A shout out to Grandma!

Who is lending me her sewing machine until I can obtain a replacement...



Mary Poppins wishes you a Happy Halloween!

As people may have guessed, this Halloween I was "practically perfect in every way."  My Mary Poppins costume was inspired by both the classic movie and the Broadway show.  I utilized Simplicity pattern 2581 to create a cherry red coat and trimmed it with black braid and large black buttons.  I also made a white button down shirt embellished with vintage lace and replaced the top button with a red silk bowtie attached to a stick pin.  I self drafted a gored skirt sewn from navy wool.

My favorite detail may have been the umbrella.  Deciding that the "official" Mary Poppins umbrella from Disney was too rich for my blood, I purchased a black umbrella from target and removed the handle. 

I then sculpted a parrot head from Sculpey clay.

After the handle was baked and hardened, I painted the parrot and attached it to the umbrella handle. 



I think this project was a great success.  My costume was popular with both trick-or-treaters and late night adult revellers! 

Mary Poppins meets the Doctor...

and is NOT intimidated!

Green Tomatoes

I realized that my poor tomatoes (which have been the same size and color for over a month) were not going to last much longer ripening on the vine in our increasingly cooling climate.  So I decided to take the plunge, harvest the darn things, and see how well they ripen indoors.  A dedicated purusal of various gardening blogs have provided me with a lot of bizarre advice that I have no intention of dealing with... Let's be honest here, if I wrapped each tomato individually and stored them in a dark closet, I would remember them when the rotting smell eventually became too pungent to ignore.  So instead I am putting them in a colander on my counter.  And I shall see what happens.

In other news, here is a cat!