Finishes

Pink Apron

pattern instructions, pattern and apron

This little apron was in my mother's craft closet. The pattern is old, and the fabric was a scrap from another project. I don't know how long it sat waiting to be finished but clearly it was something she had intended to finish. She had salvaged the fabric by sewing the pieces together before cutting out the apron. She had placed the extra seams so there was a seam along the sides although the pattern is a one piece on the fold. For some reason it had been stored and never finished. Perhaps it was not needed, or maybe she was busy with other projects. Maybe she had intended to use it as a teaching tool for one of her kiddos.  

adding bias tape to the edges

My Mother battled cancer for the last three years but this year cancer won. Before she passed she asked me to take her quilt scraps and craft items. Today I finished this little apron. I will give it to my sister, she is thin enough to wear it.  We love and miss you Mom. 

finished apron

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! 

I think the sun will be shining soon. Here is a view of the parking lot taken at dawn this morning. The orange glow is a lamp post covered by a snow laden tree. There is enough snow to break branches. Hopefully the sun comes out and melts it off before any damage is done. I think we are going to have another Colorado day in May where you can shovel snow in the morning and mow the grass and have a cookout in the afternoon. 

Maybe next week I can plant the patio container garden plants. 

Mother of the Bride

There is a wedding in the family next month. I have known about it for over a year but waited until now to even think about the Mother of the Bride Dress. It is right up my alley to sew something fabulous but I wimped out and ordered a dress that is figure flattering and custom made to my specifications. Something less to worry about.

JJ's House describes it like this: A-Line/Princess Cowl Neck Tea-length Chiffon Mother of the Bride Dress with Beading sequins cascading ruffles. It looks good in the regency color which is purple and goes with the wedding theme. You can see additional views of the dress here.

I like that it does not have a defined waist, is flattering, has movement and interest, and most of all, I like the "superhero cape" flowing caplet that is longer in back. Because as all of you moms know, it takes a superhero to raise kiddos these days. I call it the mother of the bride toga with superhero cape.

Now with this decision out of the way, and a renewed desire to sew again, I need to sew some sashes for the bridesmaids and a whole spring and summer wardrobe for me. 

Yes, I still sew, Sometimes I even write about it.

Rebecca Taylor's Vogue 1412

Front V1412

Front Pleat detail V1412
(The lamp light contrast helps show the pleat detail better.)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                           Looking over this neglected blog it occurred to me that I have not even written about sewing for a while. One might think I do not sew, or write any more and maybe they would be correct. The last thing I sewed was a muslin tunic blouse. I sewed Rebecca Taylor's Vogue Pattern V1412. It fit nicely with just a few minor alterations. But then it is a loosely styled tunic. 

I had a couple of pieces of stash fabric picked out for the top, but never committed to cutting them. The fabrics I picked are slightly transparent and will require a camisole. After giving it some thought, the front has buttons, but is really a pleat. I am worried the extra fabric at the front might not be as suited for this pattern as I had hoped. It will be a comfortable top but it needs a less transparent fabric than my original choice.  

Dementia

"He's working with the horses today."  The adult care taker is giving us a head's up so we know where to "meet" Dad. He's having a better day than some, but is completely convinced he has to take a group of horses, about six I guess, to someplace within riding distance. In his mind he has them tied up along the back deck and by my estimation, maybe six would fit there.  He is the only one who can see them and is noticeably frustrated with the task at hand.

"How long will this take?" he asks  me. Of course I have no idea, I don't know how long it takes to deliver invisible horses. I have only ridden a horse once in my life and that was at a place where you pay to ride out about a mile and back with a group of 10 or 12 others. I think that whole trip was about a 45 minute ride. I doubt he has ever ridden either. Distract him I think, get him to think about something else and the horses will go away. He does not follow any train of thought for more than a few minutes, except the ones where he wants to go home, this not my home. And since he does not remember correctly anymore it really probably is not home as he expects to find it.

