Mounting Oncidium Lemon Heart 'Baby Face' Orchid on Cork Bark

I made a short video on how I mount my orchid on cork bark. It's not the only way, but I find this method works for me. If you'd like to mount your orchid and don't know where to start, the video will give you an idea on how to approach it. Thanks for watching! :)

Originally it was supposed to be widescreen, but I had my ugly PJs showing on one side so I had to crop the video to fullscreen :)

Oncidium update

I posted an entry awhile back on the tiny oncidium orchid I got for free. It was in bad condition and today I have good news. Four new growths have appeared and the orchid seems to be doing well.

Too-Large Dress Refashion: Success!

(This isn't a tutorial, just a quick show-and-tell on my refashion)

A coworker kindly donated a dress to me. It was the perfect challenge for my refashion project being that it was a few sizes too large and would require a completely new neckline, redoing the entire zipper, and hiding tear and wear. Necklines are my enemy, but I conquered it with conviction and won. The zipper and other issues ain't got nuthing on me!

Man, my photos are terrible.

Here's the before photo. I have yet to conquer selfies.



I chopped off the neck and a few inches from the shoulders, then created a new neckline. Side view.



From scrap fabric, I cut facing and attach interface. TUTORIAL on facing :)





Attach.



Redo zipper, shorten hem and what what! Done!

Degarmoara Winter Wonderland ‘White Fairy’

This beauty is my new acquisition: the Degarmoara Winter Wonderland ‘White Fairy’ orchid.



Part of the Oncidium Alliance, this orchid is an intergeneric hybrid between Brassia, Miltonia and Odontoglossum. I never get tired of saying "Oncidium Alliance"—it sounds like the name of a band of intergalactic warriors.

The pot had no accompanying label, as with most orchids, so I'm making a guess based on Google research. This is my most expensive orchid—I think I buy orchids to relieve stress, but most likely they will create more stress in the long run. I see a vicious cycle coming on.

This plant has four flower spikes. Although not as tall as other Oncidium spikes in the store, mine is full of buds! I've learned not to buy orchids when they're currently in bloom, but when they're just buds. I get to enjoy them longer and have more time to learn to care for them. Here are more photos of my new baby. :)

Gate to Fairy Land

While I was walking through Golden Gate park, I found this curious little thing.

Since there were no lock on the gate, it would be fair game for me to open it. Anyway, some unique soul in San Francisco made this special door to fit in this log! I love this city!

Treasure!!!!

Gizmo was totally bored!

Yes, I did open the notes. I will say that the notes might be interesting or they might be just totally boring. The location of this tiny gate is also for me to know and for anyone curious to find out. Happy treasure hunting in San Francisco!

Orchids

If you asked me a year ago if I like orchids, my answer would be "no." Today I've got 14 healthy orchids and 1 on-its-death-bed orchid. I also had one that passed away. God bless its orchid soul.

Aside from the two that aren't doing well, I've had two success stories already, and that's within the last few months I've started collecting orchids.

Here they are. This first one I rescued from my mother's place. She said she was taking care of it, but it had that lonely thrown-away look. Today it's still not large but has a small flower spike. Definitely not a root!

This one I got for $3 when it wasn't blooming. After 3 months, it has a wonderful long spike. I had to sacrifice two leaves due to a weird texture on them—most likely fungal disease. Sterilizing tools are an important lesson we all should learn early on. 

I'm definitely not an orchid whisperer. I'm having a 50% success rate so far. Unfortunately, due to not being that knowledgable about orchids, I let the mealybugs infest many of my plants. Currently it's a battle between me and the bugs. I'm sure some of my orchids also have fungal infections which I'm trying to battle as well. 

Here's an oncidium the orchid guy was happy to relinquish for free. I took it home in its pathetic state and gave it love. Hopefully it'll survive although there's not a lot of hope as it's still in the same pathetic condition now as it was two weeks ago. 

Necklines—I curse you!

I'm frustrated. Really frustrated.

After reading and watching numerous tutorials and spending ridiculous amount of hours slaving away on my sewing machine, I still cannot get my necklines to lay flat. I'm doing something wrong, obviously, but I'm at a loss on where I've gone wrong. This ONE thing has taken all the fun out of sewing and it makes me want to punch a baby. I know—it's ridiculous. Sewing necklines has successfully transformed me into a heartless baby-punching dirtbag. Please, take the babies away from me before I smoosh their faces with my bony fist and curse their perfectly-made bibs with necklines that do lay flat!

DIY long circle skirt (tutorial) - my $14 skirt

I haven't sewn in awhile due to my kitty passing away and another being really sick. Today I made a skirt I've been meaning to make months ago when I saw this pin.



I found this coral fabric at my newly discovered fabric store for $2.50 a yard. Never could I get something like this at Joann for this cheap, even on sale. I've learned never to go to Joann again for fabric or ... anything. Last time I bought fabric there, they cut it 3" too short.



