finishing a project

Nearly three years ago, we began to remodel our kitchen. Its been 'finished' in terms of if being functional for nearly that long, but there has been a number of punch list items to complete. Today, we began work on some of these items. The first one is refinishing the basement door. After much stipping and sanding- the jamb is stained, the door is mostly sanded and the paint is removed from the hardware.

Searching the internets, I found that you can remove paint from hardware be simply boiling it in a pot of water with a few tablespoons of baking soda added to it. Let it simmer for about half an hour and the paint should largely fall off. It may require a little bit of scrubbing to get the paint out of the corners, but it works well. Best of all, any patina that was on the hardware before it was painted remains.

Pictures to follow.

I made it

Last weekend, I participated in my first craft fair- the I Made It market in Homestead, PA. I've been trying to be prepped enough to sell some frames at some other shows for the past two years, and -finally- got my act together to sell some frames and other crafts at this market.

It went pretty well, well enough that I will be trying it again. I also was mentioned in an article about the event.

Pledge to buy handmade

I'm working very hard this season to make or buy only handmade gifts this season. Take the pledge!

Voltron's final resting place

I was doing some survey work yesterday for rare plants along some highly degraded tidal marshes at the mouth of the Delaware River in Philadelphia. While fighting through the dense stands of Phragmites I came across the long lost remains of Voltron- Defender of the Universe:

Carhartt Work Skirt

Many years ago in one of the first issues of ReadyMade magazine, there was an article that included a photo of a woman wearing a Carhartt toolbelt (something similar to this) over a pair of shorts. I had initially mistook it for a *new* line of Carhartt fashions for women that included fashionable miniskirts made from their durable cotton dock material. Upon further examination this did not turn out to be true, but the idea stuck with me for several years as a potential project.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when my partner was out of town and I needed something to do one night. I have many pairs of Carhartts in my closet, some of them unworn. Armed with a small pair of sissors, I went to work removing the threads along the inseam while watching a movie. After an hour and a half, I had all the seams removed that I needed and a much better understanding of why I never had a seam rip out on over eight years of high intensity work pant use. To start with, the edges of the fabric are overlocked and then folded so that there is a total of four layers of fabric that are then triple stitched. I then set the project aside for a week or two before I got a chance to spend a few hours sewing it up. Here are the results:



Its not too bad. The length is great and maintained the cool tool pockets of the original. Martha says its easy to work and is currently her favorite skirt.

I doubt the new seams will hold as well as the original though...

first post

just saying...