May 11, 2015 by Born To Organize

Swinging into Action

I like to curl up on the couch with a cup of hot tea and a small pile of mending. The cats gather ’round as buttons return to their proper place. It’s therapeutic.

Unfortunately my garden swing is too big to bring indoors. So as the sun set on a warm Sunday afternoon, I sat in the garden instead. More specifically, I knelt, squatted and contorted my body around the edges of my damaged swing. You can read more about the squirrel damage here.

Busy squirrels make quick work of my swing

I’ve been gathering materials for the job at hand with the following criteria: the repairs had to be cheap and easy. I spent hours on the original swing cover only to see it destroyed by a nesting squirrel. I love all animals, including squirrels and after all, Sunday was Mother’s Day. Mama squirrel is just looking for fluff to line her nest. My goal: restore the swing so that it’s attractive and functional, but with a minimal investment of time and money.

Here’s what I did:

After trimming away the damaged cover I cut the remaining polyfill stuffing till the edges were even. Using the stuffing from a worn out cushion, I filled in the area, then covered it with part of an old tea towel. It was challenging, working my needle and thread around the edges of the swing, but I wanted the stitches to be small and taught. It doesn’t look pretty, but once covered it doesn’t matter.

Tea towel repair

I used a bit of Nature’s Miracle to clean the rest of the surface stains. Now to make it look pretty again.

I found a cloth shower curtain at a local thrift store. I liked the cheerful print and the fact that it matches my blue end-tables. It took about 15 minutes to make the cover with minimal sewing.

I draped the curtain over the swing, tucking a few inches underneath the built in pillow running along the swing’s top edge. I draped the rest of the curtain over the back. By hand, I took a few stitches through the folds of the swing cover, then attached a couple of ties to hold it in place.

Covering the built-in cushion

Swing ties for easy removal

Swinging into action

All told, I probably spent a few hours putting it all together and for under $10.

Materials On Hand:

polyfill batting from old cushion
tea towel from the rag-bag
fabric ties made from thrift store remnant

Purchased:

thrift shop shower curtain, $6

Ready for relaxing (pot filled with stuffing nearby)

As for the squirrels, I’ve left them a peace-offering. I took all the scraps from the damaged swing, shredded them into small pieces, and stuffed them into an empty pot near the swing. As I was finishing up, I heard rustling in the bushes, then saw what I think is a baby possum climbing the fence. I called to my boys to grab the camera and they shot a few pics as the little one ambled along the fence. She exited the yard through the lattice. At least she was heading away from the swing.

Baby opossum or rat?

April 30, 2015 by Born To Organize

Revitalizing my Garden Swing: The Squirrel Dilemma

Making a cover for the swing

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that I made a cover for my swing a few years ago after one too many years in the sun and rain. It looked great for a couple of seasons, but last July a nesting squirrel started taking it apart. The soft cotton cording was the first to go. Mama squirrel returned to remove the rest of the upper corner and at that point the cover was beyond repair. Originally I thought I would sew a new cover, but omit the nest-worthy piping. Apparently the poly fill is just as appealing. They’ve been making off with that for the last month as well.

The squirrel folded back the corner, then chewed through the piping

My half-hearted attempt at covering the swing with a bright shower curtain

My neighbor saw the squirrel race through his yard with a mouthful of white batting last month and thought the squirrel was foaming at the mouth. We had a good laugh over that one. Last week I found a small scrap of the pink fabric used for the piping underneath the orange tree. We now have two squirrel’s nests in the tree in addition to the ‘condo’s going up in our neighbor’s tree.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse

So, what do I do with the swing? At this point, I need to replace the stuffing and make a new cover. I’m reluctant to spend money on the higher-quality outdoor fabric, only to have it shredded once again, but anything cheaper will fade quickly, so that doesn’t seem like a good use of money either. I did provide a nice offering for their nest last year, but it wasn’t enough. They took all the leftover piping, the strands of yarn, part of the swing upholstery and the batting.

What would you do?

Mischievous and cute

July 2, 2014 by Born To Organize

My Beloved Garden Swing Takes a Hit

Our bedroom has the best view from the house thanks to a sliding glass door that runs the width of the room. Looking out into the garden is a great way to start my day. We have a tiny fountain on the patio, a hummingbird feeder nearby, trees, flowers and my beloved garden swing.

Re-covered Garden Swing

My family gave me the swing for Mother’s Day several years ago, something I’ve always longed for. It’s lovely sitting there in the evenings with my husband or one of the cats. When my boys were younger, they would sit with me too.

