WAITING FOR A BOX OF SCRAPS

You would think I didn't have a yard of fabric to my name as I sit here anxiously waiting for someone I don't even know to send me a box of scraps and leftovers from her [his?] projects.

There are shelves of fabric in my sewing room-piles of fabric pulled with patterns assigned and in line for my next projects close to the cutting table-yarns and crochet hooks in the basket next to my chair with a book of downloaded and picked up patterns at hand to be worked on while watching tv. So it's not as though I had nothing to do or to work with.

Now, really! What is wrong with this picture? Waiting for a box of scraps for possibly my next project if I can figure out what to do with a hodge podge of fabrics I may not even like. But I am not alone. There are other odd ducks out there waiting for their boxes, too.

The gauntlet was thrown down by Sissy's Sewing on Facebook and some of us picked it up. We are going to see what, if anything, we can do with someone else's scraps. You still have til October 8, 2011 if you think you would like to join in the challenge. Just go to Sissy's Sewing and submit your name. I wish I had thought about writing this a couple of weeks ago but too much has been going on.

I'm wondering if anyone else had as much trouble getting rid of their fabrics as I did. I put something in the stack, take some out, put some in, grab that little piece-I might need that for something special. It was really pitiful. I'm glad friend, Mary, was not here to see me sneaking a snippet out like it was too precious to let go of. I know some of you understand, don't you?

I finally got the box ready to send and so help me, a few minutes ago, I went over and stole a piece of red from Teresa's box. I hope she won't mind. Teresa, in Tennesee, is the name assigned to me to send my box to. While I was writing this my daughter called me with a project for me to do for a friend and I really might need that fabric with the gold stars, sorry, Teresa, honey. It really is just a smidgeon.

My box of scraps, soon to be on its way to Tennessee. Stay tuned to the saga of the box of scraps. Become more acquainted with some of them in this video.

I am looking forward to this challenge. I have never participated in one before. I can't wait to see what everyone creates. I hope to have photos here of each creation with their permission.

God bless all of you,

Carolyn Wainscott

HOW TO MAKE DOLL SANDALS FOR YOUR AMERICAN GIRL DOLL

Doll clothes are something I hadn't intended on getting into until a couple of months ago. My granddaughter wanted to give her boyfriend's daughter accessories for her American Girl Doll but couldn't afford to buy them. I told her I would help her out and make a couple of outfits for the birthday-and that started the whole thing.

I downloaded some crochet patterns and started with those. I looked up the dolls online and ordered a catalog. I like the concept of the doll with its historical background and line of books and things to do. I just can't get around the cost of eveything so a lot of clothes are being made and put aside for Christmas for my great granddaughters. I love dolls and being able to share this with them.

I have crocheted some hats and bags to match some outfits, even some Mary Jane shoes for one dress that I got carried away with making such a swirly skirt but it looks like I wanted it to.

This is one of my favorite little outfits. I love the two tierred swirly skirt. The top is from one of the downloaded patterns. I couldn't find a top I liked so I used one of the dress patterns and just didn't crochet the skirt. The fabric at the waist is a Tinker Bell piece which is just perfect with the little calico print. The flower on the headband is crocheted.

Let me say something about all those downloaded patterns-I appreciate them so much because they have helped me a great deal and I will share the links at some point. I did find, however, that some of the patterns are not accurate. I am not a greatly accomplished crocheter but one pattern I started several times was just not right. I have made lots of things but this one would not work no matter what I did.

The talented people who create these patterns and then share on the internet are wonderful and I have been able to follow along with almost all of them. It takes a lot of time to create and write instructions. Writing crochet instructions is far beyond me.

So, I had some outfits piling up and wanted shoes to match. I came up with making sandals that are really quick and easy. Since the crochet brigade is so generous in sharing their expertise, I am sharing my idea for the sandals. You can make dozens in an afternoon. If you are going to craft fairs, they would make an inexpensive item without too much time involved that should sell well for you.

I first used some craft foam sheets that I had on hand using my hot glue gun and that worked well. But wonder of wonders, I found the adhesive backed foam sheets, in glitter, no less. Here is the sandal to match the Tinker Bell outfits I made.

Throw away nothing! Even little 1/4" snippets can be used as jewels for trims here and there. Make up your own kit as a gift for children to design and make their own doll sandals. They will have the best shod doll in town.

To help secure the adhesive on the foam, add just a dab of hot glue or other good glue at the ends to keep it from coming loose.

I had fun creating these from anything and everything, hope you do, too. Here is my video showing you how to put these together. 

