Things are happening, so grab a cuppa and let’s start!
my favourite baking book since the 90’s (or ’80’s??)
First, a dive into Muffin-land. After hurricane Flo visited, and slightly more normalcy appeared, the grocers seemed to be almost giving away berries.
I do love berries – strawberries, raspberries (my fav), blackberries (second fav) and all the rest, but I was receiving more than my greediness could eat. What to do . . . . .
I considered making jam, but lacking the accoutrement and experience, I demurred. Enter muffins, with a recipe for basic berry muffins (below). Ah! I’d much rather be baking than stirring a boiling pot.
the basic recipe, which I haven’t tried varying yet!
We’re not talking industrial-scale amounts, but for someone who hadn’t baked in four or five months, anything was major. Then a few low temp and humidity days magically appeared.
I started baking.
if you’ve never made muffins American-style, do read this carefully.
For those who might not realise, American store-bought muffins are more like sweet cake than a true muffin.
All muffin batter is lumpy because the flour is not mixed until it is lump-less.
If you don’t believe there’s a reason why, just try mixing a batch of these one way, and then the other. I know which ones will get binned!
It’s the chemistry/alchemy of the baking process, which I shan’t explain because I don’t know what it is!
(I always use those little paper baking cups in my muffin pans because I hate scrubbing out the pan.)
Have I convinced anyone to take a quick break and mix up a batch? (Before we go on, special thanks to taste-testers at h-t #136 & others. You know who you are!)
A large leftover bit of rayon from Vogue Fabric, Chicago, purchased at least 8 years ago!
This fabric has been on my cutting table for weeks because it kept telling me IT DID NOT WANT TO BE A SKIRT.
Oh. I finally listened, and realised how much more I’d wear some shorts, so the shorts pattern is now out and will fit after judicious finagling.
Sometimes, procrastination thinking is a good idea. Tereza, over at Sew for Me, just wrote an interesting post on that, amongst other things (including a look at some Brazilian fabrics).
Christmas crochet
Thanks to Sheila at Sewchet I spent last weekend, in-between batches of muffins, doing some more work towards Christmas.
Just yesterday I finished my latest adventure in the British Library’s Crime Classics. The Lake District Murder by John Bude kept me trying to solve the mystery and was definitely enjoyable!
The three books by Hay ( Death on the Cherwell & Murder Undergroundhere, The Santa Klaus Murderhere) were my intro to the series (known amongst aficionados as BLCC). Since then, I’ve branched out a bit, but only into books written with some humour.
click to go to book on the British Library site
A bit of escape via an entertaining book is part of my regime for staying (somewhat 😉) balanced.
There are limits to what I need in my wardrobe, which is something more and more of us are realising.
Some form of creativity, be it cooking or crochet, is a basic necessity. But more about those another time .
Hello, Lovely Readers — how are you? Life’s been happening since my last post, so this is a mite lengthy.
Hope you’ve time to settle in with something cool (or hot, as appropriate to your weather) and stay for a catch-up, including some sewing. Yeah!
Have cogitated and cogitated over what to do with this medium weight cotton, of which I bought maybe 1½ or 2 yards. Finally decided on shorts with pockets, as my blue pair gets worn constantly at this time of year. How long has it been in stash? Ummm . . . absolutely no idea.
But I couldn’t resist it as it’s that wonderful tomato red that I love but can never find when I have a specific project in mind. Now that I consider it, I was probably thinking “summer dress” but after laundering realised it would be too hot, and stashed it.
At one point I thought “tote bag” and have a piece cut off for that, as well as what I assume were the handles, except there’s a strange “V” cut on one end. Wonder what I was thinking…
Anyway, this is finally out of stash, ironed, and might be cut out by the time you read this. (Not yet, but the pattern’s out!)
this is what I frogged back to – 😳 – but next time maybe I’ll count better
Remember that green & mustard ski cap I was working on last time? I got it out and looked at it, then counted my stitches and realised I’d got off about 8 rows from the start.
Yes, I was good and frogged it back, but that put a damper on my crochet ardour. That, plus the early onset of extreme heat & humidity. Managed late last week to pull out of the doldrums a bit, and am almost back to where I was.
