Quick Tip: Apple Slices

Sometimes I do run across an apple that doesn't quite sit flat when sitting on its stem.  In that case, I'll usually do a little trim of the part of the apple that's sticking up and then cut the apple.   It does work.  It's so much easier to line the hole in the center of an apple slicer up with a flat apple than one that's sitting on its side.

Many of you already figured this trick out, but I thought I'd share anyway.  After all, you never know who's going to be one of the lucky 10,000.

Obligatory xkcd comic:

(If you're one of the lucky 10,000 that's never read xkcd, then get ready for some fun . . . and make sure you have time to waste before you open that link.  You're going to need it. )

Cheddar Garlic Biscuits

Yeah.   I have a thing for a good buttermilk biscuit.   Tender, light, melt in your mouth goodness, especially when it's hot from the oven.  The only thing that can make it better?  garlic and cheese.   I make mine in the food processor.  Heck, the food processor changed my biscuits.  There is nothing better for blending the fat and flour together.  The food processor gives me a perfect, even blend of fat to flour.   It's awesome.  

My basic recipe started with the one from America's Test Kitchen.  They use half cake flour/half all purpose to aproximate the protien content in White Lily flour.  Since most of America can't buy White Lily flour off the shelf of their hometown grocery store, it's a good work around.  (I found it once in the self rising variety.  I almost cried when it was gone.  You Southerners are so lucky.)   ATK also uses butter instead of Crisco as the fat.  I'm good with that because you can't go wrong with butter.  

I did play with the recipe because I wanted to try and make a version of Red Lobster biscuits at home.  That means it had to be a drop biscuit and it had to have garlic and cheese.  Here's what I came up with, and it's a dang near exact if I do say so myself.  

Garlic Cheese Biscuits

1 cup cake flour

1 cup all purpose flour

2 t baking powder

1 t sugar

1/2 baking soda

1/2 salt

1 1/2 t granulated garlic (not garlic powder.  If that's all you've got you'll have to use more to get the same effect.)

1/2 c butter (you can use Crisco here if you're a biscuit purist, but you're missing out.)

1/2 c cheddar cheese

1 c buttermilk  (may need more depending on the consistency of your buttermilk)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees (biscuits like it nice and hot!) 

If you're using the food processor, take your butter straight from the fridge and cut it into 1/4 cubes.   That's pieces, not slices.  It takes a bit longer, but you'll get a better biscuit if you do this right.   Put all the dry ingredients into the food processor work bowl and process for about 30 seconds to blend.   Add in the butter and pulse until the butter and flour are combined evenly, should be about 12 times or so.  Dump the flour mix out into a medium mixing bowl and stir in the cheese.  Sharp cheddar is nice here, medium is fine if that's what you've got.  If all you have is mild cheddar, you should go shopping. 

If you don't have a food processor, you will have to use softened butter.  Make sure it's still cool to the touch and just gives a little when you press on it with a finger.  Over softened butter will just make your biscuits greasy.   Cut up the butter into chunks and blend into the flour with either a pastry blender or a fork.  Some people like to use their fingers, but I think that's a process you have to watch someone do to get right.   The flour/butter mix should look like big pieces of sand with every piece of flour coated with fat.  This is how you get light, fluffy biscuits. 

Next stir in the buttermilk.  Do not over mix. Just stir enough for the flour to be moistened.  If your buttermilk is older and has thickened you may need to add a few extra tablespoons one tablespoon at a time to get the right consistency.  The batter should be completely wet and quite sticky but not runny.   Drop biscuits are much softer than standard cut out biscuits.  You should not be able to touch it without getting it all over your fingers much less form it into a ball. 

Drop by 1/4 cup dollops onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake in the oven until the biscuits are golden and fully baked inside, about 10-12 minutes.  I like mine just barely done, but feel free to leave yours in an extra minute or so if you want yours more brown.    This recipe makes about a dozen biscuits. 

If you want that shiny, crispy finish like on the Red Lobster biscuits, you need to do an egg wash before you bake.  Whisk one egg white with a couple teaspoons of water.  Brush lightly over the biscuits with a pastry brush (this will also smooth out the dough.)   Bake as usual.   

I like to eat mine with a salad or soup so I can have more biscuits.   More is better.  Trust me.  

