Ties Ties and more Ties!!!!!!!!!!

  

Sunday was  Tie day here at Patches and Pieces.  I got an order for three tie purses and two children's bags.  So this is what I came up with, I think they are quite fun.!!!!

Ties are a lot of fun to work with, however they really do not hold up well for purses used all the time.They are thin silky fabrics that are really designed to hang around a neck and not a beating in the car, on the counter, over the shoulder etc. So keep this in mind when you decide what to do with your ties.  I use my purses regularly and they hold up a couple of years.

These bags are made from ties as they are, no taking them apart, leave the interfacing in them for added strength and stability.  I cut my bag from some cotton fabric, scraps work great.  I don't use patterns as I think the ties talk to me and lead me to my design.  I cut the fabric and then start cutting the ties to fit, overlap and top stitch or zig zag.  Trim up the edges and then you can serge the whole works and sew it however you want.  The flap purse has bound edges, the brown bag is just overlapped ties and turned inside out, the red had 2 ties sewed on the top edge and tied in a knot on the side, the kids bags are bound on the top and turned inside out.  Since I used a backer fabric and serged the edges I did not do anymore lining.  This is already alot to sew thru, I use a commercial machine that I use for denim and leather.  You may have to just butt the ties together and zig zag for less bulk.

Years ago I read about Alabama Chanin, a company out of???  Alabama owned by Natalie Chanin.  has done a wonderful job using US made fabrics, threads and labor to develop a wonderful collections of designs, such an inspiration!!!  So, of course I have to try my hand at this in some fashion, coming up next!!!!!!

Happy Sewing!!!!                               And Happy Holidays to all of you!!!!!  

CHICAGO THE WINDY CITY!!!!

Last Saturday we made our annual bus trip to Chicago, so once we got seated on the bus we realized we really hadn't been on this bus trip for 4 years, my how time passes!!!!!  Oh well time flies when you're havin' fun!!!!

We left from Madison on the Meister bus line and headed for downtown Chicago, a beautiful sunny day and not too cold.  This trip we headed to Rush and Oak where the fancy dancy shops are, plus Crate and Barrel and the Ralph Lauren Store and Antropology oh yes the  Nordstrom Rack.  We saw lots of neat stuff and got some great ideas.  I guess my fav was the cut up jeans at Ralph Lauren patched up with silver mesh, ribbons, patches etc for a mere $1,400. oh but there was a sale on another pair, they were stained in the butt and knees, cut up and patched with wool plaid, hopefully a Ralph wool and they were marked down from $800. to $489., such a deal!!!!  There were some super ideas in there but way out of my price range!!!!  With the recession and all the place was packed and people were buying!!!!!

Then we had some lunch at an Irish bar, not owned by any Irish folks but good no matter what, the guy next to us had lamb shanks that looked pretty awesome!!!!  After a few more shops we headed to an Italian restaurant, the Rosebud on Rush and had a beer and chatted with some folks and decided to board the Navy Pier bus and head that way!!!!  The Navy Pier is mostly a tourist destination, hmmm what are we???, so we walked thru and then headed outside, it was breezy but the sun was out,  the Lake and sky line were beautiful.  We walked to the end of the pier and took some photos!!!!!  The pier is one mile long so I guess we did walk around 5 miles that day!!!  The ferris wheel was still going and a night cruise was heading out!!!  Chicago is quite the city!!!

Back to downtown for some soup and shrimp and crab and raw oysters!!!another beer and back to the bus for our jaunt home.  Another successful bus trip to Chicago, hopefully we won't wait another 4 years!!!!

More Tie Accessories!!!!!

Sure has been a busy fall and now Turkey Day tomorrow.....we all know what that means Christmas will be here before we know it and 2011 is around the corner!!!!  Another year down and it's been a great year!!!

We have had a beautiful fall here in Wisconsin, I was still walking my dogs in a sweat shirt Monday, it has turned cold now but usually in November we're not in sweat shirts!!!!!  Tonight is rainy and cruddy, glad we don't have to travel!!!!
Here's the latest quickie project, cell phone or camera bags from ties.  Cut the tie 12" from the wide tip, bind off raw edge, fold up 4", pin and sew down sides, I just top stitch on the edges.  Add a side loop or D ring to top or any other hook or tab???  Sew a snap or velcro to the flap and you have a one of a kind cute bag!!!  The one on the belt is for a guy, before sewing up the sides sew a loop on the back to put it on a belt!!!

                                 Another fun tie project and only 10 minutes!!!!  Next time I'll have some fun purses !!
                                                        Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!!!