See what the triple digit temps have done to the lovely hydrangea bushes dotted around the apartment complex? The roses are too scraggly for piccies and grass that isn’t on a sprinkler system is dead brown because our rain has been sporadic.
Looking on the brighter side… Heat means time to tackle the small unread stack of books on my shelf… and was delighted to have found one I’d forgotten I had!
piccie courtesy British Library Crime Classic site
Back story: Several years ago I discovered the British Library Crime Classic series and ordered Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay. I quite enjoyed it, and learned what a humpty is (a.k.a., hassock), as well as absorbing more bits about British women’s university years.
BTW, if anyone has a humpty pattern they wouldn’t mind sharing, please let me know (sewing, not knitting or crochet).
British Library Crime Classics originally published in 1934 Click to go to book on British Library Crime Classic site
My forgotten mystery was another Hay book, Murder Underground, which also mentions a humpty.
(I’m blaming my humpty fixation on triple digit heat. That and a desire to stuff one with stashed fabric. Add a zipped top & it might be great storage as well as hassock.)
Hay has a third book, The Santa Klaus Murder, that I haven’t acquired yet just ordered, but I’m also looking for a nice used copy of Bats in the Belfry, by new-to-me author E.C.R. Lorac (Edith Caroline Rivett).
click to go to the book on British Library’s site
If anyone’s read any of Lorac’s books I’d love to know what you thought. Somewhere I read she was a witty author, and if there’s one thing I like to read in summer heat, it’s something humorous.
(Speaking of witty, just found & ordered Doonan’s Wacky Chicks & another Gerald Durrell. And that third Hay book, too.)
I’ve been puzzling over what to do with some of this cotton batik (below) ordered last summer from Vogue Fabrics in Chicago, but now out of stock. It’s heavier than I’d thought and has a funny sort of texture (possibly from all the dyes used to get the particular splotchiness of the pattern). I love the colours, but the texture put me off for a season.
Chatting over t’internet with fellow sewer Jen (Let the Sewing Begin) with fabric in hand, she thought it would make a good duster, and we talked a bit about what colours to wear with it. Afterwards I remembered a green linen camp shirt I’d found at a thrift shop in Arlington and got it out to check. What do you think—a definite maybe?
Lastly, a “goodness, I’d forgotten” moment earlier this past week when WordPress sent a Sixth Anniversary note. It’s been a tough time down here for most everyone, and I’m trying to buck up and stay more focused on goodness.
To that end I really really am valuing all you sewing bloggers around the globe. Reading your posts and seeing how you all are coping with a very turbulent world makes me feel not so alone over here, and sometimes even hopeful for a decent future. To that end, am sharing one last thing, which I hope will make you smile as much as it does me. . . . . . .
I finally read the last bits of Doonan’s book, Eccentric Glamour, and want to share a quote from the “Wallflowers and Big Stinky Peonies” section (p. 217). This might sound a little strange, but hang on as I’ve the perfect example below it.
“As you begin to stick your toes into the luscious lagoon of eccentric glamour, you will experience a jarring increase in the amount of amorous attention you receive… It is simply a result of how gorgeous and fabulous you think you are…” (Doonan’s emphasis)
If you begin to feel overwhelmed at such prospects, Doonan chides us not to “stay at home and watch “Dynasty” reruns…” Instead, he flatly says that is “…a waste of time—yours and mine (meaning Doonan’s)—unless you share it with someone… It’s a “What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play” Liza in Cabaret kind of a thing.”
As promised, here’s one of my favourite bloggers’ recent posts that perfectly illustrates Doonan’s concept. If you don’t already know NYC’s utterly & outrageously adorable Marcy Harriell, also known as Ooonabaloona, click and say howdy.
HEARTIEST THANK YOU’S & CONGRATS TO ALL WHO’VE MADE IT THROUGH!
Lovely corduroy trousers, spicing up my winter wardrobe (from Ms. Karen’s bundle)!
“Some people can putter quite naturally, but others simply cannot,” explained butler Smythe to Cinderella man Smith in The Platinum Blonde (1931), with Jean Harlow, Loretta Young, and Robert Williams (unfamiliar to me, he’s acting up a storm just now).
