New bits in my shop

~I have been adding some of my stock to the shop this week. Like these lovely pin cushions made from vintage quilt squares.
This small one has a juice cap as the base.


I also added these sassy Texas undies.

These cotton hipster bikini hybrids are my idea of pure comfort . They are a size 5-6. The back panel reads "Texas Muscle"in white on a navy blue background and was cut from a reclaimed Tshirt. The front is super soft new navy and white pinstriped jersey knit. The waist is finished with a soft aqua lace to give these Tom Boy undies a little feminine touch. The thigh holes are finished with a comfortable navy fold over elastic.

~There are oodles of fun kids appliqued items like this cowboy onesie




This is a rough and tumble hand died blue onesie. The front features a reclaimed image of a couple of cowhands, taking a load off, by the fence post. The size is 6-9 months.

There is also this sweet onsie with a hungry chic and an unlucky worm
This 3t t-shirt has a lovely vintage fabric calico print kitty under a blue bird moon.

A rodeo cowboy dresses up the back side of this reclaimed pocketT size 18 months.


I will be adding some ladies clothing but I will keep you posted.

little red slip dress

~ I made this dress on Friday for weekend trip to Houston. I have been wanting to do a little shirred waist knit dress design for a while. I actually have made two now . The first is super comfy but way too sheer for the public without layers. It also has quite a low neck line ( even for me). It really is like a slip and so comfortable I do believe I have had it on at least for part of everyday since I made it. I am actually wearing it right now.
~This pattern is adapted from my simple tank pattern I have been making for years. I am still working on a third hopefully perfect incarnation. Another knit dress pattern I am adapting is from my Raglan T-shirt pattern, however I plan on making it belted at the waist instead of shirred at the waist. I am really excited about some cloth belt designs I had been devising as well.
What I learned from this shirring on knit experience was that you want to remember to tug the knit a little as you shir. Otherwise when you put on the garment the shirred area will be too tight and probably break the elastic thread. The shirred area is gonna need to stretch as much as the knit is going to on your body.

for the love of long hot summers and okra... A recipe

~Late summer is rough in central Texas, so I am thankful it is perfect for big beautiful okra plants. These plants tend to bring loads of okra that need rescuing from the fry daddy. One of my preferred rescue method is stewed with tomatoes. If we are lucky there are still plenty of ripening tomatoes sitting about the sills and counter tops. It was not until I started growing my own okra that I started branching out to other methods of okra cooking rather than fried. Its funny, my Nanny always grew and cooked okra, it was a staple in the summer at family meals at her house. She also froze enough for Thanksgiving and Christmas, however I only remember it fried. This is probably cause I was a kid and would not eat unidentified goulashes. Another late summer pleasure of course is homegrown tomatoes. Tomatoes were another thing I had issue with as very small child. I remember very clearly the day I discovered how yummy fresh sliced tomatoes were. I must have been 6 or so and I was at my Nanny's neighbors house playing with their grand kids. I do not even remember the folks names (or faces) but I remember that sweet tomato slice . I didn't want to try it but I was raised polite-like. Well any ways here is my recipe for Stewed tomatoes with okra


Ingredients
2-3 slices bacon
1/2 c sweet chopped onion
3 medium tomatoes diced
one mess of okra( about lb or so)sliced or whole
Tony's to taste( or just salt and pepper)
1-2 c stock

* a word about okra prep. I like mine whole if they are not too big, otherwise slice them up. You can trim the cams and tips if you like. I leave them on the wholes and trim them if I am slicing.

Process
cook bacon , add onion cook till translucent, add tomatoes and seasoning. De glaze with 1/2 c stock. Add okra and fill till just covered with stock. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 30 min.


PS....Enjoy the slime, It is yummy and very good for you. Did I mention how amazingly beautiful and lovely the okra flowers are? Another way to get into some okra lovin' is pickled okra, Kg's mom makes some kickin' pickled okra, However, if you are not us it does come to your local grocer... If you have never tried it go now and get you some !

For The Bee Keepers Baby and more

~I recently had a custom order for a onesie for a beekeepers baby!!FUNFUN....I decided to do a bee applique' and to embroider the bouncing boys name on it as well. I used all re purposed fabrics in the bee design, that I tried to make as sweet and simple as I could. I usually dye my appliqued onesies but I was having a tough time deciding on a dye color this time. I decide to do a tea stain to give it a "honey " look. I was pleased as peach pie with the results and decided to do a little tea dye for a shirt of my own that I have been wanting to "make-over". I will share the tea dye process with you when I post my shirt"makeover post".


~A few bits of on the side....

I made this bag for myself as a practice for a humming bird design I was interested in cooking up. The bag is basically the Fabric Scrap Collage attached to the Halloween tote tutorial.
It had been at least a week or two since I was allowed to sit at the machine when I made this bag and it felt good to make something just for me to use everyday. ~Sometimes when I am down in the dumps, I try to just focus on each day and that is what this little bag was for me. A bag to get back to normal daily routines with. The fabric for the tote was all re purposed; the liner and front stripe are from a pillow case and the outside was a pristine vintage score. The colors whisper of the coming fall months.... that seem to take forever to appear in central Texas.
I am thinking of having a sewing party making these little totes just in time for the new South Austin Twin Oaks library re- opening. Wanna come?



(ps~I have had a tender summer due to the loss of a pregnancy, I was just not so much up to posting but I am feeling the healing and am hoping to be getting back to the inspiration. Thanks to so many that have sent me sweet thoughts and wishes....luv u to bitz)

daily rituals....sweet tea

~When I was growing up the Georgia woods just west of Atlanta, we always had a pitcher of sweet tea in the fridge. It was actually part of the daily doings; to be sure that pitcher was never empty. At some point in the eighties we switched from sugar to saccharine tablets( eeewww) and that eventually helped me develop my disdain for all beverages "diet", heck I can't even use saccharine toothpaste as an adult.
However being blessed with impeccable resume in the service industry I found my way back to sweet tea years ago. Sweet Tea might even be one of the reasons I wrangled me a Texas boy's heart. I find my self making sure that tea stained plastic gallon pitcher is never empty just for him the way I used to do for my daddy and it brings a little joy to my heart.

SWEET TEA
water
one gallon pitcher
6 family style tea bags( I use lipton usually)
1-2 cups sugar

bring 2 quarts of water to a boil.
Steep tea bags in hot water at least 15 min
add sugar 1-2 c sugar to pitcher ( more /less to your taste) I just eyeball this
add hot tea to sugar and stir fill rest of pitcher with cold water or ice if you want it cold in a hurry

We drink our tea with lemon 'round here. Actually we use lemonade and make Arnold Palmers . everyday,everyday,everyday....