Wednesday, February 17, 2010

My kitchen sink faucet has been acting up for the past year, so when it finally died a slow death this month, I was thrilled. Hubby installed a new one, and we all love it! I like the tall spigot. And it doesn't leak!!
I go to our local dollar store once every two weeks or so, and one of the things I look for are good tea towels. I'm especially interested in the colors. I finally found what I was looking for...a wheat-colored tea towel! Can you believe they only had one?

So tonight I had fun doing a project that's been at the back of my mind for almost a year. Every time I give someone a loaf of fresh bread, I always wish I had a nice bread bag to wrap it in. I didn't want something elaborate that took a lot of time or money. Just something simple.
The tea towel's hem could have been used as a facing if I would have had some buckhide string on hand. Instead, I ripped out the hem, then used the stitching line for my foldover guide. (Thanks to the cheapness of the towel, it took me three minutes to rip out the hem.)
The casing sewed up easily. I was thrilled to have the perfect color thread on hand.
I tried using twine for the drawstring to get a natural look but it was a disaster. It unraveled terribly. So I found a small ball of 100% cotton yarn and used two strands to crochet the drawstring using a basic chainstitch. That took 5 minutes.
Then I stitched up the sides...on the outside. Very simple!
I was anxious to see if a loaf of bread would fit in the bag, so I dragged out my bread machine and started a loaf at 9 pm. It takes 1:58 to bake.
This is what a 2 lb loaf looks like when you kind of "eyeball" the ingredients. Yes, I was getting tired.
But it was worth it...it fits! Would you mind getting a loaf of freshly baked whole wheat bread in a tea towel? I am going to keep looking for more towels. Wouldn't it be nice to give away garden blessings in a veggie themed towel? And it's machine washable!


I've had another idea brewing using muslin...for my long sourdough french bread loaves. Now that I have a flower stitch attachment we'll have to see what we can come up with...so stay tuned!

Wednesdays are either very busy for me or my day off. Today it was my easy day (ha ha...I did tons of chores in an effort to catch up) but we did make time to meet Sarah and Abigail at the thrift shop. Afterwards we all headed to Burger King to meet Meemaw and Grandad for lunch. Fun, fun!
I never thought I'd live to see the day when my parents ate dollar meals at Burger King! We splurged and drank iced tea...very yummy!
Abigail continues to amaze us with everything she says and does. Here she is applauding herself for climbing into the little playground capsule. She loves "the cousins" and runs to get her coat everytime someone mentions them!
Afterwards we drove through the country to my friend's home to pick up my health food co-op order. Today we bought a case of natural peanutbutter, a case of almond butter, a jar of almond and honey butter (first time and it's a hit), a 9 lb bucket of cashew butter, and a pound of unsweetened, unsulphured pineapple slices. Yummy!
I love seeing the frozen river and pond. Please don't shoot me...I'm sorry...but I'm not tired of the snow!
Lizzie built this little corral in the woods so she can take her goats with her to her treefort. The goats LOVE to go anywhere...especially with their heroine, Lizzie.
If you ever see Maggie in person, ask her to do her imitation of the goats chewing on her dress. Very funny!

I try to change my bedsheets every week. Sometimes it's later than that, but I am always sure to change our pillowcases every four days. Folks with an allergy to dust will understand that. Tonight I put new cases on that I brought in from being pegged outside...and they smell wonderful! I can barely wait to sleep on them. I love the smell of fresh air!


I'm going to try to be in bed by 1 am, so I'm signing off. I've enjoyed my day at home as I always do. Hope you enjoyed your day as well.


Many blessings ~ Kathie

2 comments:

legendswife said...

That is awesome:) I was just blogging earlier on another post on how I need to learn to sew. You guys are a great inspiration. Thanks

hannah said...

The tea towel bread bag is a fabulous idea! And the crocheted drawstring, too! I have some vintage teatowels I just might create something similar with. Thanks for sharing.