Summer fun and our Anniversary

There was a Vintage Grand Prix race in the Big City this weekend.
Vintage cars take to the track for a number of races. Actually, these are city streets and not a race track at all. A friend of ours, who was there, said there are only 2 places in the U.S. that use actual streets for races and that this is one of them. I'm not sure whether I should believe him or not as this same friend once threw me into a swimming pool at a graduation party. A graduation party that was on par with some of the swankiest weddings I've ever been to and a home we've never been invited back to.
Go figure.

We rode our bikes all over the place and tons of vintage cars were parked on the golf course that bordered the race track.

I told Hans that the fact that people walked and biked all over the course just gave the bad golfers a reason to bitch for the rest of the summer. I can hear the grumbling now..."Damned Grand Prix! The course hasn't been the same since all those idiots stomped all over the place!"

A group of cars headed our way.

One car flipped over at a turn but luckily it was a hard top and the 79 year old driver was unhurt. A year or so ago a car hit a wall and the driver was killed.

Hans is checking out a Lamborghini with a license plate that read 1OF34 (1 of 34). I would have bought it for him but I didn't bring enough money with me.

Maybe next year.

I think I'd rather ride around in this.The Wienermobile by Oscar Mayer.

It's license plate said OUR DOG.

Here we are beside a 1969 Pontiac GTO Convertible with its original sticker price of $4,000.00 in the window.

Four thousand dollars back in 1969!!!!!

Okay People!!!

What's wrong with this picture???

Actually, maybe nothing.

Perhaps they're just telling us something about themselves?

Yesterday was our 5th Anniversary of unwedded bliss!

What I got in the mail.

Recently, I found myself in need of some sewing supplies.

I like some of my purses to have adjustable straps and I wanted something other than the typical black plastic ones that you find at JoAnn's. I knew Nicole Mallalieu carried some in her store so I got online and started checking.
I also knew that she was going to start carrying ink jet transfer paper for fabric. There are only about a thousand different kinds of this stuff out on the market and I bought some myself but what I don't like about it is that it's so stiff.
Actually, this isn't paper, it's fabric. You print onto it, let it set, and then peel the backing off and it's ready to go.
I know that you can do something similar with freezer paper and muslin BUT I did some investigating (just call me Nancy Drew!) and found that these item's colors didn't hold up well with washing.

So there I am online looking around but I couldn't find the transfer paper. Rather than place two orders I decided I would email them for an answer first.
Now understand that I'm in the U.S. and Nicole is in Australia. I know all about time zones etc... as Hans places a lot of over seas, work related calls from our apartment since he can't do this during regular work hours. I sent my email with my question and figured I would hear from her company within a couple of days.
Imagine how shocked I was when I heard from Nicole herself almost immediately.
It was around midnight her time and she took the time to get back to me.
Talk about customer service!
In my opinion this is above and beyond the call of duty.


I received my adjustable tri-glides and more magnetic snaps as I just ran out. I also got some D-rings, and a fabric marker that will disappear with water OR over time. I like the idea of that.










Here is an applique mat. You put this between your fabric and your iron when using fusible webbing and the fusing gunk won't get all over your iron.
How cool is that!?

I see she's also revamped her Baguette and Day Bag patterns. I have the Day Bag pattern and I've made countless purses from it, and already have plans for more.



Now that we're back from Ireland I'm back to work at my house cleaning job and I've gotta tell you, it's kicking my butt!! I almost had to crawl into the apartment when I got done with my 8 hour shift yesterday and I was in bed by nine which is unheard of for me.
Thank God I'd put ribs in the crock-pot or I'm not sure what we would have had for dinner. I was thrilled that I only had to work about 3 hours today, but I'm back to 8 more hours tomorrow.
The upside of it all is that I sleep like the dead!
And there's nothing wrong with that!!

Wrapping things up in Ireland

We spotted a couple trying to take pictures of themselves by this statue so we offered to take a picture of them with their camera so they could be in it together. We ended up with three couples exchanging cameras all around and I think this is the only picture I have of Hans and I together on this trip.


When we were done, Hans looked at the name on the statue which said 'Phil Lynott' and asked, "Who the hell is that anyway?"


One of the other couples laughed and said, "It's Thin Lizzy and he was from Dublin."


I'm really surprised that Hans (being Mr. Music Man) didn't know that but now he does.














This is a guard station at the Dublin Castle.


