Sunday Night Reflections

This Heartwarming Video Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity! from littlejoey on GodTube.

When we look at a statue of someone great, we think they've got something we don't. We are trained to think that only a tiny percentage of us have the stuff it takes to be a hero. Not many of us will cure any diseases or slay any dragons, but every single one of us.....every single one of us, is called to be a king, a queen, a hero in our ordinary lives. We don't build statues to worship the exceptional life, we build them to remind ourselves what IS possible in our own.

                                                                                                          Author Unknown

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms.....to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances.
                                                                                                      
                                                                                                          Victor Frankel

Sunday Brunch

Cilantro Lime Chickpea Salad

I actually made this for dinner last night, it is so good, and it will be on a brunch table in the coming future. It is not my original recipe. I thought that I may have found it on Pinterest, but I did not pin it, so who knows how I found it. The recipe is from a delightful website,  http://ohsheglows.com/, written by Angela Liddon. Oh She Glows is a healthy vegan recipe blog, chronicling her life, favourite recipes, photography, and motivational musings on body-image, career happiness, and self-love. I love the recipes and the blog in general.

I did make a few changes to the recipe, very minor, they are highlighted next to the original ingredients. The recipe makes approximately 4 servings.

One 29-oz can chickpeas (4 cups cooked), drained and rinsed
4 cups spinach
1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped finely, I used 1 bunch of green onions 
Juice from 3 limes, I used 2 limes 
1 1/2 cup fresh Cilantro, I used one entire bunch of cilantro 
1 tsp sugar (or to taste), I used 1/2 teaspoon of sugar 
4 tsp Dijon mustard, I only used 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard 
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil, I used 1 tablespoon of olive oil 
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp kosher salt + ground pepper

Directions:
1. In a food processor, add the spinach and pulse a few times until chopped very small. Add the processed spinach, drained chickpeas, and chopped onion into a large bowl.

2. In the food processor (no need to rinse the bowl!), add the lime juice, cilantro, mustard, sugar, garlic, cumin, and oil. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

3. Pour the dressing on top of the spinach chickpea mixture and stir well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let stand for about 10 minutes to let the flavours develop (optional- I didn’t!). Serve over a bed of grains, like brown rice. Serves 1-2.

*I cooked oat groats (I know, I'm such a hippy) and served the salad  over the oats. I topped it off with fresh chopped tomatoes, sliced avocado and extra chopped green onions.  

The above picture is from Angela's website. Doesn't it look wonderful? Trust me, it really is so very good, perfect for a summer lunch, a brunch buffet or even a light summer dinner. Check out her website, there's a wonderful recipe for Happy Trails Adventure Cookies. They are a rolled oat cookie. Looks wonderful. Who knows, maybe I'll glow a bit after eating all this wonderful food!

Wishing you a lovely Sunday full of miraculous happenings.

Rhonda 

Sleeves On Saturdays

The Darted Wrist Sleeve

Today's sleeve has a dart that radiates from the wrist to the elbow. We are going to add one more detail with a pleat that radiates down the center of sleeve from the shoulder. 

The sleeve hangs very straight from the shoulder but gives interest with the dart and ample room for the elbow.

The pleat that is in the center of the sleeve hangs directly from the center of the sleeve and is perfectly in line with the shoulder seam.

I'm actually making a coat. The fabric is rather wild I guess, but I like it. The print is taken from a Botticelli painting.

To do this sleeve, it is best to start with a basic fitted sleeve pattern. The dart that is at the elbow will be rotated to the wrist and that is what gives the angle that you see above.

Draw a line up from the wrist to the elbow dart. Cut the elbow dart open and cut on the line that was drawn in. Close the elbow dart. The fullnes from the elbow dart will now radiate up from the wrist as you see below.

 We do not want the angled line so draw in a stright line as you see below.

 Now for the shoulder pleat. Cut from the top of the sleeve to the wrist on the center grainline.

Draw a line on your paper. Place the sleeve on the paper and equally spread the pleat opening on either side of the line.

 To cut the top of the sleeve pattern, fold on the outside lines as you see above and fold them towards the center line.

Now that the pleat is closed, cut the top of your sleeve pattern.

This will result in the pleat lines taking on the same curve as the top of your sleeve.

Be sure to add seam allowance to the inside area of the wrist dart.

