fall pies

burnt cinnamon on the top

burnt latticework, and i ran out of time and thus didn't let the apples soak in the juices for 15 mins before arranging in the crusts.  oops

next sewing project!!!  a really highwaisted skirt, that is currently a bit snug. must loosen. done soon!

cheesecake brownies!

a little sunday morning baking was needed...

happy bday, michelle!

disclaimer: michelle's bday was really sept 6.

but we all know i take forever to make gifts...  i used this sheer blue cotton

and made the "take manhattan tunic" from the twinkle sews line of patterns (the same pattern as for my october garment from last year).  here we are, ready to go out to the "dumbo arts festival," michelle donning my apparel of course!

happy bday, michelle!  a belated happy bday i mean!

muffins

bittersweet chocolate chip and butternut squash muffins.  39 of them, since i had no school yesterday due to yom kippur.  yippee!

carrot cake!!!

i love carrot cake!  and not because i have a bunny, ehhehehe.  yesterday i made one while emma practiced psychological testing on me, for 6.5 hrs!!  according to her, if i was dumber, it would have taken less time.  =)

they're absolutely fool-proof because the carrots keep the cake moist.  of course i topped it with cream cheese frosting... my fav.  i didn't do such a bad job frosting it... thanks to my large icing spatula.

bunks overheard us talking of carrots, and perked up his ears...  "carrots?  did i hear carrots?"  hehe jk, this picture was from 2 nights ago, when i fed him pellets while i was sewing and listening to rap.  i think bunks finds my rap music too abrasive.  his ears stay perked the whole time:  "bunny thugs n harmony''

mom in her cocktail dress!

here's a pic of mom in the cocktail dress i made her for her bday, while at my cousin's wedding with jimmy! she looks awesome, if i do say so myself!

balinese textiles!

i went to bali, indonesia with my friends michelle and melissa at the end of august. my 30th bday happened to fall on our last night there. yippee! the trip was so fun and bali is incredibly beautiful and TOURISTY. sheesh. anyway, bali is known for handwoven ikat, such as the blue fabric on the left, and batik, such as the floral fabric on the right.
i plan on using the blue ikat on a skirt (it has a pretty hefty weight) and the floral fabric for a dress! i'm so excited to use both!! if only i had more time!

bunks' new doormat

gmommy and gdaddy got bunks a new doormat to his little birdie cage. without it, bunks has quite a bit of difficulty jumping into his cage to conduct business, as the hardwood floor is too slippery for his little bunny paws. thanks gmommy and gdaddy!

mom's bday cocktail dress

i made mom a superfly cocktail dress for her bday, to wear to my cousin's wedding. i used the butterick5353 pattern,

along with this pretty upholstery-weight fabric i snagged from gaffney's in philly, from back when i worked across the street!

the back of the fabric was pretty cool, and i really wanted to use it as contrasting fabric for the waistband and collar. however, the sticky coating on it, made this completely not an option.

therefore, i oriented the fabric so that the diamonds where vertical for the bodice and skirt and horizontal for the collar and waistband.

the contrast was subtle, yet classy. i love the bodice. it's very form-fitting.

here i am, trying on the dress. i made it for mom's build. it's a bit loose on me on top, and obviously way too long (although this was from before i hemmed up the bottom). hehehe.

stay tuned for a pic of mom in it at the wedding. jimmy was in charge of snapping one for me and he said they're on his camera. whoohoo!!

gingersnaps

heading home tonight to see the bunks and visit the momski. she loves gingersnaps. i made her some gingersnaps. i also ate some gingersnaps... oops.

next project on the docket: cocktail dress for mom for my cousin brenda's wedding. that's right... mom is gonna be wearing a cocktail dress. whee!!!

summery peach pie!

michelle hosted a dinner at her apartment this weekend. she made dinner, and i baked a peach pie! whee!!!! yay for summer!

