Sunki Dress

Here's the latest sewing project, the Sunki Dress by Figgy's Patterns.  So fun.

Pockets were a brain twister for me.  The trick is you are sewing together curves that are in 2 different directions.  Once you get that it's a breeze.  Even the zipper was a breeze!!

So Shelly Figueroa of Figgy's Patterns is actually right down the road from me in Lake Oswego, and she offers kids sewing classes to kids 6 and older.

As soon as Elena turns 6 I'm going to get her into a Figgy's class and make her wear the Sunki dress.  It'll be like when Phil Hartman sings Roxanne to Sting on the elevator.  Okay, I promise I won't do that, but wouldn't that be so funny?

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Birthday Girls

Springtime crafting for the girl. She turned 5 this month so I've been pushing out the projects like mad (and failing to blog about it).

Here's a factoid that is pretty cray.  I have a 27 year-old step daughter (not the factoid but also kinda cray) who is born on the EXACT SAME DAY as my 5 year-old daughter. 

Here they are, sisters, 22 years apart to the day!

So there I am pushing at 11 pm on the day before my daughter was born and my husband said to me, "Don't even bother, she's not coming till tomorrow."  You don't even want to know the string of foul language that came pouring out of my mouth at that time.  But he was right, he knows that his daughters are always born on the same day!!! 

 

 

Here's Elena in the peasant dress I made for her.  Fabric is Joann's remnant seersucker, 50% off.  I think I got about a yard for $3.50.  The contrasting fabric is a Mona Luna fox hollow that I bought on Etsy.  Super cute alphabet fabric with all kinds of woodland creatures on it.  Dress pattern is here.  I found the pattern to be slightly confusing, but I think it's just because I'm so new to sewing.  I love the result!  Pattern comes with tons of sizes so it'll be useful for a long time.  And there's a doll size too, which I need to make soon!

 

So I intended her to wear this on her birthday, but sure enough, my good friend Laurie got her the most spectacular off the shoulder princess gown that her daughter wore in a performance of the Nutcracker. . . . so of course what 5 year old would choose peasant over princess!!!  Not mine. 

 

 

 

Here's Lena just after blowing out the candles on her cake in her princess gown.  Gotta admit, that gown is spectacular!!  My favorite thing about that picture is how excited her brother George is.  He's even more excited than Lena about blowing out the candles, what a great brother.

 

Now meet Maggie May the bun bun.  I made this sweet bunny for Elena for her birthday. 

 

 

As you can see from my sidebar and from frequent mentions on this blog, I am just a little bit obsessed with everything Alicia Paulson.  She's a very special blogger, and I'm so glad she shares her little corner of the world with us.  The back story here is that ever since Alicia mentioned the bunny kit I wanted it!  But literally like 2 seconds after she put the bunny kits up for sale, they sold out.  I was so sad!  Little did I know, my equally obssessed aunt Maggie got one in the knick of time and she sent it to me!!! THANKS MAGS!!! (By the way, the kits are now back up!  Hurry and get one while they last!)  The only slight issue I had is that the capelet was knit and lord knows me and the two needles do not get along. So I crocheted the capelet and it came out way cute.  Here's the pattern I used in case you, like me, love the hook:

 

Row 1:  With D hook, ch 16, 1 hdc in 2nd ch from hook and in each of the next 9 ch, 1 sc in next 5 ch. (15)

Row 2: Ch 1, turn, 1 sc in next 5 st, hdc in next 10 st. (15)

Row 3: Ch 1, turn, 1 hdc in next 10 st, 1 sc in next 5 st. (15)

 

Repeat rows 2 and 3 until capelet reaches around Maggie's shoulders (about 34 rows).  Fasten off and weave in your ends.  With about 10 inches of yarn, weave in and out of the rows on the top of the capelet (the sc ends) and tie the yarn in a bow to under Maggie's chin.  Done and with plenty of yarn left over.

 

Elena loves her Maggie bunny so much.  Yay!

 

 

Happy birthday baby girl!

 

Preview of New Pattern Plus a Soup Recipe!

Here's a quick sneak peak at my latest pattern that I'm working on.  The yarn is amazing.  It is Malabrigo Rios in Playa, which is a nice worsted weight soft as can be washable merino wool that is hand dyed.  Can you believe these colors?  I just love it!

Would you believe that the stitch I use for this is a very simple variation of half double crochet?  Yup!  I get so many people that ask me if my patterns are Tunisian or knit.  Come on peeps, it's me!  I'm all about easy whip up, no fuss, no muss enjoyable crochet.  It just looks hard.
Now to the recipe . . . 
In March I ate carbs, sugar, lots of bread, dairy up the wazoo, and very little fruits and veggies.  To put it mildly, I felt awful.  I had low energy, looked a little bit grey in the face and my mind felt foggy and slow.  So it just dawned on me that I really need to get my act together and eat better if I want to feel good.  First step was to detox and get all the yucky yucks out of my system.  Solution: make a fabulous veggie soup.  Even if you aren't planning on changing up your diet, you will love this, it's so good!  It's very similar to a Russian borscht soup but no cabbage and lots more flavor.  It's very tasty, very healthy, very filling and will help kick start any healthy eating plans you may have.  I liked my invention so much that I decided to share it here on the blog. Enjoy!

Detox Soup

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

1 large onion chopped

1 large carrot chopped (or 2 small carrots)

1 large unpeeled sweet potato chopped (substitute regular potato)

1 large beet peeled and chopped

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 32 oz box of vegetable stock (substitute water)

1 large bunch of kale chopped (substitute chard)

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: In large soup pot heat up oil on medium high heat.  Saute onions until they are tender. Add carrots, sweet potatoes and beets and stir for about 30 seconds until veggies are coated with oil.  Let veggies cook for another minute or so until soup pot gets back up to temperature. Add vinegar and cook until vinegar has reduced down (about a minute or so).  Add vegetable stock (or water).  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer covered for about 10 minutes.  Add kale and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Let simmer until potatoes are just soft, about another 5 to 10 minutes.

I feel healthier just looking at it!!!