Life in General

I'm not even sure if anyone is still out here....I've been so slack about posting.  Life in general has taken on a strange ho-hum around here.  A new pace I suppose is the best way to describe it.  Not driving, being home full time except with planned outings with others, and in general doing things at my own leisure have all changed the pace of life.

I've had a lot of time for art projects, a lot of time for crocheting, and just a lot of time in general.  Ironically I don't have a lot of people around me to take care of, there isn't a lot of land to tend, or a lot of meals to prepare.  It's quiet.  Some days it is almost too quiet, but then other days I can kind of lose myself in the rhythm of my days.  A cup of coffee in the morning, some household chores, time in my craft room, evenings with my daughter, and repeat.  Although I will admit it does make it harder to find things to write about and share here.

I've been doing a lot of playing with watercolor paints.  These are just a few of the doodles I've done in my art journal.  I've also discovered that I love mixed media art better than any other form of artistic creativity I have tried.  I'll try to be a little better about sharing what I've been up to and share some photos of some of my mixed media projects soon.

Cold Start Yogurt

Over last weekend I made Greek style yogurt for our family using the IP.  I didn’t want to share the post until I knew how it went over.

This is it straining because I wanted it thick.

One bottle of this milk and 1 heaping tablespoon of starter yogurt (Aldi brand Greek)

yielded:

2 1/2 pint jars full and 3/4 of a jar of whey

The yogurt is very tart and just the way I like it.

I used it for a sour cream replacement, in potato salad for a quick lunch, as a base for a ranch style dressing,  and as a breakfast food.

The whey went into my baking.

(My husband took 1 jar with him.)

It doesn’t get any easier to make.

Make sure your Instant Pot liner is sterilized.  

Pour in cold milk.

(It needs to be ultra pasteurized.  Aldi brand organic in the red carton will work. 

I’ll try to remember to get a future photo.)

Whisk in a heaping tablespoon of starter.

Hit the yogurt button, cover, and let count down for 8 hours.

(Normal setting.) 

If you want to make yogurt with other milks you will need to follow the more traditional method.

Links for ideas:

Cold Start Yogurt

Traditional Yogurt Recipes

Test Run

We tried our test run of the solar oven.

It is easy to set up, seems to heat well, and is pretty straight forward in function.

We baked brownies....unfortunately, we had to finish them in the oven for a little less than 10 minutes.

Not because of an error with the solar oven....truly operator error.

I didn't bother to check the weather to see that we would have an afternoon shower coming in.

I saw the sun and just said let's do this. 

So all in all, I am pleased with the test run.

I fully expected a bit of a learning curve and I want this now so if I ever have to use this in a time when it is a necessity I will have the kinks worked out.

Now that I have checked the weather, I see that we are looking at a week of cloudy, rainy weather.

It looks like it may be a bit before I try again.

Travel Friendly Cardigan

One of the items on my list of 13 is a cardigan.  I opted for a travel friendly fabric -- one that doesn't seem to wrinkle despite me tossing it in my bag.  I used an old pattern from the 1990s.

The fabric was a new experience for me.

It took me several tries to figure out what stitch length and machine foot were necessary to make this fabric go through the machine without puckering and waving like crazy.  

I think if I had to do it over again I would add some simple ties to the top.

However, it actually hangs well as is and if I want to fasten it, I'll add a brooch.

Chatter and Summer Nights

This is just a general chatter of what's going on and what's flowing through my mind.

•  This week is my daughter's graduation.  I can't believe how quickly her first two years of college have flown by.  
• I went to Aldi this week and stocked up for the next few weeks.  I spent $192. This included potting soil and all the supplies for a graduation get together.  I'm thinking other than milk and a few oddities that I won't have to shop for a month.  That's the plan anyway.
• I finally planted the patio garden.  We have basil, oregano, Roma tomatoes, green onions, radishes, and bell pepper potted.  I also planted a "hummingbird" mix of flowers in a pot to go by the front door.
• I'm ready for the heart monitor to be off!  Tomorrow is the day...thank goodness.  It isn't painful, but it is kind of irritating.
• The last few days have been kind of cool temperature wise....the house has stayed in the 60s.
• Daughter sold back a college text book. 

In the midst of general errands and life, I'm still working on my sewing projects.  Even though the temps have been cool, I know summer is coming.  I decided to go with a lightweight gown for my sleepwear portion of the challenge.

The lace, thread, and fold over elastic all came from my stash.

The floral print (reminds me of watercolor flowers) came from the remnant bin at JoAnn's.

The pattern is from an older Kwik Sew lingerie book that I am not sure is even in print anymore.

Total cost for the gown is approximately $5.

My personal challenges for this project were:

1.  Using this lace.  I had never sewn with it.  I opted to keep seams less bulky by using the fold over elastic for finishing it off.

2.  I'm still working on more professional finishing.  I overlocked all the seams and used a lovely lilac thread for stopstitching.  The inside looks like a purchased gown.

I'm not sure which piece I will work on next.  I'm torn between a skirt and the cardigan.