                                

Back in the Saddle!!!!!

It's been awhile since I sat down to write in my blog, busy time of year and lots happenin'!!!!!  So this time I'm showing off several items.

We'll start with the tie purses, aren't they cute!!!  A gal came in with her Dad's ties, he had passed on and she wondered what we could do with them for her and her 5 sisters?????????  They have their annual girls weekend in the fall, so I came up with this fun shoulder bags.  This way they can each have a bit of Dad.  I was able to use all their ties and add the binding with my ties.  Each bag is a rectangle approximately 8" X 16", cut the ties all 9" long and then piece them by overlapping and zig zagging with your machine.  Try to keep the bag even by flipping the pieces to keep  it squared up.  Then take a ruler and chalk and true it up and cut it out so all is even steven!!!!!  With the ties you have for the binding, open them up and take out the interfacing, save or discard, press flat and cut these into 2" wide strips.  Sew bias to one long side of the rectangle, this will be the top.  With wrong sides facing fold in half stitch on the one side and bottom.  Now cut a 2" bias piece from the ties you have taken apart.  This will be long strips, I made mine 60" plus then you bind around the 2 raw edges and sew the remainder so it becomes the strap, sew to the other side!!!  And you have a darling bag.  You can use Velcro or button or snap for a closure if desired!!!!  Great for stocking stuffers!!!!

      

Now for Halloween!!!!

  I was asked to make a costume for one of my favorite customers/friend.  Her son wanted to be an OWL!!!  So she found online several costume ideas and head pieces, we combined two and here we are!!!  This is made from felt and my friend Carolyn made it for me the other day and I can't thank her enough, she did a fabulous job!!!  The head piece is made from 2 copper Brillo pads, buttons, eyelash trim and a stuffed beak, all this is glued on a piece of felt and fastens with Velcro.  They purchased a brown Sherpa jacket, brown knit hat and gloves.

 Very fun!!!  Trick or Treat!!!

                                  Last but not least I have been meaning to put in the Happy Canes,

 I recently painted 18 for a client in the south!!!  She gives them away because they make people smile.  The canes are handmade in Northern Arkansas and then I paint them.  The patchwork design is the most popular.  With our aging population canes are really becoming a fashion accessory!!!

So that's the latest and the greatest.

  In a few days November will be upon us and then Thanksgiving and Christmas and on to another year and long winter!!!!!

SEPTEMBER!!!!! THE month of Birthdays and Anniversaries!!!!

 

I'm not sure how it happens but September is the month for our family for birthdays and anniversaries!!!  Melissa and Ben got married last year September 12 and my birthday was the following day the 13th, then my Dad had his birthday on the 17th and Dave and I have our anniversary on the 17th also, so we cram a lot in a few days, oh yes my Mom has a birthday on August 25, pretty close!!!!

So this year was the biggie my Dad turned 90 so of course we had to celebrate!!!  Melissa and Ben had planned a trip so they couldn't make it for the actual birthday so we planned it for October 9 when most everyone could be there, so that is the plan.  But the neighbors thought there should be something on the actual day so Brandon and I packed up and surprised them on Thursday night the 16th and drove down.  what a surprise they had no idea and we had so much fun.  We were there for the party at Garvan Gardens, even the newspaper came and Dad was in the Sunday Paper!!!!  All the volunteers and staff threw a party Friday am, where they volunteer,  very fun!!!!!! Brandon and I got a cart ride to see the beautiful woodland gardens.  About 40 folks attended and the cake was delish!!!

Then Friday night was the progressive dinner in the neighborhood, we started out with appetizers and wine at the Gottliebs then gumbo, salad and corn at the Wurm's and dessert at the Postman's.  What a fun night and the icing on the cake was Steve playing Happy Birthday on his trombone.  It was an interesting evening, we met Steve who is a famous jazz musician from New Orleans, he and his significant other relocated to Hot Springs after Katrina, he is fabulous!!!  And then I had no idea Deanne, Mary Kay's sister  is such an artist, she does incredible paintings of horses, dogs, cats, etc.

  Pictured are her paintings of race horses from the Oaklawn Track in Hot Springs, now how to market this wonderful artist?????  And let me tell you her paintings of pets are amazing, all she needs is a photo and you will be happy as can be!!!  Contact me for more info!!!!

We collapsed after Friday and hung out and visited with the folks Saturday and Sunday Brandon and I packed up and headed up the hill for Missouri.  Had a great ride and Pam had the jet skis ready and the  river was up so we spent a few hours tearing up and down the Osage River, wow what a fun afternoon, topped off with a wonderful dinner at Baxters in Lake Ozark.  Monday I was off to Wisconsin and the cooler weather!!!

