Spring is offially here - I think

According to the the weatherman, Spring arrived Sunday evening. Monday morning I woke to rain and the birds singing their hearts out. This is something we haven't heard for months. The robins are back as well as the mourning doves and today we saw our cardinal at the bird feeder. She is just too skittish to capture on film. But don't put away your winter boots if you live in Ontario - we are expecting snow again on Wed. We all keep asking - will it ever end?

We drove to Acton, ON Saturday to attend The Ontario Woodlot Association AGM. We drove there and home by country roads and found it was a very interesting journey with the sun shining brilliantly all day. We left here at 8 a.m. and took what the GPS said was the shortest route. "Betsy" was mistaken but we saw new territory and many beautiful country homes. We came home our usual route and made slightly better time!

Although the country side still looks very drab, matted and brown there is now and underlying hue of soft green coming through. Most of the streams and rivers are swollen and running free - we even saw several fellows out fishing near the Holland Marsh! Not sure what you would fish for at this time of year but there they were. We also noted that many of the trees were taking on a yellow-green tinge as well. So they will soon be breaking into bud.


This is the first woodlot meeting we have attended and I certainly learned a great deal. Our cottagers' Association has a membership and we attended as representatives. I learned about controlled burns and how they renew the forest and grasslands. Many times vegetation returns to what it has been years before as seeds that were buried beneath debris are freed to germinate and grow. Some undesirable species, though, are made stronger with this technique so it isn't full-proof. And here I always thought that fire was the biggest enemy of the forest.


Another speaker had been to Easter Island. He told us about how the people who had settled the island many, many centuries ago had depleted the forest and how this had been their downfall. Very briefly put, his point to us was that we, as members of the human race, need to be very thoughtful in terms of our environment, how we use it, abuse it and care for it. We should be thinking ahead by generations not just where the next dollar can be made. Funny how it all relates back to simple things like keeping our woodlot thriving.


There were several other speakers but I won't bore you with their topics. I went just to keep my husband company but I think I have become sufficiently interested to go again next time to learn more.


I've been sewing when possible between all the other things that have happened this week (the wedding couple were here for four days) but haven't accomplished a great deal it seems.  Here is the boy's jacket over the girl's shirt and kilt. Just have to make up the tam now and I will have the full set done as a white Christening outfit for boy or girl.

 

 So here are the two versions - girls' with the ruffled shirt and kilt and the boys' with the pants and bow tie.  I skipped the buttons and buttonholes on the jacket so it would do for both. But on the kilt I did make it so it could lap for a girl or for a boy. All that is missing is the kilt pin and a flower or bow at the neckline. 

This is just the stepping-off point for this little pattern. There is just so much you can do with it so I better get on with it, right?, so you can start creating and sewing with it too!! On that note I will close and return to writing.

 So till next time.....

I've been busy sewing!

Well, this weekend we've moved the clocks forward for daylight savings but Spring sure doesn't look any closer! It has precipitated every day for the whole of last week -waffling between rain and snow. The only good thing is that is has no accumulated. I haven't any right to moan about things here when conditions in Japan are so terrible. I turned on the news channel as I normally do at 5:30 a.m. the day of the quake and could not believe what I was seeing! The video of the tsunami was on every channel and it just didn't look real. I am still in disbelief. My heart goes out to everyone there who has lost family or homes and everything. May those who are left be safe now and may there be no more quakes or disasters over there so people can begin recovering.

This week I began stitching another set of samples for the pattern, The Infant Wardrobe I. These pieces are for a white Christening Ensemble and I used the white 100% cotton Ottoman that I found in Fabricland. (I haven't seen Ottoman fabric for decades so I snatched the remainder of the bolt!) It washed up perfectly and because I wanted the ribs going the length of the garments, cheated and cut them with the crosswise grain running lengthwise. These are baby garments and since the fabric washed so well I have no fear in doing so. The fabric looks a bit like grosgrain ribbon as the rib is fairly fine. Next I chose Swiss satin batiste for the jacket lining and the boy's shirt. I wanted to try clean lining the jacket as my first test had made use of the facing pieces. But when a friend said she hates making anything with facings it started bells ringing. So in the pattern you will have a chose of construction methods.

