Prima Donna Luna bra

Gardens and Flowers Popping Up Everywhere – Even on Bras

~ Michelle

Oh, does anyone else feel like I do? I have all these projects I want to do, or have committed to make, and it beautiful outside! I don’t want to sit inside sewing. But I do have a few things I have to sew this week, so I’ll have to spend some time inside. I have a second apron to make, and finish the cloned Prima Donna Luna bra.

We moved to our current home 6 years ago. I loved it from the minute I saw it. It’s a charming split-level, and has a big tree out front and two gardens in the front and one along the side of the house, and one in the back. I love to garden. Starting plants from cuttings or seeds is one of my favorite things to do. That just gives me so much more pleasure than buying a plant. But don’t get me wrong – I have no problem buying them too. Another delight is to get a plant from a friend. Every time I see a plant a friend gave me, I think of that friend. That is such a delight.

Our wonderful home with all its gardens was really a delight to me. We moved in right at the beginning of summer, so everything was new and fresh to me. And all the plants were something new to discover. One thing that was not a delight was the previous owner had dug up some of her favorites and left bare spots in the garden. That wasn’t very attractive. So I found new plants to fill those spots.

Another area that was a bit of trouble was the one garden in the front of the house was in the sun most of the day and was under part of the roofing, so it didn’t get any rain. That poor little garden was dried right out. And it didn’t seem to matter how much I watered it, nothing wanted to grow there.

It was that winter I heard about a Naturalization group. They provide information and activities that promote planting and cultivating native flowers. It was then I heard about Zeroscaping.  It sounded like the perfect solution to my difficult little garden.

I dragged my dear hubby along with me to a meeting. And did we pick a great meeting to test out! The members of the group were selling and trading seeds. We didn’t have any to trade, but I bought a bunch. Some needed to be watered and then frozen as if they’d been outside since summer. Some we just waited until spring and then planted indoors to start.

It is a delight for me to walk by that little garden now and see all the flowers blooming there. They’re not as showing as many flowers, but considering where that little garden started… it looks great!

One of my favorite flowers is Small-leaved Everlasting, or Little-leaf Pussy-toes. Even the name is adorable. I have a pink variety, and it really is a charming plant.

Littleleaf Pussytoes, Antennaria parviflora

I put in Wild Blue Flax as well. That one didn’t seem to take at first, but is doing well now.

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Another one of my favorites is Three-flowered Avens. This one is such a neat looking flower.

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However, we do have the odd rainy day, and when we had one last week, I quickly went to work on one of my many projects – like the Kwik Sew 3300. I’m about half way through my first bra from that pattern and it’s coming together really well. Here is one cup sewn into the band pinned onto Catherine just to show my progress so far.

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I did match the lace on the upper cups, but decided not to match the pattern on the lower cups. This being a black and white bra, I only intend to ever wear it under solid dark colors. However, once I sewed that first cup in, I thought the center of that flower really isn’t in the best place. That gave my dear hubby a chuckle. For now, it can stay the way it is. If it fits as well as I’m hoping, I’ll think about pattern placement before I make it again next time.

Happy creating and gardening!

Sewing for a Friend

~ Michelle

So what am I working on? I’ve cloned the Prima Donna Luna bra. It’s a very pretty bra, and my friend is so happy to have a good-fitting bra. But the color is not what she would have chosen. I know that too — when you get outside of standard sizes, you don’t always have the same choices, and pale green would not have been a choice she normally would have made. But when one makes bras, we can choose what materials and colors we want.

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So, my friend came over and brought her bra. And I set her up on my computer to look at Bra Makers Supply’s kits. She looked through and picked a few she liked. And she found more than a few! But we’re starting with one kit and one bra, and we’ll see from there. While she was looking, I was using the pin-method of cloning. I showed her how by putting the pins into the seams, the fabric isn’t damaged at all.

Here’s the kit she picked. It’s very pretty and delicate looking.

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As well as a bra, my friend is moving into a new house, and she wanted a new apron that would go with the colors of her new kitchen. So again, we went shopping – this time to the fabric store, and with pattern in hand, we picked some fun colors for her new apron.

The apron is a pattern I bought on Craftsy. It’s a pattern by So Sew Easy. She has a number of free patterns I’ve been looking at, and will try at some point. But the apron pattern is the Reversible Apron – I’ve got you covered!.

After I bought the pattern and we bought the material, my friend decided she didn’t want a reversible apron. She wants two aprons! So although I’ll be using the pattern to cut out the apron, I won’t be following the instructions as they are written, and won’t be able to give a fair appraisal of the instructions, or at least not all of them. I did follow the instructions up to attaching the neck ties, but not after that. And dropping off in the middle of instructions like that, left me to come up with a way to finish the edges. However, up until that point, she did a great job explaining and showing with pictures how to sew the apron.

Here’s the apron I made:

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I love that front panel. It’s so charming.

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And the material here with the sparkles is the neckline trim, ties, the waist band and ties, and the bottom band as well. Why shouldn’t a girl be sparkly in the kitchen as well?

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This picture really shows why the apron is called ‘I’ve got you covered!’ – it wraps around the hips. That is a very nice touch if you ask me. Much better than just covering the front of the body. This apron wraps right around Catherine (my dress form) as Catherine really doesn’t have any hips at all.

And lastly,

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Faith, hope and love … and musical notes! It’s even got flowers in there. That just about wraps up everything I love right there.  Hmm, just thinking, it needs lace.

Happy creating!