Mad Caterpillar

Believe it or not, before last year I never knew that you could buy fabric at thrift stores. Clothes, of course. Dishes, books, toys, shoes, furniture -- yup. But I never knew that most thrift stores have a section for crafting materials too, and somehow I never managed to wander into those sections during prior forays.

Of course I now know what I was missing. These days, one of my very favorite things to do whenever I have a free half hour is to drop by one of the many local thrift stores in my area to see if they have any fabric that might be interesting. And very often, they do. I continue to be amazed by some of the fantastic fabrics that can be found there, stuff that I'd never find at JoAnn or the fabric shop. Most days I leave empty handed, but sometimes I feel like I've hit the jackpot, like the time I found several yards of a vintage cotton velour with a crazy print in bright shades of green (see top pic below), or the day when I found three yards of a discontinued children's fabric marked 99 cents that I know would have cost a fortune on eBay. (I also continue to be surprised by the pricing. On some days, there will be a scant yard of denim marked $4.99 and an other days there will be several yards of a gorgeous cotton print marked 99 cents. ??? Not that I'm complaining about the 99 cent deals...)

Here are some favorite recent finds:

Usually when I find a piece that catches my eye, I think about whether or not I have any projects in mind for it, and many times I'll put it back on the rack if I can't think of anything at all. But every once in awhile, a piece will appear that is so fabulous that it suggests a new project all its own, and into the basket it goes. I absolutely love when this happens. Take this print for example:

This piece called out to me from the rack and as I held it in my hands, wondering what the heck I'd ever actually do with it, it came to me. Aprons. Children's aprons.

Now this is an idea that I never would have come up with on my own. My seven year old son has absolutely no interest in crafting or cooking endeavors, and would tear an apron off his little body as fast as I could get it tied onto him. So there is not much use for a child's apron here chez Mad Caterpillar. But still, this particular piece of fabric absolutely demanded to be made into children's aprons, and who am I to argue? I am so very happy with how they turned out -- buttery soft and reversible with lined pockets on the main side:

Now I'm obsessed with making aprons. They are so much fun! Every time I look at fabrics now I think about how they might look when made into an apron! The aprons above, along with some others, will be put up for sale in the shop sometime soon. (Please leave a comment if you'd like to be added to the Mad Caterpillar email list for notifications of shop updates.)

Here's another favorite find from a few weeks ago -- another great deal at $1.99 for over four yards!

I was glancing through the rest of the rack, with this piece tightly clutched in my hot little hands, when a woman who was browsing in the same section turned to me with a somewhat wistful expression on her face. She said that she had considered buying that fabric herself, but had put it back because she had no idea what to do with it.

Click for reverse side.

Honestly -- the fabric made me do it!

Posted by Danielle at 10:07 PM | | Comments (0)

Picture heavy post ahead...

I have recently developed an urge to start collecting vintage buttons. I especially love the vintage buttons that have a flower style to them. I don't know much about old buttons, the materials they are made of, etc. etc, I just know that they have this wonderful unique look to them that you cannot generally find at craft shops or sewing stores. And I have all sorts of ideas as to what I'd like to use them for.

I have terrible luck in actually finding vintage buttons, though. I never see them at garage sales (and I always ask), and I am inevitably that person that gets to the thrift store just in time to see someone holding a tin of button treasure aloft and exclaiming the bargain they just found at two dollars for the lot.

So I turned to eBay. I don't have a big button budget, but I decided I'd roll the dice to see what I could get for a few bucks plus shipping. It simply amazes me that something that looks like this on first open...

... can end up looking like this after a little searching and sorting (and a LOT of cleaning):

The extra big surprise here was what great fun it was to dig for these tiny treasures! I had a blast searching through dirt and nails and pins and beans (there were lots of non-button items in the two lots I received), and finding wonderful colors and shapes that will find new life in future projects. I'm sure many of these will find their way to the shop in some form or another as soon as I get the time to turn ideas into reality.

