Caramel Apple Crazy

Two years ago I had my first foray into making caramel apples. I had a lot of fun making them and had fully planned to repeat it last year, but things were just too hectic to squeeze it in. This year, however, I planned ahead and set a side an entire day to make these. Because I'm nuts, I thought making an even 3 dozen would be good and so they wouldn't be too plain, I opted to use this decorating recipe. Go big or go home, right?

First, the apples took a water bath to get all the wax and gunk off their surface.

Next, they took a dip in some thick and luscious caramel.

After that, it was time for a chocolate paint job.

For a little seasonal flair, a drizzle of orange-tinted white chocolate and a sprinkle of sugar ghosts.
To complete the look, a plastic baggie, orange polka dot ribbon and a tag.

The best part of the night, though, was when Jim came in to play DJ and we had a dance party in the kitchen. He even paused his dancing to serenade me.

Eventually, he wanted in on the action, too. I gave him the last apple, which we we're going to keep, to decorate. Pretty funny.

By the time it came for the sprinkling of the ghosts, he was totally channeling Emeril Lagasse. Bam!

Everyone was pretty excited to get these. I was very flattered when the big boss at my office was completely convinced that I had purchased them all. She came by my desk three separate times that day to thank me and to say how she couldn't believe that I had made them. Another co-worker said she shared it with her neice and they decided it was the best caramel apple they had ever eaten. ::blushing:: Now I just have to figure out how to up the ante for next year. :)

McCalls 5535: From hot mess to hot stuff

I'm such a sucker clothes made out of knits, especially dresses. I think they're so much more comfortable than most garments out of woven fabric and I'm much more apt to wear an item when I'm comfortable in it. So, even though knits are notorious for being tempermental, especially for new sewists, I'm still determined to learn how to sew knit fabrics and sew them well. Which leads me to this pattern - a loose fitting, empire waist dress from McCalls that is rated "easy."

I first tackled this dress about a month and a half after starting to sew. I got an inexpensive poly jersey print from Michael Levine ($3/yd) so in case it was a mess, I wasn't screwing up expensive stuff. It was my first commerical pattern that I was using and since I remembered bits and pieces of pattern language from when my mom used to sew clothing, I thought I would be okay. And really, I think this pattern is drafted well. It was my first time messing with facings and setting in a sleeve and with the help of a sewing reference book, the dress went together pretty smoothly. The problem came when it was time to put it on. It was a potato sack, no joke. :/

When selecting my size, I looked at the body measurements at the top of the pattern, sized down one size, and that left me at a 14. Pattern sizing is much like bridal sizing so the idea that I was making a 14, when I'm usually a 6 in RTW dresses really didn't faze me. However, I had no idea about finished garment measurements and how important it was to consider those when selecting size. Based on those measurements, I should have cut an 8 because of the amount of design ease for this particular dress. Compounding the potato sack issue, was the choice of sleeves. I liked the look of the peasant sleeve (view A) in the photo, but actually sewn up, I thought it was just too much, especially with such a busy print. Really folks, this dress was just awful.

The dress was obviously off to Goodwill, but instead of throwing the pattern away, I started my first garment sewing class a few days later and we immediately reviewed how to read a commercial pattern and how to select your size. Buoyed by this knowledge, I headed back to Michael Levine, picked up some more fabric and started again. This time, the dress went together that much faster and it also fit so. much. better. I decided to add the plain long sleeve (view D) instead of the peasant sleeve, but it still seemed off. I eventually chopped off six inches of length leaving them a little shorter than a 3/4 sleeve and that was much better. I also took ~1 inch off the width of the sleeve, tapering to the original seam allowance at the top, to get a closer fit.

I'm really happy with the final result. This dress will be great at the office, running errands on the weekends or going out to events depending on my shoe and accessory choices. I wore it today to Girlie's baby shower and thought it worked well. I was really comfortable, but also felt really put together.

Baby Shower Bonanza

It seems as though the vast majority of the time that I've spent sewing these past few months, it's been a lot of baby and kid stuff. I must say, it's been really fun to make cute clothes to give to my friends for their little girls - both the ones that are already here and the ones that are on their way.

This weekend was Girlie's baby shower and I knew I wanted to make a dress to add to her gift. I thought I would try this Butterick pattern as it looked simple to put together and would be cute on its own or over a long sleeve shirt during cooler temps.

