Saturday Synopsis! + Blog Announcement

Well, as you might have been able to tell, it's been pretty busy and crazy around here.  I've been blogging for 8 months now, and even though I post every day (with the exception of some awesome guest posters), they're getting published later and later in the day.  Why is that?

I'm studying for a big licensing exam over the next couple of months as well as pursuing some huge time commitments on the career front.  I love this blog and will definitely continue posting, but instead of the 5 fresh, new posts that you've seen lately, I may get around to posting only a couple times a week.

I'm not sure if this will be a permanent change, but you can absolutely keep up with me on my social media below.  I'm Instagram-ing more often nowadays!

  <-- Click to follow me on Instagram

  <-- Click to follow me on Twitter

  <-- Click to follow me on Facebook

Until then, I will be studying my butt off and dreaming of the day that I was in Paris enjoying croissants...

Here are last week's posts in case you missed any.  :)

Saturday Synopsis!

Monday:  What do I do with all of those end of season tomatoes?  Roast them and stick them in a soup!

Tuesday:  My complete fabric stash.  Definitely a ton to look at here, so maybe this will make choosing fabric for projects a bit simpler!

Wednesday:  A weekly wrap-up with a lot of dining out and a trip to the Asian market.  I guess it's a good thing that we're moving to fall sweaters soon, to hide this pooch I've accumulated!

Thursday:  Guest poster Mo from Who Is That Girl Mo? shares a tutorial for making a circle/skater skirt.  So cute!

Friday:  Random acts of blogging.  Funny things that I've encountered while blogging for the past 8 months!

Read More

Random Acts of Blogging #1: Meeting bloggers, Bad clothing, Weird search terms

So, I wasn't sure what to call this post because there were a few items that I wanted to share with you guys that I've encountered in the past 8 months of blogging.  They're mostly amusing little tidbits that are completely unrelated to each other, hence the randomness of it all.

I'm sure this will be an ongoing series, as more blogging fun comes up.  :)

1. I love meeting other bloggers!

I went to Mimi G.'s conference last month, which was totally fun!  Not only did I meet Mo after she joined Stitch Once, Rip Twice, I met a few other sewists who have since joined our little group.  Yay!

In October, I'll be going to the SoCal Social, and I'd love to know if any of you guys will be there!  It's basically in my backyard and it sounds like a fun, stress-free day of shopping, eating, and meeting great people and bloggers.  Perfect!

2. I'm more aware about clothes than I used to be before sewing, especially the awful pieces.

Not to say that I was a slob before or that I'm super-fashionable now!  Since learning how to sew, I tend to peruse the internet for inspiration instead of actually intending to buy clothing.  Sometimes, that means that I encounter pretty weird garments since expanding my fashion horizons.

This it drives me crazy in every way possible.  This is a MAN'S item and it costs $300 on sale.  Why?

3. People land on my page in the strangest ways.

I've compiled a strange list of search terms that have led to my page.  What does that mean?  I like to take a peek at the Google searches that get people to click on my page.  Every so once in a while, I notice an odd search phrase that directs a click my way.  Let's see what that looks like!

Well, that looks pretty normal...except...  Vintage yogurt?  What is that?!?!

Read More

Circle Skirt Tutorial from Who Is That Girl Mo?

Hello!

Today's guest poster is Mo from Who Is That Girl Mo? and another member of Stitch Once, Rip Twice!  She let me be her "plus one"at Mimi G's conference, which she mentioned in this post.  So basically, we're fabric shopping buddies now.  :)  I even shared a few tips on how to bargain with the fabric vendors, like I do when I head to the swap meet.

First check out her post below on how to draft and sew your own circle skirt.  Then, check out her blog for her fashion and sewing tips!  She's a full-service blogging sewist, for real!  Drafts a garment, shares the tutorial, sews it up, and shows how she styles it.  Awesome!

********************

Hey! I'm Mo and my blog is all about sharing my personal style and diy projects.  I started my blog just before Christmas last year and since then my style has evolved tremendously. I also love to refashion pieces of clothing with little to no sewing. Easy and fun is what works for me. I'm also a beginner sewer and today I'll be sharing a tutorial on how to make a circle skirt. I hope it will inspire you to make one of your own. :-) Thanks!

You should know by now how obsessed I was with skater skirts. If you didn't you can read about it in this post. Since I didn't have a skater skirt I decided to make one on my own. I read some blog tutorials and watched a couple of youtube videos and took different pieces of info from what I learned and combined it. It was pretty easy to make. The most tedious part for me was sewing the hem of the skirt. It was so long all I kept thinking was "FML" and when I finally finished, of course I didn't like the skirt. I was extremely tired but I actually do like it and now that I have made my own I am no longer obsessed over the skater skirt trend. Yeah, I know it's only been a couple of weeks but that's me, I get over some things quickly. Here's my tutorial.

