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Mint & Lavender

There is nothing so divine as walking into my house from the garden and being enveloped by the sent of mint and lavender drying. It is hot today (the temperature here in Dayton is expected to top-out just above 90 degrees), but the sun is shining and the humidity is low - a perfect day for harvesting and drying fresh herbs. Ohio has been inundated with so much rain over the last two months that despite this unexpected heatwave, the blazing sun is more than a welcome sight! Finally, my musty world is drying out a bit - lol!

Simplicity 0663 (8855 or 3623)

Over the last week, I have managed to work on my Celtic dress a bit here and there. I have the bodice fitted properly and constructed (I have also added a peplum, which is not pictured here) - I just need to insert some heavy boning in the center front, pound in the grommets, and sew on all the decorative elements (and that means hand sewing - although hand sewing takes time, I find that I have better control over the details and the finished look is far more polished and exact). I'm not really loving this pattern - Simplicity 0663 (or 3623). The bodice is super easy to construct and I do find the squared shape of the neckline and armholes interesting, but the overall construction of the blouse is ridiculously over-worked. For all the steps and plackets and pattern pieces it takes to make the shirt to this dress, it would be less time-consuming and frustrating to construct an authentic Irish leine - lol! And that's not all! Even after cutting a size 12 (I'm roughly a 16 in the tailoring world and a 14 in the retail world), I still had to downsize the bodice pattern to an 8! WTFrench-toast? This particular bodice is meant to be well-fitted and figure enhancing (not suffocatingly tight, but snug enough to boost the girls a bit and trim the waist just an inch or so). So, fair warning: if you own this pattern or you are wanting to buy this pattern, the bodice will be HUGE (a couple to several sizes larger) in comparison to the skirt and shirt patterns. Oopsie, Simplicity!

In the meantime, I have been gearing up for some home improvement and sewing projects that I need to work on over the summer, and these will be all the easier to accomplish now that school is in its final week (thank heaven!- I am so burnt and so are my students). One of my biggest projects is to freshen-up my kitchen (I am keeping the vintage elements to it, like my cabinets - they may be old, but they are beautiful, so why replace them?). One of the new elements I will be adding to my renewed kitchen is an area to store all of my herbs, dry them, and prepare them for medicinal uses so that I can work more efficiently. Yesterday, the hubs and I went out and I purchased new air-tight glass storage jars (my old ones will be passed on or recycled) and sometime this week I hope to head over to the hardware store to grab some hooks to install for air drying (speaking of which - I need new screens for sun drying). It's all coming together - one finished project at a time!

Happy sewing (and painting, and gardening, and etc.)!