Potato Project v1.3

June 7, 2011

Just look at that tentacle!

It amazes me that it has leaves growing in water. I never expected that.

This is what summer means to me

How do I make this a reality?

source for image. (from potterbarn?not sure)

Shoe Insole Addition

I got this idea from Grosgain:

You take dirty, nasty insoled shoes such as exhibit a:

(I was almost to embarrassed to post this picture...but I decided I wasn't. Don't judge me.)

And turn it into something much, much better; exhibit b:

Here's the original inspiration.

Obviously, little more than what I did. But I thought I pulled it off pretty well. I wish I'd had some pinking shears on hand to edge the insole...also I couldn't find the sticky-back foam.

But hey!

Not too shabby. (Definitely not as shabby as before)

(Faux)Chenile Baby Blanket

I'm sooo confused because I  swear I had photos of this in progress.... I'm looking everywhere and getting nothing. Blargh.

I made this for my sister for her baby, my nephew. Unfortunately he came a few weeks early. Her due date was May 10th, and so I thought anytime I could mail it before the 5th would be a good idea. Wrong. She had him on April 27th. Let me just tell you it was not finished April 27th. But I did finish it!! Yes I did. And it came out beautfully, even if my fingers felt like they were going to bleed from cutting all those lines.

(so all I've got are these not so great pictures, considering I mailed off to my sister)

I love the colors (and thankfully she does too) I'd seen it online but I got the directions/specfic idea from Dana Made It. It really is amazing when you wash it and all the little lines look AMAZING.  It was definitely worth it.

Potato Project v1.2

So this is the second installment in my potato project.

I love that it's only been a few days and it looks different.

(you know I love that tentacle coming out the bottom. I've never seen that before.)

Summer Skirts at Anthopologie

Not sure if you've looked lately but Anthropologie has some great skirts this summer. I know that Anthropologie has had a lot of attention over the past year or so- really rocketing in popularity. And for a number of reasons I don't really care for them... BUT... I looked on their website because I was looking up a particular skirt that a friend of mine bought and saw a lot of cute ones. And by that I mean ones that I will probably take inspiration from. I haven't been sewing as often as I'd like and I think a skirt is just the ticket. I'm wearing skirts about 3-4/7 these days. That's substantial.

This one has seam details in the front instead of darts.

Really not into the color on this one but I do like the detail.

I think I'd omit the ruffle, but I'm for the angled buttons/pleats.

  

 I hope paperbag waists are still in vogue because I like them. . . 

I think anthropologie agrees.

 New England sea scape, anyone?

Can you tell I think A-lines right now? I have a lot of pencil skirts, but a-lines say summer to me.

And to save the best for last....This AWESOME green lace skirts. I should have bought some of that eyelet in another color and made a skirt like this. That's right up my alley (as my Dad would say : )

source

Gertie's Daily Dress...

Saw this dress on Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing. I thought it was amazing. It's not very often you find magically perfect eyelet dresses with sleeves. I didn't seriously consider making one until I saw her version.

The black is very...classy? Updated LBD or what? 

It wasn't until I went to the National City Swap Meet and found RED EYELET fabric with a flower motif that I thought "Hey, I could make that dress".  The beauty of the N.C. Swap Meet is that you can find different, interesting things. Had I been looking for red eyelet I surely wouldn't have found this. But luckily I did. And so I'm going to.

I've got a few patterns I want to try out- see what I can put together. I need more sleeve than Gertie's.

I love a good drop shoulder. I'm going to line mine.

So these are what I'm working with:

(I'm so lousy at altering patterns. Somehow that is still lost on me no matter how much time I take it doesn't work out)

My first instinct was to go with Butterick 5316. I made this dress about two years ago. I put it on recently and it did NOT fit well at all. At least...anymore. But looking at the silhouette it's similar with the little cap type sleeves. I don't like the waist seam though. I have a long waist and I'm finding it difficult to properly fit the waist seam on dresses (remember how I'm no good at altering patterns?)

So I thought I might go with:

McCall's 6201which I picked up yesterday. I'm not sure how the "cap sleeves" will translate but I like the fact that it's one long piece as opposed to having a waist seam. I'm going to make a sample and see how it goes.

Here's a better look at the fabric I got at the swap meet:

The eyelet flower motifs are about ~1.25" each.

Potato Project

This potato had one tiny eye on it when I pulled it out the cabinet. 

It was going a little soft too (that's what she said).

So. I decided to plant it. Okay "plant it" is more like stick it in a jar of water. I think we did this several times when I was at kid. We kept a sweet potato for a long time. I know you usually stick toothpicks in the potato around a wide rimmed jar but I had neither a larger jar nor toothpicks. So this is what I got:

 May 29, 2011

About two weeks (I think?) after I "planted" it.

June 5, 2011

I LOVE the alien tentacle coming out of the bottom. I want it to sprout some leaves.

Note our curtains. Pretty neat.

As a side note, did you know that lots of decorative/landscape leaves are sweet potato plants?

I bet you've seen it before and didn't know it...