It's as simple as that. This sleeve works beautifully on a suit jacket or coat.
Thanks for dropping by. Hope you're having a lovely weekend. The heat wave we were having has finally moved on out. Thank goodness. Being able to have the windows open and ejoy the breeze is just so lovely. Hope you're enjoying moderate temperatures where ever you may be.
Rhonda

A Little Summer Fun On The Greens

You may remember this sleeve from one of our Sleeves On Saturday posts a few weeks ago. Well, I finally finished the outfit and I love it. 

The fabric is a cotton print that I found at Joann's. For those of you who are not in America, Joann's is just a very large fabric and craft store, not exactly the store you go to for fine fabrics.

I really like the print and thought it would be a fun outfit for summer.

I made the belt to match,

and covered the buttons.

The collar

and the facing were done in the coordinating print that I used for the skirt. 

Rather than hem the skirt, I edged it with the coordinating fabric from the shirt.

Wow, no high heels. What's the world coming to?!!

Hope you are enjoying your summer.

She's A Sewaholic

I recently had the honor of testing one of Sewaholic's upcoming patterns. She had asked on her questionnaire if I would recommend her patterns. I replied that I have in the past, her Minoru Jacket, and that after my experience of testing her pattern, I would most definitely recommend any of her patterns. Now, I am under oath to keep what I did a secret until she launches that particular pattern which I think will be some time later this summer, but just today, she broke the news about another new pattern, a great pair of pants. The picture is at the end of this post. She is truly a Sewaholic and she has the patterns to prove it. 

 The Pendrell Blouse

The Crescent Skirt

The Lonsdale Dress

The Renfrew Top

The Minoru Jacket

The Cambie Dress

And her newest pattern in the collection. She usually has a launch special, but it is only available to those who have signed up for her mailing list. So get on the list!!! Just click here.

Good luck Tasia on your brand new pattern and all upcoming patterns!!!!

She's Knitting Again!

Last summer I shared with you my step by step progress with this sweater and I realized that I've been knitting and haven't shared a thing about it. No where near the major project that the sweater was, although I do have another project just waiting in the wings for when I finish this one, more later. 

I'm doing a bag and I'm very pleased with how it is turning out. I do love cables. My Celtic ancestors would be quite pleased I think. I'm calling the other design with the bobbles The Tree Of Life as it looks like a tree, to me anyway, and it just keeps going, just like life itself. 

The bobbles are such fun. I love knitting and knitting into one stitch.

In fact I like this so much that I've decided to make my side panels out of the same stitch.

There's no picture of the finished bag as I'm pulling it out of my head. I do plan to put a zipper in the top and I have leather handles to attach. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Monday Morning Inspiration

Bathing Beauties

I've been thinking about a new swimsuit. I know, I know, the panic that comes over us when we think about getting into a new suit. A few years ago I had a place on my chest that turned out to be skin cancer, so since then I have decided that wearing a two piece and exposing that area is just not worth the chance of a recurrence. So for today's inspiration I've found some lovely one piece suits that I think are absolutely lovely and probably a lot more feminine and attractive on a woman's body than most of the two piece suits that are on the market today.   

This is one of favorites. The draping of the butterfly is very attractive.

Anything with drapes or ruching is lovely.

I'm not big on the white colorof this suit, but in a darker color, I think it would be quite elegant. Actually, I like the detail around the neckline for a dress.

I love a vintage inspired suit.

Norma Kamali is a master of the feminine swimsuit.

I love the pattern on this suit as well as the push up bra.

I just had to include one two piece. Another Norma Kamali. Wear it in the dark :)))

A great cover up and look, it's all rectangles!!! I have to do this!

I am a huge fan of Liana Sandin of http://sewintriguing.blogspot.com/. She has done a number of fabulous suits. She had a suit that fit her well, so she copied it.

Liana participates in a water aerobics class and said that the chlorine eats through her suits, so rather than spend a fortune and tons of time looking for new suits, she makes her own for a fraction of the cost.

She uses a power stretch knit rather than bra cups and really likes how it gives her the ability to move which she needs for the class. 

Check out her blog. I think she just may inspire you to take a stab at a suit. 

Wishing you all a lovely week.

Just a little side note, last night's Sunday Night Reflections was something that I needed to be reminded of. I had a very disappointing experience a few days ago, so disappointing in fact that it kept me awake for a couple of nights. I read this piece and it brought me back to what is really important and the realization that sometimes, most of the time, we just need to let things go and remember what is truly important. So on that note, I will once again wish you all a lovely week filled with wonderfully enriching days.

Rhonda