Another "Down & Dirty" sewing project...

I found this adorable hat at the 99¢ store, only problem was the dang thing wouldn't stay on my head. No worries, I've got a remedy for that problem and it involves my trusty sewing machine, Sew (pronounced "Sue").

I made some lovely ties from some fabric scraps and attached them to the hat. Pretty easy! It probably would have looked even nicer if I weren't too lazy to change Sew's thread. I could still add some embellishment to cover the stitches. I tried to make a matching band but the hat is too slopey so I took the lazy way and just covered the stitches with some white paint. It looks fine, you guys.

plain hat. looks good on Pooh though.

scrap of fabric folded wrong side out, pinned and pressed

straight stitch along the edge, then diagonal at the end for a fancy point

turn out and pinned to the inside edge of the brim

then stitched into place

looking good, Pooh!

Sew magical!

Sewing is magical and here's a quickie project that proves it. I work from home, therefore I do not wear pants with pockets. Or zippers or buttons. Confession: I wear denim leggings all the time. Like, all. the. time.

But I am forever wishing I had a pocket, especially to carry around my phone. Recently, I picked up a couple of tool aprons from Home Depot for a buck or two, and then I magically transformed them into a cute little work apron to tote my phone and other necessities while I wear my stretch pants.

don't judge me because I'm messy

Here is the original apron. Kind of ugly, right? (Yes, that is my pressing table and yes, I know it is messy and cluttered. I tried to crop that part out. ) Another thing I didn't like about the original is it has two large pockets, and I would prefer more and smaller pockets. We can kill 3 birds with one stone here and cover that gross Home Depot ad, make the pockets smaller and increase the amount of pockets.

there are always scraps of red plaid fabric lying around my studio

I am a plus sized gal, so I dolled-up two aprons and then tied two of the strings together sort of permanently in the back and then wear the apron by tying it on in the front, which cured another of my pet peeves, tying aprons behind my back. I am not good at it. Here, I have attached a pocket by taking a scrap of fabric, folding the edges under and stitching it into place. I wasn't super concerned about straightness or anything like that. This was a pretty down & dirty project because that is how I roll.

no need to turn under the T-shirt.

stitch verrry close to the edge

of course I carry two pair of scissors, doesn't everyone?

For the next apron, I cut a piece out of an old T-shirt and pinned that down and stitched it on, then fancied it up with another scrap of plaid fabric. There are now 13 pockets of various sizes between the two aprons! Here they are with some stuff stuck in them.

And here is my model, Pooh, showing of the finished product. Please ignore the pile of crap behind him.

I have been a busy bee, cranking out bracelets like mad.

Now I'm getting ready to start something totally different and I am excited about it! Details soon...

Homemeade Yogurt: Check!

I finally did it you guys. I actually followed through and made the yogurt. And it went pretty well, I must say. Although for some reason I doubled the recipe and made a gallon of yogurt and now have enough to feed a small army. Why do I do these things?? I think I must have starved to death in a former life because I habitually make way too much food.

So making the yogurt was fairly easy. I used the recipe from Jennifer Reese's  Make the Bread, Buy the Butter, an amazing book and one I highly recommend. I make "cheese" so I have some basic equipment such as a thermometer and cheesecloth ( real cheesecloth, AKA butter muslin, that cheese makers use and not the gauzy stuff you find at the grocery store). Yogurt itself is just two ingredients, milk and yogurt with active cultures (also referred to as "the starter"), 1/8 cup of yogurt to 1/2 gallon of milk. (DO NOT do what I did and double this recipe unless you have 20 people living in your home). I used some ripe plums, pluots and nectarines I had on hand to make the fruit "jam", basically cut up fruit and a little water boiled into a chunky syrup. Mmmmmm!

