I have just returned from a visit to my grandchildren in Florida. When I arrived there was the usual expected excitement. They had to accompany me to my room with the suitcases. (They know something is always in there for them.) When I unzipped the cases to unload the clothes, my granddaughter immediately grabs my Jammie's and gives them a sniff. A long deep sniff. I asked her if they were okay. She said, "I just had to smell them, they smell like your house."
Through the next days I noticed something else, everything she picked up she looked for a label. Reading the label she would say, "China" or "India" or whatever country's name was there. I didn't mention she is just six. She is very preoccupied with reading labels.
On the third day I was there She and her brother, who was eight years old yesterday, came in with horribly filthy hands. I said, "Where are you going?" as they ran by they hollered over their shoulder, "To wash our hands".
A few minutes later they asked if they could play next door. I said it was fine if their friends mom said it was okay. About 30 minutes later they ran in the front door with the 3 brothers from next door in tow.
"Baba, can we play here?" I said, "Sure, where's the fire?" my grandson replied, "Oh Baba, There's no fire, We are going to dig to China." (Baba is Grandmother in Russian)
"Where do you think you are going to dig."
"We already have a hole started".
"Show me where and I will tell you if it's okay."
They marched me outside and showed me where they had started digging. They had started a hole right in the middle of the drive way. I told them to fill it in and they could dig in the garden where the flowers had died. I also had the fore thought to tell them they couldn't put the dirt on the patio and it had to stay in a nice pile next to the hole. I figured two shovels and 5 kids under
Eight years old couldn't do too much damage. WRONG.
A few minutes later one of the boys came running in and headed to the play room, clods of dirt dropping off his jeans and shoes. (Dirt in Florida is black and almost all sand). I hollered, "Slow up, what do you need in here, there's no coming in with the dirt on you." He looked down at his feet and mumbled, "We need a ruler." I told him no problem but to come to the door and ask and I would get them what they needed. For the next two hours I heard only happy voices discussing the construction of a tunnel and how long it would take them to get there.
I went out the middle of the afternoon with two buckets of warm water, a bar of soap, a kitchen scrubby sponge and a towel. I set the buckets on the ice chest sitting on the porch, called the kids. They came over wondering what the buckets were for. I told them they were for hand washing for kids that wanted a Popsicle. They needed to line up with the person who had the cleanest hands first. I used one bucket to wash in and the other to dry in. The scrubby pad to scrub the ground in dirt off. Half way through, the middle child from next door says, "Is that how you did it in the olden days?"
I stifled a choking laugh and said, "Nope that's how I do it in these days when I don't want five sets of muddy shoes and hands running in to the bath room to wash." I was answered with a chorus of 5 "Oh yeah."
While they were consuming their treats they drug me over to the construction site, proudly showing me a hole that was 3 feet deep and 18 inches wide. The littlest one who is 4 asked me if I thought they would be to China by tomorrow.
Later on that night I told my grands that their Mom had tried to dig to china under my back porch. I had tried to dig to China in my sand box when I was 6. Their grandfather and his friends dug a hole so deep their moms couldn't see them from their windows. Their Great grandfather, who is still living. When He and his friends were 10 they went to a vacant lot and dug tunnels all one summer to take them to china. My grand son said, "No Way, he's too old"
I wonder how many tunnels were excavated by girls and boys for their dreams to travel through
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
ANOTHER COW?
"Another cow, is that what we need?" This was the question hunny responded with when I mentioned it. It was more of an exclamation than a question. I gave him the run down of why we had Misty. We needed the milk to feed the baby goats and we were used to the butter, yogurt and homemade cheese. Misty was due to "dry up" soon. She was to freshen in three months. He said he could see my logic but what, where were we going to house another cow. I mentioned it was nice weather and we could build a lean-to large enough for the two of them till we could make better accommodations. He consented reluctantly.
