If you followed along with my holiday madness last year, you know that I adore Christmas and this time of year. It also means that I get to go a bit wild (or more so than usual) in the kitchen, as I delight in making long lists of goodies to bake for the purpose of giving to friends and family as gifts. After I got married, I started a tradition of cookies and at least one candy-type item in the mix. This year it’s about four types of cookies and a new-to-me candy that I’m super excited to make. But more about those next week… This week I’ve been baking and preparing to decorate cookies. I’m having to start about a week before I normally do (yes, I know some people start even before now, but I tend to wait a bit!), but that’s because my holiday schedule is such that I won’t have time later.
The first cookies I made were traditional sugar cookies. I always try to do these since I have such fond memories of making them with my mom and sister each year. I remember not only how tasty they were, but how much fun I had decorating them–despite things getting a little wild with the sugar glitter and red hot candies sometimes! I think that is partly why I still like making them (aside from just loving a good sugar cookie): I get to decorate them. While I haven’t done that yet (it’s on the schedule for this weekend), I have been gathering up supplies like gel paste food coloring (which gives a deeper, richer color to icing than the commonly found liquid coloring), delicate sugar glitters and white pearl candies (both from my favorite bake shop: Bake it Pretty). I stuck with a smaller assortment of cookie cutters this year, keeping with the simple shapes that I remembered being the most fun to decorate last year. Now just to decide on what colors to mix up…
For the cookie recipe, I used the same one I baked last year. Although this year they had the homemade vanilla in them, which Sailor Husband swears makes a huge difference. He said they tasted just like the cookies he remembers getting at bakeries on Long Island, NY when he was little (and this is after trying an un-iced cookie!). So that’s a good sign! This weekend I have several other types of goodies to bake, so hopefully next week I shall have some other recipes to share.
For packaging I’m planning on using some Martha Stewart boxes I got at the craft store. I was planning on using tins, but couldn’t find any that I liked and weren’t $5 each (once again, I’m on a teeny budget for Christmas stuff this year!). So a coupon and trip to Michael’s were what sealed the deal for me with these. Plus they’re pretty cute and red and white. I’m also including hand written “menus” in each. So I guess that infuses a little bit of DIY into the mix with the premade boxes!
So the house has been smelling heavenly and the air has been full of Christmas music. Because what is holiday preparations without the appropriate tunes? I’ve been listening to a bunch of remixes on 8tracks, but would love to know: what is your favorite holiday music to get you in the spirit?
December 10, 2010 ·
31 lovely thoughts
posted in holidays,in the kitchen
· tags: baking, christmas, holidays, in the kitchen
The idea of a sleeve ease tutorial was so popular in yesterday’s post (thank you all!) that I spent some of my sewing time in the evening putting together a little tutorial. I used the Sense and Sensibility Swing Dress pattern as an example in this post, but this would work for any pattern that has a set-in sleeve and shoulder line that ends at the natural shoulder (in other words, this isn’t for a dropped shoulder or any other sort of style). As you will see, it’s a super easy adjustment to make–and I’m so glad I figured it out this year because no more crying over set-in sleeves that have too much ease and don’t look like the envelope! Hurrah!
Firstly, you’ll need a few supplies: your pattern, tape or pins, a tape measure, pencil, paper scissors, some scratch paper, and a few minutes of time.
Begin by taping or pinning together the front and back shoulder, overlapping the seam allowances. If your shoulder includes fullness, just ignore it–you want to just establish a smooth line around the armhole.
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December 8, 2010 ·
35 lovely thoughts
posted in sewing,tutorials
· tags: sewing, tutorial, vintage sewing
I finished this dress late last week, have worn it a couple times and finally was able to get some snapshots yesterday to share with you! Of course, just as I’ve finished this lightweight, semi-sheer rayon dress, the weather has gotten chilly–but I don’t mind! It’s the perfect thing for layering (see the last image in this post) for these in-between type days.
The pattern is Sense and Sensibility’s swing dress, which is really becoming a staple for my wardrobe–this is number three that I’ve made from this pattern in the past year (as I mentioned last week)! What I like is that it’s not only a flattering silhouette, but also a basic without being boring–something I need more of in my closet. I made a few changes to the pattern when I made this up: namely leaving off the back sash ties. I used those on the previous two dresses, but kept wondering how the dress would look without them and a belt instead? I’m wearing one of my favorite vintage belts in these pictures, but also made a bow belt and have another with a vintage black buckle in the works. It’s a simple swap, but really opens up the possibilities for accessorizing.
One thing I had made a mental note of on the other two versions was that I really needed to interface the midriff piece–especially with this light and somewhat slippery fabric. I just used a knit fusible interfacing, applied to the midriff only, and that helped a lot with any possibly distortion on this lightweight fabric. Another change I did was to modify the sleeve cap, which is more of a fitting tweak, but just as necessary to achieving the shoulder line I wanted. In both my previous versions of this dress the sleeve cap has been far too full for the smooth, set-in style that the envelope shows. Since the pattern is based on a 40s pattern, this is not surprising–many commercial patterns from this era have simply too much ease in the sleeve cap. It’s an easy fix, involving measuring and re-cutting the cap to fit the armhole with the proper amount of ease though. Would anyone be interested in a quick tutorial on how to do this?
Otherwise this dress was pretty straight-forward! You can read my thoughts on the overall construction on an earlier post if you’d like. One final thing I did do was make some thin, matching shoulder pads. Although I don’t like a super-built up shoulder, they are necessary to give both that 40s look and are great for smoothing the shoulder line. I used the basic principles in my shoulder pad tutorial, but made them a bit smaller and rounded. I used 2-3 layers of cotton batting in each as well. The basic pad was constructed of muslin and then covered with a piece of dress fabric. I just serged the edges, but turning them under and slip stitching is perfectly acceptable too. To help shape these, I used a sleeve roll to pin each to and then applied a steam a few times and let them “set” overnight. It really helped give them a slightly curved shape to conform to the shoulder.
Now, I have to admit that for the first batch of photos in this post I did kind of dress up a bit to show off the dress. I was wearing it yesterday, but had bundled up a bit which meant the details were hard to pick out. I did, however, snap a couple photos of how I wore it–back seam stockings are definitely not something I wear daily! lol. I’ve been pairing it with some of the more brightly colored cardigans in my collection, but yesterday was chilly enough to make me want to snuggle in this warm and cozy vintage cashmere sweater and forget being exciting with color!
- dress: made by me
- cardigan: 50s/60s vintage, thrifted
- patent bow belt: estate sale
- tights: Target (?)
- shoes: Madden Girl
- bracelet/pin/earrings: Forever 21/vintage, thrifted/mall store
So one new sewing project down… and I’ve got another in the works! Hopefully I’ll post about that later in the week or next week; it’s another one I’m excited about because the technique I’m using for lining it is brilliant!
December 7, 2010 ·
79 lovely thoughts
posted in sewing
· tags: 1940s, sense and sensibility patterns, sewing
