Wednesday, July 4, 2012

A bit of bees...

 Recently Mom purchased a honey extractor for Dad, since the gravity method was messy and inefficient.  We recently had a hive collapse and had some partial frames of honey left.  Rather than leave it out of the other hives to cannibalize, we opted to extract was there was of honey.
 
 This is one of the frames from the honey super of that hive, and the following picture is of Dad breaking the seals on the honeycomb.  High tech, that there fork. :)

 The frames inside the extractor...

 And here is the extracted honey, complete with tiny bits of wax stuck to the sides and in the honey at the bottom.
 Also with the extractor, we purchased some filters that fit inside 5 gallon buckets, and here you can see the honey coming out the spigot at the bottom of the extractor and going into the filter.  All said and done, we got approximately 3.5 inches of honey in a 5 gallon pail from a honey super that was at maximum only half full.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Finally! Corset Pics!

So, it has been a while...life got rather busy for me.  I had taken a part time job in the floral department of the grocery store where I used to work, and it was good.  2 days a week was fine with me.  Then I was spotted by the owners and within the month was back in the bakery doing cakes.  I was not all that happy with that, but it was still only 3-4 days a week.  Then the other decorator quit, and I'm back to a full time job.  Grrrrr.  So my crafting time and motivation has been well and truly shot in the behind.

Anyway, while the corset has actually been done for a while, I have been procrastinating pictures due to the fact that it's rather involved to get on and off.  So, without further ado, the Laughing Moon Silverado corset.

 Pieces cut and the outside fabric and coutil basted together...and there is nothing better to make you feel fat than an un-sewed corset laid out on a table.
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 The pieces are all sewed together, and the busk and grommets inserted.

 Finished and laced corset (and yes, I actually made bias binding because all Joann's had was crappy dull poly-cotton binding)

 And here is the finished project as worn.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

New Dress!

Well, finally finished an outfit.  This is from Vogue pattern # 8701, and I made the dress and the jacket from the pattern assortment included in the envelope.  Previously, I had included some in-progress pictures in the 365 project that ultimately failed.  Here is a couple links to those:  fabric, cut out pieces, jacket body progress, sleeve and lapels, and lining progress.

 Overall, it went together well, although I'm not entirely happy with the lay of the lapels, but that could be due to the fact that the whole jacket is done in bottom-weight fabric, and so all those seams are conspiring against it laying completely flat.  Oh, well.  Such is life, and I'll remember to avoid making a jacket with sooo many seams out of heavy twill!  The dress was quite quick to sew, but there was a small problem with the instructions for lining the cap sleeves.  There was no way known to physics to be able to turn those pieces right side out again following the directions, so just wound up taking the underarm seam out, turning it and sewing them back together again before attaching the sleeve.  Small problem, but quite annoying.  One nice thing about the skirt, though, is that I got to use my mother's new serger that she received for Christmas this year.  I serged all the edges of the skirt before I sewed the pieces together so I could avoid having to french seam or sew bias binding on them to keep the fraying away.  Also, it made it easy to hem the skirt.  A simple running catch stitch sufficed, and made it possible to only turn the seam once instead of twice to avoid too much bulk.  The lining was just turned twice and machine sewed.  Yah, yah, I'm lazy.  Sue me. 

Anyway, enough chattering by me, here are the finished pictures (after church, so I'm a little wrinkled, sorry folks).


Saturday, March 10, 2012

For historical sewers...

A blog I follow is offering a giveaway for a 1910's blouse pattern from Wearing History.  It looks to be a very pretty pattern, so if you're interested, here is the link.




Good luck everyone!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Hmmmm....

Well, I do believe I have fallen off the bandwagon of 365:Project.  Oops.  Sorry, everyone, but I guess it was just a little too boring for me, since very, very little seems to happen here.  I mean, how many pictures of yarn, sewing, or flowers do you really want to see if you are not looking for a crafting page.  Sheesh, I was boring myself.  Anyway, since my interest really isn't in it, I guess I'll just switch to something else.  Probably something more crafty, but less regular posts, since no one really wants to see socks progress an inch at a time.  So, until I actually have something substantial (hopefully soon, since a dress project is close to an end), I'll catch everyone later.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

365 project: February 28th, 2012 Day #59





Pretty new yarn....t'was on sale, so we got enough for 2 afghans (1 for me and 1 for a gift) and a few more pairs of socks! :D

Monday, February 27, 2012

365 project: February 27th, 2012 Day #58





I'm taking a belly dancing class with my sister, and this is a shot of my brand new jingle scarf/sash/shawl thingy.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

365 project: February 26th, 2012 Day #57





Starting seeds!  Spring is coming.  So far I've started sweet peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes, leeks, brussel sprouts, and eggplants.

365 project: February 25th, 2012 Day #56





New movies :)  gotta love the classics :D

Friday, February 24, 2012

365 project: February 24th, 2012 Day #55





Yay for Girl Scout Cookies...I got them from a lady at work today...bought 1 thin mint, 1 tagalong, 1 do-si-do, 1 trefoil, and 1 samoas.  Yummy Stuff!