With his white socks and black shoes I'm sure Hans would have made a fine guard back in the day.


Very commanding!


















Outside of the Guinness Brewery here are some horse drawn buggies.

See my umbrella? Well of course it's raining (remember we're in Ireland), and if you succumb to the 'I have to take something back to the kids guilt thing' then take along a water proof bag and don't for even one second trust the pretty bag that the Guinness people provide. By the time we walked from the tram station to our hotel in winds that literally pushed me backwards (thank God I had 8 big cans of beer from the off license in my shoulder bag as an anchor) that Guinness bag was in complete sodden shreds. Hans had to cross his arms over it and carry it against his chest and was just barely able to keep my stuff from blowing away.

Three thousand visitors at $15.00 euro each go through the Guinness Storehouse daily. It's the original and only Guinness Brewery in the world and along with beer sales and souvenir sales they have to be making a mint!!
Oh, they also originated the Guinness Book of World Records.


















Hans is at the Gravity Bar with our tickets which allowed us to a 'free' pint of Guinness.




Ignore the lady in front of him, I have no idea who she is.


















While I was trying to get a picture of Hans (you can see him in back of the guy on the right) these guys moved in the way and insisted that I get a picture of them.
No problem.
Everyone has fun in the Gravity Bar.


















It's very difficult to see but there is a shamrock figure in the top of the foam of each glass of beer. The bartenders do a little swirly thing at the end of pouring each glass.
Kind of like the DQ (Dairy Queen) curl.
Only I like this better.






So we left the 60 something temperatures of Dublin and arrived home at the Dulles airport to the 90 something temperatures and I'm more than glad to put my leather coat away.

Fabric from Dublin

First of all the fact that I was able to get to the tram line, navigate about Dublin all day by myself, and not get lost is a miracle in itself.

The fact that I was able to find a fabric shop is yet another.

I'm just a regular Miracle Worker this week.

A little off the beaten path is Murphy Sheehy & Co. and you can visit their website here. I got off the tram at the St. Stephen's Green stop where all the happening things are and it's within very easy walking distance. If you can't find it, ask. That's what I did.

It's a small shop with two floors of fabric rolls. I bought three pieces for bags. I wanted a piece from a roll on the upper floor so the proprietress brought her scissors up, snipped, ripped, and it was mine.

The same thing for two pieces downstairs. I didn't need full meters and they were also very wide so I got approximately 1/2 yard of each. I wasn't sure how much I was actually spending and I was thrilled when it only came to 2o euros!

A view up the stairs.

Here's the girl who was running the shop. So very friendly and cute as a bug!!

If you're going to Dublin stop in. I only wanted cotton fabrics but they have linen, wool, etc...

Just inside the front door.

This print caught my eye. I have no idea what kind of silly birds they are but I liked them.

This striped fabric isn't an exact match as the stripe is more red and the beaks on the birds are more orange but we went with it anyway.

I have a pair of my sunglasses lying next to it so you can see how big the print is.

I see I left a sun burst cookie cutter lying there too. I got that for my mother.

This is the print I found upstairs. Actually it's fully embroidered. The underside is as dense as the upper and each sea creature is attached by all the threads from its neighbor.

The fabric is a heavy but very soft cotton. It almost has a flannel feel to it and I forgot to ask for care instructions. I'll do some experimenting on it when we get home.

Tomorrow is our last full day here so we're taking the hop on hop off bus tour. I love those things!! In total it's about an hour and a half but you can get off anywhere you want and just pick up whatever bus you want when you're ready to get back on. The weather's not supposed to be the greatest but since we'll be visiting the Guinness Storehouse and The Old Jameson Distillery I don't think we'll mind.

Hello from Dublin

Hans and I landed in Dublin, Ireland yesterday morning and I'm just now getting caught up on seeing what everyone in blogland is up to.

We spent the long 4th of July weekend on our boat, and Baby Girl and a couple of college friends were able to come along. We had great weather and got in quite a bit of sailing. We anchored in Annapolis and St. Michael's and lucked out and caught the fireworks at each place. We were able to sit on the front sun pad of the boat and enjoy the show.

The unlucky part was when, even though there was a ton of water space available, a double-decker party boat anchored right beside us. I'm talking like 20 plus people including a lot of little kids, and some really bad and loud 80's music. There was a lot of dumping of people overboard (which apparently when your drunk is really, really funny!) and then two men (obviously not rocket scientists) climbed on top of the small roof on the second story of the boat. Even though this roof was never intended to hold men (drunk or otherwise), some even stupider people remained standing under it. Then amid loud cheering and encouragement they both jumped into the bay and much to my disappointment immediately bobbed to the surface.

