Condiments, Dips, Chutneys and Relishes

Read more here about the Madhur Jaffrey project - one of my 2010 goals. For an index of recipes, click here.

Condiments, Dips, Chutneys and Relishes

Salt and pepper, Indian-style - November 27, 2009
Salt and pepper, Chinese-style
Goma shio (Black sesame seeds and salt)
Dry North Indian Dip - April 2, 2010
Maulka pori (Dry South Indian chutney)
Tempura dipping sauce
Chinese dipping sauce
Japanese dipping sauce
Filipino dipping sauce
Korean dipping sauce 1
Korean dipping sauce 2 - May 3, 2010
Korean dipping sauce 3
Simple Korean sauce - Aug 16, 2010
Spicy Korean sauce
Tahini dipping sauce
Wasabi (Horseradish)
Crisply fried onions
Hot oil
Tomato sauce
Chili sambal - November 14, 2009
Sambal tomat (Hot tomato sambal) - November 14, 2009
Spicy peanut sambal - November 14, 2009
Hot and spicy Hyderabadi tomato chutney - April 25, 2010
Fresh chinese parsley and mint chutney - November 27, 2009
Tamarind-mint chutney for snack foods - Dec 1, 2009
South-Indian coconut chutney - April 2, 2010
Sweet tomato chutney
Apricot chutney with raisins and currants
Goan cabbage salad - October 20, 2009
Pickled green chilies - September 7, 2009
Sour lime pickle
Cauliflower and white radish picked in water
Carrot and turnip pickle
Sweet and sour lime pickle
Atjar kuning (Yellow mixed pickle)
Onions pickled in vinegar
Cauliflower pickled with dill - Dec 15, 2009
Cabbage tsukemono (Salted cabbage pickle)
Kombu relish
Quick-salted white radish pickle
Shoyu daikon (white radish pickled in soy sauce)
Ginger quick-pickled in soy sauce - Dec 7, 2009
Quick-salted cucumber pickle
Tomato, cucumber and onion relish - Mar 8, 2010
Aomidaikon (Quick-pickled small white radishes)
White radish preserve
Cabbage kimchee (Cabbage pickle)
Kakdooki (Pickle made with cubes of white radish)
Stuffed cucumber kimchee
Dong chimi (White radish water kimchee) - August 29, 2010
Spicy turnip pickle
Pickled garlic

Desserts and sweetmeats

Read more here about the Madhur Jaffrey project - one of my 2010 goals. For an index of recipes, click here.

Desserts and sweetmeats

Banana fritters in tempura batter
Mangoes with glutinous rice - July 26, 2010
Stewed dried fruit
Leche flan (Coconut custard)
Firnee - Mar 12, 2010
Peanut taffy
Sesame seed taffy
Shakkar-paara (deep-fried cookies)
Zucchini halwa - April 6, 2010
Whole-wheat halwa
Baklava (filo pastry stuffed with nuts)
Besan barfee (Chickpea fudge)
Rava na ghugra (sweet, stuffed pastry)
Carrot cake with an Indian flavor
Bibingka kamoteng kahoy (Filipino-style cassava cake with raisins)
Cassava suman
Sweet walnut soup - a contemporary Hong Kong version
Sweet red bean soup
Green snow (Green tea syrup and sweet beans on shaved ice)
Chinese-style jellied bean curd sweetmeat with a peanut topping
Chinese-style jellied whole mung-bean sweetmeat
Jellied sweet azuki-bean squares
Chumchum and dilbahar (Chhena diamonds and hearts)
Rasgullas (Chhena balls in syrup)
Rasmalai
Sheer korma (an Indian vermicelli milk dessert)

Rice and other grains

Read more here about the Madhur Jaffrey project - one of my 2010 goals. For an index of recipes, click here.

