Closet Flashback: Christmas Necklace

Meg made me this necklace for Christmas a couple of years ago and I used to wear it to work a lot to remind me that there was life (and creativity) outside of my stuffy corporate job. When I moved, it was knocked into the depths of my jewelry box and I only recently found it again. I paired it with a long lost cowl neck top and some red lipstick! Yay to finding old treasures :)  

Foodie Friday: Vegan Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies

Warning: These cookies are highly addicting.

 

My mom originally introduced me to the recipe and my husband has since taken up becoming the vegan cookie master. He pretty much has the recipe memorized and can whip up a batch in no time which is a great yet very dangerous thing!

 

Anyway, the recipe is from readymade.com and was part of the Holiday Survival Guide.

 

Here is the recipe adapted from the original website.

  

 Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 3 c organic white spelt flour
• 1 10-oz package dairy free chocolate chips (the original recipe calls for 2-10oz bags which ends up being an overwhelming amount of chocolate)
• 1 tsp aluminum-free baking soda
• 1 tsp organic sea salt
• 1 c light-colored agave nectar
• 1/4 c organic safflower oil (we've tried different types of oil and they've all turned out)
• 1 tsp organic peppermint oil (*Note: not all peppermint oils are the same potency...less is generally more)
• 1/2 tsp alcohol-free vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment or a silpat mat.

Mix flour, chocolate, baking soda and salt in one bowl. Then mix agave, oil, peppermint and vanilla in another bowl.

Add the flour mix to the agave mix and stir until well combined.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned and the edges are set.

***You're supposed to let them cool to room temperature at this point but I like the gooey, molten chocolate chips right out of the oven. It's a bad habit but whatever!***

Cool on a wire rack and store at room temp for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months (they won't last that long!).

Hemming Jeans

The other day I scored a deal that I couldn't pass up. I was at the Gap and found a pair of 1969 jeans in my size for $6.80! The only problem was that they were extra long and while I'm tallish and wear high heels, they still dragged on the ground. I did some Googling and learned the secret to modifying your own jeans while keeping the original hemline.

 

It's almost preposterously easy and took me about 15 minutes. 

 

Here's a basic rundown of the procedure.

 

1) Find the shoes you'll be wearing with the jeans because they will be dictate how much to shorten them.

 

2) With your  trusty shoes and long jeans on, turn up the hem (the rights sides of denim will be facing each other) until you reach the proper length.

 

3) Measure the "cuff" that you've turned up from the bottom of the leg to right under the original hem (don't include the original hem in the measurement) and divide this number by two. For example, I turned mine up 2.5" so the new number I needed to work with was 1.25".

 

4) Take this new number and very accurately turn up, press and pin the cuff in place based on that measurement.

 

5) Using a zipper foot carefully stitch around the leg opening (the right sides of denim will be facing each other so you'll be stitching on the wrong side) as close to the original hem as possible.

 

6) Turn the freshly sewn line into the inside of the leg and press the new seam on the outside well. 

 

7) Once the new hemline is pressed you may want to tack down the extra material inside on each side seam (I did this so the extra fabric didn't flop around). If you took a lot of length out you may want to serge the extra material off instead. Either way, you're done!

 This is a before/after shot. On the left you can see how they drag on the ground and after they are the perfect length.

 This is what the hem looks like when it's all pressed and ready to go. You have to look really hard to see the line when they're actually on.

This is the inside shot after they are stitched and tacked down permanently.

Closet Flashbacks: Kindergarten Backpack

Twas over 2 years ago when I sent my oldest off to Kindergarten. *sniff, sniff* He had requested that I make him a backpack, and so I did. It ended up being the demise of my old sewing machine, but I finished it. The pattern is self-drafted, which is really just a fancy way of saying I busted out my meager math skills, drew it on some newsprint and hoped for the best. I have to say, it has held up to everything we've thrown at it, and that's a lot! My oldest used it for 2 years til he outgrew it, and it has been on many other little trips as well. Now it has been passed on to the little guy, who started preschool last week. He proudly stuffed his folder, his stuffed giraffe, a snack and a box of crayons in there and he was ready to go! This is one of those projects that was definately worth the work!

Foodie Friday: Tomatillo Green Chile Ketchup

You may be asking yourself: just what exactly is a tomatillo? If you are unfamiliar with this mysterious fruit, they look like this:

They are actually not related to tomatoes. Sometimes referred to as a husk tomato, they are cousins of the lowly ground cherry. Tomatillos are a bit tart and kind of lemony, except not. Boy, I'm destined to become a food writer aren't I? They are great fresh in salsas, in a stew, or made into ketchup. What!? Yes, it sounds weird but it is terribly delicious. I recently stumbled upon a recipe for Tomatillo Green Chile Ketchup, from Marissa McClellan. She writes a great canning blog called Food In Jars, and developed this recipe for Saveur magazine. I knew I had to try it. I doubled the batch (that's how optimistic I was) and it was really, really good! So good I have since made another double batch of it.

Tomatillo Green Chile Ketchup

• 2 lb. tomatillos, chopped (I skip the chopping)
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• ½ cup minced onion (or rough chop, if you're me...)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. freshly grated ginger
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 (4-oz.) can roasted green chiles (I used fresh roasted green chiles, poblanos and anaheims to be exact)
• 1 garlic clove, chopped

Put all ingredients in a large pot and simmer til softened. Use an immersion blender to puree til smooth (see...that's how you can skip all the chopping!). Simmer til thickened to your liking. Keep in mind it will thicken a bit more as it cools also. If you'd like, it can be processed in a water bath for 15 minutes, or just store in the refrigerator. Makes 3 cups. 

Quick and Easy Belt: Vintage Trim

All my kids are skinny little thangs. In fact, my youngest perpetually hikes up his pants even when they are not falling down. He's just used to his pants slowly creeping down. My daughter has the same problem and not all jeans have the wonder that is the adjustable waist. To solve the dilemma, I made her a super quick belt from a piece of vintage trim I found at the thrift store. I hemmed the end, sewed on some D rings and voila! The pants stay on! This technique would also work for an adult, but I think it would be best to stabilize it with a webbing or fabric base.

The Yellow Rose of Texas Dress (B5748) - Part 1 (Hand-Picked Zipper Attempt)

I finally finished a project but spoiler alert: this post is only about the zipper installation.  

 

 This retro 60s Butterick pattern (5748) has an inset side zipper that calls for a center lapped installation. I don't like lapped-style but since it was a retro pattern I decided to give hand-picking  a whirl to keep in the spirit of the vintage style. It's actually a really easy and quick process that makes it possible to adjust as you go. When it was all stitched up it looked like the first picture on the inside and like the second picture on the outside. If you look really closely on the second picture you can see the little "nips" where the thread came through (it's supposed to look like that). 

 

 On the hanger the zipper looked perfect but gaped at the waist seam when it was actually on (one reason why I never used lapped). I ripped out the stitches and tried again to tweak it but had the same issue the second time. I didn't feel like giving it a third go and instead just installed my good 'ol usual invisible zip.

 

 All of this to say that, while hand-picking didn't work for this particular project, it was a good new process to learn (I found this tutorial from Sewaholic extremely helpful). A stiffer fabric would've worked really well and in the future I would definitely try this again. I LOVE vintage styles and am always looking to learn new ways to add "authentic" vintage-type details to the things I make. This style of zipper is definitely a way to do that and helps me get over my exclusiveness with invisible installation!