Making All the Things

I said to the husband over dinner last night that I feel like I haven’t gotten as much accomplished this summer as I wanted to. Always one for putting things into the proper perspective, he responded with, “The summer isn’t over yet. We still have several weeks to go.”

No slacking around here, trust me.

And truly, I have gotten a lot done this summer. This is just me wrestling with the guilt of spending so much time sewing instead of gardening. I did scale back the garden quite a bit this year because of the need to kill weeds, and it was way too hot for me to work out there most days. Despite that, I kept up with the mowing and weeding. The pantry will be full this winter. I don’t have anything to feel guilty about.

Today is supposed to be pleasantly cooler, and tomorrow and Monday may be downright chilly and wet, with temps in the 60s and a 70% chance of rain. I’ve even seen warnings to backcountry hikers that they may encounter snow above 7000 feet. It gets hot again next week, unfortunately, but this will be a nice respite. It still won’t be enough to make a dent in the fires, though.

I canned 14 pints of white beans yesterday.

These are some that I grew myself. The husband asked me if I was planning to enter these in the fair. (No.) I also found the La Preferida brand of pinto beans and black beans that Teri recommended. (Thank you!) The next batch of beans will be black beans, I think.

Today is a garden work day. I’m going to cut back the spent raspberry canes, transplant some lettuce seedlings, and harvest herbs.

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I finished the dark green Kensington skirt, which was a ridiculously fast and easy project that pairs perfectly with this Liz Claiborne top:

The skirt fits me like a second skin and is very comfortable to wear. No mods will be required to the pattern, although I’d like to figure out a different way to do the yoke. The pattern calls for 1” wide elastic and I did change that to 1-1/2” wide elastic. I am not convinced that the skirt even needs the elastic, however, as that ponte holds it shape well and I am curvy enough to hold it up. It almost has the feel of a scuba knit. All in all, not bad for an $8 remnant and a couple of hours of sewing. The black version is on deck.

[If Joann Fabrics ever does away with the remnant rack, I will be one sad puppy.]

DD#2 noted that I am going to have to find places to wear all of these clothes. I told her that I might be able to sport a different outfit to church every Sunday for a year.

I’ve also got a couple of aprons moving through the assembly line. I went back to Vittorio, my beloved Necchi BF, to make those. It took me a couple of minutes to get used to sewing on a sewing machine again instead of a serger or coverstitch. The difference is noticeable.