gaysknits

finally....

something is finished!  this is something i will wear and love.  yay!  this vintage crochet bodice was given to me by a friend who buys and sells crap. he has crap coming out the wazoo believe me i have seen his crap and it is piled high to the ceiling.  lucky him huh? any way he gave me this and i said oooh i can make something out of it and i did just that!

most of what i am saying i have said already. but i'll be saying it again.  i chose to make this out of muslin. i looked and found nothing else that i liked better which was a good thing because muslin is cheap and matched the crochet piece perfectly.

 

his had to be bleached because it was so stained but it survived the bleach and looks perfect.  it is not perfect but you'll never notice. it is old and of course because it is old it has some parts that are unraveling just like myself.  much unraveling going on here.

anyway i do not crochet nor do i understand the concept so i repaired the unraveled parts wth a needle and thread and maybe you would notice but maybe not.  this is grandma meets alabama chanin and that's what i'll call it...grandma alabama.

my grandma did lots of things and crochet was not one of them but someones grandma crocheted this and because they did i decide to sew the top by hand which is something i love to do anyway.  no pattern was used i just cut the fabric on the biase and attached the bodice to the bottom then seamed the sides.

i wanted to combine some of the applique that i love so much from the alabama chanin website and using the muslin fabric i used for the  top i made some interesting appliques. i put a few tucks in the back to gve it some shape and to mimic the pattern in the crochet i added a diamond shape on the back.

the flower in the front also mimics the pattern in the diamonds of the crochet and to mimic the tucks in the back i added some pieces of fabric in the same position on the front.  i like it.

now on to some knitting. i have a new baby in the fam to knit something for and a fish hat will be perfect since this baby will be raised by the sea and on the water...we love the water in my family and this family is no exception. so a fish hat it is...on a much smaller gauge of course to fit a baby and mom is in need of some cheering up so a hat or something is in order for her as well.  can you stand it knitting is going to be happening!!!  later...love   g

i am by no means ready to call this...

done although i have made significant progress and certainly enough progress to warrant an update on the matter. i started this while on my vacation when was that again??? i attached to top to the body that week and left in in a wad of fabric until a few days ago.  i didn't have the time until then but i was also somewhat undecided about a few things and as it turned out all it took was some time and i was able to just finish it.

i never did make a definitive decision about how to finish it i just finished it. decisions are hard to come by these days for me anyway. the only decision i have made lately is to make no decision so there you have it. i am quite sure i am not finished with this yet i have a few finishing touches left to make. shape is one thing that may change as a result and some applique will be added.

i also like the idea of sewing on some ecru cotton yarn but i don't have any and i'm not sure a trip to the yarn store is gonna happen but it may be just the finishing touch i'm searching for.  i plan to work on this some more tonight and the next time you see it photographed it will either be done or it won't.  it will be another progress shot or it will be finished and modeled.  one or the other. this has been sewn completely by hand to honor and to do justice to the vintage crochet bodice and one thing i know for certain is hand sewing is something i find quite relaxing and entertaining.  machine sewing is for the birds...you couldn't pay me to like that! later...love   g

true to my word...

i predicted that i would not be able to keep up with daily self portraits.  once in a while will have to do...for now. this summer is way busier than i thought it would be. the boat is in the water and lots of fun is being had there. me and the river go way back starting from wading and swimming to rock climbing to kayaking to boating and now tubing.  next up is knee boarding and if i am really brave i may trying water skiing. hmmm.  today was a monday that dragged on endlessly while i suffered from body aches and pains and an ache from my shoulders to my skull...tubing took a larger toll than i ever expected and i have discovered i am way too old to keep up with the youngladygrandaughter when it comes to such things.  in spite of my aches and pains  i still had plenty to do when i got home from work.  i haven't addressed this issue as much on gaysknits as i have on my facebook page where it gets daily mention but i work for the state and in pennyslvania we have no budget that has been approved by the legislators for this fiscal year.  as a result we employees are not getting paid until a budget is approved. mind you i am not working for free exactly because i will get paid at some point when the budget is passed but until it is i will receive no compensation for the work i am still required to do every day, every week, every month that this goes on. our credit unions and some banks are offering budget impasse loans but the credit union i belong to is offering only a limited amount per pay date and that amount is substantially less than the amount of my pay.  i will cope. i will cut back. i will make due but i will not do so without grudge. tomorrow our union is having statewide breakouts during our lunch halfhour and we will be wearing the colors of our union and carrying signs and protesting the legislators refusal to approve a budget, hire enough staff to do the job, cut back on government waste and you know...give us a pay check for an honest days work so we don't have to beg, borrow and feel stressed out  and vulnerable.

tonight i made signs and sewed letters on a t shirt to wear tomorrow. another day i will tell you about our fun day on the river tubing accompanied by plenty of pics but for now i need some sleep and a muscle relaxer but this will  have to do!   later...love   g

something is better than nothing and...

although i am not knitting sometimes a picture says...

a thousand words.

later...love   g 

you're as handy as a pocket on a shirt...

years ago a co worker of mine used to say to me and i found it quite endearing. i found her quite endearing as well.  she commented regularly and used to love my assortment of white blouses. she was a funny, charming irish woman with a wonderful laugh who loved a piece or white irish linen and i always had plenty.

 

i am one who always falls for an embroidered linen blouse or a cotton blouse especially  with a little peasant style to it or a tunic or a little camisole maybe with a few beads on it. mostly you find these on the racks in summer time and nothing is as handy as a crisp white top over just about anything on any summer day.

my latest aquisition in the white blouse category has a little blue thread work on it just to keep it interesting but it still qualifies as a little white top! after some consideration i decided to  go for the unbleached muslin with the vintage crochet bodice.

the  color matched perfectly and i like the clean look of  whites and unbleached muslin is in the category of things i like the look of for summer.  so it's settled.  i plan to merge the vintage crochet lace with a little alabama chanin...old meets new so to speak. i may have to buy  myself that book it's been on my hint bug list for a few years now. 

anyway i dislike sewing and have only a machine that i rescued from the trash heap  when the daughter was throwing it away and i use it only for repairs  or an occasional grandaughter project.  i really should get a new machine but...nah!  when i do a project like this i like hand sewing.  especially if i plan to incorporate some alabama stich book techniques...which i plan to do. i have of course not started this project yet either but i leave you with my whites and my dreams of more of them.  later...love   g