April 16, 2017: getting ready

I've been preparing for my move to Portland for almost a year now.  Most of my stuff has either been given away, donated or packed up.

To get ready I made my dog, Sweetsie, a harness so she can sit in her carseat during our trip across country.  Then I made her a raincoat for Portland's rains.

She doesn't have the proportions for ready made dog clothes.  I could never find a harness to fit her.  The smalls are too small around her chest.  The mediums are way too large.  So I used her long and thin measurements to make her one.

I tried a doggy raincoat from Amazon.  It fit her but she wouldn't move.  The hood smooshed down her ears.  So I made her one from what fabrics I had on hand (not packed yet).   I used turquoise oilcloth from Mexico lined with fleece for the body of the coat.  The coat is made from one of those heavy plastic bags that pillowcases or napkins are sold in.

The secret to making a doggy raincoat is to make the hood detachable.  It's easier to construct and fits over the ears better.

Sweetsie will wear it but she's not too happy about it.  But she hates the rain so I think she will learn to appreciate it.

November 24, 2016

It's the sixth anniversary of the day my life was forever changed.  My husband of 10 years fainted in the bathroom and became instantly and permanently paralyzed.  I've already written about what the 2 of us went through during the months that followed.

I was aware that life as I had known it was over.  I've recovered from the shock of his accident and I've even gotten over the shock of his later behavior.

But, I'm still mourning the loss of how my life used to be.  I was married to my best friend.  My mother lived with us.  I was never lonely.  Of course we had our ups and downs but overall we were happy.

Now I miss the  lifestyle.  We had a good relationship.  We took short trips frequently, played cards with friends, had real conversations, faced life's problems together.  I had hoped I could have a similar life again.  It's been 6 years and I have been trying to rebuild my life.

I guess I'm lucky that I had those happy 10 years.  I still hope to make a happy life for myself.  I've learned that I have to be independent.  I enjoyed sharing the responsibility of home ownership with my husband.  It's difficult to do alone.

I'm ready to give up owning a home.  It's so expensive and I worry about flooding, property taxes, roof leaks, etc. etc.  My plan is to move to an independent senior living apartment in Portland, Oregon.  My rent will cover a 2 bedroom apartment, 2 meals per day, covered parking, maid service and some entertainment.  I will have to give up some privacy, a roomy house and 2 of my cats.  But, I will be in a group environment and no longer alone.  My son, daughter-in-law and 2 grandchildren will only be 6 miles away from my apartment.

The other residents are mostly 10 - 20 years older than me.  But the years go by quickly and I'll be the OLD one soon enough.

In my senior years I hope to more fully explore my hobbies, especially doll making, do more exercise, explore the Northwest, go on an Alaskan cruise, travel and spend lots of time with my grandchildren.  I would also enjoy a part time job so I will be part of mainstream society.

The future looks promising.

2016-10-28: Cheshire Cat Vest

The completed project

There's a great thrift store near my house- Texas Thrift.  It's on Fondren just south of South Braeswood on the west side of the street.  The items are tagged with different colors, depending on when they were received.  Each Monday one of the tag colors is selected to sell for only $.99.

There is always good stuff to be had there.  I Last week I found 6 shirts nice shirts for Bert at $.99 apiece.  On another Monday I found this gray Disney t-shirt with the Cheshire Cat.  It was too small for me but I loved the cat.

Before

Cutting out the good parts

 After washing the t-shirt I carefully cut out the cat and most of the spooky-looking tree.

I then appliqued the cut-out to the back of a raspberry-colored hooded vest.  The entire cutout was outlined in black so I only needed to use black thread in a zigzag stitch to apply the cat to the vest.

I'm very happy with the result.  Plus I already own a cheshire cat hoodie hat with matching mittens and a cheshire cat fanny pack with a tail.  I'm ready for the cooler weather plus the ensemble would make a great Halloween outfit, too.

After

October 25, 2016: A More Complicated Upcycling Project

Finished front

Finished Back

I bought an interesting Ralph Lauren man's shirt at a thrift store.  I liked it because it combined plaid with southwestern motifs.  Unfortunately, it didn't close around me, so I had to enlarge it besides restyling it.

