It’s that time again. You ask, and I pretend to know things and answer your burning questions. It really is so much fun to open my inbox and see the wide variety of questions you guys have. Reminds me that my readers are so diverse and pretty dang awesome. So keep those questions coming and I’ll keep racking my brain for answers. As always, please pipe up if you have any input or are knowledgeable when it comes to any of the following questions:
Hi Mavis, I read your post earlier this week about window treatments and you mentioned that you were going to paint the trim. How the heck do you paint trim so you don’t see the brush strokes? Any tips?
Flotrol is the bomb diggety! No seriously. If you’ve never used it, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. I add Flotrol every time I paint with latex or acrylic paints. It’s an additive that helps reduce the appearance of brush marks. And it works so well! It’s also pretty cheap, so I think it’s worth it.
Hi Mavis! I have a quick question for you about your Brother sewing machine. I’m wondering if it can sew through really thick materials like denim and corduroy? Have you had any trouble with your machine not going through thick materials? I’d like to buy the Brother machine with Amazon deal you posted yesterday. So I’m hoping this will work out!!
Thank you so much!
~Hannah
I have never tried to sew denim, but I have used my Brother sewing machine with no issue on other thick fabric. When I sew the adorable burp cloths you see above {How to Make Minky Burp Cloths}, it sews through minky fabric like a boss. I suspect it would sew through denim no problem, although the seams might be an issue.
Greetings Ms. Mavis! Since I too live in the Pacific Northwest, I’m curious about your greenhouse. I’ve been in the market for something similar. Would you be willing to share what kind it is? how much it cost? How easy was it to put up? how much you like it? What you don’t like about it? Now I’m off to plant my fall garlic and check in on my beehive. Thanks in advance for your time. Happy Autumn!
~Laura
I bought my greenhouse at the Glass Gardener in Tacoma. I freakin loved it. The greenhouse was a Magnum Glass Greenhouse 12×14 with a British green finish. I would highly recommend the company to anybody looking for a greenhouse {and really, I’d recommend it even if you aren’t looking for a greenhouse. Because greenhouses are awesome, and everyone should have one. Or two}. I think it might have been $1,800, but I don’t remember exactly. They also installed it, which was a huge bonus. Did I mention I loved it?
Do you have a newsletter I can sign up for?
~Rhonda
You’re in luck, I do! See that cute box above? You’ll find it in the upper right hand corner on the site. Simply input your email address {or head HERE} and BOOM, you’re all signed up. You can also sign up for updates a ton of other ways by heading HERE. Hope that helps.
Hi Mavis!
I’m hoping you might be able to put your amazing brain to work on my situation. I have a black thumb and don’t understand gardening or landscaping pretty much at all. I just like things that are pretty and low maintenance in their prettiness.
That said… My husband and I tilled up our front yard this year in anticipation of planting a hybrid garden/flower bed come spring. Our snoopervising committee must be run by the same one yours is because they were NOT happy and sent me a nastygram about “general lawn neglect” (I wrote back to inform them that it’s difficult to neglect a lawn that doesn’t exist!).
We live in what’s called a “detached condo”, which essentially means we have a super tiny lot, so the picture I’ve attached is what we have to work with. I need to figure out how to make it look pretty and still produce some food for us. We would like to grow beans, pumpkins, strawberries, lettuce, and maybe a melon or two. I’m told our northern exposure is great for these up here in Snohomish, and a large oak shades the right half of the bed for a little relief from the hot hot sun.
I’d like to plant some berry bushes and self-seeding perennial flowers, and maybe a small fruit tree to “landscape” so that it doesn’t LOOK like a tiny farm in the front yard (the Snoopervisors would lynch me), but looking over zonal recommendations has me baffled. Can you help recommend where to put what and when to plant them?
ANY help would be appreciated because I’m clearly out of my element!
Many, many thanks,
Claire
Okay readers, Claire needs our help! Here’s where you chime in. Take a look at this picture and see what you can come up with. As far as suggestions from me, I am a HUGE fan of strawberry plants, carrots and Swiss chard as edible ornamentals. They produce like crazy and look pretty doing it. Shasta daisies are also easy to maintain, too. They pack a pretty powerful scenic punch. And now I turn it over to all my helpful readers. What say ye?
Have a question for me? Submit them HERE and I’ll try to answer them.
~Mavis
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Em says
Claire, you have a pretty house!
Search for “strawberry tower” on Mavis’ web page and see if you like that.
Good luck!
Cheryl @ Living Design says
For Hannah with the question about sewing through denim: I’m not familiar with Mavis’ Brother machine but I know that with my (ancient) Pfaff all I have to do is change out the needle to a sturdier one. With a heavy duty needle, I’ve successfully sewn through multiple layers of denim, even over existing seams. I had to help it feed a little when I was going over seams, but the machine had enough power and the heavy duty needle held up. I wouldn’t use my normal needle on multiple layers of denim though, I would be afraid it would break!
Kayla says
I don’t have Mavis’ exact Brother Sewing machine, but I do have a Brother machine. To go along with Cheryl’s comment, you just need to change the needle. I have worked with Denim and thick fabrics and my machine has worked like a charm.