I found a fun pastel polka dot print that was little girl-ish, but not your typical little baby print. I added large pink buttons on the front instead of the suggested bows or roses and I liked that the button shape echoed the pink polka dots. This dress required snaps down the back instead of a zipper. I was initially intimidated, but after I started putting them on, I realized it was very similar to adding eyelets to scrapbook pages with which I've had plenty of practice.

Look at this diaper cover. You put the elastic a bit above the hemline for legs and it leaves a little ruffle at the bottom. So cute! The construction of the diaper cover was different than the other ones I've put together, but it made adding the elastic to leg opening so much easier.


The homemade gifts were going to end at the dress, but a few weeks ago I stumbled upon a fabulous tutorial for a homemade boutique-style baby blanket made out of minky and pajama satin. The construction looked straight-forward, so I bought some retro dot minky that echoed the colors Girlie had planned to use in the nursery and got to work. I cannot tell you how much I love how this turned out! It's super soft and looks so much more professional than the time it takes to actually put it together. I, unfortunately, do not have a rotary cutting system, but if you have one, it would make this that much easier.

In fact, I liked the way this blanket turned out so much that I made another one to add to a gift for a former co-worker's baby girl that is due later this year.

The best part is that all of these gifts have been so well-received by the recipients. I love being able to make things like this for my friends and it really puts a smile on my face when they love the final products as much as I do. :)

More sewing posts soon

But, in the meantime, want to see that Oliver + S Birthday Party Dress on the little girl that it was made for? Of course you do!

Pictures courtesy of the fabulous Winnie Seieroe.



You have no idea how much I'm beaming over this!! :D
For more examples of her work, check out her photography blog.

Opinions please!

I think I might have 1 or 2 (hopefully more?) sewing enthusiasts that sometimes read this blog. So, I have a question for your gals. I'm going to start my hunt for an overlock machine and maybe if Santa is feeling generous this Christmas, I might have it by the end of the year. I love my regular machine, but would really like to be able to serge off seam allowances to yield a more professional and cleaner look. So, if you have an overlock machine, which one do you have? Do you like it? Pros and cons? Would you recommend it? And for any of you that own a coverstitch machines, your thoughts about those are welcome, too. I find that I really love sewing with knits and while I think I've finally figured out how to do hems with some Solvy and my twin stretch needle, it's not the best.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Super fun weekend

This stretch of October through December is easily my favorite time of year. Not only is the weather (usually) starting to cool down and the holiday treats are in full swing, but we have football and basketball games to attend, assorted parties and the typical holiday fetes as well. See, so much good stuff!

This weekend was jam-packed with stuff, which left little time for sewing or reading, but was really fun all the same. After a mellow Friday night at home, Saturday had both of us early - Jim was off to play 2 rounds of golf with Dubber while I stayed at home and caught up on some DVR shows, cleaned up the house, did a crapton of laundry and started yet another baby gift. [I know, I know, for someone who doesn't have any kids, I sure do make a bunch of baby stuff. Yes, well, this is what happens when you know close to 20 babies being born in one year. Mmmm hmmmm.] By the time he got home, it was about time to head out for Dubber's surprise birthday party his wife was hosting at their house.

Dubber's wife Girlie is entering her last month of pregnancy and is naturally busy with a bunch of other stuff, but still put together a lovely, low-key get together at their house. The menu of pizza and cake was, as she described it, "a 5 year old birthday party, just with alcohol." Perfect for a Saturday night. A total of 5 couples and one precious 10 month old were there. Once the little one was fed and passed out in the bedroom, the rest of us proceeded to eat, drink and play Taboo, which led to a brouhaha of laughter, screaming, yelling, and general craziness. Seriously, I can't remember when I laughed that hard and for that long. Such a great night!

We both opted to sleep in on Sunday, knowing that our night was going to be very long. After hanging around the house in the morning and early afternoon, we were off to the Rosebowl to see U2! We had received numerous emails to make sure to arrive early as there were close to 100,000 people expected for the event - the largest concert ever held at the Rosebowl. We are such goody toeshoes, so we arrived around 3:30pm (keep in mind, The Black Eyed Peas, who were opening, weren't scheduled to go on until 7:00pm) and had fun milling around the entertainment and food tents. We grabbed some grub and some drinks and enjoyed the scene until it was time to go in.

