The Blues

Sometimes I miss my cat more than usual.
I guess I miss him most when I'm home alone, even though he will not sit on anyone's lap ever, does not like to be touched or looked at, and likes to be alone.

My neighbour has a cat and I tend to peak outside throughout the day to see him/her and say hello and blow it a kiss.

The kitty looked so cute this morning.

Wreck This Journal

I got this book quite a while ago, maybe two years ago???
I started it then, but it got lost in one of my many piles.

Diana of our.city.lights has started a flickr group for the book here: Wreck This Journal Party.

I encourage you to join and post, and if you dont have this book please get it cause its a great idea and lots of fun.

CopyCat

Ok, have you seen this photo from instaboner!?



I am so in love with the belt.
Here's my take, three ways.

Beauty and Food

I have found my new favourite beauty product.



The Sally Hanson Nail Art Pen. It is super fine line and comes in a ton of colours. If you mess up, it easily wipes off. You do need a top coat, which I found out was necessary after it wiped off when I washed my hands.

This is what I did with the gold colour.



That is my left hand. You dont want to see the right one!

These are my favourite glasses. I got them years ago off of ebay and put my prescriptions in them. Even though I recently got new Burberry frames with an updated prescription, I have to go back to these.




I am a terrible writer/conversationalist/storyteller, I never make sense and just throw random things together. I dont know how to make a well written and descriptive post, ever. So, in that spirit, here is something that I baked today, just on a whim. Pineapple upsidedown cake.





I didnt have the right kind of brown sugar, hence it looking burnt on the edges, which it actually isnt, and I mixed the ingredients in the wrong order. In spite of those errors, it tastes pretty good and the apartment smells really nice.


Time to prep dinner: Salmon with lemon, dill, shallots with roasted fennel!

Support Your Local Farmers!

The summer is really ending.
The farm where I get my fruits and veggies is slowly having less and less produce.
I really wish I had found this place sooner.

I wish this photo was not taken by a camera phone cause the colours of these squash are amazing in real life.


The rooster here is a leghorn. It is huge!


The pig was finally walking around and not sleeping. If you grunt at him, he grunts back.


We have been really good at buying local. We got some amazing meat at the butcher down the road and amazing cheese at the cheese store across from the butcher!


corn, cabbage, carrots from the farm, meat from the local butcher

Built By Wendy: Tea Dress Sew Along: Update 1

I finished drawing out my new pattern pieces.
I hope this will work out!



Basically, my waist, hip and bust measurements are 2 inches bigger than the Built by Wendy XL size. So what I did was I used the XL pattern pieces as my guide.
Since I need 2 inches, I added half an inch to the skirt front and skirt back pieces. I also added a 5/8 inch seam allowance as the patterns in this book do not have them added.




The skirt front pattern piece is clearly only half of the skirt front, so adding half an inch will double to 1 inch when you unfold your cut piece. Same with the skirt back, totaling in 2 inches for the put together skirt.



I did the same for the bodice.



I had to add 12 inches to the sleeve, but I added about 16 because I want a full length sleeve instead of it hitting above my wrist.




Finally, I had to make the collar and inner collar lining. This was a little tricky.



Next step is to cut out the pattern on my muslin (or any scrap fabric).

Built By Wendy: Tea Dress Sew Along

**I just copied this post from Paige becaue she said it the best. All photos from her too.**





It's sewing time ladies and gents, and you're invited! Myself (Paige) and Stina, of No Futvre, have decided to tackle one of the dresses from Built By Wendy's: Dresses By Wendy Mullin. You have to purchase the book to get the pattern, but it's a great resource tool and totally worth it. The book gives three basic patterns to create slopers from, and tons of variations to create unique dresses from the said three patterns. If you want to start making your own dresses it's a great tool for pattern making/editing.

Stina and I have the same problem though, were bigger than the largest pattern size in the book. So We decided to tackle it together.

Were going to take the long way on this one. Everything from making the sloper, muslin, dress and finishing the touches, will be documented to help us, and you out.

