Back in Black

I've had a bias cut black skirt waiting on my dressform since before my vacation, so I quickly sewed up the hem today, to make way for my SWAP sewing.

The skirt is from New Look 6546, a one piece pattern on the bias with an elastic waist and a narrow hem. Despite sitting waiting for 4 weeks, it could've been sewed up in an hour. This skirt was my "bottom" in my 6-PAC. Although the sew-along is finished and they've moved on to the winter collection, I have 3 out of the 6 items now complete. I will still finish up the planned dress and coat, as they've both been cut and ready to go. They will have to wait till April though, as I will be concentrating on SWAP 2010 for now.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

I'm back from vacation and have been catching up with blog reading and am still trying to unpack, getting the house looking spiffy and getting over my jet lag.

The vacation was awesome, I had a fabulous time with my family, although travelling with the little boys was a slight nightmare. Note: I have an insane inability to sleep on airplanes, so pretty much 48 hours without sleep there and then back again.

I will post pics of the trip very soon and will update my acquisitions, I picked up fabric from my old stash in SA and raided some of my mom's. My mom brought me a bounty of beautiful Ghanian fabrics, which would be ideal for summer dresses and skirts. I also have two new dresses from hubbie and some jewellery gifts & purchases to share. I also got an awesome Indonesian cookbook from my parents, so I should cook from that pretty soon.

I will need to do a weight reduction, yes I indulged a touch too much back home, but I had to take advantage of some of my South African favourites. I usually try to follow a low GI type diet, but I have diet plans that I follow strictly when I need to lose some pounds.

Not forgetting, SWAP 2010...I bought some beautiful shell buttons and an embroidered panel to satisfy the rules of the contest. I brought back some red silk and linen, as well as some black and purple cotton knits. I also have a remnant of a fabric which I believe my mom said was used by my gran for a dress. I will post pics of these too. I've had the black/grey/white graphic floral laid out since before I left and was finding that matching the design was trickier than I thought it would be. But I will continue as soon as my house and I are back to normal. I look forward to 3months of intense sewing and knitting.

Another piece of good news is that I officially become a Canadian citizen in two weeks....very exciting.

So I hope you all have or had fun New Years celebrations and wish you a prosperous year ahead.

On Vacation!!

Just a quick post to let you all know that I'm off to South Africa for 3 weeks. I last saw my family 18 months ago, so am thrilled to be seeing them again. I haven't been back to South Africa since December 2006.

My parents have just moved to a new town so it'll be exciting to explore the new area. They are in Betty's Bay which is about an hour away from Cape Town. The entire Western Cape area is beautiful and we'll be surrounded by mountains on one side, the Atlantic on the other and we'll also be close to the wine producing area. It is a little late in the season, but we might be lucky enough to spot some whales from shore.

I'll pop in occasionally and might upload some photos while there.

I hope you all have a joyeous festive season and are surrounded by love and good old holiday spirit.

November Acquisitions

My local Fabricland (a Canadian chain) closed it's doors on November 29th. They had a closing sale that started at the beginning of the month. Each week the prices dropped and the stock disappeared. In the final days all patterns (including Vogue) were $1 each and all fabric was under $5. All other items were at least 75 % off reg. price.

My biggest purchase was a Singer dressform which I bought in the last week for $100 (down from $400). It isn't the best available, but at that price, I am very happy. I'd previously made a duct tape double, but it was always falling over and it finally came apart in our move. It is now a sad mess of duct tape and batting in the back of a closet. I also bought a tailor's ham, which has become very useful.


I didn't buy much fabric, as the store tends to stock varying degrees of polyester and very little else. I am also running out of storage space and know I'll be bringing back some fabric from my South African trip.

I bought a cotton pique graphic floral which I'm using for a SWAP dress, as well as silk charmeuse in black, purple and grey. I also picked up a seersucker in a red/brown plaid with silver thread.



I went a little overboard with patterns, but at that price, why not. Towards the end of the sale the patterns were in displays where you lined up to pay so it was easy to rummage and add more while you waited. Usually the wait to pay was 10 minutes or more, since there were so many customers.

Burda



McCall's



Simplicity



Vogue

Kids sweaters by Gill (my mom)

I've mentioned before that my mom is a great knitter. She has knitted up a storm since we last saw her and she has a bunch of sweaters for the boys when we visit later this month. I've fished out photos of the sweaters she's previously made and have photos of the new ones too. I think they're adorable. Thanks mom, you're a great grandma. My boys are very lucky.

