I've made a couple of tote bags:


There's a little pocket inside, too.


I wrote down for future reference the measurements of each piece without considering the serious angle on which IKEA printed this sailboat stuff onto the fabric, but the degree to which I had to sew inside the intended lines made the measurements kind of irrelevant, so I won't post that info this time.

Still, cute bags, yes?

Chocolate-covered bacon

I don't know how I missed the boat on the idea of coating bacon in chocolate, but that's been remedied now with a little taste of a Mo's Milk Chocolate Bacon Bar.

(yesterday after supper, not today after breakfast - I do have some standards! Breakfast chocolate must be in either steamed milk or bread. Honestly.)

My review: meh on the chocolate/bacon combo. I infinitely prefer the maple syrup/bacon combo that apparently inspired the bar I tasted. But the alderwood salt that was added to the bar... whoa. That's a different story. I didn't know salt could be so awesome!

Fortunately, I'm not nearly so addicted to salt as I am to chocolate, so I will be able to resist buying alderwood salt to sprinkle on apples, unbelievably amazing though that would be. Oh, it's good to be such a paragon of healthy eating.

How to make a child's hiking satchel

I sewed these two satchels as gifts for two cousins sharing a 6th birthday party - the invitation said 'no gifts required' which translates to "Please! No more toys! The house is overflowing!" Since the boy's family does a fair bit of camping, a hiking accessory was a logical alternative.


The birthday girl has a little sister, so I made two satchels for her from a vintage bedspread; the birthday boy's was new denim. Both used lightweight cotton for their lining.


If you make one, be prepared: Other Children may ask for some of their own. (I'm already on duty for two more, minimum.)

You will need:


2 flap pieces, each 8.25" x 11", one each in the lining and outer fabric

2 bag pieces, each 12" x 19.5", one each in the lining and outer fabric

1 strap piece, 3.75" x 34", in the outer fabric

1 button or toggle 3/4" -1" wide

1 closure loop approximately 3" long (I knit an i-cord in wool for elasticity - Patons Classic Wool on 3.5mm needles, two stitches knit over and over for 20 rows)

Instructions:


Lay flap pieces right side to right side and slip under the needle 4.5" or less from the end of one long side, then stitch around to the same distance from the other end of the same long side, leaving at least a 2.25" gap, with a 3/8" seam allowance. Trim off corners and turn inside out, tucking in the exposed edges of the gap and pressing flat.


Stitching them separately, lay each bag piece right side to right side and stitch down the two sides with a 3/8" seam allowance. Fold the stitched piece flat with the seams in the middle, then stitch across the bottom corner to make a box bottom. Aim for about a 2.5" run of stitching, matching the length for both the liner and the outer bag.


Slip the liner inside the outer bag, wrong side to wrong side, and set aside.


There are two options for stitching the strap. Right side to right side and a line of stitching down the open edge is great if your fabric has some give (like my vintage cotton bedspread) but for something stiffer, like denim, try folding in and pressing flat about 1/4" of fabric down the length of the strap, then folding the fold over the other side and topstitching down the middle of the strap. That way, you avoid having to turn it inside out.


Fold in by 3/8" the exposed edges of both bag and liner, press, and - tucking the strap ends into place at the side seams - pin into position. Stitch down as close as you can to the outer edge while catching the lining. To reinforce the strap without adding extra rows of stitching, backstitch over it a couple of times before stitching onward.


Tie a knot in the ends of the i-cord or, in the case of a ribbon or other cord, simply fold into a loop.


Tuck just inside the opening of the flap, pin in place, and topstitch across bottom end of flap.


The flap will be too wide for the bag, but that's okay - the idea is to have a little leeway for an extra-big book or especially interesting find on the trail. Center the non-loopy end on the back of the bag - wrong side of the flap to right side of the bag - and fold in anything that extends past the straps on the sides. Pin down and topstitch into place.

It will now look something like this:


Stitch the button or toggle onto the center front; if you choose a flat button, you can wind thread around your stitching to make a shank the loop can snug up to.


And you're done! One completed bag, one very happy inquisitive child.