A Saturday afternoon artist...

My grandson's hero. 

I'm heading up to Orlando at the end of the week to visit with my son, daughter-in-law, and my precious, magnificent, princely, most handsome, and brilliant... (ok :- he's my only grandchild)... grandson. He loves Spidey. At the age of three, it was Toy Story, but he's definitely moved on. Now four, he's into transformers, Ninja turtles, pirates, and Spiderman.

One thing I have learned in my short tenure as a grandmother. These little people do not have a lot of things crowding their brains - they remember everything. At Thanksgiving, DGS told me he would like a Spiderman cape and gloves that shot out strings of webs - could I make them please?

Oh. Spiderman does not wear a cape. Not even thinking about those gloves. So for Christmas I made him a wonderful Batman cape. His comment: "Gammi, it was supposed to be a Spiderman cape".

Pause for a pic of a Florida gator Spiderman - something I've kept in mind since Christmas:

Saturday afternoon and I'm an artist. Painting a spider.

I Googled and found that I am not alone - there is actually a consensus on what a Spiderman cape would look like, if Spiderman wore a cape. I am so laughing here. But it was very helpful!

Here is the topside of the  boy's cape, with the black spider painted in Tulip slick fabric paint...wow.

The cape lining will be black.

Needing to trump all other contestants, I also got him a 28" Spiderman action figure (no, not a doll, these are action figures. Barbie is a doll). 

Who will have his own cape, once painted with the reduced logo.

Tools: Paint, paper towels, paintbrush, and parchment paper under the fabric.

Credits to Georgia Leigh, who has a wonderful hero cape pattern, as well as lots of licensed super hero logo patterns for download.

I'll take pics, I'm so looking forward to this trip. After 2 years at St. Michael's Episcopal Church pre-school, DGS starts pre-kinder at Lake Highland Preparatory School on Wednesday. He should have so much to share by Friday. I'm so blessed.

Bye for now - Coco

Doing things that need to be done...

I've been so busy...and not with sewing. I finally accomplished some things that I've been putting off for a while.

The light fixture in my powder room fell from the wall 4 weeks ago. Actually, I caught it before it crashed. What a close call, it would have been such a mess.

After climbing up on the counter, undoing everything, and taping over the light switch, I just turned my back on the whole situation. Too much, not in the mood...

It's not easy to hang a light fixture by yourself! Even if you're the resident handyperson. But I did it. Flipped on the switch - and nothing happened. I could have cried. Of course I was so sure of my work that I had already put on the globes and everything. So off they came again. One of the wire caps was not on securely. Second time was a charm. I have light. What an exhausting project.

The next project was better, but still not my favorite thing to do. I had decided that the brown velvet curtains in my bedroom were showing age and were too dark for my current mood - I really had light on the brain!

But those curtains take some thought - I work hard to keep heat out of the house. Sheers just don't work, even with mini-blinds and sun-blocking shades.

Hats off to IKEA. I love these Merete curtains. They are a very heavy cotton twill. Perfect.

Bonus - I used 5 of the 6 panels and have enough leftover fabric to make a jeans jacket!

The biggest project of all is looming. I had two roofing companies come out to estimate a new tile roof. 

It's time - the roof is 22 years old and has several leaks over the garage. Even with repairs, it hasn't been the same since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. I accepted a proposal on Monday, and I've done the paperwork for my association. I guess the hard part is over - getting my head around spending so much money! 

Recovery - yesterday I cruised over to the library to look for some good books. I actually bought 6 books from the Friends of the Library shop, for $1 each. These are all titles I know I'll enjoy, and I can donate back any I decide not to keep. This was nice.

Hope everyone has a pleasant weekend. Ciao! Coco

Thank you, friends...

Thank you, my dear blogger and reader friends... Yesterday Coco's Loft passed 100,000 page views since my first post in March, 2012! You make it fun and meaningful - I'm so happy you share with me and keep me company. My life is enriched in wonderful ways for which I'm very grateful.

XO - Coco

Burda 04/2012 #113 Snap Front Jacket

What a great little jacket! I love the curved lines, gathered and cuffed sleeves, and boxy look. And it's a perfect length for throwing over shorts or jeans or pants.

