Layered Sweater Refashion Tutorial

On my daily blog reading list this week I came across two simple yet brilliant ways to upcycle button up shirt sleeves. Which, believe it or not I have a plethora of thanks to the hubster. The first clever re-use came by way of Lisa of 5 Orange Potatoes and her gentleman’s sleeve pine sachet. It is a wonderful way to use both the wonderful smelling needles from her yule tree and men's shirt sleeves. Simply fabulous. I know. The very next day Kojodesigns posted at Adventures in Dress Making a tutorial for a recycled shirt sleeve wine bag tutorial. Again I was amazed at the simplicity but utmost clever re-use of a shirtsleeve. The two posts had me to wondering, was there something I could come up with that used my many shirtsleeves, even half as cleverly? I though of one thing, adding the cuffs to a sweater for a layered look. Then I thought of a blouse I have that I couldn't wear due to fit but a friend had given me and I really did like it. I thought; "Hey, why not cut off all the pieces and sew them the sweater for a complete layered look?". That is exactly what I did, and I even took pictures!



I am pretty sure (certain) it took me longer to edit the pictures and make this blog post than it took me to deconstruct and reconstruct the sweater with Wednesday calling at me every few minutes. You have to forgive the poor lighting, the sweater and the blouse were dark and the day was overcast but I tried to sharpen the pictures where I could.

This worked out well for me and I will most likely do this again in the future when I come across another sweater (I have two blouses dying to be deconstructed). I can never seem to get the layered look right, it always comes out frumpy and bumpy. So I thought I would try to cut out the frump and bump and this is what I came up with.

Faux Layered Sweater Tutorial

Materials:

1 sweater (this one is 85% merino wool, but I don't think it mattered as much as it being a smaller, closer knit.
1 blouse, or just the cuffs, collar and bottom of a blouse.
Pins and matching thread

Construction Instructions


Choose your blouse and your sweater. I love love this sweater I bought at a charity shop for $1.50 but it would ride up just an inch too far and the blouse is a hand me down from a friend and so cute but it was a couple inches to short and the I didn't like that I could not button the collar. Sew perfect yes?



Lay your sweater on your blouse so you can get an idea of how far you want your cuffs, collar and bottom to stick out.

I cut the collar off first, to do this you just cut around the base of the neck so that the collar fits inside the collar of the sweater. It helps if there is already a crease in the collar to rest against the sweater so you can pin it in place where it would naturally sit.


Now cut the pieces about one inch from where they will begin to stick out from under the sweater.


I pinned it in front first so that I could line up the sides evenly with the sweater collar.


Once you have the collar where you want it, lift it up and pin away. (I like lots of pins but that could just be the novice sewer in me.)

I forgot to take pictures of the bottom and cuffs pinned, but for that I just fit the blouse pieces inside the sweater and pinned. I wanted to do all of my sewing from the outside so that I could run along the cuff lines to hide my stitches. Like this:


I did get a pucker, but that is the only one, I forgot to pull instead of push. It turned out pretty good though yes? Anyhoo, this picture was to show you that there is a sort of seam where the sweater collar meets the sweater? Sew along those lines and your stitches will be near invisible.


See? Near invisible stitching. Also, it helped that I made some matching thread kicking around, seriously not even sure where it came from but worked out awesome.


This was the only seam you could 'see'. It could be that I cam too picky, but I just fold the cuff back to show more blouse.


Voila!~ The finished product. Not bad for my first try yes? It is not perfect, but I have to say with the exception of one pucker it is nearly so. I can't decide if I like how it sits at my waist though.

Total project cost: $1.50 for the sweater I bought months ago. Pretty good eh?

I have no pictures of myself wearing it due to the gloomy days. As soon as we have some sunshine I will grab a pic of me wearing it to show as a follow up.