Rice and other grains

Plain boiled rice
Plain baked rice 1
Plain baked rice 2
Plain basmati rice - June 1, 2010
Kateh (Plain boiled rice with a crust) - November 22, 2009
Plain brown long-grain rice - November 24, 2009
Brown rice with spinach
Plain glutinous rice cooked in a double-boiler
Azuki meshi (Glutinous rice cooked with azuki beans)
Plain Japanese rice
Sushi rice
Norimake-zushi (sushi rice rolled in dark laver)
Chirashi-zushi (sushi rice with vegetable topping)
Persian-style steamed rice
Steamed rice with lentils
Plain unseasoned congee
Congee with chinese cabbage and scallions
Ghains (congee with yoghurt)
Geeli khichri (wet khichri)
Saag vali khichri
Guinataan with rice and mung beans (rice porridge with mung beans)
Kongnamul bab (Rice with soy-bean sprouts)
Honsik bab (Rice with barley)
Rice with bean sprouts, spinach and laver
Rice with millet - Aug 16, 2010
Rice with spinach
Bibimbab (Korean rice with egg and vegetable topping)
Rice with garlic
Rice with tomatoes
Rice with sauteed onions and mushrooms - Dec 24, 2009
Rice with coconut milk
Nasi kuning (Yellow turmeric rice cooked with coconut milk)
Rice with fresh herbs and baby lima beans
Rice with paneer and peas
Basmati rice cooked with chana dal and dill - Dec 24, 2009
Ek handi na dal chaval (Rice and dal, cooked in one pot)
Vangi bhat (Rice and eggplant, cooked in the Maharashtrian style)
Kashmiri-style gucchi pullao
Vegetable pullao
Spiced rice with cashews - September 3, 2009
Spiced rice with nuts and raisins
Fried rice with egg and vegetable
Thai fried rice
Sweet rice with orange rind
Zarda pullao (Sweet saffron rice)
Bulgar wheat with scallions and mushrooms
Pilaf of bulgar wheat and red lentils
Bulgar wheat with chickpeas and tomatoes
Tabouleh (Bulgar wheat and parsley salad)
Whole hulled millet cooked with carrots and onion
Whole hulled millet cooked with yellow split peas
Uppama

Beans and dried peas

Read more here about the Madhur Jaffrey project - one of my 2010 goals. For an index of recipes, click here.

Beans and dried peas

Chana dal with cucumber - Dec 6, 2009
Chickpea salad - April 11, 2010
Chickpea and green bean salad - September 5, 2010
Chickpeas with garlic, tomatoes and green chilies - November 17, 2009
Chickpea and tomato stew - May 2, 2010
Very spicy, delicious chickpeas - May 9, 2010
Falafel (Chickpea patties) - Dec 5, 2009
Besan (A savory, chickpea flour quiche) - June 28, 2010
Fresh fava beans with thyme
Fresh fava beans with straw mushrooms
Dried fava bean and green bell pepper salad
Lobio (Red kidney bean salad with a walnut dressing)
Red beans cooked with garlic and ginger
Lentils with garlic and tomatoes - January 12, 2010
Lentil salad - November 22, 2009
Lentils with spinach - Dec 14, 2009
Candied dried lima beans
Frozen lima beans braised with swiss chard and dill - Aug 12, 2010
Lima beans with raisins - March 22, 2010
Mung or masoor dal - November 21, 2009
Roasted mung dal
Mongo (Mung beans with spinach and tomatoes) - April 2, 2010
Dry mung dal - March 9, 2010
How to sprout your own mung beans
Soy bean sprouts
Stir-fried mung-bean sprouts, carrots and cabbage
Salad of mung-bean sprouts and egg strands
Sprouted mung beans cooked with mustard seeds - April 4, 2010
Sprouted mung beans with spinach
Salad of sprouted mung beans
Soy-bean and mung-bean sprouts seasoned with sesame oil
Navy bean salad - March 26, 2010
Kacang asin (Salted peanuts with garlic)
Spinach with raw peanuts - March 28, 2010
Peanuts with long green beans
Fried tempeh - September 5, 2010 (part of cooking I did for Pecel)
Fried, preseasoned tempeh
Sambal goreng tempeh kering (Sweet and sour tempeh)
Tempeh cooked in coconut milk
Oily toovar dal with cloves - Jan 4, 2010
Oily toovar dal with green beans and tomatoes - March 28, 2010
Sambar (South Indian dal with vegetables) - May 9, 2010

The first meal...

Read more here about the Madhur Jaffrey project - one of my 2010 goals. For an index of recipes, click here.

