July 2023 – Mary's Musings

Garden Update July 31,2023

Every year the garden is different. This year we started season in a drought so watering every day was necessary. Now, in July, we’ve had over 8 inches of rain! Basically, the lettuce and radishes in the raised planters did well. They were easy to water when it was dry and drained well when it was very wet. The Romaine lettuce is starting to make heads.

The sweet potato in a pot has survived having most of the leaves chomped off several weeks ago by the deer. It has recovered well and is now sending out runners…not sure if the roaming bunnies will find it yummy.

In the next week or so, we’ll dig up the beets. The tops were a nice snack for the deer a few weeks ago that slowed down their growth.

Forgot to take a picture of the potatoes to the left of the beets…you can sort of see a little piece of that bed in the picture above. They are starting to die off but that’s normal. Bert said he could see a few potatoes above ground so he added some potting soil to cover them up. When the plants are dead we’ll dig up the potatoes.

The garden up on the hill mostly survived a wandering deer…the footprints in the wet soil gave them away. Bert has started spraying the plants with a nasty-smelling concoction that is meant to keep deer away. We’ll see!

The lavender is filling out and the bees love it. I’ll wait a little while before I cut too much.

We have lots of green tomatoes, but they are ripening fast. I expect in the next week I’ll have trays on the kitchen table with almost ripe tomatoes.

The carrots are finally looking good. We’ll leave them in the ground until November or December and dig up just what we need.

This empty section had green and yellow beans. After the last picking, I pulled the plants and replanted green beans. The dry/wet contrast was pretty hard on the plants.

The Delicata squash seemed to spread out all over…but it looks like we might get a few squash.

Even a “double” squash!

And of course, my favorite…Echinacea flowers!!

Enjoy!

Success With the Retro 1952 Dress

Just a quick update in case you’ve been following the last two posts about my attempt to make a dress for my granddaughter (age 17). Her interest in trying to find a vintage dress from the 1950s led us to finding a retro pattern at JoAnn’s to make such a dress. The previous posts included understanding the difference between vintage and retro, and the steps I went through to actually make the dress. (See: https://marykisner.com/understanding-antique-vintage-and-retro-clothing/ and https://marykisner.com/making-a-retro-1952-dress/)

I mailed the dress to my granddaughter in California and held my breath. Would it fit? Would it require major adjustments? Would she like it?

Yesterday I received pictures and a heartfelt message that it was “wonderful” and “Thank you so much!” Very rewarding to connect with my granddaughter this way! Made my day!

This grandma is very pleased! I just might have to try some more Retro clothing.

Making a Retro 1952 Dress

On the request of my 17 yr. old granddaughter, who was visiting a few weeks ago, I volunteered to make her a dress, in the style of the 1950s. She had been trying to find “vintage” and “retro” clothing in thrift shops, but around here they were hard to find. (to see the difference between “vintage” and “retro” check out my last post, https://marykisner.com/understanding-antique-vintage-and-retro-clothing/.

Luckily, we found a pattern at JoAnn’s labeled “Retro ’52”, so we picked out fabric, buttons, zipper and thread for the project.

This is the pattern we chose:

I was convinced I could just read the pattern, follow the directions, and whip out a dress! HA! This project brought back so many memories of my high school Home Economics classes…my teachers would be so proud that I actually did it! (Thank you, Mrs. Shaffer and Mrs. Krause!)

I think it turned out pretty well…hopefully it will fit when it gets to California! Here is the final dress (looks kind of flat without a body in it!).

Some very basic differences in sewing a dress in the style of the 1950s compared to today:

Fabric choices…suggested fabrics were light to medium weight woven fabrics like broadcloth, linen and taffeta. This means no extra stretch and the final dress will definitely need a hot iron! Does my granddaughter even know how to iron?

Side zipper…I had forgotten about the zipper tucked under the armpit! The pattern had pretty good instructions but it still took me two tries to get it right! (Gee, I hate to rip out stuff!)

Fitted sleeves…just looking at the shape of the sleeve pattern told me it would be a restrictive sleeve. We are so spoiled with soft stretchy t-shirts!

Full skirt…making the hem a tedious half-day task by hand.

Complexity of the pattern itself…this pattern had 5 sizes in one, from size 6 to 14. To do that every pattern piece had 5 cutting lines, 5 sets of circles, etc.

