Done with the Seam Ripper?

Bet that little job just about bored you out of your gourd. Sorry about that. I said this was a cool looking and cheap skirt, never said a thing about it being a quick project.

Now, at this point you should essentially have a skirt with ribbon hanging from it (those would be the legs). There should be no connecting bits between your thighs, and a good breeze should be whipping by your butt. There? Good.

Time to break out the steam iron. All those careful seams you pulled out, fold in with the natural fold and iron down. I should mention that this is gonna be what my gram called a rough ‘n’ ready item. It will look good to the people walking around looking at it, but I wouldn’t bother with a whole lot of inside finishing work on this project. The ironed in seam allowances are what will give it a finished look, keeping the hems clean… the panels inside are sewn on top of the folds, leaving the edges unfinished inside. (See why I don’t really teach this stuff?)

This is where you are going to have to take a deep breath… and accept it is all going to work out. Starting on a side seam, lay the skirt down, letting the legs form a natural triangle from the split. Decide now how wide you want that triangle. Do you mince? If that’s the case, go small. If, like me, you stride through life looking like you’re always in a hurry, widen the sucker up so you can run in it. Slide the contrasting fabric under. Admire how it looks. Nice contrast, right? Pin through the jeans (the double fold) straight down into the contrasting fabric, both side of the triangle. Pick up the whole mess, does it look right-ish? If not, keep fussing until it all lies smooth and you like the look. Take it over to the machine and sew the lines down. Both side down from the pocket (make sure you are going through only ONE layer of the contrasting fabric.), worry about the bottom later. Cut off all that extra fabric from the contrasting material. Use it to….

Repeat on the other side. And the back… come on, you’re in the home stretch.

The front? Same deal, tad trickier, I’ll warn you. You are going to spend a little while fiddling with the area under the zipper until you are satisfied (at this point, anyone who really wants it, drop me an email and I’ll put close-ups on my Flickr account. I’m trying to not bore the guys outta their skulls here.) but with some time with the iron and it will get finished.

Hemming… ahh, the bane of any seamstresses existence. Not hard precisely, just annoying. You can either finish with the standard hem all the way around (trimming your contrasting fabrics to the length of the denim), use the easier bias tape cover it method, think ahead and choose a material you like the look of frayed… or just pick up some fabric glue and go the lazy man route.

Cheap, resourceful, looks pretty good, and gives that well loved pair of jeans (you know, the ones that make your backside look marvelous) one last hurrah before they disintegrate completely.


Back to your regularly scheduled nerdom in the morning… where we cover a fad that is just a leeeetttllle too left of center even for this natural nerd. We’re talking the ultimate “Paper…. Or Fabric” decision.

Riches in Refuse

The Prime Geek and I spent a few days pouring over ads for various composter designs, ranging from the simple drum style to some incredibly complicated models that come complete with spinner, inner agitators, and some odd drainage system that required you to hook it to both a hose and the downspout. Time and time again we came back to the central question – What do we need to get kitchen scraps to rot successfully? The spinners, while quite nice, seem more than a little superfluous. Lights? As I rarely see the need to dispose of anything under cover of darkness… well, nothing I want the neighborhood dogs to dig up anyway, these seemed rather a waste as well. Drainage and water monitoring? If it needed water I figured I could handle walking the hose over to the composter, and besides that I really wasn’t too fond of the idea of a pile of garbage right next to the house (and directly under a window. Have I mentioned we don't have central air and all the windows are open in the heat?).

That left us with the basic models. They all seemed to be constructed on similar lines; heavy-duty plastic containers with lids and holes for air to flow. The colors and shapes varied from model to model, and while some might find the ability to color coordinate their garden tools to their house a definite must… well, I think I’ve made it pretty clear so far in this blog that we’re not that kind of people. Frankly, we tend to mock those kind of people.

We did hit one small snag early on in deciding what we wanted. The Prime Geek had asked me what my folks had done and I had cheerfully described the three box system with a nine apartment hutch arrangement for the rabbits built over. After a blank moment of staring at me, he asked if the rabbits were really a requirement to making this work.

“No, not really. We had just been looking for a way to make raising my 4-H projects a little neater, and dad had his students build it for me as a class project.”

