I Was Knit Together In My Mother's Womb

Thank you for your responses so far to make drawstring bags for the ladies at Cornerstone! If you missed the post about that need, you can read it HERE.   I would like to get the bags by December 15th. They can be mailed to me, I will enter your name in a contest drawing and you will get a wonderful something from me!

Lynne Brundage

500 CrossPoint Parkway

Getzville, NY   14068

 

 

This is how I made my Easy Drawstring Bag, using 100% cotton fabric and grosgrain ribbon.

Cut 2 pieces of fabric, 19" X 26"

Mark the openings on the top edges of both bag pieces. The first will be 1 1/2"  down from the top and the second will be 2 1/2" down from the top, like this:

Sew a seam down the two long sides and across the bottom,  leaving an opening between the marks on each side.

To make the casing, fold down the top edge 1/2 " and press. Fold down another 1" and press.

 
 
Sew the casing in place, along the folded edge. 

Turn the bag right side out.

Cut two pieces of 1/2" grosgrain ribbon, each 46" long . Insert one piece in each casing opening like this:

Stitch the ends together of the grograin ribbon together like this:

 
Bury the stitched ends of the drawstrings in the casings.

And the result????? I very simple drawstring bag! Finished measurements are 18"x24" 

Some other excellant tutorials are available online:

http://sewbunnybum.blogspot.com/2008/05/drawstring-bag-tutorial.html

http://community.livejournal.com/craftgrrl/3786894.html  (although our bags do not need to be lined)

http://happythings.typepad.com/happythings/2006/04/dsb_101_simple_.html  ( super easy)

Thanks again for your help!

Happy Sunday!  The best part about today? I get to feed my friends a big turkey dinner, with all of the sides, including:

Mmmmm....roasted brussels sprouts

 
corn

squash and apple cassarole

coleslaw   ( I have made this recipe for years...leaving out the peppers)

 
stuffing

roasted garlic mashed potatoes and gravy

dinner rolls AND sweet rolls AND

pumpkin bread.

When you get a turkey for $3.68, and there's no room in the freezer, you just have yourself an early Thanksgiving dinner...complete with an impromptu dried bouquet from the garden.

We love Jon and Lisa and Jipp and Rhonda...and I'm so glad they finally got to meet. 
 

A Thanksgiving meme:

I'm always interested in knowing what other people make for Thanksgiving dinner...

1.What are the traditional favorites?

2.What new  recipes will you try  this year? 

3.What part of the meal do you never compromise?

4.Who gets to carve the turkey?

5.Family style around the table or buffet style and everyone sits wherever there's room?

6.How many will be at your table this year?

7.Three best pies for Thanksgiving dessert?

8.Cranberry sauce...yeah or nay?

9.What time do you eat Thanksgiving dinner?

10.Favorite leftover?

Go ahead! Answer here or on your blogs....I'll be watching for your Thanksgiving meal traditions in the week ahead.

Thankful Thursdays

1. First, I'm thankful that it's Friday, and that I can be thankful on Friday as well as on Thursday. It's been a busy, busy week, and I'm looking forward to relaxing with JR this weekend.

2. I'm thankful for  my girls, and that they love each other deeply... and they love their children and husbands deeply.

3. I'm thankful for stretch pants.

A VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE AT THE END OF THIS POST.

What a bonus weekend this was! Gorgeous weather with  nothing to do, really, but enjoy it.  I was glad to be able to work on a few projects.

I know it's not easy to get excited about a basic t-shirt. What could be so hard about finding a basic t-shirt? I've spent $30 on them, I've spent $4 on them. Every year I search for the perfect tee. One that's long enough, fits well, has some lycra in it to hold it's shape, and is versatile enough to wear on its own or as a layering piece. I have a drawer full of mistakes...purchases that never quite made  the grade, and will end up, like in years past, being donated or used as cleaning rags.

I get SO tired of spending money on clothes that don't fit.

This weekend, I made the perfect tee.

Awhile back, I found some Land's End cotton lycra on Ebay, and snatched up a few yards for about $6.00. Using  Simplicity 4076, a made this up in about an hour. And it fits perfectly!  The only adjustment  I made was adding about 3 inches to the length.

