Intrepid Seamstress vs. Hildegarde

When last we saw the Intrepid Seamstress, she was battling the bodyform known as Hildegarde the Unweildy.

Intrepid Seamstress 1, Hildegarde 0:

After removal of the foamie mammaries and repositioning of same, fitting could proceed on the bodice:

Snug as a boob bug in a rug! Onwards!

Note the leftover mammaries in the belly area. ^_^

The finished product:

A few notes to ponder:

1. The Intrepid Seamstress is not now and may never again be pregnant. That bulgy thing is what happens when three babies have taken residence on the interior of the abdominal cavity for approximately 9 months each.
2. The Husband of the Intrepid Seamstress nearly busted a gut laughing at just how accurate a representation of her body Hildegarde is.
3. No, the Intrepid Seamstress will NOT be showing a comparison photograph, so just don't even ask. Trust me, it's A PERFECT COPY. Srsly. 4 realz.
4. The middle child pointed to it and said "You have a BIG BELLY!" No kidding squirt. See #1 above.

Britches!

Guess who got britches today?

And who got a neato new Thomas Trackmaster friend for being such a good boy and actually wearing them?

And as a note of warning for anyone who might think to snag pictures of my kid(s) and use them for nefarious purposes? I will hunt you down like the dog you are and use the full force of the law. Don't think that I won't. Because I'm the Momma Bear and that's how I roll. People who know me in meat life know that I don't make idle threats. Capisce?

The Intrepid Seamstress Strikes Back!

With a mouth full of brightly colored, pearl-topped straight pins, her trusty Lutterloh kit and some unbleached and unwashed (on purpose mind you) muslin, the Intrepid Seamstress set forth to tame the savage beast known as Brunhilde.

Swoosh ("kyun kyun" for all you Macross fans - watashi wa karewa piloto) went the roll of paper across the floor as she rolled it out in preparation to draft the *perfect* cover. She deftly measured and marked the paper and carefully connected the dots to create the four (well five) pieces that would become the cover for Brunhilde's rubbery latex foam form.

Snick, snick went the shears as she cut first the pattern and then the muslin. A preliminary pinning together of the bodice proved the accuracy of the Lutterloh system. And with the help of her trusty sidekick (with much prompting from the Intrepid Seamstress) she pinned and tucked and pinned some more until a reasonable facsimile of a cover was created.

BUT! Would it fit over the recalcitrant Brunhilde? Would the Intrepid Seamstress finally conquer her nemesis? Tune in Next Time!

Creating a legacy

Behold, the Elder Princess Ella's first major sewing project!



This was her first ever sewing class at our local Joann's. I had the Ariel fabric in my stash and she picked out the purple border (a perfect match I might add). With minimal assistance with pins and scissors, she learned how to put the pedal to the metal and make the machine go all while guiding fabric AND removing pins. She was also the youngest kid in her class by at least 1.5 years *and* she finished first.


*beaming* I'm so proud of her!

Unfortunately, the picture quality isn't great because it was taken with my HTC 8585 SmartPhone. C'est la vie.

The Amazing Adventures of The Intrepid Seamstress

Once upon a time there was a girl who loved to sew. She sewed Barbie clothes from scraps of fabric and colthes for her tribe of Cabbage Patch dolls from remnants. When she grew up she longed to sew clothing for herself but alas and alack, she was unable to find someone to help her fit her garments to her body. She consulted the magic portal known as Google and found that there were many ways indeed to create a doppleganger that would enable her to create beauty and wonder from the bolts and bolts of fabric that were beginning to pile up.

The first quest was to create the "Duct Tape Double". It was, sadly, not that great. It did indeed look like the intrepid girl, but sadly the adhesive that caused the duct tape to adhere to her underthings and create the replica of her form also made it impossible to pin into and thereby tailor anything. So Hildegarde the Duct Tape Double was relegated to the bin.

Later that year, the girl had a birthday. While sojourning in the land of Google, she found yet another amazing invention known as the Uniquely You Dressform. Which in theory was ... well ... unique. It's squishable foam made it an ideal candidate to replicate the girl's shape and form. Unfortunately, the instructions that came with the dressform were written in some arcane language that the girl was unable to understand.

Many years passed and the girl became a woman and bore children. Which, as could be expected, made many changes to her body. It's shape was barely discernable as that of the girl's. "But that's not a problem!" cried the girl. "I can just alter the cover of yon dressform and in two shakes of a tailor's chalk the form will be as mine own!"

But the dressform gods are capricious and hid the intructions for altering the dressform to fit. And so, the girl once again ventured into the land of Google and acquired a second copy of the instructions. Fearing that some tragedy would befall the slip of paper on which they were inscribed, she put them into a "safe place". Which as everyone knows is really a black hole from whence they will never return until after a period of 20 years or the original item has long since been sold or given to the local charity shop.

After a period of 4 years, the girl rediscovers the dressform - known only as Brunhilde - and decides that indeed to attempt once again to create a doppleganger is a quest most worthy. And so she ventured again into the land of Google to learn the alchemy that would create the perfect double of her body in latex foam rubber.

Again, as before, the dressform gods ridicule her attempts at creating a cover for Brunhilde and in her desperation, the girl consults every oracle she can find to learn the secret to taming the latex foam rubber shrew.