As we have neither anxious students vying for an A, nor 17 Netherland dwarf rabbits to contain, we decided to dismiss the bunny bunkers as a requirement for the composters. For now. Although… it could be construed as an excellent way to fertilize the yard without chemicals. I was shut down pretty hard by the Prime Geek over the rabbits. You might not know it to look at him, but he can get awful high-strung about some thing. Strange. Anyway, my father's plans wouldn’t work for us. We would need something a tad more traditional.

A large heavy duty container, with holes for drainage, and a way to shake the material inside for proper, well, rotting. We could buy a basic unit - $75. We might be able to modify a rain barrel -$45 plus a lid. But…. a quick rummage in the garage and a jaunt down to the basement for the drill soon had us in the home stretch.

Cheap Ass Composter (for those with few aesthetic requirements)

1) One Large Plastic Trash Can WITH Lid – in our case left fortuitously by the previous owners of the house.
2) Drill with widest bit available – ¾ inch works fine

Set can on its side and begin to drill holes in the sides and bottom approximately 8 inches apart, all over the can. (We’re not looking for precision here people, just drill a hole and move on to the next. If crafting runs in your blood and you can’t leave well enough alone, feel free to make a pattern or design, but that’s only if you really feel you must.) Repeat this process on the lid. Once all holes are thoroughly drilled, set in the corner of your yard where you want the composter – might I suggest taking into consideration midwinter walks in the snow when making this call? You don’t want it next to your home, but if its too far away in a hidden corner, you are not as likely to wander out in sweatpants and a coat to get your kitchen scraps in it as you might be with it near the garage door. Easy access is the idea here.

To get started? Easy peasy. Layer in a good thick layer of browns – dried grass clippings, leaves, straw, etc - then a layer of greens – kitchen scraps, peels, pits, egg shells, that zucchini that just started waving to you in the back of the fridge. Layer and repeat.

Yes. There is a lot more to it. As I stagger my way to a healthy compost pile I’ll try and fill in the holes. On the other hand, there are a ton of people out there cleverer than I who have figured this whole procedure out, why not check them out? A few of my favorites are : http://compostbin.blogspot.com/ - this blogger is a real favorite. I check in at least three times a week and http://www.yougrowgirl.com/index.php. I’ll confess a sad little fan girl secret for this one… not only do I read this site regularly… I bought the book.

Plans Within Plans

Here at NN Central, the Prime Geek and I have been struggling with the heat wave that is essentially flattening most of the country this summer. Day after day, we have suffered through sweltering heat, which is making sidewalks shimmer and turning asphalt walkways into the sworn enemy of barefoot nerds everywhere. Now, the Prime Geek and I have a lone air conditioning unit in our home, firmly lodged into one of our bedroom windows. We try and save this for a last resort in our fight against the summer heat, using the ceiling fans (thankfully found in nearly every room of our home) and dual unit window fans to try and force cool air through the home. It’s just me and the four furry troublemakers during the day, so most days I try and gut it out and only turn on the air conditioner right before the Prime Geeks winds his way home from work. (Air-conditioned work, might I add. Lucky twerp!) That gives us one cool and DRY room – the other plague of this summer is the oppressive humidity. While the Prime Geek appreciates Swedish bikini models… the whole Swedish steambox thing passed him by. The feeling of breathing through hot wet cotton is beginning to wear on everyone, even the furries are feeling the strain. Rarely do they try and race each other during the day, their fights have even dissolved into petulant bops on the head… but only if they are within close reach. The days of running after their opponents are on hold until the fall. (Although, I AM starting to think Trouble #1 is keeping a list somewhere. Each transgression a kitten makes finds her scurrying to her hiding spot with a decidedly determined look in her eyes. Retribution may be delayed, but it will come down upon their heads eventually.)

This is only the beginning of August, the true dog days of summer are fast approaching. What can a natural nerd do to prevent complete meltdowns without breaking down and begging her spouse to ignore her earlier protests regarding huge whacking amounts of wasted energy and go ahead and install central air? Normally, it would be a simple matter. The new house has a backyard with a large tree, spreading lots of shade across the grass. What could be easier than setting up the hammock, grabbing a thermos of lemonade and a good book and launching oneself into the cooling embrace of the yard? Except in this heat, the backyard is now a breeding ground of superbugs, primed to suck their body weight of blood out of any unwary nerdling who might venture forth - not exactly conducive to cool relaxation.

What is a Natural Nerd to do? Building a three-season addition to the house would be ideal, but that would be thousands of dollars and weeks of heavy construction. Wouldn’t it?

Let’s Light a candle to Saint Maguiver and see what we can see…..