Thinking about warmer days

I know I really shouldn’t complain.  As far as winters go, this one has been fairly mild.  I guess I just wasn’t expecting the huge snow storm that rolled through here a couple days ago.  I’m not usually one to lounge on the beach, but right now all I want to do is dig a hole for my every growing belly and lay face down in the sand.

For now, I suppose I must be content to sip my tea and look at the bright snow from the comfort of my warm office, with the little one dancing happily in my tummy.  Only 17 weeks until I get to see her beautiful face!

Are you looking forward to a change of season?

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Sewing Clothes for Baby

The number one thing people want to know about the baby is, “boy or girl?”  People have been making their predictions since they first found out I was pregnant.  Well, we are about 85% sure our little one is a girl, pending a follow-up ultrasound in a couple of weeks!

I feel confident enough about her, well, being a “her” that I have started my sewing projects.  It has been so hard waiting on some of the things that I want to make.   I have a huge list going of all the fun free patterns that I have found in various corners of the internet, and I can finally tackle it!

I decided on this little dress from Made by Petchy for my first project because of how easy it looked.  Pair that with a June birthdate, I thought it would be perfect for her to wear through the summer.  The fabric is from my trip to the LA Fashion district.  At the time I went, I did not know whether our baby was a boy or a girl, so I just bought fabric that was soft and made of natural fibers.  What is funny is that when going through my fabric again, I noticed that many of the ones that I purchased were “boy” colors, mostly blues and greens.  I must have been subconsciously thinking about a boy at the time!

I really don’t mind using boy colors for a girl, though.  I am actually not the biggest fan of pink, or even purple unless the colors they are paired with are just right.  For the main body of the dress I used a super soft cotton knit that has a subtle dot pattern on it.  I made the binding from a striped open weave cotton.

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Peach and Almond Butter

What does 40 lbs of peaches give you?  12 jars of peach and almond butter, and 9 jars of peach chutney!  This is my second round of canning peaches…I hope you are not getting tired of peaches.  I was intrigued by a recipe I found in a book (I’m so sorry…I can’t remember the name!!) that combined peaches, ground almonds, and almond extract to make a fruit butter.  I have only had apple butter, and I had to try this one. I tried to limit the amount of almond extract I used because I feel that sometimes too much can make things taste a bit fake.  I think the results are pretty good, if not a bit too sweet for my taste.  If I was to make this again, I think I would definitely reduce the about of sugar.  If anyone is interested in making this, I will try to figure out what book this recipe came from.

I know by now your weekend is about half way through right now, but I do hope all of you have a great weekend.  I promise I will not subject you to another peach posts on Monday!

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Garden Dress

I spent yesterday planning some fall transition clothes to make for the upcoming season…fall just seems to be getting closer and closer!  I fell in love with this Tulip Study Dress at Anthropologie.  It is so stylish, but also very carefree due to the black jersey bodice.  It looks like the perfect dress to slip on on a hot day, or wear under a warm sweater with tights on a cool day.

To make the dress, I took a black jersey dress that I no longer wear, cut off the skirt, and attached the beautiful floral fabric, but project would also work well with a simple black tank top as the bodice.  I chose the fabric because the colors are bright and cheery for summer, but will transfer well to autumn.  The fabric also has a beautiful sheen to it that catches the light perfectly. 

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Simple Men’s T-Shirt

Ever since I started this whole crafting hobby, I have wanted to make Mike something really nice.  Something he could use  on a regular basis.  He always gives me little projects to do for him, like patching a sweatshirt, or sewing a hole in his jeans pocket.  However, it always seems that I never get around to it.  His sweatshirt has has a little rip in it, and he can no longer carry his wallet in his back pocket because of how big the hole has gotten.  It just seems to me that all the little projects take a bit of time, and produce little satisfaction when I am done with them.  And it doesn’t help that you all might get more than a little annoyed if all I posted were little mending projects.

So, the other night when I had a bit of extra time, did I tackle all the little projects Mike has been kindly asking me to do for the last year?  Um, no.  I made him a shirt instead.  Luckily the shirt turned out very well and he is very happy with it.  I used the basic t-shirt pattern from Burda Style, which was very easy to put together, though it doesn’t really come with instructions, just the pattern cut outs.

To sew this, I started by sewing the front and back together at the shoulders.  I then pinned the sleeves onto the shirt, and sewed them together.  Then I sewed along the sides of the shirt, starting at the end of the sleeves,and going all the way down to the bottom of the shirt.  The last thing I did was hem the sleeves, bottom, and neck.  I don’t have a serger, so I didn’t serge the fabric edges, but they seem to be holding up well so far.

I plan on doing some cool design on the front of it.  Actually, I planned on doing it last night, but no fusible interfacing.  Oh well.  Maybe this weekend.  I just hope the shirt won’t suffer the same fate as the jeans and sweatshirt.

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Moving and Pickling

Moving gives me such weird feelings.  First, I get excited about the move to a new, better place.  Then, I start to feel sad about leaving Mike and my first home together.  Then I get frustrated and tired of the whole packing and moving process.  Then I feel relief when it is finally over.  Finally there is excitement again about the possibilities the new place presents.

The other night, Mike and I stayed up late because it just felt weird walking back and going to sleep in a room we are so unfamiliar with.  It is strange because it still has all of our same stuff that we have in the old place.  The room is even set up in almost the same way, but it just feels different.  I’m sure we will start to feel settled soon enough.