Hannah says
Thank you Cheryl and Kayla, I ended up getting a brother sewing machine and have actually bought some “denim” needles. I realize that’s the way to go! I have broken several machine accidentally because of not using the denim needles. Anyway, my new machine works wonderfully!
Teckla says
A couple other things that can make a difference, no matter what machine you use:
1) lengthen your stitch a smidgen or two to make it easier for the thread to pass through the fabric;
2) make sure your needle is not only a “denim” needle but new and sharp; if you don’t have a denim needle and don’t want to go to the store, be sure your needle is at least a size 14.
3) adjusting the presser foot pressure can make the fabric flow through more easily;
4) some machines may benefit from having the tension adjusted slightly looser on both top and bottom.
5) sounds silly, but pounding seams a few times with a hammer before sewing over them also helps.
Glad you like your brother. Best of luck in your sewing!
Preppy Pink Crocodile says
I was just going to say too that sewing thick fabrics has almost nothing to do with the machine and everything to do with the needle. Different needles are for different fabrics. A quick visit to a good sewing store should get you on track with the right needles for the task/fabrics at hand. Also, a sharp enough needle makes a big difference. So you might have the right needle but after a few projects, it won’t work as well. Change to a new needle and pitch the old one. It took me a long time to get that in my head but it really does make a world of difference!
Happy sewing!
KK @preppycrocodile
Sarah says
I would suggest some blueberry bushes. They will blend into almost any landscape. As for other edibles I love the look of amaranth and quinoa.
Claire says
We would love to get some of these!! We found out we had a wild one growing on the side of the house this last year and fell in love.
Donna in VA says
For the front yard I would recommend a nice herb garden – parsley, oregano, mint, thyme, sage, tarragon etc. And varied salad greens. Scarlet runner beans are very pretty grown on a trellis and I plan to try them next year. Zinnias (nice cutting flowers) and other yellow/orange flowers will attract bees and butterflies.
Claire says
I actually have a nice big pot of herbs in my kitchen that grow like mad all year round!
janice Holt says
everybearing strawberries even my snoopervising committee says nothing about them takes a couple years for them to take off but once they do watch out we still have a few on the plants now if you plant the berries on the lowest level would be the easiest to reach you can hide in cucumbers, zucchini etc on the upper level as they will vine down and just plant some decorative plants to camouflage them thats what I do For sewing denim change to a denim needle and take it slower if its just for repairs you will be fine if its actual sewing over seams it might be a little harder but it should be fine I planted tomato plants in galvanized tubs on my drive this year for the extra heat and they thrived next year am going to put some cucumbers in with them to vine over the side Remember the snoopervising people can only see the yard from the sidewalk they are not allowed to enter your yard Have had my fair share of run ins with them including my “gaudy” lawn ornaments of pink flamingos which multiplied after that letter
Claire says
Thank you! I think we’ll probably put a small rock river on the curb strip (we have a bunch of dogs in the neighborhood and there’s nothing worse than finding more than you bargained for while picking beans), and I was thinking some red lettuce, bush beans, and strawberries on that next tier for the reasons you mentioned.
Oh, and I’m totally doing flamingos. Mavis is some serious inspiration!
Jumbe says
I grew up in Snohomish. Moo! I would recommend Evergreen Huckleberries the fruit is great and they look like boxwood and are of course evergreen so they look good year round. Under that I would put the little native wild strawberries, they are so yummy and also look good year round and spread well without being aggressive. Oxalis Oregana (it looks like really pretty shamrock) is also a native ground cover that is edible if you don’t go too crazy with it. It has oxalic acid so too much isn’t great, but it tastes like lemon and is beautiful. They all grow great in my yard which is Northwest forest floor.
Claire says
I miss huckleberries! That could be a great, fun addition, especially since our Snoopervisors REALLY seem to love boxwood.
jill says
Columnar apple trees. You’ll need 2 but they take up very little space.
Claire says
I’ve never heard of these – After googling them, all I can say is that they look SO STRANGE! Where would you put them in my yard?
Earlene says
I haven’t sown in years. I have an old Singer from the 80’s. I’m thinking maybe a good cleaning or should I just get a new one?
Melanie says
The reader with the front yard may have some shade/root issues with the maple tree. In order to avoid frustration, she should probably check the hours of sunlight she is going to have and plant accordingly. also amending/using raised beds. If the tree roots are right under her beds they may suck all the nutrients and water away from the crops she is trying. So I would say spend a good bit of effort on the prep now, so she will have more success next year.
Claire says
Hey! That’s my letter to Mavis! I was scrolling through and thought, “Huh, that house looks almost exactly like ours…” LMAO. Thank you all for the great advice… I’ll see what I can implement. The oak tree is rather unfortunate, because even though it’s on OUR land, the HOA “owns” it…it’s in our CCRs that we cannot remove it. Stupid Snoopervising Committee. Also: MOO!
mandy says
For Claire…Rhubarb is a very pretty plant and it tastes great! Another that I’ve been growing is Greek Basil, it grows like a tall bush. Quite ornamental and tasty. It has a different tang to it. Best of luck to you.