glam chinstraps for the spups

since sarah has taken to calling me hdog (like most other folks of my pre-dc life), i call her spups. pups, because she's pint-sized. hehe. sarah has sleep apnea and needs super strong chinstraps to clamp her mouth shut when she uses her bipap machine at night. sure she has muscular dystrophy, but this girl's jaw muscles are robust (as evidenced by our call logs)! her straps previously had stretchy velcro, which just weren't strong enough. no worries, i can fix that.

during my visit to boston (pics will be in the next post!), i hit up winmill fabrics in chinatown. wasn't the greatest, but they did have $1 patterns! (yes, i do visit a lot of fabric stores during my travels. it's embarassing, and i admit that i do have a problem.) i got 4 yards of nonstretchy sew-on velcro for 90c/yd. (relatively pricey i thought, but it is crucial to sarah's existence.) i removed the chin cup from the stretchy straps and sewed on the velcro, which i encased in grey jersey (because the backside of the velcro was still rather abrasive) from a brown univ tshirt that sarah outgrew (go bears!). what could be a better way to commemorate our alma mater? then came the fun part... decorating each! i sewed purple satin ribbon straight down the middle of the jersey to hide the seam of the first one. wanting to up the challenge, i ruffled some white satin ribbon and sewed it down the middle of the 2nd. (not an easy task to sew down wily ruffles) for the last one, i went all out and cut strips from the jersey and made box pleats! naturally, the box pleats are my fav, seeing as they were the most complex to make! here i demonstrate how cute one would look with a box pleats chin strap! (please ignore my unruly hair...) because sarah's other complaint of her old straps was that they would slide off her head in the middle of the night, i sewed strips of clear rubbery bra straps onto the inside of the top of each strap to help provide some more friction. sweet dreams, spups!

road trip to philly!

this past weekend bunks and i took a trip to philly to visit an old friend scott for his bday. old, as in he's been a good friend since middle school and as in he aged another year last friday. we kept bunks in the bathroom when we weren't home to supervise him, as he can be quite the troublemaker. he quickly picked a favorite hideout: behind the toilet! philly was amazing, which i've always known of course, as i've been visiting regularly ever since i was a little kid. there was a street where numerous homes had their address tiled onto the sidewalk in front of the house! (i know, it looks like i'm going potty. my intention really was to fit myself in the same frame as the street numbers.)there were many murals on the sides of buildings. here's a pic of marcus, julia's bf who also came for the occasion, with him being ridiculous in front of one such mural. julia is to his left and lauren, her sister, is to the right. don't they have the same smile? there were numerous fabric stores as well. i didn't make it to spool fabrics on south street, the store that made the pattern for the birdies and robert's bday apron. =( however, i did make it to gaffney fabrics on germantown ave, which had tons of fabric at really cheap prices (cheaper than at g street fabrics, where i get my fabric in dc)! i behaved myself and didn't go crazy, but i did score some iron-on interfacing, mini grommets, and cheap thread! (and maybe some fabric, but shhhh, secret!)in the northern liberties neighborhood, near scott's spiffy loft apt, there was this shop called lyla design that had a really nifty concept: you pick out the fabrics from tons of bolts displayed around the shop and she will make you whatever accessory you design. she had lots of amy butler's fabrics! drool!!!!

i wish i could post pics of a completed gift for scott. but alas, we all know me better than that. here's the first sock of the pair that i aimed to knit him for his bday. it'll probs be done sometime soon. i'm currently in boston spending spring break with sarah! bunks and her wheelchair wheels are becoming fast friends!! (she's pretty high up because of the chair, so that's all he sees when he sees her.)

a his/hers bday apron

friend robert's bday was nearly 2 weeks ago. while his bday present was a little late, it wasn't 2 WEEKS late. the real person to blame for this late posting is robert himself because his wifey didn't want to see pics of the present until she could see it in person and he kept forgetting to bring it home. in reality, the present was probably 3 days late. (yay me!)

now robert and his wifey like to duke it out in the kitchen for bragging rights on who cooks each dish better. it's cute. however, they lack proper cooking accessories. like a personalized apron. to help them reduce kitchen clutter (and overstaffing for that matter), i decided that robert and his wife would have to share their apron (thus forcing them to take turns)! robert is a huge dallas cowboys fan. i had never tried appliquing before, so here's my first attempt for the cowboys logo. the star consists of 2 layers of navy linen-like fabric (same one as from the sleeves of the duckie shirt) and 1 layer of white jersey. i zigzag-stitched around all edges of each star to really secure it down. the square fabric is from the knittin' kitten in portland! the pocket actually has 3 compartments: 1 wide for sundry items, 1 medium-sized for more sundry items, and 1 narrow for utensils. there are ties along the side to tie around one's back and ties on top to tie around one's neck. robert is much taller than his wife, so this way, the apron could be customized for each wearer.on the backside, i made a diagonally striped theme by sewing navy fabric alongside this waterproof pink and creme striped cotton that was treated with scotchgard from the craft exchange in durham! robert's wifey absolutely loves pink! originally i wanted the pink and creme stripes to run parallel to the navy stripes, however there was not much of the pink fabric and thus the stripes run perpendicular to each other. (yes, i'm a math teacher. could you tell?) the pocket has the same 3 compartments as on robert's side. finally, i sprayed both sides of the entire apron with scotchgard to waterproof and stainproof the entire thing. on robert's bday card, i continued the cowboys theme by using the appliques to trace stars onto construction paper. happy bday robert! hope you (and your wife!) love your present!!