I don't think he thought I would find a cow so quickly but only two days passed and the feed store called and said a customer that lived just a mile away had a milk cow available. I called and we went to look at "Lizzy". Mind you we were used to our wonderful demure Jersey. Lizzy was an eye opener. Her back was taller than I stood. If I reached up I could barely rest my arm on her back. She was looking at us, her eyes were wild. the owners said she wasn't used to strangers. I asked if I could try to milk her. They said sure and proceeded to put out grain for her and gave me a bucket to sit on and a bucket to milk into. Lizzy had only been fresh a few days and her bag was very full and tight. I was afraid she wasn't going to let me milk her, but that wasn't the case. She acted relieved at the prospect. She was easy to milk the people said don't milk too much leave some for the calf. Mentally I was thinking you haven't milked this cow enough she is too bagged up. The calf wasn't consuming as much milk as she was giving.
I was pleased with the cow and asked if they could deliver her the next day. (mentally I was afraid the poor cow would get mastitis if she stayed as bagged up as she was.) The poor calf, I had no idea what was going to happen to him. They said he had already been sold. They said no problem she'd be there tomorrow afternoon.
The afternoon arrived and the neighbor pulled up with the cow. He was in a baby blue pick up with stock sides on the bed. Finding a place to back the truck up to to unload Lizzy proved to be something we hadn't thought about. I forgot to mention, Our other cow misty had the run of the place. She was so placid and never bothered anything, didn't even try to go out of the gate when it was open. We had never had to make a fence to keep her in. She was surveying the truck scene and acting weird about the truck backing up to the terrace. All of a sudden Misty takes off and rams the truck. When she backed off there was a noticeable dent in the side. (I haven't mentioned, Misty has horns). I ran up to grab her halter and pull her back. This is easier said than done. She may be a Jersey and smaller than the normal Holstein, but she was still close to 1000 lbs. She is a very well fed Jersey.
Lizzy, gave Misty the eye and proceeded to act wilder than when she met us. We wondered if she had ever seen another cow. We put her in the pen and she proceeded to test the electric fence. I was happy she had had the experience of an electric fence before she came to live with us.
As Lizzy is making the trek around the pen she comes to the side that is a wooden fence. It separates her and misty from our pigs pen. We only have one occupant in the pen. He is being raised for dinner. "Porky" came to the fence to sniff the new neighbor. She did not like that at all and started bawling. Porky turned around and went back to his mud puddle. Lizzy didn't calm down until she found the bin filled with alfalfa hay. She started munching like she hadn't had a meal in months. when Misty came up to see what she was doing Lizzy turned and gave her a big push. Our gentle little Misty looked back at us as if to say, "what do I do now?" i went and got her a flake of hay. I put it in on the other side of the pen and pushy miss Lizzy came running over to take possession. Misty, not one for confrontation, headed for the Hay feeder and was very content to eat the remaining hay.
I wish this was the end of Lizzy story, but she continued to make trouble of the worst kind for us. Wasn't the cow who knocked over the lantern and was responsible for the Chicago fire named Lizzy(Or was it the lady's name)?
Saturday, January 17, 2009
OUR FIRST COW
On an Internet group I am on we've been discussing the cold, and more cold. How much we hate it. We've also been reminiscing about things that happened in the cold. This brought to mind all my farm experiences which I can say are excruciating in the cold. I have written about some of my chicken stories. Hopefully my reminisces will be enjoyed by you.
This is the first of many cow ownership stories:
Years ago when our son was almost six and our daughter was four and half we acquired our first cow. Her name was Misty. She was a gorgeous Golden Jersey.
Friends, we’d met through buying a goat had come upon hard times and needed to sell her. She had been hand raised on the bottle. The market for live stock was really down and for milking cows was nil. They didn’t want to sell her for meat and couldn’t stand the idea to butcher her for their own use. She was their baby. We had the space and we had the pasture so we agreed to purchase her from them for what they would get if they had to sell her for "beef on the hoof".
Misty arrived late in the evening after she had been milked by her "mom". (It’s not good to transport a cow with a full udder. If she would fall she could damage her udder.) She was put in her stall and given the nicest alfalfa hay we had and a 5 gallon pail of cold well water. We knew she would have to be stalled for at least a week until she got used to her new surroundings and new owners. We didn’t want her out until she recognized our voices and we knew she would come when we called.