Was cooked on September 3, 2009. After that, I have cooked about 10 recipes, but haven't taken photos. I'm stating that these don't count, and will therefore have to cook these again.

Dinner - September 3, 2009: Green beans with sesame paste and garlic, Spiced rice with cashews, yogurt with cucumber and crushed mustard seeds.



Notes:

- This green bean recipe rules. I had it at my cousin's house, and I went and bought the cookbook. Enough said.
- The crushed mustard seeds in a raita was new to me. It was different, and took a bit of getting used to, but I liked it after a bit.
- The rice took forever to make. Soak. Cook on stovetop for 20 minutes. Then bake in over for 40 minutes. I started cooking at 7.30pm or thereabouts - I ate at 10. However, I took some of the rice to a party at my mom's, and everyone there loved it. I therefore surmise that it was worth it.

Vegetables

Read more here about the Madhur Jaffrey project - one of my 2010 goals.

Vegetables

Stir-fried asparagus flavored with sesame oil- May 2, 2010
Green beans with garlic and red pepper
Green beans with sesame paste and garlic - September 3, 2009
Green beans with onion, garlic and tomato- May 24, 2010
Green beans with soy sauce - Aug 16, 2010
Green beans with fresh coconut and sesame seeds - January 16, 2010
Green beans and peas with ginger - April 21, 2010
Green beans cooked with mustard seeds and red pepper - Dec 1, 2009
Green bell peppers cooked with chickpea flour- January 7, 2010
Stewed beets with tomatoes - June 1, 2010
Stir-fried bitter melon - May 7, 2010
Bitter melon with eggs
Brussels sprouts stir-fried with dried Chinese mushrooms- June 1, 2010
Cabbage with Carrot and scallions - August 30, 2010
Cabbage seasoned with umeboshi plums
Shredded cabbage with mustard seeds and fresh coconut- November 21, 2009
Cabbage with yoghurt- Mar 28, 2010
Cabbage and tomatoes cooked in mustard oil- January 16, 2010
Cabbage with miso
Carrots in batter
Carrots with raisins and dates - Dec 15, 2009
Carrots cooked in dashi
Cauliflower in a cashew and sesame seed sauce- Apr 11, 2010
Cauliflower with almonds and lima beans
Cauliflower and potatoes cooked with fenugreek and fennel seeds - March 1, 2010
Cauliflower steamed with whole spices
Cauliflower with zucchini - Dec 6, 2009
Tumis Sawi (Choy sum with shallots)
Haak (Collard greens) - Dec 24, 2009
Corn with coconut milk
Eggplant slices with white miso
Sweet and sour eggplant- March 26, 2010
Eggplant fans in batter
Cubed eggplant cooked with onions - Dec 6, 2009
Creamed eggplant - April 8, 2010
Eggplant and potato - Dec 4, 2009
Eggplant with tomatoes - November 22, 2009
Eggplant cooked with crushed mustard seeds and yoghurt - January 6, 2010
Katte baigan (Sour eggplants)- Apr 11, 2010
Spicy eggplant with onion
Patlican (Fried eggplant with a yoghurt sauce)
Pinakbet (Mixed vegetable stew with eggplant and long beans)
Sajur Lodeh (Eggplant and long beans stewed in coconut milk
Baghara baigan (Eggplant cooked in the Hyderabadi style)
Hijiki with shiitake mushrooms
Hijiki with sweet potatoes
Kohlrabi with chinese black mushrooms - September 5, 2010
Lotus root and tomatoes cooked with fennel and dried ginger
Lotus root with soy sauce dressing
Mushrooms cooked with aluminum foil
Mushrooms with onion, garlic and ginger
Sauced mushrooms with sesame seeds - Apr 1, 2010
Three aunties and three grandmothers (Three kinds of mushrooms and three kinds of vegetables)
Sweet and salty dried shiitake mushrooms
Stir-fried tree ear fungus and summer oyster mushrooms
Morel mushrooms with peas - June 28, 2010
Mustard greens or broccoli rabe, cooked in the Punjabi style) - November 24, 2009
Whole okra - Mar 19, 2010
Sweet and sour okra with chickpeas - Dec 23, 2009
Okra fried with onion and green chili January 7, 2010
Okra with tomatoes
Peas with ginger - August 30, 2010
Peas with parsley and coconut - August 29, 2010
Potatoes and onions - May 9, 2010
Potatoes and tomatoes cooked with fresh coconut- January 16, 2010
Potatoes with chickpeas
Potato stew
Aloo achaar (Potato salad)- March 26, 2010
Dry potatoes cooked with mustard seeds - Dec 1, 2009
Dum aloo- Apr 11, 2010
Diced potatoes with spinach- January 16, 2010
Potatoes with whole spices and sesame seeds
Sambal goreng kentang kering (Spicy shoestring potatoes)
Potatoes cooked with garlic and sesame seeds - November 27, 2009
Fried potatoes
Yellow pumpkin cooked with soy sauce
Fresh soy beans, steamed
Snowpeas cooked in dashi
Oshitashi (Spinach with roasted sesame seeds)
Spinach with shallots
Spinach with fermented bean curd - September 5, 2010
Spinach with scallions, cooked in the Moghlai style - November 12, 2009
Spinach cooked in a Bihari style - June 28, 2010
Yellow squash with onions, tomato and cumin
Stuffed yellow squash
Tomatoes cooked in the Bengali style - March 1, 2010
Tomatoes cooked in the Delhi style- Apr 11, 2010
Tomatoes cooked in the Gujarati style - March 26, 2010
Tomatoes stuffed with potatoes and peas
Turnips cooked in dashi - August 29, 2010
Wakatake (Wakame seaweed and bamboo shoots)
Water chestnuts, plain and boiled
Zucchini stuffed with smoked eggplant - August 30, 2010
Zucchini stir-fried with garlic
Zucchini stuffed with fresh coconut and chinese parsley - Dec 24, 2009
Zucchini meatballs- Apr 11, 2010
Aviyal (Mixed vegetables)
Pecal (Vegetable salad with a spicy peanut sauce) - September 5, 2010
Yum Tavoy (Salad of cooked mixed vegetables)
Tempura
Ukoy
Vegetable pakoris (Vegetable fritters)