Cutting Out the Dress

I cut out the dress on a day when I had no distractions. The suggested layout was intimidating:

This layout had me cutting out each piece in a single twice and after stewing about this, I went back to JoAnn’s and bought another yard of fabric so I could do it my way. I just knew I would forget to flip each piece.

I folded the full width fabric in half and cut two of each piece at once so I was sure to have matching pieces. The extra yard I used to cut out all the little pieces, like the collar, cuffs, facings and sleeves. The length and shapes of the skirt pieces limited my choices of placement on the fabric.

Once I had all the pattern pieces cut correctly, I kept them pinned together until I was ready to use the piece. Then I transferred the various markings (like darts and circles) with pins or a pencil. All the skirt pieces looked alike without the patterns, so I think that was a wise move.

Making the Dress

Step 1: Iron (fuse) the interfacing to neck facings and cuffs

Step 2: Assemble the Bodice

Step 3: Cuffs and Sleeves

Step 4: Sew skirt pieces together and add to bodice.

Step 5: Sew in side zipper.

NO NO NO!!!

Now I remember that’s not how to hide the zipper! Rip it out!

I only had to rip out one side of the zipper!

Much better!!

Step 6: Hem the skirt.

Instructions say to sew the edge 1/4″ with a long stitch. I didn’t make it long enough so I couldn’t pull the thread and ease the fullness. I had to make a basting stitch by hand along the 1/4″ stitching to lightly gather the edge to fit. Boo Hiss! Took hours to hem the skirt!

Step 7: Finally, add the decorative buttons down the front of the dress.

I carefully folded the dress up and put it in the mail to my granddaughter in California! I have no idea if it will fit! We agreed that this first dress was an experiment. Alterations may involve her sending the dress back to me. Or…it might make a good Halloween costume for someone!?!

I’ll have an update in the next week or two! Enjoy!

Understanding Antique, Vintage and Retro Clothing

Spending time with my 17 yr. old granddaughter during her family’s visit this month was a wonderful way to get to know her. I was especially interested in talking with her about her hunt for vintage clothing. I took her to the local antique co-op to check out a few racks of clothing on display. I was curious about the styles that appealed to her and finally took her to JoAnn’s to look at patterns. She was able to point out various dresses and fabric designs that looked interesting to her.

So, of course, we picked up a pattern and fabric. I agreed to make her a dress! The next post will be the details about that!

Because the pattern was labeled Retro ’52, I knew I needed to understand the definitions of “antique”, “vintage” and “retro”. This is what I found.

Antique: At least 100 years old

The only “antique” clothing I have saved is the Lowry family baptism dress, worn by my mother in 1912. It has been used by various babies in the family over the last 100 years.

Worn by my daughter in 1978.

You can read more about the dress at https://marykisner.com/the-travels-of-the-lowry-baptism-dress/

Vintage: From a specific year from the 1920s to 2000 (or 20 years ago).

Examples of Vintage clothing by Era include:

1920s: Flapper dresses, heeled Mary Jane shoes

1930s: Puffed and fluttery sleeves, peep-toe shoes

1940s: Straight tweed and wool plaid skirts, platform shoes

1950s: Full skirts and petticoats, shirtwaist dresses, twin sweater sets

1960s: Elegant box-jacket suits and pillbox hats (like Jackie Kennedy); and bell-bottom jeans and flowing tops

1970s: Flare jeans, khaki, boots

1980s: Blazers and sweaters with strong shoulder pads, stilettos

1990s: Leggings, big sweaters, baggy flannel shirts

(List above from Ashley Kane, https://www.liveabout.com/definition-of-vintage-clothing-3420100/ )

If you want to buy vintage clothing, look in shops that have vintage in the name or description or in second-hand shops.

The most important piece of information I found is a word of caution about sizing! Women’s dress sizes have changed significantly over time. I measured my granddaughter. She said she buys size 6. When I looked at the pattern where it lists measurements, I needed to make a size 12 for it to fit! I’ll make the size 12 dress…then we’ll see if it works for her. Too bad she lives in California…I think we may be mailing the dress back and forth until we get it right!

Read about sizing changes over the years at https://www.eonline.com/news/687475/a-brief-history-of-women-s-clothing-sizes-and-why-you-just-went-up-a-size/

Retro: Made recently to look like vintage style.

