Happy National Pie Day!

In America, the National Pie Council (what, your country doesn't have one of those?) declared January 23rd National Pie Day. Being as we for some strange reason don't get this as a day off, I had to do my celebrating yesterday in my now-traditional fashion, with a pie-luck!

I made a batch of cherry cup-pies and a chocolate/raspberry pie that I neglected to photograph.

(Note to all bakers out there, when making a recipe for the first time, read the whole recipes before the morning you attempt to make it. I neglected to do this and caught myself running out of time when I realized that my raspberry pie took FOUR HOURS to make due to refrigerating time for the different parts.)

I think I need to make cup-pies more often, they're adorable and take only a tiny bit more work than a regular pie.

As usual we had a range of savory, sweet, and tart pies.  A pie-luck requires at least three rounds to the table and generous amounts of tupperware for the leftovers.

We also got in a fair amount of knitting and Aimee, Chris, and Maggie split up several balls of Jamieson and Smith yarn for our sheep heid knit-a-long. (I'm spinning mine).

So for those interested, here's a run-down of the pies (if I forgot any my apologies!):

• Savory
  • Red Lentil & root vegetable pot pie
  • Goat cheese and leek egg pie/quiche
  • Pizza Pie
• Fruit-Based
  • Apple Cranberry
  • Cranberry Pear Shortbread
  • Cranberry Sage
  • Cherry Cup-pies
  • Chocolate Raspberry
  • Apricot Cheese
• Cream
  • Chocolate Satin
  • Butterfinger

With all the leftovers I ended up with - I'll be celebrating pie all week!!

More Christmas Makings

Here's a few more things I either made in secret (ornaments) or at the last minute (wreath):

Did you do any Christmas making?

A Stocking for Steiny and Other Makings

I was trying to not to be one of the those crazy pet parents who gets their pets Christmas parents (which seems to be a largely American thing - yes?), but I gave in and not only got Steinbeck a gift, I sewed him a stocking.

In my defense, it only took me the baking time of about 2 dozen cookies to get the whole thing done from conception to completion and it's totally cute. The fabric was leftovers from my Valentine's skirt and a wreath I'm still trying to finish up.

In addition to the aforementioned cookies, Ive made my annual batches of dark chocolate mint fudge and peanut brittle.

The goodies are baked, the house decorated, the packets shipped, and the gifts (mostly) wrapped, with three days left, I think I'm good to go!.

A Little Bit Country

One of my guilty pleasures in life is Time-Life Music infomercials. There's something endearing about the standard formula of past-their-prime musician + woman-of-a-certain-age co-host + those 5 second clips of unforgettable hits of the 60s and 70s. On a lazy Sunday afternoon Mr. Cleaver and I will merrily let it run for the full half-hour and our ultimate favorite collection is "The Golden Age of Country."

My costume this year is a tribute to the Golden Age of Country, the Grand Olde Opry, and fantastic country songbirds of the age like June Carter Cash, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton in all their big-haired, chiffon-clad glory.

I came across Simplicity Pattern 2180 a few weeks back, and thought it would be the perfect starting point for my costume, but it was out of stock in my size. However a kind friend in my knitting circle picked it up for me on a trip to Augusta, so I was in business!!

I knew the dress would have to have a gauzy chiffon component, preferably in a pastel shade and this Jenny Lewis video inspired me to pick up some lace trimming as well. I treated the seafoam-y tafetta-esque base fabric as an underlining, and sewed the two layers together before making the darts/seams/etc. which made dealing with the top layer chiffon a bunch easier.

It's not the best sewing job I've ever done, I skipped a few steps like the waistband facing and replaced the sleeve cuffs with elastic, but for a Halloween costume, I think it turned out pretty swell.  I'm racking my brain for occasions/places I could get away with wearing this dress in ordinary life, because I kind of love it (and I'm definitely remaking the pattern in a more casual fabric at some point).

Mr. Cleaver joined in on a more modern take on the theme, thanks to a cowboy hat from Target and some clothes from around the house. Our first thought was to do a more "rhinestone cowboy" look (like Buck Owens), but this was easier.

We went to a Halloween party over the weekend, where Mr Cleaver claimed to alternately be Toby Keith and/or Hank Williams Jr.

Even Steinbeck got in on the action (he is from Texas after all).

I even tried to keep the pumpkin in the country theme, though it looks more like a Holstein pig than the cow I was going for.

But while we may look country on the outside, inside we're both still rock ' roll.

PS - thanks to Bristol (and her dad) for the loaner cowboy boots!!

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter!!

I know that technically I don't have to wear a skirt today, but it's Easter and I finished it last night, so I figured I would wear my sparkly new Beignet skirt.

It took me about a month from muslin to finished project, but I think the time was well worth it.

The shell fabric is a lovely blue twill from my stash and the lining is a super soft polka dotted poly-charmeuse from JoAnn's. The lining fabric was a bit of pain to work with (it frayed terribly until I finished the seams), but it feels fantastic.

The buttons are pale blue slimlines. I considered doing a more contrasting button, but decided I wanted this skirt to be a versatile as possible, so I kept it tone-on-tone.