happy bday dad!

i know, you're all anticipating pics of a completed shirt. sigh. didn't finish, but that's not shocking is it? however, i do have some good pics of the process! production of the shirt began last thursday, when i brought my gear to elizabeth's new apt and helped her move in while attempting to start dad's shirt. a couple glasses of wine were imbibed. it'd been a long week. things were going swimmingly well, until i sewed the shoulders without including the front panel in between. then i sewed the front panel on backwards TWICE (ie with the shoulder side facing the neck and vice versa). 4th time was a charm, whew. then friday morning, having sobered up, i tackled sewing the arms on, but i ended up sewing the left sleeve onto the right shoulder! sigh. luckily the fabric is reversible, so in the end, the new spiffy hidden seam that i designed is on the inside of the shirt while the double seam is on the outside. actually i find the double seam to be edgier and i did a darn good job sewing straight this time (no falling off of the edge of the hem!), so dad will just have to actually be hip this time. not bad, right? still need to work on lining up the shoulder stripes with the sleeve stripes though...jimmy picked us last friday and we kept miss mia (his small german shepherd) in the front seat with me while i drove, jimmy sat in the back seat, and bunks chilled in the trunk of our honda crv. we cleverly snuck bunks in, and since mia has such a horrible sense of smell, she never knew that dinner was lurking just behind her! here's bunks, curious as to why his cage was chilling by the front door before we left:once at home, i did the cuffs easily, with interfacing inside (the non iron-on kind) to make it stiffer. and yes, that is the italian ice i scrounged up in one of my frenzies to find dessert!then came my least favorite part of shirt-making: the neck! the collar is easy, but the neck is a nuisance because sewing those little strips involve edge to edge stitching (a pain because often when trying to keep the needle along one edge, it falls off on the back side's edge!). this time i decided to start smart: i folded, pinned, then ironed the hems on both the front and back of the neck, folding the interfacing at the same time as each striped piece. then, i pinned everything together, making sure all edges were lined up before i tackled sewing. of course, the bobbin ran out before the end, so i had to backstitch in the middle of edge-sewing (thus putting myself in danger of falling off the edge! but i didn't!).naturally i ran out of time, so i took the shirt back to dc with me to finish. still have to sew the cuffs on, hem the bottom, make 3 more button holes, and sew on the front pocket. it's so much better in quality than dad's christmas shirt! i'll be giving dad the finished project next weekend, when i stop by enroute to boston to spend spring break with sarah! (oh and did i mention bunkins' excitement to meet her?? yes he's coming too, even though sarah has a history of running over old bunny slippers!)

dad has poor circulation to his feet and gets frostbite a lot, so jimmy got dad military-issue combat cold and wet weather boots (keeps you warm in up to -14 degrees fahrenheit)! they looked so ridiculous on him. he wears a size 8, but with all the layers of rubber and air pockets, they were about a size 11!and finally, i end with a pic of bunks' tail. you'd think his tail was a puff ball, but it's more like a really furry and short mouse tail. when he misbehaves, i grab at his tail, which drives him nuts. hehe.

male bonding

2 weekends ago, marcus (julia's bf) and lauren (julia's little sister) came to visit for the weekend. we had a packed house. bunks was thrilled. in fact, he even tried to assert his dominance. here's bunks begging for some cheerios from marcus. mad props to lauren's timely and phenomenal photo skills. male bonding at its best!

construction of dad's bday shirt has begun

countdown for my return home for dad's bday: 4.

yes, panic has arisen. bunks can sense it. this weekend, while constructing the new sewing desk, i also started cutting fabric for dad's bday shirt. maureen, the recipient of the birdy mobile, recommended that i show more process photos, so here goes...

i used dad's old shirt again and pinned the pieces to the new fabric and cut with my new spiffy fabric scissors that i received for christmas! when i did dad's last shirt, i traced each piece, which took forever. while pinning helped cut down on time, i still cut freakishly slowly. maureen actually gave me a roller cutter for my project runway club, back when i taught, however i don't have a cutting mat. thankfully, my new scissors are super sharp. i still have a bit more to cut tonight. hopefully i get to the sewing stage too!

