9.26.2012

Summer Lovin' happened so fast..

Hello !

So lately I've had a stroke of bad luck with a cold, food poisoning, and a thrown out back so i haven't been as productive as I would have liked. I did manage to draw up my next project and start my muslin though. i am just currently making adjustments to the pattern and hopefully by next week I will have some more progress to update! I do however have a sketch of what my next project will be.

        I really love spring/summer and I'm sad that fall is here
 so I wanted to make one last item as an ode to spring.



Also, I went home to Niagara Falls this weekend and my awesome Aunt and Mom wanted to take me out shopping. And shopping we did. I took some pictures of all of my new clothing pieces and shoes and thought I would share them on here. I'm in love with all of my new things <3



New sweater and button up shirt!
In love with the studded collar and the texture on the back of the sweater!



Love Jewel Tones, especially this deep blue.
Very comfy and stretchy but still super chic, can't wait to pair with some gold jewelry.


Jackie O Dress, enough said.


This was the main reason to go shopping- A dress for my cousins wedding next month.
At first I couldn't get into the peplum trend but then I tried it on and now I can't get enough of it!


My glorious new shoes and boots. The black pumps are to go with my scarlet red dress for the wedding.
My mom had to buy a pair of shoes to walk around the mall in and we went to ardenes for just cheap flats and they have 2 for 20 deals and I got the lovely leopard slipper shoes (I want slipper shoes in every color and fabric). I also couldn't resist the half off brown suede booties that I will wear with everything this fall and last but not least my combat boots that I paired with my pink button up today for a glam rock look!
Anyways hope you enjoyed the sneak peak at whats to come and some of the trends I love right now!                                 
   

(Powered by: Kyle watching "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" as background noise)








9.24.2012

Granny Alert!

Some exciting news to share at the end of the post. Stick with me, it is worth it!

In other news: an apology. I was going to post a picture of my skirt today, but it wasn't finished. I didn't have an invisible zipper foot, or even a regular zipper foot, so I was going to hand-sew on my invisible zipper, which really isn't a big deal. but then I started thinking that maybe I'll make my skirt reversible since it already looks really nice on the inside, and if I was going to be putting in the extra effort to hand-sew the zippers, I might as well get the seam ripper out in order to hide my inside seam (this will make more sense next week). I figured that I would just suck it up, take the extra time and make it look really, really good. And in the meantime, while I was making up my mind with the skirt, I decided that I was going to do something up really quick that I had been planning on doing for some time.

So this all sounds very cryptic, but stay with me. So, when I picked out the fabric for the skirt, my mind started to race. I was trying to figure out what I would be able to wear with it-something that I already own. Then I thought about this minty green cardigan that I plucked from my sister's closet a few years ago. She bought it from Value Village, a local thrift store, for two or three dollars, and when she tired of it, she said I could just keep it (We borrowed a lot from each other at the time so I was wearing it often anyway). I was actually planning on giving it away because it looked like this:


Granny sweater alert! Even my hair looks granny here! I think I aged about 50 years.


Being a granny usually comes with saggy arms. This sweater has plenty of arm-sag!


It's just so ill-fitting. How did I ever wear this before?

So I decided to take a page out of Ms. Jillian Owens' and Ms. Charity Shop Chic's books and refashion it!

Now, unfortunately, I didn't think to take photos of what I did to my sweater, because fortunately this took all of an hour to refashion.

Here is the finished product! (Poor quality photos, sorry!)


Done up! Much better!


And unbuttoned!

