Memento from Yellowstone

When we went to Yellowstone back in July, I didn't buy any souvenirs in the shops. The mass produced stuff is all the same and since I own an electronic embroidery machine I can put any message on any tshirt or hat any time.

I saw this hand embroidery design right after we got back from our trip, so I had to make it. The designer (who I don't know, just so you don't think I'm a shill) has an Etsy Shop where she sells art work and embroidery designs.

I used Sulky spray to adhere the paper to the dish cloth and traced it by light of the window with a water soluble quilting pen.

The finished design next to the print out. I used french knots to make it look like purple loganberries on the stems. The gift shop sold loganberry products, so I assume they grow in the area. We never saw any. (Also, I'm not sure whether they're like a blackberry or a blueberry.)

Hanging on my oven door handle. I always keep a hand embroidered towel here. It's about time I changed them out, the last were a set of Kewpie towels that I've had up since February I think!

Teal Undies

I wanted to try the Ottobre Panty pattern (size 50) and I still had the machines threaded in the teal color and had teal lingerie elastic (miracle of miracles!). I used some scraps from the dress. The panties fit great. They're a typical hipster type fit. I think I might try making a morphed bikini front pair, keeping the back with the same hipster coverage. I prefer bikinis so they don't show over the top of my pants but it's rare to find them in size 9 (except Hanes makes a pair I like).

See the cocoon on back of the little guy's head? I'm not sure whether one of the parsley worms made it or not because it's gray instead of green. Are they capable of camouflaging? I don't know.

The butterfly hatched out today and ds missed it. The dog chased it away a little while ago, but I'm glad I got a photo to show to ds. He'll be sad.

Honey bees on sedum. I've been looking for these bees all season. I guess I didn't have the right kind of blossoms to tempt them until now.

Today's project: canning pickled peaches. These take two days, which is actually nice because you can rest between the steps while your peaches are chilling in the fridge overnight. My grandmother used to make these and serve them at Thanksgiving and Christmas, which will be here before we know it. Her peach pickles had visible whole cloves in the jar, but my recipe called for steeping them in a spice bag, so I don't know how close these will taste to hers.

Thanks to Rose for the recommendation on the Teal dress. I ordered a bit more of that fabric, so I should be able to make some ties to insert in the side seams. It can't hurt. The next two items I want to sew are from wool, but it's still pretty hot here, so I might wait to get started on them. Nice to have a few new things sewn up already.

This is a crazy busy week. Some friends/family are visiting and we're seeing the Grey Gardens musical and going to a Journey concert on Saturday. Everybody's staying at my house, so I have some work to do around here.

Teal Dress

I made a dress today from the latest Ottobre. I'm wearing this issue out, which is fun. I know this is not a very flattering dress. I used to wear a lot of these back in the late 80s/early 90s, except they were more drop waisted. But it's very comfy and the fabric is wonderful. It's this rayon/lycra jersey from Emma One Sock.

It's No. 9, the "Pigeon Grey" knit dress. I'm not sure if I'll do a pattern review, maybe tomorrow if I feel like it.

The magazine shows it over pants, but that girl is way smaller than I am and I think that would be a lot of bulk on me. I might make some leggings, just to complete the cliche of the look. I want to make them with outseams instead of inseams, but I'm not finding any patterns for those. I don't think it would be too hard to change up one of my Kwik Sew patterns for leggings. Cut it down the grain line to form an outseam and then tape the inseams together. . .

Closeup shot of the neckline. I think it came out looking very nice. The skirt gathering is done with clear elastic, which was very simple and leaves you with a stretchy seam. I have just enough fabric left to make a pair of panties and found some matching teal lingerie elastic in my stash. There's a panty pattern in this issue of Ottobre, so I'll probably use it.

Sewing and Canning

Here is another top I made this weekend, from the same rayon/lycra fabric as the last one. I'm relying on brown as my basic wardrobe color these days. Black, next to my face, makes me look washed out, brown is better.

This top is identical to the last except it has a turtleneck. I usually hate turtlenecks, but I knew this fabric was heavy and drapey enough not to feel tight against my neck.

This morning I got the fabric I ordered, so I'm prewashing and hope to sew a bit this week.

These are the last of my tomatoes. I ripped the plants out this weekend, since they weren't doing anything. I tried to make green tomato salsa from the green tomatoes, but I blanched them and still couldn't peel them and they had hard cores, so it wasn't worth the effort.

This is *Jalapeno Salsa* from the Ball Blue Book of Canning.

All that work for two pints and two cups.

I had a little of it that was left over and didn't fit in the jars. Wow, it was hot! I didn't seed the jalapenos. I like it though, the sweetness of the tomatoes along with the cider vinegar is a good balance.

I want to make a couple of jellies next, but there's no rush since I don't have anything much coming from my garden except okra and green beans. I typically freeze those. I ordered some jars and I'm waiting on them. Realizing that the last time I canned salsa was 8 or 9 years ago, before ds was born. Wow. . .

Some Sewing

I made a top from the new Ottobre Woman Magazine. I went to JoAnns and picked out this rayon knit, along with fabrics to make This Pretty Outfit for dh's company holiday dance. But, I was busy trying to convert the centimeters into yardages, and wasn't paying close attention and ended up buying fabric for the top and jacket and THE PATTERNS DON'T COME IN MY SIZE. Argh. I can make the skirt though. I'll have to look through my Burda Plus to see what kind of jackets and tops I can find. I don't have the mad grading skilz to make the Ottobre patterns bigger.

If you want more details about the top, I did a Pattern Review. I'm planning to make the other top, that has identical sleeves, but with a turtleneck next.

I ordered some wool melton from fabric.com to make the "Salma" boiled wool coat. I ordered the green, but I also love the royal blue. They have some fun bright colors. I ordered some brown sweater knit from Emma One sock to make the "Every Woman's Favorite" cardigan, along with some rayon knit to make the Pigeon gray dress. I might try to make leggings to match the dress, so I can wear them with tall boots. I guess you can say I'm planning a whole fall wardrobe this year.

Chuy in her submissive pose. She's saying "please don't put me in my crate."

We have one cocoon from all of the parsley worms. I guess the birds or chipmunks ate the rest, but there's another worm left and I hope he also makes it into his shell.