Blog Entries:
Challenge Complete! 
09/06/2010 22:06 GMT
[-] The dress is done and I even have photos ready to post! The project was the HP Plain & Simple T SHIRT DRESS ( See here for pattern link) (not to be confused with the P&S Shirt Dress of a previous pattern release!). I chose it as it was an easy style to make and wear for Sunday Mass or for those days when I just don't want to wear pants. This should have been an easy project as it is basically a longer version of a Polo shirt with a hidden button placket with the addition of a self tie belt. Designed for good quality knits, it ws perfect for a stash project as I have a good supply on hand. HP designs are not for the beginner. Trudy has said that from the day she launched her line. She assumes a certain amount of knowledge in her sewer. I am not a beginner. I would say that at my peak two years ago, I was close to being advanced, and had I not stopped sewing, I would have gotten there (and will get there)with the completion of that tailored blazer I started with Darrell. Rebooting a lapsed sewing brain with a hidden placket on a pattern that has minimal instructions and drawings was probably not my best choice. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will admit that the hidden placekt part of the patten really didn't register until I was too forgone in the cutting to stop. It was at that point that I started the book searches and the internet searches to try to find help. The first incarnation of the placket had me following the directions, but I must have missed something. The placket did not lie flat. It could have been something as simple as me using a knit that was a bit too bulky when layered three times. Maybe I missed a step somewhere. After all, I have made so many of these tops, that I confess I really didn't give that in depth of a look at the instructions.... ahem. yup. got cured of that real quick on this project! So, I recut the bodice out of the remaining fabric and started over. I thought that I could modify David P Coffin's placket design to include a hiddne placket and use that method instead. Works in theory and in the paper mock up. Once put into practice, however, there was just too much fabric at the bottom of the placket. I just didn't like it. So, I tossed the whole thing in the fabric scrap bin and went to bed. I do my best redesign work as I am in bed at night while the Pilot is snoring. Inspiration struck two nights later. I went downstairs and grabbed the pieces and scraps and cut out the offending placket. I cut it on the line where a shoulder princess seam would lie (or thereabouts) and took it down below the placket bottom. I then took some black fabric and pinned it in as a cowl neck inset. I liked it a lot! Then I thought the black migh tbe a bit too dark for late summer early fall, so I grabbed some scraps of the original fabric and played. I took the piece I cut out and laid it in half on it's CF. Then I traced the bottom of it and then rotated the piece to the left to allow for the cowl neck. There is my new pattern piece. I cut it out and then added it in. Love it! It does not have as much cowl as the original drape and the inset is also a bit wider, but I am happy with it all the same. Rather than tying the belt, I found a belt buckle that matches colour wise and simply thread it through. I may eventually sew the buckle on and shorten it. For now, I like the way it lies flat on a body that is not so flat anymore. I did have to take the dress in a bit on the side seams, but that is because I added some in the cutting phase "just in case". The only thing I haven't improved on yet, but plan on doing, is to shape the CB seam below the yoke. It is straight. I am not. It needs some shaping to rid me of the extra fabric at the back. So, here it is. The inset could have been a tad bit wider to allow for the twins as I see some stretching there, but that can be eliminated by wearing a different bra as well. There is too much fluff at the hips (both on me and the dress) so I think any future renditions will need a bit more flare at that point to make it more flattering. Will I sew this again? Maybe. I may try a different pattern version as I have one in an older WOF mag that I haven't tried. I am trying to use as many new patterns in the stash as I can for now. I may just use one of my TNT polo patterns instead and add a more A Line skirt to it. Will have to wait and see! Sorry for the photo layout, I am still getting used to the laptop buttons and the lack of a mouse. Give me time .... My collarless version of the P&S T Shirt Dress: Challenge Complete! - http://newmansneedle.blogspot.com/feeds/3637417500072348959/comments/default
[+] The dress is done and I even have photos ready to post!The project was the HP Plain & Simple T SHIRT DRESS (See here for pattern link) (not to be confused with the P&S Shirt Dress of a previous pattern release!). I chose it as it was an easy style to make and wear for Sunday Mass or for ... more [556999]
Newman's Needle - http://www.newmansneedle.blogspot.com/
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Alice in Wonderland Un-Birthday Party
09/06/2010 19:10 GMT
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I made you wait long enough... I'm sure of it! The actual fact is I have finally figured out how to collage them so that I can put a larger group of photos on without this post being as long as Donald Trumps "Man Bangs" (that he created a bump-it effect with) ... Jeeze!