Mine is a plain ol' brown potato, though.

source

source

 This next one is my favorite. It's called "Black Heart". I want one.

source

 

Instructions for growing a potato (casually, not for eating later on)

1. Get a potato ( It's probably better if it has eyes already growing).

 2. Stick it in a jar so that the bottom is touching the water. You can use a jar with a bigger mouth and then stick toothpicks around the circumference of the potato to hold it up. I did not do that. I stuck it in there willy-nilly. It's called reckless abandon.

National City Swap Meet

Yup. I went to National City. For the second time in my life, the first time being an accident. I'd recently heard that they were a good (and interesting/strange) resource for fabric. Yes, that's right, you heard me correctly... FABRIC. I've never been to a swap meet that had such oodles of fabric. I'm not saying that all of it was good, but I definitely did enjoy it.
  

 I'm so excited to be at the swap meet!

imagine this booth behind me times 6.

it helps if you bring a buddy(read: husband) to carry your purse/goods

while you dig through the elastics and trims.

 I'm thinking that most of it came from Tijuana. The majority of what I saw was medium to lightweight knits. A lot of it was in piles that you had to dig through. Did I mind? Not really. Most of the fabric is 60" wide.

A few people on Yelp complained about the parking lot. Does it look that bad to you? No, not really. It appears to have been a drive in movie theatre with the row inclines and spacing. Just drive IN BETWEEN the rows and not across them and you'll be fine. Also, you might see some mullets.

Visit Yelp.com to read more reviews.

My spoils.

6 zippers for $2

Blue and white stripped fabric (2 yards@ .50) =$1

black swimsuit material= $1 a yard (but he gave me a lot extra, and said he would get more swimsuit material for next week, so I might have to go back!!)

polka dot jersey 1 yard= $1

red eyelet... not sure of the material, some kind of synthetic but not scratchy(2.5 yards @ $2)= $5

3 interesting neck trim things= $1

bra cups for my bathing suit (hopefully they are the right kind)= either $1 or $.50

Directions if you're interested in going:
Take the 805 South to the 54 West, follow until you see signs for the National City Blvd. and turn right. Go over the brigde and take the first right (I'm pretty sure) on the somewhat sketchy, unmarked road. It's 32nd street. [If you go too far, the next street will say 34th and you'll be thoroughly confused, like we were]. There's a parking lot down there. Bring cash.

Books, the other special people in my life

Dead air space? So what?

I'm take a cue from Natalie and posting about some books I've read recently. I still need to finish my San Diego Thrift Store Review but I was sick for upwards 5 weeks (yes, 5 weeks and I still have a little weepy cough) and I just haven't been able to put it all together. So yeah: literature.

First off, last weekend I read the California Young Reader Medal Nominees for the intermediate level (grades 3-6) for 2011-2012 school year. We weren't able to vote on the nominees for this school year because we didn't have them, but next year we will.

 Alvin Ho, by Lenore Look

Cute, but my least favorite of all three.

The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis, by Barbara O'Conner

My absolute, hands down favorite of all three. Most definitely. This book is fantastic. Even though the two main characters are boys, I think girls could enjoy this too. I really liked it, and not just as an elementary read.

And last but not least is Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning, by Danette Haworth

This was in the middle for me. I like the descriptions of the Florida; it reminded me of my summers in Kentucky (except that we had air conditioning) but I thought it was definitely a GIRL book. Yeah, sorry. Also, the story got lost a couple times.

I hope Popeye and Elvis wins.

In other, some what related reading :

Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'Dell

I read this in an afternoon. I read it a loooong time ago (middle school, maybe?) but I forgot most of it. I also forgot how strangely unaffected the mood of the book is, and how solemnly sad. Definitely has a unique effect that you don't get from a lot of reads. Also, it's based on a true woman- The woman of San Nicolas Island- the Channel Islands off the coast of L.A. This is the craziest part (for me, at least).

Lawn Boy, by Gary Paulsen

As far as other elementary reading goes, I read this little gem last week in about two hours (it's 85 pages....). Loved it! So good. Such a cool break down of how stocks and capitalism works....superficially of course. But I'd recommend it to anyone.

As for grown-up books:

Stones into Schools, by Greg Mortenson

I saw some sad stuff on 60 mintues about some of his writings being untrue. It made me sad. I really enhjoyed Three Cups of Tea when I read it last summer. It's very disillusioning to see someone you look up to be....humanized.

The Baby Thief, by Barabara Raymond

I would not recommend this book. Nope. Though the subject matter was extremely interesting, the writing was. . . bad. Convoluted. TOO MANY COMMAS. Once I started to realize why I didn't like the way the author wrote, it was difficult to finish.

(Subject matter= interesting)  x  (the way the book is written= terrible) = would never recommend. Ever. Period. Don't read it.

The best book of my spring break was.....

Dewey, by Vicki Myron

This book rocks. I love saying things 'rock' now. Yeah, I know it's a book about a cat that lives in a library. Yes I realize that I work in a library. So what? I liked it. And to be real, it's more about Vicki thant the cat. Read it. I dare you. Then you'll see how sweet it is.