The next morning everyone was up early. This is not normal, usually it is only me that gets up early to do the chores. The kids were excited they wanted to see me milk the cow. Why this was cause for excitement I had no idea. We get down to the barn and put the harness on Misty and lead her out of her stall. While I was tying her up to milk, Hunny was in cleaning up the stall and giving her clean water and hay. I pulled up a plastic box container, the kind milk is delivered in and turned it upside down. Our son says, “What’s that for?” I told him it was to sit on so I could milk. We had goats, the goats climbed up on the stanchion to be milked and I sat down beside them to milk. The kids had not realized the cow just stands there.
I sit down, grab the five gallon bucket and start milking. Milking the cow is no different than milking a goat except the teats are a little larger, so you have a bigger handful. I was real lucky; Misty was an extremely easy cow to milk. It was like turning on a faucet. You hardly had to squeeze at all.
I was getting nervous; our son was walking back and forth behind the cow while I was milking. I knew Misty was very gentle but didn’t know how nervous she would be with the new surroundings (with a different set of hands on her private parts). I kept telling him to get away (when a cow kicks backwards there is no warning they just kick and their accuracy is phenomenal). All of a sudden I holler, “What is your problem why do you keep walking behind the cow, bending over and looking under her?”
“I’m thinking.” Then he says. “I am trying to figure out what you’re going to do with the other two.”
This is the first of many cow ownership stories:
Years ago when our son was almost six and our daughter was four and half we acquired our first cow. Her name was Misty. She was a gorgeous Golden Jersey.
Friends, we’d met through buying a goat had come upon hard times and needed to sell her. She had been hand raised on the bottle. The market for live stock was really down and for milking cows was nil. They didn’t want to sell her for meat and couldn’t stand the idea to butcher her for their own use. She was their baby. We had the space and we had the pasture so we agreed to purchase her from them for what they would get if they had to sell her for "beef on the hoof".
Misty arrived late in the evening after she had been milked by her "mom". (It’s not good to transport a cow with a full udder. If she would fall she could damage her udder.) She was put in her stall and given the nicest alfalfa hay we had and a 5 gallon pail of cold well water. We knew she would have to be stalled for at least a week until she got used to her new surroundings and new owners. We didn’t want her out until she recognized our voices and we knew she would come when we called.
The next morning everyone was up early. This is not normal, usually it is only me that gets up early to do the chores. The kids were excited they wanted to see me milk the cow. Why this was cause for excitement I had no idea. We get down to the barn and put the harness on Misty and lead her out of her stall. While I was tying her up to milk, Hunny was in cleaning up the stall and giving her clean water and hay. I pulled up a plastic box container, the kind milk is delivered in and turned it upside down. Our son says, “What’s that for?” I told him it was to sit on so I could milk. We had goats, the goats climbed up on the stanchion to be milked and I sat down beside them to milk. The kids had not realized the cow just stands there.
I sit down, grab the five gallon bucket and start milking. Milking the cow is no different than milking a goat except the teats are a little larger, so you have a bigger handful. I was real lucky; Misty was an extremely easy cow to milk. It was like turning on a faucet. You hardly had to squeeze at all.
I was getting nervous; our son was walking back and forth behind the cow while I was milking. I knew Misty was very gentle but didn’t know how nervous she would be with the new surroundings (with a different set of hands on her private parts). I kept telling him to get away (when a cow kicks backwards there is no warning they just kick and their accuracy is phenomenal). All of a sudden I holler, “What is your problem why do you keep walking behind the cow, bending over and looking under her?”
“I’m thinking.” Then he says. “I am trying to figure out what you’re going to do with the other two.”
Friday, December 26, 2008
A little bit of spring
After this spell of zero degree weather, I think everyone is looking toward spring. It’s not even the New Year yet. We still have lots of inclement weather to descend upon us.
For my spring fix I head to my green house. I have a wonderful hoop house covered with 2 layers of plastic. It is 48 feet long by 24 feet wide. There is a fan that keeps the layers inflated like a huge pillow. This forms an insulating layer of air. This is the first year we have tried to raise plants through the winter in the green house.
