What I Like in May: Peonies

It’s the last day of May (though it feels more like mid-August this week) and I am sharing with you some pictures of yet another item off my favorites list.  This month it’s peonies, those sweetly scented, shabby-chic, tousled mop-heads of the flower world.  The former owners of my house were kind enough to plant two peony beds around our deck so that I can enjoy them each May.  I also am drawn to designs featuring peonies, and have included a few shots of those along with a few of the real thing.  I hope you enjoy them.

Progress, a Wadder and a Hong Kong Vest

This week has seen some true ups and downs in my sewing room.  I began the long and arduous task of cleaning out and reorganizing that was truly necessary.  I am making good progress but really needed to do some creative work for my sanity.  So often, I clean up enough to start another project and it goes downhill from there.  This time I promised myself that I would take a break and then get back to the task at hand.  Only, the project I started was a big bust.  A true trashcan wadder.  To try and salvage the day I turned to my mending box which I had unearthed in my cleaning frenzy.  Now, this might not sound like the most fun job on my list but it was gratifying.  Several things needed nothing more than a button and ironing.  A few needed only ironing.  So I was able to feel like I accomplished something and can now get back to the cleaning at hand.

Since my defunct project was going to be my featured garment for this week, I’ve headed back into my closet and pulled out a vest I made a number of years ago.  The pattern is The Sewing Workshop’s Hong Kong Vest.  The fabric has an interesting history.  My husband’s family spent many years living in Japan.  This navy and white cotton fabric, called Yukata, was brought back by my mother-in-law who gave it to me.  The 14” wide fabric comes in a roll with many, many meters; I can’t read the Japanese script but I am guessing at least 20 yards of fabric, enough to make dozens of these vests.  And I've got about 6 rolls of different prints.  The lapel on the vest is hand stitched with variegated cotton thread in a sashiko stitch pattern, further playing on the Asian-inspired theme of the garment.

Tomorrow is my children’s last day of the school year and for the next several months my time will be far less my own than usual.  I am still optimistic that I will get a wee bit of time in my sewing studio each week so watch and see what I come up with next.  I hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend.

New York, New York: A Fabric Shopper's Mecca

What a great day I had on Saturday, despite the fact that it started at 4:30 a.m.  I joined over 50 sewing friends on a bus trip to New York City for some sight-seeing, fabric shopping and all-around good fellowship.  The best part, for me, was getting to gab and laugh uninterrupted with my friend Joyce for hours.  Next best was getting to see some friends I don't see enough of and making some new friends along the way.  The shopping was pretty fun, too, and the weather was beautiful.  Here’s a little glimpse of the loot I brought home.

The bus let us off on West 38^th Street, and we made our first stop at Hai’s Trimming.  This store was full of beautiful and unusual trim like the two pieces pictured above.  These are raw edge silk chiffon flowers stitched to a net background.  I’m going to use them to embellish a couple of t-shirts.  This store also carries ribbon, rhinestones, chain, buckles, and feathers.  I’ve been looking for some of the latter and picked up a couple of different versions for use with my handmade flowers.

Our next stop was Metro Textiles.  This tiny shop on the 9^th floor of an office building is jam packed with bargains.  The shop is not normally open on Saturdays but the owner, Kashi, was kind enough to open his doors to us since we let him know we were coming.  There was room for about 8 of us at a time, and you need to have a bit of an adventurous spirit to shop here since sifting through the merchandise is part of the experience.  I purchased four pieces that I couldn’t resist – I had them shipped to me so I can’t share pictures with you yet.

We hit a number of other places in the late morning and early afternoon but I managed to resist buying anything (which was an amazing feat at Paron’s since that is usually my downfall).  A fairly long walk led us over to the bead district where we stopped in several shops.  I picked up these interesting flowers at Bead Empire.  I think they are made from resin and will make distinctive “buttons” on a jacket.

A little further down the street we stopped in M & J Trimmings which never disappoints.  I’ve been in the market for some stretchy ribbon to use on the back of ring bearer pillows.  I envisioned velvet, which they had, but when I saw all of the other options they also had I was in heaven.  I came home with four different pieces.  The selection in this store is truly amazing.

M & J is a colorful place and I couldn’t resist taking some pictures inside the shop (NB:  when shopping in NYC, make sure you ask before taking pictures inside stores.  Some merchants prohibit this). 