Posted by Danielle at 06:12 PM | | Comments (2)

So I've had this design for a sock knitting bag in my head for awhile. I usually carry my sock projects around in a ziploc bag, or a little canvas bag with an elastic opening. I don't love either of those two methods, though. Dpn's can poke through plastic bags and get lost, and the elastic top of my canvas bag invariably catches on the yarn ball when I put it in or take it out. I knew I wanted a drawstring closure -- one with locking cord stops so that the contents of the bag would be secured when closed. Especially for those times when the bag gets tossed into a larger tote -- I don't want the contents tumbling out and mingling with my notebooks and pens.

I wanted it to have an outer pocket where I could safely tuck a pattern sheet, and maybe a couple small notions. And I wanted it to have a removable strap so that it could be worn it over the shoulder while out and about.

I wanted it to have a fun lining, and it was an easy enough matter to make it reversible as well.

And last but not least, I thought it would be fun to applique a small piece of the lining on the side of the bag opposite the pocket. In the end, I'm very happy with how this little bag turned out. It's just the right size -- it fits a large ball of sock yarn and the sock-in-progress with enough room left for an eyeglass case, a mini notebook, and small notions like a tape measure. I also made a tiny sock cheatsheet to stick in the front pocket with my favorite basic sock pattern and grafting instructions, and a darning needle stuck in for good measure.

After making a prototype for myself and deciding it was exactly what I wanted, I made a few more. The one pictured in this post is for my Sockapalooza4 Pal, and I'm hoping she'll like it as much as I do! I've put the others up for sale in my Etsy shop.

It was so much fun to make these little bags, and I foresee some quality time spent with my sewing machine to make lots more in the future!

Posted by Danielle at 03:37 PM | | Comments (6)

A little peek at what else is in store for my Sockapalooza4 Sock Pal! More details early next week...

Posted by Danielle at 10:38 PM |

I have always heard that one's tastebuds change every two years, so that foods we didn't like as children can become favorites later on in life. That seems to hold true for me. As a child, I hated mustard. But now I adore the taste. If a menu at a restaurant lists anything "dijon" I have to order it. Same goes for tomatoes. I never liked them as a kid. Tomato sauce was fine, but raw tomatoes? Yuck. Now, I love them. So when I found this at a thrift store the other day, it was in my cart before you could say tomato soup. The fabric looks much more appetizing than these wan fellows that are about all I can find at the grocery lately. One more reason to look forward to summer.

It seems to me that tastes in other areas change over time as well. For example, I used to despise sewing. I always liked that part in "The English Patient" where Katherine tells Almasy that women should never learn to sew, and if they do they shouldn't admit to it. My sentiments exactly.

Until recently.

About a year ago, I started to feel the urge to re-learn how to use a sewing machine. I'd learned many years ago in Home Economics. (Am I dating myself here? I don't think Home Ec. is a subject at high schools anymore, is it?) I remember doing pretty well in the sewing part of the class, but I didn't enjoy it, and that was the last time I'd sewn anything besides a button on a shirt.

But suddenly I started to see all the wonderful things that folks were creating and talking about on their blogs, and the urge to try my hand at sewing grew and grew until I aksed my stepmother if I could borrow her sewing machine and give it a try. And I enjoyed it. A lot. Her machine was a bit hard to use, though. It was back-pain-inducing heavy and very loud, and wasn't particularly user friendly. Plus the footpedal only had two speeds -- "fast" and "faster" -- which is less than ideal for a beginner. So after a couple of months of practice making tote bags and pajama pants, I figured I'd take the plunge and I bought a sewing machine on a fantastic sale at a local Sew-n-Vac shop.

I'm still definitely a beginner. But even though I'm still learning, I am finding this to be a very practical hobby. For example, my son hates to wear anything but elastic-waist pants. Unfortunately, as kids get older it gets harder and harder to find anything without a button fly. Land's End makes awesome elastic-waist pants for kids, but at $44 per pair it's a bit expensive, especially for a six-year-old who is rough on clothes. But it's easy enough to make something similar by adding a knee-patch to a simple kid's pants pattern, so I've been making lots of these:

I also just made this for a dear friend's birthday. Here's the back. And a closeup of the button. The pattern is Amy Butler's In Town Bags pattern, and while I made a bunch of mistakes I think the pretty toile upholstery fabric hides them a little. At least I like to tell myself that...

