Resizing a Button Down Shirt

I'm married to a skinny man. No two ways about it. Sometimes this makes finding awesome shirts for him at the thrifts difficult. If you've been in a thrift store lately, you know what I mean. The XL section goes on for miles, but there's only a measly five shirts in the S section. And one of them has a stain. On rare occasions, I do stumble across a lucky, perfect fitting find, grab it as fast as I can, and ecstatically rush towards the register before some other skinny hipster dude can body check me and make off with my find. More often, I find M or L size shirts in the most perfect prints and cry a little inside because they're so big Kevin will drown in them.

However, I've become ambitious lately due to lack of job. Mmmmm. Free time and ambition. A dangerous combination. So I got it in my head I could size down those too-big button down shirts with a flick of my fairy wand a little determination and our trusty sewing machine. Hence, the following. 

One final note before I dive in, this is not meant to be a tutorial. This was my first time attempting something like this, and you'll notice (particularly at one point) things didn't exactly go off without a hitch. But, I did learn some things along the way for next time and am happy to report the shirt was enough of a success that he wore it shortly after and I'm plotting over my next shirt victim. 

Step One: Take a BEFORE shot. Apologies for the poor image quality and the fact that it's on me and not my dude. I think you get the idea, though...it was big. 

Step Two: Cut off the sleeves. But only if you're sure they're not going to fit as is. Which I was. 

Step Three: Select a perfect-fitting shirt to use as a guide. Lay the small shirt on top of the big shirt, lining up the collars. Carefully trace around the small shirt at the sides and bottom (if necessary for a too long shirt) about a half inch out. 

Step Four: Sew the new side seams by following along the traced line. 

Step Five: Cut the excess off the sides on the outside of where you've just sewn. I suppose the outside part is obvious. However, I'm stressing it because I did the opposite by accident, as you can see by the picture below. Whoopsies. (Note: if you messed up step number five like I did, frantically try to sew the errant cut back together without it looking too messy). 

Step Six: Cut along the bottom hem as marked, being careful to line up the button bands on each side. Since I had to create a new hem, I did a double fold-and-iron so that the raw end was folded under, then did a double stitch along the bottom. I also elected to pin the hem here so that it would be nice and neat as I sewed. I finished it with a double line of straight stitching to look more like a proper hem. 

Step Seven: Turn your attention to the sleeves, which were detached from the body earlier. Lay out each sleeve like you did with the body, lining up the cuffs. Trace around the smaller sleeve about a half inch in. 

Step Eight: Sew along the traced line. There should be a point where the sleeves line up around the cuffs (most wrists are the same size I suppose). When you get there, try to make the stitches as neat and flat as possible to avoid any puckering. Cut off the excess material. 

Step Nine: Reattach the sleeves. This was by far the trickiest part, but in the end wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Turn both the body and the sleeve inside out, then line up the end of the sleeve in the body's sleeve hole. Be super careful that you're lining them up right side to right side (something I also didn't do right the first time, but thankfully caught before sewing). Pin close together so that the sleeve is nestled neatly within the body hole; again, to avoid puckering. If the sleeve is just a little too big for the hole, you can hide a little pit of puckering under the armpit. Or, if it's much too big, sew it down a little bit before attaching. 

Step Ten: Once sleeves are attached, turn right side out and finish with a double straight stitch around the armhole. Again, to look like a proper shirt.

Step Eleven: Proudly present to husband and beam when he chooses to wear it to work the following week!

August in Instagrams

As of semi-recently, I became an iPhone owner. Of all the things that I love about my new phone, it's possible that Instagram is my favorite. Addiction with a capital "A". I think what I love about it is that it makes me take pictures of the everyday things that I wouldn't otherwise think to capture in a photo. It's fun to look back through my photo stream and remember little moments and big moments alike.

