she does it again

I’ve moved again! Visit me here, now. Really!

http://appelsauce.wordpress.com

adapt, improve

I have developed a habit of saving all sorts of textiles for future use – old linens, towels, clothing that has become unwearable, etc. In fact, I seem to have become unable to throw out these things, even if I have no idea what use I could possibly have for it. A lot of items, such as the dress I used to make Marie’s cape, turn out to be justified as saved articles, while others take up space in drawers for years and years, just another useless thing making the case for my being a hoarder in training. But those articles don’t bother me too much. The ones that really get at me, that lurk in the back of my mind on my mental to-do list, are the ones that I save for a specific purpose but never get around to actually using. I often have inspiring moments in which I suddenly come up with a solution to a problem of the textile variety, in which I find a way to make an unusable item wearable again without spending any money on anything. Creativity, frugality and ingenuity all in one! But then the project sits in a drawer or a basket for months, even years, before I get around to doing it. Usually, it’s not even something that would take very long, ONCE I ACTUALLY START. But starting is the hard part. And when I finally DO start and get that project done, it feels SO DAMN GOOD.

Behold, a lovely knit winter hat belonging to Marie:

For those of you with children, let me tell you: THESE HATS ARE AWESOME. They fit snugly, are warm, eliminate the need for a scarf, and are relatively difficult for the really little ones to take off themselves, so they actually stay on. Marie had one that fit her from the age of about 1 to 3, and then I bought this larger one last winter. She wore it occasionally, but she often complained of it being itchy. I realized that her first hat had had two layers: wool outside, cotton inside. This one was all wool. So I came up with the idea of line it with a layer of cotton jersey, and even found the perfect pair of worn-out pyjamas to supply the material. And then it sat there for a year.

A few nights ago, after realizing that Marie’s only other hat isn’t warm enough for the weather anymore, I finally pulled it out and got to work. I cut out the jersey from the pyjama shirt and sewed it up with a zigzag stitch (wish I had a serger!):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I hand-sewed it into place inside the knit hat. I get a little impatient with hand-sewing, but I think I did a decent job this time. I presented it to Marie the next morning, and although she hasn’t worn it every day (it’s not pink, so it’ll probably never be her favorite), I’ve noticed her willingness to wear it has increased as the temperatures outside have decreased. And best of all, it doesn’t itch anymore!

repurpose, reuse

I managed to unearth my sewing machine two days ago – it had gone missing under a heap of clothes, fabric remnants, papers, clothes pins, and everything else that routinely lands on the sewing table “for now.” Marie had been hankering for some pretty new things, and as I had yet to make her anything for Halloween, a costume was born:

A Little Red Riding Hood cape! Photographed in terrible lighting! But trust me, it’s adorable, and I’m rather pleased with the results. Originally, I got the idea from Liesl’s book Little Things to Sew, which is a fantastic book and by which Marie, too, has been utterly charmed. But if I was going to make a lovely cape for my little girl, it was going to be wool, and wool is expensive, so I started brainstorming about how I was going to make this happen.

And then I remembered this:

A pretty wool dress from Jackpot & Cottonfield, which no longer fits me and probably never will. I have been unwilling to part from it for years, though, because it’s so damn cute and – here we come to the point – because I love the fabric. You can’t tell from the blurry photograph, but it’s a really soft and non-itchy herringbone wool. I adore it. But it’s been doing nothing but taking up precious closet space for about 5 years now, so I always felt guilty about keeping it around.

But now! Now, I had a use for it! A new life!

And so, armed with scissors and a rough plan in my head, the dress was transformed into a cape. Basically, the skirt became the cape, and the bodice was re-pieced together to form the hood. I retained the original lining for the cape and used a fat quarter of some lovely quilting-weight owl print cotton to line the hood (I figured a slippery hood lining would be annoying if it meant the hood would be a-slippin’ and a-slidin’ all over Marie’s head). Liesl’s pattern for a red riding hood cape calls for piecing together a bunch of gores, and there simply wasn’t enough fabric for that here, so the cape is a bit snug around the shoulders. But I used her hood pattern, as I found that I was just barely able to get enough fabric together to piece it together. There are some whacky looking seams in the hood, both from the piecing as well as the original bodice darts, but I think it works anyway. I also top-stitched the edge of the hood, which Liesl’s pattern doesn’t call for, but I thought that if I didn’t, the lining would move all over the place and get in the way. I made a two-button closure using some cute wooden buttons that I cut off a hideous hand-me-down sweater a year or two ago, and I think overall, Marie is quite delighted with her new garment.

