Organic Needle

It’s in the Bag: Stitching Towards the Holidays While Taming the Jabba

Yes…I have officially made September the month to nag everyone into clearing up those “gonna do” sewing projects. Today let’s focus on two easy and extremely practical project…bags.

I have the world’s easiest little T-shirt recycler project. Take an old T-shirt & sew the bottom and the sleeves shut. Cut a little hole behind the neckband large enough to thread a hanger through and waaaaaaalaaaaaaaaa. You have just created the perfect storage bag for plastic bags, rags, clothespins, pantyhose, or whatever unmentionables you need to organize in your closet. (We’re not here to judge people…just to sew. Okay…you can judge a little.) Anyone can do this one…and it is really practical and helps to get those closets organized. And it doesn’t even have to be pretty. Definitely on the Cat-With-Narcolepsy Skill Level.

Now if you are looking for something to venture outside the house with…let’s talk shopping bags. Since I design and sew mainly by trial and error, error, and then more error…and not so much with those pesky easy to follow patterns, I have opted to take my usual cheap way out and find other people’s really cool easy to follow instructions and steal…I mean highlight them.

Some of the clearest instructions I have found were over at Wild Onion. She shows you how to convert a T-shirt into a bag with some great, very clear, step by step photos. A little more challenging than the closet hanger bag…but still very doable.

Gosh golly…I bet you could find some really cool vintage T-shirts at a yard sale or consignment shop and sew together a set or two for your friends for the holidays. A set with their favorite bands? Come on…who wouldn’t want the complete Def Leopard shopping set? How about making a pile of bags and using them as your gift bags for your other homemade goods? Pour some sugar on your friends and get sewing. Where on earth did I put my good hair-teasing comb?

Meet My Diva’s Backup Band:Taming the Sewing Jabba Part I

Now this one is a big feat for me. A few months back when Crunchy started calling for pads I made a sincere attempt to create my own pattern and produce something cycle worthy. What I produced resembled a strap on dog bed. (At least I know I have a backup career as a designer for lazy pets should the need arise.) So…the project got tossed into the Jabba-like heap known as the sewing basket.

Fast forward a few months. Now I have ventured into the land of the Diva and am overall quite happy. There are days, however, when the Diva …well…acts like a Diva and I need a little reinforcement…a backup band if you will. It seemed silly to have to buy disposables to back up the thing that was supposed to replace the disposables…so I got off my lazy needle and took a good look at a sample pad Burban kindly sent me. Rummaged through my repurposable bag of stuff, more on that later this week, and found exactly what I needed: one crib wee wee pad, 100% cotton baby blanket, & pack of sew-on-snaps. I traced the outline of the pad onto the wee wee pad and the back of the cotton blanket. Sewed the two together. I then cut and hemmed a rectangle long enough to reach around the ol’ underoos from the same blanket material. Sewed that baby onto the back. Sewed on the snaps and walaaaaaaaaa.

Now these are suitable for Diva backup performances or a ditty kind of day. For the big show, I would adjust this by adding a layer or two of toweling.

I still am a turd and haven’t sent any actual pads to Crunchy because I am assuming I need to use all new materials for strangers who-diddly-whos. (I, of course, have tons of cotton fabric but no brand new wee wee pads to offer.) Now that I have cracked the diabolical pad code…I will be sure to buy one next time I am in the baby aisle and stop being such a wiener. This is an easy one. Add booking a backup band to your project list. The earth and your who-diddly-who will thank you. Although I have come to realize, with a just a touch of bitterness, that neither are particularly great at sending Thank You notes. Ingrates.

Organicizing My Makeup: Physicians Formula Organic Wear Concealers

Even the Needle needs a wee bit of help looking breathtaking each day. So why not try to add a little organicizing to the ol’ makeup bag? So…I picked up Physicians Formula Organic Wear 100% Natural Origin Concealers in Fair & Green. (No I am not the swamp thing. Green covers red which I tend to get around my nose during the colder weather…when I hear Santa needs help with his sleigh.)

Packaging…Let’s start with the positive. The outer packaging is just paper. With the rather clever construction they completely eliminated the need for the clam shell type covering most makeup uses. Sweet. Hopefully that alone will inspire redesigns for all makeup…organic or not. The inner packaging is better…but the makeup is still essentially in a plastic tube with paper covering. I guess they could use glass…but maybe that would be a safety issue since you are cramming it onto your face.

