The Counterfeiter.

Well there it is! My new name. When I was searching for a name for my Etsy store, I was thinking about what best describes what I do and well counterfeiting came to mind. And really, thats what I do. Take something old, paint it, build it, or craft it into something new, making you feel that thats what it should have been all along.

So for example, my ceiling went from this...

...to this! A reclaimed tin ceiling, that husband says he'll never do again. (he says that a lot, and then does it again) You'd think it was there all along, but it hasn't.

An old door..

...to a new display unit for a local store. Sometimes it takes people a minute to realize its a door.

From vintage sheets and fabrics...

...to new aprons!

Doesn't it seem to just make sense that this fabric should be an apron!

So thats it! That's what I'll be selling in my Etsy store. Aprons !! It's not open quite yet, I'm still playing around with it, but  hoping to be up and running by the end of the week. :)

Why Yes that is a sheet I'm wearing!

I am beyond thrilled with this skirt so far, for a couple of reasons.

First-I made a pattern for a circle skirt myself. I got the instructions from Gertie's book, a book that I bought myself last year, with tons of patterns in it. It also has great sewing advice. But this is a simple circle skirt and you can find instructions on the internet here. There are more sites and lots of ideas to find on pinterest, but I like how that site showed you how to make so many different looks from the same pattern.
I myself love how easy Gertie's made it in the book.

Heres me making this pattern. Its a whole math, pi thing.

Using tools from the garage and my own handy dandy ruler.

My giant compass used for the skirt and the waist, and using my handy dandy ruler to join the dots.

And done. I think you get the gist of things.

You may think that the circle skirt is a blast from the past and your right, but it still shows up in todays fashion too.

pinterest

Secondly- Yes this is one of my vintage sheets I'll be wearing. Actually its two because I made the underskirt from a white sheet as well. It was a heavier sheet so this skirt has lots of body to it, but I still will be wearing my petticoat underneath to give it a little more flair. You can just see the white sheet peeking out, on my unhemmed skirt.

I used french seams , meaning everything is incased and there are no raw edges, making this a skirt I can throw in the washer and hang to dry. Give it a good iron and I'm off to the races.

But the hemming, oh the hemming. On a circle skirt it takes what seems like forever.

I measured  26 inches down from the waistband which will give me a 1 inch hem, but for the underskirt I'm actually giving it a 1 1/2 inch hem giving me a half inch clearing for the overskirt. So when finished my overskirt length will be 25 inches, with an underskirt at 24 1/2 inches (Phew, I told you its a math thing)

I measured the entire skirt from my waist at different intervals and then joined the dots, then I trimmed away excess. (One day I'll own a pretty little dress form making this so much easier, but for now this is my method)

Heres something else I like to do. I iron up the hem, then sew a little stitch close to the edge, and then hand sew the the raw edges. Overkill I know, but I like how it gives me a stiffer hem edge. 

Warning- you will have excess fabric to ease into this type of hem.

 

I've also done a different hem on a another skirt. I took extra wide ribbon folded and ironed and then machined sewed it to the skirt. I liked like shiny against the black.

 So heres the price breakdown for this project as follows.
$4.00 for the sheets
.10 for the zipper.

You can't beat that for a new vintage skirt. :)

New Name, New Venture

I've been Sugar Shack for a while now, but thats about to change. I've been thinking, and thinking, and thinking about this for a while. Opening my very own Etsy shop. Two of my daughters have one and have had success, so I'm thinking (again with the thinking) I could do this.
Since the Sugar Shack is a name linked to a lot of different ideas from candy to cookies, to me, finding that Esty name not being used, can be tricky. So in the next couple of days you may see my name change. So don't leave, its still me, I'm still here.

And Ohhhh wouldn't it be fun if one day I was a brick and mortar store! But alas, I  do have a tendency to get ahead of myself,  I'm just excited to start somewhere.  Ahhh but a girl can dream can't she? :)

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Yesterday our church did something they haven't done in a while. Put together a bit of a mystery dinner. You could either sign up to be a host or a guest. As a host you put down the number of people you can accommodate and as a guest how many will be going. You have no idea who will be arriving on your doorstep till the day of as a host, or whose home you're going to be going to as a guest.
I signed up as a host, and I will have to tell you that it was a fair bit out of my comfort zone. The not knowing began to get to me a little, the night before. But since I want to step out of being comfortable all the time, this really was a good thing and turned out to be such a fun thing to do.

