Making Chris some new pants

Chris asked me to sew him some pants. I found a nice pattern "Men's Summer Pants" from WBM (Wardrobe by Me) and made up a muslin from some old flannel sheets. 

The muslin fit great so the next step was to pick a "real" fabric. The Fabrics-Store had some wonderful linen/cotton blend in their doggybag shop so I was able to buy a couple yards for a reasonable sum. The only downside being that it was bleached for dyeing. Which meant I had to get out the dye pot - not too much of a hardship I admit.

I mucked it up a bit. It was supposed to be a solid color (Timberwolf) but despite extensive stirring the fabric bunched up and created some organic shaped resists.

This looks way more purple than it really is

Fortunately Chris thought it looked cool so then it was just a matter of figuring out pattern placement so that I didn't end up with splotch marks in the crotch or ass.

Cooper helped, of course

The color is more accurate in that last photo - more of a deep gray/blue. I think I got the layout right. Won't really know for sure until they're sewn up and tried on. The good news is that I can always dye them again if needed.

Cooking up a Hubbard

I found a new farmer! Well, new to me anyway. I have been looking for jalapeños all summer so that I could put some up for the winter. My friend told me about a farm she liked and off we went. Well, not only did he have jalapeño, he had Hubbard squash. Woot!

17 lb 5oz Hubbard next to a Butternut for scale

I got out my trusty cleaver and rubber mallet and got started. I know many people say to put the squash in a bag and drop it on the concrete floor, but that doesn't seem right to me. 

I just use a good whack to set the cleaver then bang it with the mallet to force the squash open.

Whack!

It splits and then I can pry or whack it into smaller pieces.

Clean out the seeds and strings (strings to the chickens, seeds to be roasted later), put them on sheet pans, and roast for nearly two hours (see this post for specific info). I got 8 15oz bags of puree. Pumpkin pie here we come!

As to the jalapeño? 

Look at those stress marks - hot!

Perfectly spicy. I sliced them up, made a vinegar brine, and got canning.

So colorful

Hopefully this will get us through to next year's pepper season. We use a lot of jalapeño!

Glazing the next batch

We realized we needed to make kiln cookies before we fired the next batch of glazeware. Kiln cookies protect your shelf in case of glaze drips and we had some pieces that were 100% covered in glaze - the scoops for example. So took a break to make some and then a few more pieces so we'd have enough to do a bisque fire. 

Perhaps we should have double fired the scoops instead? They're in the kiln so we'll find out soon.

A full kiln load - it's a small kiln!

Scoop

Interior: Dark blue SM-21, poured

Exterior: Cobalt Celedon C-20 x 3

Exterior Bottom: Downpour C-25 x 2 plus some zigzags

Love this exterior color

Large Scoop

Interior: Dark blue SM-21 x 3

Exterior: Smoke C-3 x 3; Charcoal C-5 x 3; plus charcoal overlap

Medium Scoop

Interior and Exterior: Rainforest x 3

Small Scoop

Interior: Jade C-47 x 3

Exterior: Jade C-47 x 3

Handle & lip: Charcoal stripes x 3

Handle & exterior edge: Blue-green SM-29 x 3

Splotchy - likely the brush I used

Crock

Interior: Charcoal, poured

Rim: Charcoal x 1; Rainforest x 2 plus inside 1" x 1

Exterior: Rainforest x 3

Lid top Charcoal x 1, Rainforest x 2; Lid knob Charcoal x1, Rainforest x 2

Broke nicely on the texture

Large-mouth Funnel

Rim: waxed top 1/4"

Interior: Gloss White x 2 plus drip decorations of Cash Money Blue

Exterior: Cash Money Blue x 3

Bottom lip: Cash Money Blue x 3, Glass White x 1

Oh my. Failed with the bottle application. No run.

Crock

Interior: Smoke, poured then lightly brushed

Exterior: Smoke x 3, Textured Burgundy x 1 with drips encouraged

Lid top Smoke x 3; Lid handle Texture Burgundy x 1; Lid bottom Cash Money Blue x 2

This just came out bad

Think it needs more coats of the Texture Burgundy

Splat

Underglaze decorations on top with Clear x 2 over them

Oddly rough on the outside blue - not mixed enough?

Scoop

Underglaze flower and handle details with Gloss White x 2 over them

Like the antique effect of white over underglaze

Soapdish

Bottom: Cash Money Blue x 3

Top: Haven't fired yet

Great rich color

Obviously we had some issues with the kiln stilts. The wire we used was simply too thin to support the weight of even the small scoops. So they fell and stuck to the kiln shelves. Bummer. Chris sanded them and they'll be fine for my intended use but we're making new furniture with heavier gauge wire. 

We've also got some learning to do on the application. Some of the glazes covered great and I'm convinced it's because I used the hake brushes instead of the cheap artist brushes. They hold more glaze and it glides on more smoothly. I've since ordered more of those.

Kiln cost to fire $3.04