The Original Dress Pattern

This was the original pattern. I like how the dress fits, but I'm not much for wearing sleeveless dresses. I've got a hand dyed tee shirt that will go perfectly with this dress.

The Dress With My Changes

I decided sleeves would be nice and I wanted a rounder neck. I added the sleeves to the body pattern so that there were still only two pieces. The last part was to have fun with the fancy thread and fancy stitches. I tried to keep to geometric stitches to go with the geometric pattern of the fabric.

Gems I Bought in Albuquerque

My memory went about the time I got bifocals so I don't remember what any of these are. But, I liked the colors and the shapes and now, I get to sit down and design jewelry.

Argentina Rose

This is the national gem of Argentina. Now... all I have to do is figure out the perfect design.

The Rest Of The Leftovers Sun Hat

On Monday, I Dyed

The colors are a bit off in the photos. The two grey ones are actually two different greens. These came straight from the jar and I'll be turning these colors into experiments soon.

Leftovers Shorts

Yes, I do wear them in public. I dearly love color and love to wear lots of bright colors. Besides, the shorts coordinate with Jim's shirts.

Leftovers Shorts

I needed another pair of shorts. So..... I grabbed some leftover fabric, my favorite scrubs bottoms pattern, measured the length I wanted and cut the legs that length. Ta da! Levtover Shorts.

Leftovers Sun Hat

I took some leftover fabrics and a Vogue pattern and made a sun hat. This is after I cut a couple inches off the brim. In its original state, the brim left me pretty much blind. But hey - it would have kept the sun off my face.

Leftover Pot Holders

I made meals out of leftovers, why not make pot holders out of leftovers? Thanks to the advice from the generous folks on the Quiltart list, I took some left over fabric, an old towel, and made Leftover Pot Holders. There are two layers of old towel in the middle. I then did a bit of free motion quilting to make sure the towels would stay put when I need to wash these.

Pearls and Glass Beads

I found the glass beads on sale and mixed them with copper colored odd shaped pearls.

Pearls and Swarovski Crystals

I like these rather large, misshapen pearl more than I though I would. I love the crystals, too.

Our Yard Art

The female sculpture sits in a protected corner by the front door. The extruded sculpture is from Jim experimenting with his extruder. He found a bumper jack in the ReStore and turned it into a large extruder. The plant stand is from things Jim found dumpster diving. He welded up the frame and then filled the bowl with portulacas.

Yard Art

These ceramic sculptures were created by Jose Avalos, a terrific ceramic artist and a wonderful friend.

Summer in the Desert

We've had some rain lately and the cacti are blooming. It's a stunning show that doesn't last all that long.

Dye Experiment

This is a piece of white on white fabric that I tossed into the experimental purple bucket. I like the color, but I'm surprised that the white print stayed so white.

Putting Handles on the Dye Experiment Tote Bags

I'm making tote bags from the muslin I'm using for dye experiments. These tote bags are suitable for groceries.

Playing With Pearls

I was playing with pearls today and made a short necklace. Naturally, I needed earrings to wear with the necklace.

Battling the Serger

Why does a serger have to be such an obstreperous machine? Normally, I watch the cones to see when my thread is getting low. Just before I run out of thread, I will tie on a new cone thereby avoiding the misery of manual threading. Not this time. I was so engrossed in what I was sewing, I failed to notice the thread for the dreaded bottom looper was about to run out. I followed the diagram, I put the thread through all the thread guides, I actually managed to get the bottom looper threaded left handed (I'm right handed), and tried to serge. Thread broke. After several careful threadings and still having problems, I looked and saw that the thread wasn't between the tension disks. Ugh! Why on earth does this machine have to be so cantankerous?

Jim's Wild Socks

These are my latest dyeing experiments. I've been mixing different colored dyes in assorted proportions to see what I would get. The photo with the two socks isn't a pair... it's two different socks dyed with two different approaches to try to get a great Chinese Red. The screaming lime green was a surprise. Jim has the spiffiest socks in town.

Dyeing

I dyed yesterday. I played with the dyes I have and blended two colors together. The colors don't photograph all that well. But... here are Jim's new socks. They are made from bamboo - very soft, very durable, dyes very well. The pairs are where I played with different combinations of purple and different combinations of blue green. The brilliant orange isn't quite what I was aiming at, but I like it. Eventually, I want to dye fabric with my colors. A few hundred more experiments, and I will have great colors.