Forbidden Fruit

Not literally, but figuratively, white, in this household has forbidden fruit status. And I love white! There is practically no one from age 4 to 94 that doesn't look great turned out in something clean and white. Nothing replaces a crisp white shirt under a suit, a bright white T elevates a simple pair of Levi's and who doesn't feel the excitement of future adventures like a pair of new white canvas sneakers cause? White in my book has it all over black. Sadly, white is not practical here, land of red clay dirt, slobbering horses and multiple paws of mud. This year I vowed, more white, more lighter, brighter colors and be damned with practicality! I sew, I'm getting better with my growing skill set and I can always make another, or something better. Bring on those whites and lights!

So I broke out that white linen cotton blend I had been saving. Saving for what I don't know, but it hit the cutting table last week for a Sewing Workshop Liberty Shirt.

 

 The fabric is stiff and crisp and wrinkles easily. I wanted more of a tunic and I had an idea to use the way it shows things underneath through it's not quite opaque surface. I lengthened the body by an inch, I practiced my miters and I made a minor adjustment to the collar.



 I don't like the stand up-ness of it, I wanted my collar to be tame and lie where an obedient collar should! The snap is for detail only. And then I went to work on my little design feature. I had bought a yard of a Dala Horse print I saw on line. Maybe pillows or napkins or ?. Anyway, there they were, those white and charcoal horses, just waiting for something wonderful. I fused them to the wrong side of the fronts, then faced as the pattern calls for. I like my little ghost horses.



I even used the selvage in the crease of the right cuff.



If you have been following for any length of time, you know I love to use any particularly pretty selvage end as a design feature somewhere on the garment. I've paired the top here with the light lavender linen pants. Can you feel warm spring breezes?

Okay, back to reality.... In other news, the dental double whammy hits on Friday when Peter has his turn on the table. We tried keeping some dental issues in check with antibiotics but it just ain't happening. A few have got to go, and the last remaining top front canine is the catalyst. Who would have thought the little bugger would have kept that one so long?  It has made it through a number of dental procedures over the years. With luck though, Peter will hang onto those back molars for the rest of his life. Fingers crossed for the little guy as it is always a bit trickier with his heart condition. But quality of life is just as important and when your mouth hurts, there is very little joy in the world.

My cold is waning. Sunday was a lost day. I felt like death and other than staggering out of bed for a drink or to feed something, I slept over 19 hours into Monday. I had plenty of company. Nurses Stella, Robin, Charlotte and Jack stayed for the duration.
Rodger was head purrrer and Bea kept the monsters in check under the bed. Smoochie played nurse to Peter. Smoochie, you are simply the kindest dog I've ever know.

That about covers the goings on here for today!

Parting shot: What friends are for.