A new project is completed

Hello, everyone.  It's almost Easter-time, and I found a little decorative project in the "to be made" pile, with its fabrics already chosen, and decided to finally do it.

This is one of the Sweat Pea designs. It's a mache embroidered applique, made in four parts. I elected to use Minky scraps and some fake-suede for the animal bodies. 

Rabbit attack?

Hello, everyone. It's been a little busy around the place and I forgot to post.

I went out to check on plants yesterday and was shocked to see this:

My alpine iris plant has been eaten down to a nubbin! And several rain lily plants are either gone altogether or chomped to a little thing like this! 

DH says he saw a rabbit in the yard a couple of days ago, which darted out under the fence. (Smart rabbit.) Maybe this explains a number of disappearances lately.

What can be used to repel rabbits? Especially since a lot of the grass they used to have for munching on has gone dormant or died because there's been no rain.

Tried the flourless Greek Yogurt Bread

Hello, everyone.  We're having a bit of a cool spell today: this morning it was about 50°F. We're wearing long sleeves,  of course! 

I had run into a high protein, no wheat bread recipe on Youtube, and today I tried it out.

These little sandwiches are on yogurt bread slices.

The recipe makes a slightly wet bread. The loaf fell a bit while cooling, bit it didn't collapse. There is no real strength to the structure. I had noticed this about another eggs and cheese type bread recipe also.

 If I do it again, I will adjust the time and temp for a slower, cooler cooking. I'm thinking my oven is a little bit hot. Though the bread's pretty good in turkey sandwiches. 

Costume update

Hello, everyone.  The costume is finished.  I'm posting a picture of the reticule (Regency era purse) that goes with it.

There was enough of the accent ribbon to embellish the reticule. As the fabrics for this were either extra from the dress or (lining) sitting in the sewing room, I'm calling this little bag a stash buster. 

I did quilt the bag exterior for the extra strength it gives, because the satin and tulle are a little delicate for purse construction. 

It's nice to get the dining room cleared of project materials.

Ribbon storage idea

Hello, everyone.  The costume project is progressing. DD has been looking around to find bits and bobs for it, and she found some embellished ribbon. It came in a package, and we needed to store it safely until it will be used. 

I always knew that the center cores of embroidery stabilizer rolls would come in handy someday! Happily, there was one available. Added a little bit of painter's tape to secure the ends and the ribbon is protected from knotting or other damage.

What I learned from Ripstop By The Roll (edited to add links)

Hello, everyone.  Today is just a short note about how glad I am that I watched and learned from the Ripstop By The Roll how-to videos that go with the sampler stuff sack kit.

The guys there have a great demonstration of what I can only call Mock French Seams. 

Today I am using it to seam perle-embellished tulle for a costume. (Yes, I'm sewing a seam with the narrow-width zipper foot. Nothing else sneaks by those stapled perles so well.) This looks a lot like a regular French seam, but only requires one pass under the needle. You just place the fabric right sides together, roll the edges together a quarter inch and then re-roll it again. Pinning A Whole Lot! At least on the tulle. Then edgestitch along the fold. I should have thought of doing this on the other seams of this skirt! It's a lot less fraught than the regular French seam, since the tulle cannot be pressed like some other lightweight fabrics.

Spring feels like it's here...(edited for spelling)

At least, right now it feels like spring. (Last frost date probably 3 weeks away, but today is tee shirt weather.)

The fiddlewood,  the happiest of the three, is putting on a flush of blooms, while still having half ripe berries and some old, ripe, black ones. This fiddlewood is in partial shade. The others have at least 4 or 5 hours of straight sun every day, and they're less content. These are native to South Texas and are supposed to get around 8 feet tall with time.