bake sale beasts

i baked 2 batches of fudgy brownies last week.  for 2 student council bake sales.

look how teeny these chocolate chips are!  my brownies have a very chocolatey inside.

we were bake sale beasts.  $330 in 1.5 hrs total!

lace top + earth day!

i finished the lace top just in time for earth day!  very appropriate, if you ask me, seeing as the lace is from a thrift store!  for the back, i used one of carin's vintage acrylic buttons.  after some polishing, the button became quite shiny!  the left one is an unpolished one, and the right is polished:

here it is, installed just above the zipper.  i like that it's clear and doesn't detract from the busy lace, yet is pretty!

here's the back, zoomed out:

and the front, on my mannequin:

and here i am, wearing my new shirt at school!  this is my 1st garment that is this loose.  i'm so used to my clothes being much more fitted that i stupidly thought this top would require a zipper.  NOPE!  so glad i realized this AFTER i installed one, TWICE, because i'm the idiot who doesn't line up zippers before attaching them.

not gonna lie, i'm a huge fan of this top.  although, not sure what's going on with all those wonky folds in this pic.

in honor of earth day, i baked some leaf and shamrock sugar cookies.  i would have made bunnies, but i figured everyone is tired of seeing my adorbs bunny cookies.

speaking of bunnies, guess who got cute bunny studs this weekend!!!

BUNKS!  jk hahahha!  he's using my lap as a stepladder to get onto the coffeetable.  apparently he reallllly wanted to read my final papers from college.  

happy earth day!  give all your little bunnies a hug and a kiss hehe

mobius strips??

i accidentally ended up with a mobius strip when trying to sew my next project.  THREE mobius strips!  You know, those loops that have only 1 side and twist on and on for forever?  before i show you the nonsense that i created, let me back up and explain what was my intended goal... view a of the shirt below:

here is the line drawing so you can see just how cute the pleating in the front would be:

i used this light tannish grey stretchy cotton-blend shirting fabric for the yoke and underlayer, and for the over lay i used this vintage lace that i found at the "scrap exchange" in durham, nc when i visited my friend erin 4 years ago.

the bodice part, while difficult, went without a hitch.  i ended up sewing the underlayer together at the sides separately from the lace overlay so that the lace would flow independently... perhaps.  however, the shirting fabric is stiffer than jersey and thus the lace isn't flowy... oh well.  they still looked nice together.

and now for the yoke on top... that's where the mobius strip comes into the story.  the instructions told me to create the yoke separately as an outer layer and as a lining.  no sweat, i thought to myself.  i've got this.  easy peasy.  then they tell you to invert the lining so that it sits inside the outer layer like a facing, and then you are to HANDSTITCH the lining inside the outer layer.  uhhh, i hate hand-stitching.  so, i decided to outsmart my instructions and i machine-sewed them together...  it became a mobius strip!! 

oh silly me, i think to myself.  i just twisted one of the sides of the sleeve before sewing it to itself.  let me unstitch the regular stitching (AND THE UNDERSTITCHING to keep the lining in place) and try it again.  in my haste, i passed off version 2 as being perfect, and did the other sleeve.  wait, i created another mobius strip!  how is that possible, oh silly me, i think to myself.  the other one is perfect... no wait... also a mobius strip.  GAH!!  FOILED BY MYSELF!  i wasn't content going to bed last night until i had at least undone the stitching in the sleeves.  i will save that part for tonight.  here are the pieces so far, pinned onto my mannequin.

not sure if i'm crazy about this.  i'm really hoping the final result turns out better than what this looks like right now...  i feel like it looks stuffy and bleh.

meanwhile, bunks was bored out of his mind and was cleaning his paws, despite my raucous laughter when i discovered the 3 mobius strips that i had sewn.  that's my clean bunny!

compliments galore!

i've never gotten as many compliments for something i made than i did today when i wore my oregon beach dress to school for the first time!  yippee!

oh hello!

guess who!

oh you again

happy bunny day!

for bunny day this year, the fam and i met up in dc.  bunks came too!  look at the wee boy!

no trip to dc ever happens without a requisite trip to gstreet fabrics, the greatest fabric store in the world!  i scored some awesome fabrics of course... no shocker there.  here we have some yellow stretchy rayon jersey with purple and navy squares and a quirky blue zigzag border (maxi dress?  short summer dress?  we shall see!), black polyester chiffon with colorful dot clusters (drapey summer blouse?  if i had more, i would totally want to make a flowy short summer dress.  not sure that 1 yd is enough fabric to cover enough skin to be called a dress, though!!), 

navy, cream, and magenta striped satiny something-or-other.  it is thin.  not sure what the material really is though.  i'm thinking a shirt-dress variation?  the orange is a cotton blend tweed (it's less than a yard, but i think i can squeeze out a pencil skirt!).  and finally, the navy is this cotton jersey knit that i plan to use as a lining for this embroidered wool that carin from work gave me!  see, i'm a good shopper... i only purchase what i know i will use... if i had all the time in the world hehehhehe!

a fabric shopping success!  the fam and i biked throughout rock creek park on saturday.  it was pretty out, although my allergies started getting the best of me.  the drive back was also particularly long... holiday traffic.  no worries, as i got to travel with the cutest easter bunny in my lap!