Here’s my friend Joyce purchasing her treasures.

A souvenir button postcard from M & J

Our last stop for the day was, perhaps, my favorite.  Tinsel Trading Company is a fairy tale full of vintage treasures that you just don’t find elsewhere.  There is a wall, stocked floor to ceiling, with every imaginable flower and gobs of ribbon, trim, ephemera, beads, ornaments, home accessories and more.  On the counter I discovered three charming flower molds.  Made of cast iron, these presses were heated and used to mold silk into floral shapes.  I loved the vintage glass glitter and all of the ornaments made with it.  I couldn’t resist some vintage grosgrain ribbon, flowers and a bottle of pearls, beads and sequins.

It was a long day (I didn’t sink into my own bed until nearly midnight) but it was so worth every minute.  There really is something about NYC that can’t be found anywhere else.  And the selection of goodies for sewing fans is incomparable.  I always look forward to my next trip.  Please share your favorite places to shop in the city so I can start making my list for next time.

Tiered Gauze Skirt

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a skirt I made for my friend.  I was so surprised how fast and easy that skirt went together.  So, when I decided to write a tutorial on an elastic waistband technique that I like to use, I thought I should make myself a similar skirt in the process. 

The fabric that I used is a brown cotton guaze, perfectly lightweight for a summer skirt and for easy gathering.  This skirt has four tiers, each one slightly longer than the previous.  I decided to try gathering the tiers by zigzagging over a heavy cord and this worked quite well.  If you begin with the lowest (biggest) tier, you can reuse the same piece of cording for all of the other tiers by pulling it out once you've sewn down the gathers.  I used a 6 mm x 6 mm zigzag and crochet cotton for my cord.  The hem of this skirt is quite full, about 120 inches.  I'm looking forward to wearing it this summer.

Tomorrow I board a bus for a day trip to New York City with my sewing guild.  I'm really looking forward to a day of shopping in the city, something I haven't done in over 5 years, before my first son was born.  Mostly, I'm happy to be spending the day with like-minded gals and seeing friends I don't get to see as often as I like.  I'll be sure to report back next week after my trip.

And Now for Something Completely Different: EarthTainer

I spent a good part of this past weekend, and all of date night, working on a DIY project with my husband.  Now, that might not sound like fun to many of you but let me reassure you that both of us had a great time.  We have now invested quite a bit of time and money in the hopes of having home grown tomatoes in suburbia this summer. 

A few weeks ago my spouse came across an article describing a self-watering tomato-growing container called an EarthTainer using items commonly acquired at the home improvement store.  A few of the necessary items proved a little tricky to find but we persevered and soon had everything we needed.  The base of the unit is made from two large storage bins; there is a water reservoir in the bottom that makes it difficult to either under- or over-water the tomatoes.  This planter is the creation of Ray Newstead who has written a 20-page PDF meticulously detailing every step needed to build your own.  This man has thought of everything and offers lots of practical advice on the process of building the containers and planting your tomato plants as well as constructing a support cage for the growing tomatoes (which we have not added yet done, see below).  The steps were not difficult and we easily completed two containers in a couple of hours.  Our plants are in place and we now anxiously await the arrival of our first tomato (which, by my calculations should be worth approximately $73.48/pound).  Here are a few photos of our progress along with the finished product.

Under construction

Inner support shelves complete

Drilling the drainage holes

The completed unit ready for planting; the white pipe is for adding water

Plants in and moisture barrier in place

Update on Friday, May 27, 2011 at 12:22PM by Julie Bowersett

Several people have emailed me to ask about a cage system for the tomtoes we recently planted so I'm posting an update.  Last weekend my husband completed the cages that snap onto the EarthTainers.  The original plans call for using pea fencing which is available through a mail order garden company.  While I was at my local nursery I saw these tomato trellises and thought they might work for this as well.

Using the instructions in the PDF plans, hubby bent the trellises into the necessary configuration that allows them to snap onto the container.  He had to modify the instructions a little to suit the dimensions of the trellises but these seem to work just as the author intended.  Here are some more pictures of the cages in place.

A close-up of the attachment points

One other modification my spouse made, which is worth mentioning, especially if you have small children at home, was to attach the white watering pipe with a piece of wire to the inside container.  We hope this prevents the tube from being pulled out by curious toddlers.  He drilled a hole through the pipe and the inner side of the container and ran a piece of coat hanger wire through both holes.