Anne (with an e)

I bought this really cute new apron from The Secret Stitch Shop on etsy.

Here was the listing. . . . .

Anne (with an e) Apron in Red and Black

Description
You know that scene in Anne of Green Gables where she is dared to walk the ridge pole of Moody's barn? And she falls and hurts her ankle? Have you ever noticed that adorable apron she is wearing? I recently did and was instantly inspired to make this darling little number.This is the perfect apron for any hardworking woman (whether its hard work inside or outside of the home). With long ties that stay secure all day long and deep pockets to hold whatever you may need to keep close by (phone, ipod, pacifier, timer), this apron does it all. And keeps you looking adorable all at the same time. This apron is perfect for any body shape and all fabric has been pre-washed to shrinkage will be minimal.

Hello my bosom friend. Have I ever noticed the apron?! Of course. I've also happened to notice lots of other covet-worthy aprons in the other two Anne movies and the Road to Avonlea series. There are so many! There's also a few dresses I wouldn't mind having either - but I don't think I have anywhere to wear those, so aprons are a bit more practical for me. Anyway I LOVED the apron when it arrived! I have been wearing it ALL the time. Yesterday I decided try to make one myself. I think it turned out all right.

Secret Stitch Shop's apron

The apron I made





The secret stitch version has 2 pockets and they are lined in the contrasting fabric. Mine only has one pocket and it is lined in the same fabric.

I think I'm going to try to repurpose a skirt I bought at Value Village into one of these aprons. We'll see how it goes.

wish me luck. . .

It was a Happy Halloween

Daddy's Little Girl

Don't they just make you smile?

Good Morning Hives

No worries. They're all gone now. Mom and I took him to the ER this morning because he couldn't be seen until 11:00 at the clinic and since he had those nasty hives on his neck and chin we were worried about his throat swelling shut. They gave him some benadryl and some prednizone and he was better about 4 hours later. Don't know exactly what he had a reaction to, but he was wearing brand new clothes yesterday and I didn't give him a bath last night. Travis changed him into his pajamas and slathered him really good with Vicks right before he went to sleep since he's been a little congested. I think whatever chemical was on his skin from his new clothes must have reacted badly with his skin once it was mixed with the vicks. That's the only thing I can think of.

I guess I'll be washing a load of new birthday clothes tonight. . . . . . .

Sturgeon Fishing

Sunday we went fishing with Grandpa Dewey and Grandma Sallie on Grandpa's boat. It's a little too boring to take little guys sturgeon fishing. They just weren't digging sitting and waiting for the pole to wiggle. Good thing they were excited to be on the river in a boat!

Camryn and Samson entertained themselves with my camera for a little while. Here's the fishing trip from their perspective. . . .

You can see Camryn's reflection on the fish finder screen.

Samson took this picture of Cam and Grandpa.

Camryn took this one of Julian.


Samson took this one of the pole waiting to wiggle. I actually really like it.

And this little video clip is what it's like to "have a big head & little arms".

Love You Twinkie

Apparently I ruined my son's life today. He wanted to take a sack lunch to school today instead of having school lunch. Fine. He BEGGED me for a twinkie. I said no, you already have a rice krispy treat in there with your sandwich and chips. I packed up his lunch and while he was in the other room I grabbed a twinkie, wrote "love you" on it with a sharpie, threw it in and closed up the bag. Apparently that's where I messed up royally. When I asked him this evening if he noticed his surprise in his lunch he burst out crying and said "Ya, thanks a lot!" and stormed off into the bathroom. I guess "ALL the boys saw it" and were making fun of him. I guess I'll have to be more sneaky if I ever decide to try that again.


How come sweet little boys have to grow up so fast?

Teal Apron

I made this apron last week on the only day I didn't have to go shoot pictures. I haven't done any sewing since our basement flooded and my whole work station was disrupted. Thankfully nothing was ruined, but none of my stuff is where it's supposed to be. I was going to wait until I had it all fixed back up, but I just couldn't. My aunt bought me the pattern for this one. It's called the "church ladies apron". It's reversible. Cute right?