Somber Wear

Somber wear seems like such an odd category to me.

I rarely ever wear all black or all of one color period.

I love florals and almost all other prints.

For my somber wear, I pulled from my stash some dark navy fabric with a simple floral pattern.

I've had this fabric for a good 13 years or so.

I bought it when I was learning to sew some simple things.

Of course, it is slippery fabric and I never could bring myself to try sewing it up.

This challenge offered me the perfect excuse.

The fabric, pattern, zipper, and thread all came from my stash.

(An old pattern from before the giant box I purchased....in fact, I don't remember buying it at all so I am thinking it may have been one that was given to me.)

The detailing doesn't show up well, but the waist line has an inverted v and there are slight gathers under the bust.

In keeping with my personal challenges:

1.  The fabric is indeed slippery and a bit fiddly.  This dress took a lot of pin basting.

Then the fabric wanted to fray and I spent a lot of extra time carefully finishing each seam.

2.  I put in an invisible zipper.  It took two tries, but I finally got it.

3.  I cut two sizes larger for the top and graded down for the waist and hips.  My basic shape is an inverted triangle.

I'm broad shouldered and larger through the bust.  It took a couple of tries of fitting the waist, but I'm pleased with the results.

However, this dress does remind me of why I very rarely wear dark colors.

They just don't make me happy overall....so somehow this seems perfect for my somber wear.

Summer Days aka Shorts Weather

Summer days are fast approaching and in the South that means hot weather is on the horizon.

In the sewing challenge one of the items we could make was a pair of dress pants or slacks.

I asked for, and received, permission to substitute dress shorts and everyone was fine with that.

In my area, a pair of longer shorts made of a dressier fabric and a nice top can be worn almost anywhere.

In keeping with my personal challenge to myself I used this as an opportunity to expand my skills.

These shorts are made with a bottom weight cotton with a bit of stretch.

I cut out one size and graded down the hips to the next size.

I still kept them loose enough because my personal preference is slightly looser dress pants.

These have my first ever attempt at a mock fly and zipper.

The cost wasn't horrible on these.  I actually found the fabric on clearance at JoAnn's.

It was the end of the bolt and there wasn't any more to be found.

However, there was a perfect amount for shorts for me.

The thread, zipper, and pattern all came from my stash.

Total I have less than $7.00 in a custom fit pair of shorts, so not too bad.

Sewing for my Husband

I've never made a man's button up/down shirt before -- or hadn't until now.

Even though this isn't on my sewing challenge, it is in keeping with my desire to learn new skills. In addition to being the first try at this, I also practiced some other new skills.

 1. French seams -- not as hard and as mysterious as the name implies, but the extra edge stitching and seaming adds a lot of extra time to the garment.  However, the finished result is nice.

 2.  I also had to add length to the shirt because of my husband's height.   I am thinking about naming my seam ripper, because she and I are now on friendly terms.  I've apologized for what I said when I had to take the collar off.  It took me two tries with it, and I think it still isn't perfect.  I really didn't want to ruin the fabric by taking it on and off repeatedly.  It is more than fine to wear...just a flaw I see. It is in need of a good pressing, but all in all I am pleased with the results.

 (The lighting isn't great, but it is actually a peach color more so than a pink.)

 Oh, this one was pretty frugal, too.  The fabric, thread, and buttons were all from my stash.  (Well, frugal if we don't try to figure up a cost per hour kind of thing.  It took me a long time, but since it was my learning experience I'm okay with that.)

Trying New Things

I'm challenging myself to try new things in my sewing.  I'm assuming sewing is like most skills....if I want to advance, I'm just going to have to jump in and do things.

 So my first project is to try sewing with chiffon.  I have my "vision" for my dress.

I started by researching dresses on Pinterest that had details I liked.  I have my fabric.  I've found a pattern that has enough of the details I liked.  Now I am left with cutting my fabric and I'm afraid to cut it.  LOL.

What I have done is cut out the same dress pattern in a different (but similar textured) fabric.

My hope is that it will become a wearable toile. 

I'm not expecting to actually get to sew on it until next week, but I have everything ready.

Learning New Things

I love crocheting and knitting, but I am finding that too much of either of them at one time leaves my hands and wrists in pain.  I decided that since I have the time I should improve my sewing skills.  I can do most projects with a little patience, but I have been taught to do almost all of them by hand.  I have a very nice sewing machine with a ton of feet for various details.  Today I played around with the ruffle maker and with the embroidery foot.  (I've wanted to learn to machine applique for some time.)  

These were my first attempts at either and I'm pleased to say I think I caught on pretty quickly.

The ruffled edge on the pillow wasn't difficult once I got used to the speed I needed to work at.

The rectangle was my practice piece on the applique to learn how to pivot the corners.  It took a few, but I got it in the end.

Then the heart was my second applique project.  

It isn't perfect either, but I played (on one small section) with using the feeds versus not.

However, on it I was able to pivot in the points which is what I was testing.

My next adventures include learning to use the small rolled hem foot.

I tried and had no success, so it is off to YouTube to look for video guides.