Since they anchored far too close to us (a mile away would have been too close for me!) we prayed that they would leave right after the fireworks.

They didn't.

But just as we were trying to go to sleep and were sure that we were stuck for the night with them they hauled up their anchor and away they went. I almost cheered as I watched their pulsing green and blue disco lights fade into the distance.


We're in a relatively new hotel and they're trying for some funky theme that involves stark clean lines and clunky accessories. The lobby has all white upholstered furniture and includes a huge king size bed with a doughnut shape cut out and a table in the center.

Totally non functioning.

They also used chandeliers for lighting but they aren't hanging. They're just lying on the floor here and there.

Here is the floor length mirror in our room. It leans against the wall.

The mini fridge has sensors and if a bottle or can is removed you have 10 seconds to replace it or you get charged. We replaced their items with our items (bought in an off license) and when we use ours we immediately put theirs back.

We'll see if it worked or not when we check out.


We were exhausted when we arrived (I really struggle with jet lag) and were told our room would be ready.

It wasn't. We walked into an obviously used and yet to be cleaned room so when we headed to breakfast we let them know and they immediately upgraded us from a Queen room to a King room.

Here's the bathroom and I love a big bathtub. It's a good thing there is a tub though because I didn't want to wash my hair before going back out and the shower only has a huge shower head that's about 9 feet above you and only sprays straight down. No adjustments and no hand held nozzle just straight down.









Here's the view from outside the bathroom looking in.

I prefer more privacy in a bathroom but once again it's their funky decor.




























The bed. It has diffused lighting underneath and glows, if you want a nightlight I guess.

But I love the duvet's that I find in Europe. The cotton is always incredibly soft and smooth and I wish I could find something like it for home.





The little fellow below kept trying to eat this plastic bag. I felt sorry for him and threw him some crumbled cookie.




We walked around for far too long looking for an ATM that would work, stopped for a huge chocolate chip cookie at Starbucks because I was starved, and then finally started out for the tram line so we could get into town and eat.

After about a 2o minute walk (we were told it would take 7 and who really times this stuff?) that involved my stubbing my toe on a barricade, and bracing ourselves against the non stop Dublin wind we were just getting ready to go back to the hotel for better directions when we noticed a flood of people coming up some steps. Aha! It was the tram-line and I think they could do with some better signage!!



A view of a building from a walking park in St. Stephen's Green.

































The gate from inside the park.



We also had dinner at a place that offered buy one get one free entrees.

It was very good, Hans had beef and potatoes, and I had beef and shrimp stir fry.



Getting back was a lot easier since we knew where we were going and even at almost 9:30 it was still very light out.







Hans, looking very debonair, at the park, with our hotel umbrella. We won't be going anywhere without it!!






























Me, with jet lag (and a leather coat in July!).


I've already read one full book (Kate Wilhelm and I'm yet to be disappointed in her!) and I'm almost done with a Janet Evonovich book. It's Stephanie Plum in Fearless Fourteen. I quit reading her stuff somewhere around her eighth book because it started to get to be the same old same old, but I found this one lying around for free so I took it and I'm glad to say I am enjoying it. After that I have a Nevada Barr book and like Kate Wilhelm she's still good!

We're headed back out tonight and I think I'll see if I can find some fabric somewhere. I only want enough to make a purse so I can have my own souvenir of Ireland.

fabric and odds and ends and thoughts...

Thoughts first, and then I'll move on.

#1: I swear if I see Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson jump on someone else's band wagon one more time, I'll scream! They are the biggest media whores I've ever witnessed and they turn my stomach. Joe Jackson doesn't do a lot for me either.
#2: I hope Michael Jackson's children (who look so adorable, and so normal) stand a decent chance of growing up outside of the crazy media frenzy that will follow them the rest of their lives. But I doubt it will happen.
# 3: I love Michael's music, I will always love his music, and I swear if they play his songs at my funeral I'll crawl out of my casket and dance.
Eccentric or not that man was a musical genius.
Ok, on to fabric.


