angry chicken

new spring make-up

I ordered some samples from Afterglow, a mineral powder make-up company that was rated really low on Skin Deep (low meaning the least creepy) and am really happy with what I got. Also—how cute! Samples! I love that. I spent $20 on all these, so it wasn't the cheapest thrill, but I got quite a few powders and eye shadows, lipsticks and lip glosses to play with, and even though they are in tiny sample size containers, they all are good for several applications, depending on how sloppy I am. The face powders are great, as is the blush—

although I saw myself later and realized I had put the blush on like a crazy person. (I was driving. I am bad) The eye shadows come in a matte and a glittery style, the glittery one being more popular around here, of course. I am on the hunt for a good green eye shadow. Like really green, not a taupe-y green, and I didn't see one in this line and the Josie Maran one I bought a bit back isn't green enough. Anyhoo, I love this stuff so far. Afterglow makes pencils too, which they don't have samples of, but I am curious.

Unrelated: 2 videos I have been watching over and over again because they make me laugh so hard. This one, can't stop singing this song! And this SNL skit, which kills me.

fabric for wearing on your body.

I just got an e-mail from Holly that I was going to paraphrase, but my brain is fuzzy— so here it is. She writes:

"I just listened to your podcast on craftypod about sewing your own clothes.  The part that struck me was the importance of choosing the right fabric.  I have been disappointed by this mistake myself many, many times.  My question, though, is where do you find good fabric that is not quilting cotton?  At my local JoAnn Fabrics the choices are not good and online I don't find too much beyond solids and some uninspiring prints.  Do you know of any online stores that sell nice cotton/lycra/blends?"

Yeah—quilting cottons (think Moda, Freespirit, etc.) are awesome for crafts and quilts but not always the best choice for clothes. There are exceptions, but for adult clothes they can be a bit heavy and stiff for the most part.

Using old clothes (especially wool sweaters, pants, and old t-shirts) for sewing new garments is always so thrilling—and really rewarding. Check Melissa's pants for Sam. I like to raid my own closet to make new clothes for the girls, then I can use just the right knit or other fabrics that are hard to find by the yard (and new garment fabric is crazy expensive!) I have had more luck doing this than thrifting for clothes to take apart and reconstruct—but that works great too, especially if you leave the house, which I don't do much right now. Check the excellent Wardrobe Refashion site for a lot of ideas about this kind of sewing.

For new fabric, I usually buy here in Portland. I need to be able to touch it and see it drape. I sometimes use quilting cottons for tops/dresses/aprons for kids clothes, so I can buy that online—I know how it feels. For linens, rayons, tencel, wool, bamboo, hemp, jerseys, all that, I usually buy in person. Most big cities have at least one high-end fabric shop that sells fabric suitable for clothes. Right? What is the world coming too?

In Portland, for garment fabrics, I shop at:

Mill End Store
Josephine's dry goods
bolt
fabric depot

(Am I missing any Portland shops that sell a decent amount of garment fabric, not just quilting cottons?)

What about online? I don't have a ton of experience buying garment fabric online. I've listed some online shops I have used or that are highly recommended that have garment fabrics (Not just quilting cottons.) Do you all have a favorite online source for fashion fabrics? Especially knits? Please add it in the Flickr comments, because you know what book is coming out soon, right? And it's all about sewing knits.

I don't have hot links enabled in the comments here, so head on over to the Bend-the-Rules flickr group to add a link if you have one. Thank you!

***And Portland peeps, Anna Maria Horner needs your help! Please read and possibly get lovely fabric for your sofa! Free!

 

I need to dust off my needles

photo by Michael Crouser

Portland's own Larissa and Martin John Brown have a new knitting book out, Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together and there are some mighty fine projects in this lovely book. This one above is designed by Adrian Bizilia of Hello Yarn fame. I am a stalker of hers, so I am delighted she has not 1, but 2 (!) projects in this book.

Super cute cover, huh? Time to get my needles out. After I sew that outfit. The list is growing. . .

rye bread and quiche

Here's a crust-less quiche for dinner and rye bread from this book. So far, I have made the master bread recipe, the olive oil bread, (made into pizza and calzone) rye bread, and then the challah dough that I made into hot crossed buns (and also into a traditional braided challah.)

All the breads have been stellar except this rye here. He sure looks cute, but I'm not 100% sure about him yet. I need to try again and then try a traditional rye recipe to compare with. I love rye so much, toasted with butter and raspberry jam, so I might be too critical.

