Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Furniture disasters and repair. Mission Oak furniture

When we bought this house it was perfect for the simple oak mission style furniture. I was lucky enough to find all the pieces I wanted including bar chairs and coffee table with matching end tables.
This end table suffered a spill of something that removed the finish! This something was the liquid from a plug-in air freshener. Needless to stay they are no longer in use. What was I evaporating into the air and breathing that would remove polyurethane?  The bar chair has accumulated some scratches that need a little TLC.

After lugging them into the garage the first step is sanding. I love sanding! I use my trusty Black and Decker orbital sander with coarse grit sandpaper to start and then 180 grit after  I have removed the finish. The larger the number on the paper the finer the grit. The number reflects the number of particles per inch. 


On the chair I left most of the finish and just took off the shine. I put a bit more effort into the scratched area.
For the table I took off all the finish because I didn't want to risk the spill outline showing.


















I used Minwax Polyshades in Royal Walnut. I was tempted to use their Mission stain but in the hardware store it looked very red. There is always the option to sand it off and try a different color if Royal Walnut is not the right color.
STIR WELL!!!



 The stain/finish goes on very thin. I use a foam "brush" but I have no problem using a regular brush either. I like the foam one because they are disposable. Patience is a virtue as the wait between coats is at least 8 hours. I sand well with 300 grit paper between each coat and wipe off all the dust. This is what gives a professional finish.

2 coats. Nearly the right color.
It needs to be a bit darker.

The scratches are barely visible. There is some mottling which I was tempted to sand down but people will be sitting on this so I'm not going to worry.




















 I did three coats on the table top. I bought the glossy version of the Royal Walnut because the satin finish looked very matte in the store. Over the years the furniture has developed a patina that is not really satin anymore. However, the gloss is very glossy so I did one more light sanding and finished the pieces with a Varethane satin finish that I like.

I am very happy with both of these. In the lower light of the house the mottling on the chair is not noticeable and the two end table are identical. No more plug in air fresheners for us!!






Wednesday, October 26, 2016

more machine embroidery on handmade sweaters



The Last Sweater..
I am on the last sweater. I chose an Urban Threads ( www.urbanthreads.com) design from their Painterly collection. It is a loosely stitched design which will be nice on the knitted sweater.
I have trimmed the stabilizer on the back close to the edge of the designs. I also trim the water soluble stabilizer on the front to limit the potential for goo in my washing machine.

These sweaters get washed on the gentle cycle in warm with regular detergent. I splash some cleaning strength white vinegar into the rinse slot as knits like the low pH.

Here are the sweaters. Ready to have the sides joined up. All different colors and sizes. What a fun project!  I hope the kids like them.









Monday, October 17, 2016

Handmade Sweaters with Machine Embroidery for Donation

My mother is a knitter. For years she was a hand knitter but graduated or switched to machine knitting. Unlike hand knitting this is not a transportable hobby but turns ot some beautiful items. My personal favorites are the baby blankets where she has the machine stiches spell out the word "baby". The best part is the blankets look like heirlooms but are hard wearing and can be washed in a regular wash. Mine were repeatedly exposed to food, in various stages of digestion,  and a variety of bodily fluids and always came out of the wash looking like new. They make great gifts!

Recently she and members of her knit club started making sweaters for the underprivileged children in Vancouver. The ladies donate yarn from their stashes and their time and skill and turn out dozens of sweaters in various colors and sizes. To make these sweaters extra special Christmas gifts one of these talented ladies does machine embroidered designs on the fronts.
I don't knit....well I can but its a clown show.
I do machine embroider so I volunteered to do some of the sweaters.
Here are a few from the bag. As you can see the ladies, intelligently, leave the sides open which makes hooping much easier.


I use this SMB Always thread and it is excellent!
I like designs from emblibrary.com, urbanthreads.com and a few of the built in ones from my Brother PE-780D.

The Disney designs included with the machine are particularly good and stitch out beautifully. Here is a really cute one I did today.


