rocky mountain high

With reckless abandon I am setting aside my Masters thesis for a few days and heading to Colorado. My laptop will be with me in the rare event that I am struck by the urge to do some more thesis-ing. Which reminds me, I need to make a cushy little laptop sleeve with this sweet print:


Happy trails. To you. Until. We meet. Again.

happy easter

Coloring eggs, Berkshire brunch, eating chocolate until I puke, pierogies & kielbas, ending the night with wine & a movie at home. That's Easter.

too rich for my blood

So some people have gotten themselves all worked up about Lotta Jansdotter's new fabric line. And it's GREAT, I mean really great. But do my eyes deceive me, or could it be that 1 little yard of 100% cotton print is $38?!? ¿Qué? Sqwawk? It's COTTON, people.

Lotta Jansdotter

I'm into the slow crafting, handmade, support the artisan so it's a wee bit more expensive than is ideal but... ehm... I choose food + shelter.

(PS- You wanna see something precious? Check out the new oliver + s line of "contemporary sewing patterns for children's clothing. Really, the website is just toooooo sweet.)

green with envy

A recipe pouch, a la Ms. Amy Butler and her In Stitches book. I originally made this as a gift, but one thing leads to another and now I'm keeping it. Plus, it matches my apron. And you know I dream of being OH SO DARLING and consulting heirloom recipes from my recipe pouch whilst prancing about gracefully in my COORDINATING Short Pleated Apron.

I made up a dish of Irish colcannon tonight, in the spirit of the holiday. Vegetarian-style, you know. 'Twas successful. 'Twas also a bit remniscent of the slop I imagine my ancestors eating in difficult times back in the motherland. Meh, so it goes. Doesn't photograph so well, either. Regardless, I'll share the recipe if anyone wants it.

Sláinte!

crockery cookin' in the morning

There is something strangely satisfying about crockpot meals, because they require preparation at seemingly inappropriate times. Like making chili at 8 in the morning. Our little flat smells of delicious spices and onion and garlic. Which would be much nicer at, say 6:30 this evening. Or even noon.

Drinking coffee, dancing around in a vintage apron and crockery cooking... ain't nothin' better.

pillowcase fashion

Pillowcase + 10 minutes = this freakin' skirt.

Although I think some variation of this project is in the DIY book Sew Subversive, I used the directions from ReadyMade magazine. Completely skeptical that this project could produce a skirt, especially not a wearable-in-public skirt, I had low expectations. But it worked out. Check out the directions here to see how simple it is. I don't think this would have worked with a regular cotton pillowcase; the jersey material gives a little extra stretch to the skirt. Methinks that the Sew Subversive project might have tips for using two pillowcases to alter the size of the skirt... seems a bit more realistic than cramming yourself into one pillowcase.

It literally took about 10-12 minutes to make. Would have taken longer if I made the drawstring out of the jersey fabric, but I just used brown ribbon instead.

PS- I'm growing tired of these mirror self-portraits too.

turtle turtle neck

For some reason, I never really wore this cream colored turtleneck sweater. A fine piece of clothing, just never did it for me. Armed with scissors and a small dose of courage, I completed perhaps the SIMPLEST refashion ever:

1. Look at turtleneck.
2. Cut straight line from top of turtleneck to the collar line. I made my cut over the right shoulder.
3. Fold "turtle flap" (gross) over.
4. Sew some buttons on, if desired.

BEFORE aka THUMBS DOWN

AFTER aka THUMBS UP aka A Hand Signal I Use Too Often in Real Life

And that's it, folks. I've got some back-posting to catch up on as I was temporarily battery-less for a week. Next up, Christine casts asides her doubts and refashions a pillowcase into an article of clothing. Tune in to see our heroine fall to her knees with amazement and childlike curiousity that this project ACTUALLY worked.