Such Treasures

Off and on since the weekend, I have been working on long sleeve wool t-shirts for the kids. This is the 100% merino wool (very soft) interlock from Covered Caboose. The wool comes natural in color. I use black thread because I am going to dye all the shirts in darker colors. I’ve finished constructing one shirt for each child.

Due to various circumstances (shrinkage…

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I usually make hot process soap, following the method in Handcrafted Soap by Dolores Boone, but this week I made cold process soap. I had been given a wooden soap mold and I was itching to experience the pouring of soap-brought-to-trace-but-not-fully-saponified into a prepared mold. Well, I experienced it. Can’t say that my life is any different now. The soap surely turned out…

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Here’s what we learned. If you want to skip all the stages of the “cooking” process, just boil over. You’ll go from trace to done in about 1 minute. (Instead of 3 to 4 hours.)

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Last weekend I sent out all the fabric and quilt blocks that were made and swapped by members of the T2CHK Message Board. This is our third year for having a quilt block swap and our second year having a fabric swap. We didn’t have as many participants in the quilt block swap this time, but those who did join in can add their 9-patches…

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Naomi was given this trunk by Jeff’s mom for her birthday, or perhaps it was Christmas. I am pretty sure the idea was that the box was so nice that it was worth giving to her (she really wanted a trunk) even though she might not love the color.

For some weeks now, Naomi has been asking me if we could repaint it. I promised yes and every day she…

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Here is an example of one of the (now eight) base layer t-shirts I made for my husband Jeff. The fabric is the regular 12-ounce 100% merino wool from Covered Caboose which I felted. I dyed all the shirts either black or chocolate brown. Two of the eight long-sleeve t-shirts are made from lighter-weight merino wool jersey, but not as…

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This morning I made nighties for my daughters from thrift store knit fabric. This was an actual piece of fabric, not a sheet as I used for my nighties. It was a 2+ yard piece and I think I only paid $2 for it. For the pattern, I started with their…

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Nightgowns are yet more useful garments that can be made from knit thrift store sheets. In my area, knit sheets cost around $2 to $3. Even if I only got one nightie out of each sheet, that’s a great deal! However, there’s fabric left in each sheet for another nightie or t-shirt for my daughters.

You may use any commercial nightgown pattern for a sleeveless…

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Naomi got the bug to paint today. We pulled down all my acrylic paints and had an art afternoon. I really enjoy being with my children, more and more all the time. I tried to show them how to do simple one-stroke leaves and daisies (like some on this painted mailbox and painted welcome sign), but that was too difficult for…

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