I wanted to add a little bling to the waistband so when I found this lace (also at my new fabric store) for $1.50 a yard, I nearly passed out and bought 3 yards. If I had more money I would have gotten 100. Just kidding.



My total cost for this project was $14!
$7.50 for 3 yards of fabric
$3 for zipper
$2 for lining fabric
$1.50 for a yard of lace

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Let's get started.

1. Figure out your measurements.
Unless you use a bed sheet, your fabric will not be large enough to cut a whole circle skirt from. You'll need to cut 2 half circles. Here are 2 methods to cutting. I find I can save fabric and money if I cut using Method #2 because fabric is pretty expensive, I'm cheap and I need money for my cat's vet bills.



2. Figure out your half circles.



3. Cut a lining fabric the same way as the outside fabric, but shorter.
The length depends on you. I made it short so I could save fabric.

4. Hem the bottoms of both the main fabric and the lining.
You can do a standard hem for the bottom. I used a rolled hem on my serger, which turned out to be even more amazing than sliced bread. This was so quick and easy—I left it exposed as it was beautiful like that and it won't fray.



5. Sew the two half circles together on one side. Do the same for the lining.



6. Sew the lining and the main fabric together at the waist.
Remember that both of them should have one side still open. This is where the zipper will go.



7. Attach the lace waistband.
The lace should be at least your waist measurement (or wherever you want the skirt to sit) plus 1-2 inches.





When I sew on the lace, I go in a zig zag pattern, following the lace's pattern. This will make the waistband sturdier and won't be visible.



8. Now, attach your zipper on the open side.
I used an invisible zipper so it won't show that much. This was a pink zipper since I couldn't find a matching zipper for my fabric. Make sure your fold the lace under like the photo so it won't fray.



After attaching the zipper, the last thing to do is sew the rest of the side of the skirt together.

DIY split-back bow shirt (tutorial)

A few weeks ago, I was perusing Joann when I saw a chiffon fabric with bird patterns I knew my sister would love. Unfortunately, it was $14/yard. That was ridiculous. I know Joann always mark up their prices so I waited for a sale. I got 1.3 yards for my sister and attempted to make her a split-back shirt with a bow in the back.









This shirt is incredibly simple.

First, cut one front and one back piece in the shape of a loose tank top. Cut an A shape in the middle of the back piece.



Take the top inner corners and overlap them slightly like pictured. This will allow you to sew them together and let you have a base for attaching the bow later.



Hem the bottom, arms and neckline. Sew the two pieces together at the shoulders and sides.



For the bow, I cut TWO rectangular pieces. Because chiffon is too flimsy and will not stand on its own, I ironed on interfacing to make it stiffer. Follow the directions on your interfacing package for this step as there are different types of interfacing. Mine is fusible interfacing, which means I had to iron it on. Make sure you attach the interfacing on the WRONG side of the fabric. Do this to both pieces.



Now lay the two pieces with the WRONG sides (with interfacing attached) facing each other. Fold the sides inward and sew the two pieces together. There are many ways to do this, so do it the way you prefer. You basically just want a "closed" pillow case.



Take a small piece of scrap fabric and wrap it around the bow at the middle. Make sure it's long enough to have a small piece sticking out so you can attach it to the shirt.



Sew it to the shirt with a simple straight stitch.



Done!

And wear it.

DIY triangle shirt

One of my babies passed away a week ago. Since then, I've thrown myself into sewing as a distraction. Sometimes not having anyone to talk to or hug gets pretty lonely. Sewing helps keep me busy. Here's a triangle shirt I made for my sister. I saw her pin it on Pinterest and thought it wasn't too hard to make.

She's so purdyyy.



Here's what I did. It's not a thorough walk through, but I wanted to show how I figured this shirt out. I didn't use a tutorial so all my projects are mostly just me figuring these out.

I used a jersey knit for the inside and a chiffon for the flowy triangle.

For the inside:
Cut a tank top that fits you. I used half a yard because my sister is petite. It fits close to her body. I think making it looser would look cuter so use more fabric if you're not cheap like me. I used a tank top that fits her and used it to cut a new one. Hem and sew everything together EXCEPT for the neckline.



For the outside:
Get a piece of rectangular fabric and fold in half. Make sure that it's 2x longer than your desired length. For example, if you need the shirt to be 30 inches long (from shoulders to triangle tip at bottom), double that and get 60 inches.



Mark the middle of the fabric at the bottom (from the left side to the right side). That's where the tip of the bottom of the shirt will be. Draw a triangle from the top left corner to the bottom tip to the right top corner, as shown in the drawing. Lay the tank top under the triangle where you want. I placed it slightly to the right because I wanted an asymmetrical shirt. Cut a neckline into the triangle exactly like your tank top.



Combine:
Sew the triangle and tank top together at the neckline. Remember to hem the triangle fabric as well.