Here is the full suit. I've tacked a bow tie at the neck but I'm not sure it is the right size so will have to look at that a bit more carefully. There are no buttons or buttonholes on this jacket so it will do for a boy or girl.

And here is a shot of the shirt and pants on their own. These are not the very best of photos as I rushed to get them done this morning by lamp light! But at least they will give you an idea of what is coming.

The pieces have gone together perfectly and this time I chose French seams over Flat felled seams for the shirt. For the pants I serged the seam allowances as the fabric was a bit stiff and didn't like being top stitched when I made up the jacket. One needs to be flexible and adjust finishing techniques according to the fabric you are using. French seams are great on fine fabrics but don't work for everything.

I am now working on the kilt and have the girls' shirt cut out. The ribs of the ottoman fabric make pleating the kilt so easy! I will try the tam as well so there is a complete set in white. I have fabrics for two more girls' sets ready to go and they will feature a few variations to hopefully inspire you. Just have to keep my eyes peeled for fabrics suitable to do up a couple of sets for boys that will show you what you can do with the pattern with them in mind.

The kilt and tam are traditional military wear for men so if you have a Scottish background you could certainly do these up in a family tartan and many come in miniature so they would be a better scale for little people. 

One last shot - this my Christmas Cactus which is in full bloom at the moment for the third time since before Christmas. It is covered in buds and is so beautiful the way if fades from this glorious pink to white. This is a record as for years there was not even a bud on this plant!

Well that's it for today. Hopefully I will have more photos for you next week. As I am stitching, I am working on the instructions for the pattern. So it will be a little while yet before it goes to print.
Have a great week and keep stitching!!

P.S. Black Squirrel is alive and doing very well in case anyone was worried about him. We spotted him dashing across the top of the fence in the back yard this week between the snowflakes! He lives to taunt yet another day.....

Shopping on Queen

The weather Fri. was mild and the sun was shining beautifully when my friend picked me up to drive into the city to shop for fabric. We picked up our friend Angela on the way down as Angela knows the fabric district so well that the staff in every store calls her by name! 

We were looking for fabric for my friend's dress for the wedding of her daughter in Vietnam this spring. It will be hot and humid and the wedding is going to be on the beach so the fabric had to be cool to wear. 

Now if you have never shopped in the fabric district in Toronto it is a real adventure. It is not like going into your regular fabric store or quilt store where the bolts of fabric line the shelves in neat rows often by colour or type. Most of the stores are like fabric jungles and people like me have a bit of trouble navigating the vast and overwhelming selection. (That's why I love to bring Angela with me She knows where everything is and which stores to visit to find the best of everything.) 

Here is just a sampling of what you might find when you pass through the doors of one of these shops.

There is every kind of fabric you can image and such fabulous silks and embroidered or pleated fabrics. Some that defy description.

And then of course there i the stuff that is so old I would consider it junk. But you know what they say, one man's junk is another man's treasure.... 

One decorating store we visited had such an amazing array of drapery hardware - all so modern and not at all what you would find in the big chain stores!

And they had walls of silk and other fabulous fabrics for draperies and upholstery but still in weights with which you could make clothing. Every colour you could imagine. Embroidered, pleated, tucked, plain. It left me breathless!

We did find my friend's dress fabric in a more traditional store called LA Fabrics. She bought the whole bolt of pure silk fine Georgette that was over dyed and embroidered in an allover design with a fine chain stitch. It seemed just a bit dark but the sales girl put a light coloured lining fabric under it and it lifted the whole colour scheme and showed off not only the embroidery but the delicate colouring. Sold! 

And then we were off to a Greek pastry shop for a bite of lunch before we all headed home. Another successful day and another great shopping adventure. 

Many of the fabric shops in my old stomping grounds are closing and suddenly bead stores are popping up everywhere. It is so sad to see the fabric stores go. Last fall we were there shopping for the wedding dress fabric and it was impossible to find the kind of lace we needed. And since then there have been so many visible changes along the street. 

