Rendezvous and I'm Through with Shoes

Now that I can sew whatever I want and run my machine into the ground I thought I'd try shoes. Or slippers. Martha Stewart slippers. I started with a pair for myself and made every mistake possible. First, I was using felted sweaters I bought from thrift stores which have more stretch than felt. (The sole is a wool jacket with hardly any stretch). So the pattern for size 8-1/2 was a bit too big. I tried to adjust them and ended up with slippers that aren't exactly the same shape. At least the stripes matched.
I tried again. This time I used a smaller pattern and it seemed to have worked. I just have to wait for my husband to come home and try them on.
Also the pattern is supposed to have the seams facing out. And usually I like a more modern look, but I think they look better inside out.
I wish I had something funny to say. But I hurt my butt. And apparently that's where I store my comedy. Let's just say I'm very funny.

Eats Shoots and Leaves

My sewing machine is fixed! With a warranty that will allow me to break it for two years and get it fixed for free! I can totally do that.
I made a bag for a friend and had this one next in line when the timing on the machine went bananas.
I was really excited about this one, too! The embroidery is from a pillow case my grandma left me when she passed away. And I found the rosey fabric to match. And to balance the shabby chic: green zebra.
It's for my sister. A girly girl who could use some extra girly in her life right now.
Hope you like it, panna panna!

Foxy Bread

I had to take my sewing machine in to get it fixed. So I took both kids down the street to the repair place and parked out front. I now had to get both boys and my sewing machine inside the store at the same time. I was suddenly in the middle of a logic puzzle. I'm a farmer and I have to get a chicken, fox and chicken feed across a lake. But the boat can only hold two at a time. So I carried the chicken and feed and left the fox unbuckled in the car with instructions to hop out and push the button to close the door. When stuff like that happens, stuff like trying to run errands with two babies, I start to feel overwhelmed and worry that I'm not living each moment, but trying to get to the next one.
So I decided that I needed to learn how to bake bread. I've always been scared of yeast. It's alive? Eats sugar? So I skip right over recipes with rising times. But now I'm kneading and proofing and baking. I started with some recipes from King Arthur Flour. And even went to a gourmet store for instant yeast. Which changed the game. My first two loaves didn't rise enough. But we're delicious, if not a little dense.
This time I started a loaf, which required me to soak oatmeal in boiling water and wait for it to cool. And, I fell asleep. So I had to re-lukewarm it.
It's keeping me on my toes, this bread thing. It won't let me lolly gag. Or be a flibbertigibbet.
And hopefully it will help me slow down. Although, I think all the carbs will do that for me.

Mmmmm, tastes like acrylic.

I was looking for play food for the boys and realized a few things. The plastic stuff is ugly, with bad colors, the wooden stuff is awesome but leaves a mark and the felt food is expensive. Unless you make it yourself. I found some nice sets, a lot of them were gender specific, heavy on the bow and what not, and they cost more than I was willing to pay for food that will probably end up in the dirt. So, I bought a ton of play felt for $6 and went to work.
I think it turned out okay, except that there weren't enough colors to get a noticeable difference between the whole wheat bread and the peanut butter. I was hoping for a folk art yellow, but only found glitter felt.
I took these pictures right before handing them over to the boys. My three days of research, pattern design and construction needed to be recorded before the inevitable.
It took about five minutes before I found one of the eggs in the dog water.