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Further adventures of Suzy Home Maker

The holes on the back of this dyed dress, were actually quite alarming. I figured that I could repair or camouflage them, but I hadn’t quite figured out a plan of action.

dye dress (8)

dye dress (9)

 

As you can see, the situation was pretty terrible. My initial thought  was to hide the holes underneath black  crochet work or  black lace. I even made one rosette out of black lace.

There were some smaller holes though, and I started darning them one at a time.  I did my darning while the dress was on the dress form. This actually made the job far easier.  I started with the smaller holes and worked my way up to the larger holes.

 

Given the Depression era look of the dress, working away on darning the dress seemed entirely appropriate.  I was aided in my efforts with

darning egg

a darning egg. The darning egg was given to me by a client who has become a friend.  It had belonged to her very handy mother.this is the first time I used the darning egg.  It helped keep my sewing tension appropriately loose . It also kept the whole vintage sewing vibe going as I repaired the dress.

Here are the results of my labors. I’m pretty pleased with the results.

dye dress (7)dye dress (6)dye dress (5)

 

Continuing with the good home making theme, it’s been hot here.  And this is what has been keeping us going for the  past few days.

hibiscus tea (2)hibiscus tea (3)hibiscus tea (4)

Hibiscus tea. you can buy the dried flowers in a Hispanic market, or in the chichi spice and tea store.  This batch is from the chichi store. I just put a tablespoon or so in a  4 cup glass measuring cup and heat in the microwave with water for several minute. I let it steep for several minutes, and put into a pitcher and add cold water.

The flavor is slightly sour and really refreshing. I know it looks like bug-juice, that nasty fake powdered drink they serve kids in camp.  But it’s light and refreshing. A nice antidote to the heat.

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