Apron Home

I've been wanting a cool place to hang my aprons in the kitchen. I've had this idea in my head for a long time but couldn't find the particular piece of wood I wanted. Wouldn't you know that while driving to Oakesdale with my sister on a treasure hunt we happened upon some treasure! There is a big old wooden grain storage tower that is being torn down and I found the perfect piece of wood for my project. Actually I was dying because I didn't have a trailer with me or I would have loaded up and used the reclaimed wood for my dining room and family room floor. I've got my sister's people trying to find out who it belongs to so I can get permission to get/buy some of that wood!

Anyway. . .one found piece of cool wood + seven hooks and knobs from Craft Warehouse = one very cool place for my aprons to live.

Cherry/Apple Tree branch lattice

I'm not "green" because it's the cool thing to do right now. What I do that is classified as "green" is because it's practical and that's the kind of girl I am. Practical. Why should I pay for something when I can make it out of something I would otherwise be throwing away? I put good use to my tree trimmings this year and made these two lattices. I'm hoping to grow grape vines up them and cover that ugly metal sheeting that's covering the garage window. I'm also going to try to make a "waddle fence". You can see the beginnings of it there along the border of the flower bed area. I'm at least pleased with the lattice.


We'll see how the fence turns out. . . . .

Embroidered Tattoo?

My sister has a tattoo of a rooster on her shoulder. I thought it would be cool if I stitched it out on a kitchen towel for her. I laid a piece of carbon-like paper for fabric on top of the towel and laid the computer print out of the rooster on top of that and traced over the lines. Then I put the towel into my embroidery hoop and just stitched along the lines that transfered onto the towel. This is the result. . . .




This is her tattoo. . .




I hope she likes it.

Ode to the button-holer:

The first time I ever made button holes was 'free hand'. I just used a tight zig-zag stitch and stitched the basic shape of a button hole. Today I learned how to use my button-holer. (Thank you You-Tube) Comical to all people who have been using this nifty tool for quite awhile, I'm sure, but awesome to me. I must have made 25 or 30 practice button holes with it just to get the feel for it and understand exactly how it worked. It is very cool. To those of you who haven't ever used one, I say go for it. It's ever so much fun and easy to do. The button holes come out soooo much more uniform and stronger too.

I put the button holes in this apron 'free hand'.

I used the button-holer on this dress I made for Camryn.

I finished it. This apron took the most work, concentration and time of any I have made so far. It's no sewing masterpiece, believe me, but I'm proud of it anyway. I'm only a novice sewer after all. This was the first time I have ever used piping in a project. It's not what I would call easy, but it's do-able.

Here's a closeup of the front. . .

. . .and of the back.

Thanks go to Travis for his photographic cooperation.

What a guy.

This little baby was the beginning of a whole new infatuation for me. I dug it out of a drawer in the kitchen of Our Lady Star of the Sea. We were there to celebrate my grandparents 50th Anniversary. I was helping with the clean-up and didn't want to get too dirty. I was unaware of the transformation that would occur once I put it on. I absolutely fell in love with this apron. I know it probably doesn't look like much to anyone else, but I loved it. Grandma was sure to let me know that I could NOT take it home since it belonged to the church. Now do I look like the kind of girl who would steal from a church?! That was about ten months ago. Since then I have collected several books about aprons, checked out countless others from the library and grown quite a collection of apron patterns. I've made two or three or ten and I'm working on one right now. I feel just like Wesley in The Princess Bride. You know when he comes back as the Dread Pirate Roberts and Fezzig asks him "Why are you wearing that mask? Were you burned by acid, or something like that?" He answers "No, they're just terribly comfortably and I believe everyone will be wearing them in the future." Aprons are terribly comfortable and useful too. Not to mention all the beautiful fabric there is out there to choose from. Aprons also appeal to my love of vintage things. I'm sure that's one of the reasons I was immediately attracted to this church apron. There is just something special about wearing or using or living with something that had a life before it's life on or with you. It's kind of a link to the past and that is something I've always been interested in.

