Starfish Alley

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Vintage rag dolls

November 11, 2011 /

A friend was cleaning out a closet and came across a package of old fabric.  One of the pieces was orange silk and the other was a panel of fabric that had been fashioned after vintage rag dolls and was printed for “Her Majesty’s Stationery Office” and came from the Bethnal Green Museum in London. ” London’s Bethnal Green houses the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection of childhood-related objects and artefacts, spanning the 1600s to the present day.”  I have been looking at their website and it looks like a very interesting place to visit.  I’ve also checked out the gift shop link and there are many interesting things here as well.  I wish it was closer because I would love to visit.

These dolls however will be fun for my friends granddaughters to play with.  I applaud her for the decision to make them up and let the kids play.  So often I find myself bringing this kind of stuff home and then feeling I should save it for a special occasion or day and then the kids grew up or lose interest and here I had this very fun whatever and never got used.

Here are pictures of the panels.  After they have been stuffed, I’ll ask Sally to take a picture and send me so I can add it to this log of projects.

A new adventure..

November 5, 2011 /

As it’s getting closer to holiday time my family starts to think about lefse.  If you’re not Scandinavian, you might not know what lefse is.  For those that don’t know or haven’t heard of this delicacy it’s like a tortilla that is made from potatoes.  Most people eat it rolled up with sugar and butter. Some like cinnamon added however and my dad liked it plain with potatoes and gravy.  Now lefse is made from mostly potatoes however it does have some flour and butter and cream added. This creates a problem if you have Celiac disease and need to eat gluten-free.  My youngest brother is a diabetic and also has Celiac disease so food is a challenge for him.  He loves lefse and can eat some sugar if he’s careful so I’m on a mission to make some lefse he can eat.  Dale and Jill have been eating gluten-free for 3 or 4 years now and they have much of the diet worked out.  They make bread every week, have a list of recipes that work for desserts and have started to eat pizza again and more.  There are so many more options for gluten-free diets that it’s becoming easier all the time.  We even had adults and children at camp that needed a gluten-free diet so it’s been a part of my life for a while now.  I have been searching the internet for people who have successfully made lefse with gluten-free flour.  I have found many adaptations of the recipe but there has been not consensus about the best type of flour to use.  This lead me to my local store to see what  was available.  We are fortunate to have several large stores and options in the immediate area.  I chose the local grocery type natural food store and they had many options.  I ended up with a new flour make by King Arthur Gluten free flour.  I know this brand is preferred by many bakers so I decided to take a chance and see how it turns out.  I suspect that as long as it tastes remotely like lefse and it stays in one piece that Dale will be a willing subject to try out the end result.  I think this might be tomorrow’s adventure.

 

 

Green apples..

November 3, 2011 /

I found another new oilcloth fabric a few weeks ago. It jumped into my fabric pile and arrived home to be made into another new bag size.  This one is a little bit shorter and not quite as wide.  I think I’ll have to use it a few times to see how I feel about the size.  The height is ok but II’m not sure if I’m going to like the width.  I do love the print made up however.  When I was cutting it out I did wonder about my decision to purchase this print.  It made up very well however and although it may not function well for a market type grocery bag, it certainly will travel to other destinations and be a good addition to the bag collection.

Third times a charm.. or is it?

November 2, 2011 /

In this case.. not entirely.  The process of a smaller bag is closer but not quite there.  This time I think I didn’t have the iron quite hot enough so the fabric is laminated but I’ve noticed as I was sewing it seems to be loose in a few places.  This has happened as I was sewing so it seems the adhesion was good but not good enough.  The size of the bag seems to be fine and I should be able to fine tune it so next time is good.  The fabric is cute and the function will be fine but the durability of this bag is in question.  Onward and upward for number 4!

Uh oh!

October 29, 2011 /

It happened.  Late at night of course while I was picking up and finishing the last of the evening projects.  You know how it is. You’re tired and in a hurry and suddenly.. oops!  I was cleaning off the top of the sewing table and pushed on a pile of stuff so I could organize my other piles when it happened.  I heard a loud plop and my magnetic pin cushion slid off the back of the sewing table and crashed on the floor.  The floor is tile and you can imagine what happened.  My lovely magnetic pin cushion lay in pieces and there were pins splattered all over the floor.  Not in a convenient place to pick things up either.  So I got down on my hands and knees, scooted under the machine and gathered up all my lovely pins and the remaining pieces of this pin cushion.  Although this is not my favorite color pin cushion it is a favorite because of the function. If you’ve never used a magnetic pin cushion put it on your next birthday/Christmas any occasion gift list.  Once you’ve used one you will not want to be without.  I do use several pin cushions including a wrist pincushion, a small pin cushion just for sewing needles, one for machine needles that’s marked with sizes and then my magnetic pin cushion.  This is so handy when you’re pinning taking pins out of things and you can just lay them down.  They all stay in one place.  When you pick them up they are easy to grab as well.  I’ve relocated the pins for a time and have the glue out to see if I can make repairs.  If not, then it will go on my Christmas list.  Next time I want a red one please. Or even a blue one or a purple one or I guess any one would do.