This will also be posted to Wardrobe Refashion after new pledges are accepted in February. (I made the pledge, but cannot officially join the fun until then.)I am currently enamored with this site/blog/concept and have been trying to think of ways to join the fun. This is my first attempt and I think it went well. I have few other ideas I will be sharing over the next little while that have to do with family cloth, mama cloth and cloth diapers. So stay tuned!~

Recipe : Melissa's Vegetarian Leftover Lasagna

You know what I love about lasagna? Everything! For serious folks, is there anything this dish cannot be or do? With the exception of dancing a jig I say nay. It can have lots of meat, or no meat. Red sauce or white sauce. Roasted veggies or raw or even no veggies (although why would you?). And best of all, the leftovers are scrumdiddlyumptious!

This is a recipe I came up with that is make-ahead for the taste not the convenience (although no pots and pans at after dinner is nice too). Tomato based pasta dishes have always tasted even better when eaten as leftovers so I thought why not just make it ahead of time and reheat it for that oh-so good leftover taste?

So I bring to you my Vegetarian Leftover Lasagna. I would like to note that this dish is made in a ginormous deep dish lasgana pan so that it goes for a couple days worth of lunches and inners. But because of the size and depth of the pan it does take a lot of grocery to fill it.

**Please adjust according to your pan size and budget.
***Also, I am not much for measurements when I create so these are rough guesstimates, don't worry it really does not matter much.

Melissa's Vegetarian Leftover Lasagna

-Ingredients-
6 yellow onions sliced into 1/4-1/2" rings
1/2 cup of butter
2 tbsp sugar

6 sweet peppers assorted colours (or not assorted)cut into quarters
sesame oil (olive is a fine substitute)
sea salt (table with do, but if you don't already use sea salt you should start!)

2 cans diced/crushed tomatoes
1 can pasta sauce (I love Primo brand, it has enough tomato paste in it that you needn't add any to the dish)
1 tbsp olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic (depends on your taste for garlic)finely chopped

8 oz mushrooms (any kind will do, I used white but I love criminis)
2 heads of broccoli (just one if they are bigger than average)
1 box of oven ready lasagna noodles. (You could use fresh, or pre-boiled ones but I happen to have a box of these in the cupboard)
Cheese, lots of cheese. I used three pounds of shredded marble and Italian blends. We like a cheesy lasagna around here but you do not need to use that much. because this is a meatless lasagna the cheese content is really what ups the budget for this one.

-Modus Operandi-

In a large saucepan or dutch oven, melt the butter and sugar. When the sugar has dissolved into the butter add the sliced onions and cook until soft and dark brown. You are caramelizing them with the sugar here not just frying.

Meanwhile, core the peppers and slice them into quarters. Put on a cookie sheet lined with foil and brush with oil (sesame really does works well here) and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Put on the middle rack in the oven with the oven set to broil. Remove from oven when just starting to char.

In another large saucepan, heat olive oil and add chopped garlic. (Make sure the oil does not get too hot because that can make the garlic bitter.) When garlic is soft and just turning brown add the two cans of tomatoes. When tomatoes have warmed add the can of pasta sauce. Let warm through and then turn down to simmer.

This is where you would be slicing mushrooms and broccoli if you are adding them. I blanched the broccoli (through in a pot of boiling water for about a minute)but it is a taste thing.

layer ingredients in the following order:

Sauce
Noodles
Roasted peppers (all of them)
Cheese
Sauce
Noodles
Caramelized onions (all of them)
Cheese
Sauce
Noodles
Broccoli & mushrooms (all of them)
Cheese
Noodles
Sauce
Cheese

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.
Remove from oven let cool completely and transfer to fridge if you are eating it the following day or freezer if you are saving it for later later.

Whenever you decide to eat it, I would take it out at least a couple hours before you want to eat it and bake it for about an our. Honestly, I learned that the best time to take it out of the oven was when you could smell lasagna throughout the house. When this is happening, take the foil off cover with more cheese (there is always room for more cheese) and broil until cheese is browned and bubbly.