I knew that we had paid a pretty penny for our seats and was hoping they were decent, but seriously, I didn't realize they were this good! (Please pardon the crappy iphone pictures. I completely forgot my camera and was kicking myself all night!)
The concert was fabulous - The Black Eyed Peas kicked it off with a bang and did a good job of firing up a group of fans that didn't seem to be all that into their music and U2 was really great. Even though attending a concert that large is kinda nutty, there is something really special about being in a stadium with 100,000 other people who are all singing and cheering and swaying along with you. Really powerful stuff.
Once the concert was over, we just sat down and let the 93473947257 billion other people clear out a bit before making it back to our car. I was amazed to see that we still got home at 12:30am - you have no idea how happy I was to live locally that night!

One funny story - so as we're waiting to let everyone clear out, a bunch of young people are crossing through our row and while the seats and rows all around us are completely empty, they still decide to pass right by us so that we have to stand up to let them go. I mean, come one, just walk around us! I roll my eyes and make some comment to Jim and he turns to me and says "Wow, you can sure go from 0 to bitch in about 2 seconds, huh?" Now, if you know my husband, you know this is something so out of character for him to say. I started cracking up and said that while it's completely true, I never in a million years would have ever expected him to say something like that. It's been two days and we're still laughing over it.

This upcoming weekend is going to be pretty mellow - just a work dinner with Jim on Sunday night that is amazingly just up the street from us. And thank goodness because once November starts, it's going to be go go go. :)

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Completely off-topic from the weekend fun, but I've been back at the gym, pounding away for 3 weeks now and can I just tell you, it's effing hard as hell! Whatever stamina and muscle tone I had built up over the summer just up and disappeared while I was sick. I knew it was going to be hard going back, but holy crud - it's really tough! Thankfully, fun instructors and good music makes everything bearable and I can see flickers of my old fitness level coming back. But yeah, I'm pretty much dying 3-4 nights a week. Pertussis - the gift that keeps on giving. :)

Amy Butler Lounge Pants

I became a fan of Amy Butler well before I ever got my sewing machine. I love her printed fabric and I think her patterns are really cute and fun. I happened to browse through her book In Stitches one day and I liked the look of the lounge pants. I did a little more investigation on Pattern Review and I liked the look of the pants based on all the pictures I could find. They are described as a wide-leg lounge pant, which I thought would be great - I tend to gravitate towards wide-leg pants in general to balance out my pear-shaped figure. I selected a pink Amy Butler peony print with a complimentary polka dot fabric for the bottom trim.
The "pattern" that is included with the book is just the start of the pattern. You have to add the leg portion to the pattern pieces that are provided with freezer or parchment paper. When you're finished, the pattern pieces resemble very large rectangles with no curvature for the hips. This should have been my first clue that maybe this wasn't the ideal pattern for me. But no, I forged ahead, cut out the pants and started to sew them up using french seams - a technique that I had just learned in sewing class and that I LOVE! Jim was watching me do all of this and commented that "Those look like clown pants babe." I brushed off his comments and continued onward. I knew that I wanted to do something slightly different for the top of the pants. The directions have you just add a drawstring at the top, but I wanted them to have an elastic waist with a drawstring on the outside, enclosed in a casing from a separate piece of fabric - somthing that is done on a pair of RTW sleep boxers I own and I think is super cute. I figured out the dimensions for adding the drawstring casing at the top of the pants, cut it out, attached it and added the drawstring though it before adding the elastic at the waistband. All of that took some time to figure out and execute, but it turned out great! I then hemmed the pants and added the trim to the bottom. Again, it turned out so very cute!
I finally put on the finished pants and well...gulp... they're clown pants. :/ I love a wide-leg pant, but holy smokes, these are HUGE! For once, I don't think it's me making them too big, either, as they fit comfortably in the waist and hips, but the legs are ginormous. I have a feeling that these are cuter on someone who is much less curvy. So, I think I executed the pants well, but this pattern most definitely doesn't work on my body. So sad. :(
Since they were intended to be around the house pants anyways, it's not a huge loss, but I am a bit bummed that this awesome fabric is now a pair of pants that are just meh, instead of something I love. I have a wide-leg pj pant pattern from Simplicity that I found after making these pants that I intend to make up later this winter. The reviews I've read have been positive and one even mentioned that they are a much more normal wide-leg pant, instead of the "sultan" pants from Amy Butler. I'm hoping that they're right.