So get some craft foam or felt sheets and have fun.
God bless you,
Carolyn Wainscott
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Check out my reversible designs in My Pattern Store for doll clothes, quilts and other crafts on Craftsy.com @

http://www.craftsy.com/user/pattern/store/43851

video tutorial for reversible doll cape @
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJzQkEVTTWk



video tutorials @
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Hp75xJHn0


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZeoePfP0NE

GIVING FORWARD-DEBBIE'S HOPE FOUNDATION

It has been a long time since I saw the movie "First You Cry" with Mary Tyler Moore. I didn't remember until I looked it up to make sure who was in it that it was an account of news correspondent, Betty Rollin. I only remember seeing it once [it was made in 1978] but her turmoil stayed with me. That was 12 years before I had breast cancer myself in 1990.

There was so much going on in my life at the time, I couldn't take time to cry or concentrate on my own situation. Because of my faith in God, I had a calm and serenity that everything was going to be fine-and it was. After my outpatient surgery, I went back to taking care of everyone else. My children nor my mother were told because I didn't want to worry them. My doctor told me that my "wayward germ" as I called it, was cancer and not to be taken lightly. In   http://carolynscanvas.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-therapy-my-quiltsel-tigre.html I take you through my way of working through hard times with my faith and crafting as many others do.  

Now, we are dealing with breast cancer again only this time the "wayward germ" has to be taken very seriously. Niece, Debbie, was diagnosed with breast cancer in March but hers was not found as timely and she had to have a double mastectomy in May after much, much testing and all the other preparations that has to be done.

Shortly after Debbie's surgery, I wrote: http://cwainscott.blogspot.com/2011/06/family-being-sisters.html to tell of the great bond between sisters.  This photo of Debbie [left] and Cathy [right]  was taken at a fundraiser for Debbie and her family to help with expenses.

This hard road for Debbie and the whole family continues with a year of chemo and radiation but Debbie is so appreciative of all that is being done for her, she wants to give back. She was given a "cami" by the Cancer Society that held the drainage tubes she had to wear after her surgery. It was such a comfort and help to her, she wanted to learn to make some to donate back for other women. She says she will always keep the one she has, even though it is not the most beautiful thing in the world and instead of reminding her of the traumatic surgery she has gone through, it reminds her of all that has been done for her and her family and that God is with her.

Putting the shirts together was kind of a family affair-my brother, Larry and his wife, Delores, donated shirts. We originally planned to have a "sew-a-thon" all together but circumstances didn't allow that between all of Debbie's after care and chemo treatments for my husband for cancer discovered after Debbie's was diagnosed. My sister, Shirley, Debbie's mother, suggested this post be called "Between Chemos" and would have been rather apropos, don't you think?

The following video was done in our mother's room in the nursing home so she could be part of what we are doing. We hope to encourage others to "give forward" as Debbie is doing. Her sunshiny personality belies all she has been through-she is crocheting to give to others and being a great example for her twins, Summer and Sierra.

Just as Debbie was diagnosed the song, I Will Stand By You, came out and was taken by Cathy as her theme song to Debbie. It was played at a fundraiser and Cathy had a friend help her with the song since she didn't think she could get through it by herself. I thought it fitting to include.

Here is Debbie telling us about that cami that meant so much to her:

Please be in prayer for Debbie and her family and for all breast cancer patients. Let's pray for a cure for this devastating disease. Thank you.

God bless you

Carolyn Wainscott

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AND OTHER SOUTHERN COMFORT FOOD

I am so missing my garden this year because I love those daily fresh vegetables. A long time ago, my husband told a group that I could take a salt shake and go sit in the middle of a garden and eat. Since we retired here 11 years ago, we have had wonderful gardens that allowed me to have my ripe tomatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I guess that's what I miss most. We pretty well knew last year's garden would be our last because of my husband's deteriorating health. Three tomato plants in individual pots on my back deck are the only semblance to a garden that I have.

The first post here on carolynscanvas last year, "Hallelujah, Canning's Done",  was also about our garden. I don't think all the canning equipment had even been put away. Canning is not one of my favorite things to do so I am always glad to get it over with. There is a big payoff through the winter, though. 

A road side vegetable stand lured me in the other day. I was just going to get a tomato or two because I only had a couple of dollars with me and there they were-GREEN TOMATOES-really nice, big, round, firm green tomatoes. I hopped right back in the car to get home for more money before someone else got MY green tomatoes. My mouth was already watering for the supper I had just planned of fried green tomatoes with corn, cucumbers and ripe tomatoes from the stand. 

Now fried green tomatoes is an acquired taste and we all acquired that taste from the great down home cooking of our Granny Crockett. 

There are some rules that must to be adhered to for true Southern Fried-it must be done in an iron skillet and in bacon grease or lard. Green tomatoes are coated with cornmeal and the first ones of the season are always the best, the same for the season's first mess of green beans, the first corn on the cob, the first cucumbers, etc. My favorite tomatoes to cook, can, fry and eat fresh are Rutgers, ones that are so tart they almost turn my mouth inside out, yum.