(Looking at how many recipes there are, I think I have my work cut out for me. Or I could be screwed. Take your pick.)

Madhur Jaffrey - World of the East - Index

Read more here about the Madhur Jaffrey project - one of my 2010 goals.

The Chapters

1. Vegetables
2. Beans and dried peas
3. Rice and other grains
4. Soy milk, bean curd and wheat gluten
5. Eggs
6. Milk products
7. Noodles, pancakes and breads
8. Soups
9. Little salads, appetizers, snacks and drinks
10. Condiments, dips, chutneys and relishes
11. Desserts and sweetmeats

(Since I thought it would be useful to have a centralized link to all the recipes.)

Lunch-time cooking

Read this if you are wondering why I'm posting pictures of food.

As an explanation, my apartment is 10 minutes away from work, which means I come home for lunch quite frequently. Also, this week, I've been cooking at lunch, and eating leftovers for dinner, instead of the other way around. (Usually, when I come back home in the evening, I'm starving, and having food ready prevents me from eating junk.)

Lunch Nov 12: Spinach with Scallions, Cooked in the Moghlai Style, Yoghurt with Banana in the Gujarati Style and Brown Rice



Lunch Nov 13 (today): Spiced Buttermilk with Tomato


Notes:

- I thought yoghurt and banana was the weirdest combination in the world (the recipe also calls for chopped green chili), but the result was surprisingly good.
- The spinach blew me away. I thought I knew how to cook spinach Indian-style - but this recipe opened my eyes.
- The buttermilk with tomatoes is really similar to a recipe I've eaten my entire life. How bizarre. (Ok, it does mention it is a South Indian dish, so, not really that bizarre.)

Sewing Pattern Review - McCall 5699

Overcoming a massive sewing block, I finally finished this project yesterday. Almost 2 months to press and hem? We call that a complete, total lack of sewing mo-jo.

Or just a distinct lack of enthusiasm about how much fitting/fussing I needed to do to get this to look only partially like a sack, not totally like one; along with a certain skepticism that I'd ever wear the resulting dress.

