There are a lot of sewers out there who buy, collect and use vintage patterns (and no matter what the online retailers call them, I’m not sure you can consider Nolan Miller “Dynasty” sewing patterns from the 1980s to be exactly ‘vintage’ but that’s a discussion for another time). Everyone looks for something different. Some [...]
Posts from ‘June, 2010’
Sheep: From the Hooves Up
As Aunt Toby said before, there are a couple of items in terms of raising sheep that if you get them right, everything else pretty much falls into place. One of the most important is keeping hooves trimmed. Years ago, I attended a talk by a ruminant specialist from Cornell, who had done a lot [...]
Twill, Baby, Twill
Recently, I read on another blog that I frequent the author’s question about what sort of fabric he’d gone and bought to make himself a pair of pants. Male Pattern Boldness
He thought it might be ’some sort of twill’. Several of us recognized immediately that what he had was not twill but I [...]
Red Dress Redux
For those folks who requested an actual shot of the dress from this post because it disappeared into the laundry before I could do it, here you go. Apologies for the armpit shot, though it does give you an idea of what a honkin’ broad back I have (courtesy of genetics, weight lifting et [...]
Want Sheep? Learn This.
So, you are thinking about raising sheep. Or, maybe it’s goats. It’s probably NOT cattle because just the thought of raising a cow or a beef animal is so daunting – we’re talking a creature that ends up weighing almost as much as a small car.
If one of those babies steps on your foot, [...]
Best Summer Party Dress: Vogue 8241
Aunt Toby doesn’t do a lot of pattern reviews, but when I find something that works on me (5′2″, shorter-than-normal arms, a bit thick in the waist), then I’ve got to promote it. Seriously. This is a great dress for anyone.
Very Easy/Tres Facile. Misses/Misses Petite Dress and Belt: Semi-fitted, pullover, lined dress with [...]
Curtain(s) Up!
There are probably as many ways to install shades and curtains on a deck or pergola as people can dream up. The basic making directions are here : I’m going to go over some ideas that I got AFTER I made the decisions that I did:
Adjustable shower curtain rods. You can find these to [...]
More Shady Doings at Chez Siberia
I did not describe the process by which Aunt Toby came to the conclusion that making shades for the pergola was the way to go. Actually, I did not describe the process by which the decision to put a pergola on the deck was made either. But, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.
There [...]
My Kingdom For Some Shade
Aunt Toby is not sure exactly when decks replaced porches but somewhere in the not so distant past, people got all hot and bothered to have a place to sit outside that wasn’t a patio and didn’t have a roof. And not being immune to this, when we did “the first big dig” on Chez [...]
Electro-Netting for Sheep
And, I’m back. Sort of. The orthopedist’s visit last week was a success and I’m assigned to start physical therapy tomorrow. I have to admit that I’m not really looking forward to this. It’s going to hurt and there is no way to step around that fact but it’s the only way I’m going to [...]
Kitchen Counter Economics is a community where we can share ideas on how to save money, live more sustainably, and gain control over the stuff of daily living for ourselves and our families in the current economic environment. This started as a series of diary postings at the 