I cut out a 3" strip from the middle back of the shirt (about 3/4 of the way) and inserted an 8" piece of black fabric with embroidery on it in complementary colors.  After I tried the shirt on again I thought that the addition looked too jarring.  It needed to mesh with the rest of the shirt more.  So I appliqued the pieces that I had removed back onto the fabric insertion.

restyling the back of the shirt

 I didn't cut the shirt all the way to the collar because the shoulders fit fine and it would be too much trouble to redo the shirt collar.  That left a space that needed to be filled.  I covered it with a piece of black lace from my stash.

Of course, then the front needed something more.  I added more black lace above the pockets.

Before - front

Before - back

When I first started restyling clothing I enlarged tops by adding fabric to the side seams.  I've found that it works better to simply add to the garment back.  That preserves any darts besides being an easier, better looking solution.

August 27, 2015

Today there is an article in the newspaper about the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  It seemed like it happened a year or two ago to me.  Another part of aging, I guess- time speeds up.

It coincided with the first day that my ex was allowed to leave the county.  That's a long story in itself that I'm not ready to tell yet.

We packed up Mom, Sizzle and Beansie, Nickie and drove to Fort Worth to stay with my cousin, Rosemary.  I have many pleasant memories of our time staying with Rosemary.  It was nice to reconnect with family.

It seems so strange now.  I spoke to Rosemary on the phone a couple of months ago.  I'm still and always will be connected to her.  She's family. 

The person that I was so close to, who seemed a part of me - my ex - is no longer connected to me at all and never will be again.  He was my closest friend.

This proves to me that the saying "blood is thicker than water" is true.  Too bad it took me decades to understand that.  Understanding so many things comes with age.

I wouldn't want to go back in time.  But, I'd love to feel younger physically. 

Life is still scary to me.  I know that anything can happen at any moment and it's totally out of my control.  I think that is why depressed people commit suicide.  They are aware of our human limitations on deciding our own fates. At least they can control when they die.

I'm not depressed these days.  I have a good life now.  I have many wonderful memories of my old life.  If I didn't think so damned much, I wouldn't think about things like aging, time flying, family vs friends. 

I keep busy with my job, spending time with Bert, working on my creative projects.  I'm lucky.

May 14, 2014: Pink Poodle Mannequin

I have saved searches on ebay for "poodle" and "pink poodle fabric."  That's how I found a pink poodle costume in size 3T.  I don't remember exactly how much I paid for it.  I do know that it was less than $5.00 total.  The best time to buy costumes on ebay is from January to August.  Nobody wants a costume during those months.  (Right now it's almost summer so sweaters and coats are the bargain items.)

How could I NOT buy this pink poodle outfit?  But then, what to do with it?  I decided to make a mannequin to fit the costume.  She is constructed from pvc pipe and fittings, cut to size.  Her head is a large styrofoam ball that I pushed on to the pipe that formed the neck.

I bought some pink shoes at a thrift store.  I cut styrofoam to fit into the shoes and jammed the leg pvc pipes into them.

I made some small pink mittens for hands and glued them to her "arms." I thought she would look cute as a "butler" type mannequin so I gave her a lightweight tray to hold.

There's never a dull moment at home when you have 3 cats and a dog.  Luckily I didn't put anything breakable on the tray.  The cats jump onto the tray and knock down the little stuffed puppies.  They try to play with them but my real life pink poodle, Sweetsie, swoops down and runs off with them.

The costume is completely removable.  Maybe my new baby granddaughter will want to be a pink poodle for Halloween when she reaches 3 years old.  I would just love to see her wear it!

Sweetsie

I have entered my Pink Poodle Mannequin and my Pink Poodle Telephone in a contest:  Craftys/Awards that Celebrate Crafts.  I would really appreciate it if you would go their website and vote for one of my projects!  http://thecraftys.com/

2014/02/26: My Poodle Telephones!

This past weekend I finally got around to doing some crafting/sewing. 

I found 2 old-timey phones in the trash in my building.  Of course, I immediately thought of poodles!  These phones both are in working condition.

I had a couple of the fuzzy tubular scarves that I purchased at Goodwill.  These tubular scarves make crafting easy.  I removed the handset and cords from phone #1 and painted around the number buttons with white acrylic paint.  Opening up the pink tubular scarf, I inserted the first phone.  I folded under one end of the scarf, leaving about 6-8 inches of excess fur at the back of the phone.  I cut off the excess at the other end.  Then I glued and folded the scarf around the phone, cutting small holes for the number buttons and the cord openings.  I carefully glued around these openings.