In September I planted edible podded peas. They grew quite well. The wooden post in the picture is 4 feet high.
For my spring fix I head to my green house. I have a wonderful hoop house covered with 2 layers of plastic. It is 48 feet long by 24 feet wide. There is a fan that keeps the layers inflated like a huge pillow. This forms an insulating layer of air. This is the first year we have tried to raise plants through the winter in the green house.
In September I planted edible podded peas. They grew quite well. The wooden post in the picture is 4 feet high.
For auxiliary heat we have used 4 space heaters. I have no idea if we wasted electric. The only night they did not keep the house above freezing was the two nights where the temps in our valley dipped to -5 degrees (it went to 22 inside the green house). During the day, if the sun is out, even if it is zero outside the green house will get to over 90 degrees. We need to check the house several times a day and provide ventilation. If it is cloudy it will still warm to at least 50 degrees when the out side temps are 15 degrees. Early in the morning we head to the green house to monitor the temps and turn off the heaters.
We found an inexpensive thermometer that registers the high and low temps in a 24 hour period.
Last night for an end of Day feast, we had stir fry loaded with snow peas and some of the last of the Big Daddy peppers from the garden. (I also have chives in the green house that I snipped for the stir fry)
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Need some Chocolate Indulgence Today?
Years ago (before Internet) I clipped recipes from magazines, glued and taped them onto notebook paper. With the Internet those notebooks (remember the black bumpy cardboard 3 ring binder notebooks?) have become dust collectors on my book shelves. Every once in a while I refer to them for ideas because the magazine articles were always so beautifully illustrated. The magazines also contained great recipes that were put out by different products. One of these advertisers had gorgeous full page ads featuring recipes using their products. Karo Syrup and Bakers Chocolate collaborated designing mouth watering ads. I wish I could show you the ads. I went to google and did not find the copy of them. But I did find the recipe so I didn't have to retype it. I wish they had had the magazine ad pix so you could see it. It was a gorgeous presentation.
The recipe I am talking about is called, "Double Dark decadent Brownie". The ads had in big flowery script Devine Decadence written across the page.
The recipe has a glaze to go on the brownie. I have only made the glaze once…for me it was way too much…it was gilding the lily. The recipe serves 8…geesh after eating a big meal..I don’t know how you could get an 1/8 of a nine inch brownie down…especially if you had ice cream and caramel sauce too. I have never made it in a square pan before…but I bet the square cut into squares would make a better presentation on the plate.
Double Dark Decadent Brownie
This is a 1987 recipe from General Foods Corporation.
1/2 C. Karo light or dark corn syrup
1/2 C. butter
5 (1 oz.) squares Baker\s Semi-Sweet Chocolate
(I used 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips)
3/4 C. sugar
3 eggs1 tea. vanilla extract
1 C. unsifted flour1 C. chopped walnuts (I used pecans)
Grease and flour 9-in. layer cake pan.
In a large Sauce pan bring corn syrup and butter to a boil, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until melted. Add sugar; stir in eggs, one at a time (I beat the eggs in a cup before adding them), then vanilla extract, flour and nuts. Pour into pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 min. or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in pan 10 min. Remove; cool completely on rack.
Prepare glaze; pour on top and spread on sides. Let stand 1 hour.
Serves 8.
Chocolate Glaze:
In small saucepan melt 3 (1 oz.) squares Baker\s Semi-Sweet Chocolate with 1 Tbsp. butter or margarine over low heat, stirring often. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 Tbsp. Karo Corn Syrup and 1 tea. milk.
I have a quick chocolate fix Brownie that I found in a news paper about 20 years ago. The brownie is very good eaten immediately. But like all things baked in a microwave the quality deteriorates when it sets (becomes stale, quickly, upon cooling. So must be eaten fresh topped with all sorts of great decadent toppings, or indulged in, in front of a good movie with a huge glass of milk with your significant other)
Ten-Minute Microwave Brownies
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup nuts
(I used 1/2 cup chips, no nuts)
Coat 8" square glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
In bowl whisk eggs, butter, and vanilla until blended.