Now for the food. The other thing you begin to wonder, are they going to like what you've made, so you cross your fingers and hope. I believe what I made turned out alright and here it is.

Lasagna Soup. I found the recipe on pinterest but didn't actually pin it or like it, silly me. Not on purpose but because it was so simple, I just added the ingredients to my shopping list, and memorized it. Now I can't find this recipe. So if its yours, please speak up so I can give you the credit you deserve!

 Here it is.

900 ml of chicken broth
1 340 ml can of diced tomatoes
1 340 ml can of pureed tomatoes
1 pd ground meat of your choice.
1 lg onion
1-2 cloves garlic
6-8 crushed lasagna noodles or 1/2 box pasta of your choice.

Brown your meat and sauté your onions and garlic.
Add everything else, but the pasta. Simmer away.

Cook your pasta separately till its almost done and then add it to the soup, along with a cup of the pasta water. Simmer a little longer until noodles are completely cooked.

Season your soup to taste. I added a bit of Italian seasoning to mine.

Garnish with a spoonful cottage or ricotta cheese

and top with a healthy dose of mozzarella

See, super simple, and it was quick to make. I also think it would make a great crock pot soup, but again add your pasta at the end in the same manner as above, or you'll have very soggy noodles.

Since this is the winter that won't end, its a great one to add to your comfort food list. :)

A Little bit of Sunshine.

After Season 4 of "Downton" was finished, I was feeling a little ho hum, and so the British lover in me needed a British fix. In walked " Call the Midwife". I was not disappointed. (but since I just finished watching season 3, I'll soon be going into withdrawal again.)

Of coarse while watching, I've analyzed everything from furniture, to the clothes they wear. And oh have I been drawn to those cute sweaters that Jenny Lee wears. But this yellow one was the one that caught my eye.

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But since  bright yellow looks a little off on me, I thought I might warm it up a bit. I picked Knit Picks

cornmeal in palette yarn. Here it is so far.

And low and behold Jenny showed up in this little sweater. If your thinking I'm crazy and they're the same sweater, they're not, I checked. Totally different design and colour. Its kind of hard to tell but my  yarn colour is more like the second sweater.

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 And you had better believe I've got a little red number all lined up too, but I'm saving that one for Christmas. :)

My very first Sweater.

Here it is....my very first sweater.

I had such high hopes for me and my sweater. We were going to spin around on the hilltops of Austria singing. It was going to be such a grand adventure, but all hope was lost when I made a huge mistake.I eyeballed miscalulated how much yarn it would take to finish. My mom had given me some of her yarn overflow and I thought there would be plenty. You can see where  I switched to a funky coloured blue and then to grey to finish, which I almost ran out of too.

What I was going for was a 1940's farm girl feel, to the sweater, so I actually shortened it slightly from the pattern. Which by the way came from the Craftsy class on " My first Sweater". It was a great class and I learned a lot.
So I'm pretty sure if I wore this to do some farm work, the cows wouldn't mind the few oops I made.              
                                                                                     :)

Optimizing 2 of the 3 R's

As most of you know ( and if you haven't guessed by now) I'm a big reuse, recycle, compost kind of a girl. Its my goal this year to reduce my carbon footprint, even if its by a tiny bit. And I believe I'm off to a good start, doing just that. I've already reduced my garbage output, and my gardens are going to thank me for all the lovely compost I've dumped on them this winter. I've not bought one stitch of new clothing, only made myself new things with stuff I've already had or if i did buy new, it was a renewable resource like wool to make sweaters.  Oooorrrrrr I've boughten from the thrift store!!!

One of these lovely printed vintage sheets is going to be my Easter Skirt!

So far I've made jama pants, and kids spring/summer/fall hats. Aprons and a skirt is up next. There are a couple of things to remember when buying them. Top sheets are the way to go for sewing, but don't discount the bottoms, even if they are slightly worn. Tear them up and crochet yourself a rug! You could put these lovelies on your bed as well. Some are like brand new, and were probably saved for special guests, and who wouldn't want to crawl in between these pretty little things. :)