Thanks to my “no shopping” post being featured on the WordPress homepage, a lot of new faces have showed up around here in the last two days! Welcome! Even though I said I wouldn’t be posting daily outfit photos, I will be occasionally sharing photos of items I’ve sewn, and possibly particularly interesting outfits remixed from items in my closet. Though seriously, I need to get a tripod and some self confidence, because I feel sublimely silly posing while my husband snaps photos with our 5 year old digital camera in my kitchen, home to the only bare wall I could find (I like art), while also trying to keep two large dogs from hopping into the picture (I was standing near their food bowls and it was almost dinner time, so they got rather excited).
I thought I’d clarify a bit on what motivated the no-shopping challenge. I identify as a follower of Jesus, and I’ve been thinking a lot about how my consumerism lines up with that identity. I read Shane Claibourne’s Jesus for Presidentwith a book group at my church, and I’ve also been reading a lot of Pete Rollins. Basically, I think I undermine my statements about following Jesus and trying to love people like he loved when my dollars every day are a) going toward my own comfort instead of those in need, and b) are perpetuating a system of slavery and oppression in other parts of the world, where the poor are exploited just to make my clothes. And yet: there’s no other way to say this, I want to look cute. Yesterday, while out buying a must-have hair product, in an apparent act of self-torture, I wandered into Forever21, “just to look.” I saw about 20 things that I really wanted. “Wouldn’t that little dress be a great beach cover-up for my upcoming trip to Costa Rica?” I didn’t buy anything, but I realized what an addict I am. I can’t say that I’ll swear off buying clothes forever, and only buy from thrift stores or make my own, though that would probably be ideal. I can’t even say I’ll never buy something from Forever21 again. But I am going to spend the next several months abstaining from buying clothes (I have a feeling trips to Target are going to be torture! I also spotted a gray striped jersey dress there yesterday that I really wanted.), and I hope to learn something from the experience.
One area I do hope to improve are my sewing skills. I am confident that I can learn to make a lot of the clothes that I want, for myself, for less money than I would spend in retail stores, and in the process, with confidence that my clothes weren’t made in a sweatshop. Now, when I want an item, if it looks “sewable,” I pin it to my Sewing Inspiration board on Pinterest. One thing I had been pinning a lot of lately was chambray skirts (click image to be taken to Pinterest page which links to original source):
So, armed with several skirts under my sewing belt, I decided this covetable item was something I could make myself. And sure enough, I followed this tutorial to make myself an adorable (if I do say so myself) chambray skirt:
I used a double layer of chambray for the skirt, to prevent sheerness and give the skirt more of the full look I was going for. I have to say, I think it turned out just as cute as several of the skirts I had pinned!
Wait. That title seems misleading. I’m not going to be running around naked between now and Christmas. What I mean is, I’m not buying any clothes between now and December. What the what? (Sorry. I quote Liz Lemon ALL THE TIME. Jon thinks people actually think I can’t speak properly because of the number of times per day I say “I want to go to there.”)
I’ve been feeling more than a little convicted lately about my consumerism, and the way in which my shopping habits don’t really line up with my values, and the way in which I spend money like it’s going out of style. (Me, however? Never going out of style.) So, I’m trying to take a break from shopping. This isn’t some sort of blog stunt. I’m not going to wear the same dress every day for a year like that one chick did, or one of those “me made” monthly things I see on some sewing blogs, where the talented seamstresses wear only clothes made with their dainty hands for an entire month. (Quite frankly, I haven’t sewn enough stuff to wear for a week, let alone a month.)
And I’m not going to post pictures of my outfits every day, because, for one, Jon would be really annoyed with having to take pics of me by about day 3, and in the warm weather, you’d all be bored looking at pictures of me wearing various tank tops with various skirts, and in the winter, you’d be totally over my rotating uniform that consists of skinny jeans (ok, let’s be honest, I wear jeggings, deal with it), sweaters, scarves, and my beloved boots. I wish I were a cute style blogger with a top knot and bold lipstick and a seeming unending supply of vintage frocks, kooky necklaces, and colorful scarves, posed in front of a wall of artfully peeling paint that contrasts just so with my adorable ensemble, but the truth is, my style is cute but predictable. And I can’t be arsed to style my hair any other way but the same way I style it every single day. Because I have half the hair of a normal person, and it makes the world’s teeniest top knot.