As soon as I got the call from the cleaning company that they were hiring me, I jumped on line and started looking for the appropriately themed fabric (I love the internet!!!).
I wanted Wash Day (I think it's a Michael Miller print but I can't be sure) , and of course it's no longer available. It was on EBay however, but it was something like $22.00 a yard.
I don't think so!!!
But I found this instead and I like it a lot more and for two yards plus shipping it came to around $20.00.
I can handle that.



Isn't is too stinking cute?
Wash tubs, scrubbing boards, clothes pins, hangers, bubbles.... it goes on and on.

I plan on making a tote bag or back pack or both I'm just not sure, but I have it sitting out where I look at it daily and wait for inspiration to hit.



I wish inspiration would hurry up.





Hans gave me a stuffed lion for our first anniversary (he's a Leo) and our collection has grown over the years. We also have a teddy bear, a moose, and a beaver amongst our menagerie.

They're placed on our bed every morning with orders to guard the place but I don't think they look very threatening.
Actually I wanted to take a picture of the quilt that Hans' late step mother made many years ago. It was one of those printed cross stitch bedspreads, not counted cross stitch.
However there is a tremendous amount of work in this cover and after it was done, it was quilted by hand, not machine.
We found it in storage when Hans moved into the apartment and it covers our king size bed.
I believe in using things and I'm sure his step mother would be glad it's being used.


Hans mother passed away when he was 19 and and when his father remarried he became very close to his dad's new wife. He can't say enough nice things about either lady, and that's probably why Hans is such a nice person.







Here is Chlorox joining the party.

Isn't she one pretty kitty?

Recycling....After (and purses of course!)

Since blogger loaded my pictures this way, we'll 'do' purses first.

Here are two of my Passport Purses. The one on the left is for my niece and the one on the right is for a friend who liked mine and wanted a black and white version.

I ended up keeping the Dragon print version for myself because the strap was too short for Baby Girl.

I knew that was going to happen!

But I'm glad because I really like it and I've been carrying it everywhere.




Each bag has its own matching change purse.
































A view from the top.

Each has a zippered gusset closure at the top.

Here it is, open.











And closed.

There are pockets on the front and back of the bag and they are held closed with velcro.

















The fabric that lines the pockets and creates a border at the top of the pockets is also used as lining for the inside of the bag.















Now the Recycled After T-Shirts.

As you know I recently took a job cleaning houses and I love it! It feels so good to just put my hair up, and go clean houses. Everything looks so nice when we leave. Floors are polished, bathrooms are clean, pet hair is gone, stoves and counter tops are de-greased, and everything smells good!

I'm not stuck behind a desk all day. I don't have to deal with office politics. I don't have to talk to customers all day and then listen to their financial woes! No more working evenings and weekends.

AND the pay is better.

But it's hot sweaty work and I needed some very light weight shirts. So I bought 8 X-Large Men's T-shirts and using Simplicity 4076 I made them into work shirts for myself.

I was able to cut out 5 shirts in all so that means the cost of each shirt is about $3.00


Not bad.


Here are three of them from the back.

I eliminated seam allowances on the armholes and neckline.

After sewing the shirt together I ran all the raw edges through my serger.

This was all about fast and easy!




Here they are from the front.




I have one cut out and ready to sew and I wore one (not shown here) today and it worked well.















This was on the front of one of the shirts and I have a feeling it was on the wrong rack at The Good Will and should have been in with the women's clothes.




I sincerely doubt that any man wore this.




This picture was on the back of the T-shirt so I just cut it out and sewed it onto the front at the bottom.




I couldn't let it go to waste!























This shirt just says it all!

Recycling... Before....

Today I went to the Good Will.

I haven't been there in ages so I left Hans at the apartment and took off.

I was disappointed to find that they no longer have any half off specials. Even the cashier said it was stupid and we both agreed that they'd move inventory through a lot faster if they offered some incentives. So it's no wonder that I spent over $45.00 but I got 8 men's T-shirts (for a project of mine, not for Hans), about 5 tops for me, a shirt for Baby Girl, and a $1.99 purse from which I intend to steal the hardware.

You can see my little helper, Chlorox decided to check things out for me. She went nuts when I threw these shirts on the floor and spent a lot of time happily sniffing everything. I'm half afraid to even think about what the attraction was!





Here are two more of the men's T-shirts.

I have a project in mind and will for the most part need two shirts for each one.


In some cases I'll only need one.

I didn't realize until I got home that these two actually match. See the next picture.

Is that not adorable??!

And the other peach t-shirt matches the little doggies skirt.