while i was working on the fabric side of things, bunks helped himself to my interfacing. i didn't think the interfacing would rip since it's pretty tough, however the little sucker certainly was able to sink his teeth through it!!! after a while, he got tuckered out from being chased away by me, so he sprawled out at his favorite resting spot: under the breakfast counter.he's cute. i still love him.

greetings from bob villa!

hi, bob villa jr here. hehe. after patiently waiting for 2 months to make sure i had researched all viable alternatives (craigslist mainly- no one had the all white version), i realized it was time to bite the bullet and purchase the ikea mikael computer workstation for a sewing desk. trust me, this desk acquisition process wasn't easy. 1) i'm allergic to spending over $100, 2) ikea college park was sold out of them (which i didn't realize until after i was there already!), 3) i have a bunny, 4) i have a bunny, 5) i have a bunny. let me explain...

after finding out that college park had sold out of the mikael (the desk is newly discontinued!), i had to hurry home to get prepped for my fc ceviche soccer game, which we lost. however, while getting ready for the game, i quickly checked the ikea website and found that they have a "store availability" search option and i learned that the ikea in woodbridge, va had 6 left. just 6. ahh! in my usual tunnel vision shopping mode, i resolved to rush to ikea woodbridge after my soccer game. they had 4 left by the time i arrived. whew. tantrum averted. by the time i got home, it was too late to get started, so i had to patiently wait for the morning like waiting for santa claus. i wake up and dive in. bunny wakes up, and makes it known that the boxes are tasty. so, i essentially have to lay out the 30 pieces on my bed to avoid bunkins.

as i'm emptying the 2 boxes of parts, panic strikes: one of the pieces has a HUGE hole gouged in it. i almost cried. i call dad immediately and he asserts that he can fix anything. still, a hole with the same area as a quarter?having already waited patiently for 2 months, i decide i can wait no longer. i build anyway, assuming dad can patch the hole. here's the desk part finished:

for the side drawer, ikea supplied a satin nickel drawer pull. cute, but doesn't match any of my bedroom decor.so, i installed 2 leftover knobs from my dresser refinishing projects to match the bronze oil rubbed metal accents of all my furniture. i realize knobs don't equal a drawer pull. but as you can see on the right side of the picture below, i've already used knobs to replace drawer pulls, so why not?at about this stage, when it was time to construct the hutch, bunks started licking the hutch pieces. since there was already a gouge, the last thing i wanted was teeth marks, so i banished him to his time out spot: under the bed!! yes, that's poo he has hoarded under the bed. he never lets me touch them. (after this whole project, i locked him out of the room and took a vacuum to his collection. hehe)it turned out the piece with the hole in it was the top surface of the hutch, and thus it pointed to the ceiling and was high up. i could live with that (although dad will still be patching it). and here is the desk completed!! naturally, ikea left out 4 pegs to hold up a second shelf! i called customer service and the guy said "just come visit the store!" um, no thanks. twice in one day is plenty. so, they're going to mail me the pegs!!i also purchased a chair and a lamp for the desk!! the lamp, naturally, is satin nickel (UGH), but i couldn't have 3 of the same lamps in my bedroom. oh well. again, i can deal.

cutie pie clarification

perhaps i was misleading in the last post... i didn't get another bunny. no worries. bunkins is the only bunny in my eye. i was tempted though because she is quite the cutie pie!

gf for the bunks?

i found this adorable netherland dwarf bunny up for adoption in annandale, va on craigslist yesterday. sometimes i worry that bunks is too lonely. however, he loves people and pesters us quite frequently so i think he's ok. also i'm not quite down with caring for 2 things (my parsley garden died a while back). isn't she absolutely adorable?

happy chinese new year

really it's happy asian new year, since many asian folks celebrate the new year of the lunar calendar. my people believe you should get new shoes for each new year to stomp on the enemies of the past year and start the new year on new footing. well, shoes can get expensive, especially if you have expensive taste like me. so socks it was!

now remember, i don't know how to knit and my first 6 attempts at that military cardigan failed miserably. luckily (if it can be considered as such), my former math student emma was home during winter break to have foot surgery and was stuck at home. emma is a fantastic knitter. and i have a fantastic moving vehicle. so, with some offers to pick her up and deliver her to free $1 happy hour sushi in exchange for true knitting lessons, we had a deal. so far i have knit 6 pairs, with plans to complete 2 more... here are the 3 different varieties of wool.aren't the kids' socks cute? i felt bad that bunks feels deprived of attention when i craft (he pokes my leg constantly to be pet), so i even offered him my ball of yarn. however, bunks doesn't understand what to do with yarn, so he opted to sun himself next to it instead. hehe and when i got back from spending the new year in hawaii, julia and i agreed to continue our snowpocalypse cook/bake fest. so, on monday night we made calzones (i still haven't mastered working with yeast, so the dough was again fairly dense, though not as much as last time) and i baked a lemon chiffon cake for dessert! i liked this cake more than the angel food cake because it was not as sweet yet equally fluffy. also, this cake was different in that only 8 eggs were used instead of 11!i was supposed to mix a lemon icing to top the cake, however i've been so exhausted from jet lag and too many tutoring sessions that dusting each slice with a little confectioners' sugar has done the job quite well!tonight i must start cutting fabric to make dad's bday shirt. jimmy and i return home next weekend to celebrate. it's a big deal that i finish. must. finish. on. time!!!!