Add sugar, cocoa, flour, Blend well
Microwave on high power about 5 minutes until toothpick
inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool 5 minutes.
Cut into squares. Serve warm or at room temp.
The recipe I am talking about is called, "Double Dark decadent Brownie". The ads had in big flowery script Devine Decadence written across the page.
The recipe has a glaze to go on the brownie. I have only made the glaze once…for me it was way too much…it was gilding the lily. The recipe serves 8…geesh after eating a big meal..I don’t know how you could get an 1/8 of a nine inch brownie down…especially if you had ice cream and caramel sauce too. I have never made it in a square pan before…but I bet the square cut into squares would make a better presentation on the plate.
Double Dark Decadent Brownie
This is a 1987 recipe from General Foods Corporation.
1/2 C. Karo light or dark corn syrup
1/2 C. butter
5 (1 oz.) squares Baker\s Semi-Sweet Chocolate
(I used 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips)
3/4 C. sugar
3 eggs1 tea. vanilla extract
1 C. unsifted flour1 C. chopped walnuts (I used pecans)
Grease and flour 9-in. layer cake pan.
In a large Sauce pan bring corn syrup and butter to a boil, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until melted. Add sugar; stir in eggs, one at a time (I beat the eggs in a cup before adding them), then vanilla extract, flour and nuts. Pour into pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 min. or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in pan 10 min. Remove; cool completely on rack.
Prepare glaze; pour on top and spread on sides. Let stand 1 hour.
Serves 8.
Chocolate Glaze:
In small saucepan melt 3 (1 oz.) squares Baker\s Semi-Sweet Chocolate with 1 Tbsp. butter or margarine over low heat, stirring often. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 Tbsp. Karo Corn Syrup and 1 tea. milk.
I have a quick chocolate fix Brownie that I found in a news paper about 20 years ago. The brownie is very good eaten immediately. But like all things baked in a microwave the quality deteriorates when it sets (becomes stale, quickly, upon cooling. So must be eaten fresh topped with all sorts of great decadent toppings, or indulged in, in front of a good movie with a huge glass of milk with your significant other)
Ten-Minute Microwave Brownies
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup nuts
(I used 1/2 cup chips, no nuts)
Coat 8" square glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
In bowl whisk eggs, butter, and vanilla until blended.
Add sugar, cocoa, flour, Blend well
Microwave on high power about 5 minutes until toothpick
inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool 5 minutes.
Cut into squares. Serve warm or at room temp.
New Article on my blog:
"A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind
First Clue to be presented October 16.
Other blog sites by me:
Where I have stories of my cats and other pets
a blog about my courtship with my husband,
and a blog about my most embarrassing moment.
A "Soap box" blog where I do air my opinions.
blogs about the wildflowers on our farm
Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,
blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures
Blog about an endangered beneficial beetle
New Blog:
All recipes, pictures, and writings are my own.
I give credit for items which belong to other people in my blogs .
Please do not copy without permission
Friday, October 3, 2008
EGGPLANT: A Secret ingredient
I have been busy harvesting and having to find ways to "dispose" of the quantity of things in my garden. I thought I’d share, hope there are eggplant lovers around.
Eggplants need to be used very soon after picking….especially the smaller varieties. Their quality deteriorates quickly. I also have a deluge of basil. (3 lbs yesterday) more today. I have made pesto till I think I am going to turn into garlic! BTW, anyone ever make pesto with sage, wow, I did it yesterday after I heard it suggested on the CBS morning TV program.
I used parsley, sage, 2 large cloves of garlic and sea salt…leave out the cheese.. I didn’t put any nuts in either (I don't put nuts in my basil pesto either. To me it doesn't really effect the taste and it does ad expense and calories to the pesto). I can’t wait till I can try it on a grilled chicken breast..
Anyway back to the secret ingredient. It isn't the Eggplant.