 
To get a good quality result I have found that using a cut away stabilizer on the back and wash away stabilizer on the front is the way to go. I have found medium strength for both works well. The area of the sweater is not too firm to wear comfortably, but the knit is supported so there is no stretching of the embroidered design. In this picture the wash away stabilizer is still in place. The stitches don't get lost on the depth of the yarn and are nice and crisp. All the sweaters are washable and once I have them done I will run them through the gentle cycle.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

10 1/2 weeks - Bitchin' workout on the stationary bike


First, a shout out to Zija for their Ignite pre workout support. I chug it about 20 mins before I hit the bike and wow!  ( I'm not crazy about the taste but once it hits my system I don't care) It's not just an energy boost. I feel like I'm performing better and riding for fitness not just physio. It's not just caffeine and sugar. There is science behind the ingredients for better performance.  #ignitemezija 
I spun for 35 minutes. I did a three very short hill climbs out of the saddle in big gears. The knee is only now able to tolerate standing in the pedals, so I am not pushing the time out of the saddle. 

The last 10 minutes I dropped to lower gears, to protect the knee, but kept the revolutions high. 

So why 35 minutes? That's the length of time it takes to deplete your blood sugar and cause the body to start gluconeogenisis. That would be turning glycogen stored in your liver and muscles back into glucose. I'm sorry I do not have a citation on hand for this. 

I'm not ready to ride outside because the pivot motion necessary to release my foot from the clip is still very difficult on the right side. 
Pedal clip. 


There is still swelling in the knee but it looks very good. It's much smaller than the pre-surgery knee. It's such a pleasure to be able to ride again. It's great cardio and can develop good leg strength and is easy on the joint. When the knee got so tight from the arthritis that I could not ride it was a huge fitness setback. 

After the ride.... Stretch!! And Ice!!


#naturalhealthrevolution
#zijanation
#totalkneereplacement




Sunday, September 4, 2016

8 weeks post op. Better everyday!

This week I am 8 weeks post new knee.  Physio is going well.  Strength is coming.  The hamstring is the weakest.  I have 119 degrees of bend and a couple degrees short of perfectly straight.  I have some bad habits to break so that I walk with a full stride and not the foreshortened one I had for years due to the inability of the leg to straighten. 

I saw my surgeon this week. He was very pleased with my progress.  There were patients there that were 4 months out from surgery who did not show the progress I have.  It's all about being committed to the physio.  He said that I was probably still at the point of not being happy with him.  I guess it because there is swelling, some pain, the knee is hot and has a click.  All these things are normal.  I told the surgeon that I was happy from the first week. I had already noticed how smooth the joint moved at that point.  He was really happy to hear that.  



Full recovery with 100% muscle strength will take a year.  I'm good with that.  Yesterday I rode my stationary bike for 10 minutes then hit the heavy bag for 10.  The knee was WOW. even though the knee is not 100% it responded completely differently than before the surgery.  I am pumped.  Today walked the dogs at the creek. 




Friday, August 12, 2016

5 1/2 weeks of the new knee

The knee is coming along well. There is still pain and a lot of work to maximize the bend and have a straight knee with a complete stride, but progress is made every day. 

I did have a bought of depression. This is not surprising. Chronic pain, enforced lack of activity and, I think, the crummy weather all combined for a few really low days. My advice. Own it. Examine the things that are coming up during this period and look at their true value. You can't change other people and sometimes they hurt you. You can look at yourself and make certain your center is strong and you are not hurting yourself by listening to your negative voice. 

The day before yesterday I did 10 minutes on my bike, on its stationary trainer, in the garage. I had to raise the saddle an inch and kept the gear ratio very easy. Huge progress! 



Today was the first dog walk. I went to one of the off leash trails. Hennessy was very considerate in the places where he had to be leashed. What a good boy. 
I managed the trails down to the water with my trusty adjustable hiking stick. 
I worked hard to step up and down with both legs and it went really well. The sun and the heat were the icing on the cake. A gorgeous day!!



Friday, July 29, 2016

Took the new knee out for a spin

Today I did my first big walk. 4000 steps to the bank and back. No dogs. They were pissed. They will have to wait until I'm steadier. It went well. I took my cane but never had to lean on it. It was such a lovely day and it was so good to be out. If I'm not too sore I want to do this every day. 

After the walk I did my physio homework. The knee was not noticeably looser after the walk which surprised me. I did very carefully stretch all the leg and back muscles. My hamstring is tight and weak. I shouldn't be surprised as it hasn't been used much for years. 

Sleep is improving. I changed strategy. Instead of taking very tiny amounts of narcotic I started taking a dose before bed that nearly zero'd the pain. That allows for restful sleep for about 4 hours then I only need a small dose to get through the rest of the night. The knee is so much better after every restful sleep and I only need Tylenol Arthritis during the day. 

Everyday it's a new knee and almost always a better knee. 

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Toilet seat height dilemma.