july's summer dress

i'm alive! july's garment was a summer dress, using the Simplicity 2916 pattern. i realized i have very few cool summer dresses... the last 3 dresses that i made for myself are very fitted and thus are too hot. (really this should be my august garment because i was late by a couple days. settling in brooklyn took over my life, hehe.)for fabric, i used leftover dark grey linen from my october garment of 2011, the "take manhattan tunic," for the bust, and this cream, grey and coral striped shirting fabric for the bottom (this fabric is the same fabric i used to make dad's 4th shirt (still in progress... grrrrr)! when i finish his shirt, we can match, hehe. (isn't it every dad's dream to match their daughters? forget mother and daughter matching schemes. hahaha)
while this pattern was deemed "easy," of course i had to complicate things by sewing the top bar of the bust section on backwards. hahahahha! (i fixed it, of course. i'm too much of a perfectionist to leave such a mistake!)the skirt section was a pain to make. soo many pleats, each of which had to be hand-basted and pinned! however, the end result was fabulous! check out the neat and even pleats i made at the waistband!despite the heavy rains of sunday night, i met up with emma in west village for some $1 oysters, for the primary purpose of wearing my new dress. it was pouring. my hair is not usually this slicked down...check out the back. there was a cute tie for the back. see how wet the bottom is? oh the sacrifices i make for the garments i sew! i'm not really that fascinated with the posters. hehe

i've moved!!!

now a resident of brooklyn, ny!! whee!!! and, better yet, bunks arrives sunday! it's been a month without my bunny. i miss him. i've been tackling a 5000 piece puzzle since there's no bunny here to chew the pieces. once i finish, and here's hoping i finish before the munch-monster arrives, i've gotta get going on several sewing projects promised for friends and fam!

6 days until we're reunited!

my bday labelmaker!

i finalllllllly opened the labelmaker jimmy got for my bday last year.  it's pretty fancy!  fancier than the labelmaker that my colleague had!

check out my new "buttons" label on my shelf of sewing stuff.  the label-less tin to its right is the gift tags tin, which got a label shortly afterward.  i'd take a pic of it, but i already packed it in a box for my move next monday!  YIPPEE!

grad gifts

i got invited to a graduation party for these twin brothers one of whom i taught last year and the other i taught for 2 years.  for alex:  "alex, in case you ever need to know the 1st 100 digits of e in a jiffy... -helen"  ah, yes, admire my fine wrapping job!

e, euler's number, is quite useful in physics, math (obviously), and business (alex's intended major in college).  i had 2 pics of bunks leftover from christmas cards that i sent years ago.  i wrote out the 1st 100 digits of e around the border of the mat that i made.

 "jarred, should you ever wonder what the 1st 100 digits of pi are... -helen"

pi, a transcendental and irrational number, is also super useful...  jarred hasn't quite figured out what he wants to major in (he's changed his mind 3 times this year already)... but i'm sure he'll use pi at some point!  these are really the 1st 100 digits of pi:

congrats, class of 2012!

mille grazie!

some star jars for my 2 italian teachers, franca and chiara.  i'm going to miss them!

graduation dress

my june garment was one heck of a project.  right after i finished my may garment, i dove right in, hoping to complete a new dress for my students' graduation, friday june 8!  i used this fabric (that is stain resistant!), that i purchased from g street fabrics near dc years ago,

and vogue1174

this project was no small feat.  i had my serger and sewing machine on at the same time and my apartment looked like this:

 poor bunks was bored out of his wits:

the bodice required my usual adjustment:  skinnier up top, wider at the waist

putting the bodice together was a huge pain in the butt.  there were 7 pieces for just the front half and i wanted to make sure that the pattern continued smoothly.  also, each piece was split by piping.  ahhhhh!!

the pattern made the skirt super long.  we all know i'm not that modest... so off came 2.5 inches.

around back, i lined up the fabric so that the zipper split a reed right down the center!  suffice it to say, cutting fabric for this project probably took 5 hours...  sigh.  

the inside of the bodice had a foundation (as vogue calls it), otherwise known as a modern day corset.  sewing boning is WORSE than sewing in zippers.  too bad there were 6 pieces of boning to sew in.  ack. 

the final result was quite stunning, if i do say so myself.  the kids were thrilled that i finished (many heard about this project), as were the few teachers who i told.  here's a pic of em and i outside independence hall, after graduation.  i had cute gold wedges on, but got tired from walking in them, so here unfortunately this pic is of me in gold sandals.   

we finished, bunks!  we finished!

now off to finish dad's shirt that was for xmas, his birthday, chinese new year, and now father's day.  oops.  i'm a terrible daughter