  I love this wee bit of gathering at the neckline.

Since I was on a roll, I made another top. McCall's 5853. 

This is made with more of the Land's End cotton/lycra. My modifications? I raised the neckline in the back, added three inches to the length,  and inserted the same cap sleeve as in the Simplicity tee. This shirt is so stinking cute!  I wore it today with a black pencil skirt and some boots, and a little black denim jacket. I was accused of looking like a rocker girl...whatever that means.

       
 
 
 I have to call upon my blogging buddies for a need. You all were so responsive with sending mittens for the past few years for Pastor Angel....it was an overwhelming response for which I will always be grateful.  In fact, we continue to collect them as "Hearts to Hands" for this year as well, and not only for Pastor Angel's kids, but for many other children in the Buffalo area.

The needs are great in  Western New York. Buffalo is considered one of the more depressed areas of the country. Like many other industrial cities, Buffalo's working population has declined steadily in the last several years, and we hold the distinction of  being one of the poorest cities in the US. The result?  A region in desperate need. Crime, drugs, joblessness, poor public education and  an ever increasing refugee population leave children without proper parenting, families that are hungry, women who are desperate and men without hope. This creates an overwhelming  outreach opportunity for ministry, as we endeavor to reach every man, woman and child with God's love and assist to provide for the needs in our community.   In fact, our church is excited to be a part of an Extreme Makeover Fifty States Tour project this week, rebuilding a home and repairing and renovating an entire neighborhood in Buffalo!

Well, on Friday, there came another plea for help. Such a simple thing. Cornerstone for Women is a shelter for women and children, which is under the leadership of Dr. Laura and her ministry team, providing temporary shelter and longterm assistance to women and children. Upon intake, the ladies are given their supplies ( like toiletries and personal items)  in a drawstring bag. Dr. laura has asked for drawstring bags.

I am working up a very simple pattern and tutorial so that the women of our ministry can  provide the 30+ bags that are needed each month for Cornerstone. It will take me a few weeks to get that information together and then make it available to the various women's ministries.  But Cornerstone needs  them now. So I am appealing to my crafting buddies to send me bags.

They are basic cotton  bags, measuring about 18" x 24."  They are made flat and  have a drawstring at the top. Pretty easy, right? In fact, I'm sewing them from two cotton dishtowels.  I'm making some as fast as I can,  and I would do all of them myself, but I believe in sharing the blessing of giving.

I'd love it if you could make a bag, or two or more and send  them me. Include a sentiment of encouragement  for a broken and desperate woman,as well .   If you do, I will have a contest with a drawing in a few weeks,  and will bless YOU with something wonderful in return.

Let me know if you are willing to kick-start this bag collection for Cornerstone by leaving me a comment so that I can respond with my mailing address. 

 
 

Thankful Thursdays

Linking up with Carole to share thankful hearts on Thursdays in November.  I'm never quite sure how to narrow it down to three, though, since I really want to live a life which is thankful in all things.

I can't begin a post like this without expressing my thankfulness to God, who extends new mercies every day. I fail utterly in my humanity on a daily basis. A thousand graces are extended to me each day, undeserved... so I must extend mercy and grace to others.

That said, I have to be thankful even for the trials and difficulties in my life, since they are all an opportunity to learn, change and be challenged to be the woman that God wants me to be.

And, I am thankful for this day. I woke up this morning knowing I have  a plan for my life...a reason to take the brokenness that I was and I am, and turn it into something with meaning and purpose.

 

The Tale of Two Tops.

or

A Lesson in Line.

or

Which Top Makes me Look Pregnant?

According to Fashion Experts,

"A tailored cut accentuates your waist and enhances your bust."

"Baggy clothes will disfigure your shape."

"Going for clothes with vertical lines can help you define the top half of your body."

“A woman shouldn't wear anything that resembles a tent of any kind, because that makes her look bigger. Instead, what you should do is look for clothes that have great fit and structure.”

"Rule one of looking slimmer is to not fool yourself about your dress size! This applies if you tend to buy sizes that are too big as well as sizes that are far too small."