The metal frame of the swing held up nicely, but the cushions took a beating from their time in the sun. A few years ago I made a slip cover, giving it a fresh new look. I spent a fair amount of time at the fabric store, mulling over my choices, and figuring out a pattern in my head. The swing went from a weathered, tan-colored seat to a bright floral.

I bought the outdoor upholstery fabric on sale, along with piping cord and elastic to hold the cover in place. Using a coordinating fabric, I made strips of pink bias to trim the skirt and to pipe the edges.

In other words, this wasn’t just any old swing cover.

When my eyes swept the landscape early yesterday morning, I noticed the swing cover folded back. My mind couldn’t quite make sense of this, since I tie the corners securely with neat little bows.

What happened here?

I investigated and found this:

This is the soft center they were after

To my dismay, a critter with determination and sharp teeth chewed through the ties and the trim in order to get to the soft cord inside. How could they have known it was there? The entire corner of the cover is toast.

The left corner…

…and the right corner.

I know there’s a lesson here, because that’s what is often said about life. Am I right? I’m just too dismayed at the moment to figure that out.

October 22, 2013 by Born To Organize

Luddites and Pumpkins

I’m probably eligible for Luddite status, as my forays into technology continue to fail me. With help, we got the wireless connection working for a few hours, then the internet went down. By morning, both the wireless and the net were down. To seal my fate, I set up my fancy sewing machine, a gift from my husband a few years back. All went well till I had to switch to the zipper foot. The electronic symbol for moving the needle to the left or right made no sense at all. I read the manual, read it again, and then (while the internet was working) did a Google search. Still no luck.

In the end, I simply made do with the regular presser foot and moved on. What a frustrating day.

The pieces scattered on my kitchen counter Sunday night are now loosely sewn together. My sister stops by tomorrow to help me with the final fitting. Then I’ll sew in the lining, hem the skirt and I can call it a dress.

I’ve always dreamed of owning a cutting table. The kitchen counter is the next best thing when you’re tall.

The bling that will take it from dress to costume includes a length of sequins from the fabric store, several hand-made roses made by a local crafter and a few strands of leafy ribbon from Scrapbook Island. I’m really looking forward to a bit of hand-sewing, a task I’ve always found relaxing.

On the garden front, I decided to harvest our late-season, curbside pumpkin. It hasn’t grown in size for a few weeks, and shows no signs of turning orange. That said, I’m wondering if this pumpkin is actually one of the blue-green varieties. It has a bluish tinge and once inside, I realized that it turned light green but not the rich green the other pumpkins pass through on their way to orangeness. Could it be a crown pumpkin? What do you think?

Crown Prince

My son’s teddy-bear sweater is just the right size for dressing up our new pumpkin. No drafty nights for this ‘crown prince.’ Who said “it’s not easy being green?”

By the way, it’s not easy being a Luddite either.

Halloween Countdown:

Sweater weather

October 18, 2012 by Born To Organize

Garden Tools: The Dirty Dozen

The Dirty Dozen

I made some progress towards the garden clean-up today, though not as much as I would have liked. I gathered the “dirty dozen” of garden tools and made a mental assessment of the work ahead. My husband, handyman extraordinaire, gave me some quick tips on removing rust using steel wool. If you’re wondering the difference between #000 and #0000, just ask!

I pounded the cushions together to loosen the dust, and brought them indoors for a quick wipe-down. I had to run outside to tether the inflatable spider before it broke loose from the yard and put the fear of arachnids in someone down the street. Then I was out the door for appointments for the rest of the day.

Costume Update

I’ve enjoyed dusting off the old sewing machine this week and putting it to use. This year I’m dressing up for a few Halloween parties as a Bella Pilar greeting card. Her designs are fun and whimsical.

I pieced together a crinoline using two “maternity panels” from a fabric store and adding tulle from an old costume. Today I finished sewing the skirt and made headway on the top. I’m making a pattern as I go along, so fitting it has been a challenge. I’ve been dreaming of my own dressmaker’s form, but it’s hard to justify that expense given the minimal use it would get.

Just a few finishing touches and the costume will be ready to wear.

Halloween Countdown

Princess Pumpkin

October 12, 2012 by Born To Organize

Corpse Bride Costume Update

Corpse Bride: The Run Down

Corpse Bride Ribs

I put the finishing touches on my sister’s Corpse Bride costume this week. What fun!

The battered Corpse Bride wedding dress, is actually two pieces: a thin cotton top from a thrift store and the slip from my wedding dress. I washed the veil, lace and top in a bath of tea, then brushed the lace and top edges with a purple fabric marker. I cut a hole in the “bodice” to accommodate a set of ribs, purchased from a local costume shop. I added some lace to give it more character and to make the two pieces appear like one.