The crust-less quiche is my go to dish for using up random produce bits. The crust-less part isn't really a health driven decision as much as a time saving choice. Pete prefers it to have a crust for sure, but blind baking makes me crazy. At least with a baby in the house, you know what I mean? I need to set the timer once and be done with it.

A sort of recipe for the quiche:

-Saute 1 onion with garlic and shallot about 7-10 minutes and add 1 1/2 cup chopped broccoli, or red pepper, or corn, or a bit or spinach or whatever you have on hand and saute a little more, about 5 more minutes. (The key here is don't add too much— there should only be about 1 1/2 cup of veggies, and don't mix anything together that sounds gross.)

-mix in a separate bowl:
3 eggs
3 TBL flour
salt and pepper
1/2-3/4 cup grated cheese you have on hand (like jack, white cheddar ,or a blend of what you like)
1/2 milk (or enough to make it soupy)

Sometimes I add Dijon mustard, or curry powder, or thyme, or cumin, depending on the veggies I am using—it's all very customizable.

Pour the onion and veggies in a 10" pie plate and pour the milk/egg mixture on top. Bake in a 375° oven until brown on top, about 35-40 minutes.

That's it! yum!!

next up. . .

On deck is this incredibly cute pattern from oliver + s. (Congrats Leisl!!) These sewing patterns come with a paper doll and the outfit shown on the pattern. Seriously! So flippin' clever and cute. Check out all the sweet patterns and the blog and flickr group, too.

The shorts I have planned in a brown linen, much like the pattern shows, and for the blouse I have my eye on this lovely Liberty fabric over at Purl. Sigh. So very good.

soup of beans and other items

Easter was great but I have never felt so tired—not since Christmas, anyway. Ugh. We are still in our pjs here and it's almost 2.

Thanks for all the happiness with the tutorial. It was stupidly fun to do and I'm glad it made you laugh, cause it made me laugh. I have a lot to say about bias tape—there are so many ways to apply it and some are better than others depending on the application. I do describe ways to sew it on in my book, including mitered corners—but I must also direct you to Alicia's excellent tutorial on mitered corners as well. I actually make the binding differently when I bind a quilt than she does here for the dishtowels, but I sew the mitered corner the same way. For curves, just go for it. I know it seems like it won't bend but it will (cause it's on the bias!) so try it out with big curves first. I used the exact same method for the curved pocket on my skirt as I showed in the video tutorial—I didn't even pin!

Here's some beans I soaked. Instead of using canned, I used these in the white bean soup from Barefoot Contessa with rosemary from the garden and it was lovely.

I added a salad, bread (again from this book) and a newish anthropologie catalog and I had the best lunch ever. Did I mention I was alone? I was. So that was pretty awesome, too.

 

bias tape tutorial (all by machine)

Here it is! There are many ways to sew bias tape on and here's a method I don't describe in my book. It's all stitched by machine and is how I trimmed hem and pockets on this skirt. Enjoy, and hooray for totally unprofessional video making!

**if this video is unavailable, check back in a few hours, okay? I don't know what is up with You Tube, it was working fine before. . .I will keep checking it. You can also try this link here.

happy spring!

Many things have been made this week in preparation for the first day of Spring (our big family event at home) and Easter. This bunny cake is lemon ginger and is a modified version from this month's Everyday Food. Or was it in this month's Martha? I can't remember. I also realized why I liked it so much—it's almost identical to a mailorder recipe from 2 years ago.  I am so predictable. It was served with mixed berry compote and almond whipped cream. Sadie thought the whipped cream tasted funny and the bunny had a broken neck. Also, note to self, before I use these crazy big animal pans, think about what I will serve it on. I had nothing big enough to present this creature, so he was served off the rack. Sort of tacky.

Hot crossed buns made from the challah dough recipe from my new bread book. They were very very good and can't wait to make more from this dough. There wasn't an exact recipe for this in the book, I just used the dough, added cinnamon sugar and and egg wash on top before baking and then made an orange icing.

Only one Easter dress was completed. This was weeks ago, and since then dresses were purchased by various family members, and the girls were more interested in dress up, so this is the only one this year that was sewn by me. As I was about to trim this with lovely ribbons and make it all fancy, the middle child said to leave it plain because it's Cinderella's rag dress. Ah, yes, of course. My tastes once again don't quite live up to her sparkly version of a proper holiday dress. But at least Cinderella can wear it while cleaning. And she does.

