Waiting For the Bread to Rise

I am literally waiting for my sourdough bread to rise before I put it in the oven this evening.  I'll divulge the recipe tomorrow.  In the meantime, I'll let you know what I've been doing over the last week or so:  sewing, and a much-needed, spontaneous getaway to a small town with a river that runs through it.  I grew up going swimming in this river, and it's a fantastic place to let your stress float away.  I feel privileged that I could get my kids in the river too.  We unplugged for three days - no electronics was my rule, and it was so worth it.  I feel restored. 

For Father's Day, my girl and I made a pair of pajama shorts for The Fella.  I shall not be including photos, as my man has major objections to his drawers being on the interweb.  I used McCall's 4244, and made no changes, except to reinforce the pocket openings in the side seams by back stitching.  The fit was spot-on. 

I also made this for the girl:

It is McCall's 5613, hacked big time.  My girl is tall and skinny.  I cut a size 7 in the facings, and a 10 in length, and it still hits just above her knees.  Then I had to cut out FOUR inches in the facings, after I had already added the flat piping and attached the skirt.  Since the overlap in the piping was right in the back, I decided just to stitch a long seam straight down the back, therefore avoiding the dreaded removal of the piping to take it in correctly on the side seams.  Like it says at the top of the blog, I am a beginner sewist.  Thank God my mom has been sewing since she was fifteen and I can call her with questions.  I think it turned out alright, even though the print doesn't match in the back.  The print on the skirt portion lined up perfectly. 

I spent a ridiculous amount of time on this dress.  It should have taken me four hours, five tops.  For some reason, stitching down the inside facing was a horrible task.  I decided to top stitch just above the piping, and then I added a little decorative stitch at the hem with my fabulous Singer zigzag attachment.  I used a bright orange nylon thread that my girl gave me for Christmas, and begged me to sew her dress with - I used regular thread for the construction, just so you know. 

My eyes were crossing while watching the zigzag attachment do its thing.  In total, I spent NINE stupid hours on this dress.  I threatened my girl several times that she'd better wear it, or I shall not be making another garment for her.  Ever.  She looks adorable in it...

Also, this here is going to be a fun little project:

This is oilcloth that I picked up while shopping during my stealthy getaway.  I'm so excited to show you what it's going to be!  Not today, though.  I've also been doing a little manual labor outside.  This washbasin full of veggies came out of my grandfather's garden.  I got a second haul the next day.  I have 36 tomatoes in my kitchen right now.  Can we say, "Gazpacho"? 

Meet you back here tomorrow, with some sourdough bread - I'm off to put it in the oven.  Thanks for reading.