Okay I just had to declare my love for Ottobre (yes again!)!!! I know you all know how much I love Ottobre, but I love it even more now (is that even possible????). I've been hard at work sewing school clothes (in between my motherly duties that is - no child neglect is happening believe me! :-)) and made the *perfect* fitting pants for my string bean daughter. I could hardly believe it when I had her try them on. I had the waist all ready for the adjustable elastic and didn't even need it - miracles happen every day. So now I'm on to the second pair. I have them ready for assembly after embroidering some flowers on them today. And as soon as my new camera arrives tomorrow I'll be able to share all I've been working on.
After doing a little research on ConsumerReports, I found what seems to be a good camera to replace my old one. It's a Cannon PowerShot A630 and was rated a CR best buy. And as luck would have it, Office Max has it on sale this week for $189.99 so I ordered one today and it should be here tomorrow - yippee!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
Another one bites the dust!
Today I worked on a pair of chocolate slinky gauchos for Hattie from Butterick 5064. She tried on a few when we went shopping last weekend, but I'll be darned if I'm paying $20+ for a pair of gauchos that I can make from my fabric stash. So I worked on them today and they turned out cute and she loves them (similar to the red pair in the pattern envelope photo minus the front tie since she doesn't tuck things in and I didn't have enough fabric anyway).
So I have her try on the final product so I can take a few pictures for you all and my camera decided it was time to die! :-( Now I knew it was probably not going to last much longer because the screen has been acting goofy for a few months, but I really didn't expect it to die so suddenly. I got two full body shots taken and went in for a few closeups and bam, that was it. Guess you all know what I'll be doing this weekend. Thank goodness cameras are so cheap now, I am sure I can find something pretty darn nice for under $200.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
A whole *latte* nothing going on!
Gosh I feel like I've been doing a whole lotta nothing lately (well at least nothing productive in the sewing department) - been having lots of fun tho! I did get a pair of pants sewn for my middle boy who is going to Kindergarten that are totally adorable. I will post a picture shortly ~ they are brown twill from Wally World on the $1 table and were made into the slim boy pants in the newest Ottobre magazine. He is so slim that I ended up using some adjustable elastic in the back waist. That elastic is the slickest thing ever and make the pants fit perfect! Other than that, I did make Hattie two capri leggings and one shirt, and I made myself a dress too. I need to get pictures taken and post reviews, hopefully that will happen soon.
We've had one of those go-go weeks and seems like we haven't been home much. We've been shopping (Miss Hattie got her ears pierced! Daddy finally gave in last Saturday and she looks so sweet!), play dates, and Daddy & I even got to go on a date night and went to the Parade of Home the next day (talk about feeling like you live in a cardboard box - it sure put a little fire under our butts to want to spruce up our digs!).
Now I'm not sure if this comes as any surprise, but I don't like coffee. I'm not sure what is wrong with me, but I have genuinely tried and in college I even forced myself to drink coffee at dinner hoping I'd come around to liking it - well it didn't work. So yesterday at my friend's house she offers me an iced coffee. I declined saying I just don't like coffee. She insisted that I try it tho saying she thought I'd like it, well low and behold she was right! She made the most wonderful drink and I just sucked it right down. So of course I had to get the recipe and promptly made myself a pitcher this afternoon. I'm afraid this could be dangerous, so hopefully I won't get too hooked on this stuff lest I want to balloon out and not fit into my clothes. I will share the recipe tho because it's pretty tasty (at least my girlfriends like it and so does hubby).
Ice Coffee Latte
1/3 cup instant coffee
1/2 cup boiling water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups cold water
4 cups chocolate milk
Mix instant coffee with boiling water until dissolved. Mix in the remaining ingredients and serve over ice. It makes a whole pitcher full so just store it in the fridge and enjoy it all day (or week long).
