Peonies and Ants have a long standing relationship. I have no idea how it started or how deep their love goes, but rarely are a Peonies’ buds without their partner, the ant. Some say that the Peony bud can’t open without the ant. Others say that isn’t true. All sorts of theories exist for…
I gave up on TV and Cable when my favorite gardening shows were canceled and nothing else was offered to replace them. I don’t have much time for TV viewing anyways so I haven’t struggled very much for a replacement. Now that garden season is upon us, I terribly miss the old garden shows that I…
Just because a design works for one fabric doesn’t mean it will work for another. I made a pattern that I want to make in denim. The denim is a bit heavier then quilting cotton.This means that ruffles and elastic gathers work differently. This means that I will be sent completely back to the drawing board to…
It occurs to me that if I can make this Apron with 45″ wide fabric, then 60″ should allow me to achieve something with a more dramatic flounce, longer skirt and with any hope, additional awesomeness. Making it from denim means that the ruffled top will not ruffle as delicately as I would want…
I like to think we all run enthusiastically into our futures grabbing bites of new ideas that we accept or not into our lives. We all wonder what lay ahead and fill our heads with dreams and wondrous images of what is to come. It’s also interesting that no matter how forward thinking we are…
These are my summer feet. These are my very happy, contented summer feet. Oh sure, I still wear a skirt in the summer, I dodge in and out of the house, in and out of the garden and filthy feet means I have had a great day doing things I love. It means I have…
The winter has been extremely long this year and spring feels nearly hopeless in its arrival. My dark, chilly mood clearly drove fabric choices. I bought loud, bright and floral prints for spring. Once the prints were in the studio, I could not wait to rip open packages and start cutting. I needed that breath…
Writing a new post, I will tell you that every post of mine begins with the comfy chair piled with the right pillows, a fresh cup of coffee made from the good coffee and music that helps me get into writing mode. I am not a writer by profession, it’s a struggle that I find…
My grandmother called it, ” a bee in your bonnet”. It refered to the situation when you had a thought in your head and it wouldn’t go away. That is the situation for me with aprons that you see in vintage photographs. I long to make them. As a business, we tell ourselves, “No! we…
I always thought that my plus size customers wanted to downplay shape. Answering that, and paying attention to cost, I made the Plus Size skirt on those aprons to have less gathers, that way it fell closer to the hip and didn’t make anyone look hippier than they were already. But I was never satisfied…
I have struggled with my perception of quilt making. I was introduced to them as an adult. I browsed pattern books, looked over the shoulders of friends who took quilt classes and learned that there were particular ways to make particular quilt patterns. Surprisingly I did not dive in, even with a lifetime of sewing…
I love the Ruffled Apron that I designed. It’s cute.It’s a good fabric choice and it holds a lot of stuff. But time passes and I need to change it a bit. Good design for me is a journey. Improvements come, design features pass, fabrics change. I sat looking at this photo and wondered why…