Here we are enjoying July-uary in Vancouver.
I recall that we were promised a summer like last summer. Long, hot and dry. I loved it. I'm still waiting. 

Toilet height is an issue after knee and hip replacement. Very much for the hip replacement. I was prescribed 4" risers for my toilets. Why do I need this? After using these for a day it occurred to me that the 4" increase made for a much more comfortable toilet-ing experience. 

Haven't you ever gone to sit on a toilet and gone down, and down and still fallen the last, terrifying, inch onto the seat?  Why are they so low? Who determined the height of toilets seats? Is it because when toilets came into common use people were shorter? Or is it to do with the height of chamber pots? 

I set out to answer this question. Along the way I came across some very interesting information. The first of which is that most toilets toilet seats are 14 - 15 inches high. It's possible to get taller toilets. These  are becoming popular and this popularity is being blamed on the increase in obesity in North America rather than the overall increase in height due to improved nutrition and health care. Who or how the toilet height  was established is still, at this time, a mystery. I must say that the taller setup would be my choice if I was planning on a bathroom reno.

The other interesting information that I came across was about lower toilet seats or no toilets. Apparently there is ample evidence to show that squatting to do our business, in the bathroom, is far healthier for us then sitting at the current height that we do on our current 15 inch toilet seat. According to the article that I read, the sitting position we are in on our current North American European toilet seats is not conducive for pooping.  Our bum cheeks are too close together and our spine and colon are not curved appropriately or optimally.   When we are  squatting with our bums approximately 9 inches off the ground our spine is curved correctly so that it's, if you pardon the expression, a straight shot. Also in societies where squatting in the bathroom is the standard practice there almost no evidence of haemorrhoids. This, I believe, indicates no evidence of straining.

Being an individual who is physiologically incapable of squatting without falling over this was of great concern and great interest. I approached a friend of mine who lived for a period of time in India and ask her what she thought. She would've had to have gone from having lived the standard North American style of toilet usage to learning how to squat and I wanted to know her thoughts on the issue. She said being a young woman the  Haemorrhoid issue was not something that she could speak to but certainly she found that once you got the hang of it, you certainly got the job over a whole lot quicker.

Here we have a no drug related solution to a fairly common problem. I don't think we're going to get people to give up the regular toilets. Could a squatting situation be created with, say, a step or some sort of risers that you could  pull into position with  a lazy boy chair style lever. Pull the lever and the foot rests come up and now your feet are in the right position you could sort of rock forward on them and perform.  There are still quetions. Does the weight need to be on the feet or can the weight rest on the pelvis? I don't know but it's something to think about

Red light laser therapy - not snake oil!

One of the therapies I have chosen to hasten an effective recovery is red laser light therapy. As a scientist I abhor conclusions based anecdotal information but as this is my knee that is what I am going to relate. There are studies showing the effectiveness of this treatment which can be Googled.

Red light therapy used light in the infrared range. The light warms the tissue and is thought to activate the cell's mitochondria leading to increased cellular activity which increases healing, and reduces swelling and pain. It is considered particularly good for soft tissue injury.
There are three stages to a treatment: red light, infrared, and the probe. The first two are on a flexible band the last is a focused probe the operator directs to particular areas.
Its painless and relaxing. Its also an opportunity to chat with Jerry, my chiro, who is a great guy.
 
My first experience with this was some years ago.  I had just sprained my left ankle for the third time. Playing soccer, of course! I do not do things halfway so the ankle was swollen and draining blood, through the tissue,  into my toes.  I am assured that I have now,  managed to tear everything, the three big ligaments that hold my foot on, and there is nothing left to sprain. I had gone to visit my chiropractor with one of the boys.(http://broadwayburrardchiro.com/) Almost certainly a sports injury for them too.  
 
Jerry, the consummate professional that he is, wanted to know why I was limping. When I explained he got excited and told me about this machine he had just brought home (been talked into) at a conference. My first thought was "total snake oil!". Being me I said so politely. He said that he thought so too but the demos and the numbers they gave were compelling....and he had a 90 day money back guarantee. I agreed to be a guinea pig. It couldn't possibly make the ankle worse.  
 
12 hours after the treatment the swelling was only 50% of what it had been!! Having done this twice before I was well aware of the progression of a sprain and this was unprecedented. I went back for more and was able to rehab the ankle more effectively that either previous injuries. I was sold! 

