Showing posts with label Ft. Greene. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ft. Greene. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Happy Mushroom Applique




I made this happy mushroom applique shirt over the last couple of days. When I cut out the mushroom fabric I did not allow enough seam allowance to iron the edges down properly and ended up with some trouble. Trouble continued as I attempted to use the zig zag stitch on my Ye Olde Sewing Machine. The zig zag just never works. Probably the issue is the tension, and, as suggested by Angelina after my last post, I should get it checked out. However, I think it just is what it is. What it is is a Singer that my mother bought me at Woolworth's back when there was a Woolworth's on 8th St. in the Village. If you remember when this was, then you know how long ago this machine was purchased. Add to the age of the machine the fact that I bought it at Woolworth's, and that may explain why the zig zag never quite works out. Within two seconds of using the zig zag on the large mushroom, the machine had sucked the T-shirt into the slot under the needle and built a mound of thread to render it nearly impossible to remove the shirt from the machine.

After resolving never to use the zig zag again I straight stitched the mushroom heads on to the shirt and then embroidered around the edges to camoflauge where their seams were not deep enough to cover the raw edges. Clearly I need to perfect this design before I can sell it anywhere, but it still came out cute enough for Harlan to wear. In the photo of him he is saying hi on his imaginary cell phone.

Last night Joe and I went out for our date night (the second of 2007 despite to resolution to make it a monthly occurence). Luckily our friend and neighbor Salina babysat for us. In exchange I will sit for them one night whey they want to go out for dinner or to a movie. I have been pretty good about finding free babysitters so far. I have yet to pay for any. If I had to pay $10 an hour plus car fare home for someone to watch Harlan for an evening then it's already a night we can't afford. Anyhow, across from my house and right next to Salina's house is a stoop that is perpetually littered with stoop sitters. They are often drunk and yelling at one another, both from next to each other on the stoop and from stoop to window up above. Salina and I love to recreate their world every chance we get. For instance, if I am walking down the street and she sees me out her window, she will throw open her window and holler at me in part Spanish- part faux-drunken jibberish. I will yell back the same way.

Last week I was walking up the block around the corner and saw Salina ahead of me pushing Mattie in the stroller. I sped up, leaning on my own stroller and began to call out to her, "Hey! Mira Puta! Muy sexy! Muy sexy!" Then I continued with some loud tooth sucking noises that some of you may be familiar with if you have ever been a woman walking down a street in a city. Here's the punchline, when she turned around, it wasn't Salina at all. The woman held her hand to her chest and looked at me as if to say, "who me?" And I began to immediately apologize, explaining that her hair looked just like my friend's, and her stroller is the same one my friend has. She turned around and kept walking before listening to even one word. I have to say I wasn't quite as embarrassed as I should have been because I was pushing a baby in a stroller which somehow legitimizes my offensive behavior. Doesn't it?

Monday, January 15, 2007

The happy mondays

Well, I could say I have a case of the happy mondays, but it's a dreary cold one and Joe is ill on his day off. This past weekend was fun all around although I certainly did not get any work or crafting accomplished. Saturday turned out to be one of those days for me- it actually began on Friday (the "one of those days" theme that is) when I had my first bad ebayer experience. This guy I sold some vintage boots to wrote me an accusatory e-mail after having received them, claiming they were "all torn up". I asked him to send me a photo because this was news to me. Instead of replying he went straight to Paypal and had a freeze put on the amount of money he paid me and reported that I sent him an item that was inaccurately described. I replied via Paypal saying that the boots were as photographed on the auction. He put a claim on the money and has 30 days to get a letter from a vintage clothing dealer asserting that the boots are beyond reasonable wear for being 50 odd years old. If he can get such a letter he can get a refund. While I would only be out under $30 for shipping and ebay fees, it's the principle that gets me. Not only do I now have my first bad feedback out of over 100, but I just don't understand why this dude would want to go through so much trouble rather than just send me a picture of the so-called "all torn up" boots. I suppose it's because they are not torn up at all and he just doesn't like them for whatever reason. It's beyond my control nonetheless, so I don't let it get to me.
So, that was Friday night. Saturday was rainy and we took Harlan out for a walk hoping to get our heads cleared up. Instead we had to witness a bum's bum. We stood at the intersection of Flatbush and 3rd, at that bummish triangle in front of the pawn shops. You know the one, it's where all the winos congregate and the traffic cops hang out. Anyhow, we waited to cross and suddenly I looked over and saw a guy with his pants and underpants (if he had any) all the way down, getting into the squat position. I turned quickly away and shouted, "Don't look!" to Joe, who of course looked. Luckily the light changed and we were able to scurry across Flatbush without too much emotional damage being incurred. Good old New York. Everything went uphill after that and we had a lovely dinner out at Lulu's over on DeKalb after peeping into the window of the new Bonita Mexican place. It was packed and we decided to try it another time. I had a wonderful boullabaise (sp?) and a glass of well deserved red wine. No cigarette, but apparently even the French are giving it up. Sunday was spent baking wonderful blueberry muffins and making a frittata for friends who came over. Today Harlan is napping and I wasted the whole time adding bookmarks to my new stylehive feed. Check out the new banner on the sidebar to see all the things on the internet that I want to buy when I win Lotto. It's pretty addictive so watch out.