One Stitch Two Stitch

Anatomy of An Apron

Earlier this week I was organizing my craft room and came across my overstuffed bag of fabric scraps. I was surprised to see how much scraps had accumulated. It was clear I had to find a way to make use of them, so I decided to make an apron. 

The anatomy of an apron is very basic. You have a skirt, a waistband, and straps, and if you keep it simple by cutting rectangular pieces of fabric, its construction is quick and easy. Now the waistband was made from joining my scraps into a quilt-like pattern. The straps were made from some leftover raw muslin (looks like linen) I had in my stash.

For the skirt I used a tea towel folded over a quarter of the section.  These tea towels you can find at any Target or Walmart (a 5 pack for $5). They're oversized, so I usually cut them in half to make smaller tea towels, but for this project the original size was perfect. I used this tutorial to crochet my trim and made bias tape using more scraps.
I was pleasantly surprised with the end result. I'm not sure whether to gift it or keep it for myself (I'm leaning more to the latter), either way I'm sure it'll get plenty of use.

Want to learn great techniques on apron making? Try the book A Is for Apron. It has an endless amount of ideas and easy instructions to follow.

Want to find a simple tutorial for a basic apron? Try this Lined Apron Tutorial or this Simple Little Apron Tutorial

Making Scrap Bias Tape

I love adding pretty trims to my sewing projects. I quickly realized that even though store-bought bias tape is convenient, the color choices are a bit limited. By making my own bias tape, I could give a very personalized style to my projects. Don't get me wrong, I still buy ready-made tape, but when I want something extra special I make my own!  Let me give you a rundown on how I recently made bias tape using my fabric scraps. This trim is part of a bigger sewing project that I'm finishing up that also involves fabric leftovers. Now with scraps the conventional way of making bias tape doesn't apply (at least for me). What I mean by this is that I can't cut the fabric at a diagonal since I'm using small odds and ends rather than a yard of fabric. To make my trim, I gathered up scraps that were approx. 2" wide (the length of the scraps doesn't matter). Some of the scraps were cut to 2" so they'd fit evenly.
Once I gathered enough 2" scraps/strips, I joined them right sides together until I had a 70" long strip. My scraps are all connected in this pic. Now comes the fun part: ironing! All seams were ironed opened before folding my long fabric strip. The easiest way is using a bias tape maker. However, I did it by folding the strip length-wise, ironing to fix the crease, folding in the unfinished ends (1/2" on each side) and ironing again. I only use this method when I'm in a rush. Unfolded, the strip is 2" wide. Once you fold in the unfinished ends, the tape should measure 1" wide, and after it's folded over again, the tape goes down to 1/2" in width.
Here's my scrappy tape on a tea towel. Cute right?  Here are some past sewing projects using handmade bias tape:

I do want to say that this is far from a tutorial, so if you're up to learning the ins and outs of bias-tape making, I highly recommended this site. It's extremely informative and uses lots of photographs with it's step-by-step instructions.  

March Faves - Dessert Edition

I've had dessert on mind throughout this month. Here's an inspiring collection of baked lovelies from Flickr land!
1.Meringues (365), 2. Bluberry Crumble, 3. Donuts, 4. peach cupcakes, 5. Untitled, 6. Chocolate Chip Tiramisu, 7. patterned cake roll, 8.Italian doughnut holes, 9. mother's day cupcakes

This Weekend

my bf and I along with some friends decided to take a mini road trip down to the Keys on Saturday . . .

We made an impromptu stop at Burr's Berry Farm. They have a stand where you can buy freshly-picked strawberries and seasonal produce, along with homemade jams. Their strawberry milkshakes are yummy!

We made two stops, one to Alabama Jacks (sorry no pics!) and then here to Gilberts which is a huge Tiki bar right on the water. The view is pretty amazing here. I had a strawberry daiquiri, sat back and enjoyed the live music . . . very relaxing!
On Sunday, we went down to South Beach and had a nice stroll on the beach. The day was amazing - a clear blue sky and lovely sunshine. These are the times you know how lucky you are to be living down in south Florida! We then had a couple of drinks here at Free Spirits. This not your typical South Beach bar; its vibe is reminiscent of the dive bars you find in the East Village - dark, dingy yet comfortable and casual. While we were there, my eyes kept wandering to the ceiling; it's completely wallpapered in old British newspapers! It was an interesting place to take a break from the heat!   