Instead of all that, this is just a little personal challenge to wear the clothes I’ve got, which I’m positive is more than the average person, thanks largely to the fact that I can and do still wear items I’ve had since high school (before you hate me, know that I’m NOT wearing the same pants size I wore in high school, by any stretch). I take up the entire closet in our bedroom, though I must point out (what is with me and the caveats today?) that our house was built in 1925 and thus the closets are teeny. I bought myself one new pair of jeans before my little challenge started, and I’m exempting underwear and white teeshirts/tank tops from the “clothing” category. Other than that, I have to wear what I have.
A sign of just how big my problem is? A new pair of shoes came in the mail yesterday. Jon, aware of my “no shopping for clothes” challenge, raised his eyebrows. Me: “What? Shoes don’t count as clothes! Plus they were only $20!”
You wouldn’t know it from my lack of posts around here, but I’ve been sewing up a storm! I’ve made a bunch of skirts and have now moved on to other fun, like reusable shopping bags. I’m of the opinion that you can never have too many reusable shopping bags. It lessens the odds that you will forget to take them to the store, because surely, out of the zillions, one will be left in your car, right?
My favorite shopping bags are Envirosax. They come in adorable colors and fold up into handy little pouches, and they hold as much stuff as four plastic grocery bags, without a risk of the bottom ripping out. Thanks to a 99 cent sale at Hobby Lobby, I scored a pattern, McCall’s 6130 that gives my trusty Envirosax a run for their money. And as a bonus, I finally found a use for the adorable apple printed cotton duck fabric that I just had to buy when it was on sale but found too stiff for clothes. The bags were pretty easy to make, and my only issues are that the small size bag is just way small. I’ll probably not make any of those again. And I might also find some way to line the bags or create a facing so I don’t have to apply bias tape to the handles. It looks nice, but it’s tedious. Overall, though, I think the bags are great, and I’m pretty proud of the way they turned out. I already got some more fabric and am planning on making a few sets to give away as Christmas gifts.
The shopping bag set, all folded up.Medium sized bag, unfolded.All three bags. The largest bag is about 14x14, similar in size to my Envirosax.
A few days ago, I discovered the awesomeness that is The Purl Bee, the inspiring how-to blog of Purl Soho, a knitting/sewing/quilting/embroidery shop in NYC that I’m now dreaming of visiting. I spent an entire afternoon just browsing through the site, pinning projects I want to try to my sewing inspiration board on Pinterest (another new obsession). One project I knew I wanted to try was the Cozy Quick Blankie, as I have a new nephew making his way into the world in September. The Purl Bee’s tutorial was easy to follow, and the only modification I made was to use flannel on one side instead of cotton knitted fleece, as my fabric store options around here don’t carry that sort of thing. The blankie went together in about an hour, and that’s only because I accidentally had the fabric wrong side out and noticed halfway through pinning it together and had to start over. This would be an easy project for a very beginning sewist. I’m really happy with the way the project turned out:
The blankie has printed cotton on one side and fuzzy flannel on the other. It measures 32x32.The rickrack trim is what sold me on this blankie.I think the little birdie fabric is super cute.
Last Saturday I actually made it to the Farmer’s Market. This was my haul:
Don’t you love how I subconsciously arranged everything in ROYGBIV order? I swear it wasn’t intentional.
I figured it might be fun to turn my Farmer’s Market trips into posts about how we eat for a week on our delicious local produce.
The cukes and the yellow squash immediately became pickles, the squash joining some zucchinis we had grown to become summer squash bread and butter pickles (seriously, such a good recipe, though I skip the whole ice bath part and they still turn out just dandy), and the cukes becoming my absolute favorite, I swear they’re as good as Claussen’s, dill refrigerator pickles.
pickles in progress
The gorgeous heirloom tomatoes and the Japanese eggplant joined some mozzarella and some home-grown basil to become a delicious margherita pizza.
Look at that tomato flesh. So red, it's almost black.
The pattypan squash was sauteed in olive oil with home-grown herbs and served alongside a red lentil salad with heirloom tomatoes, and some tilapia.
And the remainder of the squash, eggplant, and tomato were turned into a sort of ratatouille which we ate with goat cheese over pearl couscous:
This was eaten alongside some tomato and onion focaccia I made using some tomatoes we grew in our community garden:
Truly the most beautiful bread I have ever baked, and also one of the tastiest.
Finally, the blackberries were mixed with honey, lemon zest, and corn starch and topped with a few pats of butter and a cornmeal crust to become personal-pan cobblers:
All in all, a delicious week of largely local food!