Dulce de Leche Swirled Brownies

 Remember my fudge brownie recipe?  Yeah, they're awesome.  You know what makes them even more awesome?  Caramel.   Specifically dulce de leche, a Mexican caramel that is pretty awesome.   You may also remember that "caramel in a can" fad that swept the internet a couple of Christmases ago.  Caramel in a can is basically dulce de leche.   It tastes lovely and it reacts well in other recipes, which makes it perfect for caramel swirled brownies.

Dulce de leche brownies:

1 cup melted butter
2 cups sugar
3/4 c cocoa
2 t vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 can dulce de leche 

Combine melted butter, sugar, and cocoa powder.   Stir in the eggs and vanilla making sure the eggs are thoroughly mixed in.  Fold in flour, salt and baking powder.  If you are picky you can sift your flour, salt and baking powder together before you add them to the batter, but I never do and my brownies always come out perfect.  Just dump in the flour first; then put the salt and baking powder on top of the flour.  They'll all stir in just fine.   When the flour is mixed in, pour the batter out into a greased 9x13 pan.  Warm the can of caramel.  I like to put it in a microwave safe dish and heat it for a minute or so.   Then drop large globs of  caramel all over the batter.    You can either leave it like that or drag a knife through the caramel to swirl it around.   Sort of like the picture below.  The top row was swirled and the rest was left alone (I ended up swirling the whole pan.) 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let them cool completely.  I'm not kidding here.  I know it's rough but these taste so much better at room temperature.   You have to leave them alone for at least an hour.  Sorry.  I'm sure you'll be ok with it after you've had your first brownie.  

You're welcome.  

By the way, if you're looking for other ideas for how to use your caramel in a can (other than just eating it straight from the can) I'll be posting more recipes over the next month or so.  I'd rather do it faster, but my pants have reminded me that I'm not supposed to eat 3000 calories a day.  

Stupid pants.  

It's the details that count

I may have mentioned before that I tend to be lazy.  If there is an easy way to do something, that's the way I'm going to do it.  This means that I do shortcuts. In my sewing this translates into me skipping the details all too often.   I have learned over the last couple of years, though, that those extra steps make a huge difference in the finished project.

For example, can you imagine how boring the peplum top would have been without the piping, bound sleeve, and Peter Pan collar?  

That white contrast makes the polka dots look even better.   The three things added more than an hour to the construction time of the top.  The old me would not have taken the time and I would have hated the final product.  

And how about the pink dress redo?  Remember that ruffle?

It's the ruffle that really makes the shaped hem stand out.  It also pops the contrast stitching.   The ruffle is made up of about 3 yards of muslin that all had to be hemmed and gathered.   Yeah, time consuming but worth it.  (And yes, I've got a thing for contrast bound sleeves. Talk about details that really count.) 

There was also the Burda Jumpsuit with the contrast fabric for the pocket facing and the piping.  Those details took the jumpsuit from cute to fabulous.   The red ric rac and deep contrast band on the yoked skirt I made for my oldest toned down a very busy fabric and made it perfect for a teen girl.   I had to redo the stitching on the pockets on my middle girl's python jeans because I started out with white thread.  It matched too well.  Bright pink top stitching thread made all the difference.  

For your next project, take time to look at the design details.  Is there a place where you can add a trim?  Would contrast fabric make a design detail stand out in a great way?  How about something so simple as contrast buttons?  Piping?   Contrast stitching?  What can you do to make your next project unique and fabulous?

Peplum Top Pattern Hack

With peplums being so hot I couldn't help but make a peplum top for one of my girls.  And if you knew the project would come out looking like this, wouldn't you make one too?

This is my favorite pattern hack to date. Yes, that's a pattern hack, because I couldn't find a peplum top pattern for little girls. There's some great ones for women, but nothing smaller.   It was super easy though.  I attached a flared skirt to a little girls' dress bodice.   the back seam has a gap at the neck rather than the zipper and the zipper was moved to the side seam.  If I do it again I'll go ahead and leave the zipper in the back seam.  I like how it is now, but my girl finds it a little more difficult to put the top on.  

Don't you adore that peter pan collar?  None of my little girl dress patterns came with a peter pan collar, so I drafted this one myself.  My first attempt wasn't quite right, but the second collar fit perfectly.  It's exactly what the top needed.  (This tutorial from Burda Style is pretty similar to the technique I used, just in case your little girl dress patterns don't  have collars either.)  I finished the neck edge with single fold bias tape rather than drafting a facing.  It makes it more comfortable for her to wear.