One of my earliest plans when I decided to get my knee done was to have the red laser therapy in an effort to regain and improve mobility quickly. After the first session the was noticeable improvement. The next session is tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

1 week to the day Total Knee Replacement- observations

It's hard to believe it's been a week since I was in surgery. I have made so much progress.  I gave up the walker for a single crutch on day 1.  Now I use the crutch outside the house but I need it less and less in the house.  I can stand on my right leg alone with just a finger on something for stability. 

Amazing.   

I noticed yesterday that while I can't squat very far,  the part of the joint that moves through the motion used to be one of the nasty crunchy,grunchy bits and now it's smooth.  What a joy! It is not possible to ask the question - is the pain and discomfort worth it? It's already been proven to be! 

I have been icing multiple times a day and working on my physio homework. This has been frustrating as they scare you with the need to get the maximum straight position and maximum bend before it scars wrong.  I want maximum in both directions. It's the only acceptable result for going through the pain. 

Yesterday I totally overdid it based on the pain at the end of the day.  Bad!! But by the end of the day I was stronger and more stable after all the crutching and stairs so there was a big upside. When one has a day like yesterday it is very important that rest be the primary objective the following day so that the benefits can lock in and healing can continue.  

One of yesterday's appointments was with my marvelous chiropractor for red laser therapy. More to come on this. 
The shoes! So happy!  After seeing the half body X-ray where my right leg was at such an angle compared to the left I thought that all my old shoes would be imprinted with the aspects and issues of the malformation. New shoes for the new knee.  There were some grey sneaks but ...well... Who could resist the fun of these ones? 

Saturday, July 9, 2016

At home after knee replacement

Post knee replace I had some minor complications with the anethstesia and hydromorphone. It came down to lots of nausea and vomiting. So not fun and very difficult to manage nutrition plans. 

There are three things to focus on for good recovery. Rest, rehab and nutrition. 

I wasn't sure if I could manage without the hydromorphone because the pain is is stunningly bad.  More on that later. 

Let's jump to rest. 
I opted for a ward room which has 4 beds. I thought that I didn't need to bother with a semi private room for 2 nights. Maybe not the right choice. 2 of my roommates were great. The third was a disaster for all of us. She was a little, fat, Persian lady, with a second new knee, who was all drama. She groaned and moaned, loudly, all the time. Wanted the bedpan, which was not allowed once physio got you up and walking, then wet the bed because you can't void properly with the bedpan. A trip to the bathroom or commode woke everyone and she'd go on and on about her pain. She moaned and grunted on the way to the bathroom, in the bathroom, on the way back and then once she got back into bed. 

The guy across from me was being evaluated for sleep apnea. I couldn't hear him snoring over her!! When the other 2 patients had visitors I couldn't hear their conversations. The Persian lady and her friends conducted their conversations very loudly. Rest, real rest, day and night was impossible. 

I was so glad to get home. My mom (84) picked me up. I was going to get a service to do it but she insisted. #mumisawesome  My nurses and physio were all awesome. They listened and helped and made me feel valued. The first thing I did when I got home was sleep. It's hard to describe how healing that felt. Every sleep has brought measurable improvement. So amazing! 

Part of what allows you to rest is pain management. 
This device is a big part of that. It's a cryo cuff. The physios recommend ice packs or a bag of peas. Having torn and sprained a few things over the years I have learned the value of icing. It's only really cold water but it makes a HUGE difference. So I got serious with the cryocuff. I checked online and there was a physio group that rented them. I was willing to buy one as they are about $170. Well worth it!!
It wraps the joint in icy water and keeps circulating the water so it stays cold. This is key to swelling and pain management. 
July 9 knee versus 
July 6 knee. Ok lighting is not helping. The swelling is less and despite  the visible bruising the swelling is less and the color is better in the July 9 knee. 

The other key is drugs. I mentioned problems with the hydromorphone. It did its job with the pain but I still needed Tylenol. The hydromorphone caused crazy itching, hot flashes, constipation, nausea and vomiting. The vomiting was a big problem because I wasn't keeping any food down. Rather than add a drug - an antiemetic to end the vomiting,  I contacted my Ex, a physician, about dropping the hydromorphone and adding Emtec (like T3s but no caffeine). His response was that hydromorphone is a more powerful drug than codiene and consequently has more side effects. Switching to the codiene was fine as long as pain was managed (allowing for 
the all important rest). So that's what I did and now I can make plans for nutrition including, importantly, my super nutritive Supermix.  


4 days post new knee

The surgery went well. My memories are fuzzy which is good. The only thing I really remember during it was the sound of someone banging in railway ties. "TING, TING". I don't know what was going on and don't feel the need to know. 

