Pajamas

Our Christmas Eve tradition is opening one present and its always pajama's and a new book. I love this, the PJ's are usually really needed, and the book calms the kids down a bit on a crazy exciting night!! So back to the Pajamas….
I am really weird/ picky about my pajamas. As my husband and family will attest too, I sleep like Sid the Sloth (from Ice Age)….all over the place. So I have to have “slickery pajamas” (I know slickery is not a word, but it’s the right word in this case.)  I am not a fan of silk or satin because they always seem to get very static-y, or clingy. So thanks to my wonderful Mother, she introduced me to the wonder that is Tricot.

This year I found a great selection of Denier Tricot from fabric.com for a great deal. And it’s 108” wide so you don’t need very much. Isn’t it beautiful? So if you’re like me give tricot a try!!

Until next time...

Bustle Skirt and a few others...

I have been making a few things for this Christmas season. I first made these.

Then I decide to make a festive skirt for Lucy

 

 

Then I made this for a friends little girls dance recital.

 

I turned out so great I had to make one Lucy could wear year round. It looked like this....

 

 

Then I remembered I was doing Christmas-y things when I ran across some black velvet for $5.98 a yard!! AWESOME and I knew exactly what I wanted it for!! Then I happened to be at Hobby Lobby the next day and found some cute material that could go with the black velvet. It turned out like this...

 

 

More dressy to work as a Christmas Dress, but not too dressy that she couldn't wear it as long as it will fit her. ;) Then I still had more than half of the velvet left for what I originally bought it for in the first place...this

 

Wait for it...

 

 

A Bustle Skirt!! So cute! For some reason I think Charles Dickens when I look at it. Don't know why, but I do!! HERE is the tutorial I used. The only difference I did was add the panel and make the skirt before I added the ruffles. I did that last.

Oh and I also found a great slip/ pettiskirt to go under it. It's a Crinoline slip I bought from pettiskirtsyle.com. It's looks great under all her dresses and definitely gives them that "full" look.

 

 

Until next time.... 

 

Recipes...

Hi there! I have had a few requests for some of my recipes. They are super easy and taste great!!

 

The first is the Tuxedo Cake.

 

 

 

Go HERE to get the recipe from Kraft Foods.

 

The next is Molten Chocolate Cakes, or Chocolate Lava Cakes as my kids call them.

 

 

This picture is pre-inverted.

 

Ingredients:

4 sq. semi-sweet baking chocolate

1/2 c. butter

1c. powdered sugar

2 eggs

2 egg yokes

6 Tbsp. flour

 

Preheat oven to 425. Butter 4 custard cups. Place on baking sheet. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on high for 1 minute. Stir well and heat 30 sec. more. Stir until smooth. Stir in sugar until blended. Stir in eggs and egg yolks w/ wire whisk. Stir in flour until well blended. Divide batter between custard cups. Bake 13-14 minutes. Let stand 1 minute. Carefully run small knife around cake to loosen. Invert cakes onto dessert dishes. Serve immediately with whipped topping or ice cream. Enjoy!!

 

I wish I could remember how or where I got this recipe, but I can't. Sorry! If you have any other recipe requests, please, let me know!!

 

 

Until next time....

Kitchen Assistant....

So if you know me….I love to cook, almost as much as I love to sew. I guess it’s a toss-up. Anywho. Earlier this week I got a new toy for my kitchen…..

 

 

 

A new Kitchenaid Mixer!! (Yes. It's Tangerine color too!)

 I am soo excited. I have a slightly smaller one that my husband surprised me with for Christmas 6 years ago. Neither of us knew then how much in the next 6 years I would use it. I literally wore it out! I have nursed it along until now!!

 Yeah! I am so excited. This year I will be able to make my beloved divinity, truffles, cherry squares, and all that other yummy stuff I make for neighbor treats!

 What is your favorite treat a neighbor has brought you?? Maybe we need a recipe exchange...?

 

 

Until next time...



Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

I know everyone has a recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread….Oh you don’t…well then, let me give you mine. (I know, I’m Very FUNNY!)

I recently had a sample of the pumpkin bread at Kneaders. YUMMY!! So then it got me thinking…..maybe I just need to adjust my recipe and try to get it to taste the same. Here’s what I came up with, it has double the pumpkin which I think was the trick.

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

3 ⅓ cups flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 ⅔ cups sugar
⅔ cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1 (30 ounce) can pumpkin (I used 2 – (15oz.) cans of pumpkin)
⅔ cups Water
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sift together flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside. Cream together sugar and butter, then add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the pumpkin and mix well. Add about half of the flour mixture and mix until well incorporated, then about half of the water. Repeat with the other half of the flour and water. Fold in chocolate chips and pour into 3 large, greased, loaf pans. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

 

BTW way if you don’t have pumpkin pie spice. Here is a recipe to make it…

 Pumpkin Pie Spice

4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground allspice

 

Store in air tight container.  Enjoy!

 

Until next time…

Thanksgiving Turkey Headband or Bow

First of all, Sorry for the hiatus. I just got busy. It happens. Anywho.....