Bon Appetit!~

Reversible-Adjustable Felt Crown Tutorial

This idea rolled around in my head for about a day. I designed and redesigned it a few times and it still didn't turn out anything like the one in my head. But, I love it! I love it so much I am sharing it with you. The tutorial is pretty straightforward but I am including the crown and diamond pattern pieces. I also have a felt tiara in the works but it is an overcast day and getting the final product pictures on the crown were tricky enough. But, the crown looks great and so I have both a tute for you and some great pictures, complete with *gasp* toddler model!

The supplies you need really vary on how you want to embellish your crown. This was a total stashbuster project for me since I actually had everything on hand. Free is my favourite price. Also, even when I paid for the felt it was near free as it was all thrifted pieces. The only thing I used that was not felt was some vintage trim I bought in a lot off of EBay. I had thought about making the diamonds argyle with embroidery thread (that was my initial idea but it looked so good just the way it was) I had thought about using buttons and rhinestones but really, I thought less is more. So, with that ebing said here is the list of materials I used:

Felt (whatever you have on hand, wool or ecospun or even tightly felted sweaters would work I think:
2 pieces 15" in width, 4.5" in height
10 pieces 2.5"x3.5"

Trim:
2 15" pieces (I used some vintage bought on Ebay)
2 12" pieces of ribbon (I used grosgrain leftover from a Christmas gift I received but any ribbon that holds a tied bow would do.)

Pattern to be found here. Which took me ages to size properly. If you have a fool proof plan for making patterns in Photoshop in a printable size feel free to let me know it!

And now on to the Construction Instructions;


Print pattern and cut out felt crown pieces.


When cutting diamonds, I found it quickest to trace them individually on one crown and then use that crown as a stencil on the second piece of felt. You could use an Xacto knife on a cutting mat but I just used some super sharp snips. Then cut out the rectangles to go behind the cut out diamonds.


You may find that folding the crown up as you go along prevents it from getting caught on the machine.


Stitch the felt pieces to the back side of the felt crown one at a time. When you are done,trim as close to the stitching as you can. From the back they should look like this. *Note* If you like the look, you could always keep going like that and have an appliqued look instead of reverse applique. I thought about it, but again was seduced by the reverse applique look.


After you have sewn the pieces to the back of the crowns and trimmed away the excess, the front should look like this.


Once all your pieces are trimmed you can add the trim. This was super easy because it had a pattern I could line up with the foot on my machine.


Isn't the vintage trim just adorable?!


Insert your ribbon between the two layers of felt and sew.


Sew the two felt crowns together, wrong sides facing eachother. Keep stitches as close the the edge as you can get. I did it in a zig zag stitch but I think a running stitch would have been just as nice. Also, I didn't use a contrasting thread but you could.

Finally, have your two and a half year old model your after much begging, and promise of her becoming a queen!~

This would have taken me just a couple of hours but I spent some time developing another pattern (a tiara)and then because I was impatient and I didn't double check my tension I had to rip out half a crowns worth of triple stitches. All in all it would have taken a morning had a I had the pattern already and not have to rip out stitches.

The tiara one will be coming soon, I am just waiting for better light. Happy Crafting folks!~

I am linking to a couple of link events. One is @ Skip to My Lou


The other is @ Twice Remembered Make Your Monday.

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer - Not Just Food for Thought but Thought About Our Food

I recently read a book that has not changed my life per se but definitely given me the final push over a fence that I needed. It is called Eating Animals and is written by Jonathan Safran Foer. It is actually less about eating meat and more about factory farming practices and processes; seafood, poultry, pork and beef. Nothing is left out. "We have waged war, or rather let a war be waged, against all of the animals we eat. This war is new and has a name: factory farming." It is a sad and yet ultimately true description of how our meat is brought to our tables.

I would like to point out two things before I begin this review/reflection. The first is that we have been raising Wednesday vegetarian since day one for health reasons. The second is that like the author, I have been waffling in my decision to go vegetarian myself so this book did not 'change my life' so to speak. Ron and I eat very little meat, maybe four times a month we will have some breakfast meat like bacon or sausage, maybe add some chicken to a creamy pasta dish we are preparing or because fast food poses few options that taste good at all, we might grab a chicken sandwich in a drive-thru. This book changed that for me though.