So I have been planning my Alice in Wonderland Un-Birthday Party now going on 3 months. It has finally come and gone and by-golly I would say it was the BEST Un-Birthday Tea Party around. With my very closest friends and family invited... the party was intimate yet competitive when it came to Queen of Hearts Croquet. I always find when Prizes are involved it can get pretty intense. With the Winners being Tweedle Dee (aka Carmen Jayne) and Miss Kirk (the one who took the shots below www.jenniferkirkphotography.com)...I'd say it was well deserved!
The Tea Menu went on for days... thanks to Boston Tea Company and Art of Tea. As for the Dainty Food Menu it sounded a little like this:
Tea SandwichesProsciutto & Fig ButterCucumber & Cream Cheese Chicken Currey Salad Raisin, Goat Cheese and Pecans
Loafs, Scones & Sweets Mini Banana Bread Loafs Raisin Scones with Devonshire Cream and Jam Fresh Fruit Jelly Belly Tweedle Dee Birthday Cake Mushroom Cupcakes
No wonder I'm an Event Planner for a living... this type of stuff runs through my bones and blood. Just looking at the photos makes me all gitty again!
Enjoy!
XOXO Yours Truly
Alice in Wonderland Un-Birthday Party - http://lahteadah.blogspot.com/feeds/3146378494763342793/comments/default
[+] I made you wait long enough... I'm sure of it!The actual fact is I have finally figured out how to collage them so that I can put a larger group of photos on without this post being as long as Donald Trumps "Man Bangs" (that he created a bump-it effect with) ... Jeeze!So I have been planning my Alic ... more [557000]
LahTeaDah - http://www.LahTeaDah.blogspot.com
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A Jeweled Frog
09/06/2010 17:21 GMT
[-] A fun weekend project! On Saturday, The DH and I visited the local old-timey "Pharmacy" that still has an intact soda fountain. It has milkshakes, burgers, cards, gifts and a lot of cool history. I came home with three of these flower frogs. I added some color and sparkle. Zinnias from our garden, Queen Anne's Lace from the vacant field. I'm very fond of this! A Jeweled Frog - http://stephcupoftea.blogspot.com/feeds/4755912076223848532/comments/default
[+] A fun weekend project!On Saturday, The DH and I visited the local old-timey "Pharmacy" that still has an intact soda fountain. It has milkshakes, burgers, cards, gifts and a lot of cool history. I came home with three of these flower frogs.I added some color and sparkle. Z ... more [556993]
Steph's Cup of Tea - http://stephcupoftea.blogspot.com/
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Three Chinese tea stories
09/06/2010 09:01 GMT
[-] Drinking tea has been popular since the Dongjin Dynasty (317-420). During the intervening centuries, tea has become a part of daily Chinese life and resulted in lots of interesting stories.
The first story involves Lu Yu, who had the amazing ability to identify water from different sources. Long ago, the famous writer and governor Li Jiqing traveled with his friend Lu Yu to Yangzhou. Lu Yu, who was  already quite famous for his tea knowledge, considered the water in Yangzhou to be quite good for tea making, so a soldier was dispatched to get some water from Nanning, located in the center of the Yangzi River.
A few hours later, the soldier arrived with the water. Lu Yu poured some of the water out and said, “It’s Yangzi River water, but not Nanning water. It looks like it came from the bank. But how could that be possible?” The solider answered, “I went by boat and hundreds of people saw me leaving.” Lu Yu just smiled and let the solider keep ladling out the water. “Hold on,” Lu Yu said suddenly when about half the water had been ladled out. “Now it’s Nanning water.” The soldier was shocked. “Master Lu, you’re amazing. Yes, I filled the bottle with Nanning water, but because of the bumping of the boat, some water spilled and I was afraid of being scolded. So I put some water into the bottle when I arrived at the bank.” Then Li Jiqing asked Lu Yu, “So which water is the best?” In response, Lu Yu described how water is ranked. Clearly, water is the mother of tea, so it is important that great care be put into its selection.