I was making ratatouille. Ratatouille can include anything you have in the fridge. There are a few things that are standard. Mine usually has Summer Squash of some kind, diced in large dice. Eggplant, if it is small egg plant like "purple rain" I slice it in 3/8 inch thick slices (I don't recommend the finger Japanese type eggplants, they melt when they cook). Onions, I use a lot of these diced in 1/4 inch dice. Peppers, all colors, preferably thick fleshed peppers that are ripe. Cut them just like the onions. Some people like string beans in it...not me.
Spices and herbs: I never add salt or pepper, I feel there are shakers on the table if you need it you can use them. I always added several cloves of minced garlic in the sauteing of the vegetables.
Most of the herbs I add when the dish is almost completely prepared. They only need enough time to heat through, dispersing their flavors. Lemon Thyme is a standard in lots of dishes for me. You don't have to chop the leaves just strip them from the stems, adding them about 5 minutes before the end of cooking. Basil is a must. I have found for me the more the better. This can be added ten minutes before finishing, but then right before I take it off the stove I add a handful of basil cheffinod (Sp.? you know where you cut it in tiny skinny little strips).
Fresh tomatoes are a must. If not available then you can used canned store ones.
This time I didn't have the tomatoes and needed to use the canned varieties. All I had was tomato sauce. I had already started the dish and there was no turning back or changing it into something else. I had already added the Eggplant. Everything was sauteing and waiting
On the side of the stove is a huge pile of red and gold delicious apples (a neighbor had a windfall and donated them to us). At the time I was cubing up the squash and glanced over and thought…I wonder. I had only made the Dutch oven 1/3 full because My husband hates eggplant. I peeled and cubed a huge golden in the mix. I made the cubes about ½ inch or larger each…the same size as the squash. Cooked until they started to soften. Then I added the sauce and simmered it until the Apples were almost done. I tasted it, the tomato sauce and garlic and other flavors had permeated the apple, wonderful. It looked like the squash so no one would know the difference. It added the slight sweet touch that the canned tomatoes lacked… making it taste like I had used fresh tomatoes (which I hadn’t because I don’t have any in the garden right now.) I had found my secret ingreedient. Of course it isn't a secret anymore I am sharing it with the world.
I proceeded to add the last minute herbs. Added the lemon Thyme and the basil, simmered for 5 minutes, then I added chives and parsley and the skinny sliced basil. I took the dish off the stove and left it covered. Of course I indulged. A delight to the taste buds. BTW, this is also good cold.
New Article on my blog:
"A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind
First Clue to be presented October 16.
Other blog sites by me:
Where I have stories of my cats and other pets
a blog about my courtship with my husband,
and a blog about my most embarrassing moment.
A "Soap box" blog where I do air my opinions.
blogs about the wildflowers on our farm
Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,
blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures
Blog about an endangered beneficial beetle
New Blog:
All recipes, pictures, and writings are my own.
I give credit for items which belong to other people in my blogs .
Please do not copy without permission
Friday, September 26, 2008
RECYCLE THOSE BRIDESMAID DRESSES
Have you always been the bridesmaid and never the bride. Do you have a collection of wedding clothes that have been worn once and never used again. Don't throw them away. Don't give them away. Recycle them.
My Daughter had this fabulous dusty pink silk bridesmaid dress. It was very high end but that does not make it wearable...just expensive. It hung in her closet for 5 years along came her Little girl. I asked her if she'd mind if I cut it up to make something to go in the granddaughter's pink bedroom. She said, "will I like it?" I said, "I don't know and am not going to tell you what it will be." She relented, with apprehension, complaining how much she paid. I said, "for goodness sake only the closet has worn it for 5 years."
She was due to be gone on a trip for 3 days (that's why I was there, to sit for the kids). After I got the kids to bed I went to the garage to retrieve a 3 legged round table I had seen out there. One of those you can buy at Wal-Mart for 4 dollars. It already had a piece of glass for the top. I made a puddled on the floor table cover for the night table.
