Sewing Help

My sewing projects have been made possible by very generous family and friends. My grandma is an extremely talented knitter and sewer and when she moved into an assisted living home, I got her gorgeous sewing box, filled to the brim with every sewing notion known to woman. This isn't just any sewing box, though, it's a treasured piece of furniture.

My other most treasured sewing gadget was given to me by my aunt, MaryLee, who supports me in all of my crafting endeavors. This dress form will help so much with clothes making. Dan helped me set all of the dials to my own measurements. 

Amy, my good friend and sewing guru, told me that a dress form needs a name, so I chose the name Dolly!

This Hawaiian dress needs to be taken in and I can't wait to get started on it. Starting this project will definitely be made easier with the dress form but also because my friend Morgan was kind enough to offer to take out all of the side stitches for me! In Ellie's world, it takes a village to make a dress. Ha!

Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

I don't cook very much (um, or at all, really?) but I do enjoy baking, when an amazing recipe comes along. Our Tiki themed Valentine's Day inspired me to find a really great recipe. After some research, I found a good one on allrecipes.com.  

Some of the commenters there made some modification suggestions to the recipe and I followed them. I used a Pineapple Supreme cake mix and followed the directions on the box to make the batter. There's a heavenly sauce that goes in the greased muffin tins first - a mixture of 1/3 C melted butter and 2/3 C packed brown sugar. Spoon some into each cup and then it's time for pineapples.

My muffin tins make kind of small muffins so the pineapples had to be sliced to fit. If you have the bigger muffin tins you could probably fit a lovely pineapple ring in the base. Spoon the batter over the pineapple and bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Get your cooling and rack and tinfoil ready for the flip!

Run a knife around the edge of each muffin to loosen them. Place the rack on top of the muffin pan and flip it!

 Beauties! When I made the first batch for the party, I thought they smelled a lot like Twinkies, which surprised me! Are Twinkies pineapple cake?

Top with some boozy, rum cherries that you have on hand. Oh, wait, you don't have rum-soaked cherries on hand? Damn, you really need to meet my friend, Suzanne.

Put some Perez Prado and Harry Belefonte on the stereo and it's Tiki time!

Sprucing Up a Welcome Mat

A couple of years ago, I got a cute welcome mat from Target. It had a pretty, aqua colored damask design on it. Over the years, all of the paint came off so I decided to spruce it up with a new design!

See, you can kind of see it on the edge, but it looks pretty sad.

I started with two coats of aqua blue.

I enlisted the help of my husband because he's really good at drawing. I know this because he also helped me with my button animal silhouettes. Look how cute the seahorse turned out!

 Here it is all cut out!

A couple coats of white spray paint was all it took. Not too shabby! If the paint wears off of this one, we can just do another design. I love a project that involves rehabbing something I already have using things I can find around the house (you know me, spray paint is pretty much a staple in this household). I finished it just in time for the tropical themed Valentine's Day party we're throwing tomorrow! Aloha!

Apron for Jane

This past holiday season, my friend Jane sent me a package full of goodies, including this Butterick apron pattern. It was just the thing I needed to get me back into the sewing swing of things!



To return Jane's kindness, I wanted to make her one. I thought version A (the pink one) was the cutest, but I made a few changes. I used this great, wild print fabric that my mom gave me for Christmas. Here you can see it close, on one of the straps.

I used bias tape for the first time. It's not perfect, but I think the green trim is cute. I thought it was pretty serendipitous that I found some in the sewing box I inherited from my grandma, in just the right shade and just the right amount for the pockets.

Here it is (wrong side) all spread out so you can get a sense for the shape. Four straps, two pockets, and one solid main piece. 

And here is Jane modeling the final project! 

Hawaiian Print Pillows

This fabric is one of my absolute favorites. After making this dress, I knew I'd have to do something with the leftover scraps. So, I whipped up a couple of pillows for the bed! I love quick and easy projects, even if it does involve a little bit of the dreaded hand sewing.

 

 

Speaking of quick and easy, here's a recipe for Ellie's Minty S'Mores that will change your life:

Ingredients: two graham crackers, 2 Andes candies, 2 marshmallows

Directions: Break the graham crackers in half and place on a microwave safe plate. Top two of the halves with an Andes candy and a marshmallow. Microwave for 12 seconds - watch the marshmallows puff up! Place the other graham cracker halves on top and dig in. They're freaking delightful!

Giraffe Skirt

I finally finished my giraffe circle skirt! Check it out:

I followed the same pattern as my black and white checked skirt, except this time I added some ties on the side.

Join Me On Pinterest!

I recently found out about an awesome new website called Pinterest. It’s a really simple, pretty website that collects images and links for you and puts them in “boards.” You can decide what theme your boards have, and can set up as many boards as you like. Some examples of my boards are Places I'd Like to Visit, Tutorials to Try, and Eat! Set up an account, put a Pinterest button on your web browser toolbar, and with a few clicks, you can add new material to any board in seconds. You can even pin something via email.

My Google Reader is a great tool for gathering things from all over the web, but I like Pinterest because I can group them the way I want and see them all at once, with a link back to the original source. There's also a great community on there - I've found so many cool people posting inspiring things. I also never realized how many tutorials I've held onto in my Google Reader over the years. It's crazy!

You have to be logged in to use Pinterest right now, and since they’re still in beta, you need an invitation to get an account. I have five invitations* at my disposal, so leave a comment on this post and I'll send you one! Let's all join!

You can also put in your request for an invitation.

*UPDATE: I still have 2 invites left!