So I will briefly explain what I did to it. First I chopped off the arms just past the elbow. For some reason I am not really a fan of fabric past my elbows. I think it is because I get all sorts of chalk and pen and pencil on my sleeves when I am teaching. No one likes a dirty sweater. Once I did the big chop, I put the sweater on inside out and pinned it in the armpit, in the waist, and near the bottom to so I would know where I would need to sew on the innards. I also tried to get a rough idea of how much fabric I could take out of the arm-sags. I pinched the sleeves and figured it was about an inch or so. I just sort of winged it to be honest. I then took the sweater off and sewed the sleeves tighter until the armpit. Here, I kept the needle in the fabric while I lifted my presser foot to turn the fabric. Then I sewed down the side of the sweater using the pins as my guide. I tried it on for fit, folded my sweater as perfectly in half as I could, then used my new taken in sweater side to mark the other half of the sweater so that both sides matched perfectly. I then followed my guide and sewed. I chopped off the inner excess (which got rid of some major pinching in the armpit areas), flipped up my sleeve ends twice, and sewed around the circumference of the sleeve to make a cute little sleeve cap, for lack of a better word.

That's it! New sweater complete! And the best part is that I haven't worn this sweater in years, and now I can't stop! Oh! Not to mention that it goes with the skirt I will be showing you this upcoming Saturday. How awesome it that? I think that I will be refashioning other items in the very near future! It is just so easy and satisfying to have a complete garment in a short time period.

Oh. Long story short. Another reason why I didn't finish my skirt is that I have been using my aunt's machine all this time and now that the weather is cool again, it is quilting season, and thus the machine is no longer with me. However: my birthday is in one month, and my other aunt and my husband are amazing:

Early birthday present!!!

Ain't she purrrty? So this is why this post is later than usual. I was putting her together and getting my skirt done! Hurrah!

See you Friday!

Carlee

(powered by: Walk Off The Earth "From Me To You")

9.15.2012

These aren't the droids you're looking for.....

And now for something a little different. I went to visit Jamie a few weeks ago, right after I finished my dress, and since she took fashion and lives in Toronto, it naturally follows that we went to the Queen Street fabric shops. I bought some buttons for myself that I'm sure I will find a use for eventually. As well, I saw a fabric that I knew I had to buy immediately so that I could make something for Trevor.

Well, I made something, and today we walked to the market with Harley, picked up some lovely fresh fruit and veg, and Trevor modeled for me in public (a little awkward for him!).

I present to you, The TIE Fighter (Get it?):


The Jack Russell did not like Harley.


A close up of the magnificent print.


So I actually finished this the night before we went away for our one year anniversary. I did not use a pattern, rather I took one of Kyle's ties (I was staying with Jamie and Kyle), laid it out on the wrong side of the fabric, and I used a square and some good old fashioned arithmetic, and created my pattern pieces from that. I just marked the fabric with (shhh!) a pen, and cut them out. Once the tie was stitched together, I used some interfacing I had at home to stiffen the material (it is just a cotton), and then I stitched the back up by hand. It's not the prettiest back there, I was rushing to finish it the night before, but it works. Pretty easy overall.

I've already made another tie (more in a later post), and I've made some significant adjustments. For one, the new tie has a wool lining up the entire tie (this tie has no lining). Second, I skimped on the interfacing, figuring that only the bottom part of the tie would need the added stiffness, but it turns out the entire tie length needs it to ensure that the fabric doesn't twist from wear (which is happening to Trevor's after only two wears). Live and learn!


I still think it looks pretty good. I can't wait to make more nerd ties!

Here is another shot of our furbaby:


Oh! And remember how in my post about the Jungle Dress, I mentioned that I originally was going into Fabricland to pick out a different fabric? Well, here is a little sneak peek of what is to come next week:


I'm almost done and I'm already showing everyone! I can't wait! Cheers!

Carlee

(powered by: John Williams "Cantina Band")

9.14.2012

Foodie Friday: Potato, Leek, and Bacon Soup

Hello everyone and welcome to my first Foodie Friday! I have to admit that since the start of the summer Trevor and I have gotten out of our routine of cooking good, proper meals, so I think that this special every Friday will not only show you how to make some of our delicious favourites, but it will also help us to stay on track and make real meals! So here it is, our delicious, super easy, perfect for fall, dairy-free, gluten-free, potato, leek, and bacon soup!

