Sewing Project #3 - Bricks and Cobblestones Scrap Quilt

This was a baby quilt I made for a friend a few weeks ago. I found the pattern free at http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpatternsprojects/ig/Free-Quilt-Block-Patterns/Bricks---Cobblestones-Quilt.htm. It is a great way to use up small pieces of cloth, and the picture does not do it justice as it is striking. A most obnoxious mix of colors and patterns!

I used solid pink for the back, and went along the edges of some blocks in a random pattern with my sewing machine, so it kind of ends up looking like computer circuity. (This anchors the 2 sides of the quilt together. Sorry - no photo!) I also made 2 black ties of 18 inches so the blanket could be folded in half, and "rolled up like a burrito" and tied. (My daughter likes her blankets like that to drag around.) I made a small cloth bag for carrying with a pocket on it and poof! Instant gift bag as well.

This can be made in any color scheme and size and it great to do incrementally. You can do it all at once if you need to, but I made this whole thing in 2 feverish days for an early-arriving baby and it was tiring. Happy sewing!

I am back!

Well, it has been a non-productive month or so on our house. The vehicle we use to haul stuff (old El Camino) needed work, so that took our house money for a while. We also got robbed of all our tools at our work site, so that is a setback as we still have not replaced them. (Don't you hate a thief?) And the heat was wicked hot!

But things are looking up! Through a swap meet in Oklahoma City and putting out the word elsewhere, my partner is getting rid of some excess Harley parts and turning bike parts into a home for us. So we will be back on track. We also garbage picked a small section of usable fence for our house, and two great chairs with wrecked cane bottoms that need very little work and cost someone else a pretty penny. I do so like picking things from the garbage pile! The chair I am sitting on now was trash, as was the black bench the cat and purse are sitting on. And those were Chicago trash at that!

Here are a few pictures to bring us up to date. We went to an "Artwalk" event with lots of dressed-up dogs, and Starry and Tim got to ride a Segway. Now Starry wants one for Yuletide! We got to see a colony of bats that were very impressive and cute, along with being very stinky!

I made a purse out of some jeans that Starry was too big for, and now she wants the purse because they were her jeans. She wants a lot of things! The cat is my partner's horrible animal, a wild-domestic hybrid called a Bengal Cat. It is pretty, but bad-tempered and dumb as a rock. Some of them must be nice, though, or people would not be shelling out big bucks for these speckled menaces! More to come...

Sewing Project #2 - Double-duty Homemade Panties

I am a thong and g-string type of person. Butt floss all the way. I usually buy socks and panties in bulk, 10 or 20 at a time, which is great for matching things, but sucks when they all start to get too worn to wear. So, when my underwear all started to die at the same time, I decided I would start to make it rather than buy it. (I will start to crochet socks this fall as it cools off.) I experimented with making g-strings out of old t-shirts and elastic, and got very good results. But I did not have many t-shirts to use, and that would have meant I needed to buy more stretchy cloth. So, I decided to find a way to make panties out of the literally 100's of yards of cotton non-stretchy cloth that I currently have in my possession. Now I have one of many quirks - I require that everything I make or use has at least 2 uses. How could I make panties that had another use? I mean, panties are panties, right? Well, if my panties covered way more than a g-string does, then I would not need to cover up for my embarrassed 20 year old son or a surprise visitor. (I hang out at home in panties with or without a tank top.) This led me to my double-duty panties that are also shorts. They fit like "boy shorts" panties and are very flattering. Yes, a far cry from butt floss, but I swear they are the most comfortable panties I have ever worn and still meet the sexy factor for my partner.

I used a very simple pattern for this; New Look #6494 which has a pattern for shorts, relaxed pants, and a skirt. It costs $3.94 and says it is a "1 Hour Pattern." I have made a skirt from this and the pattern is very good. I may make the long pants for long underwear this winter. From cutting to finished panty, it was right about one hour so the name is totally accurate. Anyway, you want a very simple pattern with 4 pieces (cutting 2 each of a front and back) only for simplicity. And it should be cheap because there is not much to it!

I followed the directions for the shorts up until the waistband part. This pattern has a more complicated waistband on it, but I just folded it over and ran some 1/4" elastic through it for ease. Panties have a cotton crotch in them that is at least 2 layers thick. I made a crotch section from 3 layers of light cotton flannel-like cloth - about 8" x 3". I pinned it in the inside of the panty, and then "topstiched" both the seams from the outside so the crotch stays put and looks like the rest of the garment. See, when this is all you are wearing, no one needs to know this is a panty! I also put a bit of ribbon in the front because the front and the back are almost exactly the same and I was putting them on backwards and feeling "pinchy" all the time. Never let it be said I do not know my ass from a whole in the ground!