My husband Jon was recently part of a team that went to Haiti to run clinics. Since many of this blog’s readers supported the trip financially and through prayers, I thought you might like to read about the trip in his words. Here’s his story:
I have no idea how to best convey what I saw and experienced in Haiti. Had this been my first experience in a 3rd world country, I believe I would have been balled up crying after the first day. I have seen dire poverty before, but nothing close to what I saw in Port-au-Prince. Really, unless you personally go there, it is impossible to get an idea of what is going on. But I will try to paint a picture.
The enormity of the problem and the reality of the hundreds of thousands of displaced Haitians hit home on our approach to the Port-au-Prince airport. Looking out over the city, as far as I could see were tiny tops of “houses.” By this I mean strung tarps mixed in with battered, rusted tin roofs. At that point, the discussing and planning mode instantly changed into a “oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into” mode. I was also afraid of what demands customs would make of us to get our medications through customs, but our translator Chris ended up finding a customs agent who knew one of the doctors he worked with in Haiti, and he allowed us to walk right through customs without even a peek into our bags. Hurdle number one jumped.
No matter where or when you drive in Port-au-Prince, the streets are overflowing with people walking, motorcycles zipping through tiny spaces, buses, tap-taps (any kind of large, brightly painted vehicles available for transportation, and you ask to get off by tapping, get it?), merchants and cars, making for a loud, exciting time. The one thing there isn’t a lot of is traffic laws. Who knows what the laws are, there are no lines on the roads, few stop signs and few lights. It’s a miracle there aren’t more accidents. Also, in the streets is all kinds of rubble. Yes, it has been over 18 months since the earthquake, but rubble is everywhere, and even the presidential palace and great cathedral remain in ruins. According to those who live there it is much better than after the earthquake, which I believe, but it was still overwhelming. There were even many partially collapsed buildings that were empty, and probably haven’t been searched for bodies due to the danger of collapse while searching.
A Haitian tap-tap.
On day 2, we finally got to run a “clinic.” We met with Dr. Jeudy, a friend of our hosts, who is in the process of building a new hospital/operating room. We met in his current office, with two crampeded exam rooms, a crowded waiting room, pharmacy and lab on the first floor, an operating room and two large rooms he’s using as inpatient wards on the second floor and living quarters for nurses, as well as a room he sometimes sleeps in on the third floor. He and I saw and admitted a woman with severe pneumonia and respiratory distress before heading to his new site that consisted of concrete floors and some walls where he’s building a new office. We hadn’t advertised the clinic, as he was afraid we didn’t have enough medication, so he told me, “we’ll see people as they come, they’ll probably trickle in, and we’ll start with a slower day.” Ha. As soon as we set up, we were flooded with patients, and between me, him, and a couple ofmedical students, we saw over 270 patients before we had to shut down and turn people away due to impending darkness.
Speaking of darkness, currently in Port-au-Prince, electricity is available for 12 hours a day, and I can only assume it’s some guy’s job to turn off the power. On about half the nights, about 30 minutes after the electricity went off (about 8pm), the power went back on for the night. When it came back on, a loud raucous roar could be heard throughout the city, celebrating a few more hours of light. Some early mornings (like 4am) also consisted of a loud singing/dancing/parade type thing that we were told was a voodoo celebration. Didn’t check it out, but we were all curious.
A patient with mumps.
We ran 5 more busy days of clinic, 2 more in the city, and 3 on the outskirts of town. We mainly saw headaches, abdominal cramps, menstrual cramps, reflux, pneumonia, yeast infections, ear infections, colds, arthritis, high blood pressure…much like you would see in a primary care clinic in the States. However, nobody had glasses (probably accounted for many headaches) and they couldn’t afford to buy pain relievers, cough syrup or antacids. We gave all the kids tooth brushes and many of them vitamins, and presumptively treated worms, malaria (for anyone with high temps and flu-like symptoms) and cholera (all severe GI symptoms.) While running a clinic in the schools, I saw a child with epilepsy who had already seen a doctor, who had recommended seizure medicines, but she could not afford them. We didn’t have any medication for that either, so had to just give advice: don’t swim, drive cars, climb trees, etc. and support the airway when she had seizures. Very frustrating not to be able to treat, but we couldn’t take everything with us. We also saw several kids with mumps (I hadn’t seen that before), measles, and lots of tinea capitis (ringworm on the scalp). I sent one dehydrated, lethargic 11 day old to the hospital for care we couldn’t give, and kept one 4 month old in the clinic for a couple hours to hydrate orally when we found him to be lethargic with a >200 heart rate. He seemed to perk up after fluids! One older lady had stepped on a rusty nail, and was beginning to show signs of tetanus-I excised the wound, started her on Flagyl and told her to find a hospital for further care.