Back when I was two years old we acquired a dachshund and believe it or not I remember the trip, in my mother's friend's VW Beetle, to the house where we got out new pet. Yes, I was two but I do remember it.

His name was Pee-Wee, he was the runt of the litter, and for sixteen years he terrorized our neighborhood by biting everyone. He really did. Almost 50 years have gone by and just this week two of my friends were discussing him on Facebook.

And it wasn't pretty.

I was mortified!

So as I was saying, I had a plan for these shirts. I finished one tonight and I believe it will work. I will post pictures as soon as I finish all of them.

Tomorrow, Hans and I are going to a local tourist attraction that boasts being known as, The Best Architectural Design of the 20th century in the world! Even though Hans has lived here for over 30 years he's never been there. We're going to take our bikes with us and make a day of it.

You've seen my Recyclling ...Before pictures and I'll show you my Recycling....After pictures on Monday or Tuesday and I also have two passport purses I'm working on; one for my niece's high school graduation, and one for a friend who wants one.

Have a great weekend every one.

Another Simplicity shirt

This is the front wrap version of Simplicity 4076. When I wrote about the one I made with the twist front I said I would post pictures of this one.
Well, here it is.
This is a very stretchy jersey knit that I bought in Paris. I made a BWOF shirt from this same fabric last year and had a horrible time with it. The unbelievably simple answer was to use a stretch needle as opposed to a ball point needle.

Anyway, I like the top (I made a 10) except for the back neckline. It's way too baggy.
I think I'll make the neck band a little bit shorter on the next one and then use a size 8 on the back.









I pinned my hair up so you could see the back but it really doesn't look too bad here. But believe me it's very baggy.

Anyway, we found out we're going to Dublin, Ireland early next month, and I'd like to be able to wear some comfortable shirts that I've actually made on my own.
This trip came up suddenly so that means I need to get my new lap top back pack and matching passport bag made too.
I find that I work much better with a deadline.


On the job front, I started my cleaning job this week.
Wow, talk about working up a sweat! And boy did I ever sleep well after my first day.
I've already had the extreme of one house that was very sparsely furnished to a house that has more toys than I've ever seen in my life (and they were everywhere!!!) Since a lot of people work out of their homes these days there's been someone at each house we've cleaned and each owner has been very nice and pleasant.
If someone had told me a few years ago that I would have sought out this kind of job I would have said they were nuts but so far so good and I really think I'm going to like it!

Unveiling my Passport Purse

Well, that's what I'm calling it anyway.

Actually there's no real compartment or pocket in this purse that's designed specifically for a passport (although I will add an inner pocket in my next one for just this purpose).

This was my first attempt at this bag and I just got plain old lazy and tired of it by the end of the day, and decided that two pockets on the outside were enough for now.

I decided to use the dragon fabric remnants from this bag. It's all used up now but I kinda think I like this dragon thing!

Sally Stitch is wearing it across her chest like she might do if she were in a hurry and trying to catch her flight. (I let her have her dreams).



I made a 44 inch long fabric tube for the strap (1 inch folded in half, sewn with a 1/2 inch seam allowance, trimmed, and then turned right side out) and inserted a 1/2 inch cord with the help of a bodkin (isn't that a funny little name?) as I'm sick to death of safety pins coming undone halfway through the threading process and causing me all kinds of problems.

I hammered a grommet into the outside pocket panels (BEFORE sewing them to the outside of the actual bag). One grommet per pocket on opposing sides to balance the bag.






In order to keep things more secure I added a zippered gusset (I learned this technique from Nicole Mallalieu's purse patterns. She has the most professional patterns available, complete with very generous directions).
















I lined my outside pockets and made the lining fabric longer so that when folded the lining would create a border at the top.



Here is a pocket that's been pulled open and if you look hard enough you can see the strip of black Velcro sewn in place. I did this on the other side too.







Looking straight down on the bag here is the zipper gusset and I added a tab on the zipper for easier opening.


















See the grommet? There is another one on the opposite side too. I threaded the handle through the grommet before sewing it and the pocket to the bag body.
















I made this for Baby Girl but I just bet she complains that the strap is too short for her. If so I'll have her pick out the fabric she wants and she can give this to a friend. (But I'm really liking it so if she doesn't want it I think it will stay with me!)

I need to make one for myself (with an inner pocket) but since I want to make a new lap top travel bag, I'll co-ordinate it with whatever fabric I pick out for that.

That's it folks! Happy Sewing.