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Boy, it’s been nearly a month since my last post. In that time I have interviewed, dreamed about what I could do with my pay, ridden my bike a lot, flew to another country without my passport, gone to the beach, and gotten a bit of a tan. I also got to hang out with [...]

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Back Garden Update

We got the rubbish pile organized and all the herbs in pots. The washbin had to have holes drilled into it, as well as the galvanized steel pail that we planted the strawberries in. We also drilled holes in a decorative pot that had been used mostly to allow water to stand in it and [...]

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Pluggin’ Away

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been working on a McCall’s pattern for a scooter skirt from 1969. I bought it thinking it’d be perfect for bike riding, then when I opened it and saw there were only five pieces and five steps I thought it would be a piece of cake! I’d had [...]

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Ohhhhh, Wow!

I did a little research on my sewing problem, utilizing a gift from my mom, in the form of Nancy Zieman’s book Fitting Finesse, to find out why everything seemed to come out too big, regardless of whether I measured for my size, or how exactly I matched the stated size on the pattern. It [...]

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Rhubarb Delight

I think rhubarb is mostly seen as a sour, strange thing in the States, though that may just be my Southernness, as it doesn’t grow down there. I personally love tangy rhubarb pie and sweet delicious strawberry-rhubarb pie (and jam!). Since coming to London, I have noticed the British predilection for rhubarb; it’s sold at [...]

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I’m a Rock Star, Watch Me Rock.

So there, Meg C. at McCall Customer not-Service: Patt-O-Rama mail order pattern, probably mid-50s. Size 14, measurements of 34-26-36, View 2. An example of the instructions (whoa!): Please let me insist that you read instructions all the way through before beginning a pattern. It will allow you to, for instance, a) not cut the interfacing [...]

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Awwww, Man!

Does anyone reading this besides G sew? What is your experience with completing commercial patterns? This one told me I should be a size 12, but seeing the dimensions for the finished dress, I decided to make it in a size 10. Apparently I’m a size 8. Since I neglected to pre-wash in a hot [...]

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Just Keep Sewing

Three items arrived in the mail for me today! How exciting! I hardly ever get mail so it’s always a happy day when something bearing my name, other than a bill, drops through the letter slot. I received a glorious length of Liberty lawn fabric (quite thin, and $30(!!!) with the exchange rate, I’ll have [...]

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Prego Pattern

This maternity bubble jumpsuit pattern is what I would call A Terrible Idea. I can’t find a photo of it and the auction is only up for the next five days (I’m really truly seriously tempted to buy it just so I can have the horror for my very own for as long as I [...]

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I Can’t Believe I Ate the Whole Thing!

Americans will remember the Alka Seltzer commercial where the dude wails that out but in this case, it is not I, in bed at night with heartburn but in the chair, in the afternoon, surprised that I have consumed an entire tub of Kozy Shack chocolate pudding. I have been on a mission to eat [...]

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