Price…6.95 each. That seems to be on par with other concealers.

Now for the not so nicey nice.

Smell…yes it is important since I wear the green on my snout. Rancid olive oil. I now know why they add so much fragrance to makeup. Holy skunk butt. If this were the only issue I would just plug my nose and soldier on…but…keep reading.

Ingredients…better…but wait. Sounds really good at first: organic olive oil, organic soybean oil, beeswax, avocado oil….and then a big list of flowers. I’m feeling girly just looking at the list. But right at the end they slip in some other familiar names that don’t sound so tasty: talc, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, which is rust, no? Do these qualify as natural? I guess they do occur naturally. So does snail slime…doesn’t mean I want some on my face.

Performance…Now for the big So What…does it work? Depends what you mean by work. First the makeup was so thick and sticky you couldn’t apply it like a stick…which is kind of the point of a concealer STICK. Both of them broke when I tried. I was able to use a lipstick brush to apply it and it managed to conceal. Amazing!

So…although I give Physicians Formula big props for reinventing the makeup packaging…they have a lot of work to do in the actual makeup department. Bottom line: Swampy no recommend.

You Should be at the Carnival!

Melissa at Better Living is hosting the first APLS carnival. Plenty to read over there today, including my little essay on sustainability. Go make some new friends.






(Just don’t blow your paycheck trying to win that Jack Daniels mirror with the feathered roach clip accent.)

Sustainability: An Essay by Organic Needle

Can you tell I was an English teacher? Probably not by my misspellings and dangling modifiers, but…even English teachers aren’t perfect. Closest thing you’ll ever find…but not quite. Anyway…the APLS crew has given its first assignment and as the good little Lisa Simpson that I am…I have done my homework.

Sustainability…A Journey to a Joyful Life

Saying that I have been on a journey to “green” my life feels a little insufficient to me. The actual environmental part of the quest has kind of been a byproduct more than anything else. For me the journey is more about reaching deeper levels of sustainable happiness. A happiness that is NOT reliant on the trappings but on feeling fully satisfied with my role as parent, partner, sibling, friend, neighbor, and general Earth dweller. The secret to my happiness? Easy…connections. Being truly connected to the people and experiences in life is my definition of joy.

The journey certainly isn’t a straight forward path. I find myself often thinking of time past spent as a child with my grandparents who made everything from scratch, not because they were “green” or poor but because it was just foolish to waste anything and enjoyable to create…period. (Besides, Norwegian whaling villages don’t exactly have Targets. Well, sadly, maybe they do now.) They made their own clothes, soups, soaps, furniture, preserves, wine, even soda. My grandfather even built their house and my parents’ first house. They gardened extensively even though they both worked, she as a seamstress and designer, he as a carpenter and lodge owner. As a child I had no idea what a tremendous education they were providing me. But it certainly wasn’t lost on my obliviousness. Whenever I am having a “how to” issue I have a wealth of memories to draw upon. And the beautiful thing is the “how to” doesn’t come alone…it comes with a deep felt connection to people and places of the past that I can carry in my heart forever. And with the skills learned and stories to tell I can bring my boys into that world too.

For me it is also about being connected to the present and to what we DO. Baking bread with my kids is a whole different experience than buying a loaf at the store. The miracle of yeast isn’t lost on them. Planting, caring for, and harvesting our own basil is a true experience, verses tossing a plastic tub of it in the shopping cart. When my husband explains to them about how over plucking the plant won’t allow it to flourish he is teaching much more than general horticulture. Spending afternoons strolling through the Botanical Gardens, talking, playing, just enjoying each other’s enjoyment of nature and life beats any day spent in front of the TV. In these moments it is as if doors of my heart that I didn’t even know existed are bursting open.

And now that I am a mother, enjoying a rounded full and happy life is more important than ever. I don’t want to make my kids happy…I want to teach them how to be happy. How to find the joy that comes from really experiencing all of life. While many of the ways we have found to connect to our past and to our present will hopefully lead to a more sustainable & healthier future on this planet, it hasn’t been my main motive. For me, it has been about not wasting any opportunities for the priceless pure joy of it all.