If you have any hankering to experience this part of Toronto I urge you to make the visit in the near future. Like everywhere, fashion fabrics are getting harder and harder to find. So take the subway or the bus, take the train or drive (parking is not impossible) and savour this part of Toronto before it disappears! You just might find a bargain as well.

In the meantime keep stitching!!
 

Invasion of "Black Squirrel"!

Last year we had a brazen black squirrel living in our neighbourhood. He would come right up onto the kitchen window sill and mock us. Then he would run around to the patio doors to sneer and taunt the cats who would of course go nuts to chase after him. He was a very large squirrel and I fear that if one of the cats got out they wouldn't have a chance in a battle against this fellow and there would be a battle for sure.

Well Thurs. afternoon I sat down with my lap top to work in the family room but there was a scratching noise coming from the fireplace insert. At first I wasn't sure I was hearing correctly as the noise was intermittent. I called Bob to come and tell me I wasn't hearing things. But he heard it too. 

There was something in there alright but we didn't dare open the door to look. Bob lit a piece of paper and shoved it through a crack in the door to try and smoke it back up the chimney. For a few minutes smoke spewed out all around the doors so that we had to run to open the patio doors to get an updraft going. We were the ones getting smoked out!

All was quiet for hours and I felt so guilty for killing whatever it was. I just had to hope the bird or animal had found its way out. Not so. Later that night I started to hear tiny noises again and I knew whatever was in there was not dead - yet. But I was alone at this point and didn't dare open the doors.

Next morning all was quiet at first but then noises started again - this time it sounded like the animal mewing! Oh no, what if it was a cat! Bob donned heavy leather gloves and I manned the flashlight. Ever so slowly he cracked open the first door to see a long black tail. My heart sank. Whatever it was started to move - it must have been terrified. Bob reached in and  oh how the ashes flew!! When he managed to get a firm hold on this squirming piece of fur I ran to open the patio doors with Bob and the mystery animal close behind. He gently laid it on the deck and to our shock it was that black squirrel, now all grey from the ashes. The squirrel lost no time and didn't seem the least bit injured as he dashed over the deck, across the lawn and up the neighbour's pine tree! 

It was when Bob took off his gloves he found he had been bitten and was bleeding quite badly. So we cleaned up and bandaged his hand. He drove to the doctor's to get a tetanus shot and was put on antibiotics! Mind you they had such a good laugh at the clinic over Bob's story. One if the receptionists told him about her grandfather having a similar experience but he got up on the roof with his shotgun and tried to kill the invader. She said "When the police arrived and heard the story they shook their heads - what else would you expect of an old Italian?"

We haven't seen our furry invader since, thank goodness, but the mystery remains - how did he get in as the chimney screen seem to be in tact. Further investigation will ensue when the weather permits. Hopefully squirrels have good memories and this one won't be back - no matter how he got in!

On a cheerier note it is only two more weeks until daylight savings and thee weeks till the official arrival of spring. This long hard winter is going to come to an end soon. Rejoice!! It is time to start some smocked sugar-free Easter eggs just like these!

So until next time, keep stitching!

What a week for weather!

This week saw temperatures soar to +11degrees Celsius on Fri. By noon my front flowerbeds were bare of snow and water was running freely in the streets. The snowbanks were nearly shrinking before your eyes. One would think it was April. 

But then everything changed as the temperatures dropped like a stone! Fri. night it sounded like a huge freight engine was about to plow through the house as the wind got up to between 80 and 100 kph. There was obviously a cold front moving in on that warm air! We haven't had anything that sounded like that for ages and it was a bit scary.

Very early Sat. morning I woke to a blizzard going on outside my bedroom window. I had planned to drive to see our son in the afternoon and had every hope things would subside and it would be safe to travel. As I listened to the radio and the road reports everything was being closed to the immediate north of us and to the east as far as Peterborough. Well, I was going to head south and west. But by 11 a.m. Paul called to say don't even try driving - we are getting a bad storm and it wouldn't be wise to try coming. It continued to snow most of the day and the wind just kept blowing. To say the least I was relieved to get his call and went back to inking in pattern pieces for the Infant Wardrobe, the next pattern.