I then took the handset and inserted it into the remaining portion of the scarf.  I took the excess on one end and pulled it into a rubber band, forming one ear.  On the other side I made a loose covering for the spiral cord.  I folded up and hand sewed the cord cover so it wouldn't be so bulky.  When I tuck back the cord it looks like another ear.

I inserted a piece of balsa wood into the bottom fur cover and glued it to the underside of the phone.  I glued a clothespin with its base to the wood and glued a large pink puff ball to the top of the clothes pin. Then I pulled the excess fabric over these pieces, taking a rubber band to tie the end of the clothespin to form the pouf of the tail and securing with a few stitches.

I added some doll eyes and lashes that I already had in my stash, used a button for the nose, glued in a felt tongue and tied a bow on an ear.
 I attached the handset to the phone base and plugged in the phone cord.

Now I just need to figure out how to make the phone bark instead of ring!

I decided my pink poodle phone needed a mate.  So I covered the phone #2 with a blue tubular scarf.  I took some photos as I worked on it.  This phone was a dark brown so I doubled the scarf over the phone to cover the dark color. 

The handset and cord were permanently inserted into this phone so I had to work around them.  I left the brown spiral cord uncovered and made both ears the same way by cutting off a piece of scarf. pulling the excess fur and gluing the fur onto the handset, folding it as necessary. 

I wrapped both end of the fur with rubber bands to form the ears. 

I made the tail from the excess fur on the back side of the phone - securing it with a rubber band and some stitches.

I cut out white felt ovals for the eyes (no more eyeballs in my stash) and sewed on black buttons with white thread for the pupils.  The nose is a button.  The tongue is red felt.

Aren't they just the perfect couple!

July 7, 2013

This has been a very long weekend.

Thursday was the Fourth of July.  I celebrated by having a manicure/pedicure.  The only place open was Walmart.  I have orange nails to match my car!    Then I went and visited Mom.

On Friday afternoon I had my third date with a man I met online.  He had been very sweet to me.  I'd get texts or emails from him all day long.  He wasn't pushy and had lots to talk about.

Friday night  I played trivia with one of the meetup groups.  We won first prize.  I contributed one answer.  What field was Margaret Mead famous for?  "Anthropology!"  I was doing terrible on all the other questions.  But I enjoy the people and the game.

On Saturday I had just made my lunch and Lupita called and came over.  We had a great time - went to 2 thrift stores, saw "World War Z" and had Chinese food for dinner.  She is a lot of fun to be with.

Today is Sunday and I have almost completed a maxi dress that I'm making for my trip to Hawaii.  Somebody gave me the fabric and it looks very Hawaiian.  I'll post a picture when it's all finished.  The directions came from another blog and they are super easy.

I was supposed to go to a club with another meetup tonight.  I'd rather sew than be stuck in a crowded noisy place.

It's good to do what I want to do.

Seabrooke jacket

I took a class from Emma Seabrooke on making a jacket from knit fabrics. Unfortunately, there was only enough time in class to do the mundane sewing chores - cutting out, pressing on interfacing and binding. Then there was all this machine basting. I think I could have left my sewing machine at home. It would have been simpler and easier just to baste it by hand.

I forced myself to finish it at home. The class was $35, the kit was $45. It turned out to be an expensive jacket. It must have taken me another 8 hours to finish it. The jacket's claim to fame is the meeting of the curved pieces in front. To showcase that, I trimmed the pieces with black binding and added a frog closure. It turned out pretty.

I don't care for the turquoise sweater knit fabric that makes up one panel in front and the entire back. It is so flimsy that it seems cheap. The other fabrics are slinky knits. I don't think I'll ever make this pattern again. But if I did, I would use heavier weight knits.

"altered shoe"

Here is the first shoe I altered. Now I have an excuse to buy high heeled shoes - the higher the better.
I am going to decorate them, using fabrics, trims, modpodge and some hot glue.

I bought some really nasty ones at a new thrift store - thinking of turning them into witch's shoes. Might even add some legs!