Clothing that has been made recently with the intention of imitating the fashion of the past is considered “retro”, thus the label on the pattern we chose…Retro ’52.

I recall making clothing during the 50s and 60s so just reading the pattern was enough to give me heart palpitations! Cotton fabric (no stretch), fitted sleeves, side zipper!! Yikes! I had forgotten even how to read a pattern this complex!

My granddaughter and I agreed that this first dress would be for “practice” in case it didn’t turn out, or fit right, or I messed up. I’m still working on the dress and hope to post the details in a few days.

Lavender-inspired Quilt Block on Wood

About every month or two I get in the mood to make a new door quilt for the front door. Several years ago, I managed to make 6 quilt blocks to hang on the front door, about one every other month:

https://marykisner.com/a-year-of-door-quilts/

Basically, I’ve never been happy trying to put a wreathe on the front door because it has a screen door that gives me only 2-3″ of clearance between the doors. Finding a flat wreathe was tough. So, I started sewing these quilt blocks to use as door decorations.

I thought I could just rotate the blocks each year, but after two years on the outside door…exposed to the sun and weather…the colors faded. I was ready to try something new.

I pulled out my acrylic paints and had Bert make me some 12-inch square pieces of thin plywood. I started with my favorite fabric block…the patriotic red, white and blue one…that I had made in fabric.

Two years later, the block is faded.

I had to improvise the paint to be solid colors, and added star appliques right to the painted wood. Here are links to the door-quilts on wood I’ve made so far:

https://marykisner.com/new-patriotic-door-quilt-on-wood/

https://marykisner.com/summer-door-quilt-on-wood/

https://marykisner.com/autumn-door-quilt-on-wood/

https://marykisner.com/a-winter-star-quilt-block-on-wood/

Making a New Door Quilt on Wood

Lately, I’ve been inspired by the lavender fields you’ve seen in photos and my plants in the garden:

Choosing a pattern:

Bert had just received his latest copy of MuzzleBlasts, that always has a page or two with a quilt block suggestion:

First, I needed to find this block (called Freedom’s Star here) in my favorite books that will tell me other names for the block. I found it in this book by Maggie Malone, with 7 other possible names:

Then I found the block in another book, that gives me ideas for balancing the colors (light and dark):

Finally, I knew I wanted to use light and dark purple/lavender paint.

Making a Miniature Block First

For each 12″ x 12″ square block I paint, I first make a miniature block on a 3″ x 3″ canvas (available from Amazon). That lets me test the pattern and the colors.

So, I draw the guidelines to make a 4 x 4 block:

…and start filling in with color:

I wasn’t sure about the yellow paint…seemed too bright. I waited until the next day to see if it looked better. I decided the yellow overwhelmed the purple, so I mixed up some lighter yellow by adding white. That seemed to help.

The final colors felt better:

I continued with the 12″ x 12″ piece of wood and drew the pattern:

After painting, I use a fine point black marker to sharpen the design (mostly because my painting skills are not as steady as I’d like!).

Ready to get a spray of satin finish to protect it from the weather. Bert will glue three magnets to the back so it sticks to the front door (which is metal).

What to do with all my miniatures?

So far, I’ve been able to line them up on the mantle. One or two never made it to the final stage of painting on wood. That’s OK. They aren’t perfect, but it’s sort of a record of what I’ve done so far! Give it a try!

Milestone of 56 Years!

We had a family reunion two weeks ago so I thought I didn’t need to focus on the fact that today, Bert and I have been married for 56 years…longer than either of our parents and probably our grandparents. Over a nice dinner out, we talked about how unusual that was in our families. Individuals had longevity, but often one member of the couple passed away early. We’ve had quite an unusual gift of longevity and thanks to modern medicine and the technology of hip and knee replacements have managed to stay upright!

So, to review our story…we eloped in the summer of 1967 (a crazy tale in itself) and didn’t tell anyone until the following summer.

We planned to “get married” in the family living room and not mention anything at all…except the minister we asked to do the service would not do it unless everyone attending (immediate family) knew it was just a renewal. So, that blew our secret! We had to fess up. In August, 1968 we had an official “renewing of vows” and then had a reception at the Nittany Lion Inn for all of our extended family and friends.