At the store today, I had to buy a can of sweetened condensed milk. To my shock it was $2.99 for a can, but they did have fat free so I got that to ease up on the guilt of making this yummy concoction. I did find in one of my recipe books a recipe for it which I'll try next time, it isn't fat free, but I'm sure it's lots cheaper to make. I'll have to check the other area stores to see if I can find it cheaper anywhere, one can is still cheaper than one Starbucks drink tho! LOL Here is the recipe for it I found for the milk, make it at your own risk tho as I haven't tried it before.
Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 cups instant nonfat dry milk
2 cups sugar
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup margarine, melted
Place ingredients in bowl. With hand blender, process until smoother. Refrigerate in covered container (mixture will thicken as it stands). One cup plus 2 tablespoons equality the 15 oz can most recipes require. Makes 3 cups.
As for what is up and coming, more school clothes. I need to kick it in high gear here since school starts in 1.5 weeks. The weather is supposed to be yucky again this weekend so I'm sure it will be the prime opportunity to crank out some goodies for the kiddos.
Oh and today I went to Joann's to pick up this gorgeous dress pattern Butterick 5079 ~ on sale for $1.99 of course! I have no need for this dress yet, but I just love it. Our 11th wedding anniversary is next Friday, so I guess I could try to whip it up for that, but I think we're going to go to the ocean for the day (without kids of course) and that isn't really beach attire so I probably won't. I think it would be the perfect dress for DH's work Christmas party - many months away tho! LOL
Until next time, happy homemaking, sewing, & latte drinking! :-)
We've had one of those go-go weeks and seems like we haven't been home much. We've been shopping (Miss Hattie got her ears pierced! Daddy finally gave in last Saturday and she looks so sweet!), play dates, and Daddy & I even got to go on a date night and went to the Parade of Home the next day (talk about feeling like you live in a cardboard box - it sure put a little fire under our butts to want to spruce up our digs!).
Now I'm not sure if this comes as any surprise, but I don't like coffee. I'm not sure what is wrong with me, but I have genuinely tried and in college I even forced myself to drink coffee at dinner hoping I'd come around to liking it - well it didn't work. So yesterday at my friend's house she offers me an iced coffee. I declined saying I just don't like coffee. She insisted that I try it tho saying she thought I'd like it, well low and behold she was right! She made the most wonderful drink and I just sucked it right down. So of course I had to get the recipe and promptly made myself a pitcher this afternoon. I'm afraid this could be dangerous, so hopefully I won't get too hooked on this stuff lest I want to balloon out and not fit into my clothes. I will share the recipe tho because it's pretty tasty (at least my girlfriends like it and so does hubby).
Ice Coffee Latte
1/3 cup instant coffee
1/2 cup boiling water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups cold water
4 cups chocolate milk
Mix instant coffee with boiling water until dissolved. Mix in the remaining ingredients and serve over ice. It makes a whole pitcher full so just store it in the fridge and enjoy it all day (or week long).
At the store today, I had to buy a can of sweetened condensed milk. To my shock it was $2.99 for a can, but they did have fat free so I got that to ease up on the guilt of making this yummy concoction. I did find in one of my recipe books a recipe for it which I'll try next time, it isn't fat free, but I'm sure it's lots cheaper to make. I'll have to check the other area stores to see if I can find it cheaper anywhere, one can is still cheaper than one Starbucks drink tho! LOL Here is the recipe for it I found for the milk, make it at your own risk tho as I haven't tried it before.
Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 cups instant nonfat dry milk
2 cups sugar
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup margarine, melted
Place ingredients in bowl. With hand blender, process until smoother. Refrigerate in covered container (mixture will thicken as it stands). One cup plus 2 tablespoons equality the 15 oz can most recipes require. Makes 3 cups.
As for what is up and coming, more school clothes. I need to kick it in high gear here since school starts in 1.5 weeks. The weather is supposed to be yucky again this weekend so I'm sure it will be the prime opportunity to crank out some goodies for the kiddos.
Oh and today I went to Joann's to pick up this gorgeous dress pattern Butterick 5079 ~ on sale for $1.99 of course! I have no need for this dress yet, but I just love it. Our 11th wedding anniversary is next Friday, so I guess I could try to whip it up for that, but I think we're going to go to the ocean for the day (without kids of course) and that isn't really beach attire so I probably won't. I think it would be the perfect dress for DH's work Christmas party - many months away tho! LOL
Until next time, happy homemaking, sewing, & latte drinking! :-)
Monday, August 13, 2007
Yes, I'm still here...
