Sewing Report 5: Green Coat

There are still some things to be done before the coat is truly completed, but I started wearing it two weeks ago because I didn't want to miss out on the bad weather. Tomorrow I hope to finish the hem trim, tack the cuffs to the sleeve using a few small hand stitches, and complete the lining.

When this is completed I will make an itemized list of the total cost. It was approximately $20 for materials.

I found a cute child's umbrella containing some of the kelly green:

I wanted to show more sewing progress with other things I am doing in the sewing room, but as the day drew to an end, I realized it was not to be,  so I will show you two other things I have done here at home.

Itemized list for the completed coat:

Thin Fleece 5 yards @ $3.87 per yard-- -$19.00

Buttons 2 packages @ $1.85 Per package  - $4.00

Thread - 2 spools @ $3.00 each - $6.00---Thread has really increased in price around these parts!

Lining 3 yards @ $1.50  a yard  - $4.50

Pattern: $1.99

All supplies from Walmart: approx. $35.50

This is usually more than I would spend on a dress, and for the next coat I'm going to be getting the price down quite a bit.

Personal Labor--immeasurable and priceless

1. Today I was trying to think of a nice gift for someone, and found two orphan china pieces that just "went" together so very fine, I almost kept them:

The cup is modern; probably early 2000, and the saucer is more likely 1950's but they look great together.

I got the cup at Vinnies for  50 cents.

The pale green of the saucer really brings out the pale green leaves of the print in the cup. Unfortunately the saucer has several chips underneath it but it is the look that counts!

2.  Mr. S. felt like walking around in some place other than this house, so we went to our little town and visited the Grocery Store and the Dollar Tree.

 He visited the office section and brought home old fashioned "file folders" and a hand writing instrument called a  "pen." He likes the Dollar Tree because it provides real office supplies from the previous century. I hope they don't stop making those card stock file folders.We still use them around here, and when the children were growing up it was our source of card stock weight material for constructing houses, making paper dolls, greeting cards, paper books, and seasonal things. We still cut them up into smaller sections for sturdy covers on home made story books.

I saw some gorgeous flowers in the grocery floral department and suggested to Mr. S. that  because no one had brought him flowers during his illness, he might like some of the red roses just to brighten the place up. He declined, saying he'd rather have a big bouquet of food--tacos and all his faves, so we bought a bundle of colorful food instead. 

 Neither one of us were interested in cleaning it all up after the flowers  had seen their prime. We are very into making housework minimal these days, so that we can do other things. Mr. S. has a collection of live flowering plants in his home office which he has kept alive for years, by the proper amount of neglect.

I saw these  artificial roses at Dollar Tree,  which were a good-enough imitation of the live flowers at the grocery store, and about a fourth of the price. 

Three stems yielded 15 roses, and I saw this nice ice bucket,  great for a container of roses, also for a dollar:

Behind it is a plastic platter that looks like a mirror, and they both looked so bright and refreshing on the mantel. I needed the change, and the "look" only cost  a total of $5.00 and can be used in other decor arrangements. That bucket is nice and sturdy and to me, it seems like such a luxury to own it.

When  arranging flowers in a container, I like to leave stray petals or blossoms on the table beside the whole thing, because it looks the way real flowers do when the petals fall.

I do like the look of that faux silver (plastic) vase:*

We are having a very heavy fog season, and that will be the source of  a good blog post, because I'm quite fond of a good fog. And, in the city of Seattle, two days north of here,  there is a coffee called "Seattle Fog."

It is best not to be sour on life. Go on, start over, and live beautifully no matter how defeated you feel. In taking care of a recovering patient, I have learned that the mind is over the matter, and if you allow the emotions to sink into depression, it will slow down the healing process. 

Bright spots like these flowers are a great perk, to both the patient and the care giver. The care giver (you) of the family must also keep on the optimistic side, else she cannot give encouragement to others in her charge.  If you are the homemaker, you need to create some kind of comfort for yourself, every day.

*Earlier today I was browsing through a catalog I received in the mail and saw this, which was a hundred dollars, so I feel good having found the plastic faux silver ice bucket at Dollar Tree. It is such a spectacular looking bucket, no one would ever guess it was only a dollar.

Vase is $100 plus postage.

Functional ice bucket is $1.00 plus your gas.

These days the floral industry uses a variety of interesting containers consisting of boxes, teapots, watering cans and everything in-between. This one-dollar ice bucket is a great floral container and I like the look of luxury it gives our cottage.