Single Tea Bag Reviews: My Test Piggies Have Spoken

My Single Tea Bag with Tagua Nut Tag inspectors have spoken. Great feedback guys. Now I was hoping all of you would write me telling me how your lives have been forever changed; you are making more money, your teeth and eyes are shinier, your neighbors no longer scurry away when they see you coming etc. etc. But I guess I will settle for…they brew tea without exploding. There is definitely some tweaking that needs to take place.

Allie’s Review:

I’ve been using the tea bag you sent and LOVING it!

I thought it might leave a lingering taste in the tea, but it didn’t seem to at all. I think my metal grabby tea spoon thingy actually alters the taste of the tea more. It’s easy to clean out — actually easier than the metal steeper, because the tea doesn’t get stuck in the holes at all. I just rinse it and hang it out. It gets doused with boiling water every time it’s used, so I figure that keeps it clean and sanitary. Some tea got caught in the corners, but it wasn’t hard to get it loose.

The weight works nicely and is so attractive.

The first time I used it, there were a few threads that found their way into my tea (from the fabric, not sewing thread), but hey, extra fiber! And it didn’t happen with following uses.

I drink tea that has fairly large leaves. I’m not sure if a finer tea would fall through, but if it would, it would on my metal steeper as well. I’m guessing if you drink fine tea you’re used to a little silt at the bottom of the cup.

1) The mesh fabric can fray along the seam. I have ways of dealing with such disobedient threads…don’t you worry.

2) Excellent point about gunpowder teas seeping through. (For you non tea drinkers…gun powder is not actually made from ammunition.) As a big leaf gal myself, I forgot about that. I will definitely put a note explaining that in the description on Etsy. But like you mentioned…the holes are finer than a tea ball…so….

Joilie’s Review:

I like it a lot. The only possible room for improvement I can see is that it sometimes comes open when I don’t want it to. Maybe I’m not cinching or tying the top tight enough? I love the shell/bead thingy!

Excellent observation. I originally intended for it to be tied by looping the nut through the string but thought that might be a pain to do and undo. However, that would totally prevent the escaping of the tea. I could either go with the original tying idea and include a handy-dandy diagram…or maybe a bead. If I put a bead on the 2 strings together it could be slid up and act like cinch. I will have to think about this one. It would have to be a natural material and not take away from the simplicity of the design and not actually poison my customers. I find 9 out of 10 tea drinkers DON’T enjoy being poisoned. I do my research.

Arduous Review:

Green Power? I Just Can’t Buy It

Now…I love Burbanmom. She is like my little blogspiration in a can. When she started her new challenge…I said sure sign me up. Laundry…yes I had already thrown in the towel on account of NYC mugginess…but out of love for her I did manage to smuggle all my sheets and blankets upstate for a dance in this neat thing they have up there called wind. Grass eating cows…not a beef eater…so sailed through that one. Compost…you all know my worms well. But her energy source switch challenge has got me in a pickle. Here’s the deal…my energy company is EEEEEEEEEEVIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLL. Seriously…ConEd has actually killed people and their dogs.

And their Green Power program is a little too wishy washy for me. Well…more like a joke. They say they use the extra money paid for green energy to “create a market for green energy.” WTF? Yes…they could use the extra money to create new wind or hydro powered grids. Yes…they could. I could also paint myself green and change my name to Super Pickle. I guess they just don’t want to bother customers with the pesky details of exactly where each nickel is going. I just pay the extra money and they will figure out how to handle it. I don’t need to worry my sweet pretty little self about it. Well…I’m the kinda gal who wants to know whose wasting my money…besides me.
Actual Photo taken at Con Ed Meeting

Ummmmmm. So to summerize…I’m suppose to trust the company whose CEO gave himself a 24% raise and is about to raise NYC’s rates 22% to use my extra money to buy green “credits.” The same company that was responsible for a 9 day blackout that wiped out 1/2 the small businesses in Astoria and said they didn’t have enough money to actually pay for their mistake. (They offered businesses $7,000. 9 days of no business plus ruined inventory. Most businesses were out 10s of thousands and many more were just plain OUT.) Oh…and this is also the same company that blew someone up last year. Pick, pick, pick.

