sewinsight

some sewing...and the beach

I was inspired to make a beach bag for B by the fun contest that Pink Chalk Studio did recently.  I ended up buying the fabric that I "chose" for the contest but not the pattern.  I ended up figuring the pattern out, but also modified the pattern to suit the style of bag I wanted by adding a tab at the bottom, and then running the rope cord (prefect colors with the fabrics) through the draw string top, then through the tab at the bottom.  This way when you cinch up the bag at the top it creates a carrying strap.  

The inside lining was this fun bright orange.  When all was said and done I have enough fabric for a second bag so before I forget how I made this one I will sew up a second as a gift.  It's not huge, but big enough for trips to the pool for swim lessons.

With some of the extra fabrics, and before I made the big bag I wanted to learn how to do a drawstring bag, I used some extra fabric to make two travel laundry bags for B and I for our trip to So. California.  Used twill tape for the drawstring.

I also recently bought some heavier weight fabric to make a tablecloth for us, 2.25 yards was perfect for our 3' x 5' table.  Hemmed the edges and love it.  It is a little more teal than it looks in the photo, subtle but fun.

 

Blue joined my outdoor photo shoot.

And a set of napkins for our hosts in California.

 

And we are here now, in S. California.  Spent yesterday on the beach and had a great time.  Tomorrow is his first trip to Disneyland.

Meet Blue!

Last night we picked up a new member of our family named Blue!

He is a 9 week old Rhodesian Ridgeback and we are excited to have him with us.  We are all settling in, last night was noisy, remembering those baby days, but we are all having fun together.

book club

I had book club on Thursday, our book this month was Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.  I really enjoyed it.  To summarize it is the story of a preteen Chinese boy, who falls in love with a Japanese girl at his school.  It is set in Seattle during WWII.  The boy's parents are very anti-Japanese and it follows the build up to the Japanese being sent to internment camps and time in the camps.  It also jumps back and forth to when he is older.  The book was a touching examination of what it means to be Chinese, Japanese and American.  His descriptions, especially of the day the Japanese are sent away, the the day the Japanese surrender are very vivid, I felt as if I could really imagine what he was describing.  

Part of the book centers on the Panama Hotel in the International District here in Seattle.  Our hostess for this month chose for us to meet at the tearoom in the Hotel which was really interesting.  The basement of the Panama Hotel was the location where many Japanese stored their belongings when they were sent away, both in real life and in the book.  In the Tearoom, there is a plexiglas panel in the floor where you can see into the basement and see some of the belonging left behind.  It was such an interesting add to the book to be able to go to a site that was a real part of it, really brought that piece of history to life.  

I do recommend the book, the only comment against it I have heard (and agree) is that it wraps everything up a little too perfect in the end, but worth it for how interesting the rest of the story is.  Enjoy!

a few things complete

Finally, I have some things done to post.  

At LONG last I finished the Clapitos shawl from knitty.com.  I started it in February.  It came out bigger than I intended, but I love how soft it is and it will keep me warm.  I used the Manos del Uruguay silk blend yard in two colors.  This is me at the Ballard Farmer's Market today, and a few more below of the shawl flat. 

The color change was purposeful, and yet also because I used so darn much yarn on this.  I swear I used 7 skeins total.  So when I knew I wouldn't have enough, and because I thought it might be too much if all one color, I decided to switch for the last part.  I debated doing the other color in the middle, but liked how it would drape with the darker green at the end.

We enjoyed a great day at the Ballard Farmer's Market with my mother-in-law, her boyfriend and our niece today - and of course Royal, B and I.

I love this shot, the happy look on all their faces.

We all had breakfast together before the market, I made my Oatmeal Orange Cranberry Scones.  

Then I settled in for some sewing.  I brought everything upstairs and worked with the back door open.

I had bought four wonderful dishtowels at Bolt on our last trip to Portland, OR and had been debating what to do with them.  Today I did patchwork strips, two of each color scheme and am thrilled to be able to get rid of our old, hole filled, flour sack towels.

Yesterday I got some sewing time in as well, while Daddy and B played a little racquetball.  I recently bought the Sew What! Bags book and tried a messenger style purse.  I wanted the top flap to have some weight so I added a piece of heavy weight interfacing I had, but think it might be too much.  I will try it out for a while and see how it goes, I can always cut it out if need be.

