8.23.2009

Little Pink Skirt



Contrast Yellow Inside Hem
Don't you just love the yellow seahorses?!


My plan was to make a dress out of this fabric until I realized I only had 1 1/2 yards! It is Heather Ross from her Mendocino Collection.
The fabric was originally purchased for a purse lining. I decided it is much too cute to hide inside a purse, so I decided to make a skirt! The pattern is an old McCalls, simple A-line skirt.
I wore the skirt yesterday and absolutely love it.

Happy Creating!!

8.16.2009

Little Red Bicycle


Liam in his new t-shirt!


I love girly, feminine things. Having two boys has made me think outside the box - the box that I create in. I design women's clothes professionally and make women's jewelry. Making things for girls is truly my comfort zone.

I've been making pants for my youngest son, Luc, and thought it would be fun to make a shirt to go with some of the pants. I didn't want it to be too "cutesy", so I came up with this retro logo of a bicycle based on the Curious George books.

The best compliment came from my almost six year old son Liam. I had made a tee for his little brother and he said "mama I would like one too."

The process is really easy. I sketched the design, reversed the image in photo shop, and then Photo copied it onto iron-on transfer paper. The idea came from the book Lotta Prints, by Lotta Jansdotter. The fun thing about this is you can take any image and turn it into a t-shirt. I want to take some of Liam's artwork and use it for a tee!

I am working on the "girly" version of this tee. Little Pink Bicycle. There are a couple young ladies turning two years old very soon and I thought it would be a fun gift!

8.12.2009

Turquoise Color Story

Dresser
Lamp is a vintage find from a friend. Jewelry box from Anthropologie.
Necklace and Earrings are my own.

Our remodeled bathroom.
Vintage sink and fixtures. Mirror from Anthropologie. Hand towel from Target.


I am loving using the color turquoise as an accent in our house.
If you love turquoise, check out the blog - House of Turquoise.
Someday I'll have a turquoise dining room like Anais Nin in the movie Henry and June.

8.05.2009

A Delicious Summer Dinner

It has been incredibly warm in Seattle the past few weeks and I haven't been in the mood to cook. Yesterday was a comfortable 70 degrees, the perfect temperature to fire up the oven!

I was watching Rachael Ray (while sewing) and she had a great, super fast and easy recipe for a Caprese Lasagna.
My husband Jay hates tomatoes so I though I'd try a prosciutto and mushroom version.

Jay is the cook in the family, so when he walked in the house and said "that smells really good," I knew it was a winner!

Prosciutto and Mushroom Lasagna
Serves 2-4 depending on how hungry you are!

Ingredients:
*4 tablespoons butter (2 tbs for bechamel and 2 tbs to saute the mushrooms)
*2 cloves crushed garlic
*2 tablespoons flour
*1 cup milk
*1 cup chicken stock
*Approx 10 ozs crimini mushrooms, sliced
*1 box oven-ready lasagna
*1 package 4 oz prosciutto, cut into approx 2" pieces
*1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preparation:
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Saute mushrooms in 2 tablespoons butter on med high heat for about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Place a medium sized heavy bottom saucepan over medium heat and melt remaining 2 Tbs. butter. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute.
Sprinkle the flour over the butter and garlic and cook, whisking mixture for 1 minute.
Whisk the milk and chicken stock into the butter/flour mixture and bring to a bubble. Continue cooking, whisking mixture, until thickened, 3-4 minutes.
Assemble the lasagna by ladling about 1/4 cup of the sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish and laying three lasagna noodles over the sauce. Top the noodles with about a third of the mushrooms, a third of the prosciutto 1/4 cup of sauce and 1/3 of the parmesan.

Repeat until all ingredients are used up, topping the lasagna off with a final layer of sauce and shredded parmesan cheese.

Cover the pan with foil and bake the lasagna for 30 minutes. Remove the foil from the baking dish and bake another 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly.

7.30.2009

More Summer Sewing






We have been having a heat wave in Seattle and
I've been hiding in the house sewing the past few days!
I hate to complain as I would much rather have the sun and heat than rain!!

These pants are version #2 of the Huck Finn pants from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing. I took the basic pant pattern and added a few pockets and the cuffs. I also added adjustable elastic - the kind with buttonholes can now be purchased af the fabric store. (I think it has been available for awhile.) I love this pattern and promise I'm only working on one more for the summer though I may make some in corduroy this Fall!

Back to my sewing machine and fan!

7.23.2009

Summer Garden - Nasturtium Border







Here are a few pics of our backyard.

The orange flowers are naturtiums. They are so easy to grow. I purchased a packet of Renee's Garden seeds from our local nursery. They take about 9 - 12 days to germinate and Voila - in about one month a lovely border appears.
Hope you are enjoying your summer!

7.20.2009

Summer Sewing

Luc in a variation of Huck Finn pants from Weekend Sewing


Luc in Kai's shirt from Weekend Sewing.

My next project. Fab vintage 1968 shift dress pattern.

Sewing is a passion of mine. I started at the age of six making clothes for my Barbie dolls which lead me to the career as an apparel designer. It was not a straight path and I've definitely taken some turns on the road to this career.

I've heard that you should look back to what you loved at around the age of six and that is a good indicator of what may be your passion later in life.
Sewing has been put on the back burner since having the boys - other than the occasional home decoration project. This spring I happened upon the book Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. It is a fabulous book and renewed my desire to sew. I've been making versions of the Huck Finn Pant for my son Luc. I've also made Kai's shirt and a few of the dresses for myself.

My next project will be a sundress using a vintage pattern I've had for years. The fabric is from Heather Ross' Mendocino collection. I'd better hurry since the weather could change at any moment! The weather in Seattle has been unusually warm and dry and I am Loving it!!!!

7.18.2009

Welcome!

Finally a working kitchen!


Pressed glass windows


Kitchen Before
(Yikes!!!)


I thought I'd start my first post with the current most consuming aspect of our lives....Our house remodel. We bought our 1908 Madrona Box style house 3 1/2 years ago and it is (finally) looking great.

We have a working kitchen after all this time! I really love the pressed glass we used for the windows. We wanted privacy but also wanted to keep the look in the same period as our 1908 house. My husband Jay has been painstakingly restoring all the windows. They look so nice and they actually work. I love the clinking sound of the weights when opening the old windows!

The farm style sink is from Ikea and I absolutely love it. There is still lots of work to be done but we are definitely making progress!!

I'll post some more before and after pics soon......