The sewing was not difficult, although attaching the curved parts of the lining to the facing can be fussy. The reason it took me  so long was purely due to the large number of seams -meaning a large number of seams to finish.

That said, if I came across a good fabric, I'd make it again and I think this iteration will get lots of wear especially since the twill can be dressier (like today) or more casual.

Top: Ann Taylor Loft - from Material Objects (consignment)

Coral Necklace: American Girl Co. (to go with my Felicity doll, when I was ten or so)

Skirt: Beignet, made by me

Shoes: Bass Outlet

Chocolate Bunny: from Mom

Jelly Beans: on loan from Mr. Cleaver

In the next few days, I'll do a post-Lent round-up/wrap up. Hope you've enjoyed this challenge as much as I have!

PS - Don't forget  today is the last day to get $1.00 off the Domenic Pattern in my Ravelry shop!

Lent 2011 - Day #9

Happy St. Paddy's Day!!

Tonight Mr. Cleaver and I will celebrate in our usual fashion - Corned Beef and Cabbage.  In honor of the holiday, I'm wearing my brightest greens today, which includes a silk scarf that is hands down one of my favorite things in my wardrobe.

Velvet Blazer: Rafaella, ebay

Green Long Sleeve Shirt: Old Navy

Silk Scarf: Birthday gift

Dark Denim Skirt: New York & Co.

Pinstripe Tights: Target (currently on clearance)

Shoes: Bass Outlet

There are signs of spring peeking out in our yard...

But it's still pretty cold!!

My Valentine Skirt

Happy Valentine's Day!!

About two weeks ago, I ordered a pretty red dress online and afterward thought it would be great to wear on Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, it didn't show up by Saturday.

Come Sunday, I decided I wanted something red to wear anyway.

Remembering I had some red fabric in my stash (received as part of the same group of fabric that became the granny skirt) and grabbing a simple previously made pattern (Simplicity 2758). I whipped this skirt up in an evening.

It is generally know that I am not a fast sewer.

It was only a through a confluence of positive circumstances that it came together so quickly:

1. I happened to have all the materials on hand, including the fabric, interfacing, red thread and a sufficiently long red zipper.
2. I has sewed the pattern before, so the pattern pieces were already cut out and I knew it fit well.
3. The pattern is basically three pieces: skirt front, skirt back, and waist band. Plus the added strip for the faux bow.
4. Only two seams to finish!
5. The material is a faux suede, so I couldn't really iron it. Meaning, I didn't have to iron it!
6. The zipper went in super easily on the first try.

To add a hint of pizazz, I added some top stitching on the waistband and on off-center bow.

And voila! Festive Valentine's Day skirt!

I Think I Ate a Whole Pie Yesterday

So the day after I moved in, I naturally invited a bunch of people over for my second annual National Pie Day celebration, like you do.

There were knitting quizzes and pie trivia!

There were door prizes!

There was much tea consumed!

There were rows knitted!

And there was a pie per person! (and some creme brulee that snuck in, but who can complain?)

(Counterclockwise from bottom right: quiche (egg pie), shepherd's pie, vegetarian shepherd's pie, banana's foster pie, cherry cream pie, spinach feta and phyllo pie, lemon meringue, and s'more pie.)

In other news, it's -10° F outside, but the house is warm and there were a pair of beautiful cardinals chirping outside my living room window as I ate my breakfast this morning.

And I have a bunch of leftover savory pies for my lunch. Not a bad start to a cold day!!

Mr. Cleaver's Christmas Shirt

Last year for Christmas, I  secretly knit Mr. Cleaver a sweater. This year, I secretly sewed him a shirt.

Secret sewing is much more difficult than secret knitting, especially when your sewing machine lives in your bedroom! But I squeezed the project in on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, when Mr. Cleaver left for work early (except for one when we lost power!).  I did kick him out of the house for an hour and a half on the 22nd or 23rd so I could do the buttons and buttonholes, and I thought for sure he was onto me.

But Christmas morning came and he opened his shirt and I had to tell him I made it, even though I stitched something inside one of the cuffs,  which I guess is a good thing. I did work really hard to make it the shirt as professional as possible, including doing flat-felled seams throughout and matching the plaids wherever possible.  You could practically wear this thing inside out!

A flat-felled seam.

My biggest worry was that it wouldn't fit, even though I kept comparing it to shirts in his closet, but it fit great and he wore it all Christmas day. The fabric is a lovely light-weight wool  from the Pendleton wool mills that irons and wears like a dream. My family has a long-history with Pendleton wool button-downs, so I was glad I could bring Mr. Cleaver into the tradition.

Pattern: McCalls' M6044 - View C

Fabric: Pendleton Lightweight Wool from Gorgeous Fabrics

Flat-Felled Seam Tutorial: sewneau.com

Oh Christmas Tree!

Because we usually travel every other Christmas, Mr. Cleaver and I look forward to the non-travel years because it means we can get a Christmas tree. Growing up, my family always did cut-your-own, so we try to find a local place to pick our tree. Last Sunday we headed to The Old Farm in Cape Elizabeth and got around to hanging the ornaments last night, so without further adieu, our Christmas Tree adventure: