Topping it offf

Simplicity 2908 never looked so adorable! Linda S from Bermuda put her own special touches on this fitted bonnet with a wide scalloped brim. Look at how she appliqued repeat of the scallops on the inner brim---What a way to frame a sweet little face!  Don't overlook the sweetheart buttons attaching the ribbon to the brim.  Cuteness personified!
This bonnet matches a darling outfit Linda made for the Karen Faylor Blog:

This bonnet will finish off a picture perfect Savannah for a very lucky little lady.

Thank you Linda for allowing me to share this adorable bonnet.

300 Days of Sunshine

Welcome to my world, where we enjoy 300 days of sunshine.  Nestled on shores of the mighty Columbia River. The river running through town and mountains so close you can touch them and we do, we even hike up them.  Mountains with names such as Badger, Saddle rock, Eagle rock and Castle rock.
A real vacationers dream, with wine tours,antiquing, all the fresh fruit you could imagine grown in rich volcanic soil.
My favorite play day, is a day on the Columbia river. I would love it if you could join me at least I can bring some of the valley to you in pictures.

The river divides two towns.A perfect spot to let the kids play and grow.

Surrounded by hills and mountains, our  little valley was carved from a mighty volcano.   I live on vacation and enjoy a very relaxed lifestyle.

A pattern I love

This skirt pattern is from Ellie Inspired. The name of the pattern is "Dancer" and I just love it.  Laura, owner of Ellie Inspired, does the cutest designs and also has sew along. Can't get much more fun then that!
I must admit, I have not been very good at following through with all the sew along, but I start, hope that counts!! 
Let me tell you about "Dancer".  It has two versions, the one I made is the two tiered version. You can see, where it is limitless in the fabrics you can use to do this version.  The pattern also comes with  built in shorts, which makes it perfect for back to school.

Maybe a bonus is, Zoe loves her new skirt and has told me she does not want to take it off.  To me, that also says it is comfortable.

I am not associated with Ellie Inspired, I just love her patterns. Another plus is, they are E-patterns, so you can just download a sew, no waiting for the pattern to arrive. When I find a good thing, I love to share it.

You can find the button to Ellie Inspired on the top of the list, to your right on my blog.

Another Pattern Adaption

Betty designed this empire style by combing two patterns.  Instructions for this style are posted here. 

The style features of this little dress are the square neckline, button on the shoulder fully lined top.  Trim is added where the top joins the skirt. 

I combined parts of two patterns for this little A-line dress.




McCalls 6155 and New Look 6695.



McCalls for the lined short sleeves and shortened lined bodice.

Folded pattern under 2 1/2" below arm hole.



Place this over the New Look A-line matching arm holes and

after allowing for seam lines, cut out and remember to finish and leave open on the left shoulder, a one button closure.



Both shoulders if you prefer, or better yet, extend lining at center back to allow for buttons etc.



Sew trim of your choice over empire seam and hem.

McCalls 6155

New look 6695
 
The sky is the limit when it comes to designing your own designs. 

Sharing a few more treasures and a decision

First-My decision on what to do with the tablecloth.  I am going to leave it alone, use it, love it for it's imperfections.  In trying to 'fix' it, I could make problems worse.  I can always guess as to why the thread is a different color. Maybe it's just that thread was not as good or color fast as it is today.
Maybe at a later date when I have done some practice dying, I will attempt the tablecloth.

Next, is some of the China.  My dad joined the Navy as a very young man.  During the time he served he was sent to Japan and while there purchased these dishes for his mother.  Some how, they have survived all these years.  I have the complete set, except gave the tea pot to my daughter, as she has the family collection of tea pots.
So here are some of the pieces on the tablecloth and, using Julia's idea of putting a colored cloth underneath.

A picture of just one of each from the set.

Betty asked me what it said on the bottom. I know its not a good picture but I can't read it anyhow.