Will she tame the latex foam rubber beast? Can she create her perfect double? Or will she die the death of one thousand and one straight pins?

Tune in next time for the continuing adventures of "The Intrepid Seamstress"!

Llama, llama not yo mama, how does your garden grow?

With lettuce, lettuce, carrots, carrots, onions, onions & leeks all in a row(ish).





Today (Friday the 13th) I was able to get the first few things set into my veg garden. Tomorrow I'll add more and we'll go on from there.

JenQu's Fabulous Mac'n'Cheese

For real, this is the most amazing mac I've ever eaten. I've never made "real" mac'n'cheese from anything other than a box before. And according to my kids, Annie's organic mac is "nasty".

Me: But it's ORGANIC, kids! It's GOOD for you.

Them: MOM IT'S GROSS!!11!!

I figured I had to do something about the mac problem. So while cruising one of my favorite Delphi mZinga forums I noticed that JenQu's mac'n'cheese (option 1) was considered somewhat legendary and decided that if I had to make mac for real, I'd try her recipe. I let the kids pick the pasta (mini shells) and off we went to make the mac that is a meal.

The only modifications to the recipe were:

• Shredded Cheese - I ended up using 8 oz each sharp and mild cheddar rather than 2 cups. MMMM Cheesy.


• Parmesan Cheese - Locatelli mmmmmmm nice bite!


• Breadcrumbs - I didn't realize we were out of these until we got home and so I had to use stale stuffing cubes that were pulverized.

Even though the recipe was modified slightly, it was still a winner.

Recipe follows for those of you who don't want to click the link above.

Mac and Cheese

• 1 lb macaroni


• 8 oz cream cheese


• 2 cups shredded cheddar


• 1 cup milk or cream


• ½ cup bread crumbs


• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese


• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper


• 1 tbls butter

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Lightly butter 2 or 3 quart baking dish or pan (I use a long rectangular one..more crust!) Meanwhile, in a large pot of salted water cook the noodles until al dente, barely cooked, about 8 minutes. Drain and return to the empty pot. Mix with cream cheese until it is melted and getting nice and gooey. Stir in the cheddar and milk or cream. Transfer to the buttered baking dish (or pan, like I use) In a small bowl combine the breadcrumbs, parmesan and cayenne. Sprinkle over the macaroni and dot woth the butter. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 40 minutes!

Strawberry fields...

My first harvest from my garden!

One red strawberry.

It was tasty, too!

Abducted by aliens!

At least I thought they were... These are items that have been languishing in my stack of "things I really ought to get to". The first grouping are items that need repairing.

The second grouping are the items that are projects in progress. My New Year's Resolution was to finish them. Some of them have been hanging around (har har) for over 3 years. Bet you can't guess which ones THOSE are.

Christmas gifts 2008!

Even more Christmas 2008 splendoriferousness!

Diaper cover, footie pjs & shorts set c. February 2006!

One diaper cover, dress & pajama top c. 2006, 2008 & 2007 respectively!

Detail of godets!

A Sew Retro Post

Again! I'm on a spree this week.

This time I'm seeking advice on what dress to make next. Click on over via the linkie above and leave a comment, ok? I'll make whatever dress gets the most votes by March 31st!

If the shoe fits...

Shove it in a box until you find the "perfect" outfit to wear it with...

Anyone who has known me for a long time, knows that my former nickname (like before "The Empress") was "Imelda" for I have collected shoes of all kinds for many years. It didn't even matter if they fit or I wore them more than once. If I found a quirky pair of shoes, they must be mine.

Eventually, however, I became a more discriminating connoisseur of footwear. However, I still can't resist a retro-inspired pair of shoes ... or three...

Here they are - my three personal faves - in all their glory:

Check out the detail on these:

These I've worn maybe three times. I'm still looking for the perfect 1920s/1930s outfit to go with them. I've ordered this:
from Patterns From The Past because it looks like a good fit. I can't wait to get it and make it up.

On to my most worn (out) pair of shoes:

This picture shows the little ivory button but not how worn out they are. They even have a matching handbag.

As for the delightful brown shoes? I've got some fabric set aside to match and a pattern that I'm not really committed to it yet. Maybe something better will come along.

A Sew Retro Posting

Click the link above to see my post over at Sew Retro on my most current sewing project.

You know how it is, right? You see something so perfect - so right and you know you Must Have It! It all started with Lanetz Living and the New York Pattern. And then I had to get the boy a haircut. And that's where I saw the hair bows. Wouldn't you know that I can't FIND the pink one? Anyway, here's a picture of the turquoise one:

I'm disappointed I can't find the pink one. Really. But I know it's around here somewhere.

I'm hoping to get these dresses done by Easter. I've only got 40 days of Lent to work on them... If I'm feeling REALLY adventurous, I'll make their "Melody" dolls (American Girl Clones) matching dresses. But don't count on it!

Thank God I have at least another year for the Elder Princess Ella's First Holy Communion dress. Because that? Oh my goodness. I've got an idea in mind, but it's going to be a LOT of work. I've got the fabric and some of the stuff to go on it, but I'm still not satisfied with the patterns I have. I want something *special* and unique and memorable and ... and ... well, HER. She's not the frilly, flouncy type. She's the stylish, sleek, modern type. Poufy sleeves and butt bows are not her style. Mei Mei (Little Sister aka the Younger Princess Ella) is more the froofy type.