You can make these from any remnant cloth, old sheets, pillowcases, shirts or the like. I have a few of the prettiest ones hanging from my indoor clothes line for your viewing pleasure. These are very comfortable, and do not "show" under even my skin-tight jeans. I just push the waistband down a bit and no one can see any of these panties. You could also alter the pattern a bit and make some great high cut panties the same way if you did not care about wearing them around the house and freaking your visitors or children out. Use up your cloth stash and save wear and tear on your fancy store-bought panties with some of these babies, and let me know how you like them!

Freedom Lodge #1 - Our DIY Mortgage-Free House

As I mentioned earlier, my partner and I are in the process of making a rural house 15 miles outside of Abilene, TX. The land we have been given is 4 acres of the crappiest sand and bull nettles you have ever seen, complete with tons of junk and 3 dead school buses. But, it is free, it is rural, it has water and electricity to it, and it is in the process of becoming home! An absolute miracle for us as we have no $$ for land. As we can in the next 2 years, we will get "off the grid" with solar and wind power for electricity and to get the water out of our well easily and for free.

These first pictures are not the true start of this project, but we had no camera and no forum to post info, and so we did not document the foundation of this home. The foundation is extensive - 20 concrete and rebar piers with a "Sonotube" of garbage aluminum siding. We will be building a huge covered wooden deck as soon as we get out there full-time, and then we will document the foundation work at the end. Backwards, and I am sorry, but we will be detailing everything as extensively as possible for anyone else who wants some pointers in building their own house as cheaply, though safely and decently, as possible. That all being said, we are the proud owners of a 16 x 24 foot platform that will be the bottom floor of this 2 story, 2 bedroom "Freedom Lodge." It is being called thus because it gives us freedom from rent, mortgage and close neighbors.

Today, we started at the crack of dawn due to the 103 degree heat. We dug a trench and installed metal 1/2" x 1/2" screen along the whole bottom of the platform. This will keep rodents from making a home under ours, and we will worry about closing it in from insects later. I also did some maintenance on our outhouse and path to it, and I have decided that I may be the only Outhouse Maintenance Engineer in existence at this point. Correct me if I am wrong! I also gave myself a sore wrist clearing another path in the woods with a machete for relocation of our outhouse. I did such a good job making a private and cool place for the outhouse from fallen branches, that we have decided to fill in our hole and put a table and chairs in the area for a cool and quiet retreat. I think we will call it the "Crapper Cafe." Yes, I like to name things! More to come next week as we finalize our passive solar design and start to raise the walls with some help...

Sewing Project #1 - Homemade reusable toilet "paper"

Ok, this one might sound crazy to you because most of the people I know told me it was nuts, but we are in the process of phasing out toilet paper in our house. While we are still living in town until we finish our rural house, we use toilet paper for #2 around here, and reusable toilet cloths for #1. They have been named "Squangles" by my daughter, and Squangles they shall remain. You can name these things anything you want. Have fun with it and get the kids involved. (Zerbots, Quergies, Squarmies - the list is endless!) So, if you want to greatly reduce your toilet paper usage, give this a try.

You will need - Some amount of Flannel cloth. Remnant bins can have small amounts of this for very cheap, and you will get a few different colors. I made mine pink and purple as we have a lot of clothes those colors and wash at least one load a week. How much you need will depend on how many cloths you want to end up with. I made mine the size of a large index card, 8 x 5, so a yard of cloth should yield around 25 cloths. You will need a container with a lid to put used cloths in until washing. You also need a sewing machine or a whole lot of time on your hands to do this by hand.

1. Cut the cloth. Figure out exactly what size you want and how to best utilize the cloth you have.

2. Zig Zag the edge of the cloths. One time around should do it just fine. The cloth will fray a bit, but not badly and it is much quicker to do it once than twice, especially if you make a lot of these.

3. Optional - basket or box. You'll want someplace tidy and clean to keep your cloths before use.

4. Put your used cloths in your container. I just put them in my container and wash them once or twice a week when I wash the same colored clothes. On the floor next to the toilet is a good place for a container.

5. Optional - scent. If the odor of unwashed cloths is offensive, you can add a small amount of scented baking soda to the container. I will warn you though, a slight chemical interaction occurs with the baking soda and it may discolor your cloths a bit. They just end up kind of tye-dye looking. I use 10 drops of essential oil in one cup of baking soda for deodorant.

6. Wash and dry your cloths. These can be washed with regular laundry with no special care. I wash mine in cold water with my homemade laundry soap and vinegar and dry them either on the clothesline or in the dryer as the weather permits.

When we get into our rural house with our composting toilet, we will be using newspaper instead of toilet paper for #2. I'll keep you posted on that as it happens!

(If you want to use these to eliminate ALL toilet paper usage, I would recommend using white flannel and putting the used cloths into bleach water until washing in hot water, detergent, and non-chlorine oxygen bleach just like cloth diapers.)

