Avocado Project -- Meet Buck and Austin

The Avocado Project continues, and there's been a new addition. As Meg mentioned in a comment, and as I've read elsewhere on the interwebs, it's quite possible that you need 2 avocado trees to produce avocados.

The first avocado seed "toothpicked" is the one on the right, and in honor of it's growing vessel, I've named it Buck. It's obviously not readily apparent, but the cup is from a high school sporting event at Westminster, a private school in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. Ah... now of course you get it.

Here's how Buck is progressing...

Hard to see, but the crack is larger, and deep in the center, there appears to be a tiny root.

The second seed was "toothpicked" 2 days ago on Friday, almost 4 weeks after the first. I'm calling it Austin. For far more obvious reasons.

Austin hasn't made much progress...

To chronicle their progress, the previous progress pictures will be consolidated into a collage.

So the progress up til now (Buck only):

Hummingbirds Complete

The Hummingbird Sew Along is continuing on its steady pace, as I pop in now and then to check up on the goings on, and then make my green top and "orange"* skirt on my own. *the "orange" refers to the style of skirt on the pattern, a la "view B", and obvs not the actual color of skirt that I made.

Here ya go:

The top is super easy to make. Except when you choose a lovely, but soft and tissue-like jersey that was like sewing with kleenex. You can't see it in the picture, but my top stitching around the neck and sleeve bindings is terrible. I used my coverstitch machine, which I clearly need to practice with way more.

I hemmed the peplum, using my regular machine, replacing the regular needle plate with a straight stitch needle plate which helped immensely!

For the skirt, I had originally planned to use some blue twill from my stash. As I just washed it today, that obviously didn't happen. What did happen was that I was perusing my closet, came upon a dress that I made 2 years ago, but rarely wear because I hate the bodice. But I love the fabric, the floral border print you see above.

The dress:

The full skirt provided an ample amount of fabric, but I did need to cut upper front side piece from some saved scraps. Bonus... it was already hemmed!

And so this happened:

(I tucked the top in, so that you can see the skirt better.) I did fall smack in between the 40 and the 45, so I went, as advised, with the 45. When I did the try on, first pinning, then basting, I ended up with an 1-1/4" seam allowance (about 1-1/2" at the waist. I'll adjust my pattern pieces accordingly, keeping in mind that my twill has no stretch, and my hopefully soon to acquire black ponte knit might have a little more.

Oh, and I think I would like just a smidge more length when I make this version.

Life Updates and the Avocado

I confess that I haven't really been sewing. Of course, lots of us don't sew 24/7 because life (and sometimes death) gets in the way. I quite enjoy sewing blogs that give me a glimpse into more facets of the writer's life than just stuff they make. But, if you're only interested in stuff I make, then wait until the next post. Otherwise, read on.

I think I'll start with today and move backwards. Today is Father's Day! Happy Father's Day!

My Dad

Mitch Mayborn, 1936-1991

Father of my 2 Children

 

Roland Behm, still alive and well

Some sad news. This is the death part. Sadly, on June 1, my uncle died. Ward was my dad's younger brother, and he became very ill in March, and never recovered. I feel fortunate that I was able to fly to Dallas and attend the memorial service, and see my aunt, cousins, and the rest of the family. This is a sad day for my cousins.

The Avocado Project

I have this thing with growing avocados. Well, at least attempting to grow them. I successfully grew one a few years ago, that lasted a few years, and then it met with an untimely death. The last one only lasted a few months. I am undeterred though. I started another one on June 1, and I plan to photograph it's progress all scientific-like. If any of y'all have this obsession, or experience, feel free to chime in with any tips.

Finally, future sewing. I do plan to at least attempt the Hummingbird Sew Along. I have pattern and fabric. I've put the button on the side bar. Surely, I'll find 30 minutes!

The Sew Along

Alma Blouse Reveal

And the Theme(Last)Friday in the flickr group. Last week, the mini theme for the Me Made May flickr group was to show off your hometown, and I was stuck working, but today presented the perfect opportunity.

I was stuck working last Friday, but I was off today, and spent part of it visiting the Atlanta Botanical Gardens with a friend. The current temporary exhibit is "Imaginary Worlds". And in keeping with my apparent usual "dog theme"...