oregon beach dress!

nope, i didn't actually wear this to the beach in oregon.  too cold.  however, i did sew a beachy dress while in southern coastal oregon during spring break, while visiting shirley!!  i got the 70's vintage beach print fabric during my visit to knit'n kitten in portland this january.

i used mccall's 5753 pattern to draft the bodice (like in the black dress below- low scoop neck but without sleeves).  unfortunately this pattern needed major tweaking-  the arm holes had to be lowered and the back had to be made narrower.

for the skirt, i decided to try my hand at a circle skirt!

circle skirts are particularly difficult to hem, because the bottom of the hem is wider than higher up, thus when you fold over some of the fabric, there is always a bit extra!  GAH!  no worries... neat ironing will do the trick!  note: this is probably the only in-progress pic you'll ever get of me working, as i certainly can't take pics of myself while my hands are occupied!  thanks shirley!

since shirley lost her zipper foot, i had to handpick the zipper.  first time i've ever handpicked a zipper!  you can't even see my stitches, i made them so teeny!

not bad, right?  my stitching is pretty neat!

the best detail of circle skirts is that they are super twirly!

to celebrate my visit, shirley baked an amazing blueberry pie... check out her presentation... much better than my pies ever look!  she also made so many amazing meals: roast chicken, mashed potatoes, fish, risotto, and more!  i was spoiled!

i made shirley a jar of origami stars as a thank you for being such a great friend!

STARS!  despite how many stars i've made in my life, i still love them!

while i sewed, shirley made muslins for this awesome top that had a vanishing lapel... using surgical gowns for muslin fabric!  how genius, right?  thinking about this still cracks me up, hehe!

we didn't just sew during my visit... although there was much sewing to be done.  we also hiked and explored southern oregon's beautiful coastline:

and northern california's redwood forests:

i had such a great trip and was bummed that the time flew by!  here's a final pic of me twirling in my new dress!!

thanks for having me over, shirley!  and thanks for the awesome pics!

angel slices

joy of cooking calls this recipe pecan or angel slices.  since i followed their walnut variation, i guess what i made are angel slices?  to be honest, i wasn't crazy about how gooey it was.  it was also a bit too sweet.  michelle helped chop nuts and butter the foil... my 2 least favorite tasks.  hurray for teamwork!

pi pies

thursday was pi day, 3/14.  at school, i organized a big pi day bake sale, where a slice of pie and a scoop of ice cream cost a buck.  it was a huge success.  for the event, i made 2 blueberry pi pies!

this one is upside down... i'm too lazy to rotate the pic... you've seen me bake one of these pies before, so nothing new!

i stacked them in this cake carrier mom got me a while ago, separated by a small thin cutting board so that they wouldn't wreck.

happy pi day, fellow math enthusiasts!

wearing the ptc dress!

fits like a glove.  im soooo happy with the result.  all of those hours spent working on those darn pleats paid off!

since everyone keeps asking for a zoomed in pic of the button, here is one:

ptc dress is done!

parent teacher conferences ended last week.  and yet, i finished the dress yesterday!  sigh.

i really had hoped to finish the dress in time, but the pattern i chose had many issues:

1)  the waist was way too skinny.  i had to let out the waist by 1/2 inch on both sides, and i let out both back darts.  i think i added a total of 5 inches of circumference to the waist.  that's like the difference between a 24" waist and a 29" waist.  whoa, i'm totally built like a rectangle.  sheesh.

2)  the pleats where i altered the waist didn't measure up, so i had to invent new pleats to hide the gaps in the pleating.  i. hate. making. pleats.

3)  the bodice was way too long.  there was a line where i could adjust the bodice to fit a petite build.  of course, i reduced the bodice length there (this raised the waistline... which ended up still being a bit too low).  then, after sewing up the dress, i found that the bust darts were still hanging about an inch to 2 inches too low:  essentially the darts were around my ribs.  yeah, that just looks weird.  so, even though i had neatly attached the collar and wanted to quit, i detached them and reattached them, taking out an inch off the top of the dress' bodice.  another good consequence of this action was that the armholes were also shortened and thus the sides of my bra no longer peeked out.  hurrah!

all in all, i am pleased with the dress.  i don't have any collared dresses.  i like the pleating detail (even though making them is such a pain!).  ooh, i also love the vintage button i used at the collar... gifted from carin, my colleague who also gave me this fabric!

i'm going to wear it on tuesday, when my spring intensive course presents the flags we've been sewing all this week...  yes, i've been teaching sewing lessons at school all this week instead of math!  it's been SO much fun!  stay tuned for a pic of me in the dress!!

cupcakes as incentive

last night, michelle and i made dinner together... ie. she made dinner and i made dessert.  black bottom cupcakes!  so easy to make and they always come out good!

my friend jackie is visiting on saturday, so i'll be sending her home with plenty for her kiddos!!!  got that, jackie?  i've got cupcakes!!!  come and get'em!

on the bunks homefront, i just remembered this hilarious message that i sent bunks via his bedding shipment:  "happy birthday, bad boy bunny!  from: mommypants"  hahahahhahaha.  i crack myself up!

and i end with a picture of said bad boy bunny climbing into the last 10 lbs of his 50 lb hay bale.  bunny buffet!