Ingredients
*3 leeks, sliced
*1/2 pound of bacon, chopped, plus a few slices separated from the rest
*2 cloves of garlic, crushed
*2 boxes of chicken broth (or homemade chicken stock)
*5-10 Yukon Gold potatoes, chopped
*salt
*pepper

Once your bacon is chopped...

your garlic is crushed, and your leeks are sliced....


You are ready to start! In a large pot, add your bacon and cook on medium until it is nicely cooked, but not crispy. When the bacon is at this stage, turn up the heat a little, add your leeks and garlic, and saute in the bacon fat for a few more minutes. While bacon and friends are cooking, chop up your potatoes....

It sucks being one of the dudes on the bottom...
...and get your stock ready....
...and clearly, I am an overgrown child.
Once your bacon, leeks, and garlic are happy in the pot...


...,you can add all of your potatoes, followed by all of your stock. Bring to a boil and let cook until the potatoes are fork tender.

Once the potatoes are cooked, get your separated bacon ready in the frying pan. You will want one piece of bacon per person in the frying pan (fyi, this recipe will feed two people for about 2-3 meals, depending on how many times you go for seconds). Let the bacon fry until nice and crispy while you work on the next step.


While the bacon is frying, you will need to get out another large pot and a blender. Carefully ladle some of the soup into the blender, being careful not to overfill it (about halfway is good). Now this next step is very important. You know that weird plastic thing that can be removed from the lid of your blender?

Well, now is the time that it's function becomes glaringly obvious. Take it out. Put the lid on the blender. Put a tea towel over the lid hole. Puree. Wondering what all that was about? Well, the soup is hot and steamy, so when it is blended, if the lid hole contraption is left on, the steam will push the lid, the lid will come flying off, and burning hot soup will go everywhere. How do I know this? I'll let you use your imagination.

Now that this bit of soup is pureed, put it into the new pot and continue to puree all the rest of your soup.


Taste it, and add salt and pepper as you so desire. By this time your bacon should be done. Let it cool for a few minutes, until it is cool enough to touch. Ladle some of your soup into a pretty bowl, and rip the bacon up over top of your soup. Voila! Delicious meal prepared by you!


Or, you know, if you prefer that sort of thing....


Have a very happy Friday everyone! See you tomorrow!

Carlee

(powered by: homemade hummus and Walk Off the Earth "Little Boxes"--they're Canadian, eh?!)

9.10.2012

(Belated)Foodie Friday!


Jamie's Avocado, Tomato, and Feta Salsa


Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: N/A

What you need:  

- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 avocado
- 1 oz feta cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- a few cilantro leaves 
- salt and pepper to taste
-splash of lime juice

1. Chop the tomatoes, avocado, onion feta, and cilantro.
2. Put all of the ingredients in a food processor ( I don't have one so a blender works just as well for me) and pulse until slightly blended but still have some chunks to it as well.

3. Scoop into a serving bowl, add the salt and pepper with a splash of lime juice to taste, mix, and enjoy. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips. I used Que Pasa tortilla chips.

There you have it! Simple, easy, and delicious!



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9.08.2012

Welcome to the Jungle

I am SO excited, you guys! I cannot wait to show you my dress! It is the first dress I have ever made. The first real proper piece of clothing. I will call it my jungle dress. I won't hold out any longer. Here it is:


My necklace is really bothering me in this picture! Ah!

 Did you know that Marilyn Monroe was on these steps in the film Niagara? Neither did I until we shot this. One of the benefits of being married to a history buff.

So I was hugely inspired by Tilly's Birthday Party Dress, but I wanted to make this one my own. I went to Fabricland with a fabric in mind (I had gone once before and gotten so overwhelmed by the amount of choice that I was presented with that I left empty-handed! This was my first foray into completely creating clothing out of nothing, after all.), and when I arrived, I thought I should browse everything over once more just to be sure. Then I saw this cotton fabric instead! It was absolutely PERFECT for me. I love prints. I love animals. I love gray. And the way the print is laid out, it almost looks like stripes, which makes it even better. So I left Fabricland with this gray fabric, a gray zipper, Simplicity 2444, and nothing else (More on the other fabric in a few weeks).