Today I wanted to show you this super cute Turkey Headband Tutorial from Mommy's Little Sunshine. Head on over HERE and check it out! I'm definately going to make one!!

Pillows, Pillows, and more Pillows....

First of all, do they have to call them"throw" pillows, my kids and I "discuss" this every time I catch one of them using it to pummel a unsuspecting sibling. Any who... I have made quite a few pillows lately....Mostly for others, but a few for me!! :) Here is a few of them...

So today, I thought I would show you how to make your own pillow with a zipper.

It's easier than you think!!

First cut your material the same size as your pillow. This one is cut 20x20 for a 20-inch pillow. FYI some pillows are not actually the size they say they are. They are usually 1-inch smaller, so if you cut it the same size as the pillow it should fit nicely!

Put your zipper foot on... 

Sew your zipper right sides together on one of the squares. (Remember you need 2 squares for each pillow.) Do this on just one of them! :)

Round the corners. Don't mind the pins, I was getting ahead of myself in this picture. :)

 

Place the square you just sewed the zipper on too, face down onto the right side of the other square. (Right sides should be together.) At the top fold down the zipper part you just sewed on so that you can see the entire wrong side of the zipper. Are you still with me?

Then line it up with the top of other square. Make sure that the material lines up at each corner. You can pin it if you want too!

Sew around edges and when you get to the zipper sew across it. Like this...

See, I just sewed the curve right over the zipper to the other side. I do recommend back stitching a couple times over the zipper, just to make sure it is secure. :)

Flip material to the right side and done. I know hat is probably confusing, but feel free to ask if you have questions. Happy Pillow making!!

Until next time....

Ribbon T-Shirt Revival

I found this picture as I was cleaning out my picture folder, and thought maybe you could use an easy way to brighten up a regular old t-shirt...

 

This was done with a T-shirt and one of those ribbon rolls that they have in the target dollar bins. I love them, they have several colors on the roll, with cute patterns and they all coordinate. Yea!

 



 

Imagine what you can do...

 

 

Don't mind that I totally sewed her pocket shut. It's so tiny anyways, and she never even noticed I did it and I'm not going to tell her!!  Shhh!

 

 

Until next time.....

 

 

A Flower, a Girl and a Belt

This past summer, I made Lucy a ruffle shirt. But I thought it needed something to break up the ruffles. So I decided to make this belt out of a vinyl material!! (It was late...don't judge!) :)

 

 

I loved how the flower turned out...so I'll show you how o make one...but first here is how it looked in combination with thew ruffle shirt.

Oh and first of all, I didn't plan of using these pictures, so ignore her pajama pants. But I took three pictures of Lucy in this belt, and these are seriously in order of how she posed. Take about hamming it up!!

 

 

#1 Here I am....

 

 

#2 A little more into it...

 

 

#3 Hamming it up!

 

Here's how to make one of these cute flowers.

 

Begin by choosing your fabric. One color, two colors --- doesn't matter.

Trace a circle on your fabrics. I did 4-inches and 3.5-inches in diameter.

I usually cut out 3-4 circles from one fabric and 3-4 circles from another fabric, But I did the same fabric for this one!!

 

Find the center by folding and creasing down the middle. Then cut down the center of all the circles. Your half circles.

 

Fold each half circle in 1/2, wrong sides together. Sew approx. 1/4 in. seam down the straight edge.

 

 

Clip the threads and turn right side out.

 

 

Begin Bottom Layer of Flower The biggest size petal.

Use thread and stitch a running stitch on the bottom curve of each 'petal'.

 

 

Add your next 'petal' with that same running stitch.

Keep adding 'petals' to this same length of thread until all of that size are gone.

Pull tightly on the thread to form the flower. Secure with back stitches.

Leave a 10 in. tail when cutting thread

 

 

Repeat steps for top layer of flower as you did with the bottom flower. Also leave a 10 in. tail when cutting thread.

 

Using one of the 10 in. tails of thread, stitch the top layer to the bottom layer of fabric flower. Do not cut other thread. You will use this thread to secure the button.

 

Use a button for the center of the flower. Fabric covered, or your choice of button/bead whatever.

 

Using the other 10 in. tail of your thread, sew button to the center of the flower.

 

Trace a circle on felt to cover the back center --messy thread part!-- and using fabric glue, or a hot glue gun, attach felt to back of flower.

 

 

All Done. Add a pin back, or a alligator clip and attach it to belts, handbags, or as a hair bow.

 

Until next time...

A Little Halloween Inspiration...

So lets face it, getting things ready for a holiday takes a little planning, so here are some halloween inspired outfits for your little cuties!!

 

 

Candy Corn Onesie

 

 

Pumpkin Onesie

 

Witches Boot Onesie

 

What kind of things do you like to do to help your kids celebrate Halloween??

 

Until next time....

 

The Tastes of Fall

Can I just say....I LOVE FALL!

I love the look- the leaves changing color, the sound- the leaves crunching beneath my feet, the feel- that slight breeze that lets you know to enjoy it now, because its going to get colder. I even kind of like the rain, I guess you get that when you live in Oregon for a few years!! But most of all, I like the tastes of fall!!