365 project: February 23rd, 2012 Day #54





This post is a little late due to internet problems last night...sorry.  This is my first silk flower arrangement :)

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

365 project: February 21st, 2012 Day #52





Roses hung up to dry...they make nice dried arrangements, even if they are a little brittle.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Sunday, February 19, 2012

365 project: February 19th, 2012 Day #50





Seeds!!!  Gotta take advantage of having Dad's garden at my disposal this summer :D

Saturday, February 18, 2012

365 project: February 18th, 2012 Day #49





Spent the morning/afternoon at the American Kite Association region 6 kite festival/meet in Clear Lake, Iowa.  Very nice day, although it was a little odd to be walking around on a frozen lake watching people fly kites.  I'm sure everyone raised in the south thinks we are all crazy...kite flying in February, on a frozen lake nonetheless!

Friday, February 17, 2012

365 project: February 17th, 2012 Day #48





Redone funeral flowers from Grandpa's funeral today...the pink lilies and the red roses were from the casket spray and the middle vase was from a basket arrangement.

365 project: February 16th, 2012 Day #47





Flowers from the funeral.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

365 project: February 14th, 2012 Day #45





Happy Valentine's Day!  This is the lovely little valentine from my boss at work.  How thoughtful! :D

Monday, February 13, 2012

365 project: February 13th, 2012 Day #44





This is the beginning of the lining.  I finished the sleeves and shoulder pads for the outside, and now basically have to repeat the process for the inside.  Least it means I don't have to finish all those seams!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

365 project: February 12th, 2012 Day #43





Got the collar and one sleeve attached...the second sleeve looks likes it is on, but it is just kinda hanging out on the table.  Wasn't actually going to baste the sleeve in (horrible of me, I know), but apparently forgot what stitch setting I had the machine on, and wound up basting anyway!  Serendipity corrected my laziness!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

365 project: February 11th, 2012 Day #42





Yummy hot chocolate, courtesy of Nestle.  Its a bit of a pain to chop it up, but its worth it :)

Friday, February 10, 2012

365 project: February 10th, 2012 Day #41





My new ipod...early birthday present from the hubby :)  now I just have to figure out how to make the game app that I got work...grrrrrrrr

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

365 project: February 7th, 2012 Day #38





Made a yummy green salsa tonight to go with our tostadas...roasted tomatillos are great!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Sunday, February 5, 2012

365 project: February 5th, 2012 Day #36





The jacket in progress, little more like a vest right now, but I still need to iron and cut the lining fabric, so I was trying to get some of the pieces sewed together to make it easier.  But, I will say, plaid is a bitch to sew, especially when the fabric is a little stretchy!  I either have to be a little less picky about the pattern matching up or cut each piece one at a time, matching as I go.  Makes you realize why those nice couture items have great matching plaids and a price tag to match, while the stuff you buy at Walmart looks like shit, but you can afford it!

Friday, February 3, 2012

365 project: February 3rd, 2012 Day #34





Its been foggy and cold for a few days, but today we had a little bit of hoarfrost all day, not a enough to make everything look like someone flocked the outdoors, but enough to make dead stems interesting.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

365 project: February 2nd, 2012 Day #33





Fruit pizza, courtesy of my sister...a wonderful dessert let me tell you...sugar cookie crust topped with cream cheese frosting and fresh fruit.  Delicious! :D

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

365 project: February 1st, 2012 Day #32





Poor kitty...we had to take him to the vet to fix a hematoma in his ear...so now he's sporting some really weird ear jewelry!  Hopefully it will heal well.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Sunday, January 29, 2012

365 project: January 29th, 2012 Day #29





Rather uninspired picture today, but about the only thing remotely exciting is the shopping trip to find a white shirt for work tomorrow.  And let me tell you, finding a white button down shirt that does not cost $50 is impossible, I swear.  So, I'm stuck with a sort of t-shirt/polo shirt hybrid...might have to find a shirt pattern and sew my own, grrrrr.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

365 project: January 28th, 2012 Day #28





And more yarn....yes, I am officially crazy for buying more yarn when I'm on a stashbusting mission.

Friday, January 27, 2012

365 project: January 27th, 2012 Day #27





The newest addition to my collection of stuff from around the world.  This is an ornamental (at least, thats what I am assuming considering it holds 3 ounces of liquid) tea/coffee set from Afghanistan.  Shopping by proxy with the husband...he sends me pictures of stuff and I choose!  Gotta love it.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

365 project: January 26th, 2012 Day #26





Working on getting my dress fabric ironed and ready to cut.  You wouldn't believe how long it takes to iron 6 yards of fabric....

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

365 project: January 25th, 2012 Day #25





Rather boring, I know, but this is where I spent most of my day, waiting for relatives to arrive.