Fun at the Pajama Party!...part 2

Well I'm early to the Pyjama Party, it's the 28th and it's Saturday down here at the bottom of the world and is is so dark outside.....so here I am early..... (all ready to party LOL). I have a lovely gal wearing the pajamas I made, and she's reading Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy, he's her type of guy....Hmmmm!

Here is a few words from the lovely pajama wearer.....

The pajamas are comfortable, warm, they make me feel relaxed especially after spending an hour doing a circuit with my brother. I actually have some trim on the legs so I feel quiet privlaged. I'm reading book six in the Skullduggery Pleasant series and I've read all the others. It's a children's book but I like to read them as I buy them for the Library and I enjoy them.  

As always the cat ruins the shot....

A great read so far...

I put elastic in the waist and also
 a draw string...

Cat tails, books and pyjamas all cozy and warm....

They are long enough, but I thought they were a bit
baggy! Probably I would use another pattern
next time...

Are you Going to the Pajama Party?...Part 1

I have three days, or is it four to make some pajamas.....I'm a late starter and this is my first sew a-long so this will be fun...Did you make that? is hosting the pajama sew-a-long and all the information about it is all there. Saturday the 28th is the day for showing off your PJ's, or will it be the 29th for me way down here?

Rach over at House of Pinheiro has lots of good ideas too for making pajamas. I'll be using Simplicity 2037 'It's so easy' only because the pattern was $3.50 (not that I really like it).  So I don't know what this pattern will be like at all.....I'm using blue flannel with white bunnies on it, very unassuming......I wanted to buy some nice bright cotton but it's nearly winter here, and the pajamas are not for me.

The flannel all washed and hopefully
it has done the shrink thing...

Dress a Girl Around the World

I've been busy making Pillowcase Dresses for the April project over at Hopeful Threads for 'Dress A Girl Around The World'. I followed a tutorial on Pam's blog Threading My Way and Pam has lots of information on it all over there. In fact that's where I found out about 'Dress A Girl Around The World' which I knew nothing about......

It is always 'Murhy's law' when I sew for someone else, if anything is going to go wrong it will....A few mistakes were made, forgetting to change the bobbin to match the fabric sometimes. My overlocker hated sewing over the gathered hem,  the tension just went wonky......But it was all passable and I doubt the dresses will fall apart....

I've really loved making these dresses....With the scraps of fabric left I made a pocket for the dresses. I decided on a heart shape because when we had our disaster here people around the world sent hearts. These all ended up on display in the Museum for the public to view. Later on they were given out to school children to keep...I have a white one one here.

Here is the heart
that someone somewhere made...
Maybe that person will see it here...

So I thought perhaps I could send a heart back in the form of a pocket to a little girl somewhere....But I wasn't satisfied with my heart pocket pattern piece? I tried different ones, but in the end the best ones were the ones I drew myself (the red and aqua ones).

Hearts pockets...I liked this one best...I sewed
ruffle hems because my pillowslips had a
weird flap, which would have made
the dress very heavy in the front...

I was rather proud of my bias making...

All four finished....blow'n in the wind on the Silk Tree

1

Pictures, Stories and Paint

A little bit about me......I was almost five when I came back to live in NZ. My dad had a garden shed out the back....He kept all his tins of paint there, (too much temptation for a five year old). I found a fork, opened the paint tin and then painted all over the shed wall with the fork. To this day my curiosity has never left me.

I rather suspect my father loved paint just as much as I did, he was always mixing colours and painting things......I  remember the time he painted every kitchen cupboard door a different colour. But that was soon short lived as my mother did not approve of her colourful kitchen......So then my father re-covered all the cupboard doors in a pale plain Formica instead and they stayed that way forever....

One of my favourite children's stories is 'The Rooster Who Went to His Uncle's Wedding by Alma Flor Ada & Kathleen Kuchera ( a Latin American Folktale)......It is such a great tale to tell orally to small children (adults too) and also very easy for children to act out as well. When the boy was born I got to help decorate his room......The chance to play with paint again was totally irresistible and I wanted to paint the little tot something visual, and colourful so he could look at it and wonder.....

I copied free hand the illustrations from the children's book 'The Rooster Who Went to His Uncle's Wedding' (the book is illustrated so beautifully, so visual). I then bought a couple of cheap canvases and drew onto the canvas my interpretation and copy of the book's illustrations.  Next I got out my acrylics and had fun...


Make your own art:
This is a really easy way to make your own art cheaply for children's rooms. If you can't draw it, trace the picture onto the canvas, or stencil it on. If you are into screen printing, print it onto the canvas. Also to be able to orally tell a story from a picture to a child is a gift, it's a wonderful thing, fostering the child's imagination in the process...

The sad thing is nobody is interested in roosters anymore and now they've been replaced by a Star Wars poster.... and no I'm not painting Star Wars!

 Tell the story orally using the pictures
 as a visual prompt...'Topeck or not to
peck'

The Grass cleaning the Roosters beak so he
could go to his Uncle's wedding.....

Two Days Lost to NameTags

Name tags are so easy to make if you have a sewing machine that will embroider the letters you want....Usually I buy flash name tags for whoever needs them, but not this time. I'm having a frugal 2012 (well I think I am until the next fabric sale!) so I have made them and all it cost me was time....

