The I-Used-to-be-a-Suit Bag

My beloved & I have been married sixteen years.  We met over twenty years ago on our very first day at our very first jobs straight out of college.  It's been stupid cheesy jokes and best friends ever since.

We're hoping to grow old, wrinkly and eccentric together.  And when we are very old, we plan to shuffle through our days holding hands.  I will wear loose dresses and baggy stockings with tennis shoes.  He will cut his trousers into shorts and wear them with dress socks and dress shoes.  We will laugh at our aging selves and delight in how bad we look in the outfits we joked about when we were still kids.

He really does want to wear his dress shoes and socks with cut off trousers... someday...

Until then, the question is, what to do with the occasional worn out suit?

You know me, right?  When in doubt, just turn it into a bag.

• Chop up the trousers to form the exterior of the bag.
• Chop up the dress shirt to use as lining.
• Which means the tie must become the handles,  I felt terrible about cutting up the tie.  It was actually brand spanking new.  I gave the tie to him years ago hoping to inject some interesting color into his daily uniform of dark suit and gold tie.  I figured the orange added a little punch but the blue stripes kept it all very conservative.  I was wrong.  He refused to wear it.  A shame to cut it up.  But even worse to leave it languishing in the closet.

It's just a simple, rectangular tote.  It should have been quick and easy to sew together.  But I hit an unexpected complication when working with the trousers.  Slippery stuff.  I also added in a layer of sew-in interfacing.  Bleuh.  That stuff was really difficult to work with.  It took me a full hour to attach, pick apart and then reattach the trouser material to the interface.  I was in a cold sweat at the end of it.  Luckily, I had Nasya-my-sewing-instructor to advise me and cheer me on (otherwise this project may well have ended up in the trash).   

And here it is.  The I-Used-to-be-a-Suit bag.  I think it's a fun way to repurpose an old suit.  Do you agree?

Sideways Stories from Wayside School

Simon (4th grade) read the book first, but didn't care for it.  Then Ethan (2nd grade) picked it up and just about busted his gut laughing over it.  He insisted we read Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar aloud.

And since it's E's turn to choose, this is our current read aloud.

It is funny.  But I can't quite explain why.  As I'm reading the stories to my kids, I feel like I'm almost getting the joke... but missing just a little bit.  Goofy and bizzaro.  Yet with a center of truth. 

Our favorite story thus far is the story of Todd.  Always trying to behave by the rules, but unjustly singled out each day to get his name written, checked and circled under the word DISCIPLINE.  This chapter had even Simon in stitches.  One of his best friends at school could actually be this boy, Todd.  We sent our extra copy of the book to Si's friend with this particular chapter bookmarked.

I wonder if the kid will see the similarity to his own plight?  And if he'll find it amusing... it sure had us laughing!

Square Lavendar Sachets

Just made a batch of lavender sachets.  Wish you could be here to enjoy the fragrance.  This clean, sharp smell is one of my favorite scents (right up there next to simmering cinnamon, cloves and apple cider).

I bought one 1/2 pound bag of lavender buds at the Union Square Greenmarket.

Chopped one of my husband's discarded dress shirts into 4 inch by 4 inch squares.

Then just machine stitched up three sides (with a 1/2 inch seam), filled the pouch with the lavender buds and hand stitched the fourth side closed.

And that's all there was to this pretty stack of simple square white wonderful smelling sachets. 

Millicent Min, Girl Genius

We are almost finished with another terrific Lisa Yee book:  Millicent Min, Girl Genius.

We first "met" to Millicent in our read aloud, Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time.  While my boys absolutely loved Stanford, they were also highly entertained to hear about his English tutor,  the child genius, Millicent Min.

Before we could even finish reading about Stanford, my boys had already checked out Millicent's story from the library.

Millicent Min. She's a funny kid.  Not at first though.  At first, she sounds arrogant and not at all likeable.  She has no friends, no sense of humor and no idea how she grates on people's nerves (including ours).  She's simultaneously smarter than smart when it comes to academics and incredibly stupid about people and relationships...

But it's Millicent, the clueless kid, who we ended up laughing over and liking very much.  We commiserated with her discomfort on the volleyball court (well, at least I did) and hope she'll soon figure out her mom is not dying.  We're glad Millicent finally made some friends and is learning that academic excellence does not equal life.

Lisa Yee's cleverly developed characters and storyline are once again providing all sorts of food for thought and discussion.  We think this book is a real treat.  Give it a try if you get the chance!

Vintage Flat Irons

This weekend, I went antique shopping with two items on my list:  pretty tea cups and wooden printer trays.  I didn't see a single printer tray.  And I decided the tea cups were all too fragile and fussy looking to suit my mood.

Instead, I brought home four vintage irons.  Pretty cool, huh?