Unfortunately the move coincided with the start of summer produce at the farmer’s market, which meant a lot of preserving.  I suppose I could have waited a week or two, but I get so excited about finding the first pickling cucumbers (yes, I know I’m a little unusual). 

Probably the best find of the weekend was sour cherries…I could not believe my eyes when I saw them!  I was sure there would not be any at my market since making pies and canning seems to have fallen by the wayside for so many people.  It took me a while to figure out what to do with them, but I finally decided to can them as pie filling.  I modified this recipe by omitting the Clear-Jel (kinda freaks me out) and the red food coloring (also freaks me out), and replacing the lemon juice with white wine vinegar because that is all I had.

This weekend I also made some unfermented pickles, I am in the process of making some fermented pickles, and am almost done with my kimchi.  For these recipes I used The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich, a book that I highly recommend for all the yummy looking pickles and preserves.  Other things that I plan on making are pickled onions, hot and sweet peppers, giardinara, chutney, ketsup, and of course many more!  And now a question for you…do you preserve the harvest?  What are some of your favorite recipes?

I want to apologize for being away for so long…dear blog and readers how I have missed you!

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Magnolia Pillowcase Top

I went camping again this weekend and those things I made really came in handy!  My water bottle holder became a pouch for all the little pieces of rose quartz that I collected throughout the trip.  We got back yesterday, and I had just enough time to put together this little top.

The main body of the top is made from an old pillowcase that I had pre-marriage.  I have been saving it because I love the pattern on the fabric.  It is hard to see in the pictures, but it is a white on off white floral pattern…perfectly subtle (as you all know…my favorite!).  The straps are made of 1/2″ bias tape that I had left over from this blanket.  The flowers are made from some cream colored cotton.  I cut out petals in the rough shape of figure-8s and sewed two on top of each other.  I then took four of these figure-8 petals, folded them in half and stitched them together in a random order.  I made five of these “petal bunches” and then stitched them along the right side of the top.  I really love the size of these flowers.  At first they seemed a bit too big for me, but they make me feel so feminine!

Last night I also altered a pair of trousers that I have been meaning to do for a long time…I put them on inside out and placed the pins along the outer edges where I wanted the seam to be…very easy with great results.  I will definately be doing this with all my jeans and trousers that don’t fit me.

And finally, I couldn’t resist posting this picture from our camping trip.  This was a farm that we saw on our way up into the mountains.  The sky was so clear with these massive fluffy clouds.  Absolutely beautiful!

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Grill Tools Carrier

I realize the timing on this one is horrible…it probably would have been better if I had gotten this one out before Father’s Day so that those who were facing the impossible decision of “what to get for dad that isn’t a tie” could whip this up.  Unfortunately, the idea came up last night instead of last week. 

I think this carrier falls into the category of helpful items for camping.  When we go camping (not backpacking, mind you) it is nice to bring some grill tools along.  We usually end up using a grate attached to the fire pit to cook our food, and it is always good to have something to turn burgers and the like.  Last time we went camping, we didn’t bring grilling tools and realized how useful they really were.

The carrier is made of heavy duty canvas, flexible plastic for easy cleaning, and elastic to keep all the tools in place.  If you are interested I can put together some detailed instructions so you can make one of these too!

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Bold Fabric and Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

As many of you have likely noticed, I tend to be drawn to simple fabrics (hmm and I say this right after making that bold apron…I think that was fairly out of character for me).  Often I pick fabrics that have an appealing texture, but not as much going on in the color or pattern department.  I have been thinking lately that it might be interesting to try and step outside my comfort zone a bit.  I have been inspired by some recent posts to the Build Your Wardrobe Flickr Group.

Ginny Rae crafted this bold skirt from a dress shirt.  I absolutely love the bold colors and graphic pattern.  It reminds me of this skirt from that famed store we all know and love.

Photo Courtesy of Ginney Rae

 And take a look at this beauty from Wendy of West 38th.

Photo Courtesy of Wendy Knox

Finally, this top is by Shear Delight.  I love the feminine style of this top, paired with the modern fabric.

Photo Courtesy of Shear Delight

 It seems to me that the next step for me is to get some bold, colorful fabric and do some experimenting.  I am admiring Nani Iro’s new collection, maybe one of her fabrics will be just the ticket!

As a crafter, what materials and patterns do you tend to gravitate towards?  Have you ever stepped outside your comfort zone…what was your experience like?

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Stuffable pillow case

Now this may seem a little uninspired to you, but I made an envelope pillowcase for camping as my next project.  There are several beautiful pillowcases floating around the internet, but I needed something more down and dirty.  I used some more of that fabric my sister gave me for Christmas.  It is soft enough to the touch, so my face won’t get scrached, but it is also durable enough to take a little dirt. 

I got the idea to make one when I was reading up on a sleeping bag I was thinking of getting.  This particular one had a pouch sewn directly onto the sleeping bag that could be stuffed with clothes or jackets and could act as a pillow.  Eventually, I decided to purchase a less expensive sleeping bag that did not have this feature.  Of course, I need something to put under my head, so I quickly put these two pillow cases together, one for Mike and one for me.

Each of these measures about 14″ x 11″, and the back has an envelop closure.  These will fit perfectly in our mummy sleeping bags.  Of course, Mike called the stripped one the second he saw it.  Its ok…what he doesn’t know is I called the flowery one before I even showed them to him!

Next week I will be featuring a couple more of your Summer Wardrobe projects…have a great weekend everyone!

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