Tag: flamingo

Cleaning Up the Flamingo Pond

This is from a trip to the zoo! I love flamingos, but you have to admit, they are pretty messy birds. They live in large flocks, on muddy ground, and filter for food in muddy water. Additionally, they moult, leaves fall into the water, and the whole place can become rather rank.

Flamingo Pond Original (1 of 1)

Taking a picture of flamingos can be a bit of a challenge, but here the challenge was the messy pond. Above, you will find the original picture. And below, you will see the pond all shiny and clean, and cropped a bit. Click on any one of the three pictures below to play the slide show.

I used OnOne Photo Suite 9 to clean up the pond, add a texture layer, and finally a sun flare to modify or hide a rather rough patch where the big leaves on the lower left side were removed. Some final finishing in LR 5.7.

The Flamingo Shirt

Flamingo Blouse

This project took me a fairly long time to complete, much longer than my normal shirt-sewing excursions.  The reason is simple – I took my time, and did things as I knew they should be done.  The result is better than my usual rush job, and my sense of satisfaction is certainly there.  I also finally have a new, 100% cotton blouse that is well made.

To complete this project, I did a number of things I have not done in the past.  The first is I sewed bias tape to all the seams except the shoulder seams; since I had forgotten to do those, I zigzagged them.  I worked on the sleeves slowly, and they turned out without too much stress.  The buttonholes, though, required a lot more work.

Collar with Bound Facing

Bound Seam

How many of us have ruined something through inexperience, fatigue, or impatience?  For me, buttonholes have always been a point of sheer frustration, and the cause of a garment in ruins.  Consequently, I often have made loop buttonholes instead of ones cut into the fabric.  To conquer this, I pulled out all stops – I have my old Singer buttonholer with the bight and width adjustment.  I also have a clamp-on for straight stitch machines with templates.  I have another clamp-on with templates for use with zigzag machines.  And finally, my high-end Janome MCP 6500 has a buttonhole attachment.  In the end, I decided on the latter, and practiced making buttonholes.  I think I made fifty or so.  But, the blouse does have buttonholes on it that I do like, but the reverse side always looks better to me . . . maybe I’ll just do them upside down next time.

Buttons for the Magpies