Product Recipe #2 - Homemade Combination Bug Repellent and Stop Itch

This Bug Repellent/Stop Itch works very well. It keeps bugs away, and if you happen to get bit before you put it on, it stops the itching or stinging from a bite. It does not sting or burn either when applied to a bite and is kid-approved for not hurting by a qualified 6 year old tester, my daughter, Starry Sky. It smells very good as well. This is NOT a cheap recipe as these oils can be pricey, but it is all natural and safe for everyone who does not have an allergy or sensitivity to any of the ingredients. Certainly better than dangerous chemicals!

You will need - Eucalyptus Oil, Citronella Oil and Tea Tree Oil. Use only 100% oils, not blends of any kind.

How much you use depends on how much end product you desire. The ratio is 50% Eucalyptus Oil, and 25% each of Citronella Oil and Tea Tree Oil. You just need to mix it in a container with a good tight-fitting lid. You could also put it in a spray container, but being all oil, I would think it might leak everywhere and a bottle with a tight-fitting lid would be a better option. Just dab it on and spread it around!

Product Recipe #1 - Homemade Laundry Soap and Fabric Softener

Very cheap and efficient Laundry soap with no animal products. Costs me around $4 for a huge gallon, and you only use 1/4 to 1/3 cup depending on dirtiness of clothes or size of load. This soap will not make a lot of bubbles. Don't worry, bubbles do not clean anything, so you do not need them! And if you keep these items on hand, you will never run out of laundry soap. This takes about 10 minutes total to make.

You will need - around 1.5 grams or 5 oz of bar soap. This will be 2 small or 1 large bar. I use Chandrika Ayurvedic Soap because it smells great, cleans fantastically and has no animal products. You do not need essential oil with strongly scented soaps. Fels Naptha is nowhere near as natural, but it works very well.
1 cup natural dish soap - I use Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds. I would think you could use any dish soap as you are not using much of it, but I have not used conventional dish soap.
2 cups baking soda
2 cups Borax laundry booster
12 cups water
(100 drops essential oil - totally optional)
Grater of some sort, slotted stirring implement, large pot, funnel

1. Grate the soap. This takes less time than you think and is a good project for older kids with supervision. Grate it as small as possible. If you grate it in the pot you use for cooking it, you will save a step.

2. Add all water and start on medium heat. This can be done on a stove, or outside on a grill or fire. Just make sure to not let this boil over as it will make a big mess, but your stove will be very clean!

3. When soap is dissolved, add all other ingredients. I add dish soap first, then baking soda and borax a little at a time while stirring. Add oil now if using.

4. Stir out the lumps. I keep smashing little lumps until the soap is smooth. Turn off the heat when the lumps are gone. THIS SHOULD NOT BOIL! IT SHOULD JUST GET VERY WARM!

5. Bottle your soap. I use a one-gallon bottle from vinegar with a good lid. It is more sturdy than a milk or water bottle. Using a coffee cup and the funnel, I put the soap into a bottle and let it cool outside with the lid off for a few hours. A bucket with a lid would work as well, and then you do not need to use a funnel; just pour it in carefully.

6. Use and enjoy! I hold onto the lid and turn the whole bottle upside down once before using to make sure it is well-mixed. You could stir it up with your measuring cup for a bucket. Use 1/4 cup for small or lightly soiled loads, or 1/3 cup if you need it. If your soap seems too thick, just add some more water and adjust your need accordingly.


Fabric softener. First of all - if you are going to go natural and/or homemade, you need to get the idea that clothes washed in an apartment in December are ever going to smell "April Fresh" out of your head. I had a hard time with this one. I was a fabric softener junkie! But I have gotten used to clean clothes with a bit of scent and that is good enough. Also, the vinegar removes the last bit of soap your washer might not. Your clothes are cleaner by using vinegar.

You will need - White vinegar and essential oil. That is pretty much it.

I use 1/2 cup vinegar and 5 - 10 drops of essential oil per load, depending on load size. You do not need to mix this up, just add it separately or the oil will settle unevenly in the vinegar while sitting on your shelf. I have a softener dispenser, but you can also add it right to rinse water. I would not add it without rinse water in the washer as the vinegar and/or oil might stain something. Good oils to use - lavender, orange, jasmine, patchouli - the list is endless. If you added oil to your soap, you might pick the same one for continuity of scent.

What a long, strange trip it continues to be...

Today marks a departure for me. I will no longer lament that the hippie/deadhead community that I am used to does not exist in the manner I am accustomed to in my new location. I will endeavor to find and make the community I want in the place I am. The old "Bloom where you are planted" axiom put to actual use. This is an excellent day to start my new mind-set as I have been cleaned by ritual smudging last night and I am now shiny and new - well, at least my aura is!