Falling for Cotton: Part Deux

Holy smokes, September has FLOWN by!  Between the Etsy shop, my PTA duties, my mom duties, and my kids' crazy schedules, I'm amazed I was able to finish this dress at all! Seeing as #fallforcotton ends on September 30th, I'm just squeaking in on the deadline.

Apparently, I'm a glutton for patterns of many pieces right now.  Here are the pieces for this dress:

Ack!  So many pieces!

Here are the edits I made to construct my dress:

First, I cut the back piece into two pieces just below the shirring lines and added 5/8" seam allowance on each new piece.

Marked

Cut

Due to the limited amount of skirt fabric I had, I also narrowed the front skirt pieces - the original has 3 pleats on each side, mine only has 2. 

I did end up using the floral fabric for the skirt, collar, and to do fabric covered buttons.  I read a great tutorial on doing fabric covered buttons without a kit here.

I have to say, this really is a comfy, do-anything kind of dress.  I wore it to church and received a compliment from a woman old enough to be my mother (or my mother's older sister), and then, when I wore it to pick up my son from school, received compliments from two 3rd grade girls, which pleased me to no end!

Front view selfie.

The back view.  I really need somebody to take my FO pics for me.

Behind every good dress is a good seamstress, and behind every great seamstress is a cat.

What's Cooking? Nutella Latte!

Hey everyone!  Sorry I've been a bit absent - I launched my Etsy business and then got contacted about doing a couple of local craft fairs, so I've been frantically making pieces and trying to get my display up to par, which has left little time for blogging.  Also, I just finished up my #fallforcotton dress.  More on that later.  I openly admit that this will be a pic-free post - I just whipped this up and want to get the recipe out there ASAP so you all can enjoy it too!

Right now, let's talk about fancying up coffee.  Now, I'm the first to admit that I'm generally a hard-core black coffee kind of girl.  No sugar, no cream, no fancy flavorings with only a few exceptioins - Pumpkin Spice Lattes in the fall, and a shot of peppermint syrup in the winter. 

This evening, I really wanted a little something sweet, but frankly, I didn't want to share with my 2 year old.  Mom of the year, I know.  :)  I was already getting ready to pour out a cuppa when I remembered that I had some Nutella in the pantry.  A little kitchen experimentation and voila!  Delicious, sweet (but not too sweet) coffee dessert with stuff I already had in the house.  Go, me, go!

Here's the "recipe":

Ingredients: 
Nutella (duh)
Coffee
Milk

Instructions:
Take a teaspoon and dip into the Nutella.  Give it a half turn to get the spoon coated.  Remove spoon from Nutella and put into an empty mug.  Pour hot coffee in mug.  Add milk to taste - I don't care for milk in my coffee, so I just added a quick splash.  Stir until Nutella is well mixed.  Enjoy the coffee, then enjoy licking what's left of the Nutella off the spoon!

Easy peasy!

Pinkie Pink Pink - Oh, look! I made a jacket.

It's finally done!  The last installment (for now) of Pinkie Pink Pink is complete.  Admittedly, it's not quite as pink as I thought it was, really more into the burgundy tones, but that's okay - let's just go with it, shall we? 

Here it is, my new fall jacket, made of some lovely floral print velveteen:

I used the Simplicity 2057 pattern, which is part of their Project Runway line.  I omitted all the "extras" - welts, epaulets, tabs, etc. - since my print was so busy.  I opted for the pleated sleeves, which definitely give a nod to the 1940s.  Some people might say it's too much, but I disagree.  It is lined in an ivory flannel backed satin, which is so lovely.

Facing & lining.

The pattern itself was not very difficult, but cutting out the pieces took FOR-EV-ER!  At least a couple of hours.  I looked at the pattern reviews before starting this and while a couple of people suggested reducing the depth of the armholes, I didn't find a problem with the way they were on the original pattern. 

The back

I really couldn't be happier with this, and I anticipate getting a lot of use out of it.  Once the weather decides to cooperate, that is.  It's forecast to be 90 degrees for the next few days. C'mon autumn, get with the program!

See the shorts?  Clearly it isn't yet jacket weather.

Next garment up is the #fallforcotton dress. 

What's Cooking? Chicken and Carrot Cake Jam??? (Better than It Sounds!)

At my last CSA pickup, in which I came home with a red watermelon, a yellow watermelon, and a cantaloupe, I perused the farm stand offerings of local jams, jellies and preserves by Olney Natural.  There were a lot of the 'standards' - strawberry, blackberry, rhubarb - but there was also a "carrot cake jam" which sounded both interesting and awesome.  I especially liked the sign accompanying it, which said "Don't let toast have all the fun - try with meats and cheeses!"  Naturally, I couldn't resist picking up a jar.

Friday was a really hectic day for me - my daughter's daycare provider was sick, so I had both kids, I had a make-up arts & crafts club meeting from when I was sick to run, and I just felt tired.  I threw a few chicken breasts, carrots, frozen corn and frozen peas in the crockpot with some stock and just let it go, because that was about all I had energy to do.
When it came time to actually serve the crockpot food (over quinoa - one of the few non-pasta grains my son likes), I remembered the carrot cake jam and heated up a few tablespoons to top off the meal.

The finished product

It was DELICIOUS.  The carrot cake jam added a subtle warm/sweet/autumnal character to my otherwise (admittedly) bland meal.  TMS was totally impressed, so I consider this dinner a success.  I'll be picking up more jams next time I go to the farm. 

A Wardrobe for Autumn

August is, in general, not my favorite month.  In fact, it may be my least favorite month - Mother Nature assaults me with every possible allergy-inducing pollen and I spend the entirety of the month with watery eyes and a stuffy-but-also-runny nose.  The only redeeming feature of August, as far as I'm concerned, is that it means fall is on the way. 
I love fall.  I adore fall. Pumpkins, apple cider, changing leaves, and cooler temperatures - excellent.  To me, there is nothing better than pulling the cardigans and boots out of the closet.  We've had a few cool mornings here, and I'm already geeking out for autumn and all my yummy warm clothes.
My friend Mariah recently mentioned that she was sewing a fall wardrobe - a few dresses, skirts, shirts, and pants - and it got me to thinking about my cold weather clothes.  I don't really have a cohesive non-work wardrobe, mostly I purchase things that catch my eye without much thought into how it fits in with everything else.  I don't necessarily need a TON of clothes, but  I'd love to have a go-to set of casual (yet stylish) clothes that work together, and I think sewing a few pieces would be a great step in the right direction.

I started by taking an inventory of what I already have:

3 skirts, 2 pairs of trousers (1 pair cropped), 2 pairs of jeans (1 pair suitable with heels only), LOTS of stockings & tights

5 cardigans, 2 tunic-length sweaters, 1 dress, 2 oxford shirts, 2 pull-over sweaters.

As you can see, I own a lot of stockings and tights, but not many skirts or dresses.  I also own quite a few cardigans, but very few pieces to go underneath.  Also, I have no fall-weather jacket.  My old jacket has seen far better days and needs to be retired.

So this is the plan: make a jacket, two skirts, a pair of pants and two dresses.  I already have fabric for the jacket and a fabric that could be for a skirt or pants - just not sure which one yet.

I've started a Pinterest board of patterns and fabrics I'm considering for this endeavor.  Check it out here.