Now, to sew like mad, lots to do before we leave October 1 to do it all over again. 

 This trip we'll do a Fall Party in Honor of the birthdays etc for 30+ folks.  More on that later!!!

Last weekend my tutorial on Naturally Dyed Scarves was on Tipnut.com, a neat website full of tips and tricks for DIY, crafts, food, sewing, knitting, you name it!!!  They do a Craft Medley each month featuring fun ideas and the scarves made it in the line up!!!!
 Lots of ideas brewing just finding the time to get them done!!!

                                                               Happy Fall!!!!!!

Labor Day Weekend Dinner Party

Saturday night was our Labor Day Dinner Party with Jim and Linda and Dan and Deb.  We had a rather chilly evening so we had the appetizers out side and the other courses indoors, we ended up doing the fire pit and coats to top off the evening!!!  I don't care for this so early, winter is already toooo long aound here, no sense in starting early!!!!

Well, we started off with poppers, smoked spicy shrimp and a caramelized onion tart I got from Bob.  All were very, very good and went together nicely, we had a sangria drink made from a mix I got at Good Neighbor Festival.  It's a dry mix of sugar, tea and lemon flavoring, think I can make my own, then you add water and Merlot wine and freeze, only goes to slushy, add orange juice, lemon and lime slices and pour over ice, very nice!!!!

The soup was a combo of smoked tomato and mint cucumber, tomato hot, cuke soup cold, garnished with mint and a Parmesan cheese crisps.  It was a good combo and fun to try, the mild and cool cucumber tempered the stronger smoke flavor of the tomatoes.  Wouldn't make it every week!!!!!!!!

The salad is super simple with marinated mozzarella balls, olives and artichoke hearts tossed with fresh tomatoes on a lettuce bed, no dressing required, use a bit of brine out of each jar and you have a wonderful, easy salad!!

Our main course was rib eyes, veggies stackers, garlic bread and a smoked bulb of garlic.  The steaks were cooked on the wood fire and the stackers on the gas grill.  all were very good.

I forgot to photo dessert, it was a peach custard galette with almonds and whipped cream.  Very tasty!!!

Well, that was our big night, the pics of us are not that cute so I will leave them out!!!!

Now back to the rag stabbin biz, no rest for the wicked.

I have a fitting on Labor Day 10am, very fitting!!!!!

YIKES!!!!!! It's OKRA!!!!!

I know lot of people in the north lands aren't fans of okra, but they don't really know about okra.  And I'm no expert but I know I like okra in my gumbo and so this summer I planted some for fun!!!  Then I got to thinking about fried okra and how good that was when I had in the south.  So I went on line and found some recipes, I went for the easy one!!!!

The trick is picking the okra at the right time, gets really woody, so I discovered when it is softer to the touch and almost damp feeling, silky too it is good to go.  You will know when you chop it up easy cutting means tender okra!!!  Pick how ever many you want and chop in 3/4 inch pieces and put in bowl with salt and water, let set at least 45 minutes, drain ( I haven't been rinsing they get gooey) and roll in a mixture of corn meal and flour, more corn meal than flour and lots of creole seasoning, 3 Tablespoons or so.  Drop in the hot oil and fry till crispy and browned, I did eggplant that night too.  And enjoy they are so yummy and addictive, gad I could make them every night!!!

There are other recipes for cooking okra with tomatoes, but they don't sound that tempting.  I considered freezing it for gumbo but the fried is sooo good I'll stick with that for now.  Besides they sell frozen okra all year round!!!

And for the woody over ripe okra they will become Santa ornaments, yes they will!!!  That will be in a few weeks, my what the garden can do!!!!

Since the sewing has been nonstop, cooking and gardening is the next best outlet for me!! 

We are looking forward to the Labor Day Weekend. Dinner party tomorrow night  and with the cooler weather, glad we're not camping!!!!!

    Happy sewing and cooking!!!!!!

White Petal T-Shirt

 This is a simple, fun and quick project you can do WHATEVER you want,

Just Go Crazy!!!!! 

 

A couple years ago while returning from a road trip to Milwaukee we came across a boutique in Elm Grove, WI.  They had this shirt on the rack for $90.  White Tee with white petals sewn on, all knit. 

So, we went to the sale room and I found two pink Tees for $5.00 each and went home and went to town!!!!