I think that it's because it's getting cooler and so I don't mind using my oven, and I kind of crave more hearty meals too! Plus with all the holidays coming up, I get to do fun food, and Holiday themed desserts. So today I thought I would share a recipe for....

my FAVORITE fall dessert.

Apple Crisp

4 medium tart apples, sliced

¾ c. packed brown sugar

½ c. flour

½ c. old fashioned oats

1/3 c. butter or margarine, softened

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

Ice cream (I prefer Vanilla Bean YUM!) 

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 8-inch square pan with shortening or cooking spray. Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients, except ice cream, until well mixed; sprinkle over apples. Bake 30 minutes until golden brown.

I have done this recipe using pears and a caramel glaze, raspberries, I bet it would even be good with peaches. Basically whatever fruit you have laying around! I hope you like it as much as I do!! Enjoy!

Until next time....

BYU Blanket, A skirt, and a Winner

This past week we celebrated my husband Bryan and my daughter Lucy’s birthdays! It’s always a crazy week but fun at the same time!!

 

Bryan didn’t want much for his birthday, but he has wanted a BYU T-shirt blanket ever since my sister-in-law made one for my brother last Christmas. So I figured it was high time he go one too!

I found some great BYU material at Wal-Mart, then cut up 6 of his old (and some holey) BYU shirts he has been collecting ever since he did his undergrad there.

 

Funny Story: My kids kept asking me if Dad knew I was cutting up his shirts, “cause that seems like a naughty thing to do!” in the words of Sawyer, my 6 yr. old! LOL!

I just used the front logo parts of the shirt, backed the t-shirt part with a less stretchy material, just for my sanity!! Then I sewed it all together, and backed it with fleece, and...Ta-Dah!! This is the best picture I could get with out children climbing on it!!

 

 

 

 He is pretty happy with it and has already taken a few naps! ;)

But it bothered me…what to do with the back of the shirt and the sleeves…..

Well, let me tell you. I was looking at a few tutorials and found this one HERE at Lil Blue Boo and thought it to be perfect!! And it was. Here’s how my version turned out…

 

 

The skirt was super easy and turned out great! I used the bottom of both gray shirts to make the skirt part and cut up the blue and white shirts for the ruffles and the yoke. It did end up being a bit heavier than I would have liked, but hey...it's a free skirt!! The T-Shirts were heading to the trash anyways!  And Lucy absolutely adores it!!

Next order of business.....the winner of the ruffle skirt is
 

 

CAMMIE

She said, "I love stepping on crunchy leaves! I like Corina's comment about sweatshirts. And I might need the recipe for Danielle's white lightning chilli...Sounds tasty!"

Congrats! I'll e-mail you and get your measurement's, and fabric choices. Until then, head on over to rufflefabric.com and start looking!!

Until next time…

Birthday Dresses

When I first had Lucy I hadn't really gotten into sewing a ton! I made little jeans for my boys and Halloween costumes, etc. But I was never very confident. Shortly after moving back to Utah in 2009, both my sister in laws were due in July and I had 2 cousins due that summer as well. I could sew straight lines, mostly, so I decided to give blankets a try. I had never done them before, but as I went along I became more confident and quicker!!

 

 

 

 

I also realized I LOVED TO SEW!! I found it relaxing and kind of a creative outlet. Who knew I was creative?! Not me!!

Shortly after finishing Boston's Blanket we bought a house and moved in. And I got to have my sewing machine up and accessible 24/7!! YEAH! So I decided to make Lucy a birthday dress. It was fun to make and I decided to make one every year! I let her choose the fabric, but I get to decide the style! An agreement which I am sure will change as she gets older!! ;)

 

 

First Birthday

 

 

Just before her second birthday Bryan's little sister, Ashley, got married and so it got to play double roll for the wedding and her birthday!!

 

Just had to throw in this cute picture!!

 

Third Birthday!

 

And this years!! BIG 4 Years OLD!!

 

She loves it. Although when we went to pick out fabric she was sure she would get a purple dress. But soon after seeing this material her mind was set!!

 

 

I decided to do pleats for the skirt, but I had only ever tried them once, on this....

 

I just started pleating and added a yoke and zipper. Nothing fancy. But I was frustrated because I wanted it to stay pleated with out having to iron it all the time!! I'm just lazy! So when I was explaining what I wanted to do to my Mom, she suggested sewing the edge of the pleats so they stay pleated!! GENIUS!!

 

On each pleat I sewed (is that a word?) a 1/8 in to make it stay! And it worked beautifully! I have even washed it and the pleats look great! I don't have to iron it!! YEAH!

 

Best of all, I have a very Happy Birthday Girl!!

 

Oh and don't forget to enter the skirt giveaway! It can be for anysize, baby to momma!!

Here's the details: 

1- "Like" Sensible Stitches on Facebook

2- "Share" this giveaway on Facebook
3- Come back here (the giveaway page) and leave a comment on what your favorite fall staple is, whether it be pumpkin bread, or a favorite jacket. Let me know!!
Make sure to leave your email address so I can contact the winner!! The winner will be announced on Sept. 21, 2012.

 

Until next time.....