The bodice lace has its own back story. It was originally a pair of detachable sleeves for my wedding dress. I didn’t plan to wear them, so put the two sleeves together to make a bridal purse. 17 years later, the purse is now lace trim for a Corpse Bride.

Her veil is a re-purposed drapery panel, also from a thrift store, with a crown of dried flowers from my garden. The bouquet is from the garden as well.

Corpse Bride Crown
Drying Salvia (Mexican Sage)

Corpse Bride Flowers

She’s been working with a friend over several weekends to get her makeup just right. The finished results are breathtaking. I can’t wait to feature her debut.

Corpse Bride Ribs

Costume By Twos

Our party is just two weeks away so I need to get moving on my costume. Well…costumes. I’m making two.

My fitness camp instructor holds a fundraiser each year benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara Valley. It’s also a costume contest so I couldn’t resist. The challenge is putting together a costume that you can wear while exercising. I’ve come up with the worlds easiest costume, heretofore know as “Late for Boot Camp.” I plan to wear a garish pair of pajama pants that I purchased on the cheap (purple leopard anyone?), with a grey tank top I already have. I found a pair of Hello Kitty slippers on the clearance rack to complete the ensemble. The makeup is easy: I’ll got to bed *wearing* mascara, and my pillow will do the rest. I’ll wake up with raccoon eyes and a bright smile. The topper, of course: multicolored foam rollers in my hair. Remember those?

Bella Pilar Dress

Stay tuned for details of my second costume. I’ve pulled the pieces together, but need a few dedicated hours to sew the dress. If only I could lose 10 pounds by Halloween.

Halloween Countdown

Snail-eating pumpkin
Exploiting a soft spot on the pumpkin

October 10, 2012 by Born To Organize

The Art of Felting: Warm and Beautiful

Felting, simply put, is matting wool. The art of felting has been around for centuries with many conflicting stories as to its origin. This Wiki article sites:

Sumerian legend claims that the secret of felt-making was discovered by Urnamman of Lagash. The story of Saint Clement and Saint Christopher relates that while fleeing from persecution, the men packed their sandals with wool to prevent blisters. At the end of their journey, the movement and sweat had turned the wool into felt socks.
Felt making is still practiced by nomadic people (Altaic people) in Central Asia and northern parts of East Asia (Mongols), where rugs, tents and clothing are regularly made. Some of these are traditional items, such as the classic yurt (Gers), while others are designed for the tourist market, such as decorated slippers. In the Western world, felt is widely used as a medium for expression in textile art as well as design, where it has significance as an ecological textile.

What I do know is that it’s a lot of fun. Merging the wool fibers creates, a warm, durable and water-proof felt, used for centuries. The artistic possibilities, beyond the basics are endless.

My talented friend Liz held a felt-making workshop for a few friends on a visit home from New Zealand. She’s become quite the expert. We started with a small pile of wool fibers and a few basic tools, and left with a finished piece. Liz is also a gourmet cook, a talented seamstress and a gifted fibre artist. You can see more of her work in the Facebook Album Fibre Art.

I wet-felted pieces in orange and black, then combined them to make a small Halloween hanging. I dry-felted the pumpkins on top,adding the orange felted cord at the end. It’s my new holiday favorite.

Laura joined me that day, and crafted a beautiful multi-layered piece in white and blue. She dry felted and embroidered flowers to the piece, then made it into a purse. A certain gardener turned 50 that year, and unwrapped this stunning purse for the occasion! Getting older has its pluses.

Felted Wool Flowers

Felted Purse

The Process

It can take a bit of finesse to create beautiful pieces of felt, but the basics are simple. GFWSheep offers a tutorial to get you started.

Halloween Countdown

Felted Pumpkins

October 2, 2012 by Born To Organize

Tea: It’s Not Just for Drinking

Our British father was a tea-drinker, so as young girls we wanted to follow suit. My first few cups were mostly milk and sugar, but I grew to love the brew and look forward to a cup daily. When I traveled to Hawaii years ago, my friend Paige teased that I was the only one she knew that wanted to drink hot tea in the tropics. It grows on you!

Growing Tea

The tea-plant is an evergreen tree which grows in tropical or sub-tropical regions. A high level of humidity, lots of sunshine and plenty of rain make the ideal planting conditions. It grows easily at altitude (Darjeeling teas are grown in the Himalayan mountains). Tea plants are cultivated in tea-gardens which often give their names to certain growths of tea.