So now, everyone is happy. Marie has a Halloween costume (not to mention a great “coat” for this in-between fall weather), and her mama is glad to have kept that dress all these years after all!

days and nights

I thought only newborns were supposed to get their days and nights mixed up, but thanks to a bad cold, a possible night terror and my decision to let her sleep on my lap in the living room for a while, we found ourselves with a wide-awake Greta at about 1 am last night, when we were (finally) about to go to bed ourselves. When I noticed her sleepiness was non-existent, I let her “help” me hang up the laundry, then tried to persuade her to cuddle up in bed with us. She was fine with that, but not with our turning out the light a few minutes later. She cried for quite a while, then tossed and turned most of the night. At some point, Marie came over to our bed, too, making it four of us in our big-but-not-big-enough bed. I honestly feel as if I haven’t slept at all.

new site, new start

Hello friends! I’ve got a new web address and a fresh new look! I hope to be posting again, so check back for news from me and the Born family!

conversation last night

Marie stumbles sleepily into our bedroom, where the light is still on.

Marie: The light is so bright!

Me: We’ll turn it off in a minute. Papa just has to finish reading something.

A few moments later, Papa leans over to reach the light switch.

Marie: No!

Papa: But I thought you wanted me to turn out the light?

Marie: I’m thirsty.

Papa: OK, then drink some water, and then I’ll turn out the light.

Marie: I can drink in the dark.

Papa: Er, OK.

Papa turns off the light.

Marie: I can’t see!!!!!!

Papa and I try to stifle our hysterical laughter.

the praised carrots

I’m not really writing these days, but I thought I’d share a recipe for the yummiest carrot salad I’ve ever eaten. Seriously, this is NOTHING like the carrot salads you’ve had before.

For 4 people (or 2 greedy carrot lovers) you’ll need:

1 – 1 1/2 pounds carrots (big, fat carrots are better than small and slender ones here)
1 lime
sugar
salt
pepper
brown mustard seeds
cumin (whole)
asafoetida (an Indian spice)
sunflower oil (or other neutral-flavored vegetable oil)
roasted peanuts (salted or unsalted)
fresh cilantro (aka coriander)

Start off by heating about a tablespoon of the oil in a small skillet. Toss in 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin and a pinch of asafoetida. Heat and stir until the spices begin to crackle. Remove from heat.

While the oil and spices are cooling off, peel your carrots and chop them into very thin slices or use a vegetable grater, mandolin or food processor to achieve a similar result (if you use a cheese grater, the pieces will be too small, but the largest setting on a box grater should be ok). Transfer the carrots to a medium-sized salad bowl.

Squeeze the juice from the lime. You should be able to get about 2 tablespoons. In a small bowl, mix the lime juice with a generous pinch of sugar and a small pinch of salt. Add the cooled-off oil and spices from the skillet and swish it all around. Add this to the carrots and mix to evenly coat the carrots with the liquid. It might seem like there’s not enough liquid for the large amount of carrots, but don’t worry. Just mix well and it’ll be enough.

Now go do something else for half an hour. Work on whatever other dish you’re making or take a bath, call your best friend or go walk the dog. Just let the salad sit there. After 30 minutes have passed, get yourself a scant 1/4 cup of peanuts and chop them roughly. While you’re at it, take a whack at your fresh cilantro. This is your garnish, but I’m a cilantro fiend so I use several large handfuls rather than the specified smaller amount. Throw the peanuts and cilantro in the salad and salt and pepper to taste (Remember that if your peanuts are already salted, you don’t want to add too much to the salad!). Toss the whole thing well and be prepared to fight your family for a coveted second helping!

My source suggests serving this with grilled fish, which I’m sure would be amazing, but I say this salad stands alone and would be perfect with some flat bread and raita!