The following is how I did it. Measured the skirt of the dress and it was about 4 inches short the measurement of the height of the table. I had bought already some pink check quilted fabric to make pillows for her bed. It became obvious the fabric would never make it into a pillow. I took the round top and traced around it on the wrong side of the fabric. Then I cut it out adding about 3/4 inch all around (this is the seam allowance.) The rest of the fabric I cut into strips 5 inches wide and joined them so I had a strip the length of the circumference of the top of the table. Allowing an extra 2 inches for seams on each end. Next step was to hem each end folding over 1/2 inch and blind stitch down. (You only fold 1/2 inch because you will want to make an open lap seam in the back.) At this point remove the skirt from the bodice. I did not do it carefully. I cut it off the bodice leaving at least a half inch of bodice on the skirt. BTW. The dress had a large bow on the back. I removed it first.
I carefully removed the zipper. Try not to cut the fabric when you remove the zipper. Stitch the seam allowances down so they don't start fraying. (you could put seam tape of the back of them if you wish and then stitch them down.) Fray check might even work. (that is a name brand sealant for raw edges of fabric.)
Now is the time you attach the skirt to the strip that goes around the circumference of the table. My daughters waist is much smaller than the circumference of the table. so I went around the waist cutting vertical cuts in the waist to release some of the gathers. I did it dividing the skirt in equal sections so the gathering would stay even. I ended up taking the strip, gathering the side that would attach to the skirt. Basted the edge with large stitches taking it down just a little (look at the pic and you will see the skirt hangs a little under the edge of the table). It is sucked in. I then attached the right side of the skirt to the right side of the band on the basted edge. I hand basted them together instead of using pins to pin it to the strip. This made it easier to feed all the bulk under the presser foot of the machine. (I didn't have the pins fighting and sticking me.) You join them with the edges of the strip even with the opening of the zipper. Stitch over the basted stitches joining the skirt to the strip. Now fold the seam towards the strip and top stitch 1/4 inch from the seam. When finished top stitching, go to the wrong side and trim off the excess straggly fabric to within a 1/4 inch of the top stitching.Attach the strip/skirt to the round top....I hand baste this first too. You have one boucou amount of fabric and the pins just don't hold it. When attaching don't forget to overlap the edges of the strip. This is your closure to fit the skirt on the table. When finished you can put a snap on the edge where the strip joins the skirt (so it stays closed, nice and fitted.) If your dress came with a bow or you have sleeve fabric to make one. You can put snaps on it and attach it to cover the opening and now the back will become the front. lol And Voila your little princess has a princess table for just your labor.
I have used bridesmaid dresses to make the costumes you see in my photos. The pink dress also has a lined cape. I was able to find two matching satin dresses at a resell it shop (only 5 dollars each and I had over 14 yd of satin.). If you notice the Dora dress has a pink ruffle. That ruffle was left over from the second dress. Batman is also made from wedding satin recycled.Have fun thinking of what you are going to do with your old clothes. BTW I recycled old flannel shirts and flannel PJ's into the greatest quilt. The following blog is about those quilts.
The wig was made of yarn.
This was the year after the pink dress. She was still in a size 3 dress. The pink princess was a cut down 3 pattern.
This is the painting I painted for her room. I used it as a model to make the dress from.
Batman, The shirt was a jersey from wall mart and the pants were pj bottoms from there. The cape mask and Hood (which you can't see) were from a wedding dress. The cape is fully lined.
This is the princess dress from the two bridesmaid dresses. There is a huge bow on the back at the waist. The skirt is permanently secured so the lace petticoats show. They crinolines were so heavy underneath I had to put straps on them to go over the shoulders to keep the slips from sliding off her. BTW..this is only a size 3 dress.
New Article on my blog:
"A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind
First Clue to be presented October 16.
Other blog sites by me:
Where I have stories of my cats and other pets
a blog about my courtship with my husband,
and a blog about my most embarrassing moment.
A "Soap box" blog where I do air my opinions.
blogs about the wildflowers on our farm
Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,
blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures
Blog about an endangered beneficial beetle
New Blog:
All recipes, pictures, and writings are my own.
I give credit for items which belong to other people in my blogs .
Please do not copy without permission
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