Tag Archive for 'maisy'

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WARMING UP TO FALL

As I headed out the door this morning for a long walk with Maisy, I was bundled up in a long cardigan and scarf around my neck. Fall is quickly approaching. Today is a rare day off for me when I don’t have a meeting or a slew of errands to run for the shop. I have a lot of work to do, but I get to sit at home on my bed with my laptop. It’s a treat.

Before getting into all the work that needs to be done (website updates, newsletter, scheduling new classes, etc), a brisk walk in High Park seemed the best way to start the day. We stopped at the dog food store and I loaded up on treats for Maisy, then we crossed the street to Starbucks and loaded up on treats for me (extra hot chocolate and a donut). This relaxing excursion to the park used to be a weekly event which I realized today that we haven’t done in months. I also spent some time in the garden admiring how green and overgrown it got over this rainy summer. I’m particularly proud of my mossy stump planter.

You might notice that there’s a new page on this blog – an evolving list of crafty projects i hope to try out… I have a feeling the list is going to grow faster than I can check things off of it, but I’ll do my best. (and i LOVE making lists)

p.s. I’ve just started making Dress #13!! You’ll be hearing all about Dress #12 tomorrow.

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POCKET MOUSE

denim pockets

This is a warning to all you gals out there who love their denim, like I do.

The other night I went to grab a pair of jeans from my closet for the first time in a while. The first pair off the pile had a mysterious hole in the back pocket. So did the next pair AND the next pair. Panic started to set in. In fact, six of my favourite pairs of jeans has scruffy looking holes in them. (the heart pocket Jill Stuart jeans are especially painful and illustrative)

WHY?!!

Clearly this was the work of a mouse. The perplexing question was why would would a wee mouse target the same critical location in hundreds of dollars worth of jeans?

The answer, my friends, is dog cookies. I often put a couple dog cookies in my pocket for Maisy throughout the day. Usually I’ll break the cookie in half for economics and wind up with a pocket full of cookie crumbs. Little did I know that this could lead to a little mouse desperately chewing through my back pockets to get to this feeding jackpot.

Luckily, I have years of denim repair experience. When I tripped and fell in my first pair of Seven jeans, ripping an unsightly hole in the knee, I learned about the Denim Doctors (now called Denim Revival) in California. They were known to resuscitate old and damaged jeans with magical skills. I packed up those ripped jeans and FedExed them to the Doctor. They were returned to me a few weeks later, almost as good as new. I studied the repair and came up with my own repair technique which I have been using ever since. Once I do my repairs, I’ll post the ‘after’ photos and we’ll see how bad the damage really is. I’ve never had to repair pockets, so this may require some extra finesse.

There is now also Denim Therapy in Ohio, if you need the help of a professional.

I’ll spare you the details, but the culprit has been dealt with and the bait was dog cookies.

All this lead me to remember the game, Mouse Trap. I used to play it at my grandfather’s house. The game was always filled with so much anticipation about whether the bowling ball would hit the see-saw causing the man to catapult into the tub and actually trap the mouse. I miss fun board games like that.

denim pockets

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FANTASTIC ELASTIC

 

Fabric for Shirred Top, originally uploaded by the workroom.

This morning started off with a quick stop off at Kinkos (at Bloor & Spadina) to do some copying. Since it was such a sunny morning, Maisy & I walked down Palmerston to Queen Street and then across to the shop. I couldn’t resist stopping in at Kensington Market Organic Ice Cream even though it was before 11am. Ice cream for breakfast is perfectly acceptable in my world. I got a cone of their cinnamon ice cream, which was super yummy. I think it’s time for me to get out my ice cream maker.

Often times when someone buys the last bit of fabric off the bolt, there is an odd-sized piece left over. People worry they are leaving me with something I won’t be able to sell. What?! Not one bit of fabric goes to waste at the workroom. These odd bits actually go right into my growing collection of fabric. This particular fabric is called Connecting Flowers by Art Gallery Quilts. I’ve been plotting to make something out of this fabric since it arrived, but it keeps selling out. When i was left with .7 metres of this silver grey and yellow treasure last week, I knew just what I was going to do with it.

A while ago, I had read Field Guided’s post on shirring and saw the darling dress she made from some Henry Glass bicycle print fabric. Cute! Then a couple weeks ago Toast ‘n’ Eggs asked me if I could teach her how to do shirring. Now that I’ve done it, I think everyone should! It’s very easy, totally satisfying and the results are impressive.

I thought I would make a wider strap and I like the way they turned out. The straps are 1.5″ wide. I ran the remainder of the fabric through the serger with some silvery embroidery thread to finish the top and bottom edge with a rolled hem. The rolled hem is definitely my favourite finishing technique right now. For the shirring lines, I spaced them 1″ apart and did five of them. All you need to do is hand wind some elastic thread onto your bobbin and use a regular thread up top. I’m addicted. You’ll be seeing more shirring experiments from me for sure. Please try this, it will make you so happy.

A full tutorial for shirring can be found here.

Shirred Top Detail

Shirred top

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