There is something just so retro about this top and I love that.  I love the white piping at the waist.  That was a last minute addition and I'm glad I did it.  I didn't have any white piping on hand, but I did have piping cord (left overs from a project from many years ago) so i made some piping for it.  I had just enough white fabric to do it.

The fabric is  polished cotton with a nice stiff hand.  the skirt stands away from the bodice all on it's own.  I think that's the secret to a great peplum.  It should have some body to it so you get the full effect.  Something with a soft drape wouldn't quite work here.   Poplin, linen, polished cotton all are good fabric choices.  When choosing the bodice pattern, choose one with a bodice that reaches the true waist and fits somewhat close to the body.  You want around 1 1/2 to 2" of ease.

So how does one go about making a peplum top for a little girl?  It takes some math, so grab your scientific calculator, pencil, and pattern drafting fabric and let's get to work.

We'll be drafting a flared skirt, so we'll need to figure radius from circumference and circumference from radius.  If you don't remember from your high school days, the radius is the distance from the center of the circle to the edge.  Circumference is the distance around the edge of the circle.   The formula you need to know is C=p2r.  Circumference is C and r is radius.   You should know how to find and use the pi button on your calculator.  (You could also use an online calculator like this one.)

1.  First you need to know the exact dimension of the bodice waist.  So get to work and cut out your bodice.  Measure around the waist right at the seam line on both the bodice front and back.  If the bodice front and bodice back are two different lengths, you will need to make two different pattern pieces.  Start with the bodice front waist length. Subtract the seam allowance.  Multiply the result by 2.  This is the circumference of the first circle you will draw.  Plug this number into your calculator.  Divide by pi.  Now divide the result by 2.  This is Radius #1.

2.  Using this radius measurement, draw a half-circle on your pattern drafting paper.  I like to use a string tied around a pencil.  Just tie a non-stretchy string to a pencil.  Measure the string and hold at the radius measurement.  Mark your center point.  Hold the string down with one hand on the center point, and hold the pencil out with the string tight.  Now draw a half-circle with your makeshift compass.   This is the seam line for your peplum skirt.

3.  Now decide how long you want your skirt to be.  We went with a 6" skirt.  It was a great length for a little girl.  Hold a measuring tape up to your girl and decide where you want it to be.   Add that length+0.625 to Radius #1.  This is Radius #2.  (the 0.625 is your 5/8" hem.)

4.  Hold the string from your compass at the center point so that the string is the Length of Radius #2.  Draw another half circle.   This is the cut edge of your circle.

5.  Subtract 0.625 from Radius #1.   Draw yet one more half circle with this length radius.  It should be 5/8" inside the seam line half circle (the first one you drew.)   This is the inside cut edge.

6.  You should have a basic half circle.  Now we are going to add the side seams to your pattern.   On the flat sides.  Extend the  circumference of your circles by 5/8".  Draw a straight line connecting these.  You should end up with a pattern that looks something like this (not to scale, obviously):

7.  If your bodice back and bodice front have two different waist lengths, go back and draft the bodice back using the same steps you used for the bodice front.   

8. If you want to put the zipper in the back seam you will need to add a seam to the back center peplum piece. On the bodice back, fold the pattern in half.   Draw a new line right at the line of symmetry (the fold line.)  Extend the circle out 5/8" on each cut edge and connect them with a straight line.  You should have a pattern that looks like this:

If  you are going to do a side zipper, you do not have to put the center seam in the back peplum piece (step 8.) When sewing the bodice, follow the original pattern directions but do not sew the left side seam and leave the top 3" of the back seam unsewn.  Sew a button right at the neck and a little elastic loop on the other side.  Sew the right side seam of your peplum.  Sew the peplum to the bodice (be sure to sew piping to the bodice first if you are using it.)   Now install an invisible zipper in the left side seam.  It should be long enough to start less than an inch from the under arm and stop two to three inches into the peplum.  Finish the side seam and hem the peplum.  

If you are going to put the zipper in the center back, follow the original bodice instructions.  Then sew the peplum side seams and sew it to the bodice (adding the piping to the waist seam before sewing in the peplum if using.)  You should have an unsewn back bodice seam.  Install an invisible zipper long enough to reach from the top of the back seam to three to four inches into the peplum.  Finish the back seam and hem the peplum. 