Strangely the patten didn't call for lining, but I thought it really needed it, so I added some.  I hand sewed it in the same way I do with my zippered pouches.  I love that it has pockets in the front, I hate digging for my iPhone.  Main fabric is from Ink and Spindle.  I have been hoarding her fabrics and decided I finally had to cut into one of them.  Sizing is exactly as they outlined on the pattern for the smaller messenger bag/purse.

i need to post more

I really have been quite lax, sorry for those of you out there who have been checking in to very few updates.  This is our first time through the end of a school year and MAN is it ever a busy time.  This is the last week, then it is on to a wide variety of summer camps for B.

 

I have been trudging away on the Clapitos from knitty.com.  In looking for the link I found someone who refered to the one they made as hugely gigantic, and I think that sums it up.  I had intended to skip some sets, but wasn't sure how.  So it has become enormous.  I started it in February and am almost done, I think one more solid evening of knitting and it will be done, just in time for summer (oops!).  I am excited because I am always cold, and work in my basement so I know this will be much loved and used.  I will post it when I am done.  I made a color switch for the last bit both because of running out of yarn (though I could have gotten more) but also to add interest and make it not all one color.

I also rearranged B's room the other day and we are loving it.  I have been putting up his kindergarten art with that blue putty for mounting things on the walls, it is great and doesn't seem to hurt the paint. We upgraded him to a desk in his room and picked up some great desk stuff (mini-stapler, note pads, etc) at Daiso (the Japanese $1.50 store) in Lynnwood the other day and he has been making wee books of poetry.  We are also in family discussions about adding a puppy to our clan.  So puppies have been a common theme lately.  

In preparation for the summer, and because I am so weary of the refrain "I don't know what to do" that B and I created the "B....'s NOT BORING STUFF list of things to do".  It is as follows but has been great, I printed and posted it on his chalkboard and now instead of coming and asking me what he can do, he has been playing with his toys, creating art projects, leaf rubbings, good stuff.  Some were were his ideas, some were mine, some were just a listing of his toys (which it seems he needs reminding of) and some were inspired by Amanda Soule's The Creative Family book.  The key was things he could do, by himself (well except the Badminton) while I have to work this summer.  

Art Projects
: : Make a book
: : Draw a picture - puppies 
: : Make a wallet 

Workbooks - Brain Quest grade 1

Legos

Playmobile

Knights and dragons with castle

Play with stuffed animals

Knex and tinker toys

Marble tracks

Puzzles and games (in the living room cabinet)

Dress up

Rock out with musical instruments

Outside

: : Play badminton  

: : Catch and study (and draw) bugs

: : Leaf rubbings (paper and crayons and leaf)

: : Nature table - find natural things in the back yard 

: : Study our garden - write a book with pictures

Anyway, has worked so far, as I write this there are marbles rolling all over his room on the floor above my head.

coffee and tennis anyone?

Yesterday, a ride to the "village" to practice some tennis.    He hits so well, I was on ball duty, good exercise chasing them balls around the court.  

Stopped off for coffee and a chocolate milk.  Our little 

"main street" is about 3 blocks long, feels like a small 

town in the big city.  Folks saying hello as they walk by, 

loving this sunny stretch of weather.

Over the weekend I did a little project, wasn't sure about posting it, but I have seen others do the same so I think it is alright.  I also changed the design some and let me preface by saying I have no intention of selling these, but just made them for our own use.  If you are interested in ordering one, email me and I will send you the link to the etsy site for the person who inspired me, I will have to track it down but will.  So that disclaimer said, I am excited to have sewn two French press coffee cozies and love having something other than a dishtowel wrapped around the press in the morning to keep the coffee warm.  I used this great wool felt from Ella's etsy site, which was really nice to work with.  I had some other wool from another project and tried to do one in that too, but it didn't work as well.  I had fun putting the fabric combos together.  I decided on a velcro closure, because the idea of trying to do a button before I had my morning coffee seemed more than I could do.

kids crafts

We have been keeping busy here, really busy.  Here's a little of what we have been up to:

