Watermelons and Patty Pan Squash

Some of the cucumber bounty went to church with me yesterday morning. Our former pastor used to put up a table in the fellowship hall dedicated to excess garden produce. We may have to resume that tradition.

I was surprised to see how big the watermelons are getting. There are only two this year, but that’s okay:

Sarah gave me two patty pan squash plants a few weeks ago. Despite their late arrival to the garden, they are producing:

I have a couple of mystery squash that came from the plant sale. I will be curious to see what comes from them.

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I went through the stash yesterday afternoon and pulled out some lengths of rayon/spandex. That is my favorite fabric for the Laundry Day Tee because it is cool to wear. Some of the pieces are only two yards, though—Walmart remnant rack—and I need about 2-1/2 yards for that pattern because it is a swing top. I set those two-yard chunks aside for Lark Tees or Easton Cowls and made an LDT out of a three-yard piece of turquoise rayon/spandex. I felt much better about my sewing abilities after putting it together. I still have to hem it, though.

While I worked, I watched some videos on a new-to-me YouTube channel called the Closet Historian. She specializes in vintage clothing, but she also has a number of videos focusing on fitting. I am finding them very helpful. She did a video about making a bodice sloper by starting with a commercial pattern rather than drafting from measurements. She suggests using a pattern that has a two-dart bodice, like this one:

In the video, she chose the size closest to her measurements and compared it to the bodice sloper she drafted from scratch. In practice, this likely would require making several muslin iterations to refine the fit—doesn’t everything?—but it’s a good place to start for people not familiar with pattern drafting.

I’m tucking this idea away for my T-shirt class in Spokane next month, in case I get asked about making bodice slopers again.

I also pulled out the Miramar top pattern and tried on the muslin I made. That top has a self-faced V-neckline. I thought I might frankenpattern it with the Love Notions Olympia Dress because the Olympia has a similar neckline. After comparing them, though, I think it’s just going to be easier to use the Miramar pattern but incorporate the construction method from the Olympia Dress that anchors down the facing. I like the way the Miramar top fits, but I have to lengthen the pattern.

I’m attempting to get organized and begin using up some of my stash fabrics. It is far too hot to sew with any of the sweater knits, but I have some ideas for those, too.

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I am putting the Log Cabin quilt together tomorrow. I have to be at church for something else and it’s a good time to get the quilt basted there, too. That quilt needs to go on the Q20 soon. I also want to get out my inventory for the co-op sale and start pricing it. Everything has to be tagged and marked with my initials. Things are going to start getting busy again toward the end of August and into September—100 quarts of spaghetti sauce and more apple pie filling are on the calendar this year—so I’d like to have the co-op prep done and off the list.