While my decision to raise Wednesday vegetarian was based solely on the thought of her health (hormones, antibiotics, genetic engineering etc) the detailed (but not needlessly graphic) accounts of senseless animal abuse was all I needed to finally say, even once a week is too much meat. I even decided to give up sea food which has always been my main weakness. Learning of how much ocean life is lost due to by catch and the absolutely filthy conditions of fish farms I can now no longer eat sea food and enjoy it.

I would like to also say that though I believe vegetarian/vegan diets are extremely healthy I am not against eating meat for the sake of eating meat. I am okay with most practices in what is (maybe sadly)now known as Heritage Farming. I am okay with humane farming practices and hormone and antibiotic free meat. I am okay with eating the unfertilized off spring of chicken harvested in such a way that does not include cages and broken legs and no access to the outside.

The information about both how birds are treated during growth and confinement and how they are processed is stomach turning. I promise you, you will never eat another dead bird again without wondering how many diseases and bacteria you are also ingesting. I am not going to regurgitate (no pun intended I swear) the facts and statistics of the book, but they are both staggering and sickening.

The information we are given about pig farming is probably the most disturbing though. From the abuse and confinement, to the environmental impact of these factory farms on not only the communities surrounding them but the earth in general. Methane gas is a serious issue and as long as the demand for meat grows, the factory farms will keep supplying and those animals have to shit and that shit has to go somewhere. Hey! I know! Why not into the air we breathe? Sound like I am being sarcastic? Only partly. Pig farms release toxins into the air and water supplies daily around the world. It is a sickening though, literally.

What horrified me most though was the processing plants. The stories of how poultry, pigs and cows are slaughtered was gut wrenching. Especially that of cows (who lead the least abused lives of livestock). Stories of live cows being skinned and limbs amputated. Like the horror novels that made me take a deep breathe and look away from the pages in my youth, this book literally took the wind out of me in some places.

But, Mr. Foer is a clever man. His book does not read like a preachy-you-must-not-eat-meat-ever-because-I-say-so sort of book. Instead he gives his gives his narrative quite objectively (only touching on opinion a few times) and includes the points of view from many different people. Not just a quote here and there, but actual stories from the mouths of these people. There is the animal rights activist, the factory farmer, two heritage farmers, a vegetarian rancher and her husband a carnivorous rancher, a PETA officer and even a vegan slaughterhouse designer. These are wonderfully written accounts of what these people see as needs for both the animals and the consumers and also give good balance to the book.

I brought the book home because the description on the inside jacket said that Mr. Foer's journey into research began with the news of his soon to be fatherhood. Which is exactly what had been driving me to eat less and less meat over the last few years. His research project turned book is much more than food for thought. It really will make you think before you eat.
Like the author I am not telling or even asking you to become vegetarian/vegan. I am only asking you to read this book which is incredibly informative and yet not dry at all. I read the book in less than two days, would have been one but this mama has a bed time. It is a great place to start your journey into really finding out where some of your food comes from.

For me, I have made the decision to become vegetarian until I can find local meat raised by farmers who treat their animals like they are alive when they are alive. I am lucky to live in an agriculture rich area, I am sure with a little research I can find free range eggs that actually run outside. I will actually find turkeys raised like Frank Reese's. We do not eat red meat here because it is too hard on the digestive tract of even near-vegetarians and I have never been much for pork. But if I find some sausage from pigs raised in humane ways I just may have to bring some home and eat covered in locally tapped maple syrup. But until then, my once a week meat fix is no longer. Thank goodness I like TVP!

Because I do no not want to come off as a born again vegetarian, or preachy or anything of the like, I will leave you with a few links I found while looking into factory farming in Canada (which differs almost not at all from factory farming in the U.S.A.)and some links to some organizations mentioned in the book Eating Animals.

Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals

Farm Sanctuary the author's first contact with farm animals.

Veg.ca Toronto Vegetarian Association Pages on factory farming.

PETA Not just extremists.

Frank Reese Turkeys The only (as of the book writing) certified heritage turkey farmer.