Prep was very calm. Lots of cleaning to reduce infection risk. The coolest was sterilizing my nose. Apparently our noses are germ factories or at least hosts and using methylene blue and red laser they sterilize the inside. 60% reduction in post op infections. I'm not saying no to that!

The surgical suite looked like a very clean machine shop with a gurney in the middle. We had a team pre op meeting and I was part of the team not the object. Everyone was really nice, answering all my questions (can the leg be as straight as a leg with a normal joint? Yes) and calming my fears (I pass out at the sight of my own blood, not any blood, just mine). 

All in all a positive experience. 


Monday, July 4, 2016

New knee -T-1day


Last day before surgery. I have given complete freedom to my inner control freak. I've cleaned and organized. The dogs and cats are covered from breakfast to dinner so I don't have  to worry. Good neighbors are a blessing. 

I know the forced inactivity is going to drive me nuts so I have tried to find all the projects and chores that would have me gimping up and down the stairs and get them done now. That way I can do the resting and healing while binge watching some tv without those nagging chores.  I'm saving up the episodes of Preacher and Masterpiece Mystery, then there is Netflix. Awesome! 

Part of the pre surg prep is the apple juice protocol. The anethstesioligists want us to carb load with clear fruit juice. 16 oz before bed and another 8 oz 1 hour before check in.  Now, I was asked during one of the several meetings on pre surg day how many time I get up in the night to pee.  I don't, since I've been taking Zija's Supermix I hardly ever even wake up during the night,  but I also don't drink half a liter of juice before bed! Who wouldn't be needing a trip to the loo in the wee hours after that much liquid? 

Here are the surgery nails.  Clear on the nail beds as required. Toenails are (gasp!) naked! 

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Countdown 1 week to new knee

1 week to go. It is very distracting. I can't focus on anything creative. So...I'm taking care of all the little chores that need to be done and don't require creativity. You know.  Those thingies that hold the screens on the windows that get broken.  Requires more of the thingies and a screwdriver. Next came the leather furniture. Rag and leather cleaner and they look pretty good despite dogs and cats using and abusing them. Next The Craft Trunk. Yes we have a trunk. Not a box or a crate but a trunk and it was packed.  One artistic kid,  one enthusiastic kid, and one artistic parent leads to the necessity of a trunk.  I threw out all the dried paint, paint kits for little kids and discarded partially finished projects. Now its half empty with the bag of multi sized pompoms because they could become little animals with the glue gun I found at the bottom. I also found 3 watercolor pads!!! Creativity later! 

This reminds me of being pregnant the first time. Lots of people have done it successfully but I have no idea how it's going to work for me.  People say the pain was awful, the pain was not bad, physio was great, physio was terrible. It goes on and on.  It's hard to prepare when you don't know how it's going to go. I can only do what they recommend and guess the rest.

At least the medical community are not such morons about pain meds the way they were when Del had his shoulder surgery (1986). I take it back, not all the medical community.  Dr. Lenzner was pissed at the nursing staff for making Del wait for his pain meds when he was clearly in pain. He had written the orders so that they could give them to him when needed, but they chose to ignore that part of the order. Too much work I guess. These days there is a device that the patient controls that lets you stay on top of the pain.  

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

New knee. Knee replacement surgery journal

At the suggestion of a friend I am keeping a journal of this transformative event. At 52 I am considered young to have a knee replaced until the severity of the original injury when I was 20 is understood.  I am young and that's my point. I should be able to do so much more than I am currently capable of. I don't expect to be able to run but ride my bike, do some hot yoga, walk the dogs everyday and explore a city without relying on codiene. 

I decided in May 2015 that I had had enough of this knee. I thought I was looking at a much longer time line. Several years at least but it went amazingly fast. Just over a year since I made the decision to pursue this!

Today was pre op tests, meetings and class. The anesthesiologist was a lovely woman. Very funny.  She was born and raised here. Her comment on Vancouver was "any city that needs to keep reminding everyone it's a world class city is not a world class city". So refreshing to meet a Vancouverite that does not think Vancouver is the center of the universe. 

I wish I could show you one of the X-rays.  It shows how collapsed the joint is and how out of line the leg becomes. The femur and the tibfib make a 15 degree angle.  Imagine how that must pull so many muscles and ligament out of alignment. Happily my left leg looks good. 