Here are some of my August favorites (captioned in clockwise order from the top left):

1) Dinner and pretty blanket at the first KEXP Concert at the Mural of the summer. Unfortunately overcast but still fantastic. 2) A daily Churchill house occurrence using the most perfect coffee carafe brought back from the thrifts in Maine by our dear friend Sarah.  3) Second KEXP Concert at the Mural. Sun!! 4) At Chuck's Hop Shop with friends. I spotted a lone Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy in the cooler (in a can?) and it made me smile.

5) All of my work things packed up and ready to be dropped off at the office on my last day. 6) A drink with the hubs at Fremont Brewing on a perfect sunny day. 7) My epic jobless to-do list. That's right, it's color coded. 8) Space Needle photo shoot during cousin Chad and girlfriend Nina's visit. Come back any time you two!

9) Cascadia Cup: Portland Timbers vs. Seattle Sounders (we won!). 10) The best knitting advice from Elizabeth Zimmermann, knitting sage. 11) An almost complete shot of my EPS linen sweater. 12) Favorite order at Top Pot Doughnuts (enjoyed whilst writing this very post).

And last but not least...a shot taken while out and about on our anniversary. Five years folks!

Churchill Family CAMPING Tour 2013: Rialto Beach

Well folks, as of a few weekends ago the Churchills are officially backpackers. True, it was a pretty easy trek, but we're starting slow and working our way up. I'm considering this the Churchill Family CAMPING tour stop to be a continuation of Yurt Tour. We've sort of already hit our top yurting destinations, and we also had it as a goal to go beach camping this year, so we're took a hiatus from the yurts to hit Rialto Beach.

Rialto Beach is on the western edge of the Olympic Peninsula. Sort of north central. We hiked down roughly 3 to 4 miles and set up camp in a nice little cove with a view of some beautiful sea stacks. At first, the hiking was pretty easy since we were just following the sandy beach. When we got to a spot about 2 miles in called Hole-in-the-Wall (because the water erosion has created a hole in the wall...) we had to take a quick jaunt over said hole via an overland pass since the tide was too high to walk through the hole (can I just say...it's really more of an arch). The hiking from there on out got a little bit more difficult. Because of the high tide, we sort of had to scramble over the rocky shoreline at a pretty slow pace. If we did it again, I think we'd definitely make more of a point of getting an early start so that we'd cross those tricky bits during low tide.

Here, I feel is a good spot to briefly talk about gear. Our backpacks are from Rivendell Mountain Works and we both absolutely love them. They're made in nearby Monroe, WA and are just the perfect size for us. A nice overnight-or-two size for camping and big enough to pack for say, a ten day trip to Tunisia. We first heard about them when our friend JC (aka High Above) did a tote bag for them. We purchased our new lightweight sleeping bags and second-hand tent from local shop Second Ascent. Seriously a great place for affordable, used, and still in good shape camping gear. Plus, the salesperson that helped us was both very knowledgable and good-humored (he expertly answered my question about the "cuddle-factor" on the bags temperature rating when he informed us we could zip them together). Since this was our first time, we weren't too sure about lashings; in other words, how to attach all our stuff to our packs. After some head scratching, I ended up performing an elaborate tying ritual with some sewing seam tape, and Kevin scrounged up every wayward carabiner from the dusty corners of our house and clipped his things on. We kept making jokes about what we called our "unconventional lashings". Ha!

There were quite a few people camped along the beach, so we kept hiking farther to get to more of a remote spot. But, we started to loose hope a bit after Hole in the Wall because the shoreline was so rocky. Kevin had also brought his fishing pole in hopes of catching some surf perch, which requires more of an open ocean feel than a rocky, shallow cove. But, we kept on, rounded several rocky points, and settled in a nice sandy little cove. It wasn't the open ocean needed for fishing, but, what can I say...I was hungry. So, we stopped, made camp and cooked dinner.

