The Final Stretch of MMJ

I took a week off work and so it was very obvious that I still don"t have many casual clothes. My sewing is geared to a work wardrobe!

Saturday (Day 25) errands as per usual on a Saturday morning. My trusty denim skirt and a Joe Fresh tee. Also. the hand crocheted shopping bag.

Sunday (Day 26), I spent the afternoon at the side of a rugby field before heading into cottage country to join the rest of my family. We had rented a cottage for a few days as we have family here from overseas. I wore the cropped pants that I wore earlier this month and teamed it with a nice little white tee. Unfortunately on the way to the cottage I managed to spill my coffee down me. So the photo taken as I arrived, is with me wearing one of my son's sweaters! But lovely view behind me!

On Monday I wore a little denim halter neck top that I finished Sunday before we left. Funny story here. This is an old Burda magazine pattern, at least 11 years old. I had cut it out and finished except for the button holes. Somehow this got caught up in my stash and went unnoticed until I was looking for something the other day and found it tucked away. So it survived an emigration to Canada and three moves since we have been here!

On Tuesday, (Day 28) I did wear my jeans in the evening but no pictures unfortunately     (or is that fortunately, I have worn them so much this month!!)

View while I was wearing the jeans!!!

Wednesday we were back home for our younger son's high school graduation. I wore the black and white check Vogue dress that I finished earlier this year. Vogue Divine Details V8353. I did leave out the lace insert that the pattern suggested.

For the last day of MMJ, I managed to wear my golf skort. With all the rain we have been having and with work functions, this is only the third time I have been out this season so far. The skort was very easy and nice to wear. The shorts are made in a stretch fabric and the skirt in a cotton fabric. The shorts and skirt are joined at the waistband. This is a kwik Sew pattern 3341.

My Adventures In Bag Making Begin

For Mothers day I received the Amy Butler Style Stitches book. For months, I had been looking at this book every time I went in to Chapters! The idea behind wanting the book is so that I can do some stash busting when trying out each of the 12 bags for the first time.

So the first bag in the book is the Cosmo bag (pictured on the cover of the book), and is rated as “easy”, while not an expert sewer, I am certainly not a novice and I found this bag tricky! Maybe due in part because Amy doesn’t have many diagrams in the instructions, it is all words. I am a visual learner apparently!! Wonderful instructions, but not many pictures. I prefer the Ikea type of instructions, lots of pictures, very little writing!!!

I used an old curtain that I had picked up several years ago in England on a holiday there, to make blinds for the kitchen (never happened!). I didn’t do the contrast for the bands and the handles, I just cut the material in the other direction to get a different effect with the stripes. I lined it with a plain green cotton fabric.

I am very happy with it. It is bigger than I had thought. Maybe I can carry my dog around in it like the celebs do! My dog is a 110lb yellow lab, plenty of space!!!

Just as I finished the bag I found the Crafty Crap blog and a sew-a-long. So although I am coming late to the party (they started with bag one in January!), better late than never I say!! I am going to start with bag number 7 in July and continue to the end of the year and hopefully in between then I can catch up on the other 5 that I will be missing.

Yes I do of course realize that I am skipping through the rest of the easy and intermediate bags and jumping in to the more difficult ones!!! 

MMJ Days 20 - 24

Two new items this week. It would have been three, but due to rain on Thursday afternoon, golf was cancelled so I didn't get to wear the new golf skort that I had made.

Day 20(Monday) I wore the Vogue Easy Options skirt and top. Day 21 and all I could come up with was the black and white Pendrell blouse and black trousers! Every wardrobe needs something like that you can just throw together when you are running late.

Day 22 was the new outfit. Well I made it two years ago but rarely wear it on account of the fact that due to a technical issue it is a little tight across the middle. OK, I misread the measurements and cut it out too small!! But with a longer jacket over I felt it was actually quite fine. It is an old pattern, Butterick 6150 and very easy to make. Zip at the back and darts to shape it back and front.

Day 23 was my self drafted A-line skirt again,and I didn't even change up the top. Just repeated the same combo as previously.

Day 24, and a new item. Well it is several years old and doesn't get worn much due to a laundry incident. Whereby someone, no names mentioned left a pen in their white shirt pocket and it leaked ink all over only one other thing in the dryer, my brand new, only worn once white skirt. It has some yellow stains at the top, where I had removed the ink. But with a top over, no one sees. It is made in a heavy white cotton, and the pattern is the same as the black skirt I wore earlier this month, except with a front slit. Simplicity 5259.

The Bloggers' Dinner Party

I recently stumbled upon a lovely blog, Needle and Spatula, by the very talented Kate S. who is an avid crafter. Of particular interest to me was the Blogger’s Dinner party:

“The Bloggers' Dinner Party will be a monthly link-up for you to show off handmade placemats, table runners, napkins, trivets and any other handcrafted item related to serving a delicious dinner!  Items should either be hand-sewn or significantly modified (such as by screen printing, freezer paper stenciling, embroidery, etc).   Each month you can enter one item (or set of items); the item(s) entered must have been made within the past year” (from the blog)

Now, I sew mostly clothes and have just recently ventured into the world of bags, thanks to the Amy Butler Style Stitches Book that I received for Mother’s Day. More on that in a later blog when I actually have a finished bag to show off!

I do however have many household items along this line that I have been meaning to sew. I also have  fabric collected on a trip to Namibia and South Africa in 2008. Lots of animal prints and very pretty, all waiting to be made into household items.  In fact I did make a few placemats a month or so ago and am going to sign up and enter them for this month.

So, these placemats that I made are from end of the roll pieces. So there was only enough for 3 of each pattern. I backed them with quilt weight plain cotton, with batting sandwiched in between. I didn’t quilt as such, but did frame the print with stitching.

Rhinos, zebras and lions

Guinea Fowl

I won’t be using them for a dinner party, but just casual every day dinners (at the kitchen table or out on the deck).  As these have an Africa theme, I thought I would share a traditional South African recipe.

”Melktert” (milk tart) is very popular in South Africa as a dessert of with a cup of tea or coffee any time of the day.

Line a 22cm tart dish with pastry, I sometimes make my own, but often buy frozen pastry as well!

Filling
500ml milk (2 cups)
1 stick cinnamon
25ml butter (2 T)
50ml sugar (4T)
2 Eggs
50 ml Cake Flour (4T)

1. Bring the milk to almost boil in a large pot with the cinnamon stick.
2. Combine the sugar and flour and stir in the hot milk slowly.
3. Return to the heat and cook for 15 minutes with the lid off.
4. Remove from heat and stir in the butter.
5. When cool, add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Pour the filling mixture in to the pastry lined plate
7. Bake at 200 deg C (400 deg F) for 20 minutes.
8. Before serving sprinkle the top with powdered cinnamon and castor sugar.

Serve cool or cold.

Unfortunately I haven’t made it for a while, so no pic to share!