I don’t know Burbarino…I just don’t know if I can do this one. I would feel better donating money to a company that had a clear cut energy plan than to trust that my corrupt monopoly of a zapper is going to do anything but pay out lawsuits or stuff their little fat pants with it. How about I just promise not to buy each of my worms personal air conditioners? See…I can sacrifice too.

I Survived The Cheese!!!!!

While not a raw milk drinker, I am a raw cheese eater…well any kind of cheese eater…bit of a cheese whore. In fact, I did a major happy dance when my CSA announced the they hooked up with CSA Pastured Meat & Poultry which brings upstate farm goods to us greedy little city dwellers. So when Tuesday Crunchy posted about the quandary of raw milk and the potential banning I must say I became more than a little concerned. Cheese is art…and therefore should not be messed with because a handful of farmers didn’t practice clean and safe handling. Fortunately, yesterday was the CSA’s first CSAPM&P delivery and you bet your sweet caboose I ordered myself a pound of the good stuff…1/2 raw milk cheddar and 1/2 raw milk firehouse jack. The cheddar we happily nibbled and the firehouse made a tasty little tostada. Maybe our enjoyment was heightened by the idea that we may not always be able to get raw cheese legally, but it was gooooooooood. Aren’t you impressed that I didn’t say gouda? ( I would have taken pictures of the potential contraband but it was just too hard to balance the camera and shove cheese in my cheddar hole with both fists at the same time.)

Well…I won’t keep you in suspense…we all survived.

Well except for that set of horns growing out of my head…probably nothing…I’ll just dab a little Neosporin on it and I’m sure it will clear right up. Just a little Rawmilkcowheadidous. Very catchy. You had better not eat my cheese…just to be on the safe side.





The camembert flies with the bunny….10 pm…sharp.

What Brings the People to ME!

What is it about my little blog that brings forth the masses…okay how about the few and the proud? The few and the bored? Give me something people. I know some of you are reading because I, being the tech whiz that I am, okay being married to a uber techie, have a tracker. A long time ago Burbanmom wrote about some of the funny things she found in her tracking and I, seriously having no original thought of my own for today, decided to steal the concept and look through my own list and pick my “award winning” fave five. (Give me a break…my husband is out of town for the week and I’m lucky if I get time to pee and brush my teeth in the same day. Choices…choices. Being the classy lady of mystery that I am….I shall leave you hanging as to which area got the attention it deserved.)

Bitch seems to be the most popular. When people are looking for bitch they just seem to find me. I should be more reflective on that…but one can’t read too much into their search trackings, now can they? So shut up and read the next friken line.

I’ve Got Worms comes up a lot…but I don’t think people are searching for composting advice. (My worms are totally out of control, by the way…more on that next week.)

Teen Jean Snack…what the F***? Who the hell is reading this blog?

Gerbil’s Butt…Maybe I don’t want to know.

And the award goes to……………..

Mold in My BOX Come clean…which one of you fine ladies was brought to my blog through this one? We won’t judge… much. (Although search topic number one serves as its own disclaimer.)

Crunchy Time

Let me start off by saying…yes I already screwed this up. I was thinking we were doing this Friday night at 12. No one’s fault but my own…but if you give me enough time I will find someone to pin it on. But this post isn’t about me and my inability to follow simple instructions, it is about all that Crunchy has brought to the blogger community. Crunchy Chicken was one of the first “green” blogs that I started reading. At first, I thought…she is a little nuts…but funny. Now after months of reading her blog, I think…she’s nuts, she’s funny, and I think she has turned me a little nuts because she is starting to make sense. She has NOT yet convinced me to give up the luxury of clean wiping, but she has certainly challenged me to rethink just about how everything else is done, made, and thought about. I am really glad you couldn’t keep away from us Crunchy. We are like a little hairy smelly monkey on your back that no matter how much you question the purpose of our existence, you just can’t shake us. And if you do we may throw pooh at you. Which you, being the green diva that you are, would probably simply compost the poop and post on your blog the most environmentally friendly way to hurl turds, once again enlightening us with your brilliance…and your willingness to talk about everything and anything. Thanks for the ride Crunchy!