The second story is about Gongfu tea. In Fujian Province and Chaozhou, Gongfu tea is very popular and you may notice guests tapping the table with their fingers. But what does that mean? It turns out that this is a way of expressing thanks. This old Chinese-style ritual of thanking someone can be traced to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) and Emperor Qian Long, who used to travel incognito. While visiting South China, he once went into a tea house with his companions. To preserve his anonymity, he took his turn at making and serving tea. His companions were shocked by this great honor and want to kowtow, but were stopped by the emperor because he didn’t want to reveal his identity. Instead, he told them to tap their fingers on the table, one finger representing their bowed heads and the others representing their prostrate arms.
 The third story is about Ti Kuan Yin. An old master told me this story in Hokkien, and frankly, it’s more funny in Hokkien, but hopefully you will still enjoy it.
There is a saying that you’ll spurt fire when you meet a good Ti Kuan Yin (TKY). To illustrate this saying, one day, a mother sent her son out to buy some good TKY. He left in the morning when the sun had just come up and after knocking on the door of a tea shop for several minutes, he was invited in by the bleary-eyed tea shop owner. They tried some TKY, but it was not good enough to make him spurt fire; instead, he found he just got more and more hungry, so he went back home. His mother had been to the farm and left him breakfast, so after breakfast and some rest, the son went out again and visited another tea shop. There he drank several cups of good TKY, but once again, it was not good enough to make him spurt fire. He left the shop hungry again and disappointed. When he arrived home, he told his mother that he had not found any TKY that was good enough to make him spurt fire. His mother made her son a delicious lunch and then brought him back to the first tea shop he had visited in the morning. This time, after one sip of TKY, the son started to burp. “Ah,” he said, “This is a good TKY. Now I can spurt fire. I finally found a good TKY.”
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Three Chinese tea stories - http://www.tching.com/2010/09/three-chinese-tea-stories/
[+] Drinking tea has been popular since the Dongjin Dynasty (317-420). During the intervening centuries, tea has become a part of daily Chinese life and resulted in lots of interesting stories.
The first story involves Lu Yu, who had the amazing ability to identify water from different sources. Long ... more [556994]
T Ching - http://www.tching.com/
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Shield for tea leaves
09/06/2010 05:01 GMT
[-] Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has come out with a specialty oil that can protect tea leaves from pests. The company introduced HP Tea Spray Oil in Calcutta this week. The product has its roots in the base oil that goes into the making of lubricant oil.
R.S. Rao, executive director (direct sales) of HPCL, said the market size of tea spray oil would be 5,000 tonnes a year.
“We are kicking off in Calcutta because this is the hub for tea gardens in north Bengal and Assam. Going forward, we will launch in south India,” Rao said.
HPCL plans to export the oil to tea producing countries such as Kenya and Sri Lanka.
Source: The Telegraph Shield for tea leaves - http://teanewsdarjeeling.blogspot.com/feeds/6229484131682157742/comments/default
[+] Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has come out with a specialty oil that can protect tea leaves from pests.The company introduced HP Tea Spray Oil in Calcutta this week. The product has its roots in the base oil that goes into the making of lubricant oil.R.S. Rao, executive director (dire ... more [556995]
Tea News from Darjeeling Area - http://teanewsdarjeeling.blogspot.com/
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Small tea growers usher in winds of change in Assam
09/06/2010 05:00 GMT
[-] A green revolution is sweeping Assam, empowering many people for the first time and rejuvenating the state's economy. Small tea gardens now dot the landscape as more and more people turn their backyards into mini tea plantations. It does not really matter if you have a small patch of vegetable garden to spare or a big mass of land. According to the All Assam Small Tea Growers Association (AASTGA), the number of small tea growers has swelled to 65,000 in the last two decades. And it is on the rise. Assam currently produces around 480 million kg of tea. Around 30 percent of this comes from small tea growers. Lakhi Gogoi is one of the many who has his own tea garden - Rajashree Tea Estate - in the upper Assam district of Tinsukia. 'In 2008, my green tea leaf production touched 80,000 kg. In 2009, it rose to 81,000 and this year I am expecting it to touch 100,000. Tea business is good business,' Gogoi told IANS. Although Gogoi worked in a well-known tea company earlier, he had no knowledge of the business. 'I am well accustomed to the knowhows of tea cultivation, spraying pesticides, pruning and plucking. It was a matter of time before I realized that if the big tea companies can grow these plants and reap such big benefits, so can I,' he said. 