Patching Little Boys' Pants

My friend Christy asked me to show her how to patch little boys' pants. How often do we get to share our skills and methods with our friends, beyond sharing recipes?  This was so enjoyable.  While our kids ran around together, Christy and I sat down at my machine and I showed her what I do.  There are other ways to patch pants, mostly considered more "correct" than my method, but my foundation for this casual tutorial is that I have been patching pants into longevity for several years now.

This is what I showed Christy:

I unpick the side seam of the holey pant leg so I can fit the holey area under my sewing machine needle.  I put a rectangle cut from flannel or other soft fabric under the hole, wrong side of pants.  I stitch it down, being sure to stitch through the hole a few times.  Then, on top of the hole, I put a patch that will be visible when the pants are on the child.  Sometimes I use a pinking shears or a tight zig-zag stitch on the raw edges.  I stitch the patch down in some manner, again being sure to go over top of the hole at least once, connecting the weak places to the strong new fabric. Then, I sew up the side seam that I unpicked.  Done!

The way Christy attached the underneath patch gave me an idea for a holey knee in Ben's jeans.  I used navy thread and just sewed back and forth in somewhat horizontal lines, attaching a denim patch that was under the hole.  I love this look!  I will definitely use this for adult pants.

Sunday on top, playtime on bottom (lunch on shirt)

I also tried another idea on these jeans.  They had two flat-fell seams on each leg (most pants have at least one regular seam). It's not worth my time to tediously unpick a flat-fell seam!  So, instead, to reduce the bagginess and get to the holey knees, I just cut out the interior leg seams in a big U!  After I patched the knees, I sewed up the seams like normal, not flat-felling them.

Next up:  a visit to Christy's house so she can tutor and coax me through the socks I started knitting 2 years ago.  Hooray for friends with skills!

Tending Houseplants in Winter

When we heat our homes in winter, our houseplants can suffer from the hot, dry air.  Most plants like humidity.  This winter, I took some extra steps to help my plants.

I set a tray of water close to the rosemary plant to put humidity in the air.  I bought a cute little vintage mister and tucked it into the windowsill corner next to the Norfolk pine.  I showed the children how to mist the pine and the rosemary, while avoiding the nearby jade plant who doesn't like water on its leaves. They love this little task. 

When there are small pieces of wet laundry or wet gloves, I lay them on the top of the radiator so the wetness evaporates right next to the plants.  In fact, I air-dry most of our laundry on drying racks to try to keep a comfortable humidity in the house.

So far, my plants are looking really good!  

Genevieve planted some dill seeds in December, which I thought were probably too old to sprout, but dang if those little seeds don't keep stubbornly growing!  I had told her they were her responsibility, but she has totally forgotten about them and I, for sheer joy of green, growing babies, have been watering them and turning their pot so they grow up straighter. 

I recall how my houseplants suffered through previous winters, and I'm pleased to see mine looking so healthy right now. Are your houseplants looking good?

The Eleven Clothespin Bags

Naturally I had spring fever. So I treated it by pulling out all the fabric in my stash that had flowers and/or white in it, all the fabric that said "spring!" to me, and I made clothespin bags.  Because even though I have been known to hang laundry outside on a winter's day, surely spring is best for drying laundry outside.  It may be in the 20s yet today, but the air smells like spring and I am so excited.

I had 11 wooden hangers, so I made 11 bags.  I have no plans to make more at this point - should I add "Ltd." to each title the way car manufacturers do?

I loved this project more than any sewing I have ever done.  I used pretty odds and ends that I saved with no idea what on earth I would do with them - pieces of lace, scraps of bias tape, frayed doilies, stained dresser scarves, and bits of pretty fabric.

Long-time readers will recognize fabric in the bags from my shirtdress, Genevieve's green dress, Genevieve's nightie, and this apron. 

Before I make something to sell, I always make one for myself and use it well.  I like household goods that are pretty as well as hard-working.  This is my clothespin bag, made several weeks ago.  I might pick off the yellow appliques - I'm still undecided if I like them.  Also, I experimented with covering a wire hanger with ribbon to use instead of wooden hangers because wire hangers are so plentiful.  Well, it cannot hold its shape under the weight of my 2.5 pounds of clothespins!

So I bought 11 wooden hangers, and I need to dig out a stronger hanger for my own bag - it's just that I've been so busy treating my spring fever by sewing these bags and working on a large freelance project in addition to normal life that all kinds of details have dropped off my radar.

One night, just before bed, Genevieve laid out all the bags on the floor and sorted them in order of her most favorite to least favorite.  Number 3 is her favorite (number 11 is her least favorite, despite the pink gingham).  I really do adore them all, but if I was forced to choose, I think I would be in a French farmhouse in spring (number 4).

Just for fun:  which bag is your favorite?

Spring is Coming in My Shop

There may be a foot of snow in the forecast, but it is March and I am deeply, happily, immersed in spring sewing.

It's a new handmade goody for my Etsy shop - look for the listings in the coming week. This is probably the most enjoyable sewing I have ever done, as invigorating as coffee to me!  My spring tonic, perhaps.

 In the meantime, just so I'm not a mean old tease, please enjoy a 10% off sale in my shop with the code SPRING14 (there's a box where you enter the code during checkout).  Sale ends Tuesday, March 4.

Found Containers as Drawer Organizers

I love the jigsaw puzzle of a drawer, fitting all the little things in there so that people can grab what they need and also see the obvious spot to put it back.  Of course, this does not mean the drawer stays tidy or the things put themselves away again in their spot.

I do not buy drawer organizers anymore.  I use little boxes, bins, cups, and oddities when I can.

And I keep a spot in a closet just for this kind of random, found storage container.  The containers are all just shoved in there as I collect them.

I love learning to look differently at things, to see opportunities where previously I did not.  

We Wear Black and Navy

I avoided navy for years because I hated trying to match navies.  I was raised in The Mennonite Women Match Everything universe (motto:  match or die in the mall trying).  I have clear memories of my mother hunting specific blouses all over the mall to match specific flowers in a skirt she was lugging from her closet.

After years of playing with fabric, I do not match my colors like that, but I still kept navy and black separate in my wardrobe.  Then Carly introduced me to the idea of wearing black and navy together.

How does that strike you?  Would you (do you) wear black and navy together?

Me, I thought it didn't "match."  And then I had a long talk about color with Rebecca, and I realized that I do not generally wear neutrals together.  I like to mix colors - red and burgundy is one of my current favorites.

thanks to my husband for the photos

So I thought I would see if I could marry the black and navy in my wardrobe.  And I liked the resulting outfit.  It's not easy to tell from the photos, but the sweater is navy and white, the skirt and boots are black.

And Genevieve was skipping ahead of me on the way home from church and I did admire her vintage navy coat against her black tights. . .

I think I wear navy and black together now!

A Nice Winter Breakfast

Cardamom Braid and Tracy's winter fruit salad. Black coffee for the bigs and milky mint tea for the littles.

The cardamom bread needs more work before I recommend it to you.  Cardamom is probably my favorite spice and I clearly remember the first time I tasted it.  I was a sophomore in high school and my friend Krista brought a loaf of cardamom bread to school and shared it around as we walked through the lobby.  The flavor was exquisite and exotic.

The fruit salad is absolutely delicious.  The only tweak I made on Tracy's recipe was toasting the pecans and coconut.  I highly recommend it.

We ate in the extra-bright winter light from snow still on the ground.  But then there was plenty of sunshine in the afternoon when we watched a sugar maple being tapped.  The sap is running and spring is coming!  I've had my fill of winter - and what a tremendous lot of winter we got this year - and I'm eager for spring.