A quick gift

October 26, 2011 /

A friend is having a birthday and I wanted to make a quick gift.  One pair of fleece socks was included but also some pouches for carrying things.  It seems everyone has a phone and various ways of carrying their phones.  When you get a new phone invariably it’s a different size than the last phone.  That creates the problem of transportation.  Now with  smartphones and the big screens, how do you carry them if you don’t carry a purse or have the right size pocket. The kids often travel with a backpack or book bag and throw the phone in the bottom of the bag. The goal here was a little bag to add some protection to the phone and the screen.  I made three different kinds of pouches not knowing for sure which the  recipient would prefer.  I also don’t know for sure if they always have a plastic cover on  the phone as this too will determine the fit.  I also am guessing on the exact size of the phone.  I think it’s about the same size as mine but I don’t know for sure.  Although I started with the same size pattern for all the pouches they all ended up different sizes due to the construction process.  Two of them have zippers and the other is a snap type pouch.  I’m thinking at least one of them will work for the phone and the others will have other uses. This was a fun project and I think I’ll  be making more pouches.

Second version

October 24, 2011 /

In this second version of the smaller market bag  I shortened the bag and I also laminated some fabric that I thought would make a great looking bag.  There were a couple of challenges.  I must have had the iron a bit too hot because some of the fabric yellowed a bit.  I was able to use that section for the handles so it’s really not noticeable.  I haven’t used this laminating material for many years and I didn’t have this iron on my last laminating adventure.  It is a higher quality iron and the heat is higher which I had forgotten.  Now I’m ready to try again on a different piece of fabric.  I am pleased with the size however.  I’ll make one more and make it about an inch taller and then I think it will be perfect.  I think this size will be perfect to take to the drugstore of anyplace where you will be just picking up a few smaller items.  I’m going to keep this one for myself because it doesn’t meet my standards for a gift or for sale and I know it will work just fine.  I do love the yellow and gray although they are not colors I would usually choose.

 

MIA

October 23, 2011 /

I’m having trouble with the title of this post.  I finally settled on MIA.. it’s one of those days.  I have two patterns that I want to use in the next couple of weeks.  I apparently moved them to a “better place” because now I can’t find them.  I’m usually careful when I’m done with my patterns and tools because I hate to waste the time looking for them.  It’s so frustrating.  These patterns I suspect I moved when I was cleaning and put them in a better home that was more logical.  Why they aren’t with the rest of the patterns I don’t really know.. onward and upward and searching again!

Smaller oilcloth bag

October 22, 2011 /

I’m making a smaller oilcloth bag for a friend.  I’m trying out a couple of different sizes of bags because I keep having requests for a smaller size.  This first one I reduced the height by 5 inches and the width by 2.5 inches.  I like the width and think that will be fine but I think I’m going to make another bag and shorten the height a bit more.  This one is actually a good size and would be handy at the drugstore or at the bookstore where you want a bag but don’t want or need such a big one.  I’m looking forward to making a few more of these and then ask what size my friend would like what her opinion is.

Orange you glad you did?

October 21, 2011 /

When my kids were little they really loved knock knock jokes.  This was the punchline of one of them..  In this care,orange you glad you told me how to adjust the sock measurements because these will probably fit a bit better.  I talked to my victim friend with the cold feet and decided what adjustments we would like to make to the socks.  I ended up making them a bit narrower at the front as he has narrow feet.  I also lengthen the hight of the sock a bit so he could wear them inside boots without them rubbing.  This is more vintage fleece.  It seems like it might have been from an old Halloween costume although I can’t remember for sure.  It really is a bit more cantaloupe colored than the picture shows.  I found a remnant of some black swimsuit fabric when I was at Joann’s last week and it made perfect ribbing.  It has a higher lycra content than ribbing so the stretch recovery and is better and it should not overstretch as easily.  It also has a high cotton content so it should feel good on the legs.  I normally wouldn’t use black thread either but it was on the machine and it’s close to Halloween so I decided you could wear them as part of a costume if you wanted to be a pumpkin.  Also, I wanted to try the pattern adjustments and decided that once they’re inside shoes or worn around the house it didn’t really matter what the color looked like.  The contrast is fine with me also and adds a bit of interest to plain old socks.

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