Details:

Fabric: A mystery knit of some kind - found in WalMart's $1 section. It is a bit thin and see-through, but otherwise not terrible.

Pattern: McCalls 5699.

Pattern notes: This isn't complicated sewing, but a couple of things I did differently.

- I cut an 8 on top, 10 waist and below, and I was swimming in the resulting creation. The full sleeves don't help - I looked like a sack. To counter, I took atleast 1.5 inches off the sides, as well as the sleeves. The resulting dress is still somewhat sack-like, but in a cuter way.

- The instructions have you create a casing for the elastic for the ruching at the bust area. I skipped that - and sewed elastic directly on the dress. It is on the wrong side - and I'm not meticulous enough to create a casing so the wrong side looks nice.

- I didn't like the puffing at sleeve shoulder. I know the 80s are fashionable again, but please, no thanks. I transferred the gathers to the front and back of the shoulder instead, which I think is slightly better.

Time taken: In actual time, about 6 hours. In elapsed time, 2 months. Go figure.

The conclusion: Well, I did wear it to work today - with black tights and heels, it looked fairly ok. I like the loose/mock turtle-neck, and I dislike the lack of shaping (I enclose a picture of the side view as proof. I am not a sack.) All in all, not a go-to dress, but a perfect I'm-feeling-fat-or-too-lazy-to-care dress. Is that a good thing?

Early morning cooking

Probably as a result of jet-lag, I woke up at the unheard-of time of 7.00am, which actually meant I had time to cook and eat breakfast before I left for work. (I am not a morning person - this is very unusual for me.)

Let me detour here for a bit.

One of my favorite cookbooks is Madhur Jaffrey's World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking. (To be precise, it is my second favorite cookbook. The top cookbook on the list - Dakshin: Vegetarian Cuisine from South India.

Anyway, as one of my 2010 goals (and yes, this is reasonably early to be thinking of it, I know), I'd like to cook every recipe in this cookbook. (And, ideally, take a photo, which I'll post here, with other commentary as necessary.)

Back to breakfast.

From the cookbook, I made Chaura na poora aka black-eyed pea pancakes. (The link provides a very similar recipe to the book.)

Soaked black-eyed peas...


are ground with spices to make a batter...


which is cooked on the stove-top...


making an appalling mess on the counter.


When done, (in about the same time it takes to restore a semblance of order to the counter-top)


it is plated and eaten. Yummy!


Chaura Na Poora, served with Goan Cabbage Salad and Green Chili Pickle (the reddish on the right.) All recipes from Madhur Jaffrey's World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking.

What I'm working on

After a bunch of work travel (Vancouver, yay!) and other assorted life stuff, I finally had a free evening last night and I was determined to sew.

I'm making a dress that I just can't find on the McCalls website, and I don't remember the pattern number. That's helpful, isn't it? It has a turtleneck, long sleeves, and is semi-fitted. I'm making it with a somewhat-sheer black knit (I thought it was a bit thicker, ah well.)

What I have left - hemming. I hate hemming, and especially hemming a knit. I also have a bit more of fitting and pressing to do, since right now, without a belt, the dress looks like a mu-mu (I made my usual size 10! Sheesh.)

Anyway, some fixing is required.

Tonight, I'm going to try to stand in line for rush tickets to see this concert. Fingers crossed. I really want to see them, but I don't want to pay $45. (Side note: I used to have the world's biggest crush on Zakir Hussain as a kid.)

Since I had a blue zipper - McCalls 4444

I have had other favorite dresses - here, here and here - but this one supplants all of them - this is my new absolutely-favorite dress.

I had cut this pattern out, but I didn't have enough of the fabric I wanted to make it in (the black fabric I used to make this skirt.) I therefore rooted around in the stash, found a blue invisible zipper, as well as this fabric I bought in Nigeria, and voila. Easy peasy.

Here's a review.

Fabric: This beautiful tie-dye. 100% medium weight cotton, bought at-least five years ago from a market in Lagos. I've hoarded it until now, but this is the perfect use for this fabric.

Pattern: McCalls 4444.

Pattern notes: This is a pretty easy sewing pattern. Stuff that's worthy of comment:

- I made a size 10 at the top, and 12 at the waist/hip. This has perfect ease, I love it.
- I thought the pattern adjusting lines were really convenient, since I always need to adjust the pattern anyway to petite-size it.
- The instructions call for the bodice to be self-lined. In my case, I used lining fabric to line the bodice instead, my fabric is medium-weight, and a double layer would have been too stiff.
- The back required a bit of pinning and adjustment to get the dress to fit right. Nothing major - the vertical pieces were shortened, and I pinned the neck piece in place until it felt secure.


(Picture of the back.)

Apart from that, this is a nice, beginner pattern - very easy sewing, though a ton of pieces. (It was a bit of a pain cutting out...)

Time taken: About 4-6 hours, split over three evenings. I'm a very slow sewer though - this is an easy pattern.

And there you have it - my new favorite dress. I feel very sexy in this - I love it!

My First Really Successful Clothing Reconstruction

I’m sure I’ve mentioned that my parents used to live in Nigeria for 7 years, and I bought an unseemly amount of fabric during visits there.

One of the happy by-products of living in Nigeria is that people gave them clothes as gifts. These clothes are traditional African wear, and are typically sized generously, since they are designed to be loose and unconstricting.

Much like me, my parents sporadically try to declutter, and they were trying to get rid of some of these clothes that they just don’t wear.

Enter me.


I firmly told them that I get the right of first refusal at all fabric flowing through the house, and made off with this generously sized top.


(Yes, that is me hidden behind the top.)

I wanted to reconstruct this into a simple shirtdress, and combing through the pattern stash, I found Simplicity 2885 that had the clean lines I was looking for.



And here it is, the finished result. I finished this about two week s ago, and I’ve already worn it out at least 2 times. I’m very happy with it.

Pattern notes: Because this was a recon, there’s a few things I changed or just omitted.
- I left out the collar.

- I didn’t bother with cutting/sewing the placket or facings, since that was already done in the top. I just cut the front piece so as to keep the placket in the center.

- Since I was keeping the neck and back facings, I abutted the front and back pieces and cut as one piece. (The shoulder slopes on the Simplicity pattern, and I did cut the slope, but slightly away from the neck facing so as to keep the neck facing.)

- My sleeves are slightly weird, since I wanted to keep the existing sleeve’s finished hem edge, and the Simplicity pattern has a curved hem edge, while my top didn’t. It is a bit weird, but not too much so.

Due to all these changes, it is hard to review the pattern instructions very well (for example, I didn’t use the most complicated part – the placket.)

However, I’m very happy with the pattern drafting. I made a size 10 gradated to a 12 at waist and hip. It runs true to size, and went together with no difficulty at all.



(Picture of the back.)

Sewing pattern review - McCalls 5474

After the last two projects, both of which are a bit unwearable, atleast to me, I decided I wanted to actually sew something useful that I could actually wear.

Enter McCalls 5474, which I've made before but have never reviewed.

Fabric: One meter of a black cotton, that my mom bought me from India atleast 2 years ago. This was bought before I started sewing clothes, hence the one-meter cuts. (I vaguely thought I'd make a bag with it, or something, I guess.) Anyhoo, I used up all of the fabric on this, but I love it as a skirt.

Pattern: McCalls 5474. View B. I've called this the Catholic school girl look before, but this is a great basic skirt pattern, once you add some length to it.

Pattern notes: This is a pretty easy sewing pattern, and I didn't make any adjustments to it at all. A couple of things worth commenting though:

- I made view B - where the pleats are sewn, which is a look I really like - since I get the fullness of the skirt, without the corresponding fullness at the hip (which I don't need at all.) The pleats are 3 inches long, but it might be worthwhile measuring where you want the fullness to end, and sewing it to that length. (For me, 3 inches worked ok, but I'm petite. I'd imagine that for a taller person, the pleats might end at the widest part of the hip, which might not be good.)

- Also on the pleats - it is worthwhile marking them reasonably carefully. Since there are 6 pleats in all, less than a quarter inch extra on each pleat will make a big impact to the finished skirt size. My skirt is a bit tight, and I think that's because I did my usual half-assed job of marking. (I don't really mark most things.)