You're done!

PS.  You can use the drafting method to make a true circle skirt any length you like.   

If you make your girl a peplum skirt, please post a link.  I'd love to see it!

Drape neck top and python jeans

I just love the stuff young teenagers can get away with.  They can walk the very edge of the trends because they have such a sense of fun.  Their energy  makes just about everything workable.   Case in point, bright nearly neon python print jeans.

That's Burda 9500 for the jeans.   It was easy to work with and fits pretty well.  It is designed for a younger figure.  My 13 year old started growing her grown up figure this summer so the seat of the pants was a little too flat for her.  We took in the waist, but if I were to make them again, I would cut the back yoke 1/2" taller in the center and grade into that from the sides.  She needed the extra coverage there.   

I asked her to do some model poses for me, which got me a duck face . . . and then a laugh.

 Love it.

 I took the time to do true flat felled seams everywhere I could.  Then I top stitched in hot pink top stitching thread.  Coats and Clark has added some great colors to their jeans threads lately and the hot pink was absolutely perfect for these pants.

I am pretty darn proud of that top.  I designed the pattern myself from scratch.  I used an old book called Debbie Moore's Pattern Drafting and Dressmaking to draft the pattern.  I worked directly from Marilla's measurements and created a basic bodice first.  (The method was similar to this one.) Then I followed the instructions in the book on how to convert it to a drape neck top and add drop sleeves.  I did about three drafts of the pattern and four muslins (good thing I had a ton of knit too small to use for anything else stashed around here) also working from the fact that we found the jersey knit fabric on the same day we bought the denim.  It was in the remnants bin and there was not enough to cut sleeves, hence the drop sleeve.  I'm really happy with how it came out.   My sister even took a tracing of the pattern for her very style conscious 15 year old girl who loved the shirt too.

I love it when my first try at something comes out so great.   

Chevron Messenger Bag

My oldest left this morning for college.  She and her daddy packed up the van, threw her bike on the back and off they went to her new adventure.  She is thrilled and excited.

This summer she requested a new book bag for college.  I made her last book bag, not only did she love it, it lasted five years of hard use. Naturally she wanted another one just like it.  This time instead of solid color (olive green canvas) she wanted a fun print.  

I love this chevron print.  It's youthful and current.  Perfect for a freshman on her own for the first time.  The fabric is also perfect because it's outdoor fabric with an easy care coating so she should just be able to clean it up with a damp cloth.

I even made a special water bottle pocket to fit her water bottle, which she left behind at home, of course.  Good thing it will fit just about any water bottle. 

Construction details:  It's 16x12 with pockets all over the place and a padded pocket inside for her computer.  The base has six large purse feet to keep it off the classroom floor.  It also has a plastic piece in the bottom so the bottom won't sag when it's fully loaded.

You can see the strap construction here and in the previous photo.  I found these awesome swivel clips and matching D rings and a slide so she could have an easily adjustable strap.  Who knows how she'll need to carry it?  Easy versatility is always best.

Here's a close up of the front 6" pocket.  It's got a zipper right at the upper edge to help keep things inside and still be easy access.  The back of the bag has a similar pocket that's 16"x10" with a zipper all the way across. There are also about eight pen pockets on this bag in various places.

The inside of the bag has even more pockets with some big enough for paperwork and a few smaller ones as well.  There at the bottom of the photo is the computer pocket.  We had a padded computer envelope that didn't quite fit her computer.  I cut it apart and used it to pad the front and back of the pocket.  for the sides and bottom I used a thin, dense upholstery foam doubled up.  It's closed with a simple Velcro tab.

She loves the bag and I am glad I got it done just in time for her to take it with her.  Now I just have to get the rest of the sewing she left for me done.  Between the three girls, I have a huge stack of sewing projects to do.  Some are done and I'll show off those soon (middle girl's first day of school outfit is completely home sewn!)  There's still a huge pile to get to, though.  I told my oldest I would have to send monthly care packages with her other projects in them.  The first one will also have all the stuff she forgot to take with her.  Since one of those things is her jacket, I think I had better get something done for a box soon.

PS:  My son wants a bag just like it (minus the cute, girly chevrons), so I'll be posting a detailed tutorial on how to make one yourself in a month or so.  It's got a lot a steps, but is pretty doable.  Since everything is rectangles, you don't even need a pattern to make it.