and the snowpocalypse continues...

this week started with a short lull in the snowfall. bunkins even took it upon himself to survey the snow situation outside. he estimated about 20 inches (the bunny is quite adept at math)!! however, on tuesday we got a blizzard with 55 mph winds and an additional foot of snow! i am currently on day #5 of snow days and missed work!! i can't say bunks is a fan though, as he tends to sleep peacefully while julia and i are at work so us being at home translates into sleepless days for the little buns. since restaurants weren't exactly open during the blizzard, julia and i continued our cooking/baking fest and made a pizza from scratch. 2 pizzas actually because i messed up in halving the recipe! (**blush**) here's the dough rising, although not all that much because i realized too late that i didn't halve the water added, so i had to add the rest of the yeast and the other ingredients later, which didn't let the rest of the yeast dissolve properly. here is one of the pizzas all ready to go into the oven! giant didn't exactly have much stuff left. people bought out all of the produce by the 2nd time i went to the store this weekend, so we had to rely on an old yellow pepper, broccoli that we had bought on the 1st trip, and turkey pepperoni. and here is the other one, ready to eat! we were definitely fans and will be making this again, but hopefully with a properly halved batch of dough. last night i started baking goodies for my trip to hawaii this sunday. here are the oatmeal, fruit and chocolate chip cookies. they are from the same recipe as the new years cookies i made this past break, although with proper ingredients! unfortunately they turned out much more crumbly, but still tasty. next up will be gingersnaps and banana bread! cross your fingers that the hardworking folks at dulles airport will clear the snow and ice out in time for my flight to take off! bunks is finally starting to experience the cabin fever that is plaguing the humans in this abode. his lack of sleep is wearing on him to the point where he has now taken to plopping his tired self right in the middle of the cage, something he never does! he usually opts to lie down on that bare spot on the left side of the cage. he's also starting to shed again because the heater has been blasting automatically to combat the blizzard winds that are outside. ok snow, time for you to go away now!

what to do in a snowpocalypse

so the world is going to end, but in dc only. why, you may ask? the weatherpeople have predicted anywhere from 1 to 3 feet of snow for this weekend. i think we're currently at 2 feet, although i can't be sure since it is so windy out. julia and i were planning to go to philly to celebrate our friend martha's bday before she returns to snowy nh, but unfortunately we're stuck. so, we decided to spoil ourselves with lavish meals. to see the general mood around town, visit http://snowpocalypsedc.com/. hehe

to start off the potentially snowed-in weekend, i baked a quiche thursday night. 2 weekends ago, marcus, julia's bf, baked a quiche for us but he used a pre-made crust. tsk tsk. since he swore that a quiche was easy to make, i figured i couldn't mess it up. however, i wasn't in the mood to roll dough, so the crust looks like poo, and i missed the part in joy of cooking where it says to sautee the vegetables beforehand. oops. so after quiche came out, it was a little soggy. i poked several holes in the quiche and used paper towel to wick out a lot of the moisture. phew. "spinach, yellow pepper, and enoki mushroom" quiche, saved! last night, julia and i cleverly avoided the massive lines at the grocery store by going at 9 pm when everyone else would be snowed away! (we can access our grocery store by walking underground, hehe!) people bought out the weirdest things: lemons (???), biscuit dough, bagged salad (but not heads of lettuce! lucky for bunkins!), chocolate chips... anyway we got our ingredients and julia made pasta with peas, cheese and crab meat. it was tasty! i made angel food cake. lan's hand mixer saved my life! the recipe called for 11 egg whites and i was supposed to beat until the mixture was 5 times its original volume. FIVE! here it is midway through the baking process, nice and fluffy and beginning to brown: and here it is unmolded with sliced strawberries all ready to go. i had 11 egg yolks left over and didn't want to waste them, so we googled "what to do with leftover egg yolks" and found a recipe for zabaglione on chowhound.chow.com. so ridiculously appropriate! zabaglione is an italian custardy mousse dessert made from wine, confectioner's sugar, and egg yolks. it's very rich, but goes really well with the lightness of angel food cake. here's how we served up the cake: happy birthday martha! we celebrated you in spirit! one week till chinese new year. must get busy!