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!

brownies and a snafu

everyone could use some butterscotch brownies.  they're probably my favorite dessert of all time.  when i 1st took this batch out of the oven, they were gooey.  probably too gooey:

so, i put them back in the oven and rebaked!  i find that this tends to result in overly dry baked goods (i had taken them out for several hours and then realized how raw they were when i went to cut them).  however, these stayed chewy!

bunks gets tired of all these chocolate goods.  he loves when i make banana bread or pies because then he benefits from any fruit bits that i drop on the floor.

i'm currently taking a break between parent teacher conferences.  bad news... just realized last night that my blue zipper is not navy, so i have to wait until after conferences to rush to the store before it closes to get the right zipper!  noooooo, my dress likely will not be done on time for tomorrow, my last day of conferences!  fingers crossed!

parent teacher conferences dress?

this is the newest project on the docket:  simplicity 1755.  leanne marshall, the designer of this pattern, was the season 5 winner of project runway.  she's brilliant.  her designs are intricate!  i'm planning on making the style of the gold dress, but at the length of the plaid one.  so, essentially i'm making the plaid part of the middle dress, but with a collar and without the sleeves.

i'm using this vintage fabric that my colleague carin gave me from her mother's stash!

this project is taking forever!  why?  well remember how i described leanne's patterns as being intricate?  well, look at this panel of pleats...

there are 8 total panels of pleats (6 along the skirt, 2 along the neckline).  ahhhhh!!!!!  let's hope i finish by next thursday!

lucky dog

yes, i made a stocking for a dog.  jimmy's got one lucky dog.  we all know how long it takes me to sew anything, and few friends have benefited from my laborious hobby.  even bunks hasn't gotten anything from me yet!  instead of cross-stitching just her initial, i decided to stitch her whole name, since 3 letters wasn't going to kill me.  here is the cross-stitching fabric, all centered and ready.

once her name was stitched, i pulled out the white threads one at a time so that just the letters remained!

the final result was pretty cute.  i'm not that big on quilting, but these stockings are manageable.

i've now realized that you don't really see the backs of stockings, so i took it easy this time and just used doggie flannel leftover from jimmy's flannel pants.  "woof ruff woof ruff"

i made a little tab so that jimmy could hang the stocking for mia from his fireplace mantel:

and inside, more woof ruff flannel with some extra owl flannel way inside!  like with liz's stocking, i also stitched down the inside lining so that it wouldn't wiggle around.  that step is easily my least favorite in this whole project.  it's so tedious and i often stab myself from the blind hand-sewing.

merry christmas, mimi!  i'm not a fan of dogs, but you're ok!  bunks agrees!

valentine's bunnies

now that i am the faculty advisor to student council, i get roped into all baking endeavors.  the kids decided to make valentine's day a day of good deeds.  of course, this included handing out free candy and baked goods.  since i still have 20 lbs of flour from a costco run, many bunny cookies were made!  here were the cream of the crop:

medium well:

do you like your bunnies well-done?  hehehe.  i saved these for me...  sorry kids!

another snowpacalypse?

supposedly we're getting another blizzard in nyc...  well, bunks is ready!

lemon carrot cookies

i ran a last minute student council meeting on tuesday, so to entice attendees, i baked lemon carrot cookies!

see the little shreds of carrot?  i'd make these more often, except shredding carrots takes forever!

mom's christmas jacket!

i've been wanting to test out butterick 5392 for quite a while now.  i was planning on making the magenta bell-sleeved jacket without the bows at the waist for mom for christmas, with leftovers of the teal wool that i used to make the scalloped skirt a couple of years ago.  however, there was not enough of this teal wool.

before shirley moved to oregon, she gifted me maybe 5 yards of this grey wool knit sweater material... i had planned to make myself the same jacket with this grey wool, and since there was SO much, i figured why not test the pattern out on mom anyway, since she's built more normally than i am.  so, one wool sweater jacket got started!  here are the outside front panels!