Ok, so step one is make sure everything is clean since you are basically leaving milk out all night to spoil. Don't want any bonus cooties in it, right? Heat the milk to 185º over medium high heat, or just before the boiling point if you don't have a thermometer. You really should get a thermometer though. It takes out the guess work and they cost like $5, maybe less. You can stir constantly or just let it do it's thing (guess what I did).  If you use a non-stick pot, cleanup is super easy. The milk skin peels right off and dogs and chickens go nuts over this special treat. While you heat the milk, let your yogurt starter sit at room temp. Once the milk reaches temperature, pour it into a clean non-metallic bowl. I used my crockpot (turned off) because it has a lid and it's kind of insulated. Wait for the milk to cool to 110º and then mix in the starter. It takes forever for the hot milk to cool. Ms. Reese suggests using an ice bath if you are impatient. I just puttered around the kitchen, occasionally checking the thermometer and stirring. When it finally cools, mix in the yogurt very well and then cover it up and bundle it with a big towel to keep it as close to 110º as possible while the friendly little bacteria work their magic. I was paranoid about keeping the yogurt at the correct temperature. This is probably the one thing that kept me from trying to make this for so long. But Jennifer Reese made it seem like no big deal and I trusted her. She was right, because this morning I had a crockpot full of yogurt.

You don't need cheesecloth to make yogurt, but you do if you want to take the extra step of straining out some of the whey for a thicker final product. Supermarket cheesecloth will work, but the weave is super loose and so you'll need to double it up, and still stuff will leak through. Also, you can really only use it one time, as opposed to REAL cheesecloth or muslin which can be washed and used repeatedly. You can also use and old sheet or thin cotton towel (washed of course) or plain old muslin from the fabric store. Line a colander with your cloth and spoon in the yogurt, then wait half an hour or so. Put your colander over a bowl to catch the whey and use it for baking. Chickens and dogs love it too. I pour it on their food and they lick their bowls clean. The dogs do, the chickens don't, because their tongues are weird and tiny.

I will definitely be making this on a regular basis, but only a quart at a time. And I will let it ferment for 8 hours as opposed to 12, since the longer it sits, the tangier it gets and this was pretty tangy. If you make your own yogurt, please let me know how yours turns out in the comments.

crockpot full of yogurt

fruit at the bottom

Hubby's yogurt ready to go

this is what's left after filling 6 small containers. Yikes!

La Dama, Where Are You?

For the past few days, I've gone into my studio with basically no plan and just start working on what ever grabs my attention first. Let me tell you, that is the worst way to try to get things done, especially for scatterbrained me. With a plan in place, I function like a well-oiled machine, without a plan I am lost. This heat wave has messed with my mind, not to mention my schedule, and I'm struggling to get back on track.

Friday I was in my studio resining tiles and sweating my ass off. I have to do it in a controlled area with no dust blowing around. so no open windows or doors and no fans. It was hot as hell in there that day. I had so much sweat inside my gloves that my fingers were all pruned up. Not fun.

Today I had a plan: go to the store, go to the library, come home and resin before the studio gets too hot. Simple. Checked off numbers one and two, no problem, but when it came time to resin...problem. First of all, one of my tiles turned out like shit so I had to re-do it before I could resin, then as I was counting out tiles to resin I noticed one was missing. I count the tiles multiple times during the long process of making the bracelet because the little buggers get separated from their bracelet partners on a regular basis. Like today, I needed to resin two tiles of a nine tiles bracelet because the resin started to get unworkable and I've learned it is better to stop at that point because any tiles resined at that point look like crap and have to be redone. That's why I started making bottle cap rings. I hated wasting that much resin (sometimes almost half of what I prepared) every time I finished tiles. So today I counted one set, two sets, and the third set came up short. Fricking annoying, since I have made great effort to keep my workspace tidy & somewhat organized. I counted all the tiles again to be sure I had not made a mistake. Still short. I looked carefully at the tiles to see if I could tell which one was missing, and also to make sure I had actually made nine in the first place. Amazingly, I was able to figure out the missing tile was 'La Dama', one of the Loteria cards, now if only I could find the dang thing.  Distracted from my plan, I searched high and low for that tile and did not find it. I began to doubt my memory that I had really made it. I thought about making a new one but I just know as soon as I do the original 'La Dama' is going to show up and really piss me off. So I am moving on to "Plan B", which is string tiles into bracelets. That should keep me busy for a while and give 'La Dama' a chance to reveal herself.

Easy & Awesome Chicken Stock

My old Doctor had a sign in his office with a picture of the rear view of a naked and ginormously fat lady pushing a cart down the grocery aisle with the caption, "never shop on an empty stomach". I would add, "or naked", but that is beside the point. We've all heard this, but truthfully, if I go into the store and I'm not hungry, I will leave with an empty cart, because nothing seems appealing. In my new unemployed life I am frequently shopping and doing lots of other errands on an empty stomach because I will forget to eat. There was a time when I thought that was the most ridiculous statement ever, like who forgets to eat? Now I frequently find myself out & about around lunch time, and fading because I am starving.

I was shopping at Costco recently, on an empty stomach, and thinking about what I would have for lunch. Costco is the best because not only does it have high quality stuff at reasonable prices but also because you can feed your whole family at the food court for about twenty bucks. And they have the best hand dipped ice cream bars.  FYI, I forgot to eat before I started writing this. So anyway, I was imagining my food court lunch when I strolled by the rotisserie chickens. I could eat at the food court for $5, or I could buy a chicken for $5 and eat today and tomorrow, and have the makings for some delicious chicken stock. See? Hungry people are capable of making good choices, Dr. Gale!

When I was a kid I used to love chicken legs, now that I'm an adult I find them kind of gross. The exception is Costco rotisserie chicken legs, but only when they're piping hot and fresh, like I have to eat them the second I get home or the window closes. After I scarfed down my chicken legs and removed the breasts for the next days' lunches, I tossed the rest into my crock pot with some water and seasoning and let it crock on low for 2 or 3 days. Some of you may wonder about the safety of leaving your crock pot on for 3 days, but I can assure you it's perfectly safe. I saw a program on how small appliances are made, and crock pots are tested by plugging them in and leaving them on for nine months. There is no food safety issue either, as the crock pot stays at temperature that will not allow any harmful cooties. After a couple of days, use a wooden spoon to break the bones and allow the rich delicious marrow to enhance the stock. They should be soft and easily break, if not let it go another day or so. Strain out the solids, and pour some hot water over the strained solids to get every drop of goodness.

That's it, the recipe for chicken stock. You could use any chicken or turkey bones to make this stock, you could also add onions or garlic to it. I am allergic to onions, and also I like the stock to be a neutral chicken flavor so it is versatile so my recipe is just "chicken bones and skin". The flavor is incredible and the effort is so minimal, once you try it you will be hooked!

The Magic that is Sewing...

Having a sewing machine is kind of like having a magic wand. You can create something out of almost nothing. Obviously you can say the about almost any craft, but with sewing you can go from zero to awesome literally in minutes. You don't need fancy fabric from the yardage store, although fabric shopping is a wonderful thing, you can take an article of clothing you already own and alter it to your style or just cut it up and create something new from the material. I have two "kids" (quotes because they are both over 20 and therefore technically adults) and they've outgrown tons of clothes over the years. Much of the clothing was given to younger kids in the family or donated to charity, but I've kept some too. Several totes worth, mostly t-shirts which are awesomely versatile for re-purposing. One of my fave projects is a super simple tote upgrade made by cutting out the t-shirt art and appliqueing it onto a canvas tote. Pretty much as easy as cutting and sewing straight lines, and with super cool results. 

Another neat thing I busted out on a whim was a mesh bag to hold soap scraps. My husband uses Ivory soap exclusively, and Ivory is a very airy, light bar of soap that wears out fast and as it gets small it breaks easily, so we end up with a lot of soap scraps. Of course, I could not bear to throw these scraps away, but they were a real bitch to use. I happened to have a roll of wide tulle ribbon, so one day I just whipped up a small pouch with an elastic opening and a loop to hang it up in the shower. It is as crude as hell and ugly, but it works so well that if we ran out of soap scraps I would cut up a new bar of soap just to put it in the bag. I don't know if it works so great because it's Ivory soap or what, but when you wash with it, the soap instantly foams up into an awesomely fluffy lather. I'm thinking of making some nice pretty ones to give as gifts.