Gosh I'm a terrible Blogger lately and for that I'm so sorry! The craziness of life is catching up with me and I honestly haven't gotten any sewing done at all in the past week. Such is life I know, but I love to sew and it makes me sad when I don't have time to sew. On a bright note, I have managed to "pattern shop" my Ottobre back issues in search of clothing to make the kids for back-to-school. I also looked through some of my Burda WOF magazines and pattern shopped for myself as well. Unfortunately there are so many things I want to make and I know there is not enough time to make everything I want to (I need a battery pack so I never have to sleep! LOL).
I have managed to get a few Ottobre patterns traced out for the kids and did go through the fabrics and found most of what I will use (all stash, yippee!!! - that does say something about my stash tho doesn't it???). I really want to make all mix & match things for my daughter tho. Last year I was very bad about making this and that and not much went with each other. So this year I have a new plan (shall we say SWAP - sewing with a plan) and shall make her things that go with one another - what a novel idea! I also had her try on her old clothes and see what still fits so I can figure out how to incorporate those items into my sewing. I plan to sew in a SWAPish sort of way for myself too. I'm not sure what the color scheme will be - I really like black and pink so I might go that route. This may be hard for me because I like so many colors. Thankfully the boys are much easier - everything goes with jeans, khaki pants, etc. ~ hallelujah!!!!
I have managed to get a few Ottobre patterns traced out for the kids and did go through the fabrics and found most of what I will use (all stash, yippee!!! - that does say something about my stash tho doesn't it???). I really want to make all mix & match things for my daughter tho. Last year I was very bad about making this and that and not much went with each other. So this year I have a new plan (shall we say SWAP - sewing with a plan) and shall make her things that go with one another - what a novel idea! I also had her try on her old clothes and see what still fits so I can figure out how to incorporate those items into my sewing. I plan to sew in a SWAPish sort of way for myself too. I'm not sure what the color scheme will be - I really like black and pink so I might go that route. This may be hard for me because I like so many colors. Thankfully the boys are much easier - everything goes with jeans, khaki pants, etc. ~ hallelujah!!!!
Monday, August 06, 2007
I posted reviews (yes, I know about time!)...
Well I finally posted my reviews, can you believe it? See miracles do happen every day! First up we have a nightgown from Simplicity 3696 ~ so comfy and stylish!
Next up is a dress from Simplicity 3799 ~ this dress is shades of my late grandma, I just know she's love it (it's a wild & crazy print just like she always liked!).
And drumroll please, I finally got the reviews for my swimsuits up! I honestly can't believe I've posted myself in a swimsuit on the net - what am I thinking??? Look now before I change my mind and delete the pictures! LOL In the first pictures is the top from Kwik Sew 3063 and the skirted bottoms are from Kwik Sew 3330.
And drumroll please, I finally got the reviews for my swimsuits up! I honestly can't believe I've posted myself in a swimsuit on the net - what am I thinking??? Look now before I change my mind and delete the pictures! LOL In the first pictures is the top from Kwik Sew 3063 and the skirted bottoms are from Kwik Sew 3330.
Then we have the same top from KS 3063 and the plain bottoms from Kwik Sew 3238 (this is the same pattern I was using that I was having lots of trouble with the top).
And last, but not least, we have Jack modeling a pair of his new pj's I made him ~ they are Kwik Sew 3234 (I made him three pair and he loves them - he's such a sweet boy!).
My next projects are most likly going to be school clothes. The kids start in about a month so I need to get cooking - thank goodness for Ottobre! The boys are in dire need of pants so that is probably where I'll start. Hattie does have stuff that fits here still so I'm trying to fill in the gaps and make things mix & match too. I still need to have the boys try on clothes and see where they stand on shirts. And then I'll work on stuff for Andy once the kids go back to school and it's just me & him. Busy busy!
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