I am super excited and flattered that a Bend-the-Rules Sewing Swap has been organized by Clicky the Moose! How cool and fun! The first project is a swap for the Pleated Beauty Handbag, check it out. (sign-ups are closed March 31st)

easy comfy skirt

There have been better photos on this blog. I could have used an iron and that is baby food there on the wall and floor. But let's not focus on that, or the outlet behind my right leg. Let's look at this skirt I made from this fabric I have had for about 6 months. I finally decided to cut it, and felt a bit selfish I didn't use it for the girls, but I need this to be in my life, not cast aside when the girls grow bigger or doesn't fit into the week's dress-up rotation.

The girls have requested I wear tights and skirts more—so they were quite pleased with this. It has an elastic waist instead of a back zipper. To do this, I take my favorite skirt pattern and instead of the zipper, I make an elastic waist. The trick is to not stitch up the darts at all and to add a little extra wiggle room. Then I stitch a casing, use a length of elastic that fits my waist and thread it through. I have to really tug it over my hiney, cause it's fitted, so when it's on, the elastic pulls taught—it doesn't even look like an elastic waist, you know what I mean? It's even more forgiving if you use a stretch cotton or denim. Super easy.

The pocket and the hem are trimmed with yellow bias tape, and I did this all by machine. I am thinking about showing this no-swearing way to get the binding on. . . I want to shoot a short video tutorial of it with my flip! So, now that I have written this, it's supposed to motivate me to do it.

what our cookies look like

We made some Spring sugar cookies last week. I made these cookies in 3 stages—one day I made the dough, one day we cut out the cookies (with 2 adults I freak out less, but this time it was just me and the 3 girls and it went just fine, somehow.) Then one evening Grammie and I made the icing and let the girls have at it. They got to decorate them completely on their own, no food styling here. These shapes are all bunnies, chicks, flowers, and whatnot, which is awesome, because you can't even tell what they are now. I made a simple icing of melted butter, powdered sugar, and milk until it was sort of drizzle-y dropped from a spoon. I also put out little bowls of sprinkles. I used this great natural food coloring (in the post here) for the icing, which was completely negated by the large quantity of creepy sprinkles that were dumped on each cookie.

A bunny head. Okay, these cookies were so good. They set up hard, well, they do if the icing isn't 1/2" thick, which is what these were. I used the sugar cookie recipe from my new cookie book (although I'll bet the recipe is similar to this one) and as you can see, they look quite different. But, you gotta love that 100% kid baking thing, you know? They were so proud.

you can click on it for a bigger view

letter folding and doane paper **update: the fold is here! thanks stacie!

are there chocolate birds for these nests?

More spring activities over here. I remember making these in kindergarten, and haven't had them since. Why?? I love them so. It's just shredded wheat, crushed, with melted milk chocolate chips poured over.  They are so stinkin' good! Little malt ball eggs are added as a garnish. This is Sam's, quite nice, huh?

Delia has a few more eggs on hers. This is a wonderful small person project. Easy, fun, not too messy, and fast.

the recipe for 3 big nests:

6 big squares shredded wheat, crushed (about 1 1/2 cup or so, crushed, per nest)
1 bag milk chocolate chips, melted (11.5 oz)

Pour the melted chocolate over the shredded wheat and mix well. Have the kids do this in a big bowl with a spoon so little hands don't get burnt. A big bowl is especially good for enthusiastic stirrers. Dump onto waxed paper and build 3 little mounds. Then using the back of a spoon, make an indent. Fill with eggs and let set. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to firm up. You can just pick them up and eat them when they dry, although the middle child prefers stabbing at hers violently with a fork, shredding it and making a huge mess everywhere, then picking up minuscule pieces and licking them off her fingers. Whatever keeps her busy.

primitve dolls wearing shawls

I got these very sweet primitive painted dolls for the house for Spring/Easter. They are from Bayberry Cove, which is a lovely shop, I always fall in love with something when I look there. These are designed by Stacey Mead and I can't find much about her online, but did find this amazing pig, which I might need as well.

I have only made a painted rag doll once, from a Gail Wilson kit, and I totally loved it. It was so fun making a muslin doll, stuffing it, and then painting it. I really would love to make more. (When?) So, I thought about making something similar to these, but time is limited right now and I wanted to get something up before next week—so I had to buy these. They are wearing shawls and little slippers! You understand.