Burda describes this as a snap-front jacket, because it has four sewn-on snaps inside the front facing. And the original pattern front actually closes well past the center point. However - I redrafted the front pieces to overlap an inch at the center front, and did not use the snaps at all. It's just not a jacket I would wear closed.

Burda also suggests lining the jacket, which might be nice for a light color (it looks like I should have lined my shorts, but my camera settings are just not right. I'm used to shooting outside). No lining needed here. I just finished my edges to prevent the ravels, as my fabric is a linen/rayon blend.  

I generally sew a size 40 in Burda, but went with a 38 in this jacket. It is plenty roomy, but I  can't really go down to a 36 - I need the width in my shoulders and back.

Part of the fun was in the topstitching detail. I used a thread that was just a little lighter than the fabric, and went to it!

The key to neat topstitching: no backstitching!

Bring threads to the wrong side, tie them off, and bury them!

I like it a lot and want more colors!

Bye for now - Coco

McCalls 6203 Dolman Sleeve Tunic

I was going to take pics outside this morning before the rains came. I got the tripod all set up, took a couple shots to adjust the tracking, and then it happened. This guy came at me...

anopheles horribilis

Of course I swatted at him. And he flew straight down the front of my pretty new top. Oh yuck! Smashed between the girls.

I was back in the house in no time. I'm having way too many adventures this summer.




I think I've looked at 50 knit top patterns this summer, trying to find one I can do in a tunic length with various sleeve treatments. Something with simple lines, not fussy, not art to wear - just a nice basic with good bones.

Finally I found McCalls 6203 - easy peasy, a front, a back, a sleeve band, a neck band. 

My fabric is a hot pink and black zebra cotton jersey from Holly Lobby.  I thought for 2 seconds about saving it for Jungle January, but I just couldn't do it. I need this top now!

The dolman batwing sleeve is perfect.

Sewing notes: 

I sewed View C in size Medium, but drew the pattern out to a Large below the bust. Because I'm using this as a tunic, I didn't want it to be fitted through the hips - I was looking for a nice unbroken line below the sleeves to the hem.

A couple other changes: I added 1/2" to the length to ensure the hemline was below the crotch of my pants rather than across it. I also used a bias neckline binding rather than the raw-edged double band in the pattern. This makes the neckline a little lower, which I like better.

Here's another version with long sleeves, in Cielo poly/rayon/spandex jersey from Fabric.com. It's so light, I love wearing it, and I'm glad I have more of the white and a couple yards of black as well.

Great top!

Parting shot...I do love mother nature. Look who was in the guava tree when I got home from DD's house this week. A Cuban knight anole (anolis equestris). While not a native species, they're not considered invasive - the only native they eat is the palmetto bug, and we love them for it!

A big one at about 18" long! 

He's actually a bit of a jewel, since about 80% of the local anole population died in the 2010 freeze. 

He's behind the orchid, hard to see. Ciao! Coco

McCalls 6747 - Just can't get enough of this pattern!

Another version of McCalls 6747 long-sleeve maxi dress, this one in a tribal print knit from Girl Charlee. And tribal print is really appropriate - I'm almost in the jungle!

 I've been at my daughter's house for a week, kitty-sitting while she and DDC have been at the San Diego ComicCon. Their house backs onto a nature preserve - sometimes it seems like all of south Florida nature is 20' from their back porch!

I've seen a lynx on the edge of the preserve (what a rare treat), chased an 8' black snake from the edge of the porch, removed 10" worms from inside the porch, and lately, flicked 5" walking sticks in full ardor from the screen :-) I would not have disturbed them, except that the kitties wanted to climb up and observe...

So I  bravely hiked out to the edge today to take these pics. It was so wet that I had to toss my zoris aside and go barefoot. And so hot and sunny that the umbrella was a must. 

All those pretty white clouds will make up into thunderheads by early afternoon. 

The papaya plant is a gift from DD's neighbor. He started about 20 from seed last December and now has 7 or eight mature plants. What a nice present to take home. They grow so well in my backyard.

I just love this pattern. This makes 3 I've done! The others are here...

Did you know that the poppy flower version of this dress is a July Knit Pick on Girl Charlee Fabrics blog?! 

Ciao! Coco