Dinner was fire-toasted our corn and a can of lentil soup. Shout out to the Shifley family for the delicious corn, and a big thanks to Mom and Jim for the little camp stove! Then, we took a little bit more of a hike down the beach, and enjoyed our fire and the view. That night it sprinkled a little bit, but we were nice and cozy in our new sleeping bags and tent. Although I did have to make a clumsy middle-of-the-night exit as per usual to dig a cat hole in the sand (ahem).

 
The next morning we got our fire going again, breakfasted on pb&js, packed up our tidy little camp, and headed back. This time, the tide was low so we had a bit of an easier time and got to walk through Hole (Arch) in the Wall. All in all it was a wonderful first beach camping AND backpacking excursion.

If any Washington-vicinity folks out there have recommendations for a next backpacking destination, we'd love suggestions! We know (and love) the beaches on the Olympic Peninsula the most, so we're thinking of somewhere near Kalaloch next. Tag-alongs welcome :)

52 Tuesday's: Favorite Thrifts #15 - Travel Edition (2)

My title are getting rather lengthy...
anywho

What: Woven Everything Bag
Where: I don't remember? Maybe the Ballard Goodwill? eeek!
Level of Love: Tons!

Still traveling this week, so this is another travel edition of my favorite thrifts. As I mentioned last week, I think when something travels with you it's elevated to the level of extra favorite. Which is certainly true of this bag. This bag. Seriously. I called it an everything bag, because it fits just about everything. Original, I know.

This was one of those things I almost didn't buy because I was waffling over whether I really liked it or not. Seems like these types of bags have been floating around in trendy world for a few years now, so I was kind of thinking it was either too late to jump on the bandwagon and I'd look silly carrying it, or I just didn't want to be on that bandwagon at all because it's a little outside my style. Plus, sometimes I think there's this thrifting rule you have to tell yourself where if you're going back and forth on something you should probably put it back. If it's not an omagawd grab and beeline for the checkout then you have no business buying it. It's a bit of a conundrum really: when to buy something thrifting and when to leave it when you're on the fence. I think you have to be even pickier  when thrifting than when you're at a new goods store. I have a few theories about this. First, your standards change by your surroundings. If I'm at J. Crew looking at their cashmere sweaters, I might not buy one because it's not the exact right shade of blue (Note: I've never purchased a cashmere sweater off the rack at J.Crew). If I'm at a thrift store and I see a cashmere J. Crew sweater of any color I'm gonna bring that sucker home. This has gotten me into trouble in the past when I've arrived home, unpacked my bags, and realized I've just purchased a sweater in the most hideous shade of luminescent yellow you could imagine (true story). So, perspective. Second, I think all the randomness of a thrift store can make you loose your sense of your own style a little bit. If you're at a homogeneously decorated and stocked store that fits your style aesthetic perfectly, you have no trouble picking within the family of things to pull out that one extra perfect thing. At the thrift store, sometimes it's all so NOT your style that when you see something remotely close you're like, "dude, that's sooo me". But then it turns out you put it with all the rest of your stuff and it's really not. It just was compared to all the totally random stuff at the thrift store.

See, I've had some thoughts about this.

Back to the bag. The one downside it had when I purchased it was that it was just all one big pouch, with no little pockets to stick your phone or wallet. So, to fix that for travel purposes (zipper your valuables when you travel folks), I bought a big zippered cotton pouch thing, and sewed one side of it to one side of the bag, creating a zippered compartment for my valuables. Oh! This bag has been traveling before. In fact, it has it's very own Tunisia story! We were walking through the coliseum at Al Jem when one of the leather straps suddenly snapped. I was bummed, but was making it work. Later that night, we arrived in Sfax and went to the souk (market). As we were walking through, our friend Rachel pointed out a vendor with a leather goods shop and a manual sewing machine and suggested that if we asked he would probably mend the strap. Well, we Rachel asked, and lickety split it was fixed! It held strong through the rest of our trip - which notably included hanging from a camel - and is still going strong today.