Saturday - a trip to the Farmer's Market, looking for carrots for a carrot cake, and salad greens and vegetables for a salad, all for a barbecue at my in-law's house.  B got to plant a sunflower seed at one booth, then they sent him home with that, and a small pea plant, which we planted when we got home.  We rode our bikes, how "green" of us, but unfortunately the carrots were smaller than my pinkie and the salad greens were $7 a bunch.  I would need 2 bunches and as much as I love Royal's family, Iam guessing that $15 in organic lettuce might be lost on them.  So I gave up and biked down the road to the grocery store, then home with my basket full.  Boy, when on a bike you really have to limit what you pick up at the store.  I am notorious for getting way more than I went in for, ask Royal.  

Homemade bread, still loving Soule Mama's recipe, I am making it about once a week and we go through it in a snap.  At the suggestion of my bread book we have been storing it cut side down, on a plate and I have been covering it with a dish towel.  Lasts a few days just fine.

Garden is growing like crazy, I keep snitching lettuce for sandwiches, hopefully I will leave enough that it will grow full size.  So far, so good, our first vegetable garden!

Saturday - enjoyed lunch on the patio, hello Spring!  Homemade bread, lettuce from the garden, can't get much more local than that.

Sunday - morning craft, inspired by Blair's post, we made the God's Eyes, or Ojo de Dios.  B loved it and we made two.  Then he and Daddy wound up some yarn really tight and proceeded to play ping pong with them.  Ah, the perfect boy's variation on the craft, I guess.  B brought the blue one to school today and gave it to a class mate who lost her Mom on Friday.  So very sad, I didn't know the Mom, but the girl is so sweet, it just kills me.  This is the second Mom of a classmate/friend I know of that has been lost this year so far.  B told me the girl was so happy he gave it to her, he said she loved it and gave him a big hug.  

This week we have been an Origami factory around here.  B is totally into it and we ran out of paper, so we went to Top Ten for more and picked up this book too.  When I "blew" into the little green one above, blowing it into the box, he uttered a reverent "that's awesome!".  Score one for Mama.  He has been making all sorts of things (most with help from me) but I love that he is so engrossed in it.

New stuffed penguin, very much loved, a token from a trip to the zoo with Mama and Nana on Monday.  We got to see the new penguin exhibit at the Woodland Park Zoo, very nice, and the penguins sure look much healthier than they did before, they must have had a good vacation.

good times

My last post has been on my mind since I wrote it, sorry to be such a downer.  I challenged myself to think of some good things to share, so here we go.

We had a great time at the Ballard Farmer's Market on Sunday.  B got a Dante's hot dog and I got some Veraci wood fired pizza.  We picked up some starters for our garden, broccoli and rainbow swiss chard.  Planted them when we got home.  

good times.

Then we headed off to the outdoor pool two blocks away that just opened for the season.  Enjoyed a fun, yet crowded, sunny afternoon in the warm pool working on learning to swim.  Bumped into two of B's classmates.  

good times.

Got to go to yoga then to my buddy's house for cards last night.  My Tuesday night thing.  Some good chanting at yoga, a little woo-woo, but got to have some woo-woo in my life right now.  Played canasta, love that game.  

namaste.  good times.

B had early dismissal from school today so we got to work on his science fair project.  Our first since he is in kindergarten and I have no memory of doing one as a kid.  Maybe me or just not a Canadian thing, I don't even remember my school having a science fair.  Our project was Craters and Meteorites, I got the project off www.sciencebuddies.org, a great site.  I answered some questions about his likes and dislikes and they had tons of projects to suggest, sorted by difficulty.  I thought this one sounded fun so we worked through the "problem" "hypothesis" "procedure" etc. and it worked out well.  I had B drop different sized balls (a marble, wood bead, plastic baseball) from different heights into flour and we recorded the diameter and depth of the "crater".  We got it all done today, yea!  Finished up with dinner at Red Mill Burgers, and if you have been there your mouth is watering now, sorry 'bout that.  Midway though the project we heard the ice cream man and chased him down the street.  

yum.  good times.

