Sunday, November 27, 2011

a christmas dress

This will be mostly wordless. I broke out in hives all over, likely due to eating...something? Current fore runner is some chicken tikki masala, which kills me as that's one of my favorite dishes! So this post is brought to you via Blogging On Benedryl.

Thanksgiving: (By the way, we went with a sausage stuffing recipe that was AWESOME. thanks for the suggestions!)

birch tree
table set
plates

And post Thanksgiving sewing - I knew that I had ordered way too much white silk this spring when I made my wedding dress, but I figured it could be put to good use making Christmas dresses for the nieces. So this weekend out came some of the white shantung and silk crepe de chine from Susan Khalje's store.

This stuff was a dream to sew and press and I spent a lot of time just holding the silk up to the light and petting it. I'm not the only one who has the sit and fondle the fabric before diving in, right?

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I used New Look 6907 for Kate's dress. My sister asked for a plain white dress so that they could add different colored sashes and get more use from it. My favorite part was picking out the laces to use.... I have a weakness for going into MJ and buying lace "because I'll use it someday on little dresses for the nieces."

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Here's the insides... I just zigagged the armholes where the lining met instead of using more bias binding. It is just a kids dress, so I didn't want to go TOO crazy.

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Good luck to all those starting up on Christmas sewing - may your sewing machines be quick and the mistakes few! ;)

Saturday, November 19, 2011

happy thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Today is military family (& my-kid-sister-is-going-to-the-inlaws-thursday-and-her-little-kids-can-only-do-one-thanksiving-at-a-time) thanksgiving! ;)

That's ok, we like to spread out the holidays.

thanksgiving
pie crust

Have you seen the excellent Minoru jacket pattern from Sewaholic? I've ordered a copy, and I think it might be pretty neat made up in one of the coating cottons from BJs. This year I might end up making up the Artisan's Square SWAP, since it's got a good setup this time around. Very tempting! And of course I still need to sort out the muslin from my vintage coat pattern. It's still sitting in the closet, gathering dust.

I'm off to make more pies, so here are some closing pictures.... I was in the NYC subway yesterday and took these little cell phone pictures of the hats in the 23rd st R station - always one of my favorite subway art displays :)

subway art hat
subway art hat
subway

Friday, November 11, 2011

happy veteran's day

happy veteran's day everyone! Seemed like an opportune moment to sneak in more wedding pictures. ;)

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Ever so proud of my sailor and the wonderful job he does


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photos by Stephen DeVries

My coat is currently stalled. I tried on the muslin, and it's HUGE. I need to sort out how to take it in, which is made a bit tricky by the back darts and the side panel. Seems like if I just pinch in on the sides, I will mess up the armhole shape. Hmmmm.

In the meantime I've been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving baking & what to make. We need an interesting stuffing recipe, as I haven't really liked any I've made in past years. I had marginal success with one two years ago which had apples and cranberries in it. Anyone have a great stuffing to recommend?

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Lattes

You know what drives me bonkers about NYC? A good latte is nearly impossible to find. This week, however, has been full of tasty lattes. I've been at my company's "mothership" in the gorgeous city of Seattle. I have been so homesick that I leapt at the chance to come out here for a work trip and then squeezed in an extra day today to enjoy my hometown. (For those of you new to my blog, I lived in Seattle for about 8 years, and I met my husband out here. Once he is out of the Coast Guard we plan to move back... but that's a few years away yet.)

Since today was an "extra" day out here with no work, I set off to meander around and visit all my favorite places downtown. I had an apricot croissant and a REAL coffee in Pike Place Market. While I was there, I slipped into the little quilting store in the market and picked up a fat quarter set to make a Christmas table runner or some pillows.

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Pike place
Christmas Fabric set

Then I walked down to Kinokuniya bookstore in Uwajimaya and bought a book I've had my eye on for a while, Simple Chic. It has some gorgeous dresses in it & the instructions are fairly clear (think Ottobre magazine style drawings!) so I might actually make something from it.

Simple Chic
My poor husband got text message updates on my adventures as I poked around. "Hey, I'm standing right where we had our first kiss!" "Hey, I'm having the awesome pad thai we love for lunch!" and so on. Poor guy. ;) Sadly, I have to fly back to the east coast tomorrow. See you soon Seattle, I miss you!