Last week, I finished two blouses.  I wanted a basic white tunic length blouse, and another more casual tunic top to wear with leggings or jeans on the weekends. I am amazed at how  these different styles can make a body look so differently.  You be the judge:

  
McCall's 5433. I made this tunic from a lycra stretch shirting that has some subtle vertical striping in the pattern.  I really, really love this shirt. The only modification I did was to change up the spacing of the buttons...they are paired in twos.

 

The second top is  McCall's 5943. Cute top, fun construction, interesting details in the pin-tucking and ginormous sleeves.

  I'm not sure that this was the best choice for me, though.

   

The neckline is waaaaay too big, the sleeves are not at all flattering. In fact, I look pregnant.  Maybe my daughter Meghan should be wearing this top. Since we're going to be grandparents again!

That's right, grand-baby number 4 is on the way!  And it's another boy!

 

 

 

 

 

It was cleanup time at our house this weekend. Outside, inside....a good nesting weekend, really. There is something about those last leaves falling that makes me want to nest.

  The gardens get raked, a room or two rearranged, and a chicken pie baked.

I was also caught dead in the act of knitting outside this weekend.

 
I'm hauling out the yarn and patterns to figure out what sweater I want to make next. But then I wonder what to do with all the other knit sweaters that I am not wearing.

 
 
A Sweater Auction?

Frog em? I'm never afraid to rip out a knit.

Charity ? What if that wool sweater gets washed and dried?

What DO you do with knits that you don't wear?

 
  

Do you think Birdie looks like Oprah?

Just wondering.
  
 

 

There's a whole new thing with Halloween these days, I think.  I grew up in an era where we were out of the house after dinner and didn't come back from Trick-orTreating until 9:00 at night!  In my town, if Halloween falls on a weekday, by the time I turn down my street after work, all of the Trick-or-Treaters have been long gone, leaving JR and I with three bags of candy to eat on our own!  Of course, the cool thing about being the candy-giver is that you get to choose your own favorites. ...you're not stuck with an apple or Dum-Dum suckers.

After we got home, the candy was dumped, sorted into piles, and counted. Then the trading began.

SO, here are my favorite questions to pose at this time of year:  What were your three favorite treats in your Halloween bag?

And what are the three treats that you would trade away?

Now, THIS is a skirt! The rouching, the godet, the slim fit. The imitation washed suede. I do believe I like the whole animal thing this season. Hmmm. Microsuede. What faux animal would that be from, I wonder?

   Vogue 8603  

 I made view  A  

The back detail:

 

The microsuede was surprisingly easy to sew, not so easy to pin. I love that this skirt is fully lined ( other than the godet) and it was a rather simple skirt to make. 

Will I make another one? You bet...already got it in the works, but I'll be doing a different view.

Happy Weekend!

 

 

Is there any good reason why I had to eat this at 9:30 this morning after a perfectly healthy breakfast of whole oats and an apple? Because it was in the break room. That's why.

Things are happening to my body that I don't like. The talk around the office these days includes the words  " hot flashes" and "tight"  (meaning clothes getting tight. As in expanding waistlines).

 
The accepted  theory around here is that women at our ages just naturally gain weight as our hot flashes increase and estrogen decreases. 

The consensus is that the reason I can't do up my pants button the last few weeks has nothing to do, really,  with eating birthday cake an hour after eating breakfast....it's strictly hormonal.

I started thinking about it, and decided to do a little "survey" around the office. Here's what I discovered:

( WARNING: THE IMAGES THAT FOLLOW MAY BE DISTURBING YOU. SIMPLY VIEWING THEM MAY MAKE YOU FEEL FAT.)

 

Oh, this isn't even the tip of the iceberg!  And you know what's even better?   I informally interviewed several men in the office. They don't hide snacks (well, except for one pastor, who shall  remain nameless...I KNOW you have snacks in your office and you don't share!). They don't keep treats on their desks.  They tend to pass up the apple crisp or muffins or ginormous cookie trays  that are in the break room.

So, ladies, I'm proposing that partof our problem may not be hormonal or age related...I'm guessing it could be office snack related.  And the fact that the fruit basket on the break room table is still full at the end of the week.

Excuse me while I find a Kit Kat.