Not sure if these are classified as sad irons or flat irons (or both?).  I like the look and heavy weight of them.  I'm currently using them as bookends.  But they would also work as paper weights, door stops or just decorations.

I suppose I could clean and sand the unpainted #6 iron, heat it up on my stove and test how effective it'd be to iron with one of these... but I'm just not feeling curious enough (right now)...

The four irons were my only purchase this trip.  But quite a few other items caught my eye.

A pin cushion & thread holder rocking chair with small drawer.  I've actually been thinking a lot about pin cushions recently (as in, I want to make one, how shall I do it?).  So I was tickled to come across this clever little chair.  Couldn't buy it though.  I was way too heebie jeebied out by the thought of what might be living in the stuffing under the old fabric.

An antique sewing machine.  Actually, I found three old sewing machines.  Was very interested in all of them.  But I didn't have the faintest idea of what to look for in an old machine and what a good price was.  Better do some due diligence before I consider collecting something like this. 

Porcupine pin cushion.  I must have had sewing on my mind, because every where I looked, I found more sewing supplies.  This little guy made me laugh.  But I thought the $16 price tag on him too much.  I left him where I found him.

Sewing collage.  I came across multiple framed versions of these as well.  Pretty nifty.  But more as an idea for some future project than as a purchase.

So that's it for one afternoon's worth of "treasure hunting."  I'm really digging my irons.  And now I'm curious to learn more about vintage sewing supplies (all I know now is don't buy old thread!).  Going to do a little research & then it's back out for some more antiquing!

Hershey Reunion (Round 2)

Home from our second annual "Simmons-Chang Reunion" at Hershey, PA.  We had so much fun last year, we decided to make it an annual event.

So glad we did.  We enjoyed another fabulous weekend together.  Caught up with each other.  Marveled over how fast the kids are growing up.  Shared some good laughs.  And experienced some unexpected "firsts"...

Friday evening did not start auspiciously.  Traffic delays and road closures turned a two hour drive into four for the Simmons.  They made it to the hotel right ahead of a massive rain storm.  We didn't let that bring us down though!  We ordered room service to our cottages.  The children set up camp inside a hotel room while the adults dined out on the patio.

Was it crazy?  Yes.  Definitely.  But it was also strangely cozy to have dinner on the porch (gals in the rocking chairs & guys standing about the table) as the pouring rain formed a cocoon about us and the rest of the world.

The rain continued off and on all day Saturday as well.  Would you believe our guys took the boys out to play ball for over two hours in rain?  Completely nutty.  But I bet our kids will never forget it.

The skies finally cleared Saturday evening.  Just in time for Ethan to experience his first campfire...

... And roast his first anything on a stick.  Little boy couldn't get over the sheer deliciousness of a puffy roasted marshmallow.

Sunshine at last on Sunday morning.  Park time.  While the other children went on their first rides of the day, Annie reminded me I had a promise to keep.  Ah, yes.  I hadn't forgotten.  I pulled face paints out of my purse and then did my best to make the kid smile.

It hadn't crossed any of our minds that our older boys might be big enough to explore the park on their own.  But that's exactly what all four adults simultaneously agreed to.

Can't describe Simon and Luke's surprised elation when we suggested they hit the roller coasters without both families trailing behind them.

What a happy-sad feeling I had as I watched my boy bounce away for his first taste of this new kind of independence.

I'd expected a repeat of last year's reunion.  Same weekend.  Same place.  Same plans.  Didn't quite work out that way.  But we sure did have a good time.  I wonder what new experiences next year will bring?

Ribbons & a Picture Frame

After helping all those kiddies work on the community weaving activity last weekend, I came home with the urge to make my own weaving project.

I started with an old wooden frame (8 inch by 10 inch in the center, 2 inch wide edge) and assorted ribbon.

Initially, I tried using a yarn about the frame for the warp.  However, once I started weaving ribbon through this, I decided I didn't like the look of it. I wanted something richer looking.  Something with more texture.

I switched to a pretty grey ribbon with a bit of a velvet on one edge.  Just under 1/2 inch wide.  Much, much better.

Next, it was time to weave my selection of ribbons through.  This took me longer than I thought it should.  I must admit to fussing a lot over color combination and tension.

Here's what it looks like from the back.  Yes, it's a bit of a mess, but this will be the only time anyone is looking at the back.

I secured an extra bit of the grey ribbon across the top for hanging purposes.

And that's all there was to this.

I still can't quite decide if I like my solo weaving endeavor.  Working with a little 8x10 wooden picture frame on my lap just isn't as cool as sitting before a life-sized freestanding frame.  This also limited the different ribbons I could use (not that I had a huge selection to choose from).

I suppose I like my results well enough... but given the opportunity to do this again, I choose that big group effort.