Tonight we finished up with a new book from our recent Scholastic order called When Dinosaurs Came with Everything.  We love it, it is so funny.  I place those Scholastic orders and sometimes the books suck, and sometimes they are great, this is a great one.  Scholastic is such a crap shoot sometimes because you can't preview the books.  In the book the boy is running "boring" errands with his mom.  This time instead of getting a sticker, or balloon at different stores, like they sometimes give out, he gets a dinosaur.  

great read.  good times.

Wanted to finish up with a shot I took last week when I flew up to Orcas Island on a seaplane again for work.  Bumpy ride but fun.

where has my free time gone

Yes, that is what I would like to know.  I used to have time to sew, knit, post on my now neglected blog, but lately that time doesn't seem to be there.  Work is crazy, and I am happy for that, don't get me wrong, but I feel like I am losing myself in there a bit.  

So just wanted to pop in and say "hi" I will find time to get some photos and post something of substance soon.  Tonight I am off to yoga then to play cards with my buddy, but not much of that might be photo worthy, unless y'all want to see me doing the Downward Dog pose, but I doubt it :)

spring weather

My week has matched the incredibly varied weather in Seattle this week.  Time of calm sun warming us to our toes, and spring storms with rain so hard it seemed it would never end.  Since I choose to check the bad and sad at the door to this blog, I will spare you that, suffice to say that B, Royal and I are just fine.  

On to the sun...something I have dreamed of doing for years now came a reality, last weekend we planted a vegetable garden.  After all was said and done it only took us about 7 hours or so, start to finish, not sure what was holding us back.  After coffee out on Sunday we bought the lumber, came home and while Royal was building the raised beds, I went out to Swanson's Nursery (I know it is spendy, but trying to support the local guys and wanted some good advice) and got the plants and dirt. We planted tomatoes (plum and cherry), shelling peas, lettuce (3 kinds), parsley, carrots, strawberries (2 kinds), onions and chives.  We also planted 3 blueberry bushes outside of the planters.  Basil and zucchini will come in a couple of weeks when things warm up.  We have never had vegetables before so we'll see how it goes but are all really excited at the prospects.  Royal already wants to build more boxes, but I thought we should see how this first batch goes.   

We have also had a lot of paper usage going on around here, mostly comic book creation and paper airplane construction.  Thanks to a suggestion from Daria, I picked up Adventures in Cartooning: How to Turn Your Doodles Into Comics, which B and I read last night then he did a great drawing before bed. Captain Underpants has made his way into our home, so he too is a regular fixture in the comic books.  I am not too thrilled with Mr. Underpants, but I let him in so I guess I have to deal with it, I didn't quite realize what the books were until they were already here.

I have been baking a lot of bread over here too.  Enjoying the quick bread from the How to Cook Everything Vegetarian book I mentioned, this time I did half molasses and half honey and liked how it lightened it up.  The bread is mostly just flour, cornmeal, plain yogurt, molasses and honey, really heavy and dense but nice for snacking.  I have also been making Soule Mamma's acoustic-style WHO bread and we all really like the touch of sweetness.  This morning I tried the Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes from the new issue of Martha Stewart Living (which doesn't seem to be on her website so I can't link to it) but it was really good.  I substituted plain nonfat yogurt for the buttermilk because that was what I had, and frozen for the fresh blueberries, but it came out really good.  

To sum up my crazy week, I must share my Wednesday with you all, ready?  Here we go.

Out of the house by 8am, take B to Japanese class, drive B to school, coffee with D, job site walk-though for a project I am doing in Bellevue (35 minute drive each way), lunch in the car (bread and apple), client meeting at 1pm, race back to pick up B from school, hit two different grocery stores (because Trader Joe's, though I love it, doesn't carry things like molasses and yeast), came home, made a batch of WHO bread left it to rise, made pizza (using TJ's refrigerated dough), ate dinner with B, made a batch of gluten-free brownies for Royal, baked the bread.  To cap it all off, B (in an attempt at being the aforementioned Captain Underpants) was jumping off the coffee table, cape and all, onto the hardwood floors and slipped, almost knocking his two front teeth out.  When the blood stopped, we discovered those two front teeth are now really loose, but since he would have lost them eventually anyway he is just speeding up the process.  A hard lesson for him in how life doesn't imitate art (if you can call Captain Underpants art).