If you'd like to participate just comment with your email and I'll put you on the mailing list for updates. If you'd just like to watch the progress, check back at the blog and add my twitter account. Fellow bloggers who'd like to get in on this heres a button for you to represent!

Stepping Out

I am in LOVE with the weather lately.
The cool breeze, the blue skies, no more hazy days, at least I hope not!
I'm kinda trying to not get too excited, just in case a really hot day/days sneak up on me.

I am wearing knee socks with boots, inspired by one of my favourites, Jaya. I would link you to the specific pictures but I think you would benefit from looking at all of her photos.



boots - thrift
dress - thrift plus chopped by me
jean jacket - thrift
socks - diabetic knee highs from drug store
bag - i made it! plus a real fur and mini cowbell charm from Niagara Falls gift store

Finished!

I have started and actually finished some projects this past week.
I made a dress, a purse, and bread for the first time!

I had an idea for a circular bag. The colours had to be canvas beige with brown leather, it had to have grommets and sailing rope as a strap.



I'm pretty happy with it, it just dosent stay super circular, I think I need to make this in leather to really work.

I made a dress. I dont love it, but it is done and I'm calling it my updated muumuu.



Here it is looking better with a cardigan and purse.



I found a recipe online for crusty bread, cause making a baguette has too many steps.
It turned out really yummy and it's really easy, even though I made a little mistake of following the baking instructions for a bread stone instead of a baking pan. It just meant that my bread was done baking quicker, but a little too darn on top for my liking.



I just finished making some ginger cookies, but those are from a box so it dosent really count. It smells sooooo good in here!

My husband and I are really into Masterchef Australia (no spoilers please!) We are learning a lot about cooking and making new dishes almost daily. We have been on the quest for easy, quick, yummy meals for a while and that show has given us some great ideas. My husband made chocolate and jaffa souffles two days ago and they were so easy and so good!

The rest of the day will include working on my patterns and watching more Masterchef.

Random

This is where I've spent a bunch of my time lately.
Yesterday was a really good day.
I had an idea for a bag, drew it straight on the fabric, cut it out, and I'm so close to finishing it.
I actually used special trims and accessories this time!
I just have to attach the strap and clean up my fraying seams. If anyone wants to buy me a serger, you're more than welcome too!

I also made a shirt/dress thingie which I'll photograph soon.




We discovered this farm that is really close by. Its pretty much an apple farm but they have a little store with all kinds of veggies and fruits and honey and jams.
They also have a goat, pig, few cats, dog, 5 horses, 2 rabbits, a bunch of chickens and a HUGE leghorn rooster.
The above photo is a picture of one of their radishes, on the left, and an apple, on the right, just to show you how massive these radishes are.



We have been really trying to make more simple meals at home and this is something that is in our regular rotation. It's a simple yeast free dough that is nice and thin with roasted veggies and cheese and herbs. So yummy!



Oh, I almost forgot. I am actually wearing pants and slippers and a jean jacket cause it's actually cold enough for it!

Back to sewing!

Fancy Pants

I went to a wedding on Saturday. This is what I wore.







dress - thrift
cropped blazer - h&m
shoes - ebay

The summer heat is back in full force. It's just so humid and sticky. I would love to turn the air conditioning off but you just can't without melting. I'm going to have to borrow my parents' dehumidifier to see if that will help a bit. I'm also going to help my mom give my cat a haircut. I'll be coming home with some new scars for sure.


I got this book:


I know that the whole point is to alter your patterns and stuff but it would have been nice if I fit into the XL pattern from the start. Just knowing that i have to add a few inches, draft the new pattern, cut out the pieces, sew them, tweak them, then start all over again for the correct sizing, is discouraging.

Her sizing goes as follows:
FOR XL PATTERNS
bust - 40"-41" ----I'm 42"
waist - 33"-34" ----I'm 36"
hip - 43"-44" ----I'm 45.5"

I hate getting discouraged before I even start, but if i pick up some proper pattern drafting tools from my parents' house, I can start on it and if these work out, that means a whole new wardrobe for me.


Wish me luck!