Late in the afternoon, or early evening he requests to go home. "Where is that guy that is supposed to take me home?" or "They did not pick me up." It seems to be about the time he would be getting off work if he was still working. Most of the time it helps to take him to the store, maybe pick up a quart of milk, or fresh produce, any thing that may be needed. When we get home he usually thanks me and instructs me were to drop him off and where to turn around. Then I have to figure out how to make that seem normal when I stay. I had done that just a couple of days earlier, only this time, he had invited me in when I had it all planned out so I would drop him at the front of the house, and be inside from the back before he walked through the house. Before we got home he had asked me who was going to be in the house. I had told him his daughter would be there. It worked, he walked through the house and gave me big hug because he recognized me as his daughter for a few minutes. Except it didn't work like I thought it would. He started looking for the guy who brought him home too. 

One morning he was asking me if someone he knew from school was still in town. I did not know them, but he told me I went to school with them. Clue for me, I must be one of his sisters today. The day before that I was Betty. We don't know any one named Betty so I don't know where he was in time or place.

"How fast should I move these horses, maybe about 5 miles per hour?" "Do you think we will have this done in about 35 minutes?" 

"Dad, a guy with a big horse trailer is coming to take the horses. He will take them all at once and we will not have to worry about leading them. Just leave them it is OK, he knows what to do." I told him. It worked, he dropped the topic and came with me to do other things.  Note to self, watching Bonanza reruns is probably not a great idea.

Here is a link where they help people understand what it is like to have dementia or Alzheimer disease. I hope you have help if you take care of relatives with dementia.   
What it's like to have dementia

Cheer's, Attitude, Customer Service, & Fungible

Fungible: When one product or service is easily replace by another

You have one in your neighborhood, or somewhere nearby, it may or not be a bar, but it might be a restaurant, the library, your local hardware store. For some of us it is our favorite fabric store. I am talking about the places you go where everyone knows your name, and if not your name at least they recognize you. It is probably a place where you feel at home when you are there. You are among friends and neighbors. 

It is no secret that I moved recently. Although the move was only about 10 miles from a neighborhood that I have lived in for 38 years, it is a new neighborhood to me and I am having a great time exploring it. It helps that I have worked near this neighborhood for the last four years so it is not completely unknown; even so, everyday I discover new favorite places.  

Last night I needed to make a shoe purchase and the store was near a favorite pizza place. The plan was to preorder a pizza, pick it up or dine in as time permitted, and go to the shoe store. I was not sure if time-wise it was better to go to the shoe store first or the pizza place, but when I called the pizza place, the helpful young man who answered the phone said they would only take my order at the table so I thanked him and told him we would eat somewhere else tonight. Pizza places and Italian restaurants are a plentiful commodity in the new neighborhood, (fungible).

Once the shoe purchase was complete we looked for other dining options, still having our hearts set on pizza we decided on Robert's a local neighborhood establishment that serves all kinds of Italian food options. We have visited it a few of times, and selected different items on the menu each time. We have never been disappointed. On this evening it was busy but there were open tables. We were seated promptly and greeted warmly by a server who recognized us from our previous visit. We selected a pizza, enjoyed garlic knots while we waited and decided that the pizza was even better than the one we had planned to eat. They also had a dessert special that you might expect to find in high dollar restaurants, creme filled fried crepe's with a crisp fried basil leaf. It was sweet and savory and amazing!

Sorry original favorite pizza place, I have a new favorite place "Cheer's" place, It is called Robert's and you can find it here: Robert's

2015

Another Year on the Calendar 

running by like a river under the bridge 

January.  January 17.  January 17, 2015.  Sometimes I still try to write the year beginning with 19 something when we are already 15 years and 17 days into the 2000s.  

It seems like this year has just started but winter has been going on forever. How could that be? Maybe it is because we have had a long spell of silly freezing drizzle and small snow storms nightly. Each night a dusting of champagne powder has fallen over a think coating of ice. We rarely have ice. These smaller more frequent storms are messing up both rush hours every day without leaving more than a trace of snow. And each day has been dreary gray and cold without the sun smiling through. It has not been the normal winter filled with sunny days that look deceptively warm. 

Today it is sunny, maybe even warm, at least it looks like it is warm. I have missed you sunshine. Thanks for shining down on my weekend. I have a lot of projects I want to work on this year, but today, I am going to enjoy the sun. 

I wish you a Happy, Productive, Blessed, Beautiful, Sun Filled New Year!