- The border band in my fabric was part of the fabric, but it was originally attached horizontal to the stripes on the black, not vertical. Since I didn't want the stripes going horizontally on this, I cut the border out, and then re-attached it once I cut the skirt pattern out. It works fine, and I like the little extra touch the border brings - it makes this seem like a more expensive/finished skirt. (Bonus - the border is finished, so no hemming required.)

Apart from that, this is a nice, beginner pattern - very easy sewing, only 2 pattern pieces, etc.

Time taken: About 3 hours, split over two evenings.

Good things: Wearable & pretty, what's not to love?

Bad things: It is a bit tight, but that's just a reminder that I need to get my ass to the gym. It doesn't bother me too much though, since I never tuck in my skirts.

A little post-script:

A shot of my fabric closet (which to most normal people would be a linen closet.)



Notice anyone?



Yup. Evidently, I buy, fold and store fabric just for Biscuit to sleep on. She doesn't even bother to hide that she runs my life.

My space-age, Swiss-Milkmaid dress

Every so often, I make something that I look at and say - what the heck?

This dress (that I affectionately call the space-age swiss-milkmaid dress) fits that bill. What a disaster! Everything about this dress was painful and flawed. Ah well. It will go straight to the back of my closet, where I'll never wear it, but at-least it was a muslin, and at-least I got to finish a UFO, started way back in March.

Let's review it, shall we?

Fabric: One yard of a yellow cotton, about $4ish.

Pattern: BWOF 04-2008-118.

Pattern notes: Ouch, this really, really stretched my sewing skills. First, all the curved seams in the bodice involved in setting the white band really challenged me. The skirt, with hidden welt pockets behind the a mock-welt pocket, and a inset-seam to get it all together, coupled with unclear pictures and typical BWOF instruction (I really was guessing at the assembly most of the time) - that was a disaster. Along the way -

- I realized the dress, cut in a size 38, but with no petite adjustments, didn't fit. I therefore had to rip the bodice and skirt apart, take an inch off the bodice bottom, rip out and re-sew the bust darts, cut an inch off the skirt top, and then put it all back.

- I sewed one of the pockets wrong, so it was upside down. It was bizarre. And there was no good way to adjust it, since it was already a welt-pocket. I adjusted by just cutting into the pocket fabric, and flipping it. Not pretty.

- The yellow - too thin. I wanted to line it, but at the end of the day, I was done. It was all I could do to finish it. (In the pictures, I'm wearing a slip.)

Also, my skirt - disaster. If you look at it, it puckers like crazy - at the side mock-welt-pockets, at the front, and pretty much everywhere else.

Actually, who am I kidding? The bodice is a disaster as well. It is all a disaster, honestly.



Time taken: Clearly, forever. I had to keep putting this away, I was getting so frustrated with it. Let's go with about a week of work?

Good things: It was a muslin. I didn't ruin my good cloth.

Bad things: Where do I start? It isn't just that I made a ton of mistakes with this. At the end of the day, I learned a lot, and that was worth-while. No, what frustrates me most of all is that this looks pretty horrible on me, for all that work. Either yellow isn't really my color, the pattern isn't really my pattern, or more likely, all of the above.

Question for everyone - the pink & orange fabric still exists. Should I make a version of this dress, keeping the bodice, and using a plain skirt? Or, should I just call this a dismal failure, and move on?

Finishing UFOs

This quilt top has been half-finished for at least a year, and I was determined to get to it this week. All that was needed was cutting the setting triangles, sewing the rows together, and adding borders.

I'm loosely thinking of actually quilting it myself, even though such efforts ALWAYS end in swearing, annoyance and deep hatred of my sewing machine, the quilt, and anything/anyone unfortunate enough to get in my way.

But... I should learn to do quilt properly, shouldn't I?

Sewing pattern review - BWOF 07-2009-120

I'm not actually sure why I made this dress. Let's see - Tany's top was very inspirational. I was looking for a quick, easy project, which this was (sort of.) Also helping was the fact that I had the fabric handy. Finally, I definitely have a personal style that's sort of boring, and I thought this dress would jolt me out of it.

All of which remain true.

But then, I look at this dress and ask - where would I wear it, really? (Blog readers, if you exist. Please comment! Should this dress be worn at all? And if so, where?)