I got home and as I was oohing and ahhing over the fabric, getting all touchy-feely with it, I looked down and realized that my dandelion yellow nail polish looked great with the gray. Back to Fabricland I go. I really should put more thought into things before I start a project. Oh well. Live and learn.

So I picked up a dandelion yellow polka dot cotton fabric, dandelion yellow thread, a bright yellow zipper, and interfacing, because I didn't know what it was until I got home. I washed my fabric on Monday night and got to work Tuesday and Wednesday. I had some zipper issues that were bumming me out so my productivity slowed and I was able to finish the dress until the following Tuesday. If I really wanted, I think I could have whipped it out by Friday. But life happens sometimes I guess!

Check out that zipper!
I can't take a picture without at least ONE silly face!
Oh! And I forgot to mention it has pockets! I love dresses with pockets! So convenient!

Look at those rhinos! And zebras! And Kangaroos! And Elephants! And Ostriches! Oh my!
I also decided that all the interfacing should be in the polka dot yellow. Just because that is how awesome I am. Did I mention how I'm modest too?

You can also sort of see that I purposely showed the stitching. If I'm going to be using bright yellow thread, then I want to show it off. So I had some fun with zigzag, and what I like to call the heartbeat, stitches.

And look at that bow belt! How awesome is it? I think it just completes the dress. Once more, it is from the lovely Miss Tilly. Check out her super easy tutorial here!

Now, I've taken sewing as part of my theatre studies in university, but that was mostly hand sewing techniques. We made one pair of mitts on the machine, and honestly, I could whip them up right now in about thirty minutes, including cutting the fabric out. So this was my first real foray into sewing. I did not take a lesson. I suppose I just follow directions well? But obviously, this dress is not perfect. If you look in the bow belt picture, you can see that my rhinos don't line up! That sounds ridiculous. My rhinos don't line up. Sorry. Also, I tried to work the pattern so that I only had one line of rhinos on the skirt, but clearly, that did not work out. Although I kind of like that part. But the centres not lining up does bother me quite a bit. The zipper is very wavy as well. I don't know why. Everyone I've talked to said it is fine. But why did it go wavy? I just don't know.

Anyway, here is a picture on our walk back home. Trevor looks unimpressed that I am taking his photo. Too bad. :)


See you soon!

Carlee

(powered by: Guns N' Roses "Welcome to the Jungle")

9.04.2012

First Project: Fall Skirt



This is very exciting as it is my first entry in the blog! I wanted to start by showcasing my effort to get back into sewing and designing and I apologize for lack of pictures and next time I will be on top of it!


The picture above is just the beginning stages of my design with my sketch of the skirt. Once I had my design done, I had to draft a pattern and create a muslin(It became very popular at the end of the 18th century in France. Muslin is most typically an unbleached or white cloth, produced from carded cotton yarn. It is often used to make sewing patterns, such as for clothing)to sew the pattern together for fit and any pattern issues i may have.




Here is my finished muslin skirt which i was happy with so it was time to pick a fabric. After spending a few hours in the queen west fabric shops with my sister i finally decided on fabrics. Again, next time i will post what the fabric I choose was.

 


Now it was time to just assemble it! I am starting with a fairly simple design so it maybe took about 3 hours to sew the skirt in total.





Ta da! I completed my first project. A vintage-esque burnt orange with lace accent skirt which will be perfect for fall. I went on a photoshoot at a nearby park and at first I felt so awkward in front of the camera and Kyle's words of wisdom were "Your not going to be america's next top model right away." But overall i started to feel more comfortable near the end and so here are some shots!


Me and my babydog Chloe!



If you look in the back you can see the CN tower!


Up close and personal





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