Farm Forward Canada and Farm Forward USA an online resource for the family farmer

Article @ Reader's Digest about Canadian factory farming.

Lemon Joy Cake

Ahh, blogger how I have missed thee! But I am back now. And with lemony goodness from above! T'was my youngest brother's birthday on Tuesday so we had a dinner for him yesterday. The siblings were supposed to come down from the city but the weather did not cooperate so we had a lot of Leftover Lasagna (to be shared with you next week) and leftover Lemon Joy cake. So I managed to snag a couple photos to share with the recipe(s).



The cake was inspired by the Lemon Meringue Cupcakes I made on Christmas day from the Martha Stewart Cupcakes Book. Those were incredible. So tasty, but messy (My icing kept sliding off the lemon curd) but when Matt asked for a non-chocolate cake, I thought this was as far from chocolate as we could get.

The cake is a combination of three different recipes in the Joy of Cooking cookbook. The first is the Lemon Chiffon Cake (pg. 710). I doubled the lemon zest amount and substituted a half cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice for a half cup water. If you have never made a chiffon cake I urge you too. So light, so airy so wonderfully moist. I made it the day before and left it in the pan with plastic wrap to seal it and it was still super fresh when I pulled it out to fill.

The filling is a simple lemon curd recipe (pg. 687) made mostly of cornstarch, water and a bit of lemon juice and zest. I may have doubled the zest called for in this recipe as well, but maybe not. Super simple though. To fill the cake, I slice of a layer off the top, cut a channel with a serrated knife, pulled out the spare cake and filled with curd. Replacing the top piece was easier than getting it off in one piece and once done, you would never have known I hollowed it out.

The icing is Seven Minute Icing (pg. 790). Let me tell you, Joy of Cooking's recipe is super simple compared to the recipe in Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book. I managed to screw that up on Christmas day, but this one was easy peezy lemon squeezy. It is super sticky, and hardens super fast though so you need to work quick on a light and delicate cake like chiffon. I found the trick was to dollop generously, then spread with a wet spatula and 'slice' the icing off the spatula with a butter knife. After making the cake I realized a video tutorial would have been helpful. Next time, I promise.

The reason I used Seven Minute Icing was so I could brown it with my kitchen torch like meringue. The cake had so many lemon elements I thought a meringue like topping was fitting. It looked wonderful. It tasted wonderful too. It was rich though. The chiffon cake was the perfect base for the lemon curd and super sweet icing. You definitely wouldn't have wanted a sweet buttermilk vanilla cake under that.

New look and my 50th post~!

I think I am happy with the new look. Kind of wintery with a splash of fun in the banner. Isn't Wednesday just too freakin' cute?! And can you believe it, fifty posts~! Just like the little engine that could, I am. Anyhoo, I have been easing back into the internet and will have a post for MMmm good Monday. A lemony good post! I hope everyone has a happy weekend!

Just a little bit longer....

I am currently taking a hiatus from the web. I do miss the blogging back and forth with other mamas but it has been good for the family relationship. After the holidays I will be back with lots of fun posts, a more seasonal look and comments on other blogs.

Until then, I hope your holidays are all safe and joyous!

Army Tank Birthday Cake Tutorial

This edition of Mmmmm Good Monday is construction instructions for an army tank birthday cake like this one!



There are lots of images of army tank cakes to be Googled. There are even some tutorials out there, but I found that they were all just smidgen vague for my liking. So, forgive me if I break it down too much I am not making any assumptions about your intelligence, it is more a reflection of mine! :)

Note*** I made this from a carrot cake bundt recipe. I cannot see why a regular double cake recipe would not suffice.

Materials:
For tank body:
Cake batter, your choice.
9x13" Cake pan (I used a glass lasagna pan)
4" Ramekin or oven proof dish with straight sides.

For accoutrements
Licorice cigar (cannon) You could always use a tube shaped biscotti)
Licorice pieces halved (tracks)
Circular sweets, I used chocolate covered mint patties (wheels)
Green plastic army guy(s)

Icing:
Your favourite icing recipe. (I used cream cheese because it was a carrot cake.)
Light green or yellow and light blue colour pastes to make a bright light green.
Black (or purple) icing colour paste.