Peacock-themed Bulletin Board

Writing for some students can be an arduous task which is why I try to find topics that pique my students' interest. For this descriptive writing lesson, I started by showing many colorful photographs of peacocks. Our writing targets were colors, sensory details, and similes. The children then had to brainstorm as many descriptive details they could observe from the peacock photographs. They then had the task to creates a cohesive paragraph which included the aforementioned writing targets.     After editing and revision, the students get to publish their work. I designed their "publishing sheet" to have a box at the top so they could draw their peacocks and then lines on the bottom half to write their paragraph. I found a great peacock print fabric and then used a bright blue border. Construction paper can be used to frame the publishing sheets. To add more pizazz, you could also attach some real peacock feathers around the border.

I really love how the kids imagined and drew their own peacocks. Some were very literal.    While others were more abstract. And yet others leaned toward the imaginative!

A Trip to St. Augustine

I went on a field trip to St. Augustine with my students earlier this month. The first time I visited this city, I was just passing through, so sadly the sight-seeing was a bit rushed. It was a wonderful trip, enriching for the kids, parents, and teachers who went. Two quick facts about St. Augustine: it's the country's oldest city and its 500th year anniversary is this April 3rd. Here are some of my favorite places:

Aviles Street is the oldest public street in the country.

Pretty tiled mural off Aviles Street.

Spanish Military Hospital is now a museum. The tours are highly educational and give unique insight on how soldiers were medically treated during the colonial days.

The Cathedral Basilica right off St. George Street is absolutely breath-taking. It's the first established parish in the New World.

Words can not describe the beauty of this cathedral. I didn't take an outside shot of the church but if you'd like to learn more about the cathedral, visit their official site.

Want to be greeted by screaming peacocks perched from the tree tops? The Fountain of Youth was my favorite tour of the trip. Beautiful Indian and white peacocks strut around this archaeological park. The exhibits include Ponce de Leon's much sought after spring (they offer a taste of the mineral water!), a Timucua Indian Village, a planetarium, spanish cannon firing demonstrations and more.

It was such a peaceful place. I could've stayed there all day!

The Castillo de San Marcos was our last stop and it was a fascinating tour. From the fragile "coquina" (tiny shell) wall the fort is constructed from to the maze of rooms to the sprawling courtyard to the live firing of the cannon, the students were hooked (and so was I). Well, I hoped you liked this mini tour of this historical city. If you're ever in Florida, you should definitely make some time and visit St. Augustine!

Sweet Finds

So between my Tumblr and Pinterest homes, I've been coming across some insane recipes inspired by girl scout cookies to oreos to reeses peanut butter cups. Here are some of my favorites:

I'd never heard of Slutty Brownies until today, but the name says it all. It has no shame, it's sinfully decadent and proud of it. I'd love to know who came up with mixing brownie, cookie dough and oreos together . . .thanks! Find the from-scratch recipe here or the made-from-box-mix recipe here.

These Reeses Peanut Butter Mini Cheesecakes with an oreo crust sound a-ma-zing! I love the idea of bite-sized desserts. These are perfect for a dinner gathering or one of those desert-tasting soirees. Get the recipe here.

I don't know about you, but I'm addicted to the girl scouts' samoas cookies. They're the only cookie I ever get when girl scout cookie season opens, so for the off season these Samoas Bars seem to be a great substitute! Find the recipe here.

Let's make dessert for breakfast . . . no, seriously. I so want to try this, at least once in my life. I know, not the healthiest way to start the day, but just once, right? Make this Oreo-stuffed French Toast here.

Okay, I've got to stop, but I have to leave you with this last one: S'mores Ice Cream Cake. The recipe only calls for 7 ingredients and the end result looks heavenly (did you catch that slightly charred marshmallow!?). Find it here.

Weekend Wrap Up

Today I took a look at my craft room and felt a bit saddened by two things: 1- I have yet to decorate it and 2- it's a total mess (there's a glimpse of the disorder in the above pic). So, I did a bit of organizing and inventoried my granny squares for my next blanket project - 30 squares so far (yay!) and about 50 more to go (boo!). I used the same wool yarn from KnitPicks which I really love!

I've become kind of obsessed with collecting text stamps. The ones in the pic are just a taste of what I've gathered in the past couple of months. I've been using them to personalize mailing packages, gifts, and school projects among other things. Part of the appeal has been that most of my stamps have come from Studio g. They have a great assortment and are super cheap (just a buck!). You can find them in either at Michaels or Joann.

My buttons were everywhere - in jars, drawers, plastic cups (don't ask). I swung by the Container Store and stocked up on some acrylic compartment  boxes. What a difference! Now they're all in one place and color-coded.

I also finally got around to organizing my batch of new brooches. They're all stamped, packaged and ready to ship out!
 

In the words of Thomas Merton "Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony." I love it when things come together! Sue