this wool was very easy to work with.  mom found me a bunch of ball-point needles, perfect for working with knits.  the wool was not all that stretchy, but was rather scratchy, so i used grey cotton jersey for the lining (also from shirley!  she's so sweet!  she gave me maybe 10 yards!).

here's the jacket before the sleeve installation.  it sewed up so well!

and around back:

before i finished up the jacket, i decided to try it on for fit.  yeah, this look definitely did not work for me.  i really don't look normal in poofy sleeves (the only one i've ever made for myself is that black swiss dot blouse from "twinkle sews"), and the shoulders were about 1.5 to 2 inches too wide each!  also, the sleeves were so voluminous that my little chopstick arms looked so silly sticking out from them.  i'm going to opt for the purple version's style with the 3 quarter-length regular sleeves when i make it for myself, also in this grey wool... one day.

here's the final product!  the button is from one of my colleagues who gifted me all her late mom's sewing goods from her days as a professional seamstress!  the collection is divine; so many wooden spools of vibrant threads and boxes of vintage buttons!  originally i wanted to use a bolder button on the jacket since there is only one.  however, with the loud sleeves, i decided to go for a subtler large metal button, so as not to detract from the jacket's shape. 

nice shape, isn't it?  'round back:

and the inside:

i love this jersey on the inside.  it is actually 100% cotton... hard to find nowadays, believe it or not!

hopefully i can get dad to snap a pic of mom in it sometime!  hope she likes it!  merry christmas, mom!

happy new year!

for new years 2013, i got to hang out with grace again!  we partied last new year's, when i made that cute teal vintage silk party dress.  i desperately wanted to make a dress for this year, but school got in the way.  so, i made red velvet cupcakes for grace's party and michelle did the frosting.  (my newest baking strategy is to do the baking and to commission a friend to do the decorating... because let's be honest, most people prefer to decorate baked goods, and we all know i can't decorate!)  good teamwork, no?

the sprinkles were a festive mix from barb, jimmy's gf!  here's grace and i in our requisite yearly new years pic:

my hair is getting long!  yay!  and here's michelle and i playing with sparklers off of grace's balcony.  we're a little blurry... grace took many pics and they're all a little blurry!

happy 2013!!

christmas snackies

energy bars for the 'rents... they had oatmeal, raisins, almonds, coconut, peanuts (essentially all random fruit and nut type things in my apartment).  oh, and chocolate chips!  how could i forget!

christmas spice cockaigne (or something similarly named.  i forget what it was exactly) from "joy of cooking."  it was quite fudgey and i included dark chocolate chips and raisins.  i didn't really like this recipe to be honesty.  too spiced!

merry christmas, dad!

well, a little over a year after initially cutting out this fabric... i have finished dad's christmas shirt!  from 2011.  hahaha!  and now for 2012 too.  essentially this shirt covered xmas of 2011, his bday from march of 2012, father's day of 2012, and now christmas of 2012.  valuable shirt, wouldn't you say?

i did a kickass job, if i do say so myself.  (sorry aunt stella and mom... but it's true, it's one of my best yet!)  perfectly aligned button placket on the front (as usual) and on the sleeves (i finally figured out how to cut them so they line up with the sleeves themselves!)

 perfectly aligned front pocket, as usual!

and i added cute little darts in the back for my skinny mini dad.  on dad's last shirt, mom showed me her little trick for evenly spacing the darts... a trick which i successfully employed all by my lonesome this time!

also, since mom and dad keep their house at the toasty temp of 57 degrees (HAHA!), i made dad a pair of fleece pants.

i used the pattern from jimmy's doggy pj pants from last year.  the fleece was from this year's black friday sale at joann fabrics.

i added a little strip of ribbon at the inside back so dad could figure out easily which side was the front and which side was the derriere.

unfortunately, i heard dad complain that he would never wear these around the house, as he claims he likes his pants to be wearable in public (although the man has been known to wear thin yellow sweat pants outside of the house...  as if those are presentable in public????).  he knew i was offended, and as soon as he got home from hanging in the city with me, dad calls me up and says "i'm already wearing your pants, by the way!"

muhaha, tricked ya into wearing warmer pants, dad!  merry christmas!