Day 228

Made this cake for a friend's goung away.  It's not the prettiest but it took only 3 hours to make from scratch to leaving for the party so not too shabby considering time restraints. And a big thanks to my fella for being a great sous otherwise it would've taken me like 5 hours ( I get distracted easily and usually end up scorching white chocolate)
It's a white chocolate cake with a rose buttercream frosting.  Everyone tought it was tasty.  Next time I'll use rose extract instead of water.  The water  ( even after putting in ~6x what the recipe called for) gives too subtle a flavor.  
This was my first time making a buttercream.  I think there will more of this in my future once the weather cools down some.  I iced the cake and the fella did the decorations.  
Hope you're having a great day. 

Day 225

A pic of my current WIP.  It's a wearable muslin. 

Day 198: Plantains galore

I made an upside-down plantain gingerbread cake for some friends' going party.  

DELICIOUS.  

I actually made this cake 3 times 9 days.  I even forgot the butter one time and it still came out well.  I have every intention of perfecting this recipe and making it as often as possible :). 

I made a lame washi tape label for the cake so that I did not have to explain what it was a dozen times. 

For the party, I was feeling pretty funky that day (I'm pretty sure I brought some frenemies back from my trip) and needed a little pick me up. 

So I whipped up this Plantain shirt from Deer and Doe (FREE pattern here). 

I used fold-over elastic (FOE) for the neck binding.  It was the first time I've ever used FOE and while it was not perfect I think it came out pretty well. I also did not hem this shirt at all; another reason to love sewing with knits. It fits well and the tissue knit and the drapey shape are great for the summer heat and will be great for layering in the fall/winter.  Promise I'll take more detailed photo and share. 

Day 196: Thread Theory Arrowsmith undershirt

Hey guys,

Sorry it's been so long since I lasted posted.  I unexpectedly got to Haiti at the beginning of July for my Grandmother's 80th birthday!!! Thanks to my amazing aunt and uncle.

So, while I did not make all of my goals for the free pattern sewing month, I'll still be sharing what sewing I have been up to.

First off, I'm sharing the tank I sewed up for my fella using the FREE men's Arrowsmith undershirt pattern from Thread Theory

So this is maybe the 4th or 5th thing I've ever sewed using knits and generally I think it was successful (except for the part where I forgot to switch to a straight stitch when using my double needle and subsequently broke it :/ ). 

I went with the fella's size as according to the chart but should have gone down a size due to the stretch of the knit I used.  The fella picked out the fabric for a cardigan, but it's a tissue-y knit so that was a no go.  But I ordered it anyways and surprised him with this tank.  

The pattern and directions were generally easy to follow. I just wish that the right and wrong sides of the pattern and fabric were clearly labelled in the directions. I really enjoyed the cutting guide on the printed patterned pieces which made tiling and taping the pieces super streamlined.

(Please excuse the scraggly thread.)  I think I did a pretty okay job lining up the stripes on the fabric too.

The fella was getting bored so he started making silly poses. This one is my favorite.

The Arrowsmith tank seems to be great for the Florida humidity.  He likes it as lounge wear. I'm seriously considering using this pattern to make a ladies tank dress.

Hope you are having a great day!

Day 152

Yes again with this skirt.  It's great to travel with since the fabric is already wrinkly.  It was pretty amazing to be able to sit directly on the grass and not have a ton of bugs crawling up my legs.  Colorado is a beautiful place.  Look how GREEN the grass is there.

Day 128

Day 121

 

Spent the day working on my car with my dad.  Of course the (obnoxious) pup had to join us (my dad LOVES) dogs.  Luckily, I remembered his citronella bark collar

Day 122

 

In a celebratory mood so I got super gator-tastic nails

Day 147

So I have a tendency to hoard fruit (anyone else have this problem? ).  This meant that I purchased way too many apples awhile back and wasting food is something I'm working on; so instead of giving all the apples to the worms, I made this delicious apple torte.  It has a dense cakey bottom, a cheesecake filling, and is topped with apples and toasted almonds.  

I think this might become one of my regulars.  I mixed it all by hand with forks and it still came out like a dream.  

P.S. torte is better than cake imho

P.P.S. Are all little kids adverse to eating toasted almonds?

Day 116

I decided to show the fella around my alma mater, so of course I had to show him this really oak tree.

Day 148

Sago palm (it's not really a palm though.  Really been enjoying conditioning myself for summer (i.e. making sure to do rigorous activity during the hottest parts of the day) so I don't hate myself come August.

Day 131

Infinity scarf I'm sending off to my madre. 

It has organic palos verde voile line ( it's so dreamy) and the other side is a light coral voile.   It's great for Florida,  land of blasting a/c.   Hopefully she likes it. 

Day 117

Most delicious breakfast.   I made this strawberry-mulberry pie with the little mamas.  They even did the lattice :)

It's the same as the mulberry pie recipe but with 4 cups of mulberries and 2 cups strawberries and lemon instead of grape fruit.   I also reduced the sugar by a quarter cup and used light brown sugar. 

 This one was definitely on the sweeter side as far as pies go.

 

Day 123

So with family in town, that means LOTS of wine.  Originally I really disliked this wine but once it had gone stale/ been aerated it was SO good.  Plus I love the blue glass bottle.

Day 141

The (blingin) beast

Day 140

Me and the (cuddly) beast

Day 138

More "fortunes"

This  really says so much about my life to be honest.

Day 117

Had a really great time doing floral arrangements today. :)

Day 114

Mulberry pie.   Recipe here. 

Day 113

Just me sitting on a roof.  I love sitting on roofs and this skirt that I got for ~$10 ~9 years ago.