Grandson, Travis, loves this green delicacy as well as anyone. He stands and eats the first skillet full as soon as they are cool enough and I have to keep frying and frying so the rest of us might get one or two but I love to see that boy eat.

This is my large iron chicken fryer that gets a lot of use for cooking and baking cornbread. That is another rule of Southern Comfort-really good cornbread must be baked or fried in an iron skillet. 

Ambrosia, Silver Queen and Peaches & Cream are our favorites for corn to eat fresh and freeze. To fix corn-fill your pot with water, put on stove on high, go pick your corn, shuck the corn as you run back to the house and put corn into the boiling water immediately for about 5 minutes-tongue swallowing good!

Grandson, Joey and his wife, Andi, brought us some more red & green tomatoes along with a couple of squash yesterday. 

Christina Cooks, on PBS, the other day was putting together an interesting concoction with vegetables over pasta. Now why I was watching a cooking show, I don't know, I am trying to unlearn so much cooking but was glad I didn't turn it off. Those squash Joey and Andi brought over were sauteed in butter with onions, adding a can of peas and Rotella tomatoes, then over some egg noodles-my own version of "Christina's" and very good. Maybe one day I will try her version also, like I said, it was very interesting with deep fried chick peas and a leafy green that I can't remember the name of.

Another craving at this time of year is- wilted lettuce. For this, fresh, crisp leaf lettuce is smothered with onions and doused with hot bacon grease. [How did someone think to pour hot grease over lettuce in the first place?] A necessity is either baked or fried cornbread with my wilted lettuce which I had last night. That was my supper. It is all I needed or wanted-wierd, huh? Just food I grew up with. 

Even though it seems pinto beans with fried potatoes and cornbread were on the table almost every night when I was growing up, it is still my favorite meal. I still have the iron skillet that my grandmother baked that cornbread in every night. The handle is broken off. It sits in the stove drawer beside my big iron chicken fryer. Her flour sifter sits on the counter. As I've said before, I hope thoughts of me bring comfort to my grandchildren and now my great, grandchildren as thoughts of my Granny comfort me.

Not everything I cook is deep fried, I am going to try some crock pot deserts that I downloaded. They seem interesting and they include two of my favorite things-chocolate and peanut butter. I'll let you know how they turn out.

By the way, does anyone have any suggestion for a husband who tells everyone at a church dinner that he knows it is time for lunch or dinner when he hears the smoke alarms going off?  Such a short memory, he forgets he had to eat cereal for a month for other such remarks.

God bless all of you

Carolyn Wainscott

  

HANNAH'S T-SHIRT DRESSES USING CUT OFF JEANS LEGS

Have I mentioned that I love making something out of nothing and especially so when it is almost free?

I found these cute, long sleeve t shirts for only a $1 each and bought several with the thought of turning them into dresses for great, granddaughter, Hannah.

When I saw school supplies already out last week, I knew it was time to get to Hannah's dresses and I kinda, sorta knew where the shirts were.

Stuck with the shirts were some jeans that I had cut off to add fabric for skirts and there were all these little jeans legs laying there so I began playing around with them and the dress that came from that mix is my favorite.

For Hannah's size 7-8 shirts, 2 pairs of the jeans legs go around the bottom. You may need more or less for the size you are working with. The ones I chose have a slight flare-just perfect for the skirt.

For the other dress, 2 panels were cut across the width of the fabric [42"-45"] in the length needed for the finished dress [mine were cut 12"]. Measure from the shoulder to the length desired, subtract the length of the shirt for the fabric needed. Sew the sides together, serge or hem the bottom of the skirt, gather to fit bottom of shirt and sew to bottom. Your dress is finished.

A flat felled seam, [used in jeans], was used to sew the jeans legs together for the skirt. The video shows  how to sew the seam, just in case you need a refresher, and other tips.

These little dresses are really cute and fun to wear but best of all, they are very economical.

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Since we are on the subject of children, I am including a recipe for playdough for you to make at home. I have made pounds and pounds of it since the ingredients are always available and again, very economical. My children, grandchildren, Sunday School and Bible School children have all enjoyed playing with the playdough. If you work with children's groups and haven't run across this recipe, here it is:

4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup table salt

1 1/2 cups water

Just mix all together until well blended, knead on a lightly floured board a few minutes and not sticky.

It can be free formed by little hands, cut with cookie cutters, let air dry or in a low oven. It can be painted. Food coloring can also be added as you are mixing.

Kids love it.

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Enjoy and God bless you

Carolyn Wainscott