Summer Sewing: The Fiona Dress by Closet Case Patterns

Summer sewing is something that usually gets done on rainy days and late nights. If I was not a gardener or farmer I might do more summer sewing, but as it is, summer projects require one thing from me....I must be able to wear them as soon as I complete them!

This summer, Closet Case Patterns, released the Fiona Sundress, and it melted my sewing heart! I got the pattern and started assembling the pdf. An hour later I looked up and realized this was taking up my whole floor! What had I gotten myself into. Oh and look at those princess seams! Oh lands!

I took a breathe, sighed and kept at it!

The sew was a pretty straight forward one, princess seams and all. All that I had to do was stay on track with the directions...Then I finished the sewing and realized I wanted to put snaps in the dress.

 

I got everything nice and organized and began.  Two days and about 20 snaps later, my dress was done! (It really didn't take me the whole two days...but I had other obligations the filled up the rest of those two days.)

It really is a fun dress to make and to wear as it turns out. It has just enough ease to sit comfortably and walk comfortably. Those things are very important to me, because if it doesn't meet those qualifications, I probably won't wear it.

 

 

 

Such a versatile fun dress. Looking forward to all the layering options that may present themselves in the coming seasons.

Bonus: I couldn't leave well enough alone. After I finished the dress, I made a few adjustments to the pattern and ended up with a equally lovable Fiona Shirt. Take a look.

 

 

Side note, this is my first sew with a linen/rayon blend fabric...it's got a thing for that wrinkled look. Just saying!

 

 

I see a few more of these in my future...probably next summer though.

Would you like to make up your very own Fiona? Well, here's the link-  The Fiona Sundress!!!

 

Hope you all have had a lovely summer. Soak up the sun while you can!

Planning to sew up the Fiona? Already sewed your Fiona? Leave me a comment and tell me about it. If you posted photos, I'd love to see them!

 

 

Ginger Jeans: The Sewing Journey

Hi there! Today I'm going to share with you my highs and lows....joys and woes, of making the Ginger Jeans. I technically made the Ginger Flares, but still with the Ginger Jeans pattern and the Flares pattern addition.

It all started with a plan and a challenge.

 

This was my plan all nice and sketched out on paper...that was the easy part. Originally I was going to wait till I had sharpened my sewing skills a bit more before attempting this project. But then Closet Case Patterns announced their #NoFearJeansMonth challenge and I sighed and started cutting into my denim. I quickly found out how much space 60 inch denim requires when unrolled.

 

After I got through that I basted them together (pretty easy to figure out once you sit down and read through the pattern) and did a test fit.

 

As you can see, the front side of things was fine. It was that darned backside that had issues. Nothing major though. Did a sway back adjustment to the waist band and took in the mid upper leg portion in the back, then commenced sewing up a storm!









 

 

Things came together pretty smooth. I was worried about the zipper, because I simply HATE installing zippers. Call it "lack of practice" but really, I hate sewing zippers. Happily for me the pattern instructions walked me right through the process and I can say that this was the easiest zipper I ever installed. It went in so smoothly and beautifully! However my sewing machine and I had shared a few choice words when I attempted the tack stitching on the fly front. We're both still on speaking terms though. (Not that you were wondering.)

 

There is definitely something to be said for using a cardboard when you get to seams and such. Check this out:

without = skipped stitches
 

 



 

with = nice stitches



Now I'm sure if you're any sort of a seamstress you can see I'm an amateur at this whole topstitching thing. I'm just so excited to share what I learned! I am so very happy that I finished these jeans, and they fit me better than most jeans I've bought in my lifetime. Before we get to the big reveal though I have a confession. It's not what you might think. Guess what I struggled with the most on this project? ............installing the jeans button. I admit it. Have any of you struggled with this? I just could not get the button hammered together straight.....and it tried three times. Finally on my third round it was still crooked, but it was at least in there securely so I called it "good enough." 

Ok on to the unveiling of the finished labor of love....sewing love that is....

 



 

 

All in all I'm very happy with how they turned out. I literally jumped for joy when I finished them and tried them on. Closet Case Patterns did a fabulous job with the pattern and instructions. It was straight forward and easy to follow. I'm amazed at how condensed and concise the instructions were. There was enough instruction to guide you through, but if you'd better not skip over some of the words because every bit was necessary for proper construction. Had I tried to tell someone how to sew some jeans together I probably would have added another 20 pages of instructions and photos. Closet Case Patterns just made this so simple and painless to make. If you haven't made jeans, get the pattern, make the jeans. Do it, you'll be sew happy with the results! I will definitely be making this pattern over and over again. I have a few minor adjustments I'm going to be making fit wise, but nothing major.

 

Sew, that's that! I'm wearing my jeans, ummm, let's see....EVERYWHERE...except to the barn to do chores of course, cuz let's face it. I want these to look pretty for a long while yet!

 

Thank you all for reading my sewing story! Feel free to share one of your sewing stories with me in the comments below. Have yourself a fabulous day!

 





Extra Eros Zlatolaska Tomatoes

Hello everyone, Welcome!

I've done what I was afraid I'd end up doing....leaving you all in silence for months! Well, I'm back with a quick little post about some exciting happenings from my very own garden.