Patient showing signs of tetanus.
While brainstorming about ideas to help this poor country, we discussed different things people have tried, but lead to further problems, often due to the Haitians’ hand to mouth living situation, a situation created, nurtured, and sustained by the West since the colonial days. One example: Although there are chickens and goats roaming free everywhere, all the chicken, eggs and goat’s milk you buy in Haiti is imported from the US. When one group took small laying hens to the country to try and set up an egg farming operation, they explained that the people shouldn’t eat the hens, because they would provide many eggs, they returned the next week and found the hens were all eaten. This may sound crazy, but it’s understandable that people with no idea where their next meal is coming from might prioritize short term relief over a long term solution that may or may not work out. After the earthquake, many Non-governmental organizations came to town to provide free medical care. The people came in such numbers that many local hospitals could no longer stay open, as people no longer wanted to spend money on medical care because they could get free care from the NGO’s. Some aid creates more harm than good, because it prevents local, sustainable solutions from becoming viable.
goats in Haiti
Due to US trade embargoes placed on Haiti due to coup-de-etats, multiple factories shut down, leaving the workers jobless. It seems that no matter what is tried, there is an opposite reaction that minimizes or reverses the impact that you’re trying to achieve. It’s a very frustrating mind game for sure. The island is beautiful, it’s in the Caribbean, and would have lots to offer if things turned around some, but getting there is difficult.
So, the trip was gratifying, knowing we provided a small amount of medical care to those who would have gone without, but frustrating, seeing vast need going unmet for a majority of Haitians. It is going to take many smart people, lots of money and a long time to reverse both the damage done within a few minutes of time with the earthquake, and the problems created by generations of Haitians living day to day, not knowing where their next meal will be, nor where they will sleep that night. The only lasting solutions will be ones that empower and involve workers, not through hand-outs and band-aids, but through sustainable programs that allow Haitians an active role in the repair and renewal of their nation.
Now that Tinycat is staying, I decided he needed a nicer bed than a folded up beach towel. To the folks wondering, “how do you get your cat to sleep on a designated bed in the first place?” the answer is, he sleeps locked in the bathroom off of our bedroom, so he basically sleeps on the softest thing in there.
I started looking at cat beds online, but they were all kind of boring, slightly ugly, and $20-$30.
I wanted something cuter, and with my rudimentary sewing skills, figured I could make something decent for less than $30. I went to Hobby Lobby and assembled the following supplies:
Foam square: $4.89 (on sale, regularly $6.99), 1 yard of fabric: $8.99, 1 spool of matching thread: $.99, zipper: $2.29. Grand total: $17.16.
Then I basically laid the foam down on the fabric and cut around it, leaving about half an inch on each side as a seam allowance. I did this for each side of the cushion. For one of the long sides, I cut double the seam allowance to allow for the zipper to be installed, because I wanted the cover to be removable so I can wash it. I installed a zipper in the middle of the long sides, sewed the sides together end to end, leaving one side unsewn, and then started attaching the sides to the top, working my way around until all the sides were sewn on, and then sewing the last corner. Then I sewed the bottom on, turned it right side out (thanks to the zipper, this was possible), and put it on the cushion. I made sure to finish all my seams nicely so that they won’t unravel in the wash.
This is the final result (related: it’s hard to photograph a cat on his cute new bed when all he wants to do is eat the bed):
Crazy cat in action.View of the zipper side.
It’s not perfect at the corners, and the fit could be slightly tighter, but overall I’m pretty proud. Also, notice how it matches those pillows on our bed? When it’s not eleventy billion degrees, that’s also what our duvet cover looks like, so Tinycat’s bed looks like a mini version of ours. So cute I could die.
I could be convinced to make one of these again for someone I loved for compensation or a Christmas gift, and if that happens, I’ll try to take some step by step photos so this post is more helpful.
So…Tinycat still lives here. We got a new home all lined up and then, while I was all “trying to be strong and do the right thing,” Jon decided we just couldn’t part with him.