This morning the sun is shining so brilliantly and there appears to be no wind to speak of. When I checked the front steps, the wind has blown all the snow from the driveway so I won't have to shovel there, just the steps.

I am wondering how my hubby and his friends are fairing in the far north, a couple of hours the other side of Sudbury. They travelled to their cabin on Fri. morning and hopefully will be back on Mon. - just in time for the next snowstorm. Hope they don't run into trouble on the roads!

With all our snowy weather I heard from my friend in England that the snowdrops, which grow wild, are in full bloom all along the roadsides. These snowdrops are growing along the wall in her garden.  And soon to follow will be the fields of daffodils which also grow wild and free throughout the countryside. I just can't imagine how beautiful that would be. We won't see trilliums in the woods here most likely until April. My friend also said the Christmas roses (Helleborus niger) were late blooming this year. Just look at the gentle colouring of these plants that she photographed in her garden. I hope they show well on your computer screens.

Smocking seems to be showing up everywhere in fashion this spring. I found a wedding gown in a brides' magazine that was classic in its simplicity and would have been so easy to recreate. It appeared to have been made from a bishop pattern in a chiffon-like fabric but was sleeveless. The bodice had been smocked with a honeycomb stitch and beaded with tiny pearls. The neckline was a simple binding that turned into self-filled rouleau over the shoulders and fastened with a tiny jewelled clasp like a necklace. The skirt had been professionally pleated with sunburst pleating - the only thing that you couldn't do at home. The model wore nothing more than magnificent drop earrings - so elegant! How simple would it be to recreate a gown like this? The magazine was borrowed and I returned it without taking a scan - how foolish of me!

I've seen smocking featured in designer collections lately on the fashion network and pictures of garments with touches of smocking in many of the fashion magazines. I haven't had a camera handy to capture any of these. Just keep your eyes peeled and you will find ideas as well.

Well it will be interesting to see what this week brings. 

Be sure to keep stitching!!

Doll aren't just for kids...

When I was a little girl I played with dolls like everyone I knew. I draped fabric from my mom's fabric stash and 'designed' ball gowns and wonderful clothes. Then I moved on to using the sewing machine and creating 'real' clothes for my Tony doll - a Barbie look-a-like. I made hats and handbags jewellery and shoes all by hand to coordinate with every outfit. When they created a category "Best Dressed Doll" at the local fair, guess who entered her doll and wardrobe? After winning for a couple of years, they dropped the category and I moved on to sewing for me.

So as an adult, when doll making became so popular I was not at all surprised. After all, dolls don't squirm around during a fitting nor do they bleed if you prick them in error. They don't grow so what you make fits forever! And they can't tell you they hate that colour or go jump in a mud puddle and ruin your creation!!

At the height of the doll craze I created "The Grace Knott Dolls Clothes Collection" which included miniatures of the classic Grace Knott patterns and a doll's dress form all to fit the very popular American Girl Doll. My own daughter was away at school and far beyond playing with dolls so I got to create and play to my heart's desire.

Then with the help of my husband I designed a wooden bed with all the accessories sized for this popular doll. Bob created the frame and headboard, sanding and finishing the wood. I made the mattress from a foam slab covering it with fine cotton and then a custom mattress cover. I was on a mission! Everything had to be to scale. Next came the sheets, fitted bottom and a European style top sheet trimmed with Swiss insertion, French val lace and silk ribbon roses. Next a blanket of softest fleece hand bound with silk ribbon. Then came a pillow with a coordinated pillowcase trimmed in Swiss triple entredeux and a silk ribbon rose.                                                      

What beautiful bed would be complete without a duvet and piles of pillows? This was turning into a major work of art packed with teaching techniques. The duvet has a centre panel of diamond tucks, mini piping and a button closing. There is a pillow sham with flange finished; a demi-moon shaped pillow with the same diamond tucking, lace edged ruffle and faggoting; a bolster with monogram and a teddy dressed in white Swiss edging and a ruff of French Val lace. Most of this could be done with the odds and ends from other projects. But the beauty of all this is it is to scale so if you learned how to do it for the doll you could do it full sized!

