Iron Craft '13 #7 Ethnic: Indian Dress Refashion

Better late then never!!! I finally had some time, I lost track of my blog with demoing instruments for the lab and then it was the annual American Association for Cancer Research meeting. And then I wound up sick! OMG!! But here we are!

The challenge is to create something from an ethnicity  doesn't have to be yours. I had this Indian Dress I got at Goodwill one day and been waiting to refashion it. This dress is lovely and I just loved Indian embroidery.

Now the lining is horrible. There is no back to the dress and it was rigid. The first thing I wanted to do with this dress was make a skirt but look at the lining... it was gross. I had to hand wash it first! It stunk!

Then I made the cut.... I was so nervous, I cut along a one of the ribbons and used the bottom of the dress to be the bottom of the skirt. 

Here's my panel. Now technically it is too wide but I didn't want to risk cutting up up and having everything  fray and dealing with that or the mirrors. 

I decided to use a piece of scrap blue polyester which stretches to make the back of the skirt. I measured about the length and width of the fabric panel. 

Cut the fabric in half and sew each side to the panel (right sides together). I sewed slowly and used a heavy duty needle. 

Next I adjusted so the skirt would fit snug. Added an invisible zipper and then darts to adjust the waist from being too big. 

Surprisingly this was easy peasy. Now to finish off the top part of the skirt. I opted for bias tape. 

Skirt is now done! Yes it was that easy. Here are some quick shots I took of it. I can't wait to wear it!!! 

The meeting and being sick really threw a wrench in my plans or else it would have been done one time. No worries I will not be late with the next iron craft challenge-playtime. :)

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Sewing for Charity- Wash cloth mitts

Actually this post came up way too early. I have no idea why it posted early. Go figure. Avon walk has not happened!
So today is all about charity. As we speak I am at the Avon Walk here in D.C. I am spending the entire weekend volunteering. Which means I am camping out! yeah! Pink tents! :)

So I thought it would be appropriate to post a charity sewing project I finished with terry cloth. I realized there is not much I can do with green terrry cloth so I made wash mitts for babies for Bundles of Love.

Basically I cut 7 X 5 inches of the fabric. I serged one short end- BTW easier said than done. The cloth stretched and sometimes ate the fabric. I almost needed like a stay stitching before I serged the ends. I tried a lot of options. It was a challenge. Then I took 2 rectangles, put wrong sides together and sewed the remaining edges. I finished with serging. Here are my done mits! I have 33 in total! yay!

I have pink fabric left in my stash but after this challenging project I am just going to send them the fabric and let their sewing volunteers work their magic. Getting closer to my goal of 200.... I have a lot of bibs I can sew with the fabric scraps so this may put me to my goal. Can't wait! I want to sew now!

Hopefully all is well at the Avon Walk! :) I am going to be one tired person. But it is worth it!

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Sweet Potato Casserole

This is one of my favorite recipes. I have made it several times and everyone that has tried it always loves it
First start with some sweet potatoes-peel off the skin.

Cut them into pieces and cook them. Mash.

To the mashed potatoes here is the recipe:

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (these pictures are double)

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup milk

pinch of salt

1/2 stick of butter

1 tsp of vanilla

Mix all together and add to a baking dish.

Now for the topping! 

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1/3 coconut flour (regular flour if you are not gluten free)

1/3 cup melted butter.

Mix all togeth

Spread on top and place the casserole in the oven

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Done

Let the casserole stand for 10-15 minutes before eating. Enjoy! Easy!

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Yellow & Crushed Glass Bead Ribbon Necklace

So you have seen the pink ribbon and pearl necklace. I thought I would try something else the same way. I have these cracked glass beads that I have wanted to use and I had yellow ribbon that I thought would work well with the glass.

Start the same way, knot and bring your knotted thread through the knot. Also this time I used button thread b/c these beads were way heavier!

Here is how I weave them. Very easy. There is room for error so you don't have to be perfect to make these types of necklaces

Basically I repeated the same procedure. But I made more strands and also decided to use white pearls I wanted a thick necklace of beads. :)

Repeat again tying off the notes for the strands starting with the shortest one first. Again burn. Blah Blah.

I glued also just because I am afraid.

I busted out the lobster claw, the jump rings, and chain.

I only used 1 of the chains, I am having the lobster claw link the big loop

Done! Here is the end necklace. I love how it is big and chunky and filled with beads.

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Goat cheese & spinach stuffed chicken

I have not made these in a while and I thought this could be a nice change to dinner. First I grabbed chicken breast-cut off the fat and thinned them out. I placed them onto a baking sheet that I sprayed with cooking spray

Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Now finely cut up the spinach- I also removed the stems. Place them onto the middle of the chicken. Next add goat cheese.

Time to roll them up! Secure with toothpicks. You will need a few depending on the thickness of the chicken.

Bake at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes. This is vary depending on the thickness of the chicken. Done! OMG these are super yummy

Super easy to make and really great to eat. The goat cheese will keep the inside of the meat moist.

xoxoxo,
Lauren

This is for the birds shirt refashion

I almost hesitate to call this a refashion but I did change how this shirt looks.

I really liked this shirt and loved the little birds. It fit but when I put it on the light color mixed with the pale color (or shall we say paste-y) of my skin it just is not flattering on me.

So I thought.... Bingo! What if I add some color to the edges to break up the flow of color from my shirt to the skin. I opted for navy blue bias tape.

First I did the bottom with a wide wide tape. I think it may have been binding tape like for quilts-they are usually wider.

Then I used another size bias tape on the arm holes and the neckline. Now the top looks much better.

Definitely works better now. Not so much with the blue skirt but much better overall. :)

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Lace long sleeve shirt pattern review

Thought I would give this pattern a try.... M6604 form McCall's

I really liked this shirt

I really thought this would be a lovely top. What I did not notice was there is no lining under the lace of the top so I had to add my own.

Here is the finished top...

The top was a little low but it may have been the way I sewed the binding on the neckline. Sleeves are a little big but not bad. They were a pain to sew. I also changed the way I finished the top. I used bias trim on the bottom because I was in need of the length. Loosing almost an inch was out of my comfort zone. I cut a size 12, which was perfect. Any smaller of a size and it would not have fit in my chest. Overall, I do like the shirt. I am very happy with the way it turned out. I don't know if I would make another one. We will have to see.

Cheers,
Lauren