Anyway, all of that aside, construction details.


Fabric: A gift from my mom's friend. She went to India, and got me two saris to cut up. (I think my mom is getting heartily sick of me going into her closet and stroking her saris covetously.) This was a bit of one of them.

It is a polyester chiffon-like fabric, a giant PIA to work with. Slipped like crazy, so it is a good thing this pattern will tolerate that kind of thing. I lined it with a solid green rayon-ish fabric. (Which I happened to have lying around, score!)

Pattern: BWOF 07-2009-120. A weird mix of views A & B. I wanted a dress, but with short sleeves.

Pattern adjustments: A fair bit. When I first made this up, in a size 38, it was huge on me, and perfectly shapeless. I took 2-3 inches off the sides, to get it to present shape. I followed their instructions about adding elastic, since I really needed it. My sleeves aren't also as much off-the-shoulder as the patterns, because I took inches off the side, which ended up shortening the sleeves.

Also, since I lined it, I didn't bother with bias strips at the neck, I just sewed the lining together with the fabric at the neck, right sides together, flipped, and top-stitched.

Time taken: This is generally quick, but it took me a couple of evenings because I was fiddling around with it, trying to avoid the shapeless effect, and doing things to prevent the fabric from fraying like the devil (FrayStitch.)

Good things: Well, it does take me outside my clothing rut. Also, sewing a BWOF pattern the same month? Haven't done that in about a year, I think. This pattern is also pretty easy to put together, which is good.

Bad things: Where do I wear this? Really? Where? My life needs more martini-drinking with girlfriends, I think.

Post-script: I'm loosely tempted to make this again, in a sheer black. I won't, since I own about 10 black dresses. But I am tempted.

Also, I do realize I'm wearing it off the wrong shoulder. Who knew? I've never worn an off-the-shoulder anything before.

Pattern review - Simplicity 2933

It honestly doesn't get easier than this. This dress has no sleeves, minimal fitting - it went together like a breeze, and I really like it.

Let's see - a bit more detail.

Fabric: A gift from my aunt. (People who have figured out that the best gift to get me is fabric - those people are awesome. Well, fabric & beer.) She bought it in India, it is a synthetic with really nice drape. I figured it would fray like crazy, and accordingly took precautions - my side seams are French seams.

Pattern: Simplicity 2933 - view A.

Pattern adjustments: This has the potential to be a bit mu-mu-ish, so I cut a size 8, and it fits pretty well. To give context, my normal Simplicity size is 8-10 on top, and 10-12 at the bottom. I took an inch off at the torso, and inches off the hem to get it to hit above the knee.

Time taken: Not long. This was pretty straightforward. An evening's worth? Spread over several, my life is crazy.

Good things: The fabric - I love it!!!! Plus, honestly, while I think it avoids looking mu-mu-ish, it is really easy-fitting, so remarkably comfortable.

Bad things: A tiny little thing, and something that happens to me in RTW as well - there's a bit of excess fabric in the underarm area. If I wanted to bother, it would be an easy enough fix, but honestly, I'm too lazy.

Overall though - I really like this dress, it feels easy and effortless, and that fits perfectly into my life.

Sewing Updates

The dark red BWOF dress really grew on me. I wore it out, and got a ton of compliments on it. And after musing on it, I decided I really liked the fit. It hid all the bumps, and showed all the curves. :)

I realized my picture was pretty blurry & terrible. Here's a close up of the fabric. It is darker than this, and I really like the orange lines running through it.



And since I'm still working on my third dress (sigh!), and don't have pictures of that to share, I'll show you this skirt instead. It is Simplicity 4036, and only took me about 4 months to shop for and insert the zipper. The fabric was a Fabricland remnant, ~$2.50 or so, and I'm incredibly happy with the way it turned out.

Two new dresses

The second version of BWOF 02-2009-124. I took the inch off the torso, which seemed to make it too loose through the waist... I think this dress needs something - it feels very monotone. Opinions, please?



And the second version of Simplicity 2896. This time, with back darts.



This was Canada Day sewing (and finishing up.) I have at-least one more dress planned for this weekend, so, here's to hoping I'll find time to sew.