Bert, Grandpa John Bixby, Mary

We recently remembered that the first Arts Festival in downtown State College was in 1967. We spent some time strolling College Avenue checking out the art displays. Such was our honeymoon!

So now, when I look at our grandchildren (ages 17, 16, 14 and 11) I’m not sure I want to share my saga with them yet…how crazy were we at age 21 and 20! Yikes! Who knew it would last 56 years!

Garden Update July 11, 2023

Time to share the mid-July adventures in the garden! Last week, the view of the patio planters looked like this:

Radishes, lettuce and my sweet potato plant were doing well. I was pretty sure they were safe from roving bunnies and deer because they were so close to the house. Unfortunately, the deer saw the sweet potato plant as part of their salad bar! Sunday morning, the sweet potato plant looked like this:

Two days later, the plant is trying to recover:

Oh well, I tried!

Then we noticed the beet tops. They looked like this last week:

Sunday morning they looked chomped all along one side!

Very frustrating. Several beets had been yanked out of the ground so I cooked them. Yum…really sweet!

The potatoes and Delicata squash were not touched.

Up in the garden on the hill, amazingly, nothing was touched. When you look at the short but sturdy garden fence, we were surprised the deer didn’t just hop the fence for a snack! So far, that hasn’t happened. Maybe the hoses look like snakes.

The lavender continues to fill out:

The tomatoes are doing well:

The carrots have finally started to grow:

The beans are blossoming and making tiny beans!

The Delicata squash is getting huge, with little squashes starting:

And of course, my favorite…Echinacea!!

Bert has now sprayed the sweet potato plant and the beet tops with some deer repellent. We’ll hope it’s enough to deter the deer so the plants can continue to grow!

Discovering There Are Two Kinds of Oatmeal Soap

I recently made a batch of oatmeal soap to try out my single-use soap idea. You can read about it here: https://marykisner.com/single-use-soap/

It was obvious the block of soap base had bits of oatmeal mixed in. When melted, the soap got much thicker, just the way cooked oatmeal would. It made a hefty bar of soap.

You can see colloidal oatmeal is the first ingredient on the block of soap base:

The colloidal oatmeal is obvious when I cut it into cubes:

The mixture got thicker as it melted:

I listed Colloidal Oatmeal soap base as the first ingredient on the card.

This week I wanted to make another batch of oatmeal soap, so I ordered another block of oatmeal soap base. When it arrived, I was convinced they sent me the wrong soap…it was a white soap base with no evidence of bits of oatmeal!!

The package said “Oatmeal Soap Base” but there was no listing for Colloidal Oatmeal, which is the flaked/rolled oats ground fine and embedded when making the soap base.

A closer look at the ingredient list showed Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract.

Hmmm. Time to do a little research!

According to Dr. Tess Mauricio, a board-certified dermatologist, colloidal oatmeal and Avena Sativa extract are two ingredients that are derived from the oat plant and are clinically proven to protect our skin from environmental stressors and other concerns.

Colloidal oat is found in the bran of the plant, while Avena Sativa extract comes from the stems and leaves. Colloidal oatmeal seems to be best used for more serious skin concerns like eczema, rosacea and dermatitis. Avena Sativa extract is better suited for more general dryness or irritation.

It was time to make another batch of “oatmeal” soap to see the difference. I added the same Vitamin E oil, Orange and Manuka Essential oils and the same color tint (2 drops).

Of course, the card to go with the new soap had to be changed:

My plan is to add a paw-shaped soap to each tin of single-use soap and see if folks prefer one over the other. Now I have two choices when I want to make oatmeal soap!

Family Reunion Photos

Generally, I try not to post a lot of personal photos on my blog. Just seems prudent. However, I will concede that my ability to take selfies is not a very satisfying way to document important events. Sometimes it’s the only way to get pictures of my family…one selfie at a time. I can’t seem to get everyone to sit or stand together at the same time, in the same space!

It appears I have the most luck documenting my grandpuppy, Daisy!

This past weekend, Kathy hosted a “family reunion” for the Kisner tribe. Ted and family was visiting from California. Friday night, Kathy arranged to have a photographer friend capture all our lovely smiles in an outdoor setting.

The next day, Bert’s brother and sister joined us for a lovely picnic. We were able to snag a few photos of the siblings.

And of course, this week is our 56th wedding anniversary so it was nice to have a current picture of us! Geez…time flies!