I used a Linen fabric which I ironed onto the wrong side 'iron-on stiffening'. Then I set the Juki to write/embroider what letters I needed. Next I threaded up the machine with a red cotton, this was nice and bright on the white linen (little eyes can see the tag easily).

I overlocked around the edges to stop the tags fraying with a 3-thread, overlock (one thread being woolly nylon). At first I cut the ends off the name tags but then soon realized I could just fold the thread behind the name tag when sewing it on (so much easier).

Now to sew them onto the clothes...

No Sew Polar Fleece Blanket

I'm making an easy blanket. I have lots of random bits of polar fleece, and I use them for pet blankets....But now it's all a bit 'over the top' I have too many pet blankets. So joining two together was a good idea!

 I've liked making these no sew blankets it seemed more fun because it's absolutely pouring with rain here....and the polar fleece was so warm on my hands!

 There are lots of tutorials out there on the web to chose from and I used one off you tube as my guide. Excuse the weird choice of polar fleece for a pet it was just so cheap I had to buy it at the time....

Making the Blanket

To start you just lay both pieces of the material down with right sides facing outwards. The length I used was a big oblong I didn't bother measuring it.

I then cut a square out 5"x5" with scissors at each end...a bit wonky but
it doesn't matter here....

Then I lined up the fabric cutting length with a ruler...

I used my finger width as a rough guide to cut the strips

Then the strips were knotted in a overhand knot to
form the blanket...

I had help from a white pawed cat who loved the ties...
I later made a smaller one for her!

All finished the blanket didn't look too bad considering the fleece
 wasn't new...

Babies and Butterick

Butterick 5896 is a 'blast from the past' I first used this pattern about six years ago....The sewing pattern is looking rather jaded and crumpled now, but nothing an iron can't fix. I sewed View C, it's a long sleeved top and the fabric I chose was a lycra/cotton blend (stretch). This fabric was sourced from Global Fabrics ( I love that place) and it has stood the test of time very well. This is the third baby to wear this top......

 A very easy (old) pattern to sew and a very simple top to put onto a baby or small child. You get value for your dollar with this sewing pattern as there are a range of styles to chose from to sew. Unfortunately I don't think you can get it anymore...but probably it can be found second hand.

Butterick 5896 View C......
Excuse the dribbles!

Can be worn over an outfit or under......
The top is still fitting at 9 months

Chocolate Cake Easter

Baking for Easter....we baked a chocolate cake and iced it with a delicious chocolaty frosting. I must confess I licked the icing bowl (using a spoon) and gained 600g from the experience. Then all I wanted was sugar and chocolate for the rest of the day.....Yes I survived Easter, but my theory was, if I ate it all the Easter eggs and cake in one day I wouldn't gain anymore weight for the rest of the Easter break.  Alas that strategy didn't work because other easter eggs had been hidden and forgotten about!  Never mind though, it was a tasty treat while it lasted......

Somehow an Angry Bird was put amongst the chicks...

Chocolate Cake Recipe
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
3/4 cup dark cocoa
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1 cup boiling water

Put all your ingredients into a bowl and beat well with mixer. Then add the hot water at the end and beat until well mixed. Pour into a lined cake tin and bake for 60 minutes at about 160 celsius (or the setting you use for cakes).
Tips:
Add your baking soda to the milk, then your sure it has dissolved...there is nothing more nasty than the bitter taste of baking soda in the cooked cake.
Using a good quality dark cocoa makes all the difference to this cake, and at times I have added melted rich dark chocolate to the mix as well.
Also I cut down the sugar to 1 cup, I figure the icing is sweet enough to compensate, just my personal taste though...

Frosting Recipe
225g unsalted butter
350g Icing sugar
1-2 tablespoons of dark cocoa

Whip butter with a mixer until very soft, then add sieved sugar and cocoa and beat until fluffy.
Tip:
Add a small amount of water to the cocoa to make it into a liquid, you get less specks of dry cocoa in the icing.

Fancy Fresh Cabbage Soup?

Yuk you may say! I must admit I say 'yuk' when someone suggests cabbage soup....Where would we be without cabbage soup? Wasn't it Liz Hurley who ate Cabbage Soup or was it Watercress Soup to keep her slim figure? I read that somewhere....Cabbage Soup has it's place, but I much prefer coleslaw.......

The Cabbage Soup recipe I use is from the Culinary Arts Institute Polish Cookbook......Today I changed the recipe slightly as I had no bacon so I used ham instead which was a nice change! I didn't have any celery either so I just left it out.......

Was my soup a success? Yes it was (I must have done something right) it has to be the ham, I used 'Honey baked premium ham' and the soup tasted so good!
                                   

1 cabbage or half a cabbage I used half. Chop the
cabbage up, sometimes I use a slicer but today I
used a knife...

Fry about 4 slices of bacon or ham then add
2 sliced carrots, 2 sliced potatoes, add 1 stalk
 of celery, then cabbage to saute until tender.

Ready now to add seasonings of...

 ....salt and pepper. I add lots of ground
white pepper too...

Add water to the pot to cover all the veges about
1 1/2 quarts...

I added a bit more water and covered the pot
 and to let it cook

When  the soup is ready add 2TB flour to 2TB melted
 butter to thicken soup slightly...I think it's supposed
 to be softened butter not melted. But I melt it.....

Blend it all together...

Then add flour/butter to soup, let the soup cook down
a little bit with out the lid...Now it is ready!

You can serve Cabbage Soup with Dumplings or just
eat it as it is....