Costume design: Edward Stevenson, who later designed for Lucille Ball when she was doing telly.
Direction by Frank Capra, so you know it’s gonna be good.
I’m puttering. Er… sewing on buttons and trouser hooks and wondering whether I should get into shortening them tonight, or wait.
Meanwhile, here’s a clip ~
Umm . . . one button still to go . . . . . the movie’s finished, so what to listen to? Missing a bit of Paul Hollywood for cooking inspiration. Ah, here’s his cheat’s puff pastry chicken & leek pie. Yummy!
Sorry, it’s not on YouTube, but Waitrose’s site here. Hope you enjoy that other judge!
Categories include Beginners, General Reference, Fabric & Textiles, Fitting, Home Pattern-making, Details & Embellishments, Menswear, Lingerie, Other Specialty Techniques
folds circled in red a click takes you to the pattern
A quick note to report Linda was correct in her comment,
“it looks like two different bodices – one straight and one bat-wing with sleeves incorporated in the bodice piece. Then you add a straight long sleeve onto the one. And a puffy sleeve end onto the bat-wing bodice.”
Turns out I wasn’t paying enough attention to those ickle fold lines on their drawing.
What I cannot for the life of me figure out is how those two ~ two ~ different sleeve silhouettes can come from what look to be same-shape pattern pieces.
M7053, from McCall’s Archive Collection click to go to pattern page
Any guesses? My thanks to Laura at Lilacs & Lace for mentioning McCall’s latest 1930’s dresses on her blog – they’re stunners.
Monday was the first working day of 2015, and I sooo couldn’t. Did a bit of a cheeky cheat and started looking at Lizzie’s recommended “Anatomy of a Suit” from the Museum of London.
That got me energized, and I was off & running… a-hem, researching. 😉
From a 3-minute definition of why a bespoke suite costs $$$$$, to a centuries’ old jewellery haul being re-discovered by today’s jewel experts, to iconic fashion and make-up explained by experts, to vintage Biba… all this, and more is available.
Lizzie at The Vintage Traveler has some wonderful posts about author Elizabeth Hawes here, here, and here. After seeing the squib on her blog a month ago, and reading the NY Times article, I was hooked. Last night I gave in and got the Kindle version of Fashion is Spinach. Is it eveh fa-sci-na-ting! More to come as I read further…
Surprise! Surprise! ~ found a remnant at the local indie fabric store for another Vogue 1236. It’s a really soft cotton, and should feel soothing as we go through the dog days of summer’s heat & humidity. I think the print is sorta 1930’s retro. What do you think?
Have been watching Poirot DVDs lately, and lusting sighing over the 1930’s fabrics. Here’s some eye candy for inspiration…
jacket – M6995, circa 1933 click to go to diagramsskirt – M6993, circa 1933 click to go to diagrams
McCall’s “Archive Collection” is out, starting with a skirt and jacket (2 separate patterns), labeled “circa 1933.” Is it me, or could those photos lead someone to believe each pattern has both?
Currently they’re lumped in with the other new patterns, for “Early Fall.” With current regional weather in heat extremus, I can’t wait for real Autumn weather!
last summer’s crocheted hat – too ruffley? need to replace??
Inspired by Vintage Traveler Lizzie’s mentioning Susan Langley’s book, Vintage Hats & Bonnets 1770-1970, found at my local library, I was hunting through the 1920s-1930s section for inspiration for a new summer hat.
Langley’s book is full of colour photos, as well as vintage adverts for hats and dresses. Left me drooling, gave me lots of ideas, and held a big surprise…
I found an excellent example of my last summer’s hat, ripply brim and all – it was an actual style. Who’d have thought! There’s even a sample, which I’ll leave in the book for copyright reasons.
The “real” ruffle brim hat appears to be a stiffer straw, while mine is loosely crocheted, ripples varying according to gravity & wind. But I’ve temporarily postponed rushing to make another hat. Come summer’s heat & humidity, I know those crochet holes are excellent ventilation!
Curls n Skirls 
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