On the  other shelf next to the dolls are these turned wood people and eggs with watercolor added by the girls. I think Pete added the faces, but I wasn't around for this craft project, so I'm not sure. They have quite a few egg shapes at Casey Wood Products, which is where all this stuff came from.

Unrelated, I plan to get some books from the library about handwriting analysis. Just cause. I have always wanted to know more about it. I distinctly remember what all my friends handwriting looked like in middle school, with the note writing and all. . . do middle schoolers still write notes? Or is it all texting now? That would be so sad, I loved looking at handwriting growing up, now, I love it when it looks familiar, you know? Like, when I really know it, and could spot it right away. I need to handwrite out some blog posts, that would be cool.

oil and vinegar

Possibly not the most beautiful subject for a photo. These are dipping sauces/salad dressings. I was sick of making them crazy-style during the dinner chaos, so thought at the Sunday bean soaking party I have with myself, I'd also make big batches of sauces and dressings.

I used these pretty mundane jars. I really wanted to make these in wonderful jars for this photo, but had none on hand, and really, I am taking a photo of my salad dressings here (only on a blog) so why pretend that they are in nice jars? But they taste really good! We have a super basic group here, nothing unusual, but good to always have on hand:

a dipping sauce

1 part soy sauce
1 part rice wine vinegar
a bit of sugar
a bit of toasted sesame oil

honey mustard balsamic vinaigrette

2 parts olive oil
1 part balsamic vinegar
a bit of honey
a bit of Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

raspberry vinaigrette

2 parts olive oil
1 part raspberry vinegar
a bit of sugar
juice of a lemon
salt and pepper

I taste as I go and often add different things each time. I am in love with walnut oil—so I try to use that when I have it. I usually add herbs and chopped shallots too. Especially to the raspberry dressing. I heart shallots. I am never without them. Even though I have made these dressings/sauces for a long time, there was something thrilling about taking out all my oils, vinegars, mustards, etc. and making these all at once. Like a big stinky science lab. There are a ton of recipes here in the condiments section of MSLO. Very inspiring. I was going to look at Epicurios too, but had to join up, so I did and then realized I already had joined god knows when, can't find my password. . . I hate this, and it happens to me all the time. So I haven't looked there yet.

I am itching to do a big kitchen spring cleaning. I did go through my baking cupboard last weekend, god, what an uncomfortable thing to do—I was on the floor covered in old pans, stuff was everywhere, (of course this was on a lovely Saturday morning, disrupting breakfast, and taking over our very small kitchen) but it was worth it—I found not one, but two bunny shaped pans squirreled away! Who knew?

brownies from a new book

I just received this new book, Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share, and the timing is difficult with me limiting my sugar and all, but for research purposes, I had to try out a recipe. Notice I have switched to limiting my sugar, not cutting it out all together—cause, well. . .that's not going to happen. But I am thrilled to report that smaller sized pants were purchased last week! Moving on—

These are coconut brownies that actually have very little coconut swirled in. I am not a huge coconut fan but wanted to make something different and not completely tempting. They were immediately frozen to send to a friend with an upcoming birthday and the rest went to Pete's work, where I hear they were well received. I did try half of one and it was amazing. This was with coffee before 8:00 am when I think all chocolate should be consumed.

The book is very pleasing. It's a soft back and includes this great visual index which is so handy. The inside photos are mostly full bleeds, sparse and well done, and the text layout is really minimal. Lots of white space on the pages. Of course the recipes look wonderful as well. I have a feeling I will use it often. Hopefully not too often, if you know what I mean.

sweet crowns

I found some of this eyelet trim while rummaging through my sewing stuff. I have to reorganize my sewing desk. It's so out of control. I was so happy to find just the right length to make this crown, inspired by this book I posted about a bit back.

I sewed a length of pipe cleaner on the inside (this is the outside here, you can see the zig-zag stitching at the bottom if you squint) so it would stay curved around tiny heads. I turned the pipe cleaner ends in on themselves, they are sharp!

Then I folded the short ends up twice, stitched, and then sewed on Velcro. You can see the white pipe cleaner stitched along the bottom—it doesn't need to go the whole length. This fits both girls which was crucial because I only have one right now. I love the sweetness and simplicity of these.