This year I decided to do something around the neck and do the white on white.  Buy 2 T-Shirts same or different colors or use scraps of knit in your stash and buy one shirt.  First I cut 18 large petals approximately 6" x 1', see photo taper ends wider in middle, 36 or so 5"x1" and 18 or more 3"x 1".  Scoop out neck line if you wish and sew petals around the neck randomly.  Then find the center of the shirt and put down your larger petals pin in place and sew right down the middle back tacking at both ends.  If you pull the petal the long way it will curl, have the curl up when you sew then it rolls really nice after washing.  Then continue sewing on the petals till you have the look you want.  A button in the center is nice, or sew in a center piece, or sew on beads, whatever you like.

Now, you could do one large flower or a bouquet or just a fun design.  Great for kids clothing too.  Great way to cover up that annoying stain!!!!  This looks like it would take a long time but you will be pleasantly surprised!!!

It's been another busy week Stabbin Rags but I did get my stash room cleaned out.  It was the project from H, gad I couldn't open or close the door for all the crap in there.  This room is nothing but bins of fabric floor to higher than me, I threw out so much junk and fabric no one would ever use!!! Plus old clothing I just can't part with, well the part happened and I found the new Goodwill drop off in Middleton and they even unloaded my car for me!!!  Now, the rest of the house, you should see the kitchen cupboards????????

Mint Cucumber Soup!!!!

This is for Kim. She asked for the Cuke Soup,  with lots of cukes what do we do?????  This recipe is from a cookbook my Mom got me years ago called, Hollyhocks and Radishes, by Bonnie Stewart Mickelson.  These folks live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and they have some lovely recipes!!!

Mint Cucumber Soup

• 1 med. onion
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 3 T. butter
• 3 med. cukes, sliced and peeled
• 3 T. flour
• 2 cup chicken broth
• 2 T. chopped fresh mint
• 1 c. plain yogurt
• 1 c. light cream
• salt and pepper to taste

 in large skillet saute onion and garlic in butter until soft, add cukes and cook till soft 5-8 minutes.

Stir in flour, cook 1 minute.  Add broth bring to a boil and reduce to simmer 8-10 minutes.  Puree in batches, I use a hand held wand blender and leve it kind of chunky.  Pour in bowl, add mint.  Chill.

Before serving  blend in yogurt and cream add seasonings and garnish with mint.  Wonderful.

Cooking cucumbers increases their flavor. 

Some people just puree the cukes in a blender, add broth and cream, buttermilk or yogurt and add some seasonings and that is good too!!!!



                                             What to do with all of those tomatoes?

•                                       Roasted Tomato Garlic Soup
• 4 lbs. tomatoes
• 2 heads garlic- peeled
• 1-large onion
• Fresh basil
• Chicken stock- enough to thin soup to desired consistency 
•         Quarter tomatoes removing seeds
•          Place in non-aluminum baking pan
•         Scatter sliced onion, and garlic cloves over tomatoes
•          Drizzle about 6 tbls. olive oil over  ingredients, kosher salt, pepper
• Roast in a 375 oven for one hour.
• Remove skins from tomatoes.
• Puree in two batches in blender, adding fresh basil to taste. (about a lightly packed cup)
• Return to heat, and final season with salt and pepper.
• Yield will be around two quarts.

                                                           The Parmesan Crisps are made by baking a small mound of cheese in a 375 oven until golden, and cooled.   

Last Saturday four of us from Sewing Guild went to Chicago for the Tie the Knot exhibit at the Chicago History Museum.  We met the Sew Chicago neighborhood group and had a tour of the exhibit with a wonderful Docent, enjoyed  lunch with the group and then toured the Old Town shops. 

The Tie the Knot exhibit was most interesting displaying wedding attire from the late 1800"s to present day.  Famous Chicago families had dresses on display, the McCormicks for one.  The newer styles included clothing from a Hindu wedding, Steam Punk wedding and a really fun dress made from one very very long zipper.  The show cover wedding dresses, going away clothing, bridesmaid dresses, waist coats for the men a few Tuxes, corsets, jewelry, shoes and a wedding cake preserved for a very long time.

Lunch was fun with all the gals from Chicago , I didn't get many pics just can't remember to take pics!!!!  The shops in Old Town were great more food than clothes but fun to see.

Andrea, Lorel, Carolyn and I took the trip down on the train from Harvard, Il. What a great way to travel!!  Got to Chicago in 2 hours for a mere $7.00 for a weekend pass. Hopped a cab for the museum, walked around Old Town, cabbed it back to the train station and back to Harvard by 7;30 pm.  This is so much fun can't figure out why we're not doing this more often!!!