She made this cute elephant sweater for James, my eldest, when he was a wee little baby. It has a matching hat and has since been passed down to Willem (now 18 months). It's getting a little tight now, so I think it is retirement time. This was one outfit I'll definitely keep for sentimental reasons.



My mom also made this blue hoodie which James still wears. He's wearing it to school today.




And a green vest, which has just been passed to Willem.



These are the new ones which we'll see very soon.

A Trio of Salads

I've made three yummy salads as main dishes in the last two weeks, all a little different.

Roasted Beet, Apple & Goat cheese Salad




3 beets
3 apples
salt & pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
small package goat cheese
package baby greens

Beet Dressing

Juices from beets
3 tbsp sherry vinegar
2 tbsp walnut oil

Preheat oven to 400F. Wrap the beets and apples in separate foil parcels, seasoning with salt & pepper and drizzling with a tbsp olive oil each.
Roast apples for about 20 minutes and beets for 40 minutes until tender. Then let cool. When cool enough peel beets & cut both into cubes.
Reserve the liquid from the beets cooking and cooling and add the dressing ingredients. (Any oil/vinegar combo would do) Whisk together.
Combine greens, beets, apples, cheese & dressing & Enjoy!!


Spinach, Bacon & Cranberry Salad



4 slices bacon
5 oz bag of baby spinach
1 small apple
small handful dried cranberries
1 tbsp roasted sunflower seeds

Cranberry Vinaigrette

1/4 cup cranberry juice
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 small packet (about 1/4 tsp) sugar substitute or sugar
salt & pepper

Cook the bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towel. Let cool & chop into small pieces.
Toss together the spinach & apple. Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat until just warmed.
Pour the dressing over the salad & sprinkle with bacon, cranberries & seeds.


Layered Pea Salad

*Sorry I forget to take a photo.

Layer the follow, in order:
lettuce
2 sticks chopped celery
1 chopped red pepper
1/2 red onion, chopped
a cup of cooked peas

Mix together 1 heaped cup mayo, 1 tsp sugar or substitute, 1 tsp vinegar. Pour over top of salad. Top with cooked bacon and grated mild cheese.
I then wrap it in cling film and leave it for at least 12 hrs for the flavours to mingle.

This last one is a good make-ahead dinner and the whole family loves it.

SWAP Plan

It is that time of year again...no not Christmas, but the day after. That is the official start day of the 2010 Stitchers Guild SWAP (Sewing with a Plan). I didn't finish last year as we moved half way through. I have a little more experience with planning (& executing plans) this year, so I'm sure I'll finish.

I really love the rules this year, as I can actually make dresses. There is an option with 5 dresses, so this is my choice. I will have to make 5 dresses, 4 tops, a bottom and another garment of choice. The rules also state that 2 of the items may be previously made or bought. One can be knitted or crocheted. At least one item must have some form of matched print or stripe, another needs some form of embellishment and yet another must have buttons as the star feature or have an alternative type of closure.

I've been working on a plan that is practical to wear, I want to wear this stuff, and also practical to make in the time frame.

I played with a few colour schemes and only got excited about this:




This colour scheme reminds of the last few minutes of a sunset, when everything is dark, but for that burst of colour on the horizon.


So this is what I have so far:

Bottoms

Skirt Burda 7610 View A, fabric still to be decided (TBD).
Skirt Loes Hinse Boot skirt in a black rayon (viscose) crepe.

Tops

Knitted boat neck raglan sweater in a red, purple, orange variegated yarn.
Loes Hinse Tank Dress Group tank in black rayon crepe with a lace hem.
New Look 6775 View D, Fabric TBD
Black silk blouse (already made) or another top if time permits

Dresses

New Look 6775 View B, in a deep red & white polka dot.
Simplicity 2583 with short sleeve & neck knot, black, grey & white floral cotton pique.
Shirt dress, pattern TBD, in aubergine colour, with pretty distinctive buttons.
Embroidered or beaded fabric still to be found, with pattern TBD once I have fabric.
Knit fabric dress in black, grey or deep red/burgundy using New Look 6775.

I'll update once I find the outstanding patterns and fabric.

My storyboards (click to enlarge):