I have been taking Zija's Supermix, 1 packet daily for 8 weeks. The result have been outstanding. Significantly increased energy, much better quality sleep, virtual disappearance of the daily fibromyalgia ache and weight loss.  I can't think of any negatives. I will take the Supermix until the day of surgery and start again when I get home.  The expected stay is 2 nights. I may double up and use 2 packets a day. The nurse was insistent that we stop dieting at this juncture as we need to prepare our bodies to heal with good nutrition. Yay Moringa oelifera for that job. I decided that rather than add the calories back with just more food I would add some coconut oil to my daily intake I don't deliberately cut fat in my diet but it tends to be low fat and increased fats improves healing. 

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Freezing butter

This is a deeply personal question. Do you freeze your butter?  I do. That's how I store it. Butter from Costco is significantly cheaper that butter from the grocery store. I keep a couple of pounds in the freezer so we don't run out and I have extra for baking. 


One of the problems of freezing a pound  of butter is only half a pound fits in the butter dish. Until today I have chipped the frozen pound in half to get a lump about the right size. Frozen butter is not particularly cooperative in this regard. 

Here is my solution 
Cut the pound in half
Wrap in heavy duty aluminum foil
Label and freeze. Now I only have to thaw the size butter lump that fits in my butter dish. 

Simple! Why did it take me this long to think of it? 



Sunday, June 12, 2016

Yoga mat bag a different pattern

Finished another bag for sale. So many design decisions!  Colors and patterns and words for the pocket. All take longer than the creation once all those decisions are made. 

Friday, June 10, 2016

Gentleman's vest

My latest project is a gentleman's vest. I used an online pattern calculator that gives you the means to graph a fitted vest based on the person's measurements.  It was very accurate and only required some adjustments to the back neckline and shoulder width on the back piece.  I placed the darts once I had the muslin and could see where they darts went on the body.  

Then I got out the upholstery fabric.
This fabric looks lovely but was not easy to work with.  It had stretch.  Not an elastic stretch but something in the weave.  Based on the muslin I under stitched the front dream by hand, switching
at the fold so the underside of the lapel was stitched so it rolls the right way.  In this instance the fabric was very forgiving and the under stitching is virtually invisible.  The perfectionist in me wouldn't mind the under stitching to show so the perfectly placed pick stitch could be seen but it looks nice the way it is. 

I though we might go with self covered buttons but my son thought it would be too furniture-y so I'm off to DressSew to find some buttons. 

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Skillet cornbread with bacon

Perfect companion to chili. I'm going to brush the top with maple syrup. 
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup
1 egg
2 Tbsp melted bacon fat
6 slices crispy cooked bacon, crumbled. 

Mix corn meal and milk. Let rest 30 minutes. 
Blend the remaining ingredients. 

Preheat oven to 425 F. Put skillet in oven to preheat. Add some bacon fat to skillet and brush up sides. 
Reduce heat to 375 F while you pour batter into skillet. 
Cook 20 -22 minutes

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Cold brew, a la Starbucks, in a Bodum

My son is a barista at Starbucks. He makes up a large amount of cold brewed coffee everyday. I am fascinated by the process and decided to try it on a smaller scale.
I used a mild blend, ground for the French press.

3/4 cup of coffee and then filled the Bodum to the top with filtered water. I stirred it well and let it brew overnight at room temperature. 
I also made a supply of simple syrup to use as sweetener. 
I didn't find the brew strong enough to dilute 1:1 with water. It is, however, not at all bitter which is one of the problems depending on you blend. I diluted it a bit with the simple syrup and ice cube and a splash of half and half. 
A lovely summer iced coffee!



Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Lutterloh Mens Pants continued

Muslin assembly and Fitting
The pockets and the pocket pieces on the Lutterloh pattern need to be checked and adjusted if they do not match. I made a couple of adjustments so the curve on the pants and the curve on the pocket lining matched.
The pockets came out nicely and I under stitched the lining then top stitched the edge. 
I was asked on Facebook if the Lutterloh patterns require many adjustments. In this case no.  I made an initial waist adjustment to match Son#1's waist measurement. The only other adjustment necessary was in the seat where Mr. Skinny Britches was not as generous as the pattern. 
This alteration definitely needed to be made at the CB seam and not the side seams. When I pinched out the side seams the pant legs developed creases whereas when the excess was pinched out at the seat all the fit remained true. 

The pants are currently basted together and will be disassembled in order to do the fly. I use the method in Threads 75. Note: in the method there is no separate waistband so I added the necessary amount to the pants pattern when I cut out the pieces.