Oh, what is Samantha wearing? She will be snug in her smocked flannel nightie from the pattern, "Dolly Snowdrift".

I had a ball doing all this and Bob had fun with his part - so much so that he said he would make more if people wanted to buy them. Well like all phases, dolls have passed but I still have this wonderful collection of bed linens for the Samantha doll. Perhaps one day I will have a grand daughter who will have hours of fun playing with all these things.

Tomorrow is Valentines Day. Best wishes to you all and don't forget to make something chocolate for your special love!!

Till next time, keep stitching......

Mistakes happen!

I didn't feel much like writing on Sunday, my designated day to write. 

I was putting the finishing touches on the robe for the Westport Retreat in June when 'tragedy' struck. 

Let me go back a bit. I had chosen to pipe the vertical princess seams of the pattern, "Autumn Leaves". Now this is always a tricky business as it is so easy to end up with badly puckered seams. But everything turned out perfectly. The pockets went in like a dream - I couldn't have wished for things to look any better. So when it came to the seam finish for these seams I didn't want to disturb anything. They were too bulky to do mock 

French seams so I opted to serge them. 

Jo-Anne is choosing the buttons and making the buttonholes.

Sergers are wonderful tools but oh so dangerous! I was so careful to stitch these long seams and end perfectly where the seams had to split for the pocket openings.

When I checked the last seam sewn, to my absolute horror a tiny pucker had formed on the under side of the seam allowance in the last inch of stitching and was caught in the stitching. 

Oh, easy, I thought. Just clip the stitches, lift out the fold and re-stitch. I did just that but found there was a nice neat oval slice out of the side panel just below the right pocket, 1/8" wide x 3/8" long! 

What will I do? Memories of Trudi Clarkson's old standard saying came 'serging' back from the past: You can fix anything if you just add more lace and entredeux. Well I hadn't used any entredeux or lace in this robe so putting a blob of lace down there would be like hanging a red flag on the spot. 

If it were my garment I would have mended it and treated it with a seam sealant to protect it during future laundering, then added a monogram over top of it all - an embroidered 'JC' would just about do it. But this robe isn't going to be mine!

I fussed most of the day, not sure how to save this. There was no more fabric even if I could cut a whole new panel. I thought about doing a patch so it looked like a Madeira applique with embroidery but that would create bulk and make it look more noticeable. 

In the end I placed a piece of the fabric behind the hole and 

used the fine sewing thread to stitch a multiple zigzag to mesh the fabrics. (Knowledge of invisible mending would have been an asset here!) I took all the threads to the back, tied them off and buried the ends in the seam allowance so that the process could be deconstructed if necessary. A good steam pressing left the spot much less noticeable - unless you know to go looking for it. My friend Jo-Anne will have the final say about the seam sealant and the monogram when I see her in June.

On a much happier note my dear husband brought home a big bouquet of carnations the other day just because it has been so snowy here. Most of the flowers were still buds so as they have opened it has been wonderful to see all the colours emerging. There are pinks and reds,pure whites, peaches and these rich red/purples. Just look at the variations in these in the foreground. The thing I like best about carnations - besides the range of colours available - is that they last so long if you take care of them.  I look at these and think, I should get out my watercolours..... 

And my African violets have been blooming constantly since Christmas. Would you believe this plant was started from a single leaf from the 'mother' plant just three years ago. It is just as large as the original. My mother would be so proud if she could see these as I was known as the original brown thumb who was able to kill any plant that came into the house. Even my Christmas cactus bloomed twice this winter. That has never happened before - once last year, twice? unheard of! Feeding the little things and regular watering    seem to be the key to success.

Well haven't I just rambled on! Hoping to get back on track for next week
Till then. keep stitching!