History. It's a beautiful thing.

This afternoon I was working on my latest sewing project while Samson was napping. Because I craft downstairs in the basement and he naps on the main floor, I don't turn on the T.V. or radio so I can hear him when he wakes up. Actually, today I had to listen to make sure Julian and Camryn weren't killing each other either since there was no school today. (Usually Camryn comes down with me and works on one of her "projects".) Anyway, having no background noise leaves lots of time to think, and so I was. Scary, I know.

I was wondering why I feel the constant urge to be crafting on something. If I'm not actually doing a craft of some kind, I'm researching one on the Internet or reading a book about one or a magazine or clipping ideas and putting them in my notebook of things to make. When I say "craft" it could be a project of any medium. I like to sew, quilt, scrapbook, build simple wood projects (ok, maybe a 20'x20' studio and a 24'x24' deck and an 8' arbor aren't exactly simple, but I mostly just planned them. Dad headed up the labor and supervision departments), refinish furniture, repurpose things that could have a new life, plant trees, plot out my garden. I daydream about yard sales and thrift stores and flea markets. What wonderful new treasures will I find? Why? Why do I feel this constant urge? When I actually started thinking of why this afternoon, it was a great big DUH moment. Duh, Mandy.

My Mom was always sewing when I was a little girl. She made all kinds of clothes for us, from formal dresses to play clothes and everything in between. I can remember going to the Ric Rack (a fabric store just two blocks down from our house that used to be here in town eons ago) and picking out fabric for our MANY swim suits Mom made for us girls. The lady that owned the store ( I don't know what her name was) always had a corner full of toys for kids to play with while their mother's shopped. Smart lady. The longer the kids are occupied, the more the women can buy!

My Dad was and still is always fabricating something out of metal. (An area I haven't yet explored myself.) One time he built us the coolest covered wagon. You know like they used on the Oregon trail back in the day? He used an old red wagon and fabricated poles that arched over it and used canvas of some kind (I think) to make the cover. Cool right? He made us this "horse" one time too. Basically it was a big metal spring and he welded a big metal cylinder of some kind to it, painted it and strapped a saddle on it. You bounced back and forth. Who thinks of these things? My Dad, that's who.



My Grandpa, my Mom's Dad, built all kinds of stuff. The man was a whiz with wood. My Mom said he built them stilts once when they were little kids, among many other things. When I was little he built the coolest fort for all of us grandkids. He build a wooden kitchen for me and my sisters complete with functional cupboards and sink handles that turned and stove knobs that turned. All wood of course. I wish we still had those. . . He built me a hope chest for my wedding present ten years ago. It has hand carved leaves on the front and a drawer in the bottom. It's gorgeous! He built his house. He built furniture to put in it. Beds, dressers, armoires, shelves, custom built ins, you name it. One time my sister and I went to Mt. St. Helens with him and my Grandma. I remember as we were driving up, you could see the hundreds, probably thousands of trees just laying there that had been blown over when the the mountain blew. I remember him saying that it just killed him to see all that timber wasted there when he could of made so many things from the lumber it would have yielded. I feel your pain Grandpa. I didn't fully get it back then, but I certainly do now.

My Lita, my Dad's Mom, was always quilting. My Lito built quilting poles for her so she could quilt by hand. I remember playing with my sister or cousins under the quilt she was working on, using it as a fort. I want those poles. She doesn't use them anymore and since I don't have anything like them and my Lito made them, they would mean a lot to me. She made baby blankets, twin, full, and queen size quilts. She also crocheted, knitted and tatted. I have dish towels that she crocheted for me hanging from my oven handle right now.

So, the answer to the big DUH question?

It's in my blood.

Ok, I'm not sure why I'm starting this blog. It's not like I need ONE more thing to dabble in, but for some reason I feel attracted to this. I'm not promising to be regular in my postings at all, so don't expect much. . . .