It's Spring Training Season

so spring must be coming!



I made this little pillowcase for my as seen on tv sobakawa pillow (which works alright but I think the foam beads are deflating. It's also kind of small- definitely too small to share with Ansley. Maybe I need to make a buckwheat pillow like my college roommate had. . . .) I used ideas from this tutorial, namely which way to fold the fabric, to make a border piece, and topstitching. My border piece was a bit wide b/c I wanted to use the leftovers from this blanket for the main body of the pillowcase. Doesn't Ansley look so little?

Skirt Refashion

I got this knit skirt from my piano students' mom. I cut it at my knee length. I divided the bottom part of the skirt into thirds and cut them, trimming the seams around the back slit (for "walking"- guess I take really large steps!) and the bottom hem. I sewed all of the pieces into one long strip, basted the top and gathered. After debating whether to sew it on the outside or the inside of the skirt, I sewed it on the outside with a zig zag stitch. The final step was rotating it (it was pretty much the same in the front and back) so the original back seam isn't directly in the middle of the back. I don't need any attention there. ha.

Love the collage? I just learned how via this awesome blog.

I Want This Outfit.

The end. Found here.

Trifle

I learned this recipe at a Pampered Chef Party. So good!

Layer brownies. (I used one of my college roommates/best friend, Becca's Lollie's brownies recipe. I'll share it once I find out if it's not secret. I'm a snob and don't like boxed brownies).



Top with a layer of pudding. (large box of pudding, about 2 1/2 cups of milk and about 1 cup whipping cream well beaten and chilled for five minutes or so. A lower fat alternative would be just pudding and about 3 cups of milk).



Top with Heath toffee bits. (found in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips and such).



Repeat.

Serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator. It still tastes amazing the next day but the toffee bits will absorb moisture from the pudding layer and become less crunchy.

Variations:

pudding- the first time I made this I used vanilla pudding. I think I prefer it. It would also be good with banana pudding like my brother's favorite dessert at CPK.

toppings- fruit like strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries would be yummy. It'd probably be great with mini chocolate chips and/or peanut butter chips too.

add a layer of whipped cream

make a little version- b/c little things are so cute!



Giveaway winner announced here.

A Dress for Ansley's Friend

Ansley got invited to her first birthday party. She kept talking about it as soon as she opened the invitation. Then she got sick- runny nose, coughing sick. Poor thing (and poor us b/c I think we're getting it too).

Anyway, I made this little dress using a men's shirt that Ansley's friend's mom (who is also my friend) gave me last summer. I first got the idea from MADE.



I left the pocket on the front; partly out of laziness and mostly out of curiosity to see how it would look. It's totally functional, which is fun.



I used Simplicity 5695, like this dress. Instead of all of the tiers, I extended view c/d into an a line. I didn't want to add the ruffle b/c the buttons up the front of the dress are so cute! I think it turned out better than my first attempt at a shirt dress.



Did you enter my giveaway yet?

$30 Giveaway to CSN Stores

**This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for entering. Congrats to lucky number, 11, Meredith! I'm sending you an email right now.**


I'm happy to be able to offer one of you lucky readers a $30 gift certificate to CSN stores! With over 200 stores, they carry everything from flat panel tv stands



to kitchen storage goods



to furniture.



What would you use your gift certificate for? Click on the link above and look around. Please leave only one comment per person and a way for me to contact you. If you'd prefer not to post you email address, feel free to email me directly at emmillee(AT)gmail(dot)com. U.S. and Canadian addresses only, sorry. Random.org will pick a winner next Wednesday b/c mid week surprises are awesome.

Have fun shopping and good luck!!

Sewing Box

The perfect size for most of my threads.



I love its portability for when I relocate my sewing stuff from the kitchen table.