Check out this basket of goodies I harvested the other day!

 

 

There are many things I love about summer....one of which is most definitely fresh tomatoes. I want to shine a spot light on one particular little known variety today...that entitled -

 "Extra Eros Zlatolaska."

See all those ombre orange, gold colored beauties in the basket? That would be the ones I'm talking about.  They aren't terribly big...about roma sized I'd say. They're not too small, not too big, and for me, well, that's just right! Flavor is excellent! a touch of sweet with a mild tomato flavor. Versatile for many applications, of which my favorite was to halve them, scoop out the middle then fill them with pesto and top with some shiso-kraut and feta cheese! Delicious!

The plants don't get very tall, they are after all determinate. They do however spread themselves out quite a bit in all directions, so should you grow some of these little gems, give them a little space to spread. The other cool thing that I found fascinating is their shape.  Most are pear shaped or oval, but then there's some round ones and some other combinations of the aforementioned shapes. Stuff like that really makes me fall in love with certain plants. 

Hopefully next year you will add some of these lovelies to your garden they're definitely a favorite that I will be growing again! Speaking of which, I need to go prep these tomatoes for the freezer...did I mention they're prolific and abundant? Well, add that to the list of awesome characteristics!

~Till next time, be safe, have fun and eat homegrown tomatoes!

 

Maple Syrup

Hello Again, and Welcome!

About a month ago now, I dug into the world of making maple syrup....though I think the trees are really responsible for the actual making.  I was amazed at how freely the trees poured out their sap into my five-gallon buckets for me to collect. Also, the amount of sap needed to make a little bit of syrup was quite amazing.  The ratio is about 40 parts sap to 1 part syrup and the rest becomes steam! It was a fun experience and I will be doing it again for years to come. 

The syrup I ended up with was vastly different....take a look...

 

 

The first batch was really thick and very light in color. The second one was a bit darker, but not near as thick. The last batch was a very dark amber and the thickness mid-way between the first and second.  Believe it or not, I boiled them all down (our should I say up) to the same temperature. 

Have you every tapped any trees and attempted syrup making?

Tell me what your experience was!

Strawberry Crown Squash

Well, hello there! We're back with more unique heirlooms! Today we dive into the Strawberry Crown Squash.

 

This squash belongs to the Cucurbita Maxima family of squash.  It is a vining variety that loves to stretch out and take up space in the garden. This lovely squash was brought back from Brazil in the 1980s by Mary Schultz. It is a truly unique beauty.  As it ripens in storage over the winter it turns this reddish strawberry color. It's quite spectacular. The seeds are a pure white, and also a thing of beauty.  Should you decide you want to grow it yourself, seeds are available here at Seed Savers Exchange. As for size, it averages out at 5 to 7 pounds.

 

How does it taste? For sweetness, I would say it's mid-range. Texture is a bit interesting. It appears to be a bit on the stringy side at first, but after baking and whipping with a hand held mixer, it becomes nice and smooth. The depth of flavor is also about mid-range. Definitely more flavor than an acorn squash, but not as glorious as a butternut. That being said however, it makes a lovely pumpkin pie! Not a dry squash, and not a watery squash...this one is the epitome of a happy medium in everything except color. I give it five stars for looks alone! Will I grow this squash again? Most definitely! It yielded well, stored well, took the pressures of the squash vine borers and other pests well, and tastes delicious.... did I mention it's beautiful?! What's not to love? What heirloom squash have you been growing? What countries did they originate in? Feel free to comment below and tell me all about them!

 

Bronze Orange Corn

For those of you who don't know, I'm a passionate gardener. Rare and unique plants are a common thing at our house. For example, the other night we had braised purple carrots. (Delicious, I might add.) This past summer we indulged in a sweet corn that turns hands and lips purple.

Well, the past few days, I've been shelling another rare gem....a corn...The Bronze Orange Corn.


baby corn plants





The above photo was taken just as the plants were peeking out of the ground.  The one closest to my hand was an albino corn. After some research I found out that it is a gene mutation such that the corn plant is unable to make chlorophyll. Sadly, that meant that once the food from the seed was used up the baby plant died. The rest, however, did remarkably well.  The grew to about shoulder height, and matured quite early!



 



Bronze orange corn in good lighting looks spectacular!  It has a metallic sort of coppery-bronze tone to it that you simply have to see and hold in your hand to believe.  It originated as a breeding project of plant breeder extraordinaire, Dr. Alan Kapuler, of Peace Seeds. He is still breeding unique plant varieties, and has them available at Peace Seeds Blog. 

 

Bronze Orange Corn





If you ever do grow this corn in your own backyard, please learn how to properly save seed for future plantings, because we need to do all we can to preserve rare varieties like this one for future generations to enjoy. 

 

I'm saving some of my seed for planting, and will be grinding some of it to try different recipes, which I hope to share--providing they turn out as spectacular as I think they will!

 

Tell me though, have you grown a rare variety? Was it a unique corn? I'd love to hear about it!!!

feel free to comment below and tell me all the details!

 

 

May you all make the best of today!

Thanks for riding along on our little journey through the corn patch!