There is something very interesting about the napkin ring.  Napkin rings were used in the 'victorian' times as they did not have modern washing machines as we do now. There laundry day was labor intensive, and done once a week. I am sure that is also where the term laundry day came from as it took a full day. As I remember for stories the ironing was done the next day. Using napkins was very important, laundry time consuming, so each person in the family had their own napkin holder and would use the same napkin all week.  As I polished this napkin ring that belonged to my father, I realized it said "Grandma to Harold". That would be his grandma, one of my great grandmothers, I don't know which one paternol or maternol. It is also something I will never know.

So that is a peek at my treasures.  I know very little about them, but will be sure to pass them on with as much information as I can gather together.  I hope when you are sewing treasures for your family, you will remember to take the time to add some information about who you are and how these items were added.

A new Challenge

I started by cleaning the tablecloth first.  After research and good advice I decided it would be fine to soak the tablecloth in the washer.  The washer has all the bells and whistles we think we will never use.  Soak, delicate, small load option etc.   I used oxiclean, warm water and let it soak overnight.  
After the drain cycle, I refilled the washer with warm water and used Ivory snow to wash it.  I was so happy to see it survived and was fine, so I took it outside so it could dry flat on the lawn.
That is when I had a shock of all shocks!!  Some of the motif's were pure white!!!  Just a few of them, some of the white was scattered and just in spots.  My mind was racing with what could have caused this, so it was a panic call to Betty.  Betty has rescued me more times then I can count.
She thought soaking it in clorox2 might work.   So I soaked it again, this time a few more random white spots appeared, not full motifs, but maybe just the bars on one motif.
Now, I can see I have a problem and ton's of questions.  Do I soak it yet again?   Did Grandma run out of thread and use some from a different dye lot?   Did she tea dye the other thread? then  when washed the dye came out?   Has this tablecloth ever been used? 
Probably the biggest question is, do I tea dye it now?  Do I do just the spots of white or the whole tablecloth?   The next question is:  How do I tea dye?  I have only read about it, I have never dyed anything using that method.

When I first spotted this, I was hoping that maybe a rectangle of white was around the center of the tablecloth.  That idea was soon banished from my thoughts.

You can see where the white thread is scattered, not done in any pattern.  Which to me suggests she might have used tea dye on some thread she had.

The above theory was shot down when I spotted this!  Just a few area's are white a couple of spokes and the inner circle.

So, what is next?  I have no clue as to what to try next.  I don't think this tablecloth was ever used. My goal is to save it and use it.  I just love Julia's idea of putting it over a colored tablecloth.  Just think of how you could change the look of the table by doing that, you could use a color for each season.

The only thing I know for sure right now, is, I am going to save this tablecloth and it will never see the dark inside of a closet ever again.

Treasures

I have been given some things from my Grandma. Among them, this beautiful crocheted bedspread and also a crocheted table cloth.  Both made with her loving hands.  I treasure them both so much, knowing she touched every stitch. 
They are both in perfect condition, the only problem being, they are dirty.  Does anyone know how to clean them?   I imagine they need to be hand washed, but will be very heavy and fragile when wet. The last thing I want to do is ruin them.  How would I go about drying them?  What do I wash them with? meaning the type of cleaner, or detergent. Would I use detergent?
Even though the beds were smaller in the past, the spread fits my queen size bed.  Although I would like to keep it out, as I am sure it is meant to be seen, I probably will just put in on the blanket chest and not use it as a spread.

This is the bedspread. I can only imagine the time it took to make this.

This is the tablecloth.  The color seems to be ecru, so I don't think it is meant to be white at all.  Won't the holiday table to pretty when the table is decorated using this tablecloth?   I also was given silver napkin rings, with grandma's children's names on them. So I am just thrilled to have my fathers napkin ring.  The laundry was only done once a week, so each family member had their own napkin, which had to last them all week.  Putting your name on the napkin ring made sure you always used your own napkin.

Other treasures I was given, are dishes, tea pots and tea cups.  Oh what fun, it will be to once again use these treasures.