'After years of toying with the idea, I began my venture in 1996 on a small patch of land. Over the years, I scaled up my operations and now grow tea in 50 bighas of land,' Gogoi said. Depending on the market conditions, the price of green tea leaves varies between Rs.12 and Rs.18 a kg. Said an AASTGA official: 'By growing tea in underutilized uplands, small tea growers have brought in a green revolution in Assam by bringing in huge socio-economic changes.' 'More than 900,000 people are involved in the small tea growing business in Assam. Almost 250, 000 hectares of land is covered for such plantations. They contribute to 29 percent of the total tea produced by Assam, which is 14 percent of the total tea production of India,' the official added. Even farmers in villages, who traditionally grew vegetables, are now opting for tea cultivation. 'Tea cultivation brings much higher profits and is a steady source of income,' said D. Bora, a farmer. In a state where unemployment looms large, youth are the biggest beneficiaries. Rajiv Sharma, 28, decided to try his hands in tea plantation two years ago. He started small -- growing tea bushes in the backyard of his house. And there has been no looking back since. 'My parents were initially sceptical and said tea production has always been the big companies' cup of tea. But I was willing to take the risk. I started small and now have the capacity to invest in more land for more plantations,' Sharma said. Unlike the big tea companies like McLeod Russel India and Goodricke, small tea growers do not have their own factories. They sell their leaves either to the big firms or smaller private factories which in turn manufacture and market it under different brands. One of the challenges that the small tea growers are facing is that of maintaining quality. 'Not all growers are aware of banned chemicals. All they seek for are strong pesticides which will kill the pests - thus making the wrong choice. As a result, this tea does not get a good price at tea auctions,' Sharma told IANS. It is for this reason tea leaves of small growers are manufactured and branded differently from the main brands by the big tea companies. Nevertheless, almost 25 percent of the tea manufactured by the tea moghuls are from the small growers. While the small tea growers are helping to change the socio-economic condition in Assam, they hardly get any help from the state government. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia's recent announcement of a special scheme to provide financial assistance to the community has, however, given them some hope. 'If the government is seriously thinking of helping us, it will be great. We are after all an unorganized sector. Let's just hope it is not another empty promise,' said Gogoi.
Source: IANS Small tea growers usher in winds of change in Assam - http://teanewsdarjeeling.blogspot.com/feeds/3014429781359933935/comments/default
[+] A green revolution is sweeping Assam, empowering many people for the first time and rejuvenating the state's economy. Small tea gardens now dot the landscape as more and more people turn their backyards into mini tea plantations. It does not really matter if you have a small patch of vegetable ... more [556996]
Tea News from Darjeeling Area - http://teanewsdarjeeling.blogspot.com/
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July tea output dips 3.2% on pest attack
09/06/2010 04:59 GMT
[-] Mumbai: India’s tea output fell for a second straight month in July after a pest attack trimmed crop size in the biggest producing region of the country, hardening local prices, Tea Board said in a statement on Friday.
Tea output in July fell 3.15% to 123 million kg from 127 million kg a year ago, it said. The output in June had fallen by 11.9% to 104 million kg.
A pest attack of helopeltis adversely affected tea gardens in the northeastern state of Assam, India’s top producer.
“Impact of pest attack has been easing. August production numbers are likely to be steady to slightly lower,” said an official at Calcutta Tea Traders’ Association.
Despite a drop in June and July production, the south Asian country’s tea output in Jan-July stood at 462.2 million kg, up 0.45% on year due to higher crop in Jan-April.
Tea prices of different grades in the world’s second biggest producer have risen by nearly a tenth in the past two months on a supply squeeze.
Tea Board chairman Basudeb Banerjee told Reuters in July that the country’s tea output in 2010 is likely to fall below 2009 level.
India exports CTC variety of tea, mainly to Egypt, Pakistan and the UK, and the premium orthodox variety of tea to Iraq, Iran and Russia.
Source: Reuters July tea output dips 3.2% on pest attack - http://teanewsdarjeeling.blogspot.com/feeds/4168389842557977561/comments/default
[+] Mumbai: India’s tea output fell for a second straight month in July after a pest attack trimmed crop size in the biggest producing region of the country, hardening local prices, Tea Board said in a statement on Friday.Tea output in July fell 3.15% to 123 million kg from 127 million kg a year ... more [556997]
Tea News from Darjeeling Area - http://teanewsdarjeeling.blogspot.com/
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