I don't think I'll ever love sewing as much as I love knitting and spinning. But I do enjoy it quite a bit now, and I have lots of plans for knitting bags, and an interesting idea for a spindling bag. I'll be sure to post about it here whenever I find the time to turn the ideas into reality.

But for now, in honor of changing tastes, I'd like to share my recipe for tomato soup. It's best when made with fresh-from-the-garden late summer tomatoes, but grocery store roma tomatoes work well when nothing better is available. It is also really helpful to have one of these (or a food mill), but it's easy enough to make do without.

Homemade Tomato Cheddar Soup

Ingredients:

- 8-10 lg. Roma tomatoes (or whatever fresh tomatoes are available)
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion
- 1/2 cup chopped celery (optional, but good)
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp crushed rosemary
- 1tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 2 cups chicken stock (use plain water for true vegetarian version)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 or 2 tsp pepper
- 2 TBS finely chopped parsley
- 1 or 2 pieces wheat toast (heels of loaf work great)
- 1 cup milk (optional)
- 1 cup finely shredded sharp white cheddar cheese (optional)

1: Bring water to rolling boil in a large pot. Submerge tomatoes for 1-2 minutes then drain into colander and rinse with cold water. Use a tomato press to remove seeds and skins and extract only the juice and pulp. (If you don’t have a tomato press or food mill, then peel tomatoes and discard skins. Cut tomatoes in half, scoop the seeds out into a strainer positioned over a bowl to catch the liquid. Chop remaining tomatoes coarsely and add to bowl. Use a ladle to squeeze all remaining liquid out of strainer and discard seeds.)

2: In a 3-quart soup pot, sauté onions (and celery if desired) over medium heat in olive oil until transparent. Add tomatoes and liquid, turn heat to high. Add chicken stock (you can sub vegetable stock or plain water for a true vegetarian version), garlic, spices, salt, pepper, and parsley. When mixture begins to boil, reduce heat to medium-low and allow to cook uncovered for one hour, stirring frequently.

3: Add piece(s) of toast to the soup – the toast will quickly absorb into the mixture and will fall apart. The toast thickens the soup so if you prefer a thin soup, omit this step or use less toast. Remove soup pot from stove, and use a stick blender to puree the soup until smooth (a regular blender can be used as well, but depending on the blender size you may want to blend the soup in small portions). DO NOT overblend – stop as soon as the soup reaches a smooth consistency. If the soup is too thick, add more chicken stock until desired consistency is reached.

4: Return pot to stove and add milk and cheese. Cover and keep on low heat (stirring occasionally) until ready to serve. Serve soup with crusty bread, roasted garlic, and a nice green salad.

Makes approx. 5 cups.

NOTES: Milk and cheese are optional – if omitted the soup will have a stronger and tangier tomato flavor (and of course less calories).

Posted by Danielle at 05:35 PM | | Comments (0)

I didn't know if I was going to come back to this. Life is busy. It is for everyone. I don't delude myself into thinking that anyone reads this, but it was never really meant for anyone else. Just a place to record some of the things that I do that I don't get to talk about much in real life. Things that don't fit in journals full of ink and personal ramblings. So I've missed it from time to time, and wanted to check in. To leave a sign of life, even if it's just a personal reminder. Things outside of my control (and sometimes within it) have kept me from doing many of the things that I love lately. But in bits and pieces, I have been working on a few things...

There are a few more things, too. Things that I never managed to take pictures of, like a Shetland Triangle out of Lorna's Laces for an auction, and more than a few pairs of pants sewn for the little man. And there are things that I started but haven't finished yet, like this:

Bits and pieces; little things that help me to keep my sanity. Mostly to give away, some to keep, and all from the heart.

Posted by Danielle at 06:00 PM | | Comments (0)