In the wild, the tea plant can reach 10 – 15 meters tall, but to make it easier to harvest its leaves, it is pruned to a height of about 1.10 meters from the ground. It has a lifespan of around forty years.

The tea leaves are plucked three times a year and each harvest period imparts a distinctive flavour to the tea. In the Himalayas, the first harvest takes place from mid-March to mid-April and produces teas with a mild, vegetal taste (this is the “First Flush”) and rare and aromatic qualities.

The second or middle harvest takes place between mid-April and mid-May and produces teas with a more fruity and perfumed flavour.

The last period for tea-picking is between mid-May and mid-July, for the stronger and less delicate growths. Source: Kusmi Tea

Tea Dye

When I worked in the costume shop at San Jose State, we used tea as a light stain on white shirts. True white is blinding on stage when hit with hot lights. The tea took the edge off the brightness. I’m employing this same technique to age a few pieces for my sister’s Halloween costume. She’s dressing up as the animated character Corpse Bride from the Tim Burton movie. We’ve pulled together pieces from thrift shops and items on hand along with a floral head wreath and bouquet from my garden.

Costume Pieces in a Rinse of Tea

Mom-isms: Tea Fixes Everything

Growing up, our Mom’s solution for most things was the pragmatic, “Have an aspirin and a cup of tea and you’ll feel better.” That still makes me smile. Mom died in 2008 but today is our shared birthday. Mom hated a fuss, so in her honor a simple “happy birthday!” is what made her happy.

Mom’s Halloween Sketch

Halloween Countdown

Corpse Bride Bouquet and Headpiece

September 4, 2012 by Born To Organize

Costume Pieces Made From the Garden

Finally I have some dead and dying flowers from the garden to work with.

She’s lost her marbles, you say? Not at all. I’m helping my sister make her Halloween costume. She’s dressing up as The Corpse Bride, from the movie of the same name. We’re big Halloween fans in our household. It’s license for silliness and creativity.

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
(photo credit Yahoo Movies)

Here is what we have so far.

The Veil and Headpiece

We found a sheer ivory curtain panel at a local thrift shop to create the veil. I’ll distress the fabric in a bath of tea to add character. I made the crown from Mexican Sage flowers tied around the base of a headband, then wrapped in purple ribbon. As the flowers dry between now and October, they’ll take on a dusty hue.

Corpse Bride Crown
(Mexican Sage)

Sage and Ribbon Closeup

The Bouquet

I used spent hydrangea blooms, now a mottled pink and green, and added dried lavender. I mixed in dead Cosmo stems and a few Allium Stellatum, also known as Prairie Onions. (She can smell the part, too). I wrapped the dried stems in garden twine, covered them with black tissue paper, and added leftover bits of purple and black ribbon.

Corpse Bride Bouquet

Corpse Bride Floral Bouquet

The Gown

We picked up a white sheer blouse and a long linen skirt for a few dollars at a thrift shop. They’re both made of natural fibers so they’ll die well. (Oh the puns). Together they’ll make her wedding gown.

There are a few more details, but for the most part the costume is coming together. Halloween is about eight weeks away. Can’t! Wait!

Do you celebrate Halloween in your area? Do you plan to dress up?

March 1, 2012 by Born To Organize

Rehabing the Swing

In need of some TLC

My readers know how I love my swing. Sadly, it took a tumble in a wind storm, flipping heals over casters into the rock wall. The lower frame is sound, but that brief flight and subsequent landing tore one inch gashes into the canopy frame.

Before dismantling the canopy frame this winter, I thought it was simply bent and needed straightening. Now that we’ve taken it apart, the mechanical fix is more complex.

The no-cost fix is simple: we’ve relocated the swing to the shady part of the garden, where it now rests under the orange tree. Who needs an artificial canopy when nature has provided one in my backyard.

The seat cushions are a different story: they need a good overhaul. I used an old, flocked table-cloth to cover the cushions off-season and it worked well. Then spring rolled around and the neighborhood squirrels decided it would make excellent nesting material. They had that cloth de-flocked in two days! I get lazy in the colder months so between the unceremonious toss of the swing and the table-cloth dismemberment, I simply turned a blind eye. Last summer I put a towel over the cushions, and made do with the bent top. Neither one had any affect on my impromptu nap schedule.

Now that the yard is spruced up, my swing looks neglected. It resembles a dorm room couch, minus the cookie crumbs, but with plenty of mold to give one pause.

Time to call on my sewing skills. I’ll let you know how it goes.