Tomatoes, originally uploaded by jordynnmackenzie.

I guess I know it's the end of summer when friends bring me tomatoes from their gardens - I'm not complaining! These are a mixture of tomatoes from Aidan's mom's garden and my friend Liisa's garden. I especially like the look of the yellow pear tomatoes that Liisa gave us. They are very brain-ey and filled with the tomato seed mush (I love that part of a tomato!)

Tomatoes, originally uploaded by jordynnmackenzie.

This was also my first year as a container gardener. I was given a tomato plant from Aidan's mom and I re-potted it, pruned it (yes I pruned) and then ate the tomatoes as they came off the vine. Unfortunately some animal.. probably a raccoon or squirrel, found my plant and dined off of it a few times. But here it is before much had grown, right after it was potted and pruned:

My Tomato Plant, originally uploaded by jordynnmackenzie.

quilting fabric, originally uploaded by jordynnmackenzie.

I tagged along to Brockville, Ontario last weekend with Aidan. He was doing his job.. you know juggling fire, balancing things on his face. I was just there for moral support and because I wanted a road trip.

What I wasn't expecting to find was this cute little fabric store that specialized in quilting called Picket Fence Fabrics. I bought these very nice prints from their fat quarter and half-quarter bins. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to make with them yet, but I think that I'd like to make a quilt.

My grandmother was a quilter and I can remember always being in awe of the things she'd make for us. I wish I could have shared my sewing/crafting/making enthusiasm with her just a little more.

Does anyone have any quilt patterns or books I should check out? I think I'll hit up the library and see what's available before I decide on what size/shape/pattern to make.

I finally got around to making a dress from the Built By Wendy pattern #3964 and I love it!

This is my second attempt (here's the first) at the pattern and I am very pleased with the final result. I used a lovely blue cotton stretch jersey, which was interesting to sew with since I usually work with woven fabrics, but with my serger, it was pretty easy to finish.

I didn't really follow the instructions for the last half of the dress and I finished whatever I could with my serger. I finished the binding around the neck and sleeves with my serger, folded under and top stitched. I also left off the 'wing' sleeve which made me look ridiculous, and made the shoulders narrower. And I left off the tie on the back, which I found just got untied all the time and put in a hook/eye type closure. It really just pulls over the top of my head and I could have left out the closure all together.

I love love love to wear this dress, as shown by my posing above... but I hate modelling clothes for photographs. I don't even want to admit how many photos it took for me to get something I was happy with!

I got around to covering my earbuds in a nice red/orange cotton. It took forever! I relied on my past experiences with friendship bracelets in grade school to get me through it and I'm loving the end result... even the cat hairs knotted in between haha

I was inspired by Etsy user Chozin Designs, who makes beautifully wrapped headphones called earlaces. They're reasonably priced and come in a variety of colours.

I made this 6"x8" picture of the Ambassador Bridge last week. I've always loved this bridge. It joins my hometown Windsor, ON with Detroit Michigan.

I sketched the basic lines of the bridge onto paper, then sketched those lines onto a wool/cashmere blend that I bought ages ago to cover a futon. Then I stitched back and forth, filling in the details as I went along.

I'd like to do another bridge portrait. Tacoma Narrows?

Lino Block Printing, originally uploaded by jordynnmackenzie.

I've been experimenting with a different method of printing fabric - Lino Block Printing.

I found a wonderful 3 part tutorial at an awesome blog Jezze:

Part one
Part two
Part three

I have to say - I absolutely am loving this medium. Carving the linoleum is so satisfying. Hopefully I will have some actual usable prints very soon. I'd really like to start printing more of my own fabrics.

Any other lino-nuts out there?

I am almost embarrassed to show the state of my ironing board before... but here it is was:



and After!


I pretty much winged the recover.. turned the ironing board upside down to trace my two layers of wool felt (I ended up using that and the padding that originally came with the board too so it's extra padded) and fabric. I used a vintage cotton that I love so much I am keeping it all for myself. I serged the raw edges and made a casing in the fabric for the drawstring. I also reused the string that came with the old cover because it was perfectly good string and exactly the length I needed.

If I were to do it again I would maybe overestimate the amount of overhang I needed.. this cover is almost too small, but I am not redoing it! The two layers of felt are great though. It really added the extra padding I needed and gives it a smooth finish.

If you're thinking about doing the same thing, The Purl Bee has an excellent tutorial here

Now the hardest part... keeping the cats off!


PS: I did a Flickr photo search for "cat ironing board".
The results are fantastic!

For all those who want to know the secrets of perfectly matching piping, I bring you the Make Your Own Piping tutorial.

In a few simple steps you can make beautiful piping from your favourite fabric to match whatever you're making.
(tutorial link)

A friend sent me this link to an article about a few new shops opening up on Ottawa Street in my hometown, Windsor, Ontario.

It's really nice to see shops like this open up. I'll definitely have to visit the next time I am down.

New shops resist tide

PS: the thrifting in Windsor is amazing

Upcycled posters as planters, originally uploaded by jordynnmackenzie.

Here in Torono, we have been dealing with a city-wide strike for weeks... actually it is now over, but we're still dealing with the pilled up garbage and stinky streets.

I saw an image of one of these awesome planters out of old posters that are still up on the light posts on the Make Magazine blog a while ago and noticed that they were popping up in my neighbourhood so a snapped this shot with my camera phone.

The plants don't survive for very long obviously, but it's a neat idea nonetheless!

Our Backyard, originally uploaded by jordynnmackenzie.

I've been a busy bee in the backyard! It is a wonderful space that is hidden behind our house and sadly rarely used. But I got back there and cut back the years of growth and cleaned up a LOT of garbage and compost that should have been taken away last year... but I ended up with some nice soil out of it so I'm not complaining... too much.

I was planning a party in our backyard/deck area for about month with a friend. The party was for Aidan's 30th Birthday and it was great.

Unfortunately I don't have many photos of the party itself - it was a long night

But you can find nighttime photos of my backyard here and photos of our golfing adventure and a couple cake pictures here.

Golfers note: We are not professionals... but I swear we didn't hold anybody up with our picture taking

Jordynn Mackenzie @ The Kid Icarus 2nd Birthday Show, originally uploaded by jordynnmackenzie.

Not last weekend, but the weekend before I attended a Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market (Toronto) for Kid Icarus' 2nd Birthday Show. The weather was a little bit annoying, but we definitely had some sunny spots and I had a great time anyways.

Every outdoor show seems to at least be a learning experience for me.... as indicated by my umbrella-wrapped-in-plastic-so-it's-waterproof setup :)

Also that week (I am SO late posting this!) I was featured in an interview with The Sewing Business Blog, which you can read here