Go Green

I couldn't help myself, I fell in love with this print the moment I saw it. Maybe because of its statement or maybe because of the colors, I'm not entirely sure. All I know is that I like it and had to buy it.

I'm sure there are countless other patterns that would have been suitable for the print, but I chose the Morgan's Bag pattern just because.

I really like the Morgan's Bag pattern and highly recommend it. The hardest part of the pattern is the handles and only because my machine seemed to struggle with the thickness of it( I really should use my old Singer for these type of projects). Other than that, the pattern is straight forward and takes no time at all to complete. I would say it took me 3 hours from start to finish to complete the bag.

Here are the changes I made:

-decreased the entire bag by 2". The original size was a behemoth bag, as my friend would have said "you could fit a small child into it!"

-altered the construction of the lining because the instructions had you do a rather difficult and unnecessary way of making it.

-made the lining piece 3/4" smaller than the outer layer because in the original instructions, the lining is the same size and I ended up having to hide the excess in a seam (not as pretty).

The fabric weight I used for this bag is heavier than the common quilt cotton fabric. This print does come in a lighter quilt cotton weight. The fabric for the pocket is a Michael Miller fabric of quilt cotton weight that I used interfacing to add stability and strength.

Argggh, me hearty's

Did some sewing while I enjoyed the final episodes of Legend of the Seeker. Finally finished my son's pirate costume. All together it took about 5 hours to complete start to finish. The hardest part was the vest. This is my first time using polyester fabric and it was a pain. The fabric was so slippery and my needles weren't sharp enough so my machine and my serger kept struggling. I also purchased, in haste, a gold fabric from Walmart to use as the scarf around his waist. Wear sparingly as the gold flecks in the fabric come off with the slightest touch.

Overall the pattern was very easy to make with easy ways to adjust to your child's size. For both this costume and that of my daughter's I spent $15 on the fabrics (not including needles, thread, and interfacing because I have those things already). Most or the fabrics were purchased at Walmart. This is a Halloween costume, after all, and my sole purpose was to make a costume for less than I could buy it for.

Patterned use is: McCall's M4852 Size 5

Not exactly sewing, but...

Yesterday there was a mass email sent to all the parents in my son's class to volunteer to bring a treat for the teacher's birthday. Knowing me, I am always up for any excuse to bake. So I made Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. Yum! They were so yummy and pretty I didn't want to let them go. Lucky for me....ahem, us, another mother had volunteered to bring cupcakes before I had so I was relieved of my duties to send my youngling off with an arm full of cupcakes. You guessed it, we got to stuff our mouths with the yummy treats!
Here is the recipes I used:


Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe
2 C All-Purpose Flour
1/3 C Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 t Salt
1/2 C Butter softened 1-1/2 C White Sugar 2 Eggs 1 C Buttermilk or (1 C Milk + 1 T White Vinegar) 1 oz. Red food coloring 1 t Vanilla Extract
1 t Baking Soda
1-1/2 T White Vinegar

Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients together except for the baking soda. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture and mix well after each addition. Add the vanilla and the food coloring. Mix well. Add the buttermilk (or milk+white vinegar mixture) and flour mixture alternating between the two, but ending with flour. Mix the baking soda and white vinegar together. Do not over mix. Add baking soda/white vinegar mixture to batter, mixing just until incorporated.

Bake in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Makes 2 dozen muffins

Cream Cheese Icing Recipe
8 oz Cream Cheese (room temperature)
1/2 C Butter
1 t Vanilla Extract
2 C Powdered Sugar

Directions:
Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add vanilla extract and mix. Add Powdered sugar slowly and mix.

Cool cupcakes completely and then ice.

Halloween

October is here and instead of sewing more products to increase my inventory, I'm making costumes for my little ones. My little pirate took approximately 8 hours to complete from start to finish and with minimal errors. One of which proves that sewing at two in the morning can result in careless executions. For example, although you may not notice anything wrong with the shirt, I had cut the facing incorrectly. So it bunched up a lot and I had to sew it down so it would stop lifting up.
The grommets were a pain and I'm looking for ways on successful application of this potentially cool gadget. I can't seem to get the grommets to look professional. It always appears smashed or flimsy. Any suggestions?

Pattern used: Simplicity 2561