Construction Instructions

Bake cake recipe according to instructions, but watch times because of the rammekin dish. Cut and assemble as pictured below.



Here is a picture of mine pre-icing. Mind the wooden skewer, I broke a corner off whilst removing the cake from the pan.



After the cake has cooled and you have cut and assembled it to something at least resembling the one pictured it is time to ice! First mix your green. Mine looked this at first (It was actually left over from those every cupcakes). Once you are happy with the green, add a little bit of dark purple (I used black) food colouring paste at a time. A little goes a long way and you want your icing to be army green, not grey (I assume.). You don't have to mix it all the way, it will blend itself as you apply it to the cake.

Spread it as evenly as possible. Leave the top of the turret until last. Cut a little hole out and insert a toy army man. Ice around him.I would have liked to smooth mine more but I didn't have the proper tool and really, I just got excited at how awesome the cake looked.



After you are satisfied with your icing job you can apply the wheels, tracks and cannon. I would take care to either leave the cannon as long as you can or insert it almost half way. It saves it from sagging down to the cake. (The cigars are a bit heavy.)

Last but not least, I have made up some cake flags. Cut out and glue together with toothpicks in between. These are great. This way you don't have to find somewhere to write on the tank. (But feel free as it is YOUR cake.)



Happy Baking!

I Just Couldn't leave it alone!

The pattern I recently won at Today's Creative Blog by Skip To My Lou. It sat idle for less than twenty four hours! It took a couple days to do because I had to wait until Wednesday was sleeping and she recently fell ill with a cough but I finished it! And here is the finished product!



I actually had all the colours of felt to make this little project. (Having all the materials is so rare for me!) Between the thrifted felt remnants, Eco Spun store bought felt and the wool felt remnant oh and the corn batting this was a very eco friendly project. I could say it was a use what you got type project too. But in all honesty I am most happy about having a present made for Wednesday. It seems I keep adding to my list of homemade gifts for her and this was the first one I could check off. Just the sort of motivation I need to get me further in gear. Truth be told I am scared to look up how many weeks are left before C-Day! But like the Little Engine that Could, so can I!

I am also officially addicted to making felt food. It was so easy, so cute and thanks to my super duper sewing machine I don't have to do a lot by hand, which is nice because my hand stitching skills leave a lot to be desired. But I am okay with that. To help me on my way I have been googling free felt food patterns and have come across some most ingenious and absolutely adorable blog posts. Here is a sample of my favourites:

One Inch World has a few great tutes, I particularly love the lollipops and bow tie pasta, both for their sheer cuteness and crazy simplicity! This is also a wonderfully child friendly crafty blog you should spend some time surfing!

Here is the pattern for a super simple peelable banana from Deviant Art user starxxlight who also has the most adorable marshmallow plushie on her homepage.

This is a tutorial for felt corn stalks that I can't wait to make the cobs from by Cupkateer.

I found this soft serve waffle cone and it instantly made me hungry by Flickr user Hannah Hoosier.

And last but not least (and definitely not the last of links I have bookmarked) here is a quick tute for some felt sushi by http://hoogliart.wordpress.com/.

The list just keeps going but these were some of my favourites and 'fer sure gonna do's' and I thought I would share. There are so many more inspiration sites to choose from on Flickr and Etsy. And really, a peek in your own fridge and pantry just might be the inspiration you need!

Happy crafting!~

Holy Moly I won!

That is correct folks, I won my first blog giveaway this weekend. It is so cute it almost hurts too! It is a Skip to my Lou pattern via Todays Creative Blog. So yes, this pattern which can be purchased for 1.75 USD or you can place her button code on your blog and you will receive the pattern for free. That is wonderful, I had no idea until right now! Details and tutorial are here. It is so cute and I think I might even have all of the colours in my stash! So this week, add it to the must do before Christmas pile!

Photo is from Skip to my Lou website.