The other morning, we were doing our usual morning routine, which involves me internetting and drinking coffee while Tinycat hangs out on the back of the couch/on the windowsill. He likes to bask in the sun like so:
While he was basking, a stray cat outside (our neighborhood is full of strays and semi-strays that seem to have owners who don’t keep them inside, ever) spotted him and popped up on the window ledge to say “hi.”
And then this ensued:
I think he really wanted to go out and play! A friend wondered if they were related, but that’s probably pretty unlikely as Tinycat was found way downtown and this cat lives around here. Now if only our dogs were as calmly curious and playful as that stray cat, we’d be getting somewhere!
Yesterday afternoon, I drove down to my parents’ house to spend some quality time tooling around Lake Hamilton on their super 1970s party barge and trying out my Lil’est Sis’s new tube. The boat, picture this if you will, is known as the Disco Barge. It is avocado green and there are some cracks in the fiberglass canopy. It has no seats, and we sit on the worn astroturfed deck in lawn chairs. However, it has a certain something many boats lack. That something is a disco ball. It doesn’t go very fast, but it goes fast enough, and we cruise around the lake, sipping wine out of mason jars, marveling at the large houses, and, these days, occasionally being tugged behind the boat in a very large tube. It’s great fun. As we cruised around the lake, we pointed out our favorite houses, we laughed at the house with the giant, water-spouting marlin statue on its lakefront, which has been for sale for over a year (apparently the marlin isn’t a selling point?), and we even noticed a giant cloud that looked rather like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion.
Later that evening, as I headed out for my hourlong drive home, that thunderboomer was straight ahead. Lightning crackled across its surface like electric fissures, and flashes from deep within lit portions of the cloud. The round yellow face of a full moon shone from just behind the edge of the massive cloud. I rolled my windows down and the air was thick and humid, but refreshing at ten degrees cooler than it had been earlier in the evening, and it hummed with the sounds of cicadas and tree frogs. I let my hand float outside the window, enjoying the resistance created by my possibly too-fast speed on a dark and windy road. I cranked up some Mumford and Sons, because such a night calls for banjos and belting it out. I sang “rain down, rain down on me” as lightning flashed directly ahead.
Sometimes church is wherever you are. Sometimes it’s oh so sweet to be able to go from the home of my youth to the home of my own.
While working at our church’s community garden on Saturday, a homeless friend came up with a tiny, flea-covered kitten in need of a home. He said, hilariously, that he would have liked to keep him himself, but he didn’t want him to be a “hobo kitty.” Of course, I’m a sucker for any and all animals, and I agreed to take him home and de-flea him and find him a family to adopt him. Guess who hasn’t been adopted yet… We’re keeping him on a “trial basis” to see if he can get along with our dogs, or, phrased more accurately, if the dogs can get along with him. So far they’re not allowed in the same room. We’re not naming him til we’re sure we’re keeping him, but we’re enjoying his cuteness and playfulness for now, and referring to him as Tinycat. The dogs, on the other hand, are referring to him as “that dastardly intruder who wants to steal our snacks.”
After my last three skirts turned out a little large, I made this skirt slightly tight in an apparent overcompensation. Despite the slightly constricting waistband, I’m going to wear this skirt, because I freaking made it, and because I love the fabric. You might remember seeing this pile:
That rosey red fabric has now become this:
Excuse the poor photography, I really need to get a decent camera with a timer so I don’t have to resort to awkwardly photographing myself on my front porch with my Mac’s photobooth app. This is a super easy half circle skirt. The fact that I had already made two of them meant I could focus on trying better techniques, like French seams for a nicer finish inside (tutorial here) and a hand-picked zipper (tutorial here), since I lacked a zipper foot for my machine and wasn’t able to get a neatly finished zipper unless I tried it by hand. Here’s a peek at the French seams: I love how nice and neat it looks, and that I don’t have to worry about threads raveling. I will be doing French seams or mock French seams (see same tutorial above) in everything I make from now on. It just looks so much better!
For my next project, I’m going to attempt pleats for the first time in a skirt with the black and white and red paisley-ish fabric you see above. After that, I have one more skirt to make before I tackle dresses, something I’m itching to do since 6 new “easy” dress patterns just came in the mail!
So, armed with several skirts under my sewing belt, I decided this covetable item was something I could make myself. And sure enough, I followed this tutorial to make myself an adorable (if I do say so myself) chambray skirt:
I used a double layer of chambray for the skirt, to prevent sheerness and give the skirt more of the full look I was going for. I have to say, I think it turned out just as cute as several of the skirts I had pinned!
erniebufflo's south & west kitchen 