And so does Liddy!

new shoes not on my feet

These new shoes came home with me last week. The girls approved and they were significantly on sale at Halo, a dangerous wonderful shoe shop here in Portland. (They have a bunch of pairs here, too.) It's amazing how fast I can buy something like shoes with 3 girls in tow. In about 2 minutes, if you are wondering.They are Mariana by GOLC and are vintage reproductions. I love them so much. The girls approved and the 3 year old said they were much prettier than what I was currently wearing, which were probably black clogs. I am showing them here because really, where am I going to wear these? I mean, I will wear them, I know I will, but right now, with parks and the library being the 2 main places I seem to go to, they aren't getting much street time. I put them away with my other heels, and was shocked to see how many pairs I have. What the? Considering I haven't worked outside of the house for over 5 years, I feel I might have too many pairs. But then, sometimes I feel as if I have very few shoes, so obviously I am delusional and can't be trusted. Oh, and I was going to take a photo of them on my feet, but that peep toe there is too revealing and my toes need a bit of work. We don't need to see my toes right now, right? It's still winter after all.

That reminds me, I was researching a bit back on non-creepy nail polish and nail polish remover and there is a new kind (new to me, anyway) I want to check out by Acquarella. I haven't seen it in person or tried it, but I am very curious. Okay, after reading all this info on their site, I am interested, but it seems like a lot of steps? Or maybe I just react to too many words. . . I can't tell. No, I take that back, it's a lot of steps. I also need to try other non-creepy brands as well, like Honeybee Gardens.

something is growing in my fridge

I was excited to get this book I read about a bit back, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking in our local newspaper and then again over at Booga j and I am so happy! It's a big book of bread recipes similar to the no-knead bread, only easier, faster, and with many many variations. You just mix and then put it in the fridge. Then, the next day, cut off a hunk, let it rest, and bake it. That's it! I didn't use a stone nor do I have a peel, both of which are recommended, I used my cast iron dutch oven instead (like with the no-knead bread) and it worked great. This is all white bread-y, I wanted to try the basic recipe straight up first, but next I will make it with white whole wheat flour and report back.

It makes a lot of dough. Like a huge amount. This is a big bowl here and it takes up a lot of room in the fridge. You just cut off what you need, it can last weeks in there. I can't wait to try the challah recipe. Everything is in this book, pizza dough, pita, wheat bread, white bread, rye, you name it all with this mix and dump method. Amazing. Stay tuned to see this bread along side of bean soup and salad in the coming days. Oh, the excitement around here!

Unrelated but worth mentioning nonetheless:

-I contributed to the newest issue of Small magazine (the small bites) please take a look at this very awesome kids webzine.

-This weekend Susan and Diane will host an event at Twisted here in Portland. Here's the info. Sounds very cool and I hope to go and check out this fine shop and see these lovely crafty ladies.

-Even if the Other Boleyn Girl is not so hot, Semi-Pro is supposed to be funny, so I will improve my mind that way.

-There have been some questions about Mr. (Bad) Ice Cream Pie. The recipe is this; you take a cookie crumb crust (either purchased or homemade, you know, with graham crackers crushed with butter or chocolate wafer cookies) and then soften ice cream in the mixer, spread 2 different flavor layers on, freeze, then add whipped cream and freeze again. Eat and feel sick. I still don't miss him. Ha! Now, I am eating fresh baked bread with jam. So, not 100% sugar free, but let's not quibble.

**update
find the no knead dough recipe (not from the book above but from the craze going around last year) and a ton of info about dutch ovens over at not martha's excellent post. I have a dutch oven with no name on it, and it was given to me, so I am no help there. To bake the bread in the dutch oven, you plop in (no greasing necessary) and cook covered until the final 10 minutes, then take the lid off so it will brown.

fabric shopping

I am finding much to be excited about over on the New Arrivals page at Reprodepot. This would make up so pretty as a spring dress for the girls. Okay, I am having a hard time deciding on fabric for the dresses this year. . .they may get more than one, since I already cut out 2 dresses last week. Curses.

So cool.

Also cool.

I love these bold shapes and colors. And I had a pet turtle named Herman.

And frogs! It's kind of papercut-y, so I love it.

And did you all hear that the Other Boleyn Girl (movie) is supposed to, um suck? Like really really suck. Our local reviewer gave it a D-. D-?? I mean, really? Is it that bad?