The Sewaholic Robson Trench Sew Along/The Pockets

I've done a special post for the Sewaholic Robson Trench Sew Along on attaching the pockets. This is a traditional trench coat pocket with a flap and inseam pockets. The primary trick in getting the pockets to look perfect is precise marking. There are notches and seam allowances that should be marked. You can see both marked in white below.

The pocket is finished prior to finishing the seam.

 In the end, it all goes together beautifully.

My favorite detail with the pocket is the bit of binding that is used to secure the pocket and keep it in place. Just a fabulous detail!

You can find the post HERE. Hopefully between the written pattern instructions and my instructions you'll be able to sail through the process of attaching your pockets.
Good Luck!

Sewaholic Robson Coat Sew Along

How's your Robson coat coming along? The post on working with princess line seams is up on the Sew News blog and you can find it HERE. The post also talks about binding the seams and top stitching. The video was initially attached to the post I did on altering the sleeve, so in the off chance that you haven't see the video, I've attached it below.

On Wednesday of this week, I will be doing a post on constructing the pockets and on Friday, we'll work on the collar, flaps and tabs. By then you'll be well on your way to completing the coat.
If you are interested, there is a Flickr group and you can find it HERE.
Until our next post,
Sew On!!!

And The Winner Is!!!!!!

The response to possibly winning the Learn To Sew DVDs was so nice. So many of you would like to pass them on to budding sewists. What excites me the most is that so many of you are passing on your passion and that's fabulous. But sadly, I only had the one set to share, so only one winner, and the winner is......

The TellTaleTasha who blogs at  http://thetelltaletasha.blogspot.com/ She said, "I know EXACTLY who I would gift this to." Maybe I can get her to do a little blog post and share with all of us exactly who will be the beneficiary of the DVDs. I know would love to know :)
Congratulations Tasha!! Please email me with your shipping address so I can get the package off to you ASAP!
Me Made Monday will be back, just a day late. I've had a ferocious headache this afternoon. but thankfully it's beginning to subside. I should be back to my normal self by tomorrow.
Thanks so much again to all who participated in the giveaway.
Rhonda

Sunday Night Refelctions

Everything you've ever wanted

 is on the other side of fear.

Sunday's Soup

Holiday themed food can be fun! I found a very simple recipe for Creamy Asparagus and Cauliflower Soup that sounded quite nice, so I gave it a try. The ingredients are basically, garlic, cauliflower and asparagus. Doesn't get much simpler! You can find the original recipe HERE. If you have company coming who is vegetarian/vegan, this would be a great soup to have on hand and or serve. There is no dairy in the recipe, so perfect for the vegans, and if you aren't vegan, perfect for your waistline ;)

Creamy Asparagus and Cauliflower Soup

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 head cauliflower, broken into florets
• cayenne pepper, or to taste

• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 2 pounds fresh asparagus, trimmed and chopped
• 2 tablespoons nasturtium petals, or more to taste
• 2 tablespoons diced asparagus tips, or more to taste

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir garlic in hot oil until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir chicken broth, cauliflower, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper into garlic. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until cauliflower is tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Stir 2 pounds asparagus into cauliflower mixture and increase heat to high. Cook until asparagus is tender but still bright green, 5 to 6 minutes.
3. Blend soup with an immersion blender until smooth; season with salt and black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and serve.

I made 2 changes to the recipe. First, I left out the cayenne. I pureed a roasted red pepper and added hot chili oil to the puree and then topped my soup with the puree. I also used a vegetable broth rather than the chicken broth for a true vegan version. The soup is now in keeping with Christmas colors and the pepper sauce makes for a nice addition to the soup.  

There is a video that accompanies this recipe and you can find it here, http://allrecipes.com/video/4640/creamy-asparagus-and-cauliflower-soup/detail.aspx

Additions can be made to the recipe, like adding chopped onion, green onions, shallots, or leeks. The soup is quite fragrant and full bodied without the addition of the onions, but if you really like onions, add away!!

Enjoy!

Fabulous Free Pattern Friday

A Gown In A Jiffy!

Believe it or not, this gown falls under the Fabulous Free Pattern Friday heading as it is nothing more than 2 rectangles and a triangle. The front panel that you see below is a rectangle as well as the black accent piece.

Now you can see the triangle.

I had the fabric that I used for the front panel, but there was really only enough to go around my bust. My hips are about 4" bigger than my hips. I could have stretched it around my hips, but then I would have run the risk of looking like a sausage.
If you look closely at the above picture, you will see that the top portion of the rectangle is stitched to the waist. A triangle was cut out of the black fabric, which happens to be a slinky knit. The triangle was sewn to the 2 seams. To tie in the black and give the gown a more finished look, I cut a 4" wide band, folded it in half and sewed it to the top of the dress.

To line the dress, I cut another rectangle out of spandex and fitted it to my body. To give support, I added the bra cups just as I did with this tank top. You can find the instructions for adding bra cups HERE.

 
The spandex piece with the bra cups was then sewn to the top of the dress and flipped inside. The dress has structure without boning!

The straps were created out of beads and crystals that I had on hand.

In the end, a lovely gown that took me approximately 2 hours to put together. So if you need or would like a gown and you don't have a lot of time to put one together, here's a fun and easy option!

Thrifty Thursday

As the holidays grow closer and closer, and we panic more and more :), a quick gift that's easy to make looks better and better. Just because a gift is quick to make doesn't mean that it can't be special. I found this bag pattern at www.verypurpleperson.com The bag was intended to be reversible, but mine is not for 2 reasons. First of all I decided to make it a little more special by making it out of leather, and second, I wanted to add a closure. All in all, I am super happy with the outcome.

I top stitched all of my seams.

To give the bag its lovely shape, there are 2 darts on the front and back at either side. I top stitched both to accent the darts and make them look a little more special.

As I said, I added a magnetic closure to my bag. If you do decide to make the bag and add a closure, be sure to back your fabric with a piece of iron on interfacing. The closure will need the stability.

Just to give you an idea of how long the bag will hang. It feels very comfortable on my shoulder, but you may want to add a couple of inches to the length of the handle.

You can find the pattern HERE. On the page that I've linked to, you will find the pattern link down near the bottom of the page. It will print off very easily, not like the owl pattern from last week. There will be 3 pages, so there is a little taping, but not much. I think this bag would make a GREAT present for just about anyone.

Now, I would like to give a quick shout out to http://stineundstitch.blogspot.de/ . Remember the Soho Leather Tote? Here's a link, http://rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2014/08/make-your-own-leather-soho-slouch-tote.html

Well, Kerstin made a lovely bag using synthetic leather. This is another great idea for gift giving!!

Hope you have some time to make a few gifts and have your own Thrifty Thursday!

Rhonda