FO: A Shawl for Aunt Sandy

This is my aunt Sandy. Isn't she lovely? I mean, just look at that smile. This picture was taken in the kitchen of my grandparent's house in Enterprise, WI. I started knitting this shawl for her shortly after chatting about one during this past visit at same said grandparent's house.

The yarn is Classic Elite Silky Alpaca lace hand painted. It was purchased at the absolutely perfect Churchmouse Yarns on Bainbridge Island. Always worth the trip to such a wonderful yarn shop. I chose the yarn because Aunt Sandy (like my dad and many relatives on his side of the family) is irritated by wool. I, of course, love wool and am adverse to artificial fibers. Luckily, there are many types of "wool", so there's usually something out there that will strike a balance between being a high quality natural fiber and also something that's okay for sensitive skin. This particular yarn is 70% baby alpaca and 30% silk. Alpaca is one of my favorite fibers. It's soft, warm, and durable all at the same time. Combine it with a little bit of silk and it's very pleasing indeed. It was nice to knit with and the finished product had a beautiful drape. My only complaint with this yarn is that it was far from color fast. In fact, it was so not color fast that the dye was coming off on my hands as I knit. This was easily fixed by adding a capful or so of vinegar to the pre-blocking water soak, then rinsing until the water ran clear and it no longer smelled of vinegar.

Pattern is Ishbel by Ysolda Teague. Although I've admired Ysolda since first learning of her through my friend Rachel, then picking up one of her pattern kits at K1Yarns in Edinburgh (another all time favorite yarn shop...although this one is now a little more than a ferry ride away), this is the first of her patterns I've actually knit. It did not disappoint.

52 Tuesdays: Favorite Thrifts #14 - Travel Edition

What: Wedge Loafers
Where: Savers in Eau Claire, WI
Level of Love: 5 out of 10

First, I am currently travelling far from home for work, so this week's favorite thrift feature was selected from among my travel belongings. I think it makes a thing extra favorite when you take it travelling with you, right?

I purchased these wonderful wedge loafers pretty recently when we stopped at an old favorite thrift store in Eau Claire while driving from my hometown area in Northern Wisconsin to catch a flight from Minneapolis to Seattle. This is one of my all time favorite thrift stores from our college years. It just always seems to be stocked with some pretty awesome finds. I'm thinking back to numerous items of vintage clothing and my first ever thrifted piece of vintage Fiestaware (the gold creamer you can just catch a glimpse of in this previous post).

I really love these shoes. They're super comfortable, are in really good shape, and I think they go with everything. Plus, even though the wedge is pretty teeny and made out of rubber, I still kinda feel like I'm "wearing heels" when I put them on. If it were completely up to me, I'd give them a ten out of ten. However, this thing called marriage is a two way street, and this husband of mine isn't as big of a fan. Thus, they get only half of a ten. At the store, I recall him telling me I shouldn't buy them because they were too "granny". Whatever. I like granny and I think they're fabulous.

52 Tuesdays: Favorite Thrifts #13 (and a recipe)

What: Five of Hearts Waffle Maker

Where: Stacey's Funk Finds, SoDo Seattle

Level of Love: 10 out of 10

We picked this waffle maker up awhile ago at this treasure of a secondhand shop in SoDo. We actually haven't been back to Stacey's since then, which is unfortunate and must be remedied soon methinks. 

I took these photos when we pulled it out for a waffle brunch last Saturday. The Churchills really love waffles. If you happen to drop by our house on any given Saturday or Sunday morning, there's a good chance you'll find a stack of waffles waiting. This waffle maker makes the best crispy little waffles. And they happen to be adorable, too.  This is my go to waffle recipe, with a few substitutions. Here's how I make them: 

1 3/4 whole wheat flour (although I've used a combination of white/wheat or all white flour, too)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter melted
1 cup milk
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (we like FAGE - pronounced fa-yeh - brand)
2 large eggs

1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons water (it's an egg substitute)

Whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl. Whisk wet ingredients in another bowl. Pour wet into dry and whisk it all together. Make waffles.