I'm wearing my Sewaholic Alma blouse which I haven't formally blogged about, but here ya go. It's a great pattern, and I made the size 10 grading out to the 12, starting at about what would be an empire waistline... down to the hem. It's a great pattern, and a very quick sew. Admittedly, the instructions are a bit confusing regarding the zipper insertion, but I just did my own thing. I've worn the skirt a lot... most recently back on May 8. Always great to have a denim skirt in the wardrobe!

And my "hometown"... technically, my hometown is Dallas, Texas. [side note: Georgia has it's very own Dallas, not too far from Atlanta. Sad, but I usually have to add the "Texas" when explaining where I'm originally from when talking to folks here]. I've lived in Atlanta, Georgia since 2005. From the Botanical Garden, which is in Midtown, you can see a great view of the Atlanta skyline just beyond the trees.

New Pavlova Skirt & Renfrew #5

It's a holiday weekend here in the US....wishing everyone a thoughtful Memorial Day here. I have the day off, and with family scattered far and wide today, it's me and the dogs. I briefly considered shopping, but decided to play the anxious recluse instead. I do suffer from time to time a bit of free floating anxiety, mostly as a result of things beyond my control, and there are several facets of my life right now that fit that description.

Anyway, enough with the soul baring... a few weeks ago I made Pavlova circle skirt #2 from some wonderful cotton shirting from Gorgeous Fabrics. Yesterday, I finished my 5th Renfrew t-shirt, this time making it sleeveless with a modified cowl collar. The fabric is a modal knit from fabrics.com, which was like sewing on kleenex, and just about as sheer. I've got a white cami underneath, and see this top more as a winter layering option. We'll see.

The only changes made to this version of the skirt were to make the waist slightly smaller, and the length a wee bit longer. Oh, I did make the belt, too... for another dress. 

And the dog... he would not leave me alone, and was in every picture, mostly trying to lick me in the face. And my attempts at the spinning of the circle skirt pic... impossible because he apparently thought it was some kind of game wherein he was required to jump on me. Good thing he's cute!

Shoe and Dress Update

Finally! The shoe decision was made, and yet I still managed to pack 4 pairs in my carry-on. And still wished I had my sneakers. But let's get to the dress first. You saw the picture on the mall and it was covered by the lovely green raincoat. How about the end result and just a few details (like what pattern is it, after all!).

Jacket: Vogue 8640. Originally blogged here. I shortened the length by 2" to make it less weird and somewhat wearable, but the honest truth is this is not a good shape jacket for me. Too boxy. I obviously forgot that I was not shaped like the drawing on the pattern... i.e., model tall and thin.

Dress: Bodice is McCall's 7569, a vintage pattern from 1964. Skirt is the Colette Macaron.

Fabric: from fabric.com. A cotton/linen blend designed by Valori Wells for Free Spirit. These 2 patterns were from the same collection which is a couple of years old, and now the remaining bits are on clearance.

The Starting Point:

 (which I had in my Etsy shop, but is now sold)

And my dress:

Many of the sizing changes were mentioned in this post, complete with pictures of the muslins, and the altered pattern pieces, so I won't repeat myself here. I will mention that instead of the ruffle from the pattern, I used self made piping from scraps from the jacket.

The piping went around the armscyes and the neckline, and down the back. Subtle, but I like it. Don't you love the birds?!

I tacked the crossover in the back just to avoid any gaping, though I don't think there would be any.

An alternate jacket (and possibly a better look than the jacket I made)... a linen Talbots blazer I bought a few years ago, that I don't think I've ever worn:

And the shoes?

Well, I wore the wedding shoes for the Friday graduation, but took them off after the walk to the restaurant. Those were seriously not walking through the city shoes. Last Sunday was drizzly in Washington, DC, and tromping across the Mall was way better in these closed toe, T-strap Naturalizers, with a sensible 2" chunky heel.

Finally... pockets!

Yeah. Barrett walked up to check out the photoshoot, and I was bracing for the "kiss".

Puppy love!

Me Made Continues

The vacation is over, but I have a few non-working days left in May on which I can wear stuff that I've made. Of course, my days off mean super casual. Behold:

Hair's a mess, minimal makeup. And apparently while I was on vacation, summer arrived in Atlanta. The heat is on! Top was made in 2010, and is a great summer wear. Seersucker shorts were made in 2011.