Supplies needed:

1 1/2 - 2 yards fabric

7 in or longer zipper

matching thread

chalk or marking pencil

measuring tape

scissors

sewing machine

1. Make sure fabric is at least 50 inches wide. The wider the better. My fabric was only 44 inches but I got lucky.

2. Fold the fabric in half lengthwise. Make sure the raw edges are lined up and the fabric is smoothed out.

3. Fold it in half again. You should have a square shape or something close.

Read More

Weekly Wrap-Up!

Guess what?  I was informed that I won yet another item from a contest.  This time it was a fancy cooking pot!  I will take pictures when it arrives in the mail.  Yay!


Precap (jump to):

• Eats:  Homemade Italian dinner, The Counter, Greek food, Michael's on Naples, La Tavolata
• Sights:  Fabric stash cataloging, Figs!, Jam session, American Ranch Filipino Market

Friday

We had dinner with a bunch of friends, to say goodbye to a friend who now lives abroad and was leaving.  I brought Prosecco, and the lovely host had Chicken Cacciatore and Spumoni.  I may have had two helpings of the Spumoni...

The plates and tablecloth were from our friend's Italian grandmother.  Cute, right?

Saturday

We had a housewarming later that day, but I wanted to keep working on cataloging my fabric stash.  You might have seen this picture already on Instagram!

Luckily, my guy helped me by typing out the measurements as I called them out.  I bribed him with his favorite childhood cartoon on Netflix while he worked.  :)

Read More

My Complete Fabric Stash!

I have been awaiting this post for what seems like forever!  And of course, I spent a ton of time adding in all of my pictures only to press Ctrl+Z and undo everything...  TECHNOLOGY!!!

Anyways, after taking a few deep breaths and reconstructing the entire thing, here is my ENTIRE fabric stash!  Like My Complete Pattern Collection and My Big Fat Sewing To-Do List, I will be updating this as items change.  :)

You may have seen on my Instagram that I took the time to photograph every fabric that I own with my handy ruler (which I realized is not perfectly straight...) and my guy's camera.  Of course, it took a few days!


For each fabric, I included a few tidbits of information:

1. Type: Well, as much as I could determine...  I'm a fabric newbie!
2. Description: My guy actually helped me with this, so they may be a bit of a rough description...
3. Width
4. Yardage: or "Inchage" considering a bunch of them are scraps
5. Place bought & cost

Lastly, I tried to categorize everything into general categories, which will make it easier to pick a suggested fabric in the future.  Enjoy perusing my stash!

Jersey

White T-shirt material 60" Width - 1/2 yds. M & L ($1.99/yd.)	Pink T-shirt material 58" Width - 1/2 yd. Unknown	Magenta T-shirt material 58" Width - 3/4 yds. M & L ($1.99/yd.)
Purple T-shirt material 60" Width - 1 1/3 yds. M & L ($1.99/yd.)	Gray T-shirt material 58" Width - 1/2 yd. M & L ($1.99/yd.)	Navy blue & white graduated stripes 60" Width - 1 1/3 yds. Garment District ($1-2/yd.)
Red & white, thick stripes 60" Width - 4 yds. GW Swap Meet (<$1/yd.)	Cranberry with small scattered white polka dots 58" Width - 1 3/4 yds. GW Swap Meet (<$1/yd.)	Navy blue with turquoise oval 60" Width - 1 yd. GW Swap Meet (<$1/yd.)
Navy with Beige & Turquoise Half moon print 58" Width - 2 1/3 yds. GW Swap Meet (<$1/yd.)	Brown with Beige & Orange Half moon print 60" Width - 1 yd. GW Swap Meet (<$1/yd.)

Heavier Knits to Sweatshirt Weight Knits

Read More

Roasted Tomato Soup

Shame on me for not posting this earlier, especially since it is nearly the end of tomato plant season! I first made this soup around the time that my mother's tomato plant was ridiculously productive.  Since then, I made a couple of tweaks to the original recipe and I totally love it now!  It is much chunkier since I use less stock, and by using basil, I don't need to head to the store for fresh herbs.  It is almost an adequate substitute for my favorite tomato soup from The Winding Stair in Dublin!

Make sure to whip up some focaccia along with it for a wonderful accompaniment!

P.S. - Yours truly is a soup fanatic (remember this recipe, this recipe and this post?), so my stamp of approval is even more important.  Right?


Roasted Tomato Soup
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients
3 lbs. plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
2 Tbsp. olive oil
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried
1/4 tsp. dried crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or vegetable broth
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Read More