Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Visible Mending...and what do the words Boro and Boho have in common and how do they differ?

"Boro" and" Boho" are both words which are often used to denote a type of mending or preservation of clothing. They look and sound similar but have different origins. 

"Boro" usually refers to a way of life which comes from Japan, where women traditionally used stitching to mend clothing again and again to make an item last until it almost had a new life of its own. Creating a simple beauty, it is characterized by neat, even stitches. The method of stitching is called Sashiko.

The word "Boho" comes from the word "Bohemian" and often refers to a style of clothing – and sometimes home furnishings - which uses rich and varied colors. In the recycling or up-cycling of clothing, people sometimes use colorful patches or combine parts from two different clothing items, one or both of which is often colorful.

In the history of my own country (the USA), we have "piecing" or "quilting".  Quilts were traditionally made from stitching together pieces of clothing that someone had outgrown or from the good parts that remained after an original item of clothing had worn out. Sometimes these were made into patchwork squares and sometimes they were made into varying shapes.

All of these methods of sewing have come to be viewed as forms of art. Some people today create, using these methods, but using all new materials. But there also seems to be a resurgence of using them for their original purpose, the preservation of fabric.

Here is a good video which explains "What is the difference of Boro and Sashiko?"

Mending Matters is a book which gives an interesting and useful look at using Sashiko for textile sustainability.

Do you use any of these methods? Have you come across other ways in which people preserve clothing? Do you ever combine more than one method?

 

I am neither enough of a perfectionist for Sashiko at this time, nor did I want this patch to be colorful; but I used "visible mending" to repair these jeans for one of my sons, using both a patch and visible hand stitching. I turned the leg inside out to sew on the patch. Then I turned it right-side out and stitched over the patch. The first picture shows the rip and the second picture shows the repair. 


 


 

    


 



Monday, November 30, 2020

Weiner Skillet Dinner

 

1 pound weiners (hot dogs or franks)
1 large can (14.5 ounces) green beans
1 package mushroom gravy mix or brown gravy mix (prepared as directed on package)

Slash weiners diagonally and sauté in skillet over medium heat till brown. Add green beans (drained) and gravy. Heat thoroughly.

Serve over baked or boiled potatoes.

My Notes

 I made this just like my mom wrote it up, except that I mashed the boiled potatoes.


We thought it was delicious! 

From A Vintage Pantry Cookbook, by Margaret Mary Myers





Thursday, November 19, 2020

Infinity Scarf from a flannel shirt



Way back in 2017, I made this pink plaid infinity scarf from a flannel shirt. It's nice to keep my neck warm on a cool day, especially if I am wearing a collarless shirt. 

I got the instructions from this website from Girl in the Garage, who paints furniture but, like me, embarks on diverse projects. 
DIY: T Shirt into Infinity Scarf

Here is a blue scarf I made around the same time, this one from an actual T-shirt, as the instructions show. At the time, my sewing machine wasn't very accessible, so I sewed by hand. I don't remember it taking all that long. 




Wednesday, November 18, 2020

How I Got into the Business of Making Cloth Masks




We had a partial box of paper "surgical" masks in the house when the pandemic hit.  I thought that would be all we would need. After all, we were just trying to "flatten the curve", right? 

Soon I realized I might want to make cloth masks for my family.  Well, I had a bit of fabric left from previous sewing projects; and I had a bit of 1/4" elastic, probably from my grandmother's stash; and I had pipe cleaners from some crafts with the kids. So, having found instructions I liked, I began making masks for my family. 

Then I ordered supplies through eBay, and I made masks for my adult kids' roommates and co-workers, and then for a friend's wedding. Pretty soon, I had made and given away 100 masks. In the meantime, one of my sons kept suggesting I make masks to sell. 

So I ordered more supplies and opened an account on Etsy. About that time a friend suggested metal nose strips to replace the pipe cleaners. That made a huge difference in efficiency and durability, and I was happy to begin my selling with this improvement to the masks. 

Currently, I have 28 different fabric styles or colors to choose from. Come check them out:  

 


Mini-quilt from Jeans



    

        

Do you enjoy re-using old things in a new way? I sure do. When a family member wanted a very small blanket, and we couldn't find any that small, I pulled out some old jeans. I also ordered some faux sherpa fleece through eBay. 

I decided on 24" X 20" for the mini-quilt, based on something I had re-used for a lap blanket in my car. 

I cut 30 squares, with each square being 5" across by 5" down, to make 6 rows by 5 rows. I used 1/2" seam allowances. I sewed the patches into rows and then sewed the rows together. 

The sherpa fleece tends to stretch a little, so I was careful getting it measured and cut to the 25" X 21" I would need for a backing. After cutting, I laid the denim on top of the fleece and trimmed the fleece a tadbit, as needed. 

I used clips to hold the two large pieces together, right sides together. I put the clips on the very edges, so I would have room to sew. I sewed around the three sides. I clipped the corners carefully, and then turned the blanket right side out. 

I then turned the edges of fourth side under toward the inside of the blanket and uses the clips to carefully attach it all the way across. I then sewed that side shut. After that, I sewed near the very edge all along the other three sides, so all four sides would like nice and flat. 

To finish, I sewed, on the jean side, down the set of rows where I had put all the squares together. I used blue thread and happily the blue didn't show on the beige fleece side, as it got "lost" in the fleece. I was quite happy with how it turned out.    

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Why Three Cookbooks and What are the Differences Between Them?

 At last, I have all three of my little cookbooks available for you in both Kindle and paperback formats. 

You might wonder: Why three and what are the differences between them?  


A Vintage Pantry Cookbook was born of my finding a little book of recipes my mom had given us one Christmas, and wanting to preserve them. Although my mom could cook just about anything well, these recipes of hers were primarily geared for cooking with inexpensive ingredients you can keep on hand. To further that concept, I decided to add simple quick breads which can be made without fresh milk and eggs. Later, I decided to create and add some simple crock pot soups, again, ones which could be made primarily from the pantry. When I lost my job to the 2020 pandemic - and some foods became harder to get - I finished the book and put it on Kindle in the hopes it might help people. And now I have finally put it in paperback also. I hope you might find it helpful. 


The 1-Button Rice Cooker Cookbook saved my budget and my sanity at a time when I was tired of cooking (and I wasn't comfortable in the little kitchen I had at the time either). We had only three of us at home to cook for, as most of our children had grown and moved on. I told my husband, "If we had lots of money, I would eat out every night." But I'm the frugal one, and I didn't really mean it (and we didn't have lots of money). So I started buying more convenience foods, and then I bought  a rice cooker so I could add flavorings without buying those rice packets. That's when the idea of rice cooker meals caught my attention on the internet. I got a Kindle book by Neal Bertrand, called Rice Cooker Meals, Fast Home Cooking for Busy People. I loved what he did with it, but it was Cajun cooking, and I'm a Westerner who grew up with a Midwestern mother.  So, I started adapting recipes we knew to the rice cooker, and my son Robert and I began creating more recipes, as well, mostly with rice or pasta, but a few others too. During this time, two new cookers came out, the instant pot and the fuzzy logic rice cooker (I still  haven't wrapped my head around that second one.). But people talked about the learning curve, and I still wanted something where I - and those friends who had asked me about easy cooking - could just pop the foods in and walk away, and come back to a meal a half hour or an hour later.  We still use the meals in this book several times a week. 


The Myers Family Cookbook was the first cookbook I wrote, and is somewhat of a basic teaching cookbook. It's not as comprehensive as Betty Crocker or Mark Bittman, but it takes the reader through steps for making a number of different dishes.You see, when I got married, I knew how to cook eggs and quesadillas, and make a salad, and not much else. When my mom got married, she didn't know how to cook very much, either. I decided I would break that chain, so I had my six children cook with me, as soon as they could safely stand on a chair. They have become better cooks than I am. This cookbook includes some family memories and a few of their creative recipes (although I think most of them, now, often cook without recipes, though they look on the internet for ideas).


I hope you might enjoy one or more of these books. All of them are available on Amazon. You can click the above book links or visit my Amazon Author Page

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

A Vintage Pantry Cookbook

Okay, I have just set my newest little cookbook, A Vintage Pantry Cookbook, to be free, as of tomorrow morning, for five days. I thought it might be useful at this time. (Five days is the maximum free period which Amazon allows in a 90 day period.)
"Two dozen recipes you can make with foods you can keep in your pantry, refrigerator, or freezer. Or you can just take a journey back through other times. You will find simple quick breads made without milk or eggs. You will find Spanish rice and crock pot soups and chili. You will also find some original recipes for meals you have probably never heard of before now. Whether you add the recipes to your collection or simply enjoy the trip into 20th Century America, enjoy."
If anyone noticed that I was looking for crock pot soup recipes recently, you see, the soups in this book are made from canned goods. Also, they are made in very small batches (4 or 5 cups of soup). However, some of the other dishes in the book are able to serve more people or can be doubled.
Free from Wednesday, April 1, 2020, 12:00 AM PDT through Sunday, April 5, 2020, 11:59 PM PDT.
I have set this to public in case anyone would like to share.

Monday, March 30, 2020

1-Button Rice Cooker Cookbook




I'm not recommending anyone run out and buy something right now. But do you happen to have a simple rice cooker where you just push down the switch for on, and it pops up when it's done?

If so, did you know you can make whole meals with it? Yes, with rice, but alternatively, with pasta. 

That's what my 1-Button Rice Cooker Cookbook is about, using the 1-button rice cooker to make one-pot meals with ease and with what you might have on hand. 

Having trouble finding ground beef but you can find hot dogs? (Or even Vienna sausages?). And do you have spaghetti sauce? And penne? You could make Frankly Pasta in the 1-Button Rice Cooker. Honestly, if you don't have penne but you have elbow macaroni, that would probably work too. 

Do you have rice and barbecue sauce and some chopped chicken or frozen chopped chicken (or even canned chicken in a pinch)? You could make Barbecue Rice and Chicken in the 1-Button Rice Cooker. 

How about Chicken and Rice with Veggies? Macaroni and Cheese? Or even Tuna, Rice, and Tomatoes? 

You can get this as a Kindle book by clicking on the link at the right. It's 99 cents on Kindle. (It is now available in paperback as well.)

It will be free from Tuesday, March 31